scholarly journals Intelligence and radicalization in French prisons: Sociological analysis bottom-up

2021 ◽  
pp. 096701062110048
Author(s):  
David Henri Scheer ◽  
Gilles Chantraine
Keyword(s):  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Probation Officers ◽  
Sociological Analysis ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Radical Islam ◽  
Intelligence Activity ◽  
Dedicated Service ◽  
Set Up

In the context of the fight against Islamist radicalization in France, prison intelligence rapidly developed from 2015 through the gradual creation of a dedicated service and a specific corps of professionals. This professionalization of prison intelligence work has deeply transformed the prison administration. This article aims to describe and analyse these transformations on the basis of an ethnographic study conducted in radicalization assessment units, which are specific units set up to assess prisoners who have committed or are suspected of committing crimes linked to radical Islam. We shall describe how the guards, probation officers, psychologists and educators participating in assessing the prisoners adapt to the new, encroaching presence of the intelligence mission. We shall analyse the forms of collaboration and competition between this staff and the prison intelligence officers. Lastly, we will examine criticism of the intelligence activity in the radicalization assessment units voiced by various professionals. The interpenetration of the assessment work and the intelligence mission – which are formally distinct missions – produces a specific type of knowledge relating to radicalized prisoners: a reproduction of certain representations or ‘profiles’.

scholarly journals Writing and exhibiting a ‘live’ and convivial sociology: Portraiture and women’s lived experiences of a French suburb

2021 ◽  
pp. 003802612110097
Author(s):  
Magali Peyrefitte
Keyword(s):  
Research Design ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Sociological Imagination ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Sociological Analysis ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Personal Project ◽  
Academic Communication ◽  
Opening Up

Embracing the manifesto for a ‘live’ sociology, I included portraiture into the research design of an ethnographic study into women’s lived experiences of French suburbia and organised an exhibition entitled Habitantes d’Hier and d’Aujourd’hui: exposition sociologique et photographique. This was a personal project in the neighbourhood of my youth and was motivated by the intention to shine some light on the invisible stories of women living in lower-middle and middle-income suburbs in France. In this article, I reflect on the use of portraiture for the possibility it offers in capturing the ethnographic encounter as well as in giving saliency and offering a visual representation of the sociological analysis. I also discuss the exhibition of these portraits as a moment of conviviality grounded in the endeavour of writing differently from hegemonic modes of academic communication and dissemination allowing for a sharing and sharpening of the sociological imagination. It represents an opportunity to think beyond some of the more neoliberal imperatives that govern academia today and shape our sociological craft. I argue for the value of creating a moment of conviviality, that is a space challenging modes of dissemination, engagement and even impact to some extent, as well as modes of knowledge production: broadly opening up more possibilities for a truly public sociology to continue to exist.

Modular automated bottom-up proteomic sample preparation for high-throughput applications v1

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Chen ◽  
Nurgul Kaplan Lease ◽  
Jennifer Gin ◽  
Tad Ogorzalek ◽  
Paul D. Adams ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sample Preparation ◽  
High Throughput ◽  
Tryptic Digestion ◽  
Gram Negative Bacteria ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Preparation Methods ◽  
Gram Negative ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Protocol Development ◽  
Set Up

Manual proteomic sample preparation methods limit sample throughput and often lead to poor data quality when thousands of samples must be analyzed. Automated workflows are increasingly used to overcome these issues for some (or even all) of the sample preparation steps. Here, we detail three optimised step-by-step protocols to: (A) lyse Gram-negative bacteria and fungal cells; (B) quantify the amount of protein extracted; and (C) normalize the amount of protein and set up tryptic digestion. These protocols have been developed to facilitate rapid, low variance sample preparation of hundreds of samples, be easily implemented on widely-available Beckman-Coulter Biomek automated liquid handlers, and allow flexibility for future protocol development. By using this workflow 50 micrograms of peptides for 96 samples can be prepared for tryptic digestion in under an hour. We validate these protocols by analyzing 47 E. coli and R. toruloides samples and show that this modular workflow provides robust, reproducible proteomic samples for high-throughput applications. The expected results from these protocols are 94 peptide samples from Gram-negative bacterial and fungal cells prepared for bottom-up quantitative proteomic analysis without the need for desalting column cleanup and with peptide variance (CVs) below 15%.

