The First Amendment Case Against Partisan Gerrymandering

The Supreme Court recognizes that [p]artisangerrymanders... [are incompatible] with democraticprinciples. I This makes good sense. The fundamentalobjective of redistrictingis to establish \u27fairand effectiverepresentation for all citizens. \u272 And partisangerrymandering-whichthe Supreme Court defines as drawing... district lines to subordinate adherents ofone political party and entrench a rival party inpower\u27--runs counter to that fundamental objective.Nonetheless, the Supreme Court has yet to invalidatea redistricting plan solely as an unconstitutionalpartisan gerrymander. This Symposium issue of theGeorgia Law Review, however, comes at a crucialmoment in the Court\u27s treatment of that question. A casenow before the Supreme Court presents the Court withthe opportunity to set limits on this anti-democraticpractice and to clarify the constitutional bases for thoselimits. While a number of legal arguments for reiningin partisangerrymanderingare now before the SupremeCourt, this Article focuses on just one of those claims.In the authors\u27 view, the First Amendment providesclear legal standards under which courts may properlyinvalidate district lines-and, accordingly, districtingplans-that have been drawn to subordinate theadherents of one politicalparty in favor of the views andelectoralpreferences of the party in power. This Article argues that these standardsare legal rules the Court hasapplied in a variety of contexts and that the applicationof such rules does not require the Court to derive anyadditional metric or metrics by which to adjudicatethese claims.The factual record in two cases recently before theSupreme Court may have supported the application ofthese standards to invalidate the challenged districtsand districting plans at issue-the Wisconsin statelegislative map and Maryland\u27s Sixth CongressionalDistrict. For a number of reasons beyond the scope ofthis Article, the Court remanded both of those casesabsent any holding as to the merits of a FirstAmendment claim.The constitutionality of North Carolina\u27s 2016Congressional Plan, however, now finds itself-following remand and reconsideration by the districtcourt-squarely before the Supreme Court on appeal.Because that challenge now looks to present the nextopportunity for the Court to consider these issues, andbecause of their involvement in the North Carolinalitigation, the authors focus principal attention onapplication of the underlying law to that congressionalredistrictingplan and its individual district

Findings from 12-lead electrocardiography that predict circulatory shock from pulmonary embolism: systematic review and meta-analysis

Objectives Treatment guidelines for acute pulmonary embolism (PE) recommend risk stratifying patients to assess PE severity, as those at higher risk should be considered for therapy in addition to standard anticoagulation to prevent right ventricular (RV) failure, which can cause hemodynamic collapse. The hypothesis was that 12-lead electrocardiography (ECG) can aid in this determination. The objective of this study was to measure the prognostic value of specific ECG findings (the Daniel score, which includes heart rate > 100 beats/min, presence of the S1Q3T3 pattern, incomplete and complete right bundle branch block [RBBB], and T-wave inversion in leads V1–V4, plus ST elevation in lead aVR and atrial fibrillation suggestive of RV strain from acute pulmonary hypertension), in patients with acute PE. Methods Studies were identified by a structured search of MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane library, Google Scholar, Scopus, and bibliographies in October 2014. Case reports, non-English papers, and those that lacked either patient outcomes or ECG findings were excluded. Papers with evidence of a predefined reference standard for PE and the results of 12-lead ECG, stratified by outcome (hemodynamic collapse, defined as circulatory shock requiring vasopressors or mechanical ventilation, or in hospital or death within 30 days) were included. Papers were assessed for selection and publication bias. The authors also assessed heterogeneity (I2) and calculated the odds ratios (OR) for each ECG sign from the random effects model if I2 > 24% and fixed effects if I2 < 25%. Funnel plots were used to examine for publication bias. Results Forty-five full-length studies of 8,209 patients were analyzed. The most frequent ECG signs found in patients with acute PE were tachycardia (38%), T-wave inversion in lead V1 (38%), and ST elevation in lead aVR (36%). Ten studies with 3,007 patients were included for full analysis. Six ECG findings (heart rate > 100 beats/min, S1Q3T3, complete RBBB, inverted T waves in V1–V4, ST elevation in aVR, and atrial fibrillation) had likelihood and ORs with lower-limit 95% confidence intervals above unity, suggesting them to be significant predictors of hemodynamic collapse and 30-day mortality. OR data showed no evidence of publication bias, but the proportions of patients with hemodynamic collapse or death and S1Q3T3 and RBBB tended to be higher in smaller studies. Patients who were outcome-negative had a significantly lower mean ± SD Daniel score (2.6 ± 1.5) than patients with hemodynamic collapse (5.9 ± 3.9; p = 0.039, ANOVA with Dunnett's post hoc), but not patients with all-cause 30-day mortality (4.9 ± 3.3; p = 0.12). Conclusions This systematic review and meta-analysis revealed 10 studies, including 3,007 patients with acute PE, that demonstrate that six findings of RV strain on 12-lead ECG (heart rate > 100 beats/min, S1Q3T3, complete RBBB, inverted T waves in V1–V4, ST elevation in aVR, and atrial fibrillation) are associated with increased risk of circulatory shock and death

An Experimental Investigation of NACA Submerged-Duct Entrances

The results of an investigation of submerged-duct entrances are presented. It is shown that this type of entrance possesses the following characteristics: 1) very high-critical-compressibility speeds throughout the range of high-speed inlet velocity ratios; 2) very low pressure losses for the air entering the duct at all inlet-velocity ratios; and, 3) low external drag. These characteristics are obtained by the proper shaping of the contour of the upstream approach to the submerged inlets and by proper alignment of the duct lip. Design data are presented and the application of these data to a specific high-speed fighter-airplane design is discussed

Targeting prominin2 transcription to overcome ferroptosis resistance in cancer

Understanding how cancer cells resist ferroptosis is a significant problem that impacts ongoing efforts to stimulate ferroptosis as a therapeutic strategy. We reported that prominin2 is induced by ferroptotic stimuli and functions to resist ferroptotic death. Although this finding has significant implications for therapy, specific prominin2 inhibitors are not available. We rationalized that the mechanism by which prominin2 expression is induced by ferroptotic stress could be targeted, expanding the range of options to overcome ferroptosis resistance. Here, we show that that 4-hydroxynonenal (4HNE), a specific lipid metabolite formed from the products of lipid peroxidation stimulates PROM2 transcription by a mechanism that involves p38 MAP kinase-mediated activation of HSF1 and HSF1-dependent transcription of PROM2. HSF1 inhibitors sensitize a wide variety of resistant cancer cells to drugs that induce ferroptosis. Importantly, the combination of a ferroptosis-inducing drug and an HSF1 inhibitor causes the cytostasis of established tumors in mice, although neither treatment alone is effective. These data reveal a novel approach for the therapeutic induction of ferroptosis in cancer

4. The School Develops

Between 1947 and 1953, when M.P. Catherwood left the deanship to become New York’s industrial commissioner, the ILR School developed into a full fledged enterprise. These pages attempt to capture some of the excitement of this period of the school’s history, which was characterized by vigor, growth, and innovation. Includes: Alumni Recall Their Lives as Students; The Faculty Were Giants; Alice Cook: Lifelong Scholar, Consummate Teacher; Frances Perkins; Visits and Visitors; Tenth Anniversary: Reflection and Change; The Emergence of Departments at ILR; Development of International Programs and Outreach

TBestDB: a taxonomically broad database of expressed sequence tags (ESTs)

The TBestDB database contains ∼370 000 clustered expressed sequence tag (EST) sequences from 49 organisms, covering a taxonomically broad range of poorly studied, mainly unicellular eukaryotes, and includes experimental information, consensus sequences, gene annotations and metabolic pathway predictions. Most of these ESTs have been generated by the Protist EST Program, a collaboration among six Canadian research groups. EST sequences are read from trace files up to a minimum quality cut-off, vector and linker sequence is masked, and the ESTs are clustered using phrap. The resulting consensus sequences are automatically annotated by using the AutoFACT program. The datasets are automatically checked for clustering errors due to chimerism and potential cross-contamination between organisms, and suspect data are flagged in or removed from the database. Access to data deposited in TBestDB by individual users can be restricted to those users for a limited period. With this first report on TBestDB, we open the database to the research community for free processing, annotation, interspecies comparisons and GenBank submission of EST data generated in individual laboratories. For instructions on submission to TBestDB, contact [email protected]. The database can be queried at

The QUEST large area CCD camera

We have designed, constructed, and put into operation a very large area CCD camera that covers the field of view of the 1.2 m Samuel Oschin Schmidt Telescope at the Palomar Observatory. The camera consists of 112 CCDs arranged in a mosaic of four rows with 28 CCDs each. The CCDs are 600 x 2400 pixel Sarnoff thinned, back-illuminated devices with 13 µm x 13 µm pixels. The camera covers an area of 4.6° x 3.6° on the sky with an active area of 9.6 deg_2. This camera has been installed at the prime focus of the telescope and commissioned, and scientific-quality observations on the Palomar-QUEST Variability Sky Survey were started in 2003 September. The design considerations, construction features, and performance parameters of this camera are described in this paper

A unique Mycobacterium species isolated from an epizootic of striped bass (Morone saxatilis)

We isolated a Mycobacterium sp. resembling Mycobacterium marinum and M. ulcerans from diseased striped bass (Morone saxatilis) during an epizootic of mycobacteriosis in the Chesapeake Bay. This isolate may represent an undescribed Mycobacterium species, based on phenotypic characteristics and comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence