Psychosocial development in youth soccer players: Assessing the effectiveness of the 5C’s intervention program.

This study examined the effectiveness of a longitudinal 5C coaching intervention (Harwood, 2008), focused on promoting behavioral responses associated with commitment, communication, concentration, control, and confidence in youth soccer players. Five players, their parents and a youth academy soccer coach participated in a single-case multiple-baseline across individuals design with multiple treatments. Following baseline, the coach received sequential education in the principles of each ‘C’ subsequent to integrating relevant strategies in their coaching sessions. During the five intervention phases, players completed assessments of their behavior in training associated with each C, triangulated with observation-based assessments by the coach and the players’ parents. Results indicated psychosocial improvements with cumulative increases in positive psychosocial responses across the intervention for selected players. Changes in player behavior were also corroborated by parent and coach data in conjunction with post-intervention social validation. Findings are discussed with respect to the processes engaged in the intervention, and the implications for practitioners and applied researchers

Economic and regulatory approaches to improve the environmental performance of buildings in South Africa

In the past, economic instruments for environmental purposes were strongly resisted by industry, government and the public. As such, they were used only in exceptional circumstances. More recently, there has been a realisation that economic instruments can be a powerful complement to direct regulations. Consequently, economic instruments are playing an increasingly important role in the environmental management of buildings. The activities of the construction industry are driven by economic forces, so using market mechanisms is a logical strategy to pursue the objectives of sustainable construction. Perhaps the question is not whether economic mechanisms should be employed to improve environmental building performance, but rather how this should be achieved.This article suggests that it can be achieved by using the economic instrument of ecolabelling to create market competition for improved building performance. Ecolabelling has traditionally been associated with household products, but has more recently been applied to a wider range of products, including buildings and building materials. The basis for building ecolabels is provided by the results of building environmental assessments, which evaluate building per formance. In developed countries, these assessments have stimulated market demand for ‘green’ building developments. Building environmental assessment methods have used the concept of ecolabelling to provide consumers with an additional benchmark in renting or purchasing buildings.Yet, it is unknown whether the South African building market will be similarly responsive to ‘green’ market incentives. In South Africa, where the majority of the population are struggling to satisfy their basic needs, and lack proper education, the environmental ‘ethos’ of the general public has not developed to an extent where environmental issues are seen as a serious priority.Building environmental assessment methods in South Africa are evolving from ‘green’ evaluations that were pragmatically developed to respond to immediate needs, to the measurement of ‘sustainability’. Ecolabels can now reflect the performance of building development in terms of all aspects of sustainability, including socio economic, technical and environmental dimensions of sustainable construction. This has been made possible by the development of a unique South African building environmental assessment method that measures sustainability, namely the “Sustainable Buildings Assessment Technique.”Although much has been written about economic mechanisms, practical guidance on how to implement these mechanisms in building developments is scarce. This article outlines some of the opportunities and constraints associated with market driven and environmental performance in buildings. The limitations of economic approaches in South Africa include a lack of environ mental awareness, misconceptions of ‘green’ buildings, building industry constraints and the market dependence of voluntary assessment protocols. Regulatory approaches are not without their own limitations, the most significant of which is the acute shortage of resources in South African environmental authorities, a factor that is likely to restrict the effectiveness of regulatory approaches.The article goes on to examine the particular problems associated with developing world markets (such as South Africa’s). Furthermore, the relationship between regulatory, ‘command and control’ approaches and economic, market driven approaches is discussed. It is concluded that the ideals of sustain able construction can best be achieved by using regulatory approaches in conjunction with economic instruments

SMART arm with outcome-triggered electrical stimulation: a pilot randomized clinical trial

Background: The SMART (SensoriMotor Active Rehabilitation Training) Arm is a nonrobotic device designed to allow stroke survivors with severe paresis to practice reaching. It can be used with or without outcome-triggered electrical stimulation (OT-stim) to augment movement. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of SMART Arm training when used with or without OT-stim, in addition to usual care, as compared with usual care alone during inpatient rehabilitation. Methods: Eight stroke survivors received 20 hours of SMART Arm training over 4 weeks; they were randomly assigned to either (1) SMART Arm training with OT-stim or (2) SMART Arm training alone. Usual therapy was also provided. A historical cohort of 20 stroke survivors formed the control group and received only usual therapy. The primary outcome was Motor Assessment Scale Item 6, Upper Arm Function. Results: Findings for all participants were comparable at baseline. SMART Arm training, with or without OT-stim, led to a significantly greater improvement in upper arm function than usual therapy alone (P=.024). There was no difference in improvement between training with or without OT-stim. Initial motor severity and presence of OT-stim influenced the number of repetitions performed and the progression of SMART Arm training practice conditions. Conclusion: Usual therapy in combination with SMART Arm training, with or without OT-stim, appears to be more effective than usual therapy alone for stroke survivors with severe paresis. These findings warrant further investigation into the benefits of SMART Arm training for stroke survivors with severe paresis undergoing inpatient rehabilitation during the subacute phase of recovery

