Review into the Proposed Registration of Teachers and Others who Support Learning in the Independent Sector with the Education Workforce Council

During the passage of the Education (Wales) Bill, Assembly Members called for parity in the way the behaviour of practitioners within maintained schools and the independent sector are regulated. This study was therefore commissioned to gather the views of groups and individuals who work in the education sector in Wales, on whether: i) there should be a requirement for practitioners (both teaching and learning support staff) within independent schools and private FE institutions to register with the Council ii) employers should be legally required to refer cases of unacceptable professional conduct and serious professional incompetence to the Council It was also intended, through this process, to gather views on the potential implications associated with any such registration so that the resulting impact could be identified. The individuals and organisations consulted included head teachers, college principals, governing bodies, teaching staff, learning support staff, trade unions, registration bodies, independent sector representative bodies, inspectorates and teaching councils. Consultations took place between August and November 2015, with data gathered through an online survey, face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews and via email

Evaluation of individual learning accounts : early views of customers and providers : England

Individual Learning Accounts were a crucial part of the Government’s lifelong learning agenda, along with other initiatives such as University for Industry/LearnDirect and UKOnline/ICT Learning Centres.\ud The key objective for Individual Learning Accounts was to provide a vehicle for funding continuous learning. The national Individual Learning Account framework was introduced in September 2000, and was to include:\ud • universal availability but with specific marketing to key target groups\ud • funding support to encourage individual take-up of learning\ud • encouragement to employers to contribute to Individual Learning Accounts.\ud As part of the first year of the national Individual Learning Account scheme, the home countries required an early evaluation of:\ud • the characteristics of Individual Learning Account redeemers and nonredeemers\ud • process\ud • customer satisfaction\ud The findings were to be used to provide initial information on early Individual Learning Account holders and also evidence to inform any recommendations for improving the process. It was also used to provide an input into DfES’s monitoring of its contract with Capita, who were under contract to run the Individual Learning Account Centre

An effective palynological preparation procedure using hydrogen peroxide

Most pre-Quaternary palynology samples are currently prepared by demineralization of the sediment/sedimentary rock matrix using hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acids (HCl and HF respectively). If a consistently effective alternative to this procedure can be developed, palynological processing will be made significantly less hazardous to both laboratory personnel, and to the wider environment. Furthermore, most non-acid processing methods are normally quicker and cheaper than matrix dissolution using acid. Some authors have previously used hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to extract palynomorphs by the physico–chemical disaggregation of the clay fraction. However, H2O2 is a powerful oxidizing agent and hence can potentially destroy sedimentary organic material, including palynomorphs. A new method using hot H2O2, where exposure of the sample material to the H2O2 is minimized, has been developed. Crushed sample material in a suitable vessel is placed on a hot plate for one minute, treated with 15–30% H2O2 for 10 minutes, then the residue is diluted with cold distilled water. Disaggregated sample material tends to float, and is decanted into a large vessel containing distilled water to further dilute the H2O2. If any undisaggregated sample remains, the procedure is repeated several times if necessary. Relatively indurated sedimentary lithotypes normally require several treatments. The reason for this stepwise treatment is that the organic material is not exposed to H2O2 for sustained periods, thereby reducing the possibility of palynomorph damage/degradation due to oxidation. When the sample matrix has been fully disaggregated, the residue can be further processed as appropriate. In this study, eight samples of Carboniferous, Jurassic, Paleogene, and Quaternary age were prepared quantitatively using the new H2O2 method. These were all prepared using 30% H2O2. For comparison, they were also prepared quantitatively using HCl/HF and/or sodium hexametaphosphate [(NaPO3)6]. Quantitative preparations allow the concentration of palynomorphs extracted to be determined, and therefore the effectiveness of the techniques used can be compared objectively. The palynomorph residues derived from these three techniques varied markedly. The H2O2 method does not consistently disaggregate all the sample material, particularly the older and more indurated lithotypes. Some evidence of oxidation effects was observed. Two samples of Mississippian mudstone from the U.S.A. were prepared using H2O2 and (NaPO3)6. Both methods produced abundant miospores, however the H2O2 procedure yielded far higher palynomorph concentrations than the (NaPO3)6 technique. Minor degradation of palynomorphs in the H2O2 preparation was noted. The H2O2 and HCl/HF methods were compared directly on a palynomorph-rich sample of Upper Carboniferous mudstone from offshore Scotland. Both preparations produced abundant miospores. The HCl/HF method had significantly higher recovery levels than the H2O2 procedure. It appears that the H2O2 method simultaneously macerates the matrix, and oxidizes any amorphous organic material (AOM) present. In this sample, the HCl/HF residue was relatively rich in AOM. By contrast, the H2O2 preparation is virtually clear of this phytoclast type, which partially obscures palynomorphs. Two samples of the Middle Jurassic Grantham Formation of eastern England were processed using H2O2 and HCl/HF. The two methods produced abundant palynofloras of similar palynomorph concentrations. Two dinoflagellate cyst acmes within the Danian (Paleogene) part of the López de Bertodano Formation of Seymour Island, Antarctica were also tested using H2O2, (NaPO3)6, and HCl/HF. TheH2O2 preparation completely destroyed the dominant taxon, Palaeoperidinium pyrophorum, in one sample. By contrast, the (NaPO3)6 and HCl/HF preparations produced abundant, fully representative palynofloras. In the other sample, the acme of Spinidinium spp. is completely unaffected by the H2O2 preparation procedure. The final sample of this study is an unconsolidated clay of Late Pleistocene age from offshore Scotland. Both the H2O2 and HCl/HF preparations proved similar in both taxonomic content and overall palynomorph yield. The new method of preparation using hot H2O2 has proved to be extremely effective. In particular, it appears to be superior to the (NaPO3)6 procedure for indurated lithotypes. However care should be taken because H2O2 can destroy certain dinoflagellate cysts and kerogen macerals which are especially susceptible to oxidation. Further development work, and more comparative testing of the H2O2, (NaPO3)6, and HCl/HF procedures, should be undertaken

