Do Role-Playing Simulations Generate Measurable and Meaningful Outcomes? A Simulation's Effect on Exam Scores and Teaching Evaluations

Role-playing simulations are frequently claimed to be effective pedagogical tools in the teaching of international relations (IR); however, there is a surprising lack of empirical evidence on their classroom utility. The assessment of simulations remains mostly anecdotal, and some recent research has found little to no statistically significant improvements in quantitative measures of academic performance among students who participated in them [for example, International Studies Perspectives (2006), vol. 7, pp. 395; International Studies Perspectives (2008), vol. 9, pp. 75–89]. Scant research has been conducted on how role-playing simulations might affect students' perceptions of the instructor's teaching. This paper investigates whether a simulation had statistically significant effect on students' exam scores in an IR course or on student teaching evaluation scores.     

物流仿真软件的应用现状与发展

物流仿真在我国已逐渐显出其重要作用。我国物流发展水平和研究应用能力还不尽人意，物流企业或企业物流在面临物流工程项目投资新建或原有系统技术改造时，由于缺乏准确丰富的信息数据和必要的物流仿真系统决策支持，造成了企业物流项目建设投入的盲目性和资金流失。物流仿真借助计算机技术对物流系统进行真实模仿，通过仿真实验得到各种动态活动及过程瞬间仿效记录，进而验证物流工程项目建设的有效性、合理性和优化效果，因此物流仿真是有其重要意义的。本文着重介绍物流仿真的功能，几种常见的物流仿真软件的性能特点，同时结合Flexsim和RaLC（乐龙）两种国内外典型仿真软件，进行物流仿真软件的应用过程与仿真效果分析。     

STREET NETWORK STRUCTURE AND CRIME RISK: AN AGENT‐BASED INVESTIGATION OF THE ENCOUNTER AND ENCLOSURE HYPOTHESES

Street networks shape day‐to‐day activities in complex ways, dictating where, when, and in what contexts potential victims, offenders, and crime preventers interact with one another. Identifying generalizable principles of such influence offers considerable utility to theorists, policy makers, and practitioners. Unfortunately, key difficulties associated with the observation of these interactions, and control of the settings within which they take place, limit traditional empirical approaches that aim to uncover mechanisms linking street network structure with crime risk. By drawing on parallel advances in the formal analyses of street networks and the computational modeling of crime events interactions, we present a theoretically informed and empirically validated agent‐based model of residential burglary that permits investigation of the relationship between street network structure and crime commission and prevention through guardianship. Through the use of this model, we explore the validity of competing theoretical accounts of street network permeability and crime risk—the encounter (eyes on the street) and enclosure (defensible space) hypotheses. The results of our analyses provide support for both hypotheses, but in doing so, they reveal that the relationship between street network permeability and crime is likely nonlinear. We discuss the ramifications of these findings for both criminological theory and crime prevention practice.     

浅议日本少字数派书法

日本现代书法流派之一的少字数派直至今天在书坛上仍具有强大的生命力。本文旨在对其流派的产生原由及艺术特征和审美意蕴等进行论述。     

Choosing relatives for DNA identification of missing persons

DNA-based analysis is integral to missing person identification cases. When direct references are not available, indirect relative references can be used to identify missing persons by kinship analysis. Generally, more reference relatives render greater accuracy of identification. However, it is costly to type multiple references. Thus, at times, decisions may need to be made on which relatives to type. In this study, pedigrees for 37 common reference scenarios with 13 CODIS STRs were simulated to rank the information content of different combinations of relatives. The results confirm that first-order relatives (parents and fullsibs) are the most preferred relatives to identify missing persons; fullsibs are also informative. Less genetic dependence between references provides a higher on average likelihood ratio. Distant relatives may not be helpful solely by autosomal markers. But lineage-based Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA markers can increase the likelihood ratio or serve as filters to exclude putative relationships.     

The dynamic character of disguise behavior for text-based, mixed, and stylized signatures

The aims of this study were to determine if dynamic parameters (duration, size, velocity, jerk, and pen pressure) differed for signing style (text-based, stylized, and mixed) and if signing style influences handwriting dynamics equally across three signature conditions (genuine, disguised, and auto-simulation). Ninety writers provided 10 genuine signatures, five disguised signatures, and five auto-simulated signatures. All 1800 signatures were collected using a digitizing tablet resulting in a database of each signature's dynamic characteristics. With genuine signatures, there were significant differences between styles for size, velocity, and pen pressure, and there were significant differences between genuine signatures and at least one of the un-natural signature conditions for all parameters. For velocity and size, these changes with condition were dependent on style. Changes with condition for the other parameters were similar for the three styles. This study shows that there are differences among natural signature styles and disguise behaviors that may be relevant in forensic signature examinations.     

The influence of gender on ability to simulate handwritten signatures: a study of Arabic writers

This study investigates whether a writer's gender can be determined from an inspection of simulated signatures written in the Arabic alphabet or Arabic abjad. It is generally believed that the penmanship of female writers is superior to male writers. There is also reason to expect that superiority in writing skill might contribute to success in simulating the signatures of other writers. Simulated signatures produced by a large population of male (414) and female (312) Arabic writers were graded, and the results were statistically analyzed. Women were found to have a marginal advantage simulating all elements of the signatures, but there was no statistically significant difference between the genders on any of the elements examined.     

基于游戏引擎的犯罪现场仿真研究

本文介绍了目前主流的可视化开发工具,结合公安实际并利用UDK（Unreal Development Kit）功能齐全,使用方便的特点,实现了犯罪现场三维重建,探讨了仿真流程、场景管理、材质及模型导入等关键问题。通过对案件模拟仿真的应用示例,将视景仿真技术与刑事科学技术紧密结合,方便了办案人员多角度观察现场、分析犯罪行为,提高了工作效率及判断的准确性,为现场勘察和重建中的技术难题寻求了解决方案。     

大学生诚信影响因素的解析结构模型研究

基于层次分析法,从自身因素、家庭环境、学校环境和社会环境四个一级指标,构建大学生诚信的影响因素指标体系,充分考虑各因素之间存在的错综复杂的影响关系,借助解析结构模型（ISM）,建立大学生诚信影响因素的层次递阶结构,找出大学生诚信的最根本影响因素是家庭经济条件、社会环境、网络与媒体导向、学校监督力度和校内利益分配,并根据影响因素的层次结构,从家庭、学校、社会三个方面提出了加强大学生诚信教育的对策。     

The Role of Peer Contacts in the Relationship Between Parental Knowledge and Adolescents' Externalizing Behaviors: A Latent Growth Curve Modeling Approach

The purpose of the present study was to examine the direct and indirect effects (through peer contacts) of parental knowledge on adolescents’ delinquent and aggressive problem behavior, using latent growth curve modeling. A sample of 457 13- to 14-year old adolescents at first measurement wave (M=13.27; SD=0.45 years) filled out questionnaires about their parents, peers, and problem behavior three times with 1-year intervals in between. Regarding initial levels of behavior, both direct and indirect effects of parental knowledge were found on aggressive as well as on delinquent behavior. When the rate of change in behaviors was considered, only direct effects were found for both types of problem behavior, whereas indirect effects were absent. Gender differences were also found, with stronger effects of parenting on both aggressive and delinquent problem behavior for boys and stronger effects of peer contacts on aggressive behavior for girls. The present study shows that different behaviors of the externalizing spectrum have different trajectories and diverse relations with parenting and should not be treated as identical.