The Effect of COVID-19 Restrictions on Routine Activities and Online Crime

OBJECTIVES: Routine activity theory suggests that levels of crime are affected by peoples’ activity patterns. Here, we examine if, through their impact on people’s on- and off-line activities, COVID-19 restriction affected fraud committed on- and off-line during the pandemic. Our expectation was that levels of online offending would closely follow changes to mobility and online activity—with crime increasing as restrictions were imposed (and online activity increased) and declining as they were relaxed. For doorstep fraud, which has a different opportunity structure, our expectation was that the reverse would be true. METHOD: COVID-19 restrictions systematically disrupted people’s activity patterns, creating quasi-experimental conditions well-suited to testing the effects of “interventions” on crime. We exploit those conditions using ARIMA time series models and UK data for online shopping fraud, hacking, doorstep fraud, online sales, and mobility to test hypotheses. Doorstep fraud is modelled as a non-equivalent dependent variable, allowing us to test whether findings were selective and in line with theoretical expectations. RESULTS: After controlling for other factors, levels of crime committed online were positively associated with monthly variation in online activities and negatively associated with monthly variation in mobility. In contrast, and as expected, monthly variation in doorstep fraud was positively associated with changes in mobility. CONCLUSIONS: We find evidence consistent with routine activity theory, suggesting that disruptions to people’s daily activity patterns affect levels of crime committed both on- and off-line. The theoretical implications of the findings, and the need to develop a better evidence base about what works to reduce online crime, are discussed

Waterless Clothes-Cleaning Machine

A waterless clothes-cleaning machine has been developed that removes loose particulates and deodorizes dirty laundry with regenerative chemical processes to make the clothes more comfortable to wear and have a fresher smell. This system was initially developed for use in zero-g, but could be altered for 1-g environments where water or other re sources are scarce. Some of these processes include, but are not limited to, airflow, filtration, ozone generation, heat, ultraviolet light, and photocatalytic titanium oxide

The Future of Biotechnology Crime: A Parallel Delphi Study with Non-Traditional Experts

BACKGROUND: The way science is practiced is changing and forecasting biotechnology crime trends remains a challenge as future misuses become more sophisticated. METHODS: A parallel Delphi study was conducted to elicit future biotechnology scenarios from two groups of experts. Traditional experts, such as professionals in national security/intelligence, were interviewed. They were asked to forecast emerging crime trends facilitated by biotechnology and what should be done to safeguard against them. Non-traditional experts, such as “biohackers” who experiment with biotechnology in unexpected ways, were also interviewed. The study entailed three rounds to obtain consensus on (i) biotechnology misuse anticipated and (ii) potential prevention strategies expected. RESULTS: Traditional and non-traditional experts strongly agreed that misuse is anticipated within the cyber-infrastructure of, for example, medical devices and hospitals, through breaches and corporate espionage. Preventative steps that both groups strongly advocated involved increasing public biosecurity literacy, and funding towards addressing biotechnology security. Both groups agreed that the responsibility for mitigation includes government bodies. Non-traditional experts generated more scenarios and had a greater diversity of views. DISCUSSION: A systematic, anonymous and independent interaction with a diverse panel of experts provided meaningful insights for anticipating emerging trends in biotechnology crime. A multi-sector intervention strategy is proposed

Effect of examiner position and prism orientation on near point alternating cover test procedure

This study was designed to resolve uncertainty concerning whether the position of the examiner is associated with variability in the results of the nearpoint alternate cover test (NACT). Two previous studies have shown that when the examiner is positioned to the side of the patient, rather than directly in front of the patient, the NACT shows greater exophoria in the range of 1.3 to 4.4 prism diopters. In the current study, we sought to determine if proximal cues or effective prism power might be the source of the apparent exo shift associated with examiner position. NACT was performed on 52 subjects, with each subject measured under three conditions. 1. Examiner directly in front of the subject, measuring prism held in the frontal position. 2. Examiner 30 degrees right of subject, measuring prism held in the frontal position. 3. Examiner 30 degrees right of subject, measuring prism rotated 30 degrees toward the examiner. Results showed a small significant increase in measured exophoria when the examiner administers the NACT from a position to the side of the subject. The magnitude of the increase, 0.98 prism diopter, was less than in the previous studies. Intentionally rotating the measuring prism had a nominal effect on the measured phoria value consistent with error induced due to effective prism power. It appears that examiner position does affect the outcome of the NACT, but that the magnitude of the effect may be only clinically significant with neutralization of large heterophorias. A change in proximal cues may contribute to the effect

An Analysis of the Role of Collaboration and Change in School Development

This retrospective case study captured the experiences and extrapolated insights from a school administrator tasked with developing a new school and program to meet the needs of a specialized student population. The resulting merged school, Day Academy, served a student population ranging from 20 to 25 students and a staff of 10-15. Attentive to the relevant literature, the case study results support recommendations for both professional practice and professional learning for administrators in all levels

THE EFFECT OF THE PLANTAR PLATE ON PLANTAR APONEUROSIS STRAIN: 3D FlNlTE ELEMENT MODELING OF FOOT AND ANKLE

Experimental measurements of stresses and strains for the Lower Extremity Injuries (LEI) are invasive, and therefore, predictions require physiologically accurate 3D Finite Element (FE) models of the foot and ankle. Previous FE models of foot and ankle in the literature neglect the function of the plantar plate, and therefore, these models underestimate the Plantar Aponeurosis (PA) strain. In this study the effect and function of the plantar plate on PA strain and other biomechanical parameters of foot and ankle are studied. The Soft Tissue (ST) and PA are analysed as hyperelastic materials supplemented by material sensitivity analysis. The plantar plate Is contributlng towards more accurate prediction of PA strain (1-1.4% at full body weight during balanced standing). Material properties of ST also highly affect the PA strain, and it is a primary feature in validating FE models

Confounds and overestimations in fake review detection: Experimentally controlling for product-ownership and data-origin

The popularity of online shopping is steadily increasing. At the same time, fake product reviews are published widely and have the potential to affect consumer purchasing behavior. In response, previous work has developed automated methods utilizing natural language processing approaches to detect fake product reviews. However, studies vary considerably in how well they succeed in detecting deceptive reviews, and the reasons for such differences are unclear. A contributing factor may be the multitude of strategies used to collect data, introducing potential confounds which affect detection performance. Two possible confounds are data-origin (i.e., the dataset is composed of more than one source) and product ownership (i.e., reviews written by individuals who own or do not own the reviewed product). In the present study, we investigate the effect of both confounds for fake review detection. Using an experimental design, we manipulate data-origin, product ownership, review polarity, and veracity. Supervised learning analysis suggests that review veracity (60.26-69.87%) is somewhat detectable but reviews additionally confounded with product-ownership (66.19-74.17%), or with data-origin (84.44-86.94%) are easier to classify. Review veracity is most easily classified if confounded with product-ownership and data-origin combined (87.78-88.12%). These findings are moderated by review polarity. Overall, our findings suggest that detection accuracy may have been overestimated in previous studies, provide possible explanations as to why, and indicate how future studies might be designed to provide less biased estimates of detection accuracy