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Galactic Variable Sky with EGRET and GLAST
No full textThe characteristics of the largely-unidentified Galactic sources of gamma rays that were detected by EGRET are reviewed. Proposed source populations that may have the correct spatial, spectral, luminosity, and variability properties to be the origins of the EGRET sources are also presented. Finally, the prospects for studying Galactic gamma-ray sources with the GLAST LAT are reviewed
Sport development within the process of modernization : The example of athletics
No full textEntwicklungstheorien beschreiben Merkmale und Strategien systematisch herbeigeführter oder sich vollziehender Veränderungen zur Überwindung von Unterentwicklung. Durch ihre Anwendung sollen die wirtschaftliche und soziale Entwicklung in Entwicklungsländern gefördert werden. Den Modernisierungstheorien wird hierbei, aufgrund ihrer Vorgehensweise, das größere Erklärungspotential für Entwicklung zuerkannt.
Die Sportwissenschaft beschäftigt sich in diesem Zusammenhang mit dem Problem, ob Sport als Instrument für Entwicklung in der Dritten Welt geeignet ist, und wenn ja, welche Funktionen der Sport hierbei erfüllen kann. Sportförderung läßt sich prinzipiell nur dann legitimieren, wenn sie sich im Sinne der dem Sport zugewiesenen Funktionen als funktionstüchtig erweist. Dazu sind empirische Daten über ihre Wirksamkeit erforderlich. Die vorliegende Untersuchung soll hierzu, am Beispiel der Leichtathletik, einen Beitrag leisten.
Seit 1991 führt der Leichtathletik-Weltverband eine dreistufige Trainerausbildung durch (Coaches Education and Certification System“, CECS). Diese Förderung basiert auf einer theoriegeleiteten Analyse des Entwicklungsbedarfs und einer entsprechenden Strategie. Die vorliegende Untersuchung überprüft die erste Stufe dieser Ausbildung („CECS Level I“), die in mehr als 100 Entwicklungsländern zu Anwendung kommt. Als Grundlage für die Analyse wurden Leitkriterien der allgemeinen Entwicklungshilfe und der Sportförderung zur Anwendung gebracht.
Das Untersuchungsdesign ist mehrperspektivisch angelegt und analysiert die
CECS Level I-Kurse aus der Sicht der Teilnehmer, der Lehrkräfte und der nationalen Leichtathletikverbände, und zwar unmittelbar nach Abschluß und mit größerer zeitlicher Distanz zu den Kursen. Als Untersuchungsinstrumente sind Fragebögen und teilstrukturierte Interviews verwendet worden. Insgesamt wurden befragt: 2577 Kursteilnehmer (aus 89 Nationen) mit 15.769 Fragebögen (in sechs Sprachen), 120 Lehrkräfte und 98 nationale Leichtathletikverbände, mit einer Rückmeldequote von 55% bis 88%. Weiterhin konnten 207 Kursteilnehmer persönlich (in drei Sprachen) befragt werden.
Die Datenauswertung zeigt, den Level I-Kursen liegt eine eindeutig leistungssportliche Intention zugrunde. Leichtathletik wird so vermittelt, daß sie als typisches Symbolsystem moderner Gesellschaften dargestellt und vermittelt wird. Daher können diesen Kursen durchaus Potentiale innewohnen, verschiedene Bewußtseinselemente von Modernität zu transportieren. Solche Merkmale sind auf der Basis der Theorien von BERGER/BERGER/KELLNER (1987) und DIGEL (1993) identifiziert worden.
Weiterhin wurde festgestellt: a. Level I-Kurse haben gesellschaftlich-kommunikative Impulse initiiert, b. das Curriculum hat sich hinsichtlich Logik, Angemessenheit und inhaltlicher Korrektheit als fundiert erwiesen, c. die Qualität des leitenden Sportpersonals ist angemessen, d. das Lehr- und Lernmaterial ist m.E. als ausreichend zu bewerten, e. eine positive Beeinflussung leichtathletischer Leitstrukturen konnte nachgewiesen werden, f. die Rückmeldung zum Wissenszuwachs ist beachtenswert positiv, g. es gibt Hinweise zu günstigen Wirkungen auf die Persönlichkeitsbildung und h. Effekte als Identifikationsinstrument, im Sinne eines „Nation Building“.
