Perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms among US Latinos: the modifying role of educational attainment

Objective: Despite growing evidence that discrimination may contribute to poor mental health, few studies have assessed this association among US Latinos. Furthermore, the interaction between discrimination and educational attainment in shaping Latino mental health is virtually unexplored. This study aims to examine the association between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms and the modifying role of education among a population of Mexican-origin adults. Design: We utilized population-based data from 629 Mexican-origin adults (mean age = 52.8 years) participating the Niños Lifestyle and Diabetes Study (2013–2014). Perceived discrimination was defined as responding ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’ to at least one item on the 9-item Everyday Discrimination Scale. High depressive symptoms were defined as scoring ≥10 on the CESD-10. We used log-binomial and linear-binomial models to estimate prevalence ratios (PR) and prevalence differences (PD), respectively, of high depressive symptoms for levels of perceived discrimination. Final models were adjusted for age, sex, education, cultural orientation, and nativity. General estimating equations were employed to account for within-family clustering. Results: Prevalence of perceived discrimination and high depressive symptoms were 49.5% and 29.2%, respectively. Participants experiencing discrimination had higher depressive symptom prevalence than those never or rarely experiencing discrimination [PR = 1.94, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.46–2.58; PD = 0.19, 95% CI: 0.12–0.27]. The strength of this association varied by education level. The association between discrimination and depressive symptoms was stronger among those with >12 years of education (PR = 2.69; PD = 0.24) compared to those with ≤12 years of education (PR = 1.36; PD = 0.09). Conclusion: US Latinos suffer a high burden of depressive symptoms, and discrimination may be an important driver of this burden. Our results suggest that effortful coping strategies, such as achieving high education despite high perceived discrimination, may magnify discrimination’s adverse effect on Latino mental health

A Hybrid Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm for Graph 3-Coloring

The Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) is the name of an optimization algorithm that was inspired by the intelligent behavior of a honey bee swarm. It is widely recognized as a quick, reliable, and efficient methods for solving optimization problems. This paper proposes a hybrid ABC (HABC) algorithm for graph 3-coloring, which is a well-known discrete optimization problem. The results of HABC are compared with results of the well-known graph coloring algorithms of today, i.e. the Tabucol and Hybrid Evolutionary algorithm (HEA) and results of the traditional evolutionary algorithm with SAW method (EA-SAW). Extensive experimentations has shown that the HABC matched the competitive results of the best graph coloring algorithms, and did better than the traditional heuristics EA-SAW when solving equi-partite, flat, and random generated medium-sized graphs

Educational mobility across generations and depressive symptoms over 10 years among US latinos

Few studies have collected intergenerational data to assess the association between educational mobility across multiple generations and offspring depression. Using data from the Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging (1998-2008), we assessed the influence of intergenerational education on depressive symptoms over 10 years among 1,786 Latino individuals (mean age = 70.6 years). Educational mobility was classified as stable-low (low parental/low offspring education), upwardly mobile (low parental/high offspring education), stable-high (high parental/ high offspring education), or downwardly mobile (high parental/low offspring education). Depressive symptoms were measured with the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D); higher scores indicated more depressive symptoms. To quantify the association between educational mobility and CES-D scores over follow-up, we used generalized estimating equations to account for repeated CES-D measurements and adjusted for identified confounders. Within individuals, depressive symptoms remained relatively stable over follow-up. Compared with stable-low education, stable-high education and upward mobility were associated with significantly lower CES-D scores (β = -2.75 and -2.18, respectively). Downwardly mobile participants had slightly lower CES-D scores than stable-low participants (β = -0.77). Our results suggest that sustained, low educational attainment across generations may have adverse mental health consequences, and improved educational opportunities in underresourced communitiesmay counteract the adverse influence of low parental education on Latino depression

Neighborhood language isolation and depressive symptoms among elderly U.S. Latinos

Purpose: Neighborhood segregation related to cultural factors, such as language use, may influence elderly Latino depression. We examined the association between neighborhood-level Spanish language segregation and individual depressive symptoms among elderly Latinos. Methods: We linked U.S. Census language use data with geocoded population-based data from 1789 elderly Latinos (mean age = 70.6 years) participating in the Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging (1998–2008). Neighborhood language segregation was measured with the Index of Concentration at the Extremes, which demonstrates the extent to which residents are concentrated at extremes of deprivation and privilege. We fit two-level generalized linear-mixed models with random intercepts for census tracts to quantify the association between neighborhood-level language segregation and depressive symptoms, adjusting for identified confounders. Results: After adjusting for age, sex, and nativity, residents of highly segregated Spanish-speaking neighborhoods had more depressive symptoms than those in highly segregated English-only-speaking neighborhoods (β = −4.410; 95% confidence interval [CI] = −6.851 to −1.970). This association was largely attenuated upon adjustment for individual-level education (β = −2.119; 95% CI = −4.650 to 0.413). Conclusions: Linguistically segregated communities may benefit from targeted outreach given the high depression prevalence in these neighborhoods. Furthermore, our findings suggest that limited access to fundamental social protections, such as education, may drive the segregation-depression association among U.S. Latinos. © 2018 Elsevier Inc

US acculturation and poor sleep among an intergenerational cohort of adult Latinos in Sacramento, California

Acculturation may shape the disproportionate burden of poor sleep among Latinos in the United States. Existing studies are limited by unidimensional acculturation proxies that are incapable of capturing cultural complexities across generations. Understanding how acculturation relates to sleep may lead to the identification of modifiable intervention targets. We used multivariable regression and latent class methods to examine cross-sectional associations between a validated multidimensional scale of US acculturation and self-reported poor sleep measures. We analyzed an intergenerational cohort: first-generation (GEN1) older Latinos (Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging; N = 1,716; median age: 69.5) and second-generation (GEN2) middle-aged offspring and relatives of GEN1 (Niños Lifestyle and Diabetes Study; N = 670; median age: 54.0) in Sacramento, California. GEN1 with high US acculturation, compared with high acculturation towards another origin/ancestral country, had less restless sleep (prevalence ratio [PR] [95% confidence interval (CI)]: 0.67 [0.54, 0.84]) and a higher likelihood of being in the best sleep class than the worst (OR [95% CI]: 1.62 [1.09, 2.40]), but among nonmanual occupations, high intergenerational US acculturation was associated with more general fatigue (PR [95% CI: 1.86 [1.11, 3.10]). GEN2 with high intergenerational US acculturation reported shorter sleep (PR [95% CI]: 2.86 [1.02, 7.99]). High US acculturation shaped sleep differentially by generation, socioeconomic context, and intergenerational acculturative status. High US acculturation was associated with better sleep among older, lower socioeconomic Latinos, but with shorter sleep duration among middle-aged, higher socioeconomic Latinos; results also differed by parental acculturation status. Upon replication, future studies should incorporate prospective and intergenerational designs to uncover sociobehavioral pathways by which acculturation may shape sleep to ultimately inform intervention efforts

The legacy of redlining in the effect of foreclosures on Detroit residents’ self-rated health

Historical practices, such as housing discrimination in Detroit, have been shown to have lasting impacts on communities. Perhaps the most explicit example is the practice of redlining in the 1930s, whereby lenders outlined financially undesirable neighborhoods, populated by minority families, on maps and prevented residents from moving to better resourced neighborhoods. Awareness of historical housing discrimination may improve research assessing the impacts of current neighborhood characteristics on health. Using the Detroit Neighborhood Health Study (DNHS), we assessed the association between two-year changes in home foreclosure rates following the 2007–2008 Great Recession, and residents’ five-year self-rated health trajectories (2008–2013); and estimated the confounding bias introduced by ignoring historical redlining practices in the city. We used both ecological and multilevel models to make inference about person- and community-level processes. In a neighborhood-level linear regression adjusted for confounders (including percent redlined); a 10%-point slower foreclosure rate recovery was associated with an increase in prevalence of poor self-rated health of 0.31 (95% CI:−0.02 to 0.64). At the individual level, it was associated with a within-person increase in probability of poor health of 0.45 (95% CI:0.15–0.72). Removing redlining from the model biased the estimated effect upward to 0.38 (95% CI:0.07–0.69) and 0.56 (95% CI:0.21–0.84) in the neighborhood and individual-level models, respectively. Stratum-specific foreclosure recovery effects indicate stronger influence in neighborhoods with a greater proportion of residents identifying as white and a greater degree of historic redlining. These findings support earlier theory suggesting a historical influence of structural discrimination on the association between current neighborhood characteristics and health, and suggests that historical redlining specifically may increase vulnerability to contemporary neighborhood foreclosures. Community interventions should consider historical discrimination in conjunction with current place-based indicators to more equitably improve population health

