Examining 'window dressing' : the views of black police associations on recruitment and training

In a previous issue of this journal, Ellis Cashmore (2002 Cashmore, E. 2002. ‘Behind the window dressing: minority ethnic police perspectives on cultural diversity’. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 28(2): 327–41. [Taylor & Francis Online], [CSA], [Google Scholar] ) discussed two key issues currently confronting police constabularies in England and Wales: the recruitment of minority ethnic officers and civilian staff, and the impact of diversity training now in place for all police officers. Cashmore argued that not only are these policies ineffective in enhancing cultural diversity within constabularies, but that they are harmful, presenting a false outward image of effective action. This article examines Cashmore's arguments and develops them in light of findings from recent research on Black Police Associations (BPAs) in England and Wales. Our findings firstly suggest that, because of heavy involvement with these initiatives and the close relationship BPAs have developed with senior management (in comparison to non-BPA members), they must be considered in any discussion of minority ethnic recruitment and diversity training. In addition, the majority of the officers we interviewed were supportive of current recruitment and training programmes. Secondly, we argue that BPAs are helping to change the nature of the overall police culture to a certain extent. Many minority ethnic officers no longer feel they must downplay their ethnicity as members of constabularies

Detecting contaminated birthdates using generalized additive models.

Erroneous patient birthdates are common in health databases. Detection of these errors usually involves manual verification, which can be resource intensive and impractical. By identifying a frequent manifestation of birthdate errors, this paper presents a principled and statistically driven procedure to identify erroneous patient birthdates

Intrinsic Axis Ratio Distribution of Early-type Galaxies From Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Using Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 5, we have investigated the intrinsic axis ratio distribution (ARD) for early-type galaxies. We have constructed a volume-limited sample of 3,922 visually-inspected early-type galaxies at $0.05 \leq z \leq 0.06$ carefully considering sampling biases caused by the galaxy isophotal size and luminosity. We attempt to de-project the observed ARD into three-dimensional types (oblate, prolate, and triaxial), which are classified in terms of triaxiality. We confirm that no linear combination of $randomly$-distributed axis ratios of the three types can reproduce the observed ARD. However, using Gaussian intrinsic distributions, we have found reasonable fits to the data with preferred mean axis ratios for oblate, prolate, and triaxial (triaxials in two axis ratios), $\mu_o=0.44, \mu_p=0.72, \mu_{t,\beta}=0.92, \mu_{t,\gamma}=0.78$ where the fractions of oblate, prolate and triaxial types are \textrm{O:P:T}=0.29^{\pm0.09}:0.26^{\pm0.11}:0.45^{\pm0.13}$. We have also found that the luminous sample ($-23.3 < M_r \leq -21.2$) tends to have more triaxials than the less luminous ($-21.2 < M_r <-19.3$) sample does. Oblate is relatively more abundant among the less luminous galaxies. Interestingly, the preferences of axis ratios for triaxial types in the two luminosity classes are remarkably similar. We have not found any significant influence of the local galaxy number density on ARD. We show that the results can be seriously affected by the details in the data selection and type classification scheme. Caveats and implications on galaxy formation are discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures, Accepted for publication in Ap

Gravitational lensing constraint on the cosmic equation of state

Recent redshift-distance measurements of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) at cosmological distances suggest that two-third of the energy density of the universe is dominated by dark energy component with an effective negative pressure. This dark energy component is described by the equation of state $p_{x} = w \rho_{x}$ $(w \geq -1)$. We use gravitational lensing statistics to constrain the equation of state of this dark energy. We use $n(\Delta\theta)$, image separation distribution function of lensed quasars, as a tool to probe $w$. We find that for the observed range of $\Omega_m \sim 0.2 - 0.4$, $w$ should lie between $-0.8 \leq w \leq -0.4$ in order to have five lensed quasars in a sample of 867 optical quasars. This limit is highly sensitive to lens and Schechter parameters and evolution of galaxies.Comment: Modified results and inclusion of calculations with new set of parameter

Pressure-induced Miscibility Increase of CH4 in H2O: A Computational Study Using Classical Potentials

Methane and water demix under normal (ambient) pressure and temperature conditions, due to the polar nature of water and the apolar nature of methane. Recent experimental work has shown, though, that increasing the pressure to values between 1 and 2 GPa (10 to 20 kbar) leads to a marked increase of methane solubility in water, for temperatures which are well below the critical temperature for water. Here we perform molecular dynamics simulations based on classical force fields – which are well-used and have been validated at ambient conditions – for different values of pressure and temperature. We find the expected increase in miscibility for mixtures of methane and supercritical water; however our model fails to reproduce the experimentally observed increase in methane solubility at large pressures and below the critical temperature of water. This points to the need to develop more accurate force fields for methane and methane-water mixtures under pressure

Resolving the Stellar Populations in a z=4 Lensed Galaxy

We present deep near-infrared Keck/NIRC imaging of a recently-discovered z=4.04 galaxy (Frye & Broadhurst 1998). This is lensed by the rich foreground cluster Abell~2390 (z~0.23) into highly-magnified arcs 3-5arcsec in length. Our H- and K'-band NIRC imaging allows us to map the Balmer+4000Ang break amplitude. In combination with high-quality archival HST/WFPC2 data, we can spatially resolve stellar populations along the arcs. The WFPC2 images clearly reveal several bright knots, which correspond to sites of active star formation. However, there are considerable portions of the arcs are significantly redder, consistent with being observed >100Myr after star formation has ceased. Keck/LRIS long-slit spectroscopy along the arcs reveals that the Ly-alpha emission is spatially offset by ~1arcsec from the rest-UV continuum regions. We show that this line emission is most probably powered by star formation in neighboring HII regions, and that the z=4 system is unlikely to be an AGN.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. Uses emulateapj.sty and graphics.sty (included). 34 pages - has 5 tables and 21 encapsulated postscript figures, 4 in colour mail (B&W versions also provided

The impact of constructive operating lease capitalisation on key accounting ratios

Current UK lease accounting regulation does not require operating leases to be capitalised in the accounts of lessees, although this is likely to change with the publication of FRS 5. This study conducts a prospective analysis of the effects of such a change. The potential magnitude of the impact of lease capitalisation upon individual users' decisions, market valuations, company cash flows, and managers' behaviour can be indicated by the effect on key accounting ratios, which are employed in decision-making and in financial contracts. The capitalised value of operating leases is estimated using a method similar to that suggested by Imhoff, Lipe and Wright (1991), adapted for the UK accounting and tax environment, and developed to incorporate company-specific assumptions. Results for 1994 for a random sample of 300 listed UK companies show that, on average, the unrecorded long-term liability represented 39% of reported long-term debt, while the unrecorded asset represented 6% of total assets. Capitalisation had a significant impact (at the 1% level) on six of the nine selected ratios (profit margin, return on assets, asset turnover, and three measures of gearing). Moreover, the Spearman rank correlation between each ratio before and after capitalisation revealed that the ranking of companies changed markedly for gearing measures in particular. There were significant inter-industry variations, with the services sector experiencing the greatest impact. An analysis of the impact of capitalisation over the five-year period from 1990 to 1994 showed that capitalisation had the greatest impact during the trough of the recession. Results were shown to be robust with respect to key assumptions of the capitalisation method. These findings contribute to the assessment of the economic consequences of a policy change requiring operating lease capitalisation. Significant changes in the magnitude of key accounting ratios and a major shift in company performance rankings suggest that interested parties' decisions and company cash flows are likely to be affected