Materiais com luminescência persistente são normalmente baseados em aluminatos e silicatos dopados com íons Eu2+, portanto buscam-se novos materiais com diferentes dopantes. Consequentemente, os materiais BaAl2O4:Eu2+,TR3+ (R: La-Lu) foram preparados pelo método de combustão com temperaturas de ignição entre 400 e 600 °C, assim como pelo método cerâmico a 1500 °C. Os sistemas mais versáteis CdSiO3:TR3+ foram preparados apenas pelo método cerâmico a 950 °C. Para estudar a estrutura e a pureza de fase dos materiais utilizou-se espectroscopia de absorção no infravermelho, difração de raios X (método do pó) e microscopia eletrônica de varredura. Os estados de oxidação e o ambiente ao redor dos íons terras raras foram investigados com a espectroscopia de absorção de raios X com radiação Síncrotron (XANES e EXAFS). As propriedades da luminescência persistente dos fósforos foram investigadas com as técnicas de termoluminescência (TL), fotoluminescência e espectroscopia com radiação Síncrotron na região do UV-UV vácuo. Baseado nas medidas de TL, a estrutura dos defeitos dos materiais BaAl2O4:Eu2+,TR3+ (TR: Nd e Dy) e CdSiO3:TR3+ (TR: Pr, Gd e Tb) mostrou-se ideal para a luminescência persistente a temperatura ambiente. Os espectros de XANES indicaram a presença dos estados divalente e trivalente do Eu dopado na matriz BaAl2O4, enquanto que apenas íons TR3+ co-dopantes foram observados (exceto CeIV). O íon Eu3+ pode estar presente devido ao processo de migração do elétron do íon Eu2+ para a banda de condução durante o processo de excitação. Em contraste, para o sistema CdSiO3:TR3+, foram observadas apenas as espécies trivalentes TR3+, excluindo, portanto, a oxidação direta TR3+→TRIV. Apenas a transição interconfiguracional 4f65d1→4f7 do íon Eu2+ foi observada na luminescência persistente dos materiais BaAl2O4:Eu2+,TR3+. Por outro lado, para a matriz CdSiO3 dopada com íons Pr3+ e Tb3+, apenas as transições 4fn-4fn foram observadas, sem a presença da banda de emissão defeitos observada tanto no espectro de emissão sob excitação no UV como no espectro de luminescência persistente do CdSiO3:Gd3+. O band gap das matrizes BaAl2O4 (6,5 eV) e CdSiO3 (5,28 eV) foi obtido com a espectroscopia de excitação no UV-UV vácuo. A posição dos níveis de energia dos íons TR2+/3+ determinada com o auxílio da banda de transferência de carga ligante metal (LMCT) O2-(2p)Eu3+ confirmou o papel dos elétrons como carregadores de carga no mecanismo da luminescência persistente dos íons Eu2+, Pr3+ e Tb3+. Por fim, os mecanismos da luminescência persistente foram desenvolvidos, e, apesar de serem diferentes, os mecanismos para os íons Eu2+, Tb3+ e Pr3+ apresentaram princípios similares. Esta semelhança confirma a solidez da interpretação dos dados experimentais dos materiais com luminescência persistentes dopados com Eu2+ e encoraja a expansão de modelos similares para outros materiais com luminescência persistente no futuro. Cálculos teóricos com, por exemplo, método DFT poderão no futuro ser utilizados para refinar o modelo, diminuir o trabalho experimental e para descobrir novos modelos para sistemas que o atual modelo não pode ser aplicado, como no caso dos materiais dopados com Eu3+. / Persistent luminescent materials are usually based on Eu2+ doped aluminates or silicates, though novel materials with different dopants are seeked for. Accordingly, BaAl2O4:Eu2+,R3+ (R: La-Lu) materials were prepared by the combustion method with ignition temperatures between 400 and 600 °C as well as with the solid state reaction at 1500 °C. The more versatile CdSiO3:R3+ systems were prepared only with the solid state reaction at 950 °C. Infrared absorption spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscopy techniques were used to study the structure and phase purity of the materials. The oxidation states of the rare earths and their environment were investigated with synchrotron radiation X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XANES