Bounds on heavy sterile neutrinos revisited

We revise the bounds on heavy sterile neutrinos, especially in the case of their mixing with muon neutrinos in the charged current. We summarize the present experimental limits, and we reanalyze the existing data from the accelerator neutrino experiments and from Super-Kamiokande to set new bounds on a heavy sterile neutrino in the range of masses from 8 MeV to 390 MeV. We also discuss how the future accelerator neutrino experiments can improve the present limits.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures; a detailed and expanded versio

Media justice: Madeleine McCann, intermediatization and "trial by media" in the British press

Three-year-old Madeleine McCann disappeared on 3 May 2007 from a holiday apartment in Portugal. Over five years and multiple investigations that failed to solve this abducted child case, Madeleine and her parents were subject to a process of relentless ‘intermediatization’. Across 24–7 news coverage, websites, documentaries, films, YouTube videos, books, magazines, music and artworks, Madeleine was a mediagenic image of innocence and a lucrative story. In contrast to Madeleine’s media sacralization, the representation of her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, fluctuated between periods of vociferous support and prolonged and libellous ‘trial by media’. This article analyses how the global intermediatization of the ‘Maddie Mystery’ fed into and fuelled the ‘trial by media’ of Kate and Gerry McCann in the UK press. Our theorization of ‘trial by media’ is developed and refined through considering its legal limitations in an era of ‘attack journalism’ and unprecedented official UK inquiries into press misconduct and criminality

Grouping practices in the primary school: what influences change?

During the 1990s, there was considerable emphasis on promoting particular kinds of pupil grouping as a means of raising educational standards. This survey of 2000 primary schools explored the extent to which schools had changed their grouping practices in responses to this, the nature of the changes made and the reasons for those changes. Forty eight percent of responding schools reported that they had made no change. Twenty two percent reported changes because of the literacy hour, 2% because of the numeracy hour, 7% because of a combination of these and 21% for other reasons. Important influences on decisions about the types of grouping adopted were related to pupil learning and differentiation, teaching, the implementation of the national literacy strategy, practical issues and school self-evaluation

The role of law in welfare reform: critical perspectives on the relationship between law and social work practice

This paper considers the complex relationships between law, welfare policy and social work practice, to address the question of what role legal frameworks might play in achieving welfare policy and professional practice goals. The authors trace how law has developed as a core component of professional practice, and challenge some of the false expectations placed upon it. They then draw on findings from an international knowledge review of law teaching in social work education to propose a model for understanding how professional practice incorporates legal perspectives, and propose ways in which legal frameworks can provide positive and constructive vehicles for accountable practice

Learning and Instruction: Social-Cognitive Perspectives

In this article, we try to expand the lenses classically used in social psychology of development, and in particular, in the post-Piagetian tradition, to recent contributions of social and cognitive dynamics in development and learning. Psychological development has to be redefined as involving socially framed, culturally mediated, and interpersonally negotiated processes, and the dynamic relation between the person, others, objects, and instruments that are reconfigured through teaching–learning activities. The units of analysis, besides the traditional focus on the individual and/or isolated cognitive event, also include nowadays peer interaction and partners' roles, dialogical processes, argumentation, and specific institutional features of human practices, as illustrated through experimental social psychology. According to this general framework, learning and thinking appear more clearly as the collaborative result of autonomous minds confronting viewpoints and cultural artifacts (tools, semiotic mediations, tasks, division of roles) and trying to manage differences, feedbacks, and conflicts to pursue their activities. Moving from one activity to another, and from one space to another (pretest, joint activity, posttest), children have to reorganize their understanding, their language, and the organization of their social interactions

Pre-pregnancy body mass index and gestational weight gain and their effects on pregnancy and birth outcomes: a cohort study in West Sumatra, Indonesia

Background: Indonesia has a considerably high incidence of maternal and infant mortality. The country has however been experiencing a social and economic transition, influencing its general population demographics and nutritional status including the state of health and nutrition of pregnant women. This study aimed to explore body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain (GWG), and their relationship with pregnancy outcomes in a sample of Indonesian pregnant women. Methods: This observational cohort study included a total of 607 pregnant women who were recruited in 2010 from maternity clinics in Western Sumatra, Indonesia. Multiple logistic and regression analyses were undertaken to compare pregnancy and birth outcomes for different BMI and GWG, using normal weight women and women with a recommended weight gain as the referent groups. Results: The prevalence of underweight (BMI < 18.5 kg/m2) in pregnancy was high at 20.1%; while 21.7% of women were overweight (BMI: 23.0–27.4 kg/m2) and 5.3% obese (BMI ≥ 27.5 kg/m2) using the Asian BMI classifications. The incidence of overweight (BMI: 25.0–29.9 kg/m2) and obese (BMI ≥ 30.0 kg/m2) according to the international BMI classifications were 13.5% and 1.1% respectively. The majority of women gained inadequate weight in pregnancy compared to the Institute of Medicine (IOM)recommendations, especially those who had a normal BMI. Birthweight adjusted mean difference aMD (95% confidence interval) 205 (46,365) and the odds of macrosomia adjusted odds ratio aOR 13.46 (2.32–77.99) significantly increased in obese women compared to those with a normal BMI. Birthweight aMD -139 (−215, −64) significantly decreased in women with inadequate GWG compared to those with recommended GWG, while SGA aOR 5.44 (1.36, 21.77) and prematurity aOR 3.55 (1.23, 10.21) increased. Conclusions: Low nutritional status and inadequate GWG remain a cause for concern in these women. The higher odds of macrosomia with increasing maternal BMI and higher odds of prematurity and small for gestational age infants with inadequate weight gain also require attention. Research and practice recommendations: Urgent attention is required by researchers, policy makers and decision makers to facilitate development of culturally sensitive interventions to enhance nutritional status and health of mothers and babies, in an area known for its high incidence of maternal and neonatal mortality. Keywords: Maternal BMI, Gestational weight gain, Pregnancy outcomes, Birthweight, Indonesia, Cohort stud

After Sochi 2014:costs and impacts of Russia’s Olympic Games

This paper assesses the outcomes of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, examining the costs and economic impacts of the event, the prospects for the long-term use of venues and infrastructure, and the attitudes of the global and the Russian population. Total costs were USD 55 billion, having increased 4.5 times from USD 12 billion at the time of the bid. Of this total, about USD 16 billion were sports-related costs. After accounting for inflation, this makes Sochi the second-most expensive Olympics ever in terms of sports-related costs and the most expensive Olympics in terms of cost per event. With a public share of 96.5 percent of funding, the Sochi Games had the highest proportion of public money for any Olympic Games on record. The benefit from this high cost, however, is limited. Extensive construction led to hotel overcapacities, investors defaulted on state-backed loans, and there is no coherent plan for the after use of venues and some of the largest infrastructure projects. As a consequence, the Sochi Olympics will continue to be a burden for the Russian state, with expenses for operation, maintenance, and foregone interest and tax revenue in the order of USD 1.2 billion per year. The event also did not manage to improve the image of Russia in the world. Among the domestic population, support dropped over the seven years of its implementation, most notably among the local population