Police Use of CCTV Surveillance: Constitutional Implications and Proposed Regulations

This article evaluates the constitutionality of CCTV searches. Part I discusses the present uses being made of closed circuit technology and evaluates the merits of the CCTV surveillance system. The critical policy trade-off is the system\u27s effectiveness in combatting crime against the resulting loss of privacy to individual citizens. Part II considers the constitutional implications of CCTV use in terms of three major doctrines: the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures ; the constitutional right of privacy; and the First Amendment guarantees of free speech and association. This part briefly summarizes the state of the law concerning these constitutional doctrines. These separate doctrines are then applied to a hypothetical fact situation involving police use of CCTV surveillance. The conclusion is that current case law is inadequate to deal with the advanced technological capabilities of CCTV surveillance. Part III advocates stringent regulation of police use of CCTV, despite the system\u27s demonstrated and potential success in preventing crime, in order to stay within the constitutional parameters and to prevent abuses which unjustifiably intrude on the personal ·privacy of individuals

Increasing the self-efficacy of individuals with a disability through a theory-based curriculum applied to playing golf

Project GAIN (Golf: Accessible and Inclusive Networks) is a theory-based curriculum developed to promote an active life-style and inclusion of individuals with disabilities by enhancing their self-efficacy through golf. Over a 5-year period (2004–2008), 814 participants with and without dis- abilities from six cities across the USA formally enrolled in Project GAIN. Mentors were used to increase lesson participation, engagement between lessons, and inclusion in golf- related activities. For this study, data from 327 individuals with disabilities and 295 mentors with and without disabilities were used for analysis purposes. Data included measures of perceived self-efficacy in golf, future plans in golf, and a weekly log of golf-related activities. Paired-samples t-tests and repeated measures ANOVA were utilized to examine the effects of Project GAIN on participants’ intention to participate and actual participation in golf-related activities. Results indicated that both study groups (individuals with disabilities and mentors) significantly increased their self-efficacy in golf as well as their intention to play golf in future. Significant increases in golf-related activity were reported in weekly logs over the 5 weeks of data collection. Bonferroni post hoc tests were employed to examine mean differences between weekly observations. Significant mean differences between weeks 1 and 3, and 1 and 5 were found. The Project GAIN curriculum successfully contributed to improving participants’ belief that they could play golf. The study findings support the effectiveness of Project GAIN in increasing golf-related activities that may lead to increased inclusion and physical activity

Inferring Species Trees Directly from Biallelic Genetic Markers: Bypassing Gene Trees in a Full Coalescent Analysis

The multi-species coalescent provides an elegant theoretical framework for estimating species trees and species demographics from genetic markers. Practical applications of the multi-species coalescent model are, however, limited by the need to integrate or sample over all gene trees possible for each genetic marker. Here we describe a polynomial-time algorithm that computes the likelihood of a species tree directly from the markers under a finite-sites model of mutation, effectively integrating over all possible gene trees. The method applies to independent (unlinked) biallelic markers such as well-spaced single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and we have implemented it in SNAPP, a Markov chain Monte-Carlo sampler for inferring species trees, divergence dates, and population sizes. We report results from simulation experiments and from an analysis of 1997 amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) loci in 69 individuals sampled from six species of {\em Ourisia} (New Zealand native foxglove)

Best Practices of Accessibililty in Parks and Recreation: A Delphi Survey of National Experts in Accessibility

More and more, recreation professionals contact NCA already armed with information on the minimum compliance requirements, but are now seeking information on best practices that exceed the minimum requirements, and are therefore more likely to achieve full inclusion. The need for specific information regarding the best method or that which exceeds the minimum standard has warranted this research study. Currently, no formal document with best practices information exists for practitioners seeking to exceed the minimum compliance requirements set forth under the ADA and other disability-related legislation. As a result of frequent inquiries regarding best practices from practitioners, NCA initiated this research study in order to ascertain which practices in the field of parks and recreation accessibility management exceed the minimum standards set forth by the ADA and other disability-related legislation. The final purpose of the research was to create a document that details “best practices” in the delivery of recreation and leisure service in a variety of settings. The study was coordinated by NCA with support from faculty and staff from the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Studies and the Eppley Institute for Parks and Public Lands, at Indiana University-Bloomington

Similarity thresholds used in DNA sequence assembly from short reads can reduce the comparability of population histories across species

Comparing inferences among datasets generated using short read sequencing may provide insight into the concerted impacts of divergence, gene flow and selection across organisms, but comparisons are complicated by biases introduced during dataset assembly. Sequence similarity thresholds allow the de novo assembly of short reads into clusters of alleles representing different loci, but the resulting datasets are sensitive to both the similarity threshold used and to the variation naturally present in the organism under study. Thresholds that require high sequence similarity among reads for assembly (stringent thresholds) as well as highly variable species may result in datasets in which divergent alleles are lost or divided into separate loci (‘over-splitting’), whereas liberal thresholds increase the risk of paralogous loci being combined into a single locus (‘under-splitting’). Comparisons among datasets or species are therefore potentially biased if different similarity thresholds are applied or if the species differ in levels of within-lineage genetic variation. We examine the impact of a range of similarity thresholds on assembly of empirical short read datasets from populations of four different non-model bird lineages (species or species pairs) with different levels of genetic divergence. We find that, in all species, stringent similarity thresholds result in fewer alleles per locus than more liberal thresholds, which appears to be the result of high levels of over-splitting. The frequency of putative under-splitting, conversely, is low at all thresholds. Inferred genetic distances between individuals, gene tree depths, and estimates of the ancestral mutation-scaled effective population size (θ) differ depending upon the similarity threshold applied. Relative differences in inferences across species differ even when the same threshold is applied, but may be dramatically different when datasets assembled under different thresholds are compared. These differences not only complicate comparisons across species, but also preclude the application of standard mutation rates for parameter calibration. We suggest some best practices for assembling short read data to maximize comparability, such as using more liberal thresholds and examining the impact of different thresholds on each dataset

Residues within the transmembrane domain of the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor involved in ligand binding and receptor activation: modelling the ligand-bound receptor

The C-terminal regions of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) bind to the N terminus of the GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R), facilitating interaction of the ligand N terminus with the receptor transmembrane domain. In contrast, the agonist exendin-4 relies less on the transmembrane domain, and truncated antagonist analogs (e.g. exendin 9–39) may interact solely with the receptor N terminus. Here we used mutagenesis to explore the role of residues highly conserved in the predicted transmembrane helices of mammalian GLP-1Rs and conserved in family B G protein coupled receptors in ligand binding and GLP-1R activation. By iteration using information from the mutagenesis, along with the available crystal structure of the receptor N terminus and a model of the active opsin transmembrane domain, we developed a structural receptor model with GLP-1 bound and used this to better understand consequences of mutations. Mutation at Y152 [transmembrane helix (TM) 1], R190 (TM2), Y235 (TM3), H363 (TM6), and E364 (TM6) produced similar reductions in affinity for GLP-1 and exendin 9–39. In contrast, other mutations either preferentially [K197 (TM2), Q234 (TM3), and W284 (extracellular loop 2)] or solely [D198 (TM2) and R310 (TM5)] reduced GLP-1 affinity. Reduced agonist affinity was always associated with reduced potency. However, reductions in potency exceeded reductions in agonist affinity for K197A, W284A, and R310A, while H363A was uncoupled from cAMP generation, highlighting critical roles of these residues in translating binding to activation. Data show important roles in ligand binding and receptor activation of conserved residues within the transmembrane domain of the GLP-1R. The receptor structural model provides insight into the roles of these residues