Imagining alternative and better worlds:Isabel Fletcher talks with Adele E. Clarke

In this interview, Adele Clarke and Isabel Fletcher discuss the different routes that led Clarke to science and technology studies (STS), the field’s increasing engagement with biomedical topics, and her perspectives on its character today. Clarke describes how women’s health activism and teaching feminist critiques of bioscience/biomedicine led her to participate in academic networks now known as feminist STS and trans-national reproduction studies. She reflects on the importance of inter-/trans-disciplinary collaboration in her work, but also raises concerns that the rapid expansion of the field has resulted in inadequate training for newcomers in the “theory-method packages” of STS, and hence poor quality scholarship. For her, the future of STS lies in approaches analyzing the complex intersections between technoscience, gender, race, (post)coloniality, and indigenous knowledges, and in its expansion beyond Europe and North America, to Asia, Central and South America, and Africa. In her following reflection, Isabel Fletcher considers the importance of inter/trans-disciplinarity for STS and highlights the role a politically engaged STS can play in imagining alternative and better worlds

Engaging Complexities: Working Against Simplification as an Agenda for Qualitative Research Today. Adele Clarke in Conversation With Reiner Keller

En 2005, Adele CLARKE publicó su libro sobre "Análisis situacional", bien recibida elaboración de la metodología de teoría fundamentada. El análisis situacional (AS) combina las tradiciones más viejas así como las más recientes de la sociología pragmática, especialmente las de la Escuela de Chicago y la teoría de mundos/arenas sociales de Anselm STRAUSS, con la perspectiva de FOUCAULT sobre el discurso, el pensamiento feminista y la epistemología post-positivista. En esta entrevista con Reiner KELLER, ella explica los fundamentos teóricos y las motivaciones académicas de este enfoque y describe las estrategias analíticas concretas propuestas por el AS. En el momento oportuno, ella narra sus experiencias pasadas, desde sus primeros encuentros con la investigación cualitativa hasta las influencias más recientes desde los estudios feministas y de ciencias y tecnología. CLARKE también aclara donde se coloca el AS dentro del campo más amplio de las metodologías cualitativas y aborda cuestiones relativas a la contribución del AS para el análisis de cambios sociales complejos. El AS está diseñado para ofrecer una heurística analítica capaz de confrontar estas complejidades con un conjunto amplio de estrategias para hacer investigación cualitativa.URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs140212Im Jahr 2005 veröffentlichte Adele CLARKE unter dem Titel "Situational Analysis" (dt. "Situationsanalyse") eine viel beachtete Weiterführung der Grounded-Theory-Methodologie. Darin verbindet sie ältere und jüngere Traditionen der pragmatistischen Soziologie, insbesondere der Chicago School und des Social World/Arena-Ansatzes von Anselm STRAUSS mit diskursorientierten Perspektiven FOUCAULTs, feministischen Positionen und postpositivistischer Epistemologie. Im Interview mit Reiner KELLER erläutert sie die theoretischen Grundlagen und wissenschaftlichen Motivationen, die diesem Ansatz zu Grunde liegen, sowie die darin vorgeschlagenen konkreten Analysestrategien. Dabei spannt sie einen weiten Bogen von ihren ersten Kontakten mit qualitativer Forschung bis hin zu jüngeren Einflüssen aus der feministischen Forschung sowie der Wissenschafts- und Technologieforschung. Zugleich thematisiert sie die Verortung der Situationsanalyse im Feld der qualitativen Methodologien und diskutiert die Frage nach deren Bedeutung in der Analyse komplexer aktueller gesellschaftlicher Entwicklungen. Ziel der Situationsanalyse ist die Bereitstellung einer Analyseheuristik, die dieser Komplexität mit entschieden erweiterten qualitativen Forschungsstrategien begegnet.URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs140212In 2005, Adele CLARKE first published her book on "Situational Analysis," a well-received elaboration of grounded theory methodology. Situational analysis (SA) combines older as well as more recent traditions of pragmatist sociology, especially those of the Chicago School and social worlds/arenas theory by Anselm STRAUSS, with FOUCAULT's perspective on discourse, feminist thinking, and post-positivist epistemology. In this interview with Reiner KELLER, she explains the theoretical foundations and academic motivations of this approach, and describes the concrete analytical strategies proposed by SA. In due course, she recounts her past experiences, from her very first encounters with qualitative research up to more recent influences from feminist studies and science & technology studies. CLARKE also clarifies where SA is positioned within the broader field of qualitative methodologies, and discusses questions regarding the contribution of SA to the analysis of complex social change. SA is designed to offer an analytical heuristic able to confront these complexities with a considerably expanded set of strategies for doing qualitative research.URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs14021

