Methodology of investigation of sexual offences Key words: child abuse, investigation, examination Summary This diploma thesis deals with issues in investigation of sexual crimes, particularly child sexual abuse. Sexual criminality is a very extensive topic, so I decided to aim the thesis for specifics of investigation related to abused children. The aim of the work is to characterise investigation regarding specifics typical for sexual offences. There is difference between adult and child victims. This must be considered in the process of investigation. Each person taking part in investigation should have achieved at least basic course in psychology. It is necessary to apply considerate approach to restrain from secondary victimization. The first chapter describes the term of sexual abuse, fundamental definitions and forms. Current legal regulations in the Czech Republic are analyzed there. The second part is devoted to criminological characteristics. This chapter is about offenders, victims and typical ways of commission. I compare the situation in which the perpetrator comes from the family with the situation of the perpetrator out of the family. Graphs based on police statistics serve for illustration. The next part (chapter 3 - chapter 8) corncerns especially the beginning of investigation, iniciatory...

Ph.D. (Computer Science) / Thanks to several advancements in communication technologies, the world today is a highly connected society promoting business transformations that highlight improved efficiency [1]. Unfortunately, systems developed for an increasingly connected world are also subject to increases in change, complexity and risk – the same connectedness that makes lives easier also signifies that any negative influences can be more difficult to handle and contain [2]. Multi-agent systems have been touted as ideal solutions to realising the required complexities across wide and varied problem domains that range from manufacturing [3] to eco-system management [4] to construction [5]. In an increasingly connected world, complex problems may require that various multi-agent systems work together in order to accomplish larger, overarching objectives. A fraud detection system, for example, could comprise a number of multi-agent systems, each designated to fulfil a very specific and important fraud detection task. The success of the fraud detection system will then depend on each of the various multi-agent systems’ abilities to achieve allocated goals and thus, contribute towards efforts to detect fraud accurately. Depending on factors that include objective and environment type, fraud detection tasks may entail working with numerous disparate systems [6] – it is possible that agent designs that are different from the rest of the fraud detection system must be implemented.Such inconsistency between multi-agent systems could potentially lead to conflicting goals, thereby jeopardising the resolution of the fraud detection system’s overall objectives. A further complication that may arise is the continuously changing financial services landscape – fraud detection systems must not only contend with the creativity of fraudsters, but should also be acutely aware of when day-to-day processes have changed due to recent innovations or technological advancements in the domain. Existing fraud detection methodologies may therefore need to be updated frequently in order to remain sufficiently informed of current developments. An agent-based fraud detection model was thus developed to assist anti-fraud professionals in the classification of day-to-day financial transactions. The proposed model comprises a number of multi-agent systems, each incorporated to add a particular aspect of the criminal justice process in investigating incidences of potential crime. By having agents emulate the various tasks that are involved in dealing with a crime, it is anticipated that the resulting fraud detection system will be able to achieve similar successes from applying the same procedure. In order to successfully develop the fraud detection model, an architecture for implementing a collaborative community of multi-agent subsystems for a dynamic environment was also developed. The architecture is intended to allow each multi-agent subsystem member to adapt to changes in the environment while ensuring that teamwork links are maintained amongst the different subsystems.

As digital crimes have risen, so has the need for digital forensics. Numerous state-of-the-art tools have been developed to assist digital investigators conduct proper investigations into digital crimes. However, digital investigations are becoming increasingly complex and time consuming due to the amount of data involved, and digital investigators can find themselves unable to conduct them in an appropriately efficient and effective manner. This situation has prompted the need for new tools capable of handling such large, complex investigations. Data mining is one such potential tool. It is still relatively unexplored from a digital forensics perspective, but the purpose of data mining is to discover new knowledge from data where the dimensionality, complexity or volume of data is prohibitively large for manual analysis. This study assesses the self-organising map (SOM), a neural network model and data mining technique that could potentially offer tremendous benefits to digital forensics. The focus of this study is to demonstrate how the SOM can help digital investigators to make better decisions and conduct the forensic analysis process more efficiently and effectively during a digital investigation. The SOM’s visualisation capabilities can not only be used to reveal interesting patterns, but can also serve as a platform for further, interactive analysis. / Dissertation (MSc (Computer Science))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Computer Science / unrestricted

