The future for primary physical education

An in-depth examination of secondary research was undertaken together with a focussed case study to investigate whether current practices within primary physical education (PE) were best serving the learning needs of children in primary schools. A secondary purpose of this research was to examine the implications for this area of primary education regarding the professionalisation of sports coaching. The study was conducted within a unitary authority in the South West of England. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, firstly with both Partnership Development Managers (PDMs), followed up by questionnaires carried out with all of their School Sport Co-ordinators (SSCo's). Subsequent semi-structured interviews were then conducted with a primary school head teacher, a head of primary Initial Teacher Education (ITE), and with the only specialist primary PE teacher found within this authority. These research processes extrapolated information which highlighted current practices in many primary schools with regards to their PE delivery, and the findings illustrated that whilst current PE provision in most secondary schools was generally believed to be of a high standard, embracing recent initiatives and the current National Curriculum, the delivery of PE in primary schools was found to be less consistent. After several processes of inductive research it was concluded that widespread changes in the whole primary PE provision, starting from Initial Teacher Education, ought to be considered

On homomorphisms between specht modules for the Ariki-Koike algebra

Specht modules occupy a position of central importance in the representation theory of both the symmetric and Iwahori-Hecke algebras, and there is hence considerable interest in achieving a greater understanding of their structure. To this end, over the past thirty years there has been much study undertaken of the homomorphism spaces between these modules, with a particular emphasis being placed upon the construction of explicit homomorphisms between Specht modules. Being a generalization of the Iwahori-Hecke algebra of type A, Specht modules are of a similar importance to the Ariki-Koike algebra. In this thesis we provide and analogue of James’s kernel intersection theorem, the latter having been a key tool in the study of homomorphisms between Specht modules in the setting of both the symmetric group and the Iwahori-Hecke algebra of type A. We also provide and outline of how this result may be used to construct homomorphisms between Specht modules for the Iwahori-Hecke algebra of type B. Additionally, as a byproduct of this work, we include a sufficient condition for certain kinds of commonly encountered tableaux to determine homomorphisms between analogues of Young’s permutation modules and the Specht modules

Report on the forage and feed product flow in Kenya (Busia, Bungoma, Kakamega and Siaya Counties)

Kenyan economy expanded 4.7% in 2017 and 6% in 2018 (World Bank, 2018). This growth was mainly supported by growth in agricultural output, among other steady economic growths such as industrial activity and service sectors. Agriculture is a huge contributor in terms of GPD with livestock taking a key position in this contribution. There is high demand for livestock products, which in turn creates a high demand for forage and feed. The availability of forage and feed is challenged by inadequate rainfall, overstocking, lack of knowledge and technology among others. However, famers are becoming persistent by using various ways in order to counter these challenges; among them production, conservation and purchase of forage and feed. This study examines the flow of forage and feed in selected counties in Kenya. A mixed research technique was applied using questionnaire as instrument of choice to conduct interviews with livestock farmers. The study found that most of the forage and feed consumed by livestock in these areas comes from respondents’ family lands. The study also found that most of the livestock diet is comprised of crop residues. Almost all the respondents in the counties agreed that planning forage and feed is not an expensive endeavor. Almost all the respondents said that buying forage and feed is an expensive engagement across the four counties. There is therefore room to increase productivity in terms of quality and quantity of forage and feed in these counties, through forage and feed farming

Fire safety in buildings

Many buildings, in many countries, throughout the world have substandard fire safety features. This discussion is restricted to hotels and hostels, which are often the only types of buildings readily accessible by visitors to a country. It attempts to explore some of the difficulties in that many building regulatory agents in some countries are not ensuring all buildings are safe from fire. It recommends that in the absence of fully safe buildings from the statutory approval process, private consortia of building owners should be initiating their own safety checklists

The Nature and Determinants of Volatility in Agricultural Prices

The volatility of 19 agricultural commodity prices are examined at monthly and annual frequencies. All of the price series are found to exhibit persistent volatility (periods of relatively high and low volatility). There is also strong evidence of transmission of volatilities across prices. Volatility in oil prices is found to be a significant determinant of volatilities in the majority of series and, likewise, exchange rate volatility is found to be a predictor of volatility in over half the series. There is also strong evidence that stock levels and yields are influencing price volatility. Most series exhibit significant evidence of trends in their volatility. However, these are in a downward direction for some series and in an upward direction for other series. Thus, there is no general finding of long term increases in volatility across most agricultural pricesVolatility, Agricultural Prices

Optical neural networks: an introduction to a special issue by the feature editors

This feature of Applied Optics is devoted to papers on the optical implementation of neural-network models of computation. Papers are included on optoelectronic neuron array devices, optical interconnection techniques using holograms and spatial light modulators, optical associative memories, demonstrations of optoelectronic systems for learning, classification, and target recognition, and on the demonstration, analysis, and simulation of adaptive interconnections for optical neural networks using photorefractive volume holograms

Book Review - The Soft Power of Construction Contracting Organisations

Cheung, S. O.,  Wong, P. S. P. and Wing Yiu, T. W. eds., 2015. The Soft Power of Construction Contracting Organisations. London: Routledge. 226 pages. ISBN – 9781138805286