Shock formation and the ideal shape of ramp compression waves

We derive expressions for shock formation based on the local curvature of the flow characteristics during dynamic compression. Given a specific ramp adiabat, calculated for instance from the equation of state for a substance, the ideal nonlinear shape for an applied ramp loading history can be determined. We discuss the region affected by lateral release, which can be presented in compact form for the ideal loading history. Example calculations are given for representative metals and plastic ablators. Continuum dynamics (hydrocode) simulations were in good agreement with the algebraic forms. Example applications are presented for several classes of laser-loading experiment, identifying conditions where shocks are desired but not formed, and where long duration ramps are desired

Graph Creation, Visualisation and Transformation

We describe a tool to create, edit, visualise and compute with interaction nets - a form of graph rewriting systems. The editor, called GraphPaper, allows users to create and edit graphs and their transformation rules using an intuitive user interface. The editor uses the functionalities of the TULIP system, which gives us access to a wealth of visualisation algorithms. Interaction nets are not only a formalism for the specification of graphs, but also a rewrite-based computation model. We discuss graph rewriting strategies and a language to express them in order to perform strategic interaction net rewriting

Electronic structure of NiS1−x_{1-x}Sex_x across the phase transition

We report very highly resolved photoemission spectra of NiS(1-x)Se(x) across the so-called metal-insulator transition as a function of temperature as well as composition. The present results convincingly demonstrate that the low temperature, antiferromagnetic phase is metallic, with a reduced density of states at E$_F$. This decrease is possibly due to the opening of gaps along specific directions in the Brillouin zone caused by the antiferromagnetic ordering.Comment: Revtex, 4 pages, 3 postscript figure

Psychological support for sport coaches:an exploration of practitioner psychologist perspectives

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Sports Sciences on 4 January 2018, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/02640414.2018.1423854.In the present study we add to the literature by exploring the degree to which UK practitioner psychologists perceive themselves able to support sport coaches, and how professional training prepares psychologists for coach work across performance domains. Ten participants comprising seven sport and exercise psychologists with Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) practitioner psychologist status and three trainee psychologists studying towards the British Psychological Society (BPS) qualification in sport and exercise psychology (QSEP) were individually interviewed. All participants reported prior experience of working with coaches across all performance domains. We explored: practitioner’s understanding of the challenges coaches face within their job; practitioner’s experiences of coach work; perspectives about the ways in which practitioners could and should support coaches; and, the degree to which professional training prepares practitioners for coach work. Using recommended procedures of Connelly and Peltzer (2016), content analysis revealed practitioners perceived the challenges faced by coaches are different at grassroots level compared to those working with elite athletes, and that practitioners require skills to provide one-to-one coach support and group-based interventions. All practitioners perceived that training programmes do not adequately equip trainees with skills required for coach work. We discuss the implications for enhancing practitioner training in the UK

Genetic regulation of glucoraphanin accumulation in Beneforté® broccoli

Diets rich in broccoli (Brassica oleracea var italica) have been associated with maintenance of cardiovascular health and reduction in risk of cancer. These health benefits have been attributed to glucoraphanin that specifically accumulates in broccoli. The development of broccoli with enhanced concentrations of glucoraphanin may deliver greater health benefits. Three high-glucoraphanin F1 broccoli hybrids were developed in independent programmes through genome introgression from the wild species Brassica villosa. Glucoraphanin and other metabolites were quantified in experimental field trials. Global SNP analyses quantified the differential extent of B. villosa introgression The high-glucoraphanin broccoli hybrids contained 2.5–3 times the glucoraphanin content of standard hybrids due to enhanced sulphate assimilation and modifications in sulphur partitioning between sulphur-containing metabolites. All of the high-glucoraphanin hybrids possessed an introgressed B. villosa segment which contained a B. villosa Myb28 allele. Myb28 expression was increased in all of the high-glucoraphanin hybrids. Two high-glucoraphanin hybrids have been commercialised as Beneforte broccoli. The study illustrates the translation of research on glucosinolate genetics from Arabidopsis to broccoli, the use of wild Brassica species to develop cultivars with potential consumer benefits, and the development of cultivars with contrasting concentrations of glucoraphanin for use in blinded human intervention studie

Motor Competence between Children with and without Additional Learning Needs: A Cross-Sectional Population-Level Study

The aim of this study was to examine associations in motor competence between children with additional learning needs (ALN) and typically developing children. This cross-sectional study involved a nationally representative cohort of 4555 children (48.98% boys; 11.35 ± 0.65 years) from sixty-five schools across Wales (UK). Demographic data were collected from schools, and children were assessed using the Dragon Challenge assessment of motor competence, which consists of nine tasks completed in a timed circuit. A multi-nominal multi-level model with random intercept was fitted to explore the proficiency between children with ALN and those without. In all nine motor competence tasks, typically developing children demonstrated higher levels of proficiency than their peers with ALN, with these associations evident after accounting for age, sex, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. This study highlights motor competence inequalities at a population level and emphasises the need for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to prioritise motor competence development, particularly for children with ALN