A history of teachers' pensions in Boston

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston Universit

Bordering two unions

Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. How does Brexit change Northern Ireland’s system of government? Could it unravel crucial parts of Northern Ireland’s peace process? What are the wider implications of the arrangements for the Irish and UK constitutions? Northern Ireland presents some of the most difficult Brexit dilemmas. Negotiations between the UK and the EU have set out how issues like citizenship, trade, the border, human rights and constitutional questions may be resolved. But the long-term impact of Brexit isn’t clear. This thorough analysis draws upon EU, UK, Irish and international law, setting the scene for a post-Brexit Northern Ireland by showing what the future might hold

Bordering two unions

Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. How does Brexit change Northern Ireland’s system of government? Could it unravel crucial parts of Northern Ireland’s peace process? What are the wider implications of the arrangements for the Irish and UK constitutions? Northern Ireland presents some of the most difficult Brexit dilemmas. Negotiations between the UK and the EU have set out how issues like citizenship, trade, the border, human rights and constitutional questions may be resolved. But the long-term impact of Brexit isn’t clear. This thorough analysis draws upon EU, UK, Irish and international law, setting the scene for a post-Brexit Northern Ireland by showing what the future might hold

Learners not lurkers : connecting conceptual and social networks in science education /

La présente recherche a été subventionnée par le ministère de lEnseignement supérieur, de la Recherche et de la Science dans le cadre du Programme daide à la recherche sur lenseignement et lapprentissage (PAREA).Comprend des références bibliographique

Mainstreaming domestic and gender-based violence into sociology and the criminology of violence

Sociological and criminological views of domestic and gender-based violencegenerally either dismiss it as not worthy of consideration, or focus on specificgroups of offenders and victims (male youth gangs, partner violence victims). Inthis paper, we take a holistic approach to violence, extending the definition fromthat commonly in use to encompass domestic violence and sexual violence. Weoperationalize that definition by using data from the latest sweep of the CrimeSurvey for England and Wales. By so doing, we identify that violence is currentlyunder-measured and ubiquitous; that it is gendered, and that other forms of violence (family violence, acquaintance violence against women) are equally ofconcern. We argue that violence studies are an important form of activity forsociologists

Fair play: strengthening integrity and transparency in cricket

Sport allows billions of people – be they professional athletes, supporters or amateurs playing for pleasure and health – to experience great emotion, to learn the value and importance of rules, and to develop respect for others. Those at the top of sport – heads of international federations as well as volunteer leaders at local clubs – have a duty to set high standards and lead with integrity, not least because of the enormous influence sport has in shaping social values. Poor governance and corruption damage not only the image of sport, its federations and representatives but they compromise sport’s ability to spread the value of fair play and integrity, especially to young people. The more money involved, the greater the risks. Today high profile sports, like cricket, have become multi-million dollar global businesses. They are also closely linked to betting, both legal and illegal, making them vulnerable to manipulation and a possible prey to organised crime. They are constantly in the spotlight, which magnifies both the good they can do and the bad. Too often these days, however, it is the scandals that make the headlines. Cricket has a proud tradition as a by-word for fair play. But there is a danger this will be lost if the key problems it faces today – from match-fixing and spot fixing to questionable finances in independent leagues – are not addressed. With this action plan Transparency International focuses on the most obvious and dangerous corruption risks posed by poor governance. It provides a road map of the essential actions that the International Cricket Council (ICC) can take to bring needed changes to cricket, step by step. Our approach is to use the experience we have gained in 20 years fighting corruption and developing good governance principles for politics and business, and applying this to governance in sports organisations. We strongly believe that the ICC can play a significant role in setting the tone of how cricket should be run and have an impact on compelling its members to adhere to basic principles of good governance. This report is offered by the Transparency International movement to the game’s leaders, administrators, players and supporters worldwide. We hope it will stimulate debate and change

Children of prisoners: exploring the impact of families' reappraisal of the role and status of the imprisoned parent on children's coping strategies

