Understanding fraud: the nature of fraud offences recorded by NSW Police

Property offences have been declining in New South Wales, but one crime which has bucked this trend is fraud. Abstract Aim: 1) To provide an understanding of the nature of fraud incidents recorded by NSW Police. 2) To find out which fraud types are contributing to the increase in recorded fraud. Method: This study involved the review of 1,000 narrative descriptions of fraud incidents reported to or detected by NSW Police. Where possible we gathered information about the type of fraudulent behaviour, modus operandi, cost and whether a suspect was apprehended. Half the fraud events sampled occurred in the 12 months to September 2009 and half in the 12 months to September 2013. Results: The most common types of fraud reported to police were card fraud (35% of incidents), fuel drive-offs (30%), identity theft (5%), embezzlement (4%) and cheque fraud (3%). Increases in card fraud and fuel drive offs appear to account for the bulk of the increase in fraud over the past five years. Incident costs recorded by police suggest that in 2013 incidents of fraud recorded by police cost more than $200 million. The average cost of fraud by incident type ranged from just$62 per incident for fuel drive-offs to more than $35,000 per incident for embezzlement. Conclusion: Fraud is a growing problem and will likely continue to rise with new technologies and payment options. This study found that the fraud types with the highest recorded prevalence are quite different to those which have the greatest overall cost implication

The Information Sharing Behaviour of Health Service Managers: a three-part study

Objectives – The purpose of this research was to gain insight into the information behaviour of health service managers as they informed critical decisions unrelated to individual patient care. Methods – This research used two series of qualitative interviews, documentary analysis (a calendar study), a card sorting exercise and a demographic questionnaire to explore the workplace information practices of health service managers. Thirty-six managers were interviewed. Both interview studies used the critical incident technique and cross case analysis. Results are reported with observations and conclusions supported with interview content. The Second Interview Study also used within case analysis in the form of information transaction mapping. Information transactions, calendar study and card sorting exercise data were reported quantitatively. Results – Findings included that these health service managers practiced satisficing, integrating and balancing multiple types of information from multiple sources to inform their decisions until they reached the point of information saturation. After this point, additional information would not make a difference to their decision. Their dominant means of acquiring information was oral information sharing over information seeking. Conclusions – Healthcare services managers support decisions with both facts and value-based information. Lower levels of managers and hybrid managers might benefit from library and information services designed to support them as information gatekeepers. The findings may also encourage health researchers and health research funders to make sure their research informs information sources that health service managers find most convenient to use. These include explicit information such as professional standards, and interpersonal sources such as positional information gatekeepers, experts and conferences

Arts belong in the classroom: empowering teachers in arts-based learning

Learning in and through the arts is central to fostering young learners’ creativity. This article explores the perceived barriers to quality arts-based learning for children and potential strategies for overcoming them. It describes an action research collaboration with two Queensland based early years educators, and explores how this collaboration facilitated changes to their arts based pedagogical approaches. We argue that with sufficient support, educators can act as change agents by leading arts-based learning in a manner that promotes creativity

Strategies to Improve Private-Well Water Quality: A North Carolina Perspective

BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests that the 44.5 million U.S. residents drawing their drinking water from private wells face higher risks of waterborne contaminant exposure than those served by regulated community water supplies. Among U.S. states, North Carolina (N.C.) has the second-largest population relying on private wells, making it a useful microcosm to study challenges to maintaining private-well water quality. OBJECTIVES: This paper summarizes recommendations from a two-day summit to identify options to improve drinking-water quality for N.C. residents served by private wells. METHODS: The Research Triangle Environmental Health Collaborative invited 111 participants with knowledge of private-well water challenges to attend the Summit. Participants worked in small groups that focused on specific aspects and reconvened in plenary sessions to formulate consensus recommendations. DISCUSSION: Summit participants highlighted four main barriers to ensuring safe water for residents currently relying on private wells: (1) a database of private well locations is unavailable; (2) racial disparities have perpetuated reliance on private wells in some urbanized areas; (3) many private-well users lack information or resources to monitor and maintain their wells; and (4) private-well support programs are fragmented and lack sufficient resources. The Summit produced 10 consensus recommendations for ways to overcome these barriers. CONCLUSIONS: The Summit recommendations, if undertaken, could improve the health of North Carolinians facing elevated risks of exposure to waterborne contaminants because of their reliance on inadequately monitored and maintained private wells. Because many of the challenges in N.C. are common nationwide, these recommendations could serve as models for other states. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP890

Disparities in Water and Sewer Services in North Carolina: An Analysis of the Decision-Making Process

however, failed systems are often underreported. Conclusions. Understanding the health costs and benefits of water and sewer extension and integrating these findings into the local decision-making process may help address disparities in access to municipal services.Objectives. We examined the factors that affect access to municipal water and sewer service for unincorporated communities relying on wells and septic tanks. Methods. Using a multisite case study design, we conducted in-depth, semistructured interviews with 25 key informants from 3 unincorporated communities in Hoke, New Hanover, and Transylvania counties, North Carolina, July through September 2013. Interviewees included elected officials, health officials, utility providers, and community members. We coded the interviews in ATLAS.ti to identify common themes. Results. Financing for water and sewer service emerged as the predominant factor that influenced decisions to extend these services. Improved health emerged as a minor factor, suggesting that local officials may not place a high emphasis on the health benefits of extending public water and sewer services. Awareness of failed septic systems in communities can prompt city officials to extend sewer service to these area

