New partnerships for learning: meeting professional information needs

This paper has been prompted by the challenges created by recent proposed reforms to social care services in the UK services which are being 'modernised', a term ubiquitous in policy documents but difficult to define with confidence. Government modernisation and e-government programmes highlight with renewed urgency the need for social care practitioners on the front line to have up-to-date, reliable information. Yet the rise in the rate and volume of information published (over new and old channels) has, paradoxically, made it increasingly difficult for them to keep up with new developments. How can higher education institutions best contribute to the social care community through a period of profound ideological and structural change? In particular, the paper discusses the key challenges of keeping abreast of research; changes in the social/organisational/professional context of social care; how social care practitioners learn; and effectively integrating practice, research and educatio

Understanding the learning process in SMEs

A major obstacle to the diffusion of management development learning technologies from Higher Education Institutions to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) is a lack of understanding about how SME learners learn. This article examines the nature of learning in SMEs and considers the incidence of informal support for informal learning. Consideration is given to the potential for the use of learning technology to support SME learning, considering potential benefits, development of appropriate content, formal vs. informal learning technology support and the socialisation of learning content. Finally, the application of this study at both a macro and micro level is reflected upon

Kill the Snitch: How \u3ci\u3eHenriquez-Rivas\u3c/i\u3e Affects Asylum Eligibility for People Who Report Serious Gang Crimes to Law Enforcement

In 2015, El Salvador became the murder capital of the world. Like its Central American neighbors, El Salvador has experienced a significant increase in gang violence during the past decade, as evidenced by its 2015 homicide statistics showing over 6,600 registered homicides in the country despite a population of only 6.3 million people. Rising crime rates and widespread gang influence are forcing many affected Central Americans to seek asylum in the United States. Individuals may qualify for asylum if they have a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. Some of the most recent immigration case law explores the definition of membership in a particular social group. In 2013, the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Henriquez-Rivas created a new particular social group by extending asylum eligibility to individuals who witness and testify to serious crimes committed by gangs. Henriquez-Rivas eliminates the requirement for a particular social group to be visible to the naked eye. According to the Ninth Circuit, if a proposed particular social group is understood by society to constitute a group, then that group is “socially distinct” and therefore cognizable. This Comment argues that the particular social group created by Henriquez-Rivas should be expanded to include people who report serious gang crimes to law enforcement without the need to testify in court

Genre collisions, culture collisions : identifying and understanding different types of cross-cultural influence in music

“Genre Collisions, Culture Collisions” explores cross-cultural composition, cultural appropriation, and post-colonialism in music, through theoretical research, creative practice and musical analysis. I critically assess how various types of cross-cultural borrowing can affect notions of cultural influence and appropriation. The specific focus of the creative work and musical analysis is the fusion of Anglo- American pop music with both traditional and popular music from Africa, particularly from South Africa and West Africa. The result of the research is one hour of recorded music presented as an album, Flight Cycle, accompanied by the thesis. The primary field of research is cross-cultural composition. Contained within that field are the sub-fields of post-racial identity in music and cultural appropriation. The fields of post-colonialism, critical race theory and ethnomusicology are also integral to the study. Some key reference points have been the work of Kofi Agawu and Austin Emielu in the field of ethnomusicology; Edward Said, Robert Young and Ghassan Hage in the field of postcolonialism; and Jim Chapman and Susan Fast in the field of cultural appropriation. The study responds to the following core questions: How do power relations between artists and cultures inform notions of cultural appropriation in music? What are the distinctions and where are the boundaries between cultural appropriation and ethically sound forms of cross-cultural exchange and influence? Do composition and production techniques change the nature and ethics of crosscultural borrowing? If so, in what way? The theoretical studies have led to a greater understanding of my creative processes and a greater awareness of the need for ethical reflection when approaching the music of non-Anglo-American cultures. In turn, my practice, in terms of the exploration of elements found in African music and their fusion with musical elements from my own background in Western pop and rock styles, has helped me to better understand the concepts of cultural influence and appropriation, and labels attached to musical styles relating to ethnicity and culture. The study concludes that not all crosscultural borrowing or influence should be considered cultural appropriation. Factors including intra-ethnic influence and crossovers between class and race mean that a nuanced approach is needed to gain an understanding of the ethics cross-cultural composition

I'll take the low road: the evolutionary underpinnings of visually triggered fear

Although there is general agreement that the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) is critical for triggering the neuroendocrine response to visual threats, there is uncertainty about the role of subcortical visual pathways in this process. Primates in general appear to depend less on subcortical visual pathways than other mammals. Yet, imaging studies continue to indicate a role for the superior colliculus and pulvinar nucleus in fear activation, despite disconnects in how these brain structures communicate not only with each other but with the amygdala. Studies in fish and amphibians suggest that the neuroendocrine response to visual threats has remained relatively unchanged for hundreds of millions of years, yet there are still significant data gaps with respect to how visual information is relayed to telencephalic areas homologous to the CeA, particularly in fish. In fact ray finned fishes may have evolved an entirely different mechanism for relaying visual information to the telencephalon. In part because they lack a pathway homologous to the lateral geniculate-striate cortex pathway of mammals, amphibians continue to be an excellent model for studying how stress hormones in turn modulate fear activating visual pathways. Glucocorticoids, melanocortin peptides, and CRF all appear to play some role in modulating sensorimotor processing in the optic tectum. These observations, coupled with data showing control of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis by the superior colliculus, suggest a fear/stress/anxiety neuroendocrine circuit that begins with first order synapses in subcortical visual pathways. Thus, comparative studies shed light not only on how fear triggering visual pathways came to be, but how hormones released as a result of this activation modulate these pathways