If you build it, will they come? Using a mobile safety centre to disseminate safety information and products to low-income urban families.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the utilisation-related outcomes associated with visiting the Johns Hopkins CareS (Children are Safe) Mobile Safety Center (MSC), a 40-foot vehicle designed to deliver effective injury prevention interventions and education to low-income urban families. DESIGN AND SETTING: Utilisation-related data were collected when the MSC was accessible at a community health centre and at community events from August 2004 to July 2006 in Baltimore City. SUBJECTS: Adults bringing their child for well child care at a community health centre and MSC visitors at community events. INTERVENTIONS: Low-cost safety products and free personalized educational services are provided on the MSC, which replicates a home environment and contains interactive exhibits. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Perceived benefits of visiting the MSC; products and services received. RESULTS: MSC visitors (n = 83) and non-visitors (n = 127) did not differ in sociodemographic and injury-related characteristics; 96% of visitors reported learning something new as a result of their visit and 98% would recommend the MSC. During the first 2 years of operation, the MSC made 273 appearances, serving 6086 people. Home child safety products accounted for 71% of the 559 products distributed; educational materials made up 87% of the 7982 services received. Car safety seats accounted for 23% of the products distributed; installations made up 4% of the services received. CONCLUSIONS: This approach to disseminating injury prevention interventions holds promise for enhancing the appeal of safety information and increasing the protection of children.

Effects of undercover police stings of gun dealers on the supply of new guns to criminals.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of undercover police stings and lawsuits against gun dealers suspected of facilitating illegal gun sales in three US cities (Chicago, Detroit, Gary) on the flow of new firearms to criminals. METHODS: An interrupted time series design and negative binomial regression analyses were used to test for temporal change in the recovery of guns used in crimes within one year of retail sale in both intervention and comparison cities. RESULTS: The stings were associated with an abrupt 46.4% reduction in the flow of new guns to criminals in Chicago (95% confidence interval, -58.6% to -30.5%), and with a gradual reduction in new crime guns recovered in Detroit. There was no significant change associated with the stings in Gary, and no change in comparison cities that was coincident with the stings in Chicago and Detroit. CONCLUSIONS: The announcement of police stings and lawsuits against suspect gun dealers appeared to have reduced the supply of new guns to criminals in Chicago significantly, and may have contributed to beneficial effects in Detroit. Given the important role that gun stores play in supplying guns to criminals in the US, further efforts of this type are warranted and should be evaluated.

Targeted genome screen of panic disorder and anxiety disorder proneness using homology to murine QTL regions.

Family and twin studies have indicated that genes influence susceptibility to panic and phobic anxiety disorders, but the location of the genes involved remains unknown. Animal models can simplify gene-mapping efforts by overcoming problems that complicate human pedigree studies including genetic heterogeneity and high phenocopy rates. Homology between rodent and human genomes can be exploited to map human genes underlying complex traits. We used regions identified by quantitative trait locus (QTL)-mapping of anxiety phenotypes in mice to guide a linkage analysis of a large multiplex pedigree (99 members, 75 genotyped) segregating panic disorder/agoraphobia. Two phenotypes were studied: panic disorder/agoraphobia and a phenotype ("D-type") designed to capture early-onset susceptibility to anxiety disorders. A total of 99 markers across 11 chromosomal regions were typed. Parametric lod score analysis provided suggestive evidence of linkage (lod = 2.38) to a locus on chromosome 10q under a dominant model with reduced penetrance for the anxiety-proneness (D-type) phenotype. Nonparametric (NPL) analysis provided evidence of linkage for panic disorder/agoraphobia to a locus on chromosome 12q13 (NPL = 4.96, P = 0.006). Modest evidence of linkage by NPL analysis was also found for the D-type phenotype to a region of chromosome 1q (peak NPL = 2.05, P = 0.035). While these linkage results are merely suggestive, this study illustrates the potential advantages of using mouse gene-mapping results and exploring alternative phenotype definitions in linkage studies of anxiety disorder.