Mechanism Of Discrimination Research Articles

Chimeric aggregative multicellularity in absence of kin discrimination.

Aggregative multicellularity is a cooperative strategy employed by some microorganisms. Unlike clonal expansion within protected environments during multicellular eukaryotic development, an aggregation strategy introduces the potential for genetic conflicts and exploitation by cheaters, threatening the stability of the social system. Myxococcus xanthus, a soil-dwelling bacterium, employs aggregative multicellularity to form multicellular fruiting bodies that produce spores in response to starvation. Studies of natural fruiting bodies show that this process is restricted to close kin or clonemates. Here, we investigate the mechanisms underlying kin recognition during development in M. xanthus. By co-culturing two distantly related M. xanthus strains under vegetative and starvation conditions, we observed that the strains segregate in both contexts. During vegetative growth, one strain antagonized the other using the type VI secretion system (T6SS). T6SS-mediated antagonism was also observed during development, resulting in monoclonal fruiting bodies when WT strains were mixed. In contrast, mixtures of T6SS knockout strains formed chimeric fruiting bodies, that produced viable spores from both strains. These findings suggest that T6SS is the primary mechanism of kin discrimination in distantly related M. xanthus strains, and its use ensures the development of monoclonal fruiting bodies and social integrity.

Ligand discrimination in hOR1A1 based on the capacitive response

Odorant discrimination mechanisms are based on the differential interactions between odorant molecules and olfactory receptors (ORs). Biohybrid sensors based on ORs described to date show selectivity towards specific versus non-specific binding of odorants, being unable to distinguish between specific ligands of different affinity. Here we disclose a method that enables odorant discrimination based on the modulation of the capacitive response of the receptor, which allows the differentiation of three high-affinity hOR1A1 agonists. We performed voltammetry and impedance measurements of the hOR1A1 receptor selectively immobilized on a gold electrode in the absence and presence of the agonists. Binding induces a decrease in the capacitive response of the receptor that is proportional to the ligand potency, reaching up to a 40% decrease for the cognate ligand dihydrojasmone, which is attributed to changes in the magnitude and orientation of the electric dipole in the receptor, thereby regulating its response to the applied electric field.

No country for model minorities: Evidence of discrimination against Asian noncitizen immigrants in the U.S. nursing home market

AbstractAlthough public administration scholars have long been studying discriminative behavior of frontline servants of public service organizations, whether and to what extent Asians and noncitizen immigrants may suffer from frontline discrimination in the United States lacks evidential support. To fill this gap, we conducted a corresponding field experiment in the U.S. nursing home market (N = 6428). Our findings identify substantial discrimination against Asians and noncitizen immigrants. Holding other factors constant, nursing homes with long‐term care services in the United States are less responsive to and less likely to offer services to Asians and noncitizen immigrants, compared to Whites and citizens, respectively. Such discrimination is observed in all public, private for‐profit, and nonprofit nursing homes, whereas private for‐profit nursing homes demonstrated less discrimination. This study has implications for describing frontline discrimination in government‐regulated public service organizations and for scholarly understanding of the mechanism of such discrimination.

Athletes vs. Musicians: Perceptions and Preferences in Workplace Social Programs

ABSTRACTThis paper investigates the intrinsic preferences for athletic versus musical events in the context of workplace social programs and explores the differing outcomes these events are perceived to generate. Empirical evidence consistently shows that individuals with athletic backgrounds are favoured in the job market, receiving better wages and benefits than their nonathlete counterparts because of stereotypes about their managerial qualities, stress handling and team spirit. In contrast, music participation is often undervalued, with musicians facing wage disparities and discrimination despite the cognitive and emotional benefits associated with music playing and listening. Through a vignette study, this research identifies that participants prefer athletes for events aimed at team cohesion and musicians for events designed to enhance creative skills. The findings highlight a type of job market discrimination based on preferences for workplace programs, emphasizing the role of stereotypes in shaping these preferences. The study contributes to the understanding of how workplace social programs are designed and the underlying biases that influence these decisions, offering insights into the mechanisms of job market discrimination and the potential for more inclusive program design that recognizes the value of both athletic and musical participation.

