Variables contributing to the development of sporting excellence in Singapore schools : the case of Broadway Secondary

A seminar on SPEX 2000 and the Schools (Singapore Sports Council, 1994) outlined the symbiotic relationship that needed to exist between schools and NSAs if potential champions are to be groomed. The process of developing champion sporting teams in Singapore schools however remains vague as no study has yet been conducted (The Straits Times, October 9, 1992, p.42). In order to gain understanding of this process, a case study was conducted in Broadway Secondary School*, a school that has a tradition of producing excellent results in sports.Master of Educatio

The development, implementation and evaluation of a psychological skills training programme with youth rugby players

Song (1996) assessed Extra-Curricular Activities (ECA) coaches' concerns about teaching psychological skills to student athletes and unveiled that our local coaches are often skeptical about mental training activities and their usefulness. Part of the reason could be attributed to the fact that no local study has ever been conducted to verify the effectiveness of a psychological skills training (PST) programme (Tham & Chwee, 1989). This investigation represents the first formal attempt in Singapore to develop, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of a PST programme with athletes. A PST manual, incorporating the latest research in sport psychology, was developed.Doctor of Philosoph

Expert consensus on difficult airway assessment

Background: Identifying a potentially difficult airway is crucial both in anaesthesia in the operating room (OR) and non-operation room sites. There are no guidelines or expert consensus focused on the assessment of the difficult airway before, so this expert consensus is developed to provide guidance for airway assessment, making this process more standardized and accurate to reduce airway-related complications and improve safety.Methods: Seven members from the Airway Management Group of the Chinese Society of Anaesthesiology (CSA) met to discuss the first draft and then this was sent to 15 international experts for review, comment, and approval. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) is used to determine the level of evidence and grade the strength of recommendations. The recommendations were revised through a three-round Delphi survey from experts.Results: This expert consensus provides a comprehensive approach to airway assessment based on the medical history, physical examination, comprehensive scores, imaging, and new developments including transnasal endoscopy, virtual laryngoscopy, and 3D printing. In addition, this consensus also reviews some new technologies currently under development such as prediction from facial images and voice information with the aim of proposing new research directions for the assessment of difficult airway.Conclusions: This consensus applies to anesthesiologists, critical care, and emergency physicians refining the preoperative airway assessment and preparing an appropriate intubation strategy for patients with a potentially difficult airway

Arousal States, Symptoms, Behaviour, Sleep and Body Temperature

Autonomic arousal (or affective states, e.g. stress, anxiety), symptoms (e.g. fatigue, pain), sleep-disrupting behaviour (e.g. physical inactivity, electronic device use, TV watching, shift work) and medications are linked to impaired sleep and, in many cases, overweight/obesity. Further, in many cases, the phenomena are linked to an elevated BT, and in some cases, a high nocturnal BT, although there is a lack of specific research pertaining to nocturnal BT and the relationship between BT and chronic pain. A relative hyperthermia at night is known to interfere with sleep onset, possible via a phase-shift in the sleep-wake cycle. However, an elevated BT can additionally lead to activation of the inflammatory response system (e.g. cytokine secretion), which may represent another possible mechanism by which the aforementioned states, symptoms, disorders and behaviour can develop