Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a multifactorial psychiatric disorder increasingly associated with immune-inflammatory mechanisms. Pro-inflammatory cytokines, particularly tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), have been implicated in the pathophysiology of MDD through their influence on neuroinflammation, neurotransmitter regulation, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysfunction. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the association between TNF-α and IL-1β gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to MDD, treatment response, and related clinical outcomes. A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, and ScienceDirect databases from inception to March 2026, following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Studies investigating TNF-α and IL-1β gene polymorphisms in clinically diagnosed MDD patients were included. Case-control studies published in English involving adult human participants were considered eligible. Data regarding study design, population, polymorphisms, and clinical outcomes were extracted and qualitatively synthesized. A total of 172 records were identified, of which nine studies met the inclusion criteria. Included studies primarily investigated TNF-α rs1800629 and IL-1β rs16944 polymorphisms across diverse populations. Several studies reported significant associations between these polymorphisms and increased susceptibility to MDD, suicide risk, severity of depressive symptoms, age of onset, and antidepressant treatment response. However, some studies reported no statistically significant associations, indicating heterogeneity across ethnic groups and study populations. Variability in age, medication status, and environmental stressors may have contributed to inconsistent findings. The findings of this systematic review support the involvement of inflammatory cytokine gene polymorphisms in the pathophysiology of MDD, particularly TNF-α and IL-1β variants. These polymorphisms may contribute to depression susceptibility and treatment response through immune-inflammatory mechanisms. Further large-scale, ethnically diverse studies incorporating gene-environment interactions and next-generation sequencing approaches are needed to validate cytokine-related genetic biomarkers in MDD.

ABSTRACT This paper examines the pre-migration experiences of Bangladeshi women migrant domestic workers, arguing for this phase as a standalone site of critical inquiry. Grounded in the (im)mobilities paradigm and Naila Kabeer′s framework of restricted agency, this study analyses how gender, social class, and the (im)mobility infrastructure of the home country intersect to shape women’s global movement for paid work. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 18 returnee women from Saudi Arabia, the findings reveal that global movement for paid work is not a straightforward choice for women. Instead, it is a strategic negotiation produced by and embedded within the intersection of spatial restrictions, class positions, and the gendered contradictions of patriarchal mobility and economic survival confronted in the home country. The findings highlight how global mobility is actively produced as a structural necessity to navigate local immobility: an act of maternal obligation where women are forced to seek transnational economic survival within an immobile system that actively denies them financial autonomy. By establishing the home country as the primary site where migrating women’s risks and harms are actively produced and negotiated, this paper argues for an analytical shift in ethnic and migration studies. Rather than examining migrating women’s risk solely through a destination-country lens, it must be understood as a continuum of mobility violation that originates at home, shaping subsequent exploitation, return, and reintegration.

ABSTRACT Grounded in the sociopolitical context of New Mexico and the Martinez/Yazzie ruling, the study explores how translanguaging can be intentionally integrated to center explorations of ethnicity, culture, identity, and language in ways that foster critical dispositions withing a DLBE context. Through a self-study professional learning experience and classroom enactment, this work aims to disrupt monolingual and hegemonic curricular norms, centers subaltern life-world knowledges, and advances culturally and linguistically relevant praxis aligned with educational justice mandates.

ABSTRACT In this article, we reflect on the future of ethnic and racial studies within the discipline of sociology. We argue that theories in the sociology of race are currently marred by methodological nationalism, often treating racial structures, meanings, and ideologies as nationally bound phenomena. By contrast, we argue that the sociology of race ought to embrace a comparative-relational approach. We illustrate how this comparative-relational approach to race was established by classical scholars, and argue that sociologists of race, both in the U.S. and globally, would do well to return to this classical ethos. Both authors of the paper then reflect on their own transnational and global sensibility by reflecting on their own research projects.

