Examining Longitudinal Data of Juvenile Delinquents in Rock Hill, SC

Examining factors that contribute to the initiation, continuation, and desistance of criminal activities is crucial in determining how the criminal justice system can be reformed in an effort to decrease recidivism rates, as well as halt the initiation of juveniles into the criminal realm in the first place. This study examined longitudinal data from the daily reports of the Rock Hill Police Department, as organized by the Crime Mapping Division. The study examines juvenile suspects between the ages of 10-17 during 2003-2007. Wave One looked at subjects ages 10-13 in 2003/2004. Wave Two looked at subjects ages 12-14 in 2005/2006, and Wave Three looked at subjects ages 15-17 in 2007/2008.Using the concepts of Criminal Careers and recidivism, the goal was to examine continuation or desistance of criminal behavior over six years. Indicators of race, gender, residence in gang areas, hotspots, as well as residence in a single dwelling or an apartment were used to predict continued criminal behavior. The majority of the subjects were black or white with all other races representing less than ten percent of the population. Therefore, only suspects coded as black or white were utilized. The data was examined using Linear Regressions Analysis and Chi Squares test. The Linear Regressions Analysis found that there was no significant association between offending and race, gender, gang areas, and residence in a single dwelling or apartment for Wave One only, Wave One and Three only, and Wave One and Two only. When examining offending across all three waves, there was a significant association between residents in hotspots and gang areas, as well as race

A Cross-Racial Study of Attitudes toward and Beliefs about Male Homosexuality

This study presents data about the attitudes toward homosexuality of black and white people. The survey used in this study was adapted from Furnham and Saito (2009) which compared the attitudes and beliefs about male homosexuality of British and Japanese participants. The sample consisted of 131 (37 black, 97 white) Winthrop students. The results were analyzed using T-tests. The results of the study were consistent with the literature in inconsistency, of the 17 categories tested significant racial differences were found in 6. There were no significant racial differences in beliefs about the following factors: Attributing homosexuality to biological causes, the role of gender roles in causing homosexuality, a relatively high percentage of all participants believed that factors such as father-son relationships could cause homosexuality, belief that abnormality caused homosexuality, although abnormality was the least favored of all the factors. There were significant racial differences in the following factors: The black participants were significantly more likely to believe that contact with homosexuals contributed to homosexuality, black participants were significantly more likely than whites to believe that the rights of homosexuals should be protected, the white participants were much more likely to hold stereotypical views of homosexuals. The size effect was small for all factors

MAGICC haloes: confronting simulations with observations of the circumgalactic medium at z=0

We explore the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of two simulated star-forming galaxies with luminosities L ~ 0.1 and 1 L* generated using the smooth particle hydrodynamic code GASOLINE. These simulations are part of the Making Galaxies In a Cosmological Context (MAGICC) program in which the stellar feedback is tuned to match the stellar mass-halo mass relationship. For comparison, each galaxy was also simulated using a 'lower feedback' (LF) model which has strength comparable to other implementations in the literature. The 'MAGICC feedback' (MF) model has a higher incidence of massive stars and an approximately two times higher energy input per supernova. Apart from the low-mass halo using LF, each galaxy exhibits a metal-enriched CGM that extends to approximately the virial radius. A significant fraction of this gas has been heated in supernova explosions in the disc and subsequently ejected into the CGM where it is predicted to give rise to substantial O VI absorption. The simulations do not yet address the question of what happens to the O VI when the galaxies stop forming stars. Our models also predict a reservoir of cool H I clouds that show strong Ly\alpha absorption to several hundred kpc. Comparing these models to recent surveys with the Hubble Space Telescope, we find that only the MF models have sufficient O VI and H I gas in the CGM to reproduce the observed distributions. In separate analyses, these same MF models also show better agreement with other galaxy observables (e.g. rotation curves, surface brightness profiles and H I gas distribution). We infer that the CGM is the dominant reservoir of baryons for galaxy haloes.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, submitted MNRAS, comments welcom

Timed sequential induction chemotherapy and risk-adapted postremission therapy for acute myelogenous leukemia

