A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE IRISH ELECTORAL REGISTER AND ITS USE FOR POPULATION ESTIMATION AND SAMPLE SURVEYS. General Research Series Paper No. 130, July 1986

The Electoral Register’s prime purpose is to serve as a list of those persons in tile State who are eligible to vote in national and local elections. Apart from this function it is also used by researchers in the social sciences for other purposes, as it is tile only regularly updated list of the adult population which is readily available. In particular, it has been used as a sampling frame for social surveys and as an indicator of population levels. The accuracy of the Register is, therefore, of interest to researchers

Making sense of the experience of anxiety, worry, and spontaneous images. An interpretative phenomenological analysis of interviews with young adults who were using a student counselling service.

Aim: The aim of the current research is to gain an understanding of the individual experience of anxiety and worry with a particular focus on spontaneous images. In order to do this, the phenomena of spontaneous images, worry and anxiety require clarification. Some history of these phenomena is provided by describing the more researched worry and anxiety and adding the more recent recognition of the experience of spontaneous images. The current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, (DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association/APA, 2000) describes a generalised anxiety as a disorder characterized by excessive worry. The new DSM-5 (APA, 2013) also does not acknowledge spontaneous images and their impact on the worrier. The present research is not intended to verify the presence of spontaneous images per se, rather it attempts to explore the lived experience of generalised anxiety and worry and to add another perspective to this age old human characteristic with a specific look at the experience of spontaneous images. In order to do this and allow for these phenomena to unfold, a phenomenological stance on worry, anxiety and spontaneous images is taken. Method: The experience of worry, anxiety and associated spontaneous images was analysed using a qualitative approach namely, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith et al, 2009). Data was collected via a semi-structured interview with eight students aged between 18 and 25 years. The interviews took place in a student counselling service and were audio recorded with appropriate consent. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and the participants given pseudonyms to ensure anonymity. Results and Conclusions: Six master themes emerged from participant’s accounts; self- absorption, awareness of worry and anxiety as all-encompassing, trying to cope with anxiety and worry, the past in the present, consumed by the other, and finally, life with spontaneous images. The findings are then discussed in relation to the relevant literature, and implications for therapeutic practice, methodological limitations and directions for future research are presented

Is home-based, high-intensity interval training cycling feasible and safe for patients with knee osteoarthritis? Study protocol for a randomized pilot study

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease affecting the knee joint of many middle-aged and older adults. As OA symptoms typically involve knee pain and stiffness, individuals with knee OA are often insufficiently physically active, have low levels of physical function, and are at increased risk of other comorbidities and reduced quality of life. While moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) cycling is often recommended, little is known about the feasibility, safety, and benefits of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) cycling for this population, even though the feasibility, safety, and benefits of HIIT have been demonstrated in other chronic disease groups. Purpose: The primary objective of this pilot study was to examine the feasibility and safety of home-based HIIT and MICT cycling in middle-aged and older adults with knee OA. A secondary objective was to gain some insight into the relative efficacy of HIIT and MICT for improving health status (pain, stiffness, and disability), muscle function, and body composition in this population. This study protocol is being published separately to allow a detailed description of the research methods, explain the rationale for choosing the methodological details, and to stimulate consideration of the best means to simulate a research protocol that is relevant to a real-life treatment environment. Study Design: Randomized pilot study protocol. Methods: This trial sought to recruit 40 middle-aged and older adults with knee OA. Participants were randomly allocated to either continuous (MICT) or HIIT home-based cycle training programs, with both programs requiring the performance of 4 cycling sessions (approximately 25 minutes per session) each week. Participants were measured at baseline and postintervention (8 weeks). Feasibility and safety were assessed by adherence rate, dropout rate, and number of adverse events. The relative efficacy of the cycling programs was investigated by 2 knee OA health status questionnaires (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index scale[WOMAC] and the Lequesne Index) as well as the timed up and go, sit to stand, preferred gait speed, and body composition. Discussion: This pilot study appears to be the first study assessing the feasibility and safety of a home-based HIIT training program for middle-aged and older adults with knee OA. As HIIT has been demonstrated to be more effective than MICT for improving aspects of health status, body composition, and/or muscular function in other chronic disease groups, the current study has the potential to improve patient outcomes and inform the design of future randomized controlled trials

