Process Of Scrutiny Research Articles

A Chastened Communion: Modern Irish Poetry and Catholicism by Andrew J. Auge (review)

Reviewed by: A Chastened Communion: Modern Irish Poetry and Catholicism by Andrew J. Auge Kieran Quinlan A Chastened Communion: Modern Irish Poetry and Catholicism, by Andrew J. Auge, pp. 283. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2013. $39.95. Although Andrew J. Auge’s new book was partly composed while he held the O’Connor Chair for Catholic Thought at Loras College in Iowa, it is not an exercise in literary or religious apologetics of any orthodox kind. It is, rather, a defense of the existence of the numinous, a dimension of experience that he would see as irreducible and of which—though he never says so explicitly—Catholicism is but one expression. Auge explores the work of seven modern Irish poets—Austin Clarke, Patrick Kavanagh, John Montague, Seamus Heaney, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Paul Durcan, and Paula Meehan—each of whom found compensatory riches in a tradition that had initially brought them much discomfort, both mental and emotional. He makes a convincing distinction between poets who grew up at a time when Catholicism dominated all aspects of Irish life and culture and those who came after them even when the latter—Dennis O’Driscoll and Seán Dunne are his examples—had serious religious interests. “This process of critical scrutiny,” he writes, “of separating the dross from the usable, the regressive from the revivifying, necessitates an attention to the particularities of the inherited Catholic material that is absent in the work of those who assimilate it in an already congenial form.” Auge conducts his inquiry in a theoretically sophisticated manner, but his use of theory is unobtrusive. Charles Taylor’s critiques of secular modernity are invoked; Richard Kearney’s “anatheism”—a kind of Irish alternative to generic unbelief—is called upon; referencing Michel Foucault helps elucidate the confessional experiences of Clarke; and Nietzsche is deftly used to illuminate Heaney’s trajectory. Likewise, Irish history, recent and ancient, is present to the extent that it needs to be, and he included helpful explanations of the reigning theology and canonical practices of the different periods. Auge’s work is enhanced, too, by the fact that memories of his own early piety remotely prompt his scrutiny of the lives of others who have experienced similar entrancements. [End Page 138] In the introduction, Auge sets out a thesis that runs through all of the book: “Through this dialectical engagement with Irish Catholicism, these poets engender new forms of spiritual vision and praxis that blur the sharp lines of demarcation interposed by institutionalized religion between belief and unbelief, secular and sacred.” That is not to say that the same thing is going on with every poet. Auge is hyperalert to nuance; “redress” being appropriate in one case, less so in another. Thus, Clarke found relief for the mental anguish that his early encounters with an overly interrogative confessional practice had caused him—a pain that led to his being institutionalized for an extended period and a failed marriage—in a “radical revision of the Catholic sacrament of confession.” Kavanagh, suffering from some of the same strictures, was more concerned with the Church’s co-opting and regularizing of ancient sacred space. Heaney worked his way from excessive concern with sacrifice—even in his art—to an acceptance of givenness and gratuity that received its authority “not just from the poet’s individual imagination but from the residue of traditional beliefs that still clings to them.” Montague, Ní Chuilleanáin, and Durcan became celebrants of unrecognized aspects of nuns and priests while reshaping the received perception of them and later, coping with the unexpected revelations of abuse and cover-up. Meehan rediscovered an ancient Irish goddess in modern Mariology while also becoming aware of its inherent dangers. Auge approaches each writer in a different way, selecting a particular aspect of his or her engagement with Catholicism—and thus, sometimes neglecting others—to explore the aspect of the theme relevant to his larger inquiry. When he is in what might appear to be familiar territory, Auge is careful to point out how his interpretation differs from what has gone before—for instance, in his comment that previous scholars failed to appreciate the “specific strategic function” that Clarke...

In search of elementary spin 0 particles

The Standard Model of strong and electroweak interactions uses point-like spin 1/2 particles as the building bricks of matter and point-like spin 1 particles as the force carriers. One of the most important questions to be answered by the present and future particle physics experiments is whether the elementary spin 0 particles exist, and if they do, what are their interactions with the spin 1/2 and spin 1 particles. Spin 0 particles have been searched extensively over the last decades. Several initial claims of their discoveries were finally disproved in the final experimental scrutiny process. The recent observation of the excess of events at the LHC in the final states involving a pair of vector bosons, or photons, is commonly interpreted as the discovery of the first elementary scalar particle, the Higgs boson. In this paper we recall examples of claims and subsequent disillusions in precedent searches spin 0 particles. We address the question if the LHC Higgs discovery can already be taken for granted, or, as it turned out important in the past, whether it requires a further experimental scrutiny before the existence of the first ever found elementary scalar particle is proven beyond any doubt. An example of the Double Drell–Yan process for which such a scrutiny is indispensable is discussed in some detail.

