Gun Enforcement and Gun Violence Prevention Practices among Local Law Enforcement Agencies: A Research and Policy Brief

Controlling gun crime continues to be a difficult challenge for policymakers and practitioners in the United States. In 2009, there were roughly 11,000 murders with firearms in the United State and another 326,000 non-fatal violent crimes with guns . The prevalence of guns is thought to contribute to particularly high levels of homicide in the United States, where some estimates imply that the total costs of gun violence -- including medical, criminal justice, and other costs -- could be well over $100 billion per year.Yet finding common ground for legislative solutions to this problem is quite difficult, making it especially critical to effectively enforce existing laws and utilize other prevention approaches. Indeed, debates on controlling firearms violence often revolve around whether the nation needs tougher gun laws or better enforcement of laws that already exist. However, these debates are not well informed by systematic information on what law enforcement agencies are doing to reduce gun violence, the success of those efforts, and the factors that facilitate or hinder those efforts. In order to inform debate on these issues and to highlight successful enforcement and prevention strategies to reduce gun violence, the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) undertook a national study of gun violence prevention efforts by local police in urban jurisdictions. The study's objectives were to: 1) to describe the range, scope, and prevalence of police efforts to reduce gun violence; 2) to assess which practices are most effective, both generally and in combination with different gun laws; and 3) to determine how these efforts can be improved

Paradoxes of measures of quantum entanglement and Bell's inequality violation in two-qubit systems

We review some counterintuitive properties of standard measures describing quantum entanglement and violation of Bell's inequality (often referred to as "nonlocality") in two-qubit systems. By comparing the nonlocality, negativity, concurrence, and relative entropy of entanglement, we show: (i) ambiguity in ordering states with the entanglement measures, (ii) ambiguity of robustness of entanglement in lossy systems and (iii) existence of two-qubit mixed states more entangled than pure states having the same negativity or nonlocality. To support our conclusions, we performed a Monte Carlo simulation of $10^6$ two-qubit states and calculated all the entanglement measures for them. Our demonstration of the relativity of entanglement measures implies also how desirable is to properly use an operationally-defined entanglement measure rather than to apply formally-defined standard measures. In fact, the problem of estimating the degree of entanglement of a bipartite system cannot be analyzed separately from the measurement process that changes the system and from the intended application of the generated entanglement.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, to appear in the Journal of Computational Methods in Sciences and Engineering -- a special issue in memory of prof. S. Kielic

Recursive algorithms for the elimination of redundant paths in spatial lag operators

Recursive algorithms for the elimination of redundant paths in spatial lag operators are introduced. It is shown that these algorithms have superior computational properties in comparison with the cumbersome procedure proposed by Ross and Harary (1952). A rigorous definition of spatial lag operators is given, while a number of mathematical results and properties are derived. Theoretical and empirical results regarding the performance of the proposed algorithms are presented

An Off-lattice Model for Br Electrodeposition on Au(100): from DFT to Experiment

Since Br adsorption on Au(100) displays an incommensurate ordered phase, a lattice-gas treatment of the adlayer configurations is not reliable. We therefore use density functional theory slab calculations to determine the parameters necessary for the construction of an off-lattice model. We compute and analyze the total energy and electron density as the lateral Br position and coverage are varied. This allows the calculation of the corrugation potential, the short-range lateral interactions, the dipole moment (long-range interactions), and the residence charge. From these parameters, we construct an off-lattice model with no freely adjustable parameters. The simulation results compare remarkably well with experimental results.Comment: 42 pages, 15 embedded figures, submitted to Surface Scienc

Building communities for the exchange of learning objects: theoretical foundations and requirements

In order to reduce overall costs of developing high-quality digital courses (including both the content, and the learning and teaching activities), the exchange of learning objects has been recognized as a promising solution. This article makes an inventory of the issues involved in the exchange of learning objects within a community. It explores some basic theories, models and specifications and provides a theoretical framework containing the functional and non-functional requirements to establish an exchange system in the educational field. Three levels of requirements are discussed. First, the non-functional requirements that deal with the technical conditions to make learning objects interoperable. Second, some basic use cases (activities) are identified that must be facilitated to enable the technical exchange of learning objects, e.g. searching and adapting the objects. Third, some basic use cases are identified that are required to establish the exchange of learning objects in a community, e.g. policy management, information and training. The implications of this framework are then discussed, including recommendations concerning the identification of reward systems, role changes and evaluation instruments

