Privatization of Prisons: Costs and Consequences

The privatization of prisons is generally undertaken by states to lower the cost to the public of housing prisoners. Whether cost savings actually result is debatable. Importantly, the ways in which private prisons do cut costs are problematic from the perspective of public safety, human rights, and public policy. In some well-documented cases, prisoners have escaped due to lax security and poorly trained staff. More generally, staff turnover rates are often high and the compensation packages of private prison guards may be inadequate to attract the best candidates. The U.S. Department of Justice produced a report in June of 2013 documenting that over 30% of juvenile detainees were sexually victimized at Paulding Regional Detention Center – a privately run facility northwest of Atlanta. While that facility’s contract will not be renewed, the trend towards privatization of juvenile detention facilities continues. This panel will discuss the consequences of entrusting vulnerable populations to a system run for profit

A Planetary Microlensing Event with an Unusually Red Source Star: MOA-2011-BLG-291

We present the analysis of planetary microlensing event MOA-2011-BLG-291, which has a mass ratio of $q=(3.8\pm0.7)\times10^{-4}$ and a source star that is redder (or brighter) than the bulge main sequence. This event is located at a low Galactic latitude in the survey area that is currently planned for NASA's WFIRST exoplanet microlensing survey. This unusual color for a microlensed source star implies that we cannot assume that the source star is in the Galactic bulge. The favored interpretation is that the source star is a lower main sequence star at a distance of $D_S=4.9\pm1.3\,$kpc in the Galactic disk. However, the source could also be a turn-off star on the far side of the bulge or a sub-giant in the far side of the Galactic disk if it experiences significantly more reddening than the bulge red clump stars. However, these possibilities have only a small effect on our mass estimates for the host star and planet. We find host star and planet masses of $M_{\rm host} =0.15^{+0.27}_{-0.10}M_\odot$ and $m_p=18^{+34}_{-12}M_\oplus$ from a Bayesian analysis with a standard Galactic model under the assumption that the planet hosting probability does not depend on the host mass or distance. However, if we attempt to measure the host and planet masses with host star brightness measurements from high angular resolution follow-up imaging, the implied masses will be sensitive to the host star distance. The WFIRST exoplanet microlensing survey is expected to use this method to determine the masses for many of the planetary systems that it discovers, so this issue has important design implications for the WFIRST exoplanet microlensing survey

OGLE-2014-BLG-0962 and a Comparison of Galactic Model Priors to Microlensing Data

OGLE-2014-BLG-0962 (OB140962) is a stellar binary microlensing event that was well covered by observations from the Spitzer satellite as well as ground-based surveys. Modeling yields a unique physical solution: a mid-M+M-dwarf binary with M_(prim) = 0.20 ± 0.01 M☉ and M_(sec) = 0.16 ± 0.01 M☉, with projected separation of 2.0 ± 0.3 au. The lens is only D_(LS) = 0.41 ± 0.06 kpc in front of the source, making OB140962 a bulge lens and the most distant Spitzer binary lens to date. In contrast, because the Einstein radius (θ_E = 0.143 ± 0.007 mas) is unusually small, a standard Bayesian analysis, conducted in the absence of parallax information, would predict a brown dwarf binary. We compare the results of Bayesian analysis using two commonly used Galactic model priors to the measured values for a set of Spitzer lenses. We find all models tested predict lens properties consistent with the Spitzer data. Furthermore, we illustrate the methodology for probing the Galactic distribution of planets by comparing the cumulative distance distribution of the Spitzer two-body lenses to that of the Spitzer single lenses

Association of random and observed urine drug screening with long-term retention in opioid treatment programs

Background: In the US, opioid treatment providers (OTPs) have wide latitude to perform urine drug screening (UDS) and discharge clients for positive results. OTP clients have identified randomized and directly observed UDS as potentially stigmatizing, but little research has examined the association between UDS modality and retention in OTPs. Methods: This cross-sectional study uses the 2016-2017 NDATSS wave among OTPs that administered methadone. The exposure was a 4-level variable based on whether OTPs had a high percentage (≥ 90% of clients) who experienced randomized, observed, both, or neither modality of UDS. The outcome was the proportion of clients retained in treatment 1 year or longer (long-term retention). Analyses were conducted using fractional logit regression with survey weighting and presented as percentages and 95% confidence intervals. We also present how policies for involuntary clinic discharge modify these effects. Results: 150 OTPs were eligible with a median of 310 clients. 40 (27%) OTPs did not highly utilize either randomized or observed UDS, 22 (15%) only highly utilized observed UDS, 42 (28%) only highly utilized randomized UDS and 46 (31%) utilized both practices on ≥ 90% of clients. Adjusted estimates for long-term retention ranged from 57.7% in OTPs that conducted both randomized and observed UDS on ≥ 90% of clients and 70.4% in OTPs that did not highly utilize these practices. Involuntary discharge may moderate this relationship. Conclusion: Findings showed an association between high utilization of randomized and observed UDS and decreased long-term retention, suggesting that UDS modality may impact long-term OTP retention. Keywords: Methadone; Methadone policy; Person-centered treatment; Retention; Stigma; Urine drug screening

Analysis of long non-coding RNA expression and function in a mouse model of glioblastoma

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common adult brain tumor and represents one of the most treatment refractory cancers. Although significant progress has been made in understanding the coding genomic alterations associated with GBM, patient survival rarely exceeds 12-14 months following diagnosis. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are RNA species generally classified as > 200 base-pairs in length that lack protein coding potential and therefore exert their function as RNA. Several lncRNAs have been shown to play important roles in cancer biology. Despite this, the role of lncRNAs in cancer, and GBM in particular, remains relatively uncharacterized. We hypothesize that lncRNAs are differentially expressed in GBM and contribute to the pathogenesis of this disease. Using next generation sequencing, we have identified lncRNAs expressed in our mouse model of GBM, initiated by lentivirus-mediated expression of oncogenic Ras and a shRNA targeting p53. This resulted in the identification of 818 putative lncRNAs, the majority of which represent novel, uncharacterized transcripts. The majority of the lncRNAs identified were intergenic and not associated with any known protein coding gene. Of the total lncRNAs, 44% were differentially expressed in tumor tissue compared to normal mouse brain. Expression of a subset of these differentially expressed lncRNAs was validated by real-time PCR. Expression of several of these validated lncRNAs could be altered by direct activation of oncogenic signaling in normal mouse neuroprogenitor cells and astrocytes. Using a combination of computational and molecular biology approaches, we will identify candidate lncRNAs to test in functional assays for their role in glioblastoma biology