Out of Time? National Parliaments and Early Decision-Making in the European Union

Co-decisions between the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament are increasingly adopted as early agreements. Recent EU studies have pinpointed how this informal turn in EU governance has altered the existing balance of power between EU actors and within EU institutions. However, the implications of accelerated EU decision-making are expected to have repercussions beyond the EU system and in other institutions impinging on the role of national parliaments. This study examines the implications of an alteration of EU political time on national parliaments’ ability to scrutinize their executives in EU affairs. A mixed method approach has been applied. This strategy combines survey data on national parliaments’ scrutiny process and response to early agreements for 26 EU countries with a case study examination of national parliaments in Denmark, the UK and Germany. The burgeoning research agenda on EU timescapes is applied. This study finds that the clocks of most national parliaments are out of time with the EU decision-mode of early agreements, which severely hampers the national parliaments’ ability to scrutinize national governments.

Politics in Spain: A Case of Monitory Democracy

Analysing the current political context in Spain is a major challenge to political theory. Spain is experiencing the accumulation of trends that in recent years have focused the attention of most theorists and political scientists: discrediting of the major parties, falling numbers of party members, disaffection, etc. In parallel, this trend has been accompanied by citizen mobilisations that, since 15 May 2011, are manifest in numerous channels and strategies. The aim of this paper was to analyse the complex Spanish context from the monitory democracy proposal. The results show how in recent years processes of public scrutiny have been consolidated through a range of citizen initiatives. The study offers an in-depth analysis of the main characteristics of the most notable cases and monitoring initiatives, and also reflects on their democratising potential.

Phenomenology of certainty and belief. Reading William James

This essay studies the analysis that the psychologist and philosopher William James applies to the function of belief in relation to his concepts of the stream of thought and process of knowledge. Furthermore, it pays attention to James’s phenomenology of certainty within experience and to the explanation of the foundational place of feelings in experience. In James’s thought we may call certainty only what can provide a knowledge which stands in immediate relation to the inner state: the images provided by individual depths are both the locus of perplexity and the spring of certainty. The truth of beliefs is in this sense provisional upon the outcome of the continuing experience of understanding and of the continuing process of critical scrutiny.

Evidence taking under the microscope: How has oral evidence affected the scrutiny of legislation in House of Commons committees?

Bill committees in the British House of Commons have long had an unenviable reputation as weak scrutinising bodies. Reforms made in 2006 allowed committees scrutinising government bills to receive written and oral evidence on a routine basis. They had the potential to bolster the scrutiny of government legislation, bringing greater legitimacy to the scrutiny process and increasing the policy knowledge of committee members. This article examines the impact of the oral evidence taking process on the work of bill committees between 2006 and 2010. It finds that oral evidence sessions have changed the scrutiny behaviour of MPs, acting as a vehicle for the formulation of substantive changes to government bills and as an additional opposition scrutiny and debating tool. Ultimately, it considers whether the introduction of oral evidence sessions may be increasing the capacity of committees and MPs to make an impact on government bills.

The Silent Revolution: A Political History of the Politics of Patronage and Reform

For centuries, the capacity of British ministers to appoint individuals to positions on the boards of agencies, boards and commissions was viewed as little more than one element of the ‘spoils of war’ in a highly majoritarian polity. This article examines how the politics of patronage has evolved in recent decades and argues that it is possible to identify a silent revolution that has gradually but consistently constrained the reach and discretion enjoyed by ministers in deploying their patronage powers. What is particularly distinctive about British political history since 2007 is the introduction of a far-reaching ladder of legislative scrutiny that ranges from informal pre-appointment hearings, at one end of the ladder, to a statutory veto over the minister's preferred candidate, at the other. However, this ‘outlawing of the spoils’ has evolved in a typically British way with reforms being implemented on an ad hoc and incremental basis, that is, frequently without any advance consultation or planning but rather dependent on non-formal, informal and discretionary elements to counter problems as they arise. The result is a complex and frequently overlapping mixture of regulatory and scrutiny processes that arguably offer little in terms of principled underpinning or constitutional logic.

