Valuing the voluntary sector: rethinking economic analysis

The voluntary sector plays an important role in the sports industry, as a provider of sporting opportunities and in the development of sport, from increasing participation through to supporting excellence and elite performance. However, despite this importance, research on its contribution to sport-related economic activity is limited, with information on this sector remaining the weakest part of current economic assessments of the UK sports industry. The research presented in this article examines the economic importance of the voluntary sector, using a case study of Sheffield. It demonstrates that the sports voluntary sector in the city is considerably smaller than was predicted when using national estimates, and that this is largely a consequence of methodological issues relating to previous research. The article suggests that in the light of the findings and the increasing use of sport in urban policy, there is a need to rethink the methodology used to evaluate the economic contribution of the voluntary sector in the future.</p

Water clustering in polychloroprene

Water sorption has been studied gravimetrically for polychloroprene rubber samples, first at a fixed hygrometric ratio (98% HR) and several temperatures (25, 40, 60 and 80 °C) for samples of 1.8 and 3.8 mm thickness (Constant Temperature and Hygrometry, CTH experiments), then at fixed temperature (40 °C) and several hygrometric ratios ranging from 0 to 95% HR on samples of 0.1 mm thickness (DVS experiments). CTH experiments reveal an abnormal sorption behavior: after an apparently fickian transient period, the water absorption continues at almost constant rate, no equilibrium is observed after more than 2500 h, whatever the temperature. DVS experiments reveal a very low Henry's solubility but the formation of clusters at water activities higher than 40%. The water diffusivity is almost independent of activity below 50% HR and decreases rapidly when activity increases above 50%. Contrary to CTH experiments, equilibrium is reached in DVS and the difference is not simply linked to the well-known effect of sample thickness on diffusion rate. The results allow hypotheses such as hydrolysis or osmotic cracking to explain the abnormal sorption phenomenon to be rejected. It is suggested that clusters could be polymer-water complexes having a linear/branched structure able to grow without phase separation that could explain the reversibility of sorption-desorption cycles. The difference of behavior between thin 0.1 mm and thicker 1.8 or 3.8 mm samples could be due to an effect of swelling stresses

Oxidation of unvulcanized, unstabilized polychloroprene: A kinetic study

Thermal oxidation in air at atmospheric pressure, in the 80-140 °C temperature range and in oxygen at 100 °C in the 0.02-3 MPa pressure range, of unvulcanized, unstabilized, unfilled polychloroprene (CR) has been characterized using FTIR and chlorine concentration measurement. The kinetic analysis was focused on double bond consumption. A mechanistic scheme involving unimolecular and bimolecular hydroperoxide decomposition, oxygen addition to alkyl radicals, hydrogen abstraction on allylic methylenes, alkyl and peroxyl additions to double bonds and terminations involving alkyl and peroxy radicals was elaborated. The corresponding rate constants were partly extracted from the literature and partly determined from experimental data using the kinetic model derived from the mechanistic scheme in an inverse approach. Among the specificities of polychloroprene, the following were revealed: The rate of double bond consumption is a hyperbolic function of oxygen pressure that allows a law previously established for the oxidation of saturated substrates to be generalized. CR oxidation is characterized by the absence of an induction period that reveals the instability of hydroperoxides. The kinetic analysis also reveals that peroxyl addition is faster than hydrogen abstraction but slower in CR than in common hydrocarbon polydienes

Using sports infrastructure to deliver economic and social change: Lessons for London beyond 2012

Over the last two decades, there has been a new trend emerging within sport, which has seen a shift, from investment for the sake of sport, to investment in sport for good (Sport England, 2008). In the context of the latter approach, there has been an emergence of the use of sport to address regeneration objectives, largely stemming from the belief of government and other sporting and non-sporting organizations, that it can confer a wide range of economic and social benefits to individuals and communities beyond those of a purely physical sporting nature, and can contribute positively to the revitalization of declining urban areas (BURA, 2003). This commentary will examine regeneration legacy in the context of the London Olympic Games. In particular, it will focus on the use of sports stadia as a tool for delivering economic and social change, and by drawing upon previous examples, suggest lessons London can learn to enhance regeneration legacies beyond 2012

1H NMR determination of the self-association of an acridine homodimer and its complexation with ethidium bromide in aqueous solution

