Workers Educational Association

Abstract Over thirty years ago the world began the destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles, one of the major goals of the new Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). The author, very involved in stockpile demilitarization since at least the first US on-site inspection of the easternmost Russian stockpile in Shchuch’ye in 1994, describes the challenges, successes, and failures of these years, many unforeseen by negotiators who set a ten-year deadline for chemical weapons destruction. Despite these many hurdles—technical, financial, and political—the strength of the CWC and its 193 States Parties shines through as it verifies the complete destruction of stockpiles in eight officially declared possessor states by 2023. The article concludes with primary and interrelated goals for further strengthening the CWC, the most comprehensive, multilateral disarmament treaty to date.

Abstract I wanted to go back, Paul, to the time when you worked in intelligence. I’d like you to tell me how you became interested in this field. You once told me that you worked in a particular Senate committee. Perhaps you could tell me about this. You were in Germany at the time; I’d love to hear a bit more about that.

BackgroundThere is a need for a user-led, evidence-based digital application (app.) that meets the identified information and support needs and preferences of young people and young adults aged 12–35 years (YP/YA) with Nephrotic Syndrome (NS) in the United Kingdom (UK). The password protected novel Nephrotic Syndrome Trust (NeST) app was therefore co-designed with YP/YA with NS to empower them to: access news of NS related events, take more control of their treatment and feel confident in sharing and accessing their data. The app allows YP/YA with NS to record regular urine dipstick readings, blood pressure, weight, temperature, medications, immunisations, symptoms (e.g. swollen feet), relapse or remission episodes, and the name of their renal unit. Additional features include an appointment diary to record feedback from their renal multidisciplinary team, treatment information and hospital admission episodes. The software was approved for release on iOS & Android app stores and the NHS Digital verification programme, meaning that users can be identified against their NHS records. The aim of the survey was to evaluate the NeST App from the perspective of YP/YA with NS.MethodsThrough a consultative process, an online survey involving a combination of closed and open-ended questions was created and circulated via social media and email to target users of the app.ResultsTwenty YP/YA with NS aged 12 years and older tested the app, completed the survey and provided quantitative and qualitative data. All found this app helpful, and easy to use and all would use it in future as part of standard practice.ConclusionsThese data provide important feedback and suggestions for further app refinement and will integrate it with current national data collection via the UK Renal Registry (UKRR). To build on this collaborative project the developers will continue to collaborate with patients and health care professionals to ensure the app is a continually evolving and relevant resource, providing a voice for those living with NS. The app technology could potentially be rebooted and relaunched at minimal cost to support patients with other kidney conditions.Clinical trial numberNot applicable.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12882-025-04684-1.

Autonomous navigation is a crucial aspect of the visually impaired community’s pursuit of independence and social equity. To achieve this goal, visually impaired people (VIP) require a navigation and wayfinding system that works both outdoors and indoors. While outdoor navigation can rely on ubiquitous signals such as global navigation satellite system (GNSS), indoor navigation presents a significant challenge, especially in unfamiliar environments. Despite over two decades of research and development, the issue of delivering a high performance and cost-effective indoor positioning solution for VIPs remains unresolved. Bluetooth-based angle of arrival (AOA) positioning is a cost-effective method that offers accuracy ranging from upper decimeters to meters. However, it still faces challenges in detecting and mitigating outliers caused by nonline-of-sight (NLOS) and multipath effects during signal propagation. In light of these challenges, this article proposes a novel dead reckoning aided AOA Bluetooth indoor positioning system that utilizes a smart cane. The developed model takes into account the swinging characteristic of the cane, which is integral to visually impaired individuals’ mobility. Furthermore, this article incorporates a novel outlier detection and exclusion layer to reduce the impact of NLOS and multipath effects. The proposed system’s performance was evaluated through a series of experiments, and the positioning error distribution was analyzed. The results showed that the accumulated probability of errors less than 0.5 m was 93.56%, and 99.64% of errors were within 0.7 m. With the demonstrated high level of accuracy, the proposed system presents a promising solution for indoor navigation for VIPs.

