5,946 research outputs found
Are Hispanics Discriminated Against in the US Criminal Justice System?
Recent publications have contributed to increase the perception among Hispanics of an unfair and unequal treatment of this community by the US Criminal Justice System. One of the major concerns was the claim that Hispanics are incarcerated before conviction nearly twice as often as Whites. Unfair treatment perception by the population reduces legitimacy of police and government, and thus, it is imperative to analyze these uninvestigated allegations. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to address said allegations of discrimination against Hispanics and analyze with updated and reliable statistics whether Hispanics are incarcerated before conviction more often than Whites. There has been much research exploring the effects of race and ethnicity in the US criminal justice system, however most of it is focused on African Americans but not Hispanics although it is the largest and fastest growing minority in the United States. The present study is based on data collected in the Annual Survey of Jails, 2014 prepared by the Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, US Department of Justice. Starting in 2010, the Bureau of Justice Statistics improved the Annual Survey of Jails survey instruments to address certain topics, among others, the number of inmates that are unsentenced. Therefore this allows for the first time to obtain such information with reliable data and not based on a sample survey estimation. From the regression analysis of the data of this study, it resulted that the model accounted for 77% of the explanation of the relationship between the possibility of being incarcerated without conviction in a US jail and the fact of being Hispanic. However, this relationship was not statistically significant when controlling for age and gender. The Level of confidence in this study was 95%.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/gradposters/1019/thumbnail.jp
Insights on the use of wind speed vertical extrapolation methods
The present work aims to study the influence of
using different methods for wind speed extrapolation in energy
production calculations. A dataset of 21 meteorological masts
from several landscape characteristics and locations, with at least
one year of 10-minute wind speed/direction data, was used as the
basis for calculations. Both the power law through estimation of
wind shear coefficients, and the logarithmic-based profile using
WAsP, were used as mathematical models for predicting wind
shear. Wind speed extrapolation was performed either from the
top-most height, using a distance method that incorporated all
measurement heights, or using the function for wind shear
coefficient prediction. It was found that using the logarithmicbased
profile was the less reliable of all studied methods. The
study showed that the most accurate method was the power law
with wind shear coefficients estimated from the two upper
heights closest to the extrapolation height, by wind direction
sector of 30º, and the wind speeds extrapolation from the topmost
height of the two. It is suggested that the use of this method
reduces uncertainty in AEP estimates.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Development of a metric of aquatic invertebrates for volunteers (MAIV): a simple and friendly biotic metric to assess ecological quality of streams
Citizen science activities, involving local people in volunteer-supported and sustainable
monitoring programs, are common. In this context, the objective of the present work was to develop a
simple Metric of Aquatic Invertebrates for Volunteers (MAIV), including a user-friendly tool that can
be easily accessed by volunteers, and to evaluate the e ciency of a volunteer monitoring program
following an audit procedure. To obtain MAIV values, macroinvertebrate communities were reduced
to 18 surrogate taxa, which represented an acceptable compromise between simplicity, e ciency, and
reproducibility of the data, compared to the regular Water Framework Directive monitoring. When
compared to results obtained with the National Classification System of Portugal, MAIV accurately
detected moderate, poor, and bad ecological status. Thus, MAIV can be used by volunteers as a
complement to the o cial monitoring program, as well as a prospective early warning tool for
local problems related to ecological quality. Volunteers were students supervised by their teachers.
Results obtained by volunteers were compared to results obtained by experts on macroinvertebrate
identification to measure the e ciency of the procedure, by counting gains and losses on sorting,
and identification. Characteristics of groups of volunteers (age and school level) did not influence
significantly the e ciency of the procedure, and generally results of volunteers and experts matched.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Anaplastic thyroid cancer
Globally, thyroid cancer accounts for 2 % of all cancer diagnoses, and can be classified as well-differentiated or undifferentiated. Currently, differentiated thyroid carcinomas have good prognoses, and can be treated with a combination of therapies, including surgical thyroidectomy, radioactive iodine therapy and hormone-based therapy. On the other hand, anaplastic thyroid carcinoma, a subtype of undifferentiated thyroid carcinoma characterized by the loss of thyroid-like phenotype and function, does not respond to either radioactive iodine or hormone therapies. In most cases, anaplastic thyroid carcinomas are diagnosed in later stages of the disease, deeming them inoperable, and showing poor response rates to systemic chemotherapy. Recently, treatment courses using multiple-target agents are being explored and clinical trials have shown very promising results, such as overall survival rates, progression-free survival and tumor shrinkage. This review is focused on thyroid carcinomas, with particular focus on anaplastic thyroid carcinoma, exploring its undifferentiated nature. Special interest will be given to the treatment approaches currently available and respective obstacles or drawbacks. Our purpose is to contribute to understand why this malignancy presents low responsiveness to current treatments, while overviewing novel therapies and clinical trials
Anaplastic thyroid cancer: how far can we go?
Globally, thyroid cancer accounts for 2 % of all cancer diagnoses, and can be classified as well-differentiated or undifferentiated. Currently, differentiated thyroid carcinomas have good prognoses, and can be treated with a combination of therapies, including surgical thyroidectomy, radioactive iodine therapy and hormone-based therapy. On the other hand, anaplastic thyroid carcinoma, a subtype of undifferentiated thyroid carcinoma characterized by the loss of thyroid-like phenotype and function, does not respond to either radioactive iodine or hormone therapies. In most cases, anaplastic thyroid carcinomas are diagnosed in later stages of the disease, deeming them inoperable, and showing poor response rates to systemic chemotherapy. Recently, treatment courses using multiple-target agents are being explored and clinical trials have shown very promising results, such as overall survival rates, progression-free survival and tumor shrinkage. This review is focused on thyroid carcinomas, with particular focus on anaplastic thyroid carcinoma, exploring its undifferentiated nature. Special interest will be given to the treatment approaches currently available and respective obstacles or drawbacks. Our purpose is to contribute to understand why this malignancy presents low responsiveness to current treatments, while overviewing novel therapies and clinical trials.This research was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) through the Project Reference UID/DTP/04138/2019.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Genetic diversity and recent ancestry based on whole-genome sequencing of endangered Swedish cattle breeds
Several indigenous cattle breeds in Sweden are endangered. Conservation of their genetic diversity and genomic characterization is a priority.Whole-genome sequences (WGS) with a mean coverage of 25X, ranging from 14 to 41X were obtained for 30 individuals of the breeds Fjallko, Fjallnara, Bohuskulla, Rodkulla, Ringamala, and Vaneko. WGS-based genotyping revealed 22,548,028 variants in total, comprising 18,876,115 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 3,671,913 indels. Out of these, 1,154,779 SNPs and 304,467 indels were novel. Population stratification based on roughly 19 million SNPs showed two major groups of the breeds that correspond to northern and southern breeds. Overall, a higher genetic diversity was observed in the southern breeds compared to the northern breeds. While the population stratification was consistent with previous genome-wide SNP array-based analyses, the genealogy of the individuals inferred from WGS based estimates turned out to be more complex than expected from previous SNP-array based estimates. Polymorphisms and their predicted phenotypic consequences were associated with differences in the coat color phenotypes between the northern and southern breeds. Notably, these high-consequence polymorphisms were not represented in SNP arrays, which are used routinely for genotyping of cattle breeds.This study is the first WGS-based population genetic analysis of Swedish native cattle breeds. The genetic diversity of native breeds was found to be high. High-consequence polymorphisms were linked with desirable phenotypes using whole-genome genotyping, which highlights the pressing need for intensifying WGS-based characterization of the native breeds
Alternatives of state interventionism in the sugar agroindustry: Argentina and Brazil, 1880-1938
El texto propone un análisis comparativo de las diversas alternativas de intervención estatal en la agroindustria del azúcar que se implementaron en Brasil y Argentina a partir de la década de 1880. Crisis de sobreproducción, pérdida de competencia en el mercado internacional, conflictos entre diferentes actores y zonas productoras dieron origen a arreglos institucionales en los dos paÃses que perseguÃan valorizar el producto, conciliar intereses y hacer previsible el comportamiento de un mercado siempre complejo. El análisis se cierra en 1937-1938 con la inauguración de la experiencia del Estado Novo en Brasil, que profundizó el intervencionismo, y el fracaso en la Argentina de un intento de aprobar una ley que habrÃa involucrado de manera decisiva el Estado en el desarrollo azucarero.This paper proposes a comparative analysis of the various options of State intervention in the sugar agroindustry, which were implemented in Brazil and Argentina beginning in the 1880s. Overproduction crisis, loss of international competitiveness, conflicts among the various actors and production zones, all led to new institutional arrangements in each country, as they sought to increase prices, harmonize interests and bring planning to an always complex market. The analysis closes in 1937-1938 with the start of the Estado Novo experience in Brazil, which increases state intervention, and the failure, in Argentina, of the attempt to approve a law which would involve the State decisively in the development of the sugar industry.Fil: Campi, Daniel Enrique A.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientÃficas y Técnicas. Centro CientÃfico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán; ArgentinaFil: Pinto de Moura Filho, Héctor. Associação Biblioteca de Cultura; BrasilFil: Bravo, Maria Celia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientÃficas y Técnicas. Centro CientÃfico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Estudios Sociales. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Estudios Sociales; Argentin
microRNA Expression Profiling in Young Prostate Cancer Patients
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNA molecules with multiple roles in many biological processes. Few studies have shown the molecular characteristics in younger prostate cancer (PCa) patients. In this study, we performed miRNA profiling in young PCa (EO-PCa) cases compared with PCa arising in older men (LO-PCa).Experimental Design: Formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded tissue was used. miRNA was extracted for PCR array and NanoString methods. Relative miRNAs expression levels were obtained by comparing young vs older men, and young PCa tumor samples vs normal epithelium.Results: miRNA profiling showed a different expression pattern in PCa arising in younger men, and young PCa tumoral and its normal counterpart. Nine miRNAs (hsa-miR-140-5p, hsa-miR-146a, hsa-miR-29b, hsa-miR-9, hsa-miR-124-3p, hsa-let-7f-5p, hsa-miR-184, hsa-miR-373, hsa-miR-146b-5p) showed differences in the expression compared to LO-PCa. Fourteen miRNAs were significantly up-regulated (miR-1973, miR-663a, miR-575, miR-93-5p, miR-630, miR-600, miR-494, miR-150-5p, miR-137, miR-25-3p, miR-375, miR-489, miR-888-5p, miR-142-3p), while 9 were found down-regulated (miR-21-5p, miR-363-3p, miR-205-5p, miR-548ai, miR-3195, 145-5p, miR-143-3p, miR-222-3p, miR-221-3p) comparing young PCa tumoral tissue compared to normal counterpart. The higher expression of miR-600 and miR-137 were associated with high Gleason score, extraprostatic extension and lymphatic invasion.Conclusion: These results suggest that PCa in younger patients has a different expression profile compared to normal tissue and PCa arising in older man. Differentially expressed miRNAs provide insights of molecular mechanisms involve in this PCa subtype
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