When to Leave the Stones Unturned: Using Proportionality to Navigate Discovery Efficiently, Effectively, and Ethically

Discovery is intended to be an efficient, truth-seeking process with the ultimate goal of achieving just, speedy, and inexpensive dispute resolution. However, the consistent and extensive abuse of discovery has cast a shadow on the intended purpose of the process. For various ill- and well-intentioned reasons, attorneys abuse the process by conducting unnecessarily excessive and expensive discovery. One such reason for excessive and expensive discovery—and the focus of this Article—is the over-zealous advocacy of attorneys who leave no stone unturned out of fear of legal malpractice claims. To combat such excessive and expensive discovery, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure emphasize a proportionality principle to limit the scope of discovery. But, despite the many revisions and amendments, the practicalities of the proportionality principle still remain ambiguous. In an attempt to resolve ambiguity, this Article offers realistic methods attorneys can implement to achieve proportionality in discovery, such as early case assessments, fact-finder assessments, written agreements with clients, and early judicial involvement. Furthermore, this Article proposes an ethical safeharbor to be added to the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct to protect well-intentioned attorneys who utilize the suggested proportionality methods. With these suggested proportionality methods and the proposed safe-harbor, this Article endeavors to curtail discovery abuse, protect attorneys, and allow for greater access to affordable and attainable justice

Predicting New Product Success or Failure: A Comparison of U.S. and U.K. Practices

We propose a model that allows managers to assess new product development (NPD) projects, combined with the anticipated strategy, prior to introduction and to estimate a probability of success. This model allows for an evaluation and prioritization of resource commitments. A test of this model that compares companies within the United States (U.S.) and the United Kingdom (U.K.) is provided

PROJECTING THE IMPACT OF DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE ON THE DEMAND FOR AND DELIVERY OF HEALTH CARE IN IRELAND. RESEARCH SERIES NUMBER 13 OCTOBER 2009

Primary care is often the first point of contact with the health care system for people requiring care. Primary care is often thought synonymous with general practitioners, but actually encompasses a large range of different professionals and services including nurses/midwives; physiotherapists; occupational therapists; dentists; opticians; chiropodists; psychologists and pharmacists. The list is not exhaustive, but still gives an indication of the wide range of services that can be grouped under the general heading of primary care. Nonetheless, GPs do have a core part to play in primary care as well as performing the role of ‘gate keeper’ to other health services such as accident and emergency or outpatient care in hospitals. The balance of treatment and referral between general practice and secondary care is, therefore, a very important issue and it has been argued that the under development of primary care services in Ireland in recent decades has contributed, and indeed, may be the most important reason, for the over-crowding of accident and emergency services and long waiting lists for elective procedures in Irish health care (Layte et al., 2007b; Tussing and Wren, 2006)

Unearthing novel thiazolidinone building blocks as carboxylic acid bioisosteres

Aim: Thiazolidinones were prepared as building blocks for the replacement of carboxylic acids. Materials & methods: Chemical syntheses of thiazolidinones were developed. In addition, the drug-likeness of the target compounds was evaluated in silico. Results: The prepared compounds included the novel structure 4; 5-(3-Iodophenylmethylene)-2,4-thiazolidinedione. Conclusion: Exploration of the methods required to synthesize thiazolidinone building blocks was completed. This work allows future generation of bioisosteric analogs of drugs

Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Conference of the MidSouth Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Society

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Re-annotation and re-analysis of the Campylobacter jejuni NCTC11168 genome sequence

BACKGROUND: Campylobacter jejuni is the leading bacterial cause of human gastroenteritis in the developed world. To improve our understanding of this important human pathogen, the C. jejuni NCTC11168 genome was sequenced and published in 2000. The original annotation was a milestone in Campylobacter research, but is outdated. We now describe the complete re-annotation and re-analysis of the C. jejuni NCTC11168 genome using current database information, novel tools and annotation techniques not used during the original annotation. RESULTS: Re-annotation was carried out using sequence database searches such as FASTA, along with programs such as TMHMM for additional support. The re-annotation also utilises sequence data from additional Campylobacter strains and species not available during the original annotation. Re-annotation was accompanied by a full literature search that was incorporated into the updated EMBL file [EMBL: AL111168]. The C. jejuni NCTC11168 re-annotation reduced the total number of coding sequences from 1654 to 1643, of which 90.0% have additional information regarding the identification of new motifs and/or relevant literature. Re-annotation has led to 18.2% of coding sequence product functions being revised. CONCLUSIONS: Major updates were made to genes involved in the biosynthesis of important surface structures such as lipooligosaccharide, capsule and both O- and N-linked glycosylation. This re-annotation will be a key resource for Campylobacter research and will also provide a prototype for the re-annotation and re-interpretation of other bacterial genomes

Reflecting the four nations? An analysis of reporting devolution on UK network news media

This article examines how the new political world of UK devolved politics is reported in UK-wide broadcast media. Drawing on a large-scale content analysis of 4687 news items, our study indicates that while devolution is not ignored, there remains an overwhelming focus upon England and Westminster politics. News about devolved politics or issues occupies a tiny part of everyday news coverage. When it is featured, coverage is often unhelpful in communicating the nature of devolved government across the UK. We found, in particular, a blurring of the distinction between England and the UK, a lapse that might misinform viewers and listeners that policy initiatives in England apply to Britain or the UK as a whole. There remains, we argue, an untapped potential for UK news media to explain domestic news items in the context of different polices followed by the various devolved administrations

Liposomal delivery of p-ialB and p-omp25 DNA vaccines improves immunogenicity but fails to provide full protection against B. melitensis challenge

BACKGROUND: We have previously demonstrated protective efficacy against B. melitensis using formulations of naked DNA vaccines encoding genes ialB and omp25. The present study was undertaken to further understand the immune response generated by the protective vaccination regimens and to evaluate cationic liposome adsorption as a delivery method to improve vaccine utility. METHODS: The protective efficacy and immunogenicity of vaccines delivered as four doses of naked DNA, a single dose of naked DNA or a single dose of DNA surface adsorbed to cationic liposomes were compared using the BALB/c murine infection model of B. melitensis. Antigen-specific T cells and antibody responses were compared between the various formulations. RESULTS: The four dose vaccination strategy was confirmed to be protective against B. melitensis challenge. The immune response elicited by the various vaccines was found to be dependent upon both the antigen and the delivery strategy, with the IalB antigen favouring CD4+ T cell priming and Omp25 antigen favouring CD8+. Delivery of the p-ialB construct as a lipoplex improved antibody generation in comparison to the equivalent quantity of naked DNA. Delivery of p-omp25 as a lipoplex altered the profile of responsive T cells from CD8+ to CD4+ dominated. Under these conditions neither candidate delivered by single dose naked DNA or lipoplex vaccination methods was able to produce a robust protective effect. CONCLUSIONS: Delivery of the p-omp25 and p-ialB DNA vaccine candidates as a lipoplex was able to enhance antibody production and effect CD4+ T cell priming, but was insufficient to promote protection from a single dose of either vaccine. The enhancement of immunogenicity by lipoplex delivery is a promising step toward improving the practicality of these two candidate vaccines, and suggests that this lipoplex formulation may be of value in situations where improvements to CD4+ responses are required. However, in the case of Brucella vaccine development it is suggested that further modifications to the candidate vaccines and delivery strategies will be required in order to deliver sustained protection