Methodologies to measure the gender dimensions of crime and violence

Recent studies have used homicide rates, police statistics, and crime victimization surveys to pinpoint violent areas. The author argues that these useful measures of crime, and violence underestimate certain types of violence (especially non-economic violence) and key dimensions of violence (especially age, and gender). A composite index based on monitoring, and surveillance of homicides, crime statistics, and victimization surveys can provide invaluable"first round"snapshots of urban violence - information to monitor crime trends, warn against incipient crime waves, and indicate areas where more in-depth"second round"studies are needed to explore casualty, the impact of interventions, and public opinion. But a composite index of municipally generated information about trends, depends heavily on the quality of the data collected, and will not explain why trends, or changes occur. Other indicators are needed to strengthen surveillance, and to facilitate the planning of interventions, and evaluation. It would be helpful, for example, to distinguish between social, economic, and political violence, and to provide items on autopsy reports, crime statistics, and victimization surveys to gain insight into what motivates violence. Information useful for analyzing causes of violence might include: 1) Individual: socioeconomic data about victims, and perpetrators, and information about their use of alcohol, drugs, or firearms. 2) Interpersonal: whether victim, and perpetrator belonged to the same family, or household, had an affective relationship, were acquaintances, or were strangers. 3) Institutional: crime characteristics (physical injuries sustained, weapons used, value of property lost, where crime occurred); characteristics of victim, and perpetrator; whether the crime was reported; per capita police, and private security; presence of gangs in community; estimated number of gangs and gang members; level of gang organization (low, medium, high); and, other measures of social capital. 4) Structural: levels of impunity (number of convictions as a ratio of number of arrests); levels of corruption; indices of social exclusion, such as racism, gender discrimination, or areas stigma; the dynamics between violence, and access to (and control of) such resources as land, water, and wealth. Crime mapping, to provide visual confirmation of noted trends, might be combined with information about the relative locations of battered women's shelters, police stations, and the distribution of family violence in residential areas.Children and Youth,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Social Policy,Public Health Promotion,Gender and Development,Adolescent Health,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Social Policy,Children and Youth,Youth and Governance

Institutionalizing Community-Based Learning and Research: The Case for External Networks

Conversations continue as to whether and how community-based learning and research (CBLR) can be most effectively integrated into the mission and practice of institutions of higher education (IHEs). In 2005, eight District of Columbia- (DC-) area universities affiliated with the Community Research and Learning (CoRAL) Network engaged in a planning and evaluation exercise, applying a “rapid assessment” method to gauge baseline levels of CBLR institutionalization on each campus, envisioning progress in key areas, and proposing ways in which the CoRAL Network could achieve institutionalization goals. Aggregate analysis of the assessment data suggests several areas of similarity across extremely diverse university settings. Principle among the areas of similarity is the clearly articulated need for a network structure, external to any given university, to play a strategic role in enabling CBLR institutionalization goals

The biological, social, and political complexity of conserving oribi antelope Ourebia ourebi in South Africa

The endangered oribi antelope Ourebia ourebi is highly dependent on privately owned lands for its continued survival in South Africa. Despite the fact that conserving oribi may result in costs to farmers in the form of land use restrictions and pressures from illegal hunting, there is evidence that South African farmers are willing to conserve oribi on their lands. However, to date, no research has been conducted to examine farmers’ understanding of how to manage their lands for oribi or their motivations for conserving this species. We conducted 50 in-depth interviews with private landowners in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, to investigate why farmers are willing to protect oribi, their perceptions of the threats to the species, and their understanding of how land should be managed to benefit oribi. Respondents’ willingness to conserve oribi was driven primarily by an affinity for the species and wildlife in general. Respondents perceived illegal taxi hunting to be the greatest threat to oribi. Taxi hunts are organized, illegal hunting events that involve multiple participants and packs of dogs, who hunt at night on farms without the permission or knowledge of farmers. Although some respondents managed their lands specifically to benefit oribi, most were unsure which land management practices would support oribi conservation efforts. Farmers require legal support to more effectively conserve oribi. In addition, they would benefit from outreach and awareness programs on how to manage their lands for oribi.http://www.int-res.com/journals/esr/esr-homeam2022Mammal Research InstituteZoology and Entomolog

Optical Variability of Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxies

We present results of a broad-band photometric study of the optical variability of six Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxies observed at 172 epochs. We searched for microvariability on 33 nights. Strong evidence for microvariability was found only for our lowest luminosity object, NGC 4051, on one night. Weaker evidence suggests such variability on a few other nights for two other objects, but the data are not as convincing. Intra-night variability in NLS1s is thus concluded to be rare and of low amplitude. We give illustrations of how variable image quality can produce spurious variability. We find that for well-studied non-NLS1s there is a spread in the amplitude of seasonal variability (i.e., in some years an AGN is more variable than in others). We find that the means of the variability amplitudes of non-NLS1s over several seasons vary from object to object (i.e., some AGNs are, on average, more variable than others). NLS1s also show a spread in seasonal variabilities. The best-studied NLS1, Ark 564, shows a range of amplitudes of variability from season to season that is comparable to the range found in BLS1s, and in one season Ark 564 was as variable as the most variable non-NLS1. The seasonal amplitudes of variability for NLS1s are mostly in the lower half of the range of non-BLS1 seasonal amplitudes, but the absence of a suitable control sample makes a precise comparison difficult. However, on long timescales (weeks to years), NLS1s as a class are not more variable than non-NLS1s. The extreme variability seen in the X-rays was not seen in the optical. This has consequences for the models of AGNs in general as well as NLS1s in particular.Comment: Astrophysical Journal in press (tentatively scheduled for Vol. 608, June 2004 issue);47 pages; 19 figures. Electronic tables not included (contact first author if needed

Bypassing cellular EGF receptor dependence through epithelial-to-mesenchymal-like transitions

Over 90% of all cancers are carcinomas, malignancies derived from cells of epithelial origin. As carcinomas progress, these tumors may lose epithelial morphology and acquire mesenchymal characteristics which contribute to metastatic potential. An epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) similar to the process critical for embryonic development is thought to be an important mechanism for promoting cancer invasion and metastasis. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transitions have been induced in vitro by transient or unregulated activation of receptor tyrosine kinase signaling pathways, oncogene signaling and disruption of homotypic cell adhesion. These cellular models attempt to mimic the complexity of human carcinomas which respond to autocrine and paracrine signals from both the tumor and its microenvironment. Activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has been implicated in the neoplastic transformation of solid tumors and overexpression of EGFR has been shown to correlate with poor survival. Notably, epithelial tumor cells have been shown to be significantly more sensitive to EGFR inhibitors than tumor cells which have undergone an EMT-like transition and acquired mesenchymal characteristics, including non-small cell lung (NSCLC), head and neck (HN), bladder, colorectal, pancreas and breast carcinomas. EGFR blockade has also been shown to inhibit cellular migration, suggesting a role for EGFR inhibitors in the control of metastasis. The interaction between EGFR and the multiple signaling nodes which regulate EMT suggest that the combination of an EGFR inhibitor and other molecular targeted agents may offer a novel approach to controlling metastasis

All-sky Medium Energy Gamma-ray Observatory: Exploring the Extreme Multimessenger Universe

The All-sky Medium Energy Gamma-ray Observatory (AMEGO) is a probe class mission concept that will provide essential contributions to multimessenger astrophysics in the late 2020s and beyond. AMEGO combines high sensitivity in the 200 keV to 10 GeV energy range with a wide field of view, good spectral resolution, and polarization sensitivity. Therefore, AMEGO is key in the study of multimessenger astrophysical objects that have unique signatures in the gamma-ray regime, such as neutron star mergers, supernovae, and flaring active galactic nuclei. The order-of-magnitude improvement compared to previous MeV missions also enables discoveries of a wide range of phenomena whose energy output peaks in the relatively unexplored medium-energy gamma-ray band

Genome-wide association identifies nine common variants associated with fasting proinsulin levels and provides new insights into the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: Proinsulin is a precursor of mature insulin and C-peptide. Higher circulating proinsulin levels are associated with impaired β-cell function, raised glucose levels, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Studies of the insulin processing pathway could provide new insights about T2D pathophysiology. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We have conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association tests of ∼2.5 million genotyped or imputed single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and fasting proinsulin levels in 10,701 nondiabetic adults of European ancestry, with follow-up of 23 loci in up to 16,378 individuals, using additive genetic models adjusted for age, sex, fasting insulin, and study-specific covariates. RESULTS: Nine SNPs at eight loci were associated with proinsulin levels (P < 5 × 10(-8)). Two loci (LARP6 and SGSM2) have not been previously related to metabolic traits, one (MADD) has been associated with fasting glucose, one (PCSK1) has been implicated in obesity, and four (TCF7L2, SLC30A8, VPS13C/C2CD4A/B, and ARAP1, formerly CENTD2) increase T2D risk. The proinsulin-raising allele of ARAP1 was associated with a lower fasting glucose (P = 1.7 × 10(-4)), improved β-cell function (P = 1.1 × 10(-5)), and lower risk of T2D (odds ratio 0.88; P = 7.8 × 10(-6)). Notably, PCSK1 encodes the protein prohormone convertase 1/3, the first enzyme in the insulin processing pathway. A genotype score composed of the nine proinsulin-raising alleles was not associated with coronary disease in two large case-control datasets. CONCLUSIONS: We have identified nine genetic variants associated with fasting proinsulin. Our findings illuminate the biology underlying glucose homeostasis and T2D development in humans and argue against a direct role of proinsulin in coronary artery disease pathogenesis

Pregnancy Screening in Women of Child-Bearing Age on Psychotropic Medication

Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project is to is to educate behavioral health providers at Arizona’s Children Association on the importance of pregnancy screening among women of childbearing age and to increase pregnancy screenings to identify those at risk. Background Prescribing psychotropic medications during pregnancy is associated with a significant increase in the risk for maternal and neonatal metabolic disorders, preterm labor, neonatal cardiac malformation, pulmonary disorders, fetal growth disorders, neurodevelopmental disorders, neural tube defects, craniofacial disorders, and reproductive anomalies. Less than ten percent of behavioral healthcare providers screen women of childbearing age for pregnancy when prescribing psychotropic medications. Twenty-seven evidence-based articles examining psychotropic medication prescribing practices for women of child-bearing age, pregnancy screening, associated pregnancy and teratogenic risks were reviewed. Methods A project design was created using the Model for Improvements Plan Do Study Act Model. This quality improvement initiative aimed to change current pregnancy screening practices for women of child-bearing age in an outpatient behavioral health setting, via a provider-focused educational in-service. A descriptive quantitative approach determined the effectiveness of the provider-focused educational intervention and implementation in reaching the identified goals. Data collection was performed via convenience samples using a pre-and post-survey questionnaire. Data analysis was performed and compared to the outcome measures. Results Eight participants, four psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners and four certified medical assistants, attended the quality improvement initiative. Key findings demonstrate a lack of universal pregnancy screening and provider knowledge of when a fetus is at significant risk for harm from psychotropic medications. The data obtained illustrates the need for additional behavioral healthcare provider training and standardized protocols to improve pregnancy screening. Conclusions Healthcare organizations need to understand the barriers that impede behavioral healthcare providers from routine pregnancy screening, including time constraints and lack of training. Providing evidence-based care to women aged 12+ on psychotropic medications includes asking when the last menstrual period was, if there is a desire to achieve pregnancy in the next year and educating both patients and providers on the alternative treatments available that are associated with reduced fetal risk