From the Secret Garden to the Panopticon? Changing freedoms and the growing crisis in primary school headteacher recruitment.

Edited version embargoed until 23.01.2019 Full version: Access restricted permanently due to 3rd party copyright restrictions. Restriction set on 23.01.2018 by SE, Doctoral CollegeA headteacher recruitment crisis continues in the primary education sector (Howson & Sprigate, 2011; Rhodes et al., 2008). This research offers a voice for an increasingly marginalised group and synthesises the experiences of 15 primary headteachers, including retired, experienced and new school leaders against the changing educational scenery of four decades. An extended metaphor describing a changing epistemological landscape is utilised (Pascale, 2011), including dramaturgical discourse (Goffman, 1974). The research assesses whether the lived experiences of school leaders evidence a supposed movement away from the ‘freedom’ of the ‘secret garden’ of the pre-National Curriculum era to a time of reducing freedoms for headteachers under a central panoptic gaze (Foucault 1979; Ball 2006) and then to a new ‘supported autonomy’ as suggested by ‘Education Excellence Everywhere’ (DfE, 2016). The thesis assesses the capacity of phenomenological methodology to address the research questions and distinctions are made between approaches to phenomenology. A case is made for ensuring critical rationalism within the methodology and difficulties of attaining ‘epoche’ and ‘phenomenological reduction’ are debated. Findings support the view that there have been significant changes to headship over time. Analysis of these changes does not support the concept of a linear movement from a time of freedom to a landscape defined by Panopticism. The research suggests that a new paradigmatic shift is significantly changing the nature of primary headship with new forms of executive leadership and structures for leadership progression. Recommendations call for a reduction in the frequency of change for school leaders, a simplification of the inspection grading system, provision of clearer pathways to headship and greater support for school leaders as local authority services decline and safeguarding for leaders from the growth of social media abuse. This research offers a unique insight into headship and addresses an identified gap in educational research

Ethical Considerations of Autonomous Weapon Systems

When autonomous weapons systems become operationally superior to alternatives (such as human soldiers), they will be deployed in international warfare. Moral and ethical considerations have not prevented the development and use of new technologies in war historically. The dangers posed by autonomous weapons systems (AWS) are unlikely to deter emboldened illiberal regimes and offer noteworthy military advantages, barring the moral implications of their use. Significant military benefits offered by such weapons virtually require all states to secure investment and development in these platforms. However, AWS represent consequential challenges to conventional ethical frameworks that establish accountability and ensure discriminatory conduct during warfare. AWS are controlled by necessarily opaque software inhibiting our understanding of the system’s capacity to discriminate between civilian, friend, and enemy. Epistemologically, we lack reliable, scientific evidence regarding the accuracy of machine perception, while humans do not understand the statistical learning models of second-generation AI to trust in their autonomous decision-making in the unstructured contemporary combat environment. Artificial intelligence cannot stand trial for war crimes, nor do we have the capacity to assign blame within the chain of command due to accountability gaps. These serious ethical concerns merit deliberation. Thus, it would be prudent to develop novel frameworks to update considerations of jus en bello to account for the possibly destabilizing effects of AWS that exclude humans from decision-making processes. These frameworks would chiefly incorporate a method through which AWS could be proven to be capable of discrimination and an oversight structure for aportioning blame if a lapse occurs

Detection of cannabinoids in hair after cosmetic application of hemp oil.

The detection of cannabis constituents and metabolites in hair is an established procedure to provide evidence of exposure to cannabis. We present the frst known evidence to suggest that applying hemp oil to hair, as cosmetic treatment, may result in the incorporation of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabinol (CBN), cannabidiol (CBD) and in one instance, the metabolite 11-hydroxy-Δ9- tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-OH). 10 volunteers treated their head hair daily with commercially available hemp oil for a period of 6 weeks. Head hair samples were collected before and after the application period. Hair samples were washed with methanol and subjected to clean up via liquid/ liquid and solid phase extraction procedures, and then GC-MS/MS for the analysis of THC, CBN, CBD, THC-OH and THC-COOH. Application of hemp oil to hair resulted in the incorporation of one or more cannabis constituents in 89% of volunteers, and 33% of the group tested positive for the three major constituents, THC, CBN and CBD. One volunteer showed low levels of the metabolite THC-OH. We suggest that cosmetic use of hemp oil should be recorded when sampling head hair for analysis, and that the interpretative value of cannabinoid hair measurements from people reporting application of hemp oil is treated with caution in both criminology and public health

