A Comparison of American Football Cleats and Soccer Cleats on Measures of Force in a Countermovement Vertical Jump

The configuration of cleats has been reported to affect force production in several performance-related tasks such as running and cutting, and it may have the ability to alter vertical jump performance. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of cleat configuration in American football and soccer cleats on force production resulting from a maximal countermovement vertical jump. Ten recreationally trained male participants (age: 21.6 ± 1.35 years; height: 180.0 ± 4.51 cm; mass: 83.89 ± 6.74 kg) volunteered to participate in one three-hour testing session. A counterbalanced, controlled cross-over design was utilized for the three footwear conditions, which included the Nike Alpha Strike 2 TD football cleat (FC), Nike Tiempo Rio 2 FG soccer cleat (SC), and the Nike Dart running shoe (RS). The session consisted of a warm-up followed by the execution of three maximal vertical jumps on a force platform covered by artificial turf for each footwear condition. Data from the force plate allowed determination of three of the dependent variables [ground reaction force (Fz), normalized ground reaction force (nFz), and rate of force development (RFD)], while a Vertec measuring device was used to obtain vertical jump height (VJH). No statistically significant differences were found (p>.05) between conditions for any of the dependent variables. Therefore, this study shows there is no advantage of wearing a certain cleat type during vertical jump performance

John Buddle (1773 - 1843) agent and entrepreneur in the north-east coal trade

The name of John Buddle is well known to historians interested in the coal-mining industry, or in the history of Northumberland and Durham, in the first half of the nineteenth century. The present study is, however, surprisingly the first to make him the subject of an academic monograph rather than a' source for occasional references in research on associated topics. The thesis is based on Buddle's correspondence, diaries and working papers in the Durham and Northumberland County Record Offices and the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers. It examines the background to Buddle's career - the viewers, agents and entrepreneurs in the north-east coal-field; Buddle's training; and his character, and leisure and business interests. It then investigates Buddle's work: as a colliery viewer on an occasional or consultant basis (without, however, attempting any detailed consideration of engineering); as manager or agent of two Tyne collieries; as an entrepreneur in his own collieries on the Tyne; and as colliery agent for twenty-four years to the third Marquess of Londonderry, one of the great coal-owners on the River Wear. This latter topic embraces the management structure of the Londonderry collieries; the policy and tactics pursued in mining and shipping the coal, and acquiring colliery land; the building of Seaham Harbour; relations with the Coal Trade organisation on its regulation of the vend; and Londonderry's financial affairs. A further chapter considers Buddle's attitude to labour relations, including the 1831-2 pitmen's strike. An examination of Buddle's intimate involvement in all these areas sheds light on topics such as the role of agency in general, the state of the north-east coal trade in the first half of the nineteenth century, and management in the age of new industrialisation

5,5'-Azoxytetrazolates - a new nitrogen-rich dianion and its comparison to 5,5'-azotetrazolate

A modification of the synthesis of sodium 5,5'-azotetrazolate pentahydrate, described by Thiele in 1898, yields the unknown and unexpected corresponding 5N-oxido derivative sodium 5,5'-azoxybistetrazolate pentahydrate (Na(2)zTO center dot 5H(2)O, 1). Purification was achieved by recrystallization based on the better solubility of Na(2)zTO center dot 5H(2)O in water. Different nitrogen-rich salts, such as the diammonium (3), the dihydroxylammonium (4), the bis-diaminoguanidinium (5), the bis-triaminoguanidinium (6) and the diaminouronium salt (7), have been prepared using metathesis reactions starting from barium 5,5'azoxybistetrazolate pentahydrate (2) and ammonium, hydroxylammonium, diaminoguanidinium or diaminouronium sulfate and triaminoguanidinium chloride, respectively. The nitrogen rich azoxyderivatives 3-7 were characterized using NMR, IR and Raman spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and elemental analysis. Additionally the solid state structures of 3, 4, 5 and 7 were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The heats of formation of 3 and 4 and their corresponding azo-tetrazolate derivatives were calculated by the atomization method based on CBS-4M enthalpies. With these values and the crystal densities, several detonation parameters such as the detonation velocity, detonation pressure and specific impulse were calculated (EXPLO5) and compared. The sensitivities towards shock (BAM drophammer), friction (BAM friction tester) and electrostatic discharge of the described compounds were determined

Compassion Focused Therapy: a systematic review of its effectiveness and acceptability in clinical populations

