Trafficking in persons now affects all regions and most countries of the world. Over the past decade, there has been increasing acceptance of the need for an effective, internationally coordinated response. However, the practical difficulties in realizing this goal are considerable. No country can yet lay claim to genuine, extensive experience in dealing with trafficking as a criminal phenomenon. Most are developing and adapting their responses on the run, often under strong political pressure, and principally through trial and error. While communication between national agencies on this issue is improving, there is still very little cooperation or cross-fertilization of ideas across national borders. The authors draw on emerging international rules as well as their experience of working with States and intergovernmental organizations on this issue to propose eight elements of an effective national criminal justice response to human trafficking. Each is described in detail, justified with reference to relevant international standards, and illustrated with examples from current professional practice.

In this short summary report on the legal definition of trafficking in human beings for the purpose of organ removal and improving cross-border collaboration in criminal cases, challenges, and recommendations in the areas of defining the crime, criminal investigation and prosecution, and cross-border cooperation are made. These are the outcomes of a working group discussion during the writers' conference of the HOTT project, a European Union-funded project against trafficking in human beings for the purpose of organ removal.

A method of predicting optimum exciter placement for normal mode testing using an a priori mathematical dynamic model of the test structure is presented and compared to other approaches. A genetic algorithm is used to perform the search for an optimum where the number of possible combinations is too large for an exhaustive search. The proposed methodology is also shown to provide an estimate of the effective number of modes in a given frequency range. The technique is demonstrated using a mathematical model of a benchmark rectangular perspex plate and the results validated experimentally. The technique is also applied to a model of a representative aircraft structure. Finally, an extension of this methodology, suitable for mid-test exciter optimization, is described.

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