Racial social norms among Brazilian students: Academic performance, popularity, and racial identification.

Studies in the United States have shown that minority students might face a trade-off between better academic performance and peer acceptance, which has been termed "acting White." This paper investigates racial differences in the relationship between grades and popularity in five Brazilian schools. Popularity is measured using friendship ties among students, assigning a higher value to students more central in the network. The racial composition of friendship ties is generally diverse, although they tend to favor racial peers, especially among Black students. We find a positive correlation between grades and popularity of non-White students that is driven by their friendships with their White classmates. This contrasts with patterns associated with acting White, where a negative correlation between minorities' grades and their popularity among racial peers is not compensated by their status among White students. We also investigate how academic performance is associated with racial identity choice conditional on skin color, finding a weak negative relationship between higher grades and the odds of classification as mixed race.

Plasma cell-free RNA profiling distinguishes cancers from pre-malignant conditions in solid and hematologic malignancies.

Cell-free RNA (cfRNA) in plasma reflects phenotypic alterations of both localized sites of cancer and the systemic host response. Here we report that cfRNA sequencing enables the discovery of messenger RNA (mRNA) biomarkers in plasma with the tissue of origin-specific to cancer types and precancerous conditions in both solid and hematologic malignancies. To explore the diagnostic potential of total cfRNA from blood, we sequenced plasma samples of eight hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and ten multiple myeloma (MM) patients, 12 patients of their respective precancerous conditions, and 20 non-cancer (NC) donors. We identified distinct gene sets and built classification models using Random Forest and linear discriminant analysis algorithms that could distinguish cancer patients from premalignant conditions and NC individuals with high accuracy. Plasma cfRNA biomarkers of HCC are liver-specific genes and biomarkers of MM are highly expressed in the bone marrow compared to other tissues and are related to cell cycle processes. The cfRNA level of these biomarkers displayed a gradual transition from noncancerous states through precancerous conditions and cancer. Sequencing data were cross-validated by quantitative reverse transcription PCR and cfRNA biomarkers were validated in an independent sample set (20 HCC, 9 MM, and 10 NC) with AUC greater than 0.86. cfRNA results observed in precancerous conditions require further validation. This work demonstrates a proof of principle for using mRNA transcripts in plasma with a small panel of genes to distinguish between cancers, noncancerous states, and precancerous conditions.

Dois pesos e duas medidas na sala de aula: análise das redes sociossemânticas de categorização operadas por professores / Dos pesos y dos medidas en el aula: análisis de redes de categorización sociosemántica operadas por docentes / Double standard in the classroom: analysis of socio-semantic categorization networks operated by teachers

Resumo Este artigo analisa categorias operadas por burocratas ao classificar tipos de usuários e seus efeitos em distribuição de serviços, observando contextos de alta desigualdade e políticas universais. Para tanto, analisa de que modo professores, como burocratas de nível de rua, implementam a política categorizando diferentes tipos de alunos. Adotamos aqui a lente analítica de esquemas culturais, que considera que indivíduos internalizam associações entre categorias oficiais e sociais (informais). Os dados analisados foram coletados de vinhetas aplicadas com 40 professores da rede municipal de São Paulo. Investigamos o uso de categorias por meio de redes sociossemânticas e semânticas de categorizações e construção de cadeias de encaminhamentos. Os resultados apontam que os professores mobilizam de forma concomitante categorias oficiais e sociais, bem como que a introdução da variável "vulnerabilidade" nos casos abre espaço para introdução de categorias sociais que geram diferentes tipos de tratamento para alunos com comportamentos similares.

Resumen Este artículo analiza las categorías operadas por los burócratas al clasificar los tipos de usuarios y sus efectos en la distribución de servicios, observando contextos de alta desigualdad y políticas universales. Para ello, analiza cómo los docentes, como burócratas a nivel de calle, implementan la política categorizando diferentes tipos de estudiantes. Adoptamos aquí la lente analítica de los esquemas culturales, que considera que los individuos internalizan las asociaciones entre categorías oficiales y sociales (informales) a partir de sus experiencias. Los datos analizados se recolectaron a través de viñetas aplicadas a 40 docentes de la red municipal de São Paulo. Analizamos el uso de categorías a través de redes sociosemánticas y semánticas de categorización y construcción de redes de referencia. Los resultados muestran que los docentes movilizan simultáneamente categorías políticas y sociales y que la introducción de la variable "vulnerabilidad" en los casos abre espacio para la introducción de categorías sociales que generan diferentes tipos de tratamiento para estudiantes con comportamientos similares.

Abstract This article analyzes categories operated by bureaucrats when classifying types of users and their effects on the distribution of services, observing contexts of high inequality and universal policies. We analyze how teachers, as street-level bureaucrats, implement the policy by categorizing different types of students. We adopt an analytical lens of cultural schemes, which considers that individuals internalize associations between official and social (informal) categories from their experiences. The analyzed data were collected through vignettes applied to 40 teachers from the municipal education system of São Paulo, Brazil. We analyzed the use of categories through socio-semantic and semantic networks of categorizations and the construction of referral networks. The results show that teachers simultaneously mobilize political and social categories and that the introduction of the variable vulnerability in cases opens space for the introduction of social categories that generate different types of treatment for students with similar behaviors.