Judicial Agenda Setting Through Signaling and Strategic Litigant Responses

The purpose of this Essay is to present the theory and empirical evidence that strategic interaction between litigants and Justices transforms the U.S. Supreme Court’s agenda. More specifically, it proposes that Supreme Court Justices shape the Court’s agenda by providing signals to litigants about the sort of cases they would like to see, and litigants consider those signals when deciding whether or not to pursue a given case

How the Dissent Becomes the Majority: Using Federalism to Transform Coalitions in the U.S. Supreme Court

This Article proposes that dissenting Supreme Court Justices provide cues in their written opinions about how future litigants can reframe case facts and legal arguments in similar future cases to garner majority support. Questions of federal-state power cut across most other substantive legal issues, and this can provide a mechanism for splitting existing majorities in future cases. By signaling to future litigants when this potential exists, dissenting judges can transform a dissent into a majority in similar future cases. We undertake an empirical investigation of dissenting opinions in which the dissenting Justice suggests that future cases ought to be framed in terms of federal-state powers. We show that when dissenting opinions signal a preference for transforming an issue into an argument about federal-state power, more subsequent cases in that area are decided on that basis. Moreover, the previous minority coalition is in the majority significantly more often, showing that these signals are systematically successful. Not only can federalism-based dissents transform the rhetoric of cases, they can systematically and significantly shift the outcome of cases in the direction of the dissenting Justices’ views

How the Dissent Becomes the Majority: Using Federalism to Transform Coalitions in the U.S. Supreme Court

This Article proposes that dissenting Supreme Court Justices provide cues in their written opinions about how future litigants can reframe case facts and legal arguments in similar future cases to garner majority support. Questions of federal-state power cut across most other substantive legal issues, and this can provide a mechanism for splitting existing majorities in future cases. By signaling to future litigants when this potential exists, dissenting judges can transform a dissent into a majority in similar future cases. We undertake an empirical investigation of dissenting opinions in which the dissenting Justice suggests that future cases ought to be framed in terms of federal-state powers. We show that when dissenting opinions signal a preference for transforming an issue into an argument about federal-state power, more subsequent cases in that area are decided on that basis. Moreover, the previous minority coalition is in the majority significantly more often, showing that these signals are systematically successful. Not only can federalism-based dissents transform the rhetoric of cases, they can systematically and significantly shift the outcome of cases in the direction of the dissenting Justices’ views

G6PD Deficiency at Sumba in Eastern Indonesia Is Prevalent, Diverse and Severe: Implications for Primaquine Therapy against Relapsing Vivax Malaria

Safe treatment of Plasmodium vivax requires diagnosis of both the infection and status of erythrocytic glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) activity because hypnozoitocidal therapy against relapse requires primaquine, which causes a mild to severe acute hemolytic anemia in G6PD deficient patients. Many national malaria control programs recommend primaquine therapy without G6PD screening but with monitoring due to a broad lack of G6PD deficiency screening capacity. The degree of risk in doing so hinges upon the level of residual G6PD activity among the variants present in any given area. We conducted studies on Sumba Island in eastern Indonesia in order to assess the potential threat posed by primaquine therapy without G6PD screening. We sampled 2,033 residents of three separate districts in western Sumba for quantitative G6PD activity and 104 (5.1%) were phenotypically deficient (\u3c4.6U/gHb; median normal 10U/gHb). The villages were in two distinct ecosystems, coastal and inland. A positive correlation occurred between the prevalence of malaria and G6PD deficiency: 5.9% coastal versus inland 0.2% for malaria (P\u3c0.001), and 6.7% and 3.1% for G6PD deficiency (P\u3c0.001) at coastal and inland sites, respectively. The dominant genotypes of G6PD deficiency were Vanua Lava, Viangchan, and Chatham, accounting for 98.5%of the 70 samples genotyped. Subjects expressing the dominant genotypes all had less than 10% of normal enzyme activities and were thus considered severe variants. Blind administration of anti-relapse primaquine therapy at Sumba would likely impose risk of serious harm