and EXAFS). The persistent luminescence properties of the phosphors were investigated with thermoluminescence (TL), photoluminescence and synchrotron radiation UV-VUV spectroscopy. Based on the TL measurements, the trap structure for BaAl2O4:Eu2+,R3+ (R: Nd and Dy) and CdSiO3:R3+ (R: Pr, Gd and Tb) is ideal for room temperature persistent luminescence. The XANES spectra indicated the presence of both divalent and trivalent europium doped in the BaAl2O4 host, while only trivalent rare earth co-dopants were observed (except CeIV). Eu3+ may be present because of in situ charging of persistent luminescence. In contrast for the CdSiO3:R3+ system, only the trivalent R3+ species were observed, thus excluding the direct R3+→RIV (R: Pr and Tb) oxidation. Only the typical interconfigurational 4f65d1→4f7 transition of Eu2+ ion was observed in the persistent luminescence of BaAl2O4:Eu2+,R3+ materials. On the other hand, for the Pr3+ and Tb3+ doped CdSiO3, only 4fn-4fn transitions were observed with no traces of the defect band emission observed in either the conventional UV excited or persistent luminescence spectra of CdSiO3:Gd3+. The band gap energy for the hosts BaAl2O4 (6.5 eV) and CdSiO3 (5.28 eV) were obtained with the UV-VUV excitation spectroscopy. The R2+/3+ energy levels positions determined with the aid of the O2-(2p)→Eu3+ ligand to metal charge transfer transition (LMCT) confirmed the role of electrons as the charge carriers in the mechanism of Eu2+, Pr3+ and Tb3+ persistent luminescence. Finally, the persistent luminescence mechanisms were constructed and, despite the differences, the mechanisms for Eu2+, Tb3+ and Pr3+ proved to be rather similar. This similarity confirms the solidity of the interpretation of experimental data for the Eu2+ doped persistent luminescence materials and encourages the expansion of similar models for other persistent luminescence materials in the future. Theoretical calculations by e.g. DFT method can be used to refine the model, to decrease experimental work and to find different models for systems where the present model evidently fails, e.g. Eu3+ doped materials.

Type 2 diabetes has reached epidemic proportions in adults and youths. Persistent organic pollutants and endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), such as pesticides, dioxins, and organochlorines, are omnipresent and persist in the environment with potential for human exposure via contaminated air, waterways, soil, and human food supply. EDCs have been correlated with diabetes incidence and risks. Residential proximity to hazardous waste sites (HWS) has been correlated with increased hospital admission rates for diabetes. The study used a sample population (N = 1,724), ages ≥ 12 years from the 2005-2012 Continuous NHANES and HWS data from the National Priorities List of Superfund Sites. The ecosocial theory of disease distribution, and geocoordinates provided theoretical support. Mann-Whitney U test and binary logistic regression analysis were used to investigate the relationship between residence ≤ 1 mile compared with residence >1 mile from a HWS in NHANES surveyed counties of NJ, PA, NY, and CA on the outcome abnormal A1c ≥ 5.7% while controlling the effect of the moderators: abnormal body mass index (BMI), age, sex, and race/ethnicity on the relationship. Participants with a BMI ≥ 28.95 kg/m2 were 1.8 times and persons ≥ 58 years of age were 2.1 times more likely to have an A1c ≥ 5.7%. Also, non-Hispanic Whites residing >1 mile of a HWS had 82.1 % reduced risk of abnormal A1c compared with the same group residing ≤ 1 mile of a HWS. The results forge opportunities for future studies to consider border distance between residence and HWS. In addition, the results may promote positive social change through diabetes risks education, environmental health education, and practices and raise dialogue about social justice and the geographic distribution of hazardous waste sites.

