From Democrats to Deplorables : The Trumpization of the Republican Party

This thesis explores the transformation of the Republican electoral coalition from the party of Abraham Lincoln to the party of Donald Trump. By comparing the Trump coalition—which Hillary Clinton said was half full of “deplorables”—with previous Democratic and Republican presidential coalitions, the drastic change in the electoral habits of Southerners and white working-class voters is made evident. Trump’s appeal to these voters is due not only to his populist rhetoric but also to the presidential campaigns of Republican candidates Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan, as well as to George Wallace’s independent and Democratic presidential campaigns. Trump’s unforeseen victory in 2016 has also commanded support from both Republican voters and long-time Republican politicians. Though the strength of this support will not be fully measured until the 2020 presidential election, this thesis offers some preliminary thoughts by analyzing the possible impact of Trump supporters on the approaching 2018 congressional elections

Name and Shame: How International Pressure Allows Civil Rights Activists to Incorporate Human Rights Norms Into American Jurisprudence

The United States has ratified international human rights treaties sparingly. Where it has ratified, it has provided such a large number of reservations that the treaties’ domestic effects are effectively nullified. Even though international human rights law has not been directly incorporated into American jurisprudence, however, international human rights norms have greatly affected civil rights provisions in the United States by naming and shaming American civil rights abuses. Recognizing the relatively low success rate of tackling systemic racism in the United States through treaty implementation, this Note instead argues that naming and shaming American civil and human rights abuses more effectively forces domestic social progress. Furthermore, to maximize success, naming and shaming should expand from shaming the federal government to also shaming non-state actors who enable human rights abuses in the United States

The enigma of struma ovarii

Since its first description in the early part of the twentieth century, struma ovarii has elicited considerable interest because of its many unique features; however, at present a number of aspects remain enigmatic. Although the typical presentation is that of a pelvic mass, unusual clinical manifestations such as hyperthyroidism, ascites, and Meigs\u27 syndrome have been recognised. Uncommon macroscopic and especially histological patterns in struma can cause difficulties in diagnosis. Cystic strumas are challenging to diagnose both macroscopically and histologically. Proliferative changes within struma can be misdiagnosed as cancer. In regard to the occurrence of thyroid-type carcinoma in struma ovarii, precise terminology should be utilised, and the term \u27malignant struma ovarii\u27 should be avoided because it has been used for several different pathological entities. Papillary carcinoma is the most commonly occurring thyroid-type carcinoma in ovarian struma; however, cases of follicular carcinoma are not infrequent. Histological malignancy in struma does not necessarily equate with biological malignancy, and the majority of thyroid-type carcinomas do not spread beyond the ovary. Strumal carcinoid, a neoplasm apparently unique to the ovary containing elements of both struma and carcinoid, has been misdiagnosed as \u27malignant struma ovarii\u27 in the past. The differential diagnosis of extra-ovarian spread of struma includes the usual types of thyroid cancer, minimal deviation follicular carcinoma, and peritoneal strumosis. This review emphasises articles both recent and past that have significantly advanced our knowledge of struma ovarii and related neoplasms

Primary ovarian neuroendocrine tumor arising in association with a mature cystic teratoma: A case report

Primary ovarian carcinoid tumors are exceptionally rare entities accounting for approximately 0.1% of all ovarian neoplasms. This report describes a primary ovarian neuroendocrine tumor arising in association with a mature cystic teratoma in a 65 year-old woman. Macroscopically, the unilateral adnexal tumor was composed of cystic, solid and mucinous elements which resolved into a dual component lesion histologically. The majority of the tumor displayed an organoid architecture with mild to moderate pleomorphism and no discernible mitotic activity, while approximately 10% consisted of sheets and groups of cells with highly pleomorphic nuclei, necrosis and occasional mitoses. Features of a mature cystic teratoma were seen very focally. Immunohistochemistry revealed strong, diffuse positivity for CD56 and synaptophysin. Chromogranin immunonegativity was noted and there was an absence of nuclear β-catenin accumulation. Ki-67 index was 10–12%. Although there is no established diagnostic framework for primary ovarian carcinoid tumors, this case was diagnosed as a well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumor, Grade 2 (intermediate grade), arising in association with a mature cystic teratoma/dermoid cyst. This case highlights the need to develop ovarian diagnostic criteria in this area

Alpha-foetoprotein and carcinoembryonic antigen in germ cell neoplasms.

Serum alpha-foetoprotein (AFP) and serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels were measured, serially whenever possible, in 70 patients attending the Institute of Radiotherapy, Rotterdam, on account of testicular (65) or ovarian (4) germ cell tumours or, in one case, an endodermal sinus (yolk sac) tumour in the mediastinum. In 15 patients the disease was active; in the others it was in remission. Patients with active disease had raised serum AFP levels which correlated well with disease activity; no patient without evidence of active disease had raised serum AFP levels. None of the patients with active disease was found to have raised serum CEA levels. There was no correlation between serum AFP and CEA levels in patients with germ cell neoplasms, but good correlation between serum AFP levels and disease activity. Serum CEA levels did not correlate with disease activity, and serial determinations would therefore not be useful in monitoring progress in this group of diseases

Mixed germ cell sex cord-stromal tumors of the testis and ovary. Morphological, immunohistochemical, and molecular genetic study of seven cases

We present the morphological, immunohistochemical, and molecular genetic features of three cases of testicular and four cases of ovarian mixed germ cell sex cord-stromal tumors (MGSCT). The germ cells in the testicular MGSCTs morphologically differed from those in classical seminomas by lacking the typical square off quality of the nuclei. In contrast to the nuclei in classical seminomas, their size in testicular MGSCTs was smaller and nucleoli were inconspicuous and the cytoplasm was Periodic Acid-Schiff(PAS) negative. Quite on the contrary, the variability in the size of the nuclei of the germ cells in the testicular MGSCTs was more similar to that seen in the germ cells of spermatocytic seminomas. Immunohisto-chemically, the germ cells of MGSCTs in one case reacted positively with antibody to AE1-AE3 by paranuclear dotlike or rodlike positivity. All three testicular MGSCTs had a negative reaction with the rest of antibodies, including placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP), OCT4, and c-kit protein. Ovarian MGSCT in our series differed from the testicular lesions in both the germ cell component and the sex cord component. The germ cells in all four ovarian cases had cytomorphological and immuno-histochemical features identical to those in classical seminomas/dysgerminomas. They possessed the typical square off quality of the nuclei, which were much more blastic, with more mitoses compared with the testicular tumors in our series, and they were PLAP (4/4), OCT4 (4/4) and c-kit protein (3/4) positive immunohisto-chemically. The cytoplasm of the germ cells in ovarian neoplasms contained PAS positive glycogen. Germ cells in one ovarian MGSCTs showed amplification of l2p. All other germ cells were negative for amplification of 12p. All five successfully analyzed cases showed no mutation in all studied exons and exon-intron junctions in c-kit and PDFGRA genes