scholarly journals World Records: How Much Athlete? How Much Technology?

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 262-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jos J. de Koning

The quality of performance during international competitions such as the Olympic Games and various world championships is often judged by the number of world records attained. The simple fact that world records continue to improve is evidence that sports performance is progressing. Does this also mean that athletes are improving? Is the continual progression of world-record performances evidence that contemporary athletes are superior to the athletes who performed in the past? Technological developments may obscure insight into the athletic enhancement made by athletes over the years. This commentary tries to separate technological and athletic enhancement in the progression of world records by the use of a power balance model.

Radiocarbon ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Alyssa M Tate ◽  
Brittany Hundman ◽  
Jonathan Heile

ABSTRACT Leather has been produced by a variety of methods throughout human history, providing researchers unique insight into multiple facets of social and economic life in the past. Archaeologically recovered leather is often fragile and poorly preserved, leading to the use of various conservation and restoration efforts that may include the application of fats, oils, or waxes. Such additives introduce exogenous carbon to the leather, contaminating the specimen. These contaminants, in addition to those accumulated during interment, must be removed through chemical pretreatment prior to radiocarbon (14C) dating to ensure accurate dating. DirectAMS utilizes organic solvents, acid-base-acid (ABA) and gelatinization for all leather samples. Collagen yield from leather samples is variable due to the method of production and the quality of preservation. However, evaluating the acid-soluble collagen fraction, when available, provides the most accurate 14C dates for leather samples. In instances where gelatinization does not yield sufficient material, the resulting acid-insoluble fraction may be dated. Here we examine the effectiveness of the combined organic solvent and ABA pretreatment with gelatinization for leather samples, as well as the suitability of the acid-insoluble fraction for 14C dating.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mani A

It is well-known that lesbians, trans and queer women face considerable discrimination, exclusion, stigmatization, and abuse in India. That is over and above the misogyny and discrimination faced by women in the patriarchal country. LGBTQIA people were also criminalized by law till recently. In spite of all the oppression and discrimination, lesbians and trans women have always existed in the country. A number of small sample studies with limited focus have been conducted by academic bodies, NGOs, and few state transgender boards over the past few years. Some of these studies provide direct or indirect insight into the quality of life of older trans women and lesbians (QOLO). In this research, these studies are reviewed in detail from a QOLO perspective, and a number of critical conclusions are arrived at by the present author. Further, an enhanced version of QOL (and QOLO) for lesbians is also proposed by her. It is hoped that this research would be useful for motivating interdisciplinary work in a relatively neglected area.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongchun Xiang ◽  
Jing Li ◽  
Bocun Li ◽  
Qian Tan ◽  
Guowei Cai

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore the current status and trends of acupuncture for depression in the last decade and provide new insights for researchers in future studies.Methods: The articles regarding acupuncture treatment for depression published between 2011 and 2020 were extracted from the Web of Science Core Collection. We used CiteSpace to analyze data on publications, countries, institutions, cited journals, cited authors, cited references, keywords, and citation bursts about acupuncture and depression.Results: A total of 1,032 publications were obtained from 2011 to 2020. We identified the most prolific journals, countries, institutions, and authors in the field of acupuncture for depression in the last decade. The most prolific country and institutions were the People's Republic of China and KyungHee University, respectively. Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine was the most prolific and cited journal. The author with the highest centrality was Zhangjin Zhang, and the author with the most publications was Park Hi-Joon. The keyword “cognitive behavioral therapy” was first for research developments with the highest citation burst. The five hot topics in acupuncture on depression were “acupuncture,” “depression,” “electro-acupuncture,” “quality of life,” and “anxiety.”Conclusions: The results from this bibliometric study provide insight into the research trends in acupuncture therapy for depression, and the current status and trends of the past decade, which may help researchers determine the current status, hotspots, and frontier trends in this field.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-53
Author(s):  
Jordana Kate Schmier ◽  
Ellen T Chang

Enhancing the diet by increasing or decreasing consumption of selected foods or nutrients is a well-accepted method of improving population health in certain settings.  However, the economic impact of most dietary interventions is largely unknown.  Studies in the past decade have started to estimate the effects on healthcare costs, often through economic models, but the evaluation of nutritional interventions is challenging and faces uncertainties unique to the domain, compared with more straightforward analyses of medical or surgical interventions.  This paper discusses three main areas of uncertainty: measurement of consumption, assessing effectiveness, and considerations about the economic inputs to a model.  Insight into these sources of uncertainty can help readers assess the quality of existing studies, and provide guidance for their future research.


2014 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-49
Author(s):  
Ivana Djeric ◽  
Vladeta Milin ◽  
Dejan Stankovic

Improving the quality of in-service teacher training is a very topical issue in educational policies of a number of countries. This segment of the system was also subject to considerable changes in Serbia in the past ten years. The changes brought about certain improvements, but also opened up numerous dilemmas and issues. This paper is aimed at acquiring an insight into the opinions of different participants on the ways of improving the quality of in-service teacher training. The sample included three groups of respondents: the employees in education bureaucracy and experts in the field of education (N=34), principals (N=50) and expert associates from primary schools (N=93). We developed a questionnaire for the purposes of this research, using open-ended questions to collect respondents? suggestions on improving the quality of in-service teacher training. The content analysis method was used to process the collected data. Research results point to three directions of the necessary changes: (1) better governing of the system of in-service teacher training, (2) providing funding and other forms of support, and (3) higher flexibility of in-service teacher training and implementation of the acquired knowledge. The range and quality of respondents? suggestions demonstrate the need to take into account different perspectives in overcoming the difficulties in the system and practice of in-service teacher training. Consequently, the obtained results should be observed as a contribution to creating a more purposeful and efficient system of in-service teacher training.


