Sexual abuse risk in sport: Testing the ‘stage of imminent achievement’ hypothesis

The purpose of this study was to assess the hypothetical model outlined by Brackenridge and Kirby in IRSS in 1997 (32(4): 407-418) which suggested that athlete susceptibility to grooming and sexual abuse in sport coincides with a defined stage of athletic development just prior to peak success: this period they called the ‘stage of imminent achievement’ (SIA). The model was assessed by investigating 83 cases of criminally-defined child sexual abuse within the sport context that had been reported in the print media over a period of 15 years. SIA-related hypotheses were examined in relation to athlete performance level, sex and early- and late-specialisation sport types. The majority of cases of child abuse in the sample occurred below the SIA for both males and females and with sexually abused males being three times more likely to be aged below the SIA than their female athlete victim counterparts. Age below the SIA thus appears to be a stronger predictor of the timing of sexual abuse among male athletes than females: this suggests that much more research is needed on both age and gender differences in sport-related sexual victimisation. Several limitations of the data are discussed. It is recommended that the SIA be reconceived as both a relational and a developmental construct and examined more closely in relation to the increased dependence of the athlete on their coach just as they approach a performance goal

Debatable land: an essay on the relationship between English and Scottish criminal law

This article proposes that a better understanding of the identity of Scots criminal law can be developed through an analysis of the similarities between English and Scots law rather than by concentrating on the differences. It argues that historically there are striking similarities between the two laws which have been overlooked or ignoredfor various reasons. It goes on to argue that many ofthe current differences between the two laws can be explained in terms of contemporary academic and institutional conditions, and that these offer a betterfoundation on which to construct a principled theoretical understanding of Scots criminal law

Three-dimensional modelling on the hydrodynamics of a circulating fluidised bed

The rapid depletion of oil and the environmentalimpact of combustion has motivated the search for cleancombustion technologies. Fluidised bed combustion (FBC)technology works by suspending a fuel over a fast air inletwhilst sustaining the required temperatures. Using biomassor a mixture of coal/biomass as the fuel, FBC provides alow-carbon combustion technology whilst operating at lowtemperatures. Understanding the hydrodynamic processes influidised beds is essential as the flow behaviours causing heatdistributions and mixing determine the combustion processes.The inlet velocities and different particle sizes influence theflow behaviour significantly, particularly on the transitionfrom bubbling to fast fluidising regimes. Computationalmodelling has shown great advancement in its predictive capabilityand reliability over recent years. Whilst 3D modellingis preferred over 2D modelling, the majority of studies use2D models for multiphase models due to computational costconsideration. In this paper, two-fluid modelling (TFM) isused to model a 3D circulating fluidised bed (CFB) initiallyfocussing on fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) particles. Thetransition from bubbling to fast fluidisation over a rangeof velocities is explored, whilst the effects on the bubblediameter, particle distributions and bed expansion for differentparticle properties including particle sizes are compared. Dragmodels are also compared to study the effects of particleclustering at the meso-scale

Markers of automaticity in sleep-associated consolidation of novel words

Two experiments investigated effects of sleep on consolidation and integration of novel form-meaning mappings using size congruity and semantic distance paradigms. Both paradigms have been used in previous studies to measure automatic access to word meanings. When participants compare semantic or physical font size of written word-pairs (e.g. BEE–COW), judgments are typically faster if relative sizes are congruent across both dimensions. Semantic distance effects are also found for wellestablished words, with semantic size judgements faster for pairs that differ substantially on this dimension. English-speaking participants learned novel form-meaning mappings with Mandarin (Experiment 1) or Malay (Experiment 2) words and were tested following overnight sleep or a similar duration awake. Judgements on English words controlled for circadian effects. The sleep group demonstrated selective stronger size congruity and semantic distance effects for novel word-pairs. This benefit occurred in Experiment 1 for semantic size comparisons of novel words, and in Experiment 2 on comparisons where novel pairs had large distances and font differences (for congruity effects) or in congruent trials (for semantic distance effects). Conversely, these effects were equivalent across sleep and wake for English words. Experiment 2 included polysomnography data and revealed that changes in the strength of semantic distance and congruity effects were positively correlated with slow-wave sleep and sleep spindles respectively. These findings support systems consolidation accounts of declarative learning and suggest that sleep plays an active role in integrating new words with existing knowledge, resulting in increased automatic access of the acquired knowledge

Carbohydrate intake and cardiometabolic risk factors in high BMI African American children.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between intakes of subgroups of energy-providing carbohydrate, and markers of cardiometabolic risk factors in high BMI African American (AA) children.A cross sectional analysis was performed on data from a sample of 9-11 year old children (n = 95) with BMI greater than the 85th percentile. Fasting hematological and biochemical values for selected markers of cardiometabolic risk factors were related to intakes of carbohydrates and sugars.After adjusting for gender, pubertal stage and waist circumference, multivariate regression analysis showed that higher intakes of carbohydrate (with fat and protein held constant) were associated with higher plasma concentrations of triglycerides (TG), VLDL-C, IDL-C, and worse insulin resistance (homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance, HOMA-IR). After dividing carbohydrate into non-sugar versus sugar fractions, sugars were significantly related to higher TG, VLDL-C, IDL-C, lower adipocyte fatty acid insulin sensitivity (ISI-FFA), and was closely associated with increased HOMA-IR. Similar trends were observed for sugars classified as added sugars, and for sugars included in beverages. Further dividing sugar according to the food group from which it was consumed showed that consuming more sugar from the candy/soda food group was highly significantly associated with increased TG, VLDL-C, IDL-C and closely associated with increased HOMA-IR. Sugars consumed in all fruit-containing foods were significantly associated with lower ISI-FFA. Sugars consumed as fruit beverages was significantly associated with VLDL-C, IDL-C and ISI-FFA whereas sugars consumed as fresh, dried and preserved fruits did not show significant associations with these markers.Sugars consumed from in all dairy foods were significantly associated with higher TG, VLDL-C and IDL-C, and with significantly lower HDL-C and ISI-FFA. These effects were associated with sugars consumed in sweetened dairy products, but not with sugars consumed in unsweetened dairy products. This analysis suggests that increases in carbohydrate energy, especially in the form of sugar, may be detrimental to cardiometabolic health in high BMI children

‘Capital’ City: Creating an Approach to Urban Development in a Monumental City

Washington DC is the political capital of the country, nestled within a working city. It is under international scrutiny everyday, acting as the face we show the world. A recent development in the center city showed the world our view on future urban development, as the historic Chinatown was completely demolished to make way for new condos and a convention center, leaving a single street for nostalgia. Is this how we should think about our cities futures? As architects, we often become obsessed with the details of our designs, forgetting the larger forces that impact these projects, or that they may have on the areas around them. Instead of being a part of a united system, they act as islands in a sea of infill, separate from the daily life of the people around them. This form of design is unacceptable. Design needs to be approached simultaneously from several different lenses in order to have a positive impact on its environment. Starting with the formation of Washington DC, the first planned city in the United States, I began to study the different forces that impact the development of a urban center. Washington DC is the result of two antagonistic forces pushing against each other in the form of private economic development and symbolic design. I contended that the best way to approach future development in the city, was to use both these forms of design together, creating a plan that was both financially viable and symbolically significant. To test this, I decided to look at an area in the Southeast of the District. Anacostia and Buena Vista are a larger neighborhood on the brink of development. Most current proposals are either too small to aid the area [ bringing some district offices ] or too insensitive to the current population [ the gentrification of a historically black and low income region ]. My particular site in the area is a large block of land which contains the existing metro station for the neighborhoods, as well as acting as a transportation hub for the Southeast. However, due to political issues, it was built a distance away from the actual neighborhood center. I chose to give look at this area, and gave the community something it lacks and needs no matter what income of people reside there, while also promoting both tourism and economic growth. A public market. It would act as both an attractor to the area, but would also act to feed and employ the current population in a place already easily accessible by metro and bus. It makes the area a destination, as well as a integral part of the daily life of its citizens. But while adding a market may solve the food desert issue facing the region, a single building, no matter how large it may be, cannot solve the issues of an area. Real and lasting change has to happen on all scales of development. To begin to think as a urban designer, I had to first understand the profession and its role in rethinking urban development. Then, using the knowledge gathered through research, I was able to finally think of how an urban designer would begin to approach the neighborhood beyond my particular site. This allowed me to consider how my project would act as just a small piece in a larger project to connect the surrounding areas to the rest of the city with the additions of civic structures, retail, and open space. Yet most importantly, the neighborhoods would still retain the very thing that makes them unique, their character. The end goal was to look at design from all different scales and lenses in order to create an approach to future urban development as cities continue to grow. And with this project, I believe I have created a viable answer

Role of Schizosaccharomyces pombe RecQ homolog recombination and checkpoint genes in UV Damage tolerance

The cellular responses to DNA damage are complex and include direct DNA repair pathways that remove the damage and indirect damage responses which allow cells to survive DNA damage that has not been, or cannot be, removed. We have identified the gene mutated in the rad12.502 strain as a Schizosaccharomyces pombe recQ homolog. The same gene (designated rqh1) is also mutated in the hus2.22 mutant. We show that Rqh1 is involved in a DNA damage survival mechanism which prevents cell death when UV-induced DNA damage cannot be removed. This pathway also requires the correct functioning of the recombination machinery and the six checkpoint tad gene products plus the Cds1 kinase. Our data suggest that Rqh1 operates during S phase as part of a mechanism which prevents DNA damage causing cell lethality. This process may involve the bypass of DNA damage sites by the replication fork. Finally, in contrast with the reported literature, we do not find that rqh1 (rad12) mutant cells are defective in UV dimer endonuclease activity