scholarly journals How can expert knowledge increase the realism of conceptual hydrological models? A case study based on the concept of dominant runoff process in the Swiss Pre-Alps

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 4425-4447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Antonetti ◽  
Massimiliano Zappa
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Hydrological Models ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Process Maps ◽  
Uncertainty Sources ◽  
Simulation Results ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Better Than

Abstract. Both modellers and experimentalists agree that using expert knowledge can improve the realism of conceptual hydrological models. However, their use of expert knowledge differs for each step in the modelling procedure, which involves hydrologically mapping the dominant runoff processes (DRPs) occurring on a given catchment, parameterising these processes within a model, and allocating its parameters. Modellers generally use very simplified mapping approaches, applying their knowledge in constraining the model by defining parameter and process relational rules. In contrast, experimentalists usually prefer to invest all their detailed and qualitative knowledge about processes in obtaining as realistic spatial distribution of DRPs as possible, and in defining narrow value ranges for each model parameter.Runoff simulations are affected by equifinality and numerous other uncertainty sources, which challenge the assumption that the more expert knowledge is used, the better will be the results obtained. To test for the extent to which expert knowledge can improve simulation results under uncertainty, we therefore applied a total of 60 modelling chain combinations forced by five rainfall datasets of increasing accuracy to four nested catchments in the Swiss Pre-Alps. These datasets include hourly precipitation data from automatic stations interpolated with Thiessen polygons and with the inverse distance weighting (IDW) method, as well as different spatial aggregations of Combiprecip, a combination between ground measurements and radar quantitative estimations of precipitation. To map the spatial distribution of the DRPs, three mapping approaches with different levels of involvement of expert knowledge were used to derive so-called process maps. Finally, both a typical modellers' top-down set-up relying on parameter and process constraints and an experimentalists' set-up based on bottom-up thinking and on field expertise were implemented using a newly developed process-based runoff generation module (RGM-PRO). To quantify the uncertainty originating from forcing data, process maps, model parameterisation, and parameter allocation strategy, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed.The simulation results showed that (i) the modelling chains based on the most complex process maps performed slightly better than those based on less expert knowledge; (ii) the bottom-up set-up performed better than the top-down one when simulating short-duration events, but similarly to the top-down set-up when simulating long-duration events; (iii) the differences in performance arising from the different forcing data were due to compensation effects; and (iv) the bottom-up set-up can help identify uncertainty sources, but is prone to overconfidence problems, whereas the top-down set-up seems to accommodate uncertainties in the input data best. Overall, modellers' and experimentalists' concept of model realism differ. This means that the level of detail a model should have to accurately reproduce the DRPs expected must be agreed in advance.

“IT'S TOO MUCH!”: VICTIMS OF GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE ENCOUNTER THE MOROCCAN STATE

2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-66
Author(s):  
Katja Žvan Elliott
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
The State ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Women's Lives ◽  
Proper Training ◽  
State Agents ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
Set Up

AbstractBy using the narrative approach and linking it to feminist research ethics and critical race methodology, this article seeks to understand how non-literacy and poverty hinder low-income women's access to justice and how these women experience the Moroccan state. The state here acts as an oppressive and marginalizing entity in women's lives, but also offers the potential for empowerment. This ethnographic study tells the stories of three victims of gender-based violence to demonstrate that the state needs to (1) set up an efficient and responsive infrastructure for those lacking know-how and money; (2) institute proper training of state agents for implementation of laws and to prevent them from acting on personal opinions and attitudes with regard to women's rights; and (3) strengthen procedures so that state agents can respond expeditiously to the needs and grievances of citizens.

scholarly journals Criminal Investigation in Rural Areas: How Police Detectives Manage Remoteness and Resource Scarcity1

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oscar Rantatalo ◽  
Ola Lindberg ◽  
Markus Hällgren
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Criminal Investigation ◽  
Northern Sweden ◽  
Daily Work ◽  
Police Investigations ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Rural Environments ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
Set Up

