Skin Color Bias in the Immigration Process: A Multi-Methods Approach

This study looks at the intersection of the literature on immigration and on phenotype and life chances. As immigrant populations in the United States have shifted from European countries of origin to Latin American and Asian countries of origin in recent decades, the phenotype of these populations of immigrants is increasingly distinct from the privileged mainstream U.S. population with European origins. Do darker shades of skin color lead to correspondingly different experiences in the United States immigration system? This study uses data from the New Immigrant Survey 2003 to explore the relationship between skin color and the duration of the legal permanent residency application process. The findings are supplemented by interviews with immigrants and agencies, providing a more nuanced understanding of the variety of experiences within the immigration process

Mobility and Isolation: Latino Immigrant Adjustment in Atlanta, Georgia

In the automobile society of the United States, virtually every adult needs a car to work, shop, and participate in social institutions. However, not everyone has a car. One of the populations with low access to vehicles is the Latin American immigrant population. This study asks to what extent Latino immigrants experience spatial constraints due to lack of mobility, what mobility strategies do they use in order to function in a context of automobility, and to what extent transportation limitations are associated with another socially isolating factor – English proficiency. I investigate these questions for employed Latino immigrants in the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area, which is a new Latino destination that has a particularly poor transportation system. Data sources include US Census summary files for 1980-2010, data from the Census Transportation Planning Package from 2000, and American Community Survey 2006-2010 pooled microdata

Evaluating neurite outgrowth and signal integration in response to NGF and GDNF in neuroblastoma cell lines

Neuroblastoma is a cancerous tumor that develops from cells of the neural crest. Unfortunately, the highly migratory nature of these cells causes approximately 70% of neuroblastomas to have already metastasized by the time they are diagnosed. Primarily affecting infants and children, neuroblastoma accounts for 15% of pediatric cancer fatalities. This illustrates the need for a better understanding of the mechanism by which neural cells transform into cancer. We hypothesize that neural crest cells’ failure to differentiate into nerve cells is an important step leading to neuroblastoma. The roles of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) in governing cellular processes like differentiation are extensive and dynamic. Defects in RTK pathways have been linked to various cancers including neuroblastoma. While identifying each pathway involved in differentiation is important, it is as important to understand how the pathways interact; this has posed a challenge to researchers. To model RTK pathway associations, Dr. Mark Grimes has pioneered computer methods that incorporate bioinformatics and pattern recognition analysis to neuroblastoma cell line phosphoproteomic data sets. Along with finding 31 of the 58 RTKs in the human genome present and activated in neuroblastoma cells, his mapping of associations between tyrosine kinase signaling pathways has identified several networks of RTKs that represent functional cohorts. In my study, I focused on two RTKs that cause differentiation in neuroblastoma cells that were from within the same cluster or cohort: TrkA and RET. TrkA and RET were activated with their respective ligands, NGF and GDNF, both individually and together, to analyze the effects of co-stimulation. Quantitative analysis of neurite outgrowth and activation of downstream effectors derived from western blots was used to determine if these two pathways act synergistically. Improving the current understanding of interactions among RTK pathways will help us to better understand cell differentiation and how it goes awry in neuroblastoma

COMMUNICATION: Electrochemical polymerization of conducting polymers in living neural tissue

A number of biomedical devices require extended electrical communication with surrounding tissue. Significant improvements in device performance would be achieved if it were possible to maintain communication with target cells despite the reactive, insulating scar tissue that forms at the device–tissue interface. Here, we report that the conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) can be polymerized directly within living neural tissue resulting in an electrically conductive network that is integrated within the tissue. Nano and microscale PEDOT filaments extend out from electrode sites, presumably forming within extracellular spaces. The cloud of PEDOT filaments penetrates out into the tissue far enough that it should be possible to bypass fibrous scar tissue and contact surrounding healthy neurons. These electrically functional, diffuse conducting polymer networks grown directly within tissue signify a new paradigm for creating soft, low impedance implantable electrodes.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/58177/2/jne7_2_l02.pd

Multi-site Programming Offered to Promote Resilience in Military Veterans: A Process Evaluation of the Just Roll With It Bootcamps

Background and Purpose: Military and veteran suicide rates exceed those found in the general population. Veterans often reject patient identities, creating barriers to care for mental health within the clinical sector and a mandate for prevention programs. The purpose of this study was to offer a postintervention process evaluation of one peer-led resilience program offered to military veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan at three sites in 2013. Methods: Secondary analysis of survey data collected involved mixed-methods analysis of open and closed-ended questions. In total, the research team reviewed 52 electronic survey responses; participant response rate was 48.1%. Results: Descriptive data analysis found that all participants rated Just Roll With It Bootcamp content as “somewhat useful” (17.9%) or “very useful” (82.1%). Qualitative analysis of open-ended questions found that content was perceived as valuable by participants. Emergent themes included: health practices, social support, and participant quality of life or satisfaction. Comments also informed four subthemes which included: meditation/mindfulness, nutrition, physical practice, and the seminars’ physical environment. Conclusion: Culturally-informed prevention programs that emphasize social support, physical movement, and peer-leadership have a vital role to play in working to prevent suicide by promoting quality of life for veterans

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) as a Micro-Neural Interface Material for Electrostimulation

Chronic microstimulation-based devices are being investigated to treat conditions such as blindness, deafness, pain, paralysis, and epilepsy. Small-area electrodes are desired to achieve high selectivity. However, a major trade-off with electrode miniaturization is an increase in impedance and charge density requirements. Thus, the development of novel materials with lower interfacial impedance and enhanced charge storage capacity is essential for the development of micro-neural interface-based neuroprostheses. In this report, we study the use of conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) as a neural interface material for microstimulation of small-area iridium electrodes on silicon-substrate arrays. Characterized by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, electrodeposition of PEDOT results in lower interfacial impedance at physiologically relevant frequencies, with the 1 kHz impedance magnitude being 23.3 ± 0.7 kΩ, compared to 113.6 ± 3.5 kΩ for iridium oxide (IrOx) on 177 μm2 sites. Further, PEDOT exhibits enhanced charge storage capacity at 75.6 ± 5.4 mC/cm2 compared to 28.8 ± 0.3 mC/cm2 for IrOx, characterized by cyclic voltammetry (50 mV/s). These improvements at the electrode interface were corroborated by observation of the voltage excursions that result from constant current pulsing. The PEDOT coatings provide both a lower amplitude voltage and a more ohmic representation of the applied current compared to IrOx. During repetitive pulsing, PEDOT-coated electrodes show stable performance and little change in electrical properties, even at relatively high current densities which cause IrOx instability. These findings support the potential of PEDOT coatings as a micro-neural interface material for electrostimulation

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) polymer coatings facilitate smaller neural recording electrodes

We investigated using poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) to lower the impedance of small, gold recording electrodes with initial impedances outside of the effective recording range. Smaller electrode sites enable more densely packed arrays, increasing the number of input and output channels to and from the brain. Moreover, smaller electrode sizes promote smaller probe designs; decreasing the dimensions of the implanted probe has been demonstrated to decrease the inherent immune response, a known contributor to the failure of long-term implants. As expected, chronically implanted control electrodes were unable to record well-isolated unit activity, primarily as a result of a dramatically increased noise floor. Conversely, electrodes coated with PEDOT consistently recorded high-quality neural activity, and exhibited a much lower noise floor than controls. These results demonstrate that PEDOT coatings enable electrode designs 15 µm in diameter.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90823/1/1741-2552_8_1_014001.pd