Exploring infiltration behaviour by organised crime groups

Purpose This paper aims to provide a holistic view of infiltration behaviour by organised crime groups (OCGs), with a specific focus on the methods used to access the legal market, including factors that drive an organised crime group to pursue infiltration. The act of infiltration is examined as a business decision; therefore, factors such as the surrounding community, the availability of criminal opportunities and broader implications, are considered. Design/methodology/approach Initially, the concept of an organised crime group is explored by, where possible, identifying trends in behaviour and structure. The act of infiltration is dissected, including the infiltration behaviour of OCGs and their related decision-making processes. Findings Infiltration actions are complex; therefore, any countervailing combatting and preventative actions will need to follow suit. OCGs pursue infiltration only when deemed feasible and to their benefit in furthering their illicit actions. Criminal opportunities are pursued across the entire economic sector. When these groups participate in a legal market, their criminality infects the healthy market and leaves it ill and contagious to the rest of the licit economy. Originality/value Infiltration is organic, as it indicates growth or adjustment to changing market conditions. Criminal opportunities are widespread, and their creation is often unintentional–the legal economy casts a shadow. Combatting organised crime, entrenched in the lawful community, requires that the focus should be on the susceptibility of potential infiltration targets through the possible infiltration methods. Furthermore, a broader perspective is needed when considering the underlying motivation for infiltration–it may not only be to generate profit.

Arsenic in forests – a short review

The inputs of As in forest ecosystems have declined since the eighties when the higher concentrations of that metalloid were observed due to industrial activities. The As inputs to the forest floor include throughfall and litterfall where dry deposition is an appreciable percentage. This is manifested by the higher As concentration in older needles of conifers and the enrichment of throughfall relative to the bulk deposition. The throughfall and the forest floor convert the inorganic As into methylated organic As and in this way reduce its toxicity. In unpolluted forests the vast percentage of As is retained in soils because the oxides of Fe and Al are very efficient holders. In polluted forested soils the As can become mobile and enrich the surface runoff waters approaching even the threshold value set by the World Health Organization. For this reason forest soils with high concentration of As due to former high loads should be monitored.

First Transition series metal-organic frameworks: Synthesis, properties and applications

Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) have engrossed massive consideration in the last decade, owing to their better adsorption properties as compared to those of the organic as well as inorganic materials...

Oregon farmers' perspectives on motivations and obstacles to transition to certified organic

This exploratory study investigates perceptions of the transition to certified organic production among farmers in the U.S. state of Oregon who were actively transitioning all or part of their operation to certified organic production. It examines the influence of farmer experience with organic farming systems on motivations and obstacles to transition to certified organic farming. The analysis creates and compares three categories of farmers based on their total years of farming experience and years of farming using organic methods—Experienced Organic Farmers, Beginning Organic Farmers, and Experienced Farmers Beginning Organic—and provides insights into the economic and ideological motivations for transitioning to certified organic, as well as the economic, production, and marketing obstacles inherent to certified organic transition.

La parola alle cose. Alcuni esempi nella poesia italiana del Novecento

The article discusses the presence of matter (organic as well as inorganic) in twentieth-century Italian poetry. The paper offers a diachronic survey of some exemplary authors and texts (Marinetti, Gozzano, Montale, Giudici, Caproni, and Sereni), highlighting the different utilisations of objects and things within literary texts. Objects and things define spaces and places in subjects’ lives, support their identity, and document various ages and generations. The death of their owners makes things and objects lose their original purpose and find different functions with new subjects. In this context, they appear as miniature eternities always ready for a connection with new subjects.

Universal Building Blocks

This chapter argues that a number of precursor institutions of the long-distance trade organization developed locally, independently, and endemically in many different places along the Eurasian landmass. It shows that there is often no direct and clear evidence for the endogenous origins of institutions. The chapter also discusses the endemic appearance of an institution that does not have a clear pattern of migration but, together with its relatively simple structure, supports the identification of an endogenous institution. Endogenous institutions are often organic, as is the case with the itinerant trader or the family, or simple institutions that address basic functions, such as the loan, agency, or ship. They are to be found throughout Eurasia, and there is no historical evidence of a single historical origin for any of them or of a clear route of their migration.

Zn(ii)/Cd(ii) based mixed ligand coordination polymers as fluorosensors for aqueous phase detection of hazardous pollutants

The recent developments and prospects of fluorosensors with a handful of recent examples based on mixed ligand Zn(ii)/Cd(ii) coordination polymers for aqueous phase detection of organic as well as inorganic pollutants have been discussed.

