Police Interviews with Victims and Suspects of Violent and Sexual Crimes : Interviewee's experiences and interview outcomes

The police interview is one of the most important investigative tools that law enforcement has close at hand, and police interview methods have changed during the twentieth century. A good police interview is conducted in the frame of the law, is governed by the interview goal, and is influenced by facilitating factors that may affect the elicited report. The present doctoral dissertation focuses on police interviews in cases of very serious crimes of violence and sexual offences. Results reveal crime victims’ and perpetrators’ experiences of being interviewed and police officers’ attitudes towards conducting interviews related to traumatizing crimes. Study 1 revealed that when police officers interviewed murderers and sexual offenders, the interviewees perceived attitudes characterized by either dominance or humanity. Police interviews marked by dominance and suspects’ responses of anxiety were mainly associated with a higher proportion of denials, whereas an approach marked by humanity, and responses of being respected were significantly associated with admissions. In line with Study 1, the victims of rape and aggravated assault in Study 2 also revealed the experience of two police interview styles, where an interviewing style marked by dominance and responses of anxiety was significantly associated with crime victims’ omissions of information. Moreover, a humanitarian interviewing style, and crime victims’ feelings of being respected and co-operative, was significantly related to crime victims providing all information from painful events. Special squad police officers’ attitudes towards interviewing crime victims, in Study 3, also showed a humanitarian approach and two dominant approaches, one affective and the other refusing. The attitude towards interviewing suspects of crimes in focus revealed humanitarian and dominant interviewing attitudes, and an approach marked by kindness. The present thesis shows that, during their entire career, an overwhelming majority of the special squad police officers have experienced stressful events during patrol as well as investigative duty. Results show that symptoms from stressful event exposures and coping mechanisms are associated with negative attitudes towards interviewing suspects and supportive attitudes towards crime victim interviews. Thus, experiences from stressful exposures may automatically activate ego-defensive functions that automatically generate dominant attitudes. Moreover, it is important to offer police officers who have been exposed to stressful events the opportunity to work through their experiences, for example, through debriefing procedures. After debriefings, police officers are better prepared to meet crime victims and suspects and, through conscious closed-loop processes, to conduct police interviews without awaking ego-defensive functions.

Contenido de radón en aguas subterráneas del noreste de Gran Canaria

[ES] En este trabajo se han determinado los niveles de 222Rn en el agua subterránea en la zona noreste de Gran Canaria a partir de 28 muestras de pozos en bombeo. La concentración de actividad de radón en una muestra de agua se determina mediante un sistema en circuito cerrado que consta de un monitor AlphaGUARD que mide la concentración de radón en aire por medio de una cámara de ionización y un conjunto AquaKIT que se utiliza para transferir el radón disuelto en la muestra de agua al aire del circuito. Los valores de la concentración de radón en agua de las muestras estudiadas varían entre 0.9 y 76.9 Bq/L. Debido a la peligrosidad radiológica del radón, en España se ha establecido un límite de actividad de 100 Bq/L de 222Rn para las aguas de consumo humano. Los valores obtenidos para todas las muestras analizadas se encuentran por debajo de este límite.

Primary stability in cementless total hip replacement: measurement techniques and aided-surgery

