Using age difference and sex similarity to detect evidence of sibling influence on criminal offending

Background Sibling resemblance in crime may be due to genetic relatedness, shared environment, and/or the interpersonal influence of siblings on each other. This latter process can be understood as a type of 'peer effect' in that it is based on social learning between individuals occupying the same status in the social system (family). Building on prior research, we hypothesized that sibling pairs that resemble peer relationships the most, i.e., same-sex siblings close in age, exhibit the most sibling resemblance in crime. Methods Drawing on administrative microdata covering Finnish children born in 1985-97, we examined 213 911 sibling pairs, observing the recorded criminality of each sibling between ages 11 and 20. We estimated multivariate regression models controlling for individual and family characteristics, and employed fixed-effects models to analyze the temporal co-occurrence of sibling delinquency. Results Among younger siblings with a criminal older sibling, the adjusted prevalence estimates of criminal offending decreased from 32 to 25% as the age differences increased from less than 13 months to 25-28 months. The prevalence leveled off at 23% when age difference reached 37-40 months or more. These effects were statistically significant only among same-sex sibling pairs (p < 0.001), with clear evidence of contemporaneous offending among siblings with minimal age difference. Conclusions Same-sex siblings very close in age stand out as having the highest sibling resemblance in crime. This finding suggests that a meaningful share of sibling similarity in criminal offending is due to a process akin to peer influence, typically flowing from the older to the younger sibling.Peer reviewe

Kalajoen vesistön tulvantorjunnan toimintasuunnitelma

Kalajoen vesistöalue on tyypillinen Pohjanlahden rannikkovesistö. Sille on ominaista vähäinen järvisyys, pieni pituuskaltevuus ja pitkät suvanto-osuudet joen keskiosalla. Kalajoen vesistö on vähäisen järvisyyden vuoksi erittäin herkkä tulvien nopealle nousulle ja virtaamavaihtelut ovat suuria. Kalajoen vesistössä on ollut poikkeuksellisen suuria kevättulvia vuosina 1977, 1982 ja 2000. Vuosien 1982 ja 2000 tulvilla veden alle jääneitä alueita oli noin 8 000 ha. Vaikeita jääpatotulvia on esiintynyt vuonna 1977 ja 1980-luvun puolivälissä Kalajoen ala- ja keskiosalla. Tulvahuippujen pienentämiseksi ja virtaamavaihteluiden tasaamiseksi, voimataloudellisen hyödyn saavuttamiseksi ja virkistyskäyttöä varten on Kalajoen vesistöalueella toteutettu useita laajamittaisia vesistöhankkeita. Toisaalta vesistöalueella toteutetut runsaat metsäojitukset ja luontaisten tulva-alueiden poisto pengerrakentein ovat voimistaneet virtaamahuippuja. Kalajoen vesistön tulvantorjunnan toimintasuunnitelmassa on esitelty vesistöalueella toteutettuja tulvasuojeluhankkeita ja tulvantorjuntatoimenpiteitä, joilla vahinkoja pystytään ennalta ehkäisemään. Kalajoen säännöstelystä on kerrottu järvikohtaisesti voimassaolevat luvat, sopimukset ja säännöstelyrajat sekä yleisohjeet säännöstelyn käytöstä kertyneiden kokemusten perusteella. Suunnitelmassa on esitelty havaittuja tulvavahinkojen suuruuksia ja arvioita poikkeuksellisten tulvien aiheuttamista vahingoista. Käytössä olevat vesistömallit on suunnitelmassa esitelty lyhyesti. Suunnitelmassa on esitelty tulvantorjuntaorganisaatio ja viranomaisten tehtävänjako sekä tiedotustoiminta tulvantorjuntatilanteessa

Public Authorities as a Target of Disinformation

Disinformation is a part of a modern digitalised society and thus affects public authorities´ daily work. Through disinformation, malicious actors can often erode the fundamentals of democratic societies. In practice, this can be achieved by influencing authorities’ decision-making processes and creating distrust towards public organisations which can weaken authorities’ ability to function. In Finland, public authorities have relatively transparent and open decision-making processes and communication practices compared to other democratic societies. This transparency and openness can be seen as a vulnerability, increasing the opportunities for malicious actors to use disinformation. The authorities of public services are also seen as producers of evidence-based official information. In general, Finns have very high trust in public authorities. Trust has a major impact on societies’ psychological resilience and susceptibility to disinformation. The results of this article strengthen the idea that disinformation weakens authorities’ ability to function. The producers of disinformation, aided by citizens’ high confidence of public authorities, aim to utilise authorities’ communication by misrepresenting the content according to their own agenda. In this study, our purpose is to describe public authorities’ experiences relating to disinformation in their own organisation. This study follows a qualitative design framework by analysing data collected in September 2021 using inductive content analysis. The empirical data includes 16 government officials’ interviews with themes exploring how disinformation affects their daily activities and why they are targets of disinformation. This article is part of a larger project relating to counterforces and detection of disinformation. The results contribute towards a broader understanding on how different types of public authorities, ranging from health to security organisations, communicate in complex social media environments

Ichneumonid parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) reared in North Europe from pupae of Chelis puengeleri (Bang-Haas, 1927) (Lepidoptera: Erebidae, Arctiinae)