Deference in Numbers: Consensus, Dissent and Judgement in Mill's Account of Authority

The need for deference to well-grounded claims to expert authority often seems to conflict with democratic ideals and practices of equality and contestation. In this article I identify a parallel tension in Mill's work on authority. Against the idea that Mill's thought is contradictory, I argue that in both his early and later work he was very clear about the tension between the good of thinking for oneself and the necessity of epistemic dependence, and in particular deference to a consensus of experts. He does not resolve this tension, but he makes it productive in the figure of the ‘competent observer’, who exercises judgement in deferring to authorities. Mill's contribution is to focus on the process of questioning and scrutiny that underpins this sort of judgement. I conclude with some observations about the value and limitations of Mill's account of authority for understanding contemporary problems of expertise in democratic systems.

Function Words of Buol Language Examined from Syntactical Features

To avoid not to receive the new words from loan words, the syntax of Buol language, especially its function words, must be investigated in details to keep the original structures of this language survive without being influenced by other vernaculars, and far from being extinction. In line with this information, this study portrays the function words of Buol language in terms of the function word varieties such as 1) noun clarifiers, 2) modifier, 3) prepositions, 4) coordinators, 5) interrogators, 6) subordinating conjunction, 7) sentence linkers, 8) modal auxiliaries, 9) interjection, 10) aspect words, and (11) relative pronouns. The importance of this study is required to create the narrative data of those varieties of function words, to provide information for those who are keen on conducting another study dealing with Buol language, to assist the teaching of local subject matter course, such as function words themselves of Buol language and to play a role to the Department of National Education, especially in Central Sulawesi for the consideration as development of the local subject matter course curriculum. The pattern of this inquiry is descriptive qualitative. It is founded on the process of scrutiny involving description and interpretation that can be exerted without controlling any variables. The informants of this study are ten native speakers of Buol language at Buol regency living permenantly in one of five districts called Biau district.

The DSM-5 and Forensic Psychiatry

In his first Law and Psychiatry column for the Journal of Psychiatric Practice, the author discusses potential forensic consequences of the publication of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). While the transition to DSM-5 may prove challenging for both patients and clinicians, the scrutiny and adversarial process associated with forensic psychiatric practice will entail a unique set of challenges. The philosophy of innovation behind the DSM-5, and the attendant changes, could lead to some unintended consequences, particularly in medicolegal settings. This column highlights some of the major changes in DSM-5 and explores points of particular concern for forensic psychiatric practice, such as the move toward a non-multiaxial diagnostic system and dimensional severity ratings being superimposed on certain categorical diagnoses. The innovative changes featured in DSM-5, and the controversies surrounding some of them, could yield an environment of increased cynicism in courts of law, with renewed skepticism regarding mental health diagnoses and the forensic psychiatrists who testify about them. Fortunately, the best method for forensic psychiatric practice in this environment of change is to continue to adhere to a meticulous and transparent medicolegal process, with recognition that changes in the diagnostic manual will seldom alter essential medicolegal conclusions. Forensic psychiatrists may enhance their credibility and the strength of the opinions they offer by proactively illustrating how nuances in diagnosis do not change legally defined constructs such as insanity or incompetence.

SEM analysis and push-out bond strength of fiberglass posts luted with different cements of glass-ionomer in humid environment: pilot test

The objective of this study was to evaluate the push-out bond strength of fiberglass resin reinforced bonded with five ionomer cements. Also, the interface between cement and dentin was inspected by means of SEM. Fifty human canines were chose after rigorous scrutiny process, endodontically treated and divided randomly into five groups (n = 3) according to cement tested: Group I – Ionoseal (VOCO), Group II – Fugi I (GC), Group III – Fugi II Improved (GC), Group IV – Rely X Luting 2 (3M ESPE), Group V – Ketac Cem (3M ESPE). The post-space was prepared to receive a fiberglass post, which was tried before cementation process. No dentin or post surface pretreatment was carried out. After post bonding, all roots were cross-sectioned to acquire 3 thin-slices (1 mm) from three specific regions of tooth (cervical, medium and apical). A Universal test machine was used to carry out the push-out test with cross-head speed set to 0.5mm/mim. All failed specimens were observed under optical microscope to identify the failure mode. Representative specimens from each group was inspected under SEM. The data were analyzed by Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Levene’s tests and by two-way ANOVA, and Tukey’s port hoc test at a significance level of 5%. It was compared the images obtained for determination of types of failures more occurred in different levels. SEM inspection displayed that all cements filled the space between post and dentin, however, some imperfections such bubles and voids were noticed in all groups in some degree of extension. The push-out bond strength showed that cement Ketac Cem presented significant higher results when compared to the Ionoseal (P = 0.02). There were no statistical significant differences among other cements.

