Protecting Victims of Domestic Violence — Have We Got the Balance Right?

That states should act to prevent domestic violence and protect victims is clearly acknowledged in international law. Yet international law confirms also that victims, perpetrators and their families have rights to privacy, to a family life and to a home. The extent to which rights to respect for private and family life should be interfered with in order to protect victims remains in dispute. With the aim of improving the protection afforded to domestic violence victims in England and Wales, in 2011–2012 the police and courts piloted the use of two new short-term protective measures; domestic violence protection notices and orders. Between 2012 and 2013 the police also piloted the domestic violence disclosure scheme, which saw prospective victims provided with information about their partner’s previous violent behaviour. The disclosure scheme and the domestic violence protection orders and notices were rolled out nationally in March 2014. In this article, consideration is given to the impact these two initiatives will have on the privacy of victims and perpetrators, an issue not considered in government evaluations of the pilots. This article analyses whether the roll-out of these new initiatives is justified, given their potential for interference in private and family life

Data protection, safeguarding and the protection of children's privacy: exploring local authority guidance on parental photography at school events

Should parents be allowed to take photographs at school events? Media reports suggest that increasingly schools are answering no to this question, either prohibiting or imposing stringent restrictions upon such photography. The legal justifications for such restrictions are, however, unclear. Accordingly, in 2013 freedom of information requests were sent to local education authorities across England, Scotland and Wales, the aim being to determine what advice local education authorities provide to schools in relation to parental photography at school events, and to identify how education authorities’ understandings of the law influence the advice they offer. That research reveals that local education authorities’ understandings of the law vary significantly and that where authorities do not fully appreciate the extent of the legal obligations arising this may have significant repercussions for the children concerned

Experiences in Pattern Recognition for Machine Olfaction

Pattern recognition is essential for translating complex olfactory sensor responses into simple outputs that are relevant to users. Many approaches to pattern recognition have been applied in this field, including multivariate statistics (e.g. discriminant analysis), artificial neural networks (ANNs) and support vector machines (SVMs). Reviewing our experience of using these techniques with many different sensor systems reveals some useful insights. Most importantly, it is clear beyond any doubt that the quantity and selection of samples used to train and test a pattern recognition system are by far the most important factors in ensuring it performs as accurately and reliably as possible. Here we present evidence for this assertion and make suggestions for best practice based on these findings

Towards technological rules for designing innovation networks: a dynamic capabilities view.

Inter-organizational innovation networks provide opportunities to exploit complementary resources that reside beyond the boundary of the firm. The shifting locus of innovation and value creation away from the “sole firm as innovator” poses important questions about the nature of these resources and the capabilities needed to leverage them for competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to describe research into producing design-oriented knowledge, for configuring inter-organizational networks as a means of accessing such resources for innovation

Aristotle meets youth work: A case for virtue ethics

What ethical framework provides the best guide for contemporary youth work is the central question in this article. An account is provided of why the two dominant ethical frameworks, namely, utilitarianism and deontic ethics, are not appropriate. It is argued that virtue ethics is most relevant because it specifies the nature of social goods, and provides a relevant framework of thinking about good practice. Six key reasons are identified for why virtue ethics provides the most suitable ethical framework. They include its account of virtues expressed in our character, its focus on education to build character as a source of social transformation, its emphasis on our agential capacity to make choices, its interest in our capacity to think critically and act ethically, the connections it makes between the practice of virtues and social goods that define a good life individually or collectively, and its capacity to inform good professional judgement and good practice. What all this means for youth work is considered through a discussion about good judgement and practice - or to use the virtue ethics vocabulary, 'phronesis'. What that means in terms of the requisite skills, knowledge and dispositions is spelt out in relation to youth work practice

Reasonable limits and exemptions: Victoria's human rights charter and its implications for young people

Many people had great expectations of the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities when it came fully into effect in January 2008. It was believed that the charter would provide a framework of legally enforceable human rights for groups historically subject to discrimination, such as young people. However, the charter enables both the government and other organisations to seek exemptions from its application, which has produced some anomalies. In this article, Judith Bessant asks whether the provision for seeking exemptions from the charter has undermined its capacity to effectively counter age-based discrimination and, paradoxically, permitted practices that clearly breach the basic human rights of young people

Review of \u3ci\u3e Farm Communities at the Crossroads: Challenge and Resistance\u3c/i\u3e Edited by Harry P. Diaz, Joann Jaffe, and Robert Stirling

Farm Communities at the Crossroads is a collection of works by twenty-nine authors dealing with the transformations in farming and farm communities. The metaphor of a crossroads is aptly invoked to draw attention to the complex overlay of social, economic, political, and knowledge processes affecting rural society. The two themes of challenge and resistance are central to the conceptual organization of the hook, which incorporates issues such as the changing nature of farm work, rural restructuring, community development, the farm crisis, technological change, and agricultural policy development. The volume contains twenty-six articles organized into seven sections, the first of which presents a preview of the main issues to follow. The papers included in section 2, \u27The Importance of Work, address the de-skilling effects of mechanization (B. Russell), the degradation of farm work (H. P. Dial and R. Stirling). and the dynamic interplay or the state, science. corporate interests, and consumer markets that occasioned the development of canola (L. Busch)

Audiogenic reflex seizures in cats

This study aims at characterizing feline audiogenic reflex seizures (FARS). An online questionnaire was developed to capture information from owners with cats suffering FARS. This was collated with the medical records from the primary veterinarian. Ninety-six cats were included. Myoclonic seizures were one of the cardinal signs of this syndrome (90/96), frequently occurring prior to generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTCS) in this population. Other features include a late-onset (median 15 years) and absence seizures (6/96), with most seizures triggered by high frequency sounds amid occasional spontaneous seizures (up to 20%). Half the population (48/96) had hearing impairment or were deaf. One third of cats (35/96) had concurrent diseases, most likely reflecting the age distribution. Birmans were strongly represented (30/96). Levetiracetam gave good seizure control. The course of the epilepsy was non-progressive in the majority (68/96) with an improvement over time in some (23/96). Only 33/96 and 11/90 owners respectively felt the GTCS and myoclonic seizures affected their cat’s quality of life (QoL). Despite this, many owners (50/96) reported a slow decline in their cat’s health becoming less responsive (43/50), not jumping (41/50), uncoordinated or weak in the pelvic limbs (24/50), and exhibiting dramatic weight loss (39/50). These signs were exclusively reported in cats experiencing seizures for >2 years with 42/50 owners stating these signs affected their cat’s QoL. In gathering data on audiogenic seizures in cats, we have identified a new epilepsy syndrome named FARS with a geriatric-onset. Further studies are warranted to investigate potential genetic predispositions to this condition