Malibu Locals Only: Boys Will Be Boys , Or Dangerous Street Gang? Why the Criminal Justice System\u27s Failure to Properly Identify Suburban Gangs Hurts Efforts at Fighting Gangs

In the last several years, a group of youths calling themselves Malibu Locals Only or MLO has performed several violent crimes, intimidating many people in the area around Malibu, CA. Despite the gang-like appearance of these youths and their crimes, Los Angeles County Sheriff\u27s Department officials insist that MLO is not a gang. This article examines MLO, its history, and its current state in the context of California anti-gang legislation. The article theorizes that the criminal justice system\u27s failure to call a group like MLO a gang while waging war on other groups, primarily in lower income, heavily minority areas, hurts the effort at fighting gangs in two ways. First, it places too much emphasis on factors like poverty, institutionalization and the media, which have been traditionally thought to be the greatest influences on youths\u27 decisions to join gangs. This improper emphasis, in turn, causes society to ignore more relevant factors like missing support from family members and other responsible adults. Second, the failure to classify MLO as a gang while aggressively attacking primarily minority gangs makes the anti-gang tools that law enforcement uses, such as the STEP Act and civil gang injunctions, constitutionally questionable. In conclusion, the article will propose solutions to address both of the above concerns. In particular, society must address the missing protector factor to keep youths from joining gangs in the first place. In addition, the criminal justice system must ensure that it enforces laws equally or provides explanations for distinctions so as to allow tools like the STEP Act and civil gang injunctions to pass constitutional muster

Formation and persistence of O6-(2-hydroxyethyl)-2′-deoxyguanosine in DNA of various rat tissues following a single dose of N-nitroso-N-(2-hydroxyethyl)urea. An immuno-slot-blot study

Rabbit antibodies against O6-(2-hydroxyethyl)-2′-deoxyguanosine (O6-HEdG) were used to develop a highly sensitive immuno-slot-blot assay for this promutagenic base which enabled the quantitation of ≥ 3.6 μmol O6-HEdG/mol deoxy-guanosine, corresponding to ≥ 5 fmol in a 3-μg DNA sample. This assay was used to study DNA hydroxyethylation by N-nitroso-N-(2-hydroxyethyl)urea (HENU) in adult male F344 rats. Initial amounts of O6-HEdG 2 h after a single i.v. dose of 50 mg/kg were highest in kidney (81 μmol O6HEdG/mol deoxyguanosine), followed by lung and liver (67 and 55 μmol/mol dG respectively). Formation of O6-HEdG in cerebral DNA was considerably lower (18 μmol O6-HEdG/mol deoxyguanosine), probably reflecting delayed crossing of the blood—brain barrier by HENU due to its hydrophilicity. The formation of O6-HEdG in liver and kidney was strictly proportional to dose over a range of 5-50 mg HENU/kg. Repair of O6-HEdG was very rapid in liver (apparent half-life, 12 h), and somewhat slower in kidney and lung (approximate half-life, 40 h and 48 h respectively). In contrast, 62% of the initial amount of O6-HEdG in cerebral DNA was still present after 7 days. Saturation of the hepatic O6-alkyl-guanine-DNA alkyltransferase by pretreatment with N-nitrosodimethylamine (20 mg/kg) almost completely inhibited the removal of O6-HEdG, indicating that O6-HEdG is predominantly repaired by this repair enzym

p53 mutations in phenacetin-associated human urothelial carcinomas

Chronic abuse of the analgesic drug phenacetin is associated with an increased risk of development of transitional cell carcinomas of the urinary tract. It is unclear whether phenacetin acts through chronic tissue damage (phenacetin nephropathy) or via a genotoxic metabolite causing promutagenic DNA lesions. In the present study, we investigated 15 urothelial carcinomas from 13 patients with evidence of phenacetin abuse. Tumors were screened for p53 mutations in exons 5-8 by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis, followed by direct sequencing of PCR-amplified DNA. p53 Mutations were detected in 8/14 primary tumors (57%). All except one were missense mutations located in exon 5 (three mutations), exon 6 (one), exon 7 (two) and exon 8 (one). The type of mutation varied, with a preference for CpG sites. A frameshift mutation resulting from the insertion of a single cytosine at codons 151/152 was detected in a bladder tumor and its lung metastasis. Urothelial carcinomas located in the renal pelvis and in the ureter of the same patient exhibited two different mutations, strongly suggesting that they developed independently. Another patient had tumors in the renal pelvis and bladder, both of which contained the same p53 mutation, indicating intracavitary metastatic spread. This demonstrates that screening of p53 mutations allows the clonal origin of tumors in patients with multiple primary and metastatic lesions to be determined. None of the tumors investigated contained mutations in codons 12, 13 or 61 of H-ras or K-ras protooncogene

Effects of ethanol and various alcoholic beverages on the formation of O6-methyldeoxyguanosine from concurrently administered N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine in rats: a dose-response study

