The Low-Wage Worker: Legal Rights--Legal Realities

This brief foreword introduces the symposium entitled “The Low-Wage Worker: Legal Rights – Legal Realities,” setting forth its focus, purpose, and agenda. This symposium is an effort to turn attention to low-wage work, a topic that is among the most important of work law topics and yet the most neglected. Some articles debate two key assumptions under the Fair Labor standards Act (FLSA): first, whether minimum wage laws improve the economic circumstances of low-wage workers, and second, whether the statute can effectively remedy violations. Other articles offer recent and historical accounts of the effectiveness of organizing as a tool to protect the legal rights of low-wage workers. A third set of articles focus on the unique challenges faced by immigrant workers in seeking enforcement of their labor and employment rights. The final set of articles examine efforts by states and localities to address the employment rights of low-wage workers in the retail industry, directed at Wal-Mart and other “big box” stores. The articles in this symposium address four of the most pressing and significant employment and labor policy issues of the decade: the effect and enforcement of basic legal protections in low-wage workplaces; the prospects of unions and other organizing efforts among the most difficult-to-organize low-wage workers; the difficulty of crafting meaningful legal rights for transnational workers in a globalized labor market; and the respective role that local and national law and activism will play in regulating the low-wage service sector and retail jobs that are increasingly dominated by enormous multinational companies like Wal-Mart

Raman tweezers provide the fingerprint of cells supporting the late stages of KSHV reactivation

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) has both latent and lytic phases of replication. The molecular switch that triggers a reactivation is still unclear. Cells from S phase of cell cycle provide apt conditions for an active reactivation. In order to specifically delineate the Raman spectra of cells supporting KSHV reactivation, we followed a novel approach where cells were sorted based on the state of infection (latent Vs lytic) by a flow cytometer and then analyzed by the Raman tweezers. The Raman bands at 785, 813, 830, 1095, and 1128 cm-1 are specifically altered in cells supporting KSHV reactivation. These 5 peaks make up the Raman fingerprint of cells supporting KSHV reactivation. The physiological relevance of the changes in these peaks with respect to KSHV reactivation is discussed in the following report. Originally published Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Vol. 13, No. 8b, Aug 200

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Moving from “Broken Windows” to Healthy Neighborhood Policy: Reforming Urban Nuisance Law in Public and Private Sectors

professional paper for the Master of Urban and Regional Planning degreeSpeculations on the Limits of Legal Change, Mark Galanter hypothesizes that the legal experience of the parties, which he characterizes as “one shotters” and “repeat players,” plays a fundamental role in their success in the legal system generally. 11 His conclusion about the systemic bias of the legal system is every bit as applicable to the public nuisance laws that pit the resources of powerful state actors against unorganized and often economically disadvantaged defendants. This Note proposes statutory reforms at the state and local level to eliminate the undesirable legal and social consequences of current uses of public nuisance statutes. In addition, this Note sets forth an accompanying private attorney general prosecution structure to reintroduce market mechanisms and prevent abuse by overeager neighbors. Part I introduces the common law origins of nuisance law, the evolution of the doctrine in cities during the Progressive Era, and the usage of nuisance law in the modern urban renewal context. Part II argues that the current use of public nuisance law by cities as a civil injunctive remedy is unsound in both its assumptions and methodology; violative of modern takings jurisprudence; contrary to economic efficiency; ineffective as an urban renewal strategy; and unable to safeguard the vulnerable populations it claims to protect