bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Male Violence, Male Fantasy and the Commodification of Women through the Internet
Authors: Cunneen Chris , Stubbs Julie
Published: November 2011

This article considers the construction of particular forms of masculinity and femininity in the context of a new global market for sex and marital trade via the Internet. The work arose from research conducted on disproportionate levels of violence against Filipino women in Australia; in particular, high victimisation rates in cases of spousal homicides compared to other Australian women. The research led to a consideration of the intersection between gender, ethnicity and first world/third world relations. Violence against Filipino women in Australia is examined with reference to the material and symbolic dimensions which shaped their experiences as immigrants and their postcolonial identities. The gendered and racialised nature of the movement of women across national boundaries, and their subsequent exposure to more extreme levels of violence, gives the research a broader focus than simply the experiences of Filipino women in Australia.

We pay particular attention to the Internet as a site for the representation of Filipino women and as a marketplace for buying and selling women. The Internet now represents a significant international site through which Filipino women are represented as partners for sex or marriage. The Internet also exemplifies the manner in which economic privilege and access to technological knowledge and resources reinforce hierarchies based in ‘race’ and gender and reproduce inequality within and through cyberspace.
In the Shadow of the Pyramids: Domestic Violence In Egypt
Authors: Ammar Nawal H.
Published: November 2011

Domestic violence in Egypt shares many of the features identified in Western-feminist scholarship: the hidden or invisible nature of the problem, the tendency toward ‘victim blaming’, and the failure to make adequate provision for social and other support for women living with violence. In Egypt, however, these problems are exacerbated by the rigid interpretation of Qur'anic law and the patriarchal values that condone the use of violence against wives as a legitimate form of discipline. Women also have fewer options compared to their sisters in other parts of the world, especially in the developed countries. It is, however, a mistake to treat women subjected to violence in developing countries as the most pitiable of all oppressed women. For Egyptian women, the real danger comes not from overbearing patriarchy but from a passive acquiescence in its inevitability. As the stories of resistance to violence, including tales of women who kill their husbands, demonstrate, women under such conditions adopt strategies that defy patriarchal norms. The consequences of their behavior, however, are often more severe for women who display uncharacteristic activism. These women were the catalyst for pro-womanists in Egypt to develop culturally specific responses, including a change in Shari'a interpretations to allow women to be employed in criminal justice agencies, a call for a more enlightened codification of Qur'anic law and the development of support services to deal with the problems.
Once a Victim, Always A Victim? A Study of How Victimisation Patterns may Change over Time
Authors: Hopkins Matt , Tilley Nick
Published: November 2011

The evaluation of the Small Business and Crime Initiative in Leicester involved before and after victimisation surveys of all businesses in the two target areas. The second was conducted exactly two years after the first. Each sweep achieved a response rate of 65%. A panel sample of 483 businesses took part in both surveys. The results afford an opportunity to track crime experience over time. This paper reports findings about the patterns of continuity and change in victimisation amongst members of the panel sample. Four groups are distinguished: those with low crime levels in both sweeps, those with high crime levels in both sweeps, those going from relatively high to relatively low levels, and those going from relatively low to relatively high levels. Identifying triggers leading from low to high rates of victimisation and from high to low ones clearly has implications for prevention. There may be scope usefully also to track victimisation careers of non-business victims of crime.
Victimization of Incarcerated Children and Juveniles in South Africa
Authors: Kiessl Heidrun , Würger Michael
Published: November 2011

The empirical study reported here analyses the practical relevance of United Nations standards and norms in the area of juvenile justice. It concentrates on South Africa and focuses on the implementation of the Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty and Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. A total of 804 children/juveniles and 404 correctional officers participated in the survey. In this article, the broader analysis of implementation conditions of the minimum standards is confined to some core variables. Staff and inmates of 18 facilities were questioned on issues surrounding the reason for victimization of incarcerated child inmates and interpersonal violence. Although the extended survey is not purely a victim's survey, it showed the relevance of victimization issues to the well-being of the young inmates. It is an important discussion, as there are only a limited number of prison victimization studies internationally, as prisoners are often are neglected as possible victims. In particular, child inmates are much more sensitive to the effects of detention than adult inmates and are particularly vulnerable to victimization. Where young offenders become victims of assault or sexual assault during incarceration the question arises, how successful will be their future reintegration into society? Some areas for the improvement of safety of young inmates and the prevention of victimization which may be relevant not only to South Africa but also to other countries are identified.
Violence Against Women in Yemen: Official Statistics and an Exploratory Survey
Authors: Ba-Obaid Mohamed , Bijleveld Catrien C.J.H.
Published: November 2011