Demgegenüber weist die theoretische Fundierung der IAAF-Trainerausbildung („The IAAF Problem Analysis”) in ihrer Kausalität logische Schwächen auf. Damit werden Maßnahmen im Rahmen einer Überwindungsstrategie ebenfalls fehlerhaft sein. Darüber hinaus führt die Vereinheitlichung des Curriculums auf internationalem Niveau dazu, daß länderspezifische Besonderheiten nicht berücksichtigt werden. Es besteht die Gefahr, daß auf diese Weise an den Bedürfnissen zahlreicher Nehmerländer vorbei ausgebildet wird.
Weitere Ergebnisse sind: a. die Schaffung eigener Problemfindungs- und Problemlösungskapazitäten für lokale leichtathletikspezifische und sportspezifische Probleme wurden nur wenig stimuliert. Bei der Kursdurchführung ist unter Bedingungen gearbeitet worden, die oft näher an denen der Industrieländer liegen, als an denen der ländlichen Gebiete desselben Landes, b. Level I-Kurse haben nur wenige institutionsbildende und -fördernde Effekte zur Folge gehabt, c. die leistungssportliche Orientierung bzw. der Ausschluß von breitensportlichen Aspekten begrenzt die Wirksamkeit wichtiger Entwicklungseffekte (z.B. Gesundheit, Integration oder Emanzipation).
Zusammenfassend kann festgestellt werden, das CECS Level I ist eine leistungssportlich akzeptable Ausbildung, ohne entwicklungspolitisch wirksam zu werden.Development theories describe characteristics of under-developed societies and are the foundation for strategies, which can lead to systematic changes that will further economic and social development. In the view of the author, modernisation theories, a form of development theory, have the greatest potential to explain development because of their approach and neutrality.
Sport science addresses the issue of whether sport is an appropriate instrument for development in third world countries and, if so, the functions it can fulfil in this regard. Numerous contributors credit sport with functions that lead to the development of societies using this evidence as a rationalisation for its general advancement. However, in the author’s opinion, this evidence is valid only if based on empirical data. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the discussion by collecting and examining data from the example of athletics.
Since 1991, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has operated a Coaches Education and Certification System (CECS), which includes a three level programme of courses. The CECS is an element of a strategy for the development of athletics derived from a theory-based problem analysis. This study investigates the CECS Level I course, which has been delivered in more than 100 developing countries. For the analysis, various criteria for the evaluation of general development aid and sport development projects are used.
CECS Level I courses were examined from the perspectives of the participants, lecturers and national athletics federations, both immediately after the courses and at some temporal distance (up to several years). A total of 15,769 questionnaires from 2,577 participants (representing 89 countries and six languages), 120 lecturers and 98 national federations were analysed. The feedback rate for the various groups was between 55 and 88 %. In addition, 207 participant interviews, conducted in three languages, were considered.
The results show that the CECS Level I course is clearly oriented towards performance sport and that within the course athletics is conveyed as a typical symbol system for modern societies. Therefore, the course has the potential to transfer elements of consciousness of modernity. These elements have been identified on the basis of the theories of BERGER/BERGER/KELLNER (1987) and DIGEL (1993).
With regard to the general development and sport development analysis criteria, it was found that (a) Level I courses initiate social-communicative impulses; (b) the logic, adequacy and content-correctness of the curriculum are good; (c) the quality of the sport personnel (lecturers) is high; (d) with some reservations, the quality of the teaching materials is good; (e) there is a positive influence on athletics-specific leadership structures; (f) there is strong positive feedback on the improvement of knowledge; (g) there are hints of positive effects on the development of the personalities of the participants; and (h) there are hints of positive contributions to “Nation Building”.
On the other hand, it was found that the theoretical basis for the CECS (“The IAAF Problem Analysis”) has fundamental weaknesses. There is a misleading logic to the causes and effects expressed, which undermines the resulting strategy. In addition, data analysis has shown that because country specific needs are not considered in the syllabus, the Level I course does not meet the development needs for the sport or societies as effectively as it might.
Furthermore, (a) the potential of the CECS Level I course to stimulate problem identification and solution-finding skills related to local level athletics has not been fully realised (One reason for this is that the reality of a course conducted at the country’s top sport facilities in a population centre is usually far removed from the reality faced in rural areas.), (b) CECS Level I courses showed few institution building effects (on the contrary the full development impact of a course can only be realised if certain sport structures are in place and effective already), and (c) the orientation towards performance sport excludes grass-root athletics in the sense of “Sport for All”, thereby limiting important development effects that sport might have on a society (health benefits, integration, female emancipation, etc.).
