Human rights and public education

This article attempts a contrast to the contribution by Hugh Starkey. Rather than his account of the inexorable rise of human rights discourse, and of the implementation of human rights standards, human rights are here presented as always and necessarily scandalous and highly contested. First, I explain why the UK has lagged so far behind its European neighbours in implementing citizenship education. Second, a comparison with France shows that the latest UK reforms bring us up to 1789. Third, the twentieth-century second-generation social and economic rights are still anathema in the UK. Fourth, the failure to come to terms with Empire and especially the slave trade means that the UK’s attitude to third-generation rights, especially the right of peoples to self-determination, is heavily compromised. Taking into account the points I raise, citizenship education in the UK might look very different

Relation between early life socioeconomic position and all cause mortality in two generations. A longitudinal study of Danish men born in 1953 and their parents

Objective: To examine (1) the relation between parental socioeconomic position and all cause mortality in two generations, (2) the relative importance of mother’s educational status and father’s occupational status on offspring mortality, and (3) the effect of factors in the family environment on these relations. Design: A longitudinal study with record linkage to the Civil Registration System. The data were analysed using Cox regression models. Setting: Copenhagen, Denmark. Subjects: 2890 men born in 1953, whose mothers were interviewed regarding family social background in 1968. The vital status of this population and their parents was ascertained from April 1968 to January 2002. Main outcome measures: All cause mortality in study participants, their mothers, and fathers. Results: A similar pattern of relations was found between parental social position and all cause mortality in adult life in the three triads of father, mother, and offspring constituted of the cohort of men born in 1953, their parents, and grandparents. The educational status of mothers showed no independent effect on total mortality when father’s occupational social class was included in the model in either of the triads. Low material wealth was the indicator that remained significantly associated with adult all cause mortality in a model also including parental social position and the intellectual climate of the family in 1968. In the men born in 1953 the influence of material wealth was strongest for deaths later in adult life. Conclusion: Father’s occupational social class is associated with adult mortality in all members of the mother-father-offspring triad. Material wealth seems to be an explanatory factor for this association

Responding to change : shipping deployments in the Baltic trade of the Tyne, 1860-1880

This thesis explores two related propositions: that shipping providers engaged in the Baltic Trade of the Tyne, 1860-1880, responded rationally to change; and, that the role of the Baltic trade in the development of Britain’s steam-powered merchant marine has been underrated. Whilst previous discussions of this trade and its shipping are speculative in part or examine the broad national outline only, this study provides an alternative, regionally-based approach employing rigorous quantitative analysis. Reliance is placed upon critical examination of a little used primary source, the Newcastle Bill of Entry and Shipping List, 1860-1880, supported by information extracted from contemporary regional sources, consular reports, and Parliamentary papers concerning the coal and shipping industries.The Baltic trade’s volume, nature, direction and carriers are investigated from the viewpoint of the principal British exporter, the port of Tyne, providing for its reassessment nationally, and deepening understanding of the growth of this (little studied) major English port. The concept of rationality of response is applied to explain observed changes in the shipping employed - British and foreign, sail and steam - gauging providers’ reactions against a clear measure of the degree (and speed) of shifts and opportunities that occurred in the economic and technical environments. More specifically, the introduction of the bulk carrying steamer into the Baltic is revealed as having had a marked influence on the development of British shipowners’ tramp fleets.Between 1860 and 1880 the Tyne’s exports to the Baltic grew at unprecedented rate, a demand-led situation that placed great pressure upon the available shipping tonnage. Stability of supply was ensured not only through the capacity of carriers to respond by the adoption of innovative technologies and practices, but by the select responses that allowed pre-existing supply chains and techniques to persist. Complementarity and interdependence, rather than competition alone, was the key to expansion

Does Educational Status Impact Adult Mortality in Denmark? A Twin Approach

To disentangle an independent effect of educational status on mortality risk from direct and indirect selection mechanisms, the authors used a discordant twin pair design, which allowed them to isolate the effect of education by means of adjustment for genetic and environmental confounding per design. The study is based on data from the Danish Twin Registry and Statistics Denmark. Using Cox regression, they estimated hazard ratios for mortality according to the highest attained education among 5,260 monozygotic and 11,088 dizygotic same-sex twin pairs born during 1921–1950 and followed during 1980–2008. Both standard cohort and intrapair analyses were conducted separately for zygosity, gender, and birth cohort. Educational differences in mortality were demonstrated in the standard cohort analyses but attenuated in the intrapair analyses in all subgroups but men born during 1921–1935, and no effect modification by zygosity was observed. Hence, the results are most compatible with an effect of early family environment in explaining the educational inequality in mortality. However, large educational differences were still reflected in mortality risk differences within twin pairs, thus supporting some degree of independent effect of education. In addition, the effect of education may be more pronounced in older cohorts of Danish men

