Sex Offender Community Notification Law Reform: A Call for More Active, Consistent, and Detailed Information about High-Risk Offenders

There has been quite a bit of controversy surrounding the enforcement of sex offender registration and community notification laws. A major argument against such laws involves the lumping of all sex offenders into a single category, which hinders offender management and public safety. Further exacerbating this problem is the fact that less than 35% of state registries provide the information necessary for citizens to make informed decisions regarding their safety, such as the victim’s age or gender. In some cases, law enforcement will go door-to-door and in other cases, community members need to look up information on their own. Misinformation and inconsistencies can cause unnecessary angst among community members. Therefore, states should consider the value of enacting uniformed legislation that is more active in its pursuit to provide consistent and detailed information about high-risk offenders and the offense(s) committed. This will better enable community members to more effectively form their own risk assessments and make better informed decisions

The use of risk and need factors in forensic mental health decision-making and the role of gender and index offense severity

Canadian legislation makes Review Boards (RBs) responsible for rendering dispositions for individuals found Not Criminally Responsible on account of Mental Disorder (NCRMD) after considering public safety, the mental condition of the accused, and his/her potential for community reintegration. We reviewed 6,743 RB hearings for 1,794 individuals found NCRMD in the three largest Canadian provinces to investigate whether items from two empirically supported risk assessment measures, the Historical Clinical Risk Management‐20 and the Violence Risk Appraisal Guide, were considered. Less than half the items were included in expert reports or in RBs' reasons for dispositions, and consideration of these items differed according to gender and index offense severity of the accused. These items included evidence‐based risk factors and/or legally specified criteria: mental health, treatment, and criminal history. These results illustrate the gap between research on risk factors and the integration of this evidence into practice. In particular, we recommend the implementation of structured measures to reduce the potential for clinicians to be unduly influenced by gender and offense severity

The National Trajectory Project of individuals found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder. Part 5 : how essential are gender-specific forensic psychiatric services?

Objective : To state the sociodemographic characteristics, mental health histories, index offence characteristics, and criminal histories of male and female forensic psychiatric patients. Clinicians and researchers advocate that mental health and criminal justice organizations implement gender-specific services; however, few studies have sampled forensic patients to evaluate the extent to which men's and women's treatment and management needs are different. Method : Data were collected from Review Board files from May 2000 to April 2005 in the 3 largest Canadian provinces. Using official criminal records, participants were followed for 3 to 8 years, until December 2008. The final sample comprised 1800 individuals: 15.6% were women and 84.4% were men. Results : There were few demographic differences, but women had higher psychosocial functioning than men. Both men and women had extensive mental health histories; women were more likely diagnosed with mood disorders and PDs and men were more likely diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and SUDs. The nature of the index offence did not differ by gender, except women were more likely to have perpetrated murders and attempted murders. For offences against a person, women were more likely to offend against offspring and partners and less likely to offend against strangers, compared with men. Women had significantly less extensive criminal histories than men. Conclusions : Not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder-accused women have a distinct psychosocial, clinical, and criminological profile from their male counterparts, which may suggest gender-specific assessment, risk management, and treatment in forensic services could benefit patients. The findings are also consistent with traditional models (Risk-Need-Responsivity) and ultimately demonstrate the importance of individual assessment and client-centred services.Objectif : Établir les caractéristiques sociodémographiques, les antécédents de santé mentale, les caractéristiques de l'infraction répertoriée, et les antécédents criminels des patients masculins et féminins de psychiatrie légale. Cliniciens et chercheurs revendiquent que les organisations de santé mentale et de justice pénale offrent des services sexospécifiques; toutefois, peu d'études ont évalué à quel point les besoins de traitement et de prise en charge des hommes et des femmes sont différents dans des échantillons de patients médicolégaux. Méthode : Les données ont été recueillies dans les dossiers de la CE, de mai 2000 à avril 2005, dans les 3 provinces les plus populeuses. Au moyen des casiers judiciaires officiels, les participants ont été suivis de 3 à 8 ans, jusqu'en décembre 2008. L'échantillon final comptait 1800 personnes dont 15,6% étaient des femmes et 84,4%, des hommes. Résultats : Il y avait peu de différences démograhiques, mais les femmes avaient un fonctionnement psychosocial plus élevé que celui des hommes. Les hommes comme les femmes avaient de longs antécédents de santé mentale, les femmes étant plus susceptibles de recevoir un diagnostic de trouble de l'humeur ou de la personnalité et les hommes, un diagnostic du spectre de la schizophrénie ou d'un trouble lié aux substances. La nature de l'infraction répertoriée ne différait pas selon le sexe, sauf que les femmes étaient plus susceptibles d'avoir commis un meurtre ou une tentative de meurtre. Pour les infractions contre la personne, les femmes étaient plus susceptibles de s'en prendre à leurs enfants et leurs partenaires et moins à des étrangers, comparées aux hommes. Elles avaient des antécédents criminels significativement moins lourds que les hommes. Conclusions : Les femmes NCRTM ont un profil psychosocial, clinique et criminologique distinct de celui des hommes, suggérant ainsi qu'une évaluation, une gestion de risque et un traitement sexospécifiques dans les services psycho-légaux pourraient bénéficier aux patients. Les résultats sont aussi conformes aux modèles traditionnels (risque-besoin-réceptivité) et démontrent finalement l'importance de l'évaluation individuelle et des services axés sur le client

