Personal Differences among Brazilian Adolescents with Distinct Levels of Engagement in Delinquency

Many adolescents manifest delinquent behavior, but only a few are responsible for most of the offenses and the serious crimes. To know the differences in the criminal engagement and in the personal variables related to the more persistent/severe antisocial behavior is important to adjust the Juvenile Justice Systems to the adolescents needs. In the Brazilian Justice System, this is not considered. Although the law indicates the importance of personalizing legal and social responses to each juvenile offender, the treatment is essentially undifferentiated. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify and describe personal variables that discriminate subgroups of Brazilian adolescents with different levels of criminal engagement. A total of 193 male adolescents (133 recruited in schools and 60 institutionalized) answered a Self-Report Delinquency Questionnaire, which included scales of psychosocial constructs. Five groups were found by the Ward and K-means clustering methods. The adolescents were compared on variables such as personal traits. Those groups with major criminal engagement had higher levels of impulsivity (η² = 0.08; p = 0.002), higher antisocial values (η² = 0.08; p = 0.003), and higher prevalence of alcohol (X² = 103.75; p < 0.001) and marijuana use (X² =257.61; p < 0.001). This finding confirms the specialized literature, denoting how important it is to identify and understand the differences in the criminal engagement of adolescents

Social maladjustment and criminal behavior pattern changes in adolescents in conflict with the law

Personality aspects that present a risk for criminal conducts are susceptible to changes. This study aimed to identify the profile of adolescents in conflict with the law based on the Social Maladjustment (SM) construct, to describe patterns of criminal conducts, and to verify the continuity and change on these variables, in a longitudinal prospective study. A sample of 78 adolescents answered to the Jesness Inventory – revised in Brazil and to the Questionnaire of Youth Behaviors, at two collection times (W1 and W2). The profiles were identified with latent class growth analysis and the behavior patterns were compared with Student's t test. Two classes were obtained: High SM and Normative SM. At W1, SM high scores were associated to high frequency in the perpetration of crimes and both classes had lower SM at W2. The results point to the possibility of changes in SM and in conduct over time.Aspectos de personalidade que representam risco ao envolvimento em condutas delituosas podem sofrer mudanças. Este estudo teve por objetivo identificar perfis de adolescentes em conflito com a lei em relação ao constructo Desadaptação Social (DS), descrever seus padrões de conduta delituosa, verificar continuidade e mudança nessas variáveis com base em delineamento longitudinal prospectivo. Uma amostra de 78 adolescentes respondeu ao Inventário de Jesness - revisado brasileiro e ao Questionário de Comportamentos Juvenis em dois tempos de coleta (W1 e W2). Para identificação dos perfis foi realizada “análise de crescimento de classe latente”. Os padrões de comportamento foram comparados com teste t de Student. Obtiveram-se duas classes: DS Alta e DS Normativa. Em W1, altos escores em DS associaram-se com alta frequência no cometimento de delitos e ambas classes apresentaram DS mais baixos em W2. Os resultados apontam possibilidade de modificação de DS e da conduta com a passagem do tempo.Los aspectos de la personalidad que presentan un riesgo para las conductas delictivas pueden cambiar. Este manuscrito tuvo como objetivo identificar perfiles entre adolescentes delincuentes con relación al constructo del Desajuste Social (DS), describir sus patrones de conductas delictivas y verificar la continuidad y el cambio en estas variables, a través de un estudio longitudinal prospectivo. Una muestra de 78 adolescentes respondió al Inventario de Jesness – revisado para Brasil y al Cuestionario de Comportamientos Juveniles, en dos tiempos (W1 y W2). Los perfiles se identificaron mediante análisis de crecimiento de clase latente y se compararon con la prueba t de Student. Se encontraron dos perfiles: DS Elevado y DS Normativo. En W1, puntuaciones elevadas en DS estuvieron asociadas a una alta frecuencia de participación en delitos. En W2, las puntuaciones en DS disminuyeron para ambos perfiles. Los resultados indican la posibilidad de cambios en el Desajuste Social a lo largo del tiempo

A Simple Empirically Motivated Template for the Unresolved Thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect

We develop a model for the power spectrum of unresolved clusters of galaxies arising from the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (tSZ) effect. The model is based on a'universal' gas pressure profile constrained by X-ray observations and includes a parameter to describe departures from self-similar evolution. The model is consistent with recent Planck observations of the tSZ effect for X-ray clusters with redshifts z<1 and reproduces the low amplitude for the tSZ inferred from recent ground based observations. By adjusting two free parameters, we are able to reproduce the tSZ power spectra from recent numerical simulations to an accuracy that is well within theoretical uncertainties. Our model provides a simple, empirically motivated tSZ template that may be useful for the analysis of new experiments such as Planck.Comment: 6 pages 4 figure