ABSTRACT In this article, I propose an emotional-cognitive approach to ethnicity, demonstrating how boundaries and categorizations are relationally appraised and felt. I address Brubaker and colleagues' insightful work on ethnicity as cognition, as an area that would be analytically enhanced by combining cognition and emotion. Integrating emotion as a co-constituent of ethnic enactment transcends the mind–body dichotomy of rational versus emotional considerations, broadening our conceptualization of how people categorize the world in everyday circumstances. Drawing on ethnic and racial studies, STS, and sociology of emotions literatures, I review works emphasizing affect that have not sufficiently developed their relationship to cognition. Consequently, I put forward implications for a nascent emotional-cognitive ethnicity, supported by a brief secondary analysis of data on migration and interethnic friendships. This perspective reveals that ethnic boundaries are not only cognitively apprehended but also affectively charged and managed through relational practice.

Underrepresented populations in dementia prevention research, including minoritized racial/ethnic groups, individuals with lower socioeconomic status, and others facing social and structural disadvantages, are disproportionately affected by dementia risk. This scoping review examined barriers and facilitators to recruitment, engagement, and retention of these populations in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) prevention studies, synthesizing evidence from both empirical studies and review articles. Guided by PRISMA-ScR and the conceptual structure described by Gilmore-Bykovskyi et al., findings were synthesized from 19 reviews and 53 empirical studies. Findings were interpreted with attention to how overlapping factors-such as ethnicity, age, gender, and structural inequities-may influence study participation. Studies originated primarily from the United States (U.S.). Five key themes were identified: 1) mistrust, 2) stigma and limited research literacy, 3) logistical and financial constraints, 4) communication gaps and lack of team diversity, and 5) systemic-level barriers. Facilitators included culturally tailored outreach, long-term community partnerships, and inclusive study design. Retention strategies remain underreported, and little is known about the non-U.S. context. These findings highlight the need for context-specific, multi-level strategies that address the intersecting barriers faced by underrepresented groups to support equitable participation in dementia prevention research, and ultimately, dementia prevention.

ABSTRACT Ethnic Studies (ES) classrooms hold the potential to be spaces of humanizing critical pedagogy and youth-led activism. Nevertheless, these classrooms exist within school contexts that are often antithetical or even hostile to these aims. In this article, we draw from Roderick Ferguson’s (2012) analysis of the institutionalization of ES in higher education to theorize ES classrooms in K12 schools as internally contradictory spaces that serve simultaneously as sites of hegemony and possibility. Our purpose is to illuminate how internal contradictions of ES play out in practice and consider what they mean for ES teachers and teacher-educators. Drawing from our ethnographic research and long-term partnership with a public-school ES program, we argue that moments of contradiction are routine rather than exceptional in ES classrooms. Further, the preparation of ES teachers must involve learning to analyze and navigate tight spaces and ideological tensions. This article is not a critique of ES or an argument against its institutionalization. Rather, it identifies inherent contradictions of ES, and unpacks how they unfold in practice, in order to better prepare and support ES teachers for K12 schools.

People hold strong beliefs about emotions. One particularly important belief is whether emotions should be controlled or emotion control beliefs. We examine these beliefs in parents, specifically, the role these beliefs play in their children's well-being and the parent-child relationship. We propose that parents with stronger emotion control beliefs respond less supportively and more disapprovingly to their children's negative emotions, which in turn could predict worse child well-being and lower parent-child relationship quality. In Study 1 (Nparent = 272), we found that parents' emotion control beliefs were cross-sectionally linked with worse child well-being. This relationship was accounted for by parents providing less supportive and more disapproving responses to their children's emotions. In Study 2 (preregistered analyses; Nparent = 272, Nadolescent = 275), we found that parents' emotion control beliefs were cross-sectionally, but not longitudinally (18 months later), linked with some, but not all, measures of parent- and adolescent-reported worse child well-being and lower parent-child relationship quality. In Study 3 (Nparent = 139), we found that parents' emotion control beliefs longitudinally (4 months later) predicted worse child well-being and lower parent-child relationship quality. These links were accounted for by parents providing less supportive and more disapproving responses to their children's emotions. Moreover, these links were relatively generalizable across parents' and children's gender and age (Studies 1-3) as well as parents' ethnicity (Study 3). Together, these findings suggest that parents' emotion control beliefs may influence how they respond to their children's emotions-often for the worse-subsequently shaping the child's well-being and the quality of the parent-child relationship. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

