Strengths and Silences: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Students in Rural and Small Town Schools

For more than 20 years, GLSEN has worked to make schools safer for all students; it has sought specifically to reduce the bullying and harassment targeted at students' sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. For lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students across the country, violence and harassment experienced in school affect their ability to learn. Although schools in urban areas are typically regarded as more violent or dangerous than schools in other areas, findings from our National School Climate Surveys consistently show that it is most often rural schools that may pose the greatest threats for LGBT students. It may be that community characteristics, such as religious and cultural traditions, income, and educational levels, influence individual beliefs and attitudes toward LGBT people in these areas. It may also be that a lack of positive LGBT-related school resources negatively affects LGBT students' school engagement and academic performance, particularly if they also experience bullying and harassment. Although research on the educational experiences of LGBT youth has grown considerably over the past 25 years, less is known about rural students specifically. This research report examines the experiences of LGBT students in small town and rural areas on matters related to biased language in schools, school safety, harassment and victimization, educational outcomes, school engagement, and LGBT-related resources and support. It also examines the prevalence and utility of LGBT-related resources in rural schools. Finally, this report concludes by advocating for more intentional policies, measures, and programs that protect LGBT students

The 2011 National School Climate Survey: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth in Our Nation's Schools

In 1999, GLSEN identified the need for national data on the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students and launched the first National School Climate Survey (NSCS). At the time, the school experiences of LGBT youth were under-documented and nearly absent from national studies of adolescents. For more than a decade, the biennial NSCS has documented the unique challenges LGBT students face and identified interventions that can improve school climate. The survey explores the prevalence of anti-LGBT language and victimization, the effect that these experiences have on LGBT students' achievement and well-being, and the utility of interventions in lessening the negative effects of a hostile school climate and promoting a positive educational experience. The survey also examines demographic and community-level differences in LGBT students' experiences.The NSCS remains one of the few studies to examine the school experiences of LGBT students nationally, and its results have been vital to GLSEN's understanding of the issues that LGBT students face, thereby informing our ongoing work to ensure safe and affirming schools for all.In our 2011 survey, we examine the experiences of LGBT students with regard to indicators of negative school climate:hearing biased remarks, including homophobic remarks, in school;feeling unsafe in school because of personal characteristics, such as sexual orientation, gender expression, or race/ethnicity;missing classes or days of school because of safety reasons; andexperiencing harassment and assault in school.We also examine:the possible negative effects of a hostile school climate on LGBT students' academic achievement, educational aspirations, and psychological well-being;whether or not students report experiences of victimization to school officials or to family members and how these adults address the problem; andhow the school experiences of LGBT students differ by personal and community characteristics.In addition, we demonstrate the degree to which LGBT students have access to supportive resources in school, and we explore the possible benefits of these resources, including:Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) or similar clubs;anti-bullying/harassment school policies and laws;supportive school staff; andcurricula that are inclusive of LGBT-related topics.Given that GLSEN has more than a decade of data, we examine changes over the time on indicators of negative school climate and levels of access to LGBT-related resources in schools

Out Online: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth on the Internet

This report examines the online experiences of LGBT students in 6-12th grade. LGBT youth experience nearly three times as much bullying and harassment online as non-LGBT youth, but also find greater peer support, access to health information and opportunities to be civically engaged

Estudios psicosociales sobre migraciones y comunidad: Introducción al monográfico

Introducing the special issue on psychosocial studies of migration and community, we briefly reflect on the global increase in, and issues related to, both international and domestic migration, particularly from rural areas of less developed countries, which has fueled rapid urbanization and intercultural tensions in both post-industrial and developing countries. Topics covered in the issue are summarized, including an Italian study of the emotional impact of discrimination against immigrant adolescents; acculturation, integration and adaptation of Muslim immigrant youth in New Zealand; perceptions of human trafficking in Moldova; Chinese migrant workers’ social networks, life satisfaction and political participation; physician brain drain from sub-Saharan Africa; and a critical analysis of the oppressive and liberating impact of organizations on immigrants, multiculturalism, and social justice. The issue concludes with commentary articles by four leading international scholars of migration and community. The breadth of topics helps to address wide-ranging gaps in the literature, but more psychological and social research must connect ecologically across multiple levels and to cultural, political, economic, and environmental studies of migration and community.Para presentar este monográfico sobre estudios psicosociales de las migraciones y comunidad, hacemos una breve reflexión sobre cómo la era global ha supuesto un aumento de las migraciones y un cambio en los procesos asociados. Se resalta su carácter internacional y nacional—especialmente en las zonas rurales en los países menos desarrollados. Estas migraciones han impulsado una rápida urbanización y han sido el origen de múltiples tensiones interculturales tanto en países post-industrializados como en los que están en vías de desarrollo. El monográfico incluye un estudio sobre el impacto emocional de la discriminación contra los adolescentes inmigrantes en Italia; otro sobre la aculturación, integración y adaptación de los jóvenes musulmanes inmigrantes en Nueva Zelanda; un análisis de las percepciones sobre la trata de seres humanos en Moldavia; otro que aborda las redes sociales, satisfacción con la vida y participación política de los inmigrantes chinos trabajadores, incluye un estudio sobre la fuga de cerebros de los médicos del África subsahariana; y un análisis crítico de los efectos opresores y liberadores de las organizaciones de inmigrantes en las comunidades de asentamiento. El monográfico concluye con los comentarios de cuatro destacados especialistas internacionales sobre la psicología de las migraciones y la comunidad. La amplitud de los temas abordados ofrece un escenario para reflexionar sobre las lagunas existentes en la literatura, poniendo de manifiesto la necesidad que hay en la psicología de las migraciones de realizar estudios internacionales e interdisciplinares que aborden la complejidad de los múltiples niveles implicados, incluyendo aspectos culturales, políticos, económicos y ambientales

The Small Muscle-Specific Protein Csl Modifies Cell Shape and Promotes Myocyte Fusion in an Insulin-like Growth Factor 1–Dependent Manner

We have isolated a murine cDNA encoding a 9-kD protein, Chisel (Csl), in a screen for transcriptional targets of the cardiac homeodomain factor Nkx2-5. Csl transcripts were detected in atria and ventricles of the heart and in all skeletal muscles and smooth muscles of the stomach and pulmonary veins. Csl protein was distributed throughout the cytoplasm in fetal muscles, although costameric and M-line localization to the muscle cytoskeleton became obvious after further maturation. Targeted disruption of Csl showed no overt muscle phenotype. However, ectopic expression in C2C12 myoblasts induced formation of lamellipodia in which Csl protein became tethered to membrane ruffles. Migration of these cells was retarded in a monolayer wound repair assay. Csl-expressing myoblasts differentiated and fused normally, although in the presence of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 they showed dramatically enhanced fusion, leading to formation of large dysmorphogenic “myosacs.” The activities of transcription factors nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) and myocyte enhancer–binding factor (MEF)2, were also enhanced in an IGF-1 signaling–dependent manner. The dynamic cytoskeletal localization of Csl and its dominant effects on cell shape and behavior and transcription factor activity suggest that Csl plays a role in the regulatory network through which muscle cells coordinate their structural and functional states during growth, adaptation, and repair

Search for squarks and gluinos in events with isolated leptons, jets and missing transverse momentum at s√=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The results of a search for supersymmetry in final states containing at least one isolated lepton (electron or muon), jets and large missing transverse momentum with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider are reported. The search is based on proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy s√=8 TeV collected in 2012, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20 fb−1. No significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed. Limits are set on supersymmetric particle masses for various supersymmetric models. Depending on the model, the search excludes gluino masses up to 1.32 TeV and squark masses up to 840 GeV. Limits are also set on the parameters of a minimal universal extra dimension model, excluding a compactification radius of 1/R c = 950 GeV for a cut-off scale times radius (ΛR c) of approximately 30

Single hadron response measurement and calorimeter jet energy scale uncertainty with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

The uncertainty on the calorimeter energy response to jets of particles is derived for the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). First, the calorimeter response to single isolated charged hadrons is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo simulation using proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of sqrt(s) = 900 GeV and 7 TeV collected during 2009 and 2010. Then, using the decay of K_s and Lambda particles, the calorimeter response to specific types of particles (positively and negatively charged pions, protons, and anti-protons) is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo predictions. Finally, the jet energy scale uncertainty is determined by propagating the response uncertainty for single charged and neutral particles to jets. The response uncertainty is 2-5% for central isolated hadrons and 1-3% for the final calorimeter jet energy scale.Comment: 24 pages plus author list (36 pages total), 23 figures, 1 table, submitted to European Physical Journal

Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections for Higgs boson production in the diphoton decay channel at s√=8 TeV with ATLAS

Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections are presented for Higgs boson production in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of s√=8 TeV. The analysis is performed in the H → γγ decay channel using 20.3 fb−1 of data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The signal is extracted using a fit to the diphoton invariant mass spectrum assuming that the width of the resonance is much smaller than the experimental resolution. The signal yields are corrected for the effects of detector inefficiency and resolution. The pp → H → γγ fiducial cross section is measured to be 43.2 ±9.4(stat.) − 2.9 + 3.2 (syst.) ±1.2(lumi)fb for a Higgs boson of mass 125.4GeV decaying to two isolated photons that have transverse momentum greater than 35% and 25% of the diphoton invariant mass and each with absolute pseudorapidity less than 2.37. Four additional fiducial cross sections and two cross-section limits are presented in phase space regions that test the theoretical modelling of different Higgs boson production mechanisms, or are sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model. Differential cross sections are also presented, as a function of variables related to the diphoton kinematics and the jet activity produced in the Higgs boson events. The observed spectra are statistically limited but broadly in line with the theoretical expectations