Res Gestae, The Present Sense Impression Exception and Extrinsic Corroboration Under Federal Rules of Evidence 803(1) and Its State Counterparts

This Note presents an overview of the hearsay rule and its general historical development, as well as background on the history of the res gestae doctrine to provide a clearer understanding of the Federal Rules discussed. It examines the current analysis of the three Rule 803 hearsay exceptions, and compares the requirements of external corroboration of hearsay statements under each of Rules 803(1), (2) and (3) to illustrate some inconsistencies in the application of these rules. The author concludes that it is essential that a concise and historically consistent method of applying the present sense impression exception be used, and suggests an approach that harmonizes Federal Rules 803(1), (2) and (3), without adding an additional requirement of corroboration

The Worst First Citizen

In his telling of the Life of Nero, Suetonius crafted an image of an archetypical tyrant that he then used throughout his other Lives. The princeps was Rome\u27s premier citizen--as such, they needed to perform all aspects of citizenship as well as possible, especially in regards to successfully performing masculinity. Therefore, to be a good emperor was to embody male virtue; to be a bad emperor was to be effeminate and lack virtue. Suetonius crafted a rhetorical trope of the unmanly tyrant using his portrayal of Nero. This is seen most clearly in Nero 29, where Nero was sexually passive to a freedman, had public intercourse, and performed oral sex, among other improprieties. This trope was then used in the Lives of Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Domitian to cast them as unqualified and tyrannical

Theoretical problems in Cause – Specific Mortality forecasting and diagnosis rates.Solutions and actuarial applications.

2013 - 2014The study of cause-specific mortality in the actuarial field is one of the main sources of information for public health monitoring. Among the number of challenges that need to be addressed, two of them are the main aims of this work. First, the World Health Organization manages a cause-specific mortality database, based on the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). The ICD changed three times between 1950 and 2010 in order to account for progress in science and technology and to achieve more refined cause descriptions. Thus, the ICD revision often causes major discontinuities in trends in mortality and morbidity statistics, requiring then an appropriate correction for any time series analyses or forecasts. Second, models for trends in mortality rates for different ages and sexes as well as for different countries are often based on the assumption of independence between the causes of death. Actually, in literature we cannot find models taking into account both the questions. Our aim is to suggest a new method developed considering simultaneously the ICD changes (discontinuities in the data) and the dependence among several causes of death. To this end, basing on an extension of the Lee – Carter Model (Lee R.D. and Carter L., 1992) we mitigate the structural breaks in mortality rates and contextually the VECM (Vector Error Correction Model) is used in order to project the cause-specific time component of the Lee-Carter model. This methodology allows to include longterm stationary relations between the different causes of death, that is cause-of death dependence in the mortality forecasting model. Results are compared to the more traditional forecasting approach based on ARIMA processes. In particular we show that the proposed method produces more precise projections in order to better understand the cause – specific mortality. This is crucial in different topics for example in social security, health, socioeconomic strategies, having implications in different decision choices. The application in pricing assessment of the methodology here discussed is developed in the insurance and banking filed, in order to design tailored and more individual contracts. In particular several insured loans built within the critical illness policy model are proposed and priced. The new products insure the loan, covering the risk to suffer several dread disease and/or the event in case of death for a specific cause. The inclusion of the benefit in case of a specific cause of death does not involve additional cost to the life office beyond the critical illness benefit. On the contrary the new designs ensure less expensive conditions in comparison with the standard policy and are very appealing from the market point of view, looking for more and more personalized and cheap clauses. [edited by author]XIII n.s

Gender Socialization of Preschoolers : The Influence of Parental Orientation and Preschool Environment

