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Lifting the veil of depression and alcoholism in sport coaching: how do we care for carers?
Get PDFThe purpose of this article is to explore the insights of an elite sport coach living with comorbid depression and alcohol misuse. Such consideration is necessary because as coaching is increasingly repositioned as a caring activity the wellbeing of coaches themselves has rarely been considered. To address this gap, a narrative analysis methodology and a story telling approach was used to present the experiences of a case study coach (Steve). The story is derived from Steve’s own perspective and the perspective of his wife, Jane. This novel multi-voiced approach reveals the complex interplay between the sporting environment, Steve’s depression and his alcohol related problems. In doing so, Steve’s story makes an original contribution by unveiling the issue of mental health in elite sport coaching. Steve’s story depicts the significant impact of depressive symptoms, coupled by excessive alcohol use on a coach, their personal life, and their career. Using the work of Goffman and Sartre, the story alludes to how such symptoms can be hidden, to greater and lesser extents, from professional colleagues. This is an important theoretical contribution, because to care for coaches, colleagues, employers, and health professionals will need to understand the needs of individuals such as Steve. Developing an open and supportive culture, which accepts that coaches are fallible, may however be a challenge within professional sport contexts
The evaluation of CSR and social value practices among uk commercial and social enterprises
Get PDFObjective: The purpose of this article is to evaluate the scope of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and ‘Social Value Initiatives’ (SVIs) among corporations. Nowadays, CSR provides firms with an opportunity to provide community social need through discretionary corporate practices. This article contributes to knowledge on how firms approach social and environmental sustainability while maintaining economic responsibility. Research Design & Methods: This article adopts analysis based on secondary data from UK based companies. Fifty companies’ websites and policy documents (30 commercial enterprises and 20 social enterprises) were researched to identify the patterns of practices of SVIs and factors that influence the practices among companies. Findings: The findings suggest that both social and commercial enterprises focus on the adoption of the ‘CSR’ practices based on the ‘Triple Bottom Line’ (TBL) as defined in the ‘Elkington, 1997 framework’ of economic, environmental and social sustainability. The difference is that while the ‘SVIs’ of commercial enterprises develop as an operational strategy at the later stages of the business, the ‘SVIs’ of social enterprises are embedded during the enterprise creation stage. Implications & Recommendations: Based on the findings, this article develops a conceptual ‘Social Value Initiatives’ framework which forms the domain of social value practices. We suggest that future studies should focus on adopting qualitative-ori-ented primary research to explore CSR approaches, which will capture the views of management, customers, employees and shareholders. Contribution & Value Added: Despite its limitations, this article contributes to the knowledge on CSR and social value practices among social and commercial enterprises. © 2018, Cracow University of Economics. All rights reserved
The Development of a Questionnaire Survey to Investigate the Critical Risk Factors in Oil and Gas Pipelines Projects
Get PDFThe scarcity of data about “the probability and severity” of the Risk Factors (RFs) and “the usability and effectiveness” of the Risk Mitigation Methods (RMMs) in Oil and Gas Pipelines (OGPs) are hindering the efforts of risk mitigations in these projects. Consequently, this paper aims to develop a questionnaire survey to collect these require data to analyze the RFs and effectively evaluate the RMMs. Firstly, documents qualitative analysis were carried out to identify the RFs and RMMs in OGPs projects in different countries worldwide. Secondly, an industry-wide questionnaire survey was found to be an effective quantitative approach to analyze the “probability and severity” levels of the RFs and to evaluate the “usability and effectiveness” degrees of the RMMs. A pilot-like survey was significantly needed to improve the clarity of the questions and revise the ambiguous questions. As well as, to add the necessary queries and discard the unnecessary ones. Moreover, the pilot-like survey was used to test the functionality of the rating scales; and to improve the overall design of the survey. This survey filled by a number of experts in OGPs projects; their feedback was found helpful to write the final draft of the survey. The findings of this paper was a questionnaire survey that will be used in ongoing research about mitigating the RFs in OGPs projects. Furthermore, a few authors explained their procedure of designing such survey. Therefore, researchers in this field could use the findings and comments of this to design their surveys
Post-graduate students' perception of research ethics training: a qualitative study
