15 research outputs found

    The criminogenic and psychological effects of police stops on adolescent black and Latino boys

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    Proactive policing, the strategic targeting of people or places to prevent crimes,is a well-studied tactic that is ubiquitous in modern law enforcement. A 2017 National Academies of Sciences report reviewed existing literature, entrenched in deterrence theory, and found evidence that proactive policing strategies can reduce crime. The existing literature, however, does not explore what the short and long-term effects of police contact are for young people who are subjected to high rates of contact with law enforcement as a result of proactive policing. Using four waves of longitudinal survey data from a sample of predominantly black and Latino boys in ninth and tenth grades, we find that adolescent boys who are stopped by police report more frequent engagement in delinquent behavior 6, 12, and 18 months later, independent of prior delinquency, a finding that is consistent with labeling and life course theories. We also find that psychological distress partially mediates this relationship, consistent with the often stated, but rarely measured, mechanism for adolescent criminality hypothesized by general strain theory. These findings advance the scientific understanding of crime and adolescent development while also raising policy questions about the efficacy of routine police stops of black and Latino youth. Police stops predict decrements in adolescents’ psychological well-being and may unintentionally increase their engagement in criminal behavior

    Cycles and circulation: a theme in the history of biology and medicine

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    Funder: National Science Foundation; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000001Funder: History and Philosophy of the Life SciencesAbstract: We invite systematic consideration of the metaphors of cycles and circulation as a long-term theme in the history of the life and environmental sciences and medicine. Ubiquitous in ancient religious and philosophical traditions, especially in representing the seasons and the motions of celestial bodies, circles once symbolized perfection. Over the centuries cyclic images in western medicine, natural philosophy, natural history and eventually biology gained independence from cosmology and theology and came to depend less on strictly circular forms. As potent ‘canonical icons’, cycles also interacted with representations of linear and irreversible change, including arrows, arcs, scales, series and trees, as in theories of the Earth and of evolution. In modern times life cycles and reproductive cycles have often been held to characterize life, in some cases especially female life, while human efforts selectively to foster and disrupt these cycles have harnessed their productivity in medicine and agriculture. But strong cyclic metaphors have continued to link physiology and climatology, medicine and economics, and biology and manufacturing, notably through the relations between land, food and population. From the grand nineteenth-century transformations of matter to systems ecology, the circulation of molecules through organic and inorganic compartments has posed the problem of maintaining identity in the face of flux and highlights the seductive ability of cyclic schemes to imply closure where no original state was in fact restored. More concerted attention to cycles and circulation will enrich analyses of the power of metaphors to naturalize understandings of life and their shaping by practical interests and political imaginations

    Mammal responses to global changes in human activity vary by trophic group and landscape

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    Wildlife must adapt to human presence to survive in the Anthropocene, so it is critical to understand species responses to humans in different contexts. We used camera trapping as a lens to view mammal responses to changes in human activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Across 163 species sampled in 102 projects around the world, changes in the amount and timing of animal activity varied widely. Under higher human activity, mammals were less active in undeveloped areas but unexpectedly more active in developed areas while exhibiting greater nocturnality. Carnivores were most sensitive, showing the strongest decreases in activity and greatest increases in nocturnality. Wildlife managers must consider how habituation and uneven sensitivity across species may cause fundamental differences in human–wildlife interactions along gradients of human influence.Peer reviewe

    Teacher and youth priorities for education for environmental sustainability : a co-created manifesto

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    What would it mean to put environmental sustainability at the heart of education? This article describes a process of inclusive, participatory manifesto-making to identify young people’s (aged 16-18 years) and teachers’ priorities for education for environmental sustainability across the UK. Drawing on analysis of qualitative data from over 200 teachers and young people who participated in futures and visualisation workshops, we identify key educational priorities at the levels of classroom, school, community and policy, based on consensus between teacher and youth perspectives. Whilst consensus-seeking comes with a risk of favouring ‘soft’ actions which reinforce unsustainable practices and systems, the process of identifying more desirable futures and immediate barriers, which must be negotiated to reach them, has the potential to create spaces for more critical pedagogies and practices. There is a need for policy makers and school leaders to recognise the interests of teachers and young people to enable greater participation in decision making at different scales, and to ensure that those with the greatest capacity bear their burden of responsibility for education for environmental sustainability

    A Machine Learning Model for Predicting Mortality within 90 Days of Dialysis Initiation

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    BackgroundThe first 90 days after dialysis initiation are associated with high morbidity and mortality in end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients. A machine learning-based tool for predicting mortality could inform patient-clinician shared decision making on whether to initiate dialysis or pursue medical management. We used the eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) algorithm to predict mortality in the first 90 days after dialysis initiation in a nationally representative population from the United States Renal Data System.MethodsA cohort of adults initiating dialysis between 2008-2017 were studied for outcome of death within 90 days of dialysis initiation. The study dataset included 188 candidate predictors prognostic of early mortality that were known on or before the first day of dialysis and was partitioned into training (70%) and testing (30%) subsets. XGBoost modeling used a complete-case set and a dataset obtained from multiple imputation. Model performance was evaluated by c-statistics overall and stratified by subgroups of age, sex, race, and dialysis modality.ResultsThe analysis included 1,150,195 patients with ESKD, of whom 86,083 (8%) died in the first 90 days after dialysis initiation. The XGBoost models discriminated mortality risk in the nonimputed (c=0.826, 95% CI, 0.823 to 0.828) and imputed (c=0.827, 95% CI, 0.823 to 0.827) models and performed well across nearly every subgroup (race, age, sex, and dialysis modality) evaluated (c>0.75). Across predicted risk thresholds of 10%-50%, higher risk thresholds showed declining sensitivity (0.69-0.04) with improving specificity (0.79-0.99); similarly, positive likelihood ratio was highest at the 40% threshold, whereas the negative likelihood ratio was lowest at the 10% threshold. After calibration using isotonic regression, the model accurately estimated the probability of mortality across all ranges of predicted risk.ConclusionsThe XGBoost-based model developed in this study discriminated risk of early mortality after dialysis initiation with excellent calibration and performed well across key subgroups

    The criminogenic and psychological effects of police stops on adolescent black and Latino boys.

    No full text
    Proactive policing, the strategic targeting of people or places to prevent crimes, is a well-studied tactic that is ubiquitous in modern law enforcement. A 2017 National Academies of Sciences report reviewed existing literature, entrenched in deterrence theory, and found evidence that proactive policing strategies can reduce crime. The existing literature, however, does not explore what the short and long-term effects of police contact are for young people who are subjected to high rates of contact with law enforcement as a result of proactive policing. Using four waves of longitudinal survey data from a sample of predominantly black and Latino boys in ninth and tenth grades, we find that adolescent boys who are stopped by police report more frequent engagement in delinquent behavior 6, 12, and 18 months later, independent of prior delinquency, a finding that is consistent with labeling and life course theories. We also find that psychological distress partially mediates this relationship, consistent with the often stated, but rarely measured, mechanism for adolescent criminality hypothesized by general strain theory. These findings advance the scientific understanding of crime and adolescent development while also raising policy questions about the efficacy of routine police stops of black and Latino youth. Police stops predict decrements in adolescents' psychological well-being and may unintentionally increase their engagement in criminal behavior

    Improved 223Ra Therapy with Combination Epithelial Sodium Channel Blockade

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    [223Ra]RaCl2 is the first approved a-particle-emitting therapy and is indicated for treatment of bonemetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Approximately half the dose is absorbed into the gastrointestinal tract within minutes of administration, limiting disease-site uptake and contributing to toxicity. Here,we investigated the role of enteric ion channels and their modulation for improved therapeutic efficacy and reduced side effects. Methods: Using primary human duodenal organoids (enteroids) asin vitromodelsof the functionalgastrointestinal epithelium, we found that amiloride (epithelial sodium ion channel blocker) and NS-1619 (K+ channel activator) presented significant effects in 223Ramembranal transport.Radioactivedrugdistributionwas evaluated for lead combinations in vivo and in osteosarcoma and prostate cancermodels.Results:Amiloride shifted 223Ra uptake in vivo fromthe gut and nearly doubled the uptake at sites of bone remodeling. Bone tumor growth inhibition with the combination as measured by bioluminescent imaging and radiographywas significantly greater than that with single agents alone, and the combination resulted in noweight loss.Conclusion: This combination of approved agentsmay readily be implemented as a clinical approach to improve the outcomes of bonemetastatic cancer patients with the benefit of ameliorated tolerability. COPYRIGH
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