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Silent voices: listening to children of criminalised individuals
Get PDFThis article considers the features of support that children of criminalised individuals (CoCI) value and how they perceive this impact on their everyday lives. Despite the recognition of children’s voice as a basic human right and an integral feature of child-focused research, CoCI remain silenced and marginalised in England and Wales. A body of research discusses the impact of parental imprisonment on children, most notably from an adult perspective, yet scant research has explored CoCI perspectives, particularly those focused on support. This article provides a unique contribution to the academic field by exploring the impact of targeted support from the perspectives of CoCI. The research findings presented in this article argue for the prioritisation of strengths-based, responsive support for CoCI, which can create safe spaces for them to process their emotions, develop self-reliance, feel listened to, and engage in supportive activities that are fun. The implications of this research for relationship building and family wellbeing are also discussed
An investigation of the 10:20 Protection Rule for detecting aquatic hazards
Get PDFSeven percent of all injury-related global deaths in 2019 were attributed to drowning, relating to 236,000 lives claimed and the stark reality persists that incidents of drowning continue to occur within zones overseen by trained lifeguards. Some lifeguard training agencies advocate the use of specific scan techniques and patterns and the 10:20 protection rule is recommended by a variety of lifeguarding agencies. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of the 10-second element of the 10:20 protection rule (referred to as the 10-second scan strategy) compared to a more natural scan strategy. Two 30-minute videos were developed capturing scripted and unscripted swimming pool hazards. Water safety experts were then employed to collectively review, identify, and achieve consensus on hazards. In a within-subject design, lifeguards (n = 25) were instructed to watch videos under two conditions (i.e., 10-second and natural scan conditions) and respond via whistle blow and vocal response. In the 10-second scan condition, lifeguards were instructed to use the 10:20 system of supervision and scan the zone every 10-seconds whilst supervising the pool. In the natural scan condition, lifeguards were told to follow a scan strategy that felt comfortable for them. The results demonstrated that there was no significant difference in the percentage of hazards detected in the 10-second scan condition compared to the natural scan condition. However, the results show that lifeguards were unable to execute the 10-second scan strategy (i.e., scanning the full zone every 10 seconds). While results show that hazard detection is similar in both conditions, lifeguards were not adhering to the 10-second scan and thus comparisons between the 10-second scan strategy and natural scanning are not possible. The key conclusion from this study is that it is not possible for lifeguards to scan the full zone every 10 seconds, despite explicit instructions to do so, and thus the 10:20 protection rule should be carefully considered if agencies are advocating it as an effective scanning strategy
Konstantinos Loukopoulos translated by Hugh Dunkerley
No full textTwo poems by Konstantinos Loukopoulos translated from the original Greek by Hugh Dunkerley and Konstantinos Loukopoulos. The poems are entitled 'Captain's Logbook' and 'The Required Moon'
Effects of blackcurrant extract during high-intensity intermittent running: an exploratory study of possible muscle fibre-type dependence
Get PDFIntake of anthocyanin-rich blackcurrant extract showed muscle fibre-type specific force responses during fatigue development from combined use of voluntary maximal isometric contractions and electrically evoked twitch contractions of the m. quadriceps femoris. In the present exploratory study, we examined the fibre-type specific effects by blackcurrant extract on high-intensity intermittent treadmill running performance to exhaustion. Active males (n = 16, age: 23 ± 3 years, height: 179 ± 5 cm, body mass: 79 ± 3 kg, VO2max: 55.3 ± 5.0 mL·kg−1·min−1) completed a fatiguing protocol with 16 voluntary maximal isometric contractions to predict muscle fibre typology. The high-intensity intermittent running protocol was completed twice following a 7-day intake of blackcurrant extract (210 mg anthocyanins per day) and twice following a placebo (PL) in a randomized, double blind, crossover design. Heart rate and lactate were recorded at exhaustion. Data were averaged for each condition. There were no significant correlations between the percentage force decline by the repeated isometric contractions (mean ± SD: 29.3 ± 12.4%) and total and high-intensity running distance. Participants were categorized into a predominant muscle fibre type I (slow-twitch, n = 3 with the lowest isometric force decline: 12 ± 9%) and type II typology (fast-twitch, n = 3 with the highest isometric force decline: 46 ± 10%). Only the individuals with a predominant type I fibre typology improved the total running and high-intensity running distance by 17 ± 12% and 15 ± 11%. At exhaustion, there were no differences between individuals with a type I or II fibre typology for heart rate and lactate. These exploratory results suggest that the ergogenic potential of anthocyanin-rich blackcurrant extract on high-intensity intermittent exercise may depend on muscle fibre type, though larger and more robust studies are needed to confirm this observation. Future work will establish whether our exploratory results contributed to our understanding of the underpinning of inter-individual responses to the intake of anthocyanin-rich nutritional ergogenic aids