Researching trust in the police and trust in justice: a UK perspective

This paper describes the immediate and more distant origins of a programme of comparative research that is examining cross-national variations in public trust in justice and in the police. The programme is built around a module of the fifth European Social Survey, and evolved from a study funded by the European Commission. The paper describes the conceptual framework within which we are operating – developed in large measure from theories of procedural justice. It reviews some of the methodological issues raised by the use of sample surveys to research issues of public trust in the police, public perceptions of institutional legitimacy and compliance with the law. Finally it gives a flavour of some of the early findings emerging from the programme

Perturbed angular correlations for Gd in gadolinium: in-beam comparisons of relative magnetizations

Perturbed angular correlations were measured for Gd ions implanted into gadolinium foils following Coulomb excitation with 40 MeV O-16 beams. A technique for measuring the relative magnetizations of ferromagnetic gadolinium hosts under in-beam conditions is described and discussed. The combined electric-quadrupole and magnetic-dipole interaction is evaluated. The effect of nuclei implanted onto damaged or non-substitutional sites is assessed, as is the effect of misalignment between the internal hyperfine field and the external polarizing field. Thermal effects due to beam heating are discussed.Comment: 37 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in NIM

Establishing and Prioritising Research Questions for the Treatment of Alopecia Areata: The Alopecia Areata Priority Setting Partnership

BACKGROUND: Alopecia areata is a common hair loss disorder that results in patchy to complete hair loss. Many uncertainties exist around the most effective treatments for this condition. OBJECTIVES: To identify uncertainties in alopecia areata management and treatment that are important to both service users (people with hair loss, carers and relatives) and healthcare professionals. METHODS: An alopecia areata priority setting partnership was established between patients, their carers and relatives, and healthcare professionals to identify the most important uncertainties in alopecia areata. The methodology of the James Lind Alliance was followed to ensure a balanced, inclusive and transparent process. RESULTS: In total 2747 treatment uncertainties were submitted by 912 participants, of which 1012 uncertainties relating to alopecia areata (and variants) were analyzed. Questions were combined into "indicative uncertainties" following a structured format. A series of ranking exercises further reduced this list to a top 25 that were taken to a final prioritization workshop where the top 10 priorities were agreed. CONCLUSIONS: We present the top 10 research priorities for alopecia areata to guide researchers and funding bodies to support studies important to both patients and clinicians. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Radio Observations of the January 20, 2005 X-Class Event

We present a multi-frequency and multi-instrument study of the 20 January 2005 event. We focus mainly on the complex radio signatures and their association with the active phenomena taking place: flares, CMEs, particle acceleration and magnetic restructuring. As a variety of energetic particle accelerators and sources of radio bursts are present, in the flare-ejecta combination, we investigate their relative importance in the progress of this event. The dynamic spectra of {Artemis-IV-Wind/Waves-Hiras with 2000 MHz-20 kHz frequency coverage, were used to track the evolution of the event from the low corona to the interplanetary space; these were supplemented with SXR, HXR and gamma-ray recordings. The observations were compared with the expected radio signatures and energetic-particle populations envisaged by the {Standard Flare--CME model and the reconnection outflow termination shock model. A proper combination of these mechanisms seems to provide an adequate model for the interpretation of the observational data.Comment: Accepted for publication in Solar Physic