Because there are different sets of attitudes and standards that are applied to girls and boys, and because society is permeated with messages delineating the differences between females and males, there is a rapid accumulation of knowledge by children about those differences. There is a need for further examination of the overall impact of different facets of gender socialization. The purpose of the present study was to clarify the ways in which parental beliefs and practices as well as daycare environment affect the gender-typing of preschoolers. Seventy-nine children from three different preschools were interviewed using Likert, forced-choice, and open-ended items. Their parents were surveyed using questions relating to their attitudes and behaviors around gender. The head teacher from each classroom study site was interviewed about how and what kinds of gender messages are presented at school. This study sought to test the following hypotheses: 1) Girls will be less gender-typed than boys; 2) Mothers will have less traditional gender attitudes than fathers; 3) Younger children will be less sex-typed than older children; 4) Children in gender-progressive daycare environments will be less gender-typed than children in gender-traditional daycare environments; and 5) Children\u27s degree of gender-typing will be positively associated with their parents\u27 degree of gender-typing. Of the five hypotheses tested, two were supported, two had mixed findings, and one was not supported. Boys exhibited significantly less flexibility than girls in toy preferences. Mothers had less traditional scores than fathers on the paired toy preference task, and differentiated less between girls and boys than did fathers. It appears that the children\u27s toy preferences were not strongly influenced by preschool gender issue consciousness. The analysis of parents\u27 toy preferences showed that mothers had toy preferences that were very different from those of their sons, but ones that were relatively similar to those of their daughters. When the preferences of daughters and sons were analyzed together, the correlation with their fathers\u27 preferences was highly significant. Although correlations between age and gender flexibility scores did go in the expected direction for both girls and boys, they were not statistically significant

Interprofessional Integrative Medicine Training for Preventive Medicine Residents

Integrative medicine training was incorporated into the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Preventive Medicine residency at the Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences Newark Campus as a collaboration between the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and the School of Health Related Professions. Beginning in 2012, an interdisciplinary faculty team organized an Integrative Medicine program in a Preventive Medicine residency that leveraged existing resources across Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences. The overarching aim of the programs was to introduce residents and faculty to the scope and practice of integrative medicine in the surrounding Newark community and explore evidence-based research on integrative medicine. The faculty team tapped into an interprofessional network of healthcare providers to organize rotations for the preventive medicine residents that reflected the unique nature of integrative medicine in the greater Newark area. Residents provided direct care as part of interdisciplinary teams at clinical affiliates and shadowed health professionals from diverse disciplines as they filled different roles in providing patient care. The residents also participated in research projects. A combination of formal and informal programs on integrative medicine topics was offered to residents and faculty. The Integrative Medicine program, which ran from 2013 through 2014, was successful in exposing residents and faculty to the unique nature of integrative medicine across professions in the community served by Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences

Garden in motion. An experience of citizens involvement in public space regeneration

The paper illustrates a Placemaking process developed in Potenza Municipality (Southern Italy), based on an interpretation of the theories by the French landscape architect Gilles Clément. A laboratory has been organized in a residual area of the city, famous for an architectural monument, the bridge designed by Sergio Musmeci. The Internet allows a continuous online storytelling of work, creating citizens engagement on projects or choices and producing creativity and knowledge circulation. In this perspective "Garden in Motion" initiative produced new important processes for the community life, just like in Gilles Clément's "Garden in motion", where the processes of nature are favoured and spontaneous plants put in condition to grow and move freely

The Importance of Participation in Regeneration of Peripheral Urban Spaces: the Experience of “Serpentone Reload”

Suburbs are often very contradictory places. Despite great part of urban population live there, these parts of cities are mostly considered as degradation places. The topic of suburbs regeneration is relevant today. Nevertheless, often expensive interventions implemented by local authorities fail to regenerate their public spaces, increasing the degradation condition. This paper presents the experience of “Serpentone reload”, a workshop based on participatory reactivation of abandoned or underused spaces and buildings in "Cocuzzo/Serpentone" neighbourhood in Potenza (Basilicata, Italy). The workshop particularly focused on the reuse of the "Ship", an underground building with a park coverage completed in 2010 and designed by the firm Archea. The "Ship" has been forgotten and not used for long time, not only by the neighbourhood, but by the whole citizenship, because it has been perceived as an extraneous element and the result of an imposition from the top, definitely not the outcome of shared choices. During the workshop, the "Ship" (“Nave” in Italian language) has become an art centre called N.Av.E. (New Expressive Adventures – Nuove Avventure Espressive in Italian), a place capable to host temporary events (expositions, lectures, theatre and dance performance, movies projection, etc.). Such a choice has allowed the neighbourhood and the city to take back that “object” so hated as ignored. The experience is particularly significant, because it shows how low cost interventions, realized with citizens involvement and participation, could contribute to the regeneration of peripheral urban areas more than expensive and complex imposed interventions, which often do not take into account dwellers real needs and expectations

A simple cytofluorimetric score may optimize testing for biallelic CEBPA mutations in patients with acute myeloid leukemia

