Voting and the Cardinal Aggregation of Judgments

The paper elaborates the idea that voting is an instance of the aggregation of judgments, this being a more general concept than the aggregation of preferences. To aggregate judgments one must first measure them. I show that such aggregation has been unproblematic whenever it has been based on an independent and unrestricted scale. The scales analyzed in voting theory are either context dependent or subject to unreasonable restrictions. This is the real source of the diverse 'paradoxes of voting' that would better be termed 'voting pathologies'. The theory leads me to advocate what I term evaluative voting. It can also be called utilitarian voting as it is based on having voters express their cardinal preferences. The alternative that maximizes the sum wins. This proposal operationalizes, in an election context, the abstract cardinal theories of collective choice due to Fleming and Harsanyi. On pragmatic grounds, I argue for a three valued scale for general elections

Irrigated greywater in an urban sub-division as a potential source of metals to soil, groundwater and surface water

Increased water demands in dry countries such as Australia, have led to increased adoption of various water reuse practices. Irrigation of greywater (all water discharged from the bathrooms, laundry and kitchen apart from toilet waste) is seen as a potential means of easing water demands; however, there is limited knowledge of how greywater irrigation impacts terrestrial and aquatic environments. This study compared four greywater irrigated residential lots to adjacent non-irrigated lots that acted as controls. Accumulation and potential impacts of metals in soil, groundwater and surface water, as a result of greywater irrigation, were assessed by comparing measured concentrations to national and international guidelines. Greywater increased concentrations of some metals in irrigated soil and resulted in As, B, Cr and Cu exceeding guidelines after only four years of irrigation. Movement of metals from the irrigation areas resulted in metal concentrations in groundwater (Al, As, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn) and surface water (Cu, Fe and Zn) exceeding environmental quality guidelines again within four years. These results are unlikely to be universally applicable but indicate the need to consider metals in greywater in order to minimize potential adverse environmental effects from greywater irrigation

Analysis of Total and Segmental Body Composition Relative to Fitness Performance Measures in Law Enforcement Recruits

International Journal of Exercise Science 15(4): 245-260, 2022. Law enforcement agencies often test the fitness performance and body composition of incoming recruits. This study investigated the relationships between whole and segmental body composition, and fitness tests in law enforcement recruits. A retrospective analysis of 72 male and 11 female recruits was performed. Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) variables were: lean mass (LM), upper-extremity lean mass (UELM), trunk LM, lower-extremity lean mass (LELM), fat mass (FM), upper-extremity fat mass (UEFM), trunk FM, and lower-extremity fat mass (LEFM). Fitness tests included: vertical jump (VJ), peak anaerobic power (PAPw), 75-yard pursuit run (75PR), push-ups, sit-ups, 2-kg medicine ball throw (MBT), and the multi-stage fitness test (MSFT). Partial correlations and ANCOVAs between quartiles assessed relationships between body composition and performance. Significant moderate-to-large relationships were found; LM, UELM, trunk LM, LELM all related to PAPw (r = 0.500-0.558) and MBT (r = 0.494-0.526). FM, UEFM, trunk FM, LEFM all related to VJ (r = -0.481 to -0.493), 75PR (r = 0.533-0.557), push-ups (r = -0.484 to -0.503), sit-ups (r = -0.435 to -0.449), and MSFT (r = -0.371 to -0.423). The highest LM quartile (4) had superior PAPw and MBT than LM quartiles 1-3. Higher FM quartiles performed poorer in VJ, push-ups, and sit-ups. The 75PR quartiles 2, 3, and 4 were slower than quartile 1, and MSFT quartile 4 completed less shuttles. Total and segmental measures of LM and FM shared the same relationships; lower FM and higher LM related to better performance. Monitoring body composition could help guide training to optimize performance

Deep learning cardiac motion analysis for human survival prediction

Motion analysis is used in computer vision to understand the behaviour of moving objects in sequences of images. Optimising the interpretation of dynamic biological systems requires accurate and precise motion tracking as well as efficient representations of high-dimensional motion trajectories so that these can be used for prediction tasks. Here we use image sequences of the heart, acquired using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, to create time-resolved three-dimensional segmentations using a fully convolutional network trained on anatomical shape priors. This dense motion model formed the input to a supervised denoising autoencoder (4Dsurvival), which is a hybrid network consisting of an autoencoder that learns a task-specific latent code representation trained on observed outcome data, yielding a latent representation optimised for survival prediction. To handle right-censored survival outcomes, our network used a Cox partial likelihood loss function. In a study of 302 patients the predictive accuracy (quantified by Harrell's C-index) was significantly higher (p < .0001) for our model C=0.73 (95$\%$ CI: 0.68 - 0.78) than the human benchmark of C=0.59 (95$\%$ CI: 0.53 - 0.65). This work demonstrates how a complex computer vision task using high-dimensional medical image data can efficiently predict human survival

The information sources and journals consulted or read by UK paediatricians to inform their clinical practice and those which they consider important: a questionnaire survey

Background: Implementation of health research findings is important for medicine to be evidence-based. Previous studies have found variation in the information sources thought to be of greatest importance to clinicians but publication in peer-reviewed journals is the traditional route for dissemination of research findings. There is debate about whether the impact made on clinicians should be considered as part of the evaluation of research outputs. We aimed to determine first which information sources are generally most consulted by paediatricians to inform their clinical practice, and which sources they considered most important, and second, how many and which peer-reviewed journals they read. Methods: We enquired, by questionnaire survey, about the information sources and academic journals that UK medical paediatric specialists generally consulted, attended or read and considered important to their clinical practice. Results: The same three information sources – professional meetings & conferences, peerreviewed journals and medical colleagues – were, overall, the most consulted or attended and ranked the most important. No one information source was found to be of greatest importance to all groups of paediatricians. Journals were widely read by all groups, but the proportion ranking them first in importance as an information source ranged from 10% to 46%. The number of journals read varied between the groups, but Archives of Disease in Childhood and BMJ were the most read journals in all groups. Six out of the seven journals previously identified as containing best paediatric evidence are the most widely read overall by UK paediatricians, however, only the two most prominent are widely read by those based in the community. Conclusion: No one information source is dominant, therefore a variety of approaches to Continuing Professional Development and the dissemination of research findings to paediatricians should be used. Journals are an important information source. A small number of key ones can be identified and such analysis could provide valuable additional input into the evaluation of clinical research outputs

AT innovation ecosystem design – a kenyan case study

Innovations within the AT space frequently fail to get to market and therefore to the people who could benefit from the products. The Scoping Report which underpins the AT2030 programme identified the need to test and develop “what works” for AT innovation to ensure new products, services and approaches are able to scale and reach people, especially people living in low- and middle-income countries. This paper sets out the initial thinking for an East Africa Innovation Ecosystem. We present the emerging thinking from initial scoping exercises and product trials which have helped to shape the newly launched Innovate Now ecosystem. We outline the ecosystem including the core elements – the accelerator programmes and Live Labs. Live labs will allow for rapid innovation testing and user feedback. Thus, increasing user-involvement in the design and development process, and reducing the time to market. The Innovate Now ecosystem is growing and is being led by AMREF. Successful graduates of innovate Now will be connected into the Innovation Scale Fund which will be launched by AT2030 next year (2020)

A “Learning Revolution”? Investigating Pedagogic Practices around Interactive Whiteboards in British Primary Classrooms

Interactive whiteboards have been rapidly introduced into all primary schools under UK Government initiatives. These large, touch-sensitive screens, which control a computer connected to a digital projector, seem to be the first type of educational technology particularly suited for whole-class teaching and learning. Strong claims are made for their value by manufacturers and policy makers, but there has been little research on how, if at all, they influence established pedagogic practices, communicative processes and educational goals. This study has been designed to examine this issue, using observations in primary (elementary) school classrooms. It is funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council and builds on the authors’ previous research on ICT in educational dialogues and collaborative activities