A new methodology for complex societal problems

Questions on the theme which developments will be in Europe the next ten, thirty to fifty years can be considered as complex societal problems. These problems need an integral approach based on analysis of the temporary situation, with a reflection of the past and focusing on new developments, trends, political values and ideas. Analysing the situation in Europe should be done in accordance to a micro analysis of the states of Europe and a macro analyses of the world. Several issues like finance, economy, infrastructure, internet, environment, employment, knowledge, education, health care, technical developments etc. should be integrated with each other and should be analysed in relation to the legal and political ideas. Many actors with different power and emotions are involved. Analysing as well as predicting future developments should be done with several groups of people. A new methodology is developed that handles these kind of questions. The method support the analysis of the past, the temporary situation and the future, integrating the many different aspects. This new methodology, the method Compram (DeTombe, 1994), is based on the idea that handling complex societal problems is based on knowledge, power and emotion. The method handles these problems with a six step approach starting with analysing the situation with neutral experts from different fields, then analysing the same situation with the different actors, then together based on several scenario's trying to make a picture of future developments. In the paper the method will be described in relation to the questions of future development of Europe.

Structural changes of lumbar muscles in non-specific low back pain

Background: Lumbar muscle dysfunction due to pain might be related to altered lumbar muscle structure. Macroscopically, muscle degeneration in low back pain (LBP) is characterized by a decrease in cross-sectional area and an increase in fat infiltration in the lumbar paraspinal muscles. In addition microscopic changes, such as changes in fiber distribution, might occur. Inconsistencies in results from different studies make it difficult to draw firm conclusions on which structural changes are present in the different types of non-specific LBP. Insights regarding structural muscle alterations in LBP are, however, important for prevention and treatment of non-specific LBP. Objective: The goal of this article is to review which macro- and/or microscopic structural alterations of the lumbar muscles occur in case of non-specific chronic low back pain (CLBP), recurrent low back pain (RLBP), and acute low back pain (ALBP). Study Design: Systematic review. Setting: All selected studies were case-control studies. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted in the databases PubMed and Web of Science. Only full texts of original studies regarding structural alterations (atrophy, fat infiltration, and fiber type distribution) in lumbar muscles of patients with non-specific LBP compared to healthy controls were included. All included articles were scored on methodological quality. Results: Fifteen studies were found eligible after screening title, abstract, and full text for inclusion and exclusion criteria. In CLBP, moderate evidence of atrophy was found in the multifidus; whereas, results in the paraspinal and the erector spinae muscle remain inconclusive. Also moderate evidence occurred in RLBP and ALBP, where no atrophy was shown in any lumbar muscle. Conflicting results were seen in undefined LBP groups. Results concerning fat infiltration were inconsistent in CLBP. On the other hand, there is moderate evidence in RLBP that fat infiltration does not occur, although a larger muscle fat index was found in the erector spinae, multifidus, and paraspinal muscles, reflecting an increased relative amount of intramuscular lipids in RLBP. However, no studies were found investigating fat infiltration in ALBP. Restricted evidence indicates no abnormalities in fiber type in the paraspinal muscles in CLBP. No studies have examined fiber type in ALBP and RLBP. Limitations: Lack of clarity concerning patient definitions, exact LBP symptoms, and applied methods. Conclusions: The results indicate atrophy in CLBP in the multifidus and paraspinal muscles but not in the erector spinae. No atrophy was shown in RLBP and ALBP. Fat infiltration did not occur in RLBP, but results in CLBP were inconsistent. No abnormalities in fiber type in the paraspinal muscles were found in CLBP

Barriers to participation in vocational orientation programmes among prisoners

This study investigates the barriers to prisoners’ participation in vocational education, as well as the predictors of different types of barriers. Survey data derived from a project in a remand prison in Belgium (N=468) provided the empirical evidence for the analyses. The results indicate that facing situational and informational barriers are most common. Based on the different kinds of barriers, various types of non-participants can be distinguished and multinomial logistic regression analyses are conducted to identify in what way participants of vocational education differ from various types of non-participants. For instance, prisoners with a poor understanding of the Dutch language and those who never/rarely receive visitors participate less in vocational education as they are more likely to be confronted with informational barriers. We conclude this article by discussing paths for future research and implications for policy and practice to anticipate the barriers for those who want to participate in vocational education

MorpheuS: Automatic music generation with recurrent pattern constraints and tension profiles

Generating music with long-term structure is one of the main challenges in the field of automatic composition. This article describes MorpheuS, a music generation system. MorpheuS uses state-of-the-art pattern detection techniques to find repeated patterns in a template piece. These patterns are then used to constrain the generation process for a new polyphonic composition. The music generation process is guided by an efficient optimization algorithm, variable neighborhood search, which uses a mathematical model of tonal tension to derive its objective function. The ability to generate music according to a tension profile could be useful in a game or film music context. Pieces generated by MorpheuS have been performed in live concerts.This project is funded in part by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 658914