Multi-agency training and the artist (Sharing our experience, Practitioner-led research 2008-2009; PLR0809/032)

The Multi-Agency Team Project approached issues of multi-agency training indirectly by using an artist as a catalyst in a group exercise examining movement and sound in relation to early childhood. The aim of the research was to run an experiential non-traditional training programme based on using an artist as a catalyst to promote inter-agency dialogue in one setting, Woodlands Park Nursery and Children’s Centre, and to analyse the findings. Eleven participants used this common experiential focus to frame collective research both as a focus group and as individual fieldworkers. The research demonstrated shared professional discourse but also collected judgements relevant to policy issues based on collaborative professional reflection triggered by the exercise. The findings are presented theoretically in terms of critical discourse analysis using the interpretation-supporting software ATLASti. We next take a further look at the role play exercise in which the group constituted itself as a ‘House of Commons Select Committee’ before summarizing what theoretical insights might be brought to bear and attempting to draw some provisional conclusions. Some evidence is presented suggesting there is a degree of tension and ambiguity between alterative models of multi-agency working

Monetary Policy and Uncertainty

Central banks must cope with considerable uncertainty about what will happen in the economy when formulating monetary policy. This article describes the different types of uncertainty that arise and looks at examples of uncertainty that the Bank has recently encountered. It then reviews the strategies employed by the Bank to deal with this problem. The other articles in this special issue focus on three of these major strategies.

Modelling the physics of high speed product-weighing

Compac Sorting Equipment Auckland (Compac) manufactures and exports high-speed, accurate sorting systems for fruit and vegetables. Their sizers operate at between 10-15 pieces of fruit per second per lane. They weigh each piece of fruit individually, using a pair of cantilever loadcells, in less than 1/10 of a second. Compac wanted a mathematical model of the weighing process, that will help them to accurately weigh heavier fruit (more than 250g) at higher speeds (in less than a tenth of a second). They also asked for help with easing back on the size and stability of the weighing assembly, which would reduce the physical size and manufacturing cost of the overall system

Topics in Regge Pole theory

Imperial Users onl

An ethos for (in)justice

Where institutions are well-ordered and governed according to principles identified as necessary for justice, the attitudes and behaviors of citizens are also likely to be affected: they will develop a specific ethos that is appropriate for sustaining that just order. However, the absence of a substantially just basic structure will also take effect on what is considered an appropriate sense of justice suited to dealing with nonideal situations characterized by potentially profound injustice. Where ideal theory can describe an ethos necessary for supporting already just institutions and practices, we require a separate account of an ethos appropriate to nonideal conditions