Primary stability of stems in cementless total hip replacements is recognized to play a critical role for long-term survival and thus for the success of the overall surgical procedure. In Literature, several studies addressed this important issue. Different approaches have been explored aiming to evaluate the extent of stability achieved during surgery. Some of these are in-vitro protocols while other tools are coinceived for the post-operative assessment of prosthesis migration relative to the host bone. In vitro protocols reported in the literature are not exportable to the operating room. Anyway most of them show a good overall accuracy. The RSA, EBRA and the radiographic analysis are currently used to check the healing process of the implanted femur at different follow-ups, evaluating implant migration, occurance of bone resorption or osteolysis at the interface. These methods are important for follow up and clinical study but do not assist the surgeon during implantation. At the time I started my Ph.D Study in Bioengineering, only one study had been undertaken to measure stability intra-operatively. No follow-up was presented to describe further results obtained with that device. In this scenario, it was believed that an instrument that could measure intra-operatively the stability achieved by an implanted stem would consistently improve the rate of success. This instrument should be accurate and should give to the surgeon during implantation a quick answer concerning the stability of the implanted stem. With this aim, an intra-operative device was designed, developed and validated. The device is meant to help the surgeon to decide how much to press-fit the implant. It is essentially made of a torsional load cell, able to measure the extent of torque applied by the surgeon to test primary stability, an angular sensor that measure the relative angular displacement between stem and femur, a rigid connector that enable connecting the device to the stem, and all the electronics for signals conditioning. The device was successfully validated in-vitro, showing a good overall accuracy in discriminating stable from unstable implants. Repeatability tests showed that the device was reliable. A calibration procedure was then performed in order to convert the angular readout into a linear displacement measurement, which is an information clinically relevant and simple to read in real-time by the surgeon. The second study reported in my thesis, concerns the evaluation of the possibility to have predictive information regarding the primary stability of a cementless stem, by measuring the micromotion of the last rasp used by the surgeon to prepare the femoral canal. This information would be really useful to the surgeon, who could check prior to the implantation process if the planned stem size can achieve a sufficient degree of primary stability, under optimal press fitting conditions. An intra-operative tool was developed to this aim. It was derived from a previously validated device, which was adapted for the specific purpose. The device is able to measure the relative micromotion between the femur and the rasp, when a torsional load is applied. An in-vitro protocol was developed and validated on both composite and cadaveric specimens. High correlation was observed between one of the parameters extracted form the acquisitions made on the rasp and the stability of the corresponding stem, when optimally press-fitted by the surgeon. After tuning in-vitro the protocol as in a closed loop, verification was made on two hip patients, confirming the results obtained in-vitro and highlighting the independence of the rasp indicator from the bone quality, anatomy and preserving conditions of the tested specimens, and from the sharpening of the rasp blades. The third study is related to an approach that have been recently explored in the orthopaedic community, but that was already in use in other scientific fields. It is based on the vibration analysis technique. This method has been successfully used to investigate the mechanical properties of the bone and its application to evaluate the extent of fixation of dental implants has been explored, even if its validity in this field is still under discussion. Several studies have been published recently on the stability assessment of hip implants by vibration analysis. The aim of the reported study was to develop and validate a prototype device based on the vibration analysis technique to measure intra-operatively the extent of implant stability. The expected advantages of a vibration-based device are easier clinical use, smaller dimensions and minor overall cost with respect to other devices based on direct micromotion measurement. The prototype developed consists of a piezoelectric exciter connected to the stem and an accelerometer attached to the femur. Preliminary tests were performed on four composite femurs implanted with a conventional stem. The results showed that the input signal was repeatable and the output could be recorded accurately. The fourth study concerns the application of the device based on the vibration analysis technique to several cases, considering both composite and cadaveric specimens. Different degrees of bone quality were tested, as well as different femur anatomies and several levels of press-fitting were considered. The aim of the study was to verify if it is possible to discriminate between stable and quasi-stable implants, because this is the most challenging detection for the surgeon in the operation room. Moreover, it was possible to validate the measurement protocol by comparing the results of the acquisitions made with the vibration-based tool to two reference measurements made by means of a validated technique, and a validated device. The results highlighted that the most sensitive parameter to stability is the shift in resonance frequency of the stem-bone system, showing high correlation with residual micromotion on all the tested specimens. Thus, it seems possible to discriminate between many levels of stability, from the grossly loosened implant, through the quasi-stable implants, to the definitely stable one. Finally, an additional study was performed on a different type of hip prosthesis, which has recently gained great interest thus becoming fairly popular in some countries in the last few years: the hip resurfacing prosthesis. The study was motivated by the following rationale: although bone-prosthesis micromotion is known to influence the stability of total hip replacement, its effect on the outcome of resurfacing implants has not been investigated in-vitro yet, but only clinically. Thus the work was aimed at verifying if it was possible to apply to the resurfacing prosthesis one of the intraoperative devices just validated for the measurement of the micromotion in the resurfacing implants. To do that, a preliminary study was performed in order to evaluate the extent of migration and the typical elastic movement for an epiphyseal prosthesis. An in-vitro procedure was developed to measure micromotions of resurfacing implants. This included a set of in-vitro loading scenarios that covers the range of directions covered by hip resultant forces in the most typical motor-tasks. The applicability of the protocol was assessed on two different commercial designs and on different head sizes. The repeatability and reproducibility were excellent (comparable to the best previously published protocols for standard cemented hip stems). Results showed that the procedure is accurate enough to detect micromotions of the order of few microns. The protocol proposed was thus completely validated. The results of the study demonstrated that the application of an intra-operative device to the resurfacing implants is not necessary, as the typical micromovement associated to this type of prosthesis could be considered negligible and thus not critical for the stabilization process. Concluding, four intra-operative tools have been developed and fully validated during these three years of research activity. The use in the clinical setting was tested for one of the devices, which could be used right now by the surgeon to evaluate the degree of stability achieved through the press-fitting procedure. The tool adapted to be used on the rasp was a good predictor of the stability of the stem. Thus it could be useful for the surgeon while checking if the pre-operative planning was correct. The device based on the vibration technique showed great accuracy, small dimensions, and thus has a great potential to become an instrument appreciated by the surgeon. It still need a clinical evaluation, and must be industrialized as well. The in-vitro tool worked very well, and can be applied for assessing resurfacing implants pre-clinically.

