Validated names for experimental studies on race and ethnicity.

A large and fast-growing number of studies across the social sciences use experiments to better understand the role of race in human interactions, particularly in the American context. Researchers often use names to signal the race of individuals portrayed in these experiments. However, those names might also signal other attributes, such as socioeconomic status (e.g., education and income) and citizenship. If they do, researchers would benefit greatly from pre-tested names with data on perceptions of these attributes; such data would permit researchers to draw correct inferences about the causal effect of race in their experiments. In this paper, we provide the largest dataset of validated name perceptions to date based on three different surveys conducted in the United States. In total, our data include over 44,170 name evaluations from 4,026 respondents for 600 names. In addition to respondent perceptions of race, income, education, and citizenship from names, our data also include respondent characteristics. Our data will be broadly helpful for researchers conducting experiments on the manifold ways in which race shapes American life.

Changes over Time in COVID-19 Vaccination Inequalities in Eight Large U.S. Cities.

The authors estimate the associations between community socioeconomic composition and changes in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination levels in eight large cities at three time points. In March, communities with high socioeconomic status (SES) had significantly higher vaccination rates than low-SES communities. Between March and April, low-SES communities had significantly lower changes in percentage vaccinated than high-SES communities. Between April and May, this difference was not significant. Thus, the large vaccination gap between communities during restricted vaccine eligibility did not narrow when eligibility opened up. The link between COVID-19 vaccination and community disadvantage may lead to a bifurcated recovery whereby advantaged communities move on from the pandemic more quickly while disadvantaged communities continue to suffer.

The influence of feminist abortion accompaniment on emotions related to abortion: A longitudinal observational study in Mexico.

Emotions can reflect how individuals internalize identities, social roles, and broader power structures, including abortion stigma. Abortion accompaniment, in the form of logistical, informational, and emotional support offered by individuals and organizations, takes a person-centered, feminist, and rights-based approach. We tested the extent to which abortion accompaniment may decrease negative and increase positive feelings an individual holds related to their abortion. Using observational longitudinal data collected between January 2017 and mid-2018, we compared negative and positive emotional responses to a personal abortion experience one month and six months following the abortion to emotions immediately prior to the abortion ("baseline"), among women travelling from outside of Mexico City to abortion clinics in Mexico City with and without support of the accompaniment organization, Fondo MARIA. We used doubly robust longitudinal mixed effects models with inverse probability weighting methods. At baseline, accompanied and unaccompanied participants experienced an average of 4.9 and 4.4 negative emotions out of eight respectively (i.e., anguish, nervousness, scared, anxious, sadness, guilt, anger, shame) and 1.7 and 1.9 positive emotions of out 4 respectively (happiness, calmness, decidedness, and relief). From our model results, women accompanied (n = 77) had larger decreases in negative feelings (p < .05) and larger increases in positive feelings (p < .01) toward their abortion compared to those who were not accompanied (n = 119) at six months. These changes led the majority of accompanied respondents to have primarily positive feelings about their abortion by endline. Abortion accompaniment through Fondo MARIA in Mexico City was associated with a larger decrease in negative feelings, particularly those related to stigma, and a larger increase in positive feelings six months after abortion. Accompaniment's focus on person-centered support, self-determination, and autonomy may enable people seeking abortion to view their decision as one that is valid and legitimate, and resist the predominant stigmatizing narratives framing abortion as something that is transgressive.

COVID-19 Vaccine Rollouts and the Reproduction of Urban Spatial Inequality: Disparities Within Large US Cities in March and April 2021 by Racial/Ethnic and Socioeconomic Composition.

Rollouts of COVID-19 vaccines in the USA were opportunities to redress disparities that surfaced during the pandemic. Initial eligibility criteria, however, neglected geographic, racial/ethnic, and socioeconomic considerations. Marginalized populations may have faced barriers to then-scarce vaccines, reinforcing disparities. Inequalities may have subsided as eligibility expanded. Using spatial modeling, we investigate how strongly local vaccination levels were associated with socioeconomic and racial/ethnic composition as authorities first extended vaccine eligibility to all adults. We harmonize administrative, demographic, and geospatial data across postal codes in eight large US cities over 3 weeks in Spring 2021. We find that, although vaccines were free regardless of health insurance coverage, local vaccination levels in March and April were negatively associated with poverty, enrollment in means-tested public health insurance (e.g., Medicaid), and the uninsured population. By April, vaccination levels in Black and Hispanic communities were only beginning to reach those of Asian and White communities in March. Increases in vaccination were smaller in socioeconomically disadvantaged Black and Hispanic communities than in more affluent, Asian, and White communities. Our findings suggest vaccine rollouts contributed to cumulative disadvantage. Populations that were left most vulnerable to COVID-19 benefited least from early expansions in vaccine availability in large US cities.

