A novel idea... reading groups as community outreach

Jenny Townend and Fiona MacLellan describe a University of Northampton project which has set up reading groups in local community groups to raise literacy levels and aspirations, and to nurture a passion for readin

Interface refactoring in performance-constrained web services

This paper presents the development of REF-WS an approach to enable a Web Service provider to reliably evolve their service through the application of refactoring transformations. REF-WS is intended to aid service providers, particularly in a reliability and performance constrained domain as it permits upgraded ’non-backwards compatible’ services to be deployed into a performance constrained network where existing consumers depend on an older version of the service interface. In order for this to be successful, the refactoring and message mediation needs to occur without affecting functional compatibility with the services’ consumers, and must operate within the performance overhead expected of the original service, introducing as little latency as possible. Furthermore, compared to a manually programmed solution, the presented approach enables the service developer to apply and parameterize refactorings with a level of confidence that they will not produce an invalid or ’corrupt’ transformation of messages. This is achieved through the use of preconditions for the defined refactorings

A confluence of new technology and the right to water: Experience and potential from South Africa's constitution and commons

South Africa's groundbreaking constitution explicitly confers a right of access to sufficient water (section 27). But the country is officially 'water-stressed' and around 10 % of the population still has no access to on-site or off-site piped or tap water. It is evident that a disconnect exists between this right and the reality for many; however the reasons for the continuation of such discrepancies are not always clear. While barriers to sufficient water are myriad, one significant factor contributing to insufficient and unpredictable access to water is the high percentage of broken water pumps. Previous studies have reported that between 20 and 50 % of all hand operated water pumps installed on the African continent are broken, or out of use. Monitoring and maintenance of pumps, which in South Africa is the responsibility of local municipalities is often ineffective, in part due to the distances between municipal centres and rural communities and the consequent costs of site visits, as well as breakdowns within the local bureaucratic system. The emergence of new telemetry tools that can remotely monitor water applications constitutes a novel and cost-efficient alternative to undertaking regular sites visits. Sustainable, appropriate, low-cost telemetry systems are emerging that could be used to monitor the operational performance of water pumps, or a wide range of other field parameters, and to communicate this information swiftly and cheaply to water service providers, using SMS messages. Data on the performance of water pumps could also be made available to the public online. This is an example of how ICT can be used for water resources management and environmental regulation, as well as in the governance of socio-economic rights: helping to optimize water allocation by improving communication and strengthening accountability. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

Data protection and the ‘right to be forgotten’ in practice: a UK perspective

We are in an uncertain and complex period for data protection and privacy in Europe, and especially so in the UK, following the result of the ‘Brexit’ referendum on 23 June 2016. Information law, and data protection in particular, are of increasing concern for those in the business of knowledge sharing and information dissemination: media organisations, academic institutions and libraries. The notion of the ‘right to be forgotten’ is particularly troublesome, as lawyers, archivists, historians and philosophers grapple with the theoretical and practical implications. This paper discusses a selection of recent European and British policy and legal developments, and discuss how they are changing social practice and citizens’ engagement with information rights

Launch of new survey on the legal experiences and views of journalists and online publishers

Most claims against journalists and bloggers are resolved out of court. As a result, there is very little written law to help guide these authors in their publishing and arbitration practices. A new survey for journalists and bloggers conducted by Judith Townend of the Centre for Law, Justice & Journalism aims to collect information about their out of court experiences and their views on libel and privacy law

Freedom of expression and the chilling effect

No description supplie

Online chilling effects in England and Wales

Open and free internet-based platforms are seen as an enabler of global free expression, releasing writers from commercial and space constraints. However, many are working without the assistance of an in-house lawyer, or other legal resources. This may lead to undue suppression of public interest material, with important implications for freedom of expression and the democratic function of media. Two online surveys among digital and online journalists in England and Wales in 2013 indicated that the majority of encounters with defamation and privacy law take place outside the courts, with few formally recorded legal actions. This was particularly evident in a sample of ‘hyperlocal’ and local community publishers. In light of the results, this paper calls for a reappraisal of overly simplistic judicial and media applications of the ‘chilling effect’ doctrine, in order to expose its subjectivities and complexities. Additionally, attention needs to be paid to global and cross-jurisdictional media-legal environments, in order to help develop better internet policy and legal frameworks for protecting legitimate expression

