Spaces of New Labour Youth policy

This thesis examines the issue of policy change by focussing on time and space as the conditions of possibility for change. Drawing on post-structuralist theory, it interrogates existing theories of policy change with special attention paid to how these theories construct time and space. This engagement with policy theory, time and space leads to the introduction of a new theoretical logic which is termed the logic of demarcation. The logic of demarcation is then deployed along with other concepts, rooted in the post-Marxist political theory of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, such as political, social and fantasmatic logics, to investigate changes in New Labour youth policy from 1998 to 2008. The thesis focuses on the related but separable policy areas of Anti-social Behaviour and Every Child Matters and aims to explain change and/or resistance to change with respect to these policies as well as their relationship to each other. The aim is to examine the how the demarcations and exclusions that constitute these policy areas change over time. This is achieved by examining a mixture of textual data and drawing on data gained from primary interviews with key actors

The Impact of Oakland's Proposed City Minimum Wage Law: A Prospective Study

The Lift Up Oakland Coalition, an alliance of community, labor, small business, and faith organizations, has placed an initiative on the Oakland November 2014 ballot that would establish a minimum wage of $12.25 for businesses in the city starting March 1, 2015. This study examines the effects of a$12.25 minimum wage on Oakland workers and businesses. Drawing on a variety of government data sources, we estimate that more than a quarter of the Oakland workforce would benefit from the proposed policy, with the average worker earning an additional $2,700 a year. Our analysis of the existing economic research literature suggests that businesses will adjust to modest increases in operating costs through reduced employee turnover costs, improved work performance, and a small, one-time increase in restaurant prices

Career and Technical Education in Michigan

High school career and technical education (CTE) programs have emerged as a popular strategy for improving young people’s chances of finding – and keeping – stable jobs. Taught by former industry professionals and structured around hands-on projects, CTE aims to equip students with knowledge and skills to thrive in the workforce. Despite this wealth of attention, we know relatively little about the efficacy of CTE programs. Stakeholders like parents, students, state and local administrators all have a vested interest in better understanding the predictors and outcomes of CTE participation. This brief aims to begin that conversation by shedding light on access to and enrollment in Michigan’s high school CTE programs

New spirituality as an example of emergence in Christian religion

Peer reviewedEvolutionary theory and its accretion into various theories of emergence, particularly in brain and consciousness studies, are placing increasing pressure on religion’s maintenance of Essentialist or dual-substance explanations of existence as matter and spirit. The meaning of emergence is explored in these contexts and the views of four significant contributors are evaluated: Stuart Kauffman, Philip Clayton, David Ray Griffin, and John Searle. It is discovered that there is no clear standard by which to assess epistemological coherence and consistency between Essentialist and Physicalist viewpoints. Consequently, a ‘guiding maxim’ is recommended which implies a counterintuitive redefinition of the ‘idea of God’ as an emergent property of consciousness as a function of the brain within its own and extended environments. Religious narrative is thus mythologically rendered and spiritual experiences are retained if the being of God is substantiated as the archetype of our own becoming into Christ-likeness.Research Institute for Theology and Religio

Augmented Reality in Medical Education:A Mixed Methods Feasibility Study

Background: Augmented reality (AR) is a novel technology with many applications in medical education. Perhaps one of the most beneficial potential applications is to enable better clinical access for students; however, there is limited research into this use. The purpose of this mixed-methods feasibility study was to evaluate the applicability and acceptability of AR in undergraduate and early postgraduate medical education.Methods: Single-group quasi-experimental study design was developed for critical care-themed simulation teaching delivered using Microsoft HoloLens (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Washington, United States). Post-test questionnaires were completed including a validated adapted immersive experience questionnaire (AIEQ) and an abridged intrinsic motivation inventory (AIMI). The AIMI focused on the domains of ‘interest and enjoyment’, and ‘value and usefulness’. Following the teaching, focus group interviews with thematic analysis were conducted to evaluate participants’ experiences with AR.Results: All 15 participants (100%) completed the AIEQ and AIMI. Co-located airway teaching (i.e., the demonstrator and participants were placed in the same AR environment) was reported as having a moderate level of user immersion (median 72) and a high level of user enjoyment and value (median 52). Thematic analysis revealed four key themes: visual conceptualization for learning, accessibility, varied immersion, and future application. Conclusions: Remote simulation for the management of airways in critical care was found to be acceptable and afforded a high level of enjoyment and value. Similarly, this was reflected in the thematic analysis. However, immersion was rated variably in both AIEQ and thematic analysis. The challenges identified with the application of AR included technical infrastructure and patient consent. AR-enabled education benefits are relevant to a number of clinical teaching areas

Non-duality in Ken Wilber's integral philosophy : a critical appaisal and alternative physicalyst perspective of mystical consciousness

Since the advent of human consciousness all manner of theoreticians from mystics to philosophers, and linguists to scientists have considered why and how it is that an individuated self seems to occupy or indwell a physical body. There is a common experiential sense, in other words, in which personal consciousness and our bodies are felt to be two different things. Two broad areas of opinion attempting to explain this apparent bifurcation are defined for the purpose of addressing this problem: Essentialists who variously maintain that there are non-physical properties inherent to all forms and functions of physicality; and Physicalists who claim that the extant universe as a multiplicity of complex material processes is the only reality. The respective natures of body and mind and the ways in which they relate has yielded an extraordinary variety of hypotheses within and between these two broad categories. In this thesis the dilemma is called the Hard Problem and it focuses particularly on the relationship between consciousness and the brain. Recently, Ken Wilber has constructed an Integral Philosophy which attempts a synergistic gradation of all possible genres of experience and knowledge into one cohesive scheme representing the total Reality. The culminating point of Wilber’s theory claims resolution of the Hard Problem, indeed of all appearances of duality, in the realisation of consummate emptiness in mystical consciousness. Wilber’s proposal therefore tenders a version of Essentialism since it implies that an Absolute principle is inherent to all existence. The problem explored in this study considers whether the epistemological architecture of Wilber’s Philosophy is coherent and consistent. Following a critical appraisal of Wilber’s system it is proposed that epistemological coherence is more likely to be achieved by retaining the ontology of consciousness and matter to only one kind. In this way the scientific protocols which Wilber imports to validate his truth-claims are protected from ontological confusion. Whether this non-dual Physicalism is adequate as a means of explaining consciousness, and particularly mystical consciousness, is moot. Perhaps there remains an inalienable quality in mysticism which will always elude our ability to apprehend it.Christian Sprituality, Church History and MissiologyD. Th. (Christian Spirituality

Mysticism as accommodation of transcendence

Proceedings of the 16th conference of the South African Science and Religion Forum (SASRF) of the Research Institute for Theology and Religion held at the University of South Africa, Pretoria, 2-3 September 2010.Homo transcendentalis? Transcendence in science and religion : interdisciplinary perspectivesResearch Institute for Theology and Religio

A Composite Damage Tolerance Simulation Technique to Augment the Building Block Approach

Aerospace structures comprised of composite materials are traditionally certified empirically via the Building Block Approach (BBA). While this approach has been performed successfully in the past, it is expensive and time consuming. One means to improve the overall efficiency of composite structural certification is to reduce the cost of the BAA by eliminating the need for some tests by incorporating damage analysis tools. For an analysis to replace a given test, the tool must first be validated using other similar test data. The subject of this paper is a description of an analysis technique for simulating compression after damage strength of a solid laminate. The analysis technique is one that is practical for use in an applied engineering context due to efforts to minimize necessary computational resources and complexity of the model