Social inattentional blindness to idea stealing in meetings.

Using a virtual reality social experiment, participants (N = 154) experienced being at the table during a decision-making meeting and identified the best solutions generated. During the meeting, one meeting participant repeated another participant's idea, presenting it as his own. Although this idea stealing was clearly visible and audible, only 30% of participants correctly identified who shared the idea first. Subsequent analyses suggest that the social environment affected this novel form of inattentional blindness. Although there was no experimental effect of team diversity on noticing, there was correlational evidence of an indirect effect of perceived team status on noticing via attentional engagement. In sum, this paper extends the inattentional blindness phenomenon to a realistic professional interaction and demonstrates how features of the social environment can reduce social inattention.

Stealing complex network attack detection method considering security situation awareness.

Tracking and detection have brought great challenges to network security. Therefore, this paper proposes a monitoring method of stealthy complex network attacks considering security situation awareness. By constructing a tracking model of invisible complex network attacks, public monitoring nodes are selected for monitoring. The cost of a single monitoring node is calculated by the algorithm, and the monitoring node is determined by the monitoring node algorithm, so as to reduce the resource occupancy rate of the monitoring node and improve the monitoring accuracy. The simulation results show that this method is stable in the range of 1000 to 4000 nodes, and can effectively monitor the complex network attacks of stealing secrets.

Emergent Resource Exchange and Tolerated Theft Behavior Using Multiagent Reinforcement Learning.

For decades, the evolution of cooperation has piqued interest in numerous academic disciplines, such as game theory, economics, biology, and computer science. In this work, we demonstrate the emergence of a novel and effective resource exchange protocol formed by dropping and picking up resources in a foraging environment. This form of cooperation is made possible by the introduction of a campfire, which adds an extended period of congregation and downtime for agents to explore otherwise unlikely interactions. We find that the agents learn to avoid getting cheated by their exchange partners, but not always from a third party. We also observe the emergence of behavior analogous to tolerated theft, despite the lack of any punishment, combat, or larceny mechanism in the environment.

Psychological Distress Among Domestic Burglary Victims: A Systematic Review of Possible Risk and Protective Factors.

Domestic burglary victimization is a potentially traumatic experience, because most people consider their home as an extension of the self and a place where the self is protected against others. Intrusions to such a highly valued place are therefore considered as attacks to both one's personhood and one's safety and privacy and may render victims at risk of psychological distress. In view of the legal obligations most countries have with regard to screening crime victims for psychological distress, this study systematically reviewed the literature on determinants of psychological distress in domestic burglary victims. Web of Science, EBSCO, and ProQuest databases and reference lists were searched between February and July 2022 to identify relevant studies. In all, 10 studies met all inclusion criteria and were evaluated according to the Cambridge Quality Checklists. These checklists have been developed to assess the methodological qualities of observational research. Findings of included studies suggest that female sex, damages caused by the burglary, and evaluations of the police response are potential determinants of psychological distress. However, given the dearth of research and the old age and theoretical and methodological limitations of included studies, it is too early to draw definite conclusions about the predictive value of these and other factors and to provide directions for screening policies. Future research should use prospective designs to overcome these limitations and ensure that domestic burglary victims at risk of psychological distress are timely referred to adequate professional help services.

A thermal video database for studying deception in real life.

In this paper, we have developed a database based on almost real-life theft incidents with due diligence using isolated subjects over a period of time at a government hospital under the plea of free health checkup. The experiment has been conducted at Midnapore Medical College and Hospital, West Bengal, India, with proper ethical committee approval. The participants are selected at the behest of the police department with habitual crime records. Most of them have been repeatedly charged with petty crimes of pick-pocketing and stealing. They are invited individually at different instances of time under the plea of medical checkup where they have been enticed to steal cash. It is followed by a two-stage process, a friendly interaction followed by a slightly tougher interrogation. Facial thermal imaging could be more effective as it is noninvasive and could be a stealth method of tracking the facial blood flow and temperature patterns.

