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Background: Recent initiatives have been introduced by the UK government into secondary schools to increase pupils' access to physical activity (PA). Despite this, not enough is known about pupils' levels of physical activity or whether the delivery of these initiatives in schools facilitates or creates a barrier for pupils' PA. The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of adolescents PA levels from the perspective of those responsible for delivering physical education (PE) in schools; heads of PE (HOPE) and heads of school (HS). Methods: Seventeen semi-structured qualitative interviews were carried out with a snowball sample of HOPE and HS in schools in the Northwest and Southwest of England. Thematic data analysis using NVIVO was used to identify emergent themes. Results: 17 core themes were generated, 12 of which confirmed the findings from similar research. However, five themes relating to 'ethos of performance/elitism', 'lower fitness leads to lower ability', 'undervaluing activities within PE dept' or school as a whole', 'role of the school' and 'PE department doing all it can' offer valuable new insight into the factors which may encourage or prevent PA inside or outside the curriculum. Conclusion: Despite many positive perceptions of the delivery of PE in schools, it is evident that barriers still exist within that delivery which discourages physical activity. More research is needed to particularly address the complex issues of elitism and the ethos of PA in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article cites the results of the cloning of Tabellaria flocculosa var. flocculosa isolated from a population epiphytic on Phragmites communis in Blelham Tarn in Lake District in England. The methods involve the use of a pyrex hard glassware cleansed with a concentrated solution of trisodium phosphate. The evidence from experiments conducted in several laboratories worldwide reveals that two of the best basic media for freshwater plankton diatoms are solutions that have been used as test solutions for measuring the growth of plankton algae. The test solutions have been added with soil extract, alkaline lake mud extract, ethylenediamine-tetraacetic acid (EDTA), and trace elements. It is found that the growth of plankton algae is very poor in solutions from experiments in laboratories.