Get PDFUnethical practices undermine research findings, and destroy societal trust in research and researchers. Formal ethics training for researchers is widely supported, and has been adopted by many organisations, including the NHS. However, a wide variation in what constitutes ethics training is apparent. This paper outlines a study that explored the perceptions of research ethics training amongst postgraduate nursing students undertaking research on human subjects. A combination of six focus groups and four one-to-one interviews were undertaken. Three significant themes emerged, each representing different aspects of the teaching process. First, time and timeliness, underlining the importance of the timing of training, but with the need for ongoing access to resources. Second, content and delivery, where the differences between the principles and processes, and the mechanisms required to address both aspects, was raised. Finally, assessment, where the difficulties of useful assessment were discussed. Participants emphasised the need to differentiate between the principles and processes of ethics teaching. This paper argues that both aspects require different approaches to disseminating information, with timing of access to teaching and resources requiring critical consideration
Acceptability and feasibility of single-component primary school physical activity interventions to inform the AS:Sk Project
Get PDFMulti-component school-based interventions provide physical activity (PA) opportunities for children but are often difficult for schools to execute and may not be implemented as intended. The primary aim of this study was to explore the acceptability and feasibility of three brief single-component primary school PA interventions targeting 9–10-year-old children. The secondary aim was to examine the effectiveness of the interventions on increasing PA levels and reducing sedentary time. The single-component interventions included active classroom breaks (AB; 3 schools; n = 119 children) Born to Move (BTM) exercise videos (2 schools; n = 50 children), and playground supervisory staff training (2 schools; n = 56 children). Qualitative data from participating children (n = 211), class teachers (n = 6), and playground supervisory staff (n = 8) explored the experiences, acceptability, and feasibility of each intervention component. Accelerometers were worn by 225 children during the last week of implementation. Teachers reported that they were able to implement ABs daily, but BTM videos were more difficult to implement daily because of accessing sufficient space. Playground staff reported difficulties in implementing activities due to children’s age and competing responsibilities on the staffs’ time. Children reported that the ABs and BTM videos were enjoyable. During half hour time windows, including the ABs and BTM videos, children engaged in 4.8 min and 8.6 min of moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) on average, respectively. ABs and BTM videos positively affected MVPA. ABs were feasible to implement; however, teachers faced some barriers in implementing the BTM videos. Feasibility of playground interventions may be dependent on staff responsibilities and age of the children
The 3XLSS point source catalogue
Get PDFWe present the version of the point source catalogue of the XXL Survey that was used, in part, in the first series of XXL papers. In this paper we release, in our database in Milan and at CDS: (i) the X-ray source catalogue with 26 056 objects in two areas of 25 deg2 with a flux limit (at 3σ) of ~10−15 erg s−1 cm−2 in [0.5–2] keV, and ~ 3 × 10−15 erg s−1 cm−2 in [2–10] keV, yielding a 90% completeness limit of 5.8 × 10−15 and 3.8 × 10−14 respectively;(ii) the associated multiwavelength catalogues with candidate counterparts of the X-ray sources in the infrared, near-infrared, optical, and ultraviolet (plus spectroscopic redshift when available); and (iii) a catalogue of spectroscopic redshifts recently obtained in the southern XXL area. We also present the basic properties of the X-ray point sources and their counterparts. Other catalogues described in the second series of XXL papers will be released contextually, and will constitute the second XXLdata release
Advances in the Prediction of Gastrointestinal Absorption: Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) modelling of PAMPA Permeability
Get PDFGastrointestinal absorption (GI absorption) is a key absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) property when the biological effects of substances are evaluated. The Parallel Artificial Membrane Permeability Assay (PAMPA) has emerged as a primary screen for determining passive transcellular permeability, the dominant GI absorption mechanism for many drugs, thus helping with the prioritisation of the most promising lead compounds for pharmacokinetic studies. Recently the PAMPA assay has attracted increasing interest from various other industrial sectors, including cosmetics, where such non-animal models may provide a crucial source of information for in vitro - in vivo extrapolation. This method is also a reliable source of experimental data for Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) modelling of GI absorption. In this investigation, published QSAR models for PAMPA were reviewed with the aim to summarise and assess critically the current state of the art. The review indicates a relatively small number of QSARs compared to some endpoints, but much consistency within the models. PAMPA permeability increases with hydrophobicity and decreases with the surface area occupied by hydrogen bond acceptor/donor atoms. The models can be applied to screening for bioactive compounds with the potential to pass the gastrointestinal barrier as well as to design new structures with increased PAMPA permeability, thus with better expectations towards improved in vivo GI absorption
