The Effect of Police Body-Worn Cameras on Use of Force and Citizens’ Complaints Against the Police: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective: Police use-of-force continues to be a major source of international concern, inviting interest by academics and practitioners alike. Whether justified or unnecessary/excessive, the exercise of power by the police can potentially tarnish their relationship with the community. Police misconduct can translate into complaints against the police, which carry large economic and social costs. The question we try to answer is: do body-worn-cameras reduce the prevalence of use-of-force and/or citizens’ complaints against the police? Methods: We empirically tested the use of body-worn-cameras by measuring the effect of videotaping police-public encounters on incidents of police use-of-force and complaints, in randomized-controlled settings. Over 12 months, we randomly-assigned officers to “experimental-shifts” during which they were equipped with body-worn HD cameras that recorded all contacts with the public and to “control-shifts” without the cameras (n=988). We nominally defined use-of-force, both unnecessary/excessive and reasonable, as a non-desirable response in police-public encounters. We estimate the causal effect of the use of body-worn-videos on the two outcome variables using both between-group differences using a Poisson regression model as well as before-after estimates using interrupted time-series analyses. Results: We found that the likelihood of force being used in control conditions were roughly twice those in experimental conditions. Similarly, a pre/post analysis of use-of-force and complaints data also support this result: the number of complaints filed against officers dropped from 0.7 complaints per 1,000 contacts to 0.07 per 1,000 contacts. We discuss the findings in terms of theory, research methods, policy and future avenues of research on body-worn-videos.Funding for this research was granted by Rialto Police and the Jerry Lee Centre of Experimental CriminologyThis is the accepted manuscript. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10940-014-9236-3

The Nonperturbative Wave Functions, Transverse Momentum Distribution and QCD Vacuum Structure

It is shown that there is one-to-one correspondence between two, apparently different problems: \\ 1. The determination of the meanvalues of transverse moments \la \vec{k}_{\perp}^{2n} \ra for the nonperturbative pion wave function \psi(\k, x) and \\ 2. The evaluation of the mixed vacuum condensates \la \bar{q}G_{\mu\nu}^n q\ra . eneral properties of the theory. We define and model \psi(\k, x), satisfying all these constraints.Comment: 14pages, Cut down to meet Phys. Lett. space requirement and some additional references include

Quark Model, Large Order Behavior and Nonperturbative Wave Functions in QCD

We discuss a few, apparently different (but actually, tightly related) problems: 1. The relation between QCD and valence quark model, 2. The evaluation of the nonlocal condensate \la \bar{q}(x)q(0)\ra , its relation to heavy-light $\bar{q}Q$ quark system and to constituent quark mass, 3. The asymptotic behavior of the nonperturbative pion wave function \psi(\k, x) at x\rightarrow 0,~1, \k \rightarrow \infty and 4. The large order behavior of perturbative series. The analysis is based on such general methods as dispersion relations, duality and PCAC. We use the steepest descent method (also known as semiclassical, or instanton calculus), introduced by Lipatov, in order to calculate the $n-$th moment of the \psi(\k, x) with result \la\vec{k}_{\perp}^{2n}\ra \sim n!. This information is converted into the fixing of the asymptotic behavior of $wf$ at large \k. This behavior it turns out to be Gaussian commonly used in the phenomenological analyses.The same method determines the asymptotic behavior of the mixed local vacuum condensates \la\bar{q}G_{\mu\nu}^nq\ra\sim n! at large $n$ as well as the nonlocal vacuum condensate \la \bar{q}(x)q(0)\ra which is naturally arises in the description of the heavy-light $\bar{q}Q$ quark system. The relation between nonlocal condensate and constituent quark mass is also discussed.Comment: 13 pages +5 figures. Shortened version of the paper which meets Phys.Lett.B length requiremen

Hard diffractive electroproduction, transverse momentum distribution and QCD vacuum structure

We study the impact of the "intrinsic" hadron transverse momentum on the pre-asymptotic behavior of the diffractive electroproduction of longitudinally polarized $\rho$-meson. Surprisingly, we find the onset of the asymptotic regime in this problem to be rather low, Q^2 ~ 10 GeV^2 where power corrections due to the transverse momentum do not exceed 20 % in the amplitude. This drastically contrasts with exclusive amplitudes where the asymptotics starts at much higher Q^2 = 50 - 100 GeV^2. The sources of such unexpected behavior are traced back to some general (the quark-hadron duality) as well as more silent (properties of higher dimensional vacuum condensates) features of QCD.Comment: 27 pages (LaTex), 1 figure (epsfig

Measurement of the cosmic ray spectrum above 4×10184{\times}10^{18} eV using inclined events detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory

A measurement of the cosmic-ray spectrum for energies exceeding $4{\times}10^{18}$ eV is presented, which is based on the analysis of showers with zenith angles greater than $60^{\circ}$ detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2013. The measured spectrum confirms a flux suppression at the highest energies. Above $5.3{\times}10^{18}$ eV, the "ankle", the flux can be described by a power law $E^{-\gamma}$ with index $\gamma=2.70 \pm 0.02 \,\text{(stat)} \pm 0.1\,\text{(sys)}$ followed by a smooth suppression region. For the energy ($E_\text{s}$) at which the spectral flux has fallen to one-half of its extrapolated value in the absence of suppression, we find $E_\text{s}=(5.12\pm0.25\,\text{(stat)}^{+1.0}_{-1.2}\,\text{(sys)}){\times}10^{19}$ eV.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Social Isolation in Older Adults Transitioning to Assisted Living Facilities