This article presents official statistics on violence against women in Yemen, as a threshold indicator of victimization incidence. Next, we present the findings from an exploratory survey into the prevalence of violent victimisation among a stratified sample of 120 women in Sana' a. We distinguish several kinds of violence. It appears that over half of the interviewed women have been threatened at some point in their lives, 55% have been abused physically, 34% have been victimized financially, and 17% are victims of sexual violence. Only 28% had not suffered at least one kind of violence. Older, married or divorced, and less educated women are at higher risk of victimisation. For those women who had been victimized, the husband was most often the perpetrator, although strangers also contributed sizeably to overall victimization. Most women report psychological damage as a consequence of the abuse and hardly ever seek help from the police. Additional qualitative findings show that many women regard the violence they have suffered as ordinary, and many regard society as being in principle against them and favouring men. We end with policy recommendations as well as recommendations for future research.
The Behavioural, Emotional and Psychological Effects of Street Robbery on Victims
Authors: Gale Julie-Anne , Coupe Timothy
Published: November 2011

This paper is concerned with the emotional and psychological impact of street robbery on its victims. Findings are presented from two sets of interviews with robbery victims sampled from police incident records, and conducted within three weeks and again nine months after victimisation. A majority of victims found street robbery to be a very frightening experience, and, as a result, fear of crime increased and many victims suffered serious psychological distress. While the effects had moderated 9 months after the crime, the robberies were still having a serious and enduring effect on victims' fear, social behaviour and psychological health, particularly for women and those who possessed a less hardy personality.
Domestic Violence and Repeat Victimization
Authors: McLean Maxwell
Published: November 2011

This paper seeks to establish domestic violence as the most prevalent repeated, criminal offence of our time. The author makes use of his experience in introducing the United Kingdom's first ever Repeat Victimiaztion Methodology to the crime of domestic violence, implemented in Killingbeck Division, Leeds. He seeks to show that early structured intervention does reduce repeated attendances and that significant achievements can be made with little or no extra resources. The paper demonstrates, by reference to a murder case study, the tragic consequences of agencies' failure to share information. A number of policy recommendations are made for consideration by governments, many of which are now being implemented in the United Kingdom.
Strategies and Tactics: Contexts and Mechanisms — The Essence of Effective Prevention
Authors: Tilley Nick
Published: November 2011

Targeting repeat victimization comprises a way of achieving effectiveness, efficiency and equity in crime prevention. Research has found that victimization leads to increased risk of further victimization, especially in the short term; that ‘hot spots’ have a disproportionate number of repeat victims; and that repeat offences tend to be committed by prolific offenders. The development of successful crime reduction tactics and strategies also requires detailed attention to the mechanisms through which patterns are generated and may be disrupted, and the contexts relevant to differing mechanisms. Inattention to these is liable to lead to the implementation of ineffective measures or measures with counterproductive unintended consequences. Four generic approaches appear to have particular promise in devising effective crime reduction initiatives, including those targeting repeat victimization: situational analysis and problem-solving; cumulative protective intervention; synthesis of prevention, detection and disruption; and near neighbour mobilization.
Searching for the Victim in the General Sociological Literature on Crime
Authors: Woods Joshua
Published: November 2011

In the last fifty years, the sociology of crime has been transformed by a changing ideological climate, the politicization of crime research and a greater isolation of criminology with respect to its theories, methods, organization and physical location outside of sociology departments. The objective of this paper is to explore how these changes may have influenced today's general sociological literature on crime. We begin by laying out our basic theoretical assumptions. Next, the article offers an assessment of crime's status in the sociological literature throughout the twentieth century. Finally, we move to a more detailed analysis of the current research on crime. We analyze four consecutive issues from 31 general sociology journals published in 2003–2004. A thematic distinction is drawn between articles that focus on the perpetrators of crime and articles that highlight the effects of crime on its victims. After substantiating and refining this distinction, we identify where most of the articles belong in this typology and explain why our findings are important to anyone interested in the study of crime.
Immigrants and Law Enforcement: A Comparison of Native-Born and Foreign-Born Americans' Opinions of the Police
Authors: Davis Robert C. , Hendricks Nicole J.
Published: November 2011

As the immigrant population continues to grow, law enforcement agencies face increasing demands to provide services and reach out to groups that are subject to victimization and reluctant to become involved with authorities. The current paper provides a quantitative look at how immigrants perceive the police, how they evaluate their experiences with police, and their willingness to engage in voluntary contacts with the police, relative to native-born Americans. Data come from a telephone survey with a community sample of residents of Seattle commissioned by the city officials to identify possible friction points in police-public interactions.