Four ichneumonid species were reared for the first time from pupae of Chelis puengeleri in North Europe. One female of Pimpla sodalis Ruthe, 1859 (Pimplinae) was reared in Cievrracohkka, N Sweden in July 2012. One male of Ichneumon formosus Gravenhorst, 1829 (Ichneumoninae) was reared in Nissuntjårro, Torne Lappland, Sweden in July 2012. One male of Ichneumon vafer Tischbein, 1876 (Ichneumoninae) was reared in July 1999 in the Iremel Mountain reserve, Baskiria, South Ural, Russia. Two females and one male of Ichneumon holoarctiae Riedel et Vikberg sp. n. (Ichneumoninae) were reared in June and July 2004 and 2012 in Finnmark, North Norway

A Comparison of Linear-Mode and Single-Photon Airborne LiDAR in Species-Specific Forest Inventories

Single-photon airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) systems provide high-density data from high flight altitudes. We compared single-photon and linear-mode airborne LiDAR for the prediction of species-specific volumes in boreal coniferous-dominated forests. The LiDAR data sets were acquired at different flight altitudes using Leica SPL100 (single-photon, 17 points · m⁻²), Riegl VQ-1560i (linear-mode, 11 points · m⁻²), and Leica ALS60 (linear-mode, 0.6 points · m⁻²) LiDAR systems. Volumes were predicted at the plot-level using Gaussian process regression with predictor variables extracted from the LiDAR data sets and aerial images. Our findings showed that the Leica SPL100 produced a greater mean root-mean-squared error (RMSE) value (41.7 m³ · ha⁻¹) than the Leica ALS60 (39.3 m³ · ha⁻¹) in the prediction of species-specific volumes. Correspondingly, the Riegl VQ-1560i (mean RMSE = 33.0 m³ · ha⁻¹) outperformed both the Leica ALS60 and the Leica SPL100. We found that the cumulative distributions of the first echo heights > 1.3 m were rather similar among the data sets, whereas the last echo distributions showed larger differences. We conclude that the Leica SPL100 data set is suitable for area-based LiDAR inventory by tree species although the prediction errors are greater than with data obtained using the modern linear-mode LiDAR, such as Riegl VQ-1560i.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Entacapone and Tolcapone after Acute and Repeated Administration: A Comparative Study in the Rat

ABSTRACT Two catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitors, entacapone and tolcapone, were compared in the rat to elucidate the actual differences between their pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics after single and repeated administration. Their inhibitory potencies were also compared in vitro. After intravenous administration (3 mg/kg), the elimination half-life (t 1/2␤ ) of entacapone (0.8 h) was clearly shorter than that of tolcapone (2.9 h). The striatum/serum ratio of tolcapone was 3-fold higher than that of entacapone. After a single oral dose (10 mg/kg), both entacapone and tolcapone produced an equal maximal degree of COMT inhibition in peripheral tissues, but tolcapone inhibited striatal COMT more effectively than did entacapone. After the 7-day treatment (10 mg/kg twice daily), COMT activity had recovered to a level of 67 to 101% of control within 8 h after the last dose of entacapone. In tolcapone-treated animals, there was still extensive COMT inhibition present in peripheral tissues, and the degree of inhibition was higher than that attained after a single dose. The pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modeling revealed that a plateau of COMT inhibition near the maximal attainable inhibition was reached already by plasma concentrations below 2000 ng/ml, both with entacapone and tolcapone. Entacapone and tolcapone inhibited equally rat liver COMT in vitro with K i values of 10.7 and 10.0 nM, respectively. In conclusion, tolcapone has a longer duration of action and a better brain penetration than entacapone. The results also suggest that peripheral COMT is inhibited continuously when tolcapone is dosed at 12-h intervals, but this was not seen with entacapone. The second-generation catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT, EC 2.1.1.6) inhibitors, entacapone and tolcapone, are indicated as adjuncts to standard levodopa-dopa decarboxylase inhibitor therapy in Parkinson&apos;s disease. They increase the bioavailability of levodopa by inhibiting its peripheral metabolism to an inactive metabolite, 3-O-methyldopa. COMT inhibitors improve the efficacy of the levodopa-dopa decarboxylase inhibitor therapy by prolonging the duration of action and the clinical benefit of levodopa Entacapone and tolcapone apparently behave differently both in experimental animals and humans. However, as a rule, entacapone and tolcapone have been studied only individually; their pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics have not been compared thoroughly after single and repeated dosing. Actually, very little is known about their pharmacodynamics in different tissues after repeated dosing. Furthermore, only the relationship between the plasma drug concentration and COMT activity in erythrocytes has been studied previously A few available studies on entacapone and tolcapone in rats suggest that entacapone is eliminated faster than tolcapone and its oral bioavailability is lower than that of tolcapone. After intravenous administration of 10 mg/kg tolcapone, the t 1/2 was 0.9 h and total clearance 470 ml ϫ h Ϫ1 ϫ kg Ϫ1 . The oral bioavailability was 48% for 20 mg/kg and 56% for 40 mg/kg The time course of COMT activity in different tissues has ABBREVIATIONS. COMT, catechol-O-methyltransferase; t 1/2␤ , elimination half-life (␤-phase); S-COMT; soluble catechol-O-methyltransferase; MB-COMT, membrane-bound catechol-O-methyltransferase; AUE, area under the effect-time curve; AUC, area under the plasma drug concentration-time curve; C 0 , initial plasma concentration; E 0 , baseline effect; E max , maximum attainable effect