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There is abundant research showing the disproportionate impacts of violence on health in disadvantaged neighborhoods, making an understanding of recent violent crime trends essential for promoting health equity. Carjackings have been of particular interest in the media, although little research has been undertaken on this violent crime. We use interrupted time series models to examine the impact of the police killing of George Floyd on the spatiotemporal patterns of carjacking in Minneapolis in relation to neighborhood disadvantage. To provide grounding, we compare our results to the well-studied patterns of homicides. Results indicate that carjackings both increased and dispersed spatially after the murder of George Floyd and subsequent social unrest, more so than homicides. Socially disadvantaged neighborhoods experienced the greatest absolute increase while more advantaged neighborhoods saw a greater relative increase. The challenge ahead is to identify policy responses that will effectively curb such violence without resorting to harsh and inequitable policing and sentencing practices. • Carjackings increased in Minneapolis after the murder of George Floyd. • Socially disadvantaged neighborhoods saw the greatest absolute increase. • Carjackings also spread to advantaged neighborhoods, not accustomed to violent crime. • Both findings have important health and policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To determine the impact of the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, MN on firearm violence, and examine the spatial and social heterogeneity of the effect. We analyzed a uniquely constructed panel dataset of Minneapolis Zip Code Tabulation Areas from 2016–2020 (n = 5742), consisting of Minnesota Hospital Association, Minneapolis Police Department, Minneapolis Public Schools, Census Bureau, and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources data. Interrupted time-series and random effects panel models were used to model the spatiotemporal effects of police killing event on the rate of firearm assault injuries. Findings reveal a rising and falling temporal pattern post-killing and a spatial pattern in which disadvantaged, historically Black communities near earlier sites of protest against police violence experienced the brunt of the post-killing increase in firearm assault injury. These effects remain after adjusting for changes in police activity and pandemic-related restrictions, indicating that rising violence was not a simple byproduct of changes in police behavior or COVID-19 response. The results suggest that the increases in firearm violence as a result of police violence are disproportionately borne by underserved communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Atopic dermatitis is characterized by scratching and by TH2-dominated immune response to cutaneously introduced antigens. Antigen application to skin mechanically injured by tape stripping results in TH2-dominated skin inflammation. Objective: To examine the effect of tape stripping on the capacity of skin dendritic cells (DCs) to polarize T cells toward a TH2 phenotype. Methods: CD11c+ DCs were isolated from skin of BALB/c or C57BL/6 mice. Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)+ and FITC− DCs were isolated from draining lymph nodes (DLNs) 24 hours after painting the skin with FITC. DCs were assessed for their ability to induce cytokine secretion by ovalbumin-stimulated naive CD4+ T cells from T cell receptor-ovalbumin transgenic DO11.10 mice. Cytokine mRNA levels were examined by quantitative PCR. Results: Dendritic cells isolated from the skin of wild-type, but not thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) receptor−/− or IL-10−/−, mice 6 hours after tape stripping elicited significantly more IL-4 and IL-13 and significantly less IFN-γ production by CD4+ cells than DCs isolated from unmanipulated skin, and expressed significantly more mRNA for the TH2 skewing molecules IL-10, Jagged1, and Jagged2, but significantly less mRNA for the TH1 skewing cytokine IL-12. CD11c+FITC+ cells isolated from DLNs of shaved and tape stripped skin of wild-type, but not TSLP receptor−/− or IL-10−/−, mice polarized T cells significantly more toward TH2 and expressed significantly more IL-10, Jagged1, and Jagged2 mRNA than CD11c+FITC+ cells isolated from DLNs of shaved skin. Tape stripping significantly increased TSLP levels in the skin, and TSLP was shown to play an essential role in the TH2 polarization of skin DCs by tape stripping. Conclusions: Tape stripping upregulates TSLP levels in the skin, which polarizes skin DCs to elicit a TH2 response via the induction of IL-10. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]