Engaging Complexities: Working Against Simplification as an Agenda for Qualitative Research Today. Adele Clarke in Conversation With Reiner Keller

En 2005, Adele CLARKE publicó su libro sobre "Análisis situacional", bien recibida elaboración de la metodología de teoría fundamentada. El análisis situacional (AS) combina las tradiciones más viejas así como las más recientes de la sociología pragmática, especialmente las de la Escuela de Chicago y la teoría de mundos/arenas sociales de Anselm STRAUSS, con la perspectiva de FOUCAULT sobre el discurso, el pensamiento feminista y la epistemología post-positivista. En esta entrevista con Reiner KELLER, ella explica los fundamentos teóricos y las motivaciones académicas de este enfoque y describe las estrategias analíticas concretas propuestas por el AS. En el momento oportuno, ella narra sus experiencias pasadas, desde sus primeros encuentros con la investigación cualitativa hasta las influencias más recientes desde los estudios feministas y de ciencias y tecnología. CLARKE también aclara donde se coloca el AS dentro del campo más amplio de las metodologías cualitativas y aborda cuestiones relativas a la contribución del AS para el análisis de cambios sociales complejos. El AS está diseñado para ofrecer una heurística analítica capaz de confrontar estas complejidades con un conjunto amplio de estrategias para hacer investigación cualitativa.URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs140212Im Jahr 2005 veröffentlichte Adele CLARKE unter dem Titel "Situational Analysis" (dt. "Situationsanalyse") eine viel beachtete Weiterführung der Grounded-Theory-Methodologie. Darin verbindet sie ältere und jüngere Traditionen der pragmatistischen Soziologie, insbesondere der Chicago School und des Social World/Arena-Ansatzes von Anselm STRAUSS mit diskursorientierten Perspektiven FOUCAULTs, feministischen Positionen und postpositivistischer Epistemologie. Im Interview mit Reiner KELLER erläutert sie die theoretischen Grundlagen und wissenschaftlichen Motivationen, die diesem Ansatz zu Grunde liegen, sowie die darin vorgeschlagenen konkreten Analysestrategien. Dabei spannt sie einen weiten Bogen von ihren ersten Kontakten mit qualitativer Forschung bis hin zu jüngeren Einflüssen aus der feministischen Forschung sowie der Wissenschafts- und Technologieforschung. Zugleich thematisiert sie die Verortung der Situationsanalyse im Feld der qualitativen Methodologien und diskutiert die Frage nach deren Bedeutung in der Analyse komplexer aktueller gesellschaftlicher Entwicklungen. Ziel der Situationsanalyse ist die Bereitstellung einer Analyseheuristik, die dieser Komplexität mit entschieden erweiterten qualitativen Forschungsstrategien begegnet.URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs140212In 2005, Adele CLARKE first published her book on "Situational Analysis," a well-received elaboration of grounded theory methodology. Situational analysis (SA) combines older as well as more recent traditions of pragmatist sociology, especially those of the Chicago School and social worlds/arenas theory by Anselm STRAUSS, with FOUCAULT's perspective on discourse, feminist thinking, and post-positivist epistemology. In this interview with Reiner KELLER, she explains the theoretical foundations and academic motivations of this approach, and describes the concrete analytical strategies proposed by SA. In due course, she recounts her past experiences, from her very first encounters with qualitative research up to more recent influences from feminist studies and science & technology studies. CLARKE also clarifies where SA is positioned within the broader field of qualitative methodologies, and discusses questions regarding the contribution of SA to the analysis of complex social change. SA is designed to offer an analytical heuristic able to confront these complexities with a considerably expanded set of strategies for doing qualitative research.URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs14021

