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Can player tracking devices monitor changes in internal response during multidirectional running?
Get PDFThis is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport on 07/07/2022, available online: 10.1080/02701367.2022.2092049Purpose: We examined the movement, physiological and muscle function responses to running with and without (i.e. linear) multiple directional changes to understand which measures of external demands better reflected changes in the internal response. Methods: Twelve team sport athletes completed a linear and multidirectional running trial during which movement characteristics, oxygen consumption (), blood lactate (B[La]) and heart rate (HR) were measured. Isometric peak torque of knee extensors and flexors was also assessed before and after each trial. Results: High speed running distance was higher during the linear trial (p < 0.001), whereas time at high metabolic power (p = 0.046), number of accelerations (p < 0.001), summated HR (p = 0.003) and B[La] (p = 0.002) were higher during the multidirectional trial. Integrated external to internal ratios of high-speed running: summated HR and high-speed running: total were different between multidirectional and linear trials (p ≤ 0.001). Conversely, high metabolic power: summated HR and high metabolic power: total were similar (p ≥ 0.246). Small decrements in knee flexor (p = 0.003) and extensor torque (p = 0.004) were observed after both trials. Conclusion: Time at high metabolic power better reflects the increased internal response during running with more directional changes than high speed runnin
Social roles influence cortisol levels in captive Livingstone's fruit bats (Pteropus livingstonii)
Get PDFA critical component of conserving and housing species ex situ is an explicit scientific understanding of the physiological underpinnings of their welfare. Cortisol has been repeatedly linked to stress, and therefore used as an indicator of welfare for many species. In order to measure cortisol in the Livingstone's fruit bat (Pteropus livingstonii; a critically endangered keystone species) without disturbing the captive population, we have developed and validated a non-invasive, novel hormone extraction procedure and faecal glucocorticoid assay. A total of 92 faecal samples, 73 from the P. livingstonii breeding colony at Jersey Zoo, Channel Islands and 19 samples from P. livingstonii housed at Bristol Zoological Gardens, UK, have been collected and analyzed. Mixed-effect modelling of the influence of physiological state variables on cortisol concentration revealed that lactating females had higher cortisol levels than non-lactating females, indicating that our assay is measuring biologically relevant hormone concentrations. Males and older bats also had higher cortisol than non-lactating females and younger individuals. Further analysis applied social network methodology to compare the cortisol levels of bats with different social roles. We found that individuals that linked social groups possessed higher than average cortisol levels and conversely, individuals with high-quality, positive relationships had lower cortisol levels. These results demonstrate, for the first time in a bat species, social mediation of stress hormones. Lastly, the frequency of vocalisation was found to positively correlate with cortisol concentration in males, suggesting that this behaviour may be used by animal management as a visual indicator of a bat's hormonal status. Hence, this research has provided unique insights and empirical scientific knowledge regarding the relationship between the physiology and social behaviour of P. livingstonii, therefore allowing for recommendations to be made to optimise bat welfare at the individual level
Registered Nurses’ experiences of working within professional and contractual boundaries: A Grounded Theory study
Get PDFAligned to the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (NMC) The Code (2018a) and other supporting regulatory documents, Registered Nurses (RNs) are accountable to the healthcare organisation through an employment contract and must work within the remit of professional standards and organisational policies. Falling below explicit professional and organisational standards has the potential for repercussions for the RN, the public and the organisation. This research explores RNs’ experiences of meeting the needs of the patient whilst fulfilling the requirements of The Code (NMC, 2018a) in conjunction with operational policies in a small District General Hospital within the British Isles. As far as can be ascertained, this study is the first to focus on the topic of interest. To explore this subject area and to have generated a substantive theory of Professional Liminality, a qualitative constructivist grounded theory approach situated in the interpretive research paradigm was espoused.
Participants were purposefully and theoretically sampled to take part in this study. 12 face-to-face individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with experienced RNs. The interview guide evolved and lengthened over the data collection process in keeping with a grounded theory approach pertaining to emerging theoretical interests from the participants’ answers. The grounded theory principles of data collection techniques, constant comparative method of analysis to code data, construction of categories and the development of theoretical themes were adopted to produce a theory explaining the relationships between the emerging themes. Analysis of the findings uncovered three themes: Governance, Professional discrepancies, and Professional disquiet. These themes highlighted a dichotomy between professional and organisational expectations, significantly affecting RNs’ daily clinical practice, and are contextualised in the theoretical framework of professional liminality, representing the complexity of the findings.
