Similarities and Differences In Adolescence-Onset Versus Adulthood-Onset Sexual Abuse Incidents

A sample of males who had first committed sexual offences against children in either adolescence (n= 230; M= 14.0 years, SD= 1.5) or adulthood (n= 280; M= 34.4 years, SD= 11.7) were compared on measures relating to the circumstances of their first known sexual abuse incident. Considerable diversity in the circumstances of these first incidents was observed for both groups. However, adulthood-onset sexual abuse most often occurred following a long-standing familial relationship with a female victim, and in a home setting. The first incident for adolescence-onset offenders also tended to occur in the context of a long-term relationship and against a female child in a home setting, but more commonly against a nonfamilial victim. Adulthood-onset offenders abused older children, were more likely to engage in penetrative sexual behaviors, and went on to abuse over a longer duration than adolescence-onset offenders. Adolescence-onset offences were more likely to be witnessed by a third party. Findings and their implications for prevention are considered from a situational crime prevention perspective. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd

Police officers\u27 perceptions of the challenges involved in internet child exploitation investigation

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore police officers&rsquo; perceptions of the challenges and work stressors of working in Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) investigation.Design/methodology/approachParticipants were a heterogeneous sample of 32 ICE investigators across nine Australian jurisdictions. Officers&rsquo; perceptions of ICE work were elicited via individual, open-ended, anonymous, telephone interviews, which focused on both the nature and impact of work-related stressors and challenges.FindingsThematic analysis revealed that viewing ICE material was not perceived to be a major stressor or particularly traumatic facet of ICE investigation. Rather, the challenges related to three areas; work relationships, workload and resources and the physical environment. Participants also suggested some improvements to their work environment which could reduce the impact of these challenges.Practical implicationsThe stressors identified by ICE investigators in this study place physical, psychological and social restrictions on investigative capacity. Modifications to the workplace environment that facilitate more effective professional collaboration, reduce workload and enhance investigator efficiency and functionality of the physical work environment would likely reduce the potential for harm associated with ICE investigation and improve ICE investigators&rsquo; capacity to perform their role.Originality/valueThis is the first study to use a broad research framework to examine the full range of stressors that ICE investigators face (both organisational and operational). The findings are important for developing comprehensive theories regarding workplace traumatisation as well as holistic intervention models to assist the prevention and management of stress related to ICE investigation.</div

Entrepreneurial capital, social values and Islamic traditions: exploring the growth of women-owned enterprises in Pakistan

Main ArticleThis study seeks to explore the variables contributing to the growth of women-owned enterprises in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Based on a previously established multivariate model, it uses two econometric approaches: first classifying variables into predetermined blocks; and second, using the general to specific approach. Statistical analyses and in-depth interviews confirm that women entrepreneurs’ personal resources and social capital have a significant role in their business growth. Further, it reveals that the moral support of immediate family, independent mobility and being allowed to meet with men play a decisive role in the sales and employment growth of women-owned enterprises in an Islamic country such as Pakistan

Evaluation of rate law approximations in bottom-up kinetic models of metabolism.

BackgroundThe mechanistic description of enzyme kinetics in a dynamic model of metabolism requires specifying the numerical values of a large number of kinetic parameters. The parameterization challenge is often addressed through the use of simplifying approximations to form reaction rate laws with reduced numbers of parameters. Whether such simplified models can reproduce dynamic characteristics of the full system is an important question.ResultsIn this work, we compared the local transient response properties of dynamic models constructed using rate laws with varying levels of approximation. These approximate rate laws were: 1) a Michaelis-Menten rate law with measured enzyme parameters, 2) a Michaelis-Menten rate law with approximated parameters, using the convenience kinetics convention, 3) a thermodynamic rate law resulting from a metabolite saturation assumption, and 4) a pure chemical reaction mass action rate law that removes the role of the enzyme from the reaction kinetics. We utilized in vivo data for the human red blood cell to compare the effect of rate law choices against the backdrop of physiological flux and concentration differences. We found that the Michaelis-Menten rate law with measured enzyme parameters yields an excellent approximation of the full system dynamics, while other assumptions cause greater discrepancies in system dynamic behavior. However, iteratively replacing mechanistic rate laws with approximations resulted in a model that retains a high correlation with the true model behavior. Investigating this consistency, we determined that the order of magnitude differences among fluxes and concentrations in the network were greatly influential on the network dynamics. We further identified reaction features such as thermodynamic reversibility, high substrate concentration, and lack of allosteric regulation, which make certain reactions more suitable for rate law approximations.ConclusionsOverall, our work generally supports the use of approximate rate laws when building large scale kinetic models, due to the key role that physiologically meaningful flux and concentration ranges play in determining network dynamics. However, we also showed that detailed mechanistic models show a clear benefit in prediction accuracy when data is available. The work here should help to provide guidance to future kinetic modeling efforts on the choice of rate law and parameterization approaches

Emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds and subsequent photochemical production of secondary organic aerosol in mesocosm studies of temperate and tropical plant species

Silver birch (Betula pendula) and three Southeast Asian tropical plant species (Ficus cyathistipula, Ficus benjamina and Caryota millis) from the pantropical fig and palm genera were grown in a purpose-built and environment-controlled whole-tree chamber. The volatile organic compounds emitted from these trees were characterised and fed into a linked photochemical reaction chamber where they underwent photo-oxidation under a range of controlled conditions (relative humidity or RH ~65–89%, volatile organic compound-to-NOx or VOC / NOx ~3–9 and NOx ~2 ppbV). Both the gas phase and the aerosol phase of the reaction chamber were monitored in detail using a comprehensive suite of on-line and off-line chemical and physical measurement techniques. Silver birch was found to be a high monoterpene and sesquiterpene but low isoprene emitter, and its emissions were observed to produce measurable amounts of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) via both nucleation and condensation onto pre-existing seed aerosol (YSOA 26–39%). In contrast, all three tropical species were found to be high isoprene emitters with trace emissions of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes. In tropical plant experiments without seed aerosol there was no measurable SOA nucleation, but aerosol mass was shown to increase when seed aerosol was present. Although principally isoprene emitting, the aerosol mass produced from tropical fig was mostly consistent (i.e. in 78 out of 120 aerosol mass calculations using plausible parameter sets of various precursor specific yields) with condensation of photo-oxidation products of the minor volatile organic compounds (VOCs) co-emitted; no significant aerosol yield from condensation of isoprene oxidation products was required in the interpretations of the experimental results. This finding is in line with previous reports of organic aerosol loadings consistent with production from minor biogenic VOCs co-emitted with isoprene in principally isoprene-emitting landscapes in Southeast Asia. Moreover, in general the amount of aerosol mass produced from the emissions of the principally isoprene-emitting plants was less than would be expected from published single-VOC experiments, if co-emitted species were solely responsible for the final SOA mass. Interpretation of the results obtained from the fig data sets leaves room for a potential role for isoprene in inhibiting SOA formation under certain ambient atmospheric conditions, although instrumental and experimental constraints impose a level of caution in the interpretation of the results. Concomitant gas- and aerosol-phase composition measurements also provide a detailed overview of numerous key oxidation mechanisms at work within the systems studied, and their combined analysis provides insight into the nature of the SOA formed

Encoding monomorphic and polymorphic types

Most automatic theorem provers are restricted to untyped logics, and existing translations from typed logics are bulky or unsound. Recent research proposes monotonicity as a means to remove some clutter. Here we pursue this approach systematically, analysing formally a variety of encodings that further improve on efficiency while retaining soundness and completeness. We extend the approach to rank-1 polymorphism and present alternative schemes that lighten the translation of polymorphic symbols based on the novel notion of “cover”. The new encodings are implemented, and partly proved correct, in Isabelle/HOL. Our evaluation finds them vastly superior to previous schemes

Initial/boundary-value problems of tumor growth within a host tissue

This paper concerns multiphase models of tumor growth in interaction with a surrounding tissue, taking into account also the interplay with diffusible nutrients feeding the cells. Models specialize in nonlinear systems of possibly degenerate parabolic equations, which include phenomenological terms related to specific cell functions. The paper discusses general modeling guidelines for such terms, as well as for initial and boundary conditions, aiming at both biological consistency and mathematical robustness of the resulting problems. Particularly, it addresses some qualitative properties such as a priori nonnegativity, boundedness, and uniqueness of the solutions. Existence of the solutions is studied in the one-dimensional time-independent case.Comment: 30 pages, 5 figure

Encoding monomorphic and polymorphic types

Many automatic theorem provers are restricted to untyped logics, and existing translations from typed logics are bulky or unsound. Recent research proposes monotonicity as a means to remove some clutter when translating monomorphic to un-typed first-order logic. Here we pursue this approach systematically, analysing formally a variety of encodings that further improve on efficiency while retaining soundness and completeness. We extend the approach to rank-1 polymorphism and present alternative schemes that lighten the translation of polymorphic symbols based on the novel notion of “cover”. The new encodings are implemented in Isabelle/HOL as part of the Sledgehammer tool. We include informal proofs of soundness and correctness, and have formalized the monomorphic part of this work in Isabelle/HOL. Our evaluation finds the new encodings vastly superior to previous schemes

Can Systemic Interventions Designed to Reduce Reoffending by Youth also Reduce their Victimization?

Previous research indicates considerable overlap between populations of boys who are victimized and boys who victimize others. This study was concerned with whether a systems-focused treatment program designed to address individual and systemic risk factors associated with the perpetration of sexual and violent crimes might also be successful in reducing boys’ victimization by others. Boys adjudicated for sexual offences who received ‘treatment as usual’ (TAU; n = 335) were compared with similarly adjudicated boys who completed the treatment program (n = 200) on their histories of contact with police either as offenders or victims. Despite their higher rates of pre-intervention victimization, the treatment group were victimized less frequently post-intervention than the TAU group. Continued offending was the strongest predictor of victimization post-intervention. These findings suggest that offending and victimization share common risk factors that may be addressed simultaneously within offence-focused treatment

Recon 2.2: from reconstruction to model of human metabolism.

IntroductionThe human genome-scale metabolic reconstruction details all known metabolic reactions occurring in humans, and thereby holds substantial promise for studying complex diseases and phenotypes. Capturing the whole human metabolic reconstruction is an on-going task and since the last community effort generated a consensus reconstruction, several updates have been developed.ObjectivesWe report a new consensus version, Recon 2.2, which integrates various alternative versions with significant additional updates. In addition to re-establishing a consensus reconstruction, further key objectives included providing more comprehensive annotation of metabolites and genes, ensuring full mass and charge balance in all reactions, and developing a model that correctly predicts ATP production on a range of carbon sources.MethodsRecon 2.2 has been developed through a combination of manual curation and automated error checking. Specific and significant manual updates include a respecification of fatty acid metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation and a coupling of the electron transport chain to ATP synthase activity. All metabolites have definitive chemical formulae and charges specified, and these are used to ensure full mass and charge reaction balancing through an automated linear programming approach. Additionally, improved integration with transcriptomics and proteomics data has been facilitated with the updated curation of relationships between genes, proteins and reactions.ResultsRecon 2.2 now represents the most predictive model of human metabolism to date as demonstrated here. Extensive manual curation has increased the reconstruction size to 5324 metabolites, 7785 reactions and 1675 associated genes, which now are mapped to a single standard. The focus upon mass and charge balancing of all reactions, along with better representation of energy generation, has produced a flux model that correctly predicts ATP yield on different carbon sources.ConclusionThrough these updates we have achieved the most complete and best annotated consensus human metabolic reconstruction available, thereby increasing the ability of this resource to provide novel insights into normal and disease states in human. The model is freely available from the Biomodels database (http://identifiers.org/biomodels.db/MODEL1603150001)