Purpose To evaluate costs associated with hospitalization due to Firearm-Related Violence and Injuries (FREVI) in the United States over the last decade, 2001-2009. We explored the following research questions: 1. Is there an increase in the prevalence of firearm injuries over the last decade (2001-2009)? 2. What are the demographic patterns that characterize FREVIs in the U.S (i.e., age, sex, racial and ethnic variations, urban/rural locations)? 3. What are the costs associated with firearm-related hospitalizations in the US? Methods This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. A stratified sample of 54,875 hospital discharges were extracted from the National Inpatient Sample Database (NIS-HCUP) using E-Codes (ICD-9) for FREVI. We performed trend analyses to determine the cost and prevalence of the firearm related injuries. Results An estimated 268,639 firearm-related hospital discharges were observed from 2001-2009. Homicidal intent was the leading cause of FREVI, followed by accidents. Hispanic and blacks were more likely to become injured by firearms as compared to whites. Young adults aged 18-34 were more prone to firearm injuries than children and the elderly. Male sex, urban residence and being black or Hispanic were the main risk factors for firearm-related hospitalizations. The average cost of firearm-related hospitalization to the United States is $60,000 every hour, $17,700 per firearm injury related admission, and total of $5.28 billion for the last decade. The prevalence of FREVI and cost trends remained constant over the last decade. Conclusion Firearm Related Violence and Injuries (FREVI), and associated costs remain a major source of hospital-related expenditures in the United States. The constant trend in number of firearm injuries per year over the last decade suggests the absence of effective policy measures to curtail firearm injuries

abstract: The Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) program was mandated legislatively, as part of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. This study replicated earlier research that investigated pilots’ opinions of the current state of the FFDO program based on interviews. A Likert survey was created to allow simpler quantitative collection and analysis of opinions from large groups of pilots. A total of 43 airline pilots participated in this study. Responses to the Likert questions were compared with demographics, searching for significance through a Pearson chi-square test and frequencies were compared to earlier research findings. Significant chi-square results showed that those familiar with the program were more likely to agree the program should continue, it was effective, the screening and selection process of program applicants was adequate and the Federal Air Marshal Service’s management of the FFDO program was effective. Those with Military experience were more likely to disagree it was reasonable that FFDOs were required to pay for their own room and board during training or train on their own time. All those who shared an opinion agreed there should be a suggestion medium between FFDOs and their management. Unlike the prior study, all those familiar with the program agreed the weapons transportation and carriage procedures were adequate. Furthermore, all those who shared an opinion found the holster locking mechanism adequate, which was another reversal of opinion from the prior study. Similar to the prior study, pilots unanimously agree FFDOs were well trained and agreed that the program was effective and should continue. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Aerospace Engineering 2017

Die Arbeit liefert einen Betrag zur Objektivierung der Bewertung und Auswertung von waffenspezifischen Spuren auf Geschossen. Durch den Vergleich der Spuren können Geschosse den verwendeten Waffen zugeordnet werden. Es wurde ein Algorithmus entwickelt, der die Auswahl der relevanten Spurenbereiche aus großflächigen Bilder ermöglicht. Ein weiterer Algorithmus kann die Spuren automatisiert um den Drallwinkel korrigieren. Zwei bekannte Vergleichsmodelle wurden an den vorliegenden Spuren angewandt. Ein Vergleichsalgorithmus, basierend auf der Fuzzy-Theorie, wurde zum Spurenvergleich entwickelt. Der Vergleich mittels dieses Algorithmus kann eindimensional oder zweidimensional erfolgen. Eine Gegenüberstellung der Vergleichsansätze zeigt, dass ein Spurenvergleich mit dem Fuzzy-Modell, bei welchen nur die Lage der Riefenspuren einfließt, bessere Ergebnisse liefert als die anderen Modelle und so für die Begründung von Untersuchungsergebnissen im Spurenvergleich verwendet werden kann.

Use of firearm for the necessity defense This thesis is focused on conditions when a gun can be used for necessity defense under the current Czech legislation. The work is divided into five chapters. In the first chapter a gun legislation that allows citizens of Czech Republic to obtain and keep firearms is briefly mentioned with emphasis on the definition of firearm and overall description of conditions to obtain, carry and use it according to the gun legislation. The second chapter presents a general introduction into problems of circumstances that excludes the illegality. An institute of extreme emergency, a justification of gun use and so called civil detention are there more specified. The third chapter includes a detailed analysis of general characteristics of the necessity defense. This chapter further describes the issues of excess and fail in the necessity defense and some changes in legislation that were proposed in the past. The main part is the chapter four, which is focusing on use of firearms for the necessity defense itself. In the beginning of this chapter the characteristics of firearm use as a mean of ultima ratio defense are defined, with a brief excursion into firearm injuries, followed by the analysis of judicature that relates to the situation of gun use for necessity defense....