A new model, Rules versus Roles (RvR), is proposed as an approach to address and resolve the precarious professional liminal positions in which RNs find themselves.
Whilst The Code (NMC, 2018a) and operational policy are both vital; they coexist paradoxically. This research indicates that they would benefit from complementing each other to affect an evolving and dynamic contemporary healthcare organisation
Cucumeropsis mannii seed oil (CMSO) attenuates alterations in testicular biochemistry and histology against Bisphenol a-induced toxicity in male Wister albino rats
Get PDFMale reproductive health has deteriorated in recent years as a result of industrialization, which has led to the use of desirable chemicals, like Bisphenol A (BPA), of underlying toxicity. seed is a common soup thickener that produces vegetable oil as well as essential nutrients making it a source of nutraceuticals enlisted with a wide range of therapeutic effects. A total of 48 adult male Wistar rats (120 ± 200g) were used in this study. They were completely randomized and divided into six groups: A (1ml olive oil) irrespective of the weight, B [BPA 100 mg/kg body weight (bw)], C (CMSO 7.5 ml/kg bw), D (CMSO 7.5 ml/kg bw + BPA 100 mg/kg bw), E (CMSO 5.0 ml/kg bw + BPA 100 mg/kg bw), and E (CMSO 2.5 ml/kg bw + BPA 100 mg/kg bw). At the end of the administration via oral routes, rats were sacrificed and testes were collected for biochemistry and histological analysis. BPA significantly (P < 0.05) decreased total testicular protein, epididymal sperm parameters (count, volume, and motility), Mitochondrial Membrane Potential (MMP), body weight, testicular volume; and significantly (P < 0.05) increased testicular enzymes (alkaline phosphatase and lactate dehydrogenase), testicular index; plus histological damages. Interestingly, co-administration of BPA and CMSO significantly (P < 0.05) reversed the biochemical and histological changes. CMSO prevented the biochemistry and histological alterations hence reducing the testicular toxicity. Therefore, CMSO has the potential to be a promising novel nutraceutical for the treatment and management of BPA-induced testicular toxicity. [Abstract copyright: © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Homiletical Apologetics and the Local Church: Equipping believers through holistic apologetic preaching
No full textThis thesis researches the question, ‘To what extent does apologetic preaching equip evangelical believers to defend and share their Christian faith today?’. It argues that a holistic approach to apologetics and a textual approach to apologetic preaching are helpful to evangelical believers to understand their Christian faith deeply, and to defend and share it in a relevant and contemporary manner. The three main motivations that led to this project were 1) a lack of apologetics in preaching during Sunday worship services, 2) a dearth of academic literature on apologetic preaching (and none from a British perspective), and 3) to develop professionally both ministerially and academically in this subject area.
The research was conducted at Apologia Baptist Church (anonymised), a small evangelical Baptist church in the UK. Ten participants were chosen through purposive and maximum variation sampling. Norton’s pedagogical action research methodology was employed for the research, and it included two sermon series: Topical Apologetic Preaching (TAP) and Holistic Apologetic Preaching (HAP). Kemmis and McTaggart’s Spiral was used for individual sermon reflections. Originally, ten topical sermons were planned for the TAP series. However, critical reflection and reflexivity as part of my action research methodology resulted in major issues being identified. The two major issues (dominance of the intellectual nature of apologetics and the weaknesses of the topical approach to apologetic preaching) halted the TAP series after six sermons.