Tapering practices of strongman athletes: Test-retest reliability study

BACKGROUND: Little is currently known about the tapering practices of strongman athletes. We have developed an Internet-based comprehensive self-report questionnaire examining the training and tapering practices of strongman athletes. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to document the test-retest reliability of questions associated with the Internet-based comprehensive self-report questionnaire on the tapering practices of strongman athletes. The information will provide insight on the reliability and usefulness of the online questionnaire for use with strongman athletes. METHODS: Invitations to complete an Internet questionnaire were sent via Facebook Messenger to identified strongman athletes. The survey consisted of four main areas of inquiry, including demographics and background information, training practices, tapering, and tapering practices. Of the 454 athletes that completed the survey over the 8-week period, 130 athletes responded on Facebook Messenger indicating that they intended to complete, or had completed, the survey. These participants were asked if they could complete the online questionnaire a second time for a test-retest reliability analysis. Sixty-four athletes (mean age 33.3 years, standard deviation [SD] 7.7; mean height 178.2 cm, SD 11.0; mean body mass 103.7 kg, SD 24.8) accepted this invitation and completed the survey for the second time after a minimum 7-day period from the date of their first completion. Agreement between athlete responses was measured using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and kappa statistics. Confidence intervals (at 95%) were reported for all measures and significance was set at P<.05. RESULTS: Test-retest reliability for demographic and training practices items were significant (P<.001) and showed excellent (ICC range=.84 to .98) and fair to almost perfect agreement (κ range=.37-.85). Moderate to excellent agreements (ICC range=.56-.84; P<.01) were observed for all tapering practice measures except for the number of days athletes started their usual taper before a strongman competition (ICC=.30). When the number of days were categorized with additional analyses, moderate reliability was observed (κ=.43; <.001). Fair to substantial agreement was observed for the majority of tapering practices measures (κrange=.38-.73; P<.001) except for how training frequency (κ=.26) and the percentage and type of resistance training performed, which changed in the taper (κ=.20). Good to excellent agreement (ICC=.62-.93; P<.05) was observed for items relating to strongman events and traditional exercises performed during the taper. Only the time at which the Farmer's Walk was last performed before competition showed poor reliability (ICC=.27). CONCLUSIONS: We have developed a low cost, self-reported, online retrospective questionnaire, which provided stable and reliable answers for most of the demographic, training, and tapering practice questions. The results of this study support the inferences drawn from the Tapering Practices of Strongman Athletes Stud

PARALYMPIC SPORTS, THE NEXT FRONTIER FOR SPORTS SCIENCE

The Paralympic Games is the pinnacle of sport for many athletes with a disability. The purpose of this paper is to briefly provide some background on the Summer Paralympic Games and their eligibility and classification rules. Results from selected studies examining the biomechanics of locomotion (amputee running, swimming and wheel chair pushing) and projecting external objects (e.g. throwing and hitting) as well as the evolution of sports performance and training practices such as strength and conditioning will be described. Recommendations for how this evidence can be used to improve athletic performance in Paralympic sports and inform future research are also provided

Generic Subsequence Matching Framework: Modularity, Flexibility, Efficiency

Subsequence matching has appeared to be an ideal approach for solving many problems related to the fields of data mining and similarity retrieval. It has been shown that almost any data class (audio, image, biometrics, signals) is or can be represented by some kind of time series or string of symbols, which can be seen as an input for various subsequence matching approaches. The variety of data types, specific tasks and their partial or full solutions is so wide that the choice, implementation and parametrization of a suitable solution for a given task might be complicated and time-consuming; a possibly fruitful combination of fragments from different research areas may not be obvious nor easy to realize. The leading authors of this field also mention the implementation bias that makes difficult a proper comparison of competing approaches. Therefore we present a new generic Subsequence Matching Framework (SMF) that tries to overcome the aforementioned problems by a uniform frame that simplifies and speeds up the design, development and evaluation of subsequence matching related systems. We identify several relatively separate subtasks solved differently over the literature and SMF enables to combine them in straightforward manner achieving new quality and efficiency. This framework can be used in many application domains and its components can be reused effectively. Its strictly modular architecture and openness enables also involvement of efficient solutions from different fields, for instance efficient metric-based indexes. This is an extended version of a paper published on DEXA 2012.Comment: This is an extended version of a paper published on DEXA 201

