The retail of welfare-friendly products: A comparative assessment of the nature of the market for welfare-friendly products in six European Countries

This paper attempts to describe the market for welfare-friendly foodstuffs within larger retailing trends in six study countries in Europe (Norway, Sweden, Italy, France, the Netherlands and the UK). This is based on the findings to date from the work carried out by the work package 1.2 whose aims are to study the current and potential market for welfare-friendly foodstuffs. The aims of the current empirical stages of work package 1.2 are focussed on – what do retailers communicate to consumers about animal welfare? How is animal welfare framed? Are welfare-claims used on their own or within broader issues of quality

Quis custodiet ipsos custodies in the Internet: self-regulation as a threat and a promise

ICT domains have always been subject to technical, economic and/or societal regulation. The traditional basis was a 'governance gap' between economically-motivated activities and external consequences for other firms, end-users, public services, etc. Recent changes in European market and societal contexts and policy initiatives have triggered a reconsideration of this basis. Four developments are particularly challenging: enterprise convergence and divergence that reshape market and sector boundaries; evolution of 'converged' regulators; new regulatory concerns (IPR enforcement, RFID, net neutrality); and changes in the policy context. These combine to lay the foundation for cross-cutting reviews and rebalancing of regulatory roles and responsibilities with profound structural and dynamic implications. This has been largely confined to formal regulation while much governance is provided by a spectrum of self- and co-regulatory organisations (hereafter referred to as XROs). This paper analyses XRO roles, functions and impacts and their implications for regulatory postures more supportive of overarching policy objectives, more transparent and accountable, more flexible in response to technological and other changes, less burdensome to those regulated and less likely to distort market evolution. It draws on a review of the self-regulation literature in a wide range of contexts, including financial services and professional self-regulation, 21 extended case studies of Internet XROs, an analytic treatment of the determinants and impacts of XRO formation, agenda-setting, rules, monitoring, enforcement and compliance; and a policy analysis of the scope for regulatory engagement with XROs and methods for option development and ex ante evaluation. Particular issues concern: the degree to which XROs form around specific issues, market segments, personalities or action modes (e.g. standardisation); whether different types of statutory or XRO governance are likely to adopt more stringent or more cost-effective rules; whether different arrangements are more vulnerable to capture or corruption; and whether compliance will be higher under specific types of arrangements. Public policy and the peer-reviewed literature converge on the recognition that there is always a price to be paid for regulation in the form of distortion, cost, institutionalisation, agenda creep and so on. This must be offset against justifying benefits, which may mean extending or shrinking regulation in various areas, rebalancing rule-making and rule-enforcing, delegating or clawing back responsibility, etc. It is necessary to reassess how, but whether and even why regulation should be done. Generally, this calls for some evolved form of, or alternative to, regulation. The paper presents six specific findings and associated recommendations for policy formulation

Quis custodiet ipsos custodies in the Internet: self-regulation as a threat and a promise

ICT domains have always been subject to technical, economic and/or societal regulation. The traditional basis was a 'governance gap' between economically-motivated activities and external consequences for other firms, end-users, public services, etc. Recent changes in European market and societal contexts and policy initiatives have triggered a reconsideration of this basis. Four developments are particularly challenging: enterprise convergence and divergence that reshape market and sector boundaries; evolution of 'converged' regulators; new regulatory concerns (IPR enforcement, RFID, net neutrality); and changes in the policy context. These combine to lay the foundation for cross-cutting reviews and rebalancing of regulatory roles and responsibilities with profound structural and dynamic implications. This has been largely confined to formal regulation while much governance is provided by a spectrum of self- and co-regulatory organisations (hereafter referred to as XROs). This paper analyses XRO roles, functions and impacts and their implications for regulatory postures more supportive of overarching policy objectives, more transparent and accountable, more flexible in response to technological and other changes, less burdensome to those regulated and less likely to distort market evolution. It draws on a review of the self-regulation literature in a wide range of contexts, including financial services and professional self-regulation, 21 extended case studies of Internet XROs, an analytic treatment of the determinants and impacts of XRO formation, agenda-setting, rules, monitoring, enforcement and compliance; and a policy analysis of the scope for regulatory engagement with XROs and methods for option development and ex ante evaluation. Particular issues concern: the degree to which XROs form around specific issues, market segments, personalities or action modes (e.g. standardisation); whether different types of statutory or XRO governance are likely to adopt more stringent or more cost-effective rules; whether different arrangements are more vulnerable to capture or corruption; and whether compliance will be higher under specific types of arrangements. Public policy and the peer-reviewed literature converge on the recognition that there is always a price to be paid for regulation in the form of distortion, cost, institutionalisation, agenda creep and so on. This must be offset against justifying benefits, which may mean extending or shrinking regulation in various areas, rebalancing rule-making and rule-enforcing, delegating or clawing back responsibility, etc. It is necessary to reassess how, but whether and even why regulation should be done. Generally, this calls for some evolved form of, or alternative to, regulation. The paper presents six specific findings and associated recommendations for policy formulation

