Experiences of delayed maturation in female vocational ballet students: An interpretative phenomenological analysis

Introduction: There is a well-established bias toward late maturing females in the context of ballet, with up to 70% of professionals delayed in maturation. The timing of maturation has implications for physical and psychological outcomes which are likely to be amplified in dance. The aim of this research was to explore the role of maturity timing in adolescent dance students' experiences of vocational ballet training. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 28 adolescent female dancers of differing maturity timing across three vocational ballet schools in the UK. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was employed in the analysis of data. This study comprises findings from the nine late maturing dancers within the sample. Results: Late maturing dancers perceived a number of aesthetic and functional advantages. The aesthetic advantages noted by the dancers are congruent with the well-established bias toward a later maturing physique for ballet; being ‘small’ and not having ‘bits’ is advantageous for these dancers in terms of maintaining a more pre-pubescent look and thereby conforming more easily to the expectations of the ballet world. However, dancers in this study perceived some significant drawbacks. Despite aesthetic advantages, later maturing dancers were disadvantaged by the current training system which sees them undertaking the most crucial training period during their most rapid period of growth. Conclusions: Greater consideration of maturation is needed within training systems and further research is warranted to understand these experiences in more depth and their implications for the physical and psychological wellbeing of young people in dance.</p

Subsea Cryogenic Gas Releases

The objective of this research is to develop a mathematical model to describe the dynamic and thermodynamic history of a Subsea Cryogenic Gas Release, and thus allow prediction of buoyancy, area, velocity and temperature on arrival at the sea surface. The thesis begins with a review of previous work and notes the shortfalls in the models produced. This work concentrates on the main part of the rise, although in reality both initial and final stages would have an effect. It is assumed that the gas forms a buoyant plume within an axisymmetric geometry. From the conservation laws a system of equations is derived which are then combined with a number of thermodynamic relations in a computer program. The semi-empirical formulae used in describing the thermodynamics relate to methane, this being the major constituent of the natural gas under consideration. Release rate, depth and pipeline conditions are input variables. Velocity and void-fraction profiles are assumed to be 'equivalent' top-hat, with correspondence between these values and those of gaussian being noted. Assumptions are made to the bubble size and the heat transfer to the gas with sensitivity studies being performed to identify the influence of these parameters. Initially mass transfer is disregarded, but a second model allows for the dissolution of the gas in the seawater and the effect of this on the surface conditions is assessed

Red Noise in Anomalous X-ray Pulsar Timing Residuals

Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs), thought to be magnetars, exhibit poorly understood deviations from a simple spin-down called "timing noise". AXP timing noise has strong low-frequency components which pose significant challenges for quantification. We describe a procedure for extracting two quantities of interest, the intensity and power spectral index of timing noise. We apply this procedure to timing data from three sources: a monitoring campaign of five AXPs, observations of five young pulsars, and the stable rotator PSR B1937+21.Comment: submitted to the proceedings of the "40 Years of Pulsars" conferenc

Autoradiographic characterization of [18 F]PSMA-1007 binding in rat brain.

Carboxypeptidase II (CBPII) in brain metabolizes the neuroactive substance N-acetyl-L-aspartyl-L-glutamate (NAGG) to yield the elements of glutamate and N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA). In peripheral organs, CBPII is known as prostrate specific membrane antigen (PSMA), which presents an important target for nuclear medicine imaging in prostate cancer. Available PSMA ligands for PET imaging do not cross the blood-brain barrier, and there is scant knowledge of the neurobiology of CBPII, despite its implication in the regulation of glutamatergic neurotransmission. In this study we used the clinical PET tracer [18 F]-PSMA-1007 ([18 F]PSMA) for an autoradiographic characterization of CGPII in rat brain. Ligand binding and displacement curves indicated a single site in brain, with KD of about 0.5 nM, and Bmax ranging from 9 nM in cortex to 19 nM in white matter (corpus callosum and fimbria) and 24 nM in hypothalamus. The binding properties of [18 F]PSMA in vitro should enable its use for autoradiographic investigations of CBPII expression in animal models of human neuropsychiatric conditions