My response to these TAP inadequacies was to develop three original ideas. First, I made a case for a holistic understanding of Christian apologetics. I argued for the inclusion of spiritual gifts alongside intellectual apologetics (moral arguments, proofs, contradictions), and I encouraged the use of action-oriented forms of apologetics (fighting injustice, solidarity, compassion). Secondly, I made a case for the HAP model with a textual approach. HAP sermons encourage believers to defend and share their Christian faith intellectually and spiritually, embracing imagination and creativity through action-oriented apologetics. Thirdly, I developed a HAP homiletical framework that enables preachers to develop holistic apologetic sermons. Six textual sermons on the Book of James were subsequently developed using the HAP homiletical framework. I employed a SWOB (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and barriers) analysis to the results of my thematic analysis. Participants reported that holistic apologetics provided opportunities to defend and share their faith in imaginative and holistic ways, and that textual apologetic sermons helped them understand their faith more deeply. The HAP Homiletical Framework was useful in generating holistic and relevant apologetic sermons. Finally, the micro, meso and macro changes for further development are presented in this thesis
Seeking an Honest Word A Theological Reflection on Anna Carter Florence’s ‘Preaching as Testimony’
Get PDFThis thesis grew out of the dilemma of how to respond to the tension I experience when my biblical interpretation and theology differ from dominant interpretations within my context as a minister and leader in an evangelical church and denomination. This affects my public ministry, particularly preaching, leading me to seek a homiletic that enables me to speak honestly and passionately about my understanding of scripture within this setting.
Florence’s Preaching as Testimony appears to offer such a homiletic. Building on historical case studies, philosophy, biblical studies, and feminist theology, Florence responds to the insights of postmodernism regarding truth and knowledge, providing practical exercises to illustrate and apply her approach. This research uses methodology based upon Graham’s ‘theology by heart’, alongside a description of the research context. Nine sermons were prepared and preached, implementing Florence’s homiletic across Acts. Chadwick and Tovey’s reflective cycle was applied to reflect upon what this revealed about her homiletic, and assess if it did indeed enable me to speak as desired.
These reflections revealed the importance of Florence’s exercises. They encouraged the attentive listening she describes, and creative sermon forms, whilst applying a hermeneutical lens informed by and speaking to the contemporary world and daily life. Their application moved me as the preacher away from a presumed objective periphery to the subjective heart of the sermon, open and honest about my encounter with God in the text and life and what I believed about that, yet maintaining scripture as the heart of the sermon, taking its interpretation and application seriously. These findings indicate that in this instance, Florence’s homiletic did indeed enable me to speak honestly about my understanding of scripture within my context, offering me a way forward as a preacher and leader
Degree of egg-taking by humans determines the fate of maleo (Macrocephalon maleo) nesting grounds across Sulawesi
Get PDFThe version of record of this article, first published in Biodiversity and Conservation, is available online at Publisher’s website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10531-022-02527-1The maleo (Macrocephalon maleo) of Sulawesi, Indonesia, is culturally iconic and Critically Endangered, but the causes of its decline have never been systematically analyzed nor its nesting grounds comprehensively surveyed. We visited 122 previously known and 58 previously unrecorded sites, collecting data and interviewing local people at each site. We used ordinal logistic regression to fit models with combinations of 18 different predation, habitat, and nesting ground variables to determine the strongest predictors of nesting ground success, as represented by maleo numbers. At least 56% of known nesting grounds are now inactive (abandoned), and 63% of remaining active sites host ≤ 2 pairs/day at peak season. Egg-taking by humans is the single biggest driver of maleo decline. Protecting eggs in situ predicts higher numbers than protecting eggs through hatchery methods. After egg-taking, quality (not length) of the travel corridor connecting nesting ground to primary forest best predicts nesting ground success. Being inside a federally protected area is not a primary driver of success, and does not ensure persistence: 28% of federally protected nesting grounds have become inactive. Local conservation efforts protected nesting grounds 2‒3 times
better than federal protection. We update the methodology for assessing nesting ground status, and recommend five measures for maleo conservation, the foremost being to protect nesting grounds from egg-taking by humans at all remaining active sites
PEARL: A Doctorate in Creative Writing
No full textThe novel PEARL is inspired by the fourteenth-century poem known by the same name, found in the same manuscript as the better-known Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The poem Pearl has remained until now in the hands of scholars and poets, and although it has been translated in recent years to great critical success, by Jane Draycott and Simon Armitage, it has not previously inspired a prose story based on its emblems or central concerns. A meditation on the imagery and preoccupations of the poem, the novel borrows from its patterns as well as its plot, moving the original work into a new genre.
Central to both the poem and the novel is a relationship between a parent and child that continues after the death of one of them, and where the roles of teacher and pupil, child and adult, become in time reversed or complicated.
