Improving Conditions of Latino Children Brightens the Future of America

An introduction to the inaugural issue of the Journal of Applied Research on Children

Undocumented and Unafraid: The Emergence of an Undocumented Movement and Its Impact on Immigration Policy, the DREAM Act, DACA, DAPA, and Family Unification

Undocumented and Unafraid: The Emergence of an Undocumented Movement and Its Impact on Immigration Policy, the DREAM Act, DACA, DAPA, and Family Unification This articles traces the efforts of undocumented students throughout the U.S. to come forward and reveal their status, claim rights, and participate in political and community engagement efforts typical of U.S. citizens by becoming active in student and community organizations, shaping political discourse on immigrant rights, and expanding our conception of what it means to be ‘American.’ Their social activism reflects a strong desire to be full-members of this society. Undocumented youth are deeply concerned about family separation, as many have friends and family who have been deported or face deportation. Despite risk of their own deportation, undocumented students exhibited strength, resilience, and determination by revealing their status and advocating for changes in immigration policy. Deportations break up families, leaving some in the United States, while others are forced to return to their homeland. The article examines the emergence of a network of activist undocumented students who advocated for adoption of the DREAM Act. It explores the impact that movement had on President Obama’s decision to take executive action (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA) and DAPA (which provided protection for parents of undocumented). The advocacy for the DREAM Act, immigration reform, and executive action expanded the social space for undocumented to further re-define their role in civil society as active agents of social change. The current anti-Mexican immigrant rhetoric follows a long tradition of anti-immigrant and nativist opposition to immigration in the U.S. Similarly, the emergence of a movement of undocumented youth parallels, social movements of other marginalized groups who have fought for and eventually won expansion of rights. Undocumented Latinos are shaping political discourse within the broader Latino population and have the potential to increase Latino political participation rates generally, particularly in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. The article builds off of the concept of ‘cultural citizenship,’ first introduced by noted anthropologist Renato Rosaldo and a team co-led by this author (Flores and Benmayor, 1997), which argues that citizenship is contested as new groups arise and claim identity, space, and rights in cultural and social spheres, often leading to claims in political spheres

Underserved Populations in the United States: Research, Response and Resilience

Angelo P. Giardino, Robert Sanborn, William V. Flores and E. Christopher Lloyd discuss the latest issue of the Journal of Family Strengths

Becoming a Champion of Orientation

New student orientation programs are one of the most important high impact practices for student success. These introductory programs not only empower students to be able to selfidentify how their academic support needs can be met, they also provide the critically important introduction to building social support networks. College presidents must embrace the critical role of new student orientation programs, understand their complexities, and find ways to illustrate the role of these programs to faculty, staff, and students

Literacy: A Continuously Evolving Concept

Angelo P. Giardino, Robert Sanborn, William V. Flores and E. Christopher Lloyd discuss the latest issue of the Journal of Family Strengths

Families, Family Strengths and the Changing World

Angelo P. Giardino, Robert Sanborn, William V. Flores and E. Christopher Lloyd discuss the latest issue of the Journal of Family Strengths

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin

PCSK6 and Survival in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Rationale: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a devastating disease characterized by limited treatment options and high mortality. A better understanding of the molecular drivers of IPF progression is needed. Objectives: To identify and validate molecular determinants of IPF survival. Methods: A staged genome-wide association study was performed using paired genomic and survival data. Stage I cases were drawn from centers across the United States and Europe and stage II cases from Vanderbilt University. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to identify gene variants associated with differential transplantation-free survival (TFS). Stage I variants with nominal significance (P < 5 x 10(-5)) were advanced for stage II testing and meta-analyzed to identify those reaching genome-wide significance (P < 5 x 10(-8)). Downstream analyses were performed for genes and proteins associated with variants reaching genome-wide significance. Measurements and Main Results: After quality controls, 1,481 stage I cases and 397 stage II cases were included in the analysis. After filtering, 9,075,629 variants were tested in stage I, with 158 meeting advancement criteria. Four variants associated with TFS with consistent effect direction were identified in stage II, including one in an intron of PCSK6 (proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 6) reaching genome-wide significance (hazard ratio, 4.11 [95% confidence interval, 2.54-6.67]; P = 9.45 x 10(-9)). PCSK6 protein was highly expressed in IPF lung parenchyma. PCSK6 lung staining intensity, peripheral blood gene expression, and plasma concentration were associated with reduced TFS. Conclusions: We identified four novel variants associated with IPF survival, including one in PCSK6 that reached genome-wide significance. Downstream analyses suggested that PCSK6 protein plays a potentially important role in IPF progression

Replication Fork Reversal after Replication–Transcription Collision

Replication fork arrest is a recognized source of genetic instability, and transcription is one of the most prominent causes of replication impediment. We analyze here the requirement for recombination proteins in Escherichia coli when replication–transcription head-on collisions are induced at a specific site by the inversion of a highly expressed ribosomal operon (rrn). RecBC is the only recombination protein required for cell viability under these conditions of increased replication-transcription collisions. In its absence, fork breakage occurs at the site of collision, and the resulting linear DNA is not repaired and is slowly degraded by the RecJ exonuclease. Lethal fork breakage is also observed in cells that lack RecA and RecD, i.e. when both homologous recombination and the potent exonuclease V activity of the RecBCD complex are inactivated, with a slow degradation of the resulting linear DNA by the combined action of the RecBC helicase and the RecJ exonuclease. The sizes of the major linear fragments indicate that DNA degradation is slowed down by the encounter with another rrn operon. The amount of linear DNA decreases nearly two-fold when the Holliday junction resolvase RuvABC is inactivated in recB, as well as in recA recD mutants, indicating that part of the linear DNA is formed by resolution of a Holliday junction. Our results suggest that replication fork reversal occurs after replication–transcription head-on collision, and we propose that it promotes the action of the accessory replicative helicases that dislodge the obstacle

Male circumcision and prevalence of genital human papillomavirus infection in men : a multinational study

Background: Accumulated evidence from epidemiological studies and more recently from randomized controlled trials suggests that male circumcision (MC) may substantially protect against genital HPV infection in men. The purpose of this study was to assess the association between MC and genital HPV infection in men in a large multinational study. Methods: A total of 4072 healthy men ages 18-70 years were enrolled in a study conducted in Brazil, Mexico, and the United States. Enrollment samples combining exfoliated cells from the coronal sulcus, glans penis, shaft, and scrotum were analyzed for the presence and genotyping of HPV DNA by PCR and linear array methods. Prevalence ratios (PR) were used to estimate associations between MC and HPV detection adjusting for potential confounders. Results: MC was not associated with overall prevalence of any HPV, oncogenic HPV types or unclassified HPV types. However, MC was negatively associated with non-oncogenic HPV infections (PR 0.85, 95% confident interval: 0.76-0.95), in particular for HPV types 11, 40, 61, 71, and 81. HPV 16, 51, 62, and 84 were the most frequently identified genotypes regardless of MC status. Conclusions: This study shows no overall association between MC and genital HPV infections in men, except for certain non-oncogenic HPV types for which a weak association was found. However, the lack of association with MC might be due to the lack of anatomic site specific HPV data, for example the glans penis, the area expected to be most likely protected by MC