1,972 research outputs found
Negotiating sexuality and masculinity in school sport: An autoethnography
This autoethnography explores challenging and ethically sensitive issues around sexual orientation, sexual identity and masculinity in the context of school sport. Through storytelling, I aim to show how sometimes ambiguous encounters with heterosexism, homophobia and hegemonic masculinity through sport problematise identity development for young same-sex attracted males. By foregrounding personal embodied experience, I respond to an absence of stories of gay and bisexual experiences among males in physical education and school sport, in an effort to reduce a continuing sense of Otherness and difference regarding same-sex attracted males. I rely on the story itself to express the embodied forms of knowing that inhabit the experiences I describe, and resist a finalising interpretation of the story. Instead, I offer personal reflections on particular theoretical and methodological issues which relate to both the form and content of the story
Audiogenic reflex seizures in cats
This study aims at characterizing feline audiogenic reflex seizures (FARS). An online questionnaire was developed to capture information from owners with cats suffering FARS. This was collated with the medical records from the primary veterinarian.
Ninety-six cats were included. Myoclonic seizures were one of the cardinal signs of this syndrome (90/96), frequently occurring prior to generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTCS) in this population. Other features include a late-onset (median 15 years) and absence seizures (6/96), with most seizures triggered by high frequency sounds amid occasional spontaneous seizures (up to 20%). Half the population (48/96) had hearing impairment or were deaf. One third of cats (35/96) had concurrent diseases, most likely reflecting the age distribution. Birmans were strongly represented (30/96). Levetiracetam gave good seizure control. The course of the epilepsy was non-progressive in the majority (68/96) with an improvement over time in some (23/96). Only 33/96 and 11/90 owners respectively felt the GTCS and myoclonic seizures affected their cat’s quality of life (QoL). Despite this, many owners (50/96) reported a slow decline in their cat’s health becoming less responsive (43/50), not jumping (41/50), uncoordinated or weak in the pelvic limbs (24/50), and exhibiting dramatic weight loss (39/50). These signs were exclusively reported in cats experiencing seizures for >2 years with 42/50 owners stating these signs affected their cat’s QoL.
In gathering data on audiogenic seizures in cats, we have identified a new epilepsy syndrome named FARS with a geriatric-onset. Further studies are warranted to investigate potential genetic predispositions to this condition
Reflections on a degree initiative: the UK's Birmingham Royal Ballet dancers enter the University of Birmingham
This paper provides an opportunity to share experiences and perceptions of the first 5 years of a degree programme for professional dancers. A partnership developed in the mid-1990s between the UK's Birmingham Royal Ballet and the University of Birmingham, Westhill (now School of Education), to provide a part-time, post-experience, flexible study programme for full-time Company dancers. This is the first 'company customised' higher education programme to dovetail studies around rehearsal, performance and touring schedules. Methodology is based on a narrative by the author, informed by ongoing internal and external evaluations, in-depth interviews with dancers and Company managers, documentation and secondary sources. Outcomes indicate that the programme has made a positive difference to the Company, to the dancers and to the wider education and dance/arts world
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Exploring thermal signatures in the experimentally heated CM carbonaceous chondrite Allan Hills 83100
Sexual abuse and the grooming process in sport: Learning from Bella's story
Through a process of collaborative autoethnography, we explore the experiences of one female athlete named Bella who was groomed and then sexually abused by her male coach. Bella’s story signals how the structural conditions and power relationships embedded in competitive sporting environments, specifically the power invested in the coach, provide a unique sociocultural context that offers a number of potentialities for sexual abuse and exploitation to take place. We offer Bella’s story as a pedagogical resource for those involved in the world of sport to both think about and with as part of a process of encouraging change at the individual and institutional levels
Time- and frequency-domain polariton interference
We present experimental observations of interference between an atomic spin
coherence and an optical field in a {\Lambda}-type gradient echo memory. The
interference is mediated by a strong classical field that couples a weak probe
field to the atomic coherence through a resonant Raman transition. Interference
can be observed between a prepared spin coherence and another propagating
optical field, or between multiple {\Lambda} transitions driving a single spin
coherence. In principle, the interference in each scheme can yield a near unity
visibility.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure
Developing a professional leadership identity during organisational change in professional youth football
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the construction of a professional leadership identity of an outsider appointed to implement organisational change within the academy of a professional football club. Data were collected through field notes, informal observations and meetings, formal academy team meetings, three in-depth co-worker interviews and four semi-structured in-depth participant interviews, which were subjected to an iterative analysis. Findings highlighted how the appraisal of others and their appraisal of the participant were affected by employment vulnerability, and that ‘identity work’ when leading organisational change was intertwined with micro-political literacy and micro-political action. This study furthers understanding of the development of a leadership identity as a fluid and fragmented struggle, by demonstrating that the process of identity construction is emotional work and is entwined in a complex interplay of micro-political literacy and action, and employment vulnerability
Photon number discrimination without a photon counter and its application to reconstructing non-Gaussian states
The non-linearity of a conditional photon-counting measurement can be used to
`de-Gaussify' a Gaussian state of light. Here we present and experimentally
demonstrate a technique for photon number resolution using only homodyne
detection. We then apply this technique to inform a conditional measurement;
unambiguously reconstructing the statistics of the non-Gaussian one and two
photon subtracted squeezed vacuum states. Although our photon number
measurement relies on ensemble averages and cannot be used to prepare
non-Gaussian states of light, its high efficiency, photon number resolving
capabilities, and compatibility with the telecommunications band make it
suitable for quantum information tasks relying on the outcomes of mean values.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Theory section expanded in response to referee
comment
Levetiracetam in the management of feline audiogenic reflex seizures: a randomised, controlled, open-label study
OBJECTIVES: Currently, there are no published randomised, controlled veterinary trials evaluating the efficacy of antiepileptic medication in the treatment of myoclonic seizures. Myoclonic seizures are a hallmark of feline audiogenic seizures (FARS). METHODS: This prospective, randomised, open-label trial compared the efficacy and tolerability of levetiracetam (20-25 mg/kg q8h) with phenobarbital (3-5 mg/kg q12h) in cats with suspected FARS that experienced myoclonic seizures. Cats were included that had ⩾12 myoclonic seizure days during a prospective 12 week baseline period. This was followed by a 4 week titration phase (until a therapeutic serum concentration of phenobarbital was achieved) and a 12 week treatment phase. RESULTS: Fifty-seven cats completed the study: 28 in the levetiracetam group and 29 in the phenobarbital group. A reduction of ⩾50% in the number of myoclonic seizure days was seen in 100% of patients in the levetiracetam group and in 3% of patients in the phenobarbital group (P <0.001) during the treatment period. Levetiracetam-treated cats had higher freedom from myoclonic seizures (50.0% vs 0%; P <0.001) during the treatment period. The most common adverse events were lethargy, inappetence and ataxia, with no difference in incidence between levetiracetam and phenobarbital. Adverse events were mild and transient with levetiracetam but persistent with phenobarbital. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: These results suggest that levetiracetam is an effective and well-tolerated treatment for cats with myoclonic seizures and is more effective than phenobarbital. Whether it will prevent the occurrence of generalised tonic-clonic seizures and other forebrain signs if used early in the course of FARS is not yet clear
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