Virtual reality based executive function training in schools: the impact of adaptivity on executive function and motivation
Get PDFExecutive function (EF) is a skill that is essential in many aspects of daily functioning and as such is a pertinent target for cognitive training protocols. With current findings about EF training being inconsistent, work is now needed to understand the core components that ensure successful training. A key component that is often cited as essential, but which lacks solid empirical justification is training adaptivity, which is thought to improve participant motivation and support engagement. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the relationship between adaptivity and motivation, in virtual reality (VR) based EF training with primary school-aged children. Sixty participants were allocated to one of three conditions: VR adaptive training, VR non-adaptive training, and a passive control group. Training in VR conditions consisted of 12 fifteen-minute sessions, delivered over 4 weeks and was delivered using the cognitive training game Koji’s Quest, developed by NeuroReality. All participants completed EF tests at pre- and post- time points. Participants in the VR conditions also completed motivation measures after the training. Results suggest that the adaptive training might influence the switching response over time, but further analyses did not confirm significant differences, possibly due to the small sample size and the high scores variability. Although no differences were observed on the quantitate measures of motivation, qualitative feedback did indicate that perhaps motivation may have been a contributing factor. Results provide initial evidence that short term VR cognitive training may be effective in improving cognitive flexibility in primary aged children, however due to the small sample size and high variability, results are tentative, and further research is necessary. Findings are discussed in terms of the implications for educational application
Scalable container-based time synchronization for smart grid data center networks
Get PDFThe integration of edge-to-cloud infrastructures in smart grid (SG) data center networks requires scalable, efficient, and secure architecture. Traditional server-based SG data center architectures face high computational loads and delays. To address this problem, a lightweight data center network (DCN) with low-cost, and fast-converging optimization is required. This paper introduces a container-based time synchronization model (CTSM) within a spine–leaf virtual private cloud (SL-VPC), deployed via AWS CloudFormation stack as a practical use case. The CTSM optimizes resource utilization, security, and traffic management while reducing computational overhead. The model was benchmarked against five DCN topologies—DCell, Mesh, Skywalk, Dahu, and Ficonn—using Mininet simulations and a software-defined CloudFormation stack on an Amazon EC2 HPC testbed under realistic SG traffic patterns. The results show that CTSM achieved near-100% reliability, with the highest received energy data (29.87%), lowest packetization delay (13.11%), and highest traffic availability (70.85%). Stateless container engines improved resource allocation, reducing administrative overhead and enhancing grid stability. Software-defined Network (SDN)-driven adaptive routing and load balancing further optimized performance under dynamic demand conditions. These findings position CTSM-SL-VPC as a secure, scalable, and efficient solution for next-generation smart grid automation
Mudlarking through organisational culture
No full textIn this chapter, I explore how the metaphor, ontology and technique of mudlarking can shine a light on organisational culture providing us with more awareness, choice and agency on what organisation development (OD) practitioners can do.
This chapter was developed through a series of foreshore excursions along the River Thames to record audio, video and photographs. The aim was to bring embodied and speculative methods to the practice of organisation developmentOD through a series of workshops that I ran. In doing so, I reflect on the experience in the context of Goethe’s notion of exact sensorial imagination, namely the importance of slowing down and noticing what is around us and the opportunities that this offers, something that is rarely discussed in the organisation developmentOD literature.
Mudlarkers can often be seen on the foreshore of the river Thames in London looking for items from the past in the mud and gravel under their feet. A combination of an ancient port and capital city means that the tide continuingly churns the artefacts of the past.
Over the centuries, destitute mudlarkers have slowly made their way along the foreshore at low tide eking out a meagre living. Nowadays mudlarking is for those who are keen to pursue their interest in history. Items discovered during mudlarking often include delicate Roman hairpins, fragments of medieval water jugs and Tudor buttons, and Victorian small change, ships’ nails and contemporary messages in a bottle.
Mudlarking and what it reveals fascinates me, as does how we come to understand culture in organisations. In this chapter, I explore how mudlarking helps facilitate an understanding of organisational life and culture in terms of: (1) how we might refresh our worldview as to what counts for knowledge, (2) how we might develop techniques to notice, record and curate everyday items and encounters, and (3) how metaphor can be used to explore organisational culture.
