Blacks are much more likely to be executed for killing whites than whites who have killed blacks

Last year saw the increased popularization of the “#BlackLivesMatter” movement in the wake of the killing of unarmed Black men by police in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York. In new research, Frank Baumgartner, Amanda Grigg, and Alisa Mastro find that in the area of capital punishment, Black lives seem to matter far less than whites’. They find that, since 1976, twice as many blacks have been executed for killing whites than whites have been for killing blacks, and that while Blacks make up 47 percent of all homicide victims, they are only 17 percent of the victims of those executed. They write that despite the arguments of those who feel that #BlackLivesMatter is a redundant movement, the racial disparities apparent in the justice system make it anything but

The end of welfare as we know it: re-envisioning welfare as democratic empowerment

This work evaluates welfare through the lens of democratic empowerment by exploring how programs of state support encourage or discourage active political participation in recipients. The author argues that this view offers both a valuable and previously overlooked position from which to evaluate welfare and a means by which to adjudicate between competing conceptions of the state. Under this view, the most empirically accurate and politically fruitful conceptualizations of the state are those which chart a middle course between absolute rejection of the liberating potential of the state and wholehearted embrace of state power. In the case of welfare, this more complex view of the state allows us to recognize that the design of welfare programs has profound democratic implications. This understanding of welfare is valuable for feminists who hope to intervene meaningfully in welfare discourse and design and vital for anyone concerned with the future of democracy in America

A Feminist Analysis of Contemporary Women’s Health: Bringing Marginalized Women to the Center

What does it mean for women’s health to be a national priority, particularly for socioeconomically disadvantaged women and women of color for whom state intervention has historically taken the form of oppression, regulation, and punishment, and who often suffer disproportionately worse health outcomes than their more privileged peers? As this question suggests, contemporary women’s health is fraught with contradictions. Drawing attention to marginalized women’s health issues is at once risky and necessary. This work attempts to answer this question and navigate these contradictions by employing two central insights drawn from feminist bioethicists, feminist health activists, and sociologists of medicine. First, that health cannot be understood simply as a good in need of more equitable distribution. Health is a contested concept whose meaning has been profoundly shaped by social realities. As a result, health and medicine have been sites of troubling normalization and regulation. Second, that poor women and women of color have seen their health issues obscured, even within the feminist women’s health movement, and continue to suffer worse health outcomes than their more privileged peers. Attention to these two contradictory insights is essential to any effort to address marginalized women’s health needs without incurring the kinds of problems long associated with institutional intervention in the lives of poor women and women of color. This work outlines the principles of a feminist analysis of women’s health. A feminist analysis considers the roles played by 1) the social construction of health, 2) new paradigms of health, 3) structural variables, and 4) political power in determining how and for whom contemporary women’s health works. Applying these factors, it analyzes several issues: drug use during pregnancy, food stamp soda bans, the occupational health of domestic workers, and postpartum depression. In analyzing these issues, it considers the possibilities for an empowering and inclusive understanding of women’s health.Doctor of Philosoph

Association between Landscape Factors and Spatial Patterns of Plasmodium knowlesi Infections in Sabah, Malaysia.

The zoonotic malaria species Plasmodium knowlesi has become the main cause of human malaria in Malaysian Borneo. Deforestation and associated environmental and population changes have been hypothesized as main drivers of this apparent emergence. We gathered village-level data for P. knowlesi incidence for the districts of Kudat and Kota Marudu in Sabah state, Malaysia, for 2008-2012. We adjusted malaria records from routine reporting systems to reflect the diagnostic uncertainty of microscopy for P. knowlesi. We also developed negative binomial spatial autoregressive models to assess potential associations between P. knowlesi incidence and environmental variables derived from satellite-based remote-sensing data. Marked spatial heterogeneity in P. knowlesi incidence was observed, and village-level numbers of P. knowlesi cases were positively associated with forest cover and historical forest loss in surrounding areas. These results suggest the likelihood that deforestation and associated environmental changes are key drivers in P. knowlesi transmission in these areas

A structured telephone-delivered intervention to reduce problem alcohol use (Ready2Change): study protocol for a parallel group randomised controlled trial

Background: Current population surveys suggest around 20% of Australians meet diagnostic criteria for an alcohol use disorder. However, only a minority seek professional help due to individual and structural barriers, such as low health literacy, stigma, geography, service operating hours and wait lists. Telephone-delivered interventions are readily accessible and ideally placed to overcome these barriers. We will conduct a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to examine the efficacy of a standalone, structured telephone-delivered intervention to reduce alcohol consumption, problem severity and related psychological distress among individuals with problem alcohol use. Methods/design: This is a single site, parallel group, two-arm superiority RCT. We will recruit 344 participants from across Australia with problem alcohol use. After completing a baseline assessment, participants will be randomly allocated to receive either the Ready2Change (R2C) intervention (n = 172, four to six sessions of structured telephone-delivered intervention, R2C self-help resource, guidelines for alcohol consumption and stress management pamphlets) or the control condition (n = 172, four phone check-ins < 5 min, guidelines for alcohol consumption and stress management pamphlets). Telephone follow-up assessments will occur at 4-6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months post-baseline. The primary outcome is the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) score administered at 3 months post-baseline. Secondary outcomes include change in AUDIT score (6 and 12 months post-baseline), change in number of past-month heavy drinking days, psychological distress, health and wellbeing, quality of life, client treatment evaluation and cost effectiveness. Discussion: This study will be one of the first RCTs conducted internationally to examine the impact of a standalone, structured telephone-delivered intervention to address problem alcohol use and associated psychological morbidity. The proposed intervention is expected to contribute to the health and wellbeing of individuals who are otherwise unlikely to seek treatment through mainstream service models, to reduce the burden on specialist services and primary care providers and to provide an accessible and proportionate response, with resulting cost savings for the health system and broader community. Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12618000828224. Pre-registered on 16 May 2018

Sequencing three crocodilian genomes to illuminate the evolution of archosaurs and amniotes

The International Crocodilian Genomes Working Group (ICGWG) will sequence and assemble the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis), saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) and Indian gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) genomes. The status of these projects and our planned analyses are described