Interpreting and Implementing the Long Term Athlete Development Model: English Swimming Coaches’ Views on the (Swimming) LTAD in Practice

The LTAD (Long Term Athlete Development) model has come to represent a sports-wide set of principles that significantly influences national sports policy in England. However, little is known about its impact ‘on the ground.’ This study is concerned with how national sporting bodies have adapted the model to their specific requirements and how local interpretation and implementation of this is operationalized and delivered. Interpretation and implementation of the LTAD model used in English swimming was investigated through interviews with six elite and five non-elite swimming coaches in the north of England. While there were concerns with aspects of the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) regulations governing competition for age-group swimmers, the major concern expressed by participants was with over-emphasizing volumes of training, leading to the neglect of technique

Learning masculinities in a Japanese high school rugby club

This paper draws on research conducted on a Tokyo high school rugby club to explore diversity in the masculinities formed through membership in the club. Based on the premise that particular forms of masculinity are expressed and learnt through ways of playing (game style) and the attendant regimes of training, it examines the expression and learning of masculinities at three analytic levels. It identifies a hegemonic, culture-specific form of masculinity operating in Japanese high school rugby, a class-influenced variation of it at the institutional level of the school and, by further tightening its analytic focus, further variation at an individual level. In doing so this paper highlights the ways in which diversity in the masculinities constructed through contact sports can be obfuscated by a reductionist view of there being only one, universal hegemonic patterns of masculinity

Recommendations on Testing Procedures at the Gladys McCall and Pleasant Bayou GeoPressured Test Wells

Nine possible testing procedures for the Gladys McCall and Pleasant Bayou geopressured fields are listed. Evidence is presented that shows that reduction in salinity due to shale water addition to Gladys McCall formation waters can be measured over a 2-year period, but water analyses will need to be done under strictly controlled laboratory conditions. Sidetrack coring of geopressured reservoirs after production appears to be the most effective way of estimating total volumes of compaction and shale water recharge of geopressured formations. Sidetrack coring of the Andrau ('C') sandstone in the Pleasant Bayou No. 2 well will provide the maximum amount of information on post-production changes in shales and sandstones. Three preferred testing procedures are suggested in order of decreasing scientific payback and cost. The best testing procedure is to continue testing the Gladys McCall well for 2 years, then to cut a sidetrack core and plug and abandon the well. At the same time, a sidetrack core must be cut in the Pleasant Bayou well and then plugged and abandoned. The total cost of these tests will be several million dollars. The next best testing procedure that will provide a large scientific payback is to cut sidetrack cores and then plug and abandon both the Gladys McCall and Pleasant Bayou wells at a cost of about $1.1 million. The last testing procedure, which will also provide a large scientific payback, is to cut a sidetrack core and plug and abandon Pleasant Bayou, and then plug and abandon Gladys McCall at a cost of about$600,000.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Consolidation of Geologic Studies of Geopressured-Geothermal Resources in Texas

Hydrochemical data obtained from samples of brine produced from the Gladys McCall Zone 8 sandstone reservoir were used to estimate the importance of shale dewatering as a contribution to ultimate reservoir volume. Changes in chloride concentration of produced brines with time were generally small and close to analytical margins of error, but some correlation between production-related pressure drawdown and declining chlorinity was detected. More rigorous analysis of brine composition and source was hindered by nonstandardized sampling and analytical procedures. Geologic data suggest that sandstone interconnection is a more important source of extra reservoir volume than is shale dewatering at the Gladys McCall site. Methods for more definitively determining the effects of shale dewatering and reservoir interconnectedness include direct sampling and chemical analysis of shale water, pressure monitoring and fluid sampling in multiple reservoirs in a single well or a well field, and sidetrack drilling and coring. Petrographic analysis was used to document the effects of experimental compaction on core samples from geopressured-geothermal reservoirs. Experimental compaction simulates the increasing effective stress within these reservoirs as fluid pressures decline during production. Inelastic compaction and brittle failure (fracturing) are closely related to sandstone composition. Sandstones that contain abundant ductile rock fragments and clay minerals undergo large compaction-induced porosity reductions and fracture readily at effective stress levels comparable to those generated in the reservoir during high-volume production. Well-indurated, high-quartz sandstones, such as the Gladys McCall Zone 8, are extremely resistant to both inelastic compaction and brittle failure.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Magnetothermodynamics: Measuring equations of state in a relaxed magnetohydrodynamic plasma

We report the first measurements of equations of state of a fully relaxed magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) laboratory plasma. Parcels of magnetized plasma, called Taylor states, are formed in a coaxial magnetized plasma gun, and are allowed to relax and drift into a closed flux conserving volume. Density, ion temperature, and magnetic field are measured as a function of time as the Taylor states compress and heat. The theoretically predicted MHD and double adiabatic equations of state are compared to experimental measurements. We find that the MHD equation of state is inconsistent with our data.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Magnetothermodynamics: An Experimental Study Of The Equations Of State Applicable To A Magnetized Plasma

Measuring the equations of state of a compressed magnetized plasma is important for both advancing fusion experiments and understanding natural systems such as stellar winds. In this paper, we present results from our experiments on the thermodynamics of compressed magnetized plasmas; we call these studies “magnetothermodynamics.” In these experiments, we generate parcels of relaxed, magnetized plasma at one end of the linear Swarthmore Spheromak eXperimental device and observe their compression in a closed conducting boundary installed at the other end. Plasma parameters are measured during compression. Instances of ion heating during compression are identified by constructing a pressure-volume diagram using the measured density, temperature, and volume of the magnetized plasma. An axial scan of the ion temperature at upstream locations suggests that the increase in ion temperature arises due to the compression of the magnetized plasma in the conducting boundary. The theoretically predicted magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) and double adiabatic equations of state are compared with experimental measurements to estimate the adiabatic nature of the compressed plasma. The equilibrium of our magnetized plasmas is well-described by magnetohydrodynamics; however, we find that the MHD equation of state is not supported by our data. Our results are more consistent with the parallel Chew-Goldberger-Low equation of state, suggesting that there is significant anisotropy in the ion distribution function

Measuring The Equations Of State In A Relaxed Magnetohydrodynamic Plasma

We report measurements of the equations of state of a fully relaxed magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) laboratory plasma. Parcels of magnetized plasma, called Taylor states, are formed in a coaxial magnetized plasma gun, and are allowed to relax and drift into a closed flux conserving volume. Density, ion temperature, and magnetic field are measured as a function of time as the Taylor states compress and heat. The theoretically predicted MHD and double adiabatic equations of state are compared to experimental measurements. We find that the MHD equation of state is inconsistent with our data

Learning and interaction in groups with computers: when do ability and gender matter?

In the research reported in this paper, we attempt to identify the background and process factors influencing the effectiveness of groupwork with computers in terms of mathematics learning. The research used a multi-site case study design in six schools and involved eight groups of six mixed-sex, mixed-ability pupils (aged 9-12) undertaking three research tasks – two using Logo and one a database. Our findings suggest that, contrary to other recent research, the pupil characteristics of gender and ability have no direct influence on progress in group tasks with computers. However, status effects – pupils' perceptions of gender and ability – do have an effect on the functioning of the group, which in turn can impede progress for all pupils concerned

Atmospheric neutrons

Contributions to fast neutron measurements in the atmosphere are outlined. The results of a calculation to determine the production, distribution and final disappearance of atmospheric neutrons over the entire spectrum are presented. An attempt is made to answer questions that relate to processes such as neutron escape from the atmosphere and C-14 production. In addition, since variations of secondary neutrons can be related to variations in the primary radiation, comment on the modulation of both radiation components is made