Families Are More Popular Than Feminism: Exploring the Greater Judicial Success of Family and Medical Leave Laws

Two federal employment laws advance women’s position in the workplace, but one has been much more successful than the other when employee plaintiffs seek to enforce their rights in court. First, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) prohibits sex discrimination in the workforce. Plaintiffs seeking to enforce this statute experience one of the lowest success rates of any civil cause of action. On the other hand, the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 (“FMLA”) provides employees the right to take leave for the birth of a child, medical or family care, and prohibits discrimination against those who use their leave rights. Employees who bring cases under the FMLA have nearly double the chance of winning in court compared with anti-discrimination statutes such as Title VII. The FMLA is more successful despite the fact that, like Title VII’s sex discrimination prohibitions, the FMLA benefits women in particular, providing a key support to their workplace advancement. This Article examines the potential causes of the different litigation success rates of Title VII and the FMLA. In doing so, the Article sheds light on judicial decision-making in employment law and suggests avenues for advocates seeking to change women’s work life for the better

Families Are More Popular Than Feminism: Exploring the Greater Judicial Success of Family and Medical Leave Laws

Two federal employment laws advance women’s position in the workplace, but one has been much more successful than the other when employee plaintiffs seek to enforce their rights in court. First, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) prohibits sex discrimination in the workforce. Plaintiffs seeking to enforce this statute experience one of the lowest success rates of any civil cause of action. On the other hand, the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 (“FMLA”) provides employees the right to take leave for the birth of a child, medical or family care, and prohibits discrimination against those who use their leave rights. Employees who bring cases under the FMLA have nearly double the chance of winning in court compared with anti-discrimination statutes such as Title VII. The FMLA is more successful despite the fact that, like Title VII’s sex discrimination prohibitions, the FMLA benefits women in particular, providing a key support to their workplace advancement. This Article examines the potential causes of the different litigation success rates of Title VII and the FMLA. In doing so, the Article sheds light on judicial decision-making in employment law and suggests avenues for advocates seeking to change women’s work life for the better

It is Political: Using the Models of Judicial Decision Making to Explain the Ideological History of Title VII

(Excerpt) In Part I, this Article details the key features of Title VII’s history, explaining the statute, the significant role the Supreme Court has played in its interpretation, and the history of congressional intervention to override Supreme Court decisions on key issues. Part II reviews the existing evidence for and against an ideological interpretation of Title VII’s case law. Part III introduces the political science models of judicial decision making and applies the models to Title VII. Part III also details the models’ evidence of ideological voting by the Supreme Court and matches this evidence with voting patterns in Title VII cases. Part III further examines the challenge of the exceptions, that is, the cases where the Justices did not vote according to their ascribed ideology in interpreting Title VII. Part III also explores whether the political science models can explain these exceptions while still maintaining the basic premise of ideological voting. Concluding in Part IV, this Article asserts that the Supreme Court is particularly ideological in its decision making on issues of minority rights and, as a result, many of the typical constraints on the Court have not affected, and will not affect, its ideological interpretation of Title VII

It is Political: Using the Models of Judicial Decision Making to Explain the Ideological History of Title VII

(Excerpt) In Part I, this Article details the key features of Title VII’s history, explaining the statute, the significant role the Supreme Court has played in its interpretation, and the history of congressional intervention to override Supreme Court decisions on key issues. Part II reviews the existing evidence for and against an ideological interpretation of Title VII’s case law. Part III introduces the political science models of judicial decision making and applies the models to Title VII. Part III also details the models’ evidence of ideological voting by the Supreme Court and matches this evidence with voting patterns in Title VII cases. Part III further examines the challenge of the exceptions, that is, the cases where the Justices did not vote according to their ascribed ideology in interpreting Title VII. Part III also explores whether the political science models can explain these exceptions while still maintaining the basic premise of ideological voting. Concluding in Part IV, this Article asserts that the Supreme Court is particularly ideological in its decision making on issues of minority rights and, as a result, many of the typical constraints on the Court have not affected, and will not affect, its ideological interpretation of Title VII

Study protocol:the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of a brief behavioural intervention to promote regular self-weighing to prevent weight regain after weight loss: randomised controlled trial (The LIMIT Study)

BACKGROUND: Although obesity causes many adverse health consequences, modest weight loss reduces the incidence. There are effective interventions that help people to lose weight but weight regain is common and long term maintenance remains a critical challenge. As a high proportion of the population of most high and middle income countries are overweight, there are many people who would benefit from weight loss and its maintenance. Therefore, we need to find effective low cost scalable interventions to help people achieve this. One such intervention that has shown promise is regular self-weighing, to check progress against a target, however there is no trial that has tested this using a randomised controlled design (RCT). The aim of this RCT is to evaluate the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of a brief behavioural intervention delivered by non-specialist staff to promote regular self-weighing to prevent weight regain after intentional weight loss. METHODS: A randomised trial of 560 adults who have lost ≥5 % of their initial body weight through a 12 week weight loss programme. The comparator group receive a weight maintenance leaflet, a diagram representing healthy diet composition, and a list of websites for weight control. The intervention group receive the same plus minimally trained telephonists will ask participants to set a weight target and encourage them to weigh themselves daily, and provide support materials such as a weight record card. The primary outcome is the difference between groups in weight change from baseline to 12 months. DISCUSSION: If effective, this study will provide public health agencies with a simple, low cost maintenance intervention that could be implemented immediately. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN52341938 Date Registered: 31/03/201

