Targeting Mr Average: Participation, gender equity and school sport partnerships

The School Sport Partnership Programme (SSPP) is one strand of the national strategy for physical education and school sport in England, the physical education and school sport Club Links Strategy (PESSCL). The SSPP aims to make links between school physical education (PE) and out of school sports participation, and has a particular remit to raise the participation levels of several identified under-represented groups, of which girls and young women are one. National evaluations of the SSPP show that it is beginning to have positive impacts on young people's activity levels by increasing the range and provision of extra curricular activities (Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED), 2003, 2004, 2005; Loughborough Partnership, 2005, 2006). This paper contributes to the developing picture of the phased implementation of the programme by providing qualitative insights into the work of one school sport partnership with a particular focus on gender equity. The paper explores the ways in which gender equity issues have been explicitly addressed within the 'official texts' of the SSPP; how these have shifted over time and how teachers are responding to and making sense of these in their daily practice. Using participation observation, interview and questionnaire data, the paper explores how the coordinators are addressing the challenge of increasing the participation of girls and young women. The paper draws on Walby's (2000) conceptualisation of different kinds of feminist praxis to highlight the limitations of the coordinators' work. Two key themes from the data and their implications are addressed: the dominance of competitive sport practices and the PE professionals' views of targeting as a strategy for increasing the participation of under-represented groups. The paper concludes that coordinators work within an equality or difference discourse with little evidence of the transformative praxis needed for the programme to be truly inclusive. © 2008 Taylor & Francis

Letter from J.C. Penney, 1933

Famed business leader J.C. Penney sent a letter to Governor William Langer on September 11, 1933, thanking Langer for the return of brochures about chain store tax. James Cash Penney founded the J.C. Penney stores in 1902.https://commons.und.edu/langer-papers/1051/thumbnail.jp

Prediction of hormone-dependence in mammary cancer

A review has been made of the literature concerning clinical response rates to endocrine therapies for advanced mammary cancer and the need for a predictor of response has been identified. Various postulated predictors of response have been critically reviewed and Oestrogen Receptor (E/R) status has been identified as the best, currently available, approach. The main limitations of E/R status are, firstly, the poor predictive value of a positive result and, secondly, the complex nature of current techniques for its determination. Two approaches to the prediction of hormone-dependence, aimed at overcoming these limitations of E/R status, have been invest¬ igated. Biochemical and histochemical systems for the identif¬ ication of tissue peroxidase, a postulated, alternative marker for oestrogen-dependence, have been established. Peroxidase levels have been measured in a range of normal rat tissues, in rat mammary tumour models of hormone-dependent and -independent growth and in human mammary tumours and have been compared with levels of E/R and also of Progestogen Receptor (Pg/R). A relationship between peroxidase activity and hormone-dependence has been confirmed but the predictive value of peroxidase determination appears to be inferior to that of E/R assay. The feasibility of a histochemical approach to the identification of E/R has been investigated. The effects of histochemical processing, including methods of tissue fixation, on E/R activity have been studied using tritiated oestradiol as tracer. Conjugates of oestradiol with tracers which can be visualised under the light,or fluorescence, microscope have been synthesised and evaluated. It has been demonstrated that histochemical processing results in considerable losses of detectable E/R activity and £hat oestradiol labelled with histochemical tracers has a very small ability to bind to E/R. Nevertheless, uptake of labelled oestradiol by oestrogen-target tissues, including some human mammary cancers, has been demonstrated and such uptake may be related to bona fide E/R activity

Lateral Variations in Lower Crustal Strength Control the Temporal Evolution of Mountain Ranges: Examples From South-East Tibet

