Sex Offender Treatment Program: Initial Recidivism Study

This report presents results of a recidivism study of participants in the Sex Offender Treatment Program at Hiland Mountain Correctional Center, Alaska Department of Corrections, from January 1987 to August 1995. The report provides an overview and history of sex offender treatment in Alaska as well as a literature review of other studies and findings on this area of treatment. The Alaska study, which was the first conducted of the treatment program, found that any level of treatment achieved resulted in less recidivism, with the longer the period of treatment, the lower the recidivism. The study also noted the high percentage of Alaska Natives in the program and the history of alcohol and substance abuse presented by many sex offenders. The majority of offenders in the program were guilty of assaulting children. The study discusses the program's cost benefits as well as the implications of its findings for probation and parole.Alaska Department of CorrectionsI. Introduction / II. Sex Offender Treatment in Alaska / III. Literature Review / IV. Methodology / V. Results / VI. Conclusions and Recommendations / VII. Reference

A Computational Methodology to Screen Activities of Enzyme Variants

We present a fast computational method to efficiently screen enzyme activity. In the presented method, the effect of mutations on the barrier height of an enzyme-catalysed reaction can be computed within 24 hours on roughly 10 processors. The methodology is based on the PM6 and MOZYME methods as implemented in MOPAC2009, and is tested on the first step of the amide hydrolysis reaction catalyzed by Candida Antarctica lipase B (CalB) enzyme. The barrier heights are estimated using adiabatic mapping and are shown to give barrier heights to within 3kcal/mol of B3LYP/6-31G(d)//RHF/3-21G results for a small model system. Relatively strict convergence criteria (0.5kcal/(mol{\AA})), long NDDO cutoff distances within the MOZYME method (15{\AA}) and single point evaluations using conventional PM6 are needed for reliable results. The generation of mutant structure and subsequent setup of the semiempirical calculations are automated so that the effect on barrier heights can be estimated for hundreds of mutants in a matter of weeks using high performance computing

Predictive Interfaces for Long-Distance Tele-Operations

We address the development of predictive tele-operator interfaces for humanoid robots with respect to two basic challenges. Firstly, we address automating the transition from fully tele-operated systems towards degrees of autonomy. Secondly, we develop compensation for the time-delay that exists when sending telemetry data from a remote operation point to robots located at low earth orbit and beyond. Humanoid robots have a great advantage over other robotic platforms for use in space-based construction and maintenance because they can use the same tools as astronauts do. The major disadvantage is that they are difficult to control due to the large number of degrees of freedom, which makes it difficult to synthesize autonomous behaviors using conventional means. We are working with the NASA Johnson Space Center's Robonaut which is an anthropomorphic robot with fully articulated hands, arms, and neck. We have trained hidden Markov models that make use of the command data, sensory streams, and other relevant data sources to predict a tele-operator's intent. This allows us to achieve subgoal level commanding without the use of predefined command dictionaries, and to create sub-goal autonomy via sequence generation from generative models. Our method works as a means to incrementally transition from manual tele-operation to semi-autonomous, supervised operation. The multi-agent laboratory experiments conducted by Ambrose et. al. have shown that it is feasible to directly tele-operate multiple Robonauts with humans to perform complex tasks such as truss assembly. However, once a time-delay is introduced into the system, the rate of tele\ioperation slows down to mimic a bump and wait type of activity. We would like to maintain the same interface to the operator despite time-delays. To this end, we are developing an interface which will allow for us to predict the intentions of the operator while interacting with a 3D virtual representation of the expected state of the robot. The predictive interface anticipates the intention of the operator, and then uses this prediction to initiate appropriate sub-goal autonomy tasks

Optimized Algorithms for Prediction within Robotic Tele-Operative Interfaces

Robonaut, the humanoid robot developed at the Dexterous Robotics Laboratory at NASA Johnson Space Center serves as a testbed for human-robot collaboration research and development efforts. One of the primary efforts investigates how adjustable autonomy can provide for a safe and more effective completion of manipulation-based tasks. A predictive algorithm developed in previous work was deployed as part of a software interface that can be used for long-distance tele-operation. In this paper we provide the details of this algorithm, how to improve upon the methods via optimization, and also present viable alternatives to the original algorithmic approach. We show that all of the algorithms presented can be optimized to meet the specifications of the metrics shown as being useful for measuring the performance of the predictive methods. Judicious feature selection also plays a significant role in the conclusions drawn

Modeling and Classifying Six-Dimensional Trajectories for Teleoperation Under a Time Delay

