Economic issues in a trial of the controlled provision of heroin

Executive Summary: This paper discusses some economic issues that may be investigated as part of a proposed trial of the controlled provision of heroin in the Australian Capital Territory. Such a trial would provide an opportunity to gather empirical evidence on some aspects of the operation of the market for heroin. Specifically, it would enable the investigation of the extent to which purity, rather than price, is the equilibrating mechanism in this market. If purity is an important equilibrating mechanism, then provision of heroin of constant purity to trial participants would yield important health benefits to those participants. However, if purity on the black market is increased in economic retaliation against a trial, there may be unintended adverse effects on the health of black market users in the short run. In the long run, stabilisation of purity on the black market may be associated with an improvement in the health status of non-trial users. An important issue that cannot be addressed in the context of the proposed trial is the price elasticity of demand for heroin, that is, the responsiveness of demand for heroin to a change in its price. The use of pre–specified criteria to determine eligibility for participation in a trial will preclude any estimation of the increase in demand for heroin attributable to a fall in its price

Global Perspectives in the Core: Student Attitudes and Instructor Performance

Global learning and global citizenship education (GCE) continue to be integrated as co-curricular and curricular components in US higher education. Many institutions have linked their mission and values statements to global learning. However, their efforts fail to reflect a single shared understanding or philosophy of global learning or GCE. While scholars continue to discuss and debate the substance of these frameworks, few studies have analyzed perspectives of curricular global learning and GCE requirements. Three hundred fifty-four undergraduate students attending a university in the Southern US completed questionnaires assessing their attitudes towards global learning, international issues, and global citizenship, as well as their attitudes toward the college’s required global perspectives curriculum. Results indicate that students feel generally positive towards global learning and issues, believe global learning should be required at this and other institutions, and have high perceptions of faculty performance

Forensic Evidence Identification and Modeling for Attacks against a Simulated Online Business Information System

Forensic readiness of business information systems can support future forensics investigation or auditing on external/internal attacks, internal sabotage and espionage, and business fraud. To establish forensics readiness, it is essential for an organization to identify which fingerprints are relevant and where they can be located, to determine whether they are logged in a forensically sound way and whether all the needed fingerprints are available to reconstruct the events successfully. Also, a fingerprint identification and locating mechanism should be provided to guide potential forensics investigation in the future. Furthermore, mechanisms should be established to automate the security incident tracking and reconstruction processes. In this research, external and internal attacks are first modeled as augmented attack trees based on the vulnerabilities of business information systems. Then, modeled attacks are conducted against a honeynet that simulates an online business information system, and a forensic investigation follows each attack. Finally, an evidence tree, which is expected to provide the necessary contextual information to automate the attack tracking and reconstruction process in the future, is built for each attack based on fingerprints identified and located within the system

The Application of Bystander Intervention Scripts: Implications for Guardianship in Action

Responding to high rates of interpersonal victimization and perpetration among adolescents, schools have implemented bystander intervention (BI) training to educate students to intervene to prevent or stop violence. These trainings function much like an application of scripts for guardianship in action. The current study builds on the overlapping and complementary bodies of BI and routine activities research by testing whether participation in BI training, namely Green Dot (GD), influences individuals’ underlying ability to intervene. Using four years of survey data collected from high school students (N = 2,374–3,443), we use item response theory to model the difficulty of engaging in different BI behaviors. We then estimate multivariate ordinary least squares regression models, one for each year, to estimate the effect of GD training on students’ ability to intervene. The item response theory results show that BI behaviors differ in terms of how “difficult” they are for respondents to engage in. Findings show that in each year, GD training increased students’ underlying ability to intervene. Our findings suggest BI training and guardianship in action scripts should take into account this varying difficulty of intervention behaviors to best train individuals for successful intervention to prevent victimization

Black Family Forest Owners in the Southeastern United States: A Case Study in Six Counties

The USDA Forest Service, National Woodland Owner Survey asks family forest owners (FFOs) about their attitudes and intentions regarding their forestland. Historically, the number of responses from Black or African American FFOs has been very low, but it is uncertain whether this is because of nonresponse bias or that there are relatively few Black FFOs. To get a better understanding of these FFOs and to test a method to increase response rates, an intensified survey effort was conducted in three southern states: Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Analyses indicate that Black FFOs have slightly different objectives, activities, and ownership structure for their forestland than their White counterparts, who have traditionally represented the majority of FFOs. Study Implications: By conducting an experiment to increase response rates from Black family forest owners to the National Woodland Owner Survey, we find traditional methodology is not effective. More importantly, we see this group has moderately different responses than their White counterparts. This has wide ranging implications for landowner assistance programs and other initiatives that have been designed on the premise that we are accurately capturing responses from all woodland owners

A New Frontier: The Development and Validation of the Intimate Partner Cyber Abuse Instrument

As technology advances, new opportunities for partners to gain power and control in their romantic relationships are readily available. New cyber-based behaviors have slowly garnered scholarly attention, but measurement-related issues have not. We take the logical next steps to (1) develop and validate a comprehensive measure of intimate partner cyber abuse (IPCA) for adults using classical test theory and item response theory and (2) estimate IPCA prevalence rate for a range of relationship types. A sample of 1,500 adults, currently in an intimate partner relationship, 18 years or older, and living in the United States, completed an online questionnaire about their IPCA experiences within the 6 months prior. Two parameter logistic modeling and confirmatory factor analyses revealed a five-dimensional structure: cyber direct aggression, cyber sexual coercion, cyber financial control, cyber control, and cyber monitoring, with 14.85% of the sample experiencing at least one dimension. These IPCA dimensions were examined for differential functioning across gender identity, race, student status, and relationship type. Collectively, the findings have implications for IPCA measurement and related research, including theoretically derived hypotheses whose findings can inform prevention

Corporate Inversions: New challenges, New Opportunities

With a wave of recent tax inversion and corporate reorganization discussions, corporate tax strategy has begun to move to the forefront of media, public and Congressional attention. These high-profile inversion strategies have gained momentum and achieved heightened attention, becoming a matter of public policy matter in 2014. While corporate international tax strategies have existed since the dawn of the U.S. federal income tax, inversions in their current form have been active only since the 1980s. Using three predominate inversion cases as a lens, this research intends to fill a gap in the existing literature relating to corporate inversions. By combining existing case law, tax legislation, and Treasury regulations, this paper develops a framework for supporting strategic global tax initiatives. The conclusions and recommendations reached are generalizable and appropriate for use in developing best practice solutions

Clinician-targeted interventions to reduce antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory infections in primary care:An overview of systematic reviews

This is the protocol for a review and there is no abstract. The objectives are as follows: To systematically review the literature and appraise the existing evidence from systematic reviews regarding the effects of interventions, aimed at changing clinician behaviour, to reduce antibiotic prescribing for ARIs in primary care

The ebb and flow of adaptive co-management: a longitudinal evaluation of a conservation conflict

Adaptive co-management (ACM) is an emerging approach to the governance of social-ecological systems, but there are few long-term assessments of its efficacy. This is especially true in conservation conflicts, where ACM can mitigate disputes between polarised stakeholders. We evaluated ACM that emerged in 2005 to address conflict between seal conservation and fisheries interests in the Moray Firth, Scotland. We interviewed 20 stakeholders in 2015, repeating a survey carried out in 2011 which applied an indicator framework to measure outcomes and pre-conditions for ACM to continue. In 2015, all but one of the 12 outcome indicators were positive, the exception being the conservation status of salmon. However, pre-conditions for ACM’s continuation had weakened, with declines between 2005, 2011 and 2015. These were most marked for three indicators: leaders prepared to champion the process, presence of a bridging organisation or individual, and participation of all impacted stakeholders. The results show that ACM in this conservation conflict is dynamic. Perceived declines in salmon abundance and increases in seal numbers have renewed tensions amongst stakeholders, triggering a ‘revival’ phase of ACM initiated by fishery interests. Our study provides empirical evidence of ACM’s fluid nature, and how resource crises can reignite ACM. We suggest that participatory evaluation is a potentially important early-warning mechanism that can identify remedial action and galvanise stakeholders to respond to the re-emergence of conflict