Commercial ChIP-Seq Library Preparation Kits Performed Differently for Different Classes of Protein Targets.

Background: Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-Seq) is a powerful method commonly used to study global protein-DNA interactions including both transcription factors and histone modifications. We have found that the choice of ChIP-Seq library preparation protocol plays an important role in overall ChIP-Seq data quality. However, very few studies have compared ChIP-Seq libraries prepared by different protocols using multiple targets and a broad range of input DNA levels. Results: In this study, we evaluated the performance of 4 ChIP-Seq library preparation protocols (New England Biolabs [NEB] NEBNext Ultra II, Roche KAPA HyperPrep, Diagenode MicroPlex, and Bioo [now PerkinElmer] NEXTflex) on 3 target proteins, chosen to represent the 3 typical signal enrichment patterns in ChIP-Seq experiments: sharp peaks (H3K4me3), broad domains (H3K27me3), and punctate peaks with a protein binding motif (CTCF). We also tested a broad range of different input DNA levels from 0.10 to 10 ng for H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 experiments. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the NEB protocol may be better for preparing H3K4me3 (and potentially other histone modifications with sharp peak enrichment) libraries; the Bioo protocol may be better for preparing H3K27me3 (and potentially other histone modifications with broad domain enrichment) libraries, and the Diagenode protocol may be better for preparing CTCF (and potentially other transcription factors with well-defined binding motifs) libraries.  For ChIP-Seq experiments using novel targets without a known signal enrichment pattern, the NEB protocol might be the best choice, as it performed well for each of the 3 targets we tested across a wide array of input DNA levels.

Priming COVID-19 salience increases prejudice and discriminatory intent against Asians and Hispanics.

Mounting reports in the media suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified prejudice and discrimination against racial/ethnic minorities, especially Asians. Existing research has focused on discrimination against Asians and is primarily based on self-reported incidents or nonrepresentative samples. We investigate the extent to which COVID-19 has fueled prejudice and discrimination against multiple racial/ethnic minority groups in the United States by examining nationally representative survey data with an embedded vignette experiment about roommate selection (collected in August 2020; n = 5,000). We find that priming COVID-19 salience has an immediate, statistically significant impact: compared to the control group, respondents in the treatment group exhibited increased prejudice and discriminatory intent against East Asian, South Asian, and Hispanic hypothetical room-seekers. The treatment effect is more pronounced in increasing extreme negative attitudes toward the three minority groups than decreasing extreme positive attitudes toward them. This is partly due to the treatment increasing the proportion of respondents who perceive these minority groups as extremely culturally incompatible (Asians and Hispanics) and extremely irresponsible (Asians). Sociopolitical factors did not moderate the treatment effects on attitudes toward Asians, but prior social contact with Hispanics mitigated prejudices against them. These findings suggest that COVID-19-fueled prejudice and discrimination have not been limited to East Asians but are part of a broader phenomenon that has affected Asians generally and Hispanics as well.

Enhancing big data in the social sciences with crowdsourcing: Data augmentation practices, techniques, and opportunities.

Proponents of big data claim it will fuel a social research revolution, but skeptics challenge its reliability and decontextualization. The largest subset of big data is not designed for social research. Data augmentation-systematic assessment of measurement against known quantities and expansion of extant data with new information-is an important tool to maximize such data's validity and research value. Using trained research assistants or specialized algorithms are common approaches to augmentation but may not scale to big data or appease skeptics. We consider a third alternative: data augmentation with online crowdsourcing. Three empirical cases illustrate strengths and limitations of crowdsourcing, using Amazon Mechanical Turk to verify automated coding, link online databases, and gather data on online resources. Using these, we develop best practice guidelines and a reporting template to enhance reproducibility. Carefully designed, correctly applied, and rigorously documented crowdsourcing help address concerns about big data's usefulness for social research.

Searching for a Roommate: A Correspondence Audit Examining Racial/Ethnic and Immigrant Discrimination among Millennials.

Survey research finds that millennials have less prejudiced views of racial/ethnic minorities than other generations, leading some to label millennials as postracial. However, attitudinal survey research may be subject to social desirability bias because it documents statements or beliefs instead of actions. Moreover, most audit studies focus on people who make hiring decisions or own rental property and are therefore often older than millennials. This study uses a correspondence audit to investigate discrimination among millennials via "roommate wanted" advertisements. We sent over 4,000 emails and found a tiered pattern of discrimination against Asian (Indian and Chinese), Hispanic, and Black room-seekers. However, whether Asian and Hispanic room-seekers face significant discrimination varies based on whether they use predominantly White first names or traditional first names. Our findings shed light on the future of our racial system, expand our knowledge of discrimination beyond the traditional Black/White binary, and illustrate the persistence of anti-Blackness.

