Mid West–Gascoyne District police officers’ experience with the Cannabis Infringement Notice Scheme

Cannabis is currently the most frequently used illicit drug in Australia. Research has revealed a range of health, economic, criminal and social consequences associated with the drug. The widespread use of cannabis and the consequences associated with its use has ignited strong political and social debate as to what response should be taken to minimise the harmful effects of the drug. In order to reduce the harms associated with cannabis, and in line with the national harm minimisation framework, the Western Australia (WA) Cannabis Infringement Notice (CIN) scheme commenced in 2004. The introduction of the CIN scheme as part of the Cannabis Control Act 2003 (WA) aimed to divert minor, first-time cannabis offenders into cannabis education sessions. As police are gatekeepers to the criminal justice system they play an important role in the diversion of cannabis offenders away from the justice system. As such, police officers’ experience with the CIN scheme is a valuable source of information to guide well informed cannabis related policy and legislation. Despite the significance of research related to police officers’ experiences with cannabis policy and legislation, a review of the literature reveals that the existing body of research has neglected regional police officers’ understanding of and experience with cannabis legislation. As a result, this qualitative research seeks to explore regional police officers’ perceptions towards, and experience with, the WA CIN scheme. Developing an understanding of the CIN scheme from the perspective and experience of police officers is essential if we are to begin developing and implementing more effective cannabis policies. This research is focused on Mid West–Gascoyne District police officers’ experience with the CIN scheme. A phenomenological approach has been adopted so the focus remains on police officers’ lived experience. Data was collected through semistructured interviews with ten operational police officers. Analysis reveals that police officers’ experience with the CIN scheme centres around three key themes: their knowledge of the scheme, the surrounding circumstances they are faced with when implementing the scheme, and their perceptions of cannabis as a drug and of cannabis users

Toying With Technology: Mobile Robots And High School Interns

Students in today’s world grow up surrounded by electronic and electromechanical gadgetry and become adept at using such gadgetry at an early age without necessarily understanding the underlying science and technology. Garage door openers, TV remote controllers, microwave ovens, remote-control toys, and cellular phones are but a few such items in wide use today. As complex as these gadgets seem on the surface, much of the scientific and technological mystery behind their functionality can be explained in simple terms well within the grasp of the high school, or even middle school students. The primary purpose of this project is the development of science and technology instructional units aimed at a variety of students with the goal of giving these students an understanding of and appreciation for the basic scientific principles underlying the technological innovations that surround them. Students are introduced to science and technology in a gentle, non-threatening manner by developing a collection of hands-on laboratory experiences based upon simple systems constructed out of LEGOs and controlled by small microprocessors. These laboratory experiences are designed to lead students, literally by their hands-on experimentation, through the use of technology in support of many everyday activities

Atlanta Youth Count 2018 Community Report: The Prevalence of Sex and Labor Trafficking Among Homeless Youth in Metro Atlanta

The 2018 Atlanta Youth Count (AYC18) was a follow-up study to the 2015 Atlanta Youth Count and Needs Assessment (AYCNA), expanded in 2018 to specifically address sex and labor trafficking among youth experiencing homelessness in metro Atlanta. The goals of this project were to: 1) provide metro Atlanta service providers, policymakers, and youth advocates with practical information on the size, nature, and needs of the homeless, precariously housed, and runaway youth in our community who are involved in various forms of sex and labor trafficking; 2) collect information that can be used to develop and refine policies, programs, and interventions to help these youth in our community; and 3) encourage a community-wide dialogue about the needs and social determinants of youth homelessness and human trafficking. This study was funded by the National Institute of Justice and was conducted in partnership with local service providers, advocates, researchers, and students. This document is the official public Human Trafficking Report and provides an overview of the study methodology and key findings, including the research team’s official estimates of the prevalence of trafficking among homeless youth in metro Atlanta, as well as a description of key characteristics of the population derived from the survey data collected. Members of the research team are continuing to analyze and use the data to improve the public’s and policymakers’ understanding of youth homelessness and trafficking and to guide community - based efforts to improve services for these young people

Ghost Images in Helioseismic Holography? Toy Models in a Uniform Medium

Helioseismic holography is a powerful technique used to probe the solar interior based on estimations of the 3D wavefield. Porter--Bojarski holography, which is a well-established method used in acoustics to recover sources and scatterers in 3D, is also an estimation of the wavefield, and hence it has the potential to be applied to helioseismology. Here we present a proof of concept study, where we compare helioseismic holography and Porter--Bojarski holography under the assumption that the waves propagate in a homogeneous medium. We consider the problem of locating a point source of wave excitation inside a sphere. Under these assumptions, we find that the two imaging methods have the same capability of locating the source, with the exception that helioseismic holography suffers from "ghost images" (i.e., artificial peaks away from the source location). We conclude that Porter--Bojarski holography may improve the current method used in helioseismology.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figure

Vegetation response to invasive Tamarix control in southwestern U.S. rivers: a collaborative study including 416 sites

