Disparities In Vulnerability Research Articles

Vulnerability of hippocampal GABA‐ergic interneurons to kainate‐induced excitotoxic injury during old age

AbstractHippocampal inhibitory interneurons expressing glutamate decarboxylase‐67 (GAD‐67) considerably decline in number during old age. Studies in young adult animals further suggest that hippocampal GAD‐67+ interneuron population is highly vulnerable to excitotoxic injury. However, the relative susceptibility of residual GAD‐67+ interneurons in the aged hippocampus to excitotoxic injury is unknown. To elucidate this, using both adult and aged F344 rats, we performed stereological counting of GAD‐67+ interneurons in different layers of the dentate gyrus and CA1 & CA3 sub‐fields, at 3 months post‐excitotoxic hippocampal injury inflicted through an intracerebroventricular administration of kainic acid (KA). Substantial reductions of GAD‐67+ interneurons were found in all hippocampal layers and sub‐fields after KA‐induced injury in adult animals. Contrastingly, there was no significant change in GAD‐67+ interneuron population in any of the hippocampal layers and sub‐fields following similar injury in aged animals. Furthermore, the stability of GAD‐67+ interneurons in aged rats after KA was not attributable to milder injury, as the overall extent of KA‐induced hippocampal principal neuron loss was comparable between adult and aged rats. Interestingly, because of the age‐related disparity in vulnerability of interneurons to injury, the surviving GAD‐67+ interneuron population in the injured aged hippocampus remained comparable to that observed in the injured adult hippocampus despite enduring significant reductions in interneuron number with aging. Thus, unlike in the adult hippocampus, an excitotoxic injury to the aged hippocampus does not result in significantly decreased numbers of GAD‐67+ interneurons. Persistence of GAD‐67+ interneuron population in the injured aged hippocampus likely reflects an age‐related change in the response of GAD‐67+ interneurons to excitotoxic hippocampal injury. These results have implications towards understanding mechanisms underlying the evolution of initial precipitating injury into temporal lobe epilepsy in the elderly population.

Vulnerability of hippocampal GABA-ergic interneurons to kainate-induced excitotoxic injury during old age

Hippocampal inhibitory interneurons expressing glutamate decarboxylase-67 (GAD-67) considerably decline in number during old age. Studies in young adult animals further suggest that hippocampal GAD-67+ interneuron population is highly vulnerable to excitotoxic injury. However, the relative susceptibility of residual GAD-67+ interneurons in the aged hippocampus to excitotoxic injury is unknown. To elucidate this, using both adult and aged F344 rats, we performed stereological counting of GAD-67+ interneurons in different layers of the dentate gyrus and CA1 & CA3 sub-fields, at 3 months post-excitotoxic hippocampal injury inflicted through an intracerebroventricular administration of kainic acid (KA). Substantial reductions of GAD-67+ interneurons were found in all hippocampal layers and sub-fields after KA-induced injury in adult animals. Contrastingly, there was no significant change in GAD-67+ interneuron population in any of the hippocampal layers and sub-fields following similar injury in aged animals. Furthermore, the stability of GAD-67+ interneurons in aged rats after KA was not attributable to milder injury, as the overall extent of KA-induced hippocampal principal neuron loss was comparable between adult and aged rats. Interestingly, because of the age-related disparity in vulnerability of interneurons to injury, the surviving GAD-67+ interneuron population in the injured aged hippocampus remained comparable to that observed in the injured adult hippocampus despite enduring significant reductions in interneuron number with aging. Thus, unlike in the adult hippocampus, an excitotoxic injury to the aged hippocampus does not result in significantly decreased numbers of GAD-67+ interneurons. Persistence of GAD-67+ interneuron population in the injured aged hippocampus likely reflects an age-related change in the response of GAD-67+ interneurons to excitotoxic hippocampal injury. These results have implications towards understanding mechanisms underlying the evolution of initial precipitating injury into temporal lobe epilepsy in the elderly population.

Using Game Technique as a Strategy in Promoting Disaster Awareness in Caribbean Multicultural Societies: The Disaster Awareness Game

The high vulnerability of Caribbean countries to multiple hazards is well documented. However, there is a paucity of knowledge related to variations in vulnerability within and among countries. As the Caribbean region moves towards cementing the arrangements for a Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) that will allow greater multiculturalism among many countries of the region, internal disparities in vulnerability are likely to increase. Disaster managers of the region will be challenged with the development of strategies and techniques that will minimize disparities and allow equity in access to disaster information by all cultural groups. The Disaster Awareness Game (DAG) is a response to this challenge and was designed to evaluate levels of disaster awareness among different groups and countries of the Caribbean region as well as to promote awareness equitably to all cultural groups. Application of the DAG in the multicultural setting of the TCI suggests that this technique can be effective in promoting equitable access to disaster education.

Immigration-Based Disparities in Adolescent Girls’ Vulnerability to Dating Violence

Little data exists on dating violence among immigrant adolescents. The present study assessed disparities in experiences of physical and sexual dating violence based on immigrant status and language spoken at home among a large representative sample of adolescent girls. Data from the 1997-2003 Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (N = 7,970) were analyzed. Adjusted logistic regression analyses were conducted among the full sample and sexually active sub-sample. To further clarify immigration-based effects, separate analyses were conducted within age and racial/ethnic groups. Being an immigrant was found to be protective against dating violence (OR 0.77, CI 0.60-0.98), but not among those reporting sexual intercourse. Stratified analyses revealed important differences in these effects based on age and race/ethnicity; only immigrant girls age 16 or older (OR 0.69, CI 0.48-0.99) and Hispanic immigrant girls (ORs 0.39-0.54) reported reduced risk for dating violence as compared to their non-immigrants peers. No differences in vulnerability to dating violence were detected based on immigrant status for Asian, Black, or White adolescents in stratified analyses. The social context of immigration may offer protection regarding adolescent girls' vulnerability to dating violence, but effects are not uniform across age, sexual experience, or race and ethnicity. Additional research is needed to understand how immigration, social behavior, age, race and ethnicity may interact to produce disparities in vulnerability to gender-based violence.

On Hate and Equality

Hate crime legislation has sparked substantial political controversy and scholarly discussion. Existing justifications for hate crime legislation proceed on the premise that the rationale supporting such legislation must be found either in the greater gravity of the wrongdoing involved or in the perpetrator's greater degree of culpability. This premise stems from a fundamental theory that dominates criminal law scholarship: the wrongfulness-culpability hypothesis. The wrongfulness-culpability hypothesis posits that the only two grounds that may justify disparate treatment of offenses are the greater wrongfulness of the act or the greater culpability of the perpetrator. Yet, all attempts to demonstrate that hate crimes are more wrongful or morally reprehensible than other crimes have failed to carry the day. This Article challenges the dominance of the wrongfulness-culpability hypothesis and proffers an alternative that supports bias crime legislation: the protection paradigm. The protection conceptualizes protection against crime as a good produced by criminal law and thus requires that it be distributed in an equal manner. Specifically, it imparts a duty on the state to equalize individuals' vulnerability to crime. An individual's vulnerability to crime can be defined as her expected harm from crime--that is, the probability of harm multiplied by its magnitude. A state may address the problem of vulnerable victims in one of two ways. First, it may impose harsher sanctions on those who commit crimes against vulnerable victims. Second, it may devote more resources to the identification and prosecution of individuals who attack such victims. When the latter tactic is unfeasible for some reason, equalizing protection against crime through the imposition of harsher sanctions may be the only way by which the state can provide vulnerable victims with greater protection and thus equalize their vulnerability to that of other potential victims. The distribution of protection does not require absolute equality in expected costs of crime to the victim. Vulnerability to crime is a function of myriad factors such as wealth, age, and attitude towards risk, life experience, and physical and intellectual prowess. Moreover, disparities in vulnerability to crime often depend on the precautions taken by the victim herself. The state cannot be reasonably expected to annul all disparities in the vulnerability of different potential victims of crime. This Article argues, however, that at a minimum the state ought to annul disparities that stem from certain personal characteristics of victims, such as race, gender, religion, and sexual orientation. This Article also shows that the explanatory power of the fair protection paradigm ranges far beyond the context of hate crimes. The protection can explain, for instance, why crimes directed against particularly vulnerable victims, such as the elderly and the disabled, are often punished more severely than crimes directed against less vulnerable ones. Properly understood, therefore, hate crime legislation is part of a larger scheme of providing protection against crime. Recognizing the right of victims to equal protection from crime makes it clear that hate crime legislation is consonant with the goals of criminal law. Hate crime legislation is merely one essential step towards a more egalitarian provision of protection against crime--a step which is congruous with the broader goals of the criminal law system.