Acute myeloid leukemia with biallelic mutation of CEBPA (CEBPA-dm AML) is a distinct good prognosis entity recognized by WHO 2016 classification. However, testing for CEBPA mutation is challenging, due to the intrinsic characteristics of the mutation itself. Indeed, molecular analysis cannot be performed with NGS technique and requires Sanger sequencing. The association of recurrent mutations or translocations with specific immunophenotypic patterns has been already reported in other AML subtypes. The aim of this study was the development of a specific cytofluorimetric score (CEBPA-dm score), in order to distinguish patients who are unlikely to harbor the mutation. To this end, the correlation of CEBPA-dm score with the presence of the mutation was analyzed in 50 consecutive AML patients with normal karyotype and without NPM1 mutation (that is mutually exclusive with CEBPA mutation). One point each was assigned for expression of HLA DR, CD7, CD13, CD15, CD33, CD34 and one point for lack of expression of CD14. OS was not influenced by sex, age and CEBPA-dm score. Multivariate OS analysis showed that CEBPA-dm (p < 0.02) and FLT3-ITD (p < 0.01) were the strongest independent predictors of OS. With a high negative predictive value (100%), CEBPA-dm score < 6 was able to identify patients who are unlikely to have the mutation. Therefore, the application of this simple score might optimize the use of expensive and time-consuming diagnostic and prognostic assessment in the baseline work up of AML patients

Multidrug-resistant Tuberculosis in Military Recruits

We conducted a tuberculosis contact investigation for a female military recruit with an unreported history of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB) and subsequent recurrence. Pertinent issues included identification of likely contacts from separate training phases, uncertainty on latent MDRTB infection treatment regimens and side effects, and subsequent dispersal of the contacts after exposure

Longitudinal evaluation of a novel BChE PET tracer as an early in vivo biomarker in the brain of a mouse model for Alzheimer disease

Purpose: The increase in butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) activity in the brain of Alzheimer disease (AD) patients and animal models of AD position this enzyme as a potential biomarker of the disease. However, the information on the ability of BChE to serve as AD biomarker is contradicting, also due to scarce longitudinal studies of BChE activity abundance. Here, we report 11C-labeling, in vivo stability, biodistribution, and longitudinal study on BChE abundance in the brains of control and 5xFAD (AD model) animals, using a potent BChE selective inhibitor, [11C]4, and positron emission tomography (PET) in combination with computerised tomography (CT). We correlate the results with in vivo amyloid beta (Aβ) deposition, longitudinally assessed by [18F]florbetaben-PET imaging. Methods: [11C]4 was radiolabelled through 11C-methylation. Metabolism studies were performed on blood and brain samples of female wild type (WT) mice. Biodistribution studies were performed in female WT mice using dynamic PET-CT imaging. Specific binding was demonstrated by ex vivo and in vivo PET imaging blocking studies in female WT and 5xFAD mice at the age of 7 months. Longitudinal PET imaging of BChE was conducted in female 5xFAD mice at 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 months of age and compared to age-matched control animals. Additionally, Aβ plaque distribution was assessed in the same mice using [18F]florbetaben at the ages of 2, 5, 7 and 11 months. The results were validated by ex vivo staining of BChE at 4, 8, and 12 months and Aβ at 12 months on brain samples. Results: [11C]4 was produced in sufficient radiochemical yield and molar activity for the use in PET imaging. Metabolism and biodistribution studies confirmed sufficient stability in vivo, the ability of [11C]4 to cross the blood brain barrier (BBB) and rapid washout from the brain. Blocking studies confirmed specificity of the binding. Longitudinal PET studies showed increased levels of BChE in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, striatum, thalamus, cerebellum and brain stem in aged AD mice compared to WT littermates. [18F]Florbetaben-PET imaging showed similar trend of Aβ plaques accumulation in the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus of AD animals as the one observed for BChE at ages 4 to 8 months. Contrarily to the results obtained by ex vivo staining, lower abundance of BChE was observed in vivo at 10 and 12 months than at 8 months of age. Conclusions: The BChE inhibitor [11C]4 crosses the BBB and is quickly washed out of the brain of WT mice. Comparison between AD and WT mice shows accumulation of the radiotracer in the AD-affected areas of the brain over time during the early disease progression. The results correspond well with Aβ accumulation, suggesting that BChE is a promising early biomarker for incipient AD