Centralized Oversight of the Regulatory State

Born out of a Reagan-era desire to minimize regulatory costs, and not fundamentally reconsidered since its inception, the centralized review of agency rulemakings has arguably become the most important institutional feature of the regulatory state. Yet it is a puzzling feature: although centralized review is sometimes justified on the ground it could harmonize the uncoordinated sprawl of the federal bureaucracy, the agency tasked with regulatory review, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has never embraced that role. It has instead doggedly clung to its original cost-reduction mission, justifying its function as a check on the federal bureaucracy with reference to the pervasive belief that agencies will systematically over-regulate. This article shows why this belief is wrong. The claim that agencies are systematically biased in favor of regulation finds little support in public choice theory, the political science literature, or elsewhere. In any event, theories predicting rampant over-regulation are no more plausible than alternative theories suggesting that agencies will routinely under regulate. Even if zealous agencies captured by powerful interest groups did characterize the regulatory state, OMB review is a curious and poorly designed counterweight. There is no reason to believe that OMB's location in the Executive Office of the President will inoculate OMB from the pathologies that afflict other agencies, and some reason to think that it will exacerbate them. As a response to these problems, we urge a reconsideration of the foundational role that centralized review should play in our regulatory state, and a revival and re-conceptualization of the neglected principles of harmonization that once ostensibly animated it.

One-step synthesis of pyridines and dihydropyridines in a continuous flow microwave reactor

The Bohlmann–Rahtz pyridine synthesis and the Hantzsch dihydropyridine synthesis can be carried out in a microwave flow reactor or using a conductive heating flow platform for the continuous processing of material. In the Bohlmann–Rahtz reaction, the use of a Brønsted acid catalyst allows Michael addition and cyclodehydration to be carried out in a single step without isolation of intermediates to give the corresponding trisubstituted pyridine as a single regioisomer in good yield. Furthermore, 3-substituted propargyl aldehydes undergo Hantzsch dihydropyridine synthesis in preference to Bohlmann–Rahtz reaction in a very high yielding process that is readily transferred to continuous flow processing

Fluoroscopic placement of double-pigtail ureteral stents.

Purpose: Double-pigtail ureteral stent is placed cystoscopically after ureteroscopy. We describe a technique for fluoroscopic placement of ureteral stents and demonstrate its use in a non-randomized prospective study.Materials and methods: Double-pigtail stents were placed either fluoroscopically or cystoscopically in 121 consecutive patients. In the fluoroscopic method, the stent was placed over a guide wire using a stent pusher without the use of cystoscopy. Conversely, stents were placed through the working channel of the cystoscope under vision. The procedure, stent length, width, type, method, ureteral dilation, and use of a retrieval string were noted.Results: A wide range of stent sizes were used. The success with fluoroscopic placement of double-pigtail ureteral stents was 100% (89 of 89 cases). No stents migrated or required replacement. Stents were placed after ureteroscopic laser lithotripsy (53/89) and ureteroscopic tumor treatment (22/89). Cystoscopic visualization was used in 32 additional procedures requiring precise control (15 ureteral strictures and nine retrograde endopyelotomy).Conclusions: The fluoroscopic placement of ureteral stents is a safe and simple technique with a very high success rate. We have used cystoscopic placement only after incisional procedures such as retrograde endopyelotomy, stricture or ureterotomy

The Devil Made Me Do It: Replacing Corporate Directors\u27 Veil of Secrecy with the Mantle of Stewardship

This Article argues that the nature of the corporate form coupled with an exclusive focus on shareholder value leads to economically and socially inefficient results. The profit maximization view of directors\u27 duties ignores the historical reasons why corporations were given special privileges, such as limited liability, by the state. This narrow view should be replaced with a doctrine of stewardship that imposes a more comprehensive view of the corporation\u27s and directors\u27 responsibility to manage the vast resources held in corporate form. This broader view is consistent not only with the values of a free market economy, but also with modem corporate jurisprudence. It also reflects modem organizational theory that emphasizes the importance of systems thinking, or thinking about the whole rather than just the parts. In the spirit of stewardship, transparency, and self-regulation, this Article recommends an additional securities disclosure requirement that public corporations disclose the impact of major corporate decisions on affected constituencies, including shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, creditors, communities, governmental entities, and the corporation\u27s management. In this manner, this Article proposes to replace the veil of secrecy with the mantle of stewardship

Microwave-assisted synthesis of 3-aminobenzo[b]thiophene scaffolds for the preparation of kinase inhibitors

Microwave irradiation of 2-halobenzonitriles and methyl thioglycolate in the presence of triethylamine in DMSO at 130 °C provides rapid access to 3-aminobenzo[b]thiophenes in 58–96% yield. This transformation has been applied in the synthesis of the thieno[2,3-b]pyridine core motif of LIMK1 inhibitors, the benzo[4,5]thieno[3,2-e][1,4]diazepin-5(2H)-one scaffold of MK2 inhibitors and a benzo[4,5]thieno[3,2-d]pyrimidin-4-one inhibitor of the PIM kinases

Pre-Conditioned Cattle Sales for Forage-Based Cow-Calf Management Systems

Demand for preconditioned feeder cattle continues to increase in the beef industry as value-based marketing and information flow expands indicating preconditioned forage-raised calves require less management, fewer losses due to illness and deaths, and increased profitability to both buyer and seller. The goal of a preconditioning program is to increase the value of weaned cattle (Bailey, 2002). The Northeast Texas Beef Improvement Organization (NET-BIO) is comprised of commercial cow/calf and stocker operators and various agribusinesses with the same interest. The objective of this study is to determine if prices received for preconditioned NETBIO stocker cattle increase the net income above preconditioning costs

Spotted Locoweed on the Henry Mountains

Spotted locoweed (Astragalus lentlginosus, var. wahweapens) also known as freckled or Wahweap Milkvetch is characterized by blue leguminous flowers, purple speckled seed pods, and leaves resembling those of garden pea. The plant is poisonous to cattle, sheep and horses. It grows on gravely clay loam semi-desert benches and swales supporting desert shrubs and sparse stands of juniper