An analysis of the impact of privatisation and deregulation on the UK bus and coach and port industries

The main objectives of this dissertation are: (1) To analyse the pre and post privatisation and deregulation performance of two United Kingdom industries from the transport sector. (2) To analyse the earning and employment in these industries prior to deregulation and/or privatisation, and to examine what has happened to them after these changes. (3) To investigate any changes that have occurred in trade union density in these industries compared with what has happened in the rest of the economy. (4) To see if there was any evidence of rent sharing prior to privatisation and deregulation. If it did exist, did it continue after privatisation and deregulation, or was it substantially reduced or eliminated. The methodology of the dissertation is eclectic, so it examined these issues from a number of different perspectives, and its contribution to knowledge is incremental. In regard to the bus and coach industry in the newly competitive period following deregulation and privatisation, the major firms emerged almost solely through external rather than organic growth. This went against one of the main aims of privatisation, which was to create a competitive industry of many small-to-medium sized operations. Privatisation and deregulation also failed to stop the decline in passenger numbers, which was another objective of the programme. In the case of the UK ports, it is extremely difficult to conclude that the changing ownership constituted a significant factor in port performance and efficiency. Instead, factors such as geographical location and labour market deregulation seems to have had a greater influence on efficiency in the ports. That the measure of liberalisation most associated with privatisation, and that offered the most in terms of potential gains in efficiency, were those on which major concessions had to be made by the Government to win management support for the political process of privatisation. If managerial support for privatisation was absent then process was unlikely to occur. The underlying success of deregulation and privatisation in these industries has been in reducing the power of trade unions to obtain rent for their members, which was one of the main, if understated aims of the policy

Attitudes Towards Migrants and Needs in Teacher Training : Some Research Findings

The area of immigrant education has become a major source of interest, concern, comment, and research in recent years. This interest has its origins in the concern felt and views expressed at various conferences that many pupils in our schools are in need of an educational approach which will take cognisance of their linguistic and cultural differences

Goal-setting intervention to reduce occupational sedentary behaviour

Introduction: Occupational sedentary behaviour is an emerging public health concern. Office-based workplaces provide an ideal setting to implement an intervention due to the large proportion of sitting time reported during work hours. Previous sedentary behaviour interventions have included goal-setting as a behaviour change strategy with promising results. The aim of the current study was to explore the most and least effective goals as perceived by office-based workers for reducing occupational sedentary behaviour. Methods: Twenty-Seven University-based office workers participated in the study. Participants were invited to participate in an interview after the completion of a 6-week intervention where participants self-determined six incremental goals. The interview was audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Following this, the data was thematically analysed. Results: As a collective group, the goals which were considered to be the most effective included walking further or up/down stairs to attend amenities, standing when the phone rang and/or standing for the duration of the phone call, walking further to fill water bottle, walking during a break or walking to visit colleagues or to a specific area. Coincidentally, the least effective goals included standing while on the phone and walking during the day. Conclusions: The findings suggest that the same goal can be considered to be the most or least effective for an individual. This indicated that sedentary behaviour goal-setting interventions need to account for individual preference and match the level of willingness of the participant as a 'one size fits all' approach is unlikely to be effective

Reliability and validity of the ActivPAL activity monitor for office-based tasks

The ActivPAL physical activity monitor has been previously reported as a reliable and valid tool to measure everyday physical activities. The aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the ActivPAL during typical office-based activities. A convenient sample of 10 adults participated in this study with two ActivPAL units attached to the participant's right thigh. Participants completed 6 minutes of specific office-based tasks such as typing an email, writing on a whiteboard, collecting printing and running a small errand with instructions provided through an audio recording. Each bout was filmed with time of sitting, standing and walking visually assessed using the same categories provided by the ActivPAL analysis. Reliability between ActivPAL recordings was assessed via Wilcoxon comparisons and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Relative error was calculated as the difference between visual observations and ActivPAL recordings. Validity was assessed via Wilcoxon comparisons between ActivPAL recordings and video observations. There were no significant differences between ActivPAL units for sitting (196.2+/-5.0 vs. 195.9+/-5.1 seconds), standing (121.8+/-4.8 vs. 122.3+/-6.9 seconds) or walking (42.0+/-6.1 vs. 41.9+/-7.1 seconds) activities. Significant ICC were detected for sitting (0.928), standing (0.849) and walking (0.849) time. In contrast, the ActivPAL recordings for sitting, standing and walking time were significantly different to visual observations (p3.8%, >24.5% and >54.1%, respectively. The current study has identified ActivPAL units as reliable tools to document physical activity. However, the ActivPAL underestimated sitting and walking time, and overestimated standing time during office-based tasks