Job Characteristics, Job Preferences, and Physical and Mental Health in Later Life.

Existing research linking SES with work primarily focuses on the precursors (educational attainment) and outcomes (income) of work, rather than asking how diverse facets of work influence health. Using four waves of data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, we evaluate whether multiple measures of respondent job characteristics, respondent preferences for those characteristics, and their interaction substantially improve the fit of sociological models of men's and women's physical and mental health at midlife and old age compared to traditional models using educational attainment, parental SES, and income. We find that non-wage job characteristics predict men's and women's physical and mental health over the lifecourse, although we find little evidence that the degree to which one's job accords with one's job preferences matters for health. These findings expand what we know about how work matters for health, demonstrating how the manner and condition under which one works has lasting impacts on wellbeing.

Contextualizing public stigma: Endorsed mental health treatment stigma on college and university campuses.

Scholars suggest that public mental health stigma operates at a meso-level and is associated with severity of symptoms, disclosure, self-esteem, and treatment-seeking behavior. However, the operationalization of public stigma nearly always comes from an individual-level generalization of what others believe. Using data from over 60,000 students on 75 U.S. college and university campuses between 2009 and 2015, we contextualize public stigma by creating a school-level measure of students' individual-level endorsed mental health treatment stigma. We present multilevel logistic regression models for 21 different dependent variables. We find that even after controlling for individual-level stigma scores, school-level stigma is negatively associated with self-reports of suicidal ideation and self-injury, although not associated with screens for depression or anxiety. Moreover, school-level stigma is negatively associated with medication use, counseling and therapy visits, and to a lesser degree, informal support. We suggest that future research should continue to examine the contextual environment of public stigma, while policymakers may be able to implement changes to significantly reduce stigma at this level.

Variations in Student Mental Health and Treatment Utilization Across US Colleges and Universities.

OBJECTIVE: On US college campuses, mental health problems are highly prevalent, appear to be increasing, and are often untreated. Concerns about student mental health are well documented, but little is known about potential variations across the diversity of institutions of higher education. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were 43,210 undergraduates at 72 campuses that participated in the Healthy Minds Study from 2007 to 2013. METHODS: Multivariable logistic regressions focus on associations between institutional characteristics and student mental health and treatment utilization. RESULTS: The following institutional characteristics are associated with worse mental health: doctoral-granting, public, large enrollment, nonresidential, less competitive, and lower graduation rates. Among students with apparent mental health problems, treatment utilization is higher at doctorate-granting institutions, baccalaureate colleges, institutions with small enrollments, and schools with strong residential systems. CONCLUSIONS: Although high rates of mental health problems and low treatment utilization are major concerns at all types of institutions of higher education, substantial variation occurs across campuses.

School accountability and the black-white test score gap.

Since at least the 1960s, researchers have closely examined the respective roles of families, neighborhoods, and schools in producing the black-white achievement gap. Although many researchers minimize the ability of schools to eliminate achievement gaps, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) increased pressure on schools to do so by 2014. In this study, we examine the effects of NCLB's subgroup-specific accountability pressure on changes in black-white math and reading test score gaps using a school-level panel dataset on all North Carolina public elementary and middle schools between 2001 and 2009. Using difference-in-difference models with school fixed effects, we find that accountability pressure reduces black-white achievement gaps by raising mean black achievement without harming mean white achievement. We find no differential effects of accountability pressure based on the racial composition of schools, but schools with more affluent populations are the most successful at reducing the black-white math achievement gap. Thus, our findings suggest that school-based interventions have the potential to close test score gaps, but differences in school composition and resources play a significant role in the ability of schools to reduce racial inequality.

The influence of habitus in the relationship between cultural capital and academic achievement.

Scholars routinely use cultural capital theory in an effort to explain class differences in academic success but often overlook the key concept of habitus. Rich, longstanding debates within the literature suggest the need for a closer examination of the individual effects of cultural capital and habitus. Drawing upon the writings of Pierre Bourdieu, I use a longitudinal dataset to examine the effects of multiple operationalizations of cultural capital on academic achievement and the mediating effects of habitus. Using first difference models to control for time-invariant unobserved characteristics, I find that typical operationalizations of cultural capital (i.e. high-arts participation and reading habits) have positive effects on GPA that are completely mediated through habitus. These results stress the importance of habitus in the relationship between cultural capital and academic achievement for disadvantaged youth.

Effects of estrogen on global gene expression: identification of novel targets of estrogen action.