ABSTRACT This article centres the Gulf as a key site for expanding the conceptual and geographical scope of ethnic and racial studies. The meaning and material dimensions of difference in the region continue to be approached ahistorically and through methodological nationalism, often detached from longer histories of imperial governance, as well as from the everyday practices through which race is produced and contested. Drawing on archival research and ethnographic fieldwork with young people in Dubai, the article traces how racial formations are constructed and reworked across imperial governance and contemporary discourses of belonging. The article examines what race does: how it structures access to rights, legitimises hierarchy, and organises social and economic relations through categories such as “migrant/citizen” and notions of lineage and authenticity. Race thus emerges as a relational, materially grounded, and historically contingent form of power that takes different forms across contexts while remaining embedded in regimes of mobility, settlement, and citizenship.

ABSTRACT The following research is derived from a larger study funded by a grant in response to California State Legislature Assembly Bill AB 101 mandating a public high school Ethnic Studies graduation requirement. From 927 surveys administered in introductory Ethnic Studies and Feminist Studies courses at a public Research 1 University in Winter 2021, we analyzed 524 responses by participants who identify as STEM majors. Our analysis evaluated the learning outcomes of STEM majors in university Ethnic Studies and/or Feminist Studies courses. Themes of critical thinking/analysis, societal problem-solving, and greater and/or broader understanding of social, historical, and cultural context emerged to comprise what we define as an Ethnic Studies/Feminist Studies ‘toolkit’ for STEM majors. We argue that Ethnic Studies and Feminist Studies courses are instrumental in providing STEM students access to these core elements of a liberal arts education.

Wild edible plants (WEPs) play a vital role in food security, nutrition, and cultural identity among ethnic minority communities in southern China. In the mountainous areas of Guangxi, traditional food systems remain closely connected to local ecosystems. However, quantitative and systematic documentation of WEP diversity and cultural importance among the Yao people is still limited. This study provides a comprehensive ethnobotanical assessment of WEPs used by the Yao community in Lingyun County, with an emphasis on their contributions to subsistence strategies, cultural practices, and biocultural resilience. Ethnobotanical data were gathered using semi-structured interviews, key-informant discussions, and guided field walks. All recorded WEP species were taxonomically identified and classified according to growth habit, plant parts used, and food-use categories. The Cultural Importance Index (CI) was applied to quantify the cultural salience of each species across multiple uses. Floristic similarity between the study area and surrounding regions was assessed using the Jaccard Index and similarity measures. A total of 165 WEP species belonging to 61 families and 111 genera were documented. The most species-rich families were Rosaceae (16 species), followed by Moraceae (14 species), Asteraceae (12 species), and Zingiberaceae (9 species). Most WEPs were native species (90.91%) and were predominantly herbaceous (36.97%), followed by climbers (24.24%) and trees (21.21%), based on growth habit classification. Fruits and leaves were the most frequently utilized plant parts, highlighting the nutritional contribution of WEPs to local diets. The Cultural Importance Index (CI) ranged from 0.115 to 0.558, indicating the presence of a small number of culturally central, multifunctional species alongside many seasonal or supplementary resources. Wild vegetables represented the most diverse use category. Floristic similarity with neighboring regions was low to moderate (5.9-19.3%), based on comparisons with multiple ethnic groups and study areas across southern China and adjacent regions, rather than exclusively among Yao communities. The Yao people of Lingyun County maintain a diverse and culturally embedded WEP system that enhances food security, dietary diversity, and cultural continuity. Conservation and development strategies should integrate traditional knowledge and community-based management to sustain biocultural diversity in southern China and adjacent regions.

