Inequality, Interactional Complexity, and Violent Delinquency: An Exploration of Structural, Family, and Individual Considerations

Over three decades have passed since the defeat of Jim Crow, yet the United States continues to be a dangerous place to live for many poor and racial/ethnic minority citizens. Unlike the brutality witnessed and endured by subordinate racial groups during the majority of this country’s existence, participants in violent encounters often come from the same age, gender, class, and race groupings. To make sense of these patterns, I do two things. First, I offer a critical examination of previous work and present a conceptual frame that is more specific with regard to racial stratification and its relationship with violent delinquency. Second, I analyze data drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to highlight the interactional complexity of the relationship between stratification and violence. The results from robust regression analysis show violence to be the product of a complex process whereby social-environment factors combine to influence individual behavior in race- and gender-specific ways. These findings raise questions about the theoretical underpinnings of research in his area, and encourage us to think differently about linkages between race and violence.

Standing the Test of Time: The Breadth of Majority Coalitions and the Fate of U.S. Supreme Court Precedents

Should a strategic Justice assemble a broader coalition for the majority opinion than is necessary, even if that means accommodating changes that move the opinion away from the author’s ideal holding? If the author’s objective is to durably move the law to his or her ideal holding, the conventional answer is no, because there is a cost and no corresponding benefit. We consider whether attracting a broad majority coalition can placate future courts. Controlling for the size of the coalition, we find that cases with ideologically narrow coalitions are more likely to be treated negatively by later courts. Specifically, adding either ideological breadth or a new member to the majority coalition results in an opinion that is less likely to be overruled, criticized, or questioned by a later court. Our findings contradict the conventional wisdom regarding the coalition-building strategy of a rational and strategic opinion author, establishing that the author has an incentive to go beyond the four most ideologically proximate Justices in building a majority coalition. And because of later interpreters’ negative reactions to narrow coalitions, the law ends up being less ideological than the Justices themselves

Millipeds from the eastern Dakotas and western Minnesota, USA, with an account of Pseudopolydesmus serratus (Say, 1821) (Polydesmida: Polydesmidae); first published records from six states and the District of Columbia

The diplopod orders Callipodida and Polydesmida, and their respective families Abacionidae and Xystodesmidae, are initially recorded from South Dakota as is Polydesmidae from North Dakota. Other new records of indigenous taxa include Abacion Rafinesque, 1820/A. texense (Loomis, 1937) and Pleuroloma/P. flavipes, both by Rafinesque, 1820, from South Dakota, and Pseudopolydesmus Attems, 1898/P. serratus (Say, 1821) from Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Carolina, and the District of Columbia. New records of Aniulus garius Chamberlin, 1912, A. (Hakiulus) d. diversifrons (Wood, 1867), and Oriulus venustus (Wood, 1864) (Julida: Parajulidae) are provided for western Minnesota and/or eastern North Dakota. Published records from these states are summarized, and the introduced taxa, Julidae/Cylindroiulus Verhoeff, 1894/C. caeruleocinctus (Wood, 1864) and Paradoxosomatidae/Oxidus Cook, 1911/O. gracilis (C. L. Koch, 1847), are newly recorded from the Dakotas. The distribution of P. serratus, which extends from Maine to South Carolina and the Florida panhandle, west to Texas, and north to Fargo, North Dakota is described and discussed. This distribution exhibits a prominent southeastern lacuna which we hypothesize suggests replacement by younger, more successful species, as postulated for a similar distributional gap in Scytonotus granulatus (Say, 1821)

Atomic oxygen interaction with solar array blankets at protective coating defect sites

Atomic oxygen in the low-Earth-orbital environment oxidizes SiOx protected polyimide Kapton solar array blankets at sites which are not protected such as pin windows or scratches in the protective coatings. The magnitude and shape of the atomic oxygen undercutting which occurs at these sites is dependent upon the exposure environment details such as arrival direction and reaction probability. The geometry of atomic oxygen undercutting at defect sites exposed to atomic oxygen in plasma asher was used to develop a Monte Carlo model to simulate atomic oxygen erosion processes at defect sites in protected Kapton. Comparisons of Monte Carlo predictions and experimental results are presented for plasma asher atomic oxygen exposures for large and small defects as well as for protective coatings on one or both sides of Kapton. The model is used to predict in-space exposure results at defect sites for both directed and sweeping atomic oxygen exposure. A comparison of surface textures predicted by the Monte Carlo model and those experimentally observed from both directed space ram and laboratory plasma asher atomic oxygen exposure indicate substantial agreement

Structural analysis of light aircraft using NASTRAN

An application of NASTRAN to the structural analysis of light aircraft was conducted to determine the cost effectiveness. A model of the Baby Ace D model homebuilt aircraft was used. The NASTRAN model of the aircraft consists of 193 grid points connected by 352 structural members. All members are either rod or beam elements, including bending of unsymmetrical cross sections and torsion of noncircular cross sections. The aerodynamic loads applied to the aircraft were in accordance with FAA regulations governing the utility category aircraft

Application of ribotyping and IS<i>200</i> fingerprinting to distinguish the five <i>Salmonella</i> serotype O6,7:c:1,5 groups: Choleraesuis <i>sensu stricto</i>, Choleraesuis var. Kunzendorf, Choleraesuis var. Decatur, Paratyphi C, and Typhisuis

