Nowhere to Hide: A study of adult learners on a basic ICT course

When key theorists in adult education are reviewed, there is not a strong focus on ICT, or on its transformative power. Most of the adult learning theory is dated B.C, a phrase taken from Bosley (2011:30), meaning before computers. I believe that adults, and the whole world in general is being transformed by its use. It is particularly interesting to examine people who grew up in a different era, a time before the computer, a time where the tools and techniques of ICT were not learned or practiced. From my research four major findings have emerged that will contribute to the understanding of how adults talk about, understand, learn and place ICT in their lives. Firstly, the understanding of self in relation to digital technology. How these adults place themselves in society and how ICT is impacting of their everyday life. There is an overwhelming amount of fear felt by the participants, which also contributes to their motivation for wanting to learn. Secondly, the learners understanding of the learning process, and how the learner underestimates their own informal learning. These participants have been around ICT for many years and know more than they think they do. It was found during my research, that by sharing expertise with each other that these adults confidence was increased and the ability to move forward was more likely. Thirdly, obstacles and supports. The obligation felt by the participants to partake, the force of ICT and the power it has on their lives seems now to be giving these adults no choice but to partake or be left behind. These adults see it as something they have to do but they do not fully like it and are not fully comfortable with it. The profound ambivalence felt by each learner, the conflicting reactions, beliefs and feelings towards ICT and the shifting societal expectations is changing the role these adults now face in society. And fourthly, the social element. These adults were on this course not for better jobs, or to earn more money. They were there because they were feeling left out, isolated from friends and family and they wanted to learn in order to rejoin a world that was leaving them behind

New Zealand-China Relations: Common Points and Differences

The 35th anniversary of New Zealand establishing diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) fell on 22 December 2007. This anniversary was marked by high-powered celebrations in both Beijing and Wellington. Yet, it should not be forgotten that New Zealand-China relations stretch much longer than the 35 years of formal relations with the PRC. There is a saying in Chinese, “when drinking water, think of its source” (yin shui si yuan), and in this paper I will survey some of the historical sources of New Zealand’s current close interest in, and involvement with, China. New Zealand has long had an extensive and complex relationship with China. The diversity of these long-term connections has resulted in an unusually high level of awareness of China and its people in New Zealand, and a strong interest in expanding the relationship still further. Another saying is also useful as a framework for understanding New Zealand-China relations: “seek common points; face up to differences.” China’s rising dominance in the Asia-Pacific region in recent years has brought about a significant readjustment in New Zealand’s foreign policy, one which the New Zealand population appears ill-prepared to adjust to and which poses a number of challenges for the future. In the second half of the paper, I will discuss some of the points New Zealand has in common with China, along with some of the differences

Magic Weapons and Foreign Interference in New Zealand: how it started, how it’s going

In March 2021, the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (SIS) launched a remarkable campaign to inform the New Zealand public on the risk of foreign interference. In New Zealand, reference to ‘foreign interference’ almost always relates to the foreign interference activities of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government. New Zealand has been severely affected by CCP foreign interference. For the Ardern government it was never a matter of ‘whether’ New Zealand would address this issue, but ‘how’. The SIS’s unprecedented public information campaign is part of a significant readjustment in New Zealand–China relations since 2018. This article documents some of those change

