Interview: Nathan Pastor on Barefoot v. Jennings

In February 2020 (read: pre-COVID-19-pandemic and the California shelter-in-place order taking hold), I was lucky enough to sit down with Nathan Pastor (JD ’14, LLM ’16, right) to discuss a case that resulted in a seismic shift in California probate law—Barefoot v. Jennings

HIV is Not a Crime, There Should Be No Jail Time

By way of personal, activist narrative, this blog post will provide broad context to the post-Stonewall legal landscape and the gay rights (now, the LGBTQ+) movement. The stage set, the writer will inform the audience of specific injustices brought upon persons living with HIV, during modern times, in the United States, simply based on their serostatus and offer solutions and actions that readers can take themselves. This article includes links to State-by-State Statutory Information and several embedded video interviews, as well as an extensive bibliography

2020 California Water Law Symposium “Water & Federalism: Shifts in State/Federal Roles & Relations”

The California Water Law Symposium is a collaborative, student-run event that brings together leading minds in water law to discuss California’s critical water issues. Panels featured professionals from all aspects of water law, focusing on the impacts of, and relationship between, state and federal regulation of drinking water, dam removals, tribal relations surrounding dams, ecosystem-based management, wetlands, and endangered species in California. The Golden Gate University School of Law took the lead in hosting this year’s event. Participant schools included: USF School of Law; UC Hastings College of the Law; UC Berkeley School of Law; UC Davis School of Law; Stanford University Law School; and University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law

Gay Social Networking Apps are Fueling Crystal Meth Use

Selling crystal meth on gay social networks is a problem nobody is talking about; two men tell their stories. The LGBT+ community has a long standing relationship with the use of drugs. From the 70s to present day, there has been a popular drug used – currently, it\u27s crystal meth. Adam and Christopher have dealt with their addiction to crystal meth for many years and the introduction of gay dating apps like Grindr, Scruff and Jack\u27d posed new problems for them when they were trying to stay sober. https://medium.com/@moises.mendez/gay-social-networking-apps-are-fueling-crystal-meth-use-ac34f38fa63

Evidence Vs. Practice in Early Drain Removal Following Pancreatectomy

Background: Early drain removal when postoperative day (POD) 1 drain fluid amylase (DFA) was ≤ 5000 U/L reduced complications in a previous randomized controlled trial. We hypothesized that most surgeons continue to remove drains late and this is associated with inferior outcomes. Methods: We assessed the practice of surgeons in a prospectively maintained pancreas surgery registry to determine the association between timing of drain removal with demographics, co-morbidities, and complications. We selected patients with POD1 DFA ≤ 5000 U/L and excluded those without drains, and subjects without data on POD1 DFA or timing of drain removal. Early drain removal was defined as ≤ POD5. Results: 244 patients met inclusion criteria. Only 90 (37%) had drains removed early. Estimated blood loss was greater in the late removal group (190 mL vs 100 mL, p = 0.005) and pathological findings associated with soft gland texture were more frequent (97(63%) vs 35(39%), p < 0.0001). Patients in the late drain removal group had more complications (84(55%) vs 30(33%), p = 0.001) including pancreatic fistula (55(36%) vs 4(4%), p < 0.0001), delayed gastric emptying (27(18%) vs 3(3%), p = 0.002), and longer length of stay (7 days vs 5 days, p < 0.0001). In subset analysis for procedure type, complications and pancreatic fistula remained significant for both pancreatoduodenectomy and distal pancreatectomy. Conclusion: Despite level 1 data suggesting improved outcomes with early removal when POD1 DFA is ≤ 5000 U/L, experienced pancreas surgeons more frequently removed drains late. This practice was associated with known risk factors (EBL, soft pancreas) and may be associated with inferior outcomes suggesting potential for improvement