Analysis and Implementation of Multiphase-Multilevel Inverter for Open-Winding Loads

Research work carried out in focusing a novel multiphase-multilevel ac motor drive system much suitable for low-voltage high-current power applications. In specific, six-phase asymmetrical induction motor with open-end stator winding configuration, fed from four standard two-level three-phase voltage source inverters (VSIs). Proposed synchronous reference frame control algorithm shares the total dc source power among the 4 VSIs in each switching cycle with three degree of freedom. Precisely, first degree of freedom concerns with the current sharing between two three-phase stator windings. Based on modified multilevel space vector pulse width modulation shares the voltage between each single VSIs of two three-phase stator windings with second and third degree of freedom, having proper multilevel output waveforms. Complete model of whole ac motor drive based on three-phase space vector decomposition approach was developed in PLECS - numerical simulation software working in MATLAB environment. Proposed synchronous reference control algorithm was framed in MATLAB with modified multilevel space vector pulse width modulator. The effectiveness of the entire ac motor drives system was tested. Simulation results are given in detail to show symmetrical and asymmetrical, power sharing conditions. Furthermore, the three degree of freedom are exploited to investigate fault tolerant capabilities in post-fault conditions. Complete set of simulation results are provided when one, two and three VSIs are faulty. Hardware prototype model of quad-inverter was implemented with two passive three-phase open-winding loads using two TMS320F2812 DSP controllers. Developed McBSP (multi-channel buffered serial port) communication algorithm able to control the four VSIs for PWM communication and synchronization. Open-loop control scheme based on inverse three-phase decomposition approach was developed to control entire quad-inverter configuration and tested with balanced and unbalanced operating conditions with simplified PWM techniques. Both simulation and experimental results are always in good agreement with theoretical developments.

Essays in Industrial Organization

This dissertation comprises four essays on the topic of industrial organization and environmental economics. The first essay investigates the profitability of horizontal mergers of firms with price adjustments. We take a differential game approach and both the open-loop as well as the closed-loop equlibria are considered. In the second essay, using the same approach as the first one, we study the profitability of horizontal merger of firms where the demand function is nonlinear. We take into consideration the open-loop equilibrium. The third essay studies the profitability of exogenous output constraint in a differential game model with price dynamics under the feedback strategies. The fourth essay investigates a second-best trade agreement between two countries when pollution spillovers are asymmetric to examine the strategic behavior of governments in using pollution taxes and tariffs under trade liberalization.

