The Future of Physicians’ First Amendment Freedom: Professional Speech in an Era of Radically Expanded Prenatal Genetic Testing

This Article explores the First Amendment questions prenatal whole genome sequencing (PWGS) is likely to raise. It argues that most of the foreseeable options for state intervention in conversations between physicians and prospective parents about genetic sequencing should trigger at least heightened scrutiny. Part I provides an overview of the most recent advances in genetic testing. It assesses the ongoing impact of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) for providers and patients and charts the course from NIPT to PWGS. Part II establishes a foundational background for evaluating First Amendment claims. Part II.A describes the development of First Amendment jurisprudence, focusing on the doctrinal distinctions between levels of judicial scrutiny. Part II.B explores historical Supreme Court case law addressing professional speech. Part III surveys the current legal landscape. Using a handful of recent Circuit cases, Part III.A demonstrates that the legal frameworks for assessing physician speech qua professional speech are shambolic. Part III.B provides an overview of the most recent Supreme Court ruling on professional speech in the 2018 case National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra. Part IV uses the material in Parts I–III to predict how legislative efforts to limit reproductive decision-making are likely to manifest in the PWGS context. Based on the case analyses in Part III, Part IV identifies the Fourth and Eleventh Circuit approaches as the most defensible for future judicial interventions. This Article concludes that state-based restrictions on PWGS-related speech would be vulnerable to First Amendment challenges and unlikely to survive heightened judicial scrutiny

Finding symmetry breaking order parameters with Euclidean neural networks

Curie's principle states that “when effects show certain asymmetry, this asymmetry must be found in the causes that gave rise to them.” We demonstrate that symmetry equivariant neural networks uphold Curie's principle and can be used to articulate many symmetry-relevant scientific questions as simple optimization problems. We prove these properties mathematically and demonstrate them numerically by training a Euclidean symmetry equivariant neural network to learn symmetry breaking input to deform a square into a rectangle and to generate octahedra tilting patterns in perovskites

Two-Phase Westward Encroachment of Basin and Range Extension into the Northern Sierra Nevada

Structural, geophysical, and thermochronological data from the transition zone between the Sierra Nevada and the Basin and Range province at latitude ~39°N suggest ~100 km westward encroachment of Basin and Range extensional deformation since the middle Miocene. Extension, accommodated primarily by cast dipping normal faults that bound west tilted, range-forming fault blocks, varies in magnitude from150% in the Wassuk and Singatse Ranges to the east. Geological and apatite fission track data from exhumed upper crustal sections in the Wassuk and Singatse Ranges point to rapid footwall cooling related to large magnitude extension starting at ~14-15 Ma. Farther to the west, geological and thermochronological data indicate a younger period of extension in the previously unextended Pine Nut Mountains, the Carson Range, and the Tahoe-Truckee depression initiated between 10 Ma and 3 Ma, and incipient post-0.5 Ma faulting to the west of the Tahoe-Truckee area. These data imply the presence of an extensional breakaway zone between the Singatse Range and the Pine Nut Mountains at ~14-15 Ma, forming the boundary between the Sierra Nevada and Basin and Range at that time. In addition, fission track data imply a Miocene preextensional geothermal gradient of 27 ± 5°C km -1 in the central Wassuk Range and 20 ± 5°C km -1 in the Singatse Range, much higher than the estimated early Tertiary gradient of 10 ± 5°C km -1 for the Sierra Nevada batholith. This might point to a significant increase in geothermal gradients coupled with a likely decrease in crustal strength enabling the initiation of extensional faulting. Apatite fission track, geophysical, and geological constraints across the Sierra Nevada-Basin and Range transition zone indicate a two-stage, coupled structural and thermal westward encroachment of the Basin and Range province into the Sierra Nevada since the middle Miocene

Against All Odds: Students' Interest in, and Perceived Value of, Research and Nonresearch Psychology Subjects

