Women in Action: a community development project in Amazonas

This article is a report of a Community Development Project currently being run by the Centre for Studies and Development in Environmental Education (CEDEA), at the National Institute for Amazon Research (INPA) in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. The Centre was inaugurated 3 years ago as part of an attempt to change the Institute's direction, from that of carrying out research for the scientific community to one that integrates research with sustainable development and social needs. CEDEA's team members embarked on a participatory community project, INPA and Society, that was developed with a community near the Institute. This is an urban community with economic, social, cultural and environmental problems that the project aims to approach. INPA and Society is divided into several projects, one of which is Women in Action. This is a report about the challenges that Women in Action has produced for both the Institute and the Centre. It also discusses the results that are being achieved, while commenting on the difficulties that have been confronted and how these could possibly be avoided by other groups.     

Scientific Integrity Matters

Minerva - Scientific misconduct is believed to be on the increase as the media frequently report dramatic cases. Scientific societies, academies, publishers, and stakeholders in industry are all...     

Needs Assessment: Perspectives from the Literature

Careful analysis of an organization's needs is the first step in developing programs for improving performance that are relevant to the organization and to the individuals who use the programs. The purpose of this article is to examine the perspectives of needs assessment that are described in the performance technology and human resource development literature. The first section of the article focuses on the terms used to describe the process of analyzing needs. The perspectives embodied in the definitions and conceptualizations of the terms need, needs assessment, needs analysis, front end analysis, and performance analysis are examined. The second section of the article focuses on various models of needs assessment. It presents different views about where the needs assessment process starts, where it ends, and what results are produced.     

Practitioners’ perspectives and needs: Developing skills to support unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASCs) in experiencing ‘belonging’ in English educational spaces

This article builds on Yuval-Davis’s (2006, 2007, 2011) theories of belonging, in order to relay how practitioners can support unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASCs) in developing a positive sense of belonging in educational spaces in England. To do so, the article synthesises literature surrounding theories of belonging, UASCs’ educational access in England and practices supporting UASCs’ educational attainment and sense of belonging. Further, the article considers interviews with a social worker, English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) teacher, charity sector staff member, legal expert and government workers in East England, all of whom work with UASCs. Interview analysis seeks to understand how practitioners believe UASCs find a sense of belonging in the educational spaces that they inhabit. After presenting the interview findings, the article builds on scholarly literature related to supporting UASCs’ education by discussing how practitioners, including all staff who interact with UASCs in school, college or residential accommodation spaces, can work to facilitate UASCs’ sense of belonging in educational spaces in England. The article recognises that practitioners can do so through learning to speak with low-level ESOL students, developing trauma awareness and reflexively approaching their relationships with UASCs. Thus, the article provides policy recommendations to support practitioners in doing so.     

Acute ingestion of beetroot juice does not improve short-duration repeated sprint running performance in male team sport athletes

ABSTRACT

The effects of acute ingestion of nitrate on short-duration repeated sprint performance (RSP) are unclear. This study investigated the effect of acute ingestion of beetroot juice on a test of RSP in team sport athletes. Sixteen male team sport athletes undertook four trials using a 40 m maximum shuttle run test (MST), which incorporates 10 × 40 m shuttle sprints with 30 s between the start of each sprint. Two familiarisation trials, followed by nitrate-rich beetroot juice (BR; ~6 mmol nitrate) and nitrate-depleted beetroot juice (PLA; ~0.0034 mmol nitrate) trials were completed in a randomised, double-blind manner. Ingestion of beetroot juice 3 h prior to exercise elevated plasma nitrate concentrations ~6-fold in BR (BR, 413 ± 56 μM; PLA, 69 ± 30 μM; P < 0.001). RSP, assessed by sprint performance decrement (S_dec; %), did not differ (P = 0.337) between BR (5.31 ± 2.49%) and PLA (5.71 ± 2.61%). There was no difference between trials for total sprint time (P = 0.806), fastest sprint (P = 0.341), slowest sprint (P = 0.787), or post-exercise blood lactate concentration (BR, 11.8 ± 2.5 mM; PLA, 12.2 ± 2.3 mM; P = 0.109). Therefore, acute ingestion of beetroot juice did not improve a test of short-duration RSP in team sport athletes.     

Return to school after acquired brain injury in the UK – the educators' perspectives

Childhood acquired brain injury (ABI) is associated with poorer life outcomes. Increasing numbers of children and young people are surviving severe brain injury and returning to mainstream schools with multiple impairments. It is widely acknowledged that for these children, their school becomes by default their rehabilitation centre. International studies of this transition and a recent UK government report criticize educators' inconsistent implementation of support strategies, lack of educator training and poor communication between clinicians, educators, child and family. The educators' perspectives of the return-to-school are, however, not well represented in the literature. This study therefore explored the experiences of educators in the UK (N = 10) who had recently facilitated a return-to-school of a child with ABI aged 8–12 (N = 5) using semi-structured interviews analysed by data-driven thematic analysis. The findings highlight common experiences: a continuum of intensive problem-solving with heavy reliance on the Special Educational Needs Coordinator; educators valuing collaboration with clinical specialists in context over general ‘training’; uncertainty over the validity of implementing support strategies from prior teaching experience; uncertainty about how to support the child's emotional needs; and frustration with UK statutory processes for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. Recommendations are made for changes to practice and future research.