Understanding fraud: the nature of fraud offences recorded by NSW Police

Property offences have been declining in New South Wales, but one crime which has bucked this trend is fraud. Abstract Aim: 1) To provide an understanding of the nature of fraud incidents recorded by NSW Police. 2) To find out which fraud types are contributing to the increase in recorded fraud. Method: This study involved the review of 1,000 narrative descriptions of fraud incidents reported to or detected by NSW Police. Where possible we gathered information about the type of fraudulent behaviour, modus operandi, cost and whether a suspect was apprehended. Half the fraud events sampled occurred in the 12 months to September 2009 and half in the 12 months to September 2013. Results: The most common types of fraud reported to police were card fraud (35% of incidents), fuel drive-offs (30%), identity theft (5%), embezzlement (4%) and cheque fraud (3%). Increases in card fraud and fuel drive offs appear to account for the bulk of the increase in fraud over the past five years. Incident costs recorded by police suggest that in 2013 incidents of fraud recorded by police cost more than $200 million. The average cost of fraud by incident type ranged from just$62 per incident for fuel drive-offs to more than $35,000 per incident for embezzlement. Conclusion: Fraud is a growing problem and will likely continue to rise with new technologies and payment options. This study found that the fraud types with the highest recorded prevalence are quite different to those which have the greatest overall cost implication

Pattern of extinction of the woolly mammoth in Beringia.

Extinction of the woolly mammoth in Beringia has long been subject to research and speculation. Here we use a new geo-referenced database of radiocarbon-dated evidence to show that mammoths were abundant in the open-habitat of Marine Isotope Stage 3 (∼45-30 ka). During the Last Glacial Maximum (∼25-20 ka), northern populations declined while those in interior Siberia increased. Northern mammoths increased after the glacial maximum, but declined at and after the Younger Dryas (∼12.9-11.5 ka). Remaining continental mammoths, now concentrated in the north, disappeared in the early Holocene with development of extensive peatlands, wet tundra, birch shrubland and coniferous forest. Long sympatry in Siberia suggests that humans may be best seen as a synergistic cofactor in that extirpation. The extinction of island populations occurred at ∼4 ka. Mammoth extinction was not due to a single cause, but followed a long trajectory in concert with changes in climate, habitat and human presence

The perceived responsibility, authority and delegation of athletic administrators in Ontario universities.

Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1975 .M236. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 40-07, page: . Thesis (M.H.K.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1975

The neuropsychological abilities of children with learning disabilities who demonstrated differential EEG alpha blocking patterns to a complex auditory stimulus.

Dept. of Psychology. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1974 .M13. Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 62-13, Section: A. Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1974

Développement d’un test d’analyse auditive en français : normes et validation de construit

