An in-depth appraisal of career termination experiences in professional cricket

This qualitative study explored the career termination experiences of 9 male, retired professional cricketers between the ages of 28 and 40 (mean value 34, s = 4.65 m). The participants took part in retrospective, semi-structured interviews. Data from the interviews were inductively content analysed within three transition phases of the retirement process: reasons for retirement, factors affecting adaptation and reactions to retirement. The reasons for retirement were multicausal with the majority of the participants highlighting contractual pressures and a lack of communication as important precursors to retirement. Three main themes accounted for the factors affecting adaptation: a limited pursuit of other interests, developmental experiences and coping strategies. In terms of reactions to retirement, all of the participants reflected negatively on the termination of their career, with a sense of loss and resentment characterising the post-retirement period. The findings illustrated the sport-specific nature of career termination in professional cricket and added further support to the emerging consensus that the distinction between voluntary and involuntary retirement is, at best, unclear.     

Socioeconomic background,education, and labor force outcomes: evidence from a regional US sample

This paper examines the long-term association of family socioeconomic status (SES), educational, and labor force outcomes in a regional US longitudinal sample (N = 2264). The results offer insights into the mechanisms underlying the role of family SES in transitions from secondary schooling to early work experiences. It was found that the academic achievement gap associated with SES widens during secondary schooling due in part to course-level tracking. Family SES relates to college enrollment mainly via its association with academic gains in school, but also through family income and father’s occupational status. Family SES is weakly but significantly related to adult offspring’s earnings but more strongly related to occupational status. Educational qualifications and cognitive skills make independent contributions to the explanation of labor force outcomes.     

四氯合锌(Ⅱ)酸二烷基铵及其二元体系固-固相变贮热的动力学研究

用DSC技术研究CnZnCl(n=12,14,16,18)及其C14ZnCl/C16ZnCl二元体系固-固相变的动力学,借助动力学方程Kissinger法和Ozawa法计算固-固相变过程的动力学参数—活化能(Ea)和反应级数(n),两种方法的结果相符.结果表明它们的固-固相变级数均为1和纯物质的活化能随链长的增加而减小;比较纯物质与二元体系的活化能,发现二元体系的活化能相对较低,因此,从动力学角度讲,二元体系的相变较容易发生.所以在相同的条件下,可以优先考虑应用二元体系.     

Emotional journeys: young people and transitions to university

This paper offers an interpretation of the role of emotions in understanding the transitions that young people make to university. I draw on qualitative research with a group of non‐traditional students, entering elite universities, to argue that youth transitions are emotional as well instrumental affairs. I argue that choice‐making processes incorporate both trust in, and fear of, the transitions infrastructure, and that these emotions infuse more instrumental judgements about the economic benefits of higher education. I also demonstrate that emotional aspects of class – including feelings of entitlement to education and the rejection of normative student identities – constitute the experience of ‘being’ or ‘doing’ a student. A broader understanding of how young people become university students then depends not just on developing a new identity but on the complex interaction between emotion and infrastructure.     

Teaching about sustainability through inquiry-based science in Irish primary classrooms: the impact of a professional development programme on teacher self-efficacy,competence and pedagogy

Abstract

Research suggests that innovative and engaging professional development is instrumental in supporting teachers in developing their competence and confidence in teaching sustainability. An international initiative was developed to explore whether a competencies-oriented Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) professional development model was transferable across three different international contexts (Ireland, Germany and Mexico). This paper reports on the adaptation of this model within the Irish context, through the development of an innovative professional development programme for primary teachers. Through a mixed-methods approach which gathered data via pre- and post-programme surveys, teachers’ reflective journals and post-programme group interviews, the paper explores Irish primary school teachers’ experiences of, and attitudes towards, teaching sustainability through science education after participation in a professional development programme. The findings suggest that this programme, structured around the existing evidence for effective professional development in science education and ESD, positively influences teachers’ self-efficacy, supports teachers’ critical engagement with sustainability competencies and promotes the development of transformative pedagogies for sustainability through Inquiry-Based Science Education.     

Government-affiliated intermediary organisations as actors in system-level transitions

The article draws from two theoretical fields, innovation intermediation and sustainability transitions, to examine the role of government-affiliated intermediary organisations in system-level transitions. The role of intermediaries working between actors – producers and users, entrepreneurs and adopters, idea generators and funders – has seldom been specifically addressed in the transitions literature. Thus, the role of intermediary organisations in enacting change in socio-technical regimes, particularly of intermediaries falling between traditional public sector and private sector actors, is of interest in this article. Empirical analyses of two Finnish organisations, Sitra and Motiva, show that government-affiliated intermediaries are likely to engage in strategic niche management processes in diverse ways, each organisation having its own distinct characteristics. The analysis also points out that to get from niches to transition, sustained systemic intermediaries are crucial in articulating new visions and expectations. Government-affiliated intermediaries may make an important contribution to sustainability transitions by initiating and managing new policy or market processes and by acting as an impartial contact point or voice for new networks of actors. While independence from public administration is likely to facilitate networking, too neutral a stance or limited temporal engagement may reduce the transition-facilitating effects.     

力量和耐力训练对肌球蛋白重链及肌纤维转型的影响

利用肌球蛋白重链的特异性单克隆抗体对股四头肌肌肉活检样本进行免疫组化染色以分析肌纤维亚型的转变和肌细胞横截面积的变化,同时用电泳的方法观察肌球蛋白重链含量的变化.结果发现,ⅡD/A混合型肌纤维的比例在力量训练6周和12周后都出现了显著的下降;Ⅰ/ⅡA混合型肌纤维的比例在力量训练6周和12周后都出现了显著的上升.电泳分析发现在两个训练组的MHCⅡd/x含量的比例都在训练12周后出现显著下降.另外,力量训练造成了Ⅰ和ⅡA型肌纤维的横截面积在12周后显著增加.因此我们得出,不同训练模式后受试者的肌纤维展示了对训练过程不同的适应模式.     

Environmental education in transition: A critical review of recent research on climate change and energy education

Abstract

The transition from centralized energy systems based on fossil fuels to renewable-based systems is a macro-level societal shift necessitated by climate change. This review of recent environmental education (EE) research identifies gaps and opportunities for promoting environmental action in this new context. We found that environmental educators and researchers are currently focused on researching and promoting energy conservation behavior with an emphasis on children and youth. We also found an emerging research focus on energy transitions at the regional and national levels. We recommend that environmental educators and researchers adopt a vision and strategy for climate change and energy education that more explicitly addresses the role of collective action, multiactor networks, and sociotechnical innovation in shaping energy transition processes.