Using simulation to educate police about mental illness: A collaborative initiative

Mental illness is a major public health concern in Canada and also globally. According to the World Health Organization, five of the top ten disabilities worldwide are mental health disorders. Within Canada, one in five individuals is living with mental illness each year. Currently, there are 6.7 million Canadians living with mental illness and over 1 million Canadian youth living with mental illness. Police are frequently the first responders to situations in the community involving people with mental illness, and police services are increasingly aware of the need to provide officers with additional training and strategies for effectively interacting with these citizens.This study examined the effectiveness of four online, interactive video-based simulations designed to educate police officers about mental illness and strategies for interacting with people with mental illness. The simulations were created through the efforts of a unique partnership involving a police service, a mental health facility and two postsecondary institutions. Frontline police officers from Ontario were divided into one of three groups (simulation, face to face, control). Using a pre- and post-test questionnaire, the groups were compared on their level of knowledge and understanding of mental illness. In addition, focus groups explored the impact of the simulations on officers’ level of confidence in engaging with individuals with mental illness and officers’ perceptions of the simulations’ ease of use and level of realism. The study’s findings determined that the simulations were just as effective as face-to-face learning, and the officers reported the simulations were easy to use and reflected real-life scenarios they had encountered on the job. As mental health continues to be a major public concern, not only in Canada but also globally, interactive simulations may provide an effective and affordable education resource not only for police officers but for other professionals seeking increased knowledge and skills in interacting with citizens with mental illness.Keywords: policing, mental illness, education, computer-based simulatio

Ignite: October 1968

This alternative newspaper was published at the University of North Dakota in October 1968 and feature articles written at University, as well as re-prints from national publications. This issue features the following articles: Huey Newton Convicted by Racist Jury by Bill Freeland; Organized Crime on Campus by Janelle Hongess (the editor of Ignite); Columbia by Paul Goodman; and Quotations from Chairman Lew.https://commons.und.edu/und-books/1068/thumbnail.jp

A Statistical Grouping of Corporations by their Financial Characteristics.

It appears to a widely held view that corporations with similar operational characteristics ought to have similar financial characteristics. For example, one might expect that the financial characteristics of two drug companies would be similar. This seems entirely reasonable. Unfortunately however, there does not appear to be any quantitative analysis of this point in the literature. Furthermore, discussions with our financial colleagues lead to the conclusion that, if such financial differentiation of corporations were possible, it is by no means obvious what the variables of differentiation would be. Consequently, such an analysis was undertaken and is described in this paper. The basic question asked is whether the statistical grouping of corporations by their financial characteristics is similar to their predetermined, external, industrial classification

Global water cycle

The primary objective is to determine the scope and interactions of the global water cycle with all components of the Earth system and to understand how it stimulates and regulates changes on both global and regional scales. The following subject areas are covered: (1) water vapor variability; (2) multi-phase water analysis; (3) diabatic heating; (4) MSU (Microwave Sounding Unit) temperature analysis; (5) Optimal precipitation and streamflow analysis; (6) CCM (Community Climate Model) hydrological cycle; (7) CCM1 climate sensitivity to lower boundary forcing; and (8) mesoscale modeling of atmosphere/surface interaction

A Simple Method for the Construction of Empirical Confidence Limits for Economic Forecasts

A simple method for the construction of empirical confidence intervals for time series forecasts is described. The procedure is to go through the series making a forecast from each point in time. The comparison of these forecasts with the known actual observations will yield an empirical distribution of forecasting errors. This distribution can then be used to set confidence intervals for subsequent forecasts. The technique appears to be particularly useful when the mechanism generating the series cannot be fully identified from the available data or when limits based on more standard considerations are difficult to obtain

Exploring Student and Advisor Experiences in a College-University Pathway Program: A Study of the Bachelor of Commerce Pathway

Currently, there is great interest across Ontario in the expansion of pathway programs between colleges and universities. Through strategic partnerships, two Ontario-based postsecondary institutions (a college and a university) have developed innovative and effective pathway programs that facilitate the transition of students between institutions for the completion of degrees, diplomas, and certificates. These programs support the training of highly qualified, market-ready graduates. This paper reports on a mixed-methods study of the successes and challenges of a particular Ontario college and university pathway program, with a focus on the Bachelor of Commerce Pathway program. Preliminary results indicate that pathway students were more academically successful than their traditional university student counterparts but did experience a number of challenges in transitioning from college into university. Principal challenges included inefficient communication between program administrators, academic advisors, and students; lack of orientation activities for pathway students; lack of college student preparedness in communication and critical thinking skills; and difficulties experienced by college students integrating into the social-cultural life of the university.  Il existe présentement un grand intérêt partout en Ontario pour l’expansion de programmes de transfert entre collèges et universités. Grâce à des partenariats stratégiques, deux établissements postsecondaires localisés en Ontario (un collège et une université) ont créé des programmes de transferts innovateurs et efficaces qui facilitent la transition des élèves entre les établissements pour l’obtention de diplômes et de certificats. Ces programmes soutiennent la formation de diplômés hautement qualifiés, prêts pour le marché du travail. Le présent article présente une étude de méthodes mixtes portant sur les succès et les défis d’un programme de transfert particulier entre une université et un collège de l’Ontario, en misant particulièrement sur le programme de transfert du baccalauréat en commerce. Les résultats préliminaires indiquent que les étudiants du programme de transfert obtenaient de meilleurs résultats scolaires que leurs homologues aux études universitaires traditionnelles, mais qu’ils ont dû surmonter quelques défis pendant la transition du collège à l’université. Parmi les principaux défis, on trouve une communication inefficace entre les administrateurs de programmes, les conseillers pédagogiques et les étudiants; un manque d’activités d’orientation pour les étudiants des programmes de transfert; un manque de préparation en matière de communication et de pensée critique chez les collégiens; et des difficultés pour les collégiens à intégrer la vie sociale et culturelle de l’université