Cytogenetic analysis at the time of diagnosis predicts outcome in patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). For those patients with favorable risk cytogenetics, stem cell transplant can be delayed until the time of relapse. For those patients with nonfavorable cytogenetic risk profiles, stem cell transplant may be required for optimal survival benefit. We treated patients with de novo AML and age less than 60 years first with etoposide, mitoxantrone, cytarabine, and G-CSF (EMA-G) to induce remission. Patients in complete remission were assigned to treatment with chemotherapy alone if they had favorable risk cytogenetics defined as the identification of a core-binding factor translocation. Patients with any other cytogenetic profile were assigned to treatment with either autologous or allogeneic stem cell transplant depending on the availability of an HLA-matched donor. Following EMA-G, 33 of 40 patients (83%) achieved CR. Of the 25 patients who actually were treated with postremission chemotherapy, 21 were treated with their assigned risk-adapted therapy. Of the 33 patients in remission, 5 year relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) was 46 and 38%, respectively. Our intensive and risk-adapted, stem cell transplant approach to the treatment of patients with AML requires a better definition of risk and does not appear to substantially improve results compared with more standard approaches

CD117 Expression Is a Poor Prognostic Factor (PF) for Progression Free Survival (PFS) and Freedom from Progression (FFP) in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML)

Abstract Background: There are conflicting reports on the prognosis of patients with newly diagnosed c-KIT positive (CD117) AML. In addition there is controversy on the best way to define CD117 positivity by flow cytometry (FC). We retrospectively reviewed data on 95 patients with newly diagnosed AML during the years 1998–2002 to determine the prognostic value of CD117 expression. Methods: CD117 expression was determined by staining cells with antibodies to CD45 and CD117 (BD Biosciences San Jose, CA). CD45-stained cells without CD117 antibody were used as a negative control. FC was performed on FACSCalibur instruments and data acquired using CellQuest software (BD Biosciences). Using a CD45/orthogonal light scatter gate to isolate blasts, the mean fluorescence index (MFI) was calculated as the CD117 mean channel number (MCN) of the blasts/MCN auto fluorescence. Statistical analysis was performed using Cox proportional hazards (CPH) and log rank (LR) testing; Recursive Partitioning analysis was used to Identify CD117 MFI cut-point. Results: The median age of patients was 59 years. 30% had a history of an antecedent hematological disorder. Good, normal, unfavorable, and other cytogenetics were seen in 10%, 49%, 30%, and 11% of patients, respectively. Patients were treated with anthracycline based induction therapy, followed by consolidation therapy (45% chemotherapy, 23% stem cell transplant). The complete remission (CR) rate was 69.5% (58.7% for age ≥60, 79.6% for age 10.7 had a median PFS of 9.5m vs. 14.0m for MFI ≤ 10.7 (p=0.033, LR). Median FFP for MFI > 10.7 was 10.0m vs. 33.6m for MFI ≤ 10.7 (p=0.019, LR). On univariate CPH analysis, CD117 (MFI >10.7) was associated with worse PFS (HR: 1.86, 1.04–3.32, p=0.036) and FFP (HR: 2.38, 1.13–5.03, p=0.023). Multivariate CPH analysis showed increasing CD117 expression (per 5 unit MFI increase) was associated with worse FFP (HR: 1.19, 1.01–1.4, p=0.042). Conclusion: CD117 expression does not correlate with age, cytogenetics, or OS. However, CD117 (MFI>10.7) is a poor PF for PFS and FFP in AML patients. Higher CD117 ratio is also an independent poor PF for FFP. Whether or not agents that inhibit CD117, such as Imatinib Mesylate, can improve prognosis is the basis of ongoing trials

The Relationship between Weekend Admissions and Outcome in Older Adults with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML)