1H NMR spectroscopy (500MHz) has been used to investigate the self-association in aqueous buffered solution of a bis-intercalator, Acridine Homodimer (AcrH), and its hetero-association with the aromatic dye, Ethidium Bromide (EB). The equilibrium constants and thermodynamical parameters (enthalpy and entropy) of self-association have been determined from the observed concentration and temperature dependences of chemical shifts of AcrH protons and the results are consistent with a model consisting of at least four distinct forms of AcrH molecules in solution: unfolded (U), folded (F), a dimer formed from two folded molecules (F2) and a trimer formed from three folded molecules (F3). It has also been shown that Ethidium Bromide complexes strongly to the dimer form (F2) of the bis-acridine molecule, AcrH. Comparison of the calculated association parameters of AcrH with the previously studied Ethidium Homodimer (EBH) revealed a correlation between the effectiveness of complexation and the length of chain connecting the chromophores of a bis-intercalator

Role of strain induced crystallization and oxidative crosslinking in fracture properties of rubbers

Tensile properties and crack propagation properties, especially critical strain energy release rate in mode I, GIC, have been used to investigate fracture properties of elastomers and their relationships with microstructure. These investigations were mainly based on a series of comparisons: first, the behaviour of polychloroprene rubber (CR), undergoing stress hardening due to strain induced crystallization (SIC) and oxidative crosslinking (OCL) was compared with that of chlorinated polyethylene (CPE), which undergoes SIC but not OCL, and with a polyurethane based on hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene (PU) which undergoes OCL but not SIC. Comparisons were also made on CR between fracture behaviour at ambient temperature, where SIC occurs and at 100°C where there is no SIC. Finally, oxidative crosslinking was used to vary in a continuous way the crosslink density in CR and PU, in order to evaluate the role of crosslinking in fracture behaviour. The results reveal the strong contribution of SIC to fracture strength. Crosslinking, even at low conversion, inhibits SIC which explains the sharp decrease of CR toughness in the early period of exposure to oxidation. When SIC has disappeared, it is possible to appreciate the effect of crosslinking on fracture behaviour. This effect, as evaluated from the density of deformation energy at rupture in tension or from GIC value, is almost negligible while the sample modulus increases regularly as a consequence of crosslinking. It appears that the toughness remains almost constant because it is under the influence of two contradictory phenomena: the negative effect of a reduction of ultimate elongation and the positive effect of a modulus increase. Such behaviour can be explained in terms of heterogeneous distribution of the lengths of elastically active chains. After long exposure, the sample behaviour becomes brittle, very high modulus values indicate that the samples approach, presumably in a heterogeneous way, the glassy state

Mesenchymal stromal cells and the innate immune response

AbstractMesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) have been exploited for their immunomodulatory properties in the treatment of a number of immune-based disorders, including Graft versus Host Disease (GvHD) and type 1 diabetes. The mechanisms for inducing therapeutic effect still remain largely unknown however, with research focused on understanding how MSCs interact with individual immune cell subsets. Within this review we address what is known about the interactions of MSCs with cells of the innate immune system, how they respond to their microenvironment and how this relates to therapeutic effects we see both within in vivo animal models and in clinical trials

Etude de la liaison interfaciale fibre de lin/acide poly(L-lactique) = Study of interfacial bonding of Flax fibre/Poly(L-lactide)

National audienceL'utilisation de matériaux composites à matrice Polyester renforcés par des fibres de verre soulève de plus en plus de questions tant au niveau sanitaire qu'environnementale. Une alternative consiste à développer des composites entièrement bio-basé, recyclables en fin d'usage [1] et biocompostables en fin de vie [2], avec des propriétés mécaniques élevées [1, 3] et un impact environnementale faible. Peu de travaux décrivent les propriétés de la zone interfaciale de biocomposites alors que l'amélioration des performances mécaniques demande une meilleure compréhension de cette zone. Ainsi ce travail décrit la caractérisation interfaciale à l'échelle microscopique d'un système Fibre de lin/Poly(lactique) acide à l'aide du test de déchaussement de microgoutte. Différents traitements thermiques (refroidissement et recuit) sont réalisés afin de mieux cerner l'influence de la morphologie de la matrice et des contraintes résiduelles sur les propriétés interfaciales. Différents modèles micromécaniques sont utilisés pour évaluer la résistance de l'interface au cisaillement. Lorsque le refroidissement est lent, une amélioration des propriétés est observée Celle-ci est provoquée par une cristallisation importante ainsi que par la présence d'une phase transcristalline. Un recuit du PLLA (refroidit à l'air et donc quasi amorphe) est réalisé en dessous de sa température de transition vitreuse. Les contraintes internes résiduelles sont ainsi relaxées provoquant alors une diminution nette des propriétés de l'interface