Trapping \u3ci\u3ePhyllophaga \u3c/i\u3espp. (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae) in the United States and Canada using sex attractants.

The sex pheromone of the scarab beetle, Phyllophaga anxia, is a blend of the methyl esters of two amino acids, L-valine and L-isoleucine. A field trapping study was conducted, deploying different blends of the two compounds at 59 locations in the United States and Canada. More than 57,000 males of 61 Phyllophaga species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae) were captured and identified. Three major findings included: (1) widespread use of the two compounds [of the 147 Phyllophaga (sensu stricto) species found in the United States and Canada, males of nearly 40% were captured]; (2) in most species intraspecific male response to the pheromone blends was stable between years and over geography; and (3) an unusual pheromone polymorphism was described from P. anxia. Populations at some locations were captured with L-valine methyl ester alone, whereas populations at other locations were captured with L-isoleucine methyl ester alone. At additional locations, the L-valine methyl ester-responding populations and the L-isoleucine methyl ester-responding populations were both present, producing a bimodal capture curve. In southeastern Massachusetts and in Rhode Island, in the United States, P. anxia males were captured with blends of L-valine methyl ester and L-isoleucine methyl ester

Monitoring activities of teenagers to comprehend their habits: study protocol for a mixed-methods cohort study

Abstract: Background: Efforts to increase physical activity in youth need to consider which activities are most likely to be sustained over time in order to promote lifelong participation in physical activity. The Monitoring Activities of Teenagers to Comprehend their Habits (MATCH) study is a prospective cohort study that uses quantitative and qualitative methods to develop new knowledge on the sustainability of specific physical activities. Methods/design: Eight hundred and forty-three grade 5 and 6 students recruited from 17 elementary schools in New Brunswick, Canada, are followed-up three times per year. At each survey cycle, participants complete self-report questionnaires in their classroom under the supervision of trained data collectors. A sub-sample of 24 physically active students is interviewed annually using a semi-structured interview protocol. Parents (or guardians) complete telephone administered questionnaires every two years, and a health and wellness school audit is completed for each school. Discussion: MATCH will provide a description of the patterns of participation in specific physical activities in youth, and enable identification of the determinants of maintenance, decline, and uptake of participation in each activity. These data will inform the development of interventions that take into account which activities are the most likely to be maintained and why activities are maintained or dropped

Application of Ligninolytic Enzymes in the Production of Biofuels from Cotton Wastes

The application of ligninolytic fungi and enzymes is an option to overcome the issues related with the production of biofuels using cotton wastes. In this dissertation, the ligninolytic fungus and enzymes were evaluated as pretreatment for the biochemical conversion of Cotton Gin Trash (CGT) in ethanol and as a treatment for the transformation of cotton wastes biochar in other substances. In biochemical conversion, seven combinations of three pretreatments (ultrasonication, liquid hot water and ligninolytic enzymes) were evaluated on CGT. The best results were achieved by the sequential combination of ultrasonication, hot water, and ligninolytic enzymes with an improvement of 10% in ethanol yield. To improve these results, alkaline-ultrasonication was evaluated. Additionally, Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) and principal component analysis (PCA) were employed as fast methodology to identify structural differences in the biomass. The combination of ultrasonication-alkali hydrolysis, hot liquid water, and ligninolytic enzymes using 15% of NaOH improved 35% ethanol yield compared with the original treatment. Additionally, FT-IR and PCA identified modifications in the biomass structure after different types of pretreatments and conditions. In thermal conversion, this study evaluated the biodepolymerization of cotton wastes biochar using chemical and biological treatments. The chemical depolymerization evaluated three chemical agents (KMnO4, H2SO4, and NaOH), with three concentrations and two environmental conditions. The sulfuric acid treatments performed the largest transformations of the biochar solid phase; whereas, the KMnO4 treatments achieved the largest depolymerizations. The compounds released into the liquid phase were correlated with fulvic and humic acids and silicon compounds. The biological depolymerization utilized four ligninolytic fungi Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Ceriporiopsis subvermispora, Postia placenta, and Bjerkandera adusta. The greatest depolymerization was obtained by C. subvermispora. The depolymerization kinetics of C. subvermispora evidenced the production of laccase and manganese peroxidase and a correlation between depolymerization and production of ligninolytic enzymes. The modifications obtained in the liquid and solid phases showed the production of humic and fulvic acids from the cultures with C. subvermispora. The results of this research are the initial steps for the development of new processes using the ligninolytic fungus and their enzymes for the production of biofuels from cotton wastes