Consumption of alcoholic beverages has been identified as a major cause of oesophageal cancer in industrialized countries, with an exceptionally high risk associated with apple-based liquors (calvados). En the present study, we have determined the dose-activity relationship of the effects of coincident ethanol on the formation of O6-methyldeoxyguanosine (O6-MEdG) by the oesophageal carcinogen N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine (NMBzA). Male Fischer 344 rats received a single intragastric dose of NMBzA (2.5 mg/kg body wt; 7.4 ml/kg body wt) in tap water containing 0-20% ethanol (v/v). Survival time was 3 h. In controls, concentrations of O6-MEdG were similar in oesophagus, lung and liver (11-14.9 μmol/mol dG). In oesophagus, coincident ethanol increased levels of O6-MEdG from 15.2 μmol/mol (0.1% ethanol) to 46.0 μmol/mol (20%). This increase was dose dependent for 1-20% ethanol; however, low doses produced a larger effect per gram of ethanol than higher doses. In lung, concentrations of O6-MEdG increased from 11 μmol/mol (0.1%) to a plateau value of 24 μmol/mol (≥5%). In nasal mucosa, an increase in O6-MEdG from 3.9 μmol/mol (controls) to 30.7 μmol/mol was observed with 4% ethanol. Effects of ethanol on hepatic DNA methylation were statistically non-significant. Modulation of NMBzA bioactivation by various alcoholic beverages (adjusted to 4% ethanol) was also investigated. Increases in oesophageal O6-MEdG were similar (+50% to + 116%) with pear brandy, rice wine (sake), farm-made calvados, gin, Scotch whisky, white wine, Pilsner beer and aqueous ethanol. Significantly higher increases were elicited by commercially distilled calvados (+125%) and red burgundy (+162%). In contrast to its effects at an ethanol content of 4%, farm-made calvados diluted to 20% ethanol produced significantly higher (+200%) increases in oesophageal DNA methylation than aqueous ethanol (+148%). Our results show that ethanol is an effective modulator of nitrosamine bioactivation in vivo at intake levels equivalent to moderate social drinking, and that some alcoholic beverages contain congeners that amplify the effects of ethanol, suggesting that modulation of nitrosamine metabolism by acute ethanol may play a role in the etiology of human cance

Authoritarianism and Personality: Conceptual Issues and the Role of Biased Responding

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. May 2013. Major: Psychology. Advisor: Colin DeYoung. 1 computer file (PDF); ix, 95 pages.In this dissertation I address two topics concerning authoritarianism: (1) the role of self-report bias in the assessment of the correlates of authoritarianism, and (2) the question of whether authoritarianism is appropriately conceptualized as a personality trait. I addressed the first topic in Studies 1 and 2. Study 1 used two samples to highlight the role of the individual's perceptions of trait desirability in predicting bias in that individual's self-reports. The individual's views of the desirability of a trait were shown to be an effective predictor of variance that remained in self-report for that trait after the variance shared with peer-reported and/or objectively-assessed levels of that trait have been removed, indicating that people were more prone to exaggerate their levels of a trait when they personally viewed that trait as desirable. In a direct comparison against socially desirable responding measures, which identify individuals who claim exaggerated levels of general patterns of traits, individual perceptions of the desirability of traits were found to predict equal or greater amounts of bias in self-report measures, depending on the trait. As previous studies had reported that authoritarians scored highly on measures of socially desirable responding, Study 2 applied the concepts of Study 1 to identify whether and how authoritarians exaggerate trait levels in self-reports. I found that authoritarians and nonauthoritarians were prone to distinct patterns of exaggerations in self-reports, where these exaggerations were explained by the different views of trait desirability held by authoritarians versus nonauthoritarians. There is thus nothing about authoritarianism per se that was connected to a tendency to misrepresent one's true trait levels; rather, its connection with exaggeration in self-reports derived from its association with perceptions of trait desirability. In Study 3, I addressed recent challenges to the original "trait" conception of authoritarianism in a longitudinal twin study. I found that, consistent with the results observed for other personality traits, authoritarianism was highly stable over time, and this stability was influenced primarily by genetic factors

Genetic amplification and the individuation of the parent-child relationship across adolescence

BACKGROUND: Many psychological traits become increasingly influenced by genetic factors throughout development, including several which might intuitively be seen as purely environmental characteristics. One such trait is the parent-child relationship, which is associated with a variety of socially significant outcomes, including mental health and criminal behavior. Genetic factors have been shown to partially underlie some of these associations, but the changing role of genetic influence over time remains poorly understood. METHOD: Over 1,000 participants in a longitudinal twin study were assessed at three points across adolescence with a self-report measure regarding the levels of warmth and conflict in their relationships with their parents. These reports were analyzed with a biometric growth curve model to identify changes in genetic and environmental influences over time. RESULTS: Genetic influence on the child-reported relationship with parent increased throughout adolescence, while the relationship’s quality deteriorated. The increase in genetic influence resulted primarily from a positive relation between genetic factors responsible for the initial relationship and those involved in change in the relationship over time. In contrast, environmental factors relating to change were negatively related to those involved in the initial relationship. CONCLUSIONS: The increasing genetic influence appears due to early genetic influences having greater freedom of expression over time, while environmental circumstances were decreasingly important to variance in the parent-child relationship. We infer that the parent-child relationship may become increasingly influenced by the particular characteristics of the child (many of which are genetically-influenced), gradually displacing the effects of parental or societal ideas of child-rearing

The genetic structure of the Traditional Moral Values Triad

University of Minnesota M.A. thesis. September 2011. Major: Psychology. Advisor: Colin G. De Young, Ph.D. 1 computer file (PDF); v, 18 pages.Personality and social attitudes researchers have frequently noted high correlations, typically between .5 and .7, between measures of religiousness, conservatism, and right-wing authoritarianism. Koenig and Bouchard (2006) proposed that this pattern of correlations indicated the presence of a single latent factor of traditionalism. The three components of this factor, known as the Traditional Moral Values Triad (TMVT), were hypothesized to share a common genetic basis. The present study tested this hypothesis using data from the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart (MISTRA), a sample of twins who were raised in different homes. The best-fitting model identified the three TMVT measures as different manifestations of a single latent and significantly heritable factor. Further, the genetic basis for this factor was found to overlap heavily with that for the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire Traditionalism factor, supporting our conception of traditionalism as the latent factor represented by the TMVT scales