After controlling for ethnicity and other demographic factors, we found that immigrants rated the police more positively than native-born Americans on measures of police effectiveness, police misconduct, and satisfaction with both voluntary and involuntary contacts. However, we found that immigrants were far less likely than native-born Americans to contact the police for assistance. On measures from reporting crimes and other problem situations to participating in police anti-crime programs, immigrants were less likely to seek contact with the police.
Cultural Considerations and Challenges to Service Delivery for Sudanese Victims of Domestic Violence: Insights from Service Providers and Actors in the Criminal Justice System
Authors: Keller Elizabeth M. , Brennan Pauline K.
Published: November 2011

Omaha, Nebraska has recently seen an influx of immigrant refugees from the African nation of Sudan. Domestic violence service providers wony that many Sudanese women are suffering abuse in silence. With that in mind, we identified a number of common obstacles that immigrant women are likely to face when accessing services for domestic violence. We interviewed victim advocates, criminal justice personnel, and other community-based service providers. Our respondents identified the areas of difficulty they encountered most frequently when working with Sudanese clients. Everyone interviewed agreed that Sudanese cultural norms created barriers to service delivery. Our respondents also discussed the strategies they employed when they provided services to Sudanese women, along with their impressions about how well or how poorly those approaches worked. We present their experiences, their challenges, and their recommendations for the future.
Domestic Violence Help-Seeking Behaviors of South Asian Battered Women Residing in the United States
Authors: Raj Anita , Silverman Jay G.
Published: November 2011

This study was designed to assess domestic violence help-seeking behaviors among battered South Asian women residing in Greater Boston, USA. Prevalence of these behaviors was assessed among South Asian women reporting violence in their current relationship via an anonymous survey (N=44). Forms and qualities of help-seeking behaviors and needs were assessed via in-depth interviews with a separate sample of self-identified battered South Asian women (N=23). Of the surveyed battered women (N=44), 23 (52%) reported no acquisition of support or services assessed; no women reported use of criminal justice services; and only two had contacted a domestic violence program (5%). Qualitative data (N=23) indicate that when help-seeking does occur, it is elicited by increasing severity in violence and/or thoughts of separation from the batterer; it begins with help-seeking within the community, and the community response includes helping link victims with more formal domestic violence services. However, among women attempting to separate from their batterer, resource constraints at the programmatic level and restrictive immigration laws were cited as major hurdles they were facing towards independence. Findings from this study attest to the need for a multi-level approach to support battered South Asian women in the US that goes beyond the current criminal justice model of intervention.
The Prevalence of Stalking in The Netherlands
Authors: Van Der Aa Suzan , Kunst Maarten
Published: November 2011

Over eight years after the enactment of the Dutch anti-stalking provisions there are still no figures detailing the prevalence of stalking in The Netherlands. This article aims to estimate the lifetime and annual prevalence of this form of victimisation within the Dutch population. Questionnaires were distributed in July 2007 to visitors to the annual Tilburg fun fair. Of the 1,027 respondents 16.5 percent reported a lifetime rate of stalking victimisation and 3.9 percent had experienced stalking within the past twelve months. With more than one in five women (20.7%) and almost one in seven men (13.4%), women were significantly more likely to report having been subjected to stalking at some time during their lives. This would concern approximately 1.4 million women and 0.9 million men nationally. In line with previous research, age was significantly related to life-time stalking, with younger people having greater odds of reporting victimisation.
Victims and the International Criminal Court (ICC): Evaluating the Success of the ICC with Respect to Victims
Authors: Wemmers Jo-Anne
Published: November 2011

A distinguishing feature of the International Criminal Court is its recognition of victims' rights. Victims have been described as the raison d'être of this new, permanent court. But when can the Court be considered successful with regard to victims? Should the Court help victims' recovery, should it facilitate reconciliation or should it simply punish? Will the Court be judged based on the outcomes it provides or based on the way in which these outcomes are reached (process)? Based on interviews with Court personnel, this paper examines possible criteria for measuring the success of the Court.
Neighbourhood Disorder and Worry About Criminal Victimization in the Neighbourhood
Authors: Mellgren Caroline , Pauwels Lieven , Levander Marie Torstensson
Published: November 2011

This study tested a cross-level integrated model of neighbourhood level disorder and individual level vulnerability, in relation to explaining individual differences in worry about criminal victimization1. The aim of the present study is (1) to establish if there is unique neighbourhood level variation in worry about criminal victimization, independent of neighbourhood composition, and(2) to establish the extent to which two proposed mechanisms at the individual level, prior local victimization and perceived disorder, act as mediators of a hypothesised effect of neighbourhood level disorder. Given the hierarchical structure of the research question a series of multilevel analyses based on data from a survey of more than 4,000 residents of a Swedish urban are a was performed. Findings by and large indicate that there are significant neighbourhood level differences in worry about criminal victimization and that these differences are not completely due to compositional effects. Neighbourhood disorder has effects on worry about criminal victimization, independent of the composition of neighbourhoods. The present study suggests that neighbourhood disorder has consequences for worry about criminal victimization and that prior victimization and perceived disorder are key mediators of the contextual effect of neighbourhood disorder. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Property Crime Victimisation: The Roles of Individual and Area Influences
Authors: Trickett Alan , Osborn Denise R. , Ellingworth Dan
Published: November 2011

