Equality under the Constitution

The principle of equality embedded in the Declaration of Independence and reaffirmed in the Constitution does not distinguish between individuals according to their capacities or merits. It is written into these documents to ensure that each and every person enjoys equal respect and equal rights. Judith Baer maintains, however, that in fact American judicial decisions have consistently denied individuals the form of equality to which they are legally entitled—that the courts have interpreted constitutional guarantees of equal protection in ways that undermine the original intent of Congress. In Equality under the Constitution, Baer examines the background, scope, and purpose of the Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment and the history of its interpretation by the courts. She traces the development of the idea of equality, drawing on the Bill of Rights, Congressional records, the Civil War amendments, and other sections of the Constitution. Baer discusses many of the significant equal-protection cases decided by the Supreme Court from the time of the amendment’s ratification, including decisions on reverse discrimination, age discrimination, the rights of the disabled, and gay rights. She concludes with a theory of equality more faithful to the history, language, and spirit of the Constitution

Valuation under randomness of players in coalitions, with an application to the Dutch filmindustry

In this paper we introduce a new and objective method to measure the quality of proposals from collaborating professionals. The quality or potential of a professional in a proposal is in uenced by a random environment. We derive a (numerical) value which measures the potential of a proposal by collaborating professionals. Furthermore, we provide the best linear unbiased estimator of the potential of a professional.\ud We apply our method to estimate the values of Dutch films, from collaborating producers and filmmakers, released in 2010. Our method is shown to obtain good results. Furthermore, as a by-product we rank producers, directors and screenwriters of Dutch films up to 2011. These rankings are concluded to be fair

Wolbachia in the flesh: symbiont intensities in germ-line and somatic tissues challenge the conventional view of Wolbachia transmission routes

Symbionts can substantially affect the evolution and ecology of their hosts. The investigation of the tissue-specific distribution of symbionts (tissue tropism) can provide important insight into host-symbiont interactions. Among other things, it can help to discern the importance of specific transmission routes and potential phenotypic effects. The intracellular bacterial symbiont Wolbachia has been described as the greatest ever panzootic, due to the wide array of arthropods that it infects. Being primarily vertically transmitted, it is expected that the transmission of Wolbachia would be enhanced by focusing infection in the reproductive tissues. In social insect hosts, this tropism would logically extend to reproductive rather than sterile castes, since the latter constitute a dead-end for vertically transmission. Here, we show that Wolbachia are not focused on reproductive tissues of eusocial insects, and that non-reproductive tissues of queens and workers of the ant Acromyrmex echinatior, harbour substantial infections. In particular, the comparatively high intensities of Wolbachia in the haemolymph, fat body, and faeces, suggest potential for horizontal transmission via parasitoids and the faecal-oral route, or a role for Wolbachia modulating the immune response of this host. It may be that somatic tissues and castes are not the evolutionary dead-end for Wolbachia that is commonly thought

ZEN-definisjonen – En veileder for ZEN-pilotområder. Versjon 3.0. norsk

Denne tredje utgaven av ZEN-definisjonsveilederen bygger på versjon 1.0 og 2.0 av ZEN-definisjonsveilederne og ZEN-definisjonsrapporter. Denne rapporten presenterer ZEN KPI-verktøyet i mer detalj og gir mer informasjon om ZEN KPI-referanse-, grense-, og målverdier. En stor endring inkluderer å løfte prosess-nøkkelindikatorer ut av stedskvaliteterkategorien og å tilpasse dem til en prosessveileder for design og planlegging av ZEN-områder. Detaljer har blitt supplert for hver nøkkelindikator for å forklare i hvilken grad de bidrar til målsetningen av ZEN samt gir eksempler på beste praksis. Noen nye nøkkelindikatorer har blitt lagt til. Navnet på kategorien stedskvaliteter har blitt endret til byform og arealbruk.This third version of the ZEN definition guideline report builds upon version 1.0 and 2.0 of the ZEN definition guideline reports and series of ZEN definition reports. This report gives further details on the ZEN KPI tool and on ZEN KPI reference, limit, and target values. A major change involves lifting the process KPIs out of spatial qualities and incorporating them into a process guideline for designing ZENs. Details have been added to each KPI to explain to what degree it contributes to the main goal of ZEN, and examples of best practice are given. Additional power KPIs have been added. The spatial qualities category has been renamed to urban form and land use.publishedVersio

Using PCR-Based Detection and Genotyping to Trace Streptococcus salivarius Meningitis Outbreak Strain to Oral Flora of Radiology Physician Assistant

We recently investigated three cases of bacterial meningitis that were reported from a midwestern radiology clinic where facemasks were not worn during spinal injection of contrast agent during myelography procedures. Using pulsed field gel electrophoresis we linked a case strain of S. salivarius to an oral specimen of a radiology physician assistant (RPA). We also used a real-time PCR assay to detect S. salivarius DNA within a culture-negative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimen. Here we extend this investigation through using a nested PCR/sequencing strategy to link the culture-negative CSF specimen to the case strain. We also provide validation of the real-time PCR assay used, demonstrating that it is not solely specific for Streptococcus salivarius, but is also highly sensitive for detection of the closely related oral species Streptococcus vestibularis. Through using multilocus sequence typing and 16S rDNA sequencing we further strengthen the link between the CSF case isolate and the RPA carriage isolate. We also demonstrate that the newly characterized strains from this study are distinct from previously characterized S. salivarius strains associated with carriage and meningitis

PI3Kγ is a molecular switch that controls immune suppression

Macrophages play critical, but opposite, roles in acute and chronic inflammation and cancer1,2,3,4,5. In response to pathogens or injury, inflammatory macrophages express cytokines that stimulate cytotoxic T cells, whereas macrophages in neoplastic and parasitic diseases express anti-inflammatory cytokines that induce immune suppression and may promote resistance to T cell checkpoint inhibitors1,2,3,4,5,6,7. Here we show that macrophage PI 3-kinase γ controls a critical switch between immune stimulation and suppression during inflammation and cancer. PI3Kγ signalling through Akt and mTor inhibits NFκB activation while stimulating C/EBPβ activation, thereby inducing a transcriptional program that promotes immune suppression during inflammation and tumour growth. By contrast, selective inactivation of macrophage PI3Kγ stimulates and prolongs NFκB activation and inhibits C/EBPβ activation, thus promoting an immunostimulatory transcriptional program that restores CD8+ T cell activation and cytotoxicity. PI3Kγ synergizes with checkpoint inhibitor therapy to promote tumour regression and increased survival in mouse models of cancer. In addition, PI3Kγ-directed, anti-inflammatory gene expression can predict survival probability in cancer patients. Our work thus demonstrates that therapeutic targeting of intracellular signalling pathways that regulate the switch between macrophage polarization states can control immune suppression in cancer and other disorders