Imperfect Match: PDDL 2.1 and Real Applications

PDDL was originally conceived and constructed as a lingua franca for the International Planning Competition. PDDL2.1 embodies a set of extensions intended to support the expression of something closer to real planning problems. This objective has only been partially achieved, due in large part to a deliberate focus on not moving too far from classical planning models and solution methods

Extreme managers, extreme workplaces: capitalism, organizations and corporate psychopaths

This paper reports on in-depth, qualitative research carried out in England in 2013 among five organizational directors and two senior managers who had worked with other senior directors or managers who were Corporate Psychopaths, as measured by a management psychopathy measure. The Corporate Psychopaths reported on in this research displayed remarkable consistency in their approach to management to the extent that they could be called “text book examples” of managerial psychopathy. They were seen as being organizational stars and as deserving of performance awards by those above them, while the Corporate Psychopaths simultaneously subjected those below them to extreme forms of behavior, including bullying, intimidation and coercion and also engaged in extreme forms of mismanagement; such as very poor levels of personnel management, directionless leadership, miss-management of resources and outright fraud

Sex-Related Differences in the Association of Fundamental Movement Skills and Health and Behavioral Outcomes in Children

This study aimed to assess whether sex moderates the association of fundamental movement skills (FMS) and health and behavioral outcomes. In 170 children (10.6 ± 0.3 years; 98 girls), path-analysis was used to assess the associations of FMS (Get Skilled, Get Active) with perceived sports competence (Children and Youth - Physical Self-Perception Profile), time spent in vigorous-intensity physical activity (VPA), sedentary time and body mass index (BMI) z-score. For boys, object control skill competence had a direct association with perceived sports competence (β = 0.39; 95% CI: 0.21 to 0.57) and an indirect association with sedentary time, through perceived sports competence (β = -0.19; 95% CI: -0.09 to -0.32). No significant association was observed between FMS and perceived sports competence for girls, although locomotor skills were found to predict VPA (β = 0.18; 95% CI: 0.08 to 0.27). Perceived sports competence was associated with sedentary time, with this stronger for boys (β = -0.48; 95% CI: -0.64 to -0.31), than girls (β = -0.29; 95% CI: -0.39 to -0.19). The study supports a holistic approach to health-related interventions and highlights a key association of perceived sports competence and the time children spend sedentary

'A light in a very dark place' : The role of a voluntary organisation providing support for those affected by encephalitis

Voluntary organisations are seen as contributing to the ‘democratisation’ of health and social care. Little, however, is written about their role and this paper, by focusing on the work of The Encephalitis Society, provides insights into the challenges facing voluntary organisations as they manage twin roles as service providers and advocates, of people with neurological disorders. Two studies are presented: a review conducted by the Society, focusing on patient’s experiences of neurological services; and an external evaluation of the Society’s current provision. The first, based on a postal survey of its members affected by encephalitis (n = 339), illustrates the Society’s advocacy role. The survey provided support for the Association of British Neurologists’ recommendation for nationally agreed standards of care. The second study, a postal survey of recent contacts (n = 76) and in-depth telephone interviews (n = 22), illustrates the Society’s value role as a service provider and supports its role in helping rehabilitate affected individuals and their families. These studies provided the Society with information for policy and service development. Importantly, providing the basis of informed action and partnership with stakeholders and informing the organisation’s sense of purpose, in the changing context of welfare provision in the UK

The Birmingham Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) project : developments towards selective internal particle therapy

This paper will review progress on two aspects of the Birmingham BNCT project. Firstly on evaluation of the effects of high and low LET radiations when delivered simultaneously, and secondly on attempts to optimise delivery of the boron carrier compound BPA through pharmacokinetic studies. Simultaneous or non-simultaneous irradiations of V79 cells with alpha-particle and X-ray irradiations were performed. Alpha doses of 2 and 2.5 Gy were chosen and the impact on survival when delivered separately or simultaneously with variable doses of X-rays was evaluated. The pharmacokinetics of the delivery of a new formulation of BPA (BPA-mannitol) are being investigated in brain tumour patients through a study with 2 × 2 design featuring intravenous and intracarotid artery infusion of BPA, with or without a mannitol bolus. On the combined effect of low and high LET radiations, a synergistic effect was observed when alpha and X-ray doses are delivered simultaneously. The effect is only present at the 2.5 Gy alpha dose and is a very substantial effect on both the shape of the survival curve and the level of cell killing. This indicates that the alpha component may have the effect of inhibiting the repair of damage from the low LET radiation dose delivered simultaneously. On the pharmacokinetics of BPA, data on the first three cohorts indicate that bioavailability of BPA in brain ECF is increased substantially through the addition of a mannitol bolus, as well as by the use of intracarotid artery route of infusion. In both cases, for some patients the levels after infusion approach those seen in blood, whereas the ECF levels for intravenous infusion without mannitol are typically less than 10% of the blood values

