Manchester Metropolitan University

About: Manchester Metropolitan University is a education organization based out in Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 5435 authors who have published 16202 publications receiving 442561 citations. The organization is also known as: Manchester Polytechnic & MMU.

A field study of age and gender differences in habitual adult sleep

Abstract: The sleep of 52 healthy paid subjects (23 male) divided into three age-bands (20–34, 35–49 and 50–70 y) were recorded at night in their homes for a total of 190 subject-nights while following their normal daily activities and habitual sleep-wake schedule. There was a shortening in both nocturnal total sleep period and total sleep time (TST) with age, the oldest group sleeping 46 min less than the youngest. Also, the mid-point of sleep occurred 32 min earlier in the oldest group compared with the youngest group. The reduction in TST with age was due, in part, to increased wake periods within sleep. The youngest subjects showed more Movement Time which progressively decreased with age while the amount of stage 1 increased with age. The amount of slow-wave sleep (SWS, stages 3+4) was reduced, stage 4 was more than halved, while REM was slightly reduced with age. There were far fewer significant gender differences in the sleep variables: males, particularly in the middle and oldest age bands, had more stage 1 than females, while females had more SWS, particularly stage 3, than males. In general, despite relatively limited subject selection criteria, there was good agreement with previous laboratory-based normative sleep values for the effect of age and gender.

Effects of environmental noise on sleep

Abstract: This paper summarizes the findings from the past 3 year's research on the effects of environmental noise on sleep and identifies key future research goals. The past 3 years have seen continued interest in both short term effects of noise on sleep (arousals, awakenings), as well as epidemiological studies focusing on long term health impacts of nocturnal noise exposure. This research corroborated findings that noise events induce arousals at relatively low exposure levels, and independent of the noise source (air, road, and rail traffic, neighbors, church bells) and the environment (home, laboratory, hospital). New epidemiological studies support already existing evidence that night-time noise is likely associated with cardiovascular disease and stroke in the elderly. These studies collectively also suggest that nocturnal noise exposure may be more relevant for the genesis of cardiovascular disease than daytime noise exposure. Relative to noise policy, new effect-oriented noise protection concepts, and rating methods based on limiting awakening reactions were introduced. The publications of WHO's ''Night Noise Guidelines for Europe'' and ''Burden of Disease from Environmental Noise'' both stress the importance of nocturnal noise exposure for health and well-being. However, studies demonstrating a causal pathway that directly link noise (at ecological levels) and disturbed sleep with cardiovascular disease and/or other long term health outcomes are still missing. These studies, as well as the quantification of the impact of emerging noise sources (e.g., high speed rail, wind turbines) have been identified as the most relevant issues that should be addressed in the field on the effects of noise on sleep in the near future.

Understanding and measuring coordination and control in kicking skills in soccer: implications for talent identification and skill acquisition

Abstract: In this review, we explore the role of motor control and biomechanics in developing an understanding of soccer skills using kicking as the main vehicle. The links between these sub-disciplines of sport science have not been well established in the past because of an emphasis on cognitive processes in traditional accounts of motor behaviour. We argue that a dynamical systems interpretation of the processes of coordination and control in movements with multiple degrees of freedom signals a new era in the relationship between the sub-disciplines of motor control and biomechanics. Although research on coordination and control of soccer skills is currently sparse, there are indications that the relationship between motor control and biomechanics could form a significant component of scientific programmes in talent identification and skill development. Further interdisciplinary work is needed to enhance understanding of coordination and control of soccer skills.

Entangled agencies, material networks and repair in a building assemblage: the mutable stone of St Ann’s Church, Manchester1

Abstract: This article explores the fluidities and stabilities of urban materiality by looking at the ongoing emergence of a 300-year-old church in central Manchester The notion of assemblages is utilised to investigate how places, such as the building featured here, are simultaneously destroyed and altered by numerous agencies, and stabilised by repair and replacement building material By examining the vital properties of stone and the particular non-human agents that act upon the stony fabric of the building, I explore some of the processes that render matter continuously emergent I subsequently consider the consequences of these material transformations by looking at how they promote the enrolment of two human processes of spatial (re)ordering, the forging of connections between the city and sites of stone supply, and the changing and contested process of repair and maintenance I argue that by acknowledging complexity, historical depth and geographical scale, non-human and human entanglements, and ambiguity, we might write accounts that do justice to the emergence, contingency and unpredictability in a world of innumerable agencies

Resourcing new businesses: social networks, bootstrapping and firm performance

Abstract: It is commonly reported that new businesses have difficulty in accessing finance. Such businesses can engage in ‘bootstrapping’ activities as a way of compensating for the lack of finance and other resources. This paper extends prior research on start-up finance by investigating how social networks can help new ventures to acquire bootstrapped resources and how these resources influence business performance. Based on theoretical considerations, the paper proposes a framework linking social networks and bootstrapping activities to the performance of firms during the early stages of operation. The model is tested using structural equation modelling. Results obtained from the longitudinal study based on a sample of 211 entrepreneurs indicate that social networks play a key role in the acquisition of bootstrapped resources. The study differentiates between the roles of strong ties, weak ties and brokerage in accessing three different types of bootstrapped resources: payment related, owner related and joint ut...