Have We Come Full Circle? Judicial Sentencing Discretion Revived in Booker and Fanfan

The much anticipated Supreme Court decision in United States v. Booker and Fanfan has both invalidated the mandatory nature of the federal Sentencing Guidelines as well as restored judicial discretion for federal judges. With the Booker decision there is a renewed opportunity to correct some of the imbalance that came about as a result of the mandatory guidelines and the sentencing policies of the past twenty years. Booker has implications for all future sentencing as the power between the judiciary and the jury has been realigned and the power of the government has been reduced. Sentencing cannot accomplish legitimate goals when it is absolutely uniform nationwide regardless of any justifiable distinctions between defendants or crimes. Based on this principle, the goals of the United States Sentencing Commission were to eliminate unwarranted departures and to advance the goals of uniformity and proportionality. Warranted departures are those factors that should be taken into account when sentencing. In drafting the Guidelines, the Commission sought to establish a system that maintained fairness and avoided rote application in sentencing practices. Instead, the Guidelines that became effective in 1987 produced a mandatory, rote sentencing process that omitted any judicial discretion and promoted a much-criticized shift in power from the judiciary to the prosecution. Judges resented the fact that their sentencing discretion had evaporated as sentences became harsher and the prison population in this country has swelled to unprecedented numbers. Booker will promote sentencing that is likely to be closer to the original goals of the Sentencing Reform Act which contemplated that sentences would reflect fairness and certainty, two of the hallmarks of due process. With the Booker decision, the Court has opened the way to promote alternative sentencing methods and to allow the judiciary to consider all relevant matters when sentencing. Lower courts will use the reasonableness standard to achieve the goals and policies of sentencing: retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation. In doing so, courts will now be able to consider all relevant factors concerning a defendant and the offense, restored discretion in sentencing

Tributes to Professor Robert Berkley Harper

In 1977, I began teaching at The University of Pittsburgh Law School and in short order one of my closest friends during my tenure there was Professor Robert “Bob” Harper. I wondered when I was hired whether I was selected because I looked strikingly similar to Bob, and perhaps the faculty thought my favoring Professor Harper would make my assimilation into the law school faculty that much easier. Students constantly called me Professor Harper and, indeed, many on the faculty called me Bob for several years; I never bothered to correct them. I thought if they paid that little attention to detail in law school, I would just let them go through life missing some of the finer points their education, and life for that matter, has to offer

Have We Come Full Circle? Judicial Sentencing Discretion Restored in Booker and Fanfan

The much anticipated Supreme Court decision in United States v. Booker and Fanfan has both invalidated the mandatory nature of the federal Sentencing Guidelines as well as restored judicial discretion for federal judges. With the Booker decision there is a renewed opportunity to correct some of the imbalance that came about as a result of the mandatory guidelines and the sentencing policies of the past twenty years. Booker has implications for all future sentencing as the power between the judiciary and the jury has been realigned and the power of the government has been reduced. Sentencing cannot accomplish legitimate goals when it is absolutely uniform nationwide regardless of any justifiable distinctions between defendants or crimes. Based on this principle, the goals of the United States Sentencing Commission were to eliminate unwarranted departures and to advance the goals of uniformity and proportionality. Warranted departures are those factors that should be taken into account when sentencing. In drafting the Guidelines, the Commission sought to establish a system that maintained fairness and avoided rote application in sentencing practices. Instead, the Guidelines that became effective in 1987 produced a mandatory, rote sentencing process that omitted any judicial discretion and promoted a much-criticized shift in power from the judiciary to the prosecution. Judges resented the fact that their sentencing discretion had evaporated as sentences became harsher and the prison population in this country has swelled to unprecedented numbers. Booker will promote sentencing that is likely to be closer to the original goals of the Sentencing Reform Act which contemplated that sentences would reflect fairness and certainty, two of the hallmarks of due process. With the Booker decision, the Court has opened the way to promote alternative sentencing methods and to allow the judiciary to consider all relevant matters when sentencing. Lower courts will use the “reasonableness” standard to achieve the goals and policies of sentencing: retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation. In doing so, courts will now be able to consider all relevant factors concerning a defendant and the offense, restored discretion in sentencing

A natural histone H2A variant lacking the Bub1 phosphorylation site and regulated depletion of centromeric histone CENP-A foster evolvability in Candida albicans.

Eukaryotes have evolved elaborate mechanisms to ensure that chromosomes segregate with high fidelity during mitosis and meiosis, and yet specific aneuploidies can be adaptive during environmental stress. Here, we identify a chromatin-based system required for inducible aneuploidy in a human pathogen. Candida albicans utilizes chromosome missegregation to acquire tolerance to antifungal drugs and for nonmeiotic ploidy reduction after mating. We discovered that the ancestor of C. albicans and 2 related pathogens evolved a variant of histone 2A (H2A) that lacks the conserved phosphorylation site for kinetochore-associated Bub1 kinase, a key regulator of chromosome segregation. Using engineered strains, we show that the relative gene dosage of this variant versus canonical H2A controls the fidelity of chromosome segregation and the rate of acquisition of tolerance to antifungal drugs via aneuploidy. Furthermore, whole-genome chromatin precipitation analysis reveals that Centromere Protein A/ Centromeric Histone H3-like Protein (CENP-A/Cse4), a centromeric histone H3 variant that forms the platform of the eukaryotic kinetochore, is depleted from tetraploid-mating products relative to diploid parents and is virtually eliminated from cells exposed to aneuploidy-promoting cues. We conclude that genetically programmed and environmentally induced changes in chromatin can confer the capacity for enhanced evolvability via chromosome missegregation

Urological Management at Discharge from Acute Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation: A Descriptive Analysis from a Population-based Prospective Cohort.