Although research literacy is necessary for the competent delivery of psychological services, many psychology students hold negative attitudes toward research subjects. The current study explored undergraduate students’ perceptions of research subjects relative to nonresearch subjects. A sample of 249 Australian (45.4%) and Singaporean (54.6%) first-year university students (Mage = 21.27, SDage = 5.14, females = 75.9%) indicated their interest in, and perceived value of, 32 psychology subjects (based on title and a short description). They also nominated their most/least interested and valued subject and provided a free-text explanation for their selections. Participants perceived research subjects as significantly less interesting and valuable relative to nonresearch subjects (d values were indicative of a large difference for interest and a small-to-medium different for value). Cluster analysis indicated that research subjects are seen as distinct, forming their own cluster. This finding was supported by thematic analysis of participants’ open-ended responses. Students considered research subjects to be especially difficult, requiring skills they did not possess or enjoy using (e.g., mathematics), and lacking relevance to their future studies and intended careers. The findings suggest that research methods instructors should aim to emphasize the relevance of research to practice in high interest areas (e.g., psychopathology)

Pherotype polymorphism in Streptococcus pneumoniae has no obvious effects on population structure and recombination

Natural transformation in the Gram-positive pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae occurs when cells become “competent”, a state that is induced in response to high extracellular concentrations of a secreted peptide signal called CSP (Competence Stimulating Peptide) encoded by the comC locus. Two main CSP signal types (pherotypes) are known to dominate the pherotype diversity across strains. Using 4,089 fully sequenced pneumococcal genomes, we confirm that pneumococcal populations are highly genetically structured and that there is significant variation among diverged populations in pherotype frequencies; most carry only a single pherotype. Moreover, we find that the relative frequencies of the two dominant pherotypes significantly vary within a small range across geographical sites. It has been variously proposed that pherotypes either promote genetic exchange among cells expressing the same pherotype, or conversely that they promote recombination between strains bearing different pherotypes. We attempt to distinguish these hypotheses using a bioinformatics approach by estimating recombination frequencies within and between pherotypes across 4,089 full genomes. Despite underlying population structure, we observe extensive recombination between populations; additionally, we found significantly higher (although marginal) rates of genetic exchange between strains expressing different pherotypes than among isolates carrying the same pherotype. Our results indicate that pherotypes do not restrict, and may even slightly facilitate, recombination between strains; however, these marginal effects suggest the more likely possibility that the cause of CSP polymorphism lies outside of its effects on transformation. Our results suggest that the CSP balanced polymorphism does not causally underlie population differentiation. Therefore, when strains carrying different pherotypes encounter one another during co-colonization, genetic exchange can occur without restriction

Pherotype Polymorphism in Streptococcus pneumoniae Has No Obvious Effects on Population Structure and Recombination.

Natural transformation in the Gram-positive pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae occurs when cells become "competent," a state that is induced in response to high extracellular concentrations of a secreted peptide signal called competence stimulating peptide (CSP) encoded by the comC locus. Two main CSP signal types (pherotypes) are known to dominate the pherotype diversity across strains. Using 4,089 fully sequenced pneumococcal genomes, we confirm that pneumococcal populations are highly genetically structured and that there is significant variation among diverged populations in pherotype frequencies; most carry only a single pherotype. Moreover, we find that the relative frequencies of the two dominant pherotypes significantly vary within a small range across geographical sites. It has been variously proposed that pherotypes either promote genetic exchange among cells expressing the same pherotype, or conversely that they promote recombination between strains bearing different pherotypes. We attempt to distinguish these hypotheses using a bioinformatics approach by estimating recombination frequencies within and between pherotypes across 4,089 full genomes. Despite underlying population structure, we observe extensive recombination between populations; additionally, we found significantly higher (although marginal) rates of genetic exchange between strains expressing different pherotypes than among isolates carrying the same pherotype. Our results indicate that pherotypes do not restrict, and may even slightly facilitate, recombination between strains; however, these marginal effects suggest the more likely possibility that the cause of CSP polymorphism lies outside of its effects on transformation. Our results suggest that the CSP balanced polymorphism does not causally underlie population differentiation. Therefore, when strains carrying different pherotypes encounter one another during cocolonization, genetic exchange can occur without restriction

On variational principles for coherent vortex structures

Different approaches are discussed of variational principles characterizing coherent vortex structures in two-dimensional flows. Turbulent flows seem to form ordered structures in the large scales of the motion and the self-organization principle predicts asymptotic states realizing an extremal value of the energy or a minimum of enstrophy. On the other hand the small scales take care of the increase of entropy, and asymptotic results can be obtained by applying the theory of equilibrium statistical mechanics