The experience of falls and balance impairment for people with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease

People with Charcot Marie Tooth disease (CMT) have impairments of balance and may fall more frequently than those without the condition. This qualitative study aimed to explore the experiences of falling and poor balance through focus group interviews. Participants were recruited through local and national meetings of the CMT United Kingdom support group. Three focus groups took place, including 25 adults with CMT in total. Thematic analysis revealed five main themes: frequent falling; cognitive burden of walking; environmental issues; external support; getting off the floor; perception of others. Participants described the physical issues of poor balance and falling, such as frequency, challenging physical environments and difficulty getting up after a fall. In addition, fear and embarrassment were discussed along with the impact on daily activities and participation. Physical and psychological factors need to be considered when designing falls management interventions for this group

A flipped classroom approach for dental undergraduate pre-clinical skills training in fixed prosthodontics

Proficiency in practical areas of pre-clinical dentistry must be demonstrated by students in a simulated environment before commencing treatments on patients. Time within simulation teaching laboratories is a finite resource, and this time pressure can lead to behaviours that are detrimental to fine motor skill development. The objective of this case study was to apply a flipped classroom approach for dental undergraduates during pre-clinical skills training to increase time for simulation. A flipped classroom method was implemented during the fixed prosthodontic (dental crown or ‘caps’) component, with lectures and instructional videos delivered in advance of practical sessions. A student evaluation questionnaire was completed by 64 of the 71 participating students (90.14%) and this was compared to the previous cohort who received the traditional didactic face-to-face demonstrations. Statistically significant improvements were identified by students in several areas. Simulation is a widespread teaching modality in healthcare education; adopting a flipped classroom approach can help educators deliver this training in a manner that enhances student development and the current case study is one such positive example in the field of undergraduate dental education. This article was published open access under a CC BY licence: https://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0 . </jats:p

Intra-Rater reliability of the multiple single-leg hop-stabilization test and relationships with age, leg dominance and training

Balance is a complex construct, affected by multiple components such as strength and coordination. However, while assessing an athlete's dynamic balance is an important part of clinical examination there is no gold standard measure. The multiple single-leg hop-stabilization test (MSLHST) is a functional test which may offer a method of evaluating the dynamic attributes of balance, but it needs to show adequate intra-tester reliability. The purpose of this study was to assess the intra-rater reliability of a dynamic balance test, the multiple single-leg hop-stabilization test (MSLHST) on the dominant and non-dominant legs. Fifteen active participants were tested twice with a 10-minute break between tests. The outcome measure was the multiple single-leg hop-stabilization test score, based on a clinically assessed numerical scoring system. Results were analyzed using an Intra-class Correlations Coefficient (ICC 2,1) and Bland-Altman plots. Regression analyses explored relationships between test scores, leg dominance, age and training (an alpha level of p = 0.05 was selected). ICCs for intra-rater reliability were 0.85 for the dominant and non-dominant legs (confidence intervals = 0.62-0.95 and 0.61-0.95 respectively). Bland-Altman plots showed scores within two standard deviations. A significant correlation was observed between the dominant and non-dominant leg on balance scores (R²=0.49, p<0.05), and better balance was associated with younger participants in their non-dominant leg (R²=0.28, p<0.05) and their dominant leg (R²=0.39, p<0.05) and a higher number of hours spent training for the non-dominant leg R²=0.37, p<0.05). The authors concluded that the multiple single-leg hop-stabilization test demonstrated strong intra-tester reliability with active participants. Younger participants who trained more, have better balance scores. This test may be a useful measure for evaluating the dynamic attributes of balance

"i-Internet? Intle” (beautiful): Exploring first time internet use via mobile phones in a South African women’s collective

Using an ethnographic action research approach, the study explores the challenges, practices, and emergent framings of mobile-only Internet use in a resource-constrained setting. We trained eight women in a nongovernmental organization’s collective in South Africa, none of whom had used a personal computer, how to access the Internet on mobile handsets they already owned. Six months after training, most continued to use the mobile Internet for a combination of utility, entertainment, and connection, but they had encountered barriers, including affordability and difficulty of use. Participants’ assessments mingled aspirational and actual utility of the channel with and against a background of socioeconomic constraints. Discussion links the digital literacy perspective to the broader theoretical frameworks of domestication, adaptive structuration, and appropriation