Have Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Juvenile Justice Declined Over Time? An Empirical Assessment of the DMC Mandate

The present study examines whether racial and ethnic disparities in juvenile justice declined significantly in a state that has made substantial reform efforts in compliance with the Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) mandate. Using a sample of all referrals in Connecticut with final disposition in 2000 (N = 18,458) or 2010 (N = 12,265), the study employed multilevel modeling with cross-level interactions to assess whether disparities changed over time for five outcomes: detention, petition, adjudication, commitment, and waiver to criminal court. Findings indicated that Black-White disparities in detention decreased over time, while Black-White disparities increased for petition, adjudication, and waiver. Findings also indicated that Hispanic-White disparities increased for adjudication (while not changing for other outcomes). The limited success of the DMC mandate may be explained by implementation failure or theory failure. Adjudicating between these alternative explanations is needed to guide future reform efforts. Several implications for research and policy are discussed, including whether reform efforts should focus on overall harm reduction rather than proportional representation.

Reliability Assessment of Software System Using IFS and OWA-Tree Analysis

To address the software design and development, reliability assessment is considered as crucial and most important task. Several studies have been directed towards reliability assessment approaches for obtaining highly reliable software product. In conventional reliability theory, failure probability of any component is assumed as an exact value but in actuality it’s not possible to get failure probability precisely. In this study, we have proposed an approach to assess the reliability of a software system with vague failure rate of the components as the given information might be incomplete or uncertain. It is a bottom–top methodology which includes the combination of intuitionistic fuzzy set (IFS) theory and ordered weighted averaging (OWA) tree analysis. Using IFS, we are able to come over the vagueness in the failure rate data and by using OWA-tree, we incorporate the subjectivity in the opinion of software developers with respect to selection of module. Further, for the illustration of the proposed approach one numerical example has been discussed and software reliability is assessed based upon different orness level.

Semmelweis – egy gondolkodó ember. Tudománytörténeti tanulságok

In this article we examine why Semmelweis’s seemingly simple, logical and practical discovery was categorically dismissed by the majority of his contemporaries, and why even many years after his death it was accepted with such reservation. We invoke wherever possible Semmelweis’s own words citing from the series of articles appearing in the ‘Orvosi Hetilap’ [Hungarian Medical Weekly Journal] published in 1858 in Hungary, and also from the German language summary of the Journal published in 1860. We came to the conclusion that although Semmelweis did everything in his power to show the causal relationship between the development of puerperal fever (childbed fever) and some infectious substance on the hands of examining doctors and medical students, this was not convincing enough. The predominant theory at the time held that infection was caused by miasma transmitted in the air and therefore stubbornly precluded any notion of infectious matter physically transmitted on unclean hands. We also concluded that the causal sequence observed by Semmelweis was missing an essential empirical element: visual proof of the infectious agent he correctly postulated as physically transmitted. Visually demonstrating the presence of the infectious agent by means of a microscope would have made his case. This finally did occur but only two years after Semmelweis’s death. Had the renowned Hungarian obstetrician realized the significance of taking advantage of the opportunity afforded by Dávid Gruby who was conducting experiments in the same town, a more convincing argument could have been made for his theory. In the 1840s and 1850s, Dávid Gruby was experimenting with various microscopic techniques and their application with success in Vienna before continuing his work in France. Gruby’s work, especially that of microscopic observations of tissues, received international acceptance. Therefore, the involvement of Gruby and his work with microscopes to support Semmelweis’s observations would most probably have forestalled much of the criticism and rejection his theory was initially awarded (among which perhaps Virchow’s rejection proved the most damaging). Had Semmelweis utilized microscopic techniques, he would have been celebrated among the first to discover bacterial pathogens, contributing to the development of the currently predominant germ theory. Failure to utilize the microscope was the root cause leading to the tragedy of Semmelweis’s rejection by the medical establishment of the time. Despite the increasing numbers of scientists utilizing the microscope at the University of Pest, offered to corroborate his daims with microscopic observations. Efforts have been made have since been to rehabilitate him as the key figure who not only discovered the method of transmission of infectious disease, but also implemented measures of prevention. Elevating him among the ranks of the ten greatest doctors who ever lived is certainly recognition due, but sadly denied to him in his lifetime. Orv Hetil. 2018; 159(26): 1055–1064.

Wybór współmałżonka – aspekt zadaniowy, ewolucjonistyczny i planowy

In this paper the author analyses the developmental, evolutionary and planning aspects of spouse choice. The work refers to Robert Havighurst’s developmental tasks theory, Tadeusz Mądrzycki’s personality theory and the evolutionary psychology theory. According to Havighurst’s theory, failure to achieve such an important developmental task as spouse choice makes the man unhappy, which in turn makes the following developmental tasks even more difficult. Spouse choice should not only be a decree of faith but also a conscious task. The planning aspect of spouse choice is analysed referring to Mądrzycki’s theory, considering such life plans features as the essence, importance degree, conformity to social norms, realism or minuteness of detail. From the evolutionary psychology theory perspective, the short woman’s fertility time has a serious consequence – little time for spouse choice.

Failure to Understand Military Intervention in Pakistan

In 2014, Armed Forces & Society published Ali’s work, “Contradiction of Concordance Theory: Failure to Understand Military intervention in Pakistan.” Shortly thereafter in 2015, Schiff, the author of concordance theory, defended her theory with “Concordance Theory in Pakistan: Response to Zulfiqar Ali.” To this, Ali reiterated his position with, “Pakistan, Military Coup and Concordance: Four Objections to Schiff.” In response to Ali’s ideas, this article argues that Ali’s accounts not only lack theoretical and methodological rigor but also suffer from empirical fallacies and factual errors. Thus, he has failed to understand military intervention in Pakistan.

Failure Theory/Failure Criteria for Fiber Composite Laminates

Failure criteria are derived for the case of a quasi-isotropic laminate and for the more general case of orthotropic laminates. The former requires two calibrating failure properties obtained directly from laminate testing and the latter requires five standard experimental measurements for its calibration. Then the quasi-isotropic failure theory is taken much further, also admitting full calibration by only the two composites tow failure properties, the associated unidirectional tensile, and compressive strengths. The theoretically predicted failure envelope for the quasi-isotropic laminate is favorably compared with some comprehensive testing data. As a related matter, the general failure criteria for unidirectional fiber composites are also reviewed.