Institutionalized Discrimination in the Legal System: A Socio-Historical Approach

Despite many of the social, political, and economic changes of the 1960s, discrimination is still prevalent in the United States. Increasingly, evidence of discrimination can be seen in our nation\u27s courts, institutions of higher education, in public policy decisions, and every social, political and economic institution. The question of how this can be in these days of ethnic and cultural diversity has aroused considerable interest among social scientists, as well as among the general public. One area that has been the target of considerable research is the criminal justice system. Wilbanks[1] has suggested that it is a myth that the criminal justice system is racist and discriminates against blacks and other minorities. This paper argues to the contrary. It is suggested that Wilbanks has inappropriately applied a microlevel analysis to a macrolevel phenomenon. Examining the historical-structural nature of the legal systems points to great disparities in the status quo of US jurisprudence

Book reviews

Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Assessing infrequent large earthquakes using geomorphology and geodesy in the Malawi Rift

In regions with large, mature fault systems, a characteristic earthquake model may be more appropriate for modelling earthquake occurrence than extrapolating from a short history of small, instrumentally observed earthquakes using the Gutenberg–Richter scaling law. We illustrate how the geomorphology and geodesy of the Malawi Rift, a region with large seismogenic thicknesses, long fault scarps, and slow strain rates, can be used to assess hazard probability levels for large infrequent earthquakes. We estimate potential earthquake size using fault length and recurrence intervals from plate motion velocities and generate a synthetic catalogue of events. Since it is not possible to determine from the geomorphological information if a future rupture will be continuous (7.4 ≤ M W ≤ 8.3 with recurrence intervals of 1,000–4,300 years) or segmented (6.7 ≤ M W ≤ 7.7 with 300–1,900 years), we consider both alternatives separately and also produce a mixed catalogue. We carry out a probabilistic seismic hazard assessment to produce regional- and site-specific hazard estimates. At all return periods and vibration periods, inclusion of fault-derived parameters increases the predicted spectral acceleration above the level predicted from the instrumental catalogue alone, with the most significant changes being in close proximity to the fault systems and the effect being more significant at longer vibration periods. Importantly, the results indicate that standard probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) methods using short instrumental records alone tend to underestimate the seismic hazard, especially for the most damaging, extreme magnitude events. For many developing countries in Africa and elsewhere, which are experiencing rapid economic growth and urbanisation, seismic hazard assessments incorporating characteristic earthquake models are critical

Behavioral risk profiles of homeschooled adolescents in the United States: a nationally representative examination of substance use related outcomes

BACKGROUND: The homeschool population continues to grow in size and now accounts for 3.4% of all students in the United States. OBJECTIVE: Given the heterogeneous nature of the population, this study examines the relationship between different types of homeschoolers and a number of substance use related outcomes. METHODS: To conduct this study, we used pooled data (2002–2013) from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). Respondents aged 12–17 who reported they had been homeschooled at any time during the previous 12 months were classified as homeschoolers (N = 1,321). Latent profile analysis (LPA) was conducted to identify latent subgroups of homeschoolers and multinomial regression was executed to assess the relationship between the subgroups and perceived substance use risk, availability, and past 12-month use. RESULTS: The LPA yielded four subgroups, which were summarized as (1) highly religious and engaged, (2) limited parental monitoring, (3) high parental warmth and support, and (4) secular permissive. Of these, the highly religious and engaged subgroup was the least likely to report using substances. CONCLUSION: The results underscore the variation that exists among homeschoolers and the importance of examining the relationship between different types of homeschoolers and outcomes of interest

The role of coseismic Coulomb stress changes in shaping the hard-link between normal fault segments

The mechanism and evolution of fault linkage is important in the growth and development of large faults. Here we investigate the role of coseismic stress changes in shaping the hard-links between parallel normal fault segments (or faults), by comparing numerical models of the Coulomb stress change from simulated earthquakes on two en echelon fault segments to natural observations of hard-linked fault geometry. We consider three simplified linking fault geometries: 1) fault bend; 2) breached relay ramp; and 3) strike-slip transform fault. We consider scenarios where either one or both segments rupture and vary the distance between segment tips. Fault bends and breached relay ramps are favoured where segments underlap, or when the strike-perpendicular distance between overlapping segments is less than 20% of their total length, matching all documented examples. Transform fault linkage geometries are preferred when overlapping segments are laterally offset at larger distances. Few transform faults exist in continental extensional settings, and our model suggests that propagating faults or fault segments may first link through fault bends or breached ramps before reaching sufficient overlap for a transform fault to develop. Our results suggest that Coulomb stresses arising from multi-segment ruptures or repeated earthquakes are consistent with natural observations of the geometry of hard-links between parallel normal fault segment

Using IBL in a History of Mathematics Course: A Skeptic’s Success

A college professor, who is highly skeptical of change, but sensing a need for teaching in a more inspiring and engaging way, implements an inquiry-based learning (IBL) approach to teaching the history of mathematics. The first author (Matthews) worked with an experienced IBL colleague mentor (Hodge) on the course. Some student data was collected to document the effects of the class on the students. The approach taken for the course is described in detail including how the students of the course learned about and used IBL in key peer-to-peer teaching about historical mathematics (with a primary focus on the mathemat- ics). An innovative rubric is described to evaluate IBL teaching. Results indicate that the students were engaged in the course and inspired about mathematics, seemingly more than previous semesters. The results also imply that the stu- dents learned at least as much mathematics and history as in previous semester. Finally, the students, most of which were future high school teachers, began to seriously reflect on their own teaching and appreciated the IBL approach

Genetic risk factors for the development of allergic disease identified by genome-wide association

An increasing proportion of the worldwide population is affected by allergic diseases such as allergic rhinitis (AR), atopic dermatitis (AD) and allergic asthma and improved treatment options are needed particularly for severe, refractory disease. Allergic diseases are complex and development involves both environmental and genetic factors. Although the existence of a genetic component for allergy was first described almost 100 years ago, progress in gene identification has been hindered by lack of high throughput technologies to investigate genetic variation in large numbers of subjects. The development of Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS), a hypothesis-free method of interrogating large numbers of common variants spanning the entire genome in disease and non-disease subjects has revolutionised our understanding of the genetics of allergic disease. Susceptibility genes for asthma, AR and AD have now been identified with confidence, suggesting there are common and distinct genetic loci associated with these diseases, providing novel insights into potential disease pathways and mechanisms. Genes involved in both adaptive and innate immune mechanisms have been identified, notably including multiple genes involved in epithelial function/secretion, suggesting that the airway epithelium may be particularly important in asthma. Interestingly, concordance/discordance between the genetic factors driving allergic traits such as IgE levels and disease states such as asthma have further supported the accumulating evidence for heterogeneity in these diseases. While GWAS have been useful and continue to identify novel genes for allergic diseases through increased sample sizes and phenotype refinement, future approaches will integrate analyses of rare variants, epigenetic mechanisms and eQTL approaches, leading to greater insight into the genetic basis of these diseases. Gene identification will improve our understanding of disease mechanisms and generate potential therapeutic opportunities

Springbrook: Challenges in developing a long-term, rainforest wireless sensor network

We describe the design, development and learnings from the first phase of a rainforest ecological sensor network at Springbrook - part of a World Heritage precinct in South East Queensland. This first phase is part of a major initiative to develop the capability to provide reliable, long-term monitoring of rainforest ecosystems. We focus in particular on our analysis around energy and communication challenges which need to be solved to allow for reliable, long-term deployments in these types of environments