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Challenging sex segregation: A philosophical evaluation of the football association’s rules on mixed football
Get PDFThe Football Association (FA) has been under pressure to allow girls to play in mixed teams since 1978, following 12-year old Theresa Bennett’s application to play with boys in a local league. In 1991, over a decade after Bennett’s legal challenge, the FA agreed to remove its ban on mixed football and introduced Rule C4 in order to permit males and females to play together in competitive matches under the age of 11. More recently, following a campaign by parents, coaches, local Members of Parliament and the Women’s Sport Foundation, the FA agreed to trial mixed football for the under-12 to under-15 age categories in order to establish, among other things, the risk of injury to players in sex-integrated competitions. A series of exponential changes ensued: between 2010 and 2014, the age at which mixed football was permitted increased from U11 to U16. In 2015, the FA announced the decision to raise the age limit on mixed football from U16 to U18 for the forthcoming 2015–2016 season. We critically examine the reasons given by the FA for enforcing segregated participation beyond the age of 18, namely that males have an unfair advantage and that females face an unacceptable risk of injury. We also discuss the argument that removing the ban might harm the women’s game. In conclusion, we suggest that the FA ought to abandon the ban on mixed football over the age of 18
Older adults’ domestic kitchen practices associated with an increased risk of listeriosis
Get PDFOlder adults and other groups with weakened immunity are at increased risk of foodborne disease. Further research is important to understand the actual food safety practices of older adults and therefore develop effective food safety education strategies
Score-line effect on work-rate in English FA Premier League soccer
Get PDFThis paper investigates the effect of score-line on work-rate in English FA Premier League soccer. Player movement data from 110 matches where a goal was scored between 15 minutes and the end of the first half were captured by the ProzoneTM player tracking system. The number of V-cut path changes performed per minute declined more after the first goal in matches that were won by one of the sides than in drawn matches (p < 0.017). V-cut path changes involve players changing direction more than 135o to the left or the right. There was also a significant interaction of match type (won, drawn or lost by the team scoring first), period of the match (before and after the first goal), venue and the relative quality of the teams on the total number of path changes performed (p < 0.05). Players from the scoring and conceding teams spent significantly less time in the middle third of the pitch after the first goal then before (p < 0.017). This suggests that variability in work-rate is influenced by a combination of factors. The results suggest that the first goal has an influence on teams’ tactics and work-rate. However, the study did not find any differences in work-rate between teams achieving different outcomes having scored first
Cardiac dysfunction in cancer survivors unmasked during exercise
Get PDFIntroduction: The cardiac dysfunction associated with anthracycline-based chemotherapy cancer treatment can exist sub-clinically for decades before overt presentation. Stress echocardiography, the measurement of left ventricular (LV) deformation and arterial haemodynamic evaluation have separately been used to identify sub-clinical cardiovascular (CV) dysfunction in several patient groups including those with hypertension and diabetes. The purpose of the present cross-sectional study was to determine whether the combination of these techniques could be used to improve the characterisation of sub-clinical CV dysfunction in long-term cancer survivors previously treated with anthracyclines. Materials and methods: Thirteen long-term cancer survivors (36±10 years) with prior anthracycline exposure (11±8 years post-treatment) and 13 age-matched controls were
recruited. Left ventricular structure, function and deformation were assessed using echocardiography. Augmentation index was used to quantify arterial haemodynamic load and was measured using applanation tonometry. Measurements were taken at rest and during two stages of low-intensity incremental cycling.Results: At rest, both groups had comparable global LV systolic, diastolic and arterial function (all P>0.05), however longitudinal deformation was significantly lower in cancer survivors (-18±2 v -20±2, P<0.05). During exercise this difference between groups persisted and further differences were uncovered with significantly lower apical circumferential deformation in the cancer survivors (-24±5 v -29±5, -29±5 v 35±8 for first and second stage of exercise respectively, both P<0.05). Conclusion: In contrast to resting echocardiography the measurement of LV deformation at rest and during exercise provides a more comprehensive characterisation of sub-clinical LV dysfunction. Larger studies are required to determine the clinical relevance of these preliminary findings
Supporting dynamic change detection: using the right tool for the task
Get PDFDetecting task-relevant changes in a visual scene is necessary for successfully monitoring and managing dynamic command and control situations. Change blindness—the failure to notice visual changes—is an important source of human error. Change History EXplicit (CHEX) is a tool developed to aid change detection and maintain situation awareness; and in the current study we test the generality of its ability to facilitate the detection of changes when this subtask is embedded within a broader dynamic decision-making task. A multitasking air-warfare simulation required participants to perform radar-based subtasks, for which change detection was a necessary aspect of the higher-order goal of protecting one’s own ship. In this task, however, CHEX rendered the operator even more vulnerable to attentional failures in change detection and increased perceived workload. Such support was only effective when participants performed a change detection task without concurrent subtasks. Results are interpreted in terms of the NSEEV model of attention behavior (Steelman, McCarley, & Wickens, Hum. Factors 53:142–153, 2011; J. Exp. Psychol. Appl. 19:403–419, 2013), and suggest that decision aids for use in multitasking contexts must be designed to fit within the available workload capacity of the user so that they may truly augment cognition
