Segregated prisoners: nature imagery project in prisons as a program option

Master's Project (M.A.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2018Solitary confinement can be summarized as the state of being alone in a prison cell for 22 to 24 hours a day with minimal human interaction, little to no natural light, property restrictions, visitation constraints, and the inability to participate in group activities and communal meals. Solitary confinement can go by many names; it can be referred to as lockdown, Security or Special Housing Units (SHU), Special Management Units (SMU), administrative segregation, disciplinary or punitive segregation, restrictive housing, or "the hole". Solitary confinement is utilized for many purposes, primarily for the health and safety of themselves and others. It was first intended as a means of rehabilitation. However, instead, it has contributed to negative psychological and physiological effects on prisoners. There is argument for and against the use of solitary confinement and reformation efforts are being made to reduce solitary confinement. In an attempt to provide programming to segregated prisoners and reduce the amount of time that prisoners are in their cells, various correctional institutions have implemented nature imagery programs to reduce violent behavior and physiological states. Nature Imagery in Prisons Project (NIPP) was the first program of its kind and has laid the groundwork for other correctional institutions to follow. Programs such as this are designed for segregated prisoners and are used as a means of rehabilitation for these individuals as they prepare for their return to the community or to general prison population

A Domain-Independent Algorithm for Plan Adaptation

The paradigms of transformational planning, case-based planning, and plan debugging all involve a process known as plan adaptation - modifying or repairing an old plan so it solves a new problem. In this paper we provide a domain-independent algorithm for plan adaptation, demonstrate that it is sound, complete, and systematic, and compare it to other adaptation algorithms in the literature. Our approach is based on a view of planning as searching a graph of partial plans. Generative planning starts at the graph's root and moves from node to node using plan-refinement operators. In planning by adaptation, a library plan - an arbitrary node in the plan graph - is the starting point for the search, and the plan-adaptation algorithm can apply both the same refinement operators available to a generative planner and can also retract constraints and steps from the plan. Our algorithm's completeness ensures that the adaptation algorithm will eventually search the entire graph and its systematicity ensures that it will do so without redundantly searching any parts of the graph.Comment: See http://www.jair.org/ for any accompanying file

Product recalls: The effects of industry, recall strategy and hazard, on shareholder wealth

The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the effects of product recalls on shareholder wealth of manufacturing firms in different supply chains. Previous research examining this phenomenon is largely uni-sectorial and/or does not consider the interplay of hazard, recall strategy and sector. By utilizing the event study method, this study examines investors\u27 reactions to key product recall characteristics: industry, recall strategy and hazard level, on a cross-industry sample of 296 product recall announcements. The results show a significant negative reaction of share values to product recalls and significant differences between industry type and hazard levels. More regulated and stringent supply chains, such as the automotive and pharmaceutical, showed statistically significant losses in share price. The results show that industry sector and level of hazard associated with defective products are significant factors impacting the shareholder wealth of manufacturing firms. Contrary to some studies, the impact of recall strategy was not confirmed, although proactive recall strategies led, in some cases, to an increase in share price. Further research would benefit from more detailed investigation of recall strategies on the value of companies in specific sectors, particularly ones which are susceptible to frequent and costly product recalls

Pandemic Influenza: Warning, Children At-Risk

Identifies gaps in U.S. preparedness for treating and caring for children during a potential pandemic flu outbreak. Makes recommendations for appropriate doses of vaccine and medications and the management and treatment of children who become ill

Information display from board wargame for marketing strategy identification

Marketing warfare is an alternative solution for a company to defend itself or to win market parts. This approach presents consumer spirit as a battleground where companies make military maneuvers to confront each other. But a problem subsists, how make a link between market and battle or war? May be a solution exists: business wargames. But now, they are too complex or only role playing oriented without any solution to map battles. However, before being business wargames, wargames were developed to propose visual solutions to recreate a specific war situation. Now, wargames for civilians exist, with a particular kind: board wargames, which we found very interesting for information display. In this paper, we develop a methodology to apply a board wargame tool for a market situation. This methodology contributes to creative competitive intelligence (or creative watch) a new kind of competitive intelligence, in the sense it participates to information discovery that directly contributes to the creation and innovation process.intelligence économique, veille stratégique, veille concurrentielle, veille marché, veille créative, veille des innovations, veille des créations, visualisation d'information, innovation, jeu de guerre, wargame, war game, jeu sérieux // creative intelligence, strategic intelligence, competitive intelligence, economic intelligence, market intelligence, business intelligence, information visualization, wargaming, wargame, war game, marketing warfare, innovation, watch, serious game, serious gaming, creative competitive intelligence

Mainstreaming prevention: Prescribing fruit and vegetables as a brief intervention in primary care

This is the author's PDF version of an article published in Public health© 2005.This articles discusses a project at the Castlefields Health Centre in Halton whereby primary care professionals issue a prescription for discounts on fruit and vegetables. The prescription is explicitly linked to the five-a-day message