Are there any true adult-onset offenders?

In the extant literature, adult-onset offending has usually been identified using official sources. It is possible, however, that many of the individuals identified would have had unofficial histories of prior offending. To investigate this issue, the men from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (CSDD) were examined. The CSDD is a prospective longitudinal study of men from inner-city London, followed from age 8 to age 48. Onset of offending was identified using official records and then the self-reported offending of the adult-onset offender group (with a first conviction at age 21 or later) was compared to others. All the adult-onset offenders self-reported some previous offending in childhood and adolescence but most of this offending was not sufficiently frequent or serious to lead to a conviction in practice. About one-third of adult-onset offenders were considered to be self-reported delinquents who were realistically in danger of being convicted because of the frequency of their offending. For some, the adjudication by the criminal justice system was simply the first time that their ongoing pattern of offending had been detected. Their lack of detection was because the types of offences they were committing had lower detection rates.

Using honeypots to analyse anomalous Internet activities

Monitoring Internet traffic is critical in order to acquire a good understanding of threats to computer and network security and in designing efficient computer security systems. Researchers and network administrators have applied several approaches to monitoring traffic for malicious content. These techniques include monitoring network components, aggregating IDS alerts, and monitoring unused IP address spaces. Another method for monitoring and analyzing malicious traffic, which has been widely tried and accepted, is the use of honeypots. Honeypots are very valuable security resources for gathering artefacts associated with a variety of Internet attack activities. As honeypots run no production services, any contact with them is considered potentially malicious or suspicious by definition. This unique characteristic of the honeypot reduces the amount of collected traffic and makes it a more valuable source of information than other existing techniques. Currently, there is insufficient research in the honeypot data analysis field. To date, most of the work on honeypots has been devoted to the design of new honeypots or optimizing the current ones. Approaches for analyzing data collected from honeypots, especially low-interaction honeypots, are presently immature, while analysis techniques are manual and focus mainly on identifying existing attacks. This research addresses the need for developing more advanced techniques for analyzing Internet traffic data collected from low-interaction honeypots. We believe that characterizing honeypot traffic will improve the security of networks and, if the honeypot data is handled in time, give early signs of new vulnerabilities or breakouts of new automated malicious codes, such as worms. The outcomes of this research include: • Identification of repeated use of attack tools and attack processes through grouping activities that exhibit similar packet inter-arrival time distributions using the cliquing algorithm; • Application of principal component analysis to detect the structure of attackers’ activities present in low-interaction honeypots and to visualize attackers’ behaviors; • Detection of new attacks in low-interaction honeypot traffic through the use of the principal component’s residual space and the square prediction error statistic; • Real-time detection of new attacks using recursive principal component analysis; • A proof of concept implementation for honeypot traffic analysis and real time monitoring.

Electromyographic activity in lower limb muscles is temporally associated with the slow phase of oxygen uptake during cycling

Although the "slow" phase of pulmonary oxygen uptake (Vo2) appears to represent energetic processes in contracting muscle, electromyographic evidence tends not to support this. The present study assessed normalized integrated electromyographic (NIEMG) activity in eight muscles that act about the hip, knee and ankle during 8 min of moderate (ventilatory threshold) cycling in six male cyclists. (Vo2) was measured breath by breath during four repeated trials at each of the two intensities. Moderate and very heavy exercise followed a 4-min period of light exercise (50 W). During moderate exercise the slow (Vo2) phase was absent and NIEMG in all muscles did not increase after the first minute of exercise. During very heavy exercise, the slow phase emerged (time delay=58 ± 16 s) and increased progressively (time constant=120 ± 35 s) to an amplitude (0.83 ± 0.16 L/min) that was approximately 21% of the total (Vo2) response. This slow (Vo2) phase coincided with a significant increase in NIEMG in most muscles, and differences in NIEMG activities between the two intensities revealed "slow" muscle activation profiles that differed between muscles in terms of the onset, amplitude and shape of these profiles. This supports the hypothesis that the slow (Vo2) phase is a function of these different slow muscle activation profiles.