The important role played by the sex hormone estrogen in disease and physiological processes has been well documented. However, the mechanisms by which this hormone elicits many of its normal as well as pathological effects are unclear. To identify both known and unknown genes that are regulated by or associated with estrogen action, we performed serial analysis of gene expression on estrogen-responsive breast cancer cells after exposure to this hormone. We examined approximately 190,000 mRNA transcripts and monitored the expression behavior of 12,550 genes. Expression levels for the vast majority of those transcripts were observed to remain constant upon 17beta estradiol (E2) treatment. Only approximately 0.4% of the genes showed an increase in expression of > or =3-fold by 3 h post-E2 treatment. We cloned five novel genes (E2IG1-5), which were observed up-regulated by the hormonal treatment. Of these the most highly induced transcript, E2IG1, appears to be a novel member of the family of small heat shock proteins. The E2IG4 gene is a new member of the large family of leucine-rich repeat-containing proteins. On the basis of architectural and domain homology, this gene appears to be a good candidate for secretion in the extracellular environment and, therefore, may play a role in breast tissue remodeling and/or epithelium-stroma interactions. Several interesting genes with a potential role in the regulation of cell cycle progression were also identified to increase in expression, including Pescadillo and chaperonin CCT2. Two putative paracrine/autocrine factors of potential importance in the regulation of the growth of breast cancer cells were identified to be highly up-regulated by E2: stanniocalcin 2, a calcium/phosphate homeostatic hormone; and inhibin-beta B, a TGF-beta-like factor. Interestingly, we also determined that E2IG1 and stanniocalcin 2 were exclusively overexpressed in estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer lines, and thus they have the potential to serve as breast cancer biomarkers. This data provides a comprehensive view of the changes induced by E2 on the transcriptional program of human E2-responsive cells, and it also identifies novel and previously unsuspected gene targets whose expression is affected by this hormone.

Rapid analysis of gene expression (RAGE) facilitates universal expression profiling.

Current techniques for analysis of gene expression either monitor one gene at a time, for example northern hybridization or RT-PCR methods, or are designed for the simultaneous analysis of thousands of genes, for example microarray hybridization or serial analysis of gene expression. To provide a flexible, intermediate scale alternative, a PCR-based method for the rapid analysis of gene expression has been developed which allows expression changes to be determined in either a directed search of known genes, or an undirected survey of unknown genes. A single set of reagents and reaction conditions allows analyses of most genes in any eukaryote. The method is useful for assaying on the order of tens to hundreds of genes in multiple samples. Control experiments indicate reliable detection of changes in gene expression 2-fold and greater, and sensitivity of detection better than 1 in 10 000. Analyses of over 400 genes in a mouse system transgenic for the E2F1 gene have identified several new downstream targets of E2F1, including Brca1 and Cdk7, in addition to several unidentified genes that are upregulated in the transgenic mice. Changes in expression of several genes related to apoptosis suggest a possible potentiation of apoptotic pathways in the transgenic keratinocytes.

A glass drinking tube for small birds and mammals.

A drinking tube was fabricated with a piece of 8 or 10 mm O.D. glass tubing. It gives accurate measurement of the volume of liquid consumed by small birds and mammals. The tube can be readily cleaned and autoclaved.

Taste preferences of the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus).

Taste preference tests, with simultaneous presentation of treated and untreated food, were administered to 24 common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus). The bats received brief exposures to four different stimuli representing sweet, salty, sour, and bitter tastes, each at four different concentrations. Despite a strong location bias, the bats significantly (P < 0.01) avoided the highest concentrations of the salty, sour, and bitter tastes. Consumption of the sweet stimulus at all concentrations was similar to that of the untreated standard. Vampires evidently can discriminate based on taste, although their ability is apparently poorly developed when compared with some euryphagous species such as the rat. Hence, taste is probably not a factor in host selection by the vampire.

Physical and physiological constraints on the use of bone-conduction speech audiometry.

Several authors have recommended the use of bone-conduction speech audiometry, and the literature supports the clinical value of this procedure. It has been claimed that bone-conduction output for speech can be increased to 110-dB HL with the Radioear B-70-A vibrator through supplementary amplification, but this claim is unsubstantiated by objective measurements. Available technical data indicate that the maximum output level attainable with this virbator without incurring serious distortion is 65- to 70-dB HL at midfrequencies and substantially less at lower frequencies. Both behavioral and electromechanical data are presented which show, not only that 70-dB HL is the absolute maximum hearing level for speech attainable through the B-70-A vibrator without serious deterioration of speech-discrimination scores in normal listeners, but also that this appears to be very close to the maximum vibratory level that human observers can comfortably tolerate.