Psychopathic leadership a case study of a corporate psychopath CEO

This longitudinal case study reports on a charity in the UK which gained a new CEO who was reported by two middle managers who worked in the charity, to embody (respectively) all or most of the ten characteristics within a measure of corporate psychopathy. The leadership of this CEO with a high corporate psychopathy score was reported to be so poor that the organisation was described as being one without leadership and as a lost organisation with no direction. This paper outlines the resultant characteristics of the ensuing aimlessness and lack of drive of the organisation involved. Comparisons are made to a previous CEO in the same organisation, who was reportedly an authentic, effective and transformational leader. Outcomes under the CEO with a high corporate psychopathy score were related to bullying, staff withdrawal and turnover as effective employees stayed away from and/or left the organisation. Outcomes also included a marked organisational decline in terms of revenue, employee commitment, creativity and organisational innovativeness. The paper makes a contribution to both leadership and to corporate psychopathy research as it appears to be the first reported study of a CEO with a high corporate psychopathy score

Troubling meanings of "family" for young people who have been in care: from policy to lived experience

This article seeks to trouble the concept of “family” for young people who have been in out-of-home care, by reflecting on the continuing significance (and troubles) of family relationships beyond childhood. The analysis draws on two cross-national studies in Europe: Beyond Contact, which examined policies and systems for work with families of children in care, and Against All Odds?, a qualitative longitudinal study of young adults who have been in care. Policy discourses that reify and instrumentalize the concept of family—for example, through the language of “contact,” “reunification,” and “permanence”—neglect the complex temporality of “family” for young people who have been in care, negotiated and practiced across time and in multiple (and changing) care contexts, and forming part of complex, dynamic and relational identities, and understandings of “belonging” for young adults who have been in care

A song and dance: branded entertainment and mobile promotion

This article considers the rise of branded entertainment within the contemporary marketing and media environment. Specifically, it examines how mobile phone marketing in the UK has sought to engage consumers and perform the social use of mobile technology through multimedia ad campaigns with an inscribed entertainment value. Focusing on brand campaigns for 3G mobile services that borrow explicitly from reality television (T-Mobile) and Hollywood film (Orange), the article explores the concept of branded entertainment in relation to the ‘popular imagination’ of mobile communication in the late 2000s. In doing so, it examines the particular relation of flash mobs to the production of brand community

Service Excellence Library Project: Improving student and researcher access to teaching and learning resources

This paper describes a project aimed at making library book management processes more efficient in terms of time and staff resources. The ultimate aim was to improve access to a university library’s teaching and learning resources for students and academics alike while maintaining the high levels of library service already established. The paper describes how the Lean Six Sigma approach to process improvement was applied at the main library of a major Australian research university, a large library of over two million items. Advocates of the Lean Six Sigma approach to process reengineering have wondered whether it is applicable to the complex educational sector or whether it would be feasible to implement the approach in the sector. The success of this first completed Lean Six Sigma project at a major Australian research university shows that Lean Six Sigma approaches to process improvement can work in a university setting, leading to lasting improvements in efficiency. This paper describes the research used to measure and analyse the pre-existing process used for library returns and demonstrates how a 52% reduction in the number of individual process steps involved was achieved. This means that library books and journals are now returned to shelves, on average, point eight (0.8) of a day earlier than they previously were. With a book cycle of about ten days, from initial lending to final return to shelves, this roughly equates to an eight percent improvement in the availability of these teaching and learning resources. It is interesting to speculate that to achieve the same eight percent increase in availability of resources through an acquisitions program would involve buying 160,000 extra copies of books and journal issues. At an average book cost of $30 each this would be a substantial total. A conclusion of this project is that applying a business oriented philosophy involving Lean Six Sigma techniques to a university is a viable and effective strategy to improve the pace and quality of efficiency improvements in such settings.Clive R. Boddy, Nicole Stones, Richard Clark, Simon Bodie, Mark Williams, John Williams & Susan Stuar