Mechanisms of change in negative thinking and urinary monoamines in depressed patients during acute treatment with group cognitive behavior therapy and antidepressant medication

This naturalistic study investigated the mechanisms of change in measures of negative thinking and in 24-h urinary metabolites of noradrenaline (norepinephrine), dopamine and serotonin in a sample of 43 depressed hospital patients attending an eight-session group cognitive behavior therapy program. Most participants (91%) were taking antidepressant medication throughout the therapy period according to their treating Psychiatrists' prescriptions. The sample was divided into outcome categories (19 Responders and 24 Non-responders) on the basis of a clinically reliable change index [Jacobson, N.S., & Truax, P., 1991. Clinical significance: a statistical approach to defining meaningful change in psychotherapy research. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 12–19.] applied to the Beck Depression Inventory scores at the end of the therapy. Results of repeated measures analysis of variance [ANOVA] analyses of variance indicated that all measures of negative thinking improved significantly during therapy, and significantly more so in the Responders as expected. The treatment had a significant impact on urinary adrenaline and metadrenaline excretion however, these changes occurred in both Responders and Non-responders. Acute treatment did not significantly influence the six other monoamine metabolites. In summary, changes in urinary monoamine levels during combined treatment for depression were not associated with self-reported changes in mood symptoms.

The mechanical response of the ovine lumbar anulus fibrosus to uniaxial, biaxial and shear loads

Analytical and computational models of the intervertebral disc (IVD) are commonly employed to enhance understanding of the biomechanics of the human spine and spinal motion segments. The accuracy of these models in predicting physiological behaviour of the spine is intrinsically reliant on the accuracy of the material constitutive representations employed to represent the spinal tissues. There is a paucity of detailed mechanical data describing the material response of the reinforced­ground matrix in the anulus fibrosus of the IVD. In the present study, the ‘reinforced­ground matrix’ was defined as the matrix with the collagen fibres embedded but not actively bearing axial load, thus incorporating the contribution of the fibre-fibre and fibre-matrix interactions. To determine mechanical parameters for the anulus ground matrix, mechanical tests were carried out on specimens of ovine anulus, under unconfined uniaxial compression, simple shear and biaxial compression. Test specimens of ovine anulus fibrosus were obtained with an adjacent layer of vertebral bone/cartilage on the superior and inferior specimen surface. Specimen geometry was such that there were no continuous collagen fibres coupling the two endplates. Samples were subdivided according to disc region - anterior, lateral and posterior - to determine the regional inhomogeneity in the anulus mechanical response. Specimens were loaded at a strain rate sufficient to avoid fluid outflow from the tissue and typical stress-strain responses under the initial load application and under repeated loading were determined for each of the three loading types. The response of the anulus tissue to the initial and repeated load cycles was significantly different for all load types, except biaxial compression in the anterior anulus. Since the maximum applied strain exceeded the damage strain for the tissue, experimental results for repeated loading reflected the mechanical ability of the tissue to carry load, subsequent to the initiation of damage. To our knowledge, this is the first study to provide experimental data describing the response of the ‘reinforced­ground matrix’ to biaxial compression. Additionally, it is novel in defining a study objective to determine the regionally inhomogeneous response of the ‘reinforced­ground matrix’ under an extensive range of loading conditions suitable for mechanical characterisation of the tissue. The results presented facilitate the development of more detailed and comprehensive constitutive descriptions for the large strain nonlinear elastic or hyperelastic response of the anulus ground matrix.

Evolutionary algorithms for sustainable building design

This approach to sustainable design explores the possibility of creating an architectural design process which can iteratively produce optimised and sustainable design solutions. Driven by an evolution process based on genetic algorithms, the system allows the designer to “design the building design generator” rather than to “designs the building”. The design concept is abstracted into a digital design schema, which allows transfer of the human creative vision into the rational language of a computer. The schema is then elaborated into the use of genetic algorithms to evolve innovative, performative and sustainable design solutions. The prioritisation of the project’s constraints and the subsequent design solutions synthesised during design generation are expected to resolve most of the major conflicts in the evaluation and optimisation phases. Mosques are used as the example building typology to ground the research activity. The spatial organisations of various mosque typologies are graphically represented by adjacency constraints between spaces. Each configuration is represented by a planar graph which is then translated into a non-orthogonal dual graph and fed into the genetic algorithm system with fixed constraints and expected performance criteria set to govern evolution. The resultant Hierarchical Evolutionary Algorithmic Design System is developed by linking the evaluation process with environmental assessment tools to rank the candidate designs. The proposed system generates the concept, the seed, and the schema, and has environmental performance as one of the main criteria in driving optimisation.