Of deviance and patriarchy: Mechanisms of gender discrimination in public-sector corruption

Of deviance and patriarchy: Mechanisms of gender discrimination in public-sector corruption

Role of the GRK2/3 N-terminus in discriminating the endocytic effects of opioid agonist drugs.

Endocytosis of the μ-type opioid receptor (MOR) is a fundamentally important cellular regulatory process that is characteristically driven less effectively by partial relative to full agonist ligands. Such agonist-selective endocytic discrimination depends on how strongly drugs promote MOR binding to β-arrestins and this, in turn, depends on how strongly they stimulate phosphorylation of the MOR cytoplasmic tail by GPCR kinases (GRKs) from the GRK2/3 subfamily. While these relatively 'downstream' steps in the agonist-selective endocytic pathway are now well defined, it remains unclear how agonist-bound receptors are distinguished 'upstream' by GRKs. Focusing on GRK2 as a prototype, we show that this single GRK subtype can distinguish the endocytic activities of different MOR agonists in cells lacking other GRKs, and that agonist-selectivity is introduced at the most upstream step of GRK2 binding to MOR. This interaction requires prior membrane recruitment of GRK2 by its conserved PH domain and is enhanced by phosphorylation of the MOR tail, but neither reaction can explain the high degree of agonist-selectivity in the observed interaction of GRK2 with MOR. We identify the N-terminal domain (NTD) of GRK2, which is identical in GRK3, as a discrete element required for the full agonist-selectivity of MOR-GRK2 interaction and show that the NTD is also required for GRK2 to promote MOR endocytosis after it is bound. We propose a simple cellular mechanism of upstream agonist discrimination that is organized as a series of biochemical checkpoints and utilizes the NTD as an agonist-selective sensor. Significance Statement This study investigates how GPCR kinases (GRKs) distinguish the effects of opioid agonist drugs on regulated endocytosis of the μ-opioid receptor (MOR). It shows that a single GRK subtype is sufficient to determine the agonist-selectivity of MOR internalization, agonists are distinguished by how strongly they promote GRK2 recruitment by MOR, and the GRK2/3 N-terminus is a key determinant of agonist discrimination.

Of deviance and patriarchy: Mechanisms of gender discrimination in public‐sector corruption

AbstractAlthough men are overrepresented among the perpetrators of high‐profile, white‐collar crime, examinations of public‐sector corruption typically reveal little‐to‐no gender differences in participation. Drawing from Steffensmeier's theory of gender inequality in the criminal underworld and Tomaskovic‐Devey and Avent‐Holt's relational theory of inequality, we argue that this apparent equality conceals systematically different patterns of engagement. We hypothesize that bureaucrats and other facilitators are more willing to collaborate with men than with women. Because public‐sector corruption markets are not male dominated, we argue that “gatekeepers” of both genders systematically exclude women from lucrative illegal collaborations. We further hypothesize that patterns of gender inequality are more pronounced in riskier and more profitable public‐sector corruption. We test these hypotheses with data from an original nationally representative survey conducted in Russia in 2018 using models that incorporate controls for explanations that locate gender differences in crime engagement in offender attributes. Our results demonstrate that gender differences in public‐sector corruption are a function of coordination among multiple actors. These relational dynamics advantage Russian men over women in that they are more likely to use less costly types of remuneration and to engage in high‐stakes exchanges with bigger material yields.

The Evolution of Kin Discrimination Across the Tree of Life

Kin discrimination, the differential treatment of conspecifics based on kinship, occurs across the tree of life, from animals to plants to fungi to bacteria. When kin and nonkin interact, the ability to identify kin enables individuals to increase their inclusive fitness by helping kin, harming nonkin, and avoiding inbreeding. For a given species, the strength of selection for kin discrimination mechanisms is influenced by demographic, ecological, and life-history processes that collectively determine the scope for discrimination and the payoffs from kin-biased behavior. In this review, we explore how these processes drive variation in kin discrimination across taxa, highlighting contributions of recent empirical, comparative, and theoretical work to our understanding of when, how, and why kin discrimination evolves.

