Great Beer, Good Intentions, Bad Law: The Unconstitutionality of New York’s Farm Brewery License

In January 2013, New York joined a recent legislative trend and adopted into law a farm brewery license. The law seeks to protect and promote New York’s brewery-related agricultural sectors by creating a new and cheaper “farm brewery” license that grants special privileges to licensees while mandating that they brew with in-state ingredients. This Note argues that, although well-intentioned, this legislative adaption to the craft beer revolution is a protectionist violation of the dormant Commerce Clause. In doing so, this Note provides a background to alcohol regulation in the United States, outlines the tensions these regulations have with the Commerce Clause, and concludes that although states should promote craft brewing, they must do so legally, uniformly, and non-discriminatorily

A Murky Doctrine Gets a Little Pushback: The Fourth Circuit\u27s Rebuff of Guilty Pleas in \u3cem\u3eUnited States v. Fisher\u3c/em\u3e

On April 1, 2013, in United States v. Fisher, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated a defendant’s guilty plea post-sentencing because of an officer’s impermissible conduct during the preceding investigation. In doing so, the court expanded on the “voluntariness” prerequisite outlined in the seminal 1970 U.S. Supreme Court case of Brady v. United States that governs the guilty plea process in federal court. This Comment argues that this was a prudent expansion given the troubling nature of guilty pleas in general. This Comment outlines the basic contours of guilty pleas in the U.S. criminal justice system and finds that the protection extended by the Fourth Circuit in Fisher is needed

One vs. two paramedics: Does ambulance crew configuration affect scene time or performance of certain clinical skills?

Background: Emergency Medical Services (EMS) organizations have a wide range of options in the design and composition of their individual systems. Many have opted to provide a paramedic on every emergency call in a single-tiered response plan, but little evidence exists to demonstrate that ambulances staffed with two paramedics provide a different level of care than those with a single paramedic and another prehospital provider. The Wake County EMS System is unique in that one half of all ambulances have dual paramedic crews while the other half has single paramedic crews, all under the same organization and training. Objective: The purpose of this study is to compare scene times and performance of specific clinical skills for two-paramedic and one paramedic crews for a variety of high acuity emergency response scenarios. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study by examining electronic medical records from the Wake County EMS system from 6/1/2003 to 6/1/2006-05. We selected patients treated for traumatic injuries, cardiac arrest, cardiac emergencies, and respiratory distress that required emergent transport using lights and sirens. For these clinical scenarios, we defined our cohort as patients that received response from ambulances with a Two Paramedic Crew (TPC) versus those with a Single Paramedic Crew (SPC). For each group, we abstracted information on patient demographics, scene times, placement of IVs, and performance of endotracheal intubation. For analysis, we compared continuous variables with T-Tests for all means and categorical data using Chi Square of Fisher's Exact test. Results: A total of 5,770 patients met inclusion criteria for all clinical scenarios. For scene time for all patients, no significant difference between TPC vs. SPC groups was noted (17.8 vs. 17.6 minutes, p = 0.35). When stratified by clinical scenario, TPC groups had a non-significant shorter scene time for trauma and cardiac arrest patients and SPC groups had a shorter scene time for respiratory distress. No difference was seen between groups for cardiac emergencies. For all intubations, TPC groups had a slightly higher rate of success for both eventual success (0.89 vs. 0.86, p=0.23) and first attempt success (0.63 vs. 0.59, p=0.12) when compared to SPC groups. For IV placement, TPC groups had a small but significant higher rate of eventual success (0.89 vs. 0.87, p=0.04), but not for success on IV placement on the first attempt (0.71 vs. 0.69, p = 0.24). When stratified by clinical scenario, TPC and SPC groups did not differ significantly on performance of either intubation of IV placement for any group. Conclusions: We noted that TPC ambulances had similar scene times and slightly improved rates of intubation and IV placement success when compared to SPC staffed ambulances. These differences were small and should be placed in context with the clinical scenario. For our four groups of high-acuity patients there was little difference noted if care was provided by either a TPC or SPC ambulance.Master of Public Healt

The Meinunger "Nicht Rote" Objects

Four high-latitude slow variable stars have been noted by Meinunger (1972) as "nicht rote" ("not red") objects and thus curious. We have previously reported (Margon & Deutsch 1997) that one of these objects, CC Boo, is in fact a QSO. Here we present observations demonstrating that the remaining three are also highly variable active galactic nuclei. The most interesting object of the four is perhaps S 10765 (= NGP9 F324-0276706), which proves to be a resolved galaxy at z=0.063. Despite the rapid and large reported variability amplitude (~1.6 mag), the spectrum is that of a perfectly normal galaxy, with no emission lines or evident nonthermal continuum. We also present new spectroscopic and photometric observations for AR CVn, suggested by Meinunger to be an RR Lyrae star despite its very faint magnitude (=19.4). The object is indeed one of the most distant RR Lyrae stars known, at a galactocentric distance of ~40 kpc.Comment: Accepted for publication in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Volume 111, January 1999; 14 pages including 4 figures and 1 tabl

