Philosophy into Practice? Community Policing Units and Domestic Violence Victim Participation

Much research has focused on the police response to domestic violence; however, relatively little research has considered performance differences of various types of police officers. Although there has been widespread adoption of community policing by police departments across the country, it is not conclusive as to whether units with a specific community policing philosophy perform better than traditional units when handling domestic violence calls. The current study addresses this issue by analyzing the factors associated with victim participation; specifically, do officers and detectives operating under a specific community policing mandate produce higher rates of victim participation? Bivariate and multivariate analyses indicate that victim participation rates did not differ by a community policing orientation; rather, situational factors exert the strongest effect on victim participation

The Importance of Expectation Fulfillment on Domestic Violence Victims’ Satisfaction with the Police in the UK

Purpose – This paper seeks to investigate what victims of domestic violence expect police to do for them, and how these expectations subsequently influence their levels of satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach – Structured interviews with 222 victims of domestic violence were conducted by staff from an integrated community-based service delivery agency in Cardiff, Wales. Multivariate analyses were performed to reveal the factors that contribute to domestic violence victims\u27 satisfaction with the police. Findings – Consistent with the expectancy disconfirmation model, results indicate that the most important determinant of satisfaction is the extent to which victims\u27 expectations about police behaviour and demeanour are fulfilled. Originality/value – The results of this study and implications for police policy are discusse

Investigation of Low Cost Solar Drying of Apricots for Tajikistan

Dried apricots are one of Tajikistan’s major export products. The country wants to expand its production in the southern region. However, the producers don’t have the expertise needed to produce dried apricots that meet the quality requirements of the European Union and other potential export markets. Local producers in southern Tajikistan would benefit from improvements in methods of applying sulfur and drying the apricots. This would allow them to gain a share of global markets. Methods that were studied include sulfur treatment prior to drying and approaches for rapidly drying the apricots while preventing contamination. Because the project has just started, efforts are focused on developing the methods to determine the quality of apricots. Preliminary tests were conducted on dried apricots purchased from local stores or on fresh apricots dried by project personnel. These will serve as standards against which Tajikistan dried apricots will be compared. Quality factors evaluated included color, microbial content, sulfur content, water activity, percent soluble solids, and moisture content. This paper reports results of preliminary quality tests conducted on dried apricots purchased from stores in West Lafayette and Lafayette, Indiana. To prepare for future studies, thin layer drying tests were conducted on fresh apricots purchased from local stores and apricots grown in Michigan which were obtained from a contact in the Lafayette Farmer’s Market. These apricots were treated and dried in a thin layer dryer at three different temperatures to better understand factors that affect drying rate. Quality parameters of these dried apricots were also determined

Three-dimensional transient heat, mass, momentum, and species transfer in the stored grain ecosystem: Part I. Model development and evaluation

A 3D transient heat, mass, momentum, and species transfer model for the stored grain ecosystem was developed using the finite element method. Hourly weather data such as ambient temperature and relative humidity, solar radiation, and wind speed were used as input in the model. The 3D model has different components that predict grain temperature and moisture content, dry matter loss, insect population, and species (CO2 and fumigant) concentration. The 3D model was evaluated using linear elements with three different numbers of nodes and quadratic elements with three different numbers of nodes. The accuracy of prediction for each category was evaluated using the observed and predicted temperature values. The linear model with 384 nodes and the quadratic model with 415 nodes were found to be the best based on the lowest standard error compared to other combinations. Four different time discretization schemes were used to evaluate model accuracy over time. The Crank-Nicolson time discretization scheme was found to be the best of the four

Determination of entrapment victim extrication forces with and without use of a grain rescue tube

Citation: Roberts, M. J., Field, W. E., Maier, D. E., & Stroshine, R. L. (2015). Determination of entrapment victim extrication forces with and without use of a grain rescue tube. Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health, 21(2), 71-83. doi:10.13031/jash.21.10150The forces required to extricate a test mannequin from a grain mass when buried at different depths with and without a grain restraint system were determined. When there was no grain restraint system in place, the vertical force required to pull the mannequin from the grain when it was buried waist deep and to the underarms was 1259 and 1766 N (283 and 397 lbf), respectively. It increased to 1584 N (356 lbf) (+26%) and 2153 N (484 lbf) (+22%), respectively, with the restraint in place due to the changes in grain properties brought about by the insertion of the rescue tube. It was concluded that the use of a grain restraint during extrication of a victim does not reduce the forces required and that forcefully pulling an entrapped victim, especially with mechanical assistance, with or without a grain restraint system could result in severe injuries and possible death due to the forces exerted on the victim. The authors recommend that these findings be incorporated into current grain extrication training for emergency first responders. © 2015 ASABE

Fine material in grain

Fine material in grain: an overview / Richard Stroshine -- Factors that affect the costs of fines in the corn export market / Lowell D. Hill, Mack Leath -- Effects of fine material on mold growth in grain / David B. Sauer, Richard A. Meronuck, John Tuite -- Effects of fine material on insect infestation: a review / Paul W. Flinn, William H. McGaughey, Wendell E. Burkholder -- Reducing or controlling damage to grain from handling: a review / Charles R. Martin, George H. Foster -- Evaluating grain for potential production of fine material - breakage susceptibility testing / Steven R. Eckhoff -- Genotypic differences in breakage susceptibility of corn and soybeans -- M. R. Paulsen, L. L. Darrah, R. L. Stroshin

Mathematical Analysis of Pressure Chamber: EFFLUX EXPERIMENTS

The Scholander pressure chamber is one of several devices used to study the water relations of green plants. For field work it can be used to rapidly measure leaf water potential, and for laboratory studies it can be used to determine the turgor and osmotic components of plant water potential.A series of experiments were conducted on wheat leaves. A leaf was cut from the plant and placed in the cylindrical chamber so that its cut end protruded through an air-tight seal. When the chamber was pressurized to several atmospheres, water appeared at the cut end. When the pressure was increased several more atmospheres, water flowed from the cut end of the leaf for 10 to 40 minutes. The total efflux was dependent on the water potential of the leaf. Efflux curves for the experiments were drawn by plotting the total water expressed as a function of time after the pressure increase. The total efflux was dependent on the water potential of the leaf. This dissertation is an experimental and mathematical analysis of the efflux curves

The Decision to End Abusive Relationships: The Role of Offender Characteristics

Much research has focused on the ways in which various community and criminal justice agencies attempt to intervene to break the cycle of domestic violence. Ultimately, this is the victim’s decision, yet few researchers have attempted to identify the factors involved in the decision to end an abusive relationship. In particular, researchers have tended to ignore the role offender characteristics may play in this decision. This study, based on interview data collected from domestic violence victims by members of an innovative community-based victim assistance program, suggests that these factors are important. Logistic regression analyses demonstrate that the most important predictors of women attempting to end abusive relationships were (a) when offenders kept weapons in the home and (b) when there had been a formal criminal justice response (i.e., arrest, prosecution) to the violence

The Domestic Violence Arrest Decision: Examining Demographic, Attitudinal, and Situational Variables

The effects of demographic, attitudinal, and situational variables on the domestic violence arrest decision were investigated using official data and officer attitudinal data. We examined some variables never before studied in this context (e.g., the demographic characteristics of officers) and improved on the measurement of many variables (e.g., victim cooperativeness, victim injury, and time of shift). Logit analyses clarified those factors that significantly impacted the arrest decision and identified how officers arrived at a determination of a victim\u27s cooperativeness. The findings supported previous research that has highlighted the importance of situational variables in the arrest decision