Introduction: Law and Neoliberalism

“Neoliberalism” refers to the revival of the doctrines of classical economic liberalism, also called laissez-faire, in politics, ideas, and law. These revived doctrines have taken new form in new settings: the “neo-” means not just that they are back, but that they are also different, a new generation of arguments. What unites the two periods of economic liberalism is their political effect: the assertion and defense of particular market imperatives and unequal economic power against political intervention. Neoliberalism’s advance over the past few decades has reshaped most important domains of public and private life, and the law has been no exception. From constitutional doctrine to financial regulation to intellectual property and family law, market and market-mimicking approaches are now commonplace in our jurisprudence

The Original Theory of Constitutionalism

The conflict between various versions of “originalism” and “living constitutionalism” has defined the landscape of constitutional theory and practice for more than a generation, and it shows no sign of abating. Although each camp has developed a variety of methodological approaches and substantive distinctions, each one also returns to a core concern: the democratic authority of constitutional review. The late Justice Scalia crystallized the originalist concern in his dissent in Obergefell v. Hodges: “It is of overwhelming importance … who it is that rules me. Today’s decree says that my Ruler, and the Ruler of 320 million Americans coast-to-coast, is a majority of the nine lawyers on the Supreme Court.” The concern voiced by Scalia is, in a word, usurpation – the arrogation of the right to rule by the judiciary, invoking the authority of the Constitution’s “We the People,” but responding, in fact, to the vicissitudes of present-day party politics, social movements, and what Scalia once famously called “Kulturkampf.” On the living-constitutionalist side, the core concern is the Constitution’s legitimacy in the eyes of those it rules today. Here, too, it might be said that the question remains “who it is that rules me.” But living constitutionalism holds that “my Ruler” cannot legitimately be the mummified hand of those who ratified constitutional text long ago, when “the people” was restricted to adult white males (and often to property holders) and formal discrimination on racial and other grounds was widespread. Whatever “equal protection” or a “right of the people” might have meant to their ratifiers, the argument goes, legitimacy requires that they be acceptable to a twenty-first century polity when they are invoked today to weigh the constitutionality of state action

How Law Made Neoliberalism

We live in an era of intersecting crises-some new, some old but newly visible. At the time of writing, the COVID-19 pandemic has already caused nearly 500,000 deaths in the United States alone, with many more deaths on the horizon in the coming months. Since its arrival in the United States, the virus has intersected with and magnified long-neglected problems-radical disparities in access to healthcare and the fulfillment of basic needs that disproportionately impact communities of color and working-class Americans, alongside a crisis of care for the young, elderly, and sick that stretches families and communities to the breaking poin

Bestrophinopathies: perspectives on clinical disease, Bestrophin-1 function and developing therapies

Bestrophinopathies are a group of clinically distinct inherited retinal dystrophies that typically affect the macular region, an area synonymous with central high acuity vision. This spectrum of disorders is caused by mutations in bestrophin1 (BEST1), a protein thought to act as a Ca2+-activated Cl- channel in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) of the eye. Although bestrophinopathies are rare, over 250 individual pathological mutations have been identified in the BEST1 gene, with many reported to have various clinical expressivity and incomplete penetrance. With no current clinical treatments available for patients with bestrophinopathies, understanding the role of BEST1 in cells and the pathological pathways underlying disease has become a priority. Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology is helping to uncover disease mechanisms and develop treatments for RPE diseases, like bestrophinopathies. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of the pathophysiology of bestrophinopathies and highlight how patient-derived iPSC-RPE are being used to test new genomic therapies in vitro

Mineralogy of soils of major geomorphic units of north-eastern Haryana, India

The study was carried to determine the mineralogy of soils of different geomorphic units for providing the more detailed information needed to improve agricultural production in north-eastern part of Haryana. The soils of the study area were slightly acidic to strongly alkaline in reaction (6-9.4). The cation exchange capacity and electrical conductivity varied from 3.10-26.80 cmol (+) kg-1 and 0.16-1.20 dSm-1, respectively. In general, the soils were siliceous in nature with SiO2 ranging from 68.60 to 87.90 percent. The soil samples from surface and subsurface diagnostic horizons were studied through X-ray diffraction. In fine sand, quartz was the dominant mineral followed by feldspars, muscovite, hornblende, tourmaline, zircon, biotite, iron ores and sphene. In silt fraction, quartz was the dominant mineral followed by mica, feldspars, chlorite, kaolinite, interstratified and traces of smectite and vermiculite. Semi-quantitative estimation of clay fraction indicated that illite was the single dominant mineral in the clay fraction of these pedons, however, its quantity was less in alluvial plains (28-30 %) compared to Shiwalik hills (36-49 %). Next to illite, a high amount of smectite (14-20 %) and vermiculite (11-17 %) were observed in clays of alluvial plains of Ghaggar (recent and old) whereas in Shiwalik hills (top and valley) these minerals were detected in small amount (6-11 %). Fairly good amount of kaolinite (10-17 %) and small amount of chlorite (4-11 %) were uniformly distributed in soil clays irrespective of geomorphic units showing their detrital origin. Medium intensity broad peaks in higher range diffractograms (14-24 AËš) indicated the presence of regular and irregular interstratified minerals in old alluvial plains of Ghaggar

BLR1 and FCGR1A transcripts in peripheral blood associate with the extent of intrathoracic tuberculosis in children and predict treatment outcome

Biomarkers reflecting the extent of Mycobacterium tuberculosis-induced pathology and normalization during anti-tuberculosis treatment (ATT) would considerably facilitate trials of new treatment regimens and the identification of patients with treatment failure. Therefore, in a cohort of 99 Indian children with intrathoracic tuberculosis (TB), we performed blood transcriptome kinetic analysis during ATT to explore 1) the association between transcriptional biomarkers in whole blood (WB) and the extent of TB disease at diagnosis and treatment outcomes at 2 and 6 months, and 2) the potential of the biomarkers to predict treatment response at 2 and 6 months. We present the first data on the association between transcriptional biomarkers and the extent of TB disease as well as outcome of ATT in children: Expression of three genes down-regulated on ATT (FCGR1A, FPR1 and MMP9) exhibited a positive correlation with the extent of TB disease, whereas expression of eight up-regulated genes (BCL, BLR1, CASP8, CD3E, CD4, CD19, IL7R and TGFBR2) exhibited a negative correlation with the extent of disease. Baseline levels of these transcripts displayed an individual capacity >70% to predict the six-month treatment outcome. In particular, BLR1 and FCGR1A seem to have a potential in monitoring and perhaps tailoring future antituberculosis therapy

Defective protein prenylation is a diagnostic biomarker of mevalonate kinase deficiency

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Diagnosis, extent, impacts, and management of subsoil constraints in the northern grains cropping region of Australia

Productivity of grain crops grown under dryland conditions in north-eastern Australia depends on efficient use of rainfall and available soil moisture accumulated in the period preceding sowing. However, adverse subsoil conditions including high salinity, sodicity, nutrient imbalances, acidity, alkalinity, and high concentrations of chloride (Cl) and sodium (Na) in many soils of the region restrict ability of crop roots to access this stored water and nutrients. Planning for sustainable cropping systems requires identification of the most limiting constraint and understanding its interaction with other biophysical factors. We found that the primary effect of complex and variable combinations of subsoil constraints was to increase the crop lower limit (CLL), thereby reducing plant available water. Among chemical subsoil constraints, subsoil Cl concentration was a more effective indicator of reduced water extraction and reduced grain yields than either salinity or sodicity (ESP). Yield penalty due to high subsoil Cl was seasonally variable, with more in-crop rainfall (ICR) resulting in less negative impact. A conceptual model to determine realistic yield potential in the presence of subsoil Cl was developed from a significant positive linear relationship between CLL and subsoil Cl:Since grid sampling of soil to identify distribution of subsoil Cl, both spatially across landscape and within soil profile, is time-consuming and expensive, we found that electromagnetic induction, coupled with yield mapping and remote sensing of vegetation offers potential to rapidly identify possible subsoil Cl at paddock or farm scale.Plant species and cultivars were evaluated for their adaptations to subsoil Cl. Among winter crops, barley and triticale, followed by bread wheat, were more tolerant of high subsoil Cl concentrations than durum wheat. Chickpea and field pea showed a large decrease in yield with increasing subsoil Cl concentrations and were most sensitive of the crops tested. Cultivars of different winter crops showed minor differences in sensitivity to increasing subsoil Cl concentrations. Water extraction potential of oilseed crops was less affected than cereals with increasing levels of subsoil Cl concentrations. Among summer crops, water extraction potential of millet, mungbean, and sesame appears to be more sensitive to subsoil Cl than that of sorghum and maize; however, the differences were significant only to 0.7 m. Among pasture legumes, lucerne was more tolerant to high subsoil Cl concentrations than the others studied.Surface applied gypsum significantly improved wheat grain yield on soils with ESP >6 in surface soil (0–0.10 m). Subsurface applied gypsum at 0.20–0.30 m depth did not affect grain yield in the first year of application; however, there was a significant increase in grain yield in following years. Better subsoil P and Zn partially alleviated negative impact of high subsoil Cl. Potential savings from improved N fertilisation decisions for paddocks with high subsoil Cl are estimated at ~$AU10 million per annum