The online multi-agency support barometer

This report presents the findings of a small feasibility study which sought to investigate the use of an online risk management Barometer. The barometer was developed with a view to helping multiple agencies communicate about vulnerable and 'at risk' patients within mental health settings.The Barometer is an online tool which allows staff from multiple agencies to access and share information with other staff if a patient is at risk.The key aims and objectives of this small research project were i) to evaluating how professionals felt about their current risk assessment tools, ii) to assess the ease of use and the relevance of questions within the Barometer tool and iii) to discuss some potential modifications/problem areas of incorporating the Barometer tool within mental health services and across a multi-disciplinary perspective.The research was conducted in three mental services within the South Essex Partnership Trust (2 x CAMHS and 2 x Adult Services) using a mixed-methods approach

Modelling and Refinement in CODA

This paper provides an overview of the CODA framework for modelling and refinement of component-based embedded systems. CODA is an extension of Event-B and UML-B and is supported by a plug-in for the Rodin toolset. CODA augments Event-B with constructs for component-based modelling including components, communications ports, port connectors, timed communications and timing triggers. Component behaviour is specified through a combination of UML-B state machines and Event-B. CODA communications and timing are given an Event-B semantics through translation rules. Refinement is based on Event-B refinement and allows layered construction of CODA models in a consistent way.Comment: In Proceedings Refine 2013, arXiv:1305.563

Staying on, and coming off, antidepressants: the experiences of 752 UKadults.

Introduction. Prescription rates for antidepressants (ADs) are high and continue to increase, despite evidence of significant adverse effects, including withdrawal symptoms, and marginal benefit relative to placebo only for short-term treatment of major depression. Such high rates seem to be explicable more in terms of long term usage and repeat prescribing rather than by increases in depression or new patients. Method. This paper reports the responses of a convenience sample of 752 people who had taken antidepressants, but no other psychiatric drugs, ‘within the last two years’ and completed the Medications for Mental Health Survey online in the UK. Results. Most participants had either come off antidepressants (34%) or had tried and failed (36%). Of those still taking them 76% had been doing so for at least a year and 36% for five years or more. 26% expected to take them forever. About half (48%) did not have their drugs reviewed at least every three months. Most (65%) had never had a discussion with the prescriber about coming off. Nearly half (45%) of those who had stopped the drugs had done so without consulting their doctor. However, of those who came off after consulting their doctor, the majority (65%) experienced the doctor to be supportive. Conclusions. The findings are consistent with the idea that high rates are largely explicable by chronic usage, which in turn is partially explained by withdrawal symptoms. Prescribers should strive to establish collaborative relationships in which patients are fully informed about withdrawal effects and their views, about starting and finishing medication, should be explored and valued

Exploring the Influence of Identifier Names on Code Quality: An empirical study

Given the importance of identifier names and the value of naming conventions to program comprehension, we speculated in previous work whether a connection exists between the quality of identifier names and software quality. We found that flawed identifiers in Java classes were associated with source code found to be of low quality by static analysis. This paper extends that work in three directions. First, we show that the association also holds at the finer granularity level of Java methods. This in turn makes it possible to, secondly, apply existing method-level quality and readability metrics, and see that flawed identifiers still impact on this richer notion of code quality and comprehension. Third, we check whether the association can be used in a practical way. We adopt techniques used to evaluate medical diagnostic tests in order to identify which particular identifier naming flaws could be used as a light-weight diagnostic of potentially problematic Java source code for maintenance

Life-History Evolution in Guppies. VII. The Comparative Ecology of High- and Low-Predation Environments

Prior research has demonstrated a strong association between the species of predators that co-occur with guppies and the evolution of guppy life histories. The evolution of these differences in life histories has been attributed to the higher mortality rates experienced by guppies in high-predation environments. Here, we evaluate whether there might be indirect effects of predation on the evolution of life-history patterns and whether there are environmental differences that are correlated with predation. To do so, we quantified features of the physical and chemical environment and the population biology of guppies from seven high-and low-predation localities. We found that high-predation environments tend to be larger streams with higher light levels and higher primary productivity, which should enhance food availability for guppies. We also found that guppy populations from high-predation environments have many more small individuals and fewer large individuals than those from low-predation environments, which is caused by their higher birth rates and death rates. Because of these differences in size distribution, guppies from high-predation environments have only one-fourth of the biomass per unit area, which should also enhance food availability for guppies in these localities. Guppies from high-predation sites allocate more resources to reproduction, grow faster, and attain larger asymptotic sizes, all of which are consistent with higher levels of resource availability. We conclude that guppies from high-predation environments experience higher levels of resource availability in part because of correlated differences in the environment (light levels, primary productivity) and in part as an indirect consequence of predation (death rates and biomass density). These differences in resource availability can, in turn, augment the effect of predator-induced mortality as factors that shape the evolution of guppy life-history patterns. We found no differences in the invertebrate communities from high- and low-predation localities, so we conclude that there do not appear to be multitrophic, indirect effects associated with these differences in predation

