1,263 research outputs found
Stand-Down and Deliver: Pre-Sentence Reports, quality and the new culture of speed
This article considers the recent and rapid evolution of Pre-Sentence Reports in England and Wales, which has entailed changes in both the speed of production and the mode of delivery of reports prepared by probation teams. The article analyses the main drivers behind these changes before going on to consider the implications for how the quality of contemporary reports should be assessed. It argues for a reconsideration of quality in the PSR context: one which takes into account the structural and cultural changes that have impacted upon PSR production in recent years, is flexible enough to cope with the different forms (oral/written) that reports may take, and takes into account the needs and expectations of the key stakeholders involved in the production and use of reports. It concludes that, in the new court culture of speed, timeliness (as featured in current National Standards) is an important quality for PSRs, but as a sole measure of quality it leaves a great deal to be desired
Probation practice in a velvet cage? Specialist court work after probation privatisation in England and Wales
This article presents findings of a study of pre-sentence probation work in Magistrates’ courts in England & Wales in the wake of a process of partial privatisation of probation services in that jurisdiction. Specifically it addresses the subjective experiences of probation workers in two court teams and seeks to make sense of the finding that, despite clear evidence of a process of McDonaldization in the court setting, probation practitioners in this study experienced their work in terms that were largely positive. Using a Weberian analytical framework, it is argued that this finding can only be fully understood with reference to the recent history of unprecedented rupture in the probation arena, and to a generalised perception of the court team as a ‘place of safety’ in an otherwise hostile and turbulent field. Thus, whilst confined in Weber’s metaphorical cage, practitioners experienced this less as a cage of iron than of rubber and velvet
Transforming probation services in Magistrates' courts
This article presents findings from an exploratory study of court work in two English Magistrates’ courts which was conducted in 2017. The study involved two principal research methods: observation of the daily activities of court team members and semi-structured interviews with 21 members of the two teams, which took place towards the end of the research. The aim of this article is to provide an insight into contemporary probation work in Magistrates’ courts, in the wake of two major reform programmes: Transforming Rehabilitation and Transforming Summary Justice. The findings of this study raise questions about the contemporary relevance of the ‘narrative of decline’ that has featured in previous research and commentary on court work, and further suggests that – whilst it is early days – the creation of specialist court teams has not inevitably led to the ‘incorporation’ of probation workers into the dominant court culture
Managing fisheries to conserve North Sea groundfish and benthic invertebrate species diversity
Concerns over man’s impact on the environment and ecosystems of the world have resulted in a shift in emphasis in the management of marine natural resources. Consequently, an ecosystem approach to management (EAM) is in the process of being developed and implemented for the North Se
Rainich theory for type D aligned Einstein-Maxwell solutions
The original Rainich theory for the non-null Einstein-Maxwell solutions
consists of a set of algebraic conditions and the Rainich (differential)
equation. We show here that the subclass of type D aligned solutions can be
characterized just by algebraic restrictions.Comment: 12 pages; v2: appendix with notatio
A Higher Dimensional Stationary Rotating Black Hole Must be Axisymmetric
A key result in the proof of black hole uniqueness in 4-dimensions is that a
stationary black hole that is ``rotating''--i.e., is such that the stationary
Killing field is not everywhere normal to the horizon--must be axisymmetric.
The proof of this result in 4-dimensions relies on the fact that the orbits of
the stationary Killing field on the horizon have the property that they must
return to the same null geodesic generator of the horizon after a certain
period, . This latter property follows, in turn, from the fact that the
cross-sections of the horizon are two-dimensional spheres. However, in
spacetimes of dimension greater than 4, it is no longer true that the orbits of
the stationary Killing field on the horizon must return to the same null
geodesic generator. In this paper, we prove that, nevertheless, a higher
dimensional stationary black hole that is rotating must be axisymmetric. No
assumptions are made concerning the topology of the horizon cross-sections
other than that they are compact. However, we assume that the horizon is
non-degenerate and, as in the 4-dimensional proof, that the spacetime is
analytic.Comment: 24 pages, no figures, v2: footnotes and references added, v3:
numerous minor revision
On the `Stationary Implies Axisymmetric' Theorem for Extremal Black Holes in Higher Dimensions
All known stationary black hole solutions in higher dimensions possess
additional rotational symmetries in addition to the stationary Killing field.
Also, for all known stationary solutions, the event horizon is a Killing
horizon, and the surface gravity is constant. In the case of non-degenerate
horizons (non-extremal black holes), a general theorem was previously
established [gr-qc/0605106] proving that these statements are in fact generally
true under the assumption that the spacetime is analytic, and that the metric
satisfies Einstein's equation. Here, we extend the analysis to the case of
degenerate (extremal) black holes. It is shown that the theorem still holds
true if the vector of angular velocities of the horizon satisfies a certain
"diophantine condition," which holds except for a set of measure zero.Comment: 30pp, Latex, no figure
A Numerical Treatment of the Rf SQUID: II. Noise Temperature
We investigate rf SQUIDs (Superconducting QUantum Interference Devices),
coupled to a resonant input circuit, a readout tank circuit and a preamplifier,
by numerically solving the corresponding Langevin equations and optimizing
model parameters with respect to noise temperature. We also give approximate
analytic solutions for the noise temperature, which we reduce to parameters of
the SQUID and the tank circuit in the absence of the input circuit. The
analytic solutions agree with numerical simulations of the full circuit to
within 10%, and are similar to expressions used to calculate the noise
temperature of dc SQUIDs. The best device performance is obtained when
\beta_L'\equiv 2\pi L I_0\Phi_0 is 0.6 - 0.8; L is the SQUID inductance, I_0
the junction critical current and \Phi_0 the flux quantum. For a tuned input
circuit we find an optimal noise temperature T_{N,opt}\approx 3Tf/f_c, where T,
f and f_c denote temperature, signal frequency and junction characteristic
frequency, respectively. This value is only a factor of 2 larger than the
optimal noise temperatures obtained by approximate analytic theories carried
out previously in the limit \beta_L'<<1. We study the dependence of the noise
temperature on various model parameters, and give examples using realistic
device parameters of the extent to which the intrinsic noise temperature can be
realized experimentally.Comment: submitted to J. Low Temp. Phy
Radio Observations of the January 20, 2005 X-Class Event
We present a multi-frequency and multi-instrument study of the 20 January
2005 event. We focus mainly on the complex radio signatures and their
association with the active phenomena taking place: flares, CMEs, particle
acceleration and magnetic restructuring. As a variety of energetic particle
accelerators and sources of radio bursts are present, in the flare-ejecta
combination, we investigate their relative importance in the progress of this
event. The dynamic spectra of {Artemis-IV-Wind/Waves-Hiras with 2000 MHz-20 kHz
frequency coverage, were used to track the evolution of the event from the low
corona to the interplanetary space; these were supplemented with SXR, HXR and
gamma-ray recordings. The observations were compared with the expected radio
signatures and energetic-particle populations envisaged by the {Standard
Flare--CME model and the reconnection outflow termination shock model. A proper
combination of these mechanisms seems to provide an adequate model for the
interpretation of the observational data.Comment: Accepted for publication in Solar Physic
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