Toward a New Vision of Informants: A History of Abuses and Suggestions for Reform

Informants have long been used in American criminal law enforcement. Informants are often the best, if not the only, way to discover and thwart certain crimes, particularly crimes in which the victim is unknown or reluctant to cooperate. Because of informants\u27 usefulness, law enforcement personnel, from prosecutors to prison guards, are tempted to abuse the informant system. No government can be supposed to have expressly instructed its spies to instigate the perpetration of crime. Nevertheless, to remain unsuspected, every spy must be zealous in the cause which he pretends to have espoused. That zeal directly encourages crime. In short, our government is incidentally advancing crime while trying to curtail it, and it is doing so without bearing any responsibility. This article argues that the key to stopping the abuses of the informant relationship is to apply a rebuttable presumption that informant conduct is state action and action under color of law. This presumption will instill responsibility in law enforcement agencies for their decision to use informants. The closer informant-handler relationship will have a significant impact upon how courts view informants in both criminal and civil litigation. In both contexts, the presumption creates a linkage between the government and the informant that will force law enforcement to take responsibility for the use of informants

A (Microsoft) Word to the Wise – Beware of Footnotes and Gray Areas: The Seventh Circuit Continues to Count Words

The Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure limit the length of a written brief. This article examines the limits in place and addresses a Seventh Circuit decision involving such limits

HIV-1 Vpr-Induced Apoptosis Is Cell Cycle Dependent and Requires Bax but Not ANT

The HIV-1 accessory protein viral protein R (Vpr) causes G(2) arrest and apoptosis in infected cells. We previously identified the DNA damage–signaling protein ATR as the cellular factor that mediates Vpr-induced G(2) arrest and apoptosis. Here, we examine the mechanism of induction of apoptosis by Vpr and how it relates to induction of G(2) arrest. We find that entry into G(2) is a requirement for Vpr to induce apoptosis. We investigated the role of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore by knockdown of its essential component, the adenine nucleotide translocator. We found that Vpr-induced apoptosis was unaffected by knockdown of ANT. Instead, apoptosis is triggered through a different mitochondrial pore protein, Bax. In support of the idea that checkpoint activation and apoptosis induction are functionally linked, we show that Bax activation by Vpr was ablated when ATR or GADD45α was knocked down. Certain mutants of Vpr, such as R77Q and I74A, identified in long-term nonprogressors, have been proposed to inefficiently induce apoptosis while activating the G(2) checkpoint in a normal manner. We tested the in vitro phenotypes of these mutants and found that their abilities to induce apoptosis and G(2) arrest are indistinguishable from those of HIV-1(NL4–3) vpr, providing additional support to the idea that G(2) arrest and apoptosis induction are mechanistically linked

The 'living of time': entangled temporalities of home and the city

This paper explores the entanglements between urban and domestic temporalities in order to understand what it means to live in the city. Inspired by the film Estate: a reverie (Zimmerman, 2015a), and drawing on a series of home-city biographies, this paper explores the ‘living of time’ through the memories, experiences, and narratives of residents living on different housing estates near Kingsland Road in Hackney, East London. We address two key questions: how are residents' experiences of urban living shaped by multi-layered and entangled temporalities of home and the city? What can an understanding of the urban and domestic 'living of time’ reveal about temporality, home and the city? We explore the ways in which entangled and multi-scalar ‘roots’ and ‘routes’ (Clifford, 1997) chart migration, housing and family histories for urban residents which, in turn, shape and help to articulate narratives of domestic and urban change in terms of stability and instability. We then turn to the overlapping and/or contested temporalities of urban and domestic lives, whereby residents’ home lives – and their wider ideas about the estate, street, neighbourhood or city as home – are affected by processes of urban change in complex and often contradictory ways. Finally, we investigate the ways in which home-city temporalities have shaped, and are shaped by, people’s hopes and fears for their future homes. Urban dwelling is shaped by multiple and multi-layered temporalities, intertwining the past, present and future, generations and life courses, and housing, family and migration histories. The urban and domestic ‘living of time’ reveals how residents adapt to, negotiate and at times resist processes of change and continuity at home and in the city