The increase of firearm-related violence has plagued Sweden, and specifically Malmö, for thirty years. This Systematic Literature Review gathered ten articles from different fields in order to discern the causes behind such an increase, the mechanisms of gun violence in a Swedish settings and the implications for Malmö on a criminological level. Results showed that a combination of factors such as the illegal importation of illicit firearms and the expansion of organized criminal groups in vulnerable territories were responsible for a shift of pattern in homicide. This change is preventing the police from properly solving homicide cases and the criminal justice system from prosecuting them. All in all, firearm violence is strongly related to gang activities in the three largest Swedish cities and the reason why Malmö is the most affected may be explained by the large number of clustered near-repeat shootings spread over three neighborhoods considered vulnerable. Actions have been taken though still require some analysis.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Background: Emile Durkheim (1897/1985) theorized that sociological variables (e.g., social, political, economic) are more helpful for understanding suicide than individual or psychological explanations. This study extends the previous sociological work on suicide by testing a theoretical model that includes economic, political, and social variables. The purpose of this study was the development and testing of a predictive model of firearm suicide among the general population and among older adults in the US.

The current study examines firearms’ impact on the relationship between illegal drug markets and homicide. At the county-level, Iowa and Virginia are analyzed using crime data from the National Incident Based Reporting System. More specifically, gun availability is tested as a mediator for county drug crime rates and homicide counts. Variable selection and prediction is based on routine activity and social disorganization theories. I argue that social disorganization allows the context for which criminal opportunity presents itself through routine activities. I posit gun availability mediates a positive relationship between illegal drug markets and homicide, with differences between urban and rural communities

“‘Law-Abiding Citizens’: How the National Rifle Association’s battle for gun rights shaped the New Right” explicates the development of the gun rights movement and its central role in the modern American Right. In recent decades scholars have explored the contributions of evangelical Christians, business leaders, white southerners, and women to the making of the modern conservative movement and the transformation of the Republican Party. This study establishes the central role of firearms owners and the NRA in the conservative ascendancy. Based on extensive research in congressional collections at the Dolph Briscoe Center, and the papers of Howard Metzenbaum, Roman Hruska, Birch Bayh, and Robert Dole, as well as the Nixon, Ford, and Reagan Presidential Libraries, the National Archives, and substantial research into NRA publications and related documents, the dissertation explores the evolving political strategy of the NRA and the broader gun community to halt gun control from the 1930s to the 1980s. During the 1960s, high-profile assassinations and rising crime rates put pressure on the Johnson, Nixon, and Ford administrations to “do something” about gun violence. The threat of strict federal gun control prompted the NRA and the broader gun rights community to mobilize grassroots action. Its failure to block the Gun Control Act of 1968 sparked a gradual shift within the association. As it moved rightward, its ability to mobilize its substantial membership and deliver votes made it an attractive political partner for the GOP. Long an association of hunters and shooting sportsmen devoted to firearms safety and military training in wartime, the struggle over gun control legislation divided and ultimately transformed the NRA. As it shifted its focus from hobby to lobby, the NRA became a foundational element of the New Right, playing a decisive role in the shaping of modern American conservatism. / 2025-06-16T00:00:00Z

No description available.