‘Too Far Gone’: Dyslexia, Homelessness and Pathways into Drug Use and Drug Dependency

The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between dyslexia, homelessness, drug use and drug dependency. We analyzed data from the “Multiple Exclusion Homelessness Across the United Kingdom Survey,” a national survey that collected data from 443 respondents who have experienced some form of homelessness in the U.K. Our particular interest lied in the different experiences of drug use and drug dependency, comparing homeless people with dyslexia and homeless people without dyslexia. The study reveals that people with dyslexia are overrepresented within the survey’s homeless population. Furthermore, the findings indicate that there is an increase in dependency problems as well as significant mental health problems for respondents with dyslexia compared to the non-dyslexic homeless control group. The results show that dyslexic respondents were more likely to use methadone, more susceptible to self-harm, and reported an increase in suicide attempts compared with the non-dyslexic control group

Publishing in top journals - a never-ending fad?

Starbuck is critical of faddishness, and with good reason. Fads may come, and fads may go, but go they must-or must they? We took at the relentless pressure to publish in the top journals of Management Studies. There is no sign of decline, and yet such desperation to do something of value not because it is useful but because demand for it is great certainly satisfies the definition of fad. Is a fad that runs and runs still a fad? (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Racial Disparities in Access to Community Water Supply Service in Wake County, North Carolina

Anecdotal evidence suggests that historically African American communities on the fringes of cities and towns in North Carolina have been systematically denied access to municipal drinking water service. This paper presents the first statistical analysis of the role of race in determining water access in these fringe areas, known as extraterritorial jurisdictions. Using publicly available property tax data, we quantified the percentage of residences with municipal water service in each census block in Wake County (the second-largest by population in North Carolina). Using the resulting water service maps plus 2010 U.S. Census data, we employed a logistic regression to assess whether race is a significant predictor of water service access in census blocks within extraterritorial jurisdictions when controlling for property value and population density. We find that every 10% increase in the African American population proportion within a census block increases the odds of exclusion from municipal water service by 3.8% (p\u3c0.05). These results suggest the need for follow-up research to explore the resulting health implications, especially because previous studies have shown that the private wells upon which such communities rely for potable water are at elevated risk of contamination from leaking septic tanks and other sources

Identification of transcriptional regulatory networks specific to pilocytic astrocytoma.

BackgroundPilocytic Astrocytomas (PAs) are common low-grade central nervous system malignancies for which few recurrent and specific genetic alterations have been identified. In an effort to better understand the molecular biology underlying the pathogenesis of these pediatric brain tumors, we performed higher-order transcriptional network analysis of a large gene expression dataset to identify gene regulatory pathways that are specific to this tumor type, relative to other, more aggressive glial or histologically distinct brain tumours.MethodsRNA derived from frozen human PA tumours was subjected to microarray-based gene expression profiling, using Affymetrix U133Plus2 GeneChip microarrays. This data set was compared to similar data sets previously generated from non-malignant human brain tissue and other brain tumour types, after appropriate normalization.ResultsIn this study, we examined gene expression in 66 PA tumors compared to 15 non-malignant cortical brain tissues, and identified 792 genes that demonstrated consistent differential expression between independent sets of PA and non-malignant specimens. From this entire 792 gene set, we used the previously described PAP tool to assemble a core transcriptional regulatory network composed of 6 transcription factor genes (TFs) and 24 target genes, for a total of 55 interactions. A similar analysis of oligodendroglioma and glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) gene expression data sets identified distinct, but overlapping, networks. Most importantly, comparison of each of the brain tumor type-specific networks revealed a network unique to PA that included repressed expression of ONECUT2, a gene frequently methylated in other tumor types, and 13 other uniquely predicted TF-gene interactions.ConclusionsThese results suggest specific transcriptional pathways that may operate to create the unique molecular phenotype of PA and thus opportunities for corresponding targeted therapeutic intervention. Moreover, this study also demonstrates how integration of gene expression data with TF-gene and TF-TF interaction data is a powerful approach to generating testable hypotheses to better understand cell-type specific genetic programs relevant to cancer

Indoor Air Contamination from Hazardous Waste Sites: Improving the Evidence Base for Decision-Making

At hazardous waste sites, volatile chemicals can migrate through groundwater and soil into buildings, a process known as vapor intrusion. Due to increasing recognition of vapor intrusion as a potential indoor air pollution source, in 2015 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a new vapor intrusion guidance document. The guidance specifies two conditions for demonstrating that remediation is needed: (1) proof of a vapor intrusion pathway; and (2) evidence that human health risks exceed established thresholds (for example, one excess cancer among 10,000 exposed people). However, the guidance lacks details on methods for demonstrating these conditions. We review current evidence suggesting that monitoring and modeling approaches commonly employed at vapor intrusion sites do not adequately characterize long-term exposure and in many cases may underestimate risks. On the basis of this evidence, we recommend specific approaches to monitoring and modeling to account for these uncertainties. We propose a value of information approach to integrate the lines of evidence at a site and determine if more information is needed before deciding whether the two conditions specified in the vapor intrusion guidance are satisfied. To facilitate data collection and decision-making, we recommend a multi-directional community engagement strategy and consideration of environment justice concerns