Diferencias de personalidad entre adolescentes infractores en Brasil y España evaluadas con el Jesness Inventory Revised

En delincuencia juvenil, algunos aspectos de la personalidad tienen un peso importante en la probabilidad de realizar conductas antisociales. Por esto, integrarlos al trabajo con esta población permite hacer las intervenciones más sensibles a las características de los jóvenes y, por ello, más efectivas. Como las estructuras de muchos sistemas de atención de la delincuencia juvenil tienen objetivos socioeducativos semejantes, los estudios transculturales/comparativos son pertinentes para explorar este problema. El objetivo de este estudio fue comparar grupos de adolescentes de Brasil y España, infractores y no infractores, con respecto a aspectos de personalidad. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 210 adolescentes varones con una edad media de 17.7 años. Estos jóvenes respondieron al Jesness Inventory – Revised (JI-R), una herramienta que mide el funcionamiento psicológico en el contexto de justicia juvenil. Las puntuaciones directas en el JI-R fueron comparadas por análisis de varianza (ANOVA) y el tamaño de efecto fue calculado con la d de Cohen. Los resultados muestran que, entre los grupos de infractores, la muestra de adolescentes brasileños presenta niveles más elevados en Valores Subculturales y Ansiedad Social. Como se hipotetizaba, los grupos de infractores no son tan distintos entre sí, en especial a lo que se refiere a la orientación antisocial, lo que suma evidencia a que adolescentes que se desarrollan en culturas distintas comparten variables de personalidad asociadas al comportamiento delictivo.Personality differences between Brazilian and Spanish adolescent’ offenders, assessed with the Jesness Inventory Revised. In juvenile delinquency, some aspects of the personality have an important role in the probability of engagement in antisocial behaviors. For this reason, integrating them to the work with this population makes it possible to propose interventions more sensitive to the characteristics of young people and, therefore, more effective. As the structures of many juvenile delinquency care systems have similar socio-educational objectives, cross-cultural / comparative studies are pertinent to explore this problem. The aim of this study was to compare groups of adolescents from Brazil and Spain, offenders and non-offenders, regarding aspects of personality. The sample consisted of 210 male adolescents, with a mean age of 17.7 years. These young people responded to the Jesness Inventory - Revised (JI-R), a tool that measures psychological functioning in the context of juvenile justice. The raw scores on the JI-R were compared by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the effect size was calculated with Cohen’s d. The results show that, among the groups of offenders, the sample of Brazilian adolescents presents higher levels in Value Orientation and Social Anxiety. As hypothesized, the groups of offenders are not so different from each other, especially with regard to antisocial orientation, which adds evidence that adolescents who grow up in different cultures share personality variables associated with criminal behavio

Tipología del miedo al delito y actitudes de aceptación de la violencia policial entre los habitantes de São Paulo, Brasil

Research suggests that the fear of crime affects people’s attitudes toward public security policies, favoring a preference for repressive or punitive actions towards what is considered a danger or a threat. Studies have pointed to a variety of possible individual and contextual factors that are antecedents of punitive attitudes. Fear of crime and punitive attitudes are the subject of public discourses that shape the criminal policies of many Western countries. Since emotions play a crucial role in criminal justice, criminologists seek to understand how these two concepts are related. In that sense, this study carried out an analysis of latent classes in a sample of inhabitants of the city of Sao Paulo (N=1806) to identify groups that describe the typologies of the association between the fear of crime and the favorable attitudes towards the violence of the police. The best model fit was of five latent classes. Among these groups, we find a profile in which there is a strong association between fear of crime and punitive attitude and another formed by those who report low fear of crime but have high levels of punitiveness. Furthermore, most of the people expressed not supporting police violence, despite showing fear of crime, so other factors could better explain the support for punitiveness that some groups present. We speculate few alternative explanations for these results in the discussion.Algunas investigaciones sugieren que el miedo al delito afecta a la actitud de las personas hacia las políticas de seguridad pública, favoreciendo una preferencia por acciones represivas o punitivas frente a lo que se considera un peligro o una amenaza. Los estudios han señalado una variedad de posibles factores individuales y contextuales que son antecedentes de actitudes punitivas. Además, el miedo al delito y las actitudes punitivas son el objeto de un discurso público que da forma a las políticas criminales de muchos países occidentales. Puesto que las emociones juegan un papel importante en la justicia penal, desde la criminología se han llevado a cabo investigaciones sobre cómo se interrelacionan ambos conceptos. En esta línea de investigación, este estudio realizó un análisis de clases latentes en una muestra de habitantes de la ciudad de São Paulo (N = 1806) para identificar agrupaciones que describen las tipologías de asociación entre miedo al delito y las actitudes favorables hacia la violencia policial. Los resultados mostraron la existencia de cinco perfiles. Entre estos, encontramos un perfil en el que hay una fuerte asociación entre el miedo al delito y la actitud punitiva y otro formado por aquellos que reportan bajo miedo al delito, pero presentan altos niveles de punitivismo. Además, la mayoría de las personas expresaron no apoyar la violencia policial, a pesar de tener miedo al delito, por lo que otros factores podrían explicar mejor el apoyo al punitivismo que presentan algunos grupos. En la discusión se ofrecen algunas explicaciones alternativas a estos resultados

