Risk factors for dating violence versus cohabiting violence : results from the third generation of the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development

BACKGROUND: Dating violence is an important problem. Evidence suggests that women are more likely to perpetrate dating violence. AIMS: The present study investigates the prevalence of dating violence compared with cohabiting violence in a community sample of men and women and assesses to what extent child and adolescent explanatory factors predict this behaviour. A secondary aim is to construct a risk score for dating violence based on the strongest risk factors. METHODS: The Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development is a prospective longitudinal survey of 411 men (generation 2) born in the 1950s in an inner London area. Most recently, their sons and daughters [generation 3 (G3)] have been interviewed regarding their perpetration of dating and cohabiting violence, utilising the Conflict Tactics Scale. Risk factors were measured in four domains (family, parental, socio-economic and individual). RESULTS: A larger proportion of women than men perpetrated at least one act of violence towards their dating partner (36.4 vs 21.7%). There was a similar pattern for cohabiting violence (39.6 vs 21.4%). A number of risk factors were significantly associated with the perpetration of dating violence. For G3 women, these included a convicted father, parental conflict, large family size and poor housing. For G3 men, these included having a young father or mother, separation from the father before age 16, early school leaving, frequent truancy and having a criminal conviction. A risk score for both men and women, based on 10 risk factors, significantly predicted dating violence. CONCLUSION: Risk factors from four domains were important in predicting dating violence, but they were different for G3 men and women. It may be important to consider different risk factors and different risk assessments for male compared with female perpetration of dating violence. Early identification and interventions are recommended

School bullying and drug use later in life: A meta-analytic investigation.

The main aim of this article is to investigate whether there is a significant long-term association between bullying at school and drug use later in life. A meta-analysis is presented based on results from major prospective longitudinal studies with available unadjusted and adjusted effect sizes. Results are based on thorough systematic searches of the literature across 19 databases and 63 journals. The unadjusted summary effect size suggests that youth who bully are at least twice as likely compared with noninvolved students to use drugs later in life (OR = 2.22, 95% CI: 1.60-3.07). The adjusted summary effect size is markedly reduced to an OR of 1.41 (95% CI: 1.20-1.66) suggesting that a lot of variation in the final model is explained by other contributing factors, while bullying has a significant yet small effect over and above the contribution of these factors. Contributing factors include childhood risks falling within the individual, family, and school domains that are significantly associated with both the predictor and the outcome. It is concluded that school bullying, drug use, and other problem behaviors are intercorrelated; thus, highlighting the need to create a meaningful holistic framework for the prevention of drug problems and other associated mental, emotional, and behavioral maladies. Implications for policy and practice arising from these findings are discussed.This study was supported by the British Academy and the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention. The authors declare no conflict of interest with these funding bodies. No contractual constraints on publishing have been imposed by the funders. The authors have no connection with the tobacco, alcohol, pharmaceutical or gaming industries and none of the above industries have been involved in funding of this study.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the APA via http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/spq000012

Combining the bulk transfer formulation and surface renewal analysis for estimating the sensible heat flux without involving the parameter KB-1

The single‐source bulk transfer formulation (based on the Monin‐Obukhov Similarity Theory, MOST) has been used to estimate the sensible heat flux, H, in the framework of remote sensing over homogeneous surfaces (HMOST). The latter involves the canopy parameter, , which is difficult to parameterize. Over short and dense grass at a site influenced by regional advection of sensible heat flux, HMOST with  = 2 (i.e., the value recommended) correlated strongly with the H measured using the Eddy Covariance, EC, method, HEC. However, it overestimated HEC by 50% under stable conditions for samples showing a local air temperature gradient larger than the measurement error, 0.4 km−1. Combining MOST and Surface Renewal analysis, three methods of estimating H that avoid dependency have been derived. These new expressions explain the variability of H versus , where is the friction velocity, is the radiometric surface temperature, and is the air temperature at height, z. At two measurement heights, the three methods performed excellently. One of the methods developed required the same readily/commonly available inputs as HMOST due to the fact that the ratio between and the ramp amplitude was found fairly constant under stable and unstable cases. Over homogeneous canopies, at a site influenced by regional advection of sensible heat flux, the methods proposed are an alternative to the traditional bulk transfer method because they are reliable, exempt of calibration against the EC method, and are comparable or identical in cost of application. It is suggested that the methodology may be useful over bare soil and sparse vegetation.This research was funded by CERESS project AGL2011–30498 (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain, cofunded FEDER), CGL2012–37416‐C04‐01 (Ministerio de Ciencia y Innovación of Spain), and CEI Iberus, 2014 (Proyecto financiado por el Ministerio de Educación en el marco del Programa Campus de Excelencia Internacional of Spain)

