Diamond machining of silicon: A review of advances in molecular dynamics simulation

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation has enhanced our understanding about ductile-regime machining of brittle materials such as silicon and germanium. In particular, MD simulation has helped understand the occurrence of brittle–ductile transition due to the high-pressure phase transformation (HPPT), which induces Herzfeld–Mott transition. In this paper, relevant MD simulation studies in conjunction with experimental studies are reviewed with a focus on (i) the importance of machining variables: undeformed chip thickness, feed rate, depth of cut, geometry of the cutting tool in influencing the state of the deviatoric stresses to cause HPPT in silicon, (ii) the influence of material properties: role of fracture toughness and hardness, crystal structure and anisotropy of the material, and (iii) phenomenological understanding of the wear of diamond cutting tools, which are all non-trivial for cost-effective manufacturing of silicon. The ongoing developmental work on potential energy functions is reviewed to identify opportunities for overcoming the current limitations of MD simulations. Potential research areas relating to how MD simulation might help improve existing manufacturing technologies are identified which may be of particular interest to early stage researchers.

Deconstructing Victim and offender Identities in Discourses on Child Sexual Abuse: Hierarchies, Blame and the Good/Evil Dialectic

Contemporary social and political constructions of victimhood and offending behaviour lie at the heart of regulatory policies on child sexual abuse. Legislation is named after specific child victims of high profile cases, and a burgeoning range of pre-emptive measures are enacted to protect an amorphous class of ‘all potential victims’ from the risk sex offenders are seen as posing. Such policies are also heavily premised on the omnipresent predatory stranger. These constructed identities, however, are at odds with the actual identities of victims and offenders of such crimes. Drawing on a range of literatures, the core task of this article is to confront some of the complexities and tensions surrounding constructions of the victim/offender dyad within the specific context of sexual offending against children. In particular, the article argues that discourses on ‘blame’ – and the polarised notions of ‘innocence’ and ‘guilt’ – inform respective hierarchies of victimhood and offending concerning ‘legitimate’ victim and offender status. Based on these insights, the article argues for the need to move beyond such monochromatic understandings of victims and offenders of sexual crime and to reframe the politics of risk accordingly.

Queer Spaces, Sexual Violence and the Desire for Safety

Queer politics and spaces have historically been associated with ideals of sexual liberation. They are conceptualised as spaces where sex, and its intersections with intimacy, friendship and love can be explored outside of normative frameworks which value monogamous reproductive heterosexuality at the expense of other non-normative sexual expressions. In recent years, however, autonomous queer spaces such as the global Queeruption gatherings and other queer community spaces in Australia have become increasingly concerned with the presence and danger of sexual violence in queer communities. Almost without exception, this danger has been responded to through the creation of ‘safe(r) spaces’ policies, generally consisting of a set of guidelines and proscribed behaviours which individuals must agree to in order to participate in or attend the event or space. The guidelines themselves tend to privilege of sexual politics of affirmative verbal consent, insisting that such consent should be sought prior to any physical or sexual contact, inferring that a failure to do so is ethically unacceptable within. This chapter reflects on the attempts to construct queer communities as ‘safer spaces,’ arguing that the concepts of consent and safety are inadequate to develop a queer response to sexual violence. Such a response, it argues, must be based on the openness to possibilities and refusal of sexual restrictions and regulations that have always been central elements of queer theory and politics.

Advances in the Design of the Oyster Wave Energy Converter

This short paper, structured in 3 distinct sections will touch on some of the key features of the Oyster wave energy device and its recent development. The first section discusses the nature of the resource in the nearshore environment,
some common misunderstandings in relation to it and its suitability for exploitation of commercial wave energy. In the second section a brief description of some of the fundamentals governing flap type devices is given. This serves to emphasise core differences between the Oyster device and other devices. Despite the simplicity of the design and the operation of the device itself, it is shown that Oyster occupies a theoretical space which is substantially outside most established theories and axioms in wave energy. The third section will give a short summary of the recent developments in the design of the Oyster 2 project and touch on how its enhanced features deal with some of the key commercial and technical challenges present in the sector.

Young people's self-reported experiences of sexual exploitation and sexual violence: a view from Northern Ireland

The issue of young people’s experiences of sexual exploitation and sexual violence has received increasing political and media attention within recent years. However, whilst many studies have identified this to be an emerging issue of concern, the collation of prevalence data on the extent of these issues is still very much in its infancy. In this article we report on the findings of a large-scale project on the sexual exploitation of young people, undertaken in Northern Ireland from 2009 to 2011. The article primarily explores young people’s self-reported experiences of sexual violence and exploitation, collated from their responses to a module of questions placed in the 2010 Young Life and Times Survey. The quantitative dataset from the survey covers both prevalence of sexually exploitative experiences and young people’s reports about the type of individuals perpetrating these incidents. This dataset is illustrated and contextualised with reference to the qualitative findings from interviews with young people and professionals conducted as part of the wider sexual exploitation study. The article concludes with a consideration of the implications of the findings, with particular reference to the need for further preventative work in this field.

