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Sexual Racism and Mental Health Among Asian/Asian American Sexual Minority Men
No full textSexual racism is racial discrimination and prejudice that occurs in the context of romance, dating, or sex. Sexual racism sustains White supremacy and reflects a hierarchy of desirability where White men are positioned at the top. With the increased popularity of online dating, online apps have become significant settings in which sexual racism pervades. Among the groups disproportionately affected by sexual racism are Asian American sexual minority men (ASMM). The present study explored different features of sexual racism and the interrelations between features of sexual racism, internalized racism, and mental health (anxiety, depression, stress, and problematic alcohol use) among 155 ASMM. Descriptive analyses exploring different features of sexual racism revealed that White rejection and same-race rejection were among the highest reported scores for our sample. Results also revealed that higher reports of White rejection were significantly associated with elevated anxiety, depression, and stress symptoms. Additionally, higher reports of same-race physical objectification and degradation were significantly associated with elevated anxiety symptoms. Lastly, moderation analyses demonstrated that the association between experiences of sexual racism and depression depended on levels of internalized racism. Our study supplies support for the connection between experiences of sexual racism and mental health and draws attention to addressing sexual racism as an important social determinant of ASMM mental health. Ultimately, our findings can inform multi-level prevention and intervention efforts to minimize experiences of sexual racism as well as ameliorate its negative effects in ASMM communities
Insights Into Changes in Employment and Day Services Data From IDD Agencies During COVID-19
Get PDFThe COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) had a major impact on people with disabilities and the services they receive. This brief explores the impact of PHE on employment and day services of people with IDD. The focus of this product is the National Survey of State Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Agencies’ Employment and Day Services (IDD survey) and its data collection in FY2020 and FY2021. We explore the feedback from state IDD agencies on the data shifts resulting from PHE and we summarize the themes observed
Spotlight on research. Leveraging data to deliver quality employment services:
Get PDFEnsuring that job seekers with disabilities receive high-quality supported and customized employment services is key for increasing their chances of achieving their career goals. This paper describes the findings from piloting ES-Coach with nine employment programs in Minnesota and Massachusetts. ES-Coach is a tool designed to help teams of employment consultants visualize their employment support practices and leverage that information to reflect, set goals, and take action for continuous quality improvement
Aging in Eastham: A Community Needs Assessment
Get PDFThis report describes research undertaken by the Center for Social & Demographic Research on Aging within the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston, on behalf of the Eastham Council on Aging. The goals of this project were to investigate the needs, interests, preferences, and opinions of Eastham’s residents age 50 or older. The contents of this report are meant to inform the Town of Eastham, the Eastham Council on Aging and Senior Center, and organizations that work with and on behalf of older residents of Eastham for the purposes of planning and coordination of services. The report will also help to build awareness about issues facing Eastham among community members at large
Simulation Modeling for Robust and Just Public Policy Decision-Making
Get PDFPublic policy decision-making is challenging for several reasons. First, the outcomes of pulling a public policy lever are often deeply uncertain because of the complexity of the social and physical systems involved. Second, even if outcomes can be predicted, there are multiple points of view to consider, and the same outcome can be viewed anywhere from very positively to very negatively by different stakeholders. Because of this, public policy decisions should be both robust and just. Robustness helps with the uncertainty in outcomes and justice helps with differences in worldview. In this dissertation, I employ system dynamics and agent-based simulation modeling techniques to assist decision-making in two public policy contexts: COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical interventions and police funding. I also develop a framework in which both robustness and justice can be handled simultaneously in complex public policy problems
Latinos in Massachusetts Selected Areas: Peabody
Get PDFPeabody is a town of 54,481 residents, of whom 5,414, or 9.9%, identify as Latino or Hispanic, according to the 2020 Decennial Census. Statewide, Latino residents constitute 12.6% of the total population. In Peabody, more than three-fourths of the residents (77.3%) are White with Latinos making up the second largest group. Blacks (3.3%) and Asians (2.4%) trail, while the “other” populations make up 7.0% of the population. This last figure includes the 1,662 foreign-born Brazilians who live in Peabody, as the Census classifies Brazilians in the “other” category.