Concurrent detection of autolysosome formation and lysosomal degradation by flow cytometry in a high-content screen for inducers of autophagy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Autophagy mediates lysosomal degradation of cytosolic components. Recent work has associated autophagic dysfunction with pathologies, including cancer and cardiovascular disease. To date, the identification of clinically-applicable drugs that modulate autophagy has been hampered by the lack of standardized assays capable of precisely reporting autophagic activity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We developed and implemented a high-content, flow-cytometry-based screening approach for rapid, precise, and quantitative measurements of pharmaceutical control over autophagy. Our assay allowed for time-resolved individual measurements of autolysosome formation and degradation, and endolysosomal activities under both basal and activated autophagy conditions. As proof of concept, we analyzed conventional autophagy regulators, including cardioprotective compounds aminoimidazole carboxamide ribonucleotide (AICAR), rapamycin, and resveratrol, and revealed striking conditional dependencies of rapamycin and autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine (3-MA). To identify novel autophagy modulators with translational potential, we screened the Prestwick Chemical Library of 1,120 US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved compounds for impact on autolysosome formation. In all, 38 compounds were identified as potential activators, and 36 as potential inhibitors of autophagy. Notably, amongst the autophagy enhancers were cardiac glycosides, from which we selected digoxin, strophanthidin, and digoxigenin for validation by standard biochemical and imaging techniques. We report the induction of autophagic flux by these cardiac glycosides, and the concentrations allowing for specific enhancement of autophagic activities without impact on endolysosomal activities.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our systematic analysis of autophagic and endolysosomal activities outperformed conventional autophagy assays and highlights the complexity of drug influence on autophagy. We demonstrate conditional dependencies of established regulators. Moreover, we identified new autophagy regulators and characterized cardiac glycosides as novel potent inducers of autophagic flux.</p

D6.3 Report on an analysis of competing influences on the social construction of social rights across Europe and the implications for variations of access to such rights

The concept and the substance of social rights as rights of citizenship are of contested and relatively recent historical provenance. Prior to the emergence of modern welfare states, social provision across Europe was based largely in localised systems of discretionary poor relief shaped in part by religious influences. The rise of industrial capitalism gave rise to social concerns that found expression in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in a tenuous but essentially social liberal consensus favouring the development of a disparate array of social insurance arrangements for the protection of workers. The subsequent evolution of such arrangements was affected in a variety of ways by the consequences of two world wars and the rise and fall of communism. In the mid-twentieth century, at the time that the foundations of the EU were being laid, social rights emerged as implicit or explicit components of national citizenship in a variety of Western European welfare regimes, but also as aspirational principles established through an international human rights framework. Towards the end of the twentieth century, the combined effects of financial globalisation, the collapse of communism in Eastern and Central Europe and the hegemonic rise of neo-liberal economic and managerial orthodoxies have given rise in the twenty-first century to less certain understandings of social rights. Such evidence as we have indicates there is no unanimity among policy actors as to the meaning of social rights and that the discourse and understanding of social rights is as variable within European countries as it is between them. The development of social policy is not grounded in a shared understanding of social rights. The barrier to the defence and promotion of social citizenship in Europe lays not so much in inconsistencies in the de facto realisation of specific rights as in a failure explicitly to engage with and accommodate uncertainties and/or ideological differences as to the aim and purpose of such rights. If there is to be a broadly consensual and effective form of supra-national European social citizenship, this may require serious debate as to the basis for some kind of substantively shared social policy initiative (such as the introduction of a modest European Citizen’s income)

Hard times, new directions? The impact of local government spending cuts on three deprived neighbourhoods. Final report.

In the context of what was described as the worst financial settlement in living memory for local government, we set out in this study to establish how residents living in some of the most deprived neighbourhoods of London have been affected by the local authority spending cuts since 2010. These are neighbourhoods where, because of concentrated disadvantage, residents would be particularly vulnerable to service reductions and not well-positioned to cope with the wider pressures of recession and austerity. This is the first study to map the local impacts of the cuts in detail

Teenagers’ moral advertising literacy in an influencer marketing context

Teenagers are avid consumers of social media and also constitute attractive target audiences for influencer marketing (IM). Teenagers can perceive strong, parasocial relationships with influencers, frequently regarding them as being akin to a peer or a friend. Furthermore, influencer endorsements are observed to carry greater credibility and authenticity than traditional forms of advertising. This therefore raises questions about young consumers’ discernment of, and critical evaluation of the overall appropriateness when influencers act as conduits of commercial messages on behalf of brands. This paper reports on a qualitative study of 29 teenagers aged 15–17 years. The aim was to explore the participants’ moral advertising literacy, namely their evaluations of the fairness and appropriateness of IM. The findings indicate whilst the participants were critical and sceptical towards the practice of IM in general (i.e. their dispositional advertising literacy), they were positively disposed towards specific commercial content emanating from specific influencers, (i.e. their situational literacy), often on the basis of the parasocial relationship that was seen to prevail between influencer and follower. This study therefore illustrates a gap between the teenagers’ moral AL in the context of IM in general, and a corresponding willingness to apply this critical reflection, to known influencers