Television news and the symbolic criminalisation of young people

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Journalism Studies, 9(1), 75 - 90, 2008, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/14616700701768105.This essay combines quantitative and qualitative analysis of six UK television news programmes. It seeks to analyse the representation of young people within broadcast news provision at a time when media representations, political discourse and policy making generally appear to be invoking young people as something of a folk devil or a locus for moral panics. The quantitative analysis examines the frequency with which young people appear as main actors across a range of different subjects and analyses the role of young people as news sources. It finds a strong correlation between young people and violent crime. A qualitative analysis of four “special reports” or backgrounders on channel Five's Five News explores the representation of young people in more detail, paying attention to contradictions and tensions in the reports, the role of statistics in crime reporting, the role of victims of crime and the tensions between conflicting news frames.Arts and Humanities Research Counci

Coastal and Inland Aquatic Data Products for the Hyperspectral Infrared Imager (HyspIRI)

The HyspIRI Aquatic Studies Group (HASG) has developed a conceptual list of data products for the HyspIRI mission to support aquatic remote sensing of coastal and inland waters. These data products were based on mission capabilities, characteristics, and expected performance. The topic of coastal and inland water remote sensing is very broad. Thus, this report focuses on aquatic data products to keep the scope of this document manageable. The HyspIRI mission requirements already include the global production of surface reflectance and temperature. Atmospheric correction and surface temperature algorithms, which are critical to aquatic remote sensing, are covered in other mission documents. Hence, these algorithms and their products were not evaluated in this report. In addition, terrestrial products (e.g., land use land cover, dune vegetation, and beach replenishment) were not considered. It is recognized that coastal studies are inherently interdisciplinary across aquatic and terrestrial disciplines. However, products supporting the latter are expected to already be evaluated by other components of the mission. The coastal and inland water data products that were identified by the HASG, covered six major environmental and ecological areas for scientific research and applications: wetlands, shoreline processes, the water surface, the water column, bathymetry and benthic cover types. Accordingly, each candidate product was evaluated for feasibility based on the HyspIRI mission characteristics and whether it was unique and relevant to the HyspIRI science objectives

Traits Contributing to the Autistic Spectrum

It is increasingly recognised that traits associated with autism reflect a spectrum with no clear boundary between typical and atypical behaviour. Dimensional traits are needed to investigate the broader autism phenotype.Ninety-three individual measures reflecting components of social, communication and repetitive behaviours characterising autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) were identified between the ages of 6 months and 9 years from the ALSPAC database. Using missing value imputation, data for 13,138 children were analysed. Factor analysis suggested the existence of 7 factors explaining 85% of the variance. The factors were labelled: verbal ability, language acquisition, social understanding, semantic-pragmatic skills, repetitive-stereotyped behaviour, articulation and social inhibition. Four factors (1, 3, 5 and 7) were specific to ASD being more strongly associated with this phenotype than other co-morbid conditions while other factors were more associated with learning difficulties and specific language impairment. Nevertheless, all 7 factors contributed independently to the explanation of ASD (p<0.001). Exploration of putative genetic causal factors such as variants in the CNTNAP2 gene showed a varying pattern of associations with these traits. An alternative predictive model of ASD was derived using four individual measures: the coherence subscale of the Children's Communication Checklist (9y), the Social and Communication Disorders Checklist (91 m), repetitive behaviour (69 m) and the sociability subscale of the Emotionality Activity and Sociability measure (38 m). Although univarably these traits performed better than some factors, their combined explanations of ASD were similar (R(2) =  0.48).These results support the fractional nature of ASD with different aetiological origins for these components despite pleiotropic genetic effects being observed. These traits are likely to be useful in the exploration of ASD

The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment: Exploring Fundamental Symmetries of the Universe

The preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early Universe, the dynamics of the supernova bursts that produced the heavy elements necessary for life and whether protons eventually decay --- these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our Universe, its current state and its eventual fate. The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE) represents an extensively developed plan for a world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions. LBNE is conceived around three central components: (1) a new, high-intensity neutrino source generated from a megawatt-class proton accelerator at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, (2) a near neutrino detector just downstream of the source, and (3) a massive liquid argon time-projection chamber deployed as a far detector deep underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility. This facility, located at the site of the former Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota, is approximately 1,300 km from the neutrino source at Fermilab -- a distance (baseline) that delivers optimal sensitivity to neutrino charge-parity symmetry violation and mass ordering effects. This ambitious yet cost-effective design incorporates scalability and flexibility and can accommodate a variety of upgrades and contributions. With its exceptional combination of experimental configuration, technical capabilities, and potential for transformative discoveries, LBNE promises to be a vital facility for the field of particle physics worldwide, providing physicists from around the globe with opportunities to collaborate in a twenty to thirty year program of exciting science. In this document we provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess.Comment: Major update of previous version. This is the reference document for LBNE science program and current status. Chapters 1, 3, and 9 provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess. 288 pages, 116 figure