Qualified Immunity Dissonance in the Sixth Circuit: Why We Must Return to Reasonableness

The Sixth Circuit\u27s inconsistent jurisprudence threatens the delicate balance that the defense aims to strike between protecting citizens from having their constitutional rights violated on the one hand and protecting government officials from undue interference with their official duties on the other. This Note critiques the medical emergency-law enforcement response capacity the Sixth Circuit has set forth to help adjudicate qualified immunity claims and suggests improvements the court can make to its qualified immunity jurisprudence.In Part II, I briefly trace the Supreme Court\u27s development of the doctrine and outline the doctrine\u27s policy goals. In Part III, I develop my thesis by exploring the Sixth Circuit\u27s recent qualified immunity decisions and showing why the court\u27s analytical framework leads to inconsistent results. Then, I argue that the Sixth Circuit should abandon the artificial medical emergency-law enforcement response capacity test it uses when police officers respond to medical emergencies. Finally, I explain why qualified immunity\u27s policy rationales demand that if the Sixth Circuit does not abandon the test, it must allow judges to resolve the response capacity issue as a matter of law. Lastly, in Part IV, I explore what scholars might say about the Sixth Circuit\u27s test. Part IV also answers critics who assert that qualified immunity is a fatally flawed doctrine. I argue that qualified immunity effectively accomplishes its fairness and social cost reduction goals

Qualified Immunity Dissonance in the Sixth Circuit: Why We Must Return to Reasonableness

The Sixth Circuit\u27s inconsistent jurisprudence threatens the delicate balance that the defense aims to strike between protecting citizens from having their constitutional rights violated on the one hand and protecting government officials from undue interference with their official duties on the other. This Note critiques the medical emergency-law enforcement response capacity the Sixth Circuit has set forth to help adjudicate qualified immunity claims and suggests improvements the court can make to its qualified immunity jurisprudence.In Part II, I briefly trace the Supreme Court\u27s development of the doctrine and outline the doctrine\u27s policy goals. In Part III, I develop my thesis by exploring the Sixth Circuit\u27s recent qualified immunity decisions and showing why the court\u27s analytical framework leads to inconsistent results. Then, I argue that the Sixth Circuit should abandon the artificial medical emergency-law enforcement response capacity test it uses when police officers respond to medical emergencies. Finally, I explain why qualified immunity\u27s policy rationales demand that if the Sixth Circuit does not abandon the test, it must allow judges to resolve the response capacity issue as a matter of law. Lastly, in Part IV, I explore what scholars might say about the Sixth Circuit\u27s test. Part IV also answers critics who assert that qualified immunity is a fatally flawed doctrine. I argue that qualified immunity effectively accomplishes its fairness and social cost reduction goals

Gender at Work in Southeast Asia: Norms, Expectations and Local Manipulations

Research carried out by some of the contributors to WP3 addresses more or less directly the issue of gender in Southeast Asia and utilizes gender as a perspective to engage with issues of work and social and political mobility. In doing so, we acknowledge both dominant and marginal constructions and conceptions of gender and gender roles and explore the meanings attached to such ideas and notions at a local level. The work of WP3 indeed challenges the idea that local gender identity constructions are being swept away on the tide of globalization. Rather, we are aware that such constructions are reworked, rethought and that while some are reiterated others are creatively manipulated to comply with change and new expectations. Such work of WP3 highlights the ways local cultural understandings of femininity and masculinity are always framed against the history and contemporary socio-economic realities of the specific country at a specific time with specific results and outcomes

The Moringin/α-CD pretreatment induces neuroprotection in an in vitro model of Alzheimer’s disease: a transcriptomic study

9openInternationalBothAlzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder and represents the most common form of senile dementia. Autophagy and mitophagy are cellular processes that play a key role in the aggregation of β-amyloid (Aβ) and tau phosphorylation. As a consequence, impairment of these processes leads to the progression of AD. Thus, interest is growing in the search for new natural compounds, such as Moringin (MOR), with neuroprotective, anti-amyloidogenic, antioxidative, and anti-inflammatory properties that could be used for AD prevention. However, MOR appears to be poorly soluble and stable in water. To increase its solubility MOR was conjugated with α-cyclodextrin (MOR/α-CD). In this work, it was evaluated if MOR/α-CD pretreatment was able to exert neuroprotective effects in an AD in vitro model through the evaluation of the transcriptional profile by next-generation sequencing (NGS). To induce the AD model, retinoic acid-differentiated SH-SY5Y cells were exposed to Aβ1-42. The MOR/α-CD pretreatment reduced the expression of the genes which encode proteins involved in senescence, autophagy, and mitophagy processes. Additionally, MOR/α-CD was able to induce neuronal remodeling modulating the axon guidance, principally downregulating the Slit/Robo signaling pathway. Noteworthy, MOR/α-CD, modulating these important pathways, may induce neuronal protection against Aβ1-42 toxicity as demonstrated also by the reduction of cleaved caspase 3. These data indicated that MOR/α-CD could attenuate the progression of the disease and promote neuronal repairopenSilvestro, Serena; Chiricosta, Luigi; Gugliandolo, Agnese; Iori, Renato; Rollin, Patrick; Perenzoni, Daniele; Mattivi, Fulvio; Bramanti, Placido; Mazzon, EmanuelaSilvestro, S.; Chiricosta, L.; Gugliandolo, A.; Iori, R.; Rollin, P.; Perenzoni, D.; Mattivi, F.; Bramanti, P.; Mazzon, E

Discovering Genotype Variants in an Infant with VACTERL through Clinical Exome Sequencing: A Support for Personalized Risk Assessment and Disease Prevention

Abstract: Congenital anomalies may have an increased risk of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) We performed a clinical exome analysis in an infant affected by “Vertebral, Anorectal, Cardiac, Tracheoesophageal, Genitourinary, and Limb” (VACTERL) malformation association to identify potential biomarkers that may be helpful for preventing malignancy risk or other chronic processes. Among the variants, six variants that may be linked with VACTERL were identified in the exome analysis. The variants c.501G>C on OLR1 and c.-8C>G on PSMA6 were previously associated with myocardial infarction. The variants c.1936A>G on AKAP10 and c.575A>G on PON1 are linked to defects in cardiac conduction and artery disease, respectively. Alterations in metabolism were also suggested by the variants c.860G>A on EPHX2 and c.214C>A on GHRL. In addition, three variants associated with colon cancer were discovered. Specifically, the reported variants were c.723G>A on CCND1 and c.91T>A on AURKA proto-oncogenes as well as c.827A>C in the tumor suppressor PTPRJ. A further inspection identified 15 rare variants carried by cancer genes. Specifically, these mutations are located on five tumor suppressors (SDHA, RB1CC1, PTCH1, DMBT1, BCR) and eight proto-oncogenes (MERTK, CSF1R, MYB, ROS1, PCM1, FGFR2, MYH11, BRCC3) and have an allele frequency lower than 0.01 in the Genome Aggregation Database (GnomAD).We observed that the cardiac and metabolic phenotypic traits are linked with the genotype of the patient. In addition, the risk of developing neoplasia cannot be excluded a priori. Long-term surgical issues of patients with VATER syndrome could benefit from the clinical exome sequencing of a personalized risk assessment for the appearance of further disease in pubertal timing and adult age

Prevalence of antibodies against equine influenza virus in sport horses from Argentina during 2015 and 2016

Mediante un muestreo en dos etapas se analizó la población de equinos de deporte o recreación de toda la República Argentina que presenta una frecuencia regular (o alta) de movimientos y para los cuales la vacunación contra influenza equina es obligatoria. Mediante la técnica de inhibición de la hemaglutinación se evaluó la presencia de anticuerpos contra dos cepas del virus de la influenza equina: A/eq/2 La Plata 93 y A/eq/Argentina/E2345-1/2012. Los títulos obtenidos permitieron clasificar a los equinos en protegidos, parcialmente protegidos y no protegidos. El 57 % y el 59 % de los equinos fueron considerados como no protegidos contra la cepa La Plata 93 y Argentina 2012, respectivamente. El 34 % fue considerado como parcialmente protegido contra la cepa La Plata 93 y el 33 % contra la cepa Argentina 2012. Finalmente, el 9 % y el 8 % de los animales fueron considerados protegidos contra la cepa La Plata 93 y Argentina 2012, respectivamente. Se constató que los animales de mayor edad, con mayor cantidad de dosis de vacunas aplicadas y con la fecha de última vacunación más cercana a la fecha del muestreo, presentaron concentraciones mayores de anticuerpos. Menos del 10 % de los equinos tuvo títulos protectores y un alto porcentaje títulos inferiores a lo requerido para evitar la enfermedad, lo cual implica que existe en Argentina una gran cantidad de equinos que pueden diseminar la enfermedad sin presentar sintomatología.The population of sport equines of Argentina frequently transported was analyzed through a two-stage sampling. In this population vaccination against equine influenza is mandatory. Antibodies against two strains of equine influenza virus (A/eq/2La Plata 93 and A/eq/Argentina/E2345-1/2012) were evaluated through the hemagglutination inhibition technique. Based on the titer obtained, horses were classified as protected, partially protected and not protected. Fifty-seven per cent and 59 % of the horses were not protected against La Plata 93 and Argentina 2012 strains, respectively. Thirtyfour per cent of the horses were partially protected against La Plata 93 and Argentina 2012 strains, respectively. Finally, 9 % and 8 % of the animals were protected against La Plata 93 and Argentina 2012 strains, respectively. Older animals with more vaccinations and with the last vaccination applied closer to the date of sampling had higher antibody levels. Less than 10 % of the horses had protective titer and a high percentage had insufficient titer to avoid the disease, suggesting that in Argentina a large number of horses can spread the disease without showing clinical signs.Facultad de Ciencias Veterinaria

