Conversations in a Crowded Room: An Assessment of the Contribution of Historical Research to Criminology

The relationship between history and social science generally, as well as history and criminology specifically, has long been considered problematic. But, since the likes of Burke (1992) and King (1999) spoke of a ‘dialogue of the deaf’, crime history has rapidly expanded and, more latterly, historical criminology has begun to emerge. This article reappraises the relationship of the subject areas by considering the impact that historical research has had on criminology. Although the impact is found to be somewhat patchy, the article identifies positive signs within the two fields that might point towards a more mutually‐enriching future

Factors Associated with Revision Surgery after Internal Fixation of Hip Fractures

Background: Femoral neck fractures are associated with high rates of revision surgery after management with internal fixation. Using data from the Fixation using Alternative Implants for the Treatment of Hip fractures (FAITH) trial evaluating methods of internal fixation in patients with femoral neck fractures, we investigated associations between baseline and surgical factors and the need for revision surgery to promote healing, relieve pain, treat infection or improve function over 24 months postsurgery. Additionally, we investigated factors associated with (1) hardware removal and (2) implant exchange from cancellous screws (CS) or sliding hip screw (SHS) to total hip arthroplasty, hemiarthroplasty, or another internal fixation device. Methods: We identified 15 potential factors a priori that may be associated with revision surgery, 7 with hardware removal, and 14 with implant exchange. We used multivariable Cox proportional hazards analyses in our investigation. Results: Factors associated with increased risk of revision surgery included: female sex, [hazard ratio (HR) 1.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.25-2.50; P = 0.001], higher body mass index (fo

Synthesizing Code for GPGPUs from Abstract Formal Models

Today multiple frameworks exist for elevating thetask of writing programs for GPGPUs, which are massively data-parallel execution platforms. These are needed as writing correctand high-performing applications for GPGPUs is notoriouslydifficult due to the intricacies of the underlying architecture.However, the existing frameworks lack a formal foundation thatmakes them difficult to use together with formal verification,testing, and design space exploration. We present in this papera novel software synthesis tool – called f2cc – which is capableof generating efficient GPGPU code from abstract formal modelsbased on the synchronous model of computation. These modelscan be built using high-level modeling methodologies that hidelow-level architecture details from the developer. The correctnessof the tool has been experimentally validated on models derivedfrom two applications. The experiments also demonstrate that thesynthesized GPGPU code yielded a 28× speedup when executedon a graphics card with 96 cores and compared against asequential version that uses only the CPU.QC 20141117</p

Relating endocrinology, physiology and behaviour using species with alternative mating strategies

1. Recent reviews demonstrate that genetically determined alternative mating strategies (AMS) are widespread and typically consist of morphs that are recognized by morphological or colour traits. Despite well-established behavioural differences associated with each morph, and evidence that androgens are involved in the induction of morphs, few studies have examined whether morphs also vary in whole-organismal performance traits, which may affect dominance status, resource holding potential (RHP) or mate attraction. 2. Our survey revealed a link between androgens and physiological performance traits that are associated with territorial or courtship displays across vertebrate taxa, although the number of species in the sample is limited. Experimental elevation of testosterone alters muscular contractile properties, swimming performance, sprint speed and endurance in males. Whether morphs differ in physiological capacities is relatively unexplored, although recent studies have found that males with high dominance status also exhibit greater physiological capacities (locomotor performance, call duration). 3. Multiple studies support the hypothesis that elevated testosterone results in fitness trade-offs. Potential costs of testosterone include impaired immune function, higher parasite loads, greater energetic requirements and ultimately reduced survival. Long term studies of Uta stansburiana highlight the trade-offs among life-history traits induced by variation in testosterone. Circumstantial evidence suggests a role of testosterone in depressing immune function in species with AMS. 4. We argue that hypotheses regarding the role of trade-offs in shaping selection on functional modules, which are involved in sexual selection, are best developed by manipulative studies on discrete morphs. Our review highlights the need to measure multiple traits to provide additional insights into the roles of sexual selection and physiological epistasis in maintaining intraspecific variation in reproductive phenotypes. The integration of endocrine control of behaviour, physiology and performance is rarely attempted in most studies and may be facilitated by analyses that focus on estimating correlational selection