Abstract Patients with serious medical conditions admitted to the hospital on the weekend have higher in-hospital mortality rates compared to those admitted on weekdays (Bell et al, NEJM2001;345:663–668). It is a common perception that patients with AML are hospitalized on Friday or on the weekend. It is unknown whether weekend vs. weekday admission for AML correlates with outcome, as delay in treatment or delay in obtainment of procedures (such as central venous line (CVL) placement) requisite for anthracycline delivery may occur for weekend admissions. We retrospectively studied 118 older adults (age ≥55 years) diagnosed with AML and treated with anthracycline-based remission induction therapy from 1994 to 2002 at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. Patients’ demographics, baseline hematologic parameters, cytogenetic risk groups (based on CALGB 8461), response to chemotherapy, and survival information were recorded. Weekends were defined as admission to the hospital on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Survival and in-hospital mortality were compared between weekend and weekday groups, controlling for known adverse prognostic factors, using Cox proportional hazards analysis for overall survival. Patient characteristics were typical of other studies in older adults with AML: the median age was 69 years (range 55–81); 54.2% were male, and 37 patients (31.6%) had secondary AML. The median baseline white blood cell count was 10.2 x 103/uL. Cytogenetics were available for 104 patients (88.1%): 4 (3.8%) had favorable, 63 (60.6%) had intermediate, and 37 (35.6%) had unfavorable cytogenetics. Baseline values of these known prognostic factors were similar for weekend and weekday admission groups, reflecting similar disease severity. A total of 88 patients (74.6%) were admitted on weekdays, 30 (25.4%) on weekends. Fifty-nine patients (50.4%) achieved a complete remission and 22 patients (18.6%) died during their hospitalization. Only 16.9% of patients were admitted on Friday, while another 8.4% were admitted on Saturday or Sunday. While weekend admission did predict for a delay in CVL placement of 1 day and delay in chemotherapy start of 1 day, this was not associated with increased in-hospital mortality or with a difference in overall survival (Hazard ratio for weekend vs. weekday admission, 0.97, P=0.90 and 1.10, P=0.72, respectively). Results were similar in univariate and multivariable analyses. Weekday Admits Weekend Admits P-Value N=88 N=30 Days to CVL [Median (Range)] 2 (0–11) 3 (0–17) 0.008 Days to Chemotherapy [Median (Range)] 2 (0–32) 3 (0–18) 0.20 In-hospital Mortality [N(%)] 18 (20.4) 4 (13.3) 0.39 In conclusion, in-hospital mortality rates and overall survival are similar for older AML patients receiving remission induction chemotherapy who are admitted on weekends and weekdays, and patients do not appear to be preferentially admitted on Fridays or the weekend, contrary to common beliefs. This similarity in outcome likely reflects staff awareness in tertiary referral centers of the urgency of treatment in AML, thus ameliorating the technical difficulties that may arise when patients are admitted over the weekend

Variables associated with return to sport following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: a systematic review

BACKGROUND: As one of the purposes of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) is to return athletes to their pre-injury activity level, it is critical to understand variables influencing return to sport. Associations between return to sport and variables representing knee impairment, function and psychological status have not been well studied in athletes following ACLR. PURPOSE: The purpose of this review is to summarize the literature reporting on variables proposed to be associated with return to sport following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. STUDY DESIGN: Systematic Review METHODS: Medline, Embase, CINAHL and Cochrane databases were searched for articles published before November 2012. Articles included in this review met these criteria: 1) included patients with primary ACLR, 2) reported at least one knee impairment, function or psychological measure, 3) reported a return to sport measure and 4) analyzed the relationship between the measure and return to sport. RESULTS: Weak evidence existed in sixteen articles suggesting variables associated with return to sport included higher quadriceps strength, less effusion, less pain, greater tibial rotation, higher Marx Activity score, higher athletic confidence, higher pre-operative knee self-efficacy, lower kinesiophobia and higher pre-operative self-motivation. CONCLUSION: Weak evidence supports an association between knee impairment, functional, and psychological variables and return to sport. Current return to sport guidelines should be updated to reflect all variables associated with return to sport. Utilizing evidence-based return to sport guidelines following ACLR may ensure athletes are physically and psychologically capable of sports participation, which may reduce re-injury rates and the need for subsequent surgery