Age-related expectations of child witness credibility

Age-related expectations of credibility were examined in a child witness study. The within-subjects factors were witness age (4, 8, 12, 16, 20 years) and type of credibility rating (honesty vs. cognitive ability). The between subjects factors were type of assault (physical vs. sexual), role of witness (victim vs. bystander), and participant gender. Men (n = 31) and women (n = 61) from a first-year psychology course read vignettes describing a crime (adapted from Nightingale, 1993) and rated the witness\u27 cognitive ability and honesty at each age (adapted from Ross, Lindsay, & Marsil, 1996). The results indicated that the witness was perceived to be more honest and more cognitively able as she aged. Similarly, defendant guilt ratings rose as the witness aged. Women gave higher cognitive ability and honesty ratings than did men. Suggestions for future research on witness credibility and the implications for the judicial system are discussed

Land-Based Exercise and Its Effect on Quality of Life Outcomes in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review

Background: The purpose of this systematic review was to examine effectiveness of land-based exercise interventions for improving quality of life (QOL) of individuals with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. Methods: A systematic search included PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Academic Search Premier, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Inclusion criteria included land-based exercise interventions aimed to improve lower extremity strength and QOL, published since 2000. Exclusion criteria included OA of joints other than the knee, and aquatic-based and surgical interventions. Studies were evaluated using a modified version of the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine (AACPDM) methodology score. Results: Level of evidence for 11 studies ranged from I strong (I-S) to IV. There were 1200 total participants 57.5 to 69.8 years of age with a mean of 64.5. Three common treatment groups were used; exercise, yoga, and education. Twenty outcome measures were used with the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC), Short Form 36 (SF-36) and strength being most common. Discussion: Inconsistencies in reporting outcome measures and their subgroups, data, and statistical analyses prevented further data analysis to compare individual intervention effectiveness. However, many articles reported significant improvements in varying QOL subgroups and strength measurements. Conclusions: This review suggests treatment approaches involving physical activity will be beneficial across all levels of the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF), including QOL

Boltzmann-Shannon Entropy: Generalization and Application

The paper deals with the generalization of both Boltzmann entropy and distribution in the light of most-probable interpretation of statistical equilibrium. The statistical analysis of the generalized entropy and distribution leads to some new interesting results of significant physical importance.Comment: 5 pages, Accepted in Mod.Phys.Lett.

Eyewitness identification performance on showups improves with an additional-opportunities instruction: Evidence for present–absent criteria discrepancy

We tested the proposition that when eyewitnesses find it difficult to recognize a suspect (as in a culprit-absent showup), eyewitnesses accept a weaker match to memory for making an identification. We tie this proposition to the basic recognition memory literature, which shows people use lower decision criteria when recognition is made difficult so as to not miss their chance of getting a hit on the target. We randomly assigned participant–witnesses (N = 610) to a condition in which they were told that if they did not believe the suspect was the culprit, they would have additional opportunities to make an identification later (additional-opportunities instruction). We fully crossed this instruction with the standard admonition (i.e., the culprit may or may not be present) and with the presence or absence of the culprit in a showup identification procedure. The standard admonition had no impact on eyewitness decision-making; however, the additional-opportunities instruction reduced innocent-suspect identifications (from 33% to 15%) to a greater extent than culprit identifications (57% to 51%). The additional-opportunities instruction yielded a better tradeoff between culprit and innocent-suspect identifications as indicated by binary logistic regression and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analyses

Structure of a model TiO2 photocatalytic interface

The interaction of water with TiO2 is crucial to many of its practical applications, including photocatalytic water splitting. Following the first demonstration of this phenomenon 40 years ago there have been numerous studies of the rutile single-crystal TiO2(110) interface with water. This has provided an atomic-level understanding of the water-TiO2 interaction. However, nearly all of the previous studies of water/TiO2 interfaces involve water in the vapour phase. Here, we explore the interfacial structure between liquid water and a rutile TiO2(110) surface pre-characterized at the atomic level. Scanning tunnelling microscopy and surface X-ray diffraction are used to determine the structure, which is comprised of an ordered array of hydroxyl molecules with molecular water in the second layer. Static and dynamic density functional theory calculations suggest that a possible mechanism for formation of the hydroxyl overlayer involves the mixed adsorption of O2 and H2O on a partially defected surface. The quantitative structural properties derived here provide a basis with which to explore the atomistic properties and hence mechanisms involved in TiO2 photocatalysis

Evaluation of Trapping to Reduce Monk Parakeet Populations at Electric Utility Facilities

Through accidental and intentional introductions, the monk parakeet, native to South America, is now established in several parts of the United States. In Florida, it occurs in 21 of 67 counties. Monk parakeets build a bulky nest structure of sticks, and they often build on electric utility substations and support structures for distribution and transmission lines. This nesting activity is incompatible with reliable electric service because nest material creates short circuits that cause power outages. Nest removal by electric utility personnel is ongoing but provides only short-term relief, as buds readily rebuild their nests. In h s study, we evaluated passive and active methods to trap monk parakeets, and we documented the effectiveness of trapping to reduce rates of nest rebuilding on distribution poles. At electric substations, we tested two passive trap designs: a drop-in style trap, and a walk-in style trap. Monk parakeets were wary of traps, however, and were not easily captured even with extensive pre-baiting and the use of decoy birds. At distribution poles, we actively trapped birds at 47 nest sites using specially designed nets placed over nest entrances at night while birds roosted. Birds were then caught as they flew out of the nests into the net. Capture success at individual nest sites ranged from 0 to 100% with an overall average of 51%. Of the 47 sites where birds were trapped at night, 43 nests were removed immediately or shortly after netting. Subsequent monitoring revealed that higher nest site capture rates resulted in slower rates of nest rebuilding. We conclude that while more research is needed to design an effective passive trapping system, monk parakeets can be readily trapped from distribution pole nests at night thereby enhancing nest removal efforts

Are multiple-trial experiments appropriate for eyewitness identification studies? Accuracy, choosing, and confidence across trials

Eyewitness identification experiments typically involve a single trial: a participant views an event and subsequently makes a lineup decision. Compared to this single-trial paradigm, multiple-trial designs are more efficient but significantly reduce ecological validity and may affect the strategies participants use to make lineup decisions. We examined the effects of a number of forensically-relevant variables (i.e., memory strength, type of disguise, degree of disguise, and lineup type) on eyewitness accuracy, choosing, and confidence across 12 target-present and 12 target-absent lineup trials (N = 349; 8,376 lineup decisions). Rates of correct rejections and choosing (across both target-present and -absent lineups) did not vary across the 24 trials as reflected by main effects or interactions with trial number. Trial number had a significant but trivial quadratic effect on correct identifications (OR = 0.99) and interacted significantly, but again trivially, with disguise type (OR = 1.00). Trial number did not significantly influence participants' confidence in correct identifications, confidence in correct rejections, or confidence in target-absent selections. Thus, multiple-trial designs appear to have minimal effects on eyewitness accuracy, choosing, and confidence. Researchers should consider using multiple-trial designs for conducting eyewitness identification experiments.div_PaS49pub4633pu