Caught in the conundrum: Neoliberalism and education in post-conflict Northern Ireland – Exploring shared education

Northern Ireland (NI) is emerging from a violent period in its troubled history and remains a society characterized by segregation between its two main communities. Nowhere is this more apparent than in education, where for the most part Catholic and Protestant pupils are educated separately. During the last 30 years there has been twofold pressure placed on the education system in NI – at one level to respond to intergroup tensions by promoting reconciliation, and at another, to deal with national policy demands derived from a global neoliberalist economic agenda. With reference to current efforts to promote shared education between separate schools, we explore the uneasy dynamic between a school-based reconciliation programme in a transitioning society and system-wide values that are driven by neoliberalism and its organizational manifestation – new managerialism. We argue that whilst the former seeks to promote social democratic ideals in education that can have a potentially transformative effect at the societal level, neoliberal priorities have the potential to both subvert shared education and also to embed it.</jats:p

Are South African doctoral qualifications educating the thinkers we need?

Significance: The recently completed national review of the doctoral qualifications offered by South African higher education institutions has provided important insights into the national landscape of doctoral education, and raised many questions. One key question is whether our doctoral qualifications educate our students to be the broad and critical thinkers needed to address current and future scientific and societal challenges. In the South African higher education context, we must ask ourselves whether we are providing the academic and intellectual depth required to enable our doctoral graduates to achieve the graduate attributes that we express as our national aspirations, and we need to consider new approaches to doctoral education

Hepatic effects of tartrazine (E 102) after systemic exposure are independent of oestrogen receptor interactions in the mouse

Tartrazine is a food colour that activates the transcriptional function of the human oestrogen receptor alpha in an in vitro cell model. Since oestrogens are cholestatic, we hypothesised tartrazine will cause periportal injury to the liver in vivo. To test this hypothesis, tartrazine was initially administered systemically to mice resulting in a periportal recruitment of inflammatory cells, increased serum alkaline phosphatase activity and mild periportal fibrosis. To determine whether an oestrogenic effect may be a key event in this response, tartrazine, sulphonated metabolites and a food additive contaminant were screened for their ability to interact with murine oestrogen receptors. In all cases, there were no interactions as agonists or antagonists and further, no oestrogenicity was observed with tartrazine in an in vivo uterine growth assay. To examine the relevance of the hepatic effects of tartrazine to its use as a food additive, tartrazine was orally administered to transgenic NF-κB-Luc mice. Pre- and concurrent oral treatment with alcohol was incorporated given its potential to promote gut permeability and hepatic inflammation. Tartrazine alone induced NF- κB activities in the colon and liver but there was no periportal recruitment of inflammatory cells or fibrosis. Tartrazine, its sulphonated metabolites and the contaminant inhibited sulphotransferase activities in murine hepatic S9 extracts. Given the role of sulfotransferases in bile acid excretion, the initiating event giving rise to periportal inflammation and subsequent hepatic pathology through systemic tartrazine exposure is therefore potentially associated an inhibition of bile acid sulphation and excretion and not on oestrogen receptor-mediated transcriptional function. However, these effects were restricted to systemic exposures to tartrazine and did not occur to any significant effect after oral exposure

Achieving doctorateness : is South African higher education succeeding with graduate attributes?

This article applies findings from the recent national review of South African doctoral qualifications to examine ways in which universities interpret the formulation of, and apply in the context of a differentiated higher education system, the graduate attributes established in the qualification standard, in order to achieve the characteristics of “doctorateness”. The article explores the concept “graduate attributes” itself, the extent to which it is manifested in institutional, supervisory and examination practices, and how the concept is conveyed to and understood by students. National review findings indicate inconsistencies in conceptualisation and application both between and within institutions. In this article, emphasis is placed on the primary need of developing in the doctoral graduate the capacity to enter, as a deep-thinking researcher, into a community of practising peers, whether in the academy or in a profession.https://journals.co.za/journal/higham2024BiochemistryGeneticsMicrobiology and Plant PathologySDG-04:Quality Educatio

Are South African doctoral qualifications educating the thinkers we need?

SIGNIFICANCE : The recently completed national review of the doctoral qualifications offered by South African higher education institutions has provided important insights into the national landscape of doctoral education, and raised many questions. One key question is whether our doctoral qualifications educate our students to be the broad and critical thinkers needed to address current and future scientific and societal challenges. In the South African higher education context, we must ask ourselves whether we are providing the academic and intellectual depth required to enable our doctoral graduates to achieve the graduate attributes that we express as our national aspirations, and we need to consider new approaches to doctoral education.http://www.sajs.co.zahj2022BiochemistryGeneticsMicrobiology and Plant Patholog

Comparing international dementia research priorities—Systematic review

Objectives: Research priority setting aims to collate stakeholder opinion to determine the most pressing research questions. Priority setting exercises influence decisions around research funding, development and policy. We compared published dementia research priority setting exercises from international healthcare systems. Methods: Four multidisciplinary, international, electronic databases were searched for relevant studies (2010 until 2021). Priorities were extracted, coded and assigned to categories using thematic analysis. The Nine Common Themes of Good Practice (9CTGP) and the Reporting guideline for priority setting of health research (REPRISE) checklists were used to assess methodological and reporting quality respectively. Results: From 265 titles, 10 priority setting exercises (1179 participants, 147 priorities) were included. Studies spanned four continents and the majority included people living with dementia and their care-givers in the priority setting process (68%). Only one paper met all the best practice indicators. Issues around inclusiveness, implementation and evaluation of the priorities were apparent in nine papers. We categorised priorities under eight themes: caregivers (25%, n = 37), support (24%, n = 35), awareness and education (16%, n = 24), drugs and interventions (14%, n = 21), diagnosis (8%, n = 12), pathology (6%, n = 9), research design (5%, n = 7), and prevention (1%, n = 2). Priorities varied by geographical region, with awareness and education of higher priority in low-middle income countries, compared to caregivers and support in high income countries. Conclusions: Key priorities were identified with some commonality around themes considered of greatest importance. There is scope to improve the process and reporting of priority setting. Priorities differed according to contextual factors and so, priorities specific to one healthcare setting may not be applicable to others

Re-envisioning health promotion: Thinking and acting salutogenically towards equity for historically resilient communities

This paper explores how the salutogenic theory can enable us to re-envision health promotion work with marginalized communities, towards an approach that acknowledges and honours their resilience. We use the three core concepts in Antonovsky’s salutogenic model of health – sense of coherence, generalized resistance resources and specific resistance resources – to explore the theory’s relevance to health equity, thus presenting new opportunities for how we might radically re-evaluate current health promotion approaches. We conclude that a more equitable health promotion requires increased participation of marginalized communities in shaping their futures and suggest a new model for historically grounded salutogenic health promotion.publishedVersio

Black Lives Matter in health promotion: moving from unspoken to outspoken

Racism is a public health crisis. Black communities (including Africans, the African diaspora and people of African descent) experience worse health outcomes as demonstrated by almost any measure of health and wellbeing—e.g. life expectancy; disease prevalence; maternal mortality rates. While health promotion has its foundation in promoting equity and social justice, it is clear that however well-intended, we are not affecting meaningful change for Black communities quickly enough. Through this article, we outline the intersection of social determinants of health and anti-Black racism. We describe how in the first 8 months of 2020 Black communities around the globe have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, while also having to respond to new instances of police brutality. We assert that the time has come for health promotion to stop neutralizing the specific needs of Black communities into unspoken ‘good intentions’. Instead, we offer some concrete ways for the field to become outspoken, intentional and honest in acknowledging what it will take to radically shift how we promote health and wellbeing for Black people.publishedVersio