Modelling of connected processes

The problem of comparing, contrasting and combining information from different sets of data is an enduring one in many practical applications of statistics. A specific problem of combining information from different sources arose in integrating information from three different sets of data generated by three different sampling campaigns at the input stage as well as at the output stage of a grey-water treatment process. For each stage, a common process trend function needs to be estimated to describe the input and output material process behaviours. Once the common input and output process models are established, it is required to estimate the efficiency of the grey-water treatment method. A synthesized tool for modelling different sets of process data is created by assembling and organizing a number of existing techniques: (i) a mixed model of fixed and random effects, extended to allow for a nonlinear fixed effect, (ii) variogram modelling, a geostatistical technique, (iii) a weighted least squares regression embedded in an iterative maximum-likelihood technique to handle linear/nonlinear fixed and random effects and (iv) a formulation of a transfer-function model for the input and output processes together with a corresponding nonlinear maximum-likelihood method for estimation of a transfer function. The synthesized tool is demonstrated, in a new case study, to contrast and combine information from connected process models and to determine the change in one quality characteristic, namely pH, of the input and output materials of a grey-water filtering process.     

Increasing Research Capacity in Ontario Child Welfare Organizations: A Unique University–Child Welfare Agency Partnership

The objective of this article is to describe the successes and challenges of a unique knowledge mobilization initiative that was funded through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. This initiative focused on promoting knowledge mobilization by increasing the capacity of child welfare organizations in Ontario to conduct and use research. Building on existing knowledge mobilization models in Ontario, this initiative brought university-based researchers together with child welfare practitioners to use existing data sets from the Ontario Incidence Studies of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect. Overall, this knowledge mobilization initiative resulted in several positive outcomes. Along with the successes, the research team faced several challenges in implementing this initiative, which are described in detail.     

The collective/affective practice of cancer survivorship

Whether within an atmosphere of hope, or amidst relations of fear, the emotions of cancer are unavoidably collectively produced. Yet persistent individualistic paradigms continue to obscure how the emotions of cancer operate relationally – between bodies, subjects, discourses, and practices – and are intertwined with circulating beliefs, cultural desires, and various forms of normativity. Drawing on interviews with 80 people living with cancer in Australia, this paper illustrates why recognition of the collective enterprise of survivorship – and the collective production of emotion, more generally – is important in light of persistent, culturally dominant conceptions of the individual patient as the primary ‘afflicted’, ‘feeling’, and ‘treated’ subject. Building on previous work on affective relations and moral framings, we posit that the collective affects of survivorship inflect what people living with cancer can, and should, feel. We highlight how such things as hope, resignation, optimism, and dread are ‘products’ of the collective affects of cancer, with implications for how survivorship is lived, felt, and done.     

Capabilities of PR professionals for key activities lag: Asia-Pacific study shows theory and practice gaps

A number of studies of the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs), competencies and capabilities of public relations and communication professionals have been carried out in the USA, UK and other countries. However, most have not engaged to any significant extent with literature in the human resource development field which specializes in defining and developing these characteristics. Also, few studies to date have related the KSAs, competencies and capabilities of practitioners to the key activities of public relations and communication management required for the future. This article presents findings and analysis from a regional survey conducted in 22 Asia-Pacific countries in 2017/18 that compared, for the first time, the capabilities of practitioners in relation to activities identified as the most important over the next three years. This data, and comparison with equivalent regional surveys in Europe and Latin America, confirm a gap in capabilities in relation to key communication activities and suggest a gap in theory as well as practice. The findings and conclusions present a challenge for higher education and professional development for public relations and communication management and point to potential future directions in theory building.