Impact of E22 on two-stroke and four-stroke snowmobiles

A push to reduce dependency on foreign energy and increase the use of renewable energy has many gas stations pumping ethanol blended fuels. Recreational engines typically have less complex fuel management systems than that of the automotive sector. This prevents the engine from being able to adapt to different ethanol concentrations. Using ethanol blended fuels in recreational engines raises several consumer concerns. Engine performance and emissions are both affected by ethanol blended fuels. This research focused on assessing the impact of E22 on two-stroke and four-stroke snowmobiles. Three snowmobiles were used for this study. A 2009 Arctic Cat Z1 Turbo with a closed-loop fuel injection system, a 2009 Yamaha Apex with an open-loop fuel injection system and a 2010 Polaris Rush with an open-loop fuel injection system were used to determine the impact of E22 on snowmobile engines. A five mode emissions test was conducted on each of the snowmobiles with E0 and E22 to determine the impact of the E22 fuel. All of the snowmobiles were left in stock form to assess the effect of E22 on snowmobiles currently on the trail. Brake specific emissions of the snowmobiles running on E22 were compared to that of the E0 fuel. Engine parameters such as exhaust gas temperature, fuel flow, and relative air to fuel ratio (λ) were also compared on all three snowmobiles. Combustion data using an AVL combustion analysis system was taken on the Polaris Rush. This was done to compare in-cylinder pressures, combustion duration, and location of 50% mass fraction burn. E22 decreased total hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide for all of the snowmobiles and increased carbon dioxide. Peak power increased for the closed-loop fuel injected Arctic Cat. A smaller increase of peak power was observed for the Polaris due to a partial ability of the fuel management system to adapt to ethanol. A decrease in peak power was observed for the open-loop fuel injected Yamaha.

A STUDY ON REGIONAL CIRCULAR ECONOMY SYSTEM AND ITS CONSTRUCTION, OPERATION AND SUGGESTION FOR SHANGHAI

The characteristics of the traditional linear economic model are high consumption, high emission and low efficiency. Economic development is still largely at the expense of the environment and requires a natural resource investment. This can realize rapid economic development but resource depletion and environmental pollution become increasingly serious. In the 1990's a new economic model, circular economics, began to enter our vision. The circular economy maximizes production and minimizes the impact of economic activities on the ecological environment through organizing the activities through the closed-loop feedback cycle of "resources - production - renewable resource". Circular economy is a better way to solve the contradictions between the economic development and resource shortages. Developing circular economy has become the major strategic initiatives to achieving sustainable development in countries all over the world. The evaluation of the development of circular economics is a necessary step for regional circular economy development. Having a quantitative evaluation of circular economy can better monitor and reveal the contradictions and problems in the process of the development of recycling economy. This thesis will: 1) Create an evaluation model framework and new types of industries and 2) Make an evaluation of the Shanghai circular economy currently to analyze the situation of Shanghai in the development of circular economy. I will then propose suggestions about the structure and development of Shanghai circular economy.

Beitrag zur Dimensionierung von automatischen Sortiersystemen (Sorter)

Automatischen Sortiersysteme (Sorter) besitzen in der Intralogistik eine große Bedeutung. Sorter erreichen eine ausdauernd hohe Sortierleistung bei gleichzeitig geringer Fehlsortierrate und bilden deshalb oft den zentralen Baustein in Materialflusssystemen mit hoher Umschlagsrate. Distributionszentren mit Lager und Kommissionierfunktion sind typische Vertreter solcher Materialflusssysteme. Ein Sorter besteht aus den Subsystemen Einschleusung, Verteilförderer und Endstellen. Die folgenden Betrachtungen fokussieren auf ein Sortermodell mit einem Verteilförderer in Ringstruktur und einer Einzelplatzbelegung. Auf jedem Platz kann genau ein Gut transportiert werden. Der Verteilförderer besitzt somit eine feste Transportkapazität. Derartige Förderer werden in der Regel als Kippschalen- oder Quergurt-Sorter ausgeführt. Die theoretische Sortierleistung für diesen Sortertyp kann aus Fahrgeschwindigkeit und Transportplatzabstand bestimmt werden. Diese Systemleistung wird im praktischen Betrieb kaum erreicht. Verschiedene Faktoren im Einschleusbereich und im Ausschleusbereich führen zu einer Leistungsminderung. Betrachtungen zur Bestimmung der mittleren Warteschlangenlänge im Einschleusbereich sowie zur Ermittlung des Rundläuferanteils auf dem Verteilförderer werden im folgenden Beitrag vorgestellt. Diesem Beitrag liegt ein Forschungsvorhaben zugrunde, das aus Mitteln des Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Technologie (BMWi) über die Arbeitsgemeinschaft industrieller Forschungsvereinigungen "Otto von Guericke" (AiF) gefördert und im Auftrage der Bundesvereinigung Logistik e.V. (BVL) ausgeführt wurde.

