Nurture groups: inclusion of the most vulnerable children and young people in Catholic schools

No abstract available

SUPPORT SCULL KINEMATICS IN ELITE SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMERS

Elite synchronized swimmers must be able to perform routines requiring extraordinary anaerobic capacity while appearing to move smoothly and “effortlessly.” In world competitions, the winners must not only excel technically, but artistically as well. To date there has been no systematic scientific investigation of subtle kinematic differences which may translate to differences in efficiency among elite synchronized swimmers. This study represents an initial exploratory investigation of this topic. subjects were three members of the 1992 United States Olympic Synchronized Swimming Team, including Jill Savery, ath ha lie Schneyder, and Becky Dyroen-Lancer, the current World Champion in all synchronized swimming categories. The skill chosen for analysis was the support scull, an important basic skill that is commonly used to support the performer in an inverted position with one or both legs projecting above the water. Two cameras operated at 60 Hz videotaped the subjects performing support scull in crane and double-leg positions. Three sequential stroke cycles chosen at random were digitized for each subject in both positions. The raw data were smoothed with a cubic spline function and combined into three-dimensional position coordinates using the Direct Linear Transformation algorithm. Files were generated for 22 kinematic variables of potential interest. Subjects exhibited greater vertical motion of the wrist by 5.3, 2.9, and 5.9 cm, respectively, in the double-leg as compared to the crane position. Greater wrist velocities and shorter stroke cycles were also documented for the double-leg as compared to the crane position. Dyroen-lancer maintained her forearms closer to horizontal throughout the stroke cycles in both positions than did the other two subjects, with forearm orientation ranging from 0-23º and 0-26 º for Dyroen-Lancer and 0-47 º and 0-40 º for Savery and 0-44 º and 0-43 º for Schneyder. It is possible that this difference enables Dyroen-Lancer, who is noted for appearing to perform “effortlessly,” to generate more lift force as compared to the other subjects. The results of this preliminary investigation support a need for further investigation of synchronized swimming skill biomechanics

Pupil participation in Scottish schools: how far have we come?

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN, 1989), which applies to all children under the age of 18, established the overarching principles guiding pupil participation. In most European states, signatories to the Convention have enacted policies to promote the voice of the child or young person in decisions that affect them. In education systems strategies to enhance the pupil participation are an increasing feature of deliberation on education for citizenship, curriculum flexibility, pedagogical approaches and assessment for learning. Despite the positive policy context and professional commitment to principles of inclusion, translating policy intentions so that the spirit of the legislation is played out in the day-to-day experiences of pupils is a constant challenge. This article reports on research that examines how pupil participation is understood and enacted in Scottish schools. It considers how the over-laying of diverse policies presents mixed messages to practitioners

Pupil participation in Scottish schools: final report

This research was commissioned by Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) to evaluate the nature of pupil participation in primary and secondary schools across Scotland. The specific objectives of the research were: <p>· To describe what school staff and pupils understand by the term ‘pupil participation’.</p> <p>· To describe the range and usage of pupil participation mechanisms employed in schools.</p> <p>· To describe how school staff respect and respond to pupils’ views and ideas, and those of the wider community.</p> <p>· To identify the characteristics of schools and classrooms that facilitate effective pupil participation.</p> <p>· To identify possible barriers to the development of pupil participation in schools and to make suggestions about how these can be overcome.</p> <p>· To capture examples of effective practice of pupil participation.</p> <p>· To make suggestions about how pupil participation can help support the implementation of the Curriculum for Excellence.</p&gt

Blue frontiers: managing the environmental costs of aquaculture

The report begins with an overview of the current status of world aquaculture. It then goes on to describe an approach for estimating the current combined biophysical resource demands of aquaculture for producer countries and regions. Following a comparison of these results with those available for other animal food production sectors the report then examines the consequences of likely future trends in production on the environmental impacts of aquaculture. Finally, the policy implications of the report’s findings are discussed along with the research agenda that should be pursued to meet the challenge of sustainable food production

A THREE-DIMENSIONAL KINEMATIC ANALYSIS OF THE FRONT FLY-CAST

A fly caster must control the entire length of line to be projected while casting. This requires coordination of shoulder, elbow, and wrist movement. Little quantitative kinematic research describing the basic front fly cast has been published to date. The purpose of this study was to provide a three dimensional kinematic description of expert performance of the front fly cast, and to compare the results to fly casting instructional media. Twelve club level fly fishing experts, able to accurately cast with standardized equipment to a one meter target circle 12.9m away, were chosen as subjects. Each subject was videotaped indoors while performing five accurate basic front casts from a standard reference position. Two genlocked video cameras operated at 60 Hz were used for collection of the three-dimensional calibration frame and casting images. After data collection, seven body and rod handle reference position markers were digitized frame by frame for each camera view. The Direct Linear Transformation algorithm was utilized to provide the three dimensional coordinate locations of the markers. Within subject reliability data values obtained by analysis of two different casts from three randomly selected subjects demonstrated congruity between casts for the kinematic variables. The mean, standard deviation, standard error, and range of the quantified variables were reported and compared to the qualitative description of these variables in instructional publications. The group results revealed a consistent pattern of angular displacement and angular velocity among subjects for rod position to horizontal, elbow, wrist, and torso motion. Dissimilarities were noted for sagittal and frontal plane shoulder motion, and for rod displacement from the sagittal plane. Comparison of the study results to the qualitative descriptions of instructional authors revealed several differences. Subject data exhibited higher initial, midpoint, and ending rod position to horizontal angular displacements, and exhibited greater rod displacement from the sagittal plane, than the descriptions of these variables in the casting literature. More flexion at the elbow and less flexion at the shoulder were exhibited at the end of the backcast by the subjects than was described in the casting literature. The results of this study provided quantitative data for validation of current and future descriptions and analyses flycasting mechanics