Discrimination experiences of transgender individuals in healthcare: an interview study on the perspective of health professionals specializing in the treatment of transgender individuals

BackgroundExperiences of discrimination in healthcare lead to poorer mental and physical health for transgender individuals. There is evidence that trans-specialists, i.e. health professionals specializing in transgender care, are an important source of discrimination experienced by transgender individuals in healthcare. In this qualitative interview study, we explored the reasons for this possibly surprising finding by analyzing subjective views of trans-specialists on various issues related to discrimination of transgender individuals.MethodsWe conducted 20 semi-structured, qualitative, exploratory interviews with healthcare professionals specializing in transgender care. Interview questions were developed based on an extensive literature analysis and results of previous research on the topic. The interviews were conducted online, were digitally recorded and transcribed. Data analysis was conducted using the methods of content analysis and thematic analysis.ResultsThe interviewees had great difficulty giving a consistent definition of the concept of gender identity. Most of them saw it as a self-determination of a transgender individual. Although herewith emphasizing the autonomy of transgender individuals, most trans-specialists felt that they had to be convinced of their patient’s transsexuality to carry out treatment. Most trans-specialists reported having had doubts about whether some transgender individuals were suffering from gender incongruence or not. There was also ambiguity among interviewees about whether transsexuality is a mental illness.ConclusionsWe were able to identify specific topics that can cause discrimination experiences on the part of transgender individuals in their contact with trans-specialists. These include the vagueness of the construct of gender identity and the ambivalence between respect for the autonomy of transgender individuals and the validation of the diagnosis “transsexuality”. Also, uncertainties regarding the classification of transsexuality as a mental illness can lead to experiences of discrimination. Furthermore, our results imply that trans-specialists might remember own discriminatory behavior less than it actually took place. Our results can contribute to the development of specific measures to avoid discrimination experiences of transgender individuals in contact with trans-specialists. These should include a reflection on one’s own gender identity and training on mechanisms of discrimination.

An Automated Penetration Testing Framework Based on Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning

Given the large action space and state space involved in penetration testing, reinforcement learning is widely applied to enhance testing efficiency. This paper proposes an automatic penetration testing scheme based on hierarchical reinforcement learning to reduce both action space and state space. The scheme includes a network intelligence responsible for specifying the penetration host and a host intelligence designated to perform penetration testing on the selected host. Specifically, within the network intelligence, an action-masking mechanism is adopted to shield unenabled actions, thereby reducing the explorable action space and improving the penetration testing efficiency. Additionally, the host intelligence employs an invalid discrimination mechanism, terminating testing after actions that do not alter system states, thereby preventing sudden increases in the number of neural network training steps for an action. An optimistic estimation mechanism is also introduced to select penetration strategies suited to various hosts, preventing training crashes due to value confusion between different hosts. Ablation experiments demonstrate that the host intelligence can learn different penetration strategies for varying penetration depths without significant fluctuations in training steps, and the network intelligence can coordinate with the host intelligence to perform network penetration steadily. This hierarchical reinforcement learning framework can detect network vulnerabilities more quickly and accurately, significantly reducing the cost of security policy updates.

Intersectional Discrimination in Mental Health Care: A Systematic Review With Qualitative Evidence Synthesis.