Setting Inventory Levels of CONWIP Flow Lines via Linear Programming

This paper treats the problem of setting the inventory level and optimizing the buffer allocation of closed-loop flow lines operating under the constant-work-in-process (CONWIP) protocol. We solve a very large but simple linear program that models an entire simulation run of a closed-loop flow line in discrete time to determine a production rate estimate of the system. This approach introduced in Helber, Schimmelpfeng, Stolletz, and Lagershausen (2011) for open flow lines with limited buffer capacities is extended to closed-loop CONWIP flow lines. Via this method, both the CONWIP level and the buffer allocation can be optimized simultaneously. The first part of a numerical study deals with the accuracy of the method. In the second part, we focus on the relationship between the CONWIP inventory level and the short-term profit. The accuracy of the method turns out to be best for such configurations that maximize production rate and/or short-term profit.

eIF4E-bound mRNPs are substrates for nonsense-mediated mRNA decay in mammalian cells

Eukaryotic mRNAs with premature translation-termination codons (PTCs) are recognized and degraded by a process referred to as nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD). The evolutionary conservation of the core NMD factors UPF1, UPF2 and UPF3 would imply a similar basic mechanism of PTC recognition in all eukaryotes. However, unlike NMD in yeast, which targets PTC-containing mRNAs irrespectively of whether their 5' cap is bound by the cap-binding complex (CBC) or by the eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E), mammalian NMD has been claimed to be restricted to CBC-bound mRNAs during the pioneer round of translation. In our recent study we compared decay kinetics of two NMD reporter systems in mRNA fractions bound to either CBC or eIF4E in human cells. Our findings reveal that NMD destabilizes eIF4E bound transcripts as efficiently as those associated with CBC. These results corroborate an emerging unified model for NMD substrate recognition, according to which NMD can ensue at every aberrant translation termination event. Additionally, our results indicate that the closed loop structure of mRNA forms only after the replacement of CBC with eIF4E at the 5' cap.

eIF4E‐bound mRNPs are substrates for nonsense‐mediated mRNA decay in mammalian cells

Eukaryotic mRNAs with premature translation-termination codons (PTCs) are recognized and degraded by a process referred to as nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD). The evolutionary conservation of the core NMD factors UPF1, UPF2 and UPF3 would imply a similar basic mechanism of PTC recognition in all eukaryotes. However, unlike NMD in yeast, which targets PTC-containing mRNAs irrespectively of whether their 5' cap is bound by the cap-binding complex (CBC) or by the eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E), mammalian NMD has been claimed to be restricted to CBC-bound mRNAs during the pioneer round of translation. In our recent study we compared decay kinetics of two NMD reporter systems in mRNA fractions bound to either CBC or eIF4E in human cells. Our findings reveal that NMD destabilizes eIF4E bound transcripts as efficiently as those associated with CBC. These results corroborate an emerging unified model for NMD substrate recognition, according to which NMD can ensue at every aberrant translation termination event. Additionally, our results indicate that the closed loop structure of mRNA forms only after the replacement of CBC with eIF4E at the 5' cap.

eIF4E-bound mRNPs are substrates for nonsense-mediated mRNA decay in mammalian cells

