Leveling the Playing Field: Applying Federal Corporate Charging Considerations to Individuals

The American prison system is grappling with a well-publicized carceral crisis. In the words of former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, “too many Americans go to too many prisons for far too long, and for no truly good law enforcement reason.” And, as a result of developments in federal law over the past few decades, the power of federal prosecutors to decide when and how to charge individuals with crimes is crucial to when and how American citizens go to prison. Many ideas have been proposed to revise prosecutorial discretionary powers, but few have been heeded by the Department of Justice (DOJ). However, this Note posits that the DOJ has already paved the way to enhanced guidance for federal prosecutors when charging individuals with crimes. This is because the DOJ’s prosecutorial guidance for charging corporations with federal crimes is more robust than the guidance for charging individuals. In particular, a discussion on collateral consequences is included in the corporate charging guidance, yet lacking in the individual charging guidance. This enhanced corporate guidance has had the purposeful impact of curtailing the prosecution of corporate crime. This Note argues that a similar discussion of collateral consequences in the individual charging guidance could have important and far-reaching effects on the federal criminal regime. Perhaps more importantly, such a discussion could remedy some of the unfairness presented by the current system in which federal prosecutors are guided to consider a superior set of factors before charging corporations with crimes

Economic conditions at the time of birth and cognitive abilities late in life: evidence from eleven European countries

With ageing populations and a stronger reliance on individual financial decision-making concerning asset portfolios, retirement schemes, pensions and insurances, it becomes increasingly important to understand the determinants of cognitive ability among the elderly. To study effects of the early-life economic environment, macro-economic fluctuations may be used. In European countries, about three to four economic recession and boom periods occurred between 1900 and 1945. The timing of these periods differs across countries. We apply data from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) among elderly individuals. This survey is homogeneous across countries. We use almost 20,000 respondents from 11 countries. We examine several domains of cognitive functioning at ages 60+ and link them to the macro-economic deviations in the year of birth, controlling for demographic, socioeconomic and health status. We find that economic conditions at birth significantly influence cognitive functioning late in life in various domains. The effects are particularly pronounced among the less educated. Recessions negatively influence numeracy and verbal fluency as well as the score on the omnibus cognitive indicator. The results are robust; controlling for current characteristics does not change effect sizes and significance. We discuss possible causal pathways.Cognition; economic business cycle; developmental origins; health; long-run effects; dementia; numeracy; memory; decision-making

Economic conditions at the time of birth and cognitive abilities late in life: Evidence from eleven European countries

With ageing populations and a stronger reliance on individual financial decision-making concerning asset portfolios, retirement schemes, pensions and insurances, it becomes increasingly important to understand the determinants of cognitive ability among the elderly. Macro-economic recession and boom periods provide a unique opportunity to study the effect of changes in the early life economic environment on late life cognition. In European countries, about three to four economic recession and boom periods can be identified between 1900 and 1945. The timing of these periods differs between the countries, which makes a cross-country study design particularly powerful, as it is insensitive to country-specific confounding factors. We use data from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) among elderly individuals. This survey is homogeneous across countries. We use almost 20,000 respondents from 11 countries. We examine several domains of cognitive functioning at ages 60+ and link them to the macro-economic deviations in the year of birth, controlling for current demographic, socioeconomic and health status. We find that being born during a recession or boom period significantly influences cognitive functioning late in life in various domains. The effects are particularly pronounced among the less educated. Boom periods positively influence numeracy and verbal fluency as well as the score on the omnibus cognitive indicator. The results are robust; controlling for current characteristics does not change effect sizes and significance. We conclude that cognitive functioning late in life is influenced by economic conditions in the year of birth, and we discuss possible causal pathways

Effects of a physiotherapy and occupational therapy intervention on mobility and activity in care home residents: a cluster randomised controlled trial

Objective To compare the clinical effectiveness of a programme of physiotherapy and occupational therapy with standard care in care home residents who have mobility limitations and are dependent in performing activities of daily living

