Search

PurposeThis study aims to advance the existing analytic model to include staff allocation information at the district level. Maintaining adequate size of staff is essential to law enforcement agencies' ability to ensure social order, fight crime and, increasingly, deliver a widening range of social services. Review of the scientific literature on police size of force and staffing calculation models indicates that this line of inquiry (i.e. manpower analysis) is attentive to population size and workload demands but generally inattentive to how service demands are affected by community-level variables. Current staffing calculation models specify number of staff needed for a jurisdiction but do not inform the allocation of personnel across districts within the jurisdiction.Design/methodology/approachTo address this problem, the current study illustrates an enhanced analytic model to provide law enforcement staffing recommendations for a southern coastal county. An integrated per capita-workload manpower analysis model first factors the minimum number of law enforcement deputies needed per population size served and recent history workload demands and then executes the six-step workload model process. This study enhances staffing analysis by adding an additional seventh arithmetical step indicating the staffing needs by districts across a jurisdiction.FindingsThe results from the integrated per capita-workload analysis indicate the need to hire additional deputies to meet current and future demands.Originality/valueDiscussion centers on the need to include drivers of police services identified but not measured in this study's application of the hybrid manpower analysis model and its replication potential.

An increase in correctional treatment programming options coupled with prison population reduction legislation has driven a widespread transfer of supervision from prisons to community corrections. As a result, medium-to-high risk offenders with substance use needs are increasingly managed through community-based supervision programs such as intensive supervision probation (ISP). ISP programs frequently rely on different types of graduated sanctions to encourage program completion. To further develop research on how graduated sanctions should be applied in response to substance-use-related violations, this study examines whether enhanced treatment sanctions (a rehabilitative approach) and jail sanctions (a punitive approach) may differentially impact successful ISP completion. Using a sample of persons who committed a substance use violation while on ISP, results from multilevel models demonstrate that enhanced treatment sanctions are significantly associated with increased odds of successful ISP completion. On the other hand, jail is not significant, and enhanced treatment and jail do not interact to influence ISP program success. Due to the deleterious nature of the jail environment, findings call into question the utility of jail sanctions on ISP outcomes. Overall, enhanced treatment may be a preferable means through which to sanction probationers and parolees who commit substance-use-related violations while under community supervision.

Federal funding efforts have increased the number of reentry programs over the past decade with corresponding evaluations of these initiatives. Reentry programming targets a wide range of offenders though most have focused on medium and high-risk individuals with substance abuse and/or mental health disorders. This research note provides a profile overview of two programs in central Ohio funded by the Second Chance Act and offers a summary of process and outcome evaluation findings from both initiatives. Results from a mixed methods research design suggested that the programs were largely successful in terms of reducing recidivism among participants, though issues related to programmatic fidelity were also identified. While these programs pre-date more current offender intervention efforts, such as the Justice Mental Health Collaboration Program, identified barriers to program success reaffirm the saliency of longstanding problems embedded in and challenged by correctional and police culture.

Introduction and Aims Acetyl fentanyl, a fentanyl analogue emerging onto the recreational drug scene, has been responsible for numerous recent fatal overdoses in the USA, Europe and Russia. Studies reporting acetyl fentanyl use are presently limited to case studies and mortality reports. This study explores the nature of acetyl fentanyl use through the collection of first-hand qualitative data from users to inform public health and drug control policy responses. Design and Methods A series of focus group interviews within a correctional setting—Delaware County (Ohio) Jail, USA. Participants were 102 individuals in one of two US Bureau of Justice Assistance Second Chance Act substance use treatment initiatives participating in at least one focus group session. Five of these individuals reported acetyl fentanyl use. Semi-structured qualitative focus group sessions queried subjects' drugs of choice and nature of drug use. Responses were explored through follow-up organic discourse. Results Acetyl fentanyl users were generally unaware that they had administered the substance until after use (initially believing that they were administering heroin). They described the effects of acetyl fentanyl as stronger and qualitatively different from heroin. These individuals showed no interest in using acetyl fentanyl again describing it as unpleasant and more risky, both because of potency and the threat of a ‘bad batch’. Discussion and Conclusions Acetyl fentanyl is reaching heroin users, some of which administer it unknowingly. Regulation of acetyl fentanyl is recommended in all countries as is increasing public awareness that the substance is distinct from and being sold as heroin. [Miller JM, Stogner JM, Miller BL, Blough S. Exploring synthetic heroin: Accounts of acetyl fentanyl use from a sample of dually diagnosed drug offenders. Drug Alcohol Rev 2018;37:121–127]