OP80 Minimum Unit Pricing for Alcohol: A Document Analysis of Evidence Submissions to the Scottish Parliament

BackgroundMinimum unit pricing (MUP) of alcohol is a novel policy intervention aimed at increasing the price of the cheapest forms of alcohol to reduce alcohol consumption and associated harms. In...

SCRUTINIZING PERFORMANCE: HOW ASSESSORS REACH JUDGEMENTS ABOUT PUBLIC SERVICES

Strengthening the accountability and improving the performance of public services is an important issue in many countries. A common response is to impose elaborate oversight or scrutiny arrangements. While we know a good deal about the formal operation of these arrangements, we know much less about the informal practices of scrutiny bodies and how they make judgements. This paper investigates scrutiny processes in three national audit bodies, three service inspectorates, and two inquiry committees in the UK. Judgement processes were analyzed along five dimensions: intuitive to analytical thinking; implicit to explicit assessment criteria; inductive and deductive methods; internal and external validity; and the principles used to make and evaluate judgements. These processes varied considerably, suggesting the need for a broader conception of the nature of and influences on scrutiny processes, which recognizes the inherent tensions in these processes and the skills required by those who engage in them.

Assessing the British Public Value Test: Benefits, limitations and challenges ahead

This article provides a critical assessment of the practical implementation of the Public Value Test (PVT) in Britain, the first European country to introduce it in 2007. Britain therefore has substantial experience with this regulatory tool from which other countries could benefit. The intention of the PVT has been to allow the BBC to assume new media activities only if their public value outweighs their potential adverse market impact. The article argues that the BBC’s experience with the PVT points to practical problems not originally foreseen. These problems coupled with new challenges for the BBC call for a refinement of the process. Still, the evidence suggests that overall the PVT has worked well. It has allowed the expansion, though conditional, of the BBC into new media whilst the greater degree of economic and evidence-based regulation that the BBC is now subject to has made it a credible scrutiny process in the eyes of industry stakeholders. The article maintains that the PVT has served primarily to articulate industry concerns rather than the public interest. Indeed, the emphasis on outcomes and impact together with the piecemeal approach of the PVT present a threat to the PSB ethos. It is finally argued that the main advantage of the PVT has been enhanced regulatory certainty and the establishment of delineated spheres of activity for public and commercial media organizations.

The Reorganisation of Financial Services Supervision in the UK: An Interim Progress Report

The UK has embarked upon a programme of reform that will result in the Financial Services Authority (FSA) being split into two separate authorities, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). A new BoE committee, the Financial Policy Committee (FPC), will perform macroprudential systemic oversight functions. The BoE will assume responsibility for the oversight of clearing and settlement systems in addition to its existing responsibility for payment systems. Crisis management and bank resolution functions will also sit with the BoE.The new arrangements are expected to be fully up and running by the end of 2012. A considerable amount of practical preparatory work is already underway, including the establishment of an interim FPC and an internal re-organisation within the FSA to split it into separate prudential and conduct units.Primary legislation is required to establish the legal framework for the new institutional structure. At the time of writing (October 2011), a Joint Committee of the House of Lords and House of Commons is conducting pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Bill, and HM Treasury has also recently completed its own public consultation on the draft Bill.This paper, drawn from work done for the purposes of giving evidence before the Joint Committee, focuses on certain key features of the draft Bill that are emerging from the scrutiny process. It provides an overview of salient features of the current debate.

Energy futures: Diversity and the need for assessment

In energy policy and energy research, decisions have to be made about the technologies and infrastructures that may be used to provide and distribute energy in future times, some of which are very distant. Frequently, energy futures such as predictions of the energy demand or energy scenarios are used for decision-support in this field. The diversity of energy futures, however, threatens any possibility for orientation, could lead to disorientation instead of helping more rational decision-making and could be used for ideological purpose. In this paper, we investigate concepts and approaches for scrutinizing, comparing and assessing the various energy futures from an epistemological point of view. Following the analysis of the structure of (energy) futures we will conclude that comparisons and assessments of energy futures should be made through processes of scrutiny and assessment, looking into the ingredients which have been used in constructing the respective futures, and into the process of their composition. Providing much more insight into the cognitive and normative structure of energy futures is required for allowing a more transparent and deliberative societal debate about future energy systems.

Parliament Scrutiny of Government Performance in Australia

This article examines how the Commonwealth Parliament of Australia seeks to hold responsible ministers directly and senior public servants indirectly accountable for the performance of departments and programs on the basis of published performance data and inquiries conducted by parliamentary committees. From the perspective of an outsider, the scrutiny process in the Australian parliament, although not without its problems, is more systematic and substantive than is the case in other parliamentary systems such as Canada. Creating a more meaningful dialogue in the Australian parliament on performance issues will depend more on changes to the intersecting cultures of the legislature, government and the public service than on organisational and procedural reforms to any of those institutions.

Classification trees for species identification of fish-school echotraces

Abstract Fernandes, P. G. 2009. Classification trees for species identification of fish-school echotraces. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 1073–1080. Acoustic surveys provide valuable information on the abundance and distribution of many fish species, but are particularly effective for schooling pelagic fish of commercial importance. However, despite recent advances in multifrequency processing, the technique still requires some subjective judgement when allocating the acoustic data, fish-school echotraces, to particular species—the so-called “scrutiny process”. This is assisted by “ground truth” trawling and operator experience of relating trawl data to echotraces of particular fish schools. In this paper, a method to identify species based on “classification trees” is applied to data from a component of the International North Sea Herring Acoustic Survey. Classification trees may be considered as a variant of decision trees, and have properties that are intuitive to biologists, because they are similar to the keys used for the biological identification of species. The method described here incorporates a multifrequency fish-school filter, image analysis to isolate fish-school echotraces, and finally, a classification-tree system using the multifrequency information from the ground-truthed echotraces that can be translated into a processing tool for objective species allocation. The classification-tree system is compared with the traditional method of expert-based scrutiny. Unlike the latter, however, a measure of uncertainty is attributed to the classification-tree approach and this could be propagated through the acoustic-survey estimation procedure as a component of the total uncertainty in the abundance estimate.

Psychiatric Illness and Obesity: Recognizing the "Obesogenic" Nature of an Inpatient Psychiatric Setting

The prevalence of obesity and obesity-related diseases is higher among individuals with psychiatric illness than in the general population. This study examined environmental factors that contribute to obesity in one psychiatric hospital in Canada. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 25 key stakeholders from multiple professional disciplines at the hospital. Transcribed interviews were analyzed through content analysis with the analysis grid for environments linked to obesity (ANGELO) framework as a categorical template. Factors contributing to obesity in this setting were related to increased energy intake, such as easy access to high-calorie snacks and beverages, and reduced energy expenditure, such as lack of access to staircases. Psychiatric settings may contribute to the high prevalence of obesity among individuals with psychiatric illness. Ecologically framed interventions are required to address obesity in this population.

Information Needs and Efficiency in Banking Services - A 'Demand-Side' Approach

The financial system has always been subject to complex public scrutiny for a number of reasons, aimed at ensuring, for example, the efficient mobilization of savings, the effective management of banking crises and their possible domino effects, while enhancing competition and safeguarding consumers, in the general interest. Ensuring transparency in commercial transactions is part and parcel of this process of scrutiny and is one of the primary obligations of banks, and lenders in general, which are required to inform their customers clearly and transparently, with respect to the characteristics, terms and conditions of their products and services. The changes taking place in the financial system are encouraging the reform of the transparency regulations. Among the most incisive transformations is the spread of complex financial instruments and the broadening of the range of available alternatives. The reform projects that have secured the greatest consensus to date call for the introduction of firmer requirements for the full disclosure, in intelligible terms, of the characteristics and conditions of the services offered, with respect to the amount and structure of the data that should be made available to consumers to enable them to make informed decisions, without leaving them with the impression that they need further information. The aim of this paper is to provide a clear picture of the amount and characteristics of the information that should be made available to consumers when taking out a loan or mortgage. To achieve this aim certain issues must first be addressed, such as investigating the characteristics of the loan process and organizing the information collection activities.