Sustainable Calcite Scale Inhibitors via Oxidation of Lignosulfonates.

Deposition of inorganic scales in wells, flow lines, and equipment is a major problem in the water treatment, geothermal, or upstream oil and gas industries. Deployment of scale inhibitors has been adopted worldwide for oilfield scale prevention. Commercial synthetic scale inhibitors such as polymeric carboxylates and sulfonates or nonpolymeric phosphonates offer good scale inhibition performance but often suffer from one or more limitations including biodegradability, calcium compatibility, and thermal stability.

Violent assault geographies in northeastern Australia.

As climate change produces more extreme weather, it is increasingly important to understand the impacts of these changes on social behaviour. The relationship between weather and crime has been studied across numerous contexts. However, few studies examine the correlation between weather and violence in southern, non-temperate climates.

Modus Operandi in Sexual Assaults of Female Strangers Does Not Change Over Time.

Criminological theories and widespread assumptions about crime suggest that the modus operandi involved in sexual crimes should have changed over time given various contextual changes, such as better criminological knowledge (e.g., forensic awareness) as well as improved investigative techniques (e.

In a world called catastrophe: the impact of COVID-19 on neighbourhood level crime in Vancouver, Canada.

Objectives: To test for statistically significant change in crime rates across neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Canada, resulting from social restrictions within the natural experiment of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Differential local Moran's is used to identify statistically significant change in crime patterns across Vancouver's neighbourhoods because of COVID-19. These changes are analysed with variables from social disorganization theory constructs using ANOVA.

Somehow I always end up alone: COVID-19, social isolation and crime in Queensland, Australia.

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically affected social life. In efforts to reduce the spread of the virus, countries around the world implemented social restrictions, including social distancing, working from home, and the shuttering of numerous businesses. These social restrictions have also affected crime rates.

Absolute quantum yield measurements of fluorescent proteins using a plasmonic nanocavity.

One of the key photophysical properties of fluorescent proteins that is most difficult to measure is the quantum yield. It describes how efficiently a fluorophore converts absorbed light into fluorescence. Its measurement using conventional methods become particularly problematic when it is unknown how many of the proposedly fluorescent molecules of a sample are indeed fluorescent (for example due to incomplete maturation, or the presence of photophysical dark states).

Show me a man or a woman alone and I'll show you a saint: Changes in the frequency of criminal incidents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives: To investigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the frequency of various crime types (property, violent, and mischief) in Vancouver, Canada.

Methods: Crime data representing residential burglary, commercial burglary, theft of vehicle, theft from vehicle, theft, violence, and mischief are analysed at the city level using interrupted time series techniques.

Results: While COVID-19 has not had an impact on all crime types, statistically significant change has been identified in a number of cases.

The Temporal (In)Stability of the Unemployment and Crime Relationship.

The complex relationship between crime and economic change has had a long pedigree in criminological research. This article considers the temporal stability of the Cantor and Land model of unemployment and crime using a decomposition model of Canadian provinces, 1981 to 2009. We include multiple economic measures for a more comprehensive representation of economic performance, allowing for the estimates of long- and short-run unemployment effects to vary over time.

Identifying the appropriate spatial resolution for the analysis of crime patterns.

Background: A key issue in the analysis of many spatial processes is the choice of an appropriate scale for the analysis. Smaller geographical units are generally preferable for the study of human phenomena because they are less likely to cause heterogeneous groups to be conflated. However, it can be harder to obtain data for small units and small-number problems can frustrate quantitative analysis.

Using tweets to understand changes in the spatial crime distribution for hockey events in Vancouver.

The use of social media data for the spatial analysis of crime patterns during social events has proven to be instructive. This study analyzes the geography of crime considering hockey game days, criminal behaviour, and Twitter activity. Specifically, we consider the relationship between geolocated crime-related Twitter activity and crime.

The Spatial Effect of Police Foot Patrol on Crime Patterns: A Local Analysis.

A foot patrol program was implemented in Lower Lonsdale, British Columbia, in the summer of 2010 and continues today. As a part of assessing the foot patrol's effect on crime in the neighbourhood, the spatial similarity was examined by comparing the crime pattern before the foot patrol initiative (2007-2009) with the crime pattern during the foot patrol program (2010-2012). Considering these baseline and treatment data sets and a spatial point pattern test, the spatial similarity between two data sets is analyzed.

Novel reversibly switchable fluorescent proteins for RESOLFT and STED nanoscopy engineered from the bacterial photoreceptor YtvA.

The reversibly switchable fluorescent proteins (RSFPs) commonly used for RESOLFT nanoscopy have been developed from fluorescent proteins of the GFP superfamily. These proteins are bright, but exhibit several drawbacks such as relatively large size, oxygen-dependence, sensitivity to low pH, and limited switching speed. Therefore, RSFPs from other origins with improved properties need to be explored.

Homicide in Canada and the crime drop.

