Correction to: Between a rock and a hard place: dilemmas regarding the purpose of public universities in South Africa

Correction to: Between a rock and a hard place: dilemmas regarding the purpose of public universities in South Africa (Higher Education, (2019), 77, 4, (567-583), 10.1007/s10734-018-0291-9)

Negotiating the "new normal" : university leaders and marketisation

This article explores how leaders, key decision-makers in research-intensive public universities perceive marketisation in the sector in relation to public-private arrangements in teaching and learning provision. The focus is on the nature of relationships between public universities and those private companies engaged in the co-creation, delivery and support of educational provision. It draws on 16 interviews with decision makers – senior leaders and managers in higher education at six research-intensive universities in South Africa and England. Questions raised in this article are: How do senior decision makers perceive the entry of private players into public higher education? What are their experiences of working in partnership with private companies? What effect do they think the relationship is having on the status of the public university? How do they talk about the market actors? We observe that university leaders in both study countries, despite their different positions in the global field of higher education, and the hybrid moral economy around processes of marketisation all use language borrowed from the business sector to justify or reject marketisation. This indicates an unprecedented level of normalisation of this rhetoric in a public sector otherwise sensitive to language use posing serious questions about the nature of public universities in this marketised era

Промислові та непромислові види риб річок Липецької області

The list and fish assemblage species structure of 13 rivers of the Lipetsk region were analyzed. Classi-fication of the fish fauna from the viewpoint of fishery and nature protection was made for the working out of the concept of rational nature management. Important protected and threatened species was found in the Lipetsk area. It is established that not all species included in the regional Red Data Book correspond to their real nature protection status.Проанализированы состав и таксономическая структура ихтиофауны рек Липецкой области. Проведена рыбохозяйственная и природоохранная классификация ихтиофауны, необходимая для разработки концепции рационального природопользования. На территории области выделены особо охраняемые виды и находящиеся под угрозой исчезновения. Установлено, что не все виды, занесенные в Красную книгу области, соответствуют их истинному природоохранному статусу.Проаналізовано склад і таксономічну структуру іхтіофауни річок Липецької області. Проведено рибогосподарську та природоохоронну класифікацію іхтіофауни, необхідну для розробки концепції раціонального природокористування. На території області виділено особливо охоронювані види та види, які перебувають під загрозою зникнення. Встановлено, що не всі види, занесені до Червоної книги області, відповідають їх справжньому природоохоронному статусу

Analyzing factors that influence the folk use and phytonomy of 18 medicinal plants in Navarra

BACKGROUND: This article analyzes whether the distribution or area of use of 18 medicinal plants is influenced by ecological and cultural factors which might account for their traditional use and/or phytonymy in Navarra. This discussion may be helpful for comparative studies, touching as it does on other ethnopharmacological issues: a) which cultural and ecological factors affect the selection of medicinal plants; b) substitutions of medicinal plants in popular medicine; c) the relation between local nomenclature and uses. To analyze these questions, this paper presents an example of a species used for digestive disorders (tea and camomile: Jasonia glutinosa, J. tuberosa, Sideritis hyssopifolia, Bidens aurea, Chamaemelum nobile, Santolina chamaecyparissus...), high blood pressure (Rhamnus alaternus, Olea europaea...) or skin diseases (Hylotelephium maximum, H. telephium, Anagallis arvensis, A. foemina). METHODS: Fieldwork began on January 2004 and continued until December 2006. During that time we interviewed 505 informants in 218 locations in Navarra. Information was collected using semi-structured ethnobotanical interviews, and we subsequently made maps using Arc-View 8.0 program to determine the area of use of each taxon. Each map was then compared with the bioclimatic and linguistic map of Navarra, using the soil and ethnographic data for the region, and with other ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological studies carried out in Europe. RESULTS: The results clearly show that ecological and cultural factors influence the selection of medicinal plants in this region. Climate and substrate are the most important ecological factors that influence the distribution and abundance of plants, which are the biological factors that affect medicinal plant selection. CONCLUSION: The study of edaphological and climatological factors, on the one hand, and culture, on the other, can help us to understand why a plant is replaced by another one for the same purposes, either in the same or in a different area. In many cases, the cultural factor means that the use of a species is more widespread than its ecological distribution. This may also explain the presence of synonyms and polysemies which are useful for discussing ethnopharmacological data

Science - Society Relations Enhancement: Policy Implications and Some Scientometric Evidences

The paper considers the significant transformations in the social dimensions of science in last decades. It is argued that science is no more “productive force” only, but it becomes a powerful factor for economic growth, enhancement of quality of life and social prosperity. Another tendency is the enhanced science-policy interactions, as well as the growing role of knowledge transfer and research ethics. New concepts, related to the increasing importance of the social functions of science, have occurred - “knowledge society, “knowledge-based economy, “sustainable development”. The scientometric study, presented in the paper, based on counting the publications on science-society relations and issuing new scientific journals on the considered topic, supports these statements

Negotiating the new normal: How senior decision makers in higher education perceive marketisation in the sector.