Introdução: O Traumatismo Raquimedular (TRM) é um evento catastrófico súbito e inesperado que traz consequências drásticas nos âmbitos de saúde e social de um indivíduo. Os estudos que avaliam as causas e recuperação funcional de TRM no nosso meio são escassos. Não há estudos que utilizem o emprego de biomarcadores séricos como prognosticadores da recuperação funcional. Os objetivos deste estudo são: descrever as Causas das Lesões Medulares de um hospital especializado em trauma na cidade de Porto Alegre e comparar com outros centros no Brasil; avaliar as taxas de mortalidade, tempo de ventilação mecânica, tempo de internação destes pacientes; avaliar e funcionalidade mediante o emprego da MIF no momento da alta e 6 meses após a lesão medular; avaliar os Niveis Séricos dos Biomarcadores: Neuronio Específico Enolase, Irterleucina-6, e Fator Neurotrófico Derivado das Celulas Gliais em pacientes com Trauma Raquimedular Isolado; avaliar o comportamento destes Biomarcadores nas primeiras 48 horas e comparar com o grupo controle, correlacionando as alterações clínicas e o prognóstico nos pacientes com TRM. Material e Métodos: Estudo de coorte prospectivo com pacientes com TRM de várias etiologias. Foram incluídos no estudo todos os pacientes que sobreviveram de TRM isolado que foram atendidos no nosso hospital Cristo Redentor no período de 2010 a 2013. Devido ao considerável número de pacientes com TRM devido a lesões por arma de fogo, estudamos prospectivamente a reabilitação funcional deste grupo de pacientes. Durante a hospitalização, todos os pacientes foram submetidos a uma intensiva reabilitação e a mesmo continuou após a alta hospitalar. Foram avaliadas as escalas da American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) e a Medida de Indepencência Funcional (MIF) no momento a alta hospitalar e após 6 meses de lesão. Ainda, foram estudados biomarcadores da fase aguda da lesão com objetivo de entender melhor a fisiopatologia das lesões medulares e pesquisar marcadores de prognóstico nesses pacientes. Resultados: A Coorte foi composta de 81 pacientes com média (DP) de 32.6 (±12.2) anos, sendo 76 (93.8%) homens. Na nossa coorte, lesão por arma de fogo foi a maior causa de TRM (x%), enquanto que TRM em acidente de trânsito foram obersvadas em x% e as provocadas por quedas em x%. Os pacientes com TRM causado por lesão por arma de fogo apresentaram menor grau de comprometimento na escala ASIA motora de membro superior, em função de estas lesões afetarem mais porções mais caudais da medula. Entretanto, não observamos diferenças na MIF entre os grupos. Após seis meses, os pacientes apresentaram uma significativa melhora nas escalas ASIA e MIF. O grau de melhora foi similar nas lesões causadas por arma de fogo e de outras etiologias. Nas 48 horas após o TRM observamos elevação significativa de interleucina 6 (IL-6) e enolase neurônio-específica (NSE). No entanto, essa elevação não pôde ser correlacionada com a causa, tipo, severidade da lesão ou prognóstico dos pacientes. Conclusôes: As lesões por arma de fogo são importantes causas de TRM e déficits neurológicos no nosso meio, sendo essse cenário possivelmente reflexo da panorama do TRM no Brasil. A recuperação funcional do TRM severo provocado por armas de fogo é pequena, mas similar aos traumas provocados por queda e acidentes automobilísticos. Nas primeiras 48 horas IL-6 e NSE aumentam significativamente nesses pacientes, embora esse amento não tenha uma correlação clínica mais direta. / Introduction: The Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) is a sudden and unexpected catastrophic event that brings drastic consequences in the areas of health and welfare of an individual. Studies assessing the causes and functional recovery of TRM in our environment are lacking in literature. No studies using the employment of serum biomarkers as predictors of functional recovery. The objectives of this study are to describe the Causes of Spinal Injuries of a specialized trauma hospital in the city of Porto Alegre and compare with other centers in Brazil. We assessed the rates of mortality, duration of mechanical ventilation and length of stay of these patients and evaluated the functionality through the use of the FIM at discharge and 6 months. We also evaluated levels of serum biomarkers : Neuron Specific Enolase , Interleukin -6 -Derived Neurotrophic Factor and Glial Cells from patients with Spinal Cord Trauma Isolated and the behavior of these biomarkers in the first 48 hours and compared with the control group correlating the clinical findings and prognosis in patients with SCI . Material and Methods: Prospective cohort study conducted in patients with severe TSCI with different etiologies. All survivals patients of isolated acute TCSI who were attended in our center from 2010 to 2013 were included in this study. Patients were divided in two groups if TSCI, those with lesions provoked by firearms was provoked by firearm or other causes. During hospitalization all patients were submitted to intensive rehabilitation and followed in a rehabilitation program after discharge. They were evaluated with ASIA and FIM at the time of the hospital discharge and six mounts latter. Sorological biomarkers were evaluated in the first 48 hours. Results: The cohort was composed by 81 patients, mean age (±S.D.) of 32.6 (±12.2) years, being 76 (93.8%) males. Patients with TSCI caused by firearms showed lower degree of impairment than other patients in ASIA motor superior, because a larger number of patients in the group of firearm lesions showed lumbar woods. However, in the other scales we did not observed this difference. After six months, patients showed significant improvement in ASIA and FIM scales. The degree of improvement was similar between patients with TSCI caused by firearms or others. There was an increase of biomarkers IL-6, NSE and GDNF. Conclusions: TSCI provoked by firearms are an important cause of spinal lesion and neurological deficits in Brazil. Functional recovery in severe TSCI provoked by firearms is limited but similar than severe TSCI provoked by falls or automobilist accidents.