Within the context of teleoperating the JSC Robonaut humanoid robot under 2-10 second time delays, this paper explores the technical problem of modeling and classifying human motions represented as six-dimensional (position and orientation) trajectories. A dual path research agenda is reviewed which explored both deterministic approaches and stochastic approaches using Hidden Markov Models. Finally, recent results are shown from a new model which represents the fusion of these two research paths. Questions are also raised about the possibility of automatically generating autonomous actions by reusing the same predictive models of human behavior to be the source of autonomous control. This approach changes the role of teleoperation from being a stand-in for autonomy into the first data collection step for developing generative models capable of autonomous control of the robot

Hanford Tank Waste to WIPP - Maximizing the Value of our National Repository Asset - 14230

Preplanning scope for the Hanford tank transuranic (TRU) waste project was authorized in 2013 by the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of River Protection (ORP) after a project standby period of eight years. Significant changes in DOE orders, Hanford contracts, and requirements at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) have occurred during this time period, in addition to newly implemented regulatory permitting, re-evaluated waste management strategies, and new commercial applications. Preplanning has identified the following key approaches for reactivating the project: qualification of tank inventory designations and completion of all environmental regulatory permitting; identifying program options to accelerate retrieval of key leaking tank T-111; planning fully compliant implementation of DOE Order 413.3B, and DOE Standard 1189 for potential on-site treatment; and re-evaluation of commercial retrieval and treatment technologies for better strategic bundling of permanent waste disposal options

Feasibility of a randomized controlled trial of functional strength training for people between six months and five years after stroke: FeSTivaLS trial

Background: Functional Strength Training (FST) could enhance recovery late after stroke. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a subsequent fully powered, randomized controlled trial. Methods: The study was designed as a randomized, observer-blind trial. Both interventions were provided for up to one hour a day, four days a week, for six weeks. Evaluation points were before randomization (baseline), after six weeks intervention (outcome), and six weeks thereafter (follow-up). The study took place in participants’ own homes. Participants (n = 52) were a mean of 24.4 months after stroke with a mean age of 68.3 years with 67.3% male. All had difficulty using their paretic upper (UL) and lower limb (LL). Participants were allocated to FST-UL or FST-LL by an independent randomization service. The outcome measures were recruitment rate, attrition rate, practicality of recruitment strategies, occurrence of adverse reactions, acceptability of FST, and estimation of sample size for a subsequent trial. Primary clinical efficacy outcomes were the Action Research Arm Test (ARAT) and the Functional Ambulation Categories (FAC). Analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis of participants’ views of FST. A power calculation used estimates of clinical efficacy variance to estimate sample size for a subsequent trial. Results: The screening process identified 1,127 stroke survivors of whom 52 (4.6%) were recruited. The recruitment rate was higher for referral from community therapists than for systematic identification of people discharged from an acute stroke unit. The attrition rate was 15.5% at the outcome and follow-up time-points. None of the participants experienced an adverse reaction. The participants who remained in the study at outcome had received 68% of the total possible amount of therapy. Participants reported that their experience of FST provided a sense of purpose and involvement and increased their confidence in performing activities. The power calculation provides estimation that 150 participants in each group will be required for a subsequent clinical trial. Conclusions: This study found that a subsequent clinical trial was feasible with modifications to the recruitment strategy to be used

Structural aspects of MOF-based energy materials research at Diamond

Large-scale central facilities such as Diamond Light Source fulfil an increasingly pivotal role in many large-scale scientific research programmes. We illustrate these developments by reference to energy-centred projects at the University of Nottingham, the progress of which depends crucially on access to these facilities. Continuing access to beamtime has now become a major priority for those who direct such programme

Electric field inside a "Rossky cavity" in uniformly polarized water

Electric field produced inside a solute by a uniformly polarized liquid is strongly affected by dipolar polarization of the liquid at the interface. We show, by numerical simulations, that the electric "cavity" field inside a hydrated non-polar solute does not follow the predictions of standard Maxwell's electrostatics of dielectrics. Instead, the field inside the solute tends, with increasing solute size, to the limit predicted by the Lorentz virtual cavity. The standard paradigm fails because of its reliance on the surface charge density at the dielectric interface determined by the boundary conditions of the Maxwell dielectric. The interface of a polar liquid instead carries a preferential in-plane orientation of the surface dipoles thus producing virtually no surface charge. The resulting boundary conditions for electrostatic problems differ from the traditional recipes, affecting the microscopic and macroscopic fields based on them. We show that relatively small differences in cavity fields propagate into significant differences in the dielectric constant of an ideal mixture. The slope of the dielectric increment of the mixture versus the solute concentration depends strongly on which polarization scenario at the interface is realized. A much steeper slope found in the case of Lorentz polarization also implies a higher free energy penalty for polarizing such mixtures.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure