Working Group on Chapter 1 of the Proposed Restatement of Employment Law: Existence of Employment Relationship

This article presents a critique of chapter 1 of the Proposed Restatement of Employment Law. The critique is organized to follow the organization of the proposed Restatement, which begins with a provision of black letter law, a series of comments and illustrations explaining the meaning and application of the black letter law, and the reporters\u27 notes providing support for the black letter law and the commentary. This critique will follow that structure, with each part focusing on a section of the chapter: the introductory note; section 1.01; section 1.02; section 1.03; and section 1.04. The subdivisions of the parts will, likewise, generally follow the subdivisions of the sections in the chapter, although sometimes a critique of the reporters\u27 notes will be its own subpart, and sometimes it will be discussed in the subsections analyzing the comments

Working Group on Chapter 1 of the Proposed Restatement of Employment Law: Existence of Employment Relationship

This article presents a critique of chapter 1 of the Proposed Restatement of Employment Law. The critique is organized to follow the organization of the proposed Restatement, which begins with a provision of black letter law, a series of comments and illustrations explaining the meaning and application of the black letter law, and the reporters\u27 notes providing support for the black letter law and the commentary. This critique will follow that structure, with each part focusing on a section of the chapter: the introductory note; section 1.01; section 1.02; section 1.03; and section 1.04. The subdivisions of the parts will, likewise, generally follow the subdivisions of the sections in the chapter, although sometimes a critique of the reporters\u27 notes will be its own subpart, and sometimes it will be discussed in the subsections analyzing the comments

Mentoring Undergraduate Research in Statistics: Reaping the Benefits and Overcoming the Barriers

Undergraduate research experiences (UREs), whether within the context of a mentor-mentee experience or a classroom framework, represent an excellent opportunity to expose students to the independent scholarship model. The high impact of undergraduate research has received recent attention in the context of STEM disciplines. Reflecting a 2017 survey of statistics faculty, this article examines the perceived benefits of UREs, as well as barriers to the incorporation of UREs, specifically within the field of statistics. Viewpoints of students, faculty mentors, and institutions are investigated. Further, the article offers several strategies for leveraging characteristics unique to the field of statistics to overcome barriers and thereby provide greater opportunity for undergraduate statistics students to gain research experience

Raising a Small Flock of Sheep in Ohio

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A method for continuous239Pu determinations in Arctic and Antarctic ice cores

Atmospheric nuclear weapons testing (NWT) resulted in the injection of plutonium (Pu) into the atmosphere and subsequent global deposition. We present a new method for continuous semi-quantitative measurement of 239Pu in ice cores, which was used to develop annual records of fallout from NWT in ten ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica. The 239Pu was measured directly using an Inductively Coupled Plasma – Sector Field Mass Spectrometer, thereby reducing analysis time and increasing depth-resolution with respect to previous methods. To validate this method, we compared our one year averaged results to published 239Pu records and other records of NWT. The 239Pu profiles from four Arctic ice cores reflected global trends in NWT and were in agreement with discrete Pu profiles from lower latitude ice cores. The 239Pu measurements in the Antarctic ice cores tracked low latitude NWT, consistent with previously published discrete records from Antarctica. Advantages of the continuous 239Pu measurement method are (1) reduced sample preparation and analysis time; (2) no requirement for additional ice samples for NWT fallout determinations; (3) measurements are exactly co-registered with all other chemical, elemental, isotopic, and gas measurements from the continuous analytical system; and (4) the long half-life means the 239Pu record is stable through time

Retinal ganglion cells adapt to ionic stress in experimental glaucoma

IntroductionIdentification of early adaptive and maladaptive neuronal stress responses is an important step in developing targeted neuroprotective therapies for degenerative disease. In glaucoma, retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and their axons undergo progressive degeneration resulting from stress driven by sensitivity to intraocular pressure (IOP). Despite therapies that can effectively manage IOP many patients progress to vision loss, necessitating development of neuronal-based therapies. Evidence from experimental models of glaucoma indicates that early in the disease RGCs experience altered excitability and are challenged with dysregulated potassium (K+) homeostasis. Previously we demonstrated that certain RGC types have distinct excitability profiles and thresholds for depolarization block, which are associated with sensitivity to extracellular K+.MethodsHere, we used our inducible mouse model of glaucoma to investigate how RGC sensitivity to K+ changes with exposure to elevated IOP.ResultsIn controls, conditions of increased K+ enhanced membrane depolarization, reduced action potential generation, and widened action potentials. Consistent with our previous work, 4 weeks of IOP elevation diminished RGC light-and current-evoked responses. Compared to controls, we found that IOP elevation reduced the effects of increased K+ on depolarization block threshold, with IOP-exposed cells maintaining greater excitability. Finally, IOP elevation did not alter axon initial segment dimensions, suggesting that structural plasticity alone cannot explain decreased K+ sensitivity.DiscussionThus, in response to prolonged IOP elevation RGCs undergo an adaptive process that reduces sensitivity to changes in K+ while diminishing excitability. These experiments give insight into the RGC response to IOP stress and lay the groundwork for mechanistic investigation into targets for neuroprotective therapy