Technologies for Social Justice: Lessons from Sex Workers on the Front Lines

This paper provides analysis and insight from a collaborative process with a Canadian sex worker rights organization called Stella, l'amie de Maimie, where we reflect on the use of and potential for digital technologies in service delivery. We analyze the Bad Client and Aggressor List - a reporting tool co-produced by sex workers in the community and Stella staff to reduce violence against sex workers. We analyze its current and potential future formats as an artefact for communication, in a context of sex work criminalization and the exclusion of sex workers from traditional routes for reporting violence and accessing governmental systems for justice. This paper addresses a novel aspect of HCI research that relates to digital technologies and social justice. Reflecting on the Bad Client and Aggressor List, we discuss how technologies can interact with justice-oriented service delivery and develop three implications for design

A novel method of using accelerometry for upper limb FES control.

This paper reports on a novel approach to using a 3-axis accelerometer to capture body segment angle for upper limb functional electrical stimulation (FES) control. The approach calculates the angle between the accelerometer x -axis and the gravity vector, while avoiding poor sensitivity at certain angles and minimizing errors when true acceleration is relatively large in comparison to gravity. This approach was incorporated into a state-machine controller which is used for the real-time control of FES during up- per limb functional task performance. An experimental approach was used to validate the new method. Two participants with different upper limb impairments resulting from a stroke carried out four different FES-assisted tasks. Comparisons were made between angle calculated from arm-mounted accelerometer data using our algorithm and angle calculated from limb-mounted reflective marker data. After removal of coordinate misalignment error, mean error across tasks and subjects ranged between 1.4 and 2.9 °. The approach shows promise for use in the control of upper limb FES and other human movement applications where true acceleration is relatively small in comparison with gravity

The neural basis of perceived intensity in natural and artificial touch

Electrical stimulation of sensory nerves is a powerful tool for studying neural coding because it can activate neural populations in ways that natural stimulation cannot. Electrical stimulation of the nerve has also been used to restore sensation to patients who have suffered the loss of a limb. We have used long-term implanted electrical interfaces to elucidate the neural basis of perceived intensity in the sense of touch. To this end, we assessed the sensory correlates of neural firing rate and neuronal population recruitment independently by varying two parameters of nerve stimulation: pulse frequency and pulse width. Specifically, two amputees, chronically implanted with peripheral nerve electrodes, performed each of three psychophysical tasks-intensity discrimination, magnitude scaling, and intensity matching-in response to electrical stimulation of their somatosensory nerves. We found that stimulation pulse width and pulse frequency had systematic, cooperative effects on perceived tactile intensity and that the artificial tactile sensations could be reliably matched to skin indentations on the intact limb. We identified a quantity we termed the activation charge rate (ACR), derived from stimulation parameters, that predicted the magnitude of artificial tactile percepts across all testing conditions. On the basis of principles of nerve fiber recruitment, the ACR represents the total population spike count in the activated neural population. Our findings support the hypothesis that population spike count drives the magnitude of tactile percepts and indicate that sensory magnitude can be manipulated systematically by varying a single stimulation quantity