When risk becomes invisible in the everyday life of day care

Both the identification of children at risk in day care and multidisciplinary collaboration with other professions have a political focus. This study was designed as an organizational field study and attempts to establish a coherent practice of multidisciplinary collaboration between day care and social services. This article focuses on the mono-professional pedagogical identification of children at risk as well as on the underlying process of professional reasoning. Interviews with day care staff are analysed and the findings give reason to assume that central aspects of the children at risk and their life circumstances become invisible in the everyday life of day care. Due to defensive routines as well as an organizational culture that frames and creates a non-explicitly structured practice using intuitive processes, the problems of children at risk become invisible in the everyday life of day care. When risk become invisible, it not only impedes the mono-professional help the children receive, it also inhibits a crucial multidisciplinary collaborative provision of support to children at risk and their families. The identification of children at risk seems to be based on an unexamined selection of significant information, processed by intuitive processes.     

Behavioural disorders in Danish schools: a qualitative analysis of background factors

A national survey has shown that the incidence of serious behavioural problems in Danish schools stands at 10 per cent. The present qualitative study makes use of a broad-spectrum ecological model in the search for aetiological factors underlying behavioural disturbance. The study covers 34 typical Danish schools matched in pairs on the basis of degree of disturbance in the national survey. The results indicate behavioural problems to be related more to system factors than to purely individual factors.     

Renal lactate elimination is maintained during moderate exercise in humans

Reduced hepatic lactate elimination initiates blood lactate accumulation during incremental exercise. In this study, we wished to determine whether renal lactate elimination contributes to the initiation of blood lactate accumulation. The renal arterial-to-venous (a-v) lactate difference was determined in nine men during sodium lactate infusion to enhance the evaluation (0.5 mol x L(-1) at 16 ± 1 mL x min(-1); mean ± s) both at rest and during cycling exercise (heart rate 139 ± 5 beats x min(-1)). The renal release of erythropoietin was used to detect kidney tissue ischaemia. At rest, the a-v O(2) (CaO(2)-CvO(2)) and lactate concentration differences were 0.8 ± 0.2 and 0.02 ± 0.02 mmol x L(-1), respectively. During exercise, arterial lactate and CaO(2)-CvO(2) increased to 7.1 ± 1.1 and 2.6 ± 0.8 mmol x L(-1), respectively (P < 0.05), indicating a -70% reduction of renal blood flow with no significant change in the renal venous erythropoietin concentration (0.8 ± 1.4 U x L(-1)). The a-v lactate concentration difference increased to 0.5 ± 0.8 mmol x L(-1), indicating similar lactate elimination as at rest. In conclusion, a -70% reduction in renal blood flow does not provoke critical renal ischaemia, and renal lactate elimination is maintained. Thus, kidney lactate elimination is unlikely to contribute to the initial blood lactate accumulation during progressive exercise.     

The impact of start strategy on start performance in alpine skiing exists on flat,but not on steep inclines

Here, we explored the relationship between incline and start strategy during alpine skiing. Eight FIS skiers performed starts on a flat (3°) and steep (21°) incline employing five different strategies. Their times, trajectories and velocities were monitored with a GNSS system and video. A significant interaction was observed between slope incline and start strategy with respect to the skier’s exit velocity (p < 0.001, ?²_p = 0.716), but not for the start section time (p = 0.732, ?²_p = 0.037). On the almost flat incline, both section time (p = 0.022, ?²_p = 0.438) and exit velocity (p < 0.001, ?²_p = 0.786) were influenced significantly by start strategy, with four V2 skate-pushes being optimal. On the steep incline, neither section time nor exit velocity was affected significantly by start strategy, the fastest section time and exit velocity being attained with four and two V2 skate-pushes, respectively. In conclusion, these findings demonstrate that the start strategy exerts considerable impact on start performance on almost flat inclines, with strategies involving three or more V2 skate-pushes being optimal. In contrast, start performance on the steep incline was not influenced by strategy.     

When and why do university managers use publication incentive payments?

Pay-for-performance schemes have become a widespread management strategy in the public sector. However, not much is known about the rationales that trigger the adoption of performance-related pay provisions. This article examines managerial and organisational features of university departments in Denmark that use publication incentive payments. Most often it is used when heads of department outside the humanities think it is a good idea to reward scholars financially for publications. In-depth analysis of the cases reveals, however, that department heads cannot simply be divided between ‘believers’ and ‘non-believers’. Almost half expressed confidence in that publication incentive payments motivate researchers to perform better, not because of the monetary reward, but because of the positive feedback signalled by the pay supplement.     

One-arm maximal strength training improves work economy and endurance capacity but not skeletal muscle blood flow

Maximal strength training with a focus on maximal mobilization of force in the concentric phase improves endurance performance that employs a large muscle mass. However, this has not been studied during work with a small muscle mass, which does not challenge convective oxygen supply. We therefore randomized 23 adult females with no arm-training history to either one-arm maximal strength training or a control group. The training group performed five sets of five repetitions of dynamic arm curls against a near-maximal load, 3 days a week for 8 weeks. This training increased maximal strength by 75% and improved rate of force development during both strength and endurance exercise, suggesting that each arm curl became more efficient. This coincided with a 17-18% reduction in oxygen cost at standardized submaximal workloads (work economy), and a 21% higher peak oxygen uptake and 30% higher peak load during maximal arm endurance exercise. Blood flow assessed by Doppler ultrasound in the axillary artery supplying the working biceps brachii and brachialis muscles could not explain the training-induced adaptations. These data suggest that maximal strength training improved work economy and endurance performance in the skeletal muscle, and that these effects are independent of convective oxygen supply.     

Mathematics and crises

Educational Studies in Mathematics - One can identify at least three different types of relationships between mathematics and crises. First, mathematics can picture a crisis. This is in accordance...