Spatial Concentration of Opioid Overdose Deaths in Indianapolis: An Application of the Law of Crime Concentration at Place to a Public Health Epidemic

The law of crime concentration at place has become a criminological axiom and the foundation for one of the strongest evidence-based policing strategies to date. Using longitudinal data from three sources, emergency medical service calls, death toxicology reports from the Marion County (Indiana) Coroner’s Office, and police crime data, we provide four unique contributions to this literature. First, this study provides the first spatial concentration estimation of opioid-related deaths. Second, our findings support the spatial concentration of opioid deaths and the feasibility of this approach for public health incidents often outside the purview of traditional policing. Third, we find that opioid overdose death hot spots spatially overlap with areas of concentrated violence. Finally, we apply a recent method, corrected Gini coefficient, to best specify low-N incident concentrations and propose a novel method for improving upon a shortcoming of this approach. Implications for research and interventions are discussed

Magnetic fields and differential rotation on the pre-main sequence

Maps of magnetic field topologies of rapidly rotating stars obtained over the last decade or so have provided unique insight into the operation of stellar dynamos. However, for solar-type stars many of the targets imaged to date have been lower-mass zero-age main sequence stars. We present magnetic maps and differential rotation measurements of two-higher mass pre-main sequence stars HD 106506 (~10 Myrs) and HD 141943 (~15 Myrs). These stars should evolve into mid/late F-stars with predicted high differential rotation and little magnetic activity. We investigate what effect the extended convection zones of these pre-main sequence stars has on their differential rotation and magnetic topologies. ©2009 American Institute of Physic

Observation of a possible superflare on Proxima Centauri

We report the observation on UT 2017 July 1 of an unusually powerful flare detected in near-infrared continuum photometry of Proxima Centauri. During a campaign monitoring the star for possible exoplanet transits, we identified an increase in Sloan i' flux leading to an observed peak at BJD 2457935.996 that was at least 10 per cent over pre-flare flux in this band. It was followed by a two-component rapid decline in the first 100 s that became a slower exponential decay with time constant of 1350 s. A smaller flare event 1300 s after the first added an incremental peak flux increase of 1 per cent of pre-flare flux. Since the onset of the flare was not fully time resolved at a cadence of 62 s, its actual peak value is unknown but greater than the time average over a single exposure of 20 s. The i' band is representative of broad optical and near-IR continuum flux over which the integrated energy of the flare is 100 times the stellar luminosity. This meets the criteria that established the concept of superflares on similar stars. The resulting implied ultraviolet flux and space weather could have had an extreme effect on the atmospheres of planets within the star's otherwise habitable zone

Stochastic gauges in quantum dynamics for many-body simulations

Quantum dynamics simulations can be improved using novel quasiprobability distributions based on non-orthogonal hermitian kernel operators. This introduces arbitrary functions (gauges) into the stochastic equations, which can be used to tailor them for improved calculations. A possible application to full quantum dynamic simulations of BEC's is presented.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Forest-dependent birds of the Tugen Hills, Baringo County, Kenya

We document the forest avifauna of the Tugen Hills, finding 65 forest-dependent species in three forest reserves surveyed. Several species reported here are previously unrecorded from the area, and we document breeding seasonality for a further nine species. Of particular interest in the hills, Thick-billed Seedeaters Crithagra burtoni appear distinctly different to the expected subspecies in this part of Kenya, and require further study to determine their taxonomic affinities. Keywords:  forest-dependent birds, conservation, distribution, biodiversity/species richness, inventor

Observations of forest birds at Ol Donyo Sabuk National Park, Machakos County, Kenya

A previous report recorded 19 species of forest-dependent birds in Ol Donyo Sabuk National Park. Using field surveys, literature review, and database records, we add an additional 17 forest-dependent bird species bringing the total number to 36.Keywords: Ol Donyo Sabuk, forest-dependent birds, conservation, distributio

The First Record of the Eastern Smallfooted Myotis (\u3ci\u3eMyotis leibii\u3c/i\u3e) in Illinois

The eastern small-footed myotis (Myotis leibii) is one of the least known bats in eastern North America. We document the first record of the species in Illinois, and discuss possible reasons it has not been reported in the state until now