The Principle of Subsidiarity as a Social and Political Principle in Catholic Social Teaching

The principle of subsidiarity is a multi-layered and flexible principle that can be utilised to empower, inform, enhance and reform scholarship in a range of significant areas, however, it has been somewhat overlooked in recent scholarship. In order to highlight the continued relevance and potential applications of the principle, this, the first of two papers, will provide a detailed analysis of the meaning and application of the principle of subsidiarity in Catholic social teaching. In doing so, the interplay of the principle of subsidiarity and other key principles of catholic social teaching such as dignity of the person, solidarity, and the common good will be highlighted. The second part of this paper discusses the political applications of the principle, including its ability to inform scholarship on the allocation of governmental powers (including federalism), democracy, and individual participation in government. This leads to a discussion in the second paper, of the Catholic aspects of subsidiarity in the governance of the European Union

The Principle of Subsidiarity in European Union Law: Some Comparisons with Catholic Social Teaching

This paper is the second of two papers which examine the versatility of the principle of subsidiarity. The first paper explored the nature of the principle in Catholic social teaching as a moral and social principle and its potential application in the political sphere. This paper further explores the political application of the principle of subsidiarity through a discussion of its operation in the European Union, where it is embodied in article 5(3) of the Treaty on European Union. This paper discusses subsidiarity’s interpretation by the European Court of Justice as a political value judgement, rather than a legal principle. In its discussion of subsidiarity in the European Union, this paper draws some comparisons with the principle’s enunciation in Catholic social teaching. Together, these papers are intended to highlight the many facets of the principle of subsidiarity in order to promote its continued relevance and to promote further scholarship on subsidiarity

An Investigation into the Capabilities of a Virtual Workshop

The last ten years have seen major advances in design technologies, with Computer Aided Design (CAD), rapid prototyping and haptic feedback modelling evolving to perform operations that were unthinkable before the advent of affordable high speed computing. These technologies have now moved from commercial applications to higher education, and with the widespread use of three dimensional (3D) CAD in the secondary curriculum, it is not unreasonable to predict that the uptake of such technologies will follow suit. As the potential for a virtual workshop draws ever closer, this paper provides an overview of rapid prototyping and haptic feedback modelling through product design cases studies for a garden trimmer and toaster. The limitations and merits of these technologies are identified and the paper serves as a discussion document for those involved in the development of the secondary design and technology curriculum

Defining Archives: Ingenuity, Innovation and New Perspectives

At the 2016 Society of Georgia Archivists Annual Meeting Dr. Meredith Evans gave the keynote address on the conference theme: Defining Archives: Ingenuity, Innovation and New Perspectives. This is the text of her remarks

Developing bilateral and spatial concepts in primary school-aged children: An empirical evaluation of the Anker Bilateral Spatial System

Background: Visual-spatial and visual-motor perceptual difficulties contribute to school-aged learning problems. Hence, a need exists to address children’s visual-spatial and visual-motor perceptual difficulties as early as possible in the child’s school career. Thus, this study reports on the evaluation of the Anker Bilateral Spatial System’s (ABSS) effectiveness in remediating primary school children’s perceptual difficulties. Method: Thirty-one children (17 boys and 14 girls) aged 6 to 12 years who had been identified by their classroom teacher as having observable visual-spatial and visual-motor perceptual difficulties participated in a 10-week pre/posttest intervention study. The study’s pre/posttest assessments included the Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (VMI), the Spatial Awareness Skills Program Test (SASP), and two subscales of the School Function Assessment (SFA). Results: Paired t-test statistics were calculated on the pre/post intervention scores. Paired t-test statistics calculated (p = .05) that significant change had occurred in the writing speed (t = -3.978, p \u3c .001). Conclusion: Given that the study’s Year 1 students made progress in more areas of remediation than did any other year level, it is evident that the ABSS is particularly effective with this year grou

Biomass burning emisison inventory with daily resolution: Application to aircraft observations of Asian outflow