The likelihood of being a victim of property crime is modelled using the characteristics of the individual household and of the area. In addition to total property crime, we separately consider the components of burglary, theft and criminal damage. In all cases, both area and individual variables are significant predictors of victimisation risk, but the area is generally more important than the individual. We also find that an unexplained correlation remains between households within the same area. To caricature our overall results, young professionals living in detached or semi-detached houses in poor areas are particularly likely to fall victim to crime.
The Role of Displays of Emotions and Ethnicity in Judgments of Rape Victims
Authors: Vrij Aldert , Fischer Agneta
Published: November 2011

The present experiment investigated the impact of displays of emotions and ethnicity of a rape victim on impression formation of white male and female observers. It was expected that victims would be assessed more favourably when they behaved angrily, rather than sadly, and when they were white rather than black. Moreover, it was expected that female observers would assess victims more positively than male observers. In the present experiment 51 male and 49 female observers watched a videotape of a victim of rape (an actress) during a simulated police interview. The ethnicity of the victim (white vs. black) and the emotion displayed by the victim (sad vs angry) was systematically manipulated. Observers' interpretations of what had happened were investigated by means of a questionnaire. The findings supported hypotheses relating to display of emotions and gender of the participants but failed to support the hypothesis concerning ethnicity.
The Impact of Burglary: A Tale of Two Cities
Authors: Mawby R I , Walklate S
Published: November 2011

Victims' experiences of burglary in two contrasting English cities are compared, using data from a wider cross-national survey. Perceptions of the incident are assessed in terms of financial costs and the wider impact, including the effect of the crime on children in the household, and these are considered alongside the operation of victim support in the two areas. Finally victims' reactions are compared according to concern over future victimisation and crime prevention initiatives. Overall the data suggest that while the responses of burglary victims in the two contrasting urban environments share many common features, living in a more impoverished environment with higher rates of crime influences the ways in which respondents respond to their burglary.
Child Homicide in Developed Countries
Authors: Unnithan N. Prabha
Published: November 2011

Previous research has found that the United States has had atypically high rates of child homicide. This paper re-evaluates this and other findings using late 1980s data for 24 developed countries under current cause of death categories (and also includes the 5–14 years age group). The United States continues to have high homicide rates for the entire span of childhood. New Zealand also ranks high. Comparatively, in both countries male infants and females 1–4 years face greater risks of homicide, which is a major cause of death in certain age groups. Reporting artifacts are a possibility raised again by this study. Related issues are discussed empirically and using recent conceptual clarifications regarding family involvement and child abuse.
Information Systems for Victims of Crime: Results of Comparative Research
Authors: Brienen Marion E.I. , Hoegen Ernestine H.
Published: November 2011

In 1994 Tilburg University in the Netherlands and the Dutch Ministry of Justice launched a four-year research project on the implementation of Recommendation R (85) 11 of the Council of Europe on the Position of the Victim in the Framework of Criminal Law and Procedure. Many of the guidelines encompassed by the Recommendation deal with information. In this article, which is based on interim results of the Dutch research, the focus is on the formal and actual implementation in several different countries of the guidelines concerning information that the criminal justice system should provide to the victim. Different information systems are compared and some of the problems encountered in practice are identified. Where possible, causes and solutions are suggested.
Afraid or Angry? Recalibrating the ‘fear’ of Crime
Authors: Ditton Jason , Bannister Jon , Gilchrist Elizabeth , Farrall Stephen
Published: November 2011

Studying the fear of crime is a research field that has grown enormously in the past two decades. Yet our empirical knowledge has grown at the expense of conceptual development. It is beginning to be suspected that ‘fear’ is a term encompassing a confusing variety of feelings, perspectives, risk-estimations, and which thus means different things to different people. It is additionally suggested that what we know empirically may well be largely an artefact of the fact that the questions that are put repeatedly to respondents seldom vary, and the ways that those questions are put, and the settings in which they are put seldom change. The research project which is in part reported here initially used one set of respondents to develop new questions relating to their general and specific feelings about criminal victimisation, before testing them on another, much larger sample. This latter exercise confirmed that being ‘angry’ about the threat of criminal victimisation is more frequently reported than being ‘afraid’ of it. Little is known of the meaning or range of meanings that respondents infer with the term ‘anger’, but further research — which is needed — might well show that anger about crime is as complicated a concept as fear of crime has transpired to be. In any event, research into anger should benefit from the lessons learnt from three decades of research into fear.
Victims and the Criminal Justice System: The Vagaries of Integration
Authors: Lucken Karol
Published: November 2011