In the second part of the thesis the Critical Commentary draws on my reading and translations of the poem Pearl, as well as research into local myths and village customs, children’s singing games and rhymes about death and burial and folklore, in particular those stories that deal with transmigration of the soul. As the novel is set in the early 21st century the Critical Commentary also draws on readings of contemporary fiction and memoir that deal with sudden death, suicide and grief.
Both the novel PEARL and the Critical Commentary are forms of creative autobiography, and share a structure that weaves poetry, song, and memory into a dense collage of prose. This in turn echoes the complex repetitions and patterns of the poem that inspired both pieces of writing.
The poem Pearl has been called a lament, or a meditation on death, but it is also a love-song addressed to the lost infant and a kind of wish-fulfilment in that the poem brings the lost child to the riverbank of life and death to console her father. Similarly the novel can be read as a lament for a lost childhood, but also, more positively, as a re-creation of that lost world and an act of devotion to the person who is being mourned. The novel and the commentary are both a form of tribute to the poem that inspired them, re-creating a sensory map of the lost world of the poem. On a personal level they are also both also an act of mourning for my mother, a way of re-visiting the songs and stories she taught me, a re-creation of the mythical and musical map of the village where I lived as a child
Surfing the Waves of Accountable Compassion: A qualitative study of the emerging trauma-informed culture within North Wales Youth Justice Service
Get PDFThe thesis describes a qualitative study of trauma-informed practice which draws on accounts of a sample of justice involved children and service providers in North Wales, in order to explore the practicalities of working within a trauma-informed paradigm and how it fits with key principles which exist within the Youth Justice Service (YJS). The study, which was theoretically informed by symbolic interactionism and hermeneutic phenomenology, used qualitative methods comprising semi-structured interviews with justice involved children as well as interviews and focus groups with service providers.
The study findings indicate that there is a shift to moving towards working via a trauma-informed lens, and aims to embed trauma-informed practice into the fabric of the YJS. Certain elements within the YJS, namely the child-practitioner relationship, are more advanced with regard to being trauma-informed in comparison to other areas, some of which are external to the YJS. The thesis argues that in order to weave trauma-informed approaches and a culture of understanding into the identity of the YJS, consideration is required with regards to cultural hang-overs, stemming from previous practice, vicarious trauma and the position of relational practice.
In conclusion, the thesis suggests that a trauma-informed cultural shift has many benefits for justice-involved children, not only in addressing their behaviour and the emotions potentially lurking behind it, but also in healing and helping to process past experiences. The experiences and contributions from participants in this study collectively advocate utilising a trauma-informed lens across the YJS. However, a cultural change requires careful management and consideration in order to protect staff, particularly from the imprint of trauma narratives and support children holistically. Where this is neglected, the path to trauma-informed could divert to trauma-organised
An analysis of the common characteristics of intervention strategies used in secondary education
Get PDFThis paper considers the question ‘what are the common characteristics of intervention strategies used in secondary education?’ This is an important question because understanding the characteristics of intervention strategies allows for a clearer understanding of the resource cost and unintended implications (Outhwaite, et al., 2020) of the use of intervention strategies in secondary schools. Although this paper doesn’t explore the resource cost or implications of these strategies it provides a framework through which practitioners can begin to analyse the intervention strategies used in their own settings.
The study aims to identify the common characteristics of intervention strategies within a sample of intervention strategies taken from one comprehensive secondary school in the Northwest of England. This practitioner enquiry was conducted using thematic analysis to identify the characteristics of a sample of intervention strategies, alongside the study of commonality within the sample by looking at which characteristics are more prevalent when compared to the average number within the same sample. The research is situated within ‘post-positivism’ which “straddles both the positivist and interpretivist paradigms” (Grix, 2004) and makes use of both interpretivist and positivist methods through thematic analysis of characteristics and he statistical analysis of commonality.
The two most common characteristics within the sample were found to be reactivity to a trigger or stimulus such as underperformance in a test, which was present in all 23 intervention strategies. Having a measurable outcome such as improving reading age, was present in 22 of the 23 intervention strategies in the sample making it the second most common characteristic from this sample. The least common characteristic was for intervention strategies to focus on child’s motivations – for example intervention strategies that make use of things students are interested in such as football. This was only present in 5 of the 23 intervention strategies
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