Making sense of children’s rights: how professionals providing integrated child welfare services understand and interpret children's rights

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the development of integrated child welfare services through an exploration of how professionals providing such services make sense of children’s rights and interpret their understandings in their approach to practice. The study focuses on professionals providing services for children between 5 and 13 years old within the Every Child Matters initiative, designed to support the assessment and provision of integrated child and family preventive services in England. The aims were to explore professional understandings of, and engagement with children's rights, provide a description and analysis of the empirical data, and develop a theorised understanding of the factors influencing sense-making and their implications for professionals’ interpretations of their role. Areas of interest included similarities and differences in professionals’ understandings and how these matched the understandings of service users and those evident in legal and policy texts. It was anticipated that professionals’ understandings and engagement would draw on a complex mix of variable knowledge and embedded assumptions and practices, contested and negotiated in relation to welfare structures, texts and professional identities. The study was designed to explore whether this was borne out. A post-modernist theoretical approach was used, drawing on Bourdieu’s theories of structured inequalities and influenced by Actor Network Theory’s perspectives on networks. Using qualitative methodologies a case study was undertaken within one local area, linking a range of elements in an iterative process, with data from one phase interwoven in the next. Thirty-nine semi-structured interviews with professionals from social work, education and health settings drew on material developed from focus group discussions with child and parent service users and were supplemented by analysis of legal and policy texts and of 30 case records and site-based observations. Initial findings were discussed in parent and professional focus groups. In a second stage analysis of a subset of the data, these findings were explored further and situated within research and academic debate on professional practices and theories of childhood and of rights. Three broad configurations emerged from the data, reflecting differing professionals’ constructions and practice interpretations of children's rights. Some participants interpreted children's rights as an essential ‘golden thread’ underpinning their practice; others took a more selective ‘pick and mix’ approach; and in a third perspective, children's rights were positioned as ‘uncomfortable accommodations’ in relation to interpretations of professional role and of family life. These varying dispositions and related interpretations of professionals’ regulated liberties were associated with perspectives on childhood, rights knowledge, professional setting, personal dispositions and relational practices. The findings are necessarily tentative and a causal relationship cannot be inferred. Three overarching themes emerged across these configurations. These related to: a common rights language and framework; children’s longer-term welfare rights; and conceptualisations of the role of rights within relationships. The absence of a common rights framework to support professional and interprofessional discussions of children’s rights was evident across all settings, as was a professional focus on the immediate and lack of attention to children’s longer-term welfare, civil and social rights. Participants indicated that providing information about children's rights and exploring rights-based relationships in work with parents and carers was very rare and often avoided. The study proposes that in order to address children's rights in a more consistent and holistic way professionals need opportunities to explore theories of human and children's rights using a broad common framework such as the UNCRC. In integrating children's rights within professional practice increased attention is needed to children’s longer-term welfare and development rights and to providing children and adults with information about, positive modelling of and opportunities to explore the place of rights in children’s key relationships

Event public engagement guide

This guide is aimed at researchers organising activities at public events. The researchers might be scientists, engineers, academics, or communications staff, but their common aim will be to engage the public with research.We recognise that every open day, event or festival is different, and each will have varying audiences, staffing, resources, and expectations. However, across these public engagement practices there are commonalities in how we can access and engage with different audiences. It is with this goal in mind that the guide aims to act as a starting point for researchers hoping to plan new activities or reach different audiences.The accompanying video can be found on this webpage: http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/research/sciencecommunicationunit/coursesandtraining/practitionerguides.asp

“Robots Vs Animals”: Establishing a Culture of Public Engagement and Female Role Modeling in Engineering Higher Education

© 2017, © The Author(s) 2017. A widespread culture supporting public engagement activities in higher education is desirable but difficult to establish. Drawing on social cognitive theory, this science communication project aimed to enhance culture change in engineering by developing communication skillsets of early-career engineers, particularly supporting female engineers as role models. Engineers received training in storytelling to present at live events, enhanced by peer group social persuasion and vicarious modeling. A science communication coordinator and senior management endorsement removed barriers to participation. Evaluation showed engineers’ self-efficacy levels significantly increased. Qualitative data highlighted a developing culture of engagement but purposive selection of women proved controversial

Robots vs animals: Learning from the ingenuity of nature. Final summary report

‘Robots vs Animals’ was a creative collaboration between engineers and zoologists, exploring the ingenuity of both nature and humankind. The project was organised and managed by the Science Communication Unit at the University of the West of England, Bristol (UWE), and funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering Ingenious Awards. The project communicated the stories of the engineering design process taken by Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL) engineers to create biologically inspired robots. Interactive sessions at Bristol Zoo Gardens and other public venues and events featured engineers and zoologists explaining and demonstrating the skills and processes of their respective charges

Conception et développement d'un système d'acquisition et de contrôle à distance pour la fabrication de matériaux composites

Systèmes répartis sur réseaux informatiques -- Systèmes d'acquisition de données -- Commande de procédés par ordinateur -- Tendances des systèmes d'acquisition de données et de contrôle -- Système matériel d'acquisition et de contrôle thermiques -- Architecture du système d'acquisition et de contrôle thermique -- Communication matériel-logiciel -- Analyse logicielle du système d'acquisition et de contrôle -- Requis fonctionnels -- Requis qualitatifs -- Conception logicielle du système d'acquisition et de contrôle -- Architecture globale -- Processus de localisation -- Interface utilisateur -- Architecture orientée services -- Environnement et plateforme -- Détails de conception logicielle -- Étude expérimentale et applications -- Stratégie de contrôle thermique -- Application du système DAC pour la caractérisation industrielle d'une résine thermodurcissable