In the U.S., some claim victim integration into criminal justice is nearly complete, as evidenced by the implementation of various victim rights and service programs nationwide. Others claim integration has been scarcely realized, as evidenced by the practices associated with these rights and programs. A question that subsequently emerges is not simply which claim is more accurate, but rather how is the success or failure of integrative efforts to be determined. Success defined by the presence of victim rights and service programs ignores operational realities, whereas failure defined by those realities has focused on the contrary state of victim participation in criminal justice decision-making. This particular empirical focus overlooks a host of other operational realities by which to assess success or failure. The current study reports on certain of these neglected realities, namely the role of criminal justice in facilitating service delivery, and criminal justice perspectives on victim service needs and victims. These perspectives are examined using survey data obtained from 893 criminal justice officials (law enforcement officers, judges, state's attorneys, and probation officers) from a large Florida County. The findings show the integration process is still wanting in the following respects: criminal justice perceptions of victims are often negative, criminal justice knowledge of victims services is lacking, and victim service delivery is highly fragmented. The meaning and policy implications of these findings are also discussed.
Victims in the Village: Aspects of Restorative Justice on Papua New Guinea
Authors: Banks Cyndi
Published: November 2011

In the villages of Vanimo West Coast, Papua New Guinea, restorative justice processes continue to adhere to traditional practices and beliefs. To a great extent the modern concept of restorative justice or community justice is grounded in the practices of traditional societies such as those of the Maori in New Zealand. One question which arises through the modernisation process is how modernisation has impacted traditional restorative practices and in particular how the criminal justice system is perceived and used by indigenous peoples. Through an exploration of research undertaken by the author in Vanimo West Coast villages the kinds of acts considered injurious are identified, as are traditional restorative justice processes and modern attitudes and practices by victims seeking justice. The research illustrates that villages have maintained a private/public distinction in their disputes, keeping disputes between close kin private and publicising others. Whereas traditionally, disputes made public would be taken to the Chief, nowadays in some cases, the courts and the community government council are the chosen forums for publication. Sometimes a victim seeks only to shame the offender by making the dispute public, this being an end in itself. Overall, the research makes explicit the capacity of victims for adaptation and the continued resilience of custom in resolving grievances.
Minimum 10-Year Follow-up of Arthroscopic Intra-articular Bankart Repair Using Bioabsorbable Tacks
Authors: Privitera David M. , Bisson Leslie J. , Marzo John M.
Published: November 2011

Background: There are few long-term studies evaluating functional outcomes and rates of arthrosis after arthroscopic Bankart repair with bioabsorbable tacks.

Purpose: We evaluated the clinical and radiographic results of arthroscopic Bankart repair using intra-articular bioabsorbable tacks at a minimum of 10 years’ follow-up.

Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

Methods: Thirty-two consecutive patients were retrospectively identified. Twenty patients (63%) were evaluated at a mean follow-up of 13.5 years (range, 10.75-17.5 years) and average age of 43 years (range, 28-73 years). The surgical shoulder (SS) was compared with a healthy control shoulder (CS) in 15 of 20 patients. Outcome tools included the Western Ontario Shoulder Instability Index (WOSI) and Disabilities of the Shoulder, Arm, and Hand (DASH). Blinded, independent evaluators performed physical examinations and reviewed radiographs.

Results: Thirteen patients (65%) had stable shoulders, 5 of 7 (25%) failed by dislocation, and 2 of 7 (10%) failed by signs of anterior instability on examination. Three patients underwent revision stabilization surgery. Average time to failure was 4.2 years (range, 0.25-14.7 years). Average WOSI and DASH scores were 80% and 7.3, respectively. The CS faired better than SS in WOSI scores (97% vs 83%, respectively; P = .008), main DASH scores (0.39 vs 6.79, respectively; P = .024), and the DASH sports module (0.00 vs 10.94, respectively; P = .043). Patients lost 5.9° of passive forward flexion ( P = .031) and 4.3° of passive external rotation ( P = .001). Forty percent returned to their preoperative sports level. Higher grades of arthrosis were seen in the SS (20% absent, 40% mild, 25% moderate, and 15% severe) versus CS ( P = .002).