Gendered Justice: Women Workers, Gender, and Master and Servant Law in England, 1700-1850

As England industrialized in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, employment relationships continued to be governed, as they had been since the Middle Ages, by master and servant law. This dissertation is the first scholarly work to conduct an in-depth analysis of the role that gender played in shaping employment law. Through a qualitative and quantitative examination of statutes, high court rulings, and records of the routine administration of the law found in magistrates notebooks, petty sessions registers, and lists of inmates in houses of correction, the dissertation shows that gendered assumptions influenced the law in both theory and practice. A tension existed between the laws roots in an ideology of separate spheres and the reality of its application, which included its targeted use to discipline a female workforce that was part of the vanguard of the Industrial Revolution. A close reading of the legislation and judges decisions demonstrates how an antipathy to the notion of women working was embedded in the law governing their employment relationships. An ideological association of men with productivity and women with domesticity underlay both the statutory language and key high court rulings. Therefore, although the law applied to workers of both sexes, women were excluded semantically, and to some extent substantively, from its provisions. A quantitative analysis of 5590 cases of employment conflicts, drawn from 64 different sources and entered into two databases, reveals that gender shaped the rates of prosecutions brought by and against male and female workers, as well as the types of conflicts in which they were involved, and the outcomes of cases. In general, female workers were treated slightly more leniently as defendants than male workers, although they were slightly less successful as plaintiffs except in cases of assault. However, female textile workers were treated more harshly than female workers overall, and than male textile workers. They were also an exception to the downward trend of female servants involvement in cases over the course of the period. As women were increasingly driven out of employment in arable regions, they made up a decreasing share of workers in master and servant disputes

Winchester City Council. Young People: Employment and Education Mapping

Winchester City Council commissioned this mapping exercise to ensure that it had a clear, evidence-based picture of unemployment amongst young people aged 16-24 in the Winchester District and to help it identify opportunities to improve these young people's life chances in a practical and affordable way. The research was conducted in the Winchester district, between February and April 2012, with data gathered through a review of UK-wide research into unemployment amongst 16-24 year olds;face-to-face consultations with 13 young people aged 16-24 and living in the Winchester district; face-to-face and telephone consultations with 41 local stakeholders representing the public, private and voluntary sectors

Leaving care and mental health: outcomes for children in out-of-home care during the transition to adulthood.