From no work to work? The role of job placement and skills training services in assisting unemployment Benefit II recipients find work under Germany’s Hartz IV welfare reforms

This thesis presents the results of a qualitative investigation of Unemployment Benefit II (UBII) recipients' experiences of skill training and job placement services under Germany's Hartz IV welfare reforms—arguably a (neo-) liberal intervention in the context of what has traditionally been described as a conservative-corporatist welfare regime. This thesis explores the experience of skills training and job placement services in terms of the degree to which these support mechanisms engage with UBII recipients’ needs and perceptions and how these necessarily reflect the purposes of the support and activation mechanisms (to provide support to and assist the long-term unemployed find work) and the underlying policy assumptions (that the long-term unemployed need to be made to demonstrate responsibility in finding work). The evidence presented suggests such services have not necessarily provided a route into regular employment. Instead the ‘support’ mechanisms tend to ‘busy’ the recipients; to be irrelevant to the recipients’ employment history and/or future interests; and not to match what recipients wish to, or are interested in, doing. Secondly, the policy rhetoric and design of the Hartz IV reforms implied, ostensibly, a shift with some cultural significance—from social solidarity to individual responsibility; from old (conservative) to new (neo-liberal) paternalism. The thesis examines UBII recipients’ perception of their ‘right’ to and ‘responsibility’ in finding work. The evidence suggests that popular discourse and understandings of the right to and responsibility in finding work in Germany are not so distinct or dissimilar from the Anglophone world. Finally, this thesis identifies a potential contradiction within the German government’s political objective of providing support (Fördern) to recipients in return for UBII recipients demonstrating responsibility (Fordern) in finding work. The findings suggest there is little need to make unemployed Germans feel ‘responsible’ for finding work. The demands placed on recipients to demonstrate to case managers that they are taking responsibility for finding work may undermine the recipient’s ability responsibly to look for work. And UBII recipients may ‘trick’ the system to meet these demands, ostensibly wasting the time and resources of Jobcenter staff and UBII recipients. This thesis concludes by arguing that Fördern and Fordern are ultimately not compatible within a policy framework. Where Fordern (demand/require) exists in conjunction with the threat of sanctions for non-compliance, there is too much of a chance that Fördern (support), in the form of job placement and skill training services, will be used to regulate the conduct of and discipline UBII recipients rather than provide legitimate support. Thus, any support provided starts to break down as soon as Fordern is inserted into the policy framework

Review of Health Services Available for Persons who Contracted Hepatitis C through the Administration within the State of Blood or Blood Products. Implementation of Recommendations.

the State of infected blood and blood products. The Report examines progress on the recommendations published in 2000, and recognizes the evolution in service needs since then with the addition of 4 new recommendations. The Report will assist health service providers, the Department of Health and Children and the support groups to continue working together to ensure that the future service needs of this Hepatitis C group are met. It is timely that this review has come at a time when the health services are entering a new phase of restructuring and renewal. The Consultative Council welcomes this process and is confident that it will bring benefits to both service users and service providers. The Council has assured the Health Service Executive and the National Hospitals Office that we will be happy to co-operate with them and to continue playing a positive role in shaping Hepatitis C services for this cohort of patients in the future. As with the first Review the four support groups - Positive Action, Transfusion Positive, the Irish Haemophilia Society and the Irish Kidney Association - all of which are represented on the Consultative Council, are to be commended for the important role they play, and for encouraging their members to participate in this progress report