For you are an organisation development (OD) practitioners and consultants, the issue of culture is important, as it provides the backdrop that legitimises the norms, mores and behaviours of what is considered acceptable and not acceptable (Schein, 2004). In short, if you get the organisational culture right, then good things happen. However, more often than not in this field, we try to pin these ephemeral qualities down with surveys and questionnaires with rigid ‘yes/no’ questions that give judgement without context.
The practical experience of walking on the foreshore creating film and audio enables the OD specialist to bring to the fore other ways of knowing as part of their practice. In this assertion, I am exploring interpretivism (Nickerson, 2022) whereby individuals recognise that they are integral to what is going on around them. Drawing inspiration from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in this chapter, I focus on one particular avenue, that of the nature and processes of exact sensorial imagination. I do this by drawing on the work of the physicist and philosopher Henri Bortoft (1996). By descending to, walking on and recording the foreshore via video and audio, I consider how engaging in a combination of ontology, technique and metaphor enables those with an interest in organisational life to see and develop their practice in new ways.
The This chapter is organised around three main parts: an overview of mudlarking as a relevant interpretative practice; a set of practical exercises that draw upon this overview; and some concluding observations of the relevance of the mudlarking analogy to understanding and contributing to organisational culture
Neural indicators of sleep loss and sleep propensity in male military trainees: insights from dry-electrode EEG- an exploratory study
No full textThis study examined the impact of reduced sleep on electroencephalogram (EEG) activity during cognitive tasks in Military Clearance Diver trainees using a novel dry-electrode EEG system. Seven male participants underwent two 5-day periods: a baseline and a ‘live-in’ phase with increased workload and reduced sleep (5.4 ± 0.1 vs. 7.4 ± 0.7 hours). EEG was recorded daily in the early morning (AM) and late afternoon (PM) during a Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT), two oculography tests (AM: n = 4; PM: n = 3), and two minutes of eyes-closed rest. Significant increases in theta (t(29) = 2.308, p = 0.028, d = 0.421) and alpha (t(29) = 2.124, p = 0.042, d = 0.388) power spectrum densities were observed in the ‘live-in’ phase during the PVT. These findings align with increased lower frequency activity over time awake, reflecting heightened sleep propensity. Sleep loss was further confirmed by declining Odds Ratio Product (ORP) values. This study demonstrates the feasibility of dry-electrode EEG in detecting fatigue-related neural changes and highlights the potential of ORP as a quantifiable fatigue marker. These insights may inform operational settings, such as military diver performance monitoring and fatigue management strategies
Effects of root extract of Ashwagandha ( Withania somnifera ) on perception of recovery and muscle strength in female athletes
Get PDFAshwagandha is a supplement with the potential to improve exercise performance. However, research on its impact on female athletes remains limited. This study investigates the effects of ashwagandha on exercise recovery and muscle strength in professional female athletes, addressing a gap in understanding its role in this underrepresented population. Female footballers were randomly assigned to a 600 mg/day ashwagandha root extract group (ASH, n = 15; age: 26.0 ± 4.9 years, height: 1.66 ± 0.1 m, body mass: 61.5 ± 7.5 kg, and career: 15.2 ± 7.4 years) or a placebo group (PLA, n = 15; age: 23.5 ± 5.5 years, height: 1.66 ± 0.1 m, body mass: 61.5 ± 6.0 kg, and career: 13.1 ± 4.9 years). Recovery was assessed with total quality recovery (TQR), Hooper Index (HI) and rate of perceived exertion (RPE). Strength was assessed by hand grip, medicine ball throw (MBT), countermovement jump (CMJ) and peak power. Dietary intake was recorded prior to baseline measurements. Repeated measures ANOVA, Bonferroni test, independent t‐tests and ANCOVA were used in the analysis. A significant group × time interaction effect was found for TQR (p = 0.026), with the post‐hoc analysis revealing a significant difference between ASH and PLA at 28 days (p = 0.039). Perceived sleep quality from HI improved significantly in ASH compared to PLA (p = 0.038), with a significant change at 14 days. The ANCOVA analysis highlighted the significant influence of carbohydrate intake on hand grip strength (p = 0.005), MBT (p < 0.001) and body mass (p < 0.001). A dosage of 600 mg of ashwagandha root extract for 28 days may improve TQR and enhance perceived sleep quality in female footballers. Future research should investigate the optimal dosage and test across a broader range of athletic populations. Trials Registration: The trial is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov with the ID NCT0626498