Seismic response to evolving injection at the Rotokawa geothermal field, New Zealand

Catalogs of microseismicity are routinely compiled at geothermal reservoirs and provide valuable insights into reservoir structure and fluid movement. Hypocentral locations are typically used to infer the orientations of structures and constrain the extent of the permeable reservoir. However, frequency-magnitude distributions may contain additional, and underused, information about the distribution of pressure. Here, we present a four-year catalog of seismicity for the Rotokawa geothermal field in the central Taupō Volcanic Zone, New Zealand starting two years after the commissioning of the 140 MWe Nga Awa Purua power station. Using waveform-correlation-based signal detection we double the size of the previous earthquake catalog, refine the location and orientation of two reservoir faults and identify a new structure. We find the rate of seismicity to be insensitive to major changes in injection strategy during the study period, including the injectivity decline and shift of injection away from the dominant injector, RK24. We also map the spatial distribution of the earthquake frequency-magnitude distribution, or b-value, and show that it increases from ∼1.0 to ∼1.5 with increasing depth below the reservoir. As has been proposed at other reservoirs, we infer that these spatial variations reflect the distribution of pressure in the reservoir, where areas of high b-value correspond to areas of high pore-fluid pressure and a broad distribution of activated fractures. This analysis is not routinely conducted by geothermal operators but shows promise for using earthquake b-value as an additional tool for reservoir monitoring and management

Pedagogies of Latin American Independence: an English-Speaking Analysis

I. Synthesis Essay………………………………3 II. Primary Documents and Headnotes………..20 III. Textbook Critique……………………………...36 IV. New Textbook Entry…………………………..40 V. Bibliography…………………………………....43https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/history_mat/1025/thumbnail.jp

Beliefs about 'stroke' and 'its effects': a study of their association with emotional distress

