Critically Exploring the Institutional Work in Sport-For-Development: The Case of a Local Programme in Swaziland

Sport-for-development (SFD) has exponentially increased in practice, research, and policy in recent years – yet, despite this, a need for further research into the complexity of sport and development has been identified (Coalter, 2013a; Sherry et al., 2016). In particular, scholars have argued for critical research adopting a postcolonial lens and new forms of theory and concepts to be applied to studies of SFD (Darnell, 2012; Hayhurst, 2016). In this study, a critical institutional ethnographic case study approach was adopted with a postcolonial perspective to explore the institutional work and social relations of a local Swaziland sport organization (called the Sport Success Centre) implementing SFD programming. The purpose of the study was to explore and discover the role of institutional work that is shaped by and shapes the SFD and sport activities of the Sport Success Centre (SSC). Fieldwork was undertaken from May to August 2016 and involved multiple data collection strategies. The main source of data was through means of participant-observation of the daily work of the SSC. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 5 staff and volunteers. In addition, publicly available and organizational documents totaling 302 were also analyzed. Analysis involved an iterative process moving between the data, reflexive journal memos, and the literature. NVivo qualitative analysis software was used to support the analysis and emergent themes. Findings suggested that organizational actors were involved in a complex of social relations at the SSC that contributed to shaping (and resisting) two forms of institutional work. Additionally, the SSC as an organization was embedded in a neocolonial management style privileging Westernized ideas and white authority structures, as well as perpetuating gender inequalities in the workplace. Although SFD and sport development benefits were discussed, a blurriness between what constituted ‘sport development’ and ‘SFD’ also emerged in SSC practices. Increasing the reliance on local knowledge and working towards an equal gendered structure in the SSC is needed to improve the postcolonialized environment of the organization. Further research is needed in the field of SFD utilizing new theories (such as institutional work or the institutional logics approach) to examine organizations implementing SFD and sport development at the local level and how SFD is inherently underlined by both opportunities to contribute to and hinder social and SFD goals

Enhancing the Thermal Stability of Carbon Nanomaterials with DNA

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have recently been utilized as fillers that reduce the flammability and enhance the strength and thermal conductivity of material composites. Enhancing the thermal stability of SWCNTs is crucial when these materials are applied to high temperature applications. In many instances, SWCNTs are applied to composites with surface coatings that are toxic to living organisms. Alternatively, single-stranded DNA, a naturally occurring biological polymer, has recently been utilized to form singly-dispersed hybrids with SWCNTs as well as suppress their known toxicological effects. These hybrids have shown unrivaled stabilities in both aqueous suspension or as a dried material. Furthermore, DNA has certain documented flame-retardant effects due to the creation of a protective char upon heating in the presence of oxygen. Herein, using various thermogravimetric analytical techniques, we find that single-stranded DNA has a significant flame-retardant effect on the SWCNTs, and effectively enhances their thermal stability. Hybridization with DNA results in the elevation of the thermal decomposition temperature of purified SWCNTs in excess of 200 °C. We translate this finding to other carbon nanomaterials including multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and fullerene (C60), and show similar effects upon complexation with DNA. The rate of thermal decomposition of the SWCNTs was also explored and found to significantly depend upon the sequence of DNA that was used

Acts of Supplication in Ancient Greece

Scattered widely through Greek literature are references to the practice of supplication, a practice which modern readers find alien yet oddly familiar. Clearly this was a social phenomenon widely understood, and (for the most part) respected, at least in the abstract. Examples abound in both historical narrative and literature. A few cases will serve as examples of typical supplications. Odysseus, in his mendacious re ply to Eumaios' request for the story of his arrival on Ithake, describes how he came to Egypt after he had arrived home from Troy. There his companions attacked the Egyptians, and were defeated. Odysseus describes how the supposed Cretan, on recognising his own imminent death, threw away his helmet, shield and sword, and approaching the Egyptian king in his chariot clasped his knees and kissed them in supplication. Despite the unprovoked attack by the "Cretan" and his men, the Egyptian king rescued him, and took him to his home, even protecting him from the understandable anger of other Egyptians ('Odyssey' 14.240-84 et passim, esp. 276-84). Of course, according to the main narrative, this did not happen; but Eumaios, well-versed in his responsibilities to strangers (ibid., 14.56-58), accepts the story without comment, thus tacitly testifying to its credibility

'The bike breaks down. What are they going to do?' Actor-networks and the Bicycles for Development movement

This manuscript reports on an empirical study of ‘Bicycles for Development’ (BFD) – a nascent movement whereby used bicycles are collected (often in the global North) and distributed in development contexts (often in the global South) with the aim of achieving a range of positive social outcomes (e.g., access to education). Drawing from interviews (n=32) with participants from 19 BFD organizations, and informed by Actor-Network Theory (ANT), the analysis presented herein specifically highlights three key factors that facilitate and/or hinder BFD work: 1) government regulations that potentially stem or ease the flow of bicycles into development contexts; 2) the bicycle’s material constitution, and specifically its sturdiness (or lack thereof); and 3) environmental conditions that impact how bicycles are made, distributed, and used. A key theme that cuts across these findings is the potential for non-humans to cause ‘frictions’ that potentially disrupt, divert, but also help in realizing the programs of action of BFD organizations. We consider the relevance of these findings for both the BFD movement in particular and the wider Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) movement in general. Based on study findings, we argue for ANT as a useful framework for achieving a widened analytical focus and thus for delivering more robust accounts of development contexts under study

Selecting CMIP5 GCMs for downscaling over multiple regions

The unprecedented availability of 6-hourly data from a multi-model GCM ensemble in the CMIP5 data archive presents the new opportunity to dynamically downscale multiple GCMs to develop high-resolution climate projections relevant to detailed assessment of climate vulnerability and climate change impacts. This enables the development of high resolution projections derived from the same set of models that are used to characterise the range of future climate changes at the global and large-scale, and as assessed in the IPCC AR5. However, the technical and human resource required to dynamically-downscale the full CMIP5 ensemble are significant and not necessary if the aim is to develop scenarios covering a representative range of future climate conditions relevant to a climate change risk assessment. This paper illustrates a methodology for selecting from the available CMIP5 models in order to identify a set of 8–10 GCMs for use in regional climate change assessments. The selection focuses on their suitability across multiple regions—Southeast Asia, Europe and Africa. The selection (a) avoids the inclusion of the least realistic models for each region and (b) simultaneously captures the maximum possible range of changes in surface temperature and precipitation for three continental-scale regions. We find that, of the CMIP5 GCMs with 6-hourly fields available, three simulate the key regional aspects of climate sufficiently poorly that we consider the projections from those models ‘implausible’ (MIROC-ESM, MIROC-ESM-CHEM, and IPSL-CM5B-LR). From the remaining models, we demonstrate a selection methodology which avoids the poorest models by including them in the set only if their exclusion would significantly reduce the range of projections sampled. The result of this process is a set of models suitable for using to generate downscaled climate change information for a consistent multi-regional assessment of climate change impacts and adaptation

Simultaneous observations of giant pulses from the Crab pulsar, with the Murchison Widefield Array and Parkes radio telescope: implications for the giant pulse emission mechanism

We report on observations of giant pulses from the Crab pulsar performed simultaneously with the Parkes radio telescope and the incoherent combination of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) antenna tiles. The observations were performed over a duration of approximately one hour at a center frequency of 1382 MHz with 340 MHz bandwidth at Parkes, and at a center frequency of 193 MHz with 15 MHz bandwidth at the MWA. Our analysis has led to the detection of 55 giant pulses at the MWA and 2075 at Parkes above a threshold of 3.5σ and 6.5σ, respectively. We detected 51% of the MWA giant pulses at the Parkes radio telescope, with spectral indices in the range of-3.6 > α > -4.9 (Sv μ ∝ Va). We present a Monte Carlo analysis supporting the conjecture that the giant pulse emission in the Crab is intrinsically broadband, the less than 100% correlation being due to the relative sensitivities of the two instruments and the width of the spectral index distribution. Our observations are consistent with the hypothesis that the spectral index of giant pulses is drawn from normal distribution of standard deviation 0.6, but with a mean that displays an evolution with frequency from −3.00 at 1382 MHz, to −2.85 at 192 MHz

Simultaneous observations of giant pulses from the Crab pulsar, with the Murchison Widefield Array and Parkes radio telescope: implications for the giant pulse emission mechanism

We report on observations of giant pulses from the Crab pulsar performed simultaneously with the Parkes radio telescope and the incoherent combination of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) antenna tiles. The observations were performed over a duration of approximately one hour at a center frequency of 1382 MHz with 340 MHz bandwidth at Parkes, and at a center frequency of 193 MHz with 15 MHz bandwidth at the MWA. Our analysis has led to the detection of 55 giant pulses at the MWA and 2075 at Parkes above a threshold of 3.5σ and 6.5σ, respectively. We detected 51% of the MWA giant pulses at the Parkes radio telescope, with spectral indices in the range of-3.6 > α > -4.9 (Sv μ ∝ Va). We present a Monte Carlo analysis supporting the conjecture that the giant pulse emission in the Crab is intrinsically broadband, the less than 100% correlation being due to the relative sensitivities of the two instruments and the width of the spectral index distribution. Our observations are consistent with the hypothesis that the spectral index of giant pulses is drawn from normal distribution of standard deviation 0.6, but with a mean that displays an evolution with frequency from −3.00 at 1382 MHz, to −2.85 at 192 MHz

Simultaneous observations of giant pulses from the crab pulsar, with the Murchison Widefield Array and Parkes radio telescope: implications for the giant pulse emission mechanism

We report on observations of giant pulses from the Crab pulsar performed simultaneously with the Parkes radio telescope and the incoherent combination of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) antenna tiles. The observations were performed over a duration of approximately one hour at a center frequency of 1382 MHz with 340 MHz bandwidth at Parkes and at a center frequency of 193 MHz with 15 MHz bandwidth at the MWA. Our analysis has led to the detection of 55 giant pulses at the MWA and 2075 at Parkes above a threshold of 3.5σ and 6.5σ, respectively. We detected 51% of the MWA giant pulses at the Parkes radio telescope, with spectral indices in the range of -3.6 > α > -4.9 (Sv ∝ vα. We present a Monte Carlo analysis supporting the conjecture that the giant pulse emission in the Crab is intrinsically broadband, the less than 100% correlation being due to the relative sensitivities of the two instruments and the width of the spectral index distribution. Our observations are consistent with the hypothesis that the spectral index of giant pulses is drawn from normal distribution of standard deviation 0.6, but with a mean that displays an evolution with frequency from −3.00 at 1382 MHz, to −2.85 at 192 MHz

The ID23-2 structural biology microfocus beamline at the ESRF

Beamline ID23-2, the first dedicated and highly automated high-throughput monochromatic macromolecular crystallography microfocus beamline, is described

MxCuBE: a synchrotron beamline control environment customized for macromolecular crystallography experiments

MxCuBE is a beamline control environment optimized for the needs of macromolecular crystallography. This paper describes the design of the software and the features that MxCuBE currently provides