Bias crimes charges in the United States: bias homicides in the U.S. between 1990 and 2016

CRISP analyzed data from bias crimes in the United States to examine links between bias crimes and bias crime charges. The findings have policy implications, including the fact that effectiveness of bias crime legislation should be further evaluated for impact and operation.The Indiana General Assembly introduced 10 bills related to bias (or hate) crimes in the 2019 session. Indiana is 1 of 5 states in the U.S. without a bias crimes statute. The 10 bills are similar in that each of them allows for a criminal penalty enhancement for bias crimes offenses. Penalty enhancement statutes enable courts to impose a longer sentence if the predicate crime—the underlying crime committed by an offender—is proven to have been motivated by bias as defined by the particular statute. Marginalized communities are convicted of predicate crimes at higher rates. Given that racial disparities also exist within sentencing decisions for equal crimes, there is evidence of discretion within the legal process that disproportionately (and negatively) impacts marginalized groups. The following brief presents an objective analysis of bias homicide charges in the U.S. with the goal of understanding possible policy implications of Indiana’s proposed bias crimes legislation

Development of the Low Frequency Telescope Focal Plane Detector Modules for LiteBIRD

LiteBIRD is a JAXA-led strategic large-class satellite mission designed to measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background and Galactic foregrounds from 34 to 448 GHz across the entire sky from L2 in the late 2020s. The scientific payload includes three telescopes which are called the low-, mid-, and high-frequency telescopes each with their own receiver that covers a portion of the mission's frequency range. The low frequency telescope will map synchrotron radiation from the Galactic foreground and the cosmic microwave background. We discuss the design, fabrication, and characterization of the low-frequency focal plane modules for low-frequency telescope, which has a total bandwidth ranging from 34 to 161 GHz. There will be a total of 4 different pixel types with 8 overlapping bands to cover the full frequency range. These modules are housed in a single low-frequency focal plane unit which provides thermal isolation, mechanical support, and radiative baffling for the detectors. The module design implements multi-chroic lenslet-coupled sinuous antenna arrays coupled to transition edge sensor bolometers read out with frequency-domain mulitplexing. While this technology has strong heritage in ground-based cosmic microwave background experiments, the broad frequency coverage, low optical loading conditions, and the high cosmic ray background of the space environment require further development of this technology to be suitable for LiteBIRD. In these proceedings, we discuss the optical and bolometeric characterization of a triplexing prototype pixel with bands centered on 78, 100, and 140 GHz.Comment: SPIE Astronomical Telescope + Instrumentation (AS22

Autophagy, mitochondria and oxidative stress: cross-talk and redox signalling

Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species change cellular responses through diverse mechanisms that are now being defined. At low levels, they are signalling molecules, and at high levels, they damage organelles, particularly the mitochondria. Oxidative damage and the associated mitochondrial dysfunction may result in energy depletion, accumulation of cytotoxic mediators and cell death. Understanding the interface between stress adaptation and cell death then is important for understanding redox biology and disease pathogenesis. Recent studies have found that one major sensor of redox signalling at this switch in cellular responses is autophagy. Autophagic activities are mediated by a complex molecular machinery including more than 30 Atg (AuTophaGy-related) proteins and 50 lysosomal hydrolases. Autophagosomes form membrane structures, sequester damaged, oxidized or dysfunctional intracellular components and organelles, and direct them to the lysosomes for degradation. This autophagic process is the sole known mechanism for mitochondrial turnover. It has been speculated that dysfunction of autophagy may result in abnormal mitochondrial function and oxidative or nitrative stress. Emerging investigations have provided new understanding of how autophagy of mitochondria (also known as mitophagy) is controlled, and the impact of autophagic dysfunction on cellular oxidative stress. The present review highlights recent studies on redox signalling in the regulation of autophagy, in the context of the basic mechanisms of mitophagy. Furthermore, we discuss the impact of autophagy on mitochondrial function and accumulation of reactive species. This is particularly relevant to degenerative diseases in which oxidative stress occurs over time, and dysfunction in both the mitochondrial and autophagic pathways play a role

Examining the generalizability of research findings from archival data

This initiative examined systematically the extent to which a large set of archival research findings generalizes across contexts. We repeated the key analyses for 29 original strategic management effects in the same context (direct reproduction) as well as in 52 novel time periods and geographies; 45% of the reproductions returned results matching the original reports together with 55% of tests in different spans of years and 40% of tests in novel geographies. Some original findings were associated with multiple new tests. Reproducibility was the best predictor of generalizability—for the findings that proved directly reproducible, 84% emerged in other available time periods and 57% emerged in other geographies. Overall, only limited empirical evidence emerged for context sensitivity. In a forecasting survey, independent scientists were able to anticipate which effects would find support in tests in new samples

Analyzing the Breakdown of Cutin and PET via Thermophilic and Mesophilic Enrichment Cultures