Experiencing term-time employment as a non-traditional aged university student: a Welsh study
Get PDFEngaging in term-time employment appears to be becoming a common feature of contemporary UK student life. This study examined the ways in which a cohort of full-time non-traditional aged students negotiated paid employment whilst pursuing a full-time higher education course in Wales. Taking a qualitative approach to explore this further, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 non-traditional age students, and analysed using thematic analysis. Findings indicated that participants felt compromises had to be made in both academic and social spheres in order to accommodate conflicting time demands; there was a desire to maintain the quality of life experienced before entering university; and the impact of working and studying presented challenges for both their academic engagement and personal relationships. These findings will be discussed in relation to the extant literature, and debate around how higher educational institutions may seek to address and acknowledge these issues is considered
Influence of the Central to Peripheral Arterial Stiffness Gradient on the Timing and Amplitude of Wave Reflections
Get PDFIn individuals with compliant aortas, peripheral muscular artery stiffness exceeds central elastic artery stiffness. With ageing, central stiffness increases, with little change in peripheral stiffness, resulting in a reversal of the normal stiffness gradient. This reversal may reduce wave reflection amplitude, due to movement of the major “effective” reflection site further from the heart. To test this, we investigated the relationship among arterial stiffness gradients (normal and reversed), wave reflection amplitude and reflection site distance. Subjects aged ≥50years were recruited from the Anglo-Cardiff Collaborative Trial. Central stiffness was assessed by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV). In study 1, peripheral PWV was also measured in the arm (carotid-radial, crPWV), and in study 2 in the leg (femoral-dorsalis pedis, fpPWV). Reflection site distance was calculated from cfPWV and reflected wave travel time. Subjects were dichotomized into those with a normal stiffness gradient (peripheral>central PWV), or a reversed gradient (peripheral<central PWV). In study 1, reflection site distance was greater in subjects with a reversed gradient (P<0.01), whereas time to reflection was lower (P<0.001). Both augmentation pressure (P<0.001) and augmentation index (P<0.05) were greater in subjects with a reversed gradient. In study 2, augmentation pressure, augmentation index and reflection site distance were greater in subjects with a reversed stiffness gradient (P<0.01, P<0.05 and P<0.01, respectively), and time to reflection was not different between groups. A reversed arterial stiffness gradient is associated with increased reflection site distance and a paradoxical increase in reflected wave amplitude, and augmentation index
Knowledge dialogue through Indigenous tourism product design: a collaborative research process with the Lacandon of Chiapas, Mexico
Get PDFThis research analyzes an innovative process employed by Indigenous entrepreneurs and employees to design new and imaginative products closely related to their cultural, social and natural heritage, values and resources. In the State of Chiapas, with over one million Indigenous inhabitants, where poverty has persisted for decades, government and international agencies have promoted the development of many Indigenous tourism initiatives. However, the employment of top-down strategies focused predominantly towards the provision of tourist facilities failed to recognize the crucial role of tourism products and activities, thus sustaining and promoting stereotyped ideas of Indigenous peoples. This paper focuses on the benefits of collaborative research and knowledge dialogue between scientific and traditional wisdom to overcome some of these limitations through the application of an Indigenous Tourism Product Development Model. Using Participatory Action Research processes, university researchers worked with the management and staff of four Indigenous (Lacandon) owned and operated companies located in the communities of Lacanjá Chansayab and Nahá (Lacandon Jungle) in Mexico, to create a series of new cultural and heritage-related products. The paper explores the capacity of this process to revitalize culture while fostering feelings of accomplishment, participation, cultural pride and creative confidence among the co-researchers
Binding of two bacterial biofilms to dialkyl carbamoyl chloride (DACC)-coated dressings in vitro
Get PDFObjective:
To date only planktonic bacteria have been shown to bind irreversibly to dialkyl carbamoyl chloride (DACC)-coated Cutimed Sorbact dressings. Therefore, this study was designed to determine whether bacterial biofilm bound to the DACC-coated dressing in vitro.
Method:
Samples of DACC-coated dressings and uncoated control dressings (supplied by BSN medical Ltd, Hull) were placed in contact with plastic coverslips on which biofilms of either Pseudomonas aeruginosa or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) had been cultivated for 24 hours. Dressing samples were examined by scanning electron microscopy to detect the presence of biofilm.
Results:
Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm bound avidly to both DACC-coated and uncoated dressing samples. MRSA bound more extensively to DACC-coated dressings than to uncoated samples.
Conclusion:
Biofilms of two different test bacteria bound to dressings in vitro with the DACC-coating on the dressings enhancing the binding of MRSA biofilm.
Declaration of interest:
This study was supported by BSN medical Ltd (Hull). The company had no influence on the experimental design or the interpretation of the results