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The research aimed to provide insights into the manner in which imprisonment is experienced by men. By better understanding how men ‘do’ being in prison, where many normalising contexts and resources for performing socially legitimate masculine identities are unavailable, such as liberty, goods and services, autonomy, heterosexual relationships, and security (Sykes 1958), where men are placed into feminising positions, and where such men are literally ‘captive’ in such a context for the researcher, it may help to enhance the understandings of masculinities more broadly, and to help to explain its association with crime. A key focus is upon interpersonal interactions between prisoners, based upon the concept of gender and the gendered body (and its use through gestures) being ‘performative’ (Butler 1990: 173).

This brief summarizes the outcomes of two summers of voluntary academic programming (2013 and 2014) on 3,192 low-income urban students accepted into the programs who had completed third grade before the first summer.

Placing full-service supermarkets in food deserts (areas with limited access to healthy foods) has been proposed as an important policy strategy to confront inequalities in healthy food access. Capitalizing on a natural experiment, we enrolled n=1,372 randomly selected households from two comparable neighborhoods, one of which received a full-service supermarket in 2013. We looked at the impact on residents’ diet, perceived access to healthy foods and satisfaction with one’s neighborhood as a place to live. Baseline data was collected in 2011, and follow-up in 2014. Relative to the comparison neighborhood, we found a net positive change in the intervention neighborhood in overall dietary quality, total kilocalories, added sugars, and solid fats, alcohol and added sugars (SoFAAS). However, we did not observe differential improvement in fruit and vegetable intake, whole grain consumption or body mass index (BMI). Regular users of the new supermarket had significantly improved perceived access to healthy foods compared to others, but use of the new supermarket was not related to dietary changes or to improvements with neighborhood satisfaction. Our study is the first to our knowledge to have found significant improvements in multiple dietary outcomes and neighborhood satisfaction among residents of a food desert, following the opening of a supermarket. Our study supports the Healthy Food Financing Initiative and other policies that incentivize food retail venues to locate in food deserts, but we recommend further efforts proceed with caution until research has clarified the mechanisms through which diet is improved and associations with weight status/obesity have been observed.

‘Another milestone has been reached in the development of victimology.’ This is how the first edition of the International Review of Victimology began in 1989, edited by John Freeman and Leslie Sebba. Twenty-four years later, another milestone has been reached in the form of the 20th volume of the journal. In that time, much has changed in the world of victimology, yet other issues have remained. Freeman and Sebba raised key questions in their first editorial: ‘Is victimology a sociopolitical movement whose objective is the pursuit of victims’ rights, or rather an academic activity concerned ‘‘merely’’ with the pursuit of knowledge?’ ‘Should a victimological journal serve as a forum designed to meet the needs of persons engaged in victim services, or of academic researchers?’ Finally – the hoary old chestnut – ‘Is victimology concerned exclusively with victims of crime, or also with other categories of victimisation?’ Such questions still rear their heads today. The pioneers of victimology those 20 years ago were both academics and practitioners. Although criminology, one of its parent disciplines, had made a clear distinction between academic research, practice and policy making, victimology then was yet to do so. Today, in all social policy areas, the relationships between research, practice and policy are still very contested. The paths whereby the results of research reach and influence both practice and policy are often tangled and beset with minefields and dead ends, just as Rock (1986, 1990) described for Canada and England & Wales. Yet we have moved on. Victimological research and theory have acquired a distinct identity and operate according to academic research methods and ethics – but they both study and also influence practice and policy. Victimology has not become solely the preserve of pressure groups, but equally those research ethics include care for victims and often are illuminated by passion and empathy. Twenty volumes on, Sebba and Berenblum return in this issue to the scope of victimology, supplemented by empirical data into the use of the term ‘victim’ in academic articles between 1960 and 2012, and considering the historical development of ‘victimology’. The issues concerning

The Pittsburgh Hill/Homewood Research on Eating, Shopping, and Health study found that a new full-service supermarket in a food desert led to improvements in the quality of neighborhood residents' diets, though not in obesity rates.