SpillOver stimulation: A novel hypertrophy model using co-contraction of the plantar-flexors to load the tibial anterior muscle in rats
Get PDFThe influence of loading on muscular hypertrophy has previously been studied in rodents by removal of synergistic muscles or various weight-lifting regimes. We present a novel model, evoking hypertrophy in the ratʹs tibialis anterior (TA) muscle by means of an implanted single channel electrical nerve stimulator. The amount of load experienced by the TA was measured in acute experiments in anaesthetized rats with contractions over a range of stimulation frequency and amplitude. A novel electrode configuration allowed us to elicit concentric, isometric and eccentric contractions within the same setup. This was achieved by ‘SpillOver’ stimulation in which we adjusted the amount of co-activation of the stronger antagonistic plantarflexors by increasing the stimulus above the level that caused full recruitment of the dorsiflexor muscles. The effect of loading on hypertrophy of the TA was tested in 3–4 week stimulation experiments in two groups of freely-moving rats, with a protocol that resembles typical resistance-training in humans. One group performed concentric contractions with no antagonistic co-contraction (unloaded, UNL, n = 5). In the other group the TA was loaded by simultaneous co-contraction of the antagonistically acting plantarflexors (SpillOver, n = 5). The wet mass of the stimulated TA increased in both groups; by 5.4 ± 5.5% for the UNL-group and 13.9 ± 2.9% for the SpillOver-group, with significantly greater increase in the SpillOver-group (p<0.05). Our results correlate well with values reported in literature, demonstrating that SpillOver-stimulation is a suitable model in which to study muscular hypertrophy. Even higher gains in muscle-mass may be possible by optimizing and adjusting the stimulation parameters according to the principles of progressive resistance training
X-shooter and ALMA spectroscopy of GRB 161023A A study of metals and molecules in the line of sight towards a luminous GRB
Get PDFContext. Long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are produced during the dramatic deaths of massive stars with very short lifetimes, meaning that they explode close to the birth place of their progenitors. Over a short period they become the most luminous objects observable in the Universe, being perfect beacons to study high-redshift star-forming regions.
Aims. We aim to use the afterglow of GRB 161023A at a redshift z = 2.710 as a background source to study the environment of the explosion and the intervening systems along its line of sight.
Methods. For the first time, we complement ultraviolet (UV), optical and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy with millimetre spectroscopy using the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), which allows us to probe the molecular content of the host galaxy. The X-shooter spectrum shows a plethora of absorption features including fine-structure and metastable transitions of Fe, Ni, Si, C, and O. We present photometry ranging from 43 s to over 500 days after the burst.
Results. We infer a host-galaxy metallicity of [Zn/H] = −1.11 ± 0.07, which, corrected for dust depletion, results in [X/H] = −0.94 ± 0.08. We do not detect molecular features in the ALMA data, but we derive limits on the molecular content of log(NCO/cm−2) < 15.7 and log(NHCO+/cm−-12, which are consistent with those that we obtain from the optical spectra, log(NH2/cm−2)< 15.2 and log(NCO/cm−2) < 14.5. Within the host galaxy, we detect three velocity systems through UV, optical and NIR absorption spectroscopy, all with levels that were excited by the GRB afterglow. We determine the distance from these systems to the GRB to be in the range between 0.7 and 1.0 kpc. The sight line to GRB 161023A shows nine independent intervening systems, most of them with multiple components.
Conclusions. Although no molecular absorption was detected for GRB 161023A, we show that GRB millimetre spectroscopy is now feasible and is opening a new window on the study of molecular gas within star-forming galaxies at all redshifts. The most favoured lines of sight for this purpose will be those with high metallicity and dust
On the progenitor system of V392 Persei
Get PDFA discussion regarding the progenitor system of the nova and dwarf nova system V392 Persei using archival data from 2MASS and WISE. We find that the system is unlikely to contain a luminous red giant donor (i.e. a symbiotic system), but cannot exclude the presence of a lower luminosity red giant or a sub-giant donor. The similarity of the SED of the quiescent V392 Per to that of GK Persei is noted
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