L’objectif de cette thèse est le diagnostic de l’état de santé de la lagune de Bizerte par une approche multi-marqueurs (chimique, biochimique et morphométrique) et multi-compartiments (sédiment et biote). Pour atteindre cet objectif, les modèles biologiques choisis sont la moule Mytilus galloprovincialis et le poisson gobie Zosterisessor ophiocephalus. Ces deux espèces sont largement répandues dans la lagune de Bizerte et la mer Méditerranée. Dans une première partie et afin d’estimer les niveaux de contamination de la lagune de Bizerte par les polluants organiques persistants (POPs), des analyses chimiques, granulométriques et minéralogiques (COT) de sédiments superficiels ont été réalisées. Par la suite la toxicité potentielle des sédiments a été évaluée par une batterie de bioessais. Dans une troisième partie la biodisponibilité et l’impact écotoxicologique des POPs étudiés ont été évalués par l’accumulation de ces contaminants au niveau des deux organismes indicateurs choisis et l’étude des réponses biologiques associées à travers quelques biomarqueurs tels que la catalase (CAT), l’acide thiobarbiturique (TBARS); l’Ethoxyrésorufine O-dééthylase (EROD); la glutathion-S-transférase (GST) et l'acétylcholinestérase (AChE). Les principaux résultats des analyses chimiques révèlent une contamination générale des sédiments et organismes étudiés par les POPs. Les niveaux de contamination sont fonction de l’espèce et de la station étudiée. La comparaison de nos valeurs avec les données de la littérature a montré que les niveaux de contamination de la lagune sont similaires ou légèrement inférieurs à ceux enregistrés dans des écosystèmes équivalents dans d’autres pays du monde. L’estimation de la toxicité des sédiments au moyen des valeurs guides sédimentaires (ERL, ERM, TEL et PEL) et trois tests biologiques (Microtox®, SOS-Chromotest® et test MELA) ont montré que les sédiments des stations du canal de Bizerte S1 et S3 représentent un danger accru pour les organismes aquatiques. Nos résultats ont montré que les biomarqueurs mesurés chez les deux espèces choisies sont des paramètres sensibles et inductibles permettant de qualifier l’état de santé des organismes et la qualité globale du milieu étudié. Les marqueurs morphométriques contrairement aux marqueurs biochimiques n’ont pas permis de discriminer les différents sites étudiés. Contrairement aux poissons, il a été démontré chez les moules que les facteurs abiotiques ont une influence sur les concentrations en POPs et les réponses des biomarqueurs.Au vu de l’ensemble de ces résultats, il apparaît que cette approche intégrative associant des mesures chimiques et écotoxicologiques représente un bon moyen pour évaluer la qualité de l’environnement notamment dans le cadre de programmes de biosurveillance. / The objective of this thesis was the diagnosis of the health status of the Bizerte lagoon using a multi-marker (chemical, biochemical and morphometric) and multi-compartment approach (sediment and biota). To achieve this objective, the selected biological models were the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis and the goby fish Zosterisessor ophiocephalus. Both species are widespread in the Bizerte lagoon and the Mediterranean Sea. In a first part and in order to estimate the levels of contamination of the Bizerte lagoon, persistent organic pollutant (POPs), granulometric and mineralogical (TOC) analyses of surficial sediments were carried out. Afterwards, the potential toxicity of sediments was assessed by a battery of bioassays. In a the third part, bioavailability and ecotoxicological impact of POPs studied were assessed by bioaccumulation measurement in these two indicators species, and the study of biological responses associated through a battery of biomarkers such as catalase (CAT), thiobarbituric acid (TBARS); Ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD); glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE). The main results of the chemical analyses show a general contamination of sediments and organisms studied by POPs. Contamination levels are dependent on the studied species and stations. Comparing our values with literature data, showed that the levels of contamination of the lagoon are similar or slightly lower than equivalent ecosystems in other parts of the world. Besides, the estimation of sediment toxicity, using sediment guideline values (ERL, ERM, TEL et PEL), as well as bioassays (Microtox®, SOS-Chromotest® and MELA test) showed that stations of canal of Bizerte S1 and S3 were associated with an increased hazard to aquatic organisms. Our results showed that biomarkers measured in both selected species are sensitive and inducible parameters, which allowed to characterize the health status of organisms and global quality of the studied environment. Biochemical but not morphometric markers allowed to discriminate the different studied sites according to chemical risk. Unlike fish, it has been demonstrated in mussels that abiotic factors influence the concentrations of POPs and biomarker responses.Obtained data suggest that integrative approach, combining chemical and ecotoxicological measurements, may represent a good way to asses the quality of the environment, particularly, in the context of biomonitoring programs.