Role of the Atlantic multidecadal variability in modulating East Asian climate

We assess the effects of the North Atlantic Ocean Sea Surface Temperature (NASST) on North East Asian (NEA) surface temperature. We use a set of sensitivity experiments, performed with MetUM-GOML2, an atmospheric general circulation model coupled to a multi-level ocean mixed layer model, to mimic warming and cooling over the North Atlantic Ocean. Results show that a warming of the NASST is associated with a significant warming over NEA. Two mechanisms are pointed out to explain the NASST—North East Asia surface temperature relationship. First, the warming of the NASST is associated with a modulation of the northern hemisphere circulation, due to the propagation of a Rossby wave (i.e. the circumglobal teleconnection). The change in the atmosphere circulation is associated with advections of heat from the Pacific Ocean to NEA and with an increase in net surface shortwave radiation over NEA, both acting to increase NEA surface temperature. Second, the warming of the NASST is associated with a cooling (warming) over the eastern (western) Pacific Ocean, which modulates the circulation over the western Pacific Ocean and NEA. Additional simulations, in which Pacific Ocean sea surface temperatures are kept constant, show that the modulation of the circumglobal teleconnection is key to explaining impacts of the NASST on NEA surface temperature

Medicines prescribed by non-medical independent prescribers in primary care in Wales: a 10-year longitudinal study April 2011–March 2021

OBJECTIVES: The therapeutic classes of medicines prescribed by non-medical independent prescribers (NMIPs) working in primary care in Wales has not been studied in detail. The aim of this study was to conduct a 10-year longitudinal analysis of NMIP prescribing in Wales from April 2011 to March 2021. The study examined the British National Formulary (BNF) chapters from which medicines were prescribed by NMIPs, whether this changed over time, and whether there was variation in prescribing across the geographic regions of Wales. DESIGN: Retrospective secondary data analysis of primary care prescribing data. Monthly prescribing data for the 10 National Health Service financial years (April to March) from April 2011 to March 2021 were obtained from the Comparative Analysis System for Prescribing Audit software. Data were analysed according to BNF chapter, to identify in which therapeutic areas NMIPs were prescribing, and whether this changed over the study period. RESULTS: The number of items prescribed by NMIPs increased during the study period. From April 2011 to March 2021 prescribing in seven BNF chapters equated to approximately 80% of total items, with cardiovascular system medicines most prescribed. In the financial year 2011–2012 the BNF chapters with the greatest proportion of items prescribed were infection (18%) and respiratory system (13%), while in 2020–2021, these had changed to cardiovascular (23%) and nervous system (19%). The number of items prescribed in each health board in Wales varied, however, the BNF chapters contributing the largest percentages of items to the health board totals were broadly comparable. CONCLUSIONS: The BNF chapter with the most prescribed items changed from infection to cardiovascular during the study period, suggesting an increase in chronic disease management by NMIPs. The impact of this on the delivery of primary care services and patient outcomes is a focus for future work

The 2009 European Parliament Elections: A Disaster for Social Democrats. The European Parliament Elections of 2009 and the Fate of Euroscepticism.

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Enemies of Aspen

So long as aspen was considered primarily a weed species, there was little concern over the enemies which might injure or destroy it. Sometimes these enemies were actually considered blessings in disguise. Now, however, that aspen not only is the most abundant but also one of the most widely utilized tree species in the Lake States, there is increasing interest in anything that may affect its future supply. For that reason this brief summary of information on the enemies of aspen has been assembled

Microbial metabolism directly affects trace gases in (sub) polar snowpacks

Concentrations of trace gases trapped in ice are considered to develop uniquely from direct snow/atmosphere interactions at the time of contact. This assumption relies upon limited or no biological, chemical or physical transformations occurring during transition from snow to firn to ice; a process that can take decades to complete. Here, we present the first evidence of environmental alteration due to in situ microbial metabolism of trace gases (methyl halides and dimethyl sulfide) in polar snow. We collected evidence for ongoing microbial metabolism from an Arctic and an Antarctic location during different years. Methyl iodide production in the snowpack decreased significantly after exposure to enhanced UV radiation. Our results also show large variations in the production and consumption of other methyl halides, including methyl bromide and methyl chloride, used in climate interpretations. These results suggest that this long-neglected microbial activity could constitute a potential source of error in climate history interpretations, by introducing a so far unappreciated source of bias in the quantification of atmospheric-derived trace gases trapped within the polar ice caps

Effect of the Atlantic Multidecadal Variability on the global monsoon

We assess the effect of the Atlantic Multidecadal Variability (AMV) on the global monsoon using idealized simulations. Warm AMV phases are associated with a significant strengthening of monsoon precipitation over Northern Africa and India, and anomalously weak monsoon precipitation over South America. Changes in monsoon precipitation are mediated by a change in atmospheric dynamics, primarily associated with a shift in the circulation related to both an enhanced interhemispheric thermal contrast and the remote impact of AMV on the Pacific Ocean, through changes in the Walker circulation. In contrast, the thermodynamic changes are less important. Further experiments show that the impact of AMV is largely due to the tropical component of the sea surface temperature anomalies. However, the extratropical Atlantic also plays a role, especially for northern Africa. Finally, we show that the effect of AMV on monsoons is not linearly related to the magnitude of warming