The Jena Eyewitness Research Stimuli (JERS): A database of mock theft videos involving two perpetrators, presented in 2D and VR formats with corresponding 2D and 3D lineup images.

Empirical investigations into eyewitness identification accuracy typically necessitate the creation of novel stimulus materials, which can be a challenging and time-consuming task. To facilitate this process and promote further research in this domain, we introduce the new Jena Eyewitness Research Stimuli (JERS). They comprise six video sequences depicting a mock theft committed by two different perpetrators, available in both two-dimensional (2D) and 360° format, combined with the corresponding lineup images presented in 2D or three-dimensional (3D) format. Images of one suspect and eight fillers are available for each lineup. We evaluated lineup fairness by using mock eyewitness paradigm and noted a Tredoux's E of 4.687 for Perpetrator 1 and 5.406 for Perpetrator 2. Moreover, no bias towards the perpetrators was observed in the lineups. We incorporated 360° videos and 3D lineup images to encourage the adoption of innovative data formats in experimental investigations of eyewitness accuracy. In particular, compatibility with Virtual Reality (VR) makes JERS a promising tool for advancing eyewitness research by enabling researchers to construct controlled environments that offer observers an immersive experience. JERS is freely accessible for the use of academic purposes via the Open Science Framework (OSF).

Determinants of Stock Theft and Its Implication on Household Dietary Diversity in Semiarid Regions of Zimbabwe: Case of Gwanda District.

Stock theft is a major threat to livestock production in Africa and has been on the rise in recent years. Zimbabwe is no exception. The purpose of this study was to analyze factors that contribute to stock theft in rural areas. The study used a mixed research design. The study was limited to wards 20 and 24 of Gwanda district of Matabeleland South Province. The linear regression model was used to analyze the factors that affected stock theft in rural areas. The majority (57.1%) of the interviewed household heads were males and aged below 50 years (55.8%) with an average household size of 5 members. On average, each household owned 5 cattle, 2 sheep, 17 goats, 4 donkeys, and 5 chicken. The participants kept livestock mainly for income generation, source of school fees, draught power, meat, milk, manure, and eggs. The major causes of livestock loss apart from stock theft were drought, disease outbreaks, trapped in mine holes, and predators. All the respondents practiced livestock identification which includes branding, ear notching, and the use of ear tags. The most vulnerable livestock species to stock theft were goats, cattle, donkeys, sheep, and chicken. Stock theft mostly takes place before midday and on Mondays and Wednesdays. It is at its peak levels in January and November. Goats and donkeys were the main stolen livestock species. The stolen livestock is mostly sold to meat processors. The distance from the border, the use of livestock identification tags, the total number of livestock units owned by the household, and the day of the week were significant in influencing the intensity of stock theft (p < 0.10). Stock theft does not directly affect household dietary diversity (p > 0.05) because rural households do not use livestock for their nutritional benefit, particularly goats, sheep, and cattle. Thus, if dietary diversity is taken as a proxy for food security, it can be concluded that stock theft does not significantly affect the household's food security status. Working in groups through neighborhood watch committees, livestock branding, tending livestock which reduces the time that the livestock roam freely unattended, and assisting the police with investigations whenever there is a case of stock theft were identified as important mitigation strategies. At the service provider level, it was suggested that the law enforcing needed to increase its efficiency to mitigate stock theft.

Examining levels of processing using verbal & pictorial stimuli with the complex trial protocol in a mock theft scenario.