Crime in Rural and Regional Areas

This Chapter provides an overview of available corrent data measuring crime in Australia's States and Territories broken down into regions and localities The data is limited, has reliability problems and lots of gaps. Nevertheless when the data are analysed according to offence type (in particulary violence versus property offences) an interesting but complicated empirical picture emerges that departs from what most scholars and policy makes have commonly assumed about crime and rural communities - that there is not much of it! The chapter begins with an assessment of the uses and limitations of different ways of measuring crime for those interested in a spatialised analysis of crome dispersion in rural communities.

Modeling and exploiting behavior patterns in dynamic environments

This paper presents a new approach to improving the effectiveness of autonomous systems that deal with dynamic environments. The basis of the approach is to find repeating patterns of behavior in the dynamic elements of the system, and then to use predictions of the repeating elements to better plan goal directed behavior. It is a layered approach involving classifying, modeling, predicting and exploiting. Classifying involves using observations to place the moving elements into previously defined classes. Modeling involves recording features of the behavior on a coarse grained grid. Exploitation is achieved by integrating predictions from the model into the behavior selection module to improve the utility of the robot's actions. This is in contrast to typical approaches that use the model to select between different strategies or plays. Three methods of adaptation to the dynamic features of the environment are explored. The effectiveness of each method is determined using statistical tests over a number of repeated experiments. The work is presented in the context of predicting opponent behavior in the highly dynamic and multi-agent robot soccer domain (RoboCup).

Effects of lead exposure on hippocampal metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 3 and 7 in developmental rats

Background A complete explanation of the mechanisms by which Pb2+ exerts toxic effects on developmental central nervous system remains unknown. Glutamate is critical to the developing brain through various subtypes of ionotropic or metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs). Ionotropic N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors have been considered as a principal target in lead-induced neurotoxicity. The relationship between mGluR3/mGluR7 and synaptic plasticity had been verified by many recent studies. The present study aimed to examine the role of mGluR3/mGluR7 in lead-induced neurotoxicity. Methods Twenty-four adult and female rats were randomly selected and placed on control or 0.2% lead acetate during gestation and lactation. Blood lead and hippocampal lead levels of pups were analyzed at weaning to evaluate the actual lead content at the end of the exposure. Impairments of short -term memory and long-term memory of pups were assessed by tests using Morris water maze and by detection of hippocampal ultrastructural alterations on electron microscopy. The impact of lead exposure on mGluR3 and mGluR7 mRNA expression in hippocampal tissue of pups were investigated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and its potential role in lead neurotoxicity were discussed. Results Lead levels of blood and hippocampi in the lead-exposed rats were significantly higher than those in the controls (P < 0.001). In tests using Morris Water Maze, the overall decrease in goal latency and swimming distance was taken to indicate that controls had shorter latencies and distance than lead-exposed rats (P = 0.001 and P < 0.001 by repeated-measures analysis of variance). On transmission electron microscopy neuronal ultrastructural alterations were observed and the results of real-time polymerase chain reaction showed that exposure to 0.2% lead acetate did not substantially change gene expression of mGluR3 and mGluR7 mRNA compared with controls. Conclusion Exposure to lead before and after birth can damage short-term and long-term memory ability of young rats and hippocampal ultrastructure. However, the current study does not provide evidence that the expression of rat hippocampal mGluR3 and mGluR7 can be altered by systemic administration of lead during gestation and lactation, which are informative for the field of lead-induced developmental neurotoxicity noting that it seems not to be worthwhile to include mGluR3 and mGluR7 in future studies. Background

Single-layer decoupling networks for large circulant symmetric arrays

In this paper, the authors propose a new structure for the decoupling of circulant symmetric arrays of more than four elements. In this case, network element values are again obtained through a process of repeated eigenmode decoupling, here by solving sets of nonlinear equations. However, the resulting circuit is much simpler and can be implemented on a single layer. The corresponding circuit topology for the 6-element array is displayed in figure diagrams. The procedure will be illustrated by considering different examples.

Using microteaching to enhance teacher efficacy in pre-service teachers

This study examined pre-service teachers’ efficacy in relation to the utilisation of microteaching as an assessment tool for postgraduate education students in Australia. Three hundred and fifteen pre-service teachers completed the teacher efficacy survey and additional qualitative questions at Time 1 and 208 completed the survey and questions at Time 2. A principal components analysis conducted on the Time 1 survey data revealed teacher efficacy to be comprised of two components: ‘teacher efficacy in classroom management’ and ‘personal teacher efficacy’. Repeated measures ANOVAs conducted on the 208 participants who completed the survey at Time 1 and 2 revealed that efficacy on both components increased significantly over time, and that internet students had higher efficacy levels than internal students. The qualitative data revealed that pre-service teachers enter teaching in order to positively impact on children, yet are concerned about behaviour management in the classroom. In addition, this data highlighted the positive impact that microteaching had on their developing teacher identity.

Low sodium haemodialysis reduces interdialytic fluid consumption but paradoxically increases post-dialysis thirst

Background Interdialytic weight gain (IDWG) can be reduced by lowering the dialysate sodium concentration ([Na]) in haemodialysis patients. It has been assumed that this is because thirst is reduced, although this has been difficult to prove. We compared thirst patterns in stable haemodialysis patients with high and low IDWG using a novel technique and compared the effect of low sodium dialysis (LSD) with normal sodium dialysis (NSD). Methods Eight patients with initial high IDWG and seven with low IDWG completed hourly visual analogue ratings of thirst using a modified palmtop computer during the dialysis day and the interdialytic day. The dialysate [Na] was progressively reduced by up to 5 mmol/l over five treatments. Dialysis continued at the lowest attained [Na] for 2 weeks and the measurements were repeated. The dialysate [Na] then returned to baseline and the process was repeated. Results Baseline interdialytic day mean thirst was higher than the dialysis day mean for the high IDWG group (49.9±14.0 vs 36.2±16.6) and higher than the low weight gain group (49.9±14.0 vs 34.1±14.6). This trend persisted on LSD, but there was a pronounced increase in post-dialysis thirst scores for both groups (high IDWG: 46±13 vs 30±21; low IDWG: 48±24 vs 33±18). The high IDWG group demonstrated lower IDWG during LSD than NSD (2.23±0.98 vs 2.86±0.38 kg; P<0.05). Conclusions Our results indicate that patients with high IDWG experience more intense feelings of thirst on the interdialytic day. LSD reduces their IDWG, but paradoxically increases thirst in the immediate post-dialysis period.

The effect of graded levels of exercise on energy intake and balance in free-living men, consuming their normal diet

Objective: To assess the effect of graded increases in exercised-induced energy expenditure (EE) on appetite, energy intake (EI), total daily EE and body weight in men living in their normal environment and consuming their usual diets. Design: Within-subject, repeated measures design. Six men (mean (s.d.) age 31.0 (5.0) y; weight 75.1 (15.96) kg; height 1.79 (0.10) m; body mass index (BMI) 23.3(2.4) kg/m2), were each studied three times during a 9 day protocol, corresponding to prescriptions of no exercise, (control) (Nex; 0 MJ/day), medium exercise level (Mex; ~1.6 MJ/day) and high exercise level (Hex; ~3.2 MJ/day). On days 1-2 subjects were given a medium fat (MF) maintenance diet (1.6 ´ resting metabolic rate (RMR)). Measurements: On days 3-9 subjects self-recorded dietary intake using a food diary and self-weighed intake. EE was assessed by continual heart rate monitoring, using the modified FLEX method. Subjects' HR (heart rate) was individually calibrated against submaximal VO2 during incremental exercise tests at the beginning and end of each 9 day study period. Respiratory exchange was measured by indirect calorimetry. Subjects completed hourly hunger ratings during waking hours to record subjective sensations of hunger and appetite. Body weight was measured daily. Results: EE amounted to 11.7, 12.9 and 16.8 MJ/day (F(2,10)=48.26; P<0.001 (s.e.d=0.55)) on the Nex, Mex and Hex treatments, respectively. The corresponding values for EI were 11.6, 11.8 and 11.8 MJ/day (F(2,10)=0.10; P=0.910 (s.e.d.=0.10)), respectively. There were no treatment effects on hunger, appetite or body weight, but there was evidence of weight loss on the Hex treatment. Conclusion: Increasing EE did not lead to compensation of EI over 7 days. However, total daily EE tended to decrease over time on the two exercise treatments. Lean men appear able to tolerate a considerable negative energy balance, induced by exercise, over 7 days without invoking compensatory increases in EI.

