Seeking fluid possibility and solid ground: Space and movement in mental health service users' experiences of ‘crisis’

Since the closure of the UK asylums, ‘the community’ has become short hand for describing a variety of disparate and complex spaces, in which service users manage their experiences of distress. An examination of such spaces here forms the basis of an analysis of the way in which service users move through and within space, to establish agency and dis/order while distressed. Seventeen participants, with various experiences of mental distress took part in a qualitative study, and a further textual analysis was conducted on eight published autobiographies. In the context of the interviews, participants presented drawings of the spaces they occupy during times of crisis, wellbeing and recovery. All texts were analysed using a thematic approach, informed by theories of embodiment and relational space. In this paper, the focus is directed towards two key patterns of movement, in order to explore ways in which participants experiencing various forms of mental health crisis used space in order to maintain and manage feelings of agency. Firstly, incidents where participants described moving towards fluid, outside spaces are explored, with agency being established through seeking, and utilising, greater possibilities for action and engaging others. In addition, the opposite pattern of movement is also explored, using incidents where participants described moving indoors, using the private space of the home to establish order and restore feelings of agency and strength, in contrast to overwhelming experiences in public space. Connections between these patterns of movement and particular forms of distress are discussed. It is argued that community and private spaces are integral to the ways in which selfhood, agency and action is experienced in mental distress, which in turn has implications for policy, treatment and community action

Exploring the democratic potential of online social networking: The scope and limitations of e-participation

Copyright © 2012 by the Association for Information Systems.The availability and promise of social networking technologies with their perceived open philosophy has increasingly inspired citizens around the world to participate in political activity on the Web. Recent examples range from opposing public policies, such as government funding cuts, to organizing revolutionary social movements, such as those in the Middle East and North Africa. Although online spaces create remarkable opportunities for various forms of political action, there are concerns over the power of existing institutions to control and even censor such interaction spaces. The objective of this article is to draw together different insights on the online engagement phenomenon, highlighting both its potential and limitations as a mechanism for fostering democratic debate and influencing policy making. We examine recent examples from Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. Finally, we summarize the implications of our work and outline directions for further research

Palliative care: promoting general practice participation

Specialist palliative care services and services involved in the pre-palliative phase of a patient’s disease must accept GPs as an integral part of the care tea

The design and performance of a real-time self excited vocoder

This paper is concerned with a generic class of predictive speech coders that includes the newly proposed Self Excited Vocoder (SEV) and the well known Code-Excited Linear Predictive Coder (CELPC). All members of this class form an excitation sequence for a linear predictive model filter using the same general model for the excitation signal. The general excitation model is based on a block coding technique where each sequence is drawn from an ensemble of sequences. This paper reports on two developments related to this general model. The first development is a new type of excitation ensemble that can in general be populated by many different types of sequences. The second development is a means of populating this new type of ensemble based on a vector quantizer design procedure using a new distortion measure

Optical studies of the pre-breakdown mechanism in dielectronic liquids.

PhDThe work described in this thesis provides an optical study of pre-breakdown events in liquid dielectrics. A small scale rig employing a 50SI test cell with viewing windows, as part of a high voltage co-axial line, enabled short rise time pulses to be applied to a non-uniform test gap. For the liquid dielectric, changes of refractive index resulting from applied voltage were rendered visible by means of a Schlieren optical system. A high speed image converter camera enabled rapidly changing pre-breakdown phenomena to be photographically recorded at framing speeds up to 107 per second. Scattered light photographs were taken by orthogonal flash illumination under both pulse and direct voltage conditions, allowing large format macrophotography. Using a piezoelectric transducer placed within the test cell, and a photomultiplier to view the gap region, a relationship has also been established between the generation of mechanical waves, light scintillation and conduction current pulses. From the photographic records and conventional parameter measurements there exists strong evidence for the presence of a gaseous phase in processes leading to the electrical breakdown of liquid dielectrics even under pulse conditions

The Effects of Two Different Post-Exercise Stretching Modalities on Delayed Onset Muscular Soreness in Adults

Until recently, research suggested that post-exercise stretching may reduce delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) in those who exercise; however, newer research indicates that stretching has no effect on DOMS. However, it appears that the effect of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching on preventing DOMS has not been adequately studied. The primary purpose of the study was to research the effect of PNF stretching on DOMS. The secondary purpose was to evaluate if one’s level of flexibility had a correlation with high levels of DOMS. The study was a posttest-only control group design. Participants were randomly assigned into a stretching group (PNF, static, control) after performing a DOMS inducing exercise. Participants then rated their soreness level on a pain scale (range 1-6) 24 and 48 (plus or minus 2 hours) hours after the DOMS inducing exercise. Flexibility also was measured to see if the participants, muscle range was correlated to DOMS. The main result showed that there was no difference between PNF stretching and reduced pain scores. Other results showed that there was a correlation between the 48 hour post-exercise pain score and pre-post flexibility change in the PNF stretch group (

Does Time Matter? An Examination Of Sentence Length, Time Served And Probation Outcomes

There remains some uncertainty as to whether or not probation supervision can influence the behaviour of offenders as intended and thereby protect the public. Within the growing body of probation literature is support for a number of theoretically relevant variables and probation outcomes (Morgan, 1993; Gendreau, Little & Goggin, 1996). Some of the probation studies include a measure of time (Sims & Jones, 1997; Green & Winik, 2010), although it has never been exclusively studied in probation research. In the studies that do include a time measure, sentence length is the most frequently used and is often related to failure and recidivism (Cockerill, 1975; Renner, 1978; Roundtree, Edwards & Parker, 1984; Morgan, 1993). Sentence length, however, may not provide the best measure of time on probation since this same probation research often finds that not all probationers complete their term of supervision. Probation sentences are cut short for a variety of reasons -some are ended for good behaviour (i.e. early termination), whereas others are ended for poor behaviour as is the case with revocation. The actual time under probation supervision is directly related to some outcomes. Moreover, time has not been examined sufficiently to determine its relationship to behaviour. This study seeks to explore the influence of time served under probation on three probation outcomes: probation failure, arrest on probation and recidivism after probation is terminated. Following a sample of probationers (n=480), from a Northern Plains state the study finds that as time served on probation increases, the likelihood of probation failure and later recidivism decrease. This relationship between probation time served and outcomes in terms of probation research, theory and practice is developed. Perhaps most importantly, we find that probation sentence length and probation time served, although related measures, do not relate to outcomes in similar ways. Subsequently, probation researchers should pay close attention to the time measures used in probation study. The implications for probation practice are also discussed including the importance of understanding probationer time served to improve supervision programs and better impact public safety