Sparkling and inspiring: Charles Kennedy was a rare politician

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Why Labour's gang of 172 should seek an alliance with the Liberal Democrats

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Norman Baker is one in a million, not a sign of the coalition's troubles

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Lib Dem conference : cracks remain despite shows of unity

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Why so chipper, Lib Dems? Party gears up to bounce back

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Obeying the iron law? Changes to the intra-party balance of power in the British Liberal Democrats since 1988

This study examines intra-party power in the Liberal Democrats, looking at the formal role and remit of the various sectors that make up the party bureaucracy, and evaluating the exercise of power with regard to policy, campaigning and the use of resources. It is interested in two overarching questions: has the party professionalised, and has power moved toward the top? If so could this have had an impact on its electoral success? The theoretical context for this study is a well-established tradition of scholarship on party organisation going back to Moise Ostrogorski (1902) and Robert Michels (1911). The hierarchical nature of party organisations has been a constant refrain in this literature, especially in respect of major parties that are serious contenders for governmental office (McKenzie 1963; Kirchheimer 1966; Panebianco 1988; Katz & Mair 1995). This thesis offers a test of these theories by applying them to a smaller party that gradually evolved from a party of opposition to a party of government. While the incentives for intra-party centralisation are clear in office-seeking parties (the leadership requires maximum autonomy in order to devise and adapt a competitive strategy), this research explores whether it is a necessary precursor to electoral success. It will test whether the party has become more professional, or top-down, by looking at the policy making process, at the way the party campaigns, and at its distribution of resources. Finally the thesis examines the role of intra-party politics in achieving and maintaining the coalition with the Conservatives negotiated in May 2010. The research spans the lifetime of the party from 1988 to present day, and relies on an extensive series of semi-structured interviews with 70 individuals connected to the party including prominent politicians, senior staff and ordinary members. It argues that the party has become significantly more professional during this time, and that this was a contributory factor in delivering office

The efficacy of protein supplementation during recovery from muscle-damaging concurrent exercise

This study investigated the effect of protein supplementation on recovery following muscle-damaging exercise, which was induced with a concurrent exercise design. Twenty-four well-trained male cyclists were randomised to three independent groups receiving 20 g protein hydrolysate, iso-caloric carbohydrate or low-calorific placebo supplementation, per serve. Supplement serves were provided twice daily, from the onset of the muscle-damaging exercise, for a total of four days and in addition to a controlled diet (6 g·kg-1·d-1 carbohydrate, 1.2 g·kg-1·d-1 protein, remainder from fat). Following the concurrent exercise session at time-point 0 h; a simulated high-intensity road cycling trial and 100 drop-jumps, recovery of outcome measures was assessed at 24, 48 and 72 h. The concurrent exercise protocol was deemed to have caused exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD), owing to time effects (p0.05) were observed for any of the outcome measures. The present results indicate that protein supplementation does not attenuate any of the indirect indices of EIMD imposed by concurrent exercise, when employing great rigour around the provision of a quality habitual diet and the provision of appropriate supplemental controls

The content and conduct of GP consultations for dermatology problems:a cross-sectional study

Background: Skin complaints are common in primary care and poor outcomes in long-term conditions are often due to low treatment adherence. Shared decision making (SDM) and self-management support may help, yet there is little understanding of patient involvement or support provided by GPs. Aim: To describe the content of primary care consultations for skin problems including SDM practice, delivery of self-management advice and follow-up.Design and Setting: Cross-sectional study of video-recorded UK adult GP consultations and linked data. Method: A coding tool was developed and applied to all consultations with skin problems. SDM was assessed using the observer OPTION5 scale.Results: 45/318 consultations (14.2%) had one or more skin problems, which were discussed alongside other problems in 71.1% of consultations. Of the 100 different problems discussed, 51 were dermatological. The mean amount of time spent on skin problems was 4 minutes 16 seconds. Medication was recommended for 66.7% of skin problems with low SDM (mean OPTION5 score 10.7). Self-management advice was given for 47.1% of skin problems (verbal only). Most skin problems (84.3%) were not referred to secondary care. 32.6% of skin problems not referred were seen again in primary care within 12 weeks, of which 35.7% were unplanned.Conclusion: Skin problems are usually presented alongside other complaints and result in a medication recommendation. SDM was uncommon and self-management advice not consistently given, with reattendance for the same problem common. GPs’ training should reflect how frequently skin problems are seen and seek to improve patient involvement in decision making/support self-management. <br/

Demonstration of Transformable Manufacturing Systems through the Evolvable Assembly Systems Project

© 2019 SAE International. All Rights Reserved. Evolvable Assembly Systems is a five year UK research council funded project into flexible and reconfigurable manufacturing systems. The principal goal of the research programme has been to define and validate the vision and support architecture, theoretical models, methods and algorithms for Evolvable Assembly Systems as a new platform for open, adaptable, context-aware and cost effective production. The project is now coming to a close; the concepts developed during the project have been implemented on a variety of demonstrators across a number of manufacturing domains including automotive and aerospace assembly. This paper will show the progression of demonstrators and applications as they increase in complexity, specifically focussing on the Future Automated Aerospace Assembly Phase 1 technology demonstrator (FA3D). The FA3D Phase 1 demonstrated automated assembly of aerospace products using precision robotic processes in conjunction with low-cost reconfigurable fixturing supported by large volume metrology. This was underpinned by novel agent-based control for transformable batch-size-of-one production. The paper will conclude by introducing Phase 2 of the Future Automated Aerospace Assembly Demonstrator - currently in development - that will translate the Evolvable Assembly Systems research to a higher technology readiness level and address the challenges of scalable and transformable manufacturing systems

AI Ethics Principles in Practice: Perspectives of Designers and Developers

As consensus across the various published AI ethics principles is approached, a gap remains between high-level principles and practical techniques that can be readily adopted to design and develop responsible AI systems. We examine the practices and experiences of researchers and engineers from Australia's national scientific research agency (CSIRO), who are involved in designing and developing AI systems for many application areas. Semi-structured interviews were used to examine how the practices of the participants relate to and align with a set of high-level AI ethics principles proposed by the Australian Government. The principles comprise: (1) privacy protection and security, (2) reliability and safety, (3) transparency and explainability, (4) fairness, (5) contestability, (6) accountability, (7) human-centred values, (8) human, social and environmental wellbeing. Discussions on the gained insights from the interviews include various tensions and trade-offs between the principles, and provide suggestions for implementing each high-level principle. We also present suggestions aiming to enhance associated support mechanisms.Comment: submitted to IEEE Transactions on Technology & Societ