Votoplam is a novel, orally bioavailable, small molecule HTT gene splicing modifier that is being developed for the treatment of Huntington's disease. A single-dose, open-label, three-dose level (5, 10, 20mg), parallel group ethnicity study was conducted to evaluate the pharmacokinetics and safety of votoplam in healthy Caucasian versus Japanese participants. Six participants per ethnic group were enrolled at each dose (12 participants per dose level overall). Thirty-five participants (N = 18 Japanese; N = 17 Caucasian) completed the study. Study results showed slightly higher exposure for Japanese participants at all dose levels. AUC0-last increased by 1.27-, 1.17-, and 1.29-fold, and Cmax increased by 1.58-, 1.19-, and 1.61-fold for 5, 10, and 20mg, respectively, for Japanese compared with Caucasian participants. Doses proportionality was observed for both ethnicities. Few mild and moderate TEAEs were reported and were comparable between Japanese and Caucasian participants. In summary, votoplam pharmacokinetics and safety profiles are similar between healthy Japanese and Caucasian participants when administered in the single dose range of 5, 10, and 20mg. Therefore, it is expected that dose adjustments should not be necessary in future clinical studies enrolling Japanese participants.

ABSTRACT Objectives Previous studies indicate that different aspects of individual religiosity were associated with White Americans’ attitudes toward interracial marriage with Asians. However, there is a paucity of research on how religious geographic contexts may influence those attitudes. This study aims to fill in this research gap and reveal how race and religion may intersect with each other in a multilevel, geographic context. Methods This study merged individual‐level data from the General Social Survey 2010–2022 with contextual‐level variables from the US Census 2010 and the Religious Congregations and Membership Study 2010. Multilevel logistic regression was employed to analyze the combined datasets. Results White Americans were more likely to be against a close relative marrying an Asian when their county religious population was more homogeneously evangelical Protestant. In contrast, a higher county‐level Catholic homogeneity was associated with less hostile attitudes among Whites toward interracial marriage with Asians. These religious contextual effects interacted with individual religious identity. Conclusion The main results suggest the significant role that religion, particularly macro‐level religion, may play in White Americans’ racial attitudes and family processes. The study provides new insights to an interdisciplinary audience in the sociology of religion, racial and ethnic studies, and family studies.

The tradition of offerings (sesajen) in the customary ceremonies of the Yogyakarta Palace represents a vital part of Javanese cultural heritage, embodying profound philosophical and spiritual values. Rooted in the syncretism of animism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam, the practice of sesajen serves as a medium for gratitude, reverence for ancestors, and spiritual communication. Rituals such as Labuhan and Sekaten continue to reflect the Javanese worldview of harmony among humans, nature, and the supernatural. Each offering component carries symbolic meaning and reflects generations of local wisdom that underpin Javanese identity. However, in the face of globalisation and modernisation, this tradition faces existential threats, particularly from shifting values among younger generations and the increasing influence of global ideologies. In response, the Yogyakarta Palace and traditional communities have implemented revitalisation strategies through cultural education, religious integration, and ceremonial preservation. This paper examines the types, preparation processes, symbolic meanings, and socio-cultural roles of offerings in Yogyakarta Palace rituals. Within the framework of Southeast Asian Indigenous and Ethnic Studies, this research highlights the dynamic resilience of Indigenous practices in adapting to changing times while preserving their core values.

ABSTRACT What research has been conducted on the Asian global diaspora, and who produces this knowledge? We compiled a corpus of 128 ERS articles published from 1978 to 2025, focusing on four Anglophone countries. We examined the diversity of data, methods, samples, research topics, theoretical frameworks, and authorship in the corpus, including variations over time and across countries. Compared with the increase in the Asian population since 1980, ERS scholarship on the Asian diaspora has grown modestly, primarily focusing on the US and UK, with scant attention to Australia and Canada, where one in five residents was of Asian descent in 2021. Research has primarily focused on the largest Asian ethnic groups (e.g. Chinese) but has rarely included smaller groups (e.g. Burmese). The corpus illustrates thematic and methodological diversity, with a shift from quantitative to qualitative approaches over time. However, four subgroups were largely absent from this corpus: Asian refugees, Asian older adults, undocumented Asians, and LGBTQ Asians.