Technological intelligent mind is complex high-tech hardware and software system containing a functionally extensible selforganizing ensemble of intelligent agents, all types and types

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify and share learning about safeguarding children under Covid-19 drawn from a series of webinars held by the Association of Safeguarding Partners (www.theASP.org.uk). The learning is relevant for health, police, local authority and other relevant safeguarding agencies and includes sharing information about both the challenges and opportunities presented during the Covid-19 pandemic. By creating a webinar lead community of learning, lessons can be drawn that will help safeguard children during the remaining of the pandemic and during the release of lockdown as it emerges. Design/methodology/approach This paper summarises themes from discussions within three webinars run by The Association of Safeguarding Partners (TASP) (www.theASP.org.uk). Each webinar was attended by between 60 and 80 participants, sessions involving presentations and discussions on topics such as “managing safeguarding reviews at a distance”, “the impact on early years’ provision” and “how work with families and children has changed with remote working methods”. With the participants’ consent, webinars were recorded, and these can be viewed on www.theasp.co.uk. Webinars were supported by an on-line programme: “meeting sphere” capturing comments in a “chat” facility and providing capacity for participants to collectively code comments into themes. Findings Findings from the webinars note concerns about continuing and undetected abuse of children within and outside of the home; about the changing nature of criminal exploitation; and about the strains created by social distancing on children in families experiencing problems with poor mental health, drug and alcohol misuse and domestic abuse. Findings include some important lessons, including the discovery of innovative ways of working, the rapid collation of data across partnerships and about different methods of engaging with children, young people and families. Findings include suggestions about the impact of changes on the future safeguarding of children. Originality/value There is little published discussion of the implications of Covid-19 on practitioners working on safeguarding children. While some research is emerging, there have been few opportunities for practitioners to listen to emerging practice ideas under Covid-19 or to discuss in an informal context how to address the new and emerging problems in safeguarding children. This think piece contains original material from webinars held with safeguarding children practitioners and is valuable for those working to safeguard children during and post Covid-19.

his pre-post experimental study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of a strategy based on Action Research in developing English translation skills of Workers' University students, Kafr ElSheikh branch.The participants consisted of 70 students chosen from 1st year Workers' University students, department of industrial affairs in the first semester 2018 -2019.The researcher used the following instruments: a translation skills checklist, and a pre-posttest on translation skills.The results revealed that there are statistically significant differences at (0.05) between the mean scores of the experimental group students and those of the control group students in the post-test in English translation skills in favor of the experimental group.Furthermore, the results pointed out that there are statistically significant differences at (0.05) between the mean scores of the experimental group students in the pre and post-test of translation skills in favor of the post-test.

Racism has been on the rise since the international financial crisis began in 2008. Marxism argues that far from being a hangover from medieval ideas, racism developed alongside science and the Enlightenment. Modern ideas of race originated in the Atlantic slave trade and the growth of capitalism. The article describes the evolution of racist ideas through periods of slavery, empire and immigration. It looks at whether people who suffer racism can unite with those who do not. It examines racial identity and the boundaries of race, nation and religion.

Abstract Navigating the Spanish Lake: The Pacific in the Iberian World, 1521–1898, Rainer Buschmann, Edward Slack Jr and James Tueller (2014) Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 200 pp., ISBN 978 0 8248 3824 9 (hbk), US$47 Dumont d’Urville: Explorer and Polymath, Edward Duyker (2014) Dunedin: Otago University Press, 664 pp., ISBN 978 1 8775 7870 0 (hbk), NZ$70 Pacific Histories: Ocean, Land, People, David Armitage and Alison Bashford (2014) London: Palgrave Macmillan, 392 pp., ISBN 978 1 1370 0163 4 (pbk), £21.99 Outcasts of the Gods? The Struggle over Slavery in Māori New Zealand, Hazel Petrie (2015) Auckland: Auckland University Press, 456 pp., ISBN 978 1 8694 0830 5 (pbk), NZ$45 Beyond the Imperial Frontier: The Contest for Colonial New Zealand, Vincent O’Malley (2014) Wellington: Bridget Williams Books, 284 pp., ISBN 978 1 9272 7753 9 (pbk), NZ$49.99 From Alba to Aotearoa: Profiling New Zealand’s Scots Migrants 1840–1920, Rebecca Lenihan (2015) Dunedin: Otago University Press, 316 pp., ISBN 978 1 8775 7879 3 (pbk), NZ$45 Promoting Health in Aotearoa New Zealand, Louise Signal and Mihi Ratima (eds) (2015) Dunedin: Otago University Press, 324 pp., ISBN 978 1 8775 7882 3 (pbk), NZ$45 Book of New Zealand Words, Dianne Bardsley (2013) Wellington: Te Papa Press, 336 pp., ISBN 978 1 8773 8584 1 (hbk), NZ$44.99 Hocken, Prince of Collectors, Donald Jackson Kerr (2015) Dunedin: Otago University Press, 424 pp., ISBN 978 1 8775 7866 3 (hbk), NZ$60 The Lives of Colonial Objects, Annabel Cooper, Lachy Paterson and Angela Wanhalla (eds) (2015) Dunedin: Otago University Press, 376 pp., ISBN 978 1 9273 2202 4 (pbk), US$50 From Samoa with Love? Samoan Travellers in Germany 1895–1911: Retracing the Footsteps, Hilke Thode-Arora (ed.) (2014) Munich: Hirmer Verlag, 224 pp., ISBN 978 3 7774 2239 8 (hbk), US$55.00 The Pearl Frontier: Indonesian Labour and Indigenous Encounters in Australia’s Northern Trading Network, Julia Martinez and Adrian Vickers (2015) Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 240 pp., ISBN 978 0 8248 4002 0 (hbk), US$50 Living Kinship in the Pacific, Christina Toren and Simonne Pauwels (eds) (2015) New York: Berghahn Books, 274 pp., ISBN 978 1 7823 8577 6 (hbk), US$120 Huihui: Navigating Art and Literature in the Pacific, Jeffrey Carroll, Brandy Nalani McDougall and Georganne Nordstrom (eds) (2015) Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 308 pp., ISBN 978 0 8248 3895 9 (pbk), US$29 The Fitzgerald Brothers’ Circus: Spectacle, Identity, Nationhood at the Australian Circus, Gillian Arrighi (2015) Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 262 pp., ISBN 978 1 9250 0358 1 (pbk), AUD$44 The Critic’s Part: Wystan Curnow Art Writings 1971–2013, Christina Barton and Robert Leonard (eds) (2014) Wellington: Victoria University Press, 512 pp., ISBN 978 0 8647 3932 2 (hbk), NZ$80 The Adventures of Jonathan Dennis: Bicultural Film Archiving Practice in Aotearoa New Zealand, Emma Jean Kelly (2016) New Barnet: John Libbey Publishing, 200 pp., ISBN 978 0 8619 6722 3 (pbk), £20 The Deepening Stream: A History of the New Zealand Literary Fund, Elizabeth Caffin and Andrew Mason (2015) Wellington: Victoria University Press, 304 pp., ISBN 978 1 7765 6036 3 (pbk), NZ$40 Maurice Gee: Life and Work, Rachel Barrowman (2015) Wellington: Victoria University Press, 543 pp., ISBN 978 0 8647 3992 6 (hbk), NZ$60 The Conch Trumpet, David Eggleton (2015) Dunedin: Otago University Press, 124 pp., ISBN 978 1 8775 7893 9 (pbk), NZ$25 Heartland, Michele Leggott (2014) Auckland: Auckland University Press, 120 pp., ISBN 978 1 8694 0808 4 (pbk), NZ$27.99 Edwin’s Egg & Other Poetic Novellas, Cilla McQueen (2014) Dunedin: Otago University Press, 264 pp., ISBN 978 1 8775 7813 7 (pbk), NZ$39.95 The White Clock, Owen Marshall (2014) Dunedin: Otago University Press, 94 pp., ISBN 978 1 8775 7863 2 (pbk), NZ$25 Whale Years, Gregory O’Brien (2015) Auckland: Auckland University Press, 100 pp., ISBN 978 1 8694 0832 9 (pbk), NZ$25