Child forensic interviewing in Children's Advocacy Centers: empirical data on a practice model

OBJECTIVE: Children's Advocacy Centers (CACs) aim to improve child forensic interviewing following allegations of child abuse by coordinating multiple investigations, providing child-friendly interviewing locations, and limiting redundant interviewing. This analysis presents one of the first rigorous evaluations of CACs' implementation of these methods. METHODS: This analysis is part of a quasi-experimental study, the Multi-Site Evaluation of Children's Advocacy Centers, which evaluated four CACs relative to within-state non-CAC comparison communities. Case abstractors collected data on investigation methods in 1,069 child sexual abuse cases with forensic interviews by reviewing case records from multiple agencies. RESULTS: CAC cases were more likely than comparison cases to feature police involvement in CPS cases (41% vs. 15%), multidisciplinary team (MDT) interviews (28% vs. 6%), case reviews (56% vs. 7%), joint police/child protective services (CPS) investigations (81% vs. 52%) and video/audiotaping of interviews (52% vs. 17%, all these comparisons p<.001). CACs varied in which coordination methods they used, and some comparison communities also used certain coordination methods more than the CAC with which they were paired. Eighty-five percent of CAC interviews took place in child-friendly CAC facilities, while notable proportions of comparison interviews took place at CPS offices (22%), police facilities (18%), home (16%), or school (19%). Ninety-five percent of children had no more than two forensic interviews, and CAC and comparison differences on number of interviews were mostly non-significant. CONCLUSIONS: Relative to the comparison communities, these CACs appear to have increased coordination on investigations and child forensic interviewing. The CAC setting was the location for the vast majority of CAC child interviews, while comparison communities often used settings that many consider undesirable. CACs showed no advantage on reducing the number of forensic interviews, which was consistently small across the sample.     

Retooling Education: Testing and the Liberal Arts

The motivation and methodology for measuring intelligence have changed repeatedly in the modern history of large-scale student testing. Test makers have always sought to identify raw aptitude for cultivation, but they have never figured out how to promote excellence while preserving equality. They’ve settled for egalitarianism, which gives rise to “culturally fair” tests that substitute vagaries for knowledge, deprive students of any real appreciation for language, and trivialize education. Robert Jackson yearns for traditional oratorical approaches to schooling that venerate and imitate essential, time-tested masters. Unfortunately, he writes, such an education defies measurement with today’s multiple-choice instruments.

建立多媒体教学设施质保体系的研究

通过对多媒体教学设施维护管理方法的总结,把国际上广泛应用的八项质量管理原则引入实际工作中,搭建了一个新的维护管理模式.基于八项质量管理原则,设计了"管理职责"、"资源管理"、"监测检查"和"分析改进"4个过程组成的多媒体教学设施质保体系过程模式.给出了一个多媒体教学设施质量保障管理方案,初步建立起多媒体教学设施维护管理质保体系.     

大力加强军队院校实验室队伍建设

正确认识实验室队伍在军队院校建设中的地位和作用,客观分析了新时期实验室队伍建设所面临的实际问题,提出科学合理地确定实验室编制、构筑实验室队伍的和谐环境等加强军队实验室队伍建设、推动实验室发展的措施.     

脉冲电晕法处理含苯废气实验研究

挥发性有机物(VOCs)的污染与控制技术日益受到重视。近年来发展起来的非平衡等离子体技术在治理VOCs方面已初步显示其独特的技术优势,现已成为废气治理研究领域中的前沿热点课题之一。等离子体法降解VOCs的机理较为复杂,研究不同线路对VOCs降解过程的影响意义重大。采用脉冲电晕放电等离子体技术,建立了混合电晕、有机电晕、空气电晕和分别电晕4种不同的实验方案,选取苯为代表物质进行实验研究,在初始浓度、停留时间和电源参数等一定的条件下,考察脉冲电压对苯去除率的影响。结果表明,电压为140kV、混合电晕时苯的去除率达到82.73%,脉冲电晕技术处理低浓度有机废气效果较好。     

凯氏定氮法测定虾壳中氮含量

自组一套简易凯氏定氮装置,对提高装置气密性方法进行研究,并采用单次单因子法对加入双氧水测定虾壳中氮含量的消化条件进行了研究,通过与国标法进行对比,确定该方法测定虾壳中氮含量的可行性。结果表明,加氢氧化钠的漏斗采用水封能提高蒸馏装置的气密性;最佳消化条件为:虾壳0.2 g,五水硫酸铜0.2 g,硫酸钾0.6 g,浓硫酸8 mL,双氧水4 mL,消化40 min。所测虾壳氮含量为(63.48±0.88)mg/g(P=0.95),加标回收率在95%~100%。该法准确度与国标法相当,且省时、经济、环保,适用于实验教学、科研和生产实践。     

彩色图像的数字水印系统设计

针对数字产品的版权保护问题,利用二维离散整数小波变换的快速性,结合人类视觉系统特性,开发了一种基于彩色图像新的、简单的、鲁棒性盲水印嵌入系统.系统可以将水印信息嵌入到不同整数小波分解级数下的彩色载体图像中去,具有嵌入速度快、安全性高的特点.首先将彩色载体图像由RGB彩色空间转换到YUV空间,再对y分量进行多级整数小波分解,然后分别将有意义的二值图像和字符串作为水印嵌入到不同级数小波分解后的低频域(LLn).算法选择了合适的水印嵌入位置,实验结果证明:系统使图像的不可见性好,所嵌入的水印对一般的图像处理攻击,如噪声、滤波、旋转、压缩等有较强的鲁棒性,系统实用性较强.