Jim Crow Riding High: The Latest Assaults on African American Voting Rights

The aftermath of the shooting of Trayvon Martin raises serious issues about a possible double standard between the enforcement of civil rights for African-Americans and white Americans. This paper discusses two key voting rights – hence, civil rights - enforcement issues, voter suppression and disenfranchisement. While the 1965 Voting Rights Act guarantees the right to vote to all qualified Americans, there is substantial evidence that this right is often denied minorities. It has included strenuous efforts to suppress the black vote. How extensive is this effort, and what effect did suppression have on recent elections, including the Presidential election of 2012? Legislative districting can create “functional disenfranchisement” for African-Americans, by which ostensibly they retain the right to vote, but the meaning and instrumentality of that vote is rendered null and void. To what extent did the 2010 round of redistricting in Florida and other states promote functional disenfranchisement of African-Americans, the effect of which could be to minimize their voice in and impact on electoral politics

Jim Crow Riding High: The Latest Assaults on African American Voting Rights

The aftermath of the shooting of Trayvon Martin raises serious issues about a possible double standard between the enforcement of civil rights for African-Americans and white Americans. This paper discusses two key voting rights – hence, civil rights - enforcement issues, voter suppression and disenfranchisement. While the 1965 Voting Rights Act guarantees the right to vote to all qualified Americans, there is substantial evidence that this right is often denied minorities. It has included strenuous efforts to suppress the black vote. How extensive is this effort, and what effect did suppression have on recent elections, including the Presidential election of 2012? Legislative districting can create “functional disenfranchisement” for African-Americans, by which ostensibly they retain the right to vote, but the meaning and instrumentality of that vote is rendered null and void. To what extent did the 2010 round of redistricting in Florida and other states promote functional disenfranchisement of African-Americans, the effect of which could be to minimize their voice in and impact on electoral politics

Can the Arts Change the World? The Transformative Power of the Arts in Fostering and Sustaining Social Change

A group of nonprofit leaders working in the arts, advocacy, political organizing, social services, and education explored the connection between community organizing and creative expression by engaging in collective activities, including visiting various examples of community arts, and experimentation with their own practice. Through this process, the group concluded that arts could be socially transformative; that community arts can create a safe space that allows people to trust and be open to changing; that art can help people reflect together and not talk past one another; and that the process of creating together can be healing and sustaining

Considerations for Management of Longitudinal Melanonychia During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An International Perspective

To the editor: 34 Longitudinal melanonychia (LM) is the presenting sign of nail unit melanoma (NUM) in 2/3 35 of cases and is therefore among the most important conditions managed by dermatologists. In 36 normal times, referral for LM would prompt an expedited appointment for clinical 37 examination and dermoscopy.1 However, due to SARS-CoV-2, dermatologists have been 38 asked to reconsider “urgent/emergency” conditions. The COVID-19 pandemic has propelled 39 physicians to unexpectedly adopt telemedicine without adequate guidance for managing LM 40 patients

Guidelines of the International Headache Society for controlled trials of pharmacological preventive treatment for persistent post-traumatic headache attributed to mild traumatic brain injury

Adverse event; Persistent post-traumatic headacheEsdeveniment advers; Cefalea postraumàtica persistentEvento adverso; Cefalea postraumática persistenteBackground Persistent headache attributed to traumatic injury to the head is divided into two subtypes, one attributed to moderate or severe traumatic injury and another attributed to mild traumatic injury (i.e., concussion). The latter is much more prevalent, in part because more than 90% of cases with traumatic brain injury are classified as mild. The pathophysiology of persistent post-traumatic headache is poorly understood and the underlying mechanisms are likely multifactorial. There is currently no approved treatment specifically for persistent post-traumatic headache, and management strategies rely on medications used for migraine or tension-type headache. Therefore, high-quality trials are urgently needed to support clinical decision-making and optimize management strategies. International guidelines can facilitate appropriate trial design and ensure the acquisition of high-quality data evaluating the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of available and novel pharmacological therapies for the preventive treatment of persistent post-traumatic headache. Methods The development of this guideline was based on a literature review of available studies in MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, along with a review of previously published guidelines for controlled trials of preventive treatment for episodic and chronic migraine. The identified literature was critically appraised, and due to the scarcity of scientific evidence, recommendations were primarily based on the consensus of experts in the field. Objective To provide guidelines for designing state-of-the-art controlled clinical trials aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of preventive treatments for persistent post-traumatic headache attributed to mild traumatic brain injury

Guidelines of the International Headache Society for controlled trials of pharmacological preventive treatment for persistent post-traumatic headache attributed to mild traumatic brain injury

Background: Persistent headache attributed to traumatic injury to the head is divided into two subtypes, one attributed to moderate or severe traumatic injury and another attributed to mild traumatic injury (i.e., concussion). The latter is much more prevalent, in part because more than 90% of cases with traumatic brain injury are classified as mild. The pathophysiology of persistent post-traumatic headache is poorly understood and the underlying mechanisms are likely multifactorial. There is currently no approved treatment specifically for persistent post-traumatic headache, and management strategies rely on medications used for migraine or tension-type headache. Therefore, high-quality trials are urgently needed to support clinical decision-making and optimize management strategies. International guidelines can facilitate appropriate trial design and ensure the acquisition of high-quality data evaluating the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of available and novel pharmacological therapies for the preventive treatment of persistent post-traumatic headache. Methods: The development of this guideline was based on a literature review of available studies in MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, along with a review of previously published guidelines for controlled trials of preventive treatment for episodic and chronic migraine. The identified literature was critically appraised, and due to the scarcity of scientific evidence, recommendations were primarily based on the consensus of experts in the field. Objective: To provide guidelines for designing state-of-the-art controlled clinical trials aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of preventive treatments for persistent post-traumatic headache attributed to mild traumatic brain injury

Clinical Study Utility of Intraoperative Frozen Sections during Thyroid Surgery

Objective. To describe the usefulness of intraoperative frozen section in the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid nodules where fine needle aspirate biopsies have evidence of follicular neoplasm. Study Design. Retrospective case series. Methods. All patients have a fine needle aspirate biopsy, an intraoperative frozen section, and final pathology performed on a thyroid nodule after initiation of the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology in 2009 at a single tertiary referral center. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value are calculated in order to determine added benefit of frozen section to original fine needle aspirate data. Results. The sensitivity and specificity of the frozen section were 76.9% and 67.9%, respectively, while for the fine needle aspirate were 53.8% and 74.1%, respectively. The positive and negative predictive values for the fine needle aspirates were 25% and 90.9%, respectively, while for the frozen sections were 27.8% and 94.8%, respectively. There were no changes in the operative course as a consequence of the frozen sections. Conclusion. Our data does not support the clinical usefulness of intraoperative frozen section when the fine needle aspirate yields a Bethesda Criteria diagnosis of follicular neoplasm, suspicious for follicular neoplasm, or suspicious for malignancy at our institution