‘You want the buzz of having done well in a game that wasn’t easy’: a sociological examination of the job commitment of English football referees

Based on a critical reading of relevant literature and in-depth interviews with football referees from various levels of the game in England, the aim of this study is to understand why referees become involved and, more pertinently, why they remain committed to the role despite the abuse and disrespect which they regularly encounter. Having considered the development of the football referee, the essay then examines existing literature concerned with refereeing as well as studies of job commitment in other human-service occupations. The subsequent data analysis leads to conclusions which both confirm and challenge findings of the limited research previously conducted in this area. Finally, the study suggests directions for organisations to follow in order to ensure the retention of referees

The Predictive Skills of Elastic Coulomb Rate-and-state Aftershock Forecasts During the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, Earthquake Sequence

Operational earthquake forecasting protocols commonly use statistical models for their recognized ease of implementation and robustness in describing the short‐term spatiotemporal patterns of triggered seismicity. However, recent advances on physics‐based aftershock forecasting reveal comparable performance to the standard statistical counterparts with significantly improved predictive skills when fault and stress‐field heterogeneities are considered. Here, we perform a pseudoprospective forecasting experiment during the first month of the 2019 Ridgecrest (California) earthquake sequence. We develop seven Coulomb rate‐and‐state models that couple static stress‐change estimates with continuum mechanics expressed by the rate‐and‐state friction laws. Our model parameterization supports a gradually increasing complexity; we start from a preliminary model implementation with simplified slip distributions and spatially homogeneous receiver faults to reach an enhanced one featuring optimized fault constitutive parameters, finite‐fault slip models, secondary triggering effects, and spatially heterogenous planes informed by pre‐existing ruptures. The data‐rich environment of southern California allows us to test whether incorporating data collected in near‐real time during an unfolding earthquake sequence boosts our predictive power. We assess the absolute and relative performance of the forecasts by means of statistical tests used within the Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability and compare their skills against a standard benchmark epidemic‐type aftershock sequence (ETAS) model for the short (24 hr after the two Ridgecrest mainshocks) and intermediate terms (one month). Stress‐based forecasts expect heightened rates along the whole near‐fault region and increased expected seismicity rates in central Garlock fault. Our comparative model evaluation not only supports that faulting heterogeneities coupled with secondary triggering effects are the most critical success components behind physics‐based forecasts, but also underlines the importance of model updates incorporating near‐real‐time available aftershock data reaching better performance than standard ETAS. We explore the physical basis behind our results by investigating the localized shut down of pre‐existing normal faults in the Ridgecrest near‐source area

The evolutionary state of short-period magnetic white dwarf binaries

We present phase-resolved spectroscopy of two new short-period low accretion rate magnetic binaries, SDSS J125044.42+154957.3 (Porb= 86 min) and SDSS J151415.65+074446.5 (Porb= 89 min). Both systems were previously identified as magnetic white dwarfs from the Zeeman splitting of the Balmer absorption lines in their optical spectra. Their spectral energy distributions exhibit a large near-infrared excess, which we interpret as a combination of cyclotron emission and possibly a late-type companion star. No absorption features from the companion are seen in our optical spectra. We derive the orbital periods from a narrow, variable Hα emission line which we show to originate on the companion star. The high radial velocity amplitude measured in both systems suggests a high orbital inclination, but we find no evidence for eclipses in our data. The two new systems resemble the polar EF Eri in its prolonged low state and also SDSS J121209.31+013627.7, a known magnetic white dwarf plus possible brown dwarf binary, which was also recovered by our method

Seedless Watermelon Production.

8 p

What drives pharmaceutical innovation and knowledge exchange? A study supporting the use of Knowledge Management within the pharmaceutical industry

Innovation is a key driver of the pharmaceutical company, from an initial discovery of a compound to the final development of a marketable and novel medicine, the web of processes to reach a viable end stage requires innovative behaviour backed by accurate knowledge. This paper analyses the use, importance and sources of knowledge within the drug development process and suggests that a pharmaceutical Knowledge Management strategy should not only address capturing the knowledge within the drug processes, but also the knowledge held within the social networks of the organisation

Keys to Profitable Cabbage Production.

4 p

Keys to Profitable Cabbage Production.

4 p

Keys to Profitable Potato Production.

4 p