Off the track: A profile of non-tenure track faculty at McGill University

A survey conducted at McGill University suggests that non-tenure track faculty are a diverse group of highly-qualified individuals whose employment status involves a high degree of uncertainty. In accordance with other Canadian and American studies, the survey also found that a disproportionate number of women occupy non-tenure track as opposed to tenured or tenure track positions. Since the 1980s, North American universities have responded to increasing student enrollments and con- tinued cuts to government funding by appointing significant numbers of faculty to full-time and part-time non-tenure track positions. Due to the precariousness of their employment status, non-tenure track faculty rep- resent an attractive buffer in times of financial restraint. Despite their increasing numbers, however, little is known about the composition and concerns of non-tenure track faculty as a group. This article describes this group at one university and puts into question the structural and power relations that have led to their increased use and abuse.Une étude faite à l'université McGill suggère que le corps enseignant dont le statut ne donne pas accès à la permanence est fortement diversifié et composé d'individus très qualifiés, mais que ce même statut implique une grande incertitude d'emploi. A l'instar des études canadiennes et américaines, cette étude montre également qu'à l'université McGill, un nombre disproportionné de femmes occupent des postes qui ne donnent pas accès à la permanence par opposition à des postes permanents ou qui donnent accès à la permanence. Depuis les années 1980, les universités Nord-américaines ont réagi à l'accroissement de la clientèle étudiante et aux compressions répétées des subventions de l'État en embauchant un nombre important d'enseignants à des postes à temps partiel ou plein temps qui ne donnent pas accès à la permanence. La précarité inhérente à ce statut d'emploi est une solution attrayante en période de restriction budgétaire. Quoique le nombre de postes soit en croissance constante, on connait peu de choses sur la composition de ce groupe et leurs préoccupations à propos de leur statut. Cet article décrit un groupe dans une université et soulève des questions de relations structurales et de pouvoir qui ont mené à accroître et à abuser de cette forme d'emploi

The role of puberty in the making and breaking of young ballet dancers::Perspectives of dance teachers

Physical changes associated with puberty may conflict with functional and aesthetic ideals for a career in ballet. The dance teacher is in a position to guide young dancers through the pubertal transition, although dancers rather than teachers are often the focus of research. This study explores the social stimulus value of the female body in ballet as perceived by the dance teacher and how value may change during puberty. Ten UK dance teachers were interviewed; interpretative phenomenological analysis was used. Four main themes perceived by dance teachers emerged as central to the social stimulus value of the body among adolescent dancers: the ideal body; teacher approaches to managing puberty in the dance environment; puberty as a 'make or break' stage in ballet; and teacher awareness of pubertal onset and the implications of timing. Dance teachers can play an important role in moderating external and individual expectations during the pubertal transition.</p

The economic benefits of reducing physical inactivity: an Australian example

Background: Physical inactivity has major impacts on health and productivity. Our aim was to estimate the health and economic benefits of reducing the prevalence of physical inactivity in the 2008 Australian adult population. The economic benefits were estimated as &lsquo;opportunity cost savings&rsquo;, which represent resources utilized in the treatment of preventable disease that are potentially available for re-direction to another purpose from fewer incident cases of disease occurring in communities.Methods: Simulation models were developed to show the effect of a 10% feasible, reduction target for physical inactivity from current Australian levels (70%). Lifetime cohort health benefits were estimated as fewer incident cases of inactivity-related diseases; deaths; and Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) by age and sex. Opportunity costs were estimated as health sector cost impacts, as well as paid and unpaid production gains and leisure impacts from fewer disease events associated with reduced physical inactivity. Workforce production gains were estimated by comparing surveyed participation and absenteeism rates of physically active and inactive adults, and valued using the friction cost approach. The impact of an improvement in health status on unpaid household production and leisure time were modeled from time use survey data, as applied to the exposed and non-exposed population subgroups and valued by suitable proxy. Potential costs associated with interventions to increase physical activity were not included. Multivariable uncertainty analyses and univariate sensitivity analyses were undertaken to provide information on the strength of the conclusions.Results: A 10% reduction in physical inactivity would result in 6,000 fewer incident cases of disease, 2,000 fewer deaths, 25,000 fewer DALYs and provide gains in working days (114,000), days of home-based production (180,000) while conferring a AUD96 million reduction in health sector costs. Lifetime potential opportunity cost savings in workforce production (AUD12 million), home-based production (AUD71 million) and leisure-based production (AUD79 million) was estimated (total AUD162 million 95% uncertainty interval AUD136 million, AUD196 million).Conclusions: Opportunity cost savings and health benefits conservatively estimated from a reduction in population-level physical inactivity may be substantial. The largest savings will benefit individuals in the form of unpaid production and leisure gains, followed by the health sector, business and government.<br /

