Focused Deterrence and the Prevention of Violent Gun Injuries: Practice, Theoretical Principles, and Scientific Evidence

Focused deterrence strategies are a relatively new addition to a growing portfolio of evidence-based violent gun injury prevention practices available to policy makers and practitioners. These strategies seek to change offender behavior by understanding the underlying violence-producing dynamics and conditions that sustain recurring violent gun injury problems and by implementing a blended strategy of law enforcement, community mobilization, and social service actions. Consistent with documented public health practice, the focused deterrence approach identifies underlying risk factors and causes of recurring violent gun injury problems, develops tailored responses to these underlying conditions, and measures the impact of implemented interventions. This article reviews the practice, theoretical principles, and evaluation evidence on focused deterrence strategies. Although more rigorous randomized studies are needed, the available empirical evidence suggests that these strategies generate noteworthy gun violence reduction impacts and should be part of a broader portfolio of violence prevention strategies available to policy makers and practitioners

Searching for Exoplanets Using a Microresonator Astrocomb

Detection of weak radial velocity shifts of host stars induced by orbiting planets is an important technique for discovering and characterizing planets beyond our solar system. Optical frequency combs enable calibration of stellar radial velocity shifts at levels required for detection of Earth analogs. A new chip-based device, the Kerr soliton microcomb, has properties ideal for ubiquitous application outside the lab and even in future space-borne instruments. Moreover, microcomb spectra are ideally suited for astronomical spectrograph calibration and eliminate filtering steps required by conventional mode-locked-laser frequency combs. Here, for the calibration of astronomical spectrographs, we demonstrate an atomic/molecular line-referenced, near-infrared soliton microcomb. Efforts to search for the known exoplanet HD 187123b were conducted at the Keck-II telescope as a first in-the-field demonstration of microcombs

Inverse modeling of geochemical and mechanical compaction in sedimentary basins through Polynomial Chaos Expansion

We present an inverse modeling procedure for the estimation of model parameters of sedi- mentary basins subject to compaction driven by mechanical and geochemical processes. We consider a sandstone basin whose dynamics are governed by a set of unknown key quantities. These include geophys- ical and geochemical system attributes as well as pressure and temperature boundary conditions. We derive a reduced (or surrogate) model of the system behavior based on generalized Polynomial Chaos Expansion (gPCE) approximations, which are directly linked to the variance-based Sobol indices associated with the selected uncertain model parameters. Parameter estimation is then performed within a Maximum Likeli- hood (ML) framework. We then study the way the ML inversion procedure can benefit from the adoption of anisotropic polynomial approximations (a-gPCE) in which the surrogate model is refined only with respect to selected parameters according to an analysis of the nonlinearity of the input-output mapping, as quanti- fied through the Sobol sensitivity indices. Results are illustrated for a one-dimensional setting involving quartz cementation and mechanical compaction in sandstones. The reliability of gPCE and a-gPCE approxi- mations in the context of the inverse modeling framework is assessed. The effects of (a) the strategy employed to build the surrogate model, leading either to a gPCE or a-gPCE representation, and (b) the type and quality of calibration data on the goodness of the parameter estimates is then explored

Caso di astenia cutanea grave in un gatto di 10 mesi

Cutaneous asthenia is a connective tissue disease that occurs rarely in cats and results in hyper-extensibility of affected tissues. Two forms, autosomal dominant and recessive, have been reported in cats. A 10 -month-old cat, neutered, male, domestic and mixed breed, coming from a cattery, was examined for multiple wounds all over his body especially in the region of the dorsum, thorax and head. The skin of these regions was hyperextensible, fragile and pendulous on the ventral aspect of the abdomen. An extensibility index of 25% determined to be consistent with the suspicion of cutaneous asthenia. A 4-mm skin punch biopsy was taken and stained with H&E and Masson thricrome. The obtained sections did not reveal any significant pathological change. Electron microscopy was performed and showed random orientation of collagen fibres and fibrils that appeared twisted and lost the 64 cylindrical shape. The patient died spontaneously after one month and the necropsy showed an internal hemorrhage as cause of death with retroperitoneal hematoma resulting from the rupture of the vena cava coexisting with severe laxity of connective and articular tissues, bone fragility and presence of a perineal hernia. The necropsy and the ultrastructural findings confirmed the suspicion of cutaneous asthenia

Intossicazione cronica da glicole etilenico in un cane: "risolutivo" l'esame istologico

