Sociological and Human Developmental Explanations of Crime: Conflict or Consensus

This paper examines multidisciplinary correlates of delinquency in an attempt to integrate sociological and environmental theories of crime with human developmental and biological explanations of crime. Structural equation models are applied to assess links among biological, psychological, and environmental variables collected prospectively from birth through age 17 on a sample of 800 black children at high risk for learning and behavioral disorders. Results show that for both males and females, aggression and disciplinary problems in school during adolescence are the strongest predictors of repeat offense behavior. Whereas school achievement and family income and stability are also significant predictors of delinquency for males, early physical development is the next strongest predictor for females. Results indicate that some effects on delinquency also vary during different ages. It is suggested that behavioral and learning disorders have both sociological and developmental correlates and that adequate educational resources are necessary to ensure channels of legitimate opportunities for high-risk youths

Basic properties of galaxy clustering in the light of recent results from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

We discuss some of the basic implications of recent results on galaxy correlations published by the SDSS collaboration. In particular we focus on the evidence which has been recently presented for the scale and nature of the transition to homogeneity in the galaxy distribution, and results which describe the dependence of clustering on luminosity. The two questions are in fact strictly entangled, as the stability of the measure of the amplitude of the correlation function depends on the scale at which the mean density becomes well defined. We note that the recent results which indicate the convergence to well defined homogeneity in a volume equivalent to that of a sphere of radius 70 Mpc/h, place in doubt previous detections of ``luminosity bias'' from measures of the amplitude of the correlation function. We emphasize that the way to resolve these issues is to first use, in volume limited samples corresponding to different ranges of luminosity, the unnormalized two point statistics to establish the scale (and value) at which the mean density becomes well defined. We note also that the recent SDSS results for these statistics are in good agreement with those obtained by us through analyses of many previous samples, confirming in particular that the galaxy distribution is well described by a fractal dimension D ~ 2 up to a scale of at least 20 Mpc/h. We discuss critically the agreement of this new data with current theoretical models.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure. Revised version with minor corrections. To be published in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Global Analysis of the Higgs Candidate with Mass ~ 125 GeV

We analyze the properties of the Higgs candidate with mass ~ 125 GeV discovered by the CMS and ATLAS Collaborations, constraining the possible deviations of its couplings from those of a Standard Model Higgs boson. The CMS, ATLAS and Tevatron data are compatible with Standard Model couplings to massive gauge bosons and fermions, and disfavour several types of composite Higgs models unless their couplings resemble those in the Standard Model. We show that the couplings of the Higgs candidate are consistent with a linear dependence on particle masses, scaled by the electroweak scale ~ 246 GeV, the power law and the mass scale both having uncertainties ~ 20%.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures, v2 incorporates experimental data released during July 2012 and corrected (and improved) treatment of mass dependence of coupling

Binge Drinking Effects on EEG in Young Adult Humans

Young adult (N = 96) university students who varied in their binge drinking history were assessed by electroencephalography (EEG) recording during passive viewing. Groups consisted of male and female non-binge drinkers (>1 to 5/4 drinks/ounces in under two hours), low-binge drinkers (5/4–7/6 drinks/ounces in under two hours), and high-binge drinkers (≥ 10 drinks/ounces in under two hours), who had been drinking alcohol at their respective levels for an average of 3 years. The non- and low-binge drinkers exhibited less spectral power than the high-binge drinkers in the delta (0–4 Hz) and fast-beta (20–35 Hz) bands. Binge drinking appears to be associated with a specific pattern of brain electrical activity in young adults that may reflect the future development of alcoholism

High-throughput ultrastructure screening using electron microscopy and fluorescent barcoding.

Genetic screens using high-throughput fluorescent microscopes have generated large datasets, contributing many cell biological insights. Such approaches cannot tackle questions requiring knowledge of ultrastructure below the resolution limit of fluorescent microscopy. Electron microscopy (EM) reveals detailed cellular ultrastructure but requires time-consuming sample preparation, limiting throughput. Here we describe a robust method for screening by high-throughput EM. Our approach uses combinations of fluorophores as barcodes to uniquely mark each cell type in mixed populations and correlative light and EM (CLEM) to read the barcode of each cell before it is imaged by EM. Coupled with an easy-to-use software workflow for correlation, segmentation, and computer image analysis, our method, called "MultiCLEM," allows us to extract and analyze multiple cell populations from each EM sample preparation. We demonstrate several uses for MultiCLEM with 15 different yeast variants. The methodology is not restricted to yeast, can be scaled to higher throughput, and can be used in multiple ways to enable EM to become a powerful screening technique.This work was financially supported by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB1129 Z2 to J.A.G. Briggs), EMBL (to J.A.G. Briggs), the Medical Research Council (MC_UP_1201/16 to J.A.G. Briggs), and the German Ministry of Education and Research (031A605 to K.R. Patil). The Schuldiner laboratory is supported by the European Research Council CoG 646604 Peroxisystem, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant SFB1190 and a Deutsch-Israelische Projektkooperation [DIP] collaborative grant). N. Gabrielli was supported by the EMBL interdisciplinary postdoctoral program. M. Schuldiner is an incumbent of the Dr. Gilbert Omenn and Martha Darling Professorial Chair in Molecular Genetics

Climate change, malaria and neglected tropical diseases: a scoping review

To explore the effects of climate change on malaria and 20 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), and potential effect amelioration through mitigation and adaptation, we searched for papers published from January 2010 to October 2023. We descriptively synthesised extracted data. We analysed numbers of papers meeting our inclusion criteria by country and national disease burden, healthcare access and quality index (HAQI), as well as by climate vulnerability score. From 42 693 retrieved records, 1543 full-text papers were assessed. Of 511 papers meeting the inclusion criteria, 185 studied malaria, 181 dengue and chikungunya and 53 leishmaniasis; other NTDs were relatively understudied. Mitigation was considered in 174 papers (34%) and adaption strategies in 24 (5%). Amplitude and direction of effects of climate change on malaria and NTDs are likely to vary by disease and location, be non-linear and evolve over time. Available analyses do not allow confident prediction of the overall global impact of climate change on these diseases. For dengue and chikungunya and the group of non-vector-borne NTDs, the literature privileged consideration of current low-burden countries with a high HAQI. No leishmaniasis papers considered outcomes in East Africa. Comprehensive, collaborative and standardised modelling efforts are needed to better understand how climate change will directly and indirectly affect malaria and NTDs

Determinant Factors of Dividend Payments in Brazil

This study identifies factors that shaped cash disbursement distribution policies employed by Brazilian public companies listed on the Brazilian Securities, Commodities and Futures Exchange (BM&FBOVESPA) from 1995 to 2011. Relationships between Dividends/Total Assets and potential determinants discussed in the literature, including firm size, corporate governance, profitability, leverage, market to book, liquidity, investment, risk, profit growth, information asymmetry and agency conflict, are examined. The following econometric methods are employed: (1) Tobit, given the nature of the dividend data, and (2) the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) to control for endogenous regressors. Significant positive variables found include size, return on assets (ROA), market to book, liquidity and profit growth. It can thus be inferred that larger firm size, profitability, market value, liquidity and profit growth correlate with greater firm pro pensity to distribute money to shareholders, thus supporting the theory of corporate finance. Significant negative variables found include leverage, liquidity squared, capex, beta and tag along 100%. It is thus inferred that more significantly leveraged companies that invest more heavily in fixed assets and that exhibit high liquidity, higher risk and less conflict between controlling and minority shareholders will be less likely to pay dividends to shareholders.</p

Progressive skin fibrosis is associated with a decline in lung function and worse survival in patients with diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis in the European Scleroderma Trials and Research (EUSTAR) cohort.

Objectives To determine whether progressive skin fibrosis is associated with visceral organ progression and mortality during follow-up in patients with diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (dcSSc). Methods We evaluated patients from the European Scleroderma Trials and Research database with dcSSc, baseline modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS) ≥7, valid mRSS at 12±3 months after baseline and ≥1 annual follow-up visit. Progressive skin fibrosis was defined as an increase in mRSS &gt;5 and ≥25% from baseline to 12±3 months. Outcomes were pulmonary, cardiovascular and renal progression, and all-cause death. Associations between skin progression and outcomes were evaluated by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and multivariable Cox regression. Results Of 1021 included patients, 78 (7.6%) had progressive skin fibrosis (skin progressors). Median follow-up was 3.4 years. Survival analyses indicated that skin progressors had a significantly higher probability of FVC decline ≥10% (53.6% vs 34.4%; p&lt;0.001) and all-cause death (15.4% vs 7.3%; p=0.003) than non-progressors. These significant associations were also found in subgroup analyses of patients with either low baseline mRSS (≤22/51) or short disease duration (≤15 months). In multivariable analyses, skin progression within 1 year was independently associated with FVC decline ≥10% (HR 1.79, 95% CI 1.20 to 2.65) and all-cause death (HR 2.58, 95% CI 1.31 to 5.09). Conclusions Progressive skin fibrosis within 1 year is associated with decline in lung function and worse survival in dcSSc during follow-up. These results confirm mRSS as a surrogate marker in dcSSc, which will be helpful for cohort enrichment in future trials and risk stratification in clinical practice