Introduction: Compassion focused therapy (CFT) is an increasingly popular therapeutic modality. Its holistic and integrative approach to universal human suffering means that it is well placed as a transdiagnostic therapy. Research into its effectiveness and acceptability has increased over the previous 10 years as the therapy has evolved, and to help consider its status as an evidence-based therapy research concerning its treatment outcomes needs evaluating. Areas covered: This paper reviews research investigating the effectiveness of CFT in clinical populations. Expert opinion: CFT shows promise for a range of mental health problems, especially when delivered in a group format over at least 12 hours. This is important for funding bodies and commissioning groups to consider as they allocate healthcare resources in light of current evidence-based practice. CFT is demonstrably well accepted by clients and clinicians and there is now a clear need for an updated, universally deployed, standard manual to direct future research. This will be critical in enabling widespread implementation and further adoption into mainstream clinical practice, will address the lack of standardization in the current research, and pave the way for further randomized control trials aimed at reducing existing methodological limitations

A longitudinal investigation of repressive coping and ageing

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Aging & Mental Health on October 2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13607863.2015.1060941.Two studies investigated the possibility that repressive coping is more prevalent in older adults and that this represents a developmental progression rather than a cohort effect. Study 1 examined repressive coping and mental health cross-sectionally in young and old adults. Study 2 examined whether there was a developmental progression of repressive coping prevalence rates in a longitudinal sample of older adults.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Older adult experiences of reactivated posttraumatic distress: Life stage integration or cognitive disintegration?

This review explores current research on reactivated posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among older adults. Diagnostic system classifications of PTSD and possible trauma-based presentations among the elderly are considered before work concerning prevalence, symptomatology and course, triggers, theoretical explanations of reactivated trauma and treatments is examined. Conceptual and methodological strengths and weaknesses of existing work are highlighted and we conclude that the next phase in research efforts should continue to explore the relative contributions of cognitive/neuropsychological and developmental/social factors in understanding this phenomenon

So close, yet so far away? the effects of city size, density, and growth on local civic participation

Recent studies in the U.S. context have suggested that political participation is a function of the size and concentration of a city’s population. Most of this research focuses on the idea that there is an optimal size and concentration of population that favors active political participation in terms of a higher propensity to vote in local elections, contact local officials, and attend community meetings. The conventional argument suggests a negative relationship between city size and political participation that is mitigated to some extent by the deeper social interactions generated by increased population density. We extend this research by also investigating the influence of population growth on the broader concept of civic participation. Civic participation is a multidimensional concept that requires the use of a broad set of indicators. We expand the number of measures to gauge civic participation at the local level by including data on the formation of volunteer associations, volunteer fire brigades and not-for-profit organizations as well as voter turnout. We test the hypotheses derived from extant research using aggregate data collected from Portuguese cities and discuss the implications of our findings for the literature on local civic participatio

Authoritarian Recall: Mexico's Drug War and Subnational Patterns of Opposition to Democracy

In times of crisis, citizens' support for democracy can depend on how well they think their democracy can address that crisis compared to authoritarian alternatives. Mexico is in the midst of just such a crisis, as its war on drug trafficking organisations has brought an unprecedented rise in violence and, in some areas, posed a direct challenge to the state's capacity to govern. At the same time, its subnational political landscape ranges from vibrant, multi-party states to those with continued connections to a dominant one-party past. We leverage these variations in subnational political context and levels of drug-related violence to examine how the subnational political context mediates the relationship between a crisis and support for non-democratic alternatives. When faced with a violent shock to the system, public attitudes towards democracy depend in part on one's experiences with non-democratic alternatives and whether these authoritarian options appear to solve the crisis at hand more effectively

Deficit to development: rethinking centralised workshops

Centralised academic skills provision has been criticised for being ‘generic’, ‘remedial’, or ‘bolt on’ (Wingate, 2006). Critics argue it takes a deficit approach towards student learning, simplifying academic processes and failing to meet students’ discipline-specific needs. Embedded provision is often seen as the solution. However, embedded does not necessarily mean non-deficit. Indeed, Schneider (2023) highlights that academic tutors can perceive students in relation to skills they are lacking. Subsequently, Learning Developers can be brought in to ‘fix’ students, and as such, embedded sessions may still be disconnected from the curriculum and designed to offer pre-prescribed solutions, reflecting deficit approaches. As Webster (2023) asserts, the Learning Developer’s role is not ‘to give students academic skills’ but rather to help them make sense of the skills and literacies that are hidden in the curriculum. In this workshop, we discussed how we redesigned our entire skills programme using a non-deficit pedagogic approach that aims to help students ‘uncover their curriculum’. Inspired by the University of Manchester’s constructive and collective approach (Blake and Illingworth, 2015), we see our co-curricular offer as providing a unique opportunity to create empowering and developmental learning spaces which sit alongside embedded provision. To meet these aims, our redesign was informed by four principles: • Reflection: centring students’ prior knowledge and experience. • Collaboration: harnessing knowledge from a community of learners, rather than a ‘sage on the stage’. • Choice: students customise their own learning experience, tailoring sessions to meet their own needs. • Application: students relate session content to their own discipline and apply learning to their own work. Workshop participants considered debates around deficit thinking in relation to centralised training, working together to redesign learning activities and reflect on the opportunities and challenges of such an approach