Controversy surrounds the rheology of the continental lithosphere, and how this rheology controls the evolution and behavior of mountain ranges. In this study, we investigate the effect of lateral contrasts in the strength of the lower crust, such as those between cratonic continental interiors and weaker rocks in the adjacent deforming regions, on the evolution of topography. We combine numerical modeling with recently published results from stable-isotope palaeoaltimetry in south-east Tibet. Stable-isotope palaeoaltimetry in this region provides constraints on vertical motions, which are required to distinguish between competing models for lithosphere rheology and deformation. We use numerical modeling to investigate the effect of lateral strength contrasts on the shape and temporal evolution of mountain ranges. In combination with palaeoaltimetry results, our modeling suggests that lateral strength contrasts provide a first-order control on the evolution of topography in south-east Tibet. We find that the evolution of topography in the presence of such strength contrasts leads to laterally varying topographic gradients, and to key features of the GPS- and earthquake-derived strain-rate field, without the need for a low-viscosity, lower-crustal channel. We also find that palaeoaltimetric samples may have been transported laterally for hundreds of kilometers, an effect which should be accounted for in their interpretation. Our results are likely to be applicable to the evolution of mountain ranges in general and provide an explanation for the spatial correlation between cratonic lowland regions and steep mountain range-fronts

Advanced smoke meter development survey and analysis

Ideal smoke meter characteristics are determined to provide a basis for evaluation of candidate systems. Five promising techniques are analyzed in detail to evaluate compilance with the practical smoke meter requirements. Four of the smoke measurement concepts are optical methods: Modulated Transmission (MODTRAN), Cross Beam Absorption Counter (CBAC), Laser Induced Incandescence (LIN), and Photoacoustic Spectroscopy (PAS). A rapid response filter instrument called a Taper Element Oscillating Microbalance (TEOM) is also evaluated. For each technique, the theoretical principles are described, the expected performance is determined, and the advantages and disadvantages are discussed The expected performance is evaluated against each of the smoke meter specifications, and the key questions for further study are given. The most promising smoke meter technique analyzed was MODTRAN, which is a variation on a direct transmission measurement. The soot-laden gas is passed through a transmission cell, and the gas pressure is modulated by a speaker

Subduction tractions and vertical axis rotations in the Zagros-Makran transition zone, SE Iran: The 2013 May 11 M<inf>w</inf> 6.1 Minab earthquake

The source parameters and slip distribution of the 2013 May 11 Mw 6.1 Minab earthquake are studied using seismology, geodesy and field observations. We observe left-lateral strike-slip motion on a fault striking ENE–WSW; approximately perpendicular to previously studied faults in the Minab–Zendan–Palami fault zone. The fault that ruptured in 2013 is one of a series of ∼E–W striking left-lateral faults visible in the geology and geomorphology. These accommodate a velocity field equivalent to right-lateral shear on ∼N–S striking planes by clockwise rotations about vertical axes. The presence of these faults can reconcile differences in estimates of fault slip rates in the western Makran from GPS and Quaternary dating. The longitudinal range of shear in the western Makran is likely to be controlled by the distance over which the underthrusting Arabian lithosphere deepens in the transition from continent–continent collision in the Zagros to oceanic subduction in the Makran.This work forms part of the NERC- and ESRC-funded project ’EarthquakesWithout Frontiers‘. CP is funded by a NERC PhD studentship.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Oxford University Press via http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggv20

Atmospheric Temperature from Raman Scattering

Raman scattering signatures are functions of the scattering-gas temperature, and are therefore of potential use for practical atmospheric temperature probes. The method described uses either ratios of pure rotational Raman scattering intensities for air utilizing various spectral bandpasses, or, alternatively, ratios of air-rotational to nitrogen-vibrational scattering intensities. Three aspects of work relating to the development of such probes are discussed in this presentation: (1) fundamental absolute Raman data, (2) construction of air spectra from these data, and (3) temperature-sensitivity of the signature. The fundamental data described are the absolute rotational and vibrational scattering cross sections. Recent measurements in this laboratory of rotational cross sections for N2, O2, and CO2 are emphasized, as are their use in predicting absolute magnitudes of Raman scattering signals. Next is described the computation of air rotational Raman spectra as a function of temperature calculated through use of the experimentally-measured cross sections. The spectra are based additively upon nitrogen and oxygen contributions, since pure rotational Raman scattering from water vapor is very weak. Finally, the sensitivity of the scattering intensity ratios to temperature is explored as a function of choice of spectral bandpass for the monitored rotational Raman scattering. Various compromises will be discussed which must be made in choosing bandpasses appropriate for specific purposes and experimental conditions