Tracking Transnational Terrorist Resourcing Nodes and Networks

In light of persistent terrorist attacks in Europe and elsewhere, the study of terrorist resourcing and financing has attracted renewed attention. How are terrorists\u27 networks financed? Who raises the financial resources, and how do they transfer them across borders? How does the global financial industry facilitate or impede these transfers? Answers to these and other questions can help law enforcement investigate, disrupt, and neutralize cross-border terrorist resourcing. Evidence and data on this phenomenon is scarce, of questionable quality, irreplicable, and can be difficult to come by. This study is the first comprehensive effort to collect, code, analyze, and compare available open-source case law data on transnational terrorist resourcing networks. Under the study\u27s methodology, the conventional yet strict focus on financing is broadened to resources, which includes forms other than cash, including trade-based fraud and online social networks. The analysis reveals common crossborder resourcing patterns and usage of financial intermediaries such as banks. It thus contributes to the ongoing optimization of anti-terrorist resourcing laws, policies, and risk-management practices

BROWSING ACTIVITY SUPERVISION

A supervision system generates a user interface that summarizes user’s browsing trends based on user’s browsing activity. The system monitors browsing activity of a user. The system further determines browsing trends of the user based on user’s browsing activity for a predetermined time period. On determination of the browsing trends, the system generates the user interface that provides a summary of user’s browsing trends for the pre­determined time period

Constructing a grounded theory of critical illness survivorship; the dualistic worlds of survivors and family members

Aim of the study: To understand the critical illness trajectory from patient and relative perspectives. Background: In the context of increasing survivorship from critical illness, it is important to enhance our understanding of the subjective experience of survivors and their families. The need to consider the legacy of critical care beyond physiological survival is imperative. Methods: Using a constructivist grounded theory methodology, in‐depth interviews were undertaken with survivors of critical illness (n = 16) and family members (n = 15). Constant comparative analysis and data collection occurring concurrently with theoretical sampling commencing from the outset. EQUATOR guidelines for qualitative research (COREQ) applied. Findings: Survivors of critical illness invariably experienced vivid, hallucinatory experiences which placed them in a different world or liminal space. The core difficulty can be summarised as follows: Survivors have little recall of the factual events of their critical illness but relatives have lived the whole event in a very real and ingraining manner. This can result in family members and survivors experiencing different versions of the critical illness episode. Conclusion: Survivors of critical illness, together with family members, experience challenges when endeavouring to readjust to life post critical care. This study has identified a middle range theory of dualistic worlds between and within the survivor and family member experiences. Exploring the dynamic interplay between intrapersonal, interpersonal and societal factors has provided theoretical insights with practice implications in relation to surviving critical illness. Relevance to clinical practice: The findings from this study highlight the need for a rehabilitation infrastructure following critical illness to support the existing UK national guidance, ensuring the individual and holistic needs of survivors and their families are met. Conversations with survivors and their families around critical illness survivorship are frequently absent and needed early in the recovery period

Flattened Stirling Permutations

Recall that a Stirling permutation is a permutation on the multiset $\{1,1,2,2,\ldots,n,n\}$ such that any numbers appearing between repeated values of $i$ must be greater than $i$. We call a Stirling permutation ``flattened'' if the leading terms of maximal chains of ascents (called runs) are in weakly increasing order. Our main result establishes a bijection between flattened Stirling permutations and type $B$ set partitions of $\{0,\pm1,\pm2,\ldots,\pm (n-1)\}$, which are known to be enumerated by the Dowling numbers, and we give an independent proof of this fact. We also determine the maximal number of runs for any flattened Stirling permutation, and we enumerate flattened Stirling permutations with a small number of runs or with two runs of equal length. We conclude with some conjectures and generalizations worthy of future investigation.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure, 2 tabl

A rapid method for the generation of uniform acellular bone explants: a technical note

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Bone graft studies lack standardized controls. We aim to present a quick and reliable method for the intra-operative generation of acellular bone explants.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Therefore, ovine cancellous bone explants from the iliac crest were prepared and used to test several methods for the induction of cell death. Over night heat inactivation was used as positive treatment control, methods to be investigated included UV light, or X- ray exposure, incubation in a hypotonic solution (salt-free water) and a short cycle of repeated freezing and thawing.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Viability of treated and 2 days cultured bone explants was investigated by lactate dehydrogenase assay. Non-treated cultured control explants maintained around 50% osteocyte viability, while osteocyte survival after the positive treatment control was abolished. The most dramatic loss in cell viability, together with a low standard deviation, was a repeated cycle of freezing and thawing.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>To summarize, we present a freeze-thaw method for the creation of acellular bone explants, which is easy to perform, not time-consuming and provides consistent results.</p

The effect of a randomized 12-week soy drink intervention on everyday mood in postmenopausal women

Objective: Dietary soy may improve menopausal symptoms, and subsequently mediate mood. This novel study examines various doses of dietary soy drink on everyday mood stability and variability in postmenopausal women. Methods: Community-dwelling women (n = 101), within 7 years postmenopause, consumed daily either a low (10 mg, n = 35), medium (35 mg, n = 37), or high (60 mg, n = 29) dose of isoflavones, for 12 weeks. Menopausal symptoms and repeated measures of everyday mood (positive [PA] and negative [NA] affect) (assessed at four time points per day for 4 consecutive days, using The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule) were completed at baseline and follow-up. Results: The dietary soy intervention had no effect on everyday mood stability (for PA [F{2,70} = 0.95, P = 0.390] and NA [F{2,70} = 0.72, P = 0.489]) or variability (for PA [F{2,70} = 0.21, P = 0.807] and for NA [F{2,70} = 0.15, P = 0.864]), or on menopausal symptoms (for vasomotor [F{2,89} = 2.83, P = 0.064], psychological [F{2,88} = 0.63, P = 0.535], somatic [F{2,89} = 0.32, P = 0.729], and total menopausal symptoms [F{2,86} = 0.79, P = 0.458]). There were between-group differences with the medium dose reporting higher PA (low, mean 24.2, SD 6; and medium, mean 29.7, SD 6) and the low dose reporting higher NA (P = 0. 048) (low, mean 11.6, SD 2; and high, mean 10.6, SD 1) in mood scores. Psychological (baseline M = 18 and follow-up M = 16.5) and vasomotor (baseline M = 4.2 and follow-up M = 3.6) scores declined from baseline to follow-up for the overall sample. Conclusions: Soy isoflavones had no effect on mood at any of the doses tested. Future research should focus on the menopause transition from peri to postmenopause as there may be a window of vulnerability, with fluctuating hormones and increased symptoms which may affect mood