Polyethylene terephthalate is a commonly used plastic that is not easily degradable in the environment. The purpose of this project is to isolate thermophilic microbes that can degrade cutin and other degradation products of polyethylene terephthalate. Cutin is a polymer similar in structure to polyethylene terephthalate. In this initiative, compost samples are taken from the Ursinus College organic farm. The compost will be put in sterile saline to suspend any bacteria. These compost samples and the purified cutin will then be put in various enrichment cultures, which is essentially a broth medium with nutrients. These samples are incubated at 60 ℃ for an extended period. Samples of the enrichment cultures will be taken periodically either from the liquid suspension or the actual cutin fibers. From these samples, total genomic DNA is extracted and a PCR amplification of the universal 16s rRNA gene is performed for the purpose of identification

Extraction of Cutin and Examination of Possible Breakdown to Monomer Units by Thermophilic Compost Enrichments

The global accumulation of plastic waste is an environmental disaster, with one of the most common plastics being poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). Cutin is one of the two polymers that makes up the waxy surface of many plants and shares many structural similarities with PET. Additionally, it is believed that the hydrolysis of cutin via cutinase produced by microbes occurs more rapidly than that of PETase. The objective of this study was to culture thermophilic bacteria found in compost to break down cutin, which closely resembles PET, and evaluate the process. A sterilized broth solution, including cutin isolated from apple skins, was inoculated with compost. Samples were taken regularly from an experimental group and control group inoculated with sterile compost. We performed extraction techniques that were necessary to isolate pure cutin, followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of extracted cutin inoculated with various bacteria to determine if present bacteria were capable of enzymatic degradation of cutin into suspected monomer units. Due to this research being preliminary, the focus was primarily on fine-tuning GCMS and HPLC methods that resulted in quality retention and separation on chromatograms, which were used on the cutin samples to detect cutinase activity. This research provides efficient cutin extraction and isolation, and the chromatographic methods will be useful in further detection of cutinase activity and subsequent quantitation of breakdown monomers. Cutinase is a highly versatile efficient catalyst that can both hydrolyze and synthesize organic material. Additionally, it functions in water as well as organic solvents. Its lack of thermostability is the reason it has not been widely commercialized. Discovering more stable cutinase enzymes could have large implications for manufacturing, chemical, and purification industries. Cutinase from leaf branch compost has been shown to breakdown commercially used plastics around the globe. Identifying efficient cutinase species requires quick, detailed, and highly precise results from qualitative separations techniques. Specifically, testing the capability of cutinases to enzymatically degrade polymers through detection of broken-down monomer units is a viable approach when using GCMS because of its high sensitivity selected ion monitoring and ability to reveal qualitative information through fragmentation. However, due to the similar nature in test sample monomer units, the HPLC method could not provide efficient separation. But the increased definition of shoulder peaks could allow for the use of HPLC in combination with another more qualitative technique such as GCMS or NMR

The Phylogenetic Roots of Cognitive Dissonance

We presented 7 Old World monkeys (Japanese macaques [Macaca fuscata] gray cheeked mangabey [Lophocebus albigena] rhesus macaques [Macaca mulatta] bonnet macaque [Macaca radiate] and olive baboon [Papio anubis]) 3 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) 6 members of the parrot (Psittacinae) family and 4 American black bears (Ursus americanus) with a cognitive dissonance paradigm modeled after Egan Santos and Bloom (2007) In experimental trials subjects were given choices between 2 equally preferred food items and then presented with the unchosen option and a novel equally preferred food Item In control trials subjects were presented with I accessible and 1 inaccessible option from another triad of equally preferred food Items They were then presented with the previously inaccessible item and a novel member of that triad Subjects as a whole did not prefer the novel item in experimental or control trials However there was a tendency toward a subject by condition interaction When analyzed by primate versus nonprimate categories only primates preferred the novel item in experimental but not control trials indicating that they resolved cognitive dissonance by devaluing the unchosen option only when an option was derogated by their own free choice This finding suggests that this phenomenon might e 1st within but not outside of the primate orde

23&Me and Commercial Genetic Testing: Hereditary Hemochromatosis

23&Me is a commercial genetic testing company. One of the many diseases that they test for is Hereditary Hemochromatosis; a genetic mutation where the body absorbs too much dietary iron. 23&Me collects consumer DNA through saliva samples. From this, they are able to identify the two most common variants in the HFE gene. These variants disrupt the ability for the HFE protein to regulate iron absorption which results in Hereditary Hemochromatosis. The claims that are made on the health risk report are factually sound, but less than 99% valid. This is due to several factors such as mode of inheritance, number of genes, and environmental factors. Furthermore, there are some ethical implications of commercial genetic testing that include influence over decision making, privacy, and social/emotional consequences. From the business perspective, 23&Me competes with several other companies in their market. Their competitive advantage over these companies comes with their emotional and ethical appeal to their customers. With the use of real science and data, they supply users with information that allows them to gain often valuable personal insight