Classical Criminological Perspective and Attitudes Toward Same-Sex Rights

This study examined the degree to which perspectives consistent with classical criminological theory among college students and faculty supported public and governmental responses to same-sex rights (e.g., gay marriage). Classical criminology assumes that “crime is the product of a person’s free will” and “the main reason why people break the law is that they figure they can get away with it”. A convenience sample of 1471 undergraduate and graduate students, and college and university professors in the United States, Eastern Europe, Asia, and other unidentified countries completed a survey (via SurveyMonkey) between 2014 and 2015. The data failed to support our hypothesis that people who supported classical criminology were likely to see the issue of same-sex interaction as a non-rule violation and that same-sex rights should be provided. Bivariate analyses instead indicated that classical criminology perspectives did not support attitudes endorsing same-sex rights. One explanation is that people who support classical criminological perspective are more likely to be political conservative and religious, two characteristics that tend to disapprove homosexuality and, thus, less likely to support same-sex rights

The genomic landscape of balanced cytogenetic abnormalities associated with human congenital anomalies

Despite the clinical significance of balanced chromosomal abnormalities (BCAs), their characterization has largely been restricted to cytogenetic resolution. We explored the landscape of BCAs at nucleotide resolution in 273 subjects with a spectrum of congenital anomalies. Whole-genome sequencing revised 93% of karyotypes and demonstrated complexity that was cryptic to karyotyping in 21% of BCAs, highlighting the limitations of conventional cytogenetic approaches. At least 33.9% of BCAs resulted in gene disruption that likely contributed to the developmental phenotype, 5.2% were associated with pathogenic genomic imbalances, and 7.3% disrupted topologically associated domains (TADs) encompassing known syndromic loci. Remarkably, BCA breakpoints in eight subjects altered a single TAD encompassing MEF2C, a known driver of 5q14.3 microdeletion syndrome, resulting in decreased MEF2C expression. We propose that sequence-level resolution dramatically improves prediction of clinical outcomes for balanced rearrangements and provides insight into new pathogenic mechanisms, such as altered regulation due to changes in chromosome topology

Letter to Jane Howe Gregory from Dorothy McClellan concerning Gregory's research on women in the Texas Penitentiary

In this letter associate professor Dorothy McLellan discusses her interest in Jane Howe Gregory's research on female prisoners in the Texas Penitentiary