The necessity of cost effective, environmentally friendly technology has become increasingly important to remediate persistent organic pollutants in the environment. The emerging greener ultrasound technology has the potential to serve the remediation industry. In this study, the use of low power, high frequency (HF) ultrasound (1.6 MHz, 145 W/L) has been shown to effectively remediate DDT (90% of 8 mg/L) in water and sand slurries. Addition of iron powder accelerated DDT degradation in the sand slurry under ultrasonication. The potential of HF ultrasound (1.6 MHz, 160 W/L) in degradation of the non-volatile, polar model compound methylene blue (MB) was studied in MB spiked demineralised water and wastewater. A 70 % of 0.4 mg/L of MB was degraded in demineralised water whereas only 54% of MB degraded in MB spiked wastewater. There was a decrease in MB degradation rate with an increase in MB concentration. High power, low frequency (LF) ultrasound (20 kHz, 932 W/L) was used to desorb 400 mg/L of DDT added to three different natural soil slurries at 5, 10, 15 and 20 wt. % each. Each soil slurry was prepared in 0.1% v/v SDS surfactant solution, soaked for 30 min. and heated for another 30 min. at 40 oC before sonication. For the neutral pH soil slurry with higher dissolved organic carbon, the desorption efficiency achieved was over 80% in 30 s sonication. Alkaline soil with higher surface area than neutral soil indicated 60% desorption efficiency while the acidic soil, with the highest surface area and a higher amount of non-soluble organic matter, yielded 30% desorption efficiency under similar desorption conditions. Coconut fibre, used to biosorb the desorbed DDT in the decanted solution, was found to have over 25 g/kg of biosorption capacity for DDT. The surfactant SDS and associated DDT were completely separated from decanted liquid of the desorbed slurry with alum using adsorptive micellar flocculation in 60 min. settling. Acidic pH and molar concentration ratio of Al3+/SDS = 0.5 was used to completely remove the DDT. Using 20 kHz, 1125 W/L of sonication in an 80 mL reactor with air saturated 50 mg/L DDT at 20oC, the DDT removal efficiency achieved was 80% in 20 min. With zero valent iron addition, DDT removal efficiency in 15 min. is 100% with 15 and 22 mg/L of initial DDT concentrations. The settled DDT slurrywas remediated using 20 kHz at 240 W/L achieving DDT removal efficiency of 87% in 15 min. Also LF ultrasound was found to be effective in remediating chloroform (8 mg/L in 60 min) from spiked demineralised water and contaminated groundwater in both batch (120 W/L) and flow cell (6000 W/L) modes. Modeling and simulation of the ultrasonic reactor under 20 kHz ultrasonication was performed for various shape reactors using commercially available software. For almost all reactors, the highest ultrasonic intensity was observed near the transducer???s vibrating area. It was found that the highest acoustic pressure distribution, which is critical to the performance of the reactor, occurred in the conical reactor and flow cell configuration. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2010

In the last 50 years, a considerable amount of research workhas been completed in the mathematical system theory and theoryof control. Implementation of the results from this researchinto practice has drastically decreased the production costs.Most production processes are highly automated, and the use ofrobots in industry is growing. As far as office, or businessprocesses are concerned, the situation is quite different.Though the office workers and sales personnel have obtainedmuch help from the modern computers, the office and salesprocesses are far behind the production processes on the levelof automation. The computers are used in the office mainly tohelp in performing various activities, e.g., to write a letter,to print an invoice, to complete a transaction, etc. Thecontrol of the business processes in the office remains, to alarge extent, manual. There is a lot to gain if the controlover business processes could be automated, at leastpartially. The material presented in this thesis is aimed to supportthe following hypothesis: "The ideas worked out in the Mathematical system theory formodeling and controlling physical processes can be successfullyused for modeling and controlling business processes." Oneof the main ideas of mathematical system theory is to considera process as a set of valid trajectories in a state space, andthis idea is the keystone for the thesis. The thesis startswith reformulating the state-oriented approach for the domainof business processes to show what kind of sate space can beused in this domain. First, the approach is introducedinformally by means of an example. Next, a possibleformalization adjusted to the properties of business processesis discussed. Then, experimental evidences that the methodsuggested in the thesis can be used in practice are presented.The suggested method is also compared with other methods ofbusiness process modeling to find out the areas where it hasadvantages over the other methods. In the conclusion, theresults are summarized, and plansfor the future are drawn. Most of the material included in the thesis has beenpublished and presented at international conferences. Thecontribution of this thesis consists in organizing the materialin support of the main hypothesis.

The environmental occurrence and behaviour of the brominated flame retardant (BFR) decabromodiphenyl ethane (dbdpe) has only been studied to a limited extent. It is structurally similar to decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE), which makes it conceivable that dbdpe may also become an environmental contaminant of concern. A method for environmental analysis and comparative assessments of dbdpe and decaBDE was developed. Both BFRs were studied in: a mass balance of the Henriksdal WWTP in Stockholm (Paper I); an international survey of sewage sludge (Paper II); sediment along a transect from Henriksdal WWTP to the outer archipelago of Stockholm and from isolated Swedish lakes (Paper III); and a benthic food web from the Scheldt estuary (Paper IV). Dbdpe was found in sludge from every country surveyed, indicating that it may be a worldwide concern. The WWTP mass balance showed that virtually all of the BFRs were transferred from wastewater to sludge. A small fraction was emitted via the effluent, confirming emissions to the aquatic environment. In the marine sediment, the BFR levels close to the WWTP outfall were high. They decreased along the transect to low levels in the outer archipelago. The study of lake sediment showed a widespread presence of dbdpe in the Swedish environment and provided evidence that it originates from long range atmospheric transport. In the food web, dbdpe did bioaccumulate to a small extent which was similar to decaBDE. The transfer of the BFRs from sediment to benthic invertebrates was low, while transfer from prey to predator was higher. Biodilution was observed rather than biomagnification. This work suggests that the persistence, the susceptibility to long range atmospheric transport, and the potential for bioaccumulation are similar for dbdpe and the regulated decaBDE that it is replacing. Thus, there is a risk that a problematic environmental pollutant is being replaced with a chemical that is equally problematic. / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Submitted. Paper 4: Manuscript.

Problem: Interim and annual reports are some of the most crucial sources of information regarding companies’ performances. Interested parties such as analysts and investors assess this information and compare it with expectations. Analysts’ expectations of companies’ interim reports are of great importance when analysing the future development of share movement. Possible deviations between analysts’ expectations and actual presented results from the individual companies might change the perceptions of specific future stock prices. Furthermore business sectors have different characteristics and might respond differently to unexpected earnings news. Over- and underperformance of the presented results in relation to analysts’ expectations could create specific stock price movements over a forthcoming period depending on the nature of the report. The authors label this phenomenon as persistent trends. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis was to establish whether persistency and trends could be observed in the future development of companies’ stock prices with regard to analysts’ expectations and the true result presented by the companies. Method: With a quantitative approach the authors conducted an event study aiming to fulfill the purpose of this thesis. The study consisted of all fourth quarter reports presented 2001 throughout 2004 by the companies presently listed on the Most traded section of the Stockholm stock exchange A-list. The authors defined the nature of the studied reports as positive or negative depending on whether the pre-tax earning exceeded or were lower than the analysts’ expectations. Furthermore the authors constructed a mathematical formula which distinguished if the possible deviation of actual results compared to expectations was significant. The share price performance for two months subsequent to the earnings announcement was recorded and compared with the OMXS30 development for the equivalent time, thereby the authors gathered empirical evidence to fulfill the purpose. Furthermore the data was also divided into business subcategories to provide answers to whether there was uniform response to unexpected earnings information among business sectors. Results: The authors presented empirically founded evidence for the existence of persistent trends following the presentation of both positive and negative reports. The authors also rejected the presence of a uniform response to deviating earnings information in the business sectors.

A deeper understanding of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cells is important for the further improvement of these devices. This thesis is focused on the use of electrical modelling as a tool for pursuing this aim. Finished devices and individual layers are characterized and the acquired data are used as input in the simulations. Band gap gradients are accounted for when modelling the devices. The thesis is divided into two main parts. One part that treats the influence of cadmium free buffer layers, mainly atomic layer deposited (Zn,Mg)O, on devices and another part in which the result of CIGS absorber layer modifications is studied. Recombination analysis indicates that interface recombination is limitting the open circuit voltage (Voc) in cells with ZnO buffer layers. This recombination path becomes less important when magnesium is introduced into the ZnO giving a positive conduction band offset (CBO) towards the CIGS absorber layer. Light induced persistent photoconductivity (PPC) is demonstrated in (Zn,Mg)O thin films. Device modelling shows that the measured PPC, coupled with a high density of acceptors in the buffer-absorber interface region, can explain light induced metastable efficiency improvement in CIGS solar cells with (Zn,Mg)O buffer layers. It is shown that a thin indium rich layer closest to the buffer does not give any significant impact on the performance of devices dominated by recombination in the CIGS layer. In our cells with CdS buffer the diffusion length in the CIGS layer is the main limitting factor. A thinner CIGS layer improves Voc by reducing recombination. However, for thin enough absorber layers Voc deteriorates due to recombination at the back contact. Interface recombination is a problem in thin devices with Zn(O,S) buffer layers. This recombination path is overshadowed in cells of standard thickness by recombination in the CIGS bulk. Thin cells with Zn(O,S) buffer layers have a higher efficiency than CdS cells with the same absorber thickness.

The term criminal career is used to describe the course or progress of criminal activity: its onset, duration, termination, severity, and change in severity. Such a term has important implications, given that significant criminal justice, social, and health policies such as crime control, parole, and correctional treatment and management are predicated on achieving the reduction of criminal careers of serious, repeat offenders. Despite its conceptual simplicity, however, criminal career is often treated as having no depth or scope, for example, merely as the number of crimes or length of prison sentence. These indices often give no or little consideration to criminal career parameters and tend to account for only a small portion of the construct of criminal careers. Ideally, a simple metric to measure the onset, duration, termination, severity, and change in severity of a pattern of criminal activities is needed to facilitate the description and measurement of criminal careers of offenders. <p>The Criminal Career Profile (CCP), which uses commonly available criminological information and requires minimal professional skills to execute, can be considered a simple and precise measure of criminal careers. The CCP is a chronological representation on a Cartesian plane of the time in years an offender has spent in prison (y-axis) plotted against the time in years spent out of prison (x-axis) of all incarcerations and time spent in the community. Given that the CCP is a step function, a regression line can be generated. Serious crimes are generally given longer sentences, and more time in than out of prison would generate a steeper regression line. Shallower regression lines result from less time in than out of prison. As such, the CCP regression line can be considered an indication of the seriousness of offending, and the slope or angle of the regression line can be considered a quantitative index of criminal career severity. Larger slopes or angles (used in this Program of Research) suggest more serious criminal careers. Conversely, smaller slopes or angles suggest less serous criminal careers. Taken altogether, the CCP can provide a quantitative measure of criminal careers: its onset (age at first conviction, which is plotted as the first point on a CCP graph), duration (total time in and out of prison since onset), severity (CCP slope/angle), change in severity (change in CCP slope/angle), and termination (end point or when the CCP slope or angle becomes smaller and closer to 0).<p>This Program of Research was done to assess the CCPs validity and utility in measuring offenders criminal career. More specifically, the investigation focused on the seriousness of criminal careers. A number of criteria were used to validate the CCP angles ability to measure criminal career severity. In Study 1, psychopaths and violent recidivists showed a significantly larger CCP angle than nonpsychopaths and violent nonrecidivists, respectively. Finer groupings based on risk (high, medium, and low), a number of risk measures (Psychopathy Checklist Revised, Violence Risk Scale, and Violence Risk Scale Sexual Offender Version), and different types of offenders (i.e. violent, nonviolent, sexual, Dangerous Offenders) were used in Study 2. Two consistent findings across different groups of offenders in Study 2 were CCP angles significantly varied as a function of risk group and correlated with risk ratings. The pattern of results was that larger CCP angles tended to be associated with worse risk groups. In Study 3, both treated offenders and treatment dropouts showed a reduction in CCP angles from pre- to post-treatment. A nonsignificant interaction of group by treatment, however, suggests that post-treatment changes could not be attributed to treatment. Finally, Study 4 showed that CCP angles change with age. Taken altogether, the results of the four studies provided converging evidence for the validity of the CCP as a measure of criminal careers and the CCP angle as a measure of criminal career severity.

The term criminal career is used to describe the course or progress of criminal activity: its onset, duration, termination, severity, and change in severity. Such a term has important implications, given that significant criminal justice, social, and health policies such as crime control, parole, and correctional treatment and management are predicated on achieving the reduction of criminal careers of serious, repeat offenders. Despite its conceptual simplicity, however, criminal career is often treated as having no depth or scope, for example, merely as the number of crimes or length of prison sentence. These indices often give no or little consideration to criminal career parameters and tend to account for only a small portion of the construct of criminal careers. Ideally, a simple metric to measure the onset, duration, termination, severity, and change in severity of a pattern of criminal activities is needed to facilitate the description and measurement of criminal careers of offenders. <p>The Criminal Career Profile (CCP), which uses commonly available criminological information and requires minimal professional skills to execute, can be considered a simple and precise measure of criminal careers. The CCP is a chronological representation on a Cartesian plane of the time in years an offender has spent in prison (y-axis) plotted against the time in years spent out of prison (x-axis) of all incarcerations and time spent in the community. Given that the CCP is a step function, a regression line can be generated. Serious crimes are generally given longer sentences, and more time in than out of prison would generate a steeper regression line. Shallower regression lines result from less time in than out of prison. As such, the CCP regression line can be considered an indication of the seriousness of offending, and the slope or angle of the regression line can be considered a quantitative index of criminal career severity. Larger slopes or angles (used in this Program of Research) suggest more serious criminal careers. Conversely, smaller slopes or angles suggest less serous criminal careers. Taken altogether, the CCP can provide a quantitative measure of criminal careers: its onset (age at first conviction, which is plotted as the first point on a CCP graph), duration (total time in and out of prison since onset), severity (CCP slope/angle), change in severity (change in CCP slope/angle), and termination (end point or when the CCP slope or angle becomes smaller and closer to 0).<p>This Program of Research was done to assess the CCPs validity and utility in measuring offenders criminal career. More specifically, the investigation focused on the seriousness of criminal careers. A number of criteria were used to validate the CCP angles ability to measure criminal career severity. In Study 1, psychopaths and violent recidivists showed a significantly larger CCP angle than nonpsychopaths and violent nonrecidivists, respectively. Finer groupings based on risk (high, medium, and low), a number of risk measures (Psychopathy Checklist Revised, Violence Risk Scale, and Violence Risk Scale Sexual Offender Version), and different types of offenders (i.e. violent, nonviolent, sexual, Dangerous Offenders) were used in Study 2. Two consistent findings across different groups of offenders in Study 2 were CCP angles significantly varied as a function of risk group and correlated with risk ratings. The pattern of results was that larger CCP angles tended to be associated with worse risk groups. In Study 3, both treated offenders and treatment dropouts showed a reduction in CCP angles from pre- to post-treatment. A nonsignificant interaction of group by treatment, however, suggests that post-treatment changes could not be attributed to treatment. Finally, Study 4 showed that CCP angles change with age. Taken altogether, the results of the four studies provided converging evidence for the validity of the CCP as a measure of criminal careers and the CCP angle as a measure of criminal career severity.