Exactness of the Bogoliubov approximation in random external potentials

We investigate the validity of the Bogoliubov c-number approximation in the case of interacting Bose-gas in a \textit{homogeneous random} media. To take into account the possible occurence of type III generalized Bose-Einstein condensation (i.e. the occurrence of condensation in an infinitesimal band of low kinetic energy modes without macroscopic occupation of any of them) we generalize the c-number substitution procedure to this band of modes with low momentum. We show that, as in the case of the one-mode condensation for translation-invariant interacting systems, this procedure has no effect on the exact value of the pressure in the thermodynamic limit, assuming that the c-numbers are chosen according to a suitable variational principle. We then discuss the relation between these c-numbers and the (total) density of the condensate

A coating from nature

For almost a century, petrochemical-based monomers like acrylates have been widely used as the basis for coatings, resins, and paints. The development of sustainable alternatives, integrating the principles of green chemistry in starting material, synthesis process, and product function, offers tremendous challenges for science and society. Here, we report on alkoxybutenolides as a bio-based alternative for acrylates and the formation of high-performance coatings. Starting from biomass-derived furfural and an environmentally benign photochemical conversion using visible light and oxygen in a flow reactor provides the alkoxybutenolide monomers. This is followed by radical (co) polymerization, which results in coatings with tunable properties for applications on distinct surfaces like glass or plastic. The performance is comparable to current petrochemical-derived industrial coatings

Optical Scattering Measurements of Laser Induced Damage in the Intraocular Lens

This study optically determines whether the amount of light scatter due to laser-induced damage to the intraocular lens (IOL) is significant in relation to normal straylight values in the human eye. Two IOLs with laser-induced damage were extracted from two donor eyes. Each IOL had 15 pits and/or cracks. The surface area of each pit was measured using a microscope. For 6 pits per intraocular lens the point spread function (PSF) in terms of straylight was measured and the total straylight for all 15 pits was estimated. The damage in the IOLs was scored as mild/moderate. The total damaged surface areas, for a 3.5 mm pupil, in the two IOLs were 0.13% (0.0127 mm2) and 0.66% (0.064 mm2), respectively. The angular dependence of the straylight caused by the damage was similar to that of the normal PSF. The total average contribution to straylight was log(s) = −0.82 and −0.42, much less than the straylight value of the normal eye

Changes in Intraocular Straylight and Visual Acuity with Age in Cataracts of Different Morphologies

Purpose. To investigate the significance of difference in straylight of cataract eyes with different morphologies, as a function of age and visual acuity. Methods. A literature review to collect relevant papers on straylight, age, and visual acuity of three common cataract morphologies leads to including five eligible papers for the analysis. The effect of morphology was incorporated to categorize straylight dependency on the two variables. We also determined the amount of progression in a cataract group using a control group. Results. The mean straylight was 1.22 log units ± 0.20 (SD) in nuclear (592 eyes), 1.26 log units ± 0.23 in cortical (776 eyes), and 1.48 log units ± 0.34 in posterior subcapsular (75 eyes) groups. The slope of straylight-age relationship was 0.009 (R2=0.20) in nuclear, 0.012 (R2=0.22) in cortical, and 0.014 (R2=0.11) in posterior subcapsular groups. The slope of straylight-visual acuity relationship was 0.62 (R2=0.25) in nuclear, 0.33 (R2=0.13) in cortical, and 1.03 (R2=0.34) in posterior subcapsular groups. Conclusion. Considering morphology of cataract provides a better insight in assessing visual functions of cataract eyes, in posterior subcapsular cataract, particularly, in spite of notable elevated straylight, visual acuity might not manifest severe loss

Patient complaints in radiology:9-year experience at a European tertiary care center

