Are risk factors for drug use and offending similar during the teenage years?

BackgroundThis paper explores whether at different stages of the developmental cycle of adolescence, drug use and offending are associated with a similar set of risk factors relating to: socio-structural position, informal social control, deviant peer group contexts, and deviant lifestyle behaviours.MethodsMultivariate regression was used to analyse data from the Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime (ESYTC) self-report questionnaire.ResultsEarly in the teenage years drug use was associated with a similar set of factors to offending. These include weak bonds to parents and teachers, and deviant lifestyle behaviours. However, later in the teenage years there were differences, e.g. drug use was associated with higher socio-economic status and importance of school, and a number of factors which were associated with offending were not associated with drug use, e.g. parent-child conflict, gang membership and hanging around.ConclusionResults show that the factors included here are more appropriate to understanding offending than drug use. Different risk factors are associated with drug use and offending in the older, but not younger teens. It is argued that later in the teenage years drug use should be understood and addressed differently to offending. This is particularly important given the tendency for the ‘drugs problem’ to increasingly be dealt with as a ‘crime problem’ (Duke, 2006)

Systematics of q anti-q states in the (n,M^2) and (J,M^2) planes

In the mass region up to M < 2400 MeV we systematise mesons on the plots (n,M^2) and (J,M^2), thus setting their classification in terms of n^{2S+1}L_J q anti-q states. The trajectories on the (n,M^2)-plots are drawn for the following (IJ^{PC})-states: a_0(10^{++}), a_1(11^{++}), a_2(12^{++}), a_3(13^{++}), a_4(14^{++}), pi(10^{-+}), pi_2(12^{-+}), eta(00^{-+}), eta_2(02^{-+})$, rho(11^{--}), f_0(00^{++}), f_2(02^{++}). All trajectories are linear, with nearly the same slopes. At the (J,M^2)-plot we set out meson states for leading and daughter trajectories: for pi, rho, a_1, a_2 and P'.Comment: 6 pages, LaTeX, 16 EPS figures, epsfig.st

Quark-gluonium content of the scalar-isoscalar states f_0(980), f_0(1300), f_0(1500), f_0(1750), f_0(1420 ^{+150}_{- 70}) from hadronic decays

On the basis of the decay couplings f_0 -> \pi\pi, K\bar K, \eta\eta, \eta\eta', which had been found before, in the study of analytical (IJ^{PC}=00^{++})-amplitude in the mass range 450-1900 MeV, we analyse the quark-gluonium content of resonances f_0(980), f_0(1300), f_0(1500), f_0(1750) and the broad state f_0(1420 ^{+ 150}_{-70}). The K-matrix technique used in the analysis makes it possible to evaluate the quark-gluonium content both for the states with switched-off decay channels (bare states, f^{bare}_0) and the real resonances. We observe significant change of the quark-gluonium composition in the evolution from bare states to real resonances, that is due to the mixing of states in the transitions f_0(m_1)-> real mesons-> f_0(m_2) responsible for the decay processes as well. For the f_0(980), the analysis confirmed the dominance of q\bar q component thus proving the n\bar n/s\bar s composition found in the study of the radiative decays. For the mesons f_0(1300), f_0(1500) and f_0(1750), the hadronic decays do not allow one to determine uniquely the n\bar n, s\bar s and gluonium components providing relative pecentage only. The analysis shows that the broad state f_0(1420 ^{+ 150}_{-70}) can mix with the flavour singlet q\bar q component only, that is consistent with gluonium origin of the broad resonance.Comment: 20 pages, LaTeX, 10 PostScript figures, epsfig.st

The two-pion spectra for the reaction \pi^- p -> \pi^0\pi^0 n at 38 GeV/c pion momentum and combined analysis of the GAMS, Crystal Barrel and BNL data

We perform the K-matrix analysis of meson partial waves with IJ^{PC} =00^{++}, 10^{++}, 02^{++}, 12^{++} basing on GAMS data on \pi^-p -> \pi^0\pi^0 n, \eta\eta n, \eta\eta' n together with BNL data on \pi^-p -> K\bar K n and Crystal Barrel data on p\bar p (at rest) -> \pi^0\pi^0\pi^0, \pi^0\eta\eta, \pi^0\pi^0\eta. The positions of the amplitude poles (physical resonances) are determined as well as the positions of the K-matrix poles (bare states) and the values of bare state couplings to two-meson channels. Nonet classification of the determined bare states is discussed.Comment: LaTex, 15 pages and 10 figure

Process pi p -> pi pi N at high energies and moderate momenta transferred to the nucleon and the determination of parameters of the f_0(980) and f_0(1300)

We present the results of simultaneous analysis of the S-wave pi pi-spectra in the reactions pi^- p -> (pi^0 pi^0)_S n at p_{lab}=38 GeV/c (GAMS) and pi^- p -> (pi^+ pi^-)_S n at p_{lab}=18 GeV/c (E852 Collaboration) at moderate momenta transferred to the nucleon, |t| < 1.5 (GeV/c)^2. The t-distributions are described by the reggeized pi- and a_1-exchanges provided by the leading and daughter trajectories, while the M_{pi pi}-spectra are determined by a set of scalar-isoscalar resonances. With M_{pi pi}-distributions averaged over t-intervals, we have found several solutions given by different t-channel exchange mechanisms at |t| ~ (0.5-1.5) (GeV/c)^2, with resonance parameters close to each other. We conclude that despite a poor knowledge of the structure of the t-exchange, the characteristics of resonances such as masses and widths can be reliably determined using the processes under discussion. As to pole positions, we have found (1031 +/- 10) - i(35 +/- 6) MeV for f_0(980) and (1315 +/- 20) - i(150 +/- 30) MeV for f_0(1300).Comment: 17 pages, RevTeX, 10 EPS figures, misprints correcte

The Kappa in J/Psi -> Kpplus-piminus-Kminus-piplus

BES II data for J/Psi->K*(890)Kpi reveal a strong kappa peak in the Kpi S-wave near threshold. Both magnitude and phase are determined in slices of Kpi mass by interferences with strong Ko(1430), K1(1270) and K1(1400) signals. The phase variation with mass agrees within errors with LASS data for Kpi elastic scattering. A combined fit is presented to both BES and LASS data. The fit uses a Breit-Wigner amplitude with an s-dependent width containing an Adler zero. The kappa pole is at 760+-20(stat)+-40(syst) - i(420+-45+-60syst) MeV. The S-wave I=0 scattering length a_0 = 0.23+-0.04 (in units of m(pi)) is close to the prediction 0.19+-0.02 of Chiral Perturbation Theory.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figure

‘Free text is essentially the enemy of what we’re trying to achieve’: the framing of a national vision for delivering digital police contact

Police organisations in England and Wales, as in many other contexts, are increasingly shifting crime reporting and other public-facing contact online. In this paper we explore the beliefs, motivations, and objectives of those tasked with ‘delivering’ the ‘vision’ of digital police contact at the strategic national level. We use Goffman’s concept of frames – the set of expectations an actor brings to a situation or process – to understand how participants enacted this 'channel shift’ (Wells et al., 2023), the ends they were seeking to meet, and how different interests came to be designed-in to the contact architecture. We suggest that the primary frame centred around notions of efficiency and demand management. Running alongside this is a secondary frame of customer service, where it is assumed that the public also wish for the efficient delivery of this technologically mediated service. This, we suggest, is likely to be only a partial reflection of what people want when contacting police; but the framing of 'contact’ as a separate deliverable by those delivering this agenda serves to occlude or evade this point. Technology, we argue, imprints itself on the context by appearing to offer a convenient solution to problems of public wants and police needs

‘Channel Shift’:technologically-mediated policing and procedural justice

In recent years, police forces in the United Kingdom have introduced various technologies that alter the methods by which they interact with the public. In a parallel development, many forces have also begun to embrace the concept of procedural justice as a method through which to secure legitimacy and (in turn) public compliance and cooperation. What has not received sufficient attention, within policing or academia, is the extent to which these two trends are compatible, with the procedural justice literature still predicated on an assumption that police–public ‘contacts’ or ‘encounters’ are in-person. The effect of technologically mediating police–public contacts on ‘policing by consent’, is therefore unknown. In this article, we focus specifically on the possible implications of the Single Online Home (SOH) (a portal through which the public can report crime, get updates on cases, give feedback and pay fines, among other things, which is currently being rolled out across forces), considering ‘interactions’ between police and public where there is no physical co-presence. Noting the unique context that is policing, we draw on the limited existing research on procedural justice encounters in technologically mediated contexts to explore whether procedural justice theory is ‘future-proof’ for a policing context increasingly reliant on such encounters. We conclude that, through empirical research, we must update our conceptual understanding of what ‘contact’ can mean, and accept that current developments may in fact be transforming relationships rather than simply facilitating existing ones

Dopamine terminals from the ventral tegmental area gate intrinsic inhibition in the prefrontal cortex.

Spike frequency adaptation (SFA or accommodation) and calcium-activated potassium channels that underlie after-hyperpolarization potentials (AHP) regulate repetitive firing of neurons. Precisely how neuromodulators such as dopamine from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) regulate SFA and AHP (together referred to as intrinsic inhibition) in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) remains unclear. Using whole cell electrophysiology, we measured intrinsic inhibition in prelimbic (PL) layer 5 pyramidal cells of male adult rats. Results demonstrate that bath application of dopamine reduced intrinsic inhibition (EC50: 25.0 μmol/L). This dopamine action was facilitated by coapplication of cocaine (1 μmol/L), a blocker of dopamine reuptake. To evaluate VTA dopamine terminals in PFC slices, we transfected VTA dopamine cells of TH::Cre rats in vivo with Cre-dependent AAVs to express channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) or designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDS). In PFC slices from these animals, stimulation of VTA terminals with either blue light to activate ChR2 or bath application of clozapine-N-oxide (CNO) to activate Gq-DREADDs produced a similar reduction in intrinsic inhibition in PL neurons. Electrophysiological recordings from cells expressing retrograde fluorescent tracers showed that this plasticity occurs in PL neurons projecting to the accumbens core. Collectively, these data highlight an ability of VTA terminals to gate intrinsic inhibition in the PFC, and under appropriate circumstances, enhance PL neuronal firing. These cellular actions of dopamine may be important for dopamine-dependent behaviors involving cocaine and cue-reward associations within cortical-striatal circuits

Experimental results for nulling the effective thermal expansion coefficient of fused silica fibres under a static stress

We have experimentally demonstrated that the effective thermal expansion coefficient of a fused silica fibre can be nulled by placing the fibre under a particular level of stress. Our technique involves heating the fibre and measuring how the fibre length changes with temperature as the stress on the fibre was systematically varied. This nulling of the effective thermal expansion coefficient should allow for the complete elimination of thermoelastic noise and is essential for allowing second generation gravitational wave detectors to reach their target sensitivity. To our knowledge this is the first time that the cancelation of the thermal expansion coefficient with stress has been experimentally observed