Real Property, Real Problems: Expanding Alaska\u27s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act

Alaska’s Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices (UDAP) statute was designed to provide broad, robust protections for everyday Alaskan consumers. Astonishingly, Alaska is one of only three states that does not protect Alaskans under its UDAP statute when they fall victim to fraudulent schemes involving real property. The Alaska Supreme Court has consistently upheld this interpretation of the UDAP statute by relying on precedent from over thirty years ago. At the same time, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, everyday Alaskans are more economically vulnerable than ever before, with the atmosphere being ripe for proliferation of fraudulent real property schemes. This Note argues that the court has misapplied precedent and must therefore reevaluate the statute’s application to real property transactions, especially because the statute has been amended and strengthened since the court’s original rulings. If it does not, because of the sheer importance of housing in everyday life, a significant portion of the population could face devastating consequences not only to their economic wellbeing but also to their safety, security, and livelihood

Taurine is a potent activator of extrasynaptic GABAA receptors in the thalamus

Taurine is one of the most abundant free amino acids in the brain. In a number of studies, taurine has been reported to activate glycine receptors (Gly-Rs) at moderate concentrations (>= 100 mu M), and to be a weak agonist at GABA(A) receptors (GABA(A)-Rs), which are usually activated at high concentrations (>= 1 mM). In this study, we show that taurine reduced the excitability of thalamocortical relay neurons and activated both extrasynaptic GABAA-Rs and Gly-Rs in neurons in the mouse ventrobasal (VB) thalamus. Low concentrations of taurine (10 - 100 mu M) decreased neuronal input resistance and firing frequency, and elicited a steady outward current under voltage clamp, but had no effects on fast inhibitory synaptic currents. Currents elicited by 50 mu M taurine were abolished by gabazine, insensitive to midazolam, and partially blocked by 20 mu M Zn2+, consistent with the pharmacological properties of extrasynaptic GABA(A)-Rs (alpha 4 beta 2 delta subtype) involved in tonic inhibition in the thalamus. Tonic inhibition was enhanced by an inhibitor of taurine transport, suggesting that taurine can act as an endogenous activator of these receptors. Taurine-evoked currents were absent in relay neurons from GABA(A)-R alpha 4 subunit knock-out mice. The amplitude of the taurine current was larger in neurons from adult mice than juvenile mice. Taurine was a more potent agonist at recombinant alpha(4)beta 2 delta GABA(A)-Rs than at alpha 1 beta 2 gamma 2 GABA(A)-Rs. We conclude that physiological concentrations of taurine can inhibit VB neurons via activation of extrasynaptic GABA(A)-Rs and that taurine may function as an endogenous regulator of excitability and network activity in the thalamus