Probation staff experiences of managing suicidal and self-harming service users

The current study sought to explore the impact of suicidal behaviours on probation staff, in relation to their experiences of working with Probation service users who have carried out suicide, attempted suicide or self-harm. Thirteen in-depth interviews were carried out with probation staff who had direct contact with Probation service users in one Probation area, and had varying degrees of experience of managing suicidal or self-injurious service users. These were analysed using Thematic Analysis and five themes were identified. Findings indicate that staff felt that suicide and self-harm by service users are serious issues which need to be recognised and dealt with in an effective yet compassionate manner. However not attending the Suicide Prevention Training or lack of experience was perceived as restricting their ability to know how to deal with these individuals, and offer support. Furthermore, staff were emotionally affected by these incidents and it is recommend that they should continue to be provided with access to appropriate support services after an incident

International Trade and Investment Sanctions

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the theory of international economic sanctions and to provide estimates of the short-run economic impact on South Africa of externally imposed reductions of the imports and capital flows into that country. A macroeconomic picture of South Africa's "dependence" is drawn, and the economy's vulnerability in the short run is seen to be in its capacity to import, not in exports or capital flows. Trade and capital sanctions most clearly damage South Afnca's growth potential; the short-run impact is harder to quantify. A static linear programming model of the South African economy is constructed in an attempt at this quantification. This model estimates that small sanctions would have small impact—i.e., if imports were reduced by less than one-fourth, GDP would be cut by only about one half as large a percentage as imports. Larger import reductions cause greater damage. If imports were to be cut in half, not only would GDP be seriously reduced but massive unemployment and relocation of white labor would occur.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68182/2/10.1177_002200277902300401.pd

Automatic composition of music by means of Grammatical Evolution

This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here for your personal use. Not for redistribution. The definitive Version of Record was published in APL Quote Quad, http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/604444.602249Proceedings of the 2002 conference on APL: array processing languages: lore, problems, and applications (Madrid)This work describes how grammatical evolution may be applied to the domain of automatic composition. Our goal is to test this technique as an alternate tool for automatic composition. The AP440 auxiliary processor will be used to play music, thus we shall use a grammar that generates AP440 melodies. Grammar evolution will use fitness functions defined from several well-known single melodies to automatically generate AP440 compositions that are expected to sound like those composed by human musicians.This paper has been sponsored by the Spanish Interdepartmental Commission of Science and Technology (CICYT), project numbers TEL1999-0181 and TIC2001-0685-C02-1

Engineered split in Pfu DNA polymerase fingers domain improves incorporation of nucleotide γ-phosphate derivative

Using compartmentalized self-replication (CSR), we evolved a version of Pyrococcus furiosus (Pfu) DNA polymerase that tolerates modification of the γ-phosphate of an incoming nucleotide. A Q484R mutation in α-helix P of the fingers domain, coupled with an unintended translational termination-reinitiation (split) near the finger tip, dramatically improve incorporation of a bulky γ-phosphate-O-linker-dabcyl substituent. Whether synthesized by coupled translation from a bicistronic (−1 frameshift) clone, or reconstituted from separately expressed and purified fragments, split Pfu mutant behaves identically to wild-type DNA polymerase with respect to chromatographic behavior, steady-state kinetic parameters (for dCTP), and PCR performance. Although naturally-occurring splits have been identified previously in the finger tip region of T4 gp43 variants, this is the first time a split (in combination with a point mutation) has been shown to broaden substrate utilization. Moreover, this latest example of a split hyperthermophilic archaeal DNA polymerase further illustrates the modular nature of the Family B DNA polymerase structure

