Understanding Adult Male Sexual Violence Victims' Reporting and Prosecution Decisions.

Purpose: To identify salient factors associated with adult male sexual violence victims' reporting and prosecution decisions, using a socioecological, mixed-methods approach. Method: British Crime survey data from 2004-2012 will be explored in two studies and used to model the different social ecologies which may interact to influence victims' decision making. The two models will be developed through adapting the Feminist Rape Mythology Hypothesis (Anders, 2007) to explore how congruence with rape myths (victim and assault level), and social support predict decision-making behaviour. A third study will explore these issues, and the value of the socioecological approach, qualitatively through in-depth interviews with voluntary organisation victim support workers. Results: Planned analyses include multi-level modelling for studies 1 and 2, and abbreviated Grounded Theory for study 3. Conclusion: The research findings are anticipated to have important implications for the policy and practice of the police, criminal justice system, and statutory and voluntary agencies which support male victims of sexual violence. Ultimately it is hoped that this research will shed further light on the experiences of male victims: an oft neglected and under-researched topic

Beluga, Delphinapterus leucas, Habitat Associations in Cook Inlet, Alaska

A review of available information describing habitat associations for belugas, Delphinapterus leucas, in Cook Inlet was undertaken to complement population assessment surveys from 1993-2000. Available data for physical, biological, and anthropogenic factors in Cook Inlet are summarized followed by a provisional description of seasonal habitat associations. To summarize habitat preferences, the beluga summer distribution pattern was used to partition Cook Inlet into three regions. In general, belugas congregate in shallow, relatively warm, low-salinity water near major river outflows in upper Cook Inlet during summer (defined as their primary habitat), where prey availability is comparatively high and predator occurrence relatively low. In winter, belugas are seen in the central inlet, but sightings are fewer in number, and whales more dispersed compared to summer. Belugas are associated with a range of ice conditions in winter, from ice-free to 60% ice-covered water. Natural catastrophic events, such as fires, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions, have had no reported effect on beluga habitat, although such events likely affect water quality and, potentially, prey availability. Similarly, although sewage effluent and discharges from industrial and military activities along Cook Inlet negatively affect water quality, analyses of organochlorines and heavy metal burdens indicate that Cook Inlet belugas are not assimilating contaminant loads greater than any other Alaska beluga stocks. Offshore oil and gas activities and vessel traffic are high in the central inlet compared with other Alaska waters, although belugas in Cook Inlet seem habituated to these anthropogenic factors. Anthropogenic factors that have the highest potential negative impacts on belugas include subsistence hunts (not discussed in this report), noise from transportation and offshore oil and gas extraction (ship transits and aircraft overflights), and water quality degradation (from urban runoff and sewage treatment facilities). Although significant impacts from anthropogenic factors other than hunting are not yet apparent, assessment of potential impacts from human activities, especially those that may effect prey availability, are needed

Distribution of Trace Elements in Cumberland River Basin Reservoir Sediments

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Nashville District, maintains ten reservoirs in the Cumberland River Basin in Kentucky and Tennessee, and has been monitoring sediment chemistry in the reservoirs since 1994. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the sediment data collected from the reservoirs from 1994 to 2010 to determine if there are any spatial patterns of the trace elements: arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, and zinc. The results indicated that trace element levels were consistent with national baseline concentrations measured by the U.S. Geological Survey. Center Hill reservoir had the greatest number of trace element concentrations (all except cadmium) that were significantly higher when compared to all other reservoirs. The degree of urbanization in the reservoir basins was based on population density from the 2000 Census and the percentage of developed land using the 2006 national land cover dataset. Aquatic toxicity values were used as a measure of sediment quality. The reservoirs with the worst aquatic toxicity rankings were not the most urban, instead they were the reservoirs with the longest retention times. Therefore, it may be concluded that retention time has a larger effect on Cumberland River Basin sediment concentrations than the type of land use or the degree of urbanization. The results also indicate that it may be prudent to include an evaluation of quality based on aquatic toxicity when monitoring sediment quality, and that when reservoirs are the subject of sediment quality assessments, the consideration of the physical properties of the reservoir, especially the retention time, is essential for a comprehensive evaluation. This may also imply that sediment quality in reservoirs may effectively be regulated by water resource management techniques at the reservoirs that affect retention time

Sedimentologic and stratigraphic evolution of the Cacheuta basin: Constraints on the development of the Miocene retroarc foreland basin, south-central Andes

Retroarc foreland basins in contractional arc settings contain evidence of temporal and spatial variations in magmatic activity, deformation, and exhumation along the continental margin and serve as excellent recorders of subduction dynamics through time. The Cacheuta basin, northwestern Mendoza Province, Argentina, is situated within the transition zone between the Pampean flat-slab subduction segment north of 33°S and the normal-dipping slab segment of the Southern Volcanic Zone to the south, and it records a detailed history of Andean orogenic exhumation at this latitude. The integration of sedimentologic, stratigraphic, geochronologic, and sediment provenance data from the Cacheuta basin constrains orogenic exhumation patterns and basin evolution during basin development. Cacheuta basin strata record at least a 12 m.y. period of basin evolution (ca. 20 Ma to younger than 7.5 Ma), based on new geochronology. The timing of initial basin subsidence is constrained by the lowermost sample in the Mariño Formation, which yielded a maximum depositional age of 19.2 ± 0.26 Ma, ∼4 m.y. earlier than previous interpretations. Conglomerate clast counts, thin section petrography, and detrital zircon analyses, coupled with distinct sedimentologic variations, record progressive orogenic exhumation of the Cordillera Principal, Cordillera Frontal, and Precordillera during early to middle Miocene time. Examination of basinal strata demonstrate that uplift of the Cordillera Principal, Cordillera Frontal, and Precordillera, and simultaneous development of the Cacheuta retroarc foreland basin, in the early to mid-Miocene was the result of contractional deformation and crustal thickening during normal subduction-related orogenic processes and did not result from the development of the flat slab in late Miocene time.Fil: Buelow, E. K.. University of Wisconsin; Estados UnidosFil: Suriano, Julieta. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Mahoney, J. B.. University of Wisconsin; Estados UnidosFil: Kimbrough, D. L.. San Diego State University; Estados UnidosFil: Mescua, Jose Francisco. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Giambiagi, Laura Beatriz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Hoke, Gregory D.. Syracuse University; Estados Unido

Beaten into Submissiveness? An Investigation into the Protective Strategies used by Survivors of Domestic Abuse

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced pdf of an article accepted for publication in Journal of Interpersonal Violence following peer review. Laura Irving & Ben Chi-pun Liu, 'Beaten into Submissiveness? An investigation Into the Protective Strategies Used by Survivors of Domestic Abuse', Journal of Interpersonal Violence, first published online 14 December 2016, available online at doi: 10.1177/0886260516682520 © The Author(s) 2016 Published by SAGEThe aim of the study was to identify the prevalence and perceived helpfulness of a variety of protective strategies that were used by female survivors of domestic abuse and to explore factors that may have influenced strategy usage. Forty participants were recruited from a voluntary sector domestic abuse service, commissioned by an outer London local authority in the UK. The measurement tools used were the Intimate Partner Violence Strategies Index and the CAADA Domestic Abuse, Stalking and ‘Honour’-Based Violence (DASH) Risk Assessment Checklist. The average age was 33 (SD=7.9, range: 20-57), half reported to be of Asian ethnicity, 37.5% White and 12.5% Black or Mixed ethnicity. The average DASH score was 9.8 (SD=13.2, range: 0-18) and an average of 18 (SD=6.7, range: 1-29) protective strategies were utilised by each participant. All of the most commonly used strategies were from the Placating category. Though Safety Planning strategies were rated as the most helpful by all participants, Placating strategies were also rated as helpful by two-thirds of participants. Stepwise multiple regression showed that Placating was the only significant predictor of DASH score (β=0.375, p<0.05) and accounted for 14% of the variance of DASH score. Findings showed that women utilized a diverse range of protective strategies with placating strategies being most intensely used and rated as helpful. However, placating strategy usage could be a risk factor as opposed to a protective factor. This study has also demonstrated that greater placating strategies were used by White than South Asian women, and women who were employed used more formal strategies. This research has extended the knowledge base of protective strategies that professionals can draw from to underpin decisions and interventions when working with domestic abuse survivors.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Degradation of cognitive timing mechanisms in behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia.

The current study examined motor timing in frontotemporal dementia (FTD), which manifests as progressive deterioration in social, behavioural and cognitive functions. Twenty-patients fulfilling consensus clinical criteria for behavioural variant FTD (bvFTD), 11 patients fulfilling consensus clinical criteria for semantic-variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA), four patients fulfilling criteria for nonfluent/agrammatic primary progressive aphasia (naPPA), eight patients fulfilling criteria for Alzheimer׳s disease (AD), and 31 controls were assessed on both an externally- and self-paced finger-tapping task requiring maintenance of a regular, 1500 ms beat over 50 taps. Grey and white matter correlates of deficits in motor timing were examined using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). bvFTD patients exhibited significant deficits in aspects of both externally- and self-paced tapping. Increased mean inter-response interval (faster than target tap time) in the self-paced task was associated with reduced grey matter volume in the cerebellum bilaterally, right middle temporal gyrus, and with increased axial diffusivity in the right superior longitudinal fasciculus, regions and tracts which have been suggested to be involved in a subcortical-cortical network of structures underlying timing abilities. This suggests that such structures can be affected in bvFTD, and that impaired motor timing may underlie some characteristics of the bvFTD phenotype