Introduzione. L\u2019intossicazione da Glicole Etilenico (GE) e la conseguente insufficienza renale acuta si verificano di frequente nel cane. La particolarit\ue0 di questo caso \ue8 da ricercarsi nella malattia renale cronica (CKD) che potrebbe essersi instaurata a seguito dell\u2019assunzione del tossico in dosi subletali e da una fonte diversa dal liquido antigelo. Il soggetto inoltre presentava agenesia renale monolaterale. Descrizione del caso. Un Doberman Pinscher, maschio intero di 5 anni, \ue8 stato riferito per insufficienza renale associata a sintomatologia gastro-enterica acuta, con poliuria/polidpsia da qualche mese e lieve dimagrimento. Il cane presentava grave depressione del sensorio, soffusioni emorragiche disseminate ed ipotermia (36,3\ub0C). La pressione arteriosa sistolica era di 190-200 mm Hg e l\u2019output urinario 3 ml/Kg/h, il peso specifico urinario di 1010, con 30 mg/dl di proteine al dipstick urinario. Il sedimento urinario non presentava cristalli. Il rapporto proteine urinarie-creatinina urinaria era di 1,6 (I.R. < 0,4) ed il rapporto albumina urinaria- creatinina urinaria era di 0,25 (I.R. < 0,025). Erano presenti inoltre grave iperazotemia e iperfosfatemia, lieve panipoprotidemia, lieve incremento degli enzimi epatici e normocalcemia, grave piastrinopenia, un lieve aumento dei tempi di coagulazione e riduzione dell\u2019attivit\ue0 plasmatica dell\u2019antitrombina. La Proteina C Reattiva aveva concentrazioni di 5,57 mg/dl (I.R. <1 mg/dl). L\u2019ecografia addominale rilevava agenesia del rene destro e nefropatia sinistra con presenza di spot iperecogeni diffusi alla corticale, iperecogenicit\ue0 della corticale e della midollare con riduzione della distinzione corticomidollare. Dopo 96 ore di terapia intensiva con scarsi miglioramenti, \ue8 stata richiesta l\u2019eutanasia da parte del proprietario. L\u2019esame necroscopico ha consentito di rilevare l\u2019agenesia totale del rene destro e la relativa ipertrofia compensatoria del rene sinistro, il quale presentava la capsula leggermente ispessita e biancastra, la corticale di colore diffusamente giallastro e nella midollare numerose aree di mineralizzazione puntiformi. Di particolare rilevanza era la presenza di una pancreatite cronica fibrosa ed emorragica e la presenza nel miocardio di numerosissimi focolai di necrosi. Erano inoltre presenti altre lesioni riconducibili alla CKD: stomatite ulcerativa e necrotica, gastrite e colite emorragica, mineralizzazioni multifocali nella pleura parietale intercostale, delle valvole semilunari aortiche e nella trachea, e multifocali emorragie da vasculite. L\u2019esame istopatologico, su sezioni incluse in paraffina e fissate in formalina, ha evidenziato sia a livello della corticale sia della midollare renale una sofferenza tubulare, caratterizzata da degenerazione ed appiattimento dell\u2019epitelio dovuto alla presenza di cristalli birifrangenti di colore giallo chiaro. La natura dei cristalli \ue8 stata svelata mediante l\u2019utilizzo di colorazioni speciali: Oil Red O, Alizarin Red S, Von Kossa e Pizzolato. \uc8 stata ottenuta una negativit\ue0 per Oil Red O ed Alizarin Red S, mentre una positivit\ue0 per Von Kossa e per Pizzolato, reattivit\ue0 paradigmatica del contenuto dei cristalli di ossalato di calcio. In aggiunta, utilizzando il microscopio a luce polarizzata \ue8 stato possibile rendere meglio evidenti i numerosi cristalli birifrangenti piramidali disposti in rosette o fasci. In base a questi risultati \ue8 stata effettuata un\u2019ulteriore indagine anamnestica, nella quale \ue8 stata esclusa dal proprietario l\u2019ingestione di liquido anti-gelo e da cui \ue8 emerso che il cane viveva in casa, ma accompagnava il proprietario sul luogo di lavoro dove era a contatto con solventi e vernici. Conclusioni. I rischi connessi alla professione del proprietario, risultano essere particolarmente significativi in questo caso clinico. Il GE, contenuto principalmente nel liquido antigelo con concentrazioni del 95%, \ue8 anche un componente, seppur in concentrazioni minori di sg..

Astenia cutanea grave in un gatto di 10 mesi: descrizione di un caso clinico

A 10-month-old domestic shorthair intact male cat was evaluated due to multiple skin lacerations located in the regions of the dorsum, thorax and head. On physical examination the skin was hyperextensible, fragile and pendulous on the ventral region of the abdomen. During the clinical examination, several cutaneous samples were taken using a skin punch. The obtained material was used for histological and electron microscopy investigations. The patient died spontaneously after 1 month and was submitted to necropsy, which revealed the rupture of the vena cava. The results of electron microscopy, together with the data of clinical, necropsy and histological examination confirmed the suspicion of cutaneous asthenia

CD117 Expression Influences Proliferation but not Survival in Canine Mammary Tumours

CD117 is a transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptor encoded by the c-Kit proto-oncogene. The immunohistochemical expression of CD117 was examined in 49 specimens of canine mammary glands (eight normal/hyperplastic, 11 benign tumours and 30 malignant tumours). Expression was assessed as: (1) presence or absence of CD117; (2) membrane, cytoplasmic, or both, distributions; and (3) percentage of CD117-labelled cells. None of these three immunohistochemical parameters was correlated with the type of mammary tissue (i.e. normal, benign or malignant), histotypes or histological stage of malignant tumours, or survival. An association was observed between Ki67 index and all three CD117 labelling parameters only for malignant tumours, with a significant increase in proliferative activity in tumours expressing CD117, mainly with both cytoplasmic and membrane expression