Emotional distress (symptoms of depression and anxiety) and emotional disorders are commonly experienced following stroke and negatively influence recovery and survival rates. Past research suggests that depressive symptoms are not directly related to lesion location and are only weakly related to actual functional and social losses. Patients' own subjective beliefs have been underresearched. This thesis was developed using cognitive theory, past research on emotional adaptation to emotional disability and observations from piloting. The main study aimed to investigate distress and a set of beliefs about 'stroke' and 'its effects', and to longitudinally test associations between specific beliefs and distress, taking into account relevant background variables. Supplementary studies aimed to explore emotional distress and disorder and relevant beliefs.A consecutive series of 89 patients, without severe cognitive or communication impairment, were interviewed one month (baseline) after admission to a stroke unit and 81 were interviewed again at nine months (follow-up).In the main study, distress was measured using global Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale scores. Specific beliefs about 'stroke' and 'its effects' investigated were: Attributions (Casual controllability, 'Why me?', 'Found meaning?'); Negative self-evaluations (Acceptance of disability, Negative identity change, Shame); Beliefs in recovery and recurrence (Recovery locus of control, Confidence in recovery, Recurrence fear). Background variables measured were: Demographics, Stroke severity, Disability, Pre-stroke depression, Social support and Life events.The first supplementary study used the structured clinical interview (SCID) for DSMIV to assess depressive disorder (major or minor) and common anxiety disorders (generalised anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, social phobia, post traumatic stress disorder) and, additionally, as a means for exploring relevant beliefs. The second supplementary study involved further qualitative interviews with sixty participants at baseline to explore their own experiences and main concerns.Associations were found between distress and most belief variables at baseline, follow-up and across time. Backward linear regression analyses for distress were used to study belief variables taking background variables into account. At baseline and follow-up these analyses supported the statistical significance of associations between distress and negative self-evaluative beliefs and recurrence fear. Across time, a role for causal controllability and acceptance of disability was supported. However, these results also highlighted the pervasive influence of a pre-stroke history of depression and of initial distress levels across time.The SCID interview identified that many patients met criteria for depressive disorder (33% at one and 30% at nine months) or anxiety disorder (35% at one and 33% at nine months) but also yielded information regarding specific stroke-related beliefs relevant to distress versus adaptation. The qualitative interviews provided insight into patients' idiosyncratic concerns. This extended the main findings, for example by illustrating the varied nature of recurrence fear beliefs and highlighting individuals' needs to give as well as receive social support.The SCID interview identified that many patients met criteria for depressive disorder (33% at one and 30% at nine months) or anxiety disorder (35% at one and 33% at nine months) but also yielded information regarding specific stroke-related beliefs relevant to distress versus adaptation. The qualitative interviews provided insight into patients' idiosyncratic concerns. This extended the main findings, for example by illustrating the varied nature of recurrence fear beliefs and highlighting individuals' needs to give as well as receive social support.Emotional distress (symptoms of depression and anxiety) and emotional disorders are commonly experienced following stroke and negatively influence recovery and survival rates. Past research suggests that depressive symptoms are not directly related to lesion location and are only weakly related to actual functional and social losses. Patients' own subjective beliefs have been underresearched. This thesis was developed using cognitive theory, past research on emotional adaptation to emotional disability and observations from piloting. The main study aimed to investigate distress and a set of beliefs about 'stroke' and 'its effects', and to longitudinally test associations between specific beliefs and distress, taking into account relevant background variables. Supplementary studies aimed to explore emotional distress and disorder and relevant beliefs.A consecutive series of 89 patients, without severe cognitive or communication impairment, were interviewed one month (baseline) after admission to a stroke unit and 81 were interviewed again at nine months (follow-up).In the main study, distress was measured using global Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale scores. Specific beliefs about 'stroke' and 'its effects' investigated were: Attributions (Casual controllability, 'Why me?', 'Found meaning?'); Negative self-evaluations (Acceptance of disability, Negative identity change, Shame); Beliefs in recovery and recurrence (Recovery locus of control, Confidence in recovery, Recurrence fear). Background variables measured were: Demographics, Stroke severity, Disability, Pre-stroke depression, Social support and Life events.The first supplementary study used the structured clinical interview (SCID) for DSMIV to assess depressive disorder (major or minor) and common anxiety disorders (generalised anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, social phobia, post traumatic stress disorder) and, additionally, as a means for exploring relevant beliefs. The second supplementary study involved further qualitative interviews with sixty participants at baseline to explore their own experiences and main concerns.Associations were found between distress and most belief variables at baseline, follow-up and across time. Backward linear regression analyses for distress were used to study belief variables taking background variables into account. At baseline and follow-up these analyses supported the statistical significance of associations between distress and negative self-evaluative beliefs and recurrence fear. Across time, a role for causal controllability and acceptance of disability was supported. However, these results also highlighted the pervasive influence of a pre-stroke history of depression and of initial distress levels across time.The SCID interview identified that many patients met criteria for depressive disorder (33% at one and 30% at nine months) or anxiety disorder (35% at one and 33% at nine months) but also yielded information regarding specific stroke-related beliefs relevant to distress versus adaptation. The qualitative interviews provided insight into patients' idiosyncratic concerns. This extended the main findings, for example by illustrating the varied nature of recurrence fear beliefs and highlighting individuals' needs to give as well as receive social support.This study provides qualified support for cognitive theory of distress following stroke by demonstrating associations between distress and beliefs concerning 'stroke' and 'its effects' in the short- and longer-term aftermath of stroke. Over and above measures of disability, a personal sense of being unable to accept reduced capability, which some went so far to describe as 'uselessness', was related to higher levels of distress and disorder. Fear of recurrent stroke was common. Belief in the controllability of risk factors tended to be low; however a greater initial sense of causal controllability appeared protective against distress across time. These results have implications for the development of interventions to address the high prevalence of emotional distress and disorder following stroke