Eukaryotic mRNAs with premature translation-termination codons (PTCs) are recognized and degraded by a process referred to as nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD). The evolutionary conservation of the core NMD factors UPF1, UPF2 and UPF3 would imply a similar basic mechanism of PTC recognition in all eukaryotes. However, unlike NMD in yeast, which targets PTC-containing mRNAs irrespectively of whether their 5' cap is bound by the cap-binding complex (CBC) or by the eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E), mammalian NMD has been claimed to be restricted to CBC-bound mRNAs during the pioneer round of translation. In our recent study we compared decay kinetics of two NMD reporter systems in mRNA fractions bound to either CBC or eIF4E in human cells. Our findings reveal that NMD destabilizes eIF4E bound transcripts as efficiently as those associated with CBC. These results corroborate an emerging unified model for NMD substrate recognition, according to which NMD can ensue at every aberrant translation termination event. Additionally, our results indicate that the closed loop structure of mRNA forms only after the replacement of CBC with eIF4E at the 5' cap.

eIF4E‐bound mRNPs are substrates for nonsense‐mediated mRNA decay in mammalian cells

Eukaryotic mRNAs with premature translation-termination codons (PTCs) are recognized and degraded by a process referred to as nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD). The evolutionary conservation of the core NMD factors UPF1, UPF2 and UPF3 would imply a similar basic mechanism of PTC recognition in all eukaryotes. However, unlike NMD in yeast, which targets PTC-containing mRNAs irrespectively of whether their 5' cap is bound by the cap-binding complex (CBC) or by the eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E), mammalian NMD has been claimed to be restricted to CBC-bound mRNAs during the pioneer round of translation. In our recent study we compared decay kinetics of two NMD reporter systems in mRNA fractions bound to either CBC or eIF4E in human cells. Our findings reveal that NMD destabilizes eIF4E bound transcripts as efficiently as those associated with CBC. These results corroborate an emerging unified model for NMD substrate recognition, according to which NMD can ensue at every aberrant translation termination event. Additionally, our results indicate that the closed loop structure of mRNA forms only after the replacement of CBC with eIF4E at the 5' cap.

ON THE EXISTENCE OF SHOCKS IN IRRADIATED EXOPLANETARY ATMOSPHERES

Supersonic flows are expected to exist in the atmospheres of irradiated exoplanets, but the question of whether shocks develop lingers. Specifically, it reduces to whether continuous flow in a closed loop may become supersonic and if some portions of the supersonic flow steepen into shocks. We first demonstrate that continuous, supersonic flow may exist in two flavors: isentropic and non-isentropic, with shocks being included in the latter class of solutions. Supersonic flow is a necessary but insufficient condition for shocks to develop. The development of a shock requires the characteristics of neighboring points in a flow to intersect. We demonstrate that the intersection of characteristics may be quantified via the knowledge of the Mach number. Finally, we examine three-dimensional simulations of hot Jovian atmospheres and demonstrate that shock formation is expected to occur mostly on the dayside hemisphere, upstream of the substellar point, because the enhanced temperatures near the substellar point provide a natural pressure barrier for the returning flow. Understanding the role of shocks in irradiated exoplanetary atmospheres is relevant to correctly modeling observables such as the peak offsets of infrared phase curves.

Inorganic carbon and geochemistry measurements from landfast sea ice in Resolute Passage, Nunavut, Canada, as part of the Arctic-ICE project, May - June 2010

We conducted a six-week investigation of the sea ice inorganic carbon system during the winter-spring transition in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Samples for the determination of sea ice geochemistry were collected in conjunction with physical and biological parameters as part of the 2010 Arctic-ICE (Arctic - Ice-Covered Ecosystem in a Rapidly Changing Environment) program, a sea ice-based process study in Resolute Passage, Nunavut. The goal of Arctic-ICE was to determine the physical-biological processes controlling the timing of primary production in Arctic landfast sea ice and to better understand the influence of these processes on the drawdown and release of climatically active gases. The field study was conducted from 1 May to 21 June, 2010.