The Complex Trial Protocol (CTP) is an EEG-based Concealed Information Test (CIT). Depth of processing influences memorability where deeper processing increases recollection. The CTP's performance as a function of shallow versus deep levels of processing has not been explored. Two experiments were conducted, one with verbal stimuli and the other with their pictorial referents. In both experiments, participants were randomly assigned to three groups, Innocent Control (Control) condition, Guilty Immediate Shallow Processing (Shallow) condition, and Guilty Immediate Deep Processing (Deep) condition. Shallow and Deep participants from both experiments underwent the same mock theft scenario and all three groups were later exposed to either a verbal (N = 41) or pictorial (N = 43) stimulus on a computer monitor. In the word study, no differences in CIT effect were found between any of the groups. Areas under the curve (AUCs) did not differ from chance (.624 and .679 for Shallow and Deep groups respectively). In the image study, the CIT effect for the Shallow and Deep groups differed from the Control one. The AUCs (.755 and .943 for the Shallow and Deep groups respectively) differed significantly from each other. Levels of Processing (LOP) did not appear to have any bearing on CTP performance when words were used as probes but did have an effect when images were used. The findings may hint at some of the limitations of the CTP and fail to replicate similar experiments, especially when words are used as probes, from the late Peter Rosenfeld's laboratory.

Trends and Sources of Crime Guns in California: 2010-2021.

Firearm-related interpersonal violence is a leading cause of death and injury in cities across the United States, and understanding the movement of firearms from on-the-books sales to criminal end-user is critical to the formulation of gun violence prevention policy. In this study, we assemble a unique dataset that combines records for over 380,000 crime guns recovered by law enforcement in California (2010-2021), and more than 126,000 guns reported stolen, linked to in-state legal handgun transactions (1996-2021), to describe local and statewide crime gun trends and investigate several potentially important sources of guns to criminals, including privately manufactured firearms (PMFs), theft, and "dirty" dealers. We document a dramatic increase over the decade in firearms recovered shortly after purchase (7% were recovered within a year in 2010, up to 33% in 2021). This corresponds with a substantial rise in handgun purchasing over the decade, suggesting some fraction of newly and legally acquired firearms are likely diverted from the legal market for criminal use. We document the rapid growth of PMFs over the past 2-3 years and find theft plays some, though possibly diminishing, role as a crime gun source. Finally, we find evidence that some retailers contribute disproportionately to the supply of crime guns, though there appear to be fewer problematic dealers now than there were a decade ago. Overall, our study points to temporal shifts in the dynamics of criminal firearms commerce as well as significant city variation in the channels by which criminals acquire crime guns.

Stealing from the Heart: A Rare Case of Chest Pain Post-Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting.

A 70-year-old veteran with prior triple vessel coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) presented with exertional chest pain. His work-up revealed > 40 mm Hg bilateral upper extremity blood pressure difference. Chest computed tomography and invasive angiography revealed severe stenosis at the ostium of the left subclavian artery, proximal to the origin of the left internal mammary artery to left anterior descending artery graft (LIMA-LAD). A diagnosis of coronary subclavian steal syndrome (CSSS) was made, and carotid-subclavian bypass was performed. This case outlines when to suspect CSSS, an approach to its diagnosis, and the importance of its timely management.

Vacant Building Removals Associated with Relative Reductions in Violent and Property Crimes in Baltimore, MD 2014-2019.

Vacant and abandoned buildings are common features in many post-industrial US cities, and are consistent predictors of violence. Demolition programs are regularly employed as an urban land use policy to stabilize housing markets and mitigate public health problems including violence. The objective of this research was to examine the effect of vacant building removals on violent and property crimes in Baltimore, MD from 2014 to 2019. We conducted a difference-in-differences analysis using spatio-temporal Bayesian mixed models on six crime types on block faces with and without building removals, before compared with after removal. There were significant reductions in total, violent crimes (with and without assaults), thefts, and burglaries on block faces with building removals relative to their controls. Total crimes decreased 1.4% per mi2 (CrI: 0.5 - 2.3%), which translates to a relative reduction ~ 2.6 total crimes per mi2 per year. The largest relative decreases in crime were found among assaults (4.9%; CrI: 3.4 - 6.3%) and violent crimes (3.0%; CrI: 1.9 - 4.1%). Building removals were associated with relative reductions in crime in Baltimore City. The relative reductions in crime, at building removals compared to at control vacant lots, were found among assaults and violent crimes, the crimes of greatest public health concern. Building removals provide co-benefits to their communities, and may be considered part of a crime reduction strategy compatible with other approaches. A systematic effort to understand the role of care for remaining vacant lots could further inform our findings, and efforts to further decrease violence and improve community health.