Citizen-led air pollution reduction in cities (ClairCity) Final evaluation report

"Every day, air pollution and carbon emissions are produced by our commutes to work, by heating our homes, or through our daily lifestyles. Understanding how we live - and the restrictions we face in those choices – is key to improving air quality. Solutions at a local level can make a big difference" - ClairCity855 participants volunteered their time to evaluate the engagement activities. 63% were male, given over half of the evaluators (534) came from the mobile game survey, a tool that traditionally has more male users. The game also appealed to a younger audience than other activities, meaning that overall, 25% of evaluators were aged 16-25 years old. However, given the wide ranging and often targeted activities developed, all age categories are represented in the project. For instance, the workshop activities (Delphi, policy, and stakeholder workshops) attracted 66% of 45-54 year olds and 83% of 55-64 year olds.Overall, participants tended to enjoy the activities in which they took part; the younger the participants, the more likely they were to say that they enjoyed the activity. The activities also had an impact on behaviours, with 74% of participants said that they would now make a change to their lives to improve air quality.The more participants enjoyed the activity, the more they reported that their understanding of air quality had improved. Similarly, the more participants reported that their understanding had improved, the more they reported that they would change their behaviour. Younger people and those with lower education to start with were more likely to say they would change their behaviour. All of these relationships were highly statistically significant.To fully realise the goal of citizen-led air pollution reduction in cities, researchers and policymakers need to work hard to ensure engagement participation is reflective of city demographics. This evaluation shows the importance of designing engagement activities which appeal to a wide variety of audiences to ensure that a broad cross-section of society can participate in engagement with policymaking. The more enjoyable the engagement activities, the more people gain understanding about the issues, and the more likely people are to make a change to their behaviour to reduce air pollution and carbon emissions, and improve the health of our cities. We hope this evaluation report proves useful to other policymakers working towards a future with clean air

The circulatory and metabolic responses to hypoxia in humans - with special reference to adipose tissue physiology and obesity

Adipose tissue metabolism and circulation play an important role in human health. It is well-known that adipose tissue mass is increased in response to excess caloric intake leading to obesity and further to local hypoxia and inflammatory signaling. Acute exercise increases blood supply to adipose tissue and mobilization of fat stores for energy. However, acute exercise during systemic hypoxia reduces subcutaneous blood flow in healthy young subjects, but the response in overweight or obese subjects remains to be investigated. Emerging evidence also indicates that exercise training during hypoxic exposure may provide additive benefits with respect to many traditional cardiovascular risk factors as compared to exercise performed in normoxia, but unfavorable effects of hypoxia have also been documented. These topics will be covered in this brief review dealing with hypoxia and adipose tissue physiology

Lessons from delivering a STEM workshop using educational robots given language limitations

Educational robots are increasingly being used in schools as learning tools to support the development of skills such as computational thinking because of the growing number of technology-related jobs. Using robots as a tool inside the classroom has been proved to increase motivation, participation and inclination towards STEM subjects at both primary and secondary levels; however, language has usually not been considered as a mitigating factor. This paper reports our experience delivering nine workshops in English, using Thymio robots, to over two hundred students aged 9–12 across a week in the French cities of Nancy and Metz. Our goal was to test whether students would still have fun, learn something new and gain an interest in STEM even when the workshop was conducted in a foreign language. Our results indicate that using language that is easy to understand, although foreign, has a strong direct correlation (p ~ 10-3 ) with having fun and that the latter positively affects learning and increased interest in STEM.</p

Patients with type 2 diabetes have normal mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes are associated with mitochondrial dysfunction. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that oxidative phosphorylation and electron transport capacity are diminished in the skeletal muscle of type 2 diabetic subjects, as a result of a reduction in the mitochondrial content. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The O(2) flux capacity of permeabilised muscle fibres from biopsies of the quadriceps in healthy subjects (n = 8; age 58 ± 2 years [mean±SEM]; BMI 28 ± 1 kg/m(2); fasting plasma glucose 5.4 ± 0.2 mmol/l) and patients with type 2 diabetes (n = 11; age 62 ± 2 years; BMI 32 ± 2 kg/m(2); fasting plasma glucose 9.0 ± 0.8 mmol/l) was measured by high-resolution respirometry. RESULTS: O(2) flux expressed per mg of muscle (fresh weight) during ADP-stimulated state 3 respiration was lower (p < 0.05) in patients with type 2 diabetes in the presence of complex I substrate (glutamate) (31 ± 2 vs 43 ± 3 pmol O(2) s(−1) mg(−1)) and in response to glutamate + succinate (parallel electron input from complexes I and II) (63 ± 3 vs 85 ± 6 pmol s(−1) mg(−1)). Further increases in O(2) flux capacity were observed in response to uncoupling by FCCP, but were again lower (p < 0.05) in type 2 diabetic patients than in healthy control subjects (86 ± 4 vs 109 ± 8 pmol s(−1) mg(−1)). However, when O(2) flux was normalised for mitochondrial DNA content or citrate synthase activity, there were no differences in oxidative phosphorylation or electron transport capacity between patients with type 2 diabetes and healthy control subjects. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Mitochondrial function is normal in type 2 diabetes. Blunting of coupled and uncoupled respiration in type 2 diabetic patients can be attributed to lower mitochondrial content