Conclusion: At long-term follow-up, 65% of patients treated with an arthroscopic Bankart repair using bioabsorbable tacks had a well-functioning, stable shoulder. Disability scores were greatest with sports; however, the majority of patients had well-preserved ranges of motion and good functional WOSI scores. Despite this, 40% had evidence of moderate to severe glenohumeral arthrosis.
Discrete hybrid PSO algorithm for design of laminate composites with multiple objectives
Authors: Rao A. Rama Mohan , Lakshmi K.
Published: November 2011

This article presents a multi-objective discrete hybrid adaptive swarm intelligence algorithm for combinatorial optimization and applied for design optimization of fiber-reinforced composite structures. An approach is presented in this article to integrate a Pareto dominance concept into the adaptive PSO algorithm developed earlier by the first author in order to handle multi-objective optimization problems. In fact, a hybrid version of the adaptive PSO algorithm is now proposed in this article for multi-objective optimization by integrating with discrete as well as continuous neighborhood search algorithms. Further, an external archive technique is also integrated in order to collect the historical Pareto optimal solutions. The design constraints are handled in this article by treating them as additional objectives. Numerical studies have been carried out through the optimization of a hybrid fiber-reinforced composite plate, laminate composite cylindrical shell, and also a pressure vessel problem with varied number of design objectives. Standard performance metrics are employed to evaluate the performance of the proposed multi-objective hybrid PSO algorithm with both discrete as well as continuous neighborhood search algorithms. Studies clearly favor hybrid PSO with variable-depth neighborhood search algorithm. Finally, comparisons have also been made with other popular evolutionary algorithms like NSGA-II, PAES, Micro-GA, and SPEA2 to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed hybrid multi-objective PSO algorithm.
Experimental characterizations of bending fatigue of a four-step 3-D braided rectangular composite under different stress levels
Authors: Zhao Qiang , Jin Limin , Jiang Lili , Zhang Yan , Sun Baozhong , Gu Bohong
Published: November 2011

This article reports the bending fatigue behavior of a four-step 3-D rectangular braided composite at different stress levels. The S–N curve and the stress vs. deflection history were recorded to investigate the bending fatigue behaviors of the braided composite. Specifically, the area of the stress hysteresis loop in each loading cycle and the accumulated area of the whole loading cycles were calculated from the stress vs. deflection history curves. All the integral areas were compared at different stress levels for analyzing the energy absorption. Then, the energy absorptions during the bending fatigue were compared to analyze the energy dissipation mechanisms taking place during the fatigue process. The stiffness degradation was also calculated to show the fatigue damage. The damage morphologies of the 3-D braided composite specimens were photographed to compare the failure modes under different stress levels.
When the President Speaks…
Authors: Oliver Willard M. , Hill Joshua , Marion Nancy E.
Published: November 2011

The theory of presidential influence over public opinion is used to predict the impact of presidential rhetoric on the public’s concern regarding drug use as “the most important problem (MIP) facing the nation.” It is hypothesized that the more attention presidents give to the policy area of drugs in their state of the union (SOTU) addresses, the more concerned the public becomes with drug use. Using a time-series regression analysis of data collected from a content analysis of presidents’SOTU speeches regressed on the Gallup Poll’s MIP series from 1946 to 2010, the findings suggest that presidential mentions of drugs in the SOTU addresses influence public concern for illicit drugs in America.
A weight of evidence approach for the assessment of the ototoxic potential of industrial chemicals
Authors: Vyskocil A , Truchon G , Leroux T , Lemay F , Gendron M , Gagnon F , Majidi N El , Boudjerida A , Lim S , Emond C , Viau C
Published: November 2011

There is accumulating epidemiological evidence that exposure to some solvents, metals, asphyxiants and other substances in humans is associated with an increased risk of acquiring hearing loss. Furthermore, simultaneous and successive exposure to certain chemicals along with noise can increase the susceptibility to noise-induced hearing loss. There are no regulations that require hearing monitoring of workers who are employed at locations in which occupational exposure to potentially ototoxic chemicals occurs in the absence of noise exposure. This project was undertaken to develop a toxicological database allowing the identification of possible ototoxic substances present in the work environment alone or in combination with noise exposure. Critical toxicological data were compiled for chemical substances included in the Quebec occupational health regulation. The data were evaluated only for noise exposure levels that can be encountered in the workplace and for realistic exposure concentrations up to the short-term exposure limit or ceiling value (CV) or 5 times the 8-h time-weighted average occupational exposure limit (TWA OEL) for human data and up to 100 times the 8-h TWA OEL or CV for animal studies. In total, 224 studies (in 150 articles of which 44 evaluated the combined exposure to noise and a chemical) covering 29 substances were evaluated using a weight of evidence approach. For the majority of cases where potential ototoxicity was previously proposed, there is a paucity of toxicological data in the primary literature. Human and animal studies indicate that lead, styrene, toluene and trichloroethylene are ototoxic and ethyl benzene, n-hexane and p-xylene are possibly ototoxic at concentrations that are relevant to the occupational setting. Carbon monoxide appears to exacerbate noise-induced hearing dysfunction. Toluene interacts with noise to induce more severe hearing losses than the noise alone.
Oxidative damage in erythrocytes of adult rats and their suckling pups exposed to gibberellic acid
Authors: Troudi Afef , Soudani Nejla , Amara Ibtissem Ben , Bouaziz Hanen , Ayadi Fatma Makni , Zeghal Najiba
Published: November 2011

