Policing services with mentally ill people: Developing greater understanding and best practice

Although it is now well known that there is a disproportionate number of people with mental illnesses in the criminal justice system, surprising little attention has been paid to the challenges faced by policing people with mental illnesses in the community. This article provides an overview of some of the key findings from a programme of research undertaken in Victoria to further understand and develop a best practice model at this interface. The areas covered will include the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms and mental illnesses among police cell detainees; the existing knowledge base and attitudes of police towards mentally ill people; the relationship between mental illness and offending; the frequency and nature of police apprehensions of mentally ill people under the Mental Health Act; the association among mental disorder, police shootings, and other injuries to people as a result of these encounters; and police interactions with victims of crime. The work highlights the need for ongoing improvements in policing people with mental illnesses, and particularly the need for improved inter-agency practices for dealing with them

Vertical migration by Rhizosolenia spp. (Bacillariophyceae): Implications for Fe Acquisition

Available data support a mechanism of buoyancy‐mediated vertical migration by large‐sized diatoms of Rhizosolenia spp. as a means to access “new” nitrogen from deep waters. To assess whether phytoplankton simultaneously satisfy their Fe requirements by this mechanism, field samples collected during summer 1996 at stations located along a transect through the central North Pacific gyre were assayed for the presence of flavodoxin and ferredoxin via Western blot analysis. All samples, regardless of their buoyancy status and the station from which they were collected, had accumulated flavodoxin but not ferredoxin. To understand better the significance of the field results, cultures of Rhizosolenia formosa H. Peragallo were grown in the laboratory with varying levels of total Fe (200 nM–10,000 nM). Fe had little effect on the physiological and photochemical parameters measured for each treatment. Growth rates did not exceed 0.17 d−1 and values of Fv/Fm ranged from 0.48 to 0.62. In addition, R. formosa accumulated only flavodoxin at each level of Fe addition. From these results, it appears that for some rhizosolenids, flavodoxin is constitutively expressed. The underlying basis for the constitutive nature of this flavodoxin is unclear at present, although it is likely that it is ultimately related to chronic Fe deficit incurred in natural waters

Helminth parasites of the red fox Vulpes vulpes

In the period 2013–2014 a survey was carried out on the helminthic fauna of 60 wild canids, 57 red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and three wolves (Canis lupus italicus), collected in the Emilia-Romagna region, Italy. The study focused mainly on the gastrointestinal and hepatic helminths. Parasites were recovered in 91.2% of the red foxes and in all the wolves examined. Multiple infections were found in the majority of the animals (71.9% of the foxes and 100% of the wolves). In total, 14 intestinal helminth species were identified, two trematodes (Alaria alata, Brachylaima spp.), seven cestodes (Mesocestoides spp., Taenia crassiceps, Taenia pisiformis, Taenia polyacantha, Dipylidium caninum, Taenia ovis, Taenia hydatigena) and five nematodes (Uncinaria stenocephala, Toxocara canis, Trichuris vulpis, Pterigodermatites affinis, Ancylostoma caninum). The heartworm Dirofilaria immitis was also recovered in two foxes. No Echinococcus spp. were found. Our study shows that foxes are reservoir hosts of zoonotic parasites, including A. alata, a rare digenean trematode in the Italian paeninsula. Results are compared with those of other surveys on helminths of wild canids carried out in Italy and other European countries

CMIP is a negative regulator of T cell signaling

International audienceUpon interaction with cognate antigen, T cells integrate different extra and intracellular signals, involving basal and induced protein-protein interactions as well as binding of proteins to lipids, which can lead to either cell activation or inhibition. Here we show that selective T-cell expression of CMIP, a new adaptor protein, by targeted transgenesis drive