Giving up on modern foreign languages? Students' perceptions of learning French

This article reports on the findings of an investigation into the attitudes of English students aged 16 to 19 years towards French and how they view the reasons behind their level of achievement. Those students who attributed success to effort, high ability, and effective learning strategies had higher levels of achievement, and students intending to continue French after age 16 were more likely than noncontinuers to attribute success to these factors. Low ability and task difficulty were the main reasons cited for lack of achievement in French, whereas the possible role of learning strategies tended to be overlooked by students. It is argued that learners' self-concept and motivation might be enhanced through approaches that encourage learners to explore the causal links between the strategies they employ and their academic performance, thereby changing the attributions they make for success or failure

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Quantitative 18F-AV1451 Brain Tau PET Imaging in Cognitively Normal Older Adults, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Alzheimer's Disease Patients

Recent developments of tau Positron Emission Tomography (PET) allows assessment of regional neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) deposition in human brain. Among the tau PET molecular probes, 18F-AV1451 is characterized by high selectivity for pathologic tau aggregates over amyloid plaques, limited non-specific binding in white and gray matter, and confined off-target binding. The objectives of the study are (1) to quantitatively characterize regional brain tau deposition measured by 18F-AV1451 PET in cognitively normal older adults (CN), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and AD participants; (2) to evaluate the correlations between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers or Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and 18F-AV1451 PET standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR); and (3) to evaluate the partial volume effects on 18F-AV1451 brain uptake.Methods: The study included total 115 participants (CN = 49, MCI = 58, and AD = 8) from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). Preprocessed 18F-AV1451 PET images, structural MRIs, and demographic and clinical assessments were downloaded from the ADNI database. A reblurred Van Cittertiteration method was used for voxelwise partial volume correction (PVC) on PET images. Structural MRIs were used for PET spatial normalization and region of interest (ROI) definition in standard space. The parametric images of 18F-AV1451 SUVR relative to cerebellum were calculated. The ROI SUVR measurements from PVC and non-PVC SUVR images were compared. The correlation between ROI 18F-AV1451 SUVR and the measurements of MMSE, CSF total tau (t-tau), and phosphorylated tau (p-tau) were also assessed.Results:18F-AV1451 prominently specific binding was found in the amygdala, entorhinal cortex, parahippocampus, fusiform, posterior cingulate, temporal, parietal, and frontal brain regions. Most regional SUVRs showed significantly higher uptake of 18F-AV1451 in AD than MCI and CN participants. SUVRs of small regions like amygdala, entorhinal cortex and parahippocampus were statistically improved by PVC in all groups (p < 0.01). Although there was an increasing tendency of 18F-AV-1451 SUVRs in MCI group compared with CN group, no significant difference of 18F-AV1451 deposition was found between CN and MCI brains with or without PVC (p > 0.05). Declined MMSE score was observed with increasing 18F-AV1451 binding in amygdala, entorhinal cortex, parahippocampus, and fusiform. CSF p-tau was positively correlated with 18F-AV1451 deposition. PVC improved the results of 18F-AV-1451 tau deposition and correlation studies in small brain regions.Conclusion: The typical deposition of 18F-AV1451 tau PET imaging in AD brain was found in amygdala, entorhinal cortex, fusiform and parahippocampus, and these regions were strongly associated with cognitive impairment and CSF biomarkers. Although more deposition was observed in MCI group, the 18F-AV-1451 PET imaging could not differentiate the MCI patients from CN population. More tau deposition related to decreased MMSE score and increased level of CSF p-tau, especially in ROIs of amygdala, entorhinal cortex and parahippocampus. PVC did improve the results of tau deposition and correlation studies in small brain regions and suggest to be routinely used in 18F-AV1451 tau PET quantification