REVISITING ANNA MOSCOWITZ\u27S KROSS\u27S CRITIQUE OF NEW YORK CITY\u27S WOMEN\u27S COURT: THE CONTINUED PROBLEM OF SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF PROSTITUTION WITH SPECIALIZED CRIMINAL COURTS

This article explores New York City\u27s non-traditional, judicially based response to prostitution. This article first recounts the history of New York City’s Women’s Court. It then examines the work of the Midtown Community Court, the “problem-solving court” established in 1993 to address criminal issues, like prostitution, in Midtown Manhattan. It also discusses the renewed concerns about sex work in New York and describe the movement, propelled by modern reformers, to address prostitution through specialty courts. It then contrasts the shared features and attributes of the Women’s Court and Midtown Court models. Finally, the article urges modern reformers to step back from the problem-solving court movement and their call for the creation of more such specialized criminal courts

Wintervoedselgewassen als sleutel tot het herstel van akkervogelpopulaties?

Deze studie onderzocht of de achteruitgang van akkervogels in kleinschalige Nederlandse landbouwgebieden tegengegaan kan worden door het vergroten van de voedselbeschikbaarheid voor deze soorten in de winterperiode. De voedselbeschikbaarheid werd experimenteel vergroot in 10 gebieden van ongeveer 100 ha door inzaai van gewasmensgels die niet werden geoogst. Tien gepaarde gebieden met vergelijkbare landschapsstructuur waarin voedselbeschikbaarheid niet werd gemanipuleerd fungeerden als controles. De beschikbaarheid aan zaden, het gebruik van de mengsels door akkervogels, het effect van de mengsels op vogels in de winter en in het broedseizoen werden vervolgens gekwantificeerd om het effect van het vergroten van de voedselbeschikbaarheid vast te stellen

The long-term safety of chronic azithromycin use in adult patients with cystic fibrosis, evaluating biomarkers for renal function, hepatic function and electrical properties of the heart

Background: Azithromycin maintenance therapy is widely used in cystic fibrosis (CF), but little is known about its long-term safety. We investigated whether chronic azithromycin use is safe regarding renal function, hepatic cell toxicity and QTc-interval prolongation. Methods: Adult CF patients (72 patients using azithromycin for a cumulative period of 364.8 years and 19 controls, 108.8 years) from two CF-centers in the Netherlands with azithromycin (non)-use for at least three uninterrupted years were studied retrospectively. Results: There was no difference in mean decline of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), nor in occurrence of eGFR-events. No drug-induced liver injury could be attributed to azithromycin. Of the 39 azithromycin users of whom an ECG was available, 4/39 (10.3%) had borderline and 4/39 (10.3%) prolonged QTc-intervals, with 7/8 patients using other QTc-prolonging medication. Of the control patients 1/6 (16.7%) had a borderline QTc-interval, without using other QTc-prolonging medication. No cardiac arrhythmias were observed. Conclusion: We observed no renal or hepatic toxicity, nor cardiac arrythmias during azithromycin use in CF patients for a mean study duration of more than 5 years. One should be aware of possible QTc-interval prolongation, in particular in patients using other QTc-interval prolonging medication

Influence of national culture on the adoption of integrated medical curricula

Integrated curricula have been implemented in medical schools all over the world. However, among countries different relative numbers of schools with integrated curricula are found. This study aims to explore the possible correlation between the percentage of medical schools with integrated curricula in a country and that country’s cultural characteristics. Curricula were defined as not integrated if in the first 2 years of the program at least two out of the three monodisciplinary courses Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry were identified. Culture was defined using Hofstede’s dimensions Power distance, Uncertainty avoidance, Masculinity/Femininity, and Individualism/Collectivism. Consequently, this study had to be restricted to the 63 countries included in Hofstede’s studies which harbored 1,195 medical schools. From each country we randomly sampled a maximum of 15 schools yielding 484 schools to be investigated. In total 91% (446) of the curricula were found. Correlation of percent integrated curricula and each dimension of culture was determined by calculating Spearman’s Rho. A high score on the Power distance index and a high score on the Uncertainty avoidance index correlated with a low percent integrated curricula; a high score on the Individualism index correlated with a high percent integrated curricula. The percentage integrated curricula in a country did not correlate with its score on the Masculinity index. National culture is associated with the propensity of medical schools to adopt integrated medical curricula. Consequently, medical schools considering introduction of integrated and problem-based medical curricula should take into account dimensions of national culture which may hinder the innovation process