Arbor -- a morphologically-detailed neural network simulation library for contemporary high-performance computing architectures

We introduce Arbor, a performance portable library for simulation of large networks of multi-compartment neurons on HPC systems. Arbor is open source software, developed under the auspices of the HBP. The performance portability is by virtue of back-end specific optimizations for x86 multicore, Intel KNL, and NVIDIA GPUs. When coupled with low memory overheads, these optimizations make Arbor an order of magnitude faster than the most widely-used comparable simulation software. The single-node performance can be scaled out to run very large models at extreme scale with efficient weak scaling. HPC, GPU, neuroscience, neuron, softwareComment: PDP 2019 27th Euromicro International Conference on Parallel, Distributed and Network-based Processin

The health and economic benefits of reducing intimate partner violence: an Australian example.

BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence (IPV) has important impacts on the health of women in society. Our aim was to estimate the health and economic benefits of reducing the prevalence of IPV in the 2008 Australian female adult population. METHODS: Simulation models were developed to show the effect of a 5 percentage point absolute feasible reduction target in the prevalence of IPV from current Australian levels (27%). IPV is not measured in national surveys. Levels of psychological distress were used as a proxy for exposure to IPV since psychological conditions represent three-quarters of the disease burden from IPV. Lifetime cohort health benefits for females were estimated as fewer incident cases of violence-related disease and injury; deaths; and Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs). Opportunity cost savings were estimated for the health sector, paid and unpaid production and leisure from reduced incidence of IPV-related disease and deaths. Workforce production gains were estimated by comparing surveyed participation and absenteeism rates of females with moderate psychological distress (lifetime IPV exposure) against high or very high distress (current IPV exposure), and valued using the friction cost approach (FCA). The impact of improved health status on unpaid household production and leisure time were modelled from time use survey data. Potential costs associated with interventions to reduce IPV were not considered. Multivariable uncertainty analyses and univariable sensitivity analyses were undertaken. RESULTS: A 5 percentage point absolute reduction in the lifetime prevalence of IPV in the 2008 Australian female population was estimated to produce 6000 fewer incident cases of disease/injury, 74 fewer deaths, 5000 fewer DALYs lost and provide gains of 926,000 working days, 371,000 days of home-based production and 428,000 leisure days. Overall, AUD371 million in opportunity cost savings could be achievable. The greatest economic savings would be home-based production (AUD147 million), followed by leisure time (AUD98 million), workforce production (AUD94 million) and reduced health sector costs (AUD38 million). CONCLUSIONS: This study contributes new knowledge about the economic impact of IPV in females. The findings provide evidence of large potential opportunity cost savings from reducing the prevalence of IPV and reinforce the need to reduce IPV in Australia, and elsewhere

Understanding growth and maturation in the context of ballet: A biocultural approach

The pubertal transition can present an interesting paradox for the young dancer, with growth and maturation leading to improvements in some areas such as strength and power and detriment to others, such as flexibility and co-ordination. These challenges highlight the need to consider the interactions among biological, psychological and sociocultural factors during the pubertal transition in the context of the ballet environment. Awareness of these potential interactions will likely provide insights as to why some dancers successfully adapt to the challenges of puberty while others have greater difficulty. This review explores how we might extend existing biocultural models to the context of ballet in order to garner a greater understanding of the pubertal transition. Future research should explore the interactions among social, psychological and biological factors during puberty in adolescent ballet dancers in order to document important determinants of adaptive responses at puberty and to inform future endeavours aimed at promoting healthy pubertal transitions among young dancers