Moxifloxacin is considered to be a broad-spectrum fluoroquinolone due to its activity against both gram positive and gram negative bacteria. Importantly this agent is currently being evaluated in ongoing clinical trials in South Africa and South America as a treatment for Moxifloxacin is considered to be a broad-spectrum fluoroquinolone due to its activity against both gram positive and gram negative bacteria. Importantly this agent is currently being evaluated in ongoing clinical trials in South Africa and South America as a treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis, with the specific objective of decreasing the duration of chemotherapy. However, relatively little is known about the effects of moxifloxacin on host defenses, particularly innate protective mechanisms, involving neutrophils. The primary theme of the laboratory research presented in this dissertation was to investigate the role of moxifloxacin in modulating the host immune system, specifically neutrophil protective functions, as well as lymphocyte proliferation and cytokine production (IL-1, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, IL-10, IL-12, IL13, IL-17, IFN-γ, GM-CSF, G-CSF, TNF-α, and MCP-1). The generation of reactive oxidants and elastase release by neutrophils activated with the chemoattractant, fMLP, or the phorbol ester, PMA, were assayed using luminol- and lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence (LECL) and colorimetric procedures, while alterations in cytosolic Ca2+ concentrations were monitored by radiometric (45Ca2+) procedures. Moxifloxacin (1-20 ㎍/ml) was found to have no significant priming or inhibitory effects on oxidant generation by human neutrophils activated with fMLP or PMA, while elastase release was increased at the highest concentrations of the antibiotic. The magnitude of efflux or store-operated Ca2+ influx was unaffected following activation of neutrophils with fMLP. Moxifloxacin at all concentrations tested, did not affect either lymphocyte proliferation or CD25 expression by PHA-activated mononuclear leukocytes (MNLs). Similarly, none of the cytokines measured were significantly affected by moxifloxacin, either in the absence or presence of PHA, compatible with a lack of effect of this agent on Th1 and Th2 lymphocytes. In conclusion, this study suggests that moxifloxacin, at therapeutic doses, does not affect the protective functions of human neutrophils and lymphocytes. / Dissertation (MSc (Medical Immunology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Immunology / unrestricted

The idea that psychopaths may be able to "beat" a standard polygraph ("lie detector") test remains a controversial issue. The one published study to date that has addressed this question directly (Raskin & Hare, 1978) has been challenged on the grounds that: 1) the polygraph testing situation lacked a 'realistic threat component, and 2) the examiner's decisions were not based on blind chart analyses (Lykken, 1978). The present study re-assessed the accuracy of the polygraph with psychopaths using a revised procedure, in response to Lykken's criticisms. Subjects were 24 psychopathic and 24 nonpsychopathic male prison inmates (aged 18-54) selected on the basis of psychopathy checklist scores (Hare, 1980) and DSM-III ratings within each diagnostic sample, equal groups of "guilty" and "innocent" subjects were tested regarding their involvement in a mock theft by experienced professional polygraphers using control question procedures. Methodological innovations included: a) a "group contingency threat" manipulation which produced a realistic motivational; atmosphere for the polygraph test, b) simultaneous recordings of physiological activity on field and laboratory polygraph instruments, and c) blind numerical analyses of the field polygraph charts. Consistent with Raskin and Hare's results, the guilty psychopaths in the present study were detected just as easily as the guilty nonpsychopaths, and the majority of guilty subjects (87%, excluding inconclusives ) were correctly identified, even when the decisions were based on blind chart analyses. However in contrast to Raskin and Hare's 91% accuracy figure for innocent subjects, the overall hit rate for innocent subjects in the present study was only 56%. Quantitative analyses of the laboratory polygraph recordings revealed few meaningful differences between psychopaths and nonpsychopaths, and the results for guilty and innocent subjects closely matched those obtained with the field polygraph. The findings were discussed in terms of their implications for the field validity of the control question test and the responsivity of psychopaths to threat. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

The steady and uninterrupted availability of systems is essential for the mission of many companies and other organizations. This responsibility relies mostly upon support engineers, who are responsible to respond to incidents. Incident response is a unique type of task in software engineering, given it carries distinguishing characteristics like risks, pressure, incomplete information and urgency. Despite the importance of this task for many organizations, little can be found in the literature about the incident response task and model. To fill the gap, we created a theoretical foundation to foster research on incident response. We conducted an interview study, asking 12 support engineers about their experiences dealing with outages, service degradation, and other incidents that demanded an urgent response. We used our 22 collected cases to identify important concepts of incidents and their dimensions, and created an ontology of incidents and a model of the incident response. To validate the usefulness of our results, we analyzed our incidents based on our ontology and model, providing some insights related to detection of incidents, investigation and the hand over process. We also provide analytical insights related to the prevention of resource limitation incidents. Finally, we validate the usefulness of our research by proposing an improvement on monitoring tools used by support engineers.