Genetic Music System with Synthetic Biology

This paper introduces GeMS, a system for music composition informed by Synthetic Biology. GeMS generates music with simulations of genetic processes, such as transcription, translation and protein folding, with which biological systems render chains of amino acids from DNA strands. The system comprises the following components: the Miranda Machine, the Rhythmator and the Pitch Processor. The Miranda Machine is an abstract Turing Machine-like processor, which manipulates a sequence of DNA symbols according to a set of programming instructions. This process generates a pool of new DNA strands, which are subsequently translated into rhythms. GeMS represents the musical equivalent of amino acids in terms of rhythms, referred to as rhythmic codons. This enables the Rhythmator to convert DNA sequences into rhythmic sequences. The Pitch Processor generates pitches for such rhythmic sequences. It is inspired by the phenomenon of protein folding. The Pitch Processor considers orientation information of DNA instructions yielded by the Miranda Machine in order to activate algorithms for generating pitches. A musical composition, entitled Artibiotics, for percussion ensemble and electronic instruments, is presented to demonstrate the system

A Standardised Procedure for Evaluating Creative Systems: Computational Creativity Evaluation Based on What it is to be Creative

Computational creativity is a flourishing research area, with a variety of creative systems being produced and developed. Creativity evaluation has not kept pace with system development with an evident lack of systematic evaluation of the creativity of these systems in the literature. This is partially due to difficulties in defining what it means for a computer to be creative; indeed, there is no consensus on this for human creativity, let alone its computational equivalent. This paper proposes a Standardised Procedure for Evaluating Creative Systems (SPECS). SPECS is a three-step process: stating what it means for a particular computational system to be creative, deriving and performing tests based on these statements. To assist this process, the paper offers a collection of key components of creativity, identified empirically from discussions of human and computational creativity. Using this approach, the SPECS methodology is demonstrated through a comparative case study evaluating computational creativity systems that improvise music

Lessons from the New Deal: Did the New Deal Prolong Or Worsen the Great Depression?

Since the current recession began in December 2007, New Deal legislation and its effectiveness have been at the center of a lively debate in Washington. This paper emphasizes some key facts about two kinds of policy that were important during the Great Depression and have since become the focus of criticism by new New Deal critics: (1) regulatory and labor relations legislation, and (2) government spending and taxation. We argue that initiatives in these policy areas probably did not slow economic growth or worsen the unemployment problem from 1933 to 1939, as claimed by a number of economists in academic papers, in the popular press, and elsewhere. To substantiate our case, we cite some important economic benefits of New Deal-era laws in the two controversial policy areas noted above. In fact, we suggest that the New Deal provided effective medicine for the Depression, though fiscal policy was not sufficiently countercyclical to conquer mass unemployment and prevent the recession of 1937-38; 1933's National Industrial Recovery Act was badly flawed and poorly administered, and the help provided by the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 came too late to have a big effect on the recovery

Composing first species counterpoint with a variable neighbourhood search algorithm

In this article, a variable neighbourhood search (VNS) algorithm is developed that can generate musical fragments consisting of a melody for the cantus firmus and the first species counterpoint. The objective function of the algorithm is based on a quantification of existing rules for counterpoint. The VNS algorithm developed in this article is a local search algorithm that starts from a randomly generated melody and improves it by changing one or two notes at a time. A thorough parametric analysis of the VNS reveals the significance of the algorithm's parameters on the quality of the composed fragment, as well as their optimal settings. A comparison of the VNS algorithm with a developed genetic algorithm shows that the VNS is more efficient. The VNS algorithm has been implemented in a user-friendly software environment for composition, called Optimuse. Optimuse allows a user to specify a number of characteristics such as length, key and mode. Based on this information, Optimuse 'composes' both cantus firmus and first species counterpoint. Alternatively, the user may specify a cantus firmus, and let Optimuse compose the accompanying first species counterpoint. © 2012 Taylor & Francis

Comparing introductory course planning among full-time and part-time faculty

Using data from a nationally representative survey of faculty teaching introductory college courses, this exploratory study compares course planning procedures of full-time and part-time faculty teaching courses in eight academic fields. The choice of variables examined was guided by a general model of course design developed from earlier studies of course planning. To control for discipline-related differences in faculty planning assumptions, separate analyses were conducted for the eight fields. No key differences were found between full-time and part-time faculty on the primary factors under investigation: substantive content-related influences on courses, strength of influence within the instructional environment, and planning steps and content arrangements faculty preferred.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43604/1/11162_2004_Article_BF00992618.pd