The Dormant Commerce Clause and State Regulation of the Internet: Are Laws Protecting Minors From Sexual Predators Constitutionally Different Than Those Protecting Minors From Sexually Explicit Materials?

Several states have enacted statutes to protect minors from harmful or obscene materials disseminated over the Internet, as well as from pedophiles seeking to use the Internet to lure them into sexual conduct. State and federal courts have diverged in their analysis of the Dormant Commerce Clause\u27s impact on state regulation in these areas. While state courts have held that the Dormant Commerce Clause does not invalidate state luring statutes, federal courts have been consistent in finding state dissemination statutes unconstitutional. This iBrief summarizes recent state and federal jurisprudence in this area and concludes that state courts have not been successful in distinguishing state luring statutes from federal case law on state dissemination statutes. Therefore, state courts have prematurely aborted the Dormant Commerce Clause examination

Requirement for the L-type Ca2+ channel alpha(1D) subunit in postnatal pancreatic beta cell generation

Pancreatic 5 cells are the source of insulin, which directly lowers blood glucose levels in the body. Our analyses Of alpha (1D) gene-knockout (alpha (1D-/-)) mice show that the L-type calcium channel, alpha (1D), is required for proper beta cell generation in the postnatal pancreas. Knockout mice were characteristically slightly smaller than their littermates and exhibited hypoinsulinemia and glucose intolerance. However, isolated a(1D)(-/-) islets persisted in glucose sensing and insulin secretion, with compensatory overexpression of another L-type channel gene, alpha (1C). Histologically, newborn a(1D)(-/-) mice had an equivalent number of islets to wild-type mice. in contrast, adult alpha (-/-)(1D) mice showed a decrease in the number and size of islets, compared with littermate wild-type mice due to a decrease in beta cell generation. TUNEL staining showed that there was no increase in cell. death in alpha (-/-)(1D) islets, and a 5-bromo-2 ' deoxyuridine-labeling (BrdU-labeling) assay illustrated significant reduction in the proliferation rate of beta cells in alpha (-/-)(1D) islets.open798