Background Checks for Firearm Transfers, 2015 - Statistical Tables

Describes background checks for firearms transfers conducted in 2015 and presents estimates of firearm applications received and denied annually since the effective date of the Brady Act in 1994 through 2015. Statistical tables provide data on the number of firearm applications processed by the FBI and state and local agencies, number of applications denied, reasons for denial, and estimates of applications by jurisdiction and by each type of approval system. Findings are based on data from BJS's Firearm Inquiry Statistics program, which annually surveys state and local background checking agencies to collect information on firearm background check activity and combines this information with the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System transaction data to generate national estimates.Highlights:Since the effective date of the Brady Act on February 28, 1994, through December 31, 2015, nearly 197 million applications for firearm transfers or permits were subject to background checks and more than 3 million applications (1.5%) were denied.Nearly 17 million applications for firearm transfers were received in 2015, up from an estimated 15 million in 2014.About 1.4% of the nearly 17 million applications for firearm transfers or permits in 2015 were denied: about 107,000 by the FBI and about 119,000 by state and local agencies.Among state agency reporters, denial rates in 2015 were 3.0% for purchase permits, 1.5% for instant checks, 1.1% for other approval checks, and 1.1% for exempt carry permits.Local agencies denied 4.2% of applications for purchase permit checks and 1.1% of applications for exempt carry permits

Gravity modes as a way to distinguish between hydrogen- and helium-burning red giant stars

Red giants are evolved stars that have exhausted the supply of hydrogen in their cores and instead burn hydrogen in a surrounding shell. Once a red giant is sufficiently evolved, the helium in the core also undergoes fusion. Outstanding issues in our understanding of red giants include uncertainties in the amount of mass lost at the surface before helium ignition and the amount of internal mixing from rotation and other processes. Progress is hampered by our inability to distinguish between red giants burning helium in the core and those still only burning hydrogen in a shell. Asteroseismology offers a way forward, being a powerful tool for probing the internal structures of stars using their natural oscillation frequencies. Here we report observations of gravity-mode period spacings in red giants that permit a distinction between evolutionary stages to be made. We use high-precision photometry obtained with the Kepler spacecraft over more than a year to measure oscillations in several hundred red giants. We find many stars whose dipole modes show sequences with approximately regular period spacings. These stars fall into two clear groups, allowing us to distinguish unambiguously between hydrogen-shell-burning stars (period spacing mostly about 50 seconds) and those that are also burning helium (period spacing about 100 to 300 seconds).Comment: to appear as a Letter to Natur

Investigation of inter- and intraspecies variation through genome sequencing of Aspergillus section Nigri

Aspergillus section Nigri comprises filamentous fungi relevant to biomedicine, bioenergy, health, and biotechnology. To learn more about what genetically sets these species apart, as well as about potential applications in biotechnology and biomedicine, we sequenced 23 genomes de novo, forming a full genome compendium for the section (26 species), as well as 6 Aspergillus niger isolates. This allowed us to quantify both inter-and intraspecies genomic variation. We further predicted 17,903 carbohydrateactive enzymes and 2,717 secondary metabolite gene clusters, which we condensed into 455 distinct families corresponding to compound classes, 49% of which are only found in single species. We performed metabolomics and genetic engineering to correlate genotypes to phenotypes, as demonstrated for the metabolite aurasperone, and by heterologous transfer of citrate production to Aspergillus nidulans. Experimental and computational analyses showed that both secondary metabolism and regulation are key factors that are significant in the delineation of Aspergillus species.Peer reviewe

The Changing Landscape for Stroke\ua0Prevention in AF: Findings From the GLORIA-AF Registry Phase 2

