Limiting Access to Remedies: Select Criminal Law and Procedure Cases from the Supreme Court\u27s 2021-22 Term

Although the most memorable cases from the Supreme Court’s 2021-22 Term were on the civil side of its docket, the Court addressed significant cases on the criminal side involving the Confrontation Clause, capital punishment, double jeopardy, criminal jurisdiction in Indian Country, and important statutory interpretation principles, such as the mens rea presumption and the scope of the rule of lenity. Looking back, the Court’s decisions limiting individuals’ access to remedies for violations of their constitutional criminal procedure rights stand out. Shinn v. Ramirez and Shoop v. Twyford drastically limit the ability of persons incarcerated in state facilities to challenge the ineffectiveness of their trial counsel in federal habeas proceedings by prohibiting them from introducing new evidence to support their claims. Egbert v. Boule again narrowed individuals’ access to Bivens remedies against federal officials, and Vega v. Tekoh held that individuals may not sue state officials under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for Miranda violations. Dicta in some cases suggest possible future restrictions on individuals’ constitutional criminal procedure remedies. For example, in Brown v. Davenport, Justice Gorsuch wrote a majority decision that reconstructed the history of federal habeas corpus review to suggest that the Great Writ should be limited to correcting jurisdictional defects. And the Tekoh majority dropped a footnote questioning the legitimacy of the Miranda decision itself. This was Justice Breyer’s last Term on the Court, and he spent it, for the most part, writing and joining dissents. He authored powerful dissenting opinions in both the Boston Marathon bombing case and the Second Amendment case on the right to bear arms in public

Challenges and opportunities associated with the introduction of next generation long lasting insecticidal nets for malaria control: a case study from Burkina Faso.

BACKGROUND Reductions in malaria incidence in Africa can largely be attributed to increases in malaria vector control activities; predominately the use of long lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs). With insecticide resistance affecting an increasing number of malaria endemic countries and threatening the effectiveness of conventional LLINs, there is an increasing urgency to implement alternative tools that control these resistant populations. The aim of this study was to identify potential challenges and opportunities for accelerating access to next generation LLINs in Burkina Faso, a country with areas of high levels of insecticide resistance. METHODS An analytical framework was used to guide the selection of interviewees, data collection and analysis. Semi structured interviews were carried out with key informants in April 2014 in Burkina Faso. Interviews were conducted in French and English, audio recorded, transcribed and entered into NVivo10 for data management and analysis. Data were coded according to the framework themes and then analysed to provide a description of the key points and explain patterns in the data. RESULTS Interviewees reported that the policy architecture in Burkina Faso is characterised by a strong framework of actors that contribute to policymaking and strong national research capacity which indirectly contributes to national policy change via collaboration with internationally led research. Financing significantly impacts the potential adoption, availability and affordability of next generation LLINs. This confers significant power on international donors that fund vector control. National decisions around which LLINs to procure were restricted to quantity and delivery dates; the potential to tackle insecticide resistance was not part of the decision-making process. Furthermore, at the time of the study there was no World Health Organisation (WHO) guidance on where and when next generation LLINs might positively impact on malaria transmission, severely limiting their adoption, availability and affordability. CONCLUSIONS This study shows that access to next generation LLINs was severely compromised by the lack of global guidance. In a country like Burkina Faso where WHO recommendations are relatively quickly adopted, a clear WHO recommendation and adequate financing will be key to accelerate access to next generation LLINs. Key Words: Malaria, Next generation long lasting insecticidal nets, LLINs, PBO nets, Policy Analysis, Vector Control, Burkina Faso

The Ursinus Weekly, December 7, 1964

225 voice choir and professional soloists to present annual Messiah performance • Faculty members gain recognition: Yale Press publishes Foster volumes; Dr. Hinkle appointed assistant prof • Psych Club hears Manus on the retarded child • Judy Collins captivates Thursday concert audience: Folk songstress and fine entertainer • E and R church awards grant for scholarship fund • Juniors succeed with turned about turnabout • WSGA appoints judiciary and election boards • Philadelphia Orchestra presents varied concert • An invitation to sophomore and junior women • Editorial: Fa-la-la • Letters to the editor • European tour group readies for next Summer • Romanticism vs. classicism at Kaffee Klatsch • The lively lives of the 942 girls • Ursinus student ends tour of duty in Peace Corps • Bears b-ball men triumph over Del Val and E Baptist: Barry Troster high scorer in both games • Volleyball led by ZX and Demas in last week • Track meeting to be held • Wrestling team meets Princeton • Greek gleanings • Gulf Corporation grants second gift to Chemistry Department • Curtain Club presents The Pooh Saturdayhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/1236/thumbnail.jp

Strange Attractors

Catalog for the exhibition Strange Attractors held at the Seton Hall University Walsh Gallery, January 16 - March 8, 2019. Curated by Taney Roniger and Jeanne Brasile

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Two-Season ACTPol Lensing Power Spectrum

We report a measurement of the power spectrum of cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing from two seasons of Atacama Cosmology Telescope Polarimeter (ACTPol) CMB data. The CMB lensing power spectrum is extracted from both temperature and polarization data using quadratic estimators. We obtain results that are consistent with the expectation from the best-fit Planck LCDM model over a range of multipoles L=80-2100, with an amplitude of lensing A_lens = 1.06 +/- 0.15 (stat.) +/- 0.06 (sys.) relative to Planck. Our measurement of the CMB lensing power spectrum gives sigma_8 Omega_m^0.25 = 0.643 +/- 0.054; including baryon acoustic oscillation scale data, we constrain the amplitude of density fluctuations to be sigma_8 = 0.831 +/- 0.053. We also update constraints on the neutrino mass sum. We verify our lensing measurement with a number of null tests and systematic checks, finding no evidence of significant systematic errors. This measurement relies on a small fraction of the ACTPol data already taken; more precise lensing results can therefore be expected from the full ACTPol dataset.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures, to be submitted to Physical Review

ARomatase Inhibition plus/minus Src-inhibitor SaracaTinib (AZD0530) in Advanced breast CAncer Therapy (ARISTACAT): a randomised phase II study

PURPOSE: The development of oestrogen resistance is a major challenge in managing hormone-sensitive metastatic breast cancer. Saracatinib (AZD0530), an oral Src kinase inhibitor, prevents oestrogen resistance in animal models and reduces osteoclast activity. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of saracatinib addition to aromatase inhibitors (AI) in patients with hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer. METHODS: This phase II multicentre double-blinded randomised trial allocated post-menopausal women to AI with either saracatinib or placebo (1:1 ratio). Patients were stratified into an "AI-sensitive/naïve" group who received anastrozole and "prior-AI" group who received exemestane. Primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS). Secondary endpoints included overall survival (OS), objective response rate (ORR) and toxicity. RESULTS: 140 patients were randomised from 20 UK centres to saracatinib/AI (n = 69) or placebo/AI (n = 71). Saracatinib was not associated with an improved PFS (3.7 months v. 5.6 months placebo/AI) and did not reduce likelihood of bony progression. There was no benefit in OS or ORR. Effects were consistent in "AI-sensitive/naive" and "prior-AI" sub-groups. Saracatinib was well tolerated with dose reductions in 16% and the main side effects were gastrointestinal, hypophosphatemia and rash. CONCLUSION: Saracatinib did not improve outcomes in post-menopausal women with metastatic breast cancer. There was no observed beneficial effect on bone metastases. CRUKE/11/023, ISRCTN23804370

“Excellence R Us”: university research and the fetishisation of excellence

The rhetoric of “excellence” is pervasive across the academy. It is used to refer to research outputs as well as researchers, theory and education, individuals and organisations, from art history to zoology. But does “excellence” actually mean anything? Does this pervasive narrative of “excellence” do any good? Drawing on a range of sources we interrogate “excellence” as a concept and find that it has no intrinsic meaning in academia. Rather it functions as a linguistic interchange mechanism. To investigate whether this linguistic function is useful we examine how the rhetoric of excellence combines with narratives of scarcity and competition to show that the hypercompetition that arises from the performance of “excellence” is completely at odds with the qualities of good research. We trace the roots of issues in reproducibility, fraud, and homophily to this rhetoric. But we also show that this rhetoric is an internal, and not primarily an external, imposition. We conclude by proposing an alternative rhetoric based on soundness and capacity-building. In the final analysis, it turns out that that “excellence” is not excellent. Used in its current unqualified form it is a pernicious and dangerous rhetoric that undermines the very foundations of good research and scholarship

Maximally Star-Forming Galactic Disks II. Vertically-Resolved Hydrodynamic Simulations of Starburst Regulation

We explore the self-regulation of star formation using a large suite of high resolution hydrodynamic simulations, focusing on molecule-dominated regions (galactic centers and [U]LIRGS) where feedback from star formation drives highly supersonic turbulence. In equilibrium the total midplane pressure, dominated by turbulence, must balance the vertical weight of the ISM. Under self-regulation, the momentum flux injected by feedback evolves until it matches the vertical weight. We test this flux balance in simulations spanning a range of parameters, including surface density $\Sigma$, momentum injected per stellar mass formed ($p_*/m_*$), and angular velocity. The simulations are 2D radial-vertical slices, including both self-gravity and an external potential that confines gas to the disk midplane. After the simulations reach a steady state in all relevant quantities, including the star formation rate $\Sigma_{SFR}$, there is remarkably good agreement between the vertical weight, the turbulent pressure, and the momentum injection rate from supernovae. Gas velocity dispersions and disk thicknesses increase with $p_*/m_*$. The efficiency of star formation per free-fall time at the mid-plane density is insensitive to the local conditions and to the star formation prescription in very dense gas. We measure efficiencies $\sim$0.004-0.01, consistent with low and approximately constant efficiencies inferred from observations. For $\Sigma\in$(100--1000) \msunpc, we find $\Sigma_{SFR}\in$(0.1--4) \sfrunits, generally following a $\Sigma_{SFR}\propto \Sigma^2$ relationship. The measured relationships agree very well with vertical equilibrium and with turbulent energy replenishment by feedback within a vertical crossing time. These results, along with the observed $\Sigma_{SFR}-\Sigma$ relation in high density environments, provide strong evidence for the self-regulation of star formation.Comment: 22 pages, 14 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap