Determining the Refractive Index Variation within Panes of Vehicle Windshield Glass

Refractive indices of seven double‐paned vehicle windshields were measured to assess the variation across the pane of glass and to evaluate collection techniques for known glass standards by comparing false negative rates. Measurements were made using a Foster and Freeman GRIM3 instrument, and a minimum of 240 measurements were made per pane. The mean SD of the windshields was 0.00004. It was further determined that collecting a known sample from two different sections of a shattered windshield gave the lowest rate of false negatives when using ± 2 standard deviations to estimate the RI variation of the known glass. Additionally, refractive indices often were highest in the center of the windshield and decreased toward the left and right edges; in approximately half the sample set, the two panes of a single windshield were differentiated by one or more properties.     

Driving Under the Influence of Synthetic Cannabinoid Receptor Agonist XLR‐11

The case of a 22‐year‐old male Caucasian driver is presented. He was involved in a traffic collision. At the roadside, he displayed blank stare and mellow speech with a barely audible voice. A DRE found low body temperature, rigid muscle tone, normal pulse, lack of horizontal and vertical gaze nystagmus, nonconvergence of the eyes, dilated pupil size, and normal Pupillary reaction to light. A standard toxicology DUID protocol was performed on the driver's whole blood including ELISA and GC‐MS drug screens with negative results. Additional drug screening was undertaken for bath salts and synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists by LC‐MS/MS by a commercial laboratory and identified the synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist XLR‐11 in the driver's blood. XLR‐11 was subsequently quantified at 1.34 ng/mL. This is the first documented case involving a driver operating a motor vehicle under the influence of the synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist XLR‐11.     

Real interest rate persistence in South Africa: evidence and implications

The real interest rate is a very important variable in the transmission of monetary policy. It features in vast majority of financial and macroeconomic models. Though the theoretical importance of the real interest rate has generated a sizable literature that examines its long-run properties, surprisingly, there does not exist any study that delves into this issue for South Africa. Given this, using quarterly data (1960:Q2-2010:Q4) for South Africa, our paper endeavors to analyze the long-run properties of the ex post real rate by using tests of unit root, cointegration, fractional integration and structural breaks. In addition, we also analyze whether monetary shocks contribute to fluctuations in the real interest rate based on test of structural breaks of the rate of inflation, as well as, Bayesian change point analysis. Based on the tests conducted, we conclude that the South African EPPR can be best viewed as a very persistent but ultimately mean-reverting process. Also, the persistence in the real interest rate can be tentatively considered as a monetary phenomenon.     

UNPACKING THE BLACK BOX OF PEER SIMILARITY IN DEVIANCE: UNDERSTANDING THE MECHANISMS LINKING PERSONAL BEHAVIOR,PEER BEHAVIOR,AND PERCEPTIONS

The strong correlation between measures of personal and peer deviance occurs with near “law‐like” regularity. Yet, as with other manifestations of peer similarity (often referred to as homophily), the mechanisms generating this relationship are widely debated. Specific to the deviance literature, most studies have failed to examine, simultaneously, the degree to which similarity is the consequence of multiple causes. The current study addresses this gap by using longitudinal network data for 1,151 individuals from the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR) School Project. Structural equation modeling is used to address these issues by adapting Jussim and Osgood's ( 1989 ) model of deviant attitudes in dyadic pairs to the current data. Across two separate behavioral domains (substance use and property offending), the results provide strong support for the prediction that individuals project their own deviant tendencies inaccurately onto their peers. Conversely, the results provide little or no support for the predictions that respondents accurately perceive their peers’ deviance or that their perceptions of peer deviance influence their own behavior. Implications for understanding the role of peer behavior in the etiology of adolescent deviance are discussed.     

REVISITING “WHAT THEY THINK”: ADOLESCENT DRINKING AND THE IMPORTANCE OF PEER BELIEFS

The association between delinquent peers and delinquent behavior is among the most consistent findings in the criminological literature, and several recent studies have raised the standards for determining the nature and extent of peer influence. Despite these advances, however, key questions about how deviant behavior is socially transmitted remain unresolved. In particular, much of the research examining peer influence has been limited to peer behavior, despite a rich literature supporting the salience of beliefs, such as expectations and moral approval, in shaping behaviors. In the current study, I model the peer influence and selection processes with longitudinal social network analysis to reexamine the contributions of peer beliefs and behaviors to adolescent drinking. I find evidence that beliefs related to peer drinking have both a direct and an indirect impact on behavior and play an important role in the friendship selection process. These results highlight the importance of understanding how peers influence deviant behavior and suggest that peer beliefs are an important part of this relationship.     

Influence of Paraquat on Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) Infesting Minced‐beef Substrates in Kelantan,Malaysia

This study investigated the influence of paraquat, a prevalent poison used by suicides, on initial oviposition and development of Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius) using minced‐beef substrates. Paraquat in lethal dose for human (40 mg/kg), two times the lethal dose (80 mg/kg) and five times the lethal dose (200 mg/kg) were mixed thoroughly with respective minced‐beef substrates (1 kg each) that were decomposed in a shaded habitat fully protected from rain. Results of four replications of the above experiment revealed that the presence of paraquat neither delayed initial oviposition nor prolonged the developmental stages of C. megacephala. Therefore, estimation of postmortem interval (PMI) based on empirical baseline data obtained using animal models devoid of any poisons would still be appropriate for estimating PMI in paraquat‐related deaths.     

The Salience of Social Contextual Factors in Appraisals of Police Interactions with Citizens: A Randomized Factorial Experiment

Objectives

Prior research indicates that public assessments of the manner in which the police exercise their authority are a key antecedent of judgments about the legitimacy of the police. In this study, the importance of context in influencing people’s assessment of police wrongdoing is examined.

Methods

A randomized factorial experiment was used to test how respondents perceive and evaluate police–citizens interactions along a range of types of situations and encounters. 1,361 subjects were surveyed on factors hypothesized to be salient influences on how citizens perceive and evaluate citizen interactions with police. Subjects viewed videos of actual police–citizen encounters and were asked for their evaluations of these observed encounters. Contextual primes were used to focus subjects on particular aspects of the context within which the encounter occurs.

Results

Structural equation models revealed that social contextual framing factors, such as the climate of police–community relations and the legality of the stop that led to the encounter, influence citizen appraisals of police behavior with effects comparable in size to and even larger than demographic variables such as education, race, and income.

Conclusions

These results suggest that the understandings and perceptions that people bring to a situation are important determinants of their assessment of police fairness. The police can positively influence citizen interpretations of police actions by striving to create a climate of positive police–community relationships in cities.     

Forecasting Errors in the Averseness of Apologizing

Apologizing is often seen as the appropriate response after a transgression for perpetrators. Yet, despite the positive effects that apologies elicit after situations of conflict, they are not always delivered easily. We argue that this is due—at least in part—to perpetrators overestimating the averseness of apologizing, thus committing a forecasting error. Across two laboratory experiments and one autobiographical recall study, we demonstrate that perpetrators overestimate the averseness they will experience when apologizing compared to the averseness they experience when they actually apologize. Moreover, we show that this effect is driven by a misconstrual of the effects of an apology. Perpetrators overestimate the potentially negative effects of apologizing while simultaneously underestimating the potentially positive effects of apologizing. This forecasting error may have a negative effect on the initiation of the reconciliation process, due to perpetrators believing that apologizing is more averse than it actually is.