Matal v. Tam Revisited

The Supreme Court’s ruling this past summer in Matal v. Tam was more than just a decision on the titles that could be used when registering one’s mark, it was also a vindication to those whom slurs have been used against; an opportunity to reclaim the word and change its meaning or at the very least, attach new feelings to it. This was the noble goal underlying lead singer, Simon Tam, of the rock group, “The Slants” action about a decade ago. Tam recalls that growing up “the notion of having slanted eyes was always considered a negative thing…and kids would pull their eyes back in a slant-eyed gesture to make fun of us and I wanted to change it to something that was powerful, something that was considered beautiful.” This post was originally published on the Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal website on January 17, 2018. The original post can be accessed via the Archived Link button above

Impact of COVID-19 on the Severe Acute Malnutrition Admissions Among Children Under 5 Years of Age Seeking Nutrition Services in Afghanistan

The purpose of the study was to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the number of admissions of severe acute malnutrition among children under 5 years of age seeking nutrition services in Afghanistan especially in the provinces where the prevalence of COVID-19 was high, for the period of February – September 2020. The study used comparison and analysis of secondary datasets of the Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition – a national program for detection and management of moderate and severe acute malnutrition in the country. This study analyzed the association between COVID-19 cases and severe acute malnutrition (SAM) admissions of children under 5 years of age seeking nutrition services in Afghanistan at national level and in the provinces most affected by COVID-19. For the number of SAM admissions, the inclusion criteria were children 6-59 months of age registered or admitted to OPD-SAM section of IMAM program, boys and girls, from February – September 2020. For COVID-19 cases, all the confirmed cases at national and provincial levels, regardless of their age and gender, were taken in account, and were extracted from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) database. SAM admissions in 2020 were compared to the number of SAM admissions done before COVID-19, in 2018 and 2019, for the same period (February – September) to determine the difference in the number of admissions among them. Results indicated that there was a significant positive association between a total of 208,106 SAM (OPD-SAM) admissions and 2,247,025 COVID- 19 cases which was reported from national level (34 provinces) of Afghanistan during February – September 2020 (r = .80, p = .016). At provincial level, the differences were assessed only for five provinces where the COVID-19 cases were high, and where in the beginning of the pandemic, testing centers for COVID-19 were available. For three provinces Kabul, Herat and Nangarhar the correlation was strong, positive, and statistically significant (r = .85, p = .006, r = .78, p =.021, r = .77, p = .024). In Balkh province there was also a positive, strong but not statistically significant correlation between SAM admissions and COVID-19 cases (r = .60, p = .116). In contrast, in Kandahar province the correlation was moderate, and the two variables were not statistically significant (r = .31, p = .447)

Gender and climate change disclosure: an interdimensional policy approach

This paper investigates the impact of corporate boards’ gender diversity on voluntary public disclosure of climate change risks in an emerging economy context in which environmental regulations are weak and markets are ineective. The investigation relies on data from the CDP (formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project) as a corporate sustainability reporting initiative supported by institutional investors, based on a sample of Turkish firms that were invited to disclose their climate change risks and greenhouse gas emissions over the period of 2010–2019 through the CDP platform. We report that the presence of women on board committees, as a proxy for their active involvement in corporate governance, increases the likelihood of voluntary climate change disclosure. We, on the other hand, found no evidence of a positive impact on climate change reporting with women’s overall representation in boards. These findings lend support to board reforms that aim to increase eective representation of women on boards for the better management of sustainability risks and responsiveness to stakeholder demands in countries where legislators are reluctant to introduce climate change reforms

Matal v. Tam Revisited

The Supreme Court’s ruling this past summer in Matal v. Tam was more than just a decision on the titles that could be used when registering one’s mark, it was also a vindication to those whom slurs have been used against; an opportunity to reclaim the word and change its meaning or at the very least, attach new feelings to it. This was the noble goal underlying lead singer, Simon Tam, of the rock group, “The Slants” action about a decade ago. Tam recalls that growing up “the notion of having slanted eyes was always considered a negative thing…and kids would pull their eyes back in a slant-eyed gesture to make fun of us and I wanted to change it to something that was powerful, something that was considered beautiful.” This post was originally published on the Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal website on January 17, 2018. The original post can be accessed via the Archived Link button above

COVID-19 and Spontaneous Pneumomediastinum: A case series

© 2020 Elsevier Inc. COVID-19 is a relatively new and rapidly emerging disease. Given current knowledge of the disease process, it is of the utmost importance to gain further insight into its different clinical manifestations. In this report we describe three cases involving Hispanic males with COVID-19 all of whom developed pneumomediastinum during their hospital course. We want to emphasize the importance of this adverse event despite their non-smoking history and the exclusion of positive pressure ventilation. Frequent chest radiographs help with early recognition of this disease process. Early detection of pneumomediastinum is important as this could lead to worse morbidity if left unrecognized despite its usually benign nature

CMV Pancreatitis in an Immunocompromised Patient

Introduction. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) virus affecting a large majority of the world’s population. In immunocompetent patients, CMV infection can range anywhere from an asymptomatic course to mononucleosis. However, in the immunocompromised patient, prognosis can be deadly as CMV can disseminate to the retina, liver, lungs, heart, and GI tract. We present a case of CMV pancreatitis afflicting an immunocompromised patient. Case Summary. A 45-year-old Hispanic female with no past medical history presented to the emergency department (ED) for three days of abdominal pain associated with nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. ED vitals showed a sepsis picture with fever, tachycardia, low white blood cell (WBC) count with bandemia, and CT scan showing acute pancreatitis, cholelithiasis, gastritis, and colitis. The patient denied alcohol use and MRCP showed no stone impaction. Sepsis protocolled was initiated for biliary pancreatitis, and the patient was admitted to the medicine floors with appropriate consulting services. Over the course of admission, the patient responded poorly to treatment and had a steady decline in respiratory status. She tested positive for HIV with a severely depressed CD4 count (42 cells/McL) and high viral load (1,492,761 copies/ml) and started on appropriate prophylactic antibiotics and HAART therapy. The patient was moved to the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) after acute respiratory failure secondary to ARDS requiring mechanical ventilation with initiation of ARDS protocol. The patient was hemodynamically unstable and required vasopressor support. Hospital course was complicated by melena which prompted an esophagogastroduodenostomy (EGD) with biopsy yielding CMV gastritis. Serum CMV viral load was also found to be positive along with an elevated lipase level, indicative of pancreatitis. Despite initiation of ganciclovir, the patient continued to have refractory hypoxia despite full ventilatory support and proning. Unfortunately, the patient was deemed too unstable for transfer to an ECMO facility. She eventually succumbed to respiratory failure. Discussion. CMV is a Herpesviridae virus that is prevalent among more than half of the world’s population. Its effects range from no presenting symptoms to respiratory failure depending on immune status. CMV more commonly affects the retina, lungs, liver, and GI tract; however, in rare cases, it is known to affect the pancreas as well. Other more common causes of pancreatitis were ruled out during the progression of this patient, and an elevated lipase with high CMV viral load points towards CMV pancreatitis. Conclusion. This is one of only a few reported cases of CMV pancreatitis and warrants further study due to the massive prevalence of CMV in the entire world’s population. Our case demonstrates the extent of dissemination of CMV in a severely immunocompromised patient by showing clear cut pancreatitis secondary to said viral infection with exclusion of other possible causes. Our hope is that clinicians will change their practice to include a more scrutinized study into causes of pancreatitis especially in their immunocompromised patients