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Macro-economic policy shapes and structures social welfare policy, services, and their implementation. As a result, the commoditisation of social welfare services and the use of markets as well as private sector management philosophies and tools have colonised and fashioned the design, provision and implementation of social welfare policy and structures. The impact has been far reaching, from limiting social welfare responses of elected democratic government to shaping the profession in a range of intended and unintended directions. Written from a UK perspective, this paper proposes a discussion of the impact of macro-economic neoliberal policies in the field of social welfare and explores the implications for social work practice. The paper also promotes a debate within the profession regarding the importance of macro-economic analysis and possible responses, as well as suggesting a way forward within European and, more broadly, international practice contexts.

Propofol (2,6-diisopropylphenol) is commonly used as an anaesthetic agent but is also abused for recreational purposes. Several cases of fatalities involving self-administered propofol have been reported. For rapid quantification of propofol and propofol β-d-glucuronide (propofol G) in clinical and forensic cases, an ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method using pneumatically assisted electrospray ionisation has been developed. The technique has been validated on both ante-mortem and post-mortem human whole blood. The proteins in the blood samples were removed by the addition of a mixture of methanol and acetonitrile, and the extract was cleaned up by solid phase extraction. The extract was concentrated in dimethyl sulphoxide. The system was calibrated using matrix-matched calibrants combined with isotope dilution. The lower limits of quantification were 0.01 and 0.02mg/L for propofol and 0.02 and 0.04mg/L for propofol G in ante-mortem and post-mortem whole blood, respectively. The relative intra-laboratory reproducibility standard deviation was less than 10% at concentrations of 0.2mg/L or higher. The mean true extraction recovery was 85% for propofol and 81% for propofol G. The trueness of the propofol determination expressed as the relative bias of the test results was within ±6% at concentration levels of 0.01-8.5mg/L. Propofol was less stable in blood stabilised with a citrate-EDTA-fluoride mixture than in blood stabilised with an oxalate-fluoride mixture. The stability was lower at -20°C than at 5°C and -80°C. Propofol G did not show instability under the storage conditions tested.

Allergic inflammation is thought to play a role in atherogenesis and atherosclerotic disease progression. IgE may activate mast cells and macrophages located within atheromatous lesions, which may contribute to local inflammation and disease progression. On the other hand, increased IgE levels in individuals with acute myocardial infarction might also be the consequence of immunological reactions to damaged coronary arteries or myocardium. In this study, total IgE and mast cell tryptase were measured in a series of forensic autopsy cases showing various degrees of coronary artery disease, in order to correlate laboratory results with morphological findings and compare them to conclusions reported in the clinical setting. A total of 84 subjects were selected and two study groups were retrospectively formed, a non-allergic, cardiac death group (42 cases) and a non-allergic, non-cardiac control group (42 cases). Our findings indicated that a portion of acute coronary syndromes and coronary deaths characterized by coronary atherosclerotic lesions of various severities are also characterized by increased total IgE and mast cell tryptase levels, thus corroborating the data previously reported in both clinical and forensic literature on this topic as well as the necessity of combining morphological investigations focusing on the heart and coronary arteries with biochemical analyses.

Innate immune activation by macrophages is an essential part of host defence against infection. Cytosolic recognition of microbial DNA in macrophages leads to induction of interferons and cytokines through activation of cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) and stimulator of interferon genes (STING). Other host factors, including interferon-gamma inducible factor 16 (IFI16), have been proposed to contribute to immune activation by DNA. However, their relation to the cGAS-STING pathway is not clear. Here, we show that IFI16 functions in the cGAS-STING pathway on two distinct levels. Depletion of IFI16 in macrophages impairs cGAMP production on DNA stimulation, whereas overexpression of IFI16 amplifies the function of cGAS. Furthermore, IFI16 is vital for the downstream signalling stimulated by cGAMP, facilitating recruitment and activation of TANK-binding kinase 1 in STING complex. Collectively, our results suggest that IFI16 is essential for efficient sensing and signalling upon DNA challenge in macrophages to promote interferons and antiviral responses., The role of IFI16 as a DNA sensor is highly controversial. With support from a Nature Communications back-to-back publication from Almine et al. the authors here provide functional evidence that IFI16 is required for DNA sensing via the cGAS-STING pathway in human macrophages.

The near global implementation of public sector and social welfare reform as a result of neoliberal economic reform has impacted on social work and social inequality. State strategies to reduce social and economic inequality are being challenged and rolled back. This article uses the reflections from a six-country EU-funded social work research collaboration to promote debate and compare global social work perspectives, to highlight the complexity of research, to explore implications for practice and the Global Agenda. It concludes by highlighting that global comparisons are complex, multi-faceted and that political, cultural and economic context is critical to develop effective responses.

Describes the most common type of science teacher preparation program in England in which a Bachelor's in Science degree is followed by professional training. Projects changes for the future training of physics teachers in the areas of initial training and inservice education. (CP)

INTRODUCTION Kadushin (1992:230-231) drew a parallel between the supervision of social workers and making music: is supervision just a random sounding of notes, serving to mask incompetence, or is it tuneful music, conducive to social workers’ best efforts? This analogy may be considered to reflect the emergence of new public management measures as an operationalisation of neoliberal ideas, with consequent changes in conditions of service delivery, control and accountability of social workers. These management mechanisms for bureaucratic standardisation in social work have resulted in, for example, the introduction of supervision policies and frameworks in various countries, such as those of the Australian Association of Social Workers (2010), British Association of Social Workers (2011), Aortearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers (2012), and the supervision framework for the social work profession in South Africa (DSD & SACSSP, 2012), to name a few.

In Portugal, Spain, and South Africa, there has been a noted anti-neoliberal resistance, marked by the significant participation of the older generation in protest movements. Changing demographics, the global financial crisis, unemployment, poverty, and the reliance of the family nucleus on the pensioner, coupled with neoliberal and austerity-based reductions to welfare programs, pensions, health, and social care, has caused the “silver revolution.” As a population group that is often considered to be less politically active and robust members of society, such resistance is a noteworthy moment in society that needs to be considered and responded to. This article stems from a Marie Curie EU-FP7-International Research Staff Exchange Scheme (IRSES) [295203], concerning ten EU and non-EU countries, which sought to examine the role of social work and its engagement with civil society in supporting vulnerable members of the community. The project is being undertaken under the auspices of an EU Framework 7 Marie Curie, IRSES; project no: 318938; project acronym: NL_CIVIL.

Direct analysis of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and other cannabinoids in crude acetonitrile extracts of whole blood by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry using pneumatically assisted electrospray ionization (LC-ESI-MS-MS) was subjected to pronounced ion suppression from co-eluting phospholipids (PLs). The interferences were mainly caused by the lysophosphatidylcholine and lysophosphatidylethanolamine classes of PLs. The PLs were easily removed from crude extracts by filtration through a sorbent with Lewis acid properties, which typically increased the THC and cannabinol (CBN) signal intensities by a factor of 5. Based on this technique, a simple high-throughput LC-MS-MS method was developed for the determination of cannabinoids in 100 μL samples of whole blood. The lower limits of quantification were 0.2 μg/L for THC, CBN, cannabidiol (CBD) and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid A (THCA-A) and 0.5 μg/L for 11-hydroxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-OH) and 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-COOH). The mean ion suppression levels after clean-up were 10% (THC), 9% (CBN), 17% (CBD), 0% (THC-OH), 2% (THC-COOH) and 9% (THCA-A) at blood concentration levels of 1-10 μg/L. The mean true extraction recoveries were 97% (THC), 101% (CBN), 101% (CBD), 98% (THC-OH), 95% (THC-COOH) and 90% (THCA-A) at the same concentration levels. The relative intra-laboratory reproducibility standard deviations were