Sixty-seven strains of the five described Salmonella serotypes having antigens 6,7:c: 1,5, that is S. enterica serotype Choleraesuis sensu stricto, Choleraesuis var. Kunzendorf, Choleraesuis var. Decatur, Paratyphi C, and Typhisuis, were examined for 16S rrn profile ribotype, presence of IS200 and phenotypic characters, including rate of change of flagellar-antigen phase and nutritional character. Choleraesuis sensu stricto and its Kunzendorf variant had related but distinct ribotypes. Therefore, ribotyping appears to be a suitable method for differentiating Choleraesuis non-Kunzendorf from Choleraesuis var. Kunzendorf. Some strains of Paratyphi C had 16S profiles that resembled that of Choleraesuis non-Kunzendorf, while others resembled that of Choleraesuis var. Kunzendorf. The Typhisuis profiles were like those of Choleraesuis non-Kunzendorf, while the Choleraesuis var. Decatur profiles were unlike those of any of the other four groups. Furthermore, IS200 fingerprinting discriminated between Choleraesuis var. Decatur and the other strains with antigenic formula O6,7:c: 1,5, and comparison of IS200 patterns showed a high degree of genetic divergence within Choleraesuis var. Decatur. Our findings show that ribotyping and IS200 fingerprinting, combined with classical microbiological methods, distinguish the groups Choleraesuis non-Kunzendorf, Choleraesuis var. Kunzendorf, Choleraesuis var. Decatur, Paratyphi C and Typhisuis

Expression of baculovirus P35 prevents cell death in Drosophila

The baculovirus P35 protein functions to prevent apoptotic death of infected cells. We have expressed P35 in the developing embryo and eye of the fly Drosophila melanogaster. P35 eliminates most, if not all, normally occurring cell death in these tissues, as well as X-irradiation-induced death. Excess pupal eye cells that are normally eliminated by apoptosis develop into pigment cells when their death is prevented by P35 expression. Our results suggest that one mechanism by which viruses prevent the death of the host cell is to block a cell death pathway that mediates normally occurring cell death. Identification of molecules that interact biochemically or genetically with P35 in Drosophila should provide important insights into how cell death is regulated

The Role of Osteocytes in Targeted Bone Remodeling: A Mathematical Model

Until recently many studies of bone remodeling at the cellular level have focused on the behavior of mature osteoblasts and osteoclasts, and their respective precursor cells, with the role of osteocytes and bone lining cells left largely unexplored. This is particularly true with respect to the mathematical modeling of bone remodeling. However, there is increasing evidence that osteocytes play important roles in the cycle of targeted bone remodeling, in serving as a significant source of RANKL to support osteoclastogenesis, and in secreting the bone formation inhibitor sclerostin. Moreover, there is also increasing interest in sclerostin, an osteocyte-secreted bone formation inhibitor, and its role in regulating local response to changes in the bone microenvironment. Here we develop a cell population model of bone remodeling that includes the role of osteocytes, sclerostin, and allows for the possibility of RANKL expression by osteocyte cell populations. This model extends and complements many of the existing mathematical models for bone remodeling but can be used to explore aspects of the process of bone remodeling that were previously beyond the scope of prior modeling work. Through numerical simulations we demonstrate that our model can be used to theoretically explore many of the most recent experimental results for bone remodeling, and can be utilized to assess the effects of novel bone-targeting agents on the bone remodeling process

Some Revised Observational Constraints on the Formation and Evolution of the Galactic Disk

A set of 76 open clusters with abundances based upon DDO photometry and/or moderate dispersion spectroscopy has been transformed to a common [Fe/H] scale and used to study the local structure and evolution of the galactic disk. The metallicity distribution of clusters with R_GC is best described by two distinct zones. Between R_GC = 6.5 and 10 kpc, the distribution has a mean [Fe/H] = 0.0 and a dispersion of 0.1 dex; there is only weak evidence for a shallow abundance gradient over this distance range. Beyond R_GC = 10 kpc, the metallicity distribution has a dispersion between 0.10 and 0.15 dex, but with a mean [Fe/H] = -0.3, implying a sharp discontinuity at R_GC = 10 kpc. After correcting for the discontinuity, no evidence is found for a gradient perpendicular to the plane. Adopting the clusters interior to 10 kpc as a representative sample of the galactic disk over the last 7 Gyr, the cluster metallicity range is found to be about half that of the field stars. When coupled with the discontinuity in the galactocentric gradient, the discrepancy in the metallicity distribution is interpreted as an indication of significant diffusion of field stars into the solar neighborhood from beyond 10 kpc. These results imply that the sun is NOT atypical of the stars formed in the solar circle 4.6 Gyr ago. It is suggested that the discontinuity reflects the edge of the initial galactic disk as defined by the disk globular cluster system and the so-called thick disk; the initial offset in [Fe/H] created by the differences in the chemical history on either side of the discontinuity has carried through to the current stage of galactic evolution. If correct, diffusion coupled with the absence of an abundance gradient could make the separation of field stars on the basis of galactocentric origin difficult.Comment: 41 pages, 9 figure files, LaTex. Appendix section and tables (tex or postscript) available at http://kubarb.phsx.ukans.edu/ ~twarog/ Submitted to Astronomical Journal July 199