Evaluation of Gateway and Low-Cost Traffic-Calming Treatments for Major Routes in Small Rural Communities

Many rural communities have developed around highways or major county roads; as a result, the main street through small rural communities is often part of a high-speed rural highway. Highways and county roads are characterized by high speeds outside the city limits; they then transition into a reduced speed section through the rural community. Consequently, drivers passing through the community often enter at high speeds and maintain those speeds as they travel through the community. Traffic calming in small rural communities along major roadways is common in Europe, but the U.S. does not have experience with applying traffic-calming measures outside of major urban areas. The purpose of the project was to evaluate traffic-calming treatments on the major road through small Iowa communities using either single-measure low-cost or gateway treatments. The project was partially funded by the Iowa Highway Research Board (IHRB). The focus of the IHRB portion was to evaluate single-measure, low-cost, traffic-calming measures that are appropriate to major roads through small rural communities. Seven different low-cost traffic treatments were implemented and evaluated in five rural Iowa communities. The research evaluated the use of two gateway treatments in Union and Roland; five single-measure treatments (speed table, on-pavement “SLOW” markings, a driver speed feedback sign, tubular markers, and on-pavement entrance treatments) were evaluated in Gilbert, Slater, and Dexter

1999 Convocation

Prelude: Mr. Drew Massey, 1999 IMSA Graduate Pledge of Allegiance: Ms. Donielle Newell, Student Council President Welcome: Ms. Donielle Newell, Student Council President; Dr. Stephanie Pace Marshall, President; Mr. Eric McLaren, Principal Musical Selection: Mr. Drew Massey Keynote Speaker: Ms. Marcie Edwards Hawkins, 1989 IMSA Graduat

Production of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) by cultured human dermal and synovial fibroblasts

AbstractObjective: Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) is a large disulfide-linked pentameric protein. Each of its five subunits is approximately 100,000 Da in molecular weight. COMP was originally identified and characterized in cartilage and it has been considered a marker of cartilage metabolism because it is currently thought not to be present in other joint tissues, except for tendon. To confirm the tissue specificity of COMP expression we examined cultured human dermal fibroblasts, human foreskin fibroblasts, and normal human synovial cells for the synthesis of COMP in culture.Method: Normal synovial cells and normal human dermal foreskin fibroblasts were isolated from the corresponding tissues by sequential enzymatic digestions and cultured in media containing 10% fetal bovine serum until confluent. During the final 24 h of culture, the cells were labeled with35S-methionine and35S-cysteine in serum- and cysteine/methionine-free medium. The newly synthesized COMP molecules were immunoprecipitated from the culture media with a COMP-specific polyclonal antiserum, or with monoclonal antibodies or affinity-purified COMP antibodies. The immunoprecipitated COMP was analyzed by electrophoresis in 5.5% polyacrylamide gels. For other experiments, synovial cells cultured from the synovium of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA) were similarly examined.Results: A comparison of the amounts of COMP produced by each cell type (corrected for the DNA content) revealed that synovial cells produced ≥9 times more COMP than chondrocytes or dermal fibroblasts. COMP could be easily detected by immunoprecipitation in all cell types. Electrophoretic analysis revealed a distinct band with an apparent MW of 115–120 kDa in samples from each of the three cell types, regardless of the antibody used. COMP expression in cultures of synoviocytes derived from OA and RA patients showed that OA and RA synovial cells produced similar amounts of monomeric COMP of identical size to those COMP monomers produced by normal synovial cells. The addition of TGF-β to these cultures resulted in an increase in COMP production in normal, OA and RA synovial cells (45, 116 and 115% respectively).Conclusion: These studies demonstrate that substantial amounts of COMP are produced by several mesenchymal cells including synoviocytes and dermal fibroblasts. These findings raise important concerns regarding the utility of measurements of COMP levels in serum or in synovial fluid as markers of articular cartilage degradation because of the likelihood that a substantial proportion of COMP or COMP fragments in serum or synovial fluid may be produced by cells other than articular chondrocytes

Ruthenacarborane–Phenanthroline Derivatives as Potential Metallodrugs

Ruthenium-based complexes have received much interest as potential metallodrugs. In this work, four RuII complexes bearing a dicarbollide moiety, a carbonyl ligand, and a phenanthroline-based ligand were synthesized and characterized, including single crystal diffraction analysis of compounds 2, 4, and 5 and an observed side product SP1. Complexes 2–5 are air and moisture stable under ambient conditions. They show excellent solubility in organic solvents, but low solubility in water