Extensions on the Twenty-Fifth Amendment: The Influence of Biological Factors on Assessments of Impairment

Because the framers of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment were so prescient in their creation of this legislation, it behooves subsequent scholars to examine additional potential concerns that would not have entered the debate forty years ago. Huge advances have been made in the area of biological and genetic medical knowledge, and this progress could not have been foreseen at the time the original Amendment was written. Yet in the interim, such information has become much more accessible. It becomes important to raise these questions moving forward because political opponents may take advantage of these new concerns, as they arise, and use them for personal political advantage to the detriment of the legitimacy of American political governance. As a result, the concerns addressed in this Article regard future assessments of disability, and which factors concerning potential future vulnerability to particular diseases or impairments might warrant the determination of such disability. To be clear, these questions remain open in Section 4 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment, and yet they concern important factors in deciding what constitutes sufficient disability to remove a President from office. This Article begins with an outline of some of these factors, provides two illustrative examples, and then concludes with suggestions about how to address some of the concerns

Extensions on the Twenty-Fifth Amendment: The Influence of Biological Factors on Assessments of Impairment

Because the framers of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment were so prescient in their creation of this legislation, it behooves subsequent scholars to examine additional potential concerns that would not have entered the debate forty years ago. Huge advances have been made in the area of biological and genetic medical knowledge, and this progress could not have been foreseen at the time the original Amendment was written. Yet in the interim, such information has become much more accessible. It becomes important to raise these questions moving forward because political opponents may take advantage of these new concerns, as they arise, and use them for personal political advantage to the detriment of the legitimacy of American political governance. As a result, the concerns addressed in this Article regard future assessments of disability, and which factors concerning potential future vulnerability to particular diseases or impairments might warrant the determination of such disability. To be clear, these questions remain open in Section 4 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment, and yet they concern important factors in deciding what constitutes sufficient disability to remove a President from office. This Article begins with an outline of some of these factors, provides two illustrative examples, and then concludes with suggestions about how to address some of the concerns

The case for greater transparency in experimental and social science research

Proving public value can be an especially difficult task when high-profile cases of fraud in social science disciplines emerge. Rose McDermott makes the case for greater transparency in both the production and review of social science to restore the legitimacy of the scientific endeavour. While no one practice can eliminate fraud, greater transparency can make it both more difficult to do and also increase the shame associated with violation by making violators identities public

The Presidential Succession Act at 75 | Presidential and Vice Presidential Illness and the Presidential Succession Act of 1947

These remarks were delivered as part of the program entitled The Presidential Succession Act at 75: Praise It or Bury It?, which was held on April 6, 2022, and hosted by the Fordham University School of Law. The Presidential Succession Act sets out the presidential line of succession and other procedures for situations in which the president and vice president have both died, resigned, been removed, or become unable to discharge the presidency’s powers and duties. The Act also addresses succession scenarios before Inauguration Day. In light of the statute’s seventy-fifth anniversary, this program explored relevant history and analyzed whether reform to the statute is needed. In these remarks, Dr. Rose McDermott, the David and Marianna Fisher University Professor of International Relations at Brown University, examines the question of presidential and vice presidential illness and the Presidential Succession Act of 1947

Introduction to the Special Issue -- Science in Politics: Methodological Innovations and Political Issues

We introduce the Special Issue on Life Science in Politics: Methodological Innovations and Political Issues. This issue of Politics and the Life Sciences is focused on the use of life science theory and methods to study political phenomena and the exploration of the intersection of science and political attitudes. This issue is the third in a series of special issues funded by the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences that adheres to the Open Science Framework for registered reports. Pre-analysis plans are peer reviewed and given in-principle acceptance before data are collected and/or analyzed, and the articles are published contingent upon the preregistration of the study being followed as proposed. We note various interpretations and challenges associated with studying the science of politics and discuss the contributions

Vitamin D Induces Global Gene Transcription in Human Corneal Epithelial Cells: Implications for Corneal Inflammation

