2,778 research outputs found
Ethnographies of the imagined, the imaginary and the critically real: Blackness, whiteness, the north of England and rugby league
Rugby league is part of the white, working-class (male) culture of the north of England, and is a sport that is used by its supporters to (re)produce both an imagined community of nostalgic northernness and an imaginary community of locally situated hegemonically masculine belonging. The invented traditions of its origins link the game to a white, working-class twentieth-century culture of mills, pits, terraced houses and pubs; a culture increasingly marginalised, reshaped and challenged in this century. In this paper we use two medium-term, ethnographic research projects on rugby league (one from Spracklen; the other an on-going project by Timmins) to explore northernness, blackness, whiteness and our own roles in the ethnographies as 'black' and 'white' researchers researching 'race' and identity in a community that remains (but not exclusively) a place for a working-class whiteness to be articulated. We argue that our own histories and identities are pivotal in how we are accepted as legitimate ethnographers and insiders, but those histories and identities also posea critically real challenge to us and to those in the community of rugby league with whom we interact. © 2010 Taylor & Francis
Interactive Video and Multiple Choice Question âFlipped Classroomsâ
As part of the Postgraduate Certificate course in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (PGCert), I wrote a plan involving the creation of âflipped classroomâ sessions that may form part of the BSc Psychology first-year (Level 4) research methods module at the University of East London (UEL). Psychology students generally do not find this statistics-heavy module very easy, seemingly due to a lack of understanding of the underlying, more basic concepts. The proposed sessions would encompass short âmicro-teachâ videos on those basic concepts, interspersed with multiple choice questions (MCQs) to test learning. These would then be followed by in-class discussions on the areas of weakness highlighted by the MCQ answers. A pilot session is proposed with one set of four or five mini-topics, covered in a âflipped classroomâ video/MCQ format. (At the point of submitting this paper, the pilot session has not yet been put in place.
Secondary forest succession differs through naturalised gorse and native kÄnuka near Wellington and Nelson
The dominant native woody species forming early successional vegetation on formerly forested sites
in lowland New Zealand were kÄnuka (Kunzea ericoides) and mÄnuka (Leptospermum scoparium) (Myrtaceae).
These have been replaced extensively by gorse (Ulex europaeus, Fabaceae), a naturalised species in New
Zealand. Because gorse typically gives way to native broadleaved (angiosperm) forest in about 30 years, it is
often considered desirable for facilitating native forest restoration. We tested three hypotheses, derived from the
New Zealand literature, on gorse and kÄnuka: (1) kÄnuka stands have a different species composition and greater
species richness than gorse stands at comparable successional stages; (2) differences between gorse and kÄnuka
stands do not lessen over time; and (3) several native plant taxa are absent from or less common in gorse than
in kÄnuka stands. We sampled 48 scrub or low-forest sites in two regions, Wellington and Nelson. Sites were
classified into one of four predefined categories â young gorse, young kÄnuka, old gorse, old kÄnuka â based
on canopy height of the succession and the dominant early-successional woody species. Few characteristics of
the sites and surrounding landscapes differed significantly among site categories, and none consistently across
regions. The vegetation composition of gorse and kÄnuka and their immediate successors differed in both
regions, mainly in native woody species. Species richness was often lower in gorse and there were fewer smallleaved
shrubs and orchids in gorse. Persistent differences at the older sites suggest the successional trajectories
will not converge in the immediate future; gorse leads to different forest from that developed through kÄnuka.
Gorse-dominated succession is therefore not a direct substitute for native successions. We suggest areas of early
native succession should be preserved, and initiated in landscapes where successions are dominated by gorse
or other naturalised shrubs.Research was funded
by the Department of Conservation under science
investigation number 3591
Direct Determination of the Kinetics of Oxygen Diffusion to the Photocytes of a Bioluminescent Elaterid Larva, Measurement of Gas- and Aqueous-Phase Diffusional Barriers and Modelling of Oxygen Supply
We describe the development and use of a direct kinetic technique to determine the time taken for oxygen to diffuse from the external environment into the light-producing cells (photocytes) in the prothorax of bioluminescent larvae of Pyrearinus termitilluminans. This was achieved by measuring the time course of the pseudoflash induced through sequential anoxia followed by normoxia. We have also determined the separate times taken for this oxygen diffusion in gaseous and tissue (predominantly aqueous) phases by using helium and nitrogen as the carrier gas. Of the total time taken for diffusion, that in the gas phase required 613+/-136 ms (mean +/- s.e. m., N=5) whilst that in the aqueous phase required 1313+/-187 ms. These values imply pathlengths of diffusion in the gaseous and aqueous phases of 4.80x10(-)(3)+/-0.53x10(-)(3) and 8. 89x10(-)(5)+/-0.61x10(-)(5 )m, respectively. In addition, the pathlength of gas-phase diffusion was used to derive a parameter relating to the tortuosity of the tracheal system. These values, together with those obtained upon bioluminescent oxygen consumption, have been used to model oxygen supply to the photocyte. From these studies, it would also appear that the modulation of tracheolar fluid levels might be a significant mechanism of control of tissue oxygen levels in at least some insects
Strangeness production in jets from p+p \sqrt{s} = 200 GeV collisions
Measurements of strangeness production in jets help illuminate the QCD
mechanisms in fragmentation. Furthermore, they provide a crucial baseline for
heavy-ion studies where modifications in jet chemistry have recently been
predicted. We present new results on strange particle production in jets from
p+p \sqrt{s} = 200 GeV collisions measured by the STAR experiment. The momentum
distributions of the \Lambda, \bar{\Lambda} and K0Short particles are obtained
using various jet finding algorithms, and then compared to various models.
Strange particle ratios in jets are obtained and compared to values obtained
from the inclusive spectra. Finally, we show jets tagged with leading strange
baryons and mesons, in order to investigate whether gluon or quark jets can be
isolated in this way.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, Winter Workshop on Nuclear Dynamics 2010, Jamaic
Measurement of Oxygen Partial Pressure, its Control During Hypoxia and Hyperoxia, and its Effect upon Light Emission in a Bioluminescent Elaterid Larva
This study investigates the respiratory physiology of bioluminescent larvae of Pyrearinus termitilluminans in relation to their tolerance to hypoxia and hyperoxia and to the supply of oxygen for bioluminescence. The partial pressure of oxygen (P(O2)) was measured within the bioluminescent prothorax by in vivo electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) oximetry following acclimation of larvae to hypoxic, normoxic and hyperoxic (normobaric) atmospheres and during periods of bioluminescence (during normoxia). The P(O2) in the prothorax during exposure to an external P(O2) of 15.2, 160 and 760 mmHg was 10.3+/-2.6, 134+/-0.9 and 725+/-73 mmHg respectively (mean +/- s.d., N=5; 1 mmHg=0.1333 kPa). Oxygen supply to the larvae via gas exchange through the spiracles, measured by determining the rate of water loss, was also studied in the above atmospheres and was found not to be dependent upon P(O2). The data indicated that there is little to no active control of extracellular tissue P(O2) within the prothorax of these larvae. The reduction in prothorax P(O2) observed during either attack-response-provoked bioluminescence or sustained feeding-related bioluminescence in a normoxic atmosphere was variable, but fell within the range 10-25 mmHg. The effect of hypoxic atmospheres on bioluminescence was measured to estimate the intracellular P(O2) within the photocytes of the prothorax. Above a threshold value of 50-80 mmHg, bioluminescence was unaffected by P(O2). Below this threshold, an approximately linear relationship between P(O2) and bioluminescence was observed. Taken together with the extracellular P(O2) measurements, this suggests that control of P(O2) within the photocyte may occur. This work establishes that EPR oximetry is a valuable technique for long-term measurement of tissue P(O2) in insects and can provide valuable insights into their respiratory physiology. It also raises questions regarding the hypothesis that bioluminescence can have a significant antioxidative effect by reduction of prothorax P(O2 )through oxygen consumption
Test of Chemical freeze-out at RHIC
We present the results of a systematic test applying statistical thermal
model fits in a consistent way for different particle ratios, and different
system sizes using the various particle yields measured in the STAR experiment.
Comparison between central and peripheral Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions with data
from p+p collisions provides an interesting tool to verify the dependence with
the system size. We also present a study of the rapidity dependence of the
thermal fit parameters using available data from RHIC in the forward rapidity
regions and also using different parameterization for the rapidity distribution
of different particles.Comment: SQM2008 conference proceeding
System Size Dependence of Particle Production at the SPS
Recent results on the system size dependence of net-baryon and hyperon
production as measured at the CERN SPS are discussed. The observed Npart
dependences of yields, but also of dynamical properties, such as average
transverse momenta, can be described in the context of the core corona
approach. Other observables, such as antiproton yields and net-protons at
forward rapidities, do not follow the predictions of this model. Possible
implications for a search for a critical point in the QCD phase diagram are
discussed. Event-by-event fluctuations of the relative core to corona source
contributions might influence fluctuation observables (e.g. multiplicity
fluctuations). The magnitude of this effect is investigated.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figurs. Proceedings of the 6th International Workshop on
Critical Point and Onset of Deconfinement in Dubna, Aug. 201
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