Deux études ont permis de développer, en français, un instrument qui sert à mesurer les habiletés de segmentation des mots prononcés en leurs éléments sonores, chez des enfants de la maternelle à la sixième année, habiletés jugées cruciales pour l'apprentissage de la lecture. Une première étude qui portait sur un large échantillon d'items (n = 70) a servi à la création de deux listes de 42 items chacune, formant deux versions d'un même test, pour une deuxième étude. Les résultats des deux études montrent que les caractéristiques psychométriques - fidélité et validité - de l'instrument développé sont très élevées. De plus, dans la deuxième étude, la performance des sujets ne différait pas selon la version du test. Ces résultats appuient l'utilisation de ce test dans les milieux scolaires pour l'identification de troubles d'analyse auditive chez les enfants qui ont des problèmes de lecture.This article reports on two studies used to develop a French language test to measure oral word-segmentation ability in children from Kindergarten to Grade 6; this ability being considered important in learning to read. The first study of a large sample of items (n = 70) was used to create two lists of 42 items each, to form equivalent versions of the same test, and then used in a second study. The results of the two studies show that the psychometric characteristics of the instrument, that of reliability and validity, are very high. As well, it was found that performance of subjects did not differ with the test version used. These results support use of this test in school settings to identify auditive analysis difficulties in children who have reading difficulties.Dos estudios, han permitido crear un instrumento en francès, para medir la habilidad de los nifios para separar las palabras en fonemas. Esta habilidades considerada importante en el proceso del aprendizaje de la lectura. El instrumento puede aplicarse a nifios disde la escuela de parvulos hasta el 6° ano de primari. El primer estudio comprendié un gran numéro de cuestiones (n = 70) y sirvio para la confection de dos listas de 42 preguntas cada una; se obtuveron asi dos versiones de un mismo test que constituyeron la base del segundo estudio. Los resultados de los dos estudios muestran que las caractensticas psocométricas - fidelidad y validez - del instrumento son bastante elevadas. Ademâs, en el segundo estudio se destaca que el resultado obtenido por no deflene mucho entre las dos versiones. Creemos que esos resultados avalan la utilizaciôn de este test en el medio escolar para identificar problemas de analisis auditivo en nifios con dificultades en el aprendizaje de la lectura.Zwei Studien haben erlaubt, fur die franzôsische Sprache ein Instrument zu entwickeln zur Messung der Fâhigkeit, gesprochene Worter in ihre Lautelemente zu zerlegen, und zwar bei Kindern von der Vorschule vis zur 6.Volksschulklasse. Dièse Fâhigkeit gilt als àuÊerst wichtig fur das Lesenlernen. Eine erste Untersuchung iiber eine grofie Anzahl von Einheiten (n = 70) fiihrte zur Erstellung zweier Listen mit je 42 Einheiten, welche zwei Versionen des gleichen Tests darstellten fiir eine zweite Untersuchung. Die Ergebnisse der beiden Studien zeigen, dass die psychometrischen Qualitâten, nâmlich Genauigkeit und Giiltigkeit, des entwickelten MeCinstrumentes sehr hoch sind. Aufierdem war die Leistung der Versuchspersonen in den beiden Tests nicht verschieden. Dièse Ergebnisse sprechen fur die Anwendung dieses Tests im Schulmilieu, um Schwierigkeiten in der Lautanalyse bei Kindern mit Leseschwierigkeiten zu identifizieren

The North Dakota Dual Aurora Camera (NoDDAC), a student-led citizen science project: one-year retrospective, future developments, and scientific potential

The North Dakota Dual Aurora Camera (NoDDAC) is a student-led project operated in conjunction with the University of North Dakota (UND), the LiveAuroraNetwork, and Aurorasaurus citizen science. Aurora cameras are valuable tools for aurora chasers, and scientists, providing ground-truth visual data to gauge auroral activity, yet at midlatitudes, these facilities are few in number. Deploying aurora cameras in these areas provides a valuable resource for aurora-chasing communities, but also demonstrates scientific merit as the analysis of rare phenomena, such as STEVEs, benefit from multiple geographic observations. What makes this project unique is the student initiative being based at a university observatory, the focus on dual cameras with COTS equipment, and, the emphasis on open data, a responsive community resource, and citizen science. NoDDAC employs the Sony a7s ii camera and Sony 24mm f/1.4 GM lens as a north-facing aurora video camera. A less expensive all-sky Canon T6 camera paired with a Sigma 4.5mm f/2.8 circular fisheye lens continuously captures 60-second images every two minutes. The cameras are stationed at the Martens Observatory operated by the department of physics and astrophysics at UND (48.1oN). Specialized housings from the LiveAuroraNetwork weatherproof both cameras and proprietary IPTimelapse software allows images to be uploaded to a web server and analyzed. The LiveAuroraNetwork hosts the image streams from both cameras on their website and mobile app. When aurora is detected by the IPTimelapse software, the NoDDAC twitter account will post a short clip of the display to alert aurora chasers. These cameras will be shown on the Aurorasaurus auroral oval map along with other citizen scientist observations. Image data are archived and made open source, abiding by the FAIR data use principles. The north-facing camera records video, which will allow for small auroral features to be studied using Zooniverse-style image analysis citizen science efforts. In the first half of 2021, the cameras successfully detected aurora on over 20 occasions, including overhead aurora and STEVE, and rare noctilucent clouds. This presentation will reflect on the first year of NoDDAC, outline a timeline for NoDDAC’s future, and open the floor for collaborations with other citizen science efforts.https://commons.und.edu/as-showcase/1007/thumbnail.jp

Rapid sample preparation and low-resource molecular detection of hepatopancreatic parvoviruses (HPV) by recombinase polymerase amplification lateral flow detection assay in shrimps (Fenneropenaeus merguiensis)

Background Viral diseases are a major problem in shrimp aquaculture facilities as these diseases reduce growth rates, which inevitably lead to production and profit losses. Hepatopancreatic parvoviruses (HPV) are common diseases in shrimp that appear to be associated with high or low levels of replication in specific genetic lineages. Selective breeding may result in resistance to HPV and improved body traits such as body weight, meat yield and shrimp colour, facilitating shrimp farming. HPV virus titre is commonly determined by quantitative PCR (qPCR), which is a time-consuming method requiring laboratory equipment unsuitable for field implementation. The aim of this study was to develop a simple, robust, rapid and reliable method to detect HPV in low-resource environments. Methods We developed a rapid shrimp HPV test that uses (1) a simple three-step sample preparation protocol, followed by (2) isothermal recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) and lateral flow strip detection (LFD). Analytical sensitivity testing was performed in a background banana shrimp sample matrix, and retrospective testing of Fenneropenaeus merguiensis hepatopancreas tissues (n = 33) with known qPCR viral titres was used to determine diagnostic sensitivity and specificity. Results The rapid shrimp HPV test could detect as little as 35 genome-equivalent copies per reaction in homogenized F. merguiensis banana shrimp. Retrospective testing of stored tissues (n = 33) indicated 100% diagnostic sensitivity (95% confidence interval, CI: 86–100%) and 100% specificity (95% CI: 66–100%) for detection of HPV. Conclusion The rapid shrimp HPV test could be completed in only 40 minutes, and required only homogenization pestles, some pipettors, and a small heating block for single temperature incubation at 39°C. Critically, our procedure eliminated the time-consuming purification of nucleic acids from samples and when combined with RPA-LFD offers a user-friendly HPV detection format that can potentially be performed on-site. Our approach represents a major step forward in the development of a simple and sensitive end-point method for quick determination of unfavourable HPV virus numbers in shrimp, and has great potential to advance on-site management of shrimps in aquaculture

Validation of the self-completed Cambridge-Hopkins questionnaire (CH-RLSq) for ascertainment of restless legs syndrome (RLS) in a population survey.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Epidemiological studies of restless legs syndrome (RLS) have been limited by lack of a well validated patient-completed diagnostic questionnaire that has a high enough specificity to provide a reasonable positive predictive value. Most of the currently used patient completed diagnostic questionnaires have neither been validated nor included items facilitating the differential diagnosis of RLS from conditions producing similar symptoms. The Cambridge-Hopkins diagnostic questionnaire for RLS (CH-RLSq) was developed with several iterations to include items covering the basic diagnostic features of RLS and to provide some basic differential diagnosis. This validation study sought to determine the sensitivity and specificity of the RLS diagnosis based on this questionnaire. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The CH-RLSq was completed by 2005 blood donors who were asked to consent to being contacted for a telephone diagnostic interview. A scoring criterion was established for ascertainment of RLS based on the clinical definition of the disorder and the exclusion of "mimic" conditions. A weighted sample (N=185) of all completed questionnaires was selected for expert clinical diagnosis of RLS using the validated Hopkins Telephone Diagnostic Interview (HDTI). The telephone interviewers were blinded to all questionnaire responses. RESULTS: A telephone diagnosis was obtained on 183 of the sample's 185 questionnaires. The questionnaire's normalized sensitivity and specificity were 87.2% and 94.4%, respectively, for RLS compared to not RLS. The positive predictive values in this sample were 85.5%. CONCLUSIONS: The Cambridge-Hopkins RLS questionnaire provides a reasonable level of sensitivity and specificity for ascertainment of RLS in population-based studies