Corruption and control: a corruption reduction approach

Published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13590791211266377Purpose – Corruption is a significant financial crime which is estimated by the World Economic Forum to cost about 5 per cent of global GDP or $2.6 trillion dollars. Explanations of corruption, like explanations of crime, tend to focus on the individuals who commit corruption and the wider conditions which give rise to corrupt behaviour. Approaches designed to reduce corruption usually propose stiffer sanctions, institutional reforms and the passing of new laws. The purpose of this paper is to outline a complementary perspective with which to consider corruption. Design/methodology/approach – Grounded in situational crime prevention and related criminological theory, the paper argues that opportunities in the immediate environment play a causal role in generating corruption. It proposes that corruption can be minimised by removing or reducing opportunities which are conducive to corrupt behaviour. In total, five cases are chosen as illustrative examples of how situational crime prevention might usefully be applied to corruption, focussing on the Type, Activities, Sectors and Places (TASP) that comprise corruption events. Findings – A framework is developed for the empirical study of corruption in local settings. Originality/value – The paper explores how situational crime prevention can usefully inform the analysis and prevention of corruption

A systematic review of tagging as a method to reduce theft in retail environments

Background: Retailers routinely use security tags to reduce theft. Presently, however, there has been no attempt to systematically review the literature on security tags. Guided by the acronym EMMIE, this paper set out to (1) examine the evidence that tags are effective at reducing theft, (2) identify the key mechanisms through which tags are expected to reduce theft and the conditions that moderate tag effectiveness, and (3) summarise information relevant to the implementation and economic costs of tagging. Methods: In this mixed-methods review, we performed systematic keyword searches of the published and unpublished literature, hand searched relevant journals, conducted forward and backward citation searches and consulted with four retailers. Studies were included if they reported an explicit goal of reducing the theft or shrinkage of items through the use of security tags in retail environments. Results: We identified 50 eligible studies, eight of which reported quantitative data on the effectiveness of tags in retail environments. Across these eight studies, five showed positive results associated with the introduction of tags, but heterogeneity in the type of tag and reported outcome measures precluded a meta-analysis. We identified three mechanisms through which tags might plausibly reduce theft-increase the risks, reduce the rewards, increase the effort-which were found to vary by tag type, and their activation dependent on five broad categories of moderator: retail store and staff, customers (including shoplifters), tag type, product type, and the involvement of the police and criminal justice system. Implementation challenges documented in the literature related mainly to staffing issues and tagging strategy. Finally, although estimates are available on the costs of tagging, our searches identified no highquality published economic evaluations of tagging. Conclusions: Through applying the EMMIE framework this review highlighted the complexity involved in security tagging in retail environments, whereby different kinds of tags are expected to reduce theft through different casual mechanisms which are dependent on a distinctive configuration of conditions. Based on the available evidence it is difficult to determine the effectiveness of tags as a theft reduction measure, albeit there is suggestive evidence that more visible tags are associated with greater reductions in theft than less visible tags

UK temporomandibular joint replacement database: a report on one-year outcomes

Alloplastic temporomandibular joint (TMJ) replacements are increasingly subspecialised, and supraregional centres that treat sufficient numbers to ensure high standards are emerging. Having recently reported the introduction of a national TMJ joint replacement database that is endorsed by the British Association of TMJ Surgeons (BATS), we now present the first-year outcomes. This was a review of all data in the BATS National Case Registration of TMJ Replacement as of June 2014. A total of 252 one-year outcome records were available. Key outcomes were median (IQR) improvements in interincisal distance of 9 (4-15) mm (p<0.001) and worst-sided pain score of 6 (4-8) (p<0.001). Pain scores improved or remained static at one year in all but 3 (2%) patients. There was a significant improvement in the proportion of patients who reported a good, very good, or outstanding quality of life at one year (38% at baseline to 87% at one year; p<0.001). While outcome reports from single centres for alloplastic TMJ replacements have already been published in the United Kingdom, this is the first dedicated national database in this country that will yield valuable longitudinal follow-up data. Outcomes were comparable with smaller published series and showed improvements in pain, dietary intake, quality of life, and function, with few outliers. The database has recently moved to a new software system and we hope to publish three-year and five-year outcomes in due course

Origin of non-exponential relaxation in a crystalline ionic conductor: a multi-dimensional 109Ag NMR study

The origin of the non-exponential relaxation of silver ions in the crystalline ion conductor Ag7P3S11 is analyzed by comparing appropriate two-time and three-time 109Ag NMR correlation functions. The non-exponentiality is due to a rate distribution, i.e., dynamic heterogeneities, rather than to an intrinsic non-exponentiality. Thus, the data give no evidence for the relevance of correlated back-and-forth jumps on the timescale of the silver relaxation.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Gating Alleys to Reduce Crime: A Meta-Analysis and Realist Synthesis

Alley gates are designed to limit access to alleys and the crime opportunities they afford. Informed by the acronym EMMIE we sought to: (1) systematically review the evidence on whether alley gates are Effective at reducing crime, (2) identify the causal Mechanisms through which alley gates are expected to work and the conditions that Moderate effectiveness, and (3) collate information on the Implementation and Economic costs of alley gating. The results of our meta-analysis suggest that alley gating is associated with modest but significant reductions in burglary, with little evidence of spatial displacement. We also identified six mechanisms through which alley gates might plausibly reduce crime, and the conditions in which such mechanisms are most likely to be activated

Matrix controlled channel diffusion of sodium in amorphous silica

To find the origin of the diffusion channels observed in sodium-silicate glasses, we have performed classical molecular dynamics simulations of Na$_2$O--4SiO$_2$ during which the mass of the Si and O atoms has been multiplied by a tuning coefficient. We observe that the channels disappear and that the diffusive motion of the sodium atoms vanishes if this coefficient is larger than a threshold value. Above this threshold the vibrational states of the matrix are not compatible with those of the sodium ions. We interpret hence the decrease of the diffusion by the absence of resonance conditions.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Complex lithium ion dynamics in simulated LiPO3 glass studied by means of multi-time correlation functions

Molecular dynamics simulations are performed to study the lithium jumps in LiPO3 glass. In particular, we calculate higher-order correlation functions that probe the positions of single lithium ions at several times. Three-time correlation functions show that the non-exponential relaxation of the lithium ions results from both correlated back-and-forth jumps and the existence of dynamical heterogeneities, i.e., the presence of a broad distribution of jump rates. A quantitative analysis yields that the contribution of the dynamical heterogeneities to the non-exponential depopulation of the lithium sites increases upon cooling. Further, correlated back-and-forth jumps between neighboring sites are observed for the fast ions of the distribution, but not for the slow ions and, hence, the back-jump probability depends on the dynamical state. Four-time correlation functions indicate that an exchange between fast and slow ions takes place on the timescale of the jumps themselves, i.e., the dynamical heterogeneities are short-lived. Hence, sites featuring fast and slow lithium dynamics, respectively, are intimately mixed. In addition, a backward correlation beyond the first neighbor shell for highly mobile ions and the presence of long-range dynamical heterogeneities suggest that fast ion migration occurs along preferential pathways in the glassy matrix. In the melt, we find no evidence for correlated back-and-forth motions and dynamical heterogeneities on the length scale of the next-neighbor distance.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figure

Conformational and Structural Relaxations of Poly(ethylene oxide) and Poly(propylene oxide) Melts: Molecular Dynamics Study of Spatial Heterogeneity, Cooperativity, and Correlated Forward-Backward Motion

Performing molecular dynamics simulations for all-atom models, we characterize the conformational and structural relaxations of poly(ethylene oxide) and poly(propylene oxide) melts. The temperature dependence of these relaxation processes deviates from an Arrhenius law for both polymers. We demonstrate that mode-coupling theory captures some aspects of the glassy slowdown, but it does not enable a complete explanation of the dynamical behavior. When the temperature is decreased, spatially heterogeneous and cooperative translational dynamics are found to become more important for the structural relaxation. Moreover, the transitions between the conformational states cease to obey Poisson statistics. In particular, we show that, at sufficiently low temperatures, correlated forward-backward motion is an important aspect of the conformational relaxation, leading to strongly nonexponential distributions for the waiting times of the dihedrals in the various conformational statesComment: 13 pages, 13 figure

Broadening the public health approach to policing

There is growing interest in a public health approach to policing. In Britain, it has attracted major government investment and is advocated as a way to improve understanding and prevention of violence. We largely support efforts better to integrate public health and policing. We do, however, argue in this paper that the current conception of public health is unduly narrow, focussing overwhelmingly on early intervention and paying little attention to situational measures directed at more immediate causes of crime. We argue that the neglect of situational intervention rests on a partial interpretation of the public health literature, and ignores a long history of situational measures being effectively used to reduce harmful behaviours. If a public health approach is to generate improvements in policing and crime prevention, we argue that a broader conception of public health is needed