Testing carbon farming opportunities for salinity management

An emerging prospect for farm revenue from revegetation of saline and other lands that are marginal or non-productive for agriculture is the sale of carbon credits. Australian Government schemes for carbon credits include the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) and the proposed Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) Therefore, this study aimed to assess the potential for woody vegetation (trees and shrubs) established on and around salt-affected lands in the Northern Agricultural Region (NAR) to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store (sequester) the carbon in new growth. Revegetation plantings on six farms were selected for the study after the landowners expressed interest in participating in the study. Criteria for selection included: minimum of 5 ha planted on and around salt-affected land; a variety of native trees and shrub species planted; and that the plantings must be at least 10 years old. Across the six farms a total of nine sites were selected for the study. The estimates of carbon stocks in species and sites were projected forwards and backwards from the measurement ages (11 - 22 years)to age 15 years to \u27age standardise\u27 the results and facilitate comparison between species and sites. This was done using the national carbon accounting model, FullCAM

Staphylococcus aureus MnhF mediates cholate efflux and facilitates survival under human colonic conditions

Resistance to the innate defences of the intestine is crucial for the survival and carriage of Staphylococcus aureus, a common coloniser of the human gut. Bile salts produced by the liver and secreted into the intestines are one such group of molecules with potent anti-microbial activity. The mechanisms by which S. aureus is able to resist such defences in order to colonize and survive in the human gut are unknown. Here we show that mnhF confers resistance to bile salts, which can be abrogated by efflux pump inhibitors. MnhF mediates efflux of radiolabelled cholic acid in both S. aureus and when heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli, rendering them resistant. Deletion of mnhF attenuated survival of S. aureus in an anaerobic three stage continuous culture model of the human colon (gut model), which represent different anatomical areas of the large intestine

Comparing the protection and use of online personal information in South Africa and the United Kingdom in line with data protection requirements

Purpose: This research investigates the difference between South Africa (SA) and the United Kingdom (UK) in terms of data protection compliance with the aim to establish if a country that has had data protection in place for a longer period of time has a higher level of compliance with data protection requirements in comparison with a country that is preparing for compliance. Design/methodology/approach: An insurance industry multi-case study within the online insurance services environment was conducted. Personal Information (PI) of four newly created consumer profiles was deposited to 10 random insurance organisation websites in each country to evaluate a number of data privacy requirements of the Data Protection Act (DPA) and Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). Findings: The results demonstrate that not all the websites honored the selected opt-out preferences as direct marketing material from the insurance organisations in the sample was sent to both the SA and UK consumer profiles. Forty-two unsolicited third party contacts were received by the SA consumer profiles whereas the UK consumer profiles did not re-ceive any third party direct marketing. It was also found that the minimality principle is not always met by both SA and UK organisations. Research implications: As a jurisdiction with a heavy stance towards privacy implementation and regulation, it was found that the UK is more compliant than SA in terms of implementation of the evaluated data protection requirements included in the scope of this study, however not fully compliant. Originality/value: Based upon the results obtained from this research, it suggests that the SA insurance organisations should ensure that the non-compliance aspects relating to direct marketing and sharing data with third parties are addressed. SA insurance companies should learn from the manner in which the UK insurance organisations implement these privacy requirements. Furthermore, the UK insurance organisations should focus on improved compliance for direct marking and the minimality principle. The study indicate the positive role that data protection legislation plays in a county like the UK with a more mature stance toward compliance with data protection legislation.This research is supported by the Women in Research (WiR) Grant from the University of South Africa.School of Computin

‘I feel more part of the world’: Participatory action research to develop post-diagnostic dementia support

Many people living with dementia are ‘on the margins’, not accessing services and support, despite policy and care advancements. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this, with the closure of face-to-face support during lockdowns in the UK and globally. The aim of the ‘Beyond the Margins’ project was to develop, implement, and evaluate a face-face programme of support with, by and for people with direct experience of dementia who are on the margins of existing services and support. In March 2020 the project was interrupted by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and it changed to an online format. The three-phase participatory action research project included 40 people living with dementia, 26 care partners and 31 health and social care practitioners. A seven-week online personal development programme called Getting On with Life (GO) was developed, delivered, and evaluated. This paper focuses on the participatory approaches used to develop and implement the GO programme, and the resulting aspects of its approach to facilitation and content. Key features include the GO Programme’s principles of providing a safe and a respectful space, and the programme’s values of: Everyone who comes already knows things, can learn things and can teach things; Doing things ‘with’ each other, rather than ‘for’ or ‘to’ each other; Personalised goals—led by the needs of participants rather than an imposed agenda. A key finding was the importance of developing post-diagnostic programmes as a ‘sandwich’, providing a safe space for learning that is preceded by understanding pathways to access the programme and followed by explicit consideration of the next steps in increasing social engagement

Embodied Discourses of Literacy in the Lives of Two Preservice Teachers

This study examines the emerging teacher literacy identities of Ian and A.J., two preservice teachers in a graduate teacher education program in the United States. Using a poststructural feminisms theoretical framework, the study illustrates the embodiment of literacy pedagogy discourses in relation to the literacy courses’ discourse of comprehensive literacy and the literacy biographical discourses of Ian and A.J. The results of this study indicate the need to deconstruct how the discourse of comprehensive literacy limits how we, as literacy teacher educators, position, hear and respond to our preservice teachers and suggests the need for differentiation in our teacher education literacy courses

PRMT5 is a critical regulator of breast cancer stem cell function via Histone Methylation and FOXP1 expression

Breast cancer progression, treatment resistance, and relapse are thought to originate from a small population of tumor cells, breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs). Identification of factors critical for BCSC function is therefore vital for the development of therapies. Here, we identify the argininemethyltransferase PRMT5 as a key in vitro and in vivo regulator of BCSC proliferation and self-renewal and establish FOXP1, a winged helix/forkhead transcription factor, as a critical effector of PRMT5-induced BCSC function. Mechanistically, PRMT5 recruitment to the FOXP1 promoter facilitates H3R2me2s, SET1 recruitment, H3K4me3, and gene expression. Our findings are clinically significant, as PRMT5 depletion within established tumor xenografts or treatment of patient- derived BCSCs with a pre-clinical PRMT5 inhibitor substantially reduces BCSC numbers. Together, our findings highlight the importance of PRMT5 in BCSC maintenance and suggest that small-molecule inhibitors of PRMT5 or downstream targets could be an effective strategy eliminating this cancer-causing population

The perception of risk in contracting and spreading COVID-19 amongst individuals, households and vulnerable groups in England: a longitudinal qualitative study.

BackgroundSocial distancing restrictions to manage the COVID-19 pandemic were put in place from March 2020 in the United Kingdom (UK), with those classed as "highly clinically vulnerable" advised to shield entirely and remain at home. However, personal risk perception has been shown to comprise of various elements beyond those outlined in the national pandemic guidance. It is unclear whether those deemed COVID-19 vulnerable identified as high-risk to COVID-19 and thus complied with the relevant advice. The aim of this research is to explore the perception of risk in catching and spreading COVID-19, amongst individuals from individual households, and vulnerable groups in a region of the UK.MethodsTwo individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted, four-weeks apart, with adults living in households in the Liverpool City Region. At the follow-up interview, participants were given the option of using photo-elicitation to guide the discussion. Reflexive thematic analysis was employed to conceptualise themes. The qualitative analysis was underpinned with symbolic interactionism.ResultsTwenty-seven participants (13:14 males:females, and 20 with a vulnerable risk factor to COVID-19) completed a baseline interview, and 15 of these completed a follow-up interview four-weeks later. Following thematic analysis, two overarching themes were conceptualised, with subthemes discussed: theme 1) Confusion and trust in the risk prevention guidance; and theme 2) Navigating risk: compliance and non-compliance with public health guidance.ConclusionParticipants developed their own understanding of COVID-19 risk perception through personal experience and comparison with others around them, irrespective of vulnerability status. COVID-19 guidance was not complied with as intended by the government, and at times even rejected due to lack of trust. The format in which future pandemic guidance is conveyed must be carefully considered, and take into account individuals' experiences that may lead to non-compliance. The findings from our study can inform future public health policy and interventions for COVID-19 and future pandemics