The stigma turbine:A theoretical framework for conceptualizing and contextualizing marketplace stigma

Stigmas, or discredited personal attributes, emanate from social perceptions of physical characteristics, aspects of character, and “tribal” associations (e.g., race; Goffman 1963). Extant research emphasizes the perspective of the stigma target, with some scholars exploring how social institutions shape stigma. Yet the ways stakeholders within the socio-commercial sphere create, perpetuate, or resist stigma remain overlooked. We introduce and define marketplace stigma as the labeling, stereotyping, and devaluation by and of commercial stakeholders (consumers, companies and their employees, stockholders, institutions) and their offerings (products, services, experiences). We offer the Stigma Turbine (ST) as a unifying conceptual framework that locates marketplace stigma within the broader sociocultural context, and illuminates its relationship to forces that exacerbate or blunt stigma. In unpacking the ST, we reveal the critical role market stakeholders can play in (de)stigmatization, explore implications for marketing practice and public policy, and offer a research agenda to further our understanding of marketplace stigma and stakeholder welfare

Safety and efficacy of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine (AZD1222) against SARS-CoV-2: an interim analysis of four randomised controlled trials in Brazil, South Africa, and the UK.

BACKGROUND: A safe and efficacious vaccine against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), if deployed with high coverage, could contribute to the control of the COVID-19 pandemic. We evaluated the safety and efficacy of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine in a pooled interim analysis of four trials. METHODS: This analysis includes data from four ongoing blinded, randomised, controlled trials done across the UK, Brazil, and South Africa. Participants aged 18 years and older were randomly assigned (1:1) to ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine or control (meningococcal group A, C, W, and Y conjugate vaccine or saline). Participants in the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 group received two doses containing 5 × 1010 viral particles (standard dose; SD/SD cohort); a subset in the UK trial received a half dose as their first dose (low dose) and a standard dose as their second dose (LD/SD cohort). The primary efficacy analysis included symptomatic COVID-19 in seronegative participants with a nucleic acid amplification test-positive swab more than 14 days after a second dose of vaccine. Participants were analysed according to treatment received, with data cutoff on Nov 4, 2020. Vaccine efficacy was calculated as 1 - relative risk derived from a robust Poisson regression model adjusted for age. Studies are registered at ISRCTN89951424 and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04324606, NCT04400838, and NCT04444674. FINDINGS: Between April 23 and Nov 4, 2020, 23 848 participants were enrolled and 11 636 participants (7548 in the UK, 4088 in Brazil) were included in the interim primary efficacy analysis. In participants who received two standard doses, vaccine efficacy was 62·1% (95% CI 41·0-75·7; 27 [0·6%] of 4440 in the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 group vs71 [1·6%] of 4455 in the control group) and in participants who received a low dose followed by a standard dose, efficacy was 90·0% (67·4-97·0; three [0·2%] of 1367 vs 30 [2·2%] of 1374; pinteraction=0·010). Overall vaccine efficacy across both groups was 70·4% (95·8% CI 54·8-80·6; 30 [0·5%] of 5807 vs 101 [1·7%] of 5829). From 21 days after the first dose, there were ten cases hospitalised for COVID-19, all in the control arm; two were classified as severe COVID-19, including one death. There were 74 341 person-months of safety follow-up (median 3·4 months, IQR 1·3-4·8): 175 severe adverse events occurred in 168 participants, 84 events in the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 group and 91 in the control group. Three events were classified as possibly related to a vaccine: one in the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 group, one in the control group, and one in a participant who remains masked to group allocation. INTERPRETATION: ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 has an acceptable safety profile and has been found to be efficacious against symptomatic COVID-19 in this interim analysis of ongoing clinical trials. FUNDING: UK Research and Innovation, National Institutes for Health Research (NIHR), Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Lemann Foundation, Rede D'Or, Brava and Telles Foundation, NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Thames Valley and South Midland's NIHR Clinical Research Network, and AstraZeneca