The use of visual analogue scales to assess motivation to eat in human subjects: a review of their reliability and validity with an evaluation of new hand-held computerized stsytems for temporal tracking of appetite ratings.

This present paper reviews the reliability and validity of visual analogue scales (VAS) in terms of (1) their ability to predict feeding behaviour, (2) their sensitivity to experimental manipulations, and (3) their reproducibility. VAS correlate with, but do not reliably predict, energy intake to the extent that they could be used as a proxy of energy intake. They do predict meal initiation in subjects eating their normal diets in their normal environment. Under laboratory conditions, subjectively rated motivation to eat using VAS is sensitive to experimental manipulations and has been found to be reproducible in relation to those experimental regimens. Other work has found them not to be reproducible in relation to repeated protocols. On balance, it would appear, in as much as it is possible to quantify, that VAS exhibit a good degree of within-subject reliability and validity in that they predict with reasonable certainty, meal initiation and amount eaten, and are sensitive to experimental manipulations. This reliability and validity appears more pronounced under the controlled (but more arti®cial) conditions of the laboratory where the signal : noise ratio in experiments appears to be elevated relative to real life. It appears that VAS are best used in within-subject, repeated-measures designs where the effect of different treatments can be compared under similar circumstances. They are best used in conjunction with other measures (e.g. feeding behaviour, changes in plasma metabolites) rather than as proxies for these variables. New hand-held electronic appetite rating systems (EARS) have been developed to increase reliability of data capture and decrease investigator workload. Recent studies have compared these with traditional pen and paper (P&P) VAS. The EARS have been found to be sensitive to experimental manipulations and reproducible relative to P&P. However, subjects appear to exhibit a signi®cantly more constrained use of the scale when using the EARS relative to the P&P. For this reason it is recommended that the two techniques are not used interchangeably

No energy compensation at the meal following exercise indietary restrained and unrestrained women

The objective of this investigation was to compare the acute effects of exercise and diet manipulations on energy intake, between dietary restrained and unrestrained females. Comparisons of two studies using an identical 2 x 2 repeated-measures design (level of activity (rest or exercise) and lunch type (high-fat or low-fat)) including thirteen dietary unrestrained and twelve restrained females were performed. Energy expenditure during the rest session was estimated and the energy cost of exercise was measured by indirect calorimetry. Relative energy intake was calculated by subtracting the energy expenditure of the exercise session from the energy intake of the test meal. Post-meal hedonic ratings were completed after lunch. Energy intake and relative energy intake increased during high-fat conditions compared with the low-fat, independently of exercise (P < 0.001). There was a positive relationship between dietary restraint scores and energy intake or relative energy intake in the rest conditions only (r 0.54, P < 0.01). The decrease of relative energy intake between the rest and exercise conditions was higher in restrained than in unrestrained eaters (P < 0.01). These results confirm that a high-fat diet reversed the energy deficit due to exercise. There was no energy compensation in response to an acute bout of exercise during the following meal. In restrained eaters, exercise was more effective in creating an energy deficit than in unrestrained eaters. Exercise may help restrained eaters to maintain control over appetite.