The practice of ethnography as a research method has a long history that places special importance on understanding the perspectives of the people under study and of observing their activities in everyday life (Hammersley and Atkinson, 1983). It is a method used by researchers in a variety of disciplines, but it is perhaps most famously associated with social anthropology and the study of indigenous cultures (Malinowski, 1922; Evans-Pritchard, 1937; Turnbull, 1961). Ethnographers aim to produce rich and detailed accounts of people and the social processes they are embedded in. For these reasons, it is often employed by educational, health and social sciences researchers in a wide variety of institutional, community and other social settings.

Hardly any scholarly attention has been paid to the first-time prison researcher. What little commentary does exist (e.g. Smith and Wincup, 2000, 2002) is primarily focused on providing practical tips for novice researchers within criminal justice institutions which, whilst helpful, do little to prepare the inexperienced, ‘greenhead’ researcher for the lived emotions and experiences of the task of conducting prisons research. Even the most seasoned researchers are in no way immune to the ‘pains’ and ‘turbulence’ of prison-based fieldwork (cf. Liebling, 1999); however, for the neophyte prisons researcher, these pains can be magnified, particularly given the exhaustion, isolation and ‘shock’ of working in the field for the first time (Smith and Wincup, 2000). This ‘shock’ undoubtedly results from the lack of studies which exist to adequately equip and prepare novitiates to prisons research, an issue which is arguably part of the broader dearth of scholarly attention previously paid to the emotive aspects of work undertaken in this environment (see Liebling, 1999; Jewkes, 2012).

This brief describes the near-term effects of voluntary summer learning programs provided by five urban school districts to large numbers of struggling low-income elementary students in the summer of 2013.

Background : People with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI) are at a greater risk of medical issues compared with the general population. Exercise has a positive effect on physical and mental health outcomes among this population in community settings. Objectives : To describe community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods used to tailor an exercise program among people with SPMI, demonstrate its impact, and present lessons learned for future research. Methods : The partnership developed a project to explore the feasibility of implementing a physical activity program at a community agency among clients with SPMI. Lessons Learned : Data showed improved trends in mood, social support, and physical and mental health outcomes. Facilitators and barriers must be carefully considered for recruitment and retention. Conclusions : A gender-specific, group-based, tailored exercise intervention developed through collaboration with a community agency serving people with SPMI using CBPR methods is feasible.

The Palgrave Handbook of Prison Ethnography provides an expansive and authoritative overview of the challenges presented by qualitative, and particularly ethnographic, inquiry. Global in perspective, the chapters reflect upon the means by which ethnographers aim to gain understanding, make sense of what they learn and the way they represent their finished work. The Handbook offers urgent insights relevant to current trends in the growth of imprisonment world-wide. In an era of mass incarceration, human-centric ethnography provides an important counter to quantitative analysis and the 'official' audit culture on which prisons are frequently judged. The Handbook is divided into four parts. Part I (About Prison Ethnography) assesses methodological, theoretical and pragmatic issues related to the use of ethnographic and qualitative inquiry in understanding complex social and political problems. Part II (Through Prison Ethnography) considers the significance of ethnographic insights for disciplines and for wide social or political concerns. Part III (Of Prison Ethnography) analyses the different aspects of the roles of ethnographers, and how they negotiate their research settings. Part IV (For Prison Ethnography) comprises contributions that convincingly argue for the great value of prison ethnography beyond the prison itself. Bringing together contributions by some of the world's leading scholars in criminology, this volume ultimately maps out new directions for future research. It will be an indispensable resource for all practitioners, students, academics and researchers who utilise social research methods.

Evaluations of federal programs designed to improve student achievement generally depend on data gathered by the states for school accountability purposes, rather than data specifically designed for program evaluation. In addition, these data are available at the school level but not at the student level. This article first discusses issues related to the quality of school-level data collected as part of state accountability systems, including the reliability and validity of school-level test scores as a measure of the value added by schools to student learning. It then outlines various ways in which school-level data can be usefully analyzed and illustrates the challenges inherent in doing so, including the challenges of aggregating data across states to find an overall program effect. The final section discusses the implications of the arguments presented here for measuring changes in school performance and linking these effects to a specific program. Ultimately, our ability to measure changes in outcom...

