Martin Luther King Jr. And Pretext Stops (and Arrests): Reflections on How Far We Have Not Come Fifty Years Later

By January, 1956, the Montgomery Bus boycott was in full-swing. Black citizens in Montgomery, Alabama were refusing to ride the city’s private buses to protest racially segregated seating. On the afternoon of January 26, 1956, twenty-seven-year-old Martin Luther King, Jr. had finished his day of work at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery. On his drive home, King stopped his vehicle to offer a ride to a group of bus boycotters standing at a downtown car-pool location. After the boycotters entered King’s car, two motorcycle policemen pulled-in behind King’s vehicle. While everyone in King’s car tried to remain calm, the police continued to follow King’s car. At the next car-pool location, when some of King’s passengers began to exit, one of the policemen pulled next to King’s window, stating: “‘Get out, King. You’re under arrest for speeding thirty miles an hour in a twenty-five-mile zone.’” While stunned by the police action, King did not protest. He was arrested and taken to the Montgomery City Jail, where he was processed, fingerprinted and jailed with other black prisoners. It has been nearly sixty years since Martin Luther King, Jr. was subjected to this arbitrary and discriminatory police practice. Surely, things have changed in America. After the demise of the Jim Crow system, the enactment of federal and civil rights legislation protecting blacks from discriminatory application of state and local laws, and several decades of Supreme Court rulings enforcing the rights of black citizens, it would seem that law enforcement officials can no longer perform this type of arbitrary and bigoted policing. Although much has changed in America, investigatory or pretext stops unfortunately remain ubiquitous. As in King’s case, these stops are not aimed at enforcing the traffic code. Rather, police who conduct investigatory stops are a fishing expedition to look for evidence of criminal conduct. Various types of law enforcement agencies utilize pretext stops; and high-ranking police officials endorse pretext stops as a crime control measure. Indeed, two decades ago, investigatory stops were given a major boost when the federal government actively encouraged state and local police departments to use traffic laws as a basis for stopping cars suspected of drug smuggling. From one perspective, the use of pretext stops in the War on Drugs specifically, and to fight crime generally, raises no legal alarm. For most white Americans, modern application of this practice may seem annoying, but it is worth the cost in the fight against crime. A motorist is stopped by the police. The officer then questions the motorist about his or her travel plans (and if there are passengers, they are also questioned). Finally, a traffic summons or ticket may be issued. While bothersome, this practice, viewed in the aggregate, does not amount to a constitutional crisis. Moreover, on a rare occasion, criminality is exposed as a result of the stop. Black Americans, however, have a distinctly different perception of the situation. For King, the pretext stop was much more than a “stop.” The upshot was a frightening ride to jail; at one point during the ride, King believed the police were going to lynch him. Today, the modern pretext stop is on display when a black motorist is seen standing on the side of a highway or city street while police (typically white officers) search his vehicle. Study after study has demonstrated that African-Americans are targeted for pretext stops at a rate greater than white Americans. For blacks, particularly black men, a pretext stop is unequivocal notice of their inferior status in America. As Don Jackson, a former police officer, put it not too long ago: “The black American finds that the most prominent reminder of his second-class citizenship are the police.” The authors in this symposium were asked to consider how far America has come in the fifty years after the tragic assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Of course, America has made substantial progress on several fronts that would have pleased Dr. King had he lived to see them. Many aspects of our criminal justice system, however, would have deeply disappointed King. We are confident that the continued and widespread use of pretext stops and their attended consequences would have offended King. Looking forward, America can honor Dr. King by ending pretext stops

Martin Luther King Jr. And Pretext Stops (and Arrests): Reflections on How Far We Have Not Come Fifty Years Later

