“The sword has not yet fallen”: Is Administrative Guidance Jeopardizing Constitutional Rights?

The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (“FHEO”) has a duty to investigate sex-based discrimination in housing. In accordance with recent Supreme Court precedent—which held that Title VII’s prohibition on “sex” discrimination necessarily includes discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation—FHEO broadened its definition of sex-based discrimination in an internal memorandum published February 11, 2021. This memorandum directed officers to investigate discrimination in housing based on gender identity and sexual orientation. The change unnerved a private Christian college, College of the Ozarks, located in Missouri. Fearing that this internal memorandum threatened its ability to place students in dorms based on their biological sex, the school sued the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) and the Biden administration, claiming its constitutional rights were abridged. The district court found, and the Eighth Circuit affirmed, that College of the Ozarks lacked standing to bring the suit against the defendants

“The sword has not yet fallen”: Is Administrative Guidance Jeopardizing Constitutional Rights?

The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (“FHEO”) has a duty to investigate sex-based discrimination in housing. In accordance with recent Supreme Court precedent—which held that Title VII’s prohibition on “sex” discrimination necessarily includes discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation—FHEO broadened its definition of sex-based discrimination in an internal memorandum published February 11, 2021. This memorandum directed officers to investigate discrimination in housing based on gender identity and sexual orientation. The change unnerved a private Christian college, College of the Ozarks, located in Missouri. Fearing that this internal memorandum threatened its ability to place students in dorms based on their biological sex, the school sued the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) and the Biden administration, claiming its constitutional rights were abridged. The district court found, and the Eighth Circuit affirmed, that College of the Ozarks lacked standing to bring the suit against the defendants

Tuber formation and development of Dioscorea cayenensis-D. rotundata complex in vitro. Effect of polyamines.

Tuberisation was obtained in vitro on yam (Dioscorea cayenensis-D.rotundata complex). The effect of exogenous polyamines on tuber formation and development (length and weight of microtubers) were investigated and discussed in relation with changes in endogenous polyamines. Application of exogenous polyamines, inhibitors of their metabolism and polyamines precursors in various concentrations positively affected microtuber formation by yam nodal cuttings and their further development. In control conditions, three weeks are needed to obtain 100% of tuberisation. With low concentrations of putrescine (10 5 or 10 6 M), tuber formation occurred earlier. Polyamine endogenous level and metabolism can be significantly affected by exogenous polyamines but modifications of endogenous free polyamines could not be directly correlated to the tuber formation process. Increases in endogenous putrescine and auxins were observed in tubers showing a better development in the presence of putrescine. These results can be used for optimising in vitro conditions for mass production of larger microtubers of the Dioscorea cayenensis-D. rotundata complex

Loss of plant organogenic totipotency in the course of in vitro neoplastic progression

The aptitude for organogenesis from normal hormone-dependent cultures very commonly decreases as the tissues are serially subcultured. The reasons for the loss of regenerative ability may vary under different circumstances: genetic variation in the cell population, epigenetic changes, disappearance of an organogenesis-promoting substance, etc. The same reasons may be evoked for the progressive and eventually irreversible loss of organogenic totipotency in the course of neoplastic progressions from hormone-independent tumors and hyperhydric teratomas to cancers. As in animal cells, plant cells at the end of a neoplastic progression have probably undergone several independent genetic accidents with cumulative effects. They indeed are characterized by atypical biochemical cycles from which they are apparently unable to escape. The metabolic changes are probably not the primary defects that cause cancer, rather they may allow the cells to survive. How these changes, namely an oxidative stress, affect organogenesis is not known. The literature focuses on somatic mutations and epigenetic changes that cause aberrant regulation of cell cycle genes and their machinery