Complaints of rape and the criminal justice system: Fresh evidence on the attrition problem in England and Wales

The UK has one of the lowest conviction rates for rape in Europe. This article presents unique evidence on the factors that influence the attrition of rape allegations in the English criminal justice system. The study is based on a large, representative sample of rape allegations reported to the London Metropolitan Police, the UK’s biggest police force. The dataset contains unprecedented detail on the incident, victim, suspect and police investigation. The results lend support to the influence of some rape myths and stereotypes on attrition. These findings suggest that further central factors include the ethnicity of the suspect as well as what police officers and prosecutors perceive as evidence against the truthfulness of the allegation: the police record noting a previous false allegation by the victim, inconsistencies in the victim’s account of the alleged rape, and evidence or police opinion casting doubt on the allegation

Researching domestic violence and abuse in healthcare settings: challenges and issues

Domestic violence and abuse (DVA) is now recognised as a significant global health and societal issue. Conducting DVA research in healthcare contexts requires the consideration and understanding of a number of practical, methodological and ethical issues. Based on their experiences of working as clinicians and researchers, the authors aim to explore some of the pertinent issues and challenges associated with DVA research conducted in healthcare settings involving patients and/or healthcare professionals or both. A number of ethical, methodological and practical challenges, particularly those associated with research design and data collection, and ethical challenges related to participants and researchers, are explored

Conceptualizing cultures of violence and cultural change

The historiography of violence has undergone a distinct cultural turn as attention has shifted from examining violence as a clearly defined (and countable) social problem to analysing its historically defined 'social meaning'. Nevertheless, the precise nature of the relationship between 'violence' and 'culture' is still being established. How are 'cultures of violence' formed? What impact do they have on violent behaviour? How do they change? This essay examines some of the conceptual aspects of the relationship between culture and violence. It brings together empirical research into nineteenth-century England with recent research results from other European contexts to examine three aspects of the relationship between culture and violence. These are organised under the labels 'seeing violence', 'identifying the violent' and 'changing violence'. Within a particular society, narratives regarding particular kinds of behaviour shape cultural attitudes. The notion 'violence' is thus defined in relation to physically aggressive acts as well as by being connected to other kinds of attitudes and contexts. As a result, the boundaries between physical aggression which is legitimate and that which is illegitimate (and thus 'violence') are set. Once 'violence' is defined, particular cultures form ideas about who is responsible for it: reactions to violence become associated with social arrangements such as class and gender as well as to attitudes toward the self. Finally, cultures of violence make efforts to tame or eradicate illegitimate forms of physical aggression. This process is not only connected to the development of new forms of power (e.g., new policing or punishment strategies) but also to less tangible cultural influences which aim at changing the behaviour defined as violence (in particular among the social groups identified as violent). Even if successful, this three-tiered process of seeing violence, identifying the violent and changing violence continues anew, emphasising the ways that cultures of violence develop through a continuous process of reevaluation and reinvention

Quasielastic backscattering and barrier distributions for the 6, 7Li + 64Zn systems

Excitation functions of quasielastic scattering at backward angles were measured for the weakly bound 6Li and 7Li projectiles on a 64Zn target at energies around the Coulomb barrier. The corresponding barrier distributions were derived from the experimental cross sections. The experimental data were analyzed within the coupled-channel model using a double-folding potential as the bare potential. Inelastic excitations of the target, the 7Li first excited state, and 6Li, 7Li resonant state(s), corresponding to sequential breakup, were included in the calculations. The comparison between the data and coupled-channel predictions shows that the effects of channels not included in the calculations, such as direct breakup and transfers, are much larger for 6Li than for 7Li

Author correction : a global database for metacommunity ecology, integrating species, traits, environment and space

Correction to: Scientific Data https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-019-0344-7, published online 08 January 202

Author correction : a global database for metacommunity ecology, integrating species, traits, environment and space

Correction to: Scientific Data https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-019-0344-7, published online 08 January 202

Release and extracellular metabolism of ATP by ecto-nucleotidase eNTPDase 1–2 in hypothalamic and pituitary cells