En las últimas décadas ha avanzado mucho la comprensión científica sobre el proceso de combustión de los chorros diesel de inyección directa gracias al desarrollo de todo tipo de técnicas e instalaciones ópticas. Además, se han desarrollado y mejorado una gran cantidad de modelos de Dinámica de Fluidos Computacional (CFD), los cuales se usan para el desarrollo de motores altamente eficientes y con bajas emisiones. Sin embargo, debido a la complejidad de los procesos físicos y químicos involucrados en este proceso de combustión, así como a las limitaciones significativas de los experimentos, aún hay muchas cuestiones sin responder: ¿Cómo afecta la combustión a la dinámica del chorro? ¿Cómo cuantificar de forma efectiva la cantidad de hollín y la temperatura del mismo en la llama? ¿Cómo afecta el flujo del aire y las inyecciones partidas al desarrollo del chorro y a la formación de hollín en condiciones no quiescente? Para ayudar a resolver las preguntas planteadas, el objetivo de este trabajo se pone en investigar al dinámica del chorro y la formación de hollín de los chorros Diesel de inyección directa en condiciones quiescentes y no quiescentes por medio de diferentes técnicas ópticas. El trabajo se ha dividido en dos bloques principales. El primero está centrado en el estudio de las modificaciones inducidas por la combustión en la dinámica del chorro, así como la caracterización de la formación de hollín en la llama, todo ello en condiciones quiescentes. Dichas condiciones son proporcionadas por una maqueta de flujo continuo a alta presión y temperatura. La expansión radial y axial del chorro reactivo se ha investigado usando n-dodecano, n-heptano y una mezcla binaria de combustibles primarios de referencia (80% n-heptano y 20% iso-octano en masa), basándose en una base de datos existente medida mediante visualización de schlieren. Se ha estudiado tanto el papel de las condiciones de operación como las propiedades del combustible. A continuación se ha desarrollado por primera vez una técnica combinada de extinción-radiación, aplicada a la medida de hollín en llamas diesel. Gracias a esta técnica, tanto la fracción volumétrica de hollín como la temperatura se obtuvieron simultáneamente considerando los efectos de la autoabsorción en la radiación. Todo este trabajo se ha desarrollado dentro del marco de actividades de la Engine Combustion Network (ECN). El segundo bloque corresponde a la caracterización de la dinámica del chorro y de la formación de hollín en condiciones no quiescentes, que ocurren en la cámara de combustión de un motor monocilíndrico de dos tiempos con accesos ópticos. En esta parte, se ha llevado a cabo en primer lugar la visualización del chorro para una inyección única en condiciones no-reactivas y reactivas. Se han aplicado la visualización simultánea de schlieren y de la quimioluminiscencia del radical OH* para obtener la penetración del chorro y la longitud de despegue de la llama, mientras que la visualización de la extinción de ombroscopía difusa (DBI) se ha aplicado para cuantificar la formaciónde hollín. Los resultados se han comparado con los de la base de datos de la Engine Combustion Network antes mencionados, para estudiar los efectos del movimiento del aire inducido por el movimiento del pistón sobre el desarrollo del chorro y del hollín. Finalmente, se han usado diferentes estrategias de inyección partida para estudiar cómo la primera inyección afecta a los procesos de mezcla y a formación de hollín de la segunda, al cambiar el tiempo de separación entre ambos eventos de inyección o la cantidad inyectada en el primer pulso. / In recent decades, the scientific understanding of the combustion process of direct injection diesel spray has progressed a lot, thanks to the development of all kinds of optical facilities and techniques. In addition, a large amount of efficient and accurate Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models, which are used for the design of highly efficient, low emission engines has been developed and improved. However, because of the complexity of the physical and chemical process involved in this combustion process, as well as significant experimental limitations and uncertainties, there are still a lot of remaining questions: How does combustion affect spray dynamics? How can in-flame soot amount and soot temperature be quantified effectively? How do the airflow and split-injection affect spray development and soot formation under non-quiescent conditions? To help solve these raised questions, the objective of this work is set to investigate the spray dynamics and soot formation process of direct injection diesel sprays under both quiescent and non-quiescent conditions by means of different optical techniques. The work has been divided into two main blocks. The first one is focused on the study of combustion-induced modifications in spray dynamics, as well as the characterization of in-flame soot formation under quiescent conditions. The quiescent conditions are provided by a kind of high-temperature high-pressure constant flow vessel. The radial and axial reacting spray expansion were investigated using n-dodecane, n-heptane and one binary blend of Primary Reference Fuels (80% n-heptane and 20% iso-octane in mass) based on an existing database from Schlieren imaging technique. Both operating conditions and fuel properties on this combustion-induced expansion were studied. Next, a combined extinction-radiation technique was first developed and applied in diesel spray soot measurement. Thanks to this technique, both the in-flame soot volume fraction and temperature were obtained simultaneously by considering the self-absorption effect on radiation. All this work has been carried out within the framework of activities of the engine combustion network (ECN). The second block corresponds to the characterization of spray dynamics and soot formation under non-quiescent conditions, which occur within the combustion chamber of a single-cylinder two-stroke optical engine. In this part, the spray visualization for single-injection under both non-reacting and reacting operating conditions was conducted first. Schlieren and OH * chemiluminescence were simultaneously applied to obtain the spray tip penetration and flame lift-off length, while the Diffuse Back Illumination (DBI) extinction imaging was applied to quantify the instantaneous soot formation. Results were compared with Engine Combustion Network database mentioned above to study the airflow effects induced by piston movement on spray and soot development. Finally, different split-injection strategies were used to study how the first injection affects the mixing and soot formation processes of the second one, by changing the dwell time between both injection events or the first injection quantity. / En les últimes dècades ha avançat molt la comprensió científica sobre el procés de combustió dels dolls dièsel d'injecció directa gràcies al desenvolupament de tot tipus de tècniques i instal·lacions òptiques. A més, s'han desenvolupat i millorat una gran quantitat de models de Dinàmica de Fluids Computacional (CFD), els quals s'usen per al desenvolupament de motors altament eficients i amb baixes emissions. No obstant açò, a causa de la complexitat dels processos físics i químics involucrats en aquest procés de combustió, així com de les limitacions significatives dels experiments, encara hi ha moltes qüestions sense respondre: Com afecta la combustió a la dinàmica del doll? Com quantificar de forma efectiva la quantitat de sutge i la temperatura del mateix en la flama? Com afecta el flux de l'aire i les injeccions partides al desenvolupament del doll i a la formació de sutge en condicions no quiescents? Per a ajudar a resoldre les preguntes plantejades, l'objectiu d'aquest treball es posa a investigar al dinàmica del doll i la formació de sutge dels dolls Dièsel d'injecció directa en condicions quiescents i no quiescents per mitjançant diferents tècniques òptiques. El treball s'ha dividit en dos blocs principals. El primer està centrat en l'estudi de les modificacions induïdes per la combustió en la dinàmica del doll, així com la caracterització de la formació de sutge en la flama, tot açò en condicions quiescents. Aquestes condicions són proporcionades per una maqueta de flux continu a alta pressió i temperatura. L'expansió radial i axial del doll reactiu s'ha investigat usant n-dodecà, n-heptà i una mescla binària de combustibles primaris de referència (80% n-heptà i 20% iso-octà en massa), basant-se en una base de dades existent mesura mitjançant visualització de schlieren. S'ha estudiat tant el paper de les condicions d'operació com les propietats del combustible. A continuació s'ha desenvolupat per primera vegada una tècnica combinada d'extinció-radiació, aplicada a la mesura de sutge en flames dièsel. Gràcies a aquesta tècnica, tant la fracció volumètrica de sutge com la temperatura es van obtenir simultàniament considerant els efectes de l'autoabsorció en la radiació. Tot aquest treball s'ha desenvolupat dins del marc d'activitats de la Engine Combustion Network (ECN). El segon bloc correspon a la caracterització de la dinàmica del doll i de la formació de sutge en condicions no quiescents, que ocorren en la cambra de combustió d'un motor monocilíndric de dos temps amb accessos òptics. En aquesta part, s'ha dut a terme en primer lloc la visualització del doll per a una injecció única en condicions no-reactives i reactives. S'han aplicat la visualització simultània de schlieren i de la quimioluminescència del radical OH* per a obtenir la penetració del doll i la longitud d'enlairament de la flama, mentre que la visualització de l'extinció d'ombroscopia difusa (DBI) s'ha aplicat per a quantificar la formaciónde sutge. Els resultats s'han comparat amb els de la base de dades de la Engine Combustion Network abans esmentats, per a estudiar els efectes del moviment de l'aire induït pel moviment del pistó sobre el desenvolupament del doll i del sutge. Finalment, s'han usat diferents estratègies d'injecció partida per a estudiar com la primera injecció afecta als processos de mescla i a formació de sutge de la segona, en canviar el temps de separació entre tots dos esdeveniments d'injecció o la quantitat injectada en el primer pols. / Xuan, T. (2017). Optical investigations on Diesel spray dynamics and in-flame soot formation [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/94626 / TESIS

