Child pornography offenders and practical research: an evidenced-based approach to prioritising the investigation

To develop a common tactical approach in the protection of children, law-enforcement agencies are required to strengthen networks and relationships across Europe and the world. What constitutes as a child pornography offence within Europe varies considerably, although there is a common understanding that a combined approach is needed to deal with it. From a European perspective the further question is whether cultural specificity exists? The authors highlight the potential significance of culture and adequate understanding of the diversity of these cultures in regard to this type of crime. Recent studies have begun to explore the specific relationship between possession of the actual child pornography and the likelihood of being a contact offender. These studies were based on a corpus of knowledge which has effectively examined three questions: what are the key features of ‘Indecent Images of Children’ (IIOC) offending? How do offenders use IIOC within their offending? How prevalent are contact sexual abusers within indecent image offender samples? This paper will therefore present an overview of the three questions and then describe the current issues within contemporary studies around the ability to prioritise child pornography offenders

Sex Offences Perpetrated Against Older Adults: A Multivariate Analysis of Crime Scene Behaviors

The aim of this study was to thematically explore the relationship between crime scene behaviors and background characteristics of offenders who commit sexual offences against female victims aged 60 years or more. Research and understanding of offence behaviours in this area is extremely limited, therefore, the study sought to provide a preliminary understanding and multivariate model of offence behaviours in cases where older female adults were sexually abused. Twenty-seven crime scene behaviours from 143 rape or attempted rape cases of an older adult victim were analysed, frequency data was computed to provide base rate information and Smallest Space Analysis provided a visual representation of the co-occurrence of crime scene behaviors. Three distinct dominant themes were identified in that 56% of offences displayed themes of Involvement (22%), Control (17%) and Hostility (16%). The relationship between each dominant theme and selected background characteristics was then analysed. For example, offenders displaying an Involvement theme were found to be significantly less likely to have prior convictions. Significance was also found in the relationship between dominant themes and a ‘theft and kindred offence other’ pre-conviction background characteristic. The findings demonstrate offending behavior can be separated into three distinct themes, providing an explanation of offender subtypes and supporting previous models found in other types of sexual offending. Applications for law enforcement agencies regarding identified themes and links with likely offender background characteristics are highlighted. Limitations and future research avenues are discussed

Teaching Lean Thinking Principles Through Hands-on Simulations

The teaching of Lean Enterprise Thinking in the aerospace context requires that students understand a complex subject—aerospace enterprises and their transformation—in a deep and intuitive way. Without this context, the lessons of the LAI Lean Academy Course® will make little sense. A rich simulation of an enterprise with a structure and problems typical of the US aerospace industry is used as a teaching tool. The simulation allows students to understand Lean Thinking at an intuitive level, and practice lean tools in a realistic setting. The simulation enables a CDIO approach (in this case, Comprehend, Design, Implement and Operate), by having the students take two iterations through a CDIO process to transform the simulated enterprise from an inefficient legacy state to a high performance future state (x3 to x6 production using the same resources). The simulation and its teaching goals are described, with reference to the limited literature on simulations in education. The process used in the simulation is then described in a CDIO context. Finally, the success of the simulation is evaluated using limited quantitative and more extensive qualitative data. It is found that the simulation is a powerful learning tool and a key component of the LAI Lean Academy

The undergraduate research apprenticeship - improving the relevance of science teaching through authentic research experience.

The undergraduate experience is arguably the most important in shaping the future career trajectories of students. It is here that early exposure to the widest possible range of disciplines and practical experiences will have the most impact. In the face of a reduction in the number of students entering both undergraduate science and research as a career option, we must urgently initiate strategies to engage and retain students in science. This can be achieved by a research experience in a ‘mentored apprenticeship model’ in the context of an authentic laboratory/field during their formative undergraduate years. It is widely acknowledged that an interactive, enquiry-based approach to learning provides the most meaningful and lasting learning experience for students. It is similarly accepted that, within science, undergraduate research experiences are pivotal in providing context to student learning and providing a true sense of what it means to be a 'scientist'. In this discussion forum we will summarise research-based experiences currently available for Bachelor of Science (BSc) students at The University of Queensland (UQ). We will then look in detail at a proposed new ‘mentored apprenticeship model’, being examined for introduction into the UQ BSc from 2008 following the recent major review. The proposed model builds on the existing UQ Advanced Study Program in Science combined with the University of Michigan’s Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program and aims to: • achieve an increased level of student engagement to complement other strategies for motivating students who are in large first year classes • show students the functional/practical relevance of the core content of their course material • provide students with a personal experience of doing science so that they can plan their future studies from a more informed perspective • minimize the attrition rate from the first year science cohort • provide a mentored cohort experience to engage and support under-represented groups such as indigenous and international students • actively build on the tremendous investment in institutes at UQ by increasing the direct involvement of these research academics in the undergraduate science program (for example, places for 25 students have already been committed by one of the UQ research institutes) • increase the number of students proceeding to postgraduate education as the next step to a worthwhile and personally rewarding career trajectory in science. The proposed ‘mentored apprenticeship model’ provides a step-wise approach to a student’s growth as an apprentice scientist. As undergraduates progress through their degree-program their learning experiences in science should also progress closer and closer to those of a ‘scientist’ until, on graduation, they are fully-prepared for their science-related career. The new model achieves this through establishing strong working partnerships between students and research groups, supplementing traditional practical components of undergraduate courses by ‘doing’ more science and providing students with an opportunity to talk more about science. Within this forum participants will be asked to explore: • How are the theoretical frameworks of enquiry-based learning being translated into practical applications? • What are the outcomes of an undergraduate research opportunity? • How do we assess this learning? • What are the experiences of other institutions – how have they met the challenge of an authentic research experience, in a research-intensive university, for large numbers of students? • Are there discipline-specific variations to these approaches

Shear-free, Irrotational, Geodesic, Anisotropic Fluid Cosmologies

General relativistic anisotropic fluid models whose fluid flow lines form a shear-free, irrotational, geodesic timelike congruence are examined. These models are of Petrov type D, and are assumed to have zero heat flux and an anisotropic stress tensor that possesses two distinct non-zero eigenvalues. Some general results concerning the form of the metric and the stress-tensor for these models are established. Furthermore, if the energy density and the isotropic pressure, as measured by a comoving observer, satisfy an equation of state of the form $p = p(\mu)$, with $\frac{dp}{d\mu} \neq -\frac{1}{3}$, then these spacetimes admit a foliation by spacelike hypersurfaces of constant Ricci scalar. In addition, models for which both the energy density and the anisotropic pressures only depend on time are investigated; both spatially homogeneous and spatially inhomogeneous models are found. A classification of these models is undertaken. Also, a particular class of anisotropic fluid models which are simple generalizations of the homogeneous isotropic cosmological models is studied.Comment: 13 pages LaTe

Rapid creation and quantitative monitoring of high coverage shRNA libraries.

Short hairpin RNA libraries are limited by low efficacy of many shRNAs and by off-target effects, which give rise to false negatives and false positives, respectively. Here we present a strategy for rapidly creating expanded shRNA pools (approximately 30 shRNAs per gene) that are analyzed by deep sequencing (EXPAND). This approach enables identification of multiple effective target-specific shRNAs from a complex pool, allowing a rigorous statistical evaluation of true hits