All for One and One for All! Disparity Between Overall Crew’s and Individual Rowers’ Pacing Strategies During Rowing

Purpose: This study examined individual contributions to overall pacing strategy during 2- and 5-km rowing trials in a cox-less-4 boat. Methods: A crew of 4 male rowers performed maximal-effort on-water trials over 2 and 5 km, and power output during every individual stroke was measured for each crew member. Mean overall boat and individual rower stroke power were calculated for each 25% epoch (25% of total strokes taken), and power for each individual epoch was calculated as a percentage of mean power maintained over the entire distance. The coefficient of variation was used to determine stroke-to-stroke and epoch-to-epoch variability for individual rowers and the overall boat. Results: In both trials, the overall pacing strategy consisted of a high power output in the initial 25% that decreased in the middle 50% and increased again in the final 25%. However, individual rower data indicate wide variation in individual power profiles that did not always mimic the overall boat profile. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that overall boat power profiles during 2- and 5-km rowing trials are similar to velocity profiles previously reported for individual ergometry and on-water racing events. However, this over-all profile is achieved despite considerable variation in individual rower profiles. Further research is warranted to determine the mechanisms through which individual contributions to overall pacing strategy are regulated and the effectiveness or oth-erwise of seemingly disparate individual strategies on overall performance

The individual and society in the GDR under Honecker : orthodoxy, dissidence and internal debate.

The thesis offers a comparative interdisciplinary approach to the examination of the intellectual debates about the relationship between individual and society in the GDR under Honecker. It shows that there was not only a continuum of debate between the academic disciplines, but also from the radical critics of the GDR leadership such as Robert Havemann, Rudolf Bahro and Stefan Heym through the social scientists, literary critics and legal theorists working in the academic institutions to theorists close to the GDR leadership. It also shows that the official line and policy of the ruling party itself on the question of the individual and society was not static over the period, but changed in response to internal and external pressures. Over the period 1971 - 1989 greater emphasis was placed by many intellectuals on the individual, his needs and interests. It was increasingly recognised that conflicts could exist between the individual and society in GDR socialism. Whereas the radical critics argued that these conflicts were due to features of GDR society, such as the hierarchical system of labour functions and bureaucracy, and extrapolated from this a general conflict between the political leadership and population, orthodox critics argued that conflicts existed between a specific individual and society and were largely due to external and historical factors. The internal critics also pointed to the social phenomena which were detrimental to the individual's development in the GDR, but they put forward less radical solutions. With the exception of a few radical young writers, all theorists studied in this thesis gave precedence to social interests over individual interests and so did not advocate a return to `individualistic' positions. The continuity of sometimes quite controversial discussions in the GDR academic journals and the flexibility of the official line and policy suggests that it is inappropriate to refer to GDR society under Honecker simply as totalitarian, although it did have some totalitarian features. What the thesis demonstrates is the existence of `Teiloffentlichkeiten' in which critical discussion is conducted even as the official, orthodox line is given out for public consumption in the high-circulation media

Building a Culture of Hope for At-Risk Students

Presenters will share research on the school culture differences found between high-performing and low-performing high-poverty schools. Participants will learn about A Culture of Hope and the four Seeds of Hope. After learning explicit steps and strategies for collecting and using survey data, participants will practice using surveys to assess components of school culture, and develop additional survey questions relevant to individual circumstances

Psychosocial intervention for carers of people with dementia: What components are most effective and when? A systematic review of systematic reviews

Psychosocial interventions for carers of people with dementia are increasingly recognized as playing an important role in dementia care. We aim to systematically review the evidence from existing systematic reviews of psychosocial interventions for informal carers of people with dementia.  Thirty-one systematic reviews were identified; following quality appraisal, data from 13 reviews, rated as high or moderate quality, were extracted.  Well-designed, clearly structured multi-component interventions can help maintain the psychological health of carers of people with dementia and delay institutionalization of the latter. To be most effective, such interventions should include both an educational and a therapeutic component; delivery through a support group format may further enhance their effectiveness.  Successful translation of evidence into practice in this area remains a challenge. Future research should focus on determining the most cost-effective means of delivering effective multi-component interventions in real-world settings; the cost-effective potential of technology-based interventions is considerable