Rachel Littler Bodley was an important contributor to the study of chemistry and the work of women in science. In 1862, she undertook the cataloging of an extensive plant collection at Cincinnati Female Seminary. Her work was praised by many eminent botanists of that time. In 1865, Bodley became a professor of chemistry at Woman’s Medical College. While at that college, her work and student addresses revealed her belief in the possibilities of synthetically made “cures.” In 1874, Rachel became dean of Woman’s Medical College. During 1874, Bodley proposed that American chemists meet at Joseph Priestley’s birthplace to celebrate his discovery of oxygen. Her suggestion led to the formation of the American Chemical Society. She was elected as a charter member of the society and was its only female member until the 1890s. In 1880, Bodley became a member of the Franklin Institute and lectured there on household chemistry. In 1881, she wrote and published The College Story, a survey on the lives of women in the medical profession. It was the first survey of its kind done by a woman. Rachel was a devoted Christian and promoter of foreign medical mission work among students, colleagues, and others. Her leadership and foresight allowed Woman’s Medical College to become one of the foremost women’s medical institutions in America. Her diligence and encouragement made the work of single women as Christian missionaries both possible and extremely productive. Her achievements helped to better the possibilities for women in the medical field and in the world. Finally, the American Chemical Society had its birth from an idea that Rachel Bodley proposed.

Following the Cold War, regional instability and lower-level conflict have increased, bringing with them enhanced roles and responsibilities for the U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF). As a result, ensuring and maintaining the personnel readiness of the SOF is critical. One of the major issues facing SOF is recruiting and ensuring ethnic diversity among its members. This study examines the racial and ethnic composition of SOF operators, and the barriers that stand in the way of recruiting minorities. It identifies both structural and perceptual barriers to minority participation and also examines the question of minorities' lack of interest in SOF as a career. Its methodology and findings should be of interest to other agencies and firms dealing with issues of minority representation.

Marie Anne Pierrette Paulze was a significant contributor to the understanding of chemistry in the late 1700s. Marie Anne married Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, known as the ‘Father of Modern Chemistry,’ and was his chief collaborator and laboratory assistant. Marie Anne Lavoisier translated Richard Kirwan’s ‘Essay on Phlogiston’ from English to French which allowed her husband and others to dispute Kirwan’s ideas. She drew many sketches and carved engravings of the laboratory instruments used by Lavoisier and his colleagues. She edited and published Lavoisier’s Memoirs and hosted many parties where eminent scientists discussed new chemistry and ideas. As a result of her close work with Antoine Lavoisier, it is difficult to separate her individual contributions from his, but it is correctly assumed that much of the work accredited to him bears her fingerprints.

Effective decision-making requires consideration of costs and benefits. Previous studies have implicated orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in cost-benefit decision-making. Yet controversy remains about whether different decision costs are encoded by different brain areas, and whether single neurons integrate costs and benefits to derive a subjective value estimate for each choice alternative. To address these issues, we trained four subjects to perform delay- and effort-based cost-benefit decisions and recorded neuronal activity in OFC, ACC, DLPFC, and the cingulate motor area (CMA). Although some neurons, mainly in ACC, did exhibit integrated value signals as if performing cost-benefit computations, they were relatively few in number. Instead, the majority of neurons in all areas encoded the decision type; that is whether the subject was required to perform a delay- or effort-based decision. OFC and DLPFC neurons tended to show the largest changes in firing rate for delay- but not effort-based decisions; whereas, the reverse was true for CMA neurons. Only ACC contained neurons modulated by both effort- and delay-based decisions. These findings challenge the idea that OFC calculates an abstract value signal to guide decision-making. Instead, our results suggest that an important function of single PFC neurons is to categorize sensory stimuli based on the consequences predicted by those stimuli.