Latent adrenal Ewing sarcoma family of tumors: A case report

Ewing sarcoma family of tumors (ESFT) is derived from the neural crest, which originates from basal embryo cells in the primitive neural tube. ESFT often arises at the bone, chest wall, and soft tissues of the thoracic region. However, ESFT that arises from the adrenal gland is much rarer and it is usually revealed by clinical symptoms. We report an autopsy case of suicidal hanging, in which adrenal ESFT was incidentally revealed. To our knowledge, this is the first case of latent ESFT arising from the adrenal gland. Autopsy can sometimes reveal latent disease. Some of these latent diseases are very rare and we would not be able to detect them without a complete autopsy. As forensic pathologists, we should attempt to perform a complete autopsy and report new discoveries for the development of medicine

A WFC3 study of globular clusters in NGC 4150 - an early-type minor merger

We combine near-ultraviolet (NUV; 2250 {\AA}) and optical (U, B, V, I) imaging from the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), to study the globular cluster (GC) population in NGC 4150, a sub-L* (M_B ~ -18.48 mag) early-type minor-merger remnant in the Coma I cloud. We use broadband NUV-optical photometry from the WFC3 to estimate individual ages, metallicities, masses and line-of-sight extinctions [E_(B-V)] for 63 bright (M_V < -5 mag) GCs in this galaxy. In addition to a small GC population with ages greater than 10 Gyr, we find a dominant population of clusters with ages centred around 6 Gyr, consistent with the expected peak of stellar mass assembly in faint early-types residing in low-density environments. The old and intermediate-age GCs in NGC 4150 are metal-poor, with metallicities less than 0.1 ZSun, and reside in regions of low extinction (E_(B-V) < 0.05 mag). We also find a population of young, metal-rich (Z > 0.3 ZSun) clusters that have formed within the last Gyr and reside in relatively dusty (E_(B-V) > 0.3 mag) regions that are coincident with the part of the galaxy core that hosts significant recent star formation. Cluster disruption models (in which ~80-90% of objects younger than a few 10^8 yr dissolve every dex in time) suggest that the bulk of these young clusters are a transient population.Comment: Submitted to MNRAS Letter

Inflammation-Driven Reprogramming of CD4+Foxp3+ Regulatory T Cells into Pathogenic Th1/Th17 T Effectors Is Abrogated by mTOR Inhibition in vivo

While natural CD4+Foxp3+ regulatory T (nTREG) cells have long been viewed as a stable and distinct lineage that is committed to suppressive functions in vivo, recent evidence supporting this notion remains highly controversial. We sought to determine whether Foxp3 expression and the nTREG cell phenotype are stable in vivo and modulated by the inflammatory microenvironment. Here, we show that Foxp3+ nTREG cells from thymic or peripheral lymphoid organs reveal extensive functional plasticity in vivo. We show that nTREG cells readily lose Foxp3 expression, destabilizing their phenotype, in turn, enabling them to reprogram into Th1 and Th17 effector cells. nTREG cell reprogramming is a characteristic of the entire Foxp3+ nTREG population and the stable Foxp3NEG TREG cell phenotype is associated with a methylated foxp3 promoter. The extent of nTREG cell reprogramming is modulated by the presence of effector T cell-mediated signals, and occurs independently of variation in IL-2 production in vivo. Moreover, the gut microenvironment or parasitic infection favours the reprogramming of Foxp3+ TREG cells into effector T cells and promotes host immunity. IL-17 is predominantly produced by reprogrammed Foxp3+ nTREG cells, and precedes Foxp3 down-regulation, a process accentuated in mesenteric sites. Lastly, mTOR inhibition with the immunosuppressive drug, rapamycin, stabilizes Foxp3 expression in TREG cells and strongly inhibits IL-17 but not RORγt expression in reprogrammed Foxp3− TREG cells. Overall, inflammatory signals modulate mTOR signalling and influence the stability of the Foxp3+ nTREG cell phenotype

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits - the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants - determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits - almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives