Diplomatic negotiation in an international organisation: an exploration of expert status and power

This paper will explore the status and characteristics of ‘expert’ membership within an international organisation and its influence on the development of ‘exosomatic resources’. Invoking the framework of the ‘Community of Practice’ (Wenger, 1998), it is argued that status and power are realised in the development and interpretation of policy and conventions within the organisation, through the ‘negotiation of meaning’ and through the ‘politics of participation and reification’. Negotiations and decisions may take place over a period of time but are also situated within plenary debates. As such it is argued that power and hierarchy are not fixed structures but are emergent and fluid discursively over time and space. The paper defines the characteristics of ‘expert’ membership encompassing a consideration of the command of participatory and interactional norms, as well as knowledge of the status and content of reified products. To illustrate these characteristics a critical analysis of the discourse of one delegate is provided. This exemplifies how expert knowledge is applied within a debate to influence and inform the development and interpretation of texts and subsequently to contribute to the (re)production of shared meaning and agreement on issues under debate. It is argued that in considering both the forms of asymmetry in organisations and the practice of decision-making, research should focus on: the type of knowledge that is required and valued in any context; how this knowledge is accessed, enacted and exploited; and which members are instrumental in its construction, representation and reproduction

Something to do with Schrödinger spacetimes

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2009.Includes bibliographical references (p. 62-63).We present a brief review of the AdS/CFT correspondence and the progress made toward building a realistic gravity/gauge theory duality for a non-relativistic conformal field theory. In particular, we highlight many of the computational tools necessary for such a program before introducing one such model duality. The model presented exhibits the symmetry group of Schrodinger's equation along with conformal symmetry. A black hole can be placed in this spacetime to study a finite temperature duality. In the low-frequency, long-distance limit at finite temperature classical hydrodynamics can be used to determine the retarded Green's functions of the field theory, which can be computed from the gravity dual. This facilitates the calculation of several characteristic quantities including the shear viscosity and the shear diffusion constant giving results consistent with other hydrodynamic analyses of the system.by Connor W. McEntee.S.B

“Leave no one behind”: linguistic and digital barriers to the dissemination and implementation of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals

In September 2015 the United Nations (UN) adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offering an internationally agreed blueprint for economic, environmental and social development. However those most in need and specifically targeted by the SDGs face significant barriers in accessing information and knowledge about the goals and sustainability in a language or medium that can be understood. Drawing on previous research on the UN’s language policy and practice (McEntee-Atalianis, 2006, 2015, 2016) and analyses of recent UN reports and resolutions on multilingualism, information policy and practice and the SDGs, this paper examines the current status of multilingualism and information transfer within the Organisation. Significant linguistic and digital barriers are identified. It is argued that the UN must plan in more linguistically plural and inclusive ways by developing a tri-sectoral communication network strategy involving civil society, public and private sectors in order to facilitate knowledge transfer and participation, thereby ensuring that ‘no one is left behind’

Skills, Capabilities and Inequalities at School Entry in a Disadvantaged Community

Socioeconomic inequalities in children’s skills and capabilities begin early in life and can have detrimental effects on future success in school. The present study examines the relationships between school readiness and sociodemographic inequalities using teacher reports of the Short Early Development Instrument in a disadvantaged urban area of Ireland. It specifically examines socioeconomic (SES) differences in skills within a low SES community in order to investigate the role of relative disadvantage on children’s development. Differences across multiple domains of school readiness are examined using Monte-Carlo permutation tests. The results show that child, family and environmental factors have an impact on children’s school readiness, with attendance in centre-based childcare having the most consistent relationship with readiness for school. In addition, the findings suggest that social class inequalities in children’s skills still exist within a disadvantaged community. These results are discussed in relation to future intervention programmes.School readiness, Socioeconomic inequalities, Monte-Carlo permutation tests

Minority rights in a supra-national era: the case of the deaf community in the UK

The hegemonic influences of nationalism have led to the decline and loss of many minority languages. In recent years however, in parallel with supranationalism, minority groups and Linguistic Human Rights (LHRs) advocates have promoted equitable rights for all. This paper will discuss the field of LHR and will specifically address the rights of D/deaf children in the UK. It is argued that despite official recognition of British Sign Language in 2003 significant steps have not been taken to promote and support a paradigm shift, from viewing the Deaf as a ‘disabled’ grouping to viewing them as a socio-cultural minority

Inter country analysis of breast density classification using visual grading. Analysis of mammographic breast density using visual grading

Purpose: Disagreement in mammographic breast density (MBD) assessment can impact breast cancer risk stratification, choices of further breast cancer screening intervals and pathways. This study examines whether inter-country MBD expectations and assessment approaches are associated with differences in MBD assessment. Methods: Twenty American Board of Radiology (ABR) examiners and 24 United Kingdom (UK) practitioners using the 4th edition BI-RADS® lexicon assessed 40 mammogram cases of 20 women. Twenty-six Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR) registered radiologists also assessed the same cases. Inter-observer correlation and agreement were assessed using a Spearman’s correlation (ρ) and weighted Kappa (Kw) respectively. Results: Strong positive correlation was observed between the study cohorts on a binary scale (1–2 vs. 3–4) [ABR examiners and RANZCR radiologists (ρ = 0.950); ABR examiners and UK practitioners (ρ = 0.940); RANZCR radiologists and UK practitioners (ρ = 0.958)]. ABR and RANZCR radiologists demonstrated slight agreement [Kw = 0.10; 95% CI = -1.13 - 0.43] while ABR and UK practitioners showed a fair agreement [Kw = 0.25; 95% CI = -0.42 - 0.61], and an almost perfect agreement was observed between RANZCR radiologists and UK practitioners [Kw = 0.95; 95% CI = 0.91 - 0.97]. Conclusion: Findings demonstrate wide international and inter-observer variability in MBD assessment. This level of variability underscores the need for automation and standardisation of MBD assessment. Keywords: Breast density, inter-observer agreement, visual assessment methods

Report on Children's Profile at School Entry 2008-2009: Evaluation of the 'Preparing For Life' Early Childhood Intervention Programme

The Children's Profile at School Entry (CPSE) was conducted by the UCD Geary Institute who have been commissioned by the Northside Partnership to assess the levels of school readiness in a designated disadvantaged community of Ireland, as part of an overall evaluation of the Preparing for Life (PFL) early childhood intervention programme.