By January, 1956, the Montgomery Bus boycott was in full-swing. Black citizens in Montgomery, Alabama were refusing to ride the city’s private buses to protest racially segregated seating. On the afternoon of January 26, 1956, twenty-seven-year-old Martin Luther King, Jr. had finished his day of work at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery. On his drive home, King stopped his vehicle to offer a ride to a group of bus boycotters standing at a downtown car-pool location. After the boycotters entered King’s car, two motorcycle policemen pulled-in behind King’s vehicle. While everyone in King’s car tried to remain calm, the police continued to follow King’s car. At the next car-pool location, when some of King’s passengers began to exit, one of the policemen pulled next to King’s window, stating: “‘Get out, King. You’re under arrest for speeding thirty miles an hour in a twenty-five-mile zone.’” While stunned by the police action, King did not protest. He was arrested and taken to the Montgomery City Jail, where he was processed, fingerprinted and jailed with other black prisoners.It has been nearly sixty years since Martin Luther King, Jr. was subjected to this arbitrary and discriminatory police practice. Surely, things have changed in America. After the demise of the Jim Crow system, the enactment of federal and civil rights legislation protecting blacks from discriminatory application of state and local laws, and several decades of Supreme Court rulings enforcing the rights of black citizens, it would seem that law enforcement officials can no longer perform this type of arbitrary and bigoted policing. Although much has changed in America, investigatory or pretext stops unfortunately remain ubiquitous. As in King’s case, these stops are not aimed at enforcing the traffic code. Rather, police who conduct investigatory stops are a fishing expedition to look for evidence of criminal conduct. Various types of law enforcement agencies utilize pretext stops; and high-ranking police officials endorse pretext stops as a crime control measure. Indeed, two decades ago, investigatory stops were given a major boost when the federal government actively encouraged state and local police departments to use traffic laws as a basis for stopping cars suspected of drug smuggling.From one perspective, the use of pretext stops in the War on Drugs specifically, and to fight crime generally, raises no legal alarm. For most white Americans, modern application of this practice may seem annoying, but it is worth the cost in the fight against crime. A motorist is stopped by the police. The officer then questions the motorist about his or her travel plans (and if there are passengers, they are also questioned). Finally, a traffic summons or ticket may be issued. While bothersome, this practice, viewed in the aggregate, does not amount to a constitutional crisis. Moreover, on a rare occasion, criminality is exposed as a result of the stop.Black Americans, however, have a distinctly different perception of the situation. For King, the pretext stop was much more than a “stop.” The upshot was a frightening ride to jail; at one point during the ride, King believed the police were going to lynch him. Today, the modern pretext stop is on display when a black motorist is seen standing on the side of a highway or city street while police (typically white officers) search his vehicle. Study after study has demonstrated that African-Americans are targeted for pretext stops at a rate greater than white Americans. For blacks, particularly black men, a pretext stop is unequivocal notice of their inferior status in America. As Don Jackson, a former police officer, put it not too long ago: “The black American finds that the most prominent reminder of his second-class citizenship are the police.”The authors in this symposium were asked to consider how far America has come in the fifty years after the tragic assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Of course, America has made substantial progress on several fronts that would have pleased Dr. King had he lived to see them. Many aspects of our criminal justice system, however, would have deeply disappointed King. We are confident that the continued and widespread use of pretext stops and their attended consequences would have offended King. Looking forward, America can honor Dr. King by ending pretext stops.This article was presented at “MLK 50: Where Do We Go From Here?,” a symposium co-sponsored by the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and the National Civil Rights Museum, on April 2-4, 2018. It will be published in the forthcoming Volume 49 of the University Memphis Law Review

Correlation between oesophageal acid exposure and dyspeptic symptoms in patients with nonerosive reflux disease.

Oesophageal acidification induces dyspeptic symptoms in healthy individuals. This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between oesophageal acid exposure and dyspeptic symptoms in patients with nonerosive reflux disease. METHODS: A total of 68 patients with dominant symptoms of heartburn, negative upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and concomitant dyspeptic symptoms participated in the study. The severity of dyspepsia and reflux-related symptoms was evaluated, and 24-h gastro-oesophageal pH-monitoring study was performed in all patients at baseline and after 4 weeks of therapy with esomeprazole 40 mg. RESULTS: Oesophageal basal acid exposure was pathological in 43 patients and normal in 25 patients, with a similar prevalence and severity of individual dyspeptic symptoms in the two groups. A significant correlation between reflux and dyspepsia scores was observed in the subgroup of patients with normal, but not in those with abnormal pHmetry (r=0.4, P=0.04 and r=0.2 P=0.07, respectively). After esomeprazole, a reduction in severity of dyspepsia (>or=50% with respect to baseline) was observed, independent of improvement of reflux-associated symptoms. Improvement in dyspepsia was, however, similar in patients with normal and abnormal basal acid exposure (14/25 vs. 33/43, respectively, P=NS). CONCLUSION: Dyspeptic symptoms coexist in a subset of nonerosive reflux disease patients, but prevalence and severity of the symptoms seems to be independent of oesophageal acid exposure

Bi-Allelic DES Gene Variants Causing Autosomal Recessive Myofibrillar Myopathies Affecting Both Skeletal Muscles and Cardiac Function

Mutations in the human desmin gene (DES) may cause both autosomal dominant and recessive cardiomyopathies leading to heart failure, arrhythmias and atrio-ventricular blocks, or progressive myopathies. Cardiac conduction disorders, arrhythmias and cardiomyopathies usually associated with progressive myopathy are the main manifestations of autosomal dominant desminopathies, due to mono-allelic pathogenic variants. The recessive forms, due to bi-allelic variants, are very rare and exhibit variable phenotypes in which premature sudden cardiac death could also occur in the first or second decade of life. We describe a further case of autosomal recessive desminopathy in an Italian boy born of consanguineous parents, who developed progressive myopathy at age 12, and dilated cardiomyopathy four years later and died of intractable heart failure at age 17. Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) analysis identified the homozygous loss-of-function variant c.634C>T; p.Arg212*, which was likely inherited from both parents. Furthermore, we performed a comparison of clinical and genetic results observed in our patient with those of cases so far reported in the literature