Grand Theft Auto-Based Cycling Simulator for Cognitive Enhancement Technologies in Dangerous Traffic Situations.

While developing traffic-based cognitive enhancement technology (CET), such as bike accident prevention systems, it can be challenging to test and evaluate them properly. After all, the real-world scenario could endanger the subjects' health and safety. Therefore, a simulator is needed, preferably one that is realistic yet low cost. This paper introduces a way to use the video game Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V) and its sophisticated traffic system as a base to create such a simulator, allowing for the safe and realistic testing of dangerous traffic situations involving cyclists, cars, and trucks. The open world of GTA V, which can be explored on foot and via various vehicles, serves as an immersive stand-in for the real world. Custom modification scripts of the game give the researchers control over the experiment scenario and the output data to be evaluated. An off-the-shelf bicycle equipped with three sensors serves as a realistic input device for the subject's movement direction and speed. The simulator was used to test two early-stage CET concepts enabling cyclists to sense dangerous traffic situations, such as trucks approaching from behind the cyclist. Thus, this paper also presents the user evaluation of the cycling simulator and the CET used by the subjects to sense dangerous traffic situations. With the knowledge of the first iteration of the user-centered design (UCD) process, this paper concludes by naming improvements for the cycling simulator and discussing further research directions for CET that enable users to sense dangerous situations better.

Armed robbery and the meanings of money.

In this study, we investigate the meanings active armed robbers give to money before, during, and after their crimes and how these meanings shape their offending. We do so by examining interviews undertaken from 1994 to 1995 with robbers in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Prior to their robberies, the interviewees' desperation leads them to define money as essential to survival. Immediately following robberies and in looking back on them, they come to view this essential money in other ways as well-as too time-consuming to get, as "easy," or as guilt-free. These meanings facilitate the contradictory way robbers see money as "fast" after offences. We discuss how these shifting meanings of money shape and are shaped by robbers' structural positions, cultural outlooks, and social relations. In doing so, we also help to explain how the shifting meanings of money play into criminogenic cycles of predatory offending.

Speech and Language Characteristics of Neurologically Healthy Adults When Describing the Modern Cookie Theft Picture: Mixing the New With the Old.

PURPOSE: The Modern Cookie Theft picture has recently become available. This study's purpose was to compare (a) speech and language production by neurologically healthy adults (NHAs) given a generic instruction to describe the picture versus instruction to describe it as if talking with someone who was blind and (b) production during the first 90 s versus full samples. METHOD: One hundred NHAs minus five outliers formed two participant groups. Each group heard either the original or modified task instruction. Transcriptions of resulting descriptions were analyzed regarding duration, word and T-unit productivity, content units (CUs), and main concepts (MCs) both in full and 90-s samples. Identified CUs and MCs were compared with existing lists from previous research. RESULTS: Significantly longer samples and greater verbosity occurred with the modified versus original instruction even when limiting time to a 90 s maximum. With the modified instruction, CUs included 119 and 138 terms for truncated and full samples, respectively; participants mentioned 98 and 104 CUs, respectively, given the original instruction. MCs expressed were 18 and 19 for truncated and full samples, respectively, given the modified instruction; with the original instruction, this dropped to 11 and 12 MCs for truncated and full samples, respectively. Within samples, CU and MC repetitions were greater given modified rather than original instruction. CONCLUSIONS: Normative productivity and content generation data are critical for guiding diagnostic efforts and treatment planning. Benefits and detriments associated with differing productivity and content redundancy secondary to varying instructions and analysis time frames are discussed.

Tracking stolen bikes in Amsterdam.

Crime has major influences in urban life, from migration and mobility patterns, to housing prices and neighborhood liveability. However, urban crime studies still largely rely on static data reported by the various institutions and organizations dedicated to urban safety. In this paper, we demonstrate how the use of digital technologies enables the fine-grained analysis of specific crimes over time and space. This paper leverages the rise of ubiquitous sensing to investigate the issue of bike theft in Amsterdam-a city with a dominant cycling culture, where reportedly more than 80,000 bikes are stolen every year. We use active location tracking to unveil where stolen bikes travel to and what their temporal patterns are. This is the first study using tracking technologies to focus on two critical aspects of contemporary cities: active mobility and urban crime.

Functional control and metabolic integration of stolen organelles in a photosynthetic ciliate.

Stealing prey plastids for metabolic gain is a common phenomenon among protists within aquatic ecosystems.1 Ciliates of the Mesodinium rubrum species complex are unique in that they also steal a transcriptionally active but non-dividing prey nucleus, the kleptokaryon, from certain cryptophytes.2 The kleptokaryon enables full control and replication of kleptoplastids but has a half-life of about 10 days.2 Once the kleptokaryon is lost, the ciliate experiences a slow loss of photosynthetic metabolism and eventually death.2,3,4 This transient ability to function phototrophically allows M. rubrum to form productive blooms in coastal waters.5,6,7,8 Here, we show, using multi-omics approaches, that an Antarctic strain of the ciliate not only depends on stolen Geminigera cryophila organelles for photosynthesis but also for anabolic synthesis of fatty acids, amino acids, and other essential macromolecules. Transcription of diverse pathways was higher in the kleptokaryon than that in G. cryophila, and many increased in higher light. Proteins of major biosynthetic pathways were found in greater numbers in the kleptokaryon relative to M. rubrum, implying anabolic dependency on foreign metabolism. We show that despite losing transcriptional control of the kleptokaryon, M. rubrum regulates kleptoplastid pigments with changing light, implying an important role for post-transcriptional control. These findings demonstrate that the integration of foreign organelles and their gene and protein expression, energy metabolism, and anabolism occur in the absence of a stable endosymbiotic association. Our results shed light on potential events early in the process of complex plastid acquisition and broaden our understanding of symbiogenesis.

The Impact of Urban Facilities on Crime during the Pre- and Pandemic Periods: A Practical Study in Beijing.

The measures in the fight against COVID-19 have reshaped the functions of urban facilities, which might cause the associated crimes to vary with the occurrence of the pandemic. This paper aimed to study this phenomenon by conducting quantitative research. By treating the area under the jurisdiction of the police station (AJPS) as spatial units, the residential burglary and non-motor vehicle theft that occurred during the first-level response to the public health emergencies (pandemic) period in 2020 and the corresponding temporal window (pre-pandemic) in 2019 were collected and a practical study to Beijing was made. The impact of urban facilities on crimes during both periods was analyzed independently by using negative binomial regression (NBR) and geographical weight regression (GWR). The findings demonstrated that during the pandemic period, a reduction in the count and spatial concentration of both property crimes were observed, and the impact of facilities on crime changed. Some facilities lost their impact on crime during the pandemic period, while other facilities played a significant role in generating crime. Additionally, the variables that always kept a stable significant impact on crime during the pre- and pandemic periods demonstrated a heterogeneous impact in space and experienced some variations across the periods. The study proved that the strategies in the fight against COVID-19 changed the impact of urban facilities on crime occurrence, which deeply reshaped the crime patterns.

Theft of Controlled Substances in Long-Term Care Homes: An Exploratory Study.

The theft of controlled substances has been studied in the community and healthcare settings including hospitals, pharmacies, hospice, and pain clinics. However, research on these thefts in long-term care homes has yet to be published. This exploratory study makes first steps toward bridging this gap. Using 107 Minnesota Department of Health's investigation reports substantiated as "drug diversion" between 2013 and 2021 in assisted living residences and nursing homes, we found that 11,328.5 tablets were stolen from 368 residents (97.5% were controlled substances), with over 30 tablets stolen per resident. We also identified the types of medications stolen, duration of theft, extent to which nurses stole the medications or were those initially suspecting thefts, and the role of surveillance cameras in confirming allegations. The findings could raise awareness to this form of elder mistreatment in long-term care homes and call for action to address it.