Gibberellic acid (GA3) is a plant growth regulator used in agriculture worldwide. The present study investigated the propensity of GA3 to induce hematological disorders. Pregnant Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups: group I served as controls; group II received orally GA3 (200 ppm) from the 14th day of pregnancy until day 14 after delivery. GA3 reduced the number of red blood cells, hemoglobin concentration, and hematocrit in suckling rats, while these parameters remained unchanged in their mothers. White blood cells increased in mothers and were unchanged in their pups. Several studies have associated these hematological disorders with oxidative stress. In fact, GA3 treatment revealed in erythrocytes a significant increase in malondialdehyde levels and a decrease in antioxidant enzyme activities such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase. Moreover, a significant decline was observed in acetylcholinesterase activity, glutathione, nonprotein thiols, and vitamin C levels.
CAD simulation and generation machining of discrete ring-involute spherical segment gear pair
Authors: Nayak Prasmit Kumar , Shunmugam MS
Published: November 2011

A spherical segment gear pair is useful in robotic wrist and similar such applications that require two degrees of freedom. From the first principle, tooth surface of spherical gear can be mathematically derived from a rack-cutter profile using the coordinate transformation and one-parameter family of envelope theory. Alternatively, the spherical gear tooth surface is obtained as an envelope of a series of cutter surfaces formed during the kinematic motion between work blank and cutter. Conventional gear cutting machines cannot be used to generate the spherical gears and hence the spherical gears have remained a conceptual mechanism. In order to establish the feasibility of generation machining, a CAD-based simulation is carried out first where work blank and cutter are taken as solid models and the simulation is performed using the Boolean operation to remove the interfered material in an incremental manner, maintaining the kinematic relationship. The actual machining of the spherical segment gear is then carried out on a five-axis CNC machining centre using a specially developed conical end-mill cutter having a semi-cone angle of 20°. The script file for the CAD simulation has also been used for creating the program for CNC machining.
Acoustic emission monitoring of abrasive particle impacts on carbon steel
Authors: Droubi M G , Reuben R L , White G
Published: November 2011

The estimation of energy dissipation during particle impact is a key aspect in evaluating the abrasive potential of impact process. Whereas numerous numerical and analytical approaches exist, aimed at explaining observed wear phenomena, few researchers have attempted to measure the energy dissipation during impact. This article reports the results of systematic acoustic emission (AE) energy measurements aimed at detecting the amount of energy dissipated in a carbon steel target during airborne particle impact. Three experimental arrangements were used to investigate three impact regimes; low velocity–low mass (impact speeds of 1–2.5 m/s and masses of 4.9 × 10−6 to 2.3 × 10−4 g), low velocity–high mass (sphere masses of 0.001–2 g), and high velocity–low mass (impact speeds of 4–16 m/s). Within each of these regimes, both single-particle and multiple-particle impacts were studied in order to investigate the effect of overlapping events. Two parameters, particle diameter and particle impact speed, both of which affect the energy dissipated into the material were investigated and correlated with AE energy. The results show that AE increases with the third power of particle diameter, i.e. the mass, and with the second power of the velocity, as would be expected. The diameter exponent was only valid up to particle sizes of around 1.5 mm, an observation which was attributed to different energy dissipation mechanisms with the higher associated momentum. The velocity exponent, and the general level of the energy were lower for multiple impacts than for single impacts, and this was attributed to particle interactions in the guide tube and/or near the surface leading to an underestimate of the actual impact velocity in magnitude and direction.
Fuel near-optimal guidance law for the powered descending phase of a lunar module
Authors: Zhang F , Duan G
Published: November 2011

This article proposes a fuel near-optimal robust guidance law for a lunar module during the powered descending phase in the lunar soft landing mission. At first, a three-dimensional kinetic model is introduced based on the defined target coordinate frame, where a single thruster misalignment and the moon rotation are considered. Next, with a computational method in conjunction with a time transform, a fuel optimal open-loop guidance law is derived for the nominal model without any disturbance. Then, to attenuate disturbances caused by thrust error and external disturbances, an additional robust H∞ feedback controller is designed to track the obtained reference trajectory and meet the constraints of control input, by solving a convex optimization problem with linear matrix inequality conditions. Finally, numerical simulation illustrates the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Symbolic identification for fault detection in aircraft gas turbine engines
Authors: Chakraborty S , Sarkar S , Ray A
Published: November 2011