Effect of Salt Addition and Fermentation Time on Phenolics, Microbial Dynamics, Volatile Organic Compounds, and Sensory Properties of the PDO Table Olives of Gaeta (Italy)

‘Oliva di Gaeta’ is almost certainly the most important and well-known PDO denomination for table olives in Italy. Their production is based on a specific two-stage trade preparation called the ‘Itrana’ method. In this work, we investigated how variations in the duration of the initial water fermentation (i.e., 15 and 30 days) and the salt concentration (i.e., 6% and 8% NaCl) influence the chemical features, microbial dynamics, polyphenols, volatile organic compounds, and sensory features of ‘Oliva di Gaeta’. The time of the addition of salt did not affect the final concentration in the brine, but a longer initial water fermentation (before salt addition) led to lower pH values. The bacterial count constantly increased until the salt addition (i.e., either 15 or 30 days), while the yeast population peaked on day 30. Generally, the two different salt concentrations did not affect the count of microorganisms at the end of fermentation, with the only exception being a higher lactic acid bacteria count for the treatment with 6% salt added at 30 days. At commercial maturity, the crucial bitter tastant oleuropein was not completely removed from the drupes, and differences in salt concentration and the length of the first-stage water fermentation did not influence its content at the end of olive curing. Richer volatile profiles of olives were detected with higher-salt treatments, while the combination of low salt and early saline treatment provided a more distinct profile. Longer initial water fermentation caused a small increase in some phenolic compounds (e.g., iso-verbascoside, verbascoside, and hydroxytyrosol-glucoside). A panel test indicated that salt application at 30 days resulted in a more “Sour” and “Bitter” taste, irrespective of the salt concentration. The low salt concentration coupled with the late saline treatment resulted in more “Fruity” notes, probably due to the higher production of esters by lactobacilli. The slightly bitter perception of the olives was consistent with the partial removal of oleuropein. Our work revealed the characteristics of the ‘Itrana’ method and that the variation in salt concentration and its time of application changes parameters ranging from the microbial dynamics to the sensory profile. Specifically, our data indicate that 6% NaCl coupled with a longer initial water fermentation is the most different condition: it is less effective in blocking microbial growth but, at the same time, is more potent in altering the nutritional (e.g., polyphenols) and sensorial qualities (e.g., bitterness and fruitiness) of ‘Oliva di Gaeta’

Molecular analysis of Duchenne/Becker muscular dystrophy

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The role of echocardiography in SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: a compromise among appropriateness, safety and clinical impact

SARS-CoV-2 infection, responsible for COVID-19, can determine cardiac events, which require a quick diagnosis and management, and should not be overlooked due to the presence of COVID-19 infection. In some cases, cardiovascular symptoms can also be the first and only manifestation of SARS-CoV-2 infection. In patients with COVID-19, the full cardiovascular disease diagnostic algorithm can be hindered by logistic restrain mainly derived from the difficulty of transporting patients in critical conditions to Radiology or Hemodynamics wards. The echocardiography in SARS-CoV-2 pandemic can help for differential diagnosis of cardiac events, which can be related or unrelated by the infection and can likely impact on short-term prognosis. Indeed, transthoracic echocardiography plays a key role in the screen for CV complications of COVID-19 infection: it must be focused cardiac ultrasound study (FoCUS) performed at bedside. All transthoracic, transesophageal and stress echocardiograms in patients in which test results are unlikely to change the management strategy should be postponed

Eye-tracking glasses for improving teacher education: the e-Teach project

Abstract This paper is about "Improvement of teaching techniques by eye tracking in technology enhanced classrooms" (e-Teach), an innovative project funded by the Erasmus Plus Programme (KA2 - Strategic Partnership in the field of School Education). The project aims to study teachers' eye movements in real teaching situation using eye-tracking glasses and compares the teachers' use of digital technologies between novices and experts teaching the same school subject. The purpose of this study was to provide indicators of skill gaps between novices and experts which can be addressed appropriately with highly targeted teacher education. The first part of the paper reviews recent developments in conceptual frameworks for digital competence and in digital competence descriptors. The second part describes the project status, the methods and its phases. In conclusion, the paper gives a brief overview of initial findings of ongoing research, focusing largely on the Italian experience, and development tasks for the next project phases. The initial findings suggest that teachers valued the benefits of using digital technologies in classrooms and recognized the necessity of professional development. They also provided specific insights for the purpose of developing an online course for teacher education in four languages: English, Turkish, Italian and Lithuanian