A tandem repeat is a sequence of adjacent repetitions of a nucleotide patternsignature, called its motif, in a DNA sequence. The repetitions may either be exact or approximate copies of the motif. A minisatellite is a tandem repeat whose motif is of moderate length. One approach to searching for minisatellites assumes prior knowledge about the motif. This approach limits the search for minisatellites to specified motifs. An alternative approach tries to identify signatures autonomously from within a DNA sequence. Several different algorithms that use this approach have been developed. Since they do not use pre-specified motifs, and since a degree of approximation is tolerated, there may be ambiguity about where minisatellites start and end in a given DNA sequence. Various experiments were conducted on four well-known software packages to investigate this conjecture. The software packages were executed on the same data and their respective output was compared. The study found that the selected computer algorithms did not report the same outputs. The lack of precise definitions of properties of such patterns may explain these differences. The difference in definitions relate to the nature and extent of approximation to be tolerated in the patterns during the search. This problem could potentially be overcome by agreeing on how to specify acceptable approximations when searching for minisatellites. Some of these packages are implemented as Academic/Research Software (ARS). Noting that ARS has a reputation of being difficult to use, this study also investigated the usability of these ARS implementations. It relied on literature that offers usability evaluation methods. Potential problems that are likely to affect the general usability of the systems were identified. These problems relate inter alia, to visibility, consistency and efficiency of use. Furthermore, usability guidelines in the literature were followed to modify the user interface of one of the implementations. A sample of users evaluated the before- and after versions of this user interface. Their feedback suggests that the usability guidelines were indeed effective in enhancing the user interface. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Computer Science / unrestricted

Charles University in Prague Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové Department of Biochemical Sciences Candidate: Bc. Ľubica Múčková Supervisor: Prof. MUDr. Jaroslav Dršata, CSc. Consultant: Ing. Jana Netriová, PhD. Title of diploma thesis: Laboratory diagnostics of kidney injury in patients with diabetes mellitus I and II Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disease. This disease leads to develompement of both microvascular and macrovascular complications. In this work we examined a microvascular complication - diabetic nephropathy - and its laboratory diagnostics. We focussed on parameters cystatin C and creatinine. We estimated a glomerular filtration with Grubb, Stevens and MDRD equations. The Grubb and Stevens equations use cystatin C to determine the glomerular fitrlation rate (GFR), MDRD equations use creatinine, albumin and urea. For the asessment of kidney function we evaluated albumin and total protein waste in urine samples collected for 24 hours. The parameters were measured in file of 183 patients. Number of pacients with diabetes I.type was 49 and with diabetes II.type was 134. The main intention of this work was to evaluate equations used for determination of GFR, to compare their pros and cons and put them in contrast with albumin and total proteins waste. In case of the patients...

1 Abstrakt v anglickém jazyce The presented master's thesis is focused on methodology of sexual crime investigation and difficulties related to the methodology. Given the fact that the theme is quite vast, I decided to draw my attention to the crime of rape merely. The main aim of the thesis is to describe the process of recognition and investigation of the crime of rape emphasising its characteristic elements, problematic points, and crucial institutes. The thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter deals with a historical development of the legislation related to the crime of rape and takes fundamental sources of law into consideration. The chapter also includes current legislation of the crime of rape, merits of the case and concepts explanation. The second chapter contains criminological characteristics of sexual assault. The third chapter is devoted to the description of characteristic features of the crime of rape from the point of view of criminalistic and the emphasis is put on the victim's characteristics, their harm, which can be caused by the crime, and behaviour which can affect the process of trails origin. Furthermore, I am introducing the most common myths related to sexual assault. In the fourth chapter individual trails typical for sexual assaults are to be found as well as the...