Tackling property damage: a guide for local commerce groups, councils and police

Introduction: Property damage is the intentional ‘destruction or defacement of public, commercial and private property’. This covers a range of different acts, including vandalism (eg smashing windows, knocking over letterboxes) and graffiti. Graffiti is the act of marking property with writing, symbols or graphics and is illegal when committed without the property owner’s consent. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Crime Victimisation Survey 2011–2012, malicious property damage was more common than any other property offence, with 7.5 percent of respondents reporting having been a victim in the previous 12 months. The cost of property damage to private property owners, local and state governments and businesses are significant, with an estimated cost of $1,522 per incident (in 2012 dollars) and a total cost to the Australian community of nearly$2 billion each year. Using the handbook This handbook forms part of a series of guides developed by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) to support local commerce groups (ie representative groups for business owners and operators), local government and the police to implement evidence-based crime prevention strategies. This handbook has been developed to help guide project managers through the stages of planning, implementing and evaluating a crime prevention project to reduce property damage offences in their local community, particularly in and around commercial precincts. The handbook provides an overview of the three key stages that are involved in delivering a project to reduce property damage: Stage 1: Planning; Stage 2: Implementation; and Stage 3: Review. These steps do not necessarily need to be undertaken in order. Some steps may be undertaken concurrently or it may be necessary to revisit earlier steps. However, it is vital that some steps, such as consulting stakeholders and planning for evaluation, be undertaken early on in the project. Property damage is a very broad offence category. The choice of a particular intervention or interventions will depend largely on the nature of the local problem. Similarly, the successful implementation of a prevention strategy will often be heavily influenced by the characteristics of the local community. This needs to be considered throughout the life of a project

Comparing Before-and After-School Neurocognitive Performance in High School Athletes: Implications for Concussion Management

Abstract Background: Sport-related concussion (SRC) continues be a hot topic in sports medicine. Computerized Neurocognitive Testing (CNT) provides researchers and sports medicine professionals an objective way to manage SRC. Administering CNT comes at the convenience of the student athlete and the sports medicine professional working at the school, which usually results in CNT being administered in the afternoon, or after school. However, little is known how the cognitive fatigue of attending a full day of school influences CNT performance. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare before school CNT performance to after school CNT performance in a sample of non-concussed high school student athletes. An exploratory question was posed to evaluate the frequency of chronotypes in a sample of non-concussed high school athletes. Study Design: A posttest only, non-equivalent groups design was used for the study. Methods: There were 31 high school athletes who completed the computerized baseline neurocognitive test. Thirteen athletes completed the test in the morning (before school) and 18 athletes completed the test in the afternoon (after school). Means comparisons for neurocognitive performance were evaluated between the two groups. An independent samples t-test was used to compare the mean ImPACT scores of the two groups and a statistical significance was set at a Bonferroni-corrected p \u3c .05. The Morningness/Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ-SA) was administered to thirteen athletes in the morning (before school) testing session. A frequency table was constructed to compare athletes’ specific chronotypes in the morning testing session. Results: Results from an independent-samples t-test revealed similar performance on verbal memory (t(29) = -1.02, p = .31), visual memory (t(29) = 1.01, p = .32), motor processing speed (t(29) = 0.007, p = .994), reaction time (t(29) = -0.58, p = .57), or total symptom scores (t(29) = -1.53, p = .14) between the two groups. A frequency table was constructed to compare chronotypes in sample of non-concussed high school student athletes. Discussion: The results of this study suggest that completing a computerized neurocognitive test in the morning (before school) or in the afternoon (after school) does not influence performance

Humanization in the Digital Age: A Critique of Technophilia in Education

Despite ongoing claims that education is trapped in a bygone era resistant to innovation, educational practitioners, scholars, and policy makers have been enthusiastic about infusing technology into the everyday lives of children in schools. In the face of this dramatic uptick in the presence of technology in schools, little attention has been devoted to understanding how this constant exposure to technology is impacting the way students learn and experience the world. Overall, educational scholars and practitioners debate how, not whether, to incorporate the latest technology into schools. The centrality of technology in education rises to the level of technophilia, a world-view that sees all new technology as inherently positive and beneficial to human life. I will argue that the current landscape of educational policy and practice is characterized by a problematic relationship with technology that rises to the level of technophilia, and call for a reassessment of the relationship between education and technology in order to fulfill the demands of a robust, democratic educational program

Understanding Microplastics in Freshwater: From Little Stream to Big River

The purpose of this study is to better understand how microplastics move through rivers. Microplastics can come from various sources, but the main characteristic of them is their size. These plastics have diameters between 10 nanometers and 5mm. Because these particles are easily confused with food sources, ingestion and bioaccumulation of microplastics in many aquatic organisms has been a hot topic for concern (Besseling et al, 2017; Liedermann et. al, 2018; Nel et. al, 2018; Siegfried et. al, 2017; Windsor et. al, 2019). Ingestion of these microplastics can be detrimental to both human and ecological health due to pathogen accumulation on plastic surfaces. Consumption of these plastics can lead to sickness, harm to bodily functions, and even death. Plastic debris has been documented in the intestines of many marine animals such as fish, turtles, shrimp, and shore birds. In addition to the marine environment, plastics have been documented in freshwater fish, insects, and invertebrates. (Bordós et. al, 2018; Nel et. al, 2018; Peng et. al, 2017; Rodrigues et. al, 2018; Windsor et. al, 2019). As evidence of these contaminants becomes more persistent in our environment, it is important to document and understand the way these microplastics are transported in waterways. This research explores the questions, “How do microplastic distributions differ upstream and downstream of wastewater treatment plants?” and, “How do microplastic concentrations vary among different sized streams?” In order to answer these questions, a research team collected one sample upstream and one sample downstream of seven different wastewater treatment discharge sites. These seven sites were on six different streams including Hickory Creek, Orion Creek, Crow Creek, Geneseo Creek, the Rock River and the Mississippi River

Comparing Before-and After-School Neurocognitive Performance in High School Athletes- Implications for Concussion Management

There are several factors that influence computerized neurocognitive testing performance however, one factor that has not been examined is the potential deleterious effects of cognitive fatigue from an academic school day combined with time of computerized neurocognitive testing (CNT) administration. The primary purpose of this study was to compare before-and after-school CNT performance and total symptoms in non-concussed high school student athletes. The secondary purpose of this study was to compare before-school and after-school CNT performance and total symptoms and chronotypes in non-concussed student athletes. A crossover design was used to compare before-and after-school CNT performance and total symptoms of 39 non-concussed high school student athletes with an average age of 15.74 (SD = 1.04). Based on previous literature a hypothesis was made that high school student athletes would report higher self-reported fatigue after-school than before-school. Differences in CNT performance and total symptoms were measured by comparing composite scores of verbal memory, visual memory, processing speed, reaction time and total symptoms. In addition, to main outcome measures, several measures were used to control for potential confounding factors that could influence CNT performance. Before-school self-reported fatigue (M = 3.83, SD = 1.64) was significantly higher than after-school (M = 3.06, SD = 1.91) self-reported fatigue. There were no significant differences in verbal memory t(38) = 0.80, p = .43, visual memory t(38) = -0.78, p = .44, processing speed t(38) = .07, p = .94, reaction time t(38) = 1.45, p = .16, or total symptoms t(38) = -0.64, p = .52, between before-school and after-school. Lastly, there were no significant differences in verbal memory F (1, 37) = 1.17, p = .21, η2 = .04, visual memory F (1, 37) = .05, p = .28, η2 = .00, processing speed F (1, 37) = 0.75, p = .39, η2 = .02, reaction time F (1, 37) = 1.65, p = .21, η2 = .04, or total symptoms F (1, 37) = 0.57, p = .46, η2 = .02 between morning and evening chronotypes. The results from this study suggest that sports medicine professionals can administer CNT before-or after-school depending on their schedule and the athlete’s academic and athletic schedule

Trends in high arctic muskox (Ovibos moschatus) harvest, 1990-2015

Harvest reporting has been in place for High Arctic muskoxen in Nunavut, Canada, since 1990-91. The communities of Resolute, Grise Fiord, and Arctic Bay harvest muskoxen in the region. Overall, muskox harvest has declined in Resolute and Grise Fiord since the 1990s. The recovery of Peary caribou populations on the Bathurst Island Complex, which provides an alternate preferred source of country food, may be a factor behind Resolute’s decreased muskox harvest. The proportion of harvest for domestic use has also declined relative to sport hunts, which have remained relatively constant since the 1990s. We compared muskox harvest from tag records and reported harvest, i.e., the voluntary surveys to the Nunavut Wildlife Harvest Study for muskoxen. It is clear that voluntarily reported harvest underestimates actual harvest, but not consistently enough to predict the actual harvest. Muskox populations are at historic high levels on Bathurst Island, southern Ellesmere Island, and Devon Island and could support more harvest than is currently taken. Changes to Total Allowable Harvests and management unit boundaries in 2015, combined with a decline in the availability of Baffin Island caribou as country food, may result in increased harvest pressure on muskoxen in the High Arctic

Inferences on Criminality Based on Appearance

In our research study, we tested whether people can tell if someone is a criminal or not based on a photograph of their face. The importance of the subject lies in the fact that many people are unfairly judged as criminals based on stereotypes such as race. In this study, we wished to eliminate race and see if any purely facial characteristics are stereotypically defined as criminal or if a person’s initial judgment is an accurate predictor of someone’s character. Extensive research has been dedicated to finding if people have facial features that portray some characteristic about them and this study will focus on criminality. Through the use of a face modulating program, neutral faced photographs were shown to participants with a question that asked if the person in the photograph is a criminal or not. The data gathered will be beneficial in either identifying facial features that are associated with criminals or that show the interesting phenomena of gut instinct

Internship Impact in Early Intervention

Early childhood intervention programs were introduced in the 1960s, and professionals have recognized the benefits of intensive therapy and education starting when the child is an infant up to the age of three. Working with a child in a comfortable environment, such as their own home, preschool, child care center or even the community has many benefits. Conducting sessions in a more everyday environment encourages family interaction and support. When a family member, caretaker, or even teacher is present to witness the therapy session, they are more likely to be comfortable carrying these techniques over into the everyday routine. Working with a child in his/her own home also allows for the the therapy to focus on everyday issues. In this way the professional can tailor activities and goals specifically to the child and take into account the family’s or teacher’s concerns. Within the field of early intervention most programs use an interdisciplinary team approach in which health care professionals from different fields, including occupational therapy, speech pathology, and nutrition, work together toward a common goal for the child. The children and their families receive resources and support for the child\u27s physical, cognitive, and social/emotional development while the family’s diversity is respected. As a result of the specific developmental needs of infants and toddlers, the content and practices of early intervention service delivery is quite different than those of school-age children. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) amendments of 1997 specify that the individual needs of infants and toddlers and their families should be met through EI programs and the professionals within them. Concerns within the field include the high turnover rate, insufficient availability of training specifically in early intervention, and feeling by students that they have not been exposed to content related to infants, toddlers and families. After completing an internship in early intervention in the fall of 2014, I became very interested in this particular area of focus and its challenges. The goal of this project is to look into the outcome and influence of an early intervention internship experience on the lives of the student interns. Valuable information about the internship program was collected directly from the interns and supervisors about their experience with the program and its future impact through personal interviews

After;life

After;life is an exploration of the time and space between life and death. The installation, created from dozens of woodcut prints, creates this imaginary place, and encompasses viewers through sight, smell, sound, and touch. All elements of this installation are heavily influenced by Southern Louisiana culture and wildlife, and are meant to be familiar enough to provoke personal memory and experience. A set of rituals in the form of three poems, corresponding to three different spirit guides: The Black Dog, The Alligator, and The Opossum, lead the reader through the space from life, through liminal, into death