Background GLORIA-AF (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation) is a prospective, global registry program describing antithrombotic treatment patterns in patients with newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation at risk of stroke. Phase 2 began when dabigatran, the first non\u2013vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC), became available. Objectives This study sought to describe phase 2 baseline data and compare these with the pre-NOAC era collected during phase 1. Methods During phase 2, 15,641 consenting patients were enrolled (November 2011 to December 2014); 15,092 were eligible. This pre-specified cross-sectional analysis describes eligible patients\u2019 baseline characteristics. Atrial fibrillation disease characteristics, medical outcomes, and concomitant diseases and medications were collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Of the total patients, 45.5% were female; median age was 71 (interquartile range: 64, 78) years. Patients were from Europe (47.1%), North America (22.5%), Asia (20.3%), Latin America (6.0%), and the Middle East/Africa (4.0%). Most had high stroke risk (CHA2DS2-VASc [Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age  6575 years, Diabetes mellitus, previous Stroke, Vascular disease, Age 65 to 74 years, Sex category] score  652; 86.1%); 13.9% had moderate risk (CHA2DS2-VASc = 1). Overall, 79.9% received oral anticoagulants, of whom 47.6% received NOAC and 32.3% vitamin K antagonists (VKA); 12.1% received antiplatelet agents; 7.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. For comparison, the proportion of phase 1 patients (of N = 1,063 all eligible) prescribed VKA was 32.8%, acetylsalicylic acid 41.7%, and no therapy 20.2%. In Europe in phase 2, treatment with NOAC was more common than VKA (52.3% and 37.8%, respectively); 6.0% of patients received antiplatelet treatment; and 3.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. In North America, 52.1%, 26.2%, and 14.0% of patients received NOAC, VKA, and antiplatelet drugs, respectively; 7.5% received no antithrombotic treatment. NOAC use was less common in Asia (27.7%), where 27.5% of patients received VKA, 25.0% antiplatelet drugs, and 19.8% no antithrombotic treatment. Conclusions The baseline data from GLORIA-AF phase 2 demonstrate that in newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients, NOAC have been highly adopted into practice, becoming more frequently prescribed than VKA in Europe and North America. Worldwide, however, a large proportion of patients remain undertreated, particularly in Asia and North America. (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation [GLORIA-AF]; NCT01468701

A search for solar-type oscillations in K giants in M4

International audienc

A search for solar-like oscillations in K giants in the globular cluster M 4

International audienceContext: To expand the range in the colour-magnitude diagram where asteroseismology can be applied, we organized a photometry campaign to find evidence for solar-like oscillations in giant stars in the globular cluster M 4. Aims: The aim was to detect the comb-like p-mode structure characteristic for solar-like oscillations in the amplitude spectra. The 24 main target stars are in the region of the bump stars and have luminosities in the range 50-140 {L}&sun;. Methods: We collected 6160 CCD frames and light curves for about 14 000 stars were extracted. The frames consist of exposures in the Johnson B, V and R bands and were obtained at three different telescopes. Three different software packages were applied to obtain the lowest possible photometric noise level. The resulting light curves have been analysed for signatures of oscillations using a variety of methods. Results: We obtain high quality light curves for the K giants, but no clear oscillation signal is detected. This is a surprise as the noise levels achieved in the amplitude spectra should permit oscillations to be seen at the levels predicted by extrapolating from stars at lower luminosities. In particular, when we search for the signature of oscillations in a large number of stars we might expect to see common features in the power spectra, but even here we fall short of having clear evidence of oscillations. Conclusions: High precision differential photometry is possible even in very crowded regions like the core of M 4. Solar-like oscillations are probably present in K giants, but the amplitudes are lower than classical scaling laws predict. The reasons may be that the lifetime of the modes are short or the driving mechanism is relatively inefficient in giant stars

A search for solar-like oscillations in K giants in the globular cluster M 4

International audienceContext: To expand the range in the colour-magnitude diagram where asteroseismology can be applied, we organized a photometry campaign to find evidence for solar-like oscillations in giant stars in the globular cluster M 4. Aims: The aim was to detect the comb-like p-mode structure characteristic for solar-like oscillations in the amplitude spectra. The 24 main target stars are in the region of the bump stars and have luminosities in the range 50-140 {L}&sun;. Methods: We collected 6160 CCD frames and light curves for about 14 000 stars were extracted. The frames consist of exposures in the Johnson B, V and R bands and were obtained at three different telescopes. Three different software packages were applied to obtain the lowest possible photometric noise level. The resulting light curves have been analysed for signatures of oscillations using a variety of methods. Results: We obtain high quality light curves for the K giants, but no clear oscillation signal is detected. This is a surprise as the noise levels achieved in the amplitude spectra should permit oscillations to be seen at the levels predicted by extrapolating from stars at lower luminosities. In particular, when we search for the signature of oscillations in a large number of stars we might expect to see common features in the power spectra, but even here we fall short of having clear evidence of oscillations. Conclusions: High precision differential photometry is possible even in very crowded regions like the core of M 4. Solar-like oscillations are probably present in K giants, but the amplitudes are lower than classical scaling laws predict. The reasons may be that the lifetime of the modes are short or the driving mechanism is relatively inefficient in giant stars

On indexing in the Web of Science and predicting journal impact factor

We discuss what document types account for the calculation of the journal impact factor (JIF) as published in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR). Based on a brief review of articles discussing how to predict JIFs and taking data differences between the Web of Science (WoS) and the JCR into account, we make our own predictions. Using data by cited-reference searching for Thomson Scientific’s WoS, we predict 2007 impact factors (IFs) for several journals, such as Nature, Science, Learned Publishing and some Library and Information Sciences journals. Based on our colleagues’ experiences we expect our predictions to be lower bounds for the official journal impact factors. We explain why it is useful to derive one’s own journal impact factor