Theoretical study of solvent effects on the hyperpolarizabilities of two chalcone derivatives

The use of organic as nonlinear optical materials has been intensively explored in the recent years due to the ease of manipulation of the molecular structure and the synthetic flexibility regarding the change of substituent groups. In the present work, the linear and nonlinear properties of two chalcones derivatives (E)-1-(4-methylphenyl)-3-phenylprop-2-en-1-one (4MP3P) and (E)-1-(4-Nitrophenyl)-3-phenylprop-2-en-1-one (4NP3P), that differ by the substituent position at the phenyl ring, were studied in the presence of protic and aprotic solvents simulated by the Polarizable Continuum Model (PCM) at DFT/B3LYP/6-311+G(d) level. The static and dynamic (1064 nm) molecular parameters as the dipole moment, linear polarizability, first and second hyperpolarizabilities were studied as function of the solvent dielectric constant value. The geometrical behavior as the chemical bond angles, torsion angles, and partial charges distribution of the compounds were studied, including calculations of gap energies in various solvents. The obtained results revealed that the substituent change of CH3 (4MP3P) to NO2 (4NP3P) benefits the nonlinear optical properties of the compounds in the presence of the solvent media, the absolute values of the parallel first hyperpolarizability were the ones that present the greater variation.

Iodosalicylates and iodobenzoates supplied to tomato plants affect the antioxidative and sugar metabolism differently than potassium iodide

Iodine is considered as a beneficial element for plants. As compared to the mineral form of iodine, the effect of organoiodine compounds on physiological and biochemical processes in plants is weakly recognized. This study describes the influence of different forms of iodine – mineral as KI and organic as iodosalicylates and iodobenzoates on the antioxidative and sugar metabolism of tomato plants. Plants were treated with KI and with the following organoiodine compounds: 5-iodosalicylic acid (5-ISA), 3,5-diiodosalicylic acid (3,5-diISA), 2-iodobenzoic acid (2-IBeA) and 4-iodobenzoic acid (4-IBeA). The effect of salicylic acid (SA) and benzoic acid (BeA) on plants was also tested. The plants revealed a lower tolerance to 3,5-diISA, 4-IBeA and slightly to BeA as compared to control. Tested compounds did not affect the content of ascorbic (AA) and dehydroascorbic (DHA) acid. All tested compounds, with the exception of 2-IBeA, did not affect the content of phenols, phenylpropanoids and anthocyanins in leaves. Tested compounds variously modified the activity of catalase (CAT), ascorbic peroxidase (APX) and peroxidase (POX) in leaves and roots. The content of soluble sugars in tomato leaves and roots varied depending on the combination, with a noticeable tendency to increase after the application of organoiodine compounds.

Si and Water Management Drives Changes in Fe and Mn Pools that Affect As Cycling and Uptake in Rice

Arsenic availability to rice is tied to biogeochemical cycling of Fe and Mn in rice soils. Two strategies to minimize As uptake by rice—increasing Si and decreasing water—affect soil Fe and Mn pools. We synthesized data from several soil-based experiments with four rice cultivars across pot and field trials with manipulations of Si, water, or both. Increasing Si alters the mineral composition of Fe plaque more than decreasing water, with the former promoting relatively more ferrihydrite and less lepidocrocite. Nonflooded conditions decrease lepidocrocite but slightly increase goethite compared to flooded rice. Plaque As, which was a mixture of arsenite (15–40%) and arsenate (60–85%), was correlated positively with ferrihydrite and negatively with lepidocrocite and goethite. Plaque As was also positively correlated with F1 and F2 soil As, and F2 was correlated positively with porewater As, total grain As, and grain organic As (oAs). Grain inorganic As (iAs) was negatively correlated with oxalate-extractable Fe and Mn. Our data and multiple linear regression models suggest that under flooded conditions iAs is released by poorly crystalline Fe oxides to porewater mainly as iAs(III), which can either be taken up by the plant, adsorbed to Fe plaque, oxidized to iAs(V) or methylated to oAs. Increasing Si can promote more desorption of iAs(III) and promote more poorly-ordered phases in plaque and in bulk soil. The ultimate effectiveness of a Si amendment to decrease As uptake by rice depends upon it being able to increase exogenous Si relative to As in porewater after competitive adsorption/desorption processes. Our data further suggest that poorly crystalline Fe and Mn soil pools can retain inorganic As and decrease plant uptake, but these pools in bulk soil and plaque control grain organic As.