Ná twintig jaar van demokrasie is Suid-Afrika steeds 'n verdeelde samelewing met grootskaalse armoede en hoë vlakke van kwesbaarheid. Ontwikkeling van alle sektore van die samelewing word deur die Regering as oplossing gesien. Deur middel van die Departement Maatskaplike Ontwikkeling se finansieringsbeleid (Departement van Maatskaplike Ontwikkeling 2012a) plaas die Staat druk op gevestigde maatskaplike diensorganisasies om tot kapasiteitsbou van informele gemeenskapsgebaseerde organisasies by te dra. Die doel van hierdie artikel is om begrip te ontwikkel vir die bydrae van gevestigde maatskaplike diensorganisasies tot die kapasiteitsbou van informele gemeenskapsgebaseerde organisasies (voortaan in hierdie artikel na verwys as "IGO's") ten einde grondige bevindinge en aanbevelings daarvoor te kan maak. Om hierdie doel te bereik, word die agtergrond van die onderwerp in meer detail belig, word die navorsingsmetodologie wat gevolg is, verduidelik en word die bevindinge aangebied deur middel van 'n geïntegreerde sintese van deelnemers se beskrywings van gevestigde organisasies en IGO's, hulle beskouings van suksesse behaal en hulle reflektering van verdere uitdagings in kapasiteitsboupogings. Large-scale poverty and increasing needs prevail in South Africa. The National Department of Social Development has the constitutional mandate to provide sector-specific national leadership in social development. Despite the Department of Social Development's intention to restructure the social service delivery system since 1997 and although established social service organisations, as well as informal community-based organisations (CBOs), are regarded as being valuable resources of service delivery to communities at risk, all these organisations are threatened by serious challenges. Established social service organisations that provide and maintain a significant portion of the social welfare services in South Africa, are at present - despite their efficient management - engulfed in a grim battle for survival. CBOs which form an integral part of communities at risk are still excluded from state financing because they do not comply with the basic requirements of management. The Policy on Financial Awards for Social Service Providers (2012a) of the Department of Social Development indicates that the State aims to redirect its financing from established social service organisations to CBOs and to demand that established organisations build the capacity of CBOs in addition to their own direct service delivery to those at risk. An investigation into the capacity-building of CBOs within the South African context is therefore at the same time both relevant and important. The purpose of this study is to develop an understanding of the contribution that established social service organisations in South Africa already make to the capacity-building of CBOs. The investigation not only provides information on the nature of this capacity-building, but also focuses attention on the successes and many challenges experienced by established social service organisations in their capacity-building of CBOs. Qualitative research was chosen as the approach to explore the contributions of established social service organisations to the capacity-building of CBOs in the social welfare sector and to establish the link with the social development approach as it is applied in South Africa. At the same time capacity-building of CBOs by established social service organisations is analysed and described. An instrumental case study was used as the research strategy by using NACOSS (National Coalition of Social Services) as a discussion forum of established social service providers in South Africa. A purposive non-probability sample selection was used to select participants, Nine NACOSS members indicated in a survey that they are already involved in the capacity-building of CBOs and agreed to participate in the study. Data was collected on three levels: (a) Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 9 chief executive officers of 9 established social service organisations, (b) 15 social workers who are already building CBOs' capacities, and (c) 9 representatives of the CBOs whose capacities were being built by the participating service organisations. Based on this study, the following main findings and recommendations are made: • Capacity-building of CBOs, as it is currently operationalised in developmental social work by established service organisations, is an inherent part of social development. Therefore, capacity-building of CBOs is rather more a social work intervention than exclusively one of organisational development and is currently being interpreted and applied in this way by established service organisations. The focus of capacity-building of CBOs as a social work intervention is therefore on informal systems or bodies within communities at risk. • Capacity-building in practice is far more elementary than what is assumed to be the case in theory and policy. • CBOs ' urgent need for continuous practice-oriented support from service organisations is evident, thus confirming the necessity for this kind of support to form an integral part of the capacity-building process. In this respect established social service organisations are excellently positioned to make a valuable contribution to the capacity-building of CBOs. • Due to the challenges of service delivery, the State should rather view the service organisations as resources in the restructuring of the South African social service delivery system than considering the redirection of financing from essential services by established service organisations to the informal sector. Urgent consideration should be given to providing state funding for the capacity-building of CBOs. Constructive discussion between the Department of Social Development and established social service organisations is crucial for the advancement of an effective social service delivery system.