GRANICE OCHRONY TAJEMNICY DZIENNIKARSKIEJ W PROCESIE KARNYM

The paper is an attempt to delineate model boundaries of protection of journalist secrecy when it comes to criminal proceedings. Despite the existing protection available under media law which also affects the criminal trial, certain modifications are still necessary. The paper discuses events when a journalist must be released from the duty of secrecy in the course of criminal proceedings. The existing normative regulations have been analysed, their defects identified, and certain improvements and amendments proposed. The controversial issue of the actual waiver of journalist secrecy has also been examined. The general goal of the paper is to postulate creation of solutions that will result from proper decisions made when the concurrent interests and values clash.Artykuł stanowi próbę zakreślenia modelowych granic ochrony tajemnicy dziennikarskiej w relacji do postępowania karnego. Wprawdzie ogólny zakres tej ochrony, wyznaczony przepisami Prawa prasowego, oddziałuje także na proces karny, niemniej jednak musi w ramach tej procedury doznać pewnej modyfikacji, co jest konsekwencją rangi i znaczenia postępowania prowadzonego na podstawie przepisów Kodeksu postępowania karnego. W opracowaniu omówiono zatem wypadki, w których zachodzi potrzeba zwolnienia dziennikarza z obowiązku przestrzegania tajemnicy dziennikarskiej w związku z prowadzonym postępowaniem karnym. Dokonano oceny istniejących regulacji normatywnych, wskazano ich mankamenty, a w rezultacie zaproponowano uzupełnienie lub zmianę obowiązujących przepisów. Analizie poddano także bardzo niejednoznaczny i kontrowersyjny problem dotyczący faktycznego uchylenia tajemnicy dziennikarskiej. Całość rozważań ujętych w opracowaniu jest podporządkowana postulatowi kreowania takich rozwiązań, które są wynikiem właściwego rozstrzygnięcia kolizji zbiegających się dóbr i wartości

Jawność rozprawy głównej w procesie karnym w świetle nowelizacji Kodeksu postępowania karnego z 2016 roku

The principle of openness, or transparency, being one of the guiding principles in criminal proceedings, is realised mainly during the first instance hearing. The amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure of 10 June 2016 introduced two model changes in this respect. The article is devoted to the discussion of these changes. The first one concerns the decision to hear a case in camera. The prosecutor has been granted the right to object to the exclusion of a public hearing, which is binding on the court. This regulation raises constitutional concerns because it undermines the constitutional right to a fair trial. A disclosure should be decided on by an impartial and independent court, acting as an independent state body best placed to resolve conflicting values. The second fundamental change is the establishment of an audiovisual registration of the course of the hearing by representatives of the mass media. The court must allow them to hear the trial whenever they so request. In this respect, the removal of the condition of respect for the important interest of the party involved in the criminal proceedings was analysed and assessed negatively. The extension of the transparency of the main hearing, however, was generally given a positive assessment.Zasada jawności, jako jedna z naczelnych zasad procesu karnego, jest realizowana przede wszystkim na rozprawie głównej. Ustawa nowelizacyjna do Kodeksu postępowania karnego z 10 czerwca 2016 r. wprowadziła w tym zakresie zmiany modelowe. Artykuł został poświęcony omówieniu tych zmian. Pierwsza z nich dotyczy wyłączenia jawności rozprawy. Ustawodawca przyznał prokuratorowi prawo do wyrażenia sprzeciwu wobec wyłączenia jawności rozprawy, przy czym taki sprzeciw jest wiążący dla sądu. Ta regulacja wzbudza zastrzeżenia o charakterze konstytucyjnym, ponieważ godzi w konstytucyjne prawo do sprawiedliwego rozstrzygnięcia sprawy przez sąd. O wyłączeniu jawności powinien decydować bezstronny i niezależny sąd, jako niezawisły organ państwowy najlepiej predestynowany do rozstrzygania kolidujących wartości. Druga zasadnicza zmiana polega na ustanowieniu jako reguły rejestracji audiowizualnej przebiegu rozprawy przez przedstawicieli środków społecznego przekazu. Sąd ma obowiązek dopuścić ich do rozprawy w każdym przypadku, w którym o to się zwrócą. W tym zakresie krytycznej analizie poddano usunięcie warunku poszanowania ważnego interesu uczestnika postępowania karnego. Zasadniczo poddano natomiast pozytywnej ocenie rozszerzenie zakresu jawności rozprawy głównej

Open Source and Open Standards

Publication reference: Koper, R. (2008). Open Source and Open Standards. In J. M. Spector, M. Merrill, J. van Merriënboer & M. P. Driscol (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology (3rd ed., pp. 355-368). New York: Routledge.The objective of this chapter is to create an understanding of the importance of open source software and open standards (OSS/OS) for e-learning research. Open source is a fundamental new way to develop software, and open standards are needed to make software components work together. It is argued that OSS and OS can improve the convergence of knowledge in the e-learning field, improve the general quality and interoperability of e-learning applications, and improve collaboration between researchers and users. All of these are beneficial and necessary requirements for e-learning research. After a general introduction into basic OSS and OS concepts, the following questions will be answered: a) How does OSS/OS facilitate the technological activities of the researchers in terms of methodology, collaboration and dissemination of results? b) How does OSS/OS facilitate the development of technological knowledge in the field? c) How does OSS/OS facilitate the development of technological artifacts in the field? The development and use of the open standard “IMS Learning Design” (a formal design language for online courses), and the open source applications that are developed to run and present IMS Learning Design courses will be used as an example to demonstrate the use of OSS/OS in e-learning research. In the concluding section we provide some practical information for researchers how to get involved in OSS and OS and how to use it in e-learning research

Introduction to IMS Learning Design

This is the introduction chapter of the UNFOLD booklet that will be released in Berlin, November 28 at the last UNFOLD workshop. It introduces the basic concepts of learning design, provides a roadmap for learning design implementations, research and development, and provides a list of current issues in learning design (that are derived from the special issue of the ET&S special journal on learning design)