The Emotionally Intelligent Officer? Exploring Decision-Making Style and Emotional Intelligence in Hostage and Crisis Negotiators and Non-Negotiator Trained Police Officers

The research described in this article explores decision-making styles and levels of emotional intelligence displayed by police hostage and crisis negotiators in the United Kingdom. One hundred and seventeen negotiators from 21 police forces took part in the research and their data were compared with 118 non-negotiator trained police officers and 203 university students. Participants completed the General Decision-Making Style Questionnaire (Scott & Bruce, 1995) and the Emotional Intelligence Inventory (Gignac, 2007), with data analysed using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) and t-tests. When controlling for the effects of age and social desirability, significant differences were found between both police samples and the student sample. All police officers displayed significantly lower levels of avoidant decision-making and significantly higher levels of overall emotional intelligence than students and these findings were also reflected within certain facets of emotional intelligence, specifically. These findings provide support for the existence of a unique ‘police officer profile’, but fail to support the premise of a distinct ‘hostage and crisis negotiator profile’ within the UK police population. The findings are discussed with relevance to the practice of hostage and crisis negotiation and future research directions

Blue frontiers: managing the environmental costs of aquaculture

The report begins with an overview of the current status of world aquaculture. It then goes on to describe an approach for estimating the current combined biophysical resource demands of aquaculture for producer countries and regions. Following a comparison of these results with those available for other animal food production sectors the report then examines the consequences of likely future trends in production on the environmental impacts of aquaculture. Finally, the policy implications of the reportÆs findings are discussed along with the research agenda that should be pursued to meet the challenge of sustainable food production.Aquaculture, Aquaculture systems, Life cycle analysis, Environmental impact, Resource management, Aquaculture statistics, Sustainability

Global Symposium on Gender and Fisheries : Seventh Asian Fisheries Forum, 1-2 December 2004, Penang, Malaysia

The 18 papers contained in this volume represent a substantive contribution to the literature on the topic of gender and fisheries. Drawing on work undertaken around the globe, the results described here confirm and extend earlier work and show that contributions to the fisheries sector among different genders are highly differentiated but uniformly substantial. As with many other sectors, however, the size and nature of the contribution of women in particular, is inadequately recognized and there is rarely an equitable distribution to each gender of the benefits that derive from their inputs. Such problems are especially stark for the small-scale fisheries of developing countries where women often bear brunt of poverty that pervades the sector.Socioeconomic aspects, Women, Labour, Fishery management, Fishery development, Fishery economics, Fishery regulations, Fish culture, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Thailand, I, Pacific, Vanuatu, Philippines, India, Taiwan, Cambodia, Kiribati, European Union, Canada,

Known unknowns: building an ethics of uncertainty into genomic medicine

Background Genomic testing has reached the point where, technically at least, it can be cheaper to undertake panel-, exome- or whole genome testing than it is to sequence a single gene. An attribute of these approaches is that information gleaned will often have uncertain significance. In addition to the challenges this presents for pre-test counseling and informed consent, a further consideration emerges over how - ethically - we should conceive of and respond to this uncertainty. To date, the ethical aspects of uncertainty in genomics have remained under-explored. Discussion In this paper, we draft a conceptual and ethical response to the question of how to conceive of and respond to uncertainty in genomic medicine. After introducing the problem, we articulate a concept of ‘genomic uncertainty’. Drawing on this, together with exemplar clinical cases and related empirical literature, we then critique the presumption that uncertainty is always problematic and something to be avoided, or eradicated. We conclude by outlining an ‘ethics of genomic uncertainty’; describing how we might handle uncertainty in genomic medicine. This involves fostering resilience, welfare, autonomy and solidarity. Conclusions Uncertainty will be an inherent aspect of clinical practice in genomics for some time to come. Genomic testing should not be offered with the explicit aim to reduce uncertainty. Rather, uncertainty should be appraised, adapted to and communicated about as part of the process of offering and providing genomic information. Keywords Ethics Uncertainty Genomics Clinical genomics Massively parallel sequencing Genome sequencing Genomic testing Genetic counseling Rare diseases Variants of uncertain significanc