Educating the dental team:exploring perceptions of roles and identities

Interprofessional education (IPE) should help to promote a team-based approach to professional practice but there are barriers to its implementation including professional identity. The aim of this study was to use a qualitative research methodology to explore dental and dental care professional (DCP) students' perceptions of professional roles and identities in the dental team. Data were collected by means of focus groups from a purposive sample of dental and DCP students and were audio recorded, transcribed and analysed using an explanatory framework. Five common themes emerged around the issue of professional roles and identity in the dental team. The results indicate that professional identity was an important factor in team development and was determined by direct responsibility for patient care and by the amount of clinical experience acquired. Professional identity within a team context was perceived as different from professional identity per se. Dental students were found to lack confidence in their role as team leaders which was related to their lack of knowledge of team roles, responsibilities and experience. The role of the dental technician was perceived as 'outside' the dental team due to lack of patient interaction.

Gender, gender roles and completion of nursing education:a longitudinal study

The current worldwide nursing shortage and high attrition of nursing students remain a challenge for the nursing profession. The aim of this paper was to investigate how key psychological attributes and constructions differentiate between completers and non-completers of nursing education. A questionnaire including measures of gender role identity and perceived gender appropriateness of careers was administered to 384 students early in the first year of the course. At the end of the programme attrition rates were obtained. The findings indicate that males were more likely to leave the course than females. Furthermore, those who completed the course tended to view nursing as more appropriate for women, in contrast to the non-completers who had less gender typed views. The female-dominated nature of nursing, prevalent stereotypes and gender bias inherent in nursing education seem to make this an uncomfortable place for males and those with less gendered typed views. Whilst it is acknowledged that attrition is undoubtedly a complex issue with many contributing factors, the nursing profession need to take steps to address this bias to ensure their profession is open equally to both female and male recruits.

An Architecture of a Multi-Agent System for SCADA - Dealing With Uncertainty, Plans and Actions

This paper presents a multi-agent system approach to address the difficulties encountered in traditional SCADA systems deployed in critical environments such as electrical power generation, transmission and distribution. The approach models uncertainty and combines multiple sources of uncertain information to deliver robust plan selection. We examine the approach in the context of a simplified power supply/demand scenario using a residential grid connected solar system and consider the challenges of modelling and reasoning with
uncertain sensor information in this environment. We discuss examples of plans and actions required for sensing, establish and discuss the effect of uncertainty on such systems and investigate different uncertainty theories and how they can fuse uncertain information from multiple sources for effective decision making in
such a complex system.

Regulation and consequences of differential gene expression in diabetic kidney disease

DIN (diabetic nephropathy) is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease worldwide and develops in 25-40% of patients with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Elevated blood glucose over long periods together with glomerular hypertension leads to progressive glomerulosclerosis and tubulointerstitial fibrosis in susceptible individuals. Central to the pathology of DIN are cytokines and growth factors such as TGF-beta (transforming growth factor beta) superfamily members, including BMPs (bone morphogenetic protein) and TGF-beta 1, which play key roles in fibrogenic responses of the kidney, including podocyte loss, mesangial cell hypertrophy, matrix accumulation and tubulointerstitial fibrosis. Many of these responses can be mimicked in in vitro models of cells cultured in high glucose. We have applied differential gene expression technologies to identify novel genes expressed in in vitro and in vivo models of DN and, importantly, in human renal tissue. By mining these datasets and probing the regulation of expression and actions of specific molecules, we have identified novel roles for molecules such as Gremlin, IHG-1 (induced in high glucose-1) and CTGF (connective tissue growth factor) in DIN and potential regulators of their bioactions.

The State, Compartmentalization and the Turn to Local Community: A Critique of the Political Thought of Alasdair MacIntyre

Alasdair MacIntyre condemns modern politics, specifically liberalism and the institutions of the liberal state, as irredeemably fallen. His core argument is that the liberal state encourages a disempowering ‘compartmentalization’ of people’s everyday roles and activities that undermines the intersubjective conditions of human flourishing. MacIntyre’s alternative is an Aristotelian politics centred on the notion of “practice.” Defined by justice and solidarity, this politics can only be realized, he claims, within local communities which oppose and resist the dictates of the administrative state and capitalist market. Here it is argued that MacIntyre’s notion of “practice” represents a compelling ethical-political ideal. However, the belief that this ideal is best realized within local communities is rejected. In privileging local community, MacIntyre relies on a reductive view of modern states and overlooks the institutional conditions of a just polity. Against this, it is argued that a politics of human flourishing cannot succeed without an emancipatory transformation of large-scale, trans-communal institutions, in particular the state.

Multilateralism and the Multinational Enterprise

How do multilateral institutions influence the strategic choices and actions of international managers? This paper addresses the question by exploring the impact of the World Trade Organization's (WTO) decision-making process on multinational enterprises (MNEs). We discuss the three phases of the WTO decision-making lifecycle - the formulation of trade rules, the implementation of those rules, and the enforcement of the rules – and propose a strategic adjustment framework for understanding how companies alter their strategies and structures in response to the WTO's rules and operations. We argue that the increased relevance of multilateral rules and enforcement mechanisms – embodied in the WTO - is an important influence on MNE strategies and structures because of the increasing embeddedness of the WTO in national levels of regulation. We illustrate this through examples taken from the pharmaceutical, textiles and sugar industries sectors that have witnessed substantial multilateral regulation.

Imaging the future: theatre and change within the child protection system

The use of social pedagogy as a paradigm for critically appraising developments within child and family social work has been largely neglected. This paper outlines the work of Augusto Boal and his adoption of social pedagogy as a method for empowering oppres-sed social groups in Brazil. It is argued that Boal’s approach can be adapted by using action research techniques to analyse and effect change in situations where child care professionals face daily contradictions in their attempts to both protect children and support families. To demonstrate its relevance to child care practice, a description is provided of how the approach was used with two groups of social work students – one undertaking qualifying training, the other post-qualifying training. The results of this application suggest a new theoretical framework for practice which aims to establish communicative consensus around the needs of children and a mutual appreciation of roles and responsibilities.

Churches and the Governing of Schools in Northern Ireland: A Redistribution of Power?

This paper presents findings of research into the role of church nominees on school governing bodies. The data is drawn mainly from a wider study of school ethos and school governance undertaken in Northern Ireland in the period 1994 to 1997. The paper raises the question of the future roles and responsibilities of church nominees after legislative changes to the composition and responsibilities of school governing bodies. It also considers recent social and attitudinal change and explains how the combination of these factors have created a situation whereby the power of the churches in the individual school governing body is no longer guaranteed