The role of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system polymorphisms in phenotypic expression of MYBPC3-related hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

The phenotypic variability of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in patients with identical pathogenic mutations suggests additional modifiers. In view of the regulatory role in cardiac function, blood pressure, and electrolyte homeostasis, polymorphisms in the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) are candidates for modifying phenotypic expression. In order to investigate whether RAAS polymorphisms modulate HCM phenotype, we selected a large cohort of carriers of one of the three functionally equivalent truncating mutations in the MYBPC3 gene. Family-based association analysis was performed to analyze the effects of five candidate RAAS polymorphisms (ACE, rs4646994; AGTR1, rs5186; CMA, rs1800875; AGT, rs699; CYP11B2, rs1799998) in 368 subjects carrying one of the three mutations in the MYBPC3 gene. Interventricular septum (IVS) thickness and Wigle score were assessed by 2D-echocardiography. SNPs in the RAAS system were analyzed separately and combined as a pro-left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) score for effects on the HCM phenotype. Analyzing the five polymorphisms separately for effects on IVS thickness and Wigle score detected two modest associations. Carriers of the CC genotype in the AGT gene had less pronounced IVS thickness compared with CT and TT genotype carriers. The DD polymorphism in the ACE gene was associated with a high Wigle score (P=0.01). No association was detected between the pro-LVH score and IVS thickness or Wigle score. In conclusion, in contrast to previous studies, in our large study population of HCM patients with functionally equivalent mutations in the MYBPC3 gene we did not find major effects of genetic variation within the genes of the RAAS system on phenotypic expression of HCM

Local amplification of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N8 viruses in wild birds in the Netherlands, 2016 to 2017

Introduction: Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses of subtype H5N8 were re-introduced into the Netherlands by late 2016, after detections in southeast Asia and Russia. This second H5N8 wave resul

FLNC missense variants in familial noncompaction cardiomyopathy

The majority of familial noncompaction cardiomyopathy (NCCM) is explained by pathogenic variants in the same sarcomeric genes that are associated with hypertrophic (HCM) and dilated (DCM) cardiomyopathy. Pathogenic variants in the filamin C gene (FLNC) have been linked to HCM and DCM. We expand the spectrum of FLNC related cardiomyopathies by presenting two families with likely pathogenic FLNC variants showing familial segregation of NCCM and concurrent coarctation of the aorta and/or mitral valve abnormalities

Epidemiology of influenza A virus among blackheaded gulls, the Netherlands, 2006-2010

We sampled 7,511 black-headed gulls for influenza virus in the Netherlands during 2006-2010 and found that subtypes H13 and H16 caused annual epidemics in fledglings on colony sites. Our findings validate tar

First genetic analysis of aneurysm genes in familial and sporadic abdominal aortic aneurysm

Genetic causes for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) have not been identified and the role of genes associated with familial thoracic aneurysms in AAA has not been explored. We analyzed nine genes associated with familial thoracic aortic aneurysms, the vascular Ehlers–Danlos gene COL3A1 and the MTHFR p.Ala222Val variant in 155 AAA patients. The thoracic aneurysm genes selected for this study were the transforming growth factor-beta pathway genes EFEMP2, FBN1, SMAD3, TGBF2, TGFBR1, TGFBR2, and the smooth muscle cells genes ACTA2, MYH11 and MYLK. Sanger sequencing of all coding exons and exon–intron boundaries of these genes was performed. Patients with at least one first-degree relative with an aortic aneurysm were classified as familial AAA (n = 99), the others as sporadic AAA. We found 47 different rare heterozygous variants in eight genes: two pathogenic, one likely pathogenic, twenty-one variants of unknown significance (VUS) and twenty-three unlikely pathogenic variants. In familial AAA we found one pathogenic and segregating variant (COL3A1 p.Arg491X), one likely pathogenic and segregating (MYH11 p.Arg254Cys), and fifteen VUS. In sporadic patients we found one pathogenic (TGFBR2 p.Ile525Phefs*18) and seven VUS. Thirteen patients had two or more variants. These results show a previously unknown association and overlapping genetic defects between AAA and familial thoracic aneurysms, indicating that genetic testing may help to identify the cause of familial and sporadic AAA. In this view, genetic testing of these genes specifically or in a genome-wide approach may help to identify the cause of familial and sporadic AAA