Practice and Policy in the UK with Children and Young People who Display Harmful Sexual Behaviour: An analysis and critical review

This article considers the trajectory and effectiveness of policy, procedures and practice in the UK since the early 1990s in responding to young people who display problematic and harmful sexual behaviours. It draws on data from three publications in which research, policy and practice in the last 20 years have been reviewed. Key themes raised by Masson and Hackett are revisited including: denial and minimisation; terminology and categorisation; similarities with other young offenders; the child protection and youth justice systems; and assessment and interventions. The authors find that there is improvement in recognition of, and practice in response to, this group of young people, but good practice standards are inconsistently applied. With devolution of political powers, Scotland and Northern Ireland are now embarking on a more strategic response than England. The absence of a public debate and prioritising of primary prevention of child sexual abuse is noted.

Advances in GPCR modeling evaluated by the GPCR Dock 2013 assessment:Meeting new challenges

Despite tremendous successes of GPCR crystallography, the receptors with available structures represent only a small fraction of human GPCRs. An important role of the modeling community is to maximize structural insights for the remaining receptors and complexes. The community-wide GPCR Dock assessment was established to stimulate and monitor the progress in molecular modeling and ligand docking for GPCRs. The four targets in the present third assessment round presented new and diverse challenges for modelers, including prediction of allosteric ligand interaction and activation states in 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors 1B and 2B, and modeling by extremely distant homology for smoothened receptor. Forty-four modeling groups participated in the assessment. State-of-the-art modeling approaches achieved close-to-experimental accuracy for small rigid orthosteric ligands and models built by close homology, and they correctly predicted protein fold for distant homology targets. Predictions of long loops and GPCR activation states remain unsolved problems.

Provision for young people who have displayed harmful sexual behaviour

Over the past few decades, children and young people who have sexually harmed others have attracted increasing attention from researchers and policy makers. Although it is known that they form a small, but significant group, there are difficulties in gaining a clear indication of incidence since much of the existing research has involved small and heterogeneous samples, many of which were not UK-based and lack of control groups for comparison. Furthermore, many incidents of sexual abuse are likely to go unreported. The nature, extent and significant negative consequences of harmful sexual behaviour for the victims and perpetrators, make this an important issue for policy development and research investigation. Overall, research and knowledge in this important area are still accumulating and much remains to be confirmed. Although recent decades have seen a movement towards greater understanding of the issue of harmful sex behaviour, a gap remains. The purpose of the project was to help address this gap in knowledge.

Impact of abuse and neglect on the health and wellbeing of children:Child sexual abuse

During the past 30 years, the focus on the extent and nature of child abuse and neglect has been coupled with an increasing interest in the impact on children’s development, health and mental wellbeing. Child maltreatment is both a human rights violation and a complex public health issue, likely caused by a myriad of factors that involve the individual, the family, and the community. Child abuse includes any type of maltreatment or harm inflicted upon children and young people in interactions between adults (or older adolescents). Such maltreatment is likely to cause enduring harm to the child.
The different forms of abuse and neglect often occur together in one family and can affect one or more children. These include, in deceasing level of frequency: neglect; physical abuse and non-accidental injury; emotional abuse; and sexual abuse (Cawson et al, 2000; 2002). Recently, bullying and domestic violence have been included as forms of abuse of children.
There is a sizeable body of literature on the relationship between types of child maltreatment and a variety of negative health and mental health consequences. These include biological, psychological, and social deficits (for reviews, see Crittenden, 1998; Kendall-Tackett, 2001; 2003). Aside from the serious physical and health consequences of child maltreatment, several emotional and behavioural consequences for children have been noted in the literature.

Sexual Abuse in Institutional Contexts

This chapter adopts a cross-national comparative perspective on institutional child sexual abuse. It seeks first to provide a critical overview of a range of high profile inquiries and official reviews into allegations of institutional child abuse and the dominant transnational themes arising from them. It also seeks to highlight the dynamics of what I have previously termed 'institutional grooming' (McAlinden, 2006) and the features of the organisational environment which both facilitate institutional child sexual abuse and help mask its discovery or disclosure. In so doing, the analysis examines the tension between what others have termed 'preferential' or 'situational' sexual offending – that is whether offenders deliberately set out to gain employment which affords access to children or whether the motivation to sexually offend only emerges after they become ensconced in an institutional environment. Finally, the article concludes by offering some suggestions for combatting institutional grooming and sexual abuse.