In contrast to the Canadian crime drop of the 1990s, homicide appeared as an anomaly with a peak in the 1970s. Yet previous studies tend to refer only to completed homicides, and here we also include attempts. The resulting trend is remarkably similar to that in Canadian property crime for five decades.

Spatial/Temporal Variations of Crime: A Routine Activity Theory Perspective.

Temporal and spatial patterns of crime in Campinas, Brazil, are analyzed considering the relevance of routine activity theory in a Latin American context. We use geo-referenced criminal event data, 2010-2013, analyzing spatial patterns using census tracts and temporal patterns considering seasons, months, days, and hours. Our analyses include difference in means tests, count-based regression models, and Kulldorff's scan test.

Factors Related to Rape Reporting Behavior in Brazil: Examining the Role of Spatio-Temporal Factors.

The reporting of rape to police is an important component of this crime to have the criminal justice system involved and, potentially, punish offenders. However, for a number of reasons (fear of retribution, self-blame, etc.), most rapes are not reported to police.

Peer-engagement and its role in reducing the risky behavior among crack and methamphetamine smokers of the Downtown Eastside community of Vancouver, Canada.

Background: The role of peers (former or current drug users) in reducing risky behavior within methamphetamine and crack smokers has not been well described or researched. The current study not only explores the role of peers in reducing risk factors for morbidity within the illicit drug smoking population in the Downtown Eastside (DTES) community of Vancouver but it also investigates the changes in the nature of drug use after the closure of an unsanctioned smoking facility.

Methods: The data pertain to qualitative interviews with 10 peers and 10 illicit drug smokers.

Crime Seasonality: Examining the Temporal Fluctuations of Property Crime in Cities With Varying Climates.

This study investigates whether crime patterns fluctuate periodically throughout the year using data containing different property crime types in two Canadian cities with differing climates. Using police report data, a series of ordinary least squares (OLS; Vancouver, British Columbia) and negative binomial (Ottawa, Ontario) regressions were employed to examine the corresponding temporal patterns of property crime in Vancouver (2003-2013) and Ottawa (2006-2008). Moreover, both aggregate and disaggregate models were run to examine whether different weather and temporal variables had a distinctive impact on particular offences.

Social Disorganization and Homicide in Recife, Brazil.

In this article, we investigate the determinants of homicide in Recife, Brazil, considering social disorganization theory. Using georeferenced homicide data, 2009-2013, and census data, we analyze homicide in Recife using a spatial regression technique that controls for spatial autocorrelation and heteroskedasticity at the census tract level. Overall, we find that homicide in Recife, Brazil, is characterized by social disorganization theory.

Primary light-induced reaction steps of reversibly photoswitchable fluorescent protein Padron0.9 investigated by femtosecond spectroscopy.

The reversible photoswitching of the photochromic fluorescent protein Padron0.9 involves a cis-trans isomerization of the chromophore. Both isomers are subjected to a protonation equilibrium between a neutral and a deprotonated form.

A cost-benefit/cost-effectiveness analysis of proposed supervised injection facilities in Ottawa, Canada.

Background: Supervised injection facilities (SIFs) are venues where people who inject drugs (PWID) have access to a clean and medically supervised environment in which they can safely inject their own illicit drugs. There is currently only one legal SIF in North America: Insite in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The responses and feedback generated by the evaluations of Insite in Vancouver have been overwhelmingly positive.

A cost-benefit/cost-effectiveness analysis of proposed supervised injection facilities in Montreal, Canada.

Background: This paper will determine whether expanding Insite (North America's first and only supervised injection facility) to more locations in Canada such as Montreal, cost less than the health care consequences of not having such expanded programs for injection drug users.

Methods: By analyzing secondary data gathered in 2012, this paper relies on mathematical models to estimate the number of new HIV and Hepatitis C (HCV) infections prevented as a result of additional SIF locations in Montreal.

Results: With very conservative estimates, it is predicted that the addition of each supervised injection facility (up-to a maximum of three) in Montreal will on average prevent 11 cases of HIV and 65 cases of HCV each year.

Should North America's first and only supervised injection facility (InSite) be expanded in British Columbia, Canada?

Background: This article reports qualitative findings from a sample of 31 purposively chosen injection drug users (IDUs) from Vancouver, Surrey and Victoria, British Columbia interviewed to examine the context of safe injection site in transforming their lives. Further, the purpose is to determine whether the first and only Supervised injection facility (SIF) in North America, InSite, needs to be expanded to other cities.

Methods: Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted in a classical anthropological strategy of conversational format as drug users were actively involved in their routine activities.

Unemployment and crime: A neighborhood level panel data approach.

Twenty-five years ago, David Cantor and Kenneth Land presented a model of the relationship between unemployment and crime. This model showed the complexity of this seemingly simple relationship. Namely, there are two independent and counteracting effects from unemployment that affect crime: motivation and guardianship.