Hypothalamic and pituitary cells express G protein-coupled adenosine and P2Y receptors and cation-conducting P2X receptor-channels, suggesting that extracellular ATP and other nucleotides may function as autocrine and/or paracrine signaling factors in these cells. Consistent with this hypothesis, we show that cultured normal and immortalized pituitary and hypothalamic cells release ATP under resting conditions. RT-PCR analysis also revealed the presence of transcripts for ecto-nucleotidase eNTPDase 1–2 in these cells. These enzymes were functional as documented by degradation of endogenously released and exogenously added ATP. Blocking the activity of eNTPDases by ARL67156 led to an increase in ATP release in perifused pituitary cells and inhibition of degradation of extracellularly added ATP. Furthermore, the addition of apyrase, a soluble ecto-nucleotidase, and the expression of recombinant mouse eNTPDase-2, enhanced degradation of both endogenously released and exogenously added ATP. The released ATP by resting hypothalamic cells was sufficient to activate and desensitize high-affinity recombinant P2X receptors, whereas facilitation of ATP metabolism by the addition of apyrase protected their desensitization. These results indicate that colocalization of ATP release sites and ecto-nucleotidase activity at the plasma membrane of hypothalamic and pituitary cells provides an effective mechanism for the operation of nucleotides as extracellular signaling molecules

Does it look safe? An eye tracking study into the visual aspects of fear of crime

Studies of fear of crime often focus on demographic and social factors, but these can be difficult to change. Studies of visual aspects have suggested that features reflecting incivilities, such as litter, graffiti, and vandalism increase fear of crime, but methods often rely on participants actively mentioning such aspects, and more subtle, less conscious aspects may be overlooked. To address these concerns, the present study examined people’s eye movements while they judged scenes for safety. Forty current and former university students were asked to rate images of day-time and night-time scenes of Lincoln, UK (where they studied) and Egham, UK (unfamiliar location) for safety, maintenance and familiarity, while their eye movements were recorded. Another twenty-five observers not from Lincoln or Egham rated the same images in an internet survey. Ratings showed a strong association between safety and maintenance and lower safety ratings for night-time scenes for both groups, in agreement with earlier findings. Eye movements of the Lincoln participants showed increased dwell times on buildings, houses, and vehicles during safety judgments, and increased dwell times on streets, pavements, and markers of incivilities for maintenance. Results confirm that maintenance plays an important role in perceptions of safety, but eye movements suggest that observers also look for indicators of current or recent presence of people

Factors associated with diversity, quantity and zoonotic potential of ectoparasites on urban mice and voles

Wild rodents are important hosts for tick larvae but co-infestations with other mites and insects are largely neglected. Small rodents were trapped at four study sites in Berlin, Germany, to quantify their ectoparasite diversity. Host-specific, spatial and temporal occurrence of ectoparasites was determined to assess their influence on direct and indirect zoonotic risk due to mice and voles in an urban agglomeration. Rodent-associated arthropods were diverse, including 63 species observed on six host species with an overall prevalence of 99%. The tick Ixodes ricinus was the most prevalent species, found on 56% of the rodents. The trapping location clearly affected the presence of different rodent species and, therefore, the occurrence of particular host-specific parasites. In Berlin, fewer temporary and periodic parasite species as well as non-parasitic species (fleas, chiggers and nidicolous Gamasina) were detected than reported from rural areas. In addition, abundance of parasites with low host-specificity (ticks, fleas and chiggers) apparently decreased with increasing landscape fragmentation associated with a gradient of urbanisation. In contrast, stationary ectoparasites, closely adapted to the rodent host, such as the fur mites Myobiidae and Listrophoridae, were most abundant at the two urban sites. A direct zoonotic risk of infection for people may only be posed by Nosopsyllus fasciatus fleas, which were prevalent even in the city centre. More importantly, peridomestic rodents clearly supported the life cycle of ticks in the city as hosts for their subadult stages. In addition to trapping location, season, host species, body condition and host sex, infestation with fleas, gamasid Laelapidae mites and prostigmatic Myobiidae mites were associated with significantly altered abundance of I. ricinus larvae on mice and voles. Whether this is caused by predation, grooming behaviour or interaction with the host immune system is unclear. The present study constitutes a basis to identify interactions and vector function of rodent-associated arthropods and their potential impact on zoonotic diseases