Introduction

This volume of the Economic Policy Review, "Special issue on the economic effects of September 11," explores some of the key economic consequences of the attacks of September 11. The six articles that make up the volume address several important questions: how great were the losses in New York City on September 11 and in the difficult months thereafter? How much will the nation spend to prevent future attacks? Did the destruction of information and infrastructure impair the functioning of the payments and securities settlement systems, and what steps minimize further damage? Will these events hurt New York's future vitality and cause businesses and workers to retreat from the city? ; The six articles fall into three broad groups: 1) detailed accountings of economic costs--those incurred as a direct consequence of the September 11 attacks and those arising from efforts to prevent future attacks, 2) studies of the attacks' disruptive effects on the payments and securities settlement systems, and 3) analyses of New York City's prospects after September 11.Disaster relief ; Terrorism ; War - Economic aspects ; Economic conditions - New York (N.Y.) ; Federal Reserve District, 2nd

Ingestion of sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) following a fatiguing bout of exercise accelerates post-exercise acid-base balance recovery and improves subsequent high-intensity cycling time to exhaustion.

This study evaluated the ingestion of sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) on post-exercise acid-base balance recovery kinetics and subsequent high-intensity cycling time to exhaustion. In a counterbalanced, crossover design, nine healthy and active males (age: 23±2 years, height: 179±5 cm, body mass: 74±9 kg, peak mean minute power (WPEAK) 256±45 W, peak oxygen uptake (V̇O2PEAK) 46±8 ml.kg-1.min-1) performed a graded incremental exercise test, two familiarisation and two experimental trials. Experimental trials consisted of cycling to volitional exhaustion (TLIM1) at 100% WPEAK on two occasions (TLIM1 and TLIM2) interspersed by a 90 min passive recovery period. Using a double blind approach, 30 min into a 90 min recovery period participants ingested either 0.3 g.kg-1 body mass sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) or a placebo (PLA) containing 0.1 g.kg-1 body mass sodium chloride (NaCl) mixed with 4 ml.kg-1 tap water and 1 ml.kg-1 orange squash. The mean differences between TLIM2 and TLIM1 was larger for PLA compared to NaHCO3 (-53±53 vs. -20±48 s; P=0.008, d=0.7, CI=-0.3, 1.6), indicating superior subsequent exercise time to exhaustion following NaHCO3. Blood lactate [BLa-] was similar between treatments post TLIM1, but greater for NaHCO3 post TLIM2 and 5 min post TLIM2. Ingestion of NaHCO3 induced marked increases (P<0.01) in both blood pH (+0.07±0.02, d=2.6, CI=1.2, 3.7) and bicarbonate ion concentration [HCO3-] (+6.8±1.6 mmo.l-1, d=3.4, CI=1.8, 4.7) compared to the PLA treatment, prior to TLIM2. It is likely both the acceleration of recovery and the marked increases of acid-base after TLIM1 contributed to greater TLIM2 performance compared to the PLA condition.The authors received no external funding for this research. Mr. Steven Rimmer received a small undergraduate research bursary from the University of Derby to fund his contribution to the study

Turning points in a qualitatively different social space: young adults’ reflections of alternative provision

There is a wealth of evidence suggesting that after being marginalised and excluded from school young people who attend Alternative Provision settings report positive relationships and experiences of learning. There is however very little research which explores the longer term outcomes of attending this sort of provision. Retrospective life history interviews were undertaken with 18 young adults in their early to mid-20s who had attended Alternative Provision in England. Interviews focused on schooling, exclusion, attending Alternative Provision and the impact of this on what they had done since leaving school up to their present situation. Analysis showed that the experience of attending Alternative Provision frequently constituted a turning point in a young person’s life story. This was due to the qualitatively different kind of social space experienced there

Towards a framework for critical citizenship education

Increasingly countries around the world are promoting forms of "critical" citizenship in the planned curricula of schools. However, the intended meaning behind this term varies markedly and can range from a set of creative and technical skills under the label "critical thinking" to a desire to encourage engagement, action and political emancipation, often labelled "critical pedagogy". This paper distinguishes these manifestations of the "critical" and, based on an analysis of the prevailing models of critical pedagogy and citizenship education, develops a conceptual framework for analysing and comparing the nature of critical citizenship

Increased gravitational force reveals the mechanical, resonant nature of physiological tremor

Human physiological hand tremor has a resonant component. Proof of this is that its frequency can be modified by adding mass. However, adding mass also increases the load which must be supported. The necessary force requires muscular contraction which will change motor output and is likely to increase limb stiffness. The increased stiffness will partly offset the effect of the increased mass and this can lead to the erroneous conclusion that factors other than resonance are involved in determining tremor frequency. Using a human centrifuge to increase head-to-foot gravitational field strength, we were able to control for the increased effort by increasing force without changing mass. This revealed that the peak frequency of human hand tremor is 99% predictable on the basis of a resonant mechanism. We ask what, if anything, the peak frequency of physiological tremor can reveal about the operation of the nervous system.This work was funded by a BBSRC Industry Interchange Award to J.P.R.S. and R.F.R. C.J.O. was funded by BBSRC grant BB/I00579X/1. C.A.V. was funded by A∗Midex (Aix-Marseille Initiative of Excellence