A Dollar for Your Thoughts: Determining Whether Nominal Damages Prevent an Otherwise Moot Case from Being an Advisory Opinion

This Note examines whether nominal damages should sustain an otherwise moot constitutional claim. A majority of circuit courts have held that a lone claim for nominal damages is sufficient. A minority of circuit courts have determined that nominal damages are insufficient because there is no practical effect in determining such a case. The courts in the minority analogize nominal damages to declaratory judgments and justify their rulings on the basis of judicial economy. This Note proposes that the minority rule is impermissible under current precedent from the U.S. Supreme Court. However, this Note also proposes that the majority rule be adjusted slightly to address the concerns and criticisms of the minority rule. This Note argues that courts should scrutinize the lone claim for nominal damages and require that plaintiffs allege a specific incident of constitutional deprivation to ensure that there is an ongoing case and controversy. Finally, this Note suggests that the Supreme Court provide more guidance to federal courts on the doctrine of mootness

Reprogramming the diseased brain

Direct conversion of astrocytes to dopamine neurons in vivo offers fresh optimism for the development of improved Parkinson's therapie

Investigating the Potential and Pitfalls of EV-Encapsulated MicroRNAs as Circulating Biomarkers of Breast Cancer

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) shuttle microRNA (miRNA) throughout the circulation and are believed to represent a fingerprint of the releasing cell. We isolated and characterized serum EVs of breast tumour-bearing animals, breast cancer (BC) patients, and healthy controls. EVs were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), protein quantification, western blotting, and nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA). Absolute quantitative (AQ)-PCR was employed to analyse EV-miR-451a expression. Isolated EVs had the appropriate morphology and size. Patient sera contained significantly more EVs than did healthy controls. In tumour-bearing animals, a correlation between serum EV number and tumour burden was observed. There was no significant relationship between EV protein yield and EV quantity determined by NTA, highlighting the requirement for direct quantification. Using AQ-PCR to relate miRNA copy number to EV yield, a significant increase in miRNA-451a copies/EV was detected in BC patient sera, suggesting potential as a novel biomarker of breast cancer

Oct4-Induced Reprogramming Is Required for Adult Brain Neural Stem Cell Differentiation into Midbrain Dopaminergic Neurons

Neural stem cells (NSCs) lose their competency to generate region-specific neuronal populations at an early stage during embryonic brain development. Here we investigated whether epigenetic modifications can reverse the regional restriction of mouse adult brain subventricular zone (SVZ) NSCs. Using a variety of chemicals that interfere with DNA methylation and histone acetylation, we showed that such epigenetic modifications increased neuronal differentiation but did not enable specific regional patterning, such as midbrain dopaminergic (DA) neuron generation. Only after Oct-4 overexpression did adult NSCs acquire a pluripotent state that allowed differentiation into midbrain DA neurons. DA neurons derived from Oct4-reprogrammed NSCs improved behavioural motor deficits in a rat model of Parkinson's disease (PD) upon intrastriatal transplantation. Here we report for the first time the successful differentiation of SVZ adult NSCs into functional region-specific midbrain DA neurons, by means of Oct-4 induced pluripotency

Dopamine Receptor Antagonists Enhance Proliferation and Neurogenesis of Midbrain Lmx1a-expressing Progenitors

Degeneration of dopamine neurons in the midbrain causes symptoms of the movement disorder, Parkinson disease. Dopamine neurons are generated from proliferating progenitor cells localized in the embryonic ventral midbrain. However, it remains unclear for how long cells with dopamine progenitor character are retained and if there is any potential for reactivation of such cells after cessation of normal dopamine neurogenesis. We show here that cells expressing Lmx1a and other progenitor markers remain in the midbrain aqueductal zone beyond the major dopamine neurogenic period. These cells express dopamine receptors, are located in regions heavily innervated by midbrain dopamine fibres and their proliferation can be stimulated by antagonizing dopamine receptors, ultimately leading to increased neurogenesis in vivo. Furthermore, treatment with dopamine receptor antagonists enhances neurogenesis in vitro, both from embryonic midbrain progenitors as well as from embryonic stem cells. Altogether our results indicate a potential for reactivation of resident midbrain cells with dopamine progenitor potential beyond the normal period of dopamine neurogenesis

A Dollar for Your Thoughts: Determining Whether Nominal Damages Prevent an Otherwise Moot Case from Being an Advisory Opinion

This Note examines whether nominal damages should sustain an otherwise moot constitutional claim. A majority of circuit courts have held that a lone claim for nominal damages is sufficient. A minority of circuit courts have determined that nominal damages are insufficient because there is no practical effect in determining such a case. The courts in the minority analogize nominal damages to declaratory judgments and justify their rulings on the basis of judicial economy. This Note proposes that the minority rule is impermissible under current precedent from the U.S. Supreme Court. However, this Note also proposes that the majority rule be adjusted slightly to address the concerns and criticisms of the minority rule. This Note argues that courts should scrutinize the lone claim for nominal damages and require that plaintiffs allege a specific incident of constitutional deprivation to ensure that there is an ongoing case and controversy. Finally, this Note suggests that the Supreme Court provide more guidance to federal courts on the doctrine of mootness

Atlas of Australian Acid Sulfate Soils: recent developments and future priorities

The Atlas of Australian Acid Sulfate Soils (AAASS) is a web-based hazard assessment tool with a nationally consistent legend, which provides information about the distribution and properties of acid sulfate soils (ASS) across Australia. This tool is available on ASRIS (Australian Soil Resource Information System: www.asris.gov.au) and every polygon or mapping unit is attributed with information pertaining to: (i) 4 classes of “probability of occurrence”, (ii) 4 levels of confidence relating to the quality of data source, and (iii) 10 additional descriptors such as desiccation cracks. In Australia, ASS occupy an estimated 215,000 km2 of which 58,000 km2 is coastal ASS and 157,000 km2 is inland ASS (Fitzpatrick et al. 2008a). In the coastal zone, 41,000 km2 are exposed at some point during the tidal cycle, with the remaining 17,000 km2 being permanently subaqueous. More than 126 km2 of coastal ASS with sulfuric material have been mapped, however this is a significant underestimate, which will be modified with future work. Being web-based the Atlas is a constantly evolving national map of available ASS information, which also includes priority case studies at a range of localities across Australia. With ongoing recent field investigations and acquisition of more detailed local spatial data sets, especially in the Lower Lakes region in South Australia, resolution and accuracy of the inland ASS component are being continually improved from its current, first cut “broad brush” depiction. Future priorities are to constantly integrate ASS data from any new regional ASS investigations to enhance, update and refine the AAASS and new case studies.Rob Fitzpatrick, Steve Marvanek, Bernie Powell and Gerard Grealishhttp://www.iuss.org/19th%20WCSS/WCSS_Main_Page.htm