Social Isolation in Older Adults Transitioning to Assisted Living Facilities Background: Social isolation describes the objective state of being lonely, whereas loneliness is a subjective feeling based on relationships (Rohr et al., 2022). In a meta-analysis, 33% of an elderly population experienced social isolation (Ran et al., 2024). Based on the framework of loneliness, social isolation, and associated health outcomes (Barnes et al., 2020), the purposes of this study were to describe experiences of social isolation, loneliness, and strategies that decreased these experiences in older adults following a move to assisted living. Methods: Using a qualitative approach, residents 65 and older (N=10), without cognitive deficits who moved to a facility within the past 3-12 months were interviewed. Participants completed the Mini-Cog© for inclusion prior to answering nine open-ended questions. After each interview, participants completed the UCLA loneliness scale. Constant comparison was used to identify major categories. Results: Participants 70-92 years (M=82.20, SD=7.64) were female (80%) and a widow/widower (60%). Three main categories emerged: (a) resolved to leave home, (b) trust in a safe system to meet needs, and (c) having to accept a new normal. UCLA scores demonstrated a moderate degree of loneliness (M=38.25, SD=15.56). Conclusions: Early detection of social isolation is essential to improve quality of life (Ran et al., 2024) and prevent illness in older adults (Jansson et al., 2021). While loneliness and the need to move impacted these older adults, their involvement in the choice and receiving a tailored experience improved their transition (Sun et al., 2021)

Measurement of the Radiation Energy in the Radio Signal of Extensive Air Showers as a Universal Estimator of Cosmic-Ray Energy

We measure the energy emitted by extensive air showers in the form of radio emission in the frequency range from 30 to 80 MHz. Exploiting the accurate energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory, we obtain a radiation energy of 15.8 \pm 0.7 (stat) \pm 6.7 (sys) MeV for cosmic rays with an energy of 1 EeV arriving perpendicularly to a geomagnetic field of 0.24 G, scaling quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy. A comparison with predictions from state-of-the-art first-principle calculations shows agreement with our measurement. The radiation energy provides direct access to the calorimetric energy in the electromagnetic cascade of extensive air showers. Comparison with our result thus allows the direct calibration of any cosmic-ray radio detector against the well-established energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DOI. Supplemental material in the ancillary file

Energy Estimation of Cosmic Rays with the Engineering Radio Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) is part of the Pierre Auger Observatory and is used to detect the radio emission of cosmic-ray air showers. These observations are compared to the data of the surface detector stations of the Observatory, which provide well-calibrated information on the cosmic-ray energies and arrival directions. The response of the radio stations in the 30 to 80 MHz regime has been thoroughly calibrated to enable the reconstruction of the incoming electric field. For the latter, the energy deposit per area is determined from the radio pulses at each observer position and is interpolated using a two-dimensional function that takes into account signal asymmetries due to interference between the geomagnetic and charge-excess emission components. The spatial integral over the signal distribution gives a direct measurement of the energy transferred from the primary cosmic ray into radio emission in the AERA frequency range. We measure 15.8 MeV of radiation energy for a 1 EeV air shower arriving perpendicularly to the geomagnetic field. This radiation energy -- corrected for geometrical effects -- is used as a cosmic-ray energy estimator. Performing an absolute energy calibration against the surface-detector information, we observe that this radio-energy estimator scales quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy as expected for coherent emission. We find an energy resolution of the radio reconstruction of 22% for the data set and 17% for a high-quality subset containing only events with at least five radio stations with signal.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Clinical characteristics and patterns of healthcare utilization in patients with painful neuropathic disorders in UK general practice: a retrospective cohort study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Clinical characteristics and patterns of healthcare utilization in patients with painful neuropathic disorders (PNDs) who are under the care of general practitioners (GPs) in the UK are not well understood.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using a large electronic UK database, we identified all adults (age ≥ 18 years) with any GP encounters between 1 January 2006 - 31 December 2006 at which a diagnosis of PND was noted ("PND patients"). An age-and gender-matched comparison group also was constituted consisting of randomly selected patients with one or more GP encounters-but no mention of PNDs-during this period. Characteristics and patterns of healthcare utilization of patients in the two groups were then examined over the one-year study period.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The study sample consisted of 31,688 patients with mention of PNDs and an equal number of matched comparators; mean age was 56 years, and 62% were women. The prevalence of various comorbidities was higher among patients in the PND group, including digestive disorders (31% vs. 17% for comparison group), circulatory disorders (29% vs. 22%), and depression (4% vs. 3%) (all <it>p </it>< 0.01). Receipt of prescriptions for pain-related pharmacotherapy also was higher among PND patients, including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (56% of PND patients had one or more such prescriptions vs. only 22% in the comparison group), opioids (49% vs. 12%), tricyclic antidepressants (20% vs. 1%), and antiepileptics (12% vs. 1%) (all <it>p </it>< 0.01). PND patients also averaged significantly more GP visits (22.8 vs. 14.2) and referrals to specialists (2.8 vs. 1.4) over one year (both comparisons <it>p </it>< 0.01).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Patients with PNDs under the care of GPs in the UK have relatively high levels of use of healthcare services and pain-related pharmacotherapy.</p