Author(s):  
H.F. Machiel Van der Loos ◽  
Antony Hodgson ◽  
Jon Mikkelsen ◽  
Markus Fengler

To provide for professional growth of students and to gain deeper insight into student engagement in the University of British Columbia MECH Capstone Design Project Course, the teaching team has deployed an open-ended reflection opportunity over the past 6 years as an adjunct to the required teaching evaluations. Three years of year-end questionnaires and three years of bi-monthly instructor-led reflection sessions form the datasets. Although the two formats are fundamentally different, the quality of the responses provides evidence of high student awareness of their own learning process and a desire to be a meaningful contributor in the conversation on course improvement.


1888 ◽  
Vol 33 (144) ◽  
pp. 617-626
Author(s):  
Ellen F. White

The term “Medical Gymnastics” is used to express the treatment of disease by movements. Ling, an officer in the Swedish Army, and the originator of this system, received his first inspiration on the subject by finding that fencing cured the lameness in his own arm. From this simple fact he was drawn on to think, why should not other affections be also cured by means of movements. So he went through a complete course of anatomy, physiology, and pathology, and gradually evolved the whole of his system, which embraces, not only medical, but also military and hygienic or educational gymnastics. The object of hygienic gymnastics is to preserve the balance of power in the body; that of medical gymnastics is to restore the balance when it has been disturbed by loss of proportion between the parts. The blood is the carrier of life and of disease. If the stream to any part be above or below the normal supply, disease is the result. Can the flow and the actual quality of the blood be regulated by gymnastics ? The experienced gymnast at once answers “Yes.” The very fact that the hands and feet become warm through exercise shows that the sluggish circulation has been quickened, and that more and fresh blood has been brought to them from some other part which has in consequence become poorer, perhaps to its own benefit. Ling, by his marvellously clear insight into anatomy and physiology, was able to think out and arrange movements for all parts of the body, by means of which the supply might be decreased or increased, or the nutritive quality improved, all according to the exigencies of the case. Nor is the control of the circulation the only weapon in the hand of the gymnast. By constant pressure the form and direction of the parts may be changed, and swellings caused by accumulation of matter may be reduced and absorbed.


2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 326-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy Wood

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the evolution of “folk” understandings of quality in higher hospitality education and the consequent implications of these understandings for current quality concerns in the field. Design/methodology/approach – The paper combines a historical survey of the stated topic together with an analysis of how the evolution of higher hospitality education provides insight into current issues and problems in the subject area. Findings – The paper suggests that only by thoroughly comprehending the past development of higher hospitality education is it possible to accurately map the field’s current travails and diagnose likely future trends. Practical implications – The paper outlines the implications of current understandings of quality in hospitality education for its future development and provision. Originality/value – The originality and value of this paper lie in its identification of the principal trends that contribute to understanding of current perceptions of the quality of higher hospitality education.


Author(s):  
K. T. Tokuyasu

During the past investigations of immunoferritin localization of intracellular antigens in ultrathin frozen sections, we found that the degree of negative staining required to delineate u1trastructural details was often too dense for the recognition of ferritin particles. The quality of positive staining of ultrathin frozen sections, on the other hand, has generally been far inferior to that attainable in conventional plastic embedded sections, particularly in the definition of membranes. As we discussed before, a main cause of this difficulty seemed to be the vulnerability of frozen sections to the damaging effects of air-water surface tension at the time of drying of the sections.Indeed, we found that the quality of positive staining is greatly improved when positively stained frozen sections are protected against the effects of surface tension by embedding them in thin layers of mechanically stable materials at the time of drying (unpublished).


TAPPI Journal ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-60
Author(s):  
HONGHI TRAN ◽  
DANNY TANDRA

Sootblowing technology used in recovery boilers originated from that used in coal-fired boilers. It started with manual cleaning with hand lancing and hand blowing, and evolved slowly into online sootblowing using retractable sootblowers. Since 1991, intensive research and development has focused on sootblowing jet fundamentals and deposit removal in recovery boilers. The results have provided much insight into sootblower jet hydrodynamics, how a sootblower jet interacts with tubes and deposits, and factors influencing its deposit removal efficiency, and have led to two important innovations: fully-expanded sootblower nozzles that are used in virtually all recovery boilers today, and the low pressure sootblowing technology that has been implemented in several new recovery boilers. The availability of powerful computing systems, superfast microprocessors and data acquisition systems, and versatile computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling capability in the past two decades has also contributed greatly to the advancement of sootblowing technology. High quality infrared inspection cameras have enabled mills to inspect the deposit buildup conditions in the boiler during operation, and helped identify problems with sootblower lance swinging and superheater platens and boiler bank tube vibrations. As the recovery boiler firing capacity and steam parameters have increased markedly in recent years, sootblowers have become larger and longer, and this can present a challenge in terms of both sootblower design and operation.


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