Discriminatory practices in mental health care undermine the right to health of marginalized service users. Intersectional approaches enable consideration of multiple forms of discrimination that occur simultaneously and remain invisible in single-axis analyses. The authors reviewed intersectionality-informed qualitative literature on discriminatory practices in mental health care to better understand the experiences of marginalized service users and their evaluation and navigation of mental health care. The authors searched EBSCO, PubMed, MEDLINE, and JSTOR for studies published January 1, 1989-December 14, 2022. Qualitative and mixed-methods studies were eligible if they used an intersectional approach to examine discrimination (experiences, mechanisms, and coping strategies) in mental health care settings from the perspective of service users and providers. A qualitative evidence synthesis with thematic analysis was performed. Fifteen studies were included in the qualitative evidence synthesis. These studies represented the experiences of 383 service users and 114 providers. Most studies considered the intersections of mental illness with race, sexual and gender diversity, or both and were performed in the United States or Canada. Four themes were identified: the relevance of social identity in mental health care settings, knowledge-related concerns in mental health care, microaggressions in clinical practice, and service users' responses to discriminatory practices. Discriminatory practices in mental health care lead to specific barriers to care for multiply marginalized service users. Universities and hospitals may improve care by building competencies in recognizing and preventing discrimination through institutionalized training.

Preparation of D-NCCDs and its application in fluorescent/colorimetric dual-mode discrimination of glutamine enantiomers.

Anew type of carbon dots (D-NCCDs) was synthesized by 3, 5-diaminobenzoic acid, N,N-dimethyl-o-phenylenediamine, and D-cysteine. The morphology and structure of D-NCCDs were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and FT-IR spectra, and the chirality was characterized by circular dichroism. In the presence of hydrogen peroxide, the fluorescence of D-NCCDs at 487nm (λex = 410nm) showed great discrimination ability towards glutamine enantiomers. The ratio of fluorescence intensity (F/F0) to the concentration of D-Gln showed good linearity in the range 0.5-10mM, with a detection limits of 0.11mM. Meanwhile, the color of the solution gradually changed from light yellow to yellow-brown. The UV-Vis absorption ratio (A/A0) at 410nm showed good linearity with the concentration of D-Gln in the range 0.5 to 20mM; the detection limit is 7.7μM. But the fluorescence and absorbance of D-NCCDs showed no significant change after the addition of L-glutamine. Thus, fluorescence and colorimetry dual-mode discrimination of glutamine enantiomers was achieved. The fluorescence enantioselectivity of Gln (FL-Gln/FD-Gln) is 1.62, and the colorimetric enantioselectivity of Gln (AD-Gln/AL-Gln) is 2.14. The chiral discrimination mechanism of D-NCCDs to Gln enantiomers was also investigated systematically. This work not only can discriminate glutamine enantiomers with high sensitivity and convenience, but also offers a new strategy for preparing new dual mode chiral nanoprobes.

Propulsion and energy extraction performance of wave-powered mechanism considering wave and current

Wave-powered mechanism can extract wave energy as propulsion, enabling long-term ocean observation. The kinematic properties of wave propulsion mechanisms are susceptible to ocean current loads in addition to wave effects, presenting complex dynamic behaviors. In this paper, to understand the effects of ocean currents on the kinematic performances of wave propulsion mechanism, the dynamic performance of a wave propulsion mechanism in the combined condition of wave and current is analyzed based on numerical simulation method for fluid-rigid body coupling and experimental methods. The performance of the propulsion mechanism against the current under counter-current conditions and the contribution of flow to the propulsion performance under co-current conditions are discussed. The intrinsic relationship between wave height, current velocity and current direction is investigated, and the energy extraction performance of wave propulsion mechanism is analyzed. According to the results, the ability of propulsion mechanism to resist counter-current is obtained, and it is found that as the counter-current velocity increases, the hydrofoil will stall and the propulsion force and efficiency decreases significantly. Whilst, the co-current has a promoting effect on the forward of the mechanism, but within a certain range of co-current speed, the mechanism will be negatively affected by the shedding vortex. And the discrimination mechanisms for wave-dominated propulsion and current-dominated propulsion are obtained. This work reveals the combined effect of waves and currents on the motion performance of wave propulsion mechanism, providing a reference for the development of surface vehicles that utilize multiple ocean energies for synergistic propulsion.