Looking at the Workplace through Mathematical Eyes

This thesis is concerned with the idea that people may know more about mathematics than they think they do and rely on it more than they realize, especially in work. That they more readily account for what they ‘do’, dismissing what they ‘know’ as ‘commonsense’ or ‘part of the job’, seems to extend a self-perception of not ‘being a maths person’ and permits it to be transmitted within families, across generations and throughout communities. At the same time, the pervasiveness of modern technology, and the proliferation of information represented in mathematical shapes, patterns, relationships, quantities and chance, would seem to be embraced by people with relative ease. This is the paradox lying at the heart of this research, as it indicates that the reported disconnection with mathematics is rooted in perception and not due to some innate inability. This research is important because it intends to make the use of mathematics in work more visible in formal terms, and enable a reviewed self-perception as being mathematics-capable and all that that implies for long term employability and well being. This research is timely because it coincides with widespread concern in Ireland regarding mathematics ability, engagement with mathematics education, and failing levels of performance in international comparative studies. This research is ground-breaking because it attends to the topic in a novel combination of methodologies that were especially designed and adapted for purpose. In the absence of pre-existing models, case studies were selected for their apparent absence of mathematics activity. They were closely observed and the surrounding discourse recorded for later analysis, on the basis that the absence of mathematics terminology did not confirm the absence of mathematics. . The case studies enabled the ‘hidden’ mathematics to be uncovered and aligned with the National Framework of Qualifications in Ireland in terms of complicatedness, but revealed a depth of workplace context-complexity that had been hitherto un-documented. The methodology featured a parallel National Survey of People in Work in Ireland, in order to hear what they had to say about their mathematics, albeit expressed in non-mathematical terms The findings of the National Survey, while confirming the initiating paradox, provided insights into how mathematics may be hidden from view until brought to the fore to solve a problem or manage a situation. These emergent issues propelled the research into a new paradigm viz., to account for context-complexity, to propose an extension to the NFQ to document it, and to introduce the concept of Subject-centric Activity Theory to help explain the mathematics use/denial paradox. The benefits enabled by this combination of methods accrue to many stakeholders. Individuals, being more fully informed, may re-contextualise what they ‘know’ for long term employability and continuing development, and may reverse their ‘non-maths person’ self-perception. Employers may develop a heightened sense of the capabilities of their workers and match them to the demands of their job. Providers of learning opportunities may reflect their appreciation of the workplace context-complexity and adjust their curricula accordingly. The richness and depth of learning acquired by tacit, informal and non-formal means, may be able to be formally recognized, and serve as a platform for further learning, development and innovation

Current Time Series Anomaly Detection Benchmarks are Flawed and are Creating the Illusion of Progress

Time series anomaly detection has been a perennially important topic in data science, with papers dating back to the 1950s. However, in recent years there has been an explosion of interest in this topic, much of it driven by the success of deep learning in other domains and for other time series tasks. Most of these papers test on one or more of a handful of popular benchmark datasets, created by Yahoo, Numenta, NASA, etc. In this work we make a surprising claim. The majority of the individual exemplars in these datasets suffer from one or more of four flaws. Because of these four flaws, we believe that many published comparisons of anomaly detection algorithms may be unreliable, and more importantly, much of the apparent progress in recent years may be illusionary. In addition to demonstrating these claims, with this paper we introduce the UCR Time Series Anomaly Archive. We believe that this resource will perform a similar role as the UCR Time Series Classification Archive, by providing the community with a benchmark that allows meaningful comparisons between approaches and a meaningful gauge of overall progress