Liberta Revisited: A Call to Repeal the Marital Examption for All Sex Offenses in New York\u27s Penal Law

This Note argues that to fully protect victims of spousal sexual assault, the New York Legislature should codify the Liberta decision and repeal the marital exemption for all sex offenses. It outlines the history of the marital rape exemption and its evolution in New York. It discusses the Liberta decision and the barriers to effective prosecution of marital rape, such as the legal standard for force, prosecutorial discretion in charging husbands, and gender bias in the courts. It gives policy arguments for a statutory amendment and offers a proposed statute to replace the current sex offenses section of the Penal Law. The Note concludes that victims of marital sexual assault will receive full protection under the law only when the Legislature amends the New York Penal Law to expressly criminalize marital sexual assault

Two Steps Forward and One Step Back: An Assessment of How Uneven Economic Development Affects the Number of Civil Wars

The effects of economic development are enormously important in understanding the causes of civil war and the requirements for successful post-conflict reconstruction. In recent decades we have seen an increase in the number of civil wars because of a phenomenon known as the conflict trap. I question why we see an increase in civil wars and what role unstable economic development plays in contributing to the conflict trap. This paper offers evidence to support the hypothesis that uneven economic development increases the risk of multiple civil wars occurring in a short amount of time. Based on the results of testing my hypothesis I suggest that the conflict trap can be broken, and the risk of civil war decreased, when economic growth is stabilized. I suggest participation in the global economic community as a mechanism for stabilizing economic growth

Choosing an allograft or autograft in orthopedic surgeries for athletes

Athletes and their doctors have the choice of using an allograft or autograft in reconstruction surgeries. The purpose of this study is to see if there is a difference in the healing mechanism and surgical outcome in using an allograft or autograft during orthopedic surgical procedures, as well as to analyze graft rejection and disease transmission through donor tissue. Doctors and athletic trainers were interviewed in order to learn about the healing mechanisms and advantages and disadvantages of allografts and autografts in order to conclude if one was better than the other. College level athletes on different sports teams were given a questionnaire that asked questions on the surgical procedure they got and whether or not the surgeon used an allograft or autograft. Specific questions relating to recovery time, stability, and overall function of the area of surgery were asked in order to analyze the outcome. The subjects were screened by choosing athletes with the same surgical reconstruction except one using an allograft and one using an autograft. The questions relating to the outcome of the surgery were compared in order to see if one produced a better outcome over the other. Athletes were found to have better success with autograft as predicted by doctors

Liberta Revisited: A Call to Repeal the Marital Examption for All Sex Offenses in New York\u27s Penal Law

This Note argues that to fully protect victims of spousal sexual assault, the New York Legislature should codify the Liberta decision and repeal the marital exemption for all sex offenses. It outlines the history of the marital rape exemption and its evolution in New York. It discusses the Liberta decision and the barriers to effective prosecution of marital rape, such as the legal standard for force, prosecutorial discretion in charging husbands, and gender bias in the courts. It gives policy arguments for a statutory amendment and offers a proposed statute to replace the current sex offenses section of the Penal Law. The Note concludes that victims of marital sexual assault will receive full protection under the law only when the Legislature amends the New York Penal Law to expressly criminalize marital sexual assault

Slavery in Rhode Island: Awakening a Forgotten Past (poster)

This map serves to raise awareness about the history of slavery in Rhode Island. Despite having played an active role in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, Rhode Island’s involvement is often overlooked or omitted from what we are traditionally taught in historically influenced classes at Providence College. Instead of integrating local history and knowledge into our own curriculum, we learn about slavery through a Eurocentric, Westernized lens. We aim to challenge our narrow teachings about slavery and widen our perspectives by constructing alternative narratives that go against the metanarrative. This map displaces the untold narratives of four areas in Rhode Island: Providence, Bristol, Narragansett and Newport. Through these stories, we seek to highlight and draw attention to the set of skills, the culture, and the sense of humanity that Black individuals retained throughout their enslavement. By presenting Rhode Island’s involvement in the slave trade, we aim to remind our community that slavery not only existed thousands of miles away from us but also occurred in many familiar places we visit every day. We would not only like to shed light on the hidden history of slavery, but to also raise consciousness about how this history should play a vital part in our education at Providence College

Testing the Disk-Locking Paradigm: An Association Between U-V Excess and Rotation in NGC 2264

We present some results from a UVI photometric study of a field in the young open cluster NGC 2264 aimed, in part, at testing whether accretion in pre-main sequence stars is linked to rotation. We confirm that U-V excess is well correlated with H-alpha equivalent width for the stars in our sample. We show that for the more massive stars in the cluster sample (roughly 0.4-1.2 M_sun) there is also a significant association between U-V excess and rotation, in the sense that slow rotators are more likely to show excess U-band emission and variability. This constitutes significant new evidence in support of the disk-locking paradigm.Comment: Accepted by ApJ Letter