It can be concluded that the CECS Level I course provides acceptable performance oriented training for coaches but is of only limited effectiveness for the general development of sport and societies
Perspectives of Sport in a Global World
No full textAbstractSport is increasingly becoming a lifetime companion of man, from kindergarten up to the sport of ninety-year-olds. The dynamics of the job market require mobility, which again weakens the solidity of social networks. Due to this development society has become extremely complex. The author states that we can only temporarily commit ourselves to partial relationships. It is characteristic of those decades to almost obsessively modernise everything that was held to belong to yesterday. Modernisation itself is gaining acceptance primarily through specific developmental processes, of which the author analyses five characteristics: Individualisation, rationalisation, economisation, increasing legalisation and globalisation. In the change of paradigms there will be some key developments that concern the whole world.One can recognise some striking characteristics as indications of problems that could accompany and burden life in sport in the coming years. Ten aspects are highlighted. The author concludes that Sport has come to an arrangement with the mainstream of society. It is on the side of those that follow market logic. It not surprising, however, that critics see it as a driving force for social injustice
Emergency department visits for symptoms experienced by oncology patients: A systematic review
No full textGALPROP WebRun: An internet-based service for calculating galactic cosmic ray propagation and associated photon emissions
No full textGALPROP is a numerical code for calculating the galactic propagation of relativistic charged particles and the diffuse emissions produced during their propagation. The code incorporates as much realistic astrophysical input as possible together with latest theoretical developments and has become a de facto standard in astrophysics of cosmic rays. We present GALPROP WebRun, a service to the scientific community enabling easy use of the freely available GALPROP code via web browsers. In addition, we introduce the latest GALPROP version 54, available through this service. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Fermi Large Area Telescope Fourth Source Catalog Data Release 2
No full textInternational audienceWe present an incremental version (4FGL-DR2, for Data Release 2) of the fourth Fermi-LAT catalog of gamma-ray sources. Based on the first ten years of science data in the energy range from 50 MeV to 1 TeV, it uses the same analysis methods as the 4FGL catalog did for eight years of data. The spectral parameters, spectral energy distributions and associations are updated for all sources. Light curves are rebuilt for all sources with 1-year intervals (not 2-month intervals). Among the 5064 4FGL sources, 120 are formally below the detection threshold over 10 years (but are kept in the list), while 53 are newly associated and four associations were withdrawn. We report 723 new sources, mostly just above the detection threshold, among which two are considered identified and 341 have a plausible counterpart at other wavelengths
Application of a multidimensional wavelet denoising algorithm for the detection and characterization of astrophysical sources of gamma rays
No full textInternational audienceZhang, Fadili, & Starck have recently developed a denoising procedure for Poisson data that offers advantages over other methods of intensity estimation in multiple dimensions. Their procedure, which is nonparametric, is based on thresholding wavelet coefficients. The restoration algorithm applied after thresholding provides good conservation of source flux. We present an investigation of the procedure of Zhang et al. for the detection and characterization of astrophysical sources of high-energy gamma rays, using realistic simulated observations with the Large Area Telescope (LAT). The LAT is to be launched in late 2007 on the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope mission. Source detection in the LAT data is complicated by the low fluxes of point sources relative to the diffuse celestial background, the limited angular resolution, and the tremendous variation of that resolution with energy (from tens of degrees at 30 MeV to 0.1◦ at 10 GeV). The algorithm is very fast relative to traditional likelihood model fitting, and permits immediate estimation of spectral properties. Astrophysical sources of gamma rays, especially active galaxies, are typically quite variable, and our current work may lead to a reliable method to quickly characterize the flaring properties of newly-detected sources
Fermi-LAT improved Pass~8 event selection
No full textInternational audienceThe current version of the Fermi Large Area Telescope data (P8R2) has been publicly available since June 2015, with the caveat that the residual background of all event classes, except ULTRACLEANVETO, was not fully isotropic: it was enhanced by a factor ~2 at 1-3 GeV within ~20 deg of the Ecliptic compared to the poles. By investigating the residual background using data only, we were able to find two sources of residual background: one due to non-interacting heavy ions and one due to cosmic-ray electrons leaking through the ribbons of the Anti-Coincidence Detector, the latter source being responsible for the background anisotropy. A set of simple cuts allows us to reject these events while losing less than 1% of the SOURCE class acceptance. This new selection has been used to produce a new version of the LAT data (P8R3)
Gamma-ray source detection and characterization using the Multi-Scale Variance Stabilizing transform
No full textGamma-ray source detection and characterization using the Multi-Scale Variance Stabilizing transform
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