As a supplemental component of a larger confidential analysis of police sexual misconduct (PSM) in “Central City”, this study examines news accounts of PSM events in seven comparable metropolitan cities in the United States. Google search was used to identify media news reports to estimate PSM, standardized for city population and size of police force. Findings indicate that PSM rates vary by city, events typically implicate a male officer and a female victim, and most media reports involved an arrest that may signal under-reporting. Observation of commonalities across the sample cities informs discussion of the need for transparency and preventative measures.

Novel psychoactive drugs (NPDs), an emerging class of dangerous substances, generally mimic the actions of commonly abused substances such as marijuana, stimulants, hallucinogens, and opiates, but are formulated, marketed, and used either to sidestep legal restrictions or to avoid positive drug screens. Synthetic cannabinoids such as Spice and K2 along with synthetic stimulants often referred to as “bath salts” have recently entered U.S. markets. The current study explores the relationship between being arrested and using NPDs per self-report survey data obtained from 2,349 students at a large university in the Southeastern United States. Respondents indicated whether they had used synthetic psychoactive drugs, reported demographic characteristics, and whether they had been arrested for a number of offenses. Results from logistic regression and propensity score matching models indicate that those who have been arrested are also more likely to use NPDs.

Slither.io is a massively multiplayer online game in which up to 500 players control worm-like avatars and consume food to grow with the goal of becoming the largest player while avoiding running into one another. The platform serves as a good testbed for developing AI controlled agents due to its accessibility, mechanical simplicity, and unpredictability. In this paper, we develop a Slither.io bot using neuroevolution of augmenting topologies (NEAT) and compare its performance to that of the best open source bot available online (a high-performing expert system bot). With a fitness function based on the final size of the agent, our results show steady improvement in average score. We discuss the unique emergent behaviors observed by our top performing agents.

There has been a proliferation of offender reentry programs since the passage of the Second Chance Act in 2008, including an unprecedented expansion of treatment services into underserved rural areas. Review of Second Chance Act programming and observation of unmet mental health and substance abuse needs in justice settings contextualizes description of the Middle Tennessee Rural Reentry Program, a U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance funded intervention. The program targeted 209 adult female and male higher risk offenders that were dually diagnosed with mental health and substance abuse disorders for evidence based cognitive behavioral change oriented therapeutic treatment. While offender outcome indicators (recidivism and relapse) suggested program impact, barriers to implementing, delivering, and evaluating reentry programming in rural areas were also identified and orient discussion around evidence based demonstration and replication.

As drug control policy reform trends toward marijuana decriminalization, focus will shift to opiate enforcement which, in turn, accentuates substance abuse treatment. While the national offender reentry movement has effected widespread implementation of programming for co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders, the practice of Medicated Assisted Treatment (MAT) is nonstandard throughout the criminal justice system despite its evidence based status. This paper observes MAT delivered within and by the criminal justice system as indicated by evidence rated programs and practices listed in the national criminal justice evidence based registry crimesolutions.gov. Observation of these programs’ treatment orientation, client populations, delivery settings, and operational status inform discussion for additional MAT implementation and program registry augmentation.

Serous borderline tumor (SBT) of the testis is a rare, ovarian epithelial-type tumor of the testis. We present a case of SBT after radical orchiectomy in a 59-year-old man who had 3-month progressive enlargement of his right hemi-scrotum, negative testicular tumor markers and scrotal ultrasound equivocal for malignancy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the pelvis was obtained to aid with evaluation and showed marked hyperintensity on T2-weighted images with frond-like nodular peripheral enhancement within right testis mass. These distinct MRI findings can help clinicians differentiate SBT from other testis tumors. Relapse has not been observed in 8 years of follow-up.

Multiple-input multiple-output radar systems can offer improved performance over traditional single-input multiple-output systems, such as in radar imaging. Performance greatly depends on the recovery method used. For sparse targets, compressed sensing (CS) is used as it is well-suited as a target recovery method. Performance of CS is dependent on the sensing matrix, which includes the transmit sequence and antenna configuration. In this paper, we propose adaptively varying the transmit spacing in order to seek an optimal sensing matrix. Numerical results show the proposed method has potential to significantly improve image recovery under a variety of system conditions while using the same number of antennas.

The practice of "dabbing" has seen an apparent upswing in popularity in recent months within American drug subcultures. "Dabbing" refers to the use of butane-extracted marijuana products that offer users much higher tetrahydrocannabinol content than flower cannabis through a single dosage process. Though considerably more potent than most marijuana strains in their traditional form, these butane hash oil products and the practice of dabbing are underexplored in the empirical literature, especially in prohibition states. A mixed-methods evaluation of a federally funded treatment program for drug-involved offenders identified a small sample (n = 6) of butane hash oil users and generated focus group interview data on the nature of butane hash oil, the practice of dabbing, and its effects. Findings inform discussion of additional research needed on butane hash oil and its implications for the ongoing marijuana legalization debate, including the diversity of users, routes of administration, and differences between retail/medical and prohibition states.

This article analyses the Israeli state’s attempts to control the images employed during the reporting of the Israeli navy’s interception of a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid to Palestine on 31 May 2010. In the ensuing 48 hours, widespread use of footage released by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) ensured that the Israeli state’s narrative dominated western reporting of the event. The authors coin the term ‘full-spectacle dominance’ to describe the Israeli state’s strategy in media-managing this event. Drawing on the work of Tagg, Cottle and de Certeau, the article reviews the efficacy of Israel’s attempts to prevent the circulation of images that challenge their narrative of events, and the promotion of images which substantiate these narratives. The article argues that mainstream media programmes, such as BBC Panorama’s Death in the Med, embedded these images within a biased,pro-Israeli interpretative framework, in contrast to an interpretative framework more sympathetic to the flot...

Though mentoring has emerged as a promising and low-cost intervention for at-risk youth in recent years, the scientific knowledge base on the topic remains under-developed. The current study augments the knowledge base on youth mentoring by analyzing programmatic elements of mentoring programs situated in or adjacent to the juvenile justice system that are predictive of participant success. Poisson regression was utilized to analyze data collected through a national mentoring community saturation survey. Findings indicated that mentoring programs that require more frequent interaction and sustain relationships for longer timeframes realize higher success rates. Similarly, the use of formal mentor training was also observed as indicative of the use of evidence based practices and higher success rates, though likely beyond the logistical and fiscal reach of some local mentoring initiatives. The implications for further research and the mentoring community are discussed.

The correlation between health and offending is typically regarded as the result of confounding factors such as socioeconomic status and drug use, with little consideration given to the plausibility of reciprocal effects. Using two waves of data collected on 14,738 adolescents from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), a simultaneous structural equations modeling approach was used to determine whether there is a symbiotic relationship between health and violence. Findings indicate that minor health problems have delayed effects on violence and that involvement in violence also negatively affects future health. Discussion centers on this reciprocal relationship, implications for future research, and public health and delinquency prevention policy.

