The Quest for Exciting Knowledge: Developments in Figurational Sociological Research on Sport and Leisure.

This paper provides a thematic and developmental review of figurational sociological research on sport and leisure. It demonstrates how Elias’s main theoretical principles have been incorporated in this work and it uses ideas from Norbert Elias’s sociology of knowledge to explain how the emphasis on these principles has changed over time. Specifically, the paper identifies three overlapping stages in the construction of this body of knowledge and argues that a focus on violence has gradually diminished. The paper argues that this trend is both a consequence of the increasing availability of a broader range of Elias’s texts, but also due to social relations in the field, as latter generations of researchers find emotional gratification in expanding into new research agendas. The paper concludes by demonstrating the potential applicability of Elias’s theoretical principles to some of the most significant social issues of the twenty first century.This paper provides a thematic and developmental review of figurational sociological research on sport and leisure. It demonstrates how Elias’s main theoretical principles have been incorporated in this work and it uses ideas from Norbert Elias’s sociology of knowledge to explain how the emphasis on these principles has changed over time. Specifically, the paper identifies three overlapping stages in the construction of this body of knowledge and argues that a focus on violence has gradually diminished. The paper argues that this trend is both a consequence of the increasing availability of a broader range of Elias’s texts, but also due to social relations in the field, as latter generations of researchers find emotional gratification in expanding into new research agendas. The paper concludes by demonstrating the potential applicability of Elias’s theoretical principles to some of the most significant social issues of the twenty first century

Confirming the position of a nasogastric tube what does the literature say?

Nasogastric tubes are a medical device that can be used for a number of purposes. The process of inserting them however can be complicated. Nurses must therefore use an evidence based approach to confirm the correct position of nasogastric tubes and there are three main techniques described in the literature to do so. To date, one group of authors has published the majority of the studies on these techniques. This paper reviews their work. <br /

Manipulating mentors' assessment decisions: Do underperforming student nurses use coercive strategies to influence mentors' practical assessment decisions?

There is growing evidence of a culture of expectation among nursing students in Universities which leads to narcissistic behaviour. Evidence is growing that some student nurses are disrespectful and rude towards their university lecturers. There has been little investigation into whether they exhibit similar behaviour towards their mentors during practical placements, particularly when they, the students, are not meeting the required standards for practice. This paper focuses on adding to the evidence around a unique finding ��� that student nurses can use coercive and manipulative behaviour to elicit a successful outcome to their practice learning assessment (as noted in Hunt et al. (2016, p 82)). Four types of coercive student behaviour were identified and classified as: ingratiators, diverters, disparagers and aggressors, each of which engendered varying degrees of fear and guilt in mentors. The effects of each type of behaviour are discussed and considered in the light of psychological contracts. Mechanisms to maintain effective working relationships between student nurses and mentors and bolster the robustness of the practical assessment process under such circumstances are discussed

Perceptions of an automotive load space in a virtual environment

A study was conducted to investigate the accuracy of perceptions of a car load space in a CAVE virtual environment. A total of 46 participants rated load space width, height, depth, usability and overall capacity after viewing either a virtual Range Rover Evoque in the CAVE or the real car. Participants were also asked to estimate how many 100mm3 blocks could fit in the load space in width, depth or height. The only significant difference was in usability, which was rated higher in the CAVE. There was no systematic over- or under-estimation of distances in the virtual environment. Equivalence was demonstrated for width and depth in the block estimation task. The results suggest that virtual environments can be used for car load space design, particularly for estimates of size, but further work is required to be confident that subjective ratings of virtual properties are equivalent to those of real vehicles

Reactions of selected pupils on inquiry forms and by personal interviews seeking to discover present interests and attitudes in the science of their own age level

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston UniversityThesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

CASE STUDIES OF ASYMMETRIES IN SWIMMING

An interrelated influence of strength, flexibility, anthropometric and technique asymmetries affects performance in swimming. Underpinning aetiologies include both acquired and inherited factors. The combination of factors varies among swimmers and therefore demands a multi-disciplinary case study approach to identify and correct asymmetries to improve performance and reduce incidence of injuries. The purpose of this presentation is to provide examples of analyses informing individualised interventions to correct asymmetries. Interventions comprise programmes of strength, flexibility, posture, and technique refinement. Analyses included measures of strength on the Biodex, measures of strength, posture, flexibility and anthropometry based on the International Society for the Advancement of Kinesiology (ISAK) conventions, and video-based qualitative and quantitative three-dimensional analysis of technique. Sample data of a breaststroke swimmer and a backstroke swimmer are presented to illustrate the interrelationships among strength, flexibility, posture, technique and performance

Large extra dimensions, the galaxy power spectrum and the end of inflation

We consider the production of gravitational KK modes via cosmological photon-photon and electron-positron annihilation in models with large factorisable extra dimensions. We place constraints on this production using recent results from a joint analysis of the power spectra of the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGS) and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies. We obtain a more accurate upper limit for the temperature corresponding to matter-radiation equality and show that, even for the case of 6 extra dimensions and a fundamental scale of 1 TeV, a period of inflation is required that ends at a temperature much lower than that of the QCD phase transition.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, hadronic branching+typos corrected,accepted in JHE