Purpose: Our previous studies show that human corneal epithelial cells (HCEC) have a functional vitamin D receptor (VDR) and respond to vitamin D by dampening TLR-induced inflammation. Here, we further examined the timing of the cytokine response to combined vitamin D–TLR treatment and used genome-wide microarray analysis to examine the effect of vitamin D on corneal gene expression. Methods: Telomerase-immortalized HCEC (hTCEpi) were stimulated with polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly[I:C]) and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25D3) for 2 to 24 hours and interleukin (IL)-8 expression was examined by quantitative (q)PCR and ELISA. Telomerase-immortalized HCEC and SV40-HCEC were treated with 1,25D3 and used in genome-wide microarray analysis. Expression of target genes was validated using qPCR in both cell lines and primary HCEC. For confirmation of IκBα protein, hTCEpi were treated with 1,25D3 for 24 hours and cell lysates used in an ELISA. Results: Treatment with 1,25D3 increased poly(I:C)-induced IL-8 mRNA and protein expression after 2 to 6 hours. However, when cells were pretreated with 1,25D3 for 24 hours, 1,25D3 decreased cytokine expression. For microarray analysis, 308 genes were differentially expressed by 1,25D3 treatment in hTCEpi, and 69 genes in SV40s. Quantitative (q)PCR confirmed the vitamin D–mediated upregulation of target genes, including nuclear factor of κ light polypeptide gene enhancer in B-cells inhibitor, α (IκBα). In addition to increased transcript levels, IκBα protein was increased by 28% following 24 hours of vitamin D treatment. Conclusions: Microarray analysis demonstrates that vitamin D regulates numerous genes in HCEC and influences TLR signaling through upregulation of IκBα. These findings are important in dissecting the role of vitamin D at the ocular surface and highlight the need for further research into the functions of vitamin D and its influence on corneal gene expression

Effects of Topically Applied Vitamin D during Corneal Wound Healing

Vitamin D is an important regulator of immune function and largely acts to dampen chronic inflammatory events in a variety of tissues. There is also accumulating evidence that vitamin D acts to enhance initial inflammation, beneficial during both infection and wound healing, and then promotes resolution and prevention of chronic, damaging inflammation. The current study examines the effect of topical vitamin D in a mouse of model of corneal epithelial wound healing, where acute inflammation is necessary for efficient wound closure. At 12 and 18 hours post-wounding, vitamin D treatment significantly delayed wound closure by ~17% and increased infiltration of neutrophils into the central cornea. Basal epithelial cell division, corneal nerve density, and levels of VEGF, TGFβ, IL-1β, and TNFα were unchanged. However, vitamin D increased the production of the anti-microbial peptide CRAMP 12 hours after wounding. These data suggest a possible role for vitamin D in modulating corneal wound healing and have important implications for therapeutic use of vitamin D at the ocular surface

An Experimental Template for Case Study Research

Methods are usually classified as either "experimental" or "observational,"

A Proposed Classification of the Immunological Diseases

The formal recognition and genetic understanding of the autoinflammatory diseases has defined mechanisms of self-directed inflammation that are independent of adaptive immunity

Structure of an Early Intermediate in the M-State Phase of the Bacteriorhodopsin Photocycle

AbstractThe structure of an early M-intermediate of the wild-type bacteriorhodopsin photocycle formed by actinic illumination at 230K has been determined by x-ray crystallography to a resolution of 2.0Å. Three-dimensional crystals were trapped by illuminating with actinic light at 230K, followed by quenching in liquid nitrogen. Amide I, amide II, and other infrared absorption bands, recorded from single bacteriorhodopsin crystals, confirm that the M-substate formed represents a structure that occurs early after deprotonation of the Schiff base. Rotation about the retinal C13—C14 double bond appears to be complete, but a relatively large torsion angle of 26° is still seen for the C14—C15 bond. The intramolecular stress associated with the isomerization of retinal and the subsequent deprotonation of the Schiff base generates numerous small but experimentally measurable structural changes within the protein. Many of the residues that are displaced during the formation of the late M (MN) substate formed by three-dimensional crystals of the D96N mutant (Luecke et al., 1999b) are positioned, in early M, between their resting-state locations and the ones which they will adopt at the end of the M phase. The relatively small magnitude of atomic displacements observed in this intermediate, and the well-defined positions adopted by nearly all of the atoms in the structure, may make the formation of this structure favorable to model (simulate) by molecular dynamics