Ethnic Studies Mandates: What Could Go Wrong? Teacher Dispositions, Pedagogy, and the Future of K–12 Ethnic Studies

ABSTRACT This paper takes up the material rhetoric of Woodrow Nash’s Children of the Whitney sculpture series at Whitney Plantation, a memorial museum dedicated to representing slavery’s public memory in the U.S. As they anchor the museum’s interpretive framework, the Children serve as affective guides that make present slavery’s violence from a child’s perspective. Each statue embodies a narrative from the Federal Writer’s Project (1936–1939) based on interviews with the last generation enslaved as children. In their interactions with the statues and the narratives they embody, visitors are called to identifications of care, which are complicated by the discursive legacies of the figure of the child within slavery. Drawing on material rhetoric, memory studies, and critical ethnic studies, this paper argues that while the Children implicate visitors in a temporal relationship to slavery which is not past, this strategy risks reinforcing the fungibility of the enslaved child and leads to self-absolution rather than collective accountability. This rhetorical strategy therefore invites deeper reflection on the rhetorical functions of empathetic identification in memory sites of slavery.

Ethnic Bridging of Sepiapterin in Chinese and Korean Populations Based on Predictions From Genetic Polymorphism of Breast Cancer Resistance Protein.

Systematic variations in neural activation patterns during processing of group categorization is a facet often overlooked in extant meta-analyses that typically treated all group memberships and task types as homogenous entities. Recognizing the necessity to differentiate between various group memberships and task types due to them eliciting distinct neural activity, our study addressed this gap by conducting a more fine-grained exploration. A comprehensive meta-analytic approach using the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) following PRISMA guidelines was employed. Inclusion criteria were task-fMRI studies, whole-brain analyses in a standard stereotaxic space, involved healthy adults, and published in English. Meta-analyses were performed using GingerALE. Overall in-group > out-group (IG>OG) processing included 66 studies (108 contrasts, 518 foci), and ALE analysis revealed 22 significant clusters, with the largest (3328 mm3) located in the left insula, inferior frontal gyrus, and uncus. Overall OG>IG processing included 35 studies (61 contrasts, 371 foci), and ALE analysis revealed 25 significant clusters, with the largest (1728 mm3) located in the right presupplementary motor area. Group membership classification found 38 ethnicity studies on in-group bias (IG>OG; 59 contrasts, 279 foci), and ALE analysis revealed 27 significant clusters, with the largest (1616 mm3) located in the right superior occipital gyrus, right middle occipital gyrus, right middle temporal gyrus, and right fusiform gyrus. fMRI task types found 30 studies in empathy processing on in-group bias (IG>OG; 50 contrasts, 260 foci), and ALE analysis revealed 23 significant clusters, with the largest (2480mm3) located in the right postcentral gyrus, and right posterior cingulate gyrus. Our unrestricted search approach with ALE methodology extends beyond previous categorically constrained meta-analyses by capturing group dynamics not limited to predefined categories. The distinct activation patterns for ethnicity-based categorization and empathy processing tasks indicate multiple neural pathways rather than universal mechanisms for group processing. These context-dependent patterns suggest interventions must target specific group-task combinations rather than assume uniform neural processes.

ABSTRACT This article explores the history and growth of the journal Ethnic and Racial Studies over the last fifty years. In celebrating its 50th anniversary, it highlights how the field of racial and ethnic studies has broadened and progressed, emphasising the journal's role in supporting and influencing this development. We review important milestones, key debate topics, the globalisation of research in this area, and notable shifts in research scope. The discussion also considers potential future directions for the field and possible challenges the journal may face moving forward.