There were 59,500 Children in out-of-home care in England in 2008. Research into this population points to poor health and quality of life outcomes over the transition to adult independence. This undesirable outcome applies to mental health, education and employment. This lack of wellbeing for the individual is a burden for health and social care services, suggesting limitations in the current policy approaches regarding the transitional pathway from care to adult independence. Although the precise reasons for these poor outcomes are unclear long term outcomes from national birth cohorts suggest that mental health could be a key predictor for subsequent psychosocial adjustment.Researching the wellbeing of children in out-of-home care has proven difficult due to the range and complexity of the factors leading to being placed in care and the different methods used internationally for recording information. This paper delineates the estimated prevalence of mental health problems for adolescents in the care system, organisational factors, influencing service provision, and pathways through the transition from adolescence to independent young adult life. The extent to which being taken into care as a child moderates adult wellbeing outcomes remains unknown. Whether the care system enhances, reduces or has a null effect on wellbeing and specifically mental health cannot be determined from the current literature. Nonetheless a substantial proportion of young people display resilience and experience successful quality of life outcomes including mental capital. A current and retrospective study of young people transitioning to adult life is proposed to identify factors that have promoted successful outcomes and which would be used to inform policy developments and future longitudinal studies.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

Pharmacodynamics of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Agents in Acute Inflammation and Chronic Pain in the Horse.

The analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) ketoprofen (2.2 and 3.63 mg/kg) and phenylbutazone (4.4 mg/kg) were compared in equine models of acute synovitis and chronic hoof pain. The eicosanoids, prostaglandin E\sb2 (PGE\sb2) and leukotriene B\sb4 (LTB\sb4), increased dramatically in synovial fluid after carrageenan-induced synovitis of the intercarpal joint. PGE\sb2 concentrations in untreated horses peaked at 9 hours while LTB\sb4 concentrations peaked in all horses at 3 hours. Synovial fluid concentrations of both eicosanoids returned to near baseline by 48 hours. Lameness, joint temperature, and synovial fluid volume, protein and nucleated cells increased at 3 to 12 hours with reduction to near baseline levels by 48 hours. NSAIDs when given intravenously decreased joint concentrations of PGE\sb2, but LTB\sb4 levels were unaffected by drug administration. Both drugs decreased the signs of inflammation and lameness, but phenylbutazone was more effective. These data suggest that leukotrienes are involved in equine synovitis and the development of specific leukotriene inhibitors may be of therapeutic value. The plasma half-life of ketoprofen (2.2 mg/kg) in normal horses (0.88 hours) was higher than horses with synovitis (0.55 hours). Synovial fluid levels of ketoprofen in horses with synovitis were 6.5 times higher than normal horses at one hour. The area under the synovial fluid concentration curve for horses with synovitis was greater than in normal horses. These data suggest that the inflamed joint may serve as a site of sequestration for ketoprofen. Digital vein eicosanoid levels from horses with hoof pain from chronic laminitis were not different than those in normal horses. Although hoof pain and lameness could not be attributed to eicosanoids, both effects were reduced by the systemic administration of NSAIDs. Ketoprofen at a dose of 3.63 mg/kg (phenylbutazone equimolar dose) reduced hoof pain and lameness to a greater extent than the 2.2 mg/kg dose and phenylbutazone. These effects were still present at 24 hours for 3 of the 4 measures of hoof pain. These data suggest that phenylbutazone was more potent in alleviating acute joint inflammation whereas ketoprofen at a dosage rate of 1.65 times the therapeutic dose was more potent in alleviating chronic pain and lameness in horses

How Working from Home during COVID-19 Affects Academic Productivity

The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has forced most academics to work from home. This sudden venue change can affect academics’ productivity and exacerbate the challenges that confront universities as they face an uncertain future. In this paper, we identify factors that influence academics’ productivity while working from home during the mandate to self-isolate. From analyzing results from a global survey we conducted, we found that both personal and technology-related factors affect an individual’s attitude toward working from home and productivity. Our results should prove valuable to university administrators to better address the work-life challenges that academics face