International migration of social workers has had, in recent years, a substantial influence on the political agenda of different countries in the world, and is fraught with challenges. In some countries, recruitment of internationally qualified social workers has even become an important strategy to meet staffing demands and to fill shortages in the social work profession. This paper aims to promote debate on the key role of social work educators in assisting social work students and practitioners to practise within both a national and an international context, by reflecting on specific practice examples from Canada, England and South Africa. We explore challenges, as well as possible strategies for adaptation in new contexts, such as the facilitation of additional training, globally comparable social work programmes, and the development of a stronger professional identity, based on integrated social work values. We conclude that by enabling a stronger professional identity through the development of prof...

There is a realization that the quality of teaching and learning has declined due to ineffective and inefficient monitoring of schools and this has provided an impetus for appraising the objectives which quality assurance agents of the inspectorate services is expected to achieve. A survey research-design was adopted for the study, two research questions and two null hypotheses, tested at (p < .05) level of significance, were used. Through a multistage procedure, three out of the five states were selected from South-East Zone. 371 head-teachers from public primary schools and 217 quality assurance agents of the inspec- torate services (evaluators) were sampled. A 27 item questionnaire titled Primary Schools Appraisal Questionnaire (PSAQ), covering different areas of school evaluation, was developed by the researchers to get information from both head-teachers of public primary schools and evaluators. Cronbach Alpha method was used to determine the internal consistency of the PSAQ. The computation yielded reliability coefficient of 0.97, for the general cluster of the instrument. The findings of the study showed that although evaluators em- bark on routine monitoring and make recommendations to government based on the results of their visits, they do not close schools that are not performing up to expectation. The study also showed that evaluators lack facilities and equipment for school monitoring.

A liquid chromatography – tandem mass spectrometry method, using pneumatically assisted electrospray ionization was developed for the determination of amiodarone, desethylamiodarone, propafenone, N-depropylpropafenone, 5-OH-propafenone, flecainide, and sotalol in human antemortem and postmortem whole blood. A mixture of methanol and acetonitrile was used to extract the samples, and the clear extracts obtained from the protein precipitation were injected directly onto an ethyl-linked phenyl LC column. The isotope dilution technique was applied for quantitative analysis. The relative intralaboratory reproducibility standard deviations were 5 –9% at a concentration range of 1–5 mg/L and 9 –12% at a concentration of 0.1 mg/L. The mean true recoveries were greater than 91% in the concentration range of 0.05–5 mg/L. The detection limits were in the range of 8– 18 mg/L.

Metformin is an anti-diabetic drug in the biguanide class which also includes phenformin and buformin. Because of the potential adverse effects of the biguanides, a reliable liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method using pneumatically assisted electrospray ionization was developed for the quantification of the drugs in both live and post-mortem human whole blood. The blood proteins were precipitated by the addition of a mixture of methanol and acetonitrile, and the extract was cleaned up by cation-exchange solid-phase extraction to eliminate ion suppression effects. The separation was performed by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography. Matrix-matched calibrants combined with isotope dilution of metformin were used for calibration. The detection limits were 0.01 mg/L for metformin and phenformin and the relative intra-laboratory reproducibility standard deviations were less than 6% at concentrations of 1-10 mg/L. The mean true recoveries were greater than 86%.

A liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method using pneumatically assisted electrospray ionisation (LC–ESI-MS/MS) was developed for the simultaneous determination of paracetamol, naproxen, ibuprofen, etodolac, diclofenac, salicylic acid, lamotrigine, carbamazepine, 10-OH-carbazepine, phenytoin, phenobarbital, barbital, cyclobarbital, pentobarbital, amobarbital and caffeine in human live and post-mortem whole blood. The blood proteins were precipitated in a mixture of methanol and acetonitrile, and the extract was purified by ultrafiltration. The separation was performed on an ether-linked phenyl column with polar endcapping, and both negative and positive ESI were applied. Matrix-matched standards were used for calibration. The relative intra-laboratory reproducibility standard deviations were, in general, better than 8% at concentrations in the therapeutic range. The mean true recoveries were in the range 92–101% for the live blood and 84–101% for the post-mortem blood.

For the assessment of diets and supplements formulated for the treatment of phenylketonuria, a highly sensitive and selective method was developed and validated for the quantification of dopamine (DA), serotonin (5-HT), 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan in mouse cerebellum, brain stem, hypothalamus, parietal cortex, anterior piriform cortex and bulbus olfactorius. Samples were extracted by deproteinization with acetonitrile, and the extracts were cleaned up by strong anion exchange and weak cation exchange applied sequentially. The substances were detected by rapid liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Matrix components were largely removed by the clean-up, resulting in low matrix effects. The lower limits of quantification for an extracted tissue mass of 100 mg were 0.3, 0.3, 0.2 and 2 ng/g for DA, 5-HT, 5-HIAA and DOPAC, respectively. The mean true extraction recoveries were 80–102%. The relative intra-laboratory reproducibility standard deviations were generally

Globalized labour mobility has led to questions regarding the degree to which social work education in one country can be applicable to practice in another. This paper examines social work education programmes and practice contexts in South Africa, England and Canada as examples through which to examine this question.

The core of this paper consists of an analysis of the forces and conducive conditions which historically have driven the drainage development of agricultural land. Such forces and conditions are recognised at three levels of discretion: (i) the generic level (ii) the government level (iii) the on-farm level. The drainage development for salinity control of irrigated land in the (semi) arid zone is treated as a special case of drainage development driven by its own specific forces and considerations. Relevant comparisons have also been made with the development and adoption of other agricultural technologies such as farm mechanisation the seed–fertiliser package and irrigation. It is concluded that drainage development in regular rainfed agricultural land is primarily driven by its (farm) economic utility as an instrument for achieving more profitable land use and for overcoming constraints to further agricultural development. For drainage development to become a priority the level of agricultural development must generally have passed the threshold level at which the prevailing drainage conditions of the land have become a critical constraint to higher yields crop choice and efficient farm operations. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Le cœur de ce document est une analyse des forces et des conditions favorables qui historiquement ont determine le developpement du drainage des terres agricoles. Ces forces et conditions sont reconnues a trois niveaux d'appreciation: (i) le niveau generique (ii) le niveau gouvernemental (iii) le niveau de l'exploitation. Le developpement de drainage pour le controle de la salinite des terres irriguees dans les zones arides et semi est traite comme un cas particulier du developpement de drainage entraine par ses propres forces et considerations particulieres. Des comparaisons pertinentes ont egalement ete faites avec l'elaboration et l'adoption d'autres technologies agricoles telles que la mecanisation agricole le semis combine avec la fertilisation et l'irrigation. Il est conclu que le developpement du drainage en agriculture pluviale est principalement entraine par son utilite economique en tant que moyen pour accroitre le profit issu de l'usage de la terre et aussi pour lever des contraintes pesant sur le developpement agricole. Pour que le developpement du drainage devienne une priorite le niveau de developpement agricole doit generalement avoir atteint un seuil pour lequel l'exces d'eau devient une contrainte majeure a la hausse des rendements au choix des cultures et a la performance des exploitations agricoles. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Semiconductor nanowire waveguide cavities hold promise for nanophotonic applications such as lasers, waveguides, switches, and sensors due to the tight optical confinement in these structures. However, to realize their full potential, high quality nanowires, whose emission at low temperatures is dominated by free exciton emission, need to be synthesized. In addition, a proper understanding of their complex optical properties, including light-matter coupling in these subwavelength structures, is required. We have synthesized very high-quality wurztite CdS nanowires capped with a 5 nm SiO(2) conformal coating with diameters spanning 100-300 nm using physical vapor and atomic layer deposition techniques and characterized their spatially resolved photoluminescence over the 77-298 K temperature range. In addition to the Fabry-Pérot resonator modulated emission from the ends of the wires, the low temperature emission from the center of the wire shows clear free excitonic peaks and LO phonon replicas, persisting up to room-temperature in the passivated wires. From laser scanning measurements we determined the absorption in the vicinity of the excitonic resonances. In addition to demonstrating the high optical quality of the nanowire crystals, these results provide the fundamental parameters for strong light-matter coupling studies, potentially leading to low threshold polariton lasers, sensitive sensors and optical switches at the nanoscale.

A new technique is reported where by combining spatially and spectrally resolved scanning optical microscopy on single nanowire active waveguides, waveguide propagation loss and dispersion can be determined. The waveguide propagation loss spectra have been utilized to obtain insights into the optical absorption spectra of these unique nanostructured materials, which are modified in comparison to bulk materials. The propagation spectra and waveguide dispersion show clear signatures of electronic effects such as exciton-polariton formation. These results show the importance of the polaritonic nature of waveguiding in semiconducting nanoscale optical cavities and provide insights for the integration of semiconductor nanowire waveguides in nanophotonic circuitry.

The growing discourse on neoliberal ideas and the resulting new public management measures have an immense impact on the management and leadership models employed at social welfare organisations all over the world; and call for a critical theory beyond a defi cits approach as an interpretative framework. In response, this article propounds a strengths perspective on supervision of social workers, which is a key element in a social development approach to social practice, and which also fi nds common ground with supervision in other contexts. The South African welfare context is presented as a best practice vignette of a strengths perspective on supervision employed at a welfare organisation. It is concluded that a strengths perspective has transformational potential; and as a proactive response to neoliberal global and local market demands, compels managers to employ strengths-based interpretative frameworks for assessments and personal development plans of those they supervise in order to develop a facilitative alternative management paradigm.

This article reports on an exploratory descriptive study that examined ten social workers’ perceptions of their war on poverty and the challenges in constructing a conceptual framework for the development of a Social Community Education for Economic Literacy Development (SCEELD) programme. It was found that the social workers were knowledgeable about the uneconomic activities of their clients and that their ideas about what needed to be done about this related very much to their attitudes towards poverty. Significantly, the social workers did not think that job creation was their primary responsibility nor had, in their experience, job creation programmes been successful. Rather, the economic literacy they taught related to housekeeping imperatives, such as economical food preparation and managing income and concrete resources no matter how meagre. Overall, the social workers did not perceive the agency culture or the context of developmental welfare practice as conducive to the implementation of programmes aimed at economic development, and none talked about the relationship between economic and social development.

Changes in the social and economic landscape for NGOs are distinctly recognised in Spain and South Africa as a result of comparable formative and historical social welfare provision. NGOs in both countries are under siege, operating in the line of two fires, namely the global financial crisis, and the implementation and advancement of a neoliberal agenda. The need for a renewal of identity, activism, collaboration and partnership as well as an alignment of their roles in civil society with their visions, missions and core values is suggested towards ensuring the survival of NGOs. This paper stems from an EU-funded research project: Marie Curie Action: International Research Staff Exchange Scheme (Contract No. 318938: EU FP7-PEOPLE-IRSES, Grant Agreement Number: PIRSES-GA-2012), CIVIL_SW (Civil Engagement in Social Work: Developing Global Models).