Prevention Funding Project: Synthesis of Research on Economic Change, Welfare Reform, and Child Maltreatment

This study concludes with a fair amount of certainty that there is a relationship between child maltreatment and economic decline. Stated differently, there is substantial evidence that economic decline affects the treatment of children by their parents. However, it is important to note that the data presented on the link between economic decline and child maltreatment in this synthesis is outdated, and thus limited. That is, most of the studies presented as supporting evidence for the relationship between child abuse and economic decline date from the Great Depression to the 1990's. No recent evidence (i.e., within the last 10 years) was found to lend support for the relationship between child maltreatment and economic decline. At best, one can conclude that a number of economic and social changes occurring since the Depression (e.g., unemployment compensation, severance pay, employment of spouse, unemployment precipitated by job loss) probably lessen the negative impact of job and income loss in the early 90's context. And, although the magnitude of effects may differ, the direction of effects and the mechanisms by which economic loss affects children are similar for these two periods. Unfortunately, no comparable data was found to extend this conclusion to more recent years. Second, with respect to the link between TANF and child maltreatment, it can be concluded that higher welfare benefits are associated with lower rates of neglect and out-of-home care. It is critical to note that the welfare reforms discussed in this synthesis have taken place against the backdrop of a very strong economy! Therefore, welfare reforms may have larger long-run effects on maltreatment than the evidence presented here

Real-Time Detection and Suppression of Malicious Attacks Using Machine Learning and Processor Core Events

Detecting and suppressing malicious attacks continues to challenge designers and users of embedded and edge processing systems. Embedded systems and IoT devices are becoming more prevalent and they are evolving to accommodate the increased complexity requirements of edge computing by incorporating increasing levels of advanced security, energy efficiency, connectivity, performance, and increased computational power to support, for example, machine learning intelligence. These capabilities can be used in a collaborative way to provide a means for detecting a family of side channel malware attacks based upon the exploitation of timing side channels arising from cache and branch prediction circuitry. The SPECTRE exploit serves as the exemplary attack based on data cache timing side channels; however, many variants of this attack have emerged and continue to emerge. Due to the increasing proliferation of this class of devices and the continuing emergence of new variants of timing side channel attacks, there is motivation to develop a malware detection approach that is suitable for embedded and edge processing-based systems that requires minimal computational resources, is robust under varying load conditions, and that is capable of detecting any of a number of different variants of this attack, including zero-day versions. The detection approach is demonstrated to be applicable to variants of the classic SPECTRE attack including the micro-ops cache attack that exploits X86 architectures. The method monitors concurrent processes running on a Linux-based system operating in an edge-computing device to detect if one or more of the processes implements a timing-based side channel attack . Furthermore, the malware detection approach is designed to be lightweight in the sense that it requires minimal computing resources and offers rapid detection times since it uses existing on-chip hardware, pre-programmed event or performance counters, as a data source combined with a simple but effective SVM to detect variants of malicious exploits that may be present within a standard application process. Upon detection of a malicious process, the edge device could automatically suspend or kill the detected and offending process. A feature selection technique is used to select the most appropriate CPU events that indicate the presence of the targeted malware family and to improve performance results and system efficiency. Analysis results are included that evaluated a number of different detection approaches to justify the selection of an SVM due to the tradeoff of accuracy versus computational resource requirements. This approach is demonstrated through implementations on both ARM and X86 instruction set architectures and provide experimental results regarding its accuracy and performance. Detection performance is characterized by a number of metrics including ROC curves. Experimental results assess the robustness of the malware detection approach. The detection of one variant of the cache timing attack is evaluated when the SVM is trained using a different variant. The detection accuracy over a variety of different and varying load conditions is evaluated. Finally, an evaluation of robustness is evaluated by injecting noise into the event counter data at increasing levels until significant detection failures are observed

The case of Grindr and gay men’s embodiment and body image through new media

Grindr is a geo-social based dating application (app) that allows men who have sex with men (MSM) to connect with each other based on sexual preferences and appearance. The popularization of Grindr over the last decade and its major influence on the MSM community has brought about new queries into its usage, body image, and masculine (dis)embodiment, particularly due to its userbase being heavily appearance-focused. MSM in general are an understudied demographic in the body image literature. MSM have reported greater negative body image than their heterosexual counterparts pertaining to masculine identity, physical appearance, and sexualized self-presentation. To investigate the relationship between Grindr, body image, and MSM’s (dis)embodiment, a qualitative case study design was utilized. Nine MSM who had used Grindr took part in a semi-structured interview. Two data-driven themes were identified from the reflexive thematic analysis process; ‘No fats, no femmes, no Asians’ which explored the issues of social performativity and body image experiences on Grindr; and ‘Grindr doesn’t allow for… people to really express themselves’ which explored the experiences of using cyberspace dating and its effects on body image and self-presentation. Participants unanimously identified that their experiences on Grindr were catalysts for maladaptive behaviors, including excessive exercise, self-objectification, and disembodiment pertaining to their genuine self-identity. Body image was described as both a relationship one has with their body and as the ascription of others’ opinions of one’s body. The disembodiment expressed was related to notions of performative masculinity to gain attention rather than being true to one’s self. Additionally, it was identified that for appearance-focused MSM, there remains issues of understanding what (positive) body image actually is. Participants described the complex relationships between sexual performativity, short-term satisfaction, and the necessity of others’ opinions for understanding their (positive) body image. Ultimately, Grindr was identified to be a negative cyberspace which facilitates curated ideal-self presentation that focuses on self-objectification for the pleasure of other MSM as a way of being perceived as desirable

The heteronomy of choice architecture

Choice architecture is heralded as a policy approach that does not coercively reduce freedom of choice. Still we might worry that this approach fails to respect individual choice because it subversively manipulates individuals, thus contravening their personal autonomy. In this article I address two arguments to this effect. First, I deny that choice architecture is necessarily heteronomous. I explain the reasons we have for avoiding heteronomous policy-making and offer a set of four conditions for non-heteronomy. I then provide examples of nudges that meet these conditions. I argue that these policies are capable of respecting and promoting personal autonomy, and show this claim to be true across contrasting conceptions of autonomy. Second, I deny that choice architecture is disrespectful because it is epistemically paternalistic. This critique appears to loom large even against non-heteronomous nudges. However, I argue that while some of these policies may exhibit epistemically paternalistic tendencies, these tendencies do not necessarily undermine personal autonomy. Thus, if we are to find such policies objectionable, we cannot do so on the grounds of respect for autonomy

Dent behaviour of steel pipes under pressure load

Formation of dent defects in steel pipelines is not uncommon. A dent is a plastic deformation causing strains in the pipe wall which can be a threat to the structural integrity of the pipeline. This study investigated the effect of dent shapes, dent depths, and internal pressures on the strain distribution of the pipe. The work was completed using full-scale tests and numerical method. The study found that as the D/t ratio and the pressure increases so does the maximum strain around the dent. The study found that the location of the maximum strain value does not change with D/t ratio or internal pressure for rectangular dents. The maximum strain occurs at 125 mm away from the dent centre and at the dent centre for the longitudinal and circumferential axes, respectively. For spherical dent the location of the maximum strain in the longitudinal and circumferential axes differs for different pressures