Ecologies of dramaturgy in dance creation: a conversation

AW é Jamaicana, Preta, dançarina mulher cisgênero e dramaturga. Dois interesses paralelos emergiram gradualmente ao longo de sua carreira – a contribuição do performer ao processo criativo, e a dinâmica da operação necessariamente colaborativa que é a coreografia contemporânea. Esta entrevista com a artista-pesquisadora reporta sua experiência artística e o processo criativo da obra Confession Publique, ao qual ela ocupa a posição triádica de dramaturga, dançarina e pesquisadora auto-etnógrafa, compondo uma conversa dialógica entre artistas interdisciplinares e pesquisadores do projeto Dramaturgical Ecologies (sediado na Anonimo). Para além de uma entrevista, este projeto polivocal–centrado nos temas de agenciamento, dramaturgia, corporalização e movimento–migrou do físico para o virtual, respondendo a reconfiguração biopolítica causada pela pandemia do COVID-19. Esta transição ativou  tensões e ressonâncias no diálogo que se tornaram limitações facilitadoras, onde os corpos envolvidos na pesquisa se tornaram parte da co-composição dramatúrgica do processo de escrita deste texto. O resultado está distribuído nas páginas que seguem, tomando forma de uma escrita performativa dialógica-reflexiva, criada a partir de um processo de pensamento coletivo. Angelique Willkie é Jamaicana, Preta, dançarina mulher cisgênero e dramaturga. Dois interesses paralelos emergiram gradualmente ao longo de sua carreira – a contribuição do performer ao processo criativo, e a dinâmica da operação necessariamente colaborativa que é a coreografia contemporânea. Esta entrevista com a artista-pesquisadora reporta sua experiência artística e o processo criativo da obra Confession Publique, ao qual ela ocupa a posição triádica de dramaturga, dançarina e pesquisadora auto-etnógrafa, compondo uma conversa dialógica entre artistas interdisciplinares e pesquisadores do projeto Dramaturgical Ecologies (sediado na Concordia University, CA). Para além de uma entrevista, este projeto polivocal–centrado nos temas de agenciamento, dramaturgia, corporalização e movimento–migrou do físico para o virtual, respondendo a reconfiguração biopolítica causada pela pandemia do COVID-19. Esta transição ativou tensões e ressonâncias no diálogo que se tornaram limitações facilitadoras, onde os corpos envolvidos na pesquisa se tornaram parte da co-composição dramatúrgica do processo de escrita deste texto. O resultado está distribuído nas páginas que seguem, tomando forma de uma escrita performativa dialógica-reflexiva, criada a partir de um processo de pensamento coletivo.

Maternity care provider knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding provision of postpartum intrauterine contraceptive devices at a tertiary center in Ghana

ObjectiveTo assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices of maternity care providers regarding the provision of postpartum intrauterine contraceptive devices (IUDs) in Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Kumasi, Ghana.MethodsA descriptive, cross‐sectional study was conducted between June 28 and July 15, 2011. Specialists, residents, house officers, and nurse midwives who had been working in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology for at least 3 months were included. Self‐administered questionnaires assessed formal training, current proficiency in IUD insertion, and attitudes toward postpartum IUD provision.ResultsOf 91 providers surveyed, 70 (77%) reported previous training in contraceptive counseling. Fewer than one in three respondents had ever inserted an IUD: 17 (44%) of 39 physicians and 9 (17%) of 52 midwives reported ever having inserted an IUD. A total of 33 (36%) respondents reported that they would recommend an IUD in the immediate postpartum period.ConclusionAlthough most maternity care providers at KATH had received training in contraceptive counseling, few felt confident in their ability to insert an IUD. Further training in postpartum contraceptive management is needed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135552/1/ijgo137.pd

Development and mapping of DArT markers within the Festuca - Lolium complex

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Grasses are among the most important and widely cultivated plants on Earth. They provide high quality fodder for livestock, are used for turf and amenity purposes, and play a fundamental role in environment protection. Among cultivated grasses, species within the <it>Festuca-Lolium </it>complex predominate, especially in temperate regions. To facilitate high-throughput genome profiling and genetic mapping within the complex, we have developed a Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT) array for five grass species: <it>F. pratensis</it>, <it>F. arundinacea</it>, <it>F. glaucescens</it>, <it>L. perenne </it>and <it>L. multiflorum</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The DArTFest array contains 7680 probes derived from methyl-filtered genomic representations. In a first marker discovery experiment performed on 40 genotypes from each species (with the exception of <it>F. glaucescens </it>for which only 7 genotypes were used), we identified 3884 polymorphic markers. The number of DArT markers identified in every single genotype varied from 821 to 1852. To test the usefulness of DArTFest array for physical mapping, DArT markers were assigned to each of the seven chromosomes of <it>F. pratensis </it>using single chromosome substitution lines while recombinants of <it>F. pratensis </it>chromosome 3 were used to allocate the markers to seven chromosome bins.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The resources developed in this project will facilitate the development of genetic maps in <it>Festuca </it>and <it>Lolium</it>, the analysis on genetic diversity, and the monitoring of the genomic constitution of the <it>Festuca × Lolium </it>hybrids. They will also enable marker-assisted selection for multiple traits or for specific genome regions.</p

Individual common variants exert weak effects on the risk for autism spectrum disorders.

While it is apparent that rare variation can play an important role in the genetic architecture of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), the contribution of common variation to the risk of developing ASD is less clear. To produce a more comprehensive picture, we report Stage 2 of the Autism Genome Project genome-wide association study, adding 1301 ASD families and bringing the total to 2705 families analysed (Stages 1 and 2). In addition to evaluating the association of individual single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), we also sought evidence that common variants, en masse, might affect the risk. Despite genotyping over a million SNPs covering the genome, no single SNP shows significant association with ASD or selected phenotypes at a genome-wide level. The SNP that achieves the smallest P-value from secondary analyses is rs1718101. It falls in CNTNAP2, a gene previously implicated in susceptibility for ASD. This SNP also shows modest association with age of word/phrase acquisition in ASD subjects, of interest because features of language development are also associated with other variation in CNTNAP2. In contrast, allele scores derived from the transmission of common alleles to Stage 1 cases significantly predict case status in the independent Stage 2 sample. Despite being significant, the variance explained by these allele scores was small (Vm&lt; 1%). Based on results from individual SNPs and their en masse effect on risk, as inferred from the allele score results, it is reasonable to conclude that common variants affect the risk for ASD but their individual effects are modest