Background There is limited epidemiological evidence describing contemporary neuro-urological management of persons with acute spinal cord injury (SCI). Objective To describe neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction (NLUTD) management at discharge from SCI rehabilitation. Design setting and participants The population-based Swiss Spinal Cord Injury (SwiSCI) cohort study prospectively collected data from 602 adults undergoing specialized postacute SCI rehabilitation from 2013 to 2020. The management strategy was based on the European Association of Urology (EAU) Guidelines on Neuro-Urology. Outcome measurements and statistical analysis Data were collected at discharge using the International SCI Lower Urinary Tract Function Basic Data Set. Multivariable logistic regression adjusting for demographics, SCI characteristics, and center, with inverse probability weighting accounting for sampling bias, was used to produce prevalence estimates and identify predictors of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and NLUTD management outcomes. Results and limitations At discharge (median time after SCI: 5.0 mo [Q1-Q3: 3.0-7.2]), the prevalence of LUTS or managed NLUTD was 82% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 79-85%). SCI completeness was the main predictor of LUTS and managed NLUTD. The risk of urinary incontinence was elevated in females (odds ratio 1.98 [95% CI: 1.18-3.32]) and with complete lesions (odds ratio 4.71 [95% CI: 2.52-8.81]). Voiding dysfunction was most commonly managed with intermittent catheterization (prevalence 39% [95% CI: 35-42%]), followed by indwelling catheterization (prevalence 22% [95% CI: 18-25%]). The prevalence of antimuscarinic or mirabegron use was 29% (95% CI: 26-33%). Urodynamic and renal function data were not collected. Conclusions Our population-based description of urological management in Swiss SCI centers utilizing the EAU Guidelines on Neuro-Urology may be used as a reference for evaluation in other settings. Data further indicate a need for sex-specific neuro-urological management research. Patient summary At discharge from spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation, a majority of patients have lower urinary tract problems, especially those with complete SCI. Women have a higher risk of urinary incontinence

Complete Genome Sequences of Paenibacillus Larvae Phages BN12, Dragolir, Kiel007, Leyra, Likha, Pagassa, PBL1c, and Tadhana

We present here the complete genomes of eight phages that infect Paenibacillus larvae, the causative agent of American foulbrood in honeybees. Phage PBL1c was originally isolated in 1984 from a P. larvae lysogen, while the remaining phages were isolated in 2014 from bee debris, honeycomb, and lysogens from three states in the USA

A high-resolution map of human evolutionary constraint using 29 mammals.

The comparison of related genomes has emerged as a powerful lens for genome interpretation. Here we report the sequencing and comparative analysis of 29 eutherian genomes. We confirm that at least 5.5% of the human genome has undergone purifying selection, and locate constrained elements covering ∼4.2% of the genome. We use evolutionary signatures and comparisons with experimental data sets to suggest candidate functions for ∼60% of constrained bases. These elements reveal a small number of new coding exons, candidate stop codon readthrough events and over 10,000 regions of overlapping synonymous constraint within protein-coding exons. We find 220 candidate RNA structural families, and nearly a million elements overlapping potential promoter, enhancer and insulator regions. We report specific amino acid residues that have undergone positive selection, 280,000 non-coding elements exapted from mobile elements and more than 1,000 primate- and human-accelerated elements. Overlap with disease-associated variants indicates that our findings will be relevant for studies of human biology, health and disease

Comparing a Novel Neuroanimation Experience to Conventional Therapy for High-Dose Intensive Upper-Limb Training in Subacute Stroke: The SMARTS2 Randomized Trial

BACKGROUND Evidence from animal studies suggests that greater reductions in poststroke motor impairment can be attained with significantly higher doses and intensities of therapy focused on movement quality. These studies also indicate a dose-timing interaction, with more pronounced effects if high-intensity therapy is delivered in the acute/subacute, rather than chronic, poststroke period. OBJECTIVE To compare 2 approaches of delivering high-intensity, high-dose upper-limb therapy in patients with subacute stroke: a novel exploratory neuroanimation therapy (NAT) and modified conventional occupational therapy (COT). METHODS A total of 24 patients were randomized to NAT or COT and underwent 30 sessions of 60 minutes time-on-task in addition to standard care. The primary outcome was the Fugl-Meyer Upper Extremity motor score (FM-UE). Secondary outcomes included Action Research Arm Test (ARAT), grip strength, Stroke Impact Scale hand domain, and upper-limb kinematics. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, and days 3, 90, and 180 posttraining. Both groups were compared to a matched historical cohort (HC), which received only 30 minutes of upper-limb therapy per day. RESULTS There were no significant between-group differences in FM-UE change or any of the secondary outcomes at any timepoint. Both high-dose groups showed greater recovery on the ARAT (7.3 ± 2.9 points; P = .011) but not the FM-UE (1.4 ± 2.6 points; P = .564) when compared with the HC. CONCLUSIONS Neuroanimation may offer a new, enjoyable, efficient, and scalable way to deliver high-dose and intensive upper-limb therapy