Workshop on Applications of Phase Diagrams in Metallurgy and Ceramics

A workshop was held to assess the current national and international status of phase diagram determinations and evaluations for alloys, ceramics, and semiconductors; to determine the needs and priorities, especially technological, for phase diagram determinations and evaluations; and to estimate the resources being used and potentially available for phase diagram evaluation. Highlights of the workshop, description of a new poster board design used in the poster sessions, lists of attendees and demonstrations, the program, and descriptions of the presentations are included

Leveraging Wireless Broadband to Improve Police Land Mobile Radio Programming: Estimating the Resource Impact

Despite rapid growth in criminological studies of police technology, examinations of police land mobile radios are absent in the literature. This is troubling given the central role mobile radios serve in police operations and their significant management costs. The present study seeks to fill this gap by introducing the functionality of wireless broadband radio programming. Current practice requires a police officer to physically drive to a radio programming location to manage their mobile radio. Wireless programming remedies this burdensome reality, thereby saving officer time and cost. Geospatial analyses are used to estimate distance saved associated with wireless programming. We then conduct a number of calculations to determine time and cost savings related to the observed differences between existing and wireless radio programming within the context of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. Results suggest wireless radio programming can save significant personnel and financial resources. Implications are discussed

Law Enforcement Intelligence: Implications for Self-Radicalized Terrorism

A series of tragic events over the last three years has further strengthened the emerging preventative and proactive philosophies adopted by US law enforcement post-September 11, 2001. Law enforcement and the American public now have a heightened awareness of homegrown terrorism. While these terrorist actors operate independent of traditional terrorist networks and groups, they are often influenced by such groups through a process where they enter as a non-violent individual and exit as a violent ‘true believer’. Efforts by law enforcement to mitigate or prevent such threats rely on the implementation of intelligence-led policing practices. Central to these practices is the input of raw information into the intelligence cycle. This paper will discuss the importance and application of suspicious activity reporting as it impacts law enforcement intelligence practices to prevent threats from self-radicalized terrorism

Intelligence Led Policing: Conceptual and Functional Considerations for Public Policy

Policing in the post-9/11 era is experiencing a philosophical change that is expanding community- and problem-oriented policing to include the broader philosophy of intelligence-led policing (ILP). Building on the British experience, the application of ILP to American policing has been complicated by a number of challenges. Although stimulated by 9/11, the movement toward ILP is being furthered by a number of federal public policy initiatives. As a result of these diverse demands, law enforcement must revisit operational policies and creatively adjust their organizations to reflect this new paradigm. This article provides insight on the conceptual background of ILP, public policy standards, and the integration of ILP with community policing

Effective Police Homicide Investigations: Evidence from Seven Cities with High Clearance Rates

At present, the average homicide clearance rate in the United States is approximately 65%, down roughly 15% from the mid-1970s. This research seeks to inform how police can best improve homicide clearance rates by identifying best practices in homicide investigations. To accomplish this goal, as part of a federally funded project, seven geographically representative law enforcement agencies were identified that had at least 24 homicides in 2011 and had a clearance rate of 80% or higher from which effective investigative practices could be gleaned. Qualitative findings indicate that a strong community policing presence, collaboration with external agencies, and an innovative culture facilitate high rates of homicide clearance. Implications for policy and future research are discussed

The Intelligence Fusion Process for State, Local and Tribal Law Enforcement

Intelligence fusion centers have grown rapidly in the last few years as state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies have attempted to find the best way to share information about threats to their communities. The Department of Homeland Security and the Information Sharing Environment of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence embraced fusion centers as being an important mechanism to aid them in their missions to share terrorism information among law enforcement, the private sector, and the intelligence community. The development and management of fusion centers have received significant guidance from the Justice Department, via the Global Intelligence Working Group, by developing standards for structure and processes. Critics, however, are concerned that the centers have inadequate protections for privacy and civil rights. This article examines issues in the development of fusion centers and provides an examination of the support for and criticisms of such agencies

Law Enforcement Fusion Centers: Cultivating an Information Sharing Environment while Safeguarding Privacy

The national network of fusion centers, of which there are currently 78 nationwide, was created in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and continue to play an integral role in contemporary law enforcement. Their mission, put simply, is to facilitate information sharing across disparate agencies and organizations. Despite a significant presence within the law enforcement landscape, fusion centers have received relatively minimal scholarly attention. This limited literature alludes to operational challenges and public concerns that inhibit fusion center effectiveness. More specifically, little information is known about how fusion centers develop relationships with external partners as well as institute mechanisms to safeguard against violations of individual privacy. The present research employs a combination of national survey data and three in-depth case studies of fusion centers in Florida, Nevada, and Michigan to provide initial answers to these questions. Implications for improved policy and practice are discussed

Quantum Algorithm for the Collision Problem

In this note, we give a quantum algorithm that finds collisions in arbitrary r-to-one functions after only O((N/r)^(1/3)) expected evaluations of the function. Assuming the function is given by a black box, this is more efficient than the best possible classical algorithm, even allowing probabilism. We also give a similar algorithm for finding claws in pairs of functions. Furthermore, we exhibit a space-time tradeoff for our technique. Our approach uses Grover's quantum searching algorithm in a novel way.Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX2

Renormalisation of gravitational self interaction for wiggly strings

It is shown that for any elastic string model with energy density $U$ and tension $T$, the divergent contribution from gravitational self interaction can be allowed for by an action renormalisation proportional to $(U-T)^2$. This formula is applied to the important special case of a bare model of the transonic type (characterised by a constant value of the product $UT$) that represents the macroscopically averaged effect of shortwavelength wiggles on an underlying microscopic model of the Nambu-Goto type (characterised by $U=T$).Comment: 11 pages, Latex; original 8 page version extended to include estimates of relevant orders of magnitude. To be published in Physical Review,

Bogomol'nyi Limit For Magnetic Vortices In Rotating Superconductor

This work is the sequel of a previous investigation of stationary and cylindrically symmetric vortex configurations for simple models representing an incompressible non-relativistic superconductor in a rigidly rotating background. In the present paper, we carry out our analysis with a generalized Ginzburg-Landau description of the superconductor, which provides a prescription for the radial profile of the normal density within the vortex. Within this framework, it is shown that the Bogomol'nyi limit condition marking the boundary between type I and type II behavior is unaffected by the rotation of the background.Comment: 7 pages, uses RevTeX, submitted to Phys.Rev.