The everyday use of assistive technology by people with dementia and their family carers: a qualitative study

Background: Assistive Technology (AT) has been suggested as a means by which people with dementia can be helped to live independently, while also leading to greater efficiencies in care. However little is known about how AT is being used by people with dementia and their carers in their daily routines. This paper reports on a qualitative study exploring the everyday use of AT by people with dementia and their families. Methods: The research employed a qualitative methodology. Semi structured interviews took place with 39 participants, 13 people with dementia and 26 carers. Key themes were identified using thematic analysis and the constant comparative method. Results: Three categories of AT use in everyday settings were identified; formal AT, accessed via social care services, ‘off the shelf AT' purchased privately, and ‘do it yourself' AT, everyday household products adapted by families to fulfil individual need in the absence of specific devices. Access to AT was driven by carers, with the majority of benefits being experienced by carers. Barriers to use included perceptions about AT cost; dilemmas about the best time to use AT; and a lack of information and support from formal health and social care services about how to access AT, where to source it and when and how it can be used. Conclusions: It has been argued that the ‘mixed economy' landscape, with private AT provision supplementing state provision of AT, is a key feature for the mainstreaming of AT services. Our data suggests that such a mixed economy is indeed taking place, with more participants using ‘off the shelf' and ‘DIY' AT purchased privately rather than via health and social care services. However this system has largely arisen due to an inability of formal care services to meet client needs. Such findings therefore raise questions about just who AT in its current provision is working for and whether a mixed market approach is the most appropriate provider model. Everyday technologies play an important role in supporting families with dementia to continue caring; further research is needed however to determine the most effective and person-centred models for future AT provision

Optically controlled grippers for manipulating micron-sized particles

We report the development of a joystick controlled gripper for the real-time manipulation of micron-sized objects, driven using holographic optical tweezers (HOTs). The gripper consists of an arrangement of four silica beads, located in optical traps, which can be positioned and scaled in order to trap an object indirectly. The joystick can be used to grasp, move (lateral or axial), and change the orientation of the target object. The ability to trap objects indirectly allows us to demonstrate the manipulation of a strongly scattering micron-sized metallic particle

School Choice Decisions: A Naturalistic-Constructivist Inquiry into Parents’ Perceptions on School Choice and School Improvement at a Pedagogically Progressive Charter School

Politicians and educational leaders often cite school choice as a sound mechanism for improving public education. However, education theorists and researchers call for more research to verify whether and how choice has an impact on what happens in public schools for all learners, and suggest that there is a need for more naturalistic-constructivist studies to examine the realities inherent in school choice contexts. Missing from the research literature are in-depth perspectives of those on the front lines of school choice decision: parents. This naturalistic-constructivist inquiry used grounded theory and mixed methods to examine parents’ recollections of their own elementary education experiences, perspectives on their children’s schooling experiences before and after school choice decisions, and perceptions of school choice as a mechanism for school improvement. Data collection included a demographic survey, school and community data, and semi-structured interviews with 33 parents who enrolled children at a progressive charter public school in a northwestern state during the 2009-2010 school year. Emergent-grounded theory methods were used throughout data collection and analysis to develop a theory that reflected parents’ perceptions in this context, in relation to school choice in other, broader contexts. The results of this study can inform policy makers, educators, and theorists about how school choice influences parents’ perceptions of and decisions about school improvement and public schooling. Findings within the three themes of Who Chooses and Why, Parental Involvement, and Outcomes of Choice included: School choice decisions are tied to parents’ reasons for choice, parents’ demographics, and the types of schools being selected. School choice decisions are complex mosaics of influences, and may be further complicated by potential barriers in learning about and accessing schools of choice. Participants identified both a moral imperative as citizens to provide good public schools for all children and a moral duty as parents to provide their own children with the best opportunities and education possible, and recognized conflicts in meeting both. Parental involvement is related to how much a school encourages and utilizes parents for purposes that validate parents\u27 time by engaging them actively with children and necessary tasks. A symbiotic relationship exists between parents, who have an interest in being involved, and the school, which needs and expects parental involvement, resulting in enhanced success for students and the school. Parents perceived that choice would not improve the educational opportunities for students who do not access schools of choice. Instead, choice will divide schools into parallel schooling systems. The primary tool for school improvement, according to parents in this study, is changing the culture of schools through combining parental involvement with choice. This naturalistic-constructivist theory resulted in a grounded theory reflecting parents’ perceptions of school improvement, parental involvement, and the private and public goods of education in a democratic society. Keywords: school choice, school improvement, charter schools, parent perceptions, parent involvement, schooling in democracy, grammar of schooling

Developing fundamental understanding of thermal processing of (catalyst) formulations

Thermal processes are key steps in the manufacture of catalysts and functional materials. These large-scale processes are often scaled-up using empirically or experientially derived rules, which result in inefficiently sized assets and longer than necessary processing times. A model-based approach to interrogating thermal processes allows for safer, more informed scale up, resulting in optimised product quality. A statistically rigorous modelling methodology based on the Sestak-Berggren equation has been developed to quantitatively interpret the results of thermal analysis experiments. This allows the kinetic modelling of multiple overlapped thermal events/reactions, without a priori peak deconvolution. Akaike weights, a statistical metric, allows the comparison of multiple potential models, allowing the optimal number of thermal events occurring during an experiment to be identified. Verification of the internal consistency of the method was completed using in silico (computer generated) data. The impact of experimental noise was also investigated, and it was concluded that this modelling technique could still extract meaningful physical parameters in the presence of up to 10% white noise, although additional experiments may be required if noise levels are this high. This modelling methodology was applied to multiple experimental systems; temperature programmed reduction (TPR) of a Fischer-Tropsch (FT) catalyst, ammonia temperature programmed desorption (TPD) from SAPO-34, ammonia TPD from ZSM-5 and the temperature programmed decomposition (TPDecomp) of a zinc nitrate catalyst precursor and of calcium carbonate. All derived models were subject to criticism, checking the plausibility of estimated mechanisms and parameters, and also checking for systematic error and overfit. The modified methodology produced good quality models for both the TPR and the ammonia TPD from SAPO-34 . However, fitting of data from both the ammonia TPD from ZSM-5 and the TPDecomp of the zinc nitrate catalyst precursor demonstrated systematic trends in residuals and implausible kinetic mechanisms. The study of calcium carbonate TPDecomp showed a dependence on weight hourly space velocity (WHSV). This raised issues with the data quality, implying transport limitations or reverse reactions could be present within some of the data. These findings led to an investigation into the bulk heat and mass transport occurring within thermal analysis equipment. Pan-style and tubular reactors were compared using dimensionless analysis (Damköhler and Bodenstein numbers) based on the results of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. It was concluded that pan-style reactors are susceptible to heat and mass transport limitations and are not suitable for the collection of kinetic data. Tubular reactors of constant diameter are suitable for kinetic experimentation. However, not all thermal analysis experiments can be conducted in tubular equipment. Recommendations were made around conducting experiments to obtain data suitable for kinetic studies: where possible, tubular reactors with high carrier gas flow rates should be used

Innate Immune Responses Are Increased in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterised by irreversible airflow obstruction, neutrophilic airway inflammation and chronic bacterial colonisation, however the role of the innate immune response in the pathogenesis of COPD remains unclear. Methods: Induced sputum was obtained from adults with COPD (n = 22), and healthy controls (n = 29) and was processed for differential cell counts. The sputum supernatant was assayed for innate immune mediators using ELISA, whilst sputum gene expression was measured using real-time PCR. Peripheral blood neutrophils were isolated and their response to lipopolysaccaride (LPS) stimulation was assessed in a subgroup of participants with COPD (n = 13) and healthy controls (n = 21). Results: Participants with COPD had significantly higher protein levels of interleukin (IL)-8, and neutrophil elastase (NE) and detection of oncostatin M (OSM) compared to healthy controls. Gene expression for toll-like receptor (TLR) 2, IL-8 and OSM were also significantly higher in COPD participants. The level of IL-1b, surfactant protein (SP)-A, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 and TLR4 mRNA was not significantly different between groups. The level of innate immune response markers were highly associated with the presence of sputum neutrophils, each other and the degree of airflow limitation (FEV1/FVC). Peripheral blood neutrophils from participants with COPD had an increased response to stimulation by LPS; with a greate