Abstract This article addresses how rural environments characterized by remoteness impact the work of police detectives in their casework. It reports on an ethnographic study of two investigative departments (working on volume crime and domestic crime) located in Northern Sweden. Interviews (N = 27) and participant observations (N = 56) were conducted in order to examine how investigators approached and managed rural conditions in their daily work. Findings indicate that police investigations in rural areas are characterized by constraints, such as resource shortages, extended set-up times (due to travelling), and challenges in multitasking. The findings identify two main practices for investigating crime in such settings: ‘rural investigation’ that entails a decentralized approach in which investigators are embedded locally; and ‘investigating the rural’ that entails a distanced, centralized approach. This article discusses trade-offs and predicted outcomes in crime investigation and highlights how the urban/rural binary divide encompasses a paradoxical tension that investigators must manage continuously.

scholarly journals A Transcription and Translation Protocol for Sensitive Cross-Cultural Team Research

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (12) ◽  
pp. 1751-1764 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Clark ◽  
Ana Sanchez Birkhead ◽  
Cecilia Fernandez ◽  
Marlene J. Egger
Keyword(s):  
Pelvic Organ ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
Team Research ◽  
Sensitive Topics ◽  
Target Languages ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Required Quality

Assurance of transcript accuracy and quality in interview-based qualitative research is foundational for data accuracy and study validity. Based on our experience in a cross-cultural ethnographic study of women’s pelvic organ prolapse, we provide practical guidance to set up step-by-step interview transcription and translation protocols for team-based research on sensitive topics. Beginning with team decisions about level of detail in transcription, completeness, and accuracy, we operationalize the process of securing vendors to deliver the required quality of transcription and translation. We also share rubrics for assessing transcript quality and the team protocol for managing transcripts (assuring consistency of format, insertion of metadata, anonymization, and file labeling conventions) and procuring an acceptable initial translation of Spanish-language interviews. Accurate, complete, and systematically constructed transcripts in both source and target languages respond to the call for more transparency and reproducibility of scientific methods.

scholarly journals How a European network may help with estimating methane emissions on the French national scale

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 3779-3798 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Pison ◽  
Antoine Berchet ◽  
Marielle Saunois ◽  
Philippe Bousquet ◽  
Grégoire Broquet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Agricultural Activity ◽  
European Network ◽  
National Scale ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽  
National Budget ◽  
Biogeochemical Models ◽  
Set Up

Abstract. Methane emissions on the national scale in France in 2012 are inferred by assimilating continuous atmospheric mixing ratio measurements from nine stations of the European network ICOS located in France and surrounding countries. To assess the robustness of the fluxes deduced by our inversion system based on an objectified quantification of uncertainties, two complementary inversion set-ups are computed and analysed: (i) a regional run correcting for the spatial distribution of fluxes in France and (ii) a sectorial run correcting fluxes for activity sectors on the national scale. In addition, our results for the two set-ups are compared with fluxes produced in the framework of the inversion inter-comparison exercise of the InGOS project. The seasonal variability in fluxes is consistent between different set-ups, with maximum emissions in summer, likely due to agricultural activity. However, very high monthly posterior uncertainties (up to ≈ 65 to 74 % in the sectorial run in May and June) make it difficult to attribute maximum emissions to a specific sector. On the yearly and national scales, the two inversions range from 3835 to 4050 Gg CH4 and from 3570 to 4190 Gg CH4 for the regional and sectorial runs, respectively, consistently with the InGOS products. These estimates are 25 to 55 % higher than the total national emissions from bottom-up approaches (biogeochemical models from natural emissions, plus inventories for anthropogenic ones), consistently pointing at missing or underestimated sources in the inventories and/or in natural sources. More specifically, in the sectorial set-up, agricultural emissions are inferred as 66% larger than estimates reported to the UNFCCC. Uncertainties in the total annual national budget are 108 and 312 Gg CH4, i.e, 3 to 8 %, for the regional and sectorial runs respectively, smaller than uncertainties in available bottom-up products, proving the added value of top-down atmospheric inversions. Therefore, even though the surface network used in 2012 does not allow us to fully constrain all regions in France accurately, a regional inversion set-up makes it possible to provide estimates of French methane fluxes with an uncertainty in the total budget of less than 10 % on the yearly timescale. Additional sites deployed since 2012 would help to constrain French emissions on finer spatial and temporal scales and attributing missing emissions to specific sectors.

