Differentiating Legislative from Nonlegislative Rules: An Empirical and Qualitative Analysis

The elusive distinction between legislative rules and nonlegislative rules has frustrated courts, motivated voluminous scholarly debate, and ushered in a flood of litigation against administrative agencies. In the absence of U.S. Supreme Court guidance on the proper demarcating line, circuit courts have adopted various tests to ascertain a rule’s proper classification. This Note analyzes all 241 cases in which a circuit court has used one or more of the enunciated tests to differentiate legislative from nonlegislative rules. These opinions come from every one of the thirteen circuits and span the period of the early 1950s through 2018. This Note identifies six different tests that courts have employed in this effort and offers a qualitative and empirical analysis of each. The qualitative analysis explains the underlying premise of the tests, articulates their merits and shortcomings, and considers how courts have applied them to particular disputes. The empirical portion of this Note uses regression analysis to ascertain how using or rejecting one or more of the tests affects a court’s determination of whether the rule is legislative or nonlegislative. This Note classifies the different tests into two categories: public-focused tests and agency-focused tests. These two categories are defined by a principle that permeates administrative law jurisprudence: achieving a proper balance between efficient agency rulemaking and maintaining a proper check against unconstrained agency action. These two categories thus defined, this Note proposes a balanced approach that incorporates elements of both categories to identify and refine the proper test

Incomplete Resolution of Deep Vein Thromboses during Rivaroxaban Therapy.

We present the case of a patient with a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) who failed rivaroxaban therapy. Our patient initially presented with left lower extremity edema, erythema, and pain. He was subsequently started on rivaroxaban therapy for a combined treatment period of 12 months, during and after which he persisted to have evidence of a DVT. The patient's prescribed drug regimen was changed from rivaroxaban to warfarin, which demonstrated a rapid resolution of the DVTs as determined by ultrasound assessment of our patient's lower extremity veins. Rivaroxaban, a factor Xa inhibitor, is a well-known oral anticoagulant that is used for a variety of indications and has become a mainstay in the treatment of deep vein thrombosis. With the introduction and emergence of this medication in the clinic, postmarketing reports of efficacy or lack thereof are important to review. In conclusion, we anticipate that it is likely that there are other patients with DVTs who may not respond to rivaroxaban and for whom alternative anticoagulation therapies should be explored

Optical analytical methods for detection of pesticides

The global pesticide market has grown steadily since the 1940s, with the agricultural sector being the largest user of pesticides. The effect of pesticides on human health is manifested either through direct exposure to the material or indirect exposure to contaminated resources. Farmers and those dwelling near areas where pesticides are used may suffer from direct exposure, while the general population might be exposed indirectly, for example, by drinking contaminated water. Exposure to pesticides may cause a variety of symptoms, including headaches, dizziness, and vomiting, damage the nervous system, and even cause death. The risks involved in pesticide use include air pollution and soil and water contamination. The environmental implications of pesticide use include development of resistance among pests, a decline in biodiversity, interruption of the food chain, and disruption of the ecological balance. Pesticide use may also cause changes in physical parameters of the ecosystem. Effective activity of pesticides requires reaching proper leaf coverage. To prevent pest attacks due to insufficient leaf coverage, farmers tend to apply pesticides in excess. In view of the environmental and health implications of pesticide use, there is a clear need to limit pesticide application. Yet farmers lack the means to perform real-time in situ assessment of leaf coverage. Existing pesticide detection methods are complex, time-consuming, and unsuited to field application. Optical methods have the potential to provide quick assessments and can be used in situ. Several optical methods for detection of pesticides in general and on leaves in particular were developed. The findings indicated that the main problems in pesticide detection using fluorescence are the low autofluorescence of the pesticides and the nonreproducible spectral response of the leaves. These obstacles were solved by employing labeling agents. For example, rhodamine was suggested, mainly due to its excellent surface adhesion and its extremely high fluorescence quantum yield. The labeling agents were sprayed on leaves in the form of aerosols, thus creating a uniform layer of nanocrystals and microcrystals on the surface of the leaves. The effects of pesticides on the spectral characteristics of the labeling agents were examined using laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) spectroscopy. When pesticide droplets were applied to a pretreated leaf, two phenomena were observed. The first was a substantial fluorescence increase. The second was material-specific spectral shifting as a result of interaction between the labeling molecules and organic components in the pesticide droplet. It was possible to utilize these spectral shifts for quantification of the pesticide concentration in the droplet. These spectral shifts enabled detection of pesticides on plants, although they were not sufficient for providing quantitative information on the extent of pesticide coverage. To detect pesticide coverage, several imaging data techniques were applied, such as LIF scanning of the examined plant surface. This method revealed the droplet shape by scanning and recording the fluorescence intensity at many points on a grid. Since application of this method is expensive and time-consuming, a second technique was also developed: it requires only a UV source and a CCD camera and it enables direct imaging of the pesticides on plants. The data obtained included the droplet shape and its location on the plant. When pesticide identification was required, application of a special hyperspectral fluorescence imaging method was introduced. Fourier transform hyperspectral imaging analysis provided simultaneous full spectral resolution at each pixel, enabling identification of the pesticide and its mapping on the plant. In practice, test plants have to be pretreated with labeling material before pesticide application. The changes in the labeling compound fluorescence can then be used for detection of the pesticide on the plant and quantification of the overall coverage. Low-cost mapping of the pesticide microdroplets could be obtained using a CCD camera, while accurate information could be based on Fourier transform hyperspectral imaging. Since these methods provide immediate results, they may allow the farmer to estimate leaf coverage during pesticide application and adjust spraying accordingly. © 2011 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston

Stress Coping of Patients with Substance use Disorder in Latvia

Stress is a part of our everyday life and it plays an important role in causing various diseases. Studies related to aetiology of using pshyhoactive substances have shown that stress is one of strongest factor that provokes the use of addictive substanceswhichemphasizes necessity of research aboutstress copingtypes for patients with addiction. Purpose of study is to examine stress coping among patients with substance use disorders in Latvia.2 research tools were used: a demographic questionnaire and “The Ways of coping scale” (Folkman& Lazarus, 1985). The results show that women use emotion-oriented stress coping. For women who have completed treatment, more specific ways of stress coping are accepting responsibility, escape-avoidance and positive reappraisal. Among men, the dominant stress coping strategy is problem-oriented stress coping. Male patients who have completed treatment use more accepting responsibility and planful problem solving.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Human Muscle Progenitor Cells Overexpressing Neurotrophic Factors Improve Neuronal Regeneration in a Sciatic Nerve Injury Mouse Model

The peripheral nervous system has an intrinsic ability to regenerate after injury. However, this process is slow, incomplete, and often accompanied by disturbing motor and sensory consequences. Sciatic nerve injury (SNI), which is the most common model for studying peripheral nerve injury, is characterized by damage to both motor and sensory fibers. The main goal of this study is to examine the feasibility of administration of human muscle progenitor cells (hMPCs) overexpressing neurotrophic factor (NTF) genes, known to protect peripheral neurons and enhance axon regeneration and functional recovery, to ameliorate motoric and sensory deficits in SNI mouse model. To this end, hMPCs were isolated from a human muscle biopsy, and manipulated to ectopically express brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), glial-cell-line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1). These hMPC-NTF were transplanted into the gastrocnemius muscle of mice after SNI, and motor and sensory functions of the mice were assessed using the CatWalk XT system and the hot plate test. ELISA analysis showed that genetically manipulated hMPC-NTF express significant amounts of BDNF, GDNF, VEGF, or IGF-1. Transplantation of 3 × 106 hMPC-NTF was shown to improve motor function and gait pattern in mice following SNI surgery, as indicated by the CatWalk XT system 7 days post-surgery. Moreover, using the hot-plate test, performed 6 days after surgery, the treated mice showed less sensory deficits, indicating a palliative effect of the treatment. ELISA analysis following transplantation demonstrated increased NTF expression levels in the gastrocnemius muscle of the treated mice, reinforcing the hypothesis that the observed positive effect was due to the transplantation of the genetically manipulated hMPC-NTF. These results show that genetically modified hMPC can alleviate both motoric and sensory deficits of SNI. The use of hMPC-NTF demonstrates the feasibility of a treatment paradigm, which may lead to rapid, high-quality healing of damaged peripheral nerves due to administration of hMPC. Our approach suggests a possible clinical application for the treatment of peripheral nerve injury

Sensory processing patterns, coping strategies, and quality of life among patients with unipolar and bipolar disorders.

OBJECTIVE: To compare sensory processing, coping strategies, and quality of life (QoL) in unipolar and bipolar patients; to examine correlations between sensory processing and QoL; and to investigate the relative contribution of sociodemographic characteristics, sensory processing, and coping strategies to the prediction of QoL. METHODS: Two hundred sixty-seven participants, aged 16-85 years (53.6+/-15.7), of whom 157 had a diagnosis of unipolar major depressive disorder and 110 had bipolar disorder type I and type II, completed the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile, Coping Orientations to Problems Experienced, and 12-item Short-Form Health Survey version 2. The two groups were compared with multivariate analyses. RESULTS: The unipolar and bipolar groups did not differ concerning sensory processing, coping strategies, or QoL. Sensory processing patterns correlated with QoL independently of mediation by coping strategies. Correlations between low registration, sensory sensitivity, sensation avoidance, and reduced QoL were found more frequently in unipolar patients than bipolar patients. Higher physical QoL was mainly predicted by lower age and lower sensory sensitivity, whereas higher mental QoL was mainly predicted by coping strategies. CONCLUSION: While age may predict physical QoL, coping strategies predict mental QoL. Future studies should further investigate the impact of sensory processing and coping strategies on patients' QoL in order to enhance adaptive and functional behaviors related to affective disturbances

Under pressure: Response urgency modulates striatal and insula activity during decision-making under risk

When deciding whether to bet in situations that involve potential monetary loss or gain (mixed gambles), a subjective sense of pressure can influence the evaluation of the expected utility associated with each choice option. Here, we explored how gambling decisions, their psychophysiological and neural counterparts are modulated by an induced sense of urgency to respond. Urgency influenced decision times and evoked heart rate responses, interacting with the expected value of each gamble. Using functional MRI, we observed that this interaction was associated with changes in the activity of the striatum, a critical region for both reward and choice selection, and within the insula, a region implicated as the substrate of affective feelings arising from interoceptive signals which influence motivational behavior. Our findings bridge current psychophysiological and neurobiological models of value representation and action-programming, identifying the striatum and insular cortex as the key substrates of decision-making under risk and urgency

Poly-γ-glutamic acid: production, properties and applications

University of Wolverhampton, U

A CHOP-regulated microRNA controls rhodopsin expression

ER stress induces expression of miR-708, which suppresses the production of rhodopsin to prevent ER overloading in retinal epithelial cells