Between the 2010 and 2020 Decennial Censuses, Peabody experienced 6.3% population growth, slightly lower than the state’s overall 7.4% growth. The Latino population, however, increased by more than 68.6% in Peabody, higher than Latinos’ statewide rate of 41.4%. The Black population in Peabody grew at an even faster rate, 83.0%, and the Asian population increased by 40.7%. As in many other cities and towns, the White population declined by 6.2%.
The remainder of this profile uses 2017–2021 American Community Survey data in order to analyze the demographic and economic characteristics presented in this profile.
Peabody has a similar share of its population foreign-born (16.2%) as the Commonwealth as a whole (17.3%). This is also the case among Latinos. In Peabody, 35.6% of the Latino population is foreign-born, similar to the 32.1% Latino statewide share. (Note that the “foreign-born” category does not include Puerto Ricans, who are US citizens whether born in Puerto Rico or the mainland.)
The Latino population in Peabody is a mix of Latinos from different origins. Dominicans are the largest single group in Peabody, and Puerto Ricans are the second largest, followed by Salvadorans, Peruvians, and Colombians. Statewide, the five largest Latino populations in Massachusetts in order of size are Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Salvadorans, Guatemalans, and Mexicans
Synthesis of Novel Fused-Heterocyclic Scaffold Via Disasteroselective Decarboxylative [3+2] Cycloadditions and Aza-Wittig Reactions
No full text1,3-Dipolar [3+2] cycloadditions are an important class of reactions for making poly-heterocyclic ring scaffolds with potential biological activities. Presented in this thesis is a reaction sequence of three-component 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of a non-stabilized azomethine ylides, formed by decarboxylative condensation of α-amino acids, for making pyrrolidine-based adduct followed by the aza-Wittig reaction of for the synthesis of poly-heterocyclic products. In this work, polymer supported triphenylphosphine was used as a phosphine source for the aza-Wittig reaction to minimize the amount of waste and simplify the purification process
With Some Responsibility Comes Great Power: Exploring the Decision-Making Process of Higher Education Administrators Through The Implementation of Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy
No full textThis qualitative study applied the concept of Institutional Neglect to a higher education setting and explored how federal Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements, along with the implementation choices at a public university, facilitated Institutional Neglect for financial aid dependent students, especially Students of Color. This study examined how higher education administrators understood, made meaning, and interpreted federal guidelines established by the 2011 updates to the federal SAP policy. This study also analyzed how SAP updates changed the responsibilities and influenced the decision-making process of administrators. Framed in the tradition of transformative research, this single-site case study was conducted at a public four-year higher education institution on the east coast of the United States. The conceptual framework was drawn from two fields of research, Institutional Neglect, and Critical Race Theory. Institutional Neglect was used as an analytical lens to complete an inductive analysis for 22 participant interviews, higher education administrators involved in SAP policy development, implementation, assessment, compliance, enforcement, education, or appeals. Study findings include how the complexity of SAP policy required administrators to negotiate entangled university and federal policies. Administrators considered the intent of SAP to be fair and held value in motivating students towards degree attainment but because SAP targeted financial aid eligibility, administrators suspected inequitable consequences. An analysis of SAP outcomes confirmed disproportionate results between Students of Color compared to white students. Administrators were found to prioritize preserving financial aid, resulting in disparate college experiences based on a student’s ability to pay. The volume and complexity of daily responsibilities required administrators to work at levels considered unsustainable, meanwhile, workforce reduction expanded responsibilities and administrators developed informal networks as a strategy to manage workloads and advocate for students outside of standard operating procedures. The university’s inadequate infrastructures were found to reproduce and strengthen the consequences of Institutional Neglect because administrators were forced to strategically decide how and who to help. Overall, findings conclude that Institutional Neglect was the manifested outcome borne from the culmination of seemingly inconsequential, everyday decisions made by administrators, and that the implementation of federal SAP had disproportional and inequitable outcomes for Students of Color
A History of the Boston Teachers Union
No full textThis historical study examines how the Boston Teachers’ Union responded to the ever-changing complexities of urban education in the years 1980 -2010. Using socio-historical methods along with loose-coupling theory, it details the union’s relationship with other decision-making sectors within the school district and the state, as well as documenting challenges the union has faced within its membership. In addition to chronicling the tensions resulting from collective bargaining, charter schools, and state and federal legislation, this study also address issues within the union surrounding racial tensions and professionalism and how these issues impacted on the union’s participation in the various school reforms of the period. This dissertation addresses how the union itself defined school reform and what impact this definition had on one teachers’ union local affiliate. The study is divided into four major themes: education reform, collective bargaining, relationships with other stakeholders, and economic budgetary issues. The study describes how the primary purpose of the BTU had evolved over the years from a focus on “bread and butter issues” into a process in which the union now had a say in education reform issues in Boston. The early years of adversarial bargaining had been replaced by “win-win” and “principled” negotiations. The scope of the union mission had expanded, and the BTU had shown itself willing to cede some contractual rights in the name of education reform. No longer could the BTU be seen as a hindrance to education reform. While the nature of the relationships with other stakeholders was not always ideal, the BTU and these stakeholders were able to move beyond politics and act in the interests of students to develop relationships that helped, not hindered to effect educational reform initiatives in Boston
Targeting Novel Oncogenic Activities of LSD1 in Prostate Cancer
No full textProstate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common cancers and the highest cancer-related death in American men. Androgen receptor (AR) plays a critical role in PCa development and progression, and androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is the first-line therapy for PCa patients. Although ADT and AR signaling inhibitors initially exhibit efficacy in suppressing tumor growth, PCa eventually develops in an advanced stage called castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) due to multiple mechanisms. Recent research studies have highlighted the significance of epigenetic aberrations in driving CRPC development and drug resistance. As a pivotal epigenetic modifier, lysine-specific demethylase (LSD1/KDM1A) is highly expressed in various types of cancers including PCa. Our previous studies have shown that LSD1 functions as an androgen receptor (AR) co-activator, and demethylates forkhead box protein A1 (FOXA1) in PCa. LSD1 inhibitors have been utilized in several clinical trials in different malignancies including lung cancer, hematologic cancers, and Ewing sarcomas, but its influence at the global level remains not fully understood in PCa due to limited in vivo studies. In one of my dissertation projects, I identified that LSD1, FOXA1, and bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) form a nuclear condensate at super-enhancers (SEs), which are associated with novel oncogenic pathways in CRPC development. Therefore, I developed a novel combination treatment by co-targeting LSD1 and BRD4 to synergistically suppress CRPC tumor growth via disrupting CRPC-specific super-enhancer-associated genes. In another project, I studied LSD1 activity in African ancestry (AA) PCa, which has higher mortality and poorer prognosis than European ancestry (EA) PCa, to address the racial disparities. One of the genetic disparities observed between AA men and EA men is that AA men typically have shorter length of CAG repeats, which encodes shorter poly-glutamine tract (poly-Q) at the N-terminal domain of AR protein. The length of poly-Q is negatively correlated with the AR transcriptional activity. I demonstrated that short poly-Q AR protein has much higher stability and stronger interaction with LSD1 and another AR co-activator EZH2, and has altered transcriptome and cistrome. Furthermore, I demonstrated that LSD1 or EZH2 inhibitors can significantly suppress AA tumor growth, providing a therapeutic strategy to address racial disparities in AA PCa patients. Overall, my findings revealed that the combination treatment of LSD1 inhibition and BRD4 inhibition is a promising therapeutic approach to synergistically suppress CRPC tumor growth by disrupting CRPC-specific SEs genes and that the LSD1 inhibition in PCa patients with shorter CAG repeats of AR provides new therapeutic strategy in addressing racial disparities of PCa