This article presents a robust and computationally inexpensive technique of component-level fault detection in aircraft gas-turbine engines. The underlying algorithm is based on a recently developed statistical pattern recognition tool, symbolic dynamic filtering (SDF), that is built upon symbolization of sensor time series data. Fault detection involves abstraction of a language-theoretic description from a general dynamical system structure, using state space embedding of output data streams and discretization of the resultant pseudo-state and input spaces. System identification is achieved through grammatical inference based on the generated symbol sequences. The deviation of the plant output from the nominal estimated language yields a metric for fault detection. The algorithm is validated for both single- and multiple-component faults on a simulation test-bed that is built upon the NASA C-MAPSS model of a generic commercial aircraft engine.
Development of a model to investigate the yaw behaviour of small horizontal axis wind turbines
Authors: Narayana M , Putrus G A , Leung P S , Jovanovic M , McDonald S
Published: November 2011

Almost all small wind turbines have a tail vane to point the wind rotor into the wind direction. Various types of control mechanisms are used to protect the wind turbines from high-wind speeds. In this study, a generic model of a wind turbine is developed to investigate the yaw operation of small-scale horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT) with a single tail vane. A tilt-up wind turbine is considered here as most of the other HAWT types can be simplified to a state of this model. In the tilted up wind turbines, the wind rotor is free to move around the horizontal axis as well as the vertical one. When the wind speed exceeds the rated value, the wind rotor tilts upwards, taking up a stable position with an inclination towards the direction of the wind, thus controlling the wind component responsible for power generation. This article describes the development of a mathematical model of small-scale HAWT using the D'Alembert's principle to investigate the complex behaviour of the wind turbine under transient and steady-state operating conditions. In this model, the blade element theory was adapted to predict the aerodynamic forces on the wind rotor at each rotor position. Combining the modified blade element with the momentum theories makes it possible to evaluate flow fields of induced velocities around the wind rotor. Yaw movements are modelled by considering dynamic responses of the tail vane. Finally, simulation results are presented to illustrate the yaw behaviour of a small wind turbine.
The importance of flow and turbulence characteristics for hydrokinetic energy development on the Tanana River at Nenana, Alaska
Authors: Walsh C , Fochesatto J , Toniolo H
Published: November 2011

The site selection for the installation of hydrokinetic devices along a river reach is an issue of fundamental importance. While it is acknowledged that multiple factors such as accessibility, navigation, safety, and hydraulics, among many others, must be considered in the final decision, this article focuses on the influence of river morphology on turbulence flow parameters. Specifically, continuous high-resolution velocity measurements from a hydrokinetic resource assessment on the Tanana River near Nenana in the interior of Alaska are analysed to estimate, kinetic energy (KE), turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) as well as KE partition at particular locations. To accomplish these tasks, two different methods used to rotate the coordinate systems into the main flow direction are correlated and compared in order to extract the turbulent parameters from the main flow. The coordinate system methods include the streamline coordinate rotation and the extraction of statistical fluctuations from the average flow. The streamline coordinate rotation method is chosen to extract the TKE in temporal series. The calculated TKE was up to 30 per cent of the total flow KE in measurements located in pools and dissipated downstream, beyond the highly turbulent locations of bathymetric depressions and river bends. The overall KE increased over a bed free of major macro-obstacles and reduced depth, where the TKE fraction accounted for only 2 per cent of the total KE. The visualizations of the KE and TKE are compared with the river morphology, leading to identification of helical flow, flow separation, and turbulent flow structures along the river bend and in pools to help the decision-making process in hydrokinetic planning.
Preliminary investigation of a novel solar and wind energy extraction system
Authors: Li J-y , Guo P-h , Wang Y
Published: November 2011

A novel solar and wind energy extraction system is proposed and described in this article. The system is a combination of the solar chimney and tornado-type wind tower, with the wind tower installed at the exit of the solar chimney. The proposed system can considerably increase the driving force in the chimney using high-elevation wind energy. The higher the wind speed, the greater the driving force. This will lead to an obvious rise in maximum power output of the novel system. Theoretical models of this novel system are also developed, and the calculated results agree well with the numerical simulations. It is found that the pressure deficit produced by the tornado-type wind tower plays a key role in the increase of the power output. By using the high-elevation wind energy, this novel system can considerably alleviate the difficulty of constructing a gigantic concrete chimney in the solar chimney system.
Optimizing the convergence of data-based controller tuning
Authors: Eckhard D , Bazanella A S
Published: November 2011

Data-based control design methods most often consist of iterative adjustment of the controller’s parameters towards the parameter values which minimize an [Formula: see text] performance criterion. Typically, batches of input-output data collected from the system are used to feed directly a gradient descent optimization algorithm – no process model is used. Two topics are important regarding this algorithm: the convergence rate and the convergence to the global minimum. This paper discusses these issues and provides a method for choosing the step size to ensure convergence with high convergence rate, as well as a test to verify at each step whether or not the algorithm is converging to the global minimum.