Mining Java Class Naming Conventions

Class names represent the concepts implemented in object-oriented source code and are key elements in program comprehension and, thus, software maintenance. Programming conventions often state that class names should be noun-phrases, but there is little further guidance for developers on the composition of class names. Other researchers have observed that the majority of Java class identifier names are composed of one or more nouns preceded, optionally, by one or more adjectives. However, no detailed analysis of class identifier name structure has been undertaken that could be leveraged to support program comprehension activities. We investigate the lexical and syntactic composition of Java class identifier names in two ways. Firstly, as others have done for C function and Java method names, we identify conventional patterns found in the use of parts of speech. Secondly, we identify the origin of words used in class names within the name of any super class and implemented interfaces to identify patterns of class name construction related to inheritance. Through the analysis of 120,000 unique class names found in 60 open source projects we identify both common and project specific class naming conventions. We apply this knowledge in a case study of the mind-mapping tool Freemind to investigate whether class names that follow unconventional naming schemes are candidates for refactoring – either a name refactoring that conforms to established naming conventions within the code base, or refactoring of the class that results in conventionally named classes

Relating identifier naming flaws and code quality: An empirical study

Studies have demonstrated the importance of good identifier names to program comprehension. It is unclear, however, whether poor naming has other effects that might impact maintenance effort, e.g. on code quality. We evaluated the quality of identifier names in 8 established open source Java applications libraries, using a set of 12 identifier naming guidelines. We found statistically significant associations between flawed identifiers (i.e. violating at least one guideline) and code quality issues reported by FindBugs, a static analysis tool

The Analyst of Manners, Money and Masks. August Lewald in the Vormärz

Abstract Writers of the 1830s and 1840s sought to interpret their changing society in an explosion of new forms, developing an all-inclusive aesthetic that saw writing as a direct expression of individual experience, without boundary between life and page and without hierarchy of genre or subject matter. Analyses of social types and behaviour proliferated in which two current preoccupations stood out: the materialist motivation of an industrialising society with an expanding middle class, and the degree of theatricality involved in manoevring for a place in that society. Often groundbreaking, the analyses of August Lewald (1792–1871) were informed by his broad experience which included commerce and the theatre, and for which he was renowned. Contemporary reviews acknowledge the innovativeness of his writing and his sure eye for key issues of the day. In the new conditions after 1848, however, his popularity soon vanished, and he has been largely overlooked since then. My thesis aims to demonstrate that such a strong representative of the period in both his life and works calls for reinstatement as significant writer and personality. Three of Lewald’s works have been selected to support this aim. After an Introduction which tries to place Lewald within the experimental context of the Vormärz, Chapters 1–3 will offer a close reading of each work, contextualised by reference to other works, contemporary reviews, and biographical detail where it seems relevant. Sketches from Album aus Paris exemplify Lewald’s early and influential innovativeness in their humorous scrutiny of social behaviour through observation of its external manifestations, in the style of French Physiologies. Memoiren eines Banquiers exploits fictionalised life-writing as a cover behind which to confront controversial issues around money, Jewish emancipation and prejudice. Theater-Roman plays with the metaphor of society as theatre, conveying the ultimately futile illusoriness of contemporary society’s values, and foreshadowing Lewald’s own increasing rejection of his Vormärz life- and writing style after 1848. My Conclusion claims for Lewald’s life and writing individuality and originality as well as qualities that make him exemplary of his time. It proposes, as a project among other topics for further research, that a new edition of his sketches in particular, enjoyable in their own right, would be a valuable contribution to knowledge of the Vormärz period

Do deliberate firesetters hold fire-related scripts and expertise? A quantitative investigation using fire service personnel as comparisons

Purpose: This research investigated, for the first time, the presence of fire-related scripts and expertise in males who have set deliberate fires. Method: One hundred and twenty-seven participants (34 firesetters, 34 offender comparisons, 34 fire service personnel, and 25 community comparisons) were asked to solve problem scenarios (e.g. destroying evidence) using fire. These scenarios were designed to tap into fire-related scripts and expertise. Other known fire-related variables (e.g. serious fire interest) were also examined using the Four Fire Factor Scales (Ó Ciardha, C., Tyler, N., & Gannon, T. A. (2016). A Practical guide to assessing adult firesetters’ fire specific Treatment Needs using the four Factor fire Scales. Psychiatry: Interpersonal and Biological Processes, 78(4), 293–304). Results: Firesetters held more scripts and were more expert in firesetting relative to Offender and Community Comparisons. However, firesetters’ responses could not be differentiated from Fire Service Personnel. A multiple regression showed that identification with fire was an important predictor of firesetting scripts, and both identification with fire and serious fire interest uniquely predicted firesetting expertise. Conclusions: This study has empirically demonstrated for the first time that firesetters hold fire supportive scripts and expertise in fire misuse. Furthermore, the inclusion of Fire Service Personnel demonstrated that both those who misuse fire and those who interact with it pro-socially exhibit cognitive and behavioural characteristics associated with the presence of fire-related scripts and expertise