Defective Gut Function in \u3cem\u3eDrop-Dead\u3c/em\u3e Mutant \u3cem\u3eDrosophila\u3c/em\u3e

Mutation of the gene drop-dead (drd ) causes adult Drosophila to die within 2 weeks of eclosion and is associated with reduced rates of defecation and increased volumes of crop contents. In the current study, we demonstrate that flies carrying the strong allele drdlwf display a reduction in the transfer of ingested food from the crop to the midgut, as measured both as a change in the steady-state distribution of food within the gut and also in the rates of crop emptying and midgut filling following a single meal. Mutant flies have abnormal triglyceride (TG) and glycogen stores over the first 4 days post-eclosion, consistent with their inability to move food into the midgut for digestion and nutrient absorption. However, the lifespan of mutants was dependent upon food presence and quality, suggesting that at least some individual flies were able to digest some food. Finally, spontaneous motility of the crop was abnormal in drdlwf flies, with the crops of mutant flies contracting significantly more rapidly than those of heterozygous controls. We therefore hypothesize that mutation of drd causes a structural or regulatory defect that inhibits the entry of food into the midgut

Exploring Biomarkers for Point of Care Bladder Cancer Detection

Bladder cancer is the 5th most common non-cutaneous human cancer in the United States. While effective methods of detecting bladder cancer are currently practiced, they are often expensive and invasive. There is a need for a noninvasive detection method that can be used in areas with few medical resources. Cell free DNA in urine is normally present only in very low concentrations. Abnormally high levels of cell free DNA in urine could be indicative of disease. This study tests the hypothesis that DNA present in urine can be used as a biomarker for bladder cancer before hematuria is seen in vivo. First, different DNA probes were compared, and SYBR green was selected as an ideal probe due to factors such as cost, safety concerns, and specificity. Second, a detection threshold of cells was determined using MB49 and MBT2 bladder cancer cell lines. Cells were lysed with either tap or DI water to determine which kind of water was more effective at creating a hypotonic solution for the cells. Two cell lines were used to determine if there was a statistical difference in the DNA detection threshold. A detection limit of between 600 cells/200μL and 300 cells/200μL was seen in both MB49 and MBT2 cells. Lastly, an in vivo study was done in which a group of mice was implanted with 75,000 MB49 cells. Urine samples were obtained for five days before implantation, as well as for seven days after implantation. Evidence of excess DNA in the urine was seen as early as four days before hematuria was observed. This study provides evidence that quantifying levels of cell free DNA is an effective method of detecting bladder cancer before hematuria is present. Future studies will determine if the DNA being detected is mammalian, and eventually, a low cost, quantitative home test will be developed to aid in early detection of bladder cancer

Design, Prototyping, and Testing of a Novel Flowpath with an Array of Six 3D Matrix Vitvo Bioreactors for the NASA Bioculture System

The NASA Bioculture System is an advanced cell culture closed-loop system containing highly automated flowpaths designed to conduct long term biology experiments on ISS with earth remote controllable medium flow, temperature, gas composition, medium exchange, cell sampling and fixation. This technology was already demonstrated with successful cardiomyocyte and osteocyte cultures experiments onboard the ISS and is now supporting NASA PI science. The Bioculture System, however, can only support 10 cassettes with disposable flowpaths, each containing a single hollow fiber bioreactor with a culture capacity of about 2ml. This constraint not only severely limits the number of investigators that can conduct experiments in space, but also subjects the experiments to limitations in the number of replicates and conditions that can be studied. To address these limitations, we sought a novel design solution to maximize the number of separate bioreactor cultures and volume that can be conducted simultaneously. To this end we designed, prototyped, and are now testing a six-Vitvo 3D Matrix 2ml bioreactor insert that replaces the conventional Bioculture System hollow fiber bioreactor. This design will allow the Bioculture System to support up to 60 different bioreactors and samples at once. Specifically, the novel gas-tight containment housing insert contains six COTS Rigenerand VITVO bioreactors stacked on each side of a heat sink powered by the existing heating element and pair of temperature sensors. Medium will be distributed into each bioreactor's cell-free chamber via its built-in Luer connector, then across the 3D matrix to the cell chamber, dissipating laminar flow and limiting fluid shear stresses that might mechanostimulate cell cultures. Gas (5% CO2 in air) will be supplied directly to the bioreactor gas-tight housing for exchange via the bioreactor flat-surface gas-permeable membranes, eliminating the need for the existing Bioculture System cassette oxygenator. If successfully implemented on ISS, this new multi-bioreactor insert for the Bioculture System has the potential to make real-time cell science experimentation in space more efficient and accessible to more investigators