Race Gaps in School Trust: Where They Come from and How to Resolve Them

Trust in American institutions varies widely among adults from different racial-ethnic backgrounds. This brief, from PRC faculty research associate David Yeager and colleagues, demonstrates that unjust treatment causes minority adolescents to lose trust in school, but a respectful "wise feedback" intervention can repair distrust.Population Research Cente

Population attributable risk of breast cancer in white women associated with immediately modifiable risk factors

BACKGROUND: Estrogen/progestin replacement therapy (EPRT), alcohol consumption, physical activity, and breast-feeding duration differ from other factors associated with breast cancer in being immediately modifiable by the individual, thereby representing attractive targets for future breast cancer prevention efforts. To justify such efforts, it is vital to quantify the potential population-level impacts on breast cancer considering population variations in behavior prevalence, risk estimate, and baseline incidence. METHODS: For each of these four factors, we calculated population attributable risk percents (PARs) using population-based survey (2001) and cancer registry data (1998–2002) for 41 subpopulations of white, non-Hispanic California women aged 40–79 years, and ranges of relative risk (RR) estimates from the literature. RESULTS: Using a single RR estimate, subpopulation PARs ranged from 2.5% to 5.6% for hormone use, from 0.0% to 6.1% for recent consumption of >= 2 alcoholic drinks daily, and 4.6% to 11.0% for physical inactivity. Using a range of RR estimates, PARs were 2–11% for EPRT use, 1–20% for alcohol consumption and 2–15% for physical inactivity. Subpopulation data were unavailable for breastfeeding, but PARs using published RR estimates ranged from 2% to 11% for lifetime breastfeeding >= 31 months. Thus, of 13,019 breast cancers diagnosed annually in California, as many as 1,432 attributable to EPRT use, 2,604 attributable to alcohol consumption, 1,953 attributable to physical inactivity, and 1,432 attributable to never breastfeeding might be avoidable. CONCLUSION: The relatively feasible lifestyle changes of discontinuing EPRT use, reducing alcohol consumption, increasing physical activity, and lengthening breastfeeding duration could lower population breast cancer incidence substantially

Looking Deathworthy: Perceived Stereotypicality of Black Defendants Predicts Capital-Sentencing Outcomes

Researchers previously have investigated the role of race in capital sentencing, and in particular, whether the race of the defendant or victim influences the likelihood of a death sentence. In the present study, we examined whether the likelihood of being sentenced to death is influenced by the degree to which a Black defendant is perceived to have a stereotypically Black appearance. Controlling for a wide array of factors, we found that in cases involving a White victim, the more stereotypically Black a defendant is perceived to be, the more likely that person is to be sentenced to death

Looking Deathworthy: Perceived Stereotypicality of Black Defendants Predicts Capital-Sentencing Outcomes

Researchers previously have investigated the role of race in capital sentencing, and in particular, whether the race of the defendant or victim influences the likelihood of a death sentence. In the present study, we examined whether the likelihood of being sentenced to death is influenced by the degree to which a Black defendant is perceived to have a stereotypically Black appearance. Controlling for a wide array of factors, we found that in cases involving a White victim, the more stereotypically Black a defendant is perceived to be, the more likely that person is to be sentenced to death

Polyvalent diazonium polymers provide efficient protection of oncolytic adenovirus Enadenotucirev from neutralising antibodies while maintaining biological activity in vitro and in vivo

Oncolytic viruses offer many advantages for cancer therapy when administered directly to confined solid tumors. However, the systemic delivery of these viruses is problematic due to host immune response, undesired interactions with blood components and inherent targeting to the liver. Efficacy of systemically administered viruses has been improved by masking viral surface proteins with polymeric materials, through modulation of viral pharmacokinetic profile and accumulation in tumors in vivo. Here we describe a new class of polyvalent reactive based upon poly(N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide) (polyHPMA) with diazonium reactive groups and their application in the modification of the chimeric oncolytic virus Enadenotucirev (EnAd). A series of six reactive copolymers with different chain lengths and density of reactive groups was synthesised and used to coat EnAd. Polymer coating was found to be extremely efficient with concentrations as low as 1 mg/mL resulting in complete (>99%) ablation of neutralising antibody binding. Coating efficiency was found to be dependent on both chain length and reactive group density. Coated viruses were found to have reduced transfection activity both in vitro and in vivo with greater protection against neutralising antibodies resulting in lower transgene production. However, in the presence of neutralising antibodies some in vivo transgene expression was maintained for coated virus compared to the uncoated control. Reduction in transgene expression was found to not be solely due to reduced cellular uptake but due to reducing unpackaging of the virus within the cells and reducing replication indicating that polymer coating does not cause permanent inactivation of the virus. These data suggest that virus activity may be modulated by appropriate design of coating polymers while retaining protection against neutralising antibodies

A Longitudinal Study of Streptococcus mutans Colonization in Infants after Tooth Eruption

We previously reported that, before tooth eruption, over one-half of infants aged 6 mos were already infected with Streptococcus mutans. The aim of this investigation was to determine the colonization of S. mutans after tooth eruption in the same cohort of 111 infants (35 pre-term, 76 full-term). Our results showed that S. mutans colonization increased with increasing age, so that by 24 mos of age, 84% harbored the bacteria (p 10(5) CFU/mL (p < 0.02). In contrast, non-colonization of S. mutans was associated with toothbrushing (p < 0.03) and multiple courses of antibiotics (p < 0.001). Analysis of our data establishes the timing of S. mutans colonization in children from birth to 24 mos of age