Although evaluation has become a common component of substance abuse treatment programs in correctional settings, few evaluation designs use a mixed-methodological approach and even fewer incorporate participant interviews in the data collection process. This oversight is problematic for a number of reasons, one of which is the uniquely disadvantaged position of the subjects under study (i.e., prisoners). Using data from an evaluation of an in-prison alcohol treatment program, this article illustrates the utility of the qualitative interview in correctional research. Findings suggest that interviews are capable of providing information otherwise inaccessible through quantitative designs and identifying process and management barriers to optimal program operation. Discussion centers on implications for policy and practice enhancement.

BACKGROUND: Although convincing data exist regarding the prognostic utility of positron emission tomographic (PET)-computed tomographic (CT) imaging in Hodgkin lymphoma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, its prognostic utility both during treatment and immediately after treatment have not been systematically evaluated in a large mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) patient cohort to support its use in clinical practice. METHODS: The authors conducted a retrospective cohort study to examine the prognostic utility of PET-CT imaging in a uniform MCL patient cohort undergoing dose-intensive chemotherapy (R-HyCVAD) in the frontline setting. The primary study endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). PET-CT images were centrally reviewed for the purposes of this study using standardized response criteria. RESULTS: Fifty-three patients with advanced stage MCL with PET-CT data were identified. With median follow-up of 32 months, 3-year PFS and OS estimates were 76% (95% confidence interval [CI], 64%-84%) and 84% (95% CI, 72%-90%), respectively. Interim PET-CT status was not associated with PFS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.9; 95% CI, 0.3-2.7; P = .8) or OS (HR, 0.6; 95% CI, 0.1-2.9; P = .5). Post-treatment PET-CT status was statistically significantly associated with PFS (HR, 5.2; 95% CI, 2.0-13.6; P = .001) and trended toward significant for OS (HR, 2.8; 95% CI, 0.8-9.6; P = .07). CONCLUSIONS: These data do not support the prognostic utility of PET-CT in pretreatment and interim treatment settings. A positive PET-CT after the completion of therapy identifies a patient subset with an inferior PFS and a trend toward inferior OS. Cancer 2012;3565–3570. © 2011 American Cancer Society.

Though widely acknowledged as vital to law enforcement, social scientists have largely ignored the practice of confidential informing. The extant literature on the topic is primarily comprised of experientially based practical guides to informant management and a handful of field studies drawing information from informants in the study of other undercover practices. This study features data obtained from in‐depth interviews with eighty‐four former informants drawn from five southern states identified through a purposive‐snowball sampling strategy. Informant accounts suggest that the practice of confidential informing is an institutionalized component of a general narcotics enforcement pattern characterized by duplicity and social control irony. Confidential informant work is observed as a moral career entailing deviant identity maintenance through neutralizations and insider perspective. Narratives confirmed a motivational typology accounting for role assumption and informant–agent dynamics and orient dis...

Through funding from the national Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Program, the South Carolina Department of Corrections implemented the Correctional Recovery Academy in the Turbeville Medium Security Institution to treat drug‐dependent offenders. The program features a cognitive–behavioral change modality delivered in a modified therapeutic community to first time, non‐violent, drug‐dependent, youthful male offenders. A quasi‐experimental design was employed to specify impact as indicated by recidivism, relapse, and parole revocation. While analyses revealed no statistically significant difference between treatment and control group participants on these outcome measures, implications regarding the efficacy of the treatment modality are ambiguous as implementation failure masked determination of program effects. Drug testing frequency after release, however, was found to be a significant factor precluding failure, contrary to the conventional view that increased testing identifies greater use.

Since 2001, the federal Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative has instituted a comprehensive effort to reduce gun crimes in local communities across the United States. In South Carolina, the United States Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina established Project CeaseFire, a localized response to reduce the prevalence of gun crime through targeted prosecution and increased public education. One element of Project CeaseFire was carried out by the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services. The current study utilized a quasi-experimental design to compare firearm-related incidents among a random sample of offenders under community supervision prior to and after the implementation of the SCDPPPS CeaseFire program. Although incidents involving a firearm were rare, the current results did not indicate a reduction in firearm-related incidents among offenders entering supervision after the SCDPPPS CeaseFire program was implemented. Instead, an increase in firearm incidents was observed after CeaseFire implementation. Possible explanations for the observed results are offered along with limitations to the study and policy implications. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Since first appearing in the late 1980s, drug courts have quickly become one of the leading intervention strategies for offenders exhibiting problems with drug abuse. Popular with policy makers for their innovative approach to breaking the drugs-crime nexus, drug courts are now considered one of the hallmarks of both the adult and juvenile justice systems of corrections. Empirical research has indicated that drug courts are one of the most promising contemporary correctional strategies in reducing recidivism among substance abusing offenders. This study examined a juvenile drug court in an effort to answer some recent research questions that have been proffered by empiricists. Results suggested that clients with a history of mental health problems had greater odds of being admitted to the drug court. No client characteristics, however, were predictive of client success in the drug court. Policy implications are also considered.

Using data from the Police—Public Contact Survey (PPCS), the current study examined how experiencing traffic stops affect the likelihood that Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics will contact the police for services. First, experiencing one or more traffic stops in the past year significantly decreased the likelihood of contacting the police for assistance and to report a neighborhood problem, net of other demographic characteristics. Second, traffic stop experiences had similar effects on Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics, each group less likely to have contacted the police for assistance and to report neighborhood problems if they had experienced one or more traffic stops in the past year. This study also discusses the reasons why experiencing traffic stops are related to contacting the police for help and provides some implications for police— community relationships.

The influence of demeanor in criminal justice research has predominantly centered on arrest and sanctioning outcomes. This study examines demeanor at the juncture of juvenile drug court admission by attributing behavior perceived to be favorable or unfavorable to program compliance and success to either juveniles or their parents/guardians. Analysis of 76 juvenile drug court case files enabled examination of how parent and child demeanor impacts specialty court admission. Findings suggest that program admittance (i.e., system leniency through diversion) is largely a function of projected attitude and behavior during screening interviews, but selection decisions are made irrespective of demeanor source. Implications of the findings for drug court processes and continued system involvement are discussed.

Background: Both epilepsy and depressive symptoms are more prevalent in older individuals than in any other age group. Furthermore, depressive symptoms are among the most common interictal psychiatric co-morbid disorders in people with epilepsy. For these reasons, pharmacological treatment of epilepsy that might also confer antidepressant effects may be particularly beneficial in older patients. In this respect, lamotrigine is of considerable interest amongst antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) because it has proven thymoleptic activity. Objective: These analyses, conducted on a data set drawn from a previously reported, open-label, multicentre, prospective study, examined the effect of lamotrigine on mood in adults aged ≥50 years with epilepsy and co-morbid depressive symptoms. All subjects were receiving background AED therapy at baseline. Methods: Of the 158 subjects enrolled in the initial study, 40 adults (24 women, 16 men) met the age criterion for these analyses. The study consisted of a screening/baseline phase and four treatment phases over 36 weeks: lamotrigine escalation phase (7 weeks); lamotrigine maintenance or adjunctive therapy phase (12 weeks); concomitant AED withdrawal phase (5 weeks); and lamotrigine monotherapy phase (12 weeks). Psychometric evaluation of mood utilized the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), the Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory in Epilepsy (NDDI-E) and the Profile of Mood States (POMS). Scores at the end of the adjunctive and monotherapy phases were compared with baseline scores. Lower scores on these scales indicate less depressive symptomatology. Results: Mean baseline scores for the BDI-II, CES-D, NDDI-E and POMS were 15.8, 24.3, 13.8 and 57.7, respectively. Change scores were statistically significant (p < 0.01) compared with baseline at the end of the adjunctive and monotherapy phases for all four psychometric measures of mood, with the exceptions of BDI-II and NDDI-E at the end of the adjunctive phase. Conclusions: The older adults in these analyses presented with low to moderate levels of depressive symptoms. Addition of lamotrigine to background AED therapy demonstrated antidepressant activity similar to that for the whole sample in the initial study. Given that the onset and prevalence of epilepsy are higher in older adults than in any other age group, pharmacological treatment for epilepsy in older patients that might also confer antidepressant therapy may be particularly beneficial.

Purpose This open-label study evaluated the antidepressant qualities of lamotrigine (LTG) in people with epilepsy. Methods Eligible patients exhibited low to moderate depressive symptoms and required a change in antiepileptic drug (AED) therapy, but were excluded if they had a major depressive disorder (MDD). Lamotrigine was added onto a stable AED regimen, and self-report instruments were administered to evaluate changes in mood states. Evaluations were conducted at baseline, at the end of 19 weeks of adjunctive treatment, and 36 weeks following conversion to monotherapy. Results One hundred and fifty-eight patients with epilepsy participated; 96 patients completed adjunctive treatment, and 66 patients completed monotherapy. Intent-to-treat analyses for all instruments showed improvement in depression scores after adjunctive LTG treatment. Improvement was maintained for those converted to monotherapy. Conclusions These data suggest that LTG may have antidepressant activity for patients with epilepsy and comorbid low to moderate depressive symptoms, and warrant a randomized controlled trial for validation.

Policy makers often bemoan the shortcomings and inefficiency of youth development and similar social work programs whose effectiveness cannot be demonstrated by quantifiable performance indicators. This study argues, through illustration of the Odyssey Learning Center’s Discovery Program (an alternative school serving rural Southern youth in an abject poverty context), that program value can only be evidenced through a mixed-methodological evaluation design. Reasons precluding traditional statistical analysis and effectiveness determinations are discussed and alternative conceptualizations of program value are considered.

The delivery of substance abuse treatment within correctional settings marks one of the criminal justice system's primary opportunities to disrupt the drugs-crime nexus. Federally funded residential substance abuse treatment programs were rapidly introduced across the nation, although implementation problems increased their operational variability. This article examines how implementation barriers interrelate with other types of obstacles and multiply to hinder determinations of program effectiveness. Specific barriers were identified from a case study of process and outcome evaluations of the South Carolina Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) program. A conceptual framework groups barriers by type into four interrelated domains wherein additive effects and reciprocal consequences that can undermine effective program assessment are illustrated.

Valacyclovir given in a 5-day regimen of 500 mg twice per day is effective as short-term treatment of episodes of recurrent genital herpes. This study compared the efficacy of a shorter, 3-day course (for 402 patients) with that of a 5-day course (for 398 patients) of valacyclovir for persons with frequent recurrence of symptoms. No significant differences were detected between the 2 dosing schedules for any of the end points measured. Median times to lesion healing, of pain duration, and of episode length for the 5-day versus 3-day treatment were 4.7 versus 4.4 days, 2.5 days versus 2.9 days, and 4.4 days versus 4.3 days, respectively. The proportions of patients with aborted lesions were 26.6% and 25.4% in the 5-day and 3-day groups, respectively. A 3-day course of 500 mg of valacyclovir administered twice daily as episodic treatment of recurrent genital herpes is equivalent to a 5-day course with regard to key markers of efficacy.

A primary threat to the operative effectiveness of drug courts is high failure rates. Empirically supported screening devices could aid drug court administrators in maximizing resources, either through client selection or by helping to target problem clients in need of specialized assistance. Drawing from South Carolina county-level drug court records, success rates for participants with particular background characteristics were examined to identify correlations contributing to drug court success. Risk factors for drug court members were identified using chi-square and discriminant function analysis. Recidivism, crack as drug of choice, existence of criminality before drug use, and prior drug treatment were significantly related to drug court failure. These variables, as well as social stability variables, are argued to be vital elements in screening mechanisms.

