Managed Computer System Conceptualization: Knowing When to Say No

Computer systems in human services are often abandoned after significant investments have already been made. A case study of preventing the utilization of a wrong computer system for a child development center illustrates how managed system conceptualization minimized damage. Critical consciousness and adherence to specific computer implementation technology created an environment which supported recurrent system efficacy evaluation. When the system, as initially conceptualized, could not meet practitioners\u27 needs, early project abandonment was achieved. Some considerations for successful system development in human service are presented

Reviews

Cairns CRAIG, Out of histor

Getting it All in the Right Order: the Love Plot, Trauma and Ethical Uncertainty in Rachel Seiffert’s Afterwards

This article analyzes Seiffert’s Afterwards (2007), which, in marked contrast to her debut publication, The Dark Room (2001), has received scarce critical attention. Set in anodyne suburbia, Afterwards narrates the fate of two unglamorous ex-combatants and their trauma. Seiffert’s complex narrative binds together romance and PTSD in a double plot that intertwines the fate of a “squaddy” involved in a shooting incident in the Northern Ireland Troubles with that of a former RAF officer stationed in colonial Kenya. This article argues that beyond subjective issues of judgment, Seiffert shows an awareness that modern romance cannot combine with trauma, as the idea of healing is nonsensical in a world ruled by ethical uncertainty. Furthermore, Seiffert’s examination of trauma indicates that in fiction –as in life– author and reader have to confront questions of guilt, responsibility and the absence of forgiveness. Seiffert, drawing on ideas similar to Primo Levi’s, concludes the novel with the tragic irony that the more humane the perpetrator, the more distant closure becomes, leaving her main character locked in trauma and the reader ensnared in uncertainty

Strange, Stranger and Estrangement

Much Romantic-era fiction is based on the trope of strangeness and familiarity. The Waverley-like wanderer is thrown into confusion when he encounters the exotic flora and fauna that thrive on the periphery of his united kingdom. However, less well-known – but deserving equal attention – is the strategy of other writers of the period who adopt and reverse the trope in a remarkable way. Not only do they explore the nature of northern Britain, but also process the narrator’s reactions in order ..

Strange, Stranger and Estrangement

Much Romantic-era fiction is based on the trope of strangeness and familiarity. The Waverley-like wanderer is thrown into confusion when he encounters the exotic flora and fauna that thrive on the periphery of his united kingdom. However, less well-known – but deserving equal attention – is the strategy of other writers of the period who adopt and reverse the trope in a remarkable way. Not only do they explore the nature of northern Britain, but also process the narrator’s reactions in order ..

Changing Places with What Goes Before: The Po¬ etry of Kathleen Jamie

Jon Coreli’s essay “From Scotland to Suburbia: A Landscape of Current British Poetry,” published in Chapman (1997) concluded that “today’s best British Poetry [...] is associated with Scotland [...] The work of these Scottish poets exemplifies many of the qualities which I personally find most appealing in poetry: a diction which is both naturally colloquial and deliberately poetic, the ability to express intense emotion with unapologetic directness [...]” is well justified by the work of Kathleen Jamie, who will be the centre of attention of this article. My starting point will be her evocative poem “Mr and Mrs Scotland are Dead,” an obituary-cum-requiem for a real but simultaneously representative couple, identifiable as working-class Scots, with a clear sense of values as concerns their class, gender role and national identity. Because modernity has erased or partially obscured these parameters, much contemporary poetry either looks backward to when Mr and Mrs Scotland were alive, or tries to come to terms with a new set of defining concepts. I will also lean heavily on Kathleen Jamie’s travel writing, and in particular The Golden Peak: Travels in Northern Pakistan (1992)

A framework for experimental determination of localised vertical pedestrian forces on full-scale structures using wireless attitude and heading reference systems

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.A major weakness among loading models for pedestrians walking on flexible structures proposed in recent years is the various uncorroborated assumptions made in their development. This applies to spatio- temporal characteristics of pedestrian loading and the nature of multi-object interactions. To alleviate this problem, a framework for the determination of localised pedestrian forces on full-scale structures is presented using a wireless attitude and heading reference systems (AHRS). An AHRS comprises a triad of tri-axial accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers managed by a dedicated data processing unit, allowing motion in three-dimensional space to be reconstructed. A pedestrian loading model based on a single point inertial measurement from an AHRS is derived and shown to perform well against benchmark data collected on an instrumented treadmill. Unlike other models, the current model does not take any predefined form nor does it require any extrapolations as to the timing and amplitude of pedestrian loading. In order to assess correctly the influence of the moving pedestrian on behaviour of a structure, an algorithm for tracking the point of application of pedestrian force is developed based on data from a single AHRS attached to a foot. A set of controlled walking tests with a single pedestrian is conducted on a real footbridge for validation purposes. A remarkably good match between the measured and simulated bridge response is found, indeed confirming applicability of the proposed framework.The research presented here was funded by EPSRC (grant EP/I029567/2). Authors thank Devon County Council for permitting the experimental campaign to be conducted on Baker Bridge in Exeter, UK, and Dr Erfan Shahabpour (supported by EPSRC grant EP/K03877X/1) for providing access to and assisting with measurements on the ADAL-3D treadmill at the University of Sheffield (funded by EPSRC grant EP/E018734/1)

A framework for experimental determination of localised vertical pedestrian forces on full-scale structures using wireless attitude and heading reference systems

A major weakness among loading models for pedestrians walking on flexible structures proposed in recent years is the various uncorroborated assumptions made in their development. This applies to spatio-temporal characteristics of pedestrian loading and the nature of multi-object interactions. To alleviate this problem, a framework for the determination of localised pedestrian forces on full-scale structures is presented using a wireless attitude and heading reference systems (AHRS). An AHRS comprises a triad of tri-axial accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers managed by a dedicated data processing unit, allowing motion in three-dimensional space to be reconstructed. A pedestrian loading model based on a single point inertial measurement from an AHRS is derived and shown to perform well against benchmark data collected on an instrumented treadmill. Unlike other models, the current model does not take any predefined form nor does it require any extrapolations as to the timing and amplitude of pedestrian loading. In order to assess correctly the influence of the moving pedestrian on behaviour of a structure, an algorithm for tracking the point of application of pedestrian force is developed based on data from a single AHRS attached to a foot. A set of controlled walking tests with a single pedestrian is conducted on a real footbridge for validation purposes. A remarkably good match between the measured and simulated bridge response is found, indeed confirming applicability of the proposed framework