Social Justice in Reservation - An Analysis

Reservation is one of the mechanisms of protective discrimination for eradicating the present institutionalized effects of past discriminations, through positive governmental steps awarding preferential treatment in favour of certain weaker sections of the society. Reservation is applied only in graded societies, where certain groups enjoyed more powers and privileges, while the other sections have been wholly or partially neglected. It involves encouragement sharing in favour of certain weaker sections of the society. It involves encouragement sharing of opportunities in the executive, legislative bodies, in educational institutions and in public services. Demand by the unprivileged classes to enjoy the same opportunities of the privileged class resulted in social conflict in the earlier stages. In course of time, the unprivileged section came to enjoy social, political and economic and other privileges on par with others. As per the Constitution of India, it is a temporary phenomenon used for some special achievement. In course of time, the unprivileged section came to enjoy social, political and economic and other privileges. Thus, everybody in the beneficiary categories Viz., Other Backward Classes in all India level, Backward Classes and Most Backward Classes in Tamil Nadu, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes did not enjoy the same status in the society. Due to the reservation policy, there are tremendous transformations in the social structure. It is evident that, there are noteworthy rich people among the backward and depressed castes. Similarly there are poor people in the forward castes as well. Not only that as per the Constitution of India, it is a temporary phenomenon used for some special achievement. In this research paper, an attempt has been made to examine and compare the concepts of exclusive reservation and creamy layer and to study the changing trends in the reservation policy towards social justice.

DISCRIMINATION, MINORITY STRESS, AND COPING MECHANISMS IN THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY

DISCRIMINATION, MINORITY STRESS, AND COPING MECHANISMS IN THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY

Kin recognition for incest avoidance in Damaraland mole-rats, Fukomys damarensis.

Across taxa, breeding among close relatives is usually avoided because it incurs fitness costs to offspring. Incest is often averted through the dispersal of either sex from the natal area to breed. In some philopatric species, association among relatives extends into adulthood, and an ability to discriminate kin may be required for individuals to reduce inbreeding risk. Here, we aim to determine the mechanism of kin recognition for incest avoidance in the Damaraland mole-rat Fukomys damarensis, a cooperative breeder characterized by extreme reproductive skew. Pairs of opposite-sex adults were formed in the laboratory and, within pairs, genetic relatedness and degree of familiarity were manipulated through cross-fostering experiments. We found that unfamiliar pairs were more likely to engage in sexual behaviours and bred more successfully than familiar pairs, regardless of their genetic similarity. Females paired with unfamiliar males were also more likely to exhibit reproductive activation, characterized by increased levels of oestradiol and progesterone. This study shows that in Damaraland mole-rats, inbreeding avoidance can be achieved through a discrimination mechanism that relies on association during rearing, and that ovulation is induced by mating. This study advances our understanding of incest avoidance in species with constrained dispersal.

Beam test performance studies of CMS Phase-2 Outer Tracker module prototypes

A new tracking detector will be installed as part of the Phase-2 upgrade of the CMS detector for the high-luminosity LHC era. This tracking detector includes the Inner Tracker, equipped with silicon pixel sensor modules, and the Outer Tracker, consisting of modules with two parallel stacked silicon sensors. The Outer Tracker front-end ASICs will be able to correlate hits from charged particles in these two sensors to perform on-module discrimination of transverse momenta (p T). The p T information is generated at a frequency of 40 MHz and will be used in the Level-1 trigger decision of CMS. Prototypes of the so-called 2S modules were tested at the Test Beam Facility at DESY Hamburg between 2019 and 2020. These modules use the final front-end ASIC, the CMS Binary Chip (CBC), and for the first time the Concentrator Integrated Circuit (CIC), optical readout and on-module power conversion. In total, seven modules were tested, one of which was assembled with sensors irradiated with protons. An important aspect was to show that it is possible to read out modules synchronously. A cluster hit efficiency of about 99.75 % was achieved for all modules. The CBC p T discrimination mechanism has been verified to work together with the CIC and optical readout. The measured module performance meets the requirements for operation in the upgraded CMS tracking detector.