Objective To determine the frequency, nature (using standardized coding taxonomy), and temporal trends of patient complaints about the radiological service provided in a European tertiary care center. Methods This retrospective study included all written patient complaints received by the department of radiology of a European tertiary care center within a 9-year period. Results A total of 94 written patient complaints were included. Overall complaint frequency was 14.4 per 100,000 radiological procedures. Complaint frequencies per 100,000 procedures were 103.7 for interventional radiology, 13.9 for MRI, 6.9 for ultrasonography, 6.5 for CT, 4.5 for fluoroscopy, and 1.2 for conventional radiography. Interventional radiology received significantly more complaints than all other radiological procedures (p &lt;0.001), and cross-sectional imaging (CT, MRI, and ultrasonography) received significantly more complaints than conventional radiography (p &lt;0.001). Fifty-three (56.4%) complaints belonged to the clinical domain, 22 (23.4%) to the relationships domain, and 19 (20.2%) to the management domain. Quality (34.0%), safety (22.3%), timing and access (18.1%), and communication (18.1%) constituted almost all complaint categories. Patient journey (19.1%), delays (18.1%), communication breakdown (16.0%), errors in diagnosis (11.7%), quality of care (9.6%), treatment (6.4%), and staff attitudes (2.1%) constituted almost all complaint subcategories. Annual frequency of complaints decreased over time (Mann-Kendall tau = - 0.429), although not significantly (p = 0.174). Conclusion Written patient complaints directed to a department of radiology at a European tertiary care center are relatively few in number and have not shown a temporal increase. Knowledge of sources of patient dissatisfaction may help to reduce the number of patient complaints and improve patient care.</p

2-chloro-s-triazine herbicides induce aromatase (CYP19) activity in H295R human adrenocortical carcinoma cells: a novel mechanism for estrogenicity?

There is increasing concern that certain chemicals in the environment can cause endocrine disruption in exposed humans and wildlife. Investigations of potential effects on endocrine function have been limited mainly to interactions with hormone receptors. A need exists for the development of alternate in vitro methods to evaluate chemicals for their potential to disturb various endocrine functions via other mechanisms. Our laboratory is using the human H295R adrenocortical carcinoma cell line to examine chemicals for their potential to interfere with the activity and/or expression of several key cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of steroid hormones. In this report we demonstrated that the commonly used 2-chloro-s-triazine herbicides atrazine, simazine, and propazine dose-dependently (0 -30 M) induced aromatase (CYP19) activity to an apparent maximum of about 2.5-fold in H295R cells. Basal-and triazine-induced aromatase activity was completely inhibited by the irreversible aromatase inhibitor 4-hydroxyandrostenedione (100 M). The triazines increased levels of CYP19 messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) between 1.5-and 2-fold. The time-response profile of the induction of aromatase activity and CYP19 mRNA by the triazines was similar to that by 8-bromo-cyclic adenosine monophosphate, a known stimulant of the protein kinase-A pathway that mediates the induction of aromatase in these cells. The observed induction of aromatase, the rate-limiting enzyme in the conversion of androgens to estrogens, may be an underlying explanation for some of the reported hormonal disrupting and tumor promoting properties of these herbicides in vivo. Key Words: aromatase; atrazine; simazine; propazine; triazines; induction; adrenocortical carcinoma; CYP19; mRNA. In recent years, there has been growing concern that certain environmental contaminants and commercial products have the potential to disturb endocrine functions in exposed humans and wildlife. Disturbances by these &quot;endocrine disrupters&quot; may lead to impaired reproductive capacity and other toxicities related to sexual differentiation, growth, and development. Current research has focused on potential interactions with the sex hormone receptors, particularly the estrogen receptor The H295 and H295R (a subpopulation of H295 that forms a monolayer in culture) human adrenocortical carcinoma cell lines have been characterized in detail and shown to express most of the key enzymes necessary for steroidogenesis The triazine family of broad-leaved herbicides has been used increasingly since the 1960s to control weeds, particularly in maize crops, in North America and Europe. The estimated use 1 To whom correspondence should be addressed. Fax: 011-31-30 -253-5077. E-mail: [email protected]. TOXICOLOGICAL SCIENCES 54, 121-127 (2000) Copyright © 2000 by the Society of Toxicology 121 of atrazine in the United States was almost 35,000 tons in 1993 (U.S. MATERIALS AND METHODS Cell culture conditions. H295R cells were obtained from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC # CRL-2128) and grown in 75-cm 2 flasks (Greiner, Germany) under culture conditions published previously Isolation and amplification of RNA. RNA was isolated using the RNA Insta-Pure System (Eurogentec, Belgium) according to the manufacturerЈs instructions and stored at -70°C. RT-PCRs were performed using the Access RT-PCR System (Promega, U.S.). Northern blotting was not considered as an option because of the low basal expression of aromatase, which could not be detected by other investigators using this technique Aromatase assay. The catalytic activity of aromatase was determined based on the method of RESULT