In Memoriam, Picturing Richard Parker: Our Enthusiastic Colleague

These remarks honor the memory of Richard W. Parker, Professor of Law, Director of the Semester in DC Program, and Policy Director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Law at the University of Connecticut School of Law

Adipocyte Differentiation: When precursors are also regulators

AbstractAs well as being the precursors of the triacylglycerols deposited as fat in adipose tissue, long-chain fatty acids are one class of agents that induce the differentiation of preadipocytes to adipocytes

Insurance and Climate Change

Climate change started as a scientific theory, became the subject of environmental policy and international negotiation, and today manifests itself within the courts in a series of boundary testing cases that challenge the settled concepts of risk and redress available under both environmental and insurance law. As our climate becomes increasingly unstable and the causal link between damage from sea-level rise and severe weather events becomes ever more tangible and traceable, courts at all levels wrestle with varying avenues of legal authority, including: the limitations of legal redress through the political question doctrine the appropriateness of traditional federal and state nuisance law, and the viability of addressing climate change through established environmental statutory apparatus, such as the Clean Air Act, which had primarily regulated only traditional air pollution. By 2014, the first wave of climate law cases reached resolution. Yet, through (or perhaps despite) this process, clarity is emerging as it relates to an insured\u27s liability for past emissions and insurer\u27s obligations. This paper will synthesize the developing field of climate law with the insurance industry\u27s practice and policy. The first part of this paper will discuss the evolving legal posture of climate liability law by summarizing the long timescale of climate change\u27s awareness; reviewing a selection of the leading climate liability cases involving emitters, specifically Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency and the recent modifying case of Utility Air Group v. Environmental Protection Agency, Connecticut v. American Electric Power, Native Village of Kivalina v. ExxonMobil; and finally assessing the impact of climate change litigation on the insurer by presenting the Supreme Court of Virginia case of AES v. Steadfast. The second part of this paper examines the insurance industry\u27s response to this evolving legal environment, drawing from policy and the diverse public image presented by insurance companies as it relates to this evolving risk category

An Introduction to Climate Change Liability Litigation and a View to the Future

This article discusses the advancement of climate change litigation. It explores two approaches to climate change litigation; the first is to use the federal regulatory apparatus and the second is to use the tort system. The article explores key questions in climate change litigation such as, who is responsible for deciding the appropriate level of harmful emissions? How should courts handle the long tail effects of climate change? What are the proper forums to litigate in? And, what is the role of the federal government in climate change litigation

Role of wnts in prostate cancer bone metastases

Prostate cancer (CaP) is unique among all cancers in that when it metastasizes to bone, it typically forms osteoblastic lesions (characterized by increased bone production). CaP cells produce many factors, including Wnts that are implicated in tumor-induced osteoblastic activity. In this prospectus, we describe our research on Wnt and the CaP bone phenotype. Wnts are cysteine-rich glycoproteins that mediate bone development in the embryo and promote bone production in the adult. Wnts have been shown to have autocrine tumor effects, such as enhancing proliferation and protecting against apoptosis. In addition, we have recently identified that CaP-produced Wnts act in a paracrine fashion to induce osteoblastic activity in CaP bone metastases. In addition to Wnts, CaP cells express the soluble Wnt inhibitor dickkopf-1 (DKK-1). It appears that DKK-1 production occurs early in the development of skeletal metastases, which results in masking of osteogenic Wnts, thus favoring osteolysis at the metastatic site. As metastases progress, DKK-1 expression decreases allowing for unmasking of Wnt's osteoblastic activity and ultimately resulting in osteosclerosis at the metastatic site. We believe that DKK-1 is one of the switches that transitions the CaP bone metastasis activity from osteolytic to osteoblastic. Wnt/DKK-1 activity fits a model of CaP-induced bone remodeling occurring in a continuum composed of an osteolytic phase, mediated by receptor activator of NFkB ligand (RANKL), parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHRP) and DKK-1; a transitional phase, where environmental alterations promote expression of osteoblastic factors (Wnts) and decreases osteolytic factors (i.e., DKK-1); and an osteoblastic phase, in which tumor growth-associated hypoxia results in production of vascular endothelial growth factor and endothelin-1, which have osteoblastic activity. This model suggests that targeting both osteolytic activity and osteoblastic activity will provide efficacy for therapy of CaP bone metastases. J. Cell. Biochem. 97: 661–672, 2006. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/49527/1/20735_ftp.pd

A High Fat Diet Increases Bone Marrow Adipose Tissue (MAT) But Does Not Alter Trabecular or Cortical Bone Mass in C57BL/6J Mice

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111767/1/jcp24954.pd