Team sport athletes’ perceptions and use of recovery strategies: a mixed-methods survey study

Background: A variety of recovery strategies are used by athletes, although there is currently no research that investigates perceptions and usage of recovery by different competition levels of team sport athletes. Methods: The recovery techniques used by team sport athletes of different competition levels was investigated by survey. Specifically this study investigated if, when, why and how the following recovery strategies were used: active land-based recovery (ALB), active water-based recovery (AWB), stretching (STR), cold water immersion (CWI) and contrast water therapy (CWT). Results: Three hundred and thirty-one athletes were surveyed. Fifty-seven percent were found to utilise one or more recovery strategies. Stretching was rated the most effective recovery strategy (4.4/5) with ALB considered the least effective by its users (3.6/5). The water immersion strategies were considered effective/ineffective mainly due to psychological reasons; in contrast STR and ALB were considered to be effective/ineffective mainly due to physical reasons. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that athletes may not be aware of the specific effects that a recovery strategy has upon their physical recovery and thus athlete and coach recovery education is encouraged. This study also provides new information on the prevalence of different recovery strategies and contextual information that may be useful to inform best practice among coaches and athletes

Dual Benefits of a Student-Assisted Interprofessional Men’s Healthy Lifestyle Pilot Program

Reprinted by permission of SAGE PublicationsMen are less willing to seek health professional advice than women and die more often than women from preventable causes. Therefore, it is important to increase male engagement with health initiatives. This study reports the outcomes of a student-assisted, interprofessional, 12-week health program for overweight adult males. The program included weekly health education and structured, supervised group exercise sessions. Thirteen males (participants) and 18 university students (session facilitators) completed the program. Participants were assessed for a range of health and physical activity measures and health and health profession knowledge. Participants demonstrated significant improvement in activity, knowledge, and perceptions of physical and mental function, and appreciated the guided, group sessions. Students completed an interprofessional readiness questionnaire and reported significant improvement in the understanding of the benefits of interprofessional education and of their role in health care. This program provides evidence of the dual benefit that occurs from the delivery of a student-assisted, interprofessional men’s health program to at-risk community members

Attitudes Towards Migrants and Needs in Teacher Training : Some Research Findings

The area of immigrant education has become a major source of interest, concern, comment, and research in recent years. This interest has its origins in the concern felt and views expressed at various conferences that many pupils in our schools are in need of an educational approach which will take cognisance of their linguistic and cultural differences

Being an English academic:a social domains account

This paper considers the differential placements of social actors in the contemporary English university, as practices consistent with neoliberal ideologies become increasingly influential. It uses Layder's theory of ‘social domains’ and the first-hand experiences of the author to explore how the options available–to students, those on precarious conditions of employment, and those occupying more influential roles in the institution–change in relation to alterations in structured social relations. Examples are provided of interventions by people opposed to both the rhetoric and the reality of developments in the sector, and reasons for their limited effectiveness are also discussed

Device and method for measuring thermal conductivity of thin films

A device and method are provided for measuring the thermal conductivity of rigid or flexible, homogeneous or heterogeneous, thin films between 50 .mu.m and 150 .mu.m thick with relative standard deviations of less than five percent. The specimen is sandwiched between like material, highly conductive upper and lower slabs. Each slab is instrumented with six thermocouples embedded within the slab and flush with their corresponding surfaces. A heat source heats the lower slab and a heat sink cools the upper slab. The heat sink also provides sufficient contact pressure onto the specimen. Testing is performed within a vacuum environment (bell-jar) between 10.sup.-3 to 10.sup.-6 Torr. An anti-radiant shield on the interior surface of the bell-jar is used to avoid radiation heat losses. Insulation is placed adjacent to the heat source and adjacent to the heat sink to prevent conduction losses. A temperature controlled water circulator circulates water from a constant temperature bath through the heat sink. Fourier's one-dimensional law of heat conduction is the governing equation. Data, including temperatures, are measured with a multi-channel data acquisition system. On-line computer processing is used for thermal conductivity calculations