SARS-CoV-2 Exacerbates Beta-Amyloid Neurotoxicity, Inflammation and Oxidative Stress in Alzheimer’s Disease Patients

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) triggered the pandemic Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19), causing millions of deaths. The elderly and those already living with comorbidity are likely to die after SARS-CoV-2 infection. People suffering from Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have a higher risk of becoming infected, because they cannot easily follow health roles. Additionally, those suffering from dementia have a 40% higher risk of dying from COVID-19. Herein, we collected from Gene Expression Omnibus repository the brain samples of AD patients who died of COVID-19 (AD+COVID-19), AD without COVID-19 (AD), COVID-19 without AD (COVID-19) and control individuals. We inspected the transcriptomic and interactomic profiles by comparing the COVID-19 cohort against the control cohort and the AD cohort against the AD+COVID-19 cohort. SARS-CoV-2 in patients without AD mainly activated processes related to immune response and cell cycle. Conversely, 21 key nodes in the interactome are deregulated in AD. Interestingly, some of them are linked to beta-amyloid production and clearance. Thus, we inspected their role, along with their interactors, using the gene ontologies of the biological process that reveals their contribution in brain organization, immune response, oxidative stress and viral replication. We conclude that SARS-CoV-2 worsens the AD condition by increasing neurotoxicity, due to higher levels of beta-amyloid, inflammation and oxidative stress

Vie femminili di liberazione. Il movimento transnazionale delle bhikkunī nel Sudest asiatico

La lotta per il riconoscimento dell’ordinazione delle bhikkunī nell’ambito del Buddhismo theravāda, come sostiene Tanaporn Pichitsakulachai, può essere interpretata come una forma di femminismo religioso. Il movimento per la “rifondazione” del monachesimo femminile nei paesi del Sud e Sudest Asiatico e’ una realta’ fluida e policentrica, che cerca non solo di rinegoziare i ruoli tradizionalmente imposti alle donne, ma sfida i principi stessi su cui il concetto di “tradizione” viene costruito. La questione della rifondazione dell’ordine delle bhikkunī viene qui letta come spazio di movimento di network interculturali di donne, che riflettono la filosofia del Socially Engaged Buddhis (SEB). La dimensione relazionale e transnazionale che tali network pongono in essere puo’ offrire una differente prospettiva in grado di fornire una via di superamento delle dicotomie politiche e teoretiche che hanno a lungo guidato la lettura di fenomeni connessi all’ agency delle donne in contesti post coloniali

Sphingolipid Metabolism as a New Predictive Target Correlated with Aging and AD: A Transcriptomic Analysis

Background and objectives: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia characterized by memory loss and executive dysfunction. To date, no markers can effectively predict the onset of AD and an early diagnosis is increasingly necessary. Age represents an important risk factor for the disease but it is not known whether it is the trigger event. Materials and Methods: We downloaded transcriptomic data related to post-mortem brain of thirty samples gathered as young without AD (Young), old without AD (Old), and old suffering from AD (OAD) groups. Results: Our results showed that steroid biosynthesis was enriched and associated with aging, while sphingolipid metabolism was related to both aging and AD. Specifically, sphingolipid metabolism is involved in the deregulation of CERS2, UGT8, and PLPP2. These genes are downregulated in Young and Old groups as compared with upregulated between Old and OAD groups. Moreover, the analysis of the interaction networks revealed that GABAergic synapse and Hippo signaling pathways were altered in AD condition along with mitochondrial metabolism and RNA processing. Conclusions: Observing the particular trend of genes related to sphingolipid metabolism that are downregulated during normal aging and start to be upregulated with the onset of AD, we suppose that sphingolipids could be early markers for the disease