Hesiod devises his cosmogony in order to provide the basic context for his account, part narrative and part genealogy, of Zeus’ conquest of the Titans and establishment of the primacy of justice among gods and humans. The project of this essay is to explore Hesiod’s choice of ‘Chaos’ as the ‘first’ of all the divinities to come into being. The full significance of Hesiod’s choice emerges only if we recognize that his thinking led him to two very different possibilities, Chaos and Tartaros. Accordingly, in Part I of this essay I will try to bring to view their different claims to the status of being the ‘first.’ This will require challenging the now prevailing interpretation of the coming-into-being of Chaos (Theogony 116ff.), examining two suggestive passages, 726-728 and 736-738 (= 807-809), in Hesiod’s description of the underworld, and rereading the main cosmogonic passage, 116-133, in the new context opened up by these reflections. Rediscovering the alternatives Hesiod faced will position us, in turn, to recognize two different kinds of considerations, semantic and ethical, that likely motivated his decision, and in Part II I will lay these out and consider how they may be related. Semantically, to begin from Chaos is to affirm the priority of difference to the undifferentiated. Ethically, it is to suggest that the priority of the ‘half’ to the ‘all’ (Works and Days 40), that is, of sharing and justice to grasping and violence, belongs to the very nature of the cosmos. On this reading of the cosmogony, Zeus’s establishing of the primacy of justice both reflects and gains legitimacy from the most basic character of the world itself. First, to provide a shared starting-point, let me present the key texts in Greek and in translation

Cybercrime has exponentially increased in recent years as an unavoidable byproduct of greater internet use, generally, and presents a wide range of criminal threats to large companies and individuals alike. While cyber offenses (e.g., cyberharassment, cyberstalking, identity theft, and intellectual property theft) and their address have been examined across diverse academic disciplines including criminology, electrical engineering, sociology, and computer science, minimal consideration has been given to the role of e-government in combating cybercrime – a somewhat ironic oversight given the computerized context of both. After reviewing the nature of cybercrime, this chapter considers e-government policies addressing cybercrime awareness, prevention, and victimization services. Discussion centers on the prospects for cybercrime theoretical research program development toward best practices public policy.

A family's coping repertoire may be challenged when the result of a standard prenatal maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein screening is not within a normal range. Abnormal screening results can cause families to experience anxiety and confusion at a time when they may need to make difficult decisions. The nurse's role is to provide information and emotional support and to coordinate health care services for optimal family coping.

Objectives To examine whether differential exposure to pre- and perinatal risk factors explained differences in levels of self-regulation between children of different races (White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Other). Methods Multiple regression models based on data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (n ≈ 9,850) were used to analyze the impact of pre- and perinatal risk factors on the development of self-regulation at age 2 years. Results Racial differences in levels of self-regulation were observed. Racial differences were also observed for 9 of the 12 pre-/perinatal risk factors. Multiple regression analyses revealed that a portion of the racial differences in self-regulation was explained by differential exposure to several of the pre-/perinatal risk factors. Specifically, maternal age at childbirth, gestational timing, and the family’s socioeconomic status were significantly related to the child’s level of self-regulation. These factors accounted for a statistically significant portion of the racial differences observed in self-regulation. Conclusions The findings indicate racial differences in self-regulation may be, at least partially, explained by racial differences in exposure to pre- and perinatal risk factors.

The current method for measuring profiles of proton bunches in accelerators is severely lacking. One must dedicate a great deal of time and expensive equipment to achieve meaningful results. A new method to complete this task uses a rotating mask with slots of three different orientations to collect this data. By scanning over the beam in three different directions, a complete profile for each bunch is built in just seconds, compared to the hours necessary for the previous method. This design was successfully tested using synchrotron radiation emitted by SPEAR3. The profile of the beam was measured in each of the three desired directions. Due to scheduled beam maintenance, only one set of data was completed and more are necessary to solve any remaining issues. The data collected was processed and all of the RMS sizes along the major and minor axes, as well as the tilt of the beam ellipse were measured.