Expansins are cell wall proteins implicated in the control of plant growth via loosening of the extracellular matrix. They are encoded by a large gene family, and data linked to loss of single gene function to support a role of expansins in leaf growth remain limited. Here, we provide a quantitative growth analysis of transgenics containing an inducible artificial microRNA construct designed to down-regulate the expression of a number of expansin genes that an expression analysis indicated are expressed during the development of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) leaf 6. The results support the hypothesis that expansins are required for leaf growth and show that decreased expansin gene expression leads to a more marked repression of growth during the later stage of leaf development. In addition, a histological analysis of leaves in which expansin gene expression was suppressed indicates that, despite smaller leaves, mean cell size was increased. These data provide functional evidence for a role of expansins in leaf growth, indicate the importance of tissue/organ developmental context for the outcome of altered expansin gene expression, and highlight the separation of the outcome of expansin gene expression at the cellular and organ levels.

Summer learning programs can prevent the summertime loss of knowledge and skills that disproportionately affects low-income students. A study of existing programs resulted in targeted recommendations for school districts, policymakers, and funders.

Five cities that received a grant from The Wallace Foundation, along with three other cities that were not part of the initiative, were successful in using data from management information systems to improve out-of-school-time programs.

Five cities that received a grant from The Wallace Foundation to increase collaboration, access, quality, information sharing, and sustainability in their out-of-school-time systems used different planning approaches to meet the initiative's goals.

Prenatally diagnosed confined placental trisomy is associated with increased risk for intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and preeclampsia. However, it is unclear how often this might underlie pregnancy complications. Our objective was to evaluate the frequency and distribution of trisomic cells in placentae ascertained for IUGR and/or preeclampsia.Comparative genomic hybridization was applied to two uncultured biopsies from each of 61 placentae referred with maternal preeclampsia and/or IUGR, 11 cases with elevated maternal serum hCG and/or AFP but no IUGR or preeclampsia, and 85 control placentae.Trisomy was observed in four placentae among the IUGR group (N = 43) but in no case of preeclampsia in the absence of IUGR (N = 18). Trisomy was observed in 1 of the 11 cases ascertained for abnormal maternal serum screen. Each of these five cases was mosaic and not all sampled sites showed the presence of trisomy. None of the 84 control placentas showed mosaic trisomy, although 1 case of nonmosaic 47,XXX was identified in this group.In cases in which diagnosis of the cause of IUGR may provide some benefit, testing should be performed using uncultured cells from multiple placental biopsies for the accurate diagnosis of trisomy mosaicism.

RAND researchers conducted a three-year study of New York City's promotion policy, using interviews, case studies, student surveys, and demographic and test score data to determine its effects on the outcomes of 5th-grade students held to the policy.

This report presents findings on the implementation of parental choice options from the first year of two national studies of No Child Left Behind. In 2004-2005, nearly 6.2 million students were eligible for Title I school choice and as many as 1.8 million were eligible for supplemental educational services. Only about one percent took advantage of the school choice option, and about 17 percent took advantage of supplemental services. In a subsample of large urban districts, the average achievement of the schools chosen by students using the school choice option was consistently higher than the average achievement of the schools they came from, and their parents were largely satisfied with the new schools. The report also notes that low participation rates in Title I school choice and supplemental educational services may be related to problems communicating with parents.

This research brief discusses California, Georgia, and Pennsylvania's implementation of the standards-based accountability systems required by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, presenting the views of teachers and administrators in these states.

This research brief reports the results of a study examining the implementation and effectiveness of a middle school reading coach program in Florida.

Undertaking in-depth, ethnographic research in prisons requires significant amounts of practical and emotional commitment. By entering the prison world, researchers are able to see a world that few others gain access to, listen to stories that are rarely heard, and ask questions that many are interested in. Whilst prison researchers might be considered ‘privileged’ in the sense that they gain access to places that are closed off from most members of the public, there is another side to the experience of prison research that is often left under-explored: the emotional trials and costs that can accompany ‘deep end’ research within the confines of the prison world. This article considers some of the emotional dimensions and challenges of prison research, arguing that, whilst it is uncomfortable and exposing for researchers to examine the emotional dimensions of research, analysis of the role emotions can play has been under-examined in prison studies, despite their importance to the research process (Yuen, 2011). We suggest that knowledge and understanding about prison life and the lived experience of imprisonment can be deepened and enriched when researchers identify and systematically process their emotions as a form of data.