We develop a daily-resolved global emission inventory for biomass burning using AVHRR satellite observations of fire activity corrected for data gaps and scan angle biases. We implemented this inventory in a global three-dimensional model (GEOSCHEM) to simulate aircraft CO observations during the TRACE-P mission over the NW Pacific in February-April 2001. Seasonal biomass burning in SE Asia was a major contributor to the outflow of Asian pollution observed in TRACE-P and shows large day-to-day fluctuations that vary depending on location. Three simulations were conducted with the same 3-month total (February-April) emissions but different temporal distributions: 2001 daily resolved, 2001 monthly resolved, and climatological monthly resolved. The effect of daily resolved versus monthly resolved 2001 emissions in the simulation of CO is less than 8 ppbv in Asian outflow over the NW Pacific but can exceed 100 ppbv over source regions. The relatively small effect in Asian outflow reflects spatial and temporal averaging of emissions during ageing in the continental boundary layer. Significant improvement in the simulation of TRACE-P observations (as diagnosed by the resolved variance) is found when using 2001 monthly versus climatological monthly emissions, but using 2001 daily emissions does not offer further improvement. Copyright 2003 by the American Geophysical Union

An update of the Department of Fisheries, Western Australia, Invertebrate and Reef Health Research and Monitoring at Cocos (Keeling) Islands

The Cocos (Keeling) Islands are an Australian External Territory located in the Indian Ocean (12° 12 S, 96° 54 E). The group is comprised of two separate coral atolls, consisting of 27 islands. The southern atoll consists of 26 islands, surrounding a shallow lagoon, two of which are inhabited with a total population of approximately 600 people. Since 2002, a Service Delivery Arrangement (SDA) has been in place between the Department of Fisheries, Western Australia (DoF) and the Commonwealth Government of Australia to manage the fish resources of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands (CKI)

Autistic Masking

This study investigated the relationships between autistic masking and depression, anxiety, gender identity, sexual orientation, social trauma, self-esteem, authenticity, and autistic community involvement. Participants were autistic adults (n=342) recruited through autistic social media groups. The majority of participants (63%) reported being members of sexual minorities. The study found higher self-reported autistic masking behaviors were associated with higher reports of past social trauma (p \u3c .001, b = .26), greater anxiety (p \u3c .001, b = .37) and depression symptoms (p \u3c .001, b = .312), lower self-esteem (p \u3c .001, b = -.25), lower authentic living (p = .005, b = -.16), greater accepting of external influence (p \u3c .001, b= .33), higher self-alienation (p \u3c .001, b = .26), and lower participation within the autistic community (p \u3c .001, b = -.19). Autistic masking was not found to be associated with gender identity or sexual orientation. Participants who reported involvement in previous ABA therapy reported higher past social trauma than participants involved in some other forms of therapy such as cognitive behavior therapy

The comparative hemodynamic efficacy of lower limb muscles using transcutaneous electrical stimulation.

Circulation in the limbs can be augmented using transcutaneous electrical stimulation devices. The optimum muscle stimulation sites for enhancement of vascular hemodynamic parameters have not been identified.Seven suitable anatomic sites were identified within the right leg. Twelve healthy participants were recruited (mean age, 23.1 ± 3 years; body mass index, 23.1 ± 3 kg/m(2)). Muscles were stimulated by transcutaneous bipolar electrodes at a current twice their motor threshold, at 1 Hz, for 5 minutes. Hemodynamic ultrasound measurements were taken from the right femoral vein. Laser Doppler measurements from the feet of the stimulated and nonstimulated sides were obtained. Baseline measurements were compared with readings after 5 minutes of stimulation, with device active. Discomfort experienced for stimulation of each muscle was rated out of 100.Hemodynamic changes displayed large intersubject variation, with no muscle statistically superior to the others. All muscles increased peak velocity; contraction of medial gastrocnemius increased time-averaged maximum velocity and volume flow. All muscles increased foot fluximetry (P < .05). Discomfort correlated weakly with current applied. Tibialis anterior and vastus lateralis were most tenable.Transcutaneous stimulation increases hemodynamic parameters significantly, locally and systemically. No optimum stimulation site has been identified, and it is limited by comfort and variability in the subjects response. Gastrocnemius, tibialis anterior, and vastus lateralis all provoke large changes in hemodynamic parameters, but clinical efficacy in disease prevention and management has not been explored