Qualitative data from a larger study on the impact of parental imprisonment in four countries found that children of prisoners face fundamentally similar psychological and social challenges. The ways that children cope, however, are influenced by the interpretative frame adopted by the adults around them, and by how issues of parental imprisonment are talked about in their families. This article argues that families have to reappraise their view of the imprisoned parent and then decide on their policy for how to deal with this publicly. Their approach may be based on openness and honesty or may emphasise privacy and secrecy, or a combination of these. Children are likely to be influenced by their parents'/carers' views, although these may cause conflict for them. Where parents/carers retain a positive view of the imprisoned parent, children are likely to benefit; where parents/carers feel issues of shame and stigma acutely, this is likely to be transmitted to their children. This is important for social workers and practitioners involved in supporting prisoners' families and for parenting programmes

DNA metabarcoding for diet analysis and biodiversity: A case study using the endangered Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea)

The analysis of apex predator diet has the ability to deliver valuable insights into ecosystem health, and the potential impacts a predator might have on commercially relevant species. The Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea) is an endemic apex predator and one of the world’s most endangered pinnipeds. Given that prey availability is vital to the survival of top predators, this study set out to understand what dietary information DNA metabarcoding could yield from 36 sea lion scats collected across 1,500 km of its distribution in southwest Western Australia. A combination of PCR assays were designed to target a variety of potential sea lion prey, including mammals, fish, crustaceans, cephalopods, and birds. Over 1.2 million metabarcodes identified six classes from three phyla, together representing over 80 taxa. The results confirm that the Australian sea lion is a wide- ranging opportunistic predator that consumes an array of mainly demersal fauna. Further, the important commercial species Sepioteuthis australis (southern calamari squid) and Panulirus cygnus (western rock lobster) were detected, but were present in <25% of samples. Some of the taxa identified, such as fish, sharks and rays, clarify previous knowledge of sea lion prey, and some, such as eel taxa and two gastropod species, represent new dietary insights. Even with modest sample sizes, a spatial analysis of taxa and operational taxonomic units found within the scat shows significant differences in diet between many of the sample locations and identifies the primary taxa that are driving this variance. This study provides new insights into the diet of this endangered predator and confirms the efficacy of DNA metabarcoding of scat as a noninvasive tool to more broadly define regional biodiversity

Allergic sensitisation in South Africa : allergen-specific ige-component testing (ISAC)

BACKGROUND : Allergic sensitisation patterns differ globally; therefore it is important to understand local South African sensitisation patterns to inhalant and food allergen components to enable clinicians to diagnose and manage South African patients appropriately. METHODS : A retrospective study was conducted reviewing component allergen testing data from a private laboratory provider in South Africa over a two-year period. Data generated from all Immuno Solid-phase Allergen Chip (ISAC) tests referred from all regions in South Africa were collected and analysed according to the allergen-component positivity rate. RESULTS : A total of 813 consecutive patients were tested for allergen-component sensitisation by ISAC testing. Data were assessed to determine the most prevalent sensitisation patterns for inhalant, food and cross-reactive allergen components. The most frequent inhalant allergen components were Bermuda grass (Cyn d 1) and Timothy grass (Phl p 1), followed by cat uteroglobin (Fel d 1) and house-dust mite (HDM) (Der f 1). Peanut (Ara h 2), shrimp (Pen m 2) and egg white (Gal d 1) were the most prevalent food-component allergens. The most common pollen–food cross-reactive allergen components were cross-reactive carbohydrate determinant (CCD), profilin and thaumatin-like protein (pathogenesis-related protein (PR-5)). CONCLUSIONS : Grass pollen components were identified as the most common inhalant allergen sensitiser. The most common pollen–food cross-reactive component sensitisation was to CCD, which is in keeping with the high level of grass pollen sensitisation. HDM-component sensitisation was lower than expected when correlated with previous studies using whole allergen specific IgE sensitisation data. This study contributes to understanding allergen sensitisation patterns in South Africa by adding component sensitisation data to the current diagnostic knowledge pool; and it raises awareness of the extent of allergen-component cross-reactivity in South Africa.https://journals.co.za/journal/caciam2023Paediatrics and Child Healt

COVES: a cognitive-affective deep model that personalizes math problem difficulty in real time and improves student engagement with an online tutor

IIS-1551572 - National Science Foundationhttps://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3581783.3613965Published versio