After the bushfires: Surviving and volunteering

This article analyses the negative and positive implications for bushfire survivors becoming involved in a range of voluntary activities in the bushfire recovery programs following the 2009 Victorian bushfires. It uses data acquired as part of a study of recovery programs being run by Catholic social welfare agencies in several regions of Victoria. Some volunteers were involved in activities organised by organisations, others volunteered on an informal and ad hoc basis. Volunteering, while having enormous benefits to the volunteer, the recipient and the community, also came at a cost. Many volunteers worked long hours and for many months with the result that there were many instances of burnout and emotional exhaustion. Sustained volunteering involving intensive commitments of time resulted in role conflict between the demands of their family and the demands of volunteering. Volunteers found it difficult to reduce the amount of time spent on their volunteer activity, especially those on recovery committees. They also had difficulty handing over leadership roles to others. As volunteers became exhausted, their ability to make clear judgments was impeded and conflicts sometimes arose

Neuroblastoma arginase activity creates an immunosuppressive microenvironment that impairs autologous and engineered immunity

Neuroblastoma is the most common extra cranial solid tumour of childhood, and survival remains poor for patients with advanced disease. Novel immune therapies are currently in development, but clinical outcomes have not matched preclinical results. Here, we describe key mechanisms in which neuroblastoma inhibits the immune response. We show that murine and human neuroblastoma tumour cells suppress T cell proliferation, through increased arginase activity. Arginase II is the predominant isoform expressed and creates an arginine deplete local and systemic microenvironment. Neuroblastoma arginase activity results in inhibition of myeloid cell activation and suppression of bone marrow CD34+ progenitor proliferation. Finally we demonstrate that the arginase activity of neuroblastoma impairs NY-ESO-1 specific TCR and GD2-specific CAR engineered T cell proliferation and cytotoxicity. High arginase II expression correlates with poor survival for neuroblastoma patients. The results support the hypothesis that neuroblastoma creates an arginase-dependent immunosuppressive microenvironment in both the tumour and blood that leads to impaired immune surveillance and sub-optimal efficacy of immunotherapeutic approaches

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Androgen stimulates growth of mouse preantral follicles in vitro: Interaction with follicle-stimulating hormone and with growth factors of the TGFβ super family

Androgens are essential for the normal function of mature antral follicles but also have a role in the early stages of follicle development. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), the most common cause of anovulatory infertility, is characterized by androgen excess and aberrant follicle development that includes accelerated early follicle growth. We have examined the effects of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) on development of isolated mouse preantral follicles in culture with the specific aim of investigating interaction with follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), the steroidogenic pathway, and growth factors of the TGFβ superfamily that are known to have a role in early follicle development. Both testosterone and DHT stimulated follicle growth and augmented FSH-induced growth and increased the incidence of antrum formation among the granulosa cell layers of these preantral follicles after 72 hours in culture. Effects of both androgens were reversed by the androgen receptor antagonist flutamide. FSH receptor expression was increased in response to both testosterone and DHT, as was that of Star, whereas Cyp11a1 was down-regulated. The key androgeninduced changes in the TGFβ signaling pathway were down-regulation of Amh, Bmp15, and their receptors. Inhibition of Alk6 (Bmpr1b), a putative partner for Amhr2 and Bmpr2, by dorsomorphin resulted in augmentation of androgen-stimulated growth and modification of androgen-induced gene expression. Our findings point to varied effects of androgen on preantral follicle growth and function, including interaction with FSH-activated growth and steroidogenesis, and, importantly, implicate the intrafollicular TGFb systemas a keymediator of androgen action. These findings provide insight into abnormal early follicle development in PCOS

The effects of lifestyle and behavioural interventions on cancer recurrence, overall survival and quality of life in breast cancer survivors : A systematic review and network meta-analysis

Lifestyle/behavioural interventions may improve breast cancer outcomes and quality of life (QoL); however, uncertainty remains about the most effective interventions due to limited evidence. This study aimed to assess and compare the effects of lifestyle/behavioural interventions on cancer recurrence, survival and QoL in breast cancer survivors. Electronic databases including Medline, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL and EBM Reviews were searched for relevant literature. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs comparing a lifestyle/behavioural intervention with a control condition in breast cancer survivors were included. Outcomes included cancer recurrence, overall survival and QoL. A network meta-analysis synthesized intervention effect. Studies not included in the analysis were reported narratively. Of 6251 identified articles, 38 studies met the selection criteria. Limited evidence exists on the impacts of lifestyle/behavioural interventions on breast cancer recurrence/survival. Exercise was identified as the most effective intervention in improving overall survival (HR 0.50, 95 % CI 0.36, 0.68). Lifestyle/behavioural interventions may improve QoL; psychosocial interventions (SMD 1.28, 95 % CI 0.80, 1.77) and aerobic-resistance exercise (SMD 0.33, 95 % CI -0.03, 0.69) were the most effective interventions to enhance QoL. This review highlights potential post-breast cancer benefits from lifestyle/behavioural interventions, notably exercise and psychosocial support for QoL and exercise for overall survival. Thus, encouraging active lifestyle, stress management and coping skills programs during and after cancer treatment may enhance physical wellbeing and QoL. However, the findings should be interpreted with caution due to the small number and sample sizes of studies. Future longer-term RCTs are required for conclusive recommendations