Most studies assessing vegetation response following control of invasive Tamarix trees along southwestern U.S. rivers have been small in scale (e.g., river reach), or at a regional scale but with poor spatial-temporal replication, and most have not included testing the effects of a now widely used biological control. We monitored plant composition following Tamarix control along hydrologic, soil, and climatic gradients in 244 treated and 172 reference sites across six U.S. states. This represents the largest comprehensive assessment to date on the vegetation response to the four most common Tamarix control treatments. Biocontrol by a defoliating beetle (treatment 1) reduced the abundance of Tamarix less than active removal by mechanically using hand and chain-saws (2), heavy machinery (3) or burning (4). Tamarix abundance also decreased with lower temperatures, higher precipitation, and follow-up treatments for Tamarix resprouting. Native cover generally increased over time in active Tamarix removal sites, however, the increases observed were small and was not consistently increased by active revegetation. Overall, native cover was correlated to permanent stream flow, lower grazing pressure, lower soil salinity and temperatures, and higher precipitation. Species diversity also increased where Tamarix was removed. However, Tamarix treatments, especially those generating the highest disturbance (burning and heavy machinery), also often promoted secondary invasions of exotic forbs. The abundance of hydrophytic species was much lower in treated than in reference sites, suggesting that management of southwestern U.S. rivers has focused too much on weed control, overlooking restoration of fluvial processes that provide habitat for hydrophytic and floodplain vegetation. These results can help inform future management of Tamarix-infested rivers to restore hydrogeomorphic processes, increase native biodiversity and reduce abundance of noxious species

Graduate Student Reflections on Mentorship in a Training and Outreach Program for Families of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Undergraduate (n = 19) and graduate students (n = 8) participated in a two semester training program focused on learning about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and how to create individualized communication supports for families of children with ASD. The focus of this paper is on the graduate students’ training and mentoring experiences. Graduate students’ philosophies of mentoring undergraduate students and their final reflections of the experience were analyzed for themes and subthemes. Mentoring philosophies yielded four major themes: role of the mentor, mentoring goals, the mentor-mentee relationship, and learning. Graduate student reflections on their skills gained, what they learned about themselves, their leadership, and the challenges they faced were also categorized into themes. Analyses revealed undergraduate student ratings and qualitative comments regarding graduate student support. Implications and future directions for the development of hands-on training programs allowing graduate students in Communication Sciences and Disorders to assume mentorship roles will be discussed

Atlanta Youth Count! 2015: Homeless Youth Count and Needs Assessment

In early 2015, researchers, community advocates, service providers, and students from across metro Atlanta joined together to plan and conduct the Atlanta Youth Count and Needs Assessment (AYCNA). The goals of the project were to: 1) provide metro-Atlanta service providers, policymakers, and youth advocates practical information on the size, nature, and needs of the homeless, precariously housed, and runaway youth in our community; 2) collect information that can be used to develop and refine policies, programs, and interventions to help these youth in our community; and 3) encourage a community-wide dialogue about the needs and social determinants of youth homelessness. This document is the official public report and provides an overview of the study methodology and key findings, including the research team’s official estimates of the number of homeless youth in metro Atlanta as well as a description of key characteristics of the population derived from the survey data collected. Members of the research team are continuing to analyze and use the data to improve public and policymakers’ understanding of youth homelessness and to guide community-efforts to improve services for these young people

Multimodal assessment of circadian sleep health in predicting mental health outcomes in adolescents

IntroductionAspects of circadian sleep health including circadian alignment, circadian phase, or chronotype may be related to mental health outcomes in adolescents. Using novel and robust data collection methods, this study explored the relationship between adolescents' circadian sleep health and traits related to depression, anxiety, stress, and emotional regulation.MethodsFifty-two healthy 14–18-year-olds (58% female; 94% European American) participated in this study. Across a 10-day period, participants completed wrist-worn actigraphy. Next, participants completed a dim-light melatonin onset (DLMO) protocol where 12 saliva samples were collected over a 6-h period to measure circadian phase. Circadian phase was calculated as the duration of time between DMLO to average sleep onset time across the monitoring period. Social jetlag was measured as the discrepancy between sleep times from weekday to weekend. Participants completed the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21), Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), and the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire for Adolescents (MEQ). Following dichotomizing sleep outcomes into clinically relevant groups (late vs. early circadian phase, aligned vs. misaligned circadian rhythms, minimal social jetlag vs. presence of social jetlag, intermediate to morningness vs. eveningness chronotype), we conducted general linear models to determine circadian group differences in mental health outcomes (depression, anxiety, stress, expressive suppression, and cognitive reappraisal) while controlling for gender and pubertal development.ResultsCircadian phase had a large effect on depression symptoms in adolescents, with adolescents with later DLMO having significantly higher depression scores than those with earlier DLMO (p = 0.031). Chronotype had a medium but non-significant effect on anxiety and stress symptoms in adolescents, with adolescents with eveningness-tendencies having higher anxiety and stress symptoms than those with intermediate to morningness-tendencies (p's = 0.140 and 0.111, respectively).ConclusionsIn the first ever study using gold-standard methodologies to examine the relationship between mental health and circadian sleep health in healthy adolescents, we observed that adolescents with later circadian phase had increased depressive symptoms compared to earlier circadian phase. Furthermore, adolescents who endorsed behaviors that suggest eveningness tendencies may have heightened stress/anxiety. These conclusions encourage future experimental research regarding this topic and may help inform interventions aimed to decrease depression, anxiety, and stress in adolescents