Insulating Incumbent Judges from the Vicissitudes of the Political Arena: Retention Elections as a Viable Alternative

This Note proposes legislation that would cure many deficiencies in the present system of judicial tenure in New York. First, the Note examines the present retention system for trial court judges in New York State in light of the strict standards of judicial ethics the CJC imposes on sitting judges. Part II analyzes several problems in the current reelection process, focusing on the complex predicament a judicial incumbent faces as a result of having to return to the political arena. Part III then explores three possible alternatives to the present reelection system.\u27 Finally, the Note recommends that the New York State Legislature amend the state constitution and implement a method of retention that would allow a sitting judge to remain in office with the approval of the voters without being subject to a primary or general election

Type 2 diabetes mellitus in transitional Thailand:incidence, risk factors, mediators, and implications

Background Economic growth in Asia is changing population health profiles. Family structures, environments, occupations, education, and health behaviours have also changed and science-based health services have evolved. As part of this ‘health-risk transition’, noncommunicable diseases including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have emerged. While the major causes of the diabetes epidemic in western, high-income countries are well documented, little is known of T2DM in developing Asia. The knowledge gap includes Thailand, which needs to identify local factors driving its T2DM epidemic. Aim This thesis aims to better understand the epidemiology of T2DM emerging in Southeast Asia. Methods Participants were from the Thai Cohort Study (TCS) of the health-risk transition. They were distance-learning adult students living all over Thailand, enrolled at Sukhothai Thammithirat Open University, and surveyed in 2005, 2009, and 2013 using mailed questionnaires that covered socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle behaviours and self-reported health outcomes. In addition to these data, physician telephone interviews were conducted to validate self-reported questionnaire responses (2015); and a dietary survey was conducted to assess transitional dietary patterns (2015). Multiple logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for longitudinal associations between exposures of interest and T2DM. Non-linear associations of body mass index (BMI) and T2DM were modelled using restricted cubic splines. Counterfactual mediation analysis explored sugary drink linkage to T2DM. Population attributable fractions and potential impact fractions were calculated. Principal component analysis identified dietary patterns and multivariable linear regression produced standardized coefficients and 95% CIs for associations between socio-demographic measures and dietary pattern scores. Results Physician telephone interviews of a cohort sample demonstrated high validity of questionnaire self-reported doctor diagnosed T2DM suggesting that self-reported doctor diagnosed T2DM is a feasible and acceptable method for assessing diabetes in epidemiological studies. Overall eight-year T2DM incidence was 177 per 10 000 (95% CI 164-190) with higher incidence in men. For both sexes, factors most strongly associated with T2DM risk were greater age and BMI. Two-thirds of all T2DM cases could be attributed to overweight and obesity. T2DM risk increased at BMI levels <23kg/m2. The increasing T2DM risk associated with body size became statistically significant at a BMI of 22 kg/m2 and 20 kg/m2 in men and women, respectively. For both sexes, living in urban areas increased T2DM and risk of consuming unhealthy dietary patterns, while a higher income associated with healthy dietary patterns. In Thai men, smoking and alcohol consumption increased T2DM risk. In women, sugary-drink consumption increased T2DM risk, of which 23% was mediated through obesity. In men, income and education were associated with increased T2DM risk. In women, education protected against unhealthy dietary intake. Overall, women tended to have safer behaviours (e.g. low prevalence of smoking and alcohol consumption) and better outcomes (e.g. lower prevalence of obesity and lower rates of T2DM). Conclusions Findings from young to middle-aged, educated Thai adults nationwide show that selfreport of incident T2DM is a valid method for assessing diabetes in epidemiological studies, T2DM incidence in Thailand is high, and accompanying lifestyle and sociodemographic transitions are driving the T2DM epidemic. Thai men are likely to be in the middle stages of the health-risk transition while women are more advanced. Health-risks for T2DM are changing substantially and could be modified. These risks need to be targeted to prevent and control diabetes in Thailand

Factors associated with stress among first-year undergraduate students attending an Australian university

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between stress and various socio-demographic, health and behavioural factors among undergraduate students studying in an Australian university. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out among firstyear undergraduate students studying at Griffith University. Participants were recruited from four different academic groups (N=728). The questionnaire used in this study comprised of three sections: socio-demographic information, stress scale and a food frequency questionnaire. K-means Cluster analysis was performed to identify the major dietary patterns and multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to examine the factors associated with stress. Results: Nearly 53% of the students had some degree of stress with 37.4% experiencing moderate to severe levels of stress. The factors most strongly associated with having mild or moderate/ severe stress levels included being in a relationship [OR =1.71, 95% CI (1.02-2.87) and OR=1.61, 95% CI (1.06-2.44)], studying a non-health related degree [OR=1.68, 95% CI (1.03-2.73) and OR=1.51, 95% CI (1.04-2.19)], working ≥ 21 hours per week [OR=2.12, 95% CI (1.02-4.40) and OR=2.21, 95% CI (1.32-3.67)], and engaging in an unhealthy dietary pattern [OR=2.67, 95% CI (1.25-5.72) and OR=2.76, 95% CI (1.47-5.16)]. Being a female [OR=1.84, 95% CI (1.25-2.72)], living in a shared accommodation [OR=0.52, 95% CI (0.27-0.98)], rarely exercising [OR=2.64, 95% CI (1.59-4.39)], having a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or over [OR=2.03, 95% CI (1.36-3.04)], and engaging in a dietary pattern that was low in protein, fruit and vegetables [OR=1.72, 95% CI (1.06-2.77)] were also associated with having moderate/severe stress levels. Conclusion: This study found that more than half of the undergraduate students had some levels of stress. Both mild and moderate/severe levels of stress were associated with sociodemographic characteristics, risky health behaviours and poor dietary patterns. Our findings reinforce the need to promote healthy behaviours among undergraduate university students in order to maintain good mental health.</p

Revisiting the role of the ‘expert other’ in learners’ acquisition of workplace competence

Skills development policies in South Africa and further afield consider learning in and from the workplace as critical to the training of artisans at intermediate level, bringing together theoretical learning undertaken in formal institutions and practical, on-the-job training for the purpose of achieving occupational competence, demonstrated ultimately in the prescribed trade test. Ellstrom (2001) asserts that “in spite of a widespread belief in the importance of integrating learning and work, little is known about the conditions that promote such integration” (p.421). While apprenticeship training has a long history in South Africa, and historical anecdotal accounts exist of the workplace experiences of trainee artisans, there are only a few recent local empirical studies that have advanced our understanding of this domain. This research thus sought to investigate learning in the workplace from the perspective of the candidates: the methodologies, practices, and affordances for learning which they perceived to be available to them, and employed a qualitative approach for exploring how candidates in engineering trades experienced the ‘real world environment’ of learning and engagement in the workplace. The juxtaposition of complementary theories that lent themselves to explaining workplace learning phenomena, in particular the works of Engeström (1987); Vygotsky (1978); and Lave and Wenger (1991), formed a richly informative system for the data which showed that candidates experienced diverse learning modalities and affordances in their workplace settings. However, the central role of the expert artisan as a quintessential didactic practitioner in moving candidates towards competence was a significant finding, pointing ultimately to the need for collective effort in harnessing the teaching potential of this ‘expert other’.DHE

21st Century competencies in Technical and Vocational Education and Training: Rhetoric and reality in the wake of a pandemic

There is general agreement about the need for vocational education and training to embrace ‘modern technologies’ in gearing up to deliver ‘21st century competences’ to young people. Recent TVET policies in South Africa incorporate the language of future competencies that ought to be acquired by college students through their curricula, and delivered by lecturers with appropriate professional training.&nbsp; But in April 2020, confronted by a global Covid-19 pandemic and an immediate hard lockdown, TVET colleges went into crisis mode to try and meet a government demand that ‘no student be left behind’. While blended and remote methodologies had been employed to some extent in a few college programmes, the pandemic suddenly launched all lecturers into technology dependent teaching and learning.&nbsp; &nbsp;This article is based on a survey of conveniently selected public TVET college lecturers early in the lockdown, under enormous pressure to continue the academic programme. The snapshot obtained was one of anxiety and consternation, but also of deep concern for students and their well-being under inordinately difficult conditions. Their conflicting priorities while they tried to balance teaching responsibilities and personal needs were illustrative of Maslow’s well-known theorisation of humans and their hierarchy of needs. The limited research conducted for this article was exploratory at a time in the pandemic when there were more questions than answers in every sphere of social interaction. Findings therefore did not seek to be definitive and there was full understanding that the education and training landscape was dynamic and shifting. However, what can be shared here is a moment in time to appreciate the experiences of a critical component of the TVET college sector and the distance they would have to traverse towards the aspirations espoused in polic

Land rights and urban tenure: ownership and the eradication of poverty in South Africa

Includes bibliographical references.This paper analyses De Soto's argument that the formalisation of property leads to economic development and accepts it on the premise that such formalisation is not a panacea but a possible weapon in the armoury against poverty in South Africa. A prerequisite to formalisation is land acquisition. However, the skewed land ownership statistic in South Africa necessitates a slow and cumbersome restitution process often impeded by excessive compensatory claims by land owners and exacerbated by the interpretation of section 25 of the Constitution by our Constitutional Court. An analysis of recent Constitutional Court decisions indicates that the court is developing a jurisprudence that takes into account the extreme nature and extent of past land dispossessions and the inequalities in wealth and land distribution. This approach could facilitate the expropriation and restitution of land as a deprivation, (in terms of section 25) which is found not to be arbitrary, is not an expropriation and in consequence would not require compensation. Formalisation can then follow. The paper argues further that formalisation in the strict De Sotan sense of western exclusivity of ownership is not suited to the South African situation. The 'bundle of sticks' approach to ownership on the other hand, allows formalisation to occur whilst taking cognisance of local realities. Thus, formalisation of tribal trust land could mean common ownership where the 'sticks' of exclusivity and alienation are excluded from the 'bundle' while other 'sticks', inter alia income, security, and right to manage are retained. In the urban context, it is mooted that formalisation could include all the 'sticks' (incidents of ownership) but may need to exclude the right to alienate (for a period) to combat the problem of reverse titling. The Richtersveld formalisation model is examined as a case study since it includes both the rural and urban contexts in one formalisation model. It is within this case study that a further 'stick' in the 'bundle' is identified, viz. capacity building and training, as it is seen to be essential that the affected community understands the formalisation model applied. This paper concludes that formalisation as postulated by De Soto could serve as a catalyst for poverty eradication if it takes proper account of South African realities, and on the understanding that formalisation should reflect 'sticks' in the 'bundle' which maximise a community's ownership whilst mitigating anticipated problems

Health Risks of Passive Smoking

Passive or involuntary smoking is the inhalation of smoke which escapes directly into the air from the lit end of a burning cigarette. This unfiltered smoke contains the same toxic components of the mainstream smoke inhaled directly by the smoker, including numerous carcinogens, many in greater concentrations. It has long been known that exposure to this type of smoke leads to increased respiratory and other adverse health conditions in non-smokers, especially children. During the past five years, evidence has been accumulating that risk of lung cancer is also higher, particularly in non-smoking women whose husbands smoke. Despite uncertainties and differences in interpretation of various cancer studies, there is ample justification for public health measures now in place or proposed, such as restriction or elimination of smoking in the workplace and in public place