Popular but peripheral: the ambivalent status of sociology education in schools in England

This article reports the largest UK study of sociology school teachers’ views of the discipline. Drawing on the sociology of the professions, we reflect on the ambivalent positioning of sociology in schools. Despite buoyant uptake, teachers claim that sociology is perceived as dated and has lower status than other elective courses, often described as a ‘soft’ and ‘easy’ subject that anyone can teach. While many students are reported to benefit from the transformative education that sociology affords, the failure to designate the subject as facilitating entry to higher status universities serves to further marginalise the discipline. We argue that sociology in schools is weakly bounded, poorly supported and lacks strong professional coherence. While this allows sociology to have an open, critical and reflexive character, it comes at the price of not being able to control delivery in schools and make claims for high status

Singular indecomposable representations of sl(2,ℂ) and relativistic wave equations

A detailed summary is given of the structure of singular indecomposable representations of si (2,ℂ), as developed by Gel'fand and Ponomarev [Usp. Mat. Nauk 23, 3 (1968); translated in Russ. Math. Surveys 23, 1 (1968)]. A variety of four-vector operators Γμ is constructed, acting within direct sums of such representations, including some with nonsingular Γ0. Associated wave equations of Gel'fand-Yaglom type are considered that admit timelike solutions and lead to mass-spin spectra of the Majorana type. A subclass of these equations is characterized in an invariant way by obtaining basis-independent expressions for the commutator and anticommutator of Γμ and Γν. A brief discussion is given of possible applications to physics of these equations and of others in which nilpotent scalar operators appear

How threats influence the evolutionary resolution of within-group conflict.

© University of Chicago Press. This is the final published version of the article, deposited in accordance with SHERPA RoMEO guidelines. Also available from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/598489Most examples of cooperation in nature share a common feature: individuals can interact to produce a productivity benefit or fitness surplus, but there is conflict over how these gains are shared. A central question is how threats to exercise outside options influence the resolution of conflict within such cooperative associations. Here we show how a simple principle from economic bargaining theory, the outside option principle, can help to solve this problem in biological systems. According to this principle, outside options will affect the resolution of conflict only when the payoff of taking up these options exceeds the payoffs individuals can obtain from bargaining or negotiating within the group; otherwise, threats to exercise outside options are not credible and are therefore irrelevant. We show that previous attempts to incorporate outside options in synthetic models of reproductive conflict fail to distinguish between credible and incredible threats, and then we use the outside option principle to develop credible synthetic models in two contexts: reproductive skew and biparental care. A striking prediction of our analysis is that outside options are least relevant to the resolution of conflict in cooperative groups of kin and are most relevant in transient associations or interactions among nonrelatives. Our analysis shows a way to link the resolution of within-group conflict to the environmental setting in which it occurs, and it illuminates the role of threats in the evolution of social behavior

Evolution of menopause.

Johnstone and Cant introduce menopause and the phenomenon of an extended post-reproductive life found in humans and very few other mammals

Internet-Based ICT Usage By South African SMEs: The Barriers Faced By SMEs

Previous research estimates that 8 out of 10 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) do not operate for more three years (Mason 2015). According to OECD ([sa]), the major problems encountered by SMEs relate to financing and regulatory burdens. However, with information technology, SMEs are able to narrow the information gap, which leads to improved strategies and decision making (OECD [sa]). In today’s competitive world, information communication technology (ICT) is recognized as a crucial success factor for SMEs. ICT refers to the accessing and communication of information using various technologies such as the internet, wireless networks and cellphones (TechTerms 2010). This research study investigates SMEs’ perception of the barriers in adopting ICT in the South African context. The objective of this paper is to determine ICT adoption and the perceived barriers associated with it among South African SMEs. A review of ICT within an SME context is examined. Through judgement sampling, a questionnaire was distributed to gather the responses of 90 SMEs. The most important barriers that were highlighted by the results of the study are the high cost of ICT systems as well as the lack of knowledge to maintain and use ICT. The challenge is to ensure that South African SMEs continue to increase the adoption of ICT. It is envisaged that by determining the barriers they face and providing recommendations as to how they can overcome these barriers, this research will assist SMEs to become more successful, as they play a vital role in the South African economy

Establishing The Challenges Affecting South African SMEs

Cant andLigthelm (2003) estimate that 70-80 percent of SMEs fail.  A number of elements and challenges have beenidentified as contributing factors to the high failure rate of SMEs in SouthAfrica.  The research investigates theextent to which the identified variables affect South African SMEs.  The objective of this paper is to determine towhat extent SMEs experience selected challenges or issues that negativelyinfluence the success of the business.  Challengesand issues include exogenous macro environmental variables and endogenousenvironmental variables, namely marketing.  A questionnaire was constructed and judgementsampling was used to gather the responses of 81 SMEs.  The research identified inflation and interestrates, crime and unemployment, low demand for products, the wrong pricing strategiesimplemented and the location of the business to be the major problemsexperienced by SMEs.  The challenge nowis to improve the skills and capabilities of SMEs to ensure their success asthey play a vital role in the South African economy

Adaptation to public goods cheats in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the Royal Society via the DOI in this record.Cooperation in nature is ubiquitous, but is susceptible to social cheats who pay little or no cost of cooperation yet reap the benefits. The effect such cheats have on reducing population productivity suggests that there is selection for cooperators to mitigate the adverse effects of cheats. While mechanisms have been elucidated for scenarios involving a direct association between producer and cooperative product, it is less clear how cooperators may suppress cheating in an anonymous public goods scenario, where cheats cannot be directly identified. Here, we investigate the real-time evolutionary response of cooperators to cheats when cooperation is mediated by a diffusible public good: the production of iron-scavenging siderophores by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We find that siderophore producers evolved in thepresence of a high frequency of non-producing cheats were fitter in the presence of cheats, at no obvious cost to population productivity. A novel morphotype independently evolved and reached higher frequencies in cheat-adapted versus control populations, exhibiting reduced siderophore production but increased production of pyocyanin - an extracellular toxin that can also increase the availability of soluble iron. This suggests that cooperators may have mitigated the negative effects of cheats by downregulating siderophore production and upregulating an alternative iron-acquisition public good. More generally, the study emphasises that cooperating organisms can rapidly adapt to the presence of anonymous cheats without necessarily incurring fitness costs in the environment they evolve in.The work was funded by AXA research fund, NERC, BBSRC and the Royal Society to AB and a University of Exeter PhD studentship to SOB

Cancellation of UV Divergences in the N=4 SUSY Nonlinear Sigma Model in Three Dimensions

We study the UV properties of the three-dimensional ${\cal N}=4$ SUSY nonlinear sigma model whose target space is $T^*(CP^{N-1})$ (the cotangent bundle of $CP^{N-1}$) to higher orders in the 1/N expansion. We calculate the $\beta$-function to next-to-leading order and verify that it has no quantum corrections at leading and next-to-leading orders.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures. references adde

Training And Development In SMEs: South Africa’s Key To Survival And Success?

In today’s competitive business environment, the capabilities and skills of employees are fundamental requirements for continuous productivity, innovation and success in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). However, the situation of SMEs with regards to training and development is characterised by a paradox and are considered to be crucial elements of competitiveness and success against the backdrop of globalisation. Previous studies have found that constant training and development initiatives are less likely to be available to employees working in SMEs than to those in larger organisations. The study therefore aims to determine the perception of entrepreneurs or SME owners towards the importance of training and development in their business. A self-administered questionnaire was sent to SME owners and a total of 60 usable responses were received. The study showed, amongst others, that a lack of resources is stronger than the influence of business management and external assistance.