Elliptic flow of charged particles in Pb-Pb collisions at 2.76 TeV

We report the first measurement of charged particle elliptic flow in Pb-Pb collisions at 2.76 TeV with the ALICE detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurement is performed in the central pseudorapidity region (|$\eta$|<0.8) and transverse momentum range 0.2< $p_{\rm T}$< 5.0 GeV/$c$. The elliptic flow signal v$_2$, measured using the 4-particle correlation method, averaged over transverse momentum and pseudorapidity is 0.087 $\pm$ 0.002 (stat) $\pm$ 0.004 (syst) in the 40-50% centrality class. The differential elliptic flow v$_2(p_{\rm T})$ reaches a maximum of 0.2 near $p_{\rm T}$ = 3 GeV/$c$. Compared to RHIC Au-Au collisions at 200 GeV, the elliptic flow increases by about 30%. Some hydrodynamic model predictions which include viscous corrections are in agreement with the observed increase.Comment: 10 pages, 4 captioned figures, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/389

Performance and Operation of the CMS Electromagnetic Calorimeter

The operation and general performance of the CMS electromagnetic calorimeter using cosmic-ray muons are described. These muons were recorded after the closure of the CMS detector in late 2008. The calorimeter is made of lead tungstate crystals and the overall status of the 75848 channels corresponding to the barrel and endcap detectors is reported. The stability of crucial operational parameters, such as high voltage, temperature and electronic noise, is summarised and the performance of the light monitoring system is presented

Helicobacter species in cancers of the gallbladder and extrahepatic biliary tract

Helicobacter species have been found in human bile and biliary tract (BT) tissue and are suspected to cause BT diseases, including gallbladder and extrahepatic cancers, collectively referred to in this work as BT cancers. We conducted a literature review of the epidemiological evidence linking the presence of Helicobacter species in bile or BT biopsies to BT cancers and benign diseases. Reports showed great variability with respect to study methods. Nine studies of BT cancers were identified, all with 30 or fewer BT cancers; eight included cancer-free control subjects and used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as a means of Helicobacter species detection. In four of these studies, Helicobacter species were detected in patients with BT cancer significantly more frequently than in controls, at least when controls without BT diseases were used. In two studies, no Helicobacter species were detected in either cases or controls. Helicobacter species were also often detected in benign BT diseases such as gallstone disease or chronic cholecystitis. As our current knowledge relies on a few small studies that showed substantial differences, larger studies and more standardised protocols for detecting DNA and antibodies against Helicobacter species are needed to investigate a potential association with BT cancer

Laparoscopy in management of appendicitis in high-, middle-, and low-income countries: a multicenter, prospective, cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Appendicitis is the most common abdominal surgical emergency worldwide. Differences between high- and low-income settings in the availability of laparoscopic appendectomy, alternative management choices, and outcomes are poorly described. The aim was to identify variation in surgical management and outcomes of appendicitis within low-, middle-, and high-Human Development Index (HDI) countries worldwide. METHODS: This is a multicenter, international prospective cohort study. Consecutive sampling of patients undergoing emergency appendectomy over 6 months was conducted. Follow-up lasted 30 days. RESULTS: 4546 patients from 52 countries underwent appendectomy (2499 high-, 1540 middle-, and 507 low-HDI groups). Surgical site infection (SSI) rates were higher in low-HDI (OR 2.57, 95% CI 1.33-4.99, p = 0.005) but not middle-HDI countries (OR 1.38, 95% CI 0.76-2.52, p = 0.291), compared with high-HDI countries after adjustment. A laparoscopic approach was common in high-HDI countries (1693/2499, 67.7%), but infrequent in low-HDI (41/507, 8.1%) and middle-HDI (132/1540, 8.6%) groups. After accounting for case-mix, laparoscopy was still associated with fewer overall complications (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.42-0.71, p < 0.001) and SSIs (OR 0.22, 95% CI 0.14-0.33, p < 0.001). In propensity-score matched groups within low-/middle-HDI countries, laparoscopy was still associated with fewer overall complications (OR 0.23 95% CI 0.11-0.44) and SSI (OR 0.21 95% CI 0.09-0.45). CONCLUSION: A laparoscopic approach is associated with better outcomes and availability appears to differ by country HDI. Despite the profound clinical, operational, and financial barriers to its widespread introduction, laparoscopy could significantly improve outcomes for patients in low-resource environments. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02179112

Calibration of the CMS Drift Tube Chambers and Measurement of the Drift Velocity with Cosmic Rays

Peer reviewe