Adaptive PSO-SO algorithm with Sobol sequence for aerodynamic physical parameter identification of projectiles

In the domain of aerodynamic physical parameter identification, conventional optimization algorithms are often limited by falling into local optima. To overcome this limitation, a novel adaptive PSO-SO algorithm based on Sobol sequences (SAPSO-SO) algorithm is proposed in this study. The algorithm integrates particle swarm optimization algorithms and snake optimization algorithms, utilizing Sobol sequences for initialization, which enhances the global search and local development ability of the algorithm by adaptively adjusting the inertia weights and learning factors. In addition, this study introduced a local optimal discriminant mechanism and a local search function to further enhance the optimization performance of the algorithms. In this study, the small interval constant method was used to subdivide the trajectory, relying on the three-degree-of-freedom ballistic model to identify the starting ballistic parameters and aerodynamic physical parameters of each small interval. The performances of the snake optimization algorithm, particle swarm optimization algorithm, C-K method, and SAPSO-SO algorithm in the identification of ballistic physical parameters were compared using the full ballistic simulation data of a high-speed rotating projectile as measurement data. The results show that the SAPSO-SO algorithm demonstrates excellent accuracy and effectiveness, especially in noisy simulation data, where its recognition accuracy is improved by 7.79% over the C-K method, highlighting its superior anti-noise performance and global optimization capability. It is comprehensively analyzed that the SAPSO-SO algorithm has strong global optimization potential in theory and shows a high degree of accuracy and stability in practical applications, independent of the selection of initial parameters.

A robust image segmentation and synthesis pipeline for histopathology

Significant diagnostic variability between and within observers persists in pathology, despite the fact that digital slide images provide the ability to measure and quantify features much more precisely compared to conventional methods. Automated and accurate segmentation of cancerous cell and tissue regions can streamline the diagnostic process, providing insights into the cancer progression, and helping experts decide on the most effective treatment. Here, we evaluate the performance of the proposed PathoSeg model, with an architecture comprising of a modified HRNet encoder and a UNet++ decoder integrated with a CBAM block to utilize attention mechanism for an improved segmentation capability. We demonstrate that PathoSeg outperforms the current state-of-the-art (SOTA) networks in both quantitative and qualitative assessment of instance and semantic segmentation. Notably, we leverage the use of synthetic data generated by PathopixGAN, which effectively addresses the data imbalance problem commonly encountered in histopathology datasets, further improving the performance of PathoSeg. It utilizes spatially adaptive normalization within a generative and discriminative mechanism to synthesize diverse histopathological environments dictated through semantic information passed through pixel-level annotated Ground Truth semantic masks.Besides, we contribute to the research community by providing an in-house dataset that includes semantically segmented masks for breast carcinoma tubules (BCT), micro/macrovesicular steatosis of the liver (MSL), and prostate carcinoma glands (PCG). In the first part of the dataset, we have a total of 14 whole slide images from 13 patients’ liver, with fat cell segmented masks, totaling 951 masks of size 512 × 512 pixels. In the second part, it includes 17 whole slide images from 13 patients with prostate carcinoma gland segmentation masks, amounting to 30,000 masks of size 512 × 512 pixels. In the third part, the dataset contains 51 whole slides from 36 patients, with breast carcinoma tubule masks totaling 30,000 masks of size 512 × 512 pixels. To ensure transparency and encourage further research, we will make this dataset publicly available for non-commercial and academic purposes. To facilitate reproducibility and encourage further research, we will also make our code and pre-trained models publicly available at https://github.com/DeepMIALab/PathoSeg.

Racismo no Brasil: de hipótese à premissa, sem passar por objeto

The area study of race relations is one of the oldest and most consolidated in Brazilian Social Sciences. Yet paradoxically, there is still little research focused on understanding and explaining Brazil’s racism, its mechanisms and characteristics. In addition to illustrating these claims, this text aims to explain why the mechanisms of racial discrimination still manage to escape the radar of sociology and, above all, to outline the general lines of a research agenda that takes discrimination as an object of investigation. It seems that racial discrimination stopped being a research hypothesis, reformulated and tested in different ways between the 1970s and 1990s, to become a premise in the area from the 2000s onwards. However, this came to be without racism being properly constructed as an object of sociological research itself.