This paper explores how decision makers in higher education perceive marketisation in the sector in relation to teaching and learning provision. The study is interested in the nature of relationships between public universities and other actors, particularly private companies, in relation to the creation, delivery and support of educational provision as well as public universities’ perspectives on these relationships. The study draws on 33 interviews with senior decision-makers and managers in higher education at six research-intensive and six teaching-oriented universities in South Africa and England. Questions we raise in this paper are: How do senior decision makers perceive the entry of private players in public HE? What are their experiences of working with private companies in partnership? What values do they associate with marketisation? What effect do they think the relationship is having on the status of the public university? How do they talk about the market actors? We argue that in both study sites there is a hybrid economy but that it is varied in its manifestation, with relationships more or less emergent or established. We discuss this in terms of alignment of practices and values which are guided by sometimes different roles and purposes; emerging and contested business models for income generation; pedagogical imperatives that guide public-private partnerships; and polarized notions of partnerships that raise the question of quality and control. The paper concludes with reflection on policy implications

The Unbundled University: Researching emerging models in an unequal landscape. Preliminary findings from fieldwork in South Africa

As Higher Education undergoes a massive expansion in demand globally, and experiences financial pressures exacerbated by the global financial crisis of 2008, the sector is evolving rapidly. Market pressures on the sector encourage the search for additional income and new forms of provision, and private providers are increasingly entering the sector. At the same time, the HE sector has seen the appearance of many flexible online courses and qualifications, delivered by new configurations of providers and partnerships, including by parties new to the sector, through a process of disaggregating educational provision into its component parts, or ‘unbundling’. Whilst these changes may offer opportunities for increased numbers of learners to access education and thus contribute to economic prosperity, there is very little empirical research about the nature, process and impact of this unbundling and rebundling of educational provision, as it is playing out in this rapidly reconfiguring space. This paper reports data on South African Higher Education from the research project ‘The Unbundled University: Researching emerging models in an unequal landscape’, a project which explores the terrain in both South Africa and the UK. South Africa is deemed the most unequal country in the world and its HE system is under pressure, demonstrated in part by rising fees, student protests and calls for decolonised education, whilst online education is viewed by some, including the South African Government, as a way to increase access. Using a new dataset systematically collected from the public domain, data visualisation is employed to bring a novel perspective to the educational provision being offered using digital technology (and the private companies partnering with universities in South Africa to provide it), to uncover patterns of activity and their relationship to existing patterns of inequality in the HE sector. Using mapping, or social cartography, this paper reveals patterns and relationships which are otherwise not so obvious. Significantly, the maps reveal relationships between universities and private companies which appear to reflect existing inequalities, insofar as private companies partner almost exclusively with historically advantaged, research intensive universities, with high international ranking and reputation. This paper argues that such partnerships do not disrupt an unequal terrain, but rather reflect and possibly reinforce the power asymmetries already at play

EXTENSIVE INTRACRANIAL CALCIFICATION WITH NEUROLOGICAL AND OPHTHALMOLOGICAL COMPLICATIONS IN A PATIENT WITH IDIOPATHIC HYPOPARATHYROIDISM: A CASE REPORT

Background: Idiopathic hypoparathyroidism is a rare endocrine disorder caused by the deficiency of parathyroid hormone. It typically has a progressive course and is characterized by accumulations of calcium deposits in the basal ganglia bilaterally. In untreated patients, the intracranial calcification may also affect the thalamus, dentate nuclei, cerebral cortex, grey-white junctions and the cerebellum. Different locations can mimic multiple neurological diseases making the diagnosis of that rare disease a challenge. Purpose: To present a clinical case with untreated idiopathic hypoparathyroidism, extensive intracranial calcifications and neurological and ophthalmological complications. Material and methods: We present a 50-year-old man with untreated idiopathic hypoparathyroidism who was diagnosed in 2015 with massive intracranial calcifications located in the basal ganglia and outside the extrapyramidal structures. The neurological examination showed involuntary choreoathetotic movements of the right arm, progressive severe cognitive decline, generalized tonic-clonic seizures, gait imbalance and visual disorders. Abnormalities in the calcium-phosphorus metabolism and renal function tests were found. CT scans demonstrated extensive brain calcifications. The ophthalmological examination showed diminished visual acuity and mature cataract. The histopathological result did not demonstrate ragged red fibres. Some differential diagnostic opportunities like Fahr’s disease or Kearn Sayre’s syndrome were also considered. Results: The patient was diagnosed with untreated childhood idiopathic hypoparathyroidism with extensive intracranial calcifications and neurological and ophthalmological complications – a rare clinical case. This was confirmed by his medical history, general, neurological and ophthalmological examinations, laboratory, histopathological and neuroimaging investigations. Conclusion: The CT findings demonstrating extensive intracranial calcifications in the basal ganglia and the extrapyramidal structures make the presented clinical case a diagnostic challenge

Промысловые и непромысловые виды рыб рек Липецкой области

The list and fish assemblage species structure of 13 rivers of the Lipetsk region were analyzed. Classi-fication of the fish fauna from the viewpoint of fishery and nature protection was made for the working out of the concept of rational nature management. Important protected and threatened species was found in the Lipetsk area. It is established that not all species included in the regional Red Data Book correspond to their real nature protection status