Camera Traps Confirm the Presence of the White-naped Mangabey Cercocebus lunulatus in Cape Three Points Forest Reserve, Western Ghana

The white-naped mangabey Cercocebus lunulatus is severely threatened by logging, mining, and hunting. In the last decade, wild populations have been confirmed in just three forested areas in Ghana and a handful of sites in neighboring Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso. Sightings of this species were recently reported in a fourth area in Ghana, the Cape Three Points Forest Reserve, a forest patch in western Ghana, 60 km from the nearest recorded wild population, which is in the Ankasa Conservation Area. We deployed 14 camera traps across 21 different locations throughout the reserve, with the intention of confirming the presence of this species. Images of the white-naped mangabey were captured at four locations, consolidating recent evidence for a fourth sub-population of this species in Ghana and providing only the second-ever photograph of a wild member of this species in the country. We observed evidence of numerous illegal anthropogenic activities in the reserve, which threaten these mangabeys, and we make recommendations for the protection of the reserve, essential for the conservation of this highly endangered species

Serum cytokine levels as predictive biomarkers of benefit from ipilimumab in small cell lung cancer

Background. Immunotherapy has shown efficacy in small cell lung cancer (SCLC), but only a subset of patients benefits. Surrogate biomarkers are urgently needed. Our aim was to evaluate serum Th1, Th2, and proinflammatory cytokines in two cohorts of SCLC patients before and during treatment with chemotherapy with or without ipilimumab and to correlate them with survival. Patients and methods. Two cohorts of SCLC patients were studied: patients treated with chemotherapy (n = 47), and patients treated with chemotherapy plus ipilimumab (n = 37). Baseline, on-treatment and after-treatment serum samples were evaluated for the presence of IL-1beta, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, GM-CSF, and Mip-1alpha using a Luminex assay. Differential changes in cytokines between cohorts were analyzed. Associations between cytokine levels and their changes with overall survival were evaluated. Results. Patients treated with ipilimumab showed a global increase of all cytokines after treatment initiation. A high level of IL-8 at baseline was associated with worse prognosis regardless of treatment. Baseline increased IL-2 levels predicted sensitivity to ipilimumab, while high IL-6 and TNF-alpha predicted resistance. An on-treatment increase in IL-4 levels in patients treated with immune-chemotherapy was associated with a better overall survival. Conclusions. The addition of ipilimumab to standard chemotherapy in SCLC modulates the serum levels of cytokines. Baseline levels and their change over time relate to overall survival. Blood-based biomarkers are convenient for patients, and our results support prospective validation of cytokines as predictive biomarkers for ipilimumab in SCLC

FOXP1 expression correlates with better prognosis in invasive breast cancer including the ER-positive luminal subtype

Background: Fork head box P1 (FOXP1) is a FOX family transcription factor influencing ERα;-regulated transcription by interaction with the ERα; related pioneer factor FOXA1. Altered FOXP1 expression is seen in breast and prostate cancers. This study investigated FOXP1 at the protein level in breast cancer (BC) and examined associations with clinicopathological and molecular features. Methods: FOXP1 mRNA expression was investigated in the METABRIC BC cohort (n=1980) and validated using online expression datasets [bc-GenExMiner v4.0]. Protein expression was studied in a well characterised BC primary series (n=621) using immunohistochemistry and correlations made with clinicopathological parameters and outcome. Results: High FOXP1 mRNA and protein expression was significantly associated with low grade, low NPI, positive ER/PR status, lobular BCs, low Ki67 and negative Her2 status (p<0.001). Within PAM50 subtypes, high FOXP1 expression was associated with Luminal A BCs and good prognosis integrative clusters (IC3 and IC8). Nuclear FOXP1 (n-FOXP1) protein positively associated with luminal markers: CARM1, RERG and FOXA1 (p<0.05). Negative association with PIK3 (p=0.023) indicates a possible dual role whereby n-FOXP1 reduces EGFR-mediated ligand-independent ER activation, but enhances AKT mediated activation. Positive correlations with GATA3, STAT3 and CDC42 (p<0.001), suggest interacting pathways. On univariate analysis, n-FOXP1 overexpression showed better long term outcome in the whole cohort and ER+ subgroups (p<0.05). Pooled FOXP1 gene expression data in the ER+ external validation cohort showed similar association with better outcome even when adjusted for NPI/proliferation (p<0.001). Conclusions: Higher n-FOXP1 correlated with low grade ER positive BCs and spelt better prognosis with increased long-term survival. The marker may be helpful to distinguish between good versus poor prognosis luminal A tumours