IS TRUE BELIEF REALLY A FUNDAMENTAL EPISTEMIC VALUE?

Episteme ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-104
Author(s):  
Lance K. Aschliman
Keyword(s):  
Final Section ◽  
True Belief ◽  
Epistemic Value ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Value Of Knowledge ◽  
A Value ◽  
Fundamental Value ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Mere True Belief

ABSTRACTIn this paper, I question the orthodox position that true belief is a fundamental epistemic value. I begin by raising a particularly epistemic version of the so-called “value problem of knowledge” in order to set up the basic explanandum and to motivate some of the claims to follow. In the second section, I take aim at what I call “bottom-up approaches” to this value problem, views that attempt to explain the added epistemic value of knowledge in terms of its relation to a more fundamental value of true belief. The final section is a presentation of a value-theoretic alternative, one that explains the value problem presented in the first section while also doing justice to intuitions that may cause us to worry about bottom-up approaches. In short, knowledge and not mere true belief is a fundamental epistemic value as it is the constitutive goal of propositional inquiry.

scholarly journals ‘If the cap fits’? Probation staff and the changing nature of supervision in a Community Rehabilitation Company

2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Tidmarsh
Keyword(s):  
Case Managers ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Probation Officers ◽  
Administrative Staff ◽  
Community Rehabilitation ◽  
Probation Service ◽  
Long Term Trends ◽  
Quantitative Changes ◽  
Privately Owned

This article explores the changing nature of supervision in a Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) following the Transforming Rehabilitation ( TR) reforms to probation services in England and Wales. Based on an ethnographic study of an office within a privately owned CRC, it argues that TR has entrenched long-term trends towards ‘Taylorised’ probation practice. This is to say that qualitative and quantitative changes to the complexion of practitioners’ caseloads since TR reflect a decades-long devaluation of the probation service and its staff. The decision to allocate most qualified practitioners to the National Probation Service means that Case Managers (i.e. probation service officers) now supervise offenders who would historically have been supervised by Senior Case Managers (i.e. probation officers). This loss of expertise has been exacerbated by administrative staff redundancies at the office. The result is an increasingly standardised and fragmented mode of working within the CRC in which the majority of services are now delivered by the voluntary sector.

scholarly journals Detection and Monitoring of Bottom-Up Cracks in Road Pavement Using a Machine-Learning Approach

Algorithms ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filippo Giammaria Praticò ◽  
Rosario Fedele ◽  
Vitalii Naumov ◽  
Tomas Sauer
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Surface Defects ◽  
Great Accuracy ◽  
Supervised Machine Learning ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Road Pavement ◽  
Acoustic Signature ◽  
Machine Learning Approach ◽  
Set Up

The current methods that aim at monitoring the structural health status (SHS) of road pavements allow detecting surface defects and failures. This notwithstanding, there is a lack of methods and systems that are able to identify concealed cracks (particularly, bottom-up cracks) and monitor their growth over time. For this reason, the objective of this study is to set up a supervised machine learning (ML)-based method for the identification and classification of the SHS of a differently cracked road pavement based on its vibro-acoustic signature. The method aims at collecting these signatures (using acoustic-sensors, located at the roadside) and classifying the pavement’s SHS through ML models. Different ML classifiers (i.e., multilayer perceptron, MLP, convolutional neural network, CNN, random forest classifier, RFC, and support vector classifier, SVC) were used and compared. Results show the possibility of associating with great accuracy (i.e., MLP = 91.8%, CNN = 95.6%, RFC = 91.0%, and SVC = 99.1%) a specific vibro-acoustic signature to a differently cracked road pavement. These results are encouraging and represent the bases for the application of the proposed method in real contexts, such as monitoring roads and bridges using wireless sensor networks, which is the target of future studies.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document