Recent Constitutional Developments on Eminent Domain

Although the provisions of both state and federal law that cruel and unusual punishments shill not be imposed are considered popularly to relate only to those punishments which exist solely in the books, the provisions are not useless today. Recent cases have shown a tendency to expand the scope of the prohibition, especially with regard to excessive punishment, and to incorporate the proscription within the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution. As respect, that which likely will be deemed cruel and unusual, little can be done beyond noting those situations in which the limitation has been applied. If a generalization is required, it must be as uncertain as any other definition of a constitutional term: [I]n order to justify a court in declaring any punishment to be cruel and unusual ...it must be so proportioned to the offense committed that it shocks the moral sense of all reasonable men as to what is right and proper under the circumstances

ELK vs. LIVESTOCK: FORAGE UTILIZATION STUDY IN PORTIONS OF THE GILA NATIONAL FOREST.

In areas where elk (Cervus elephus) and livestock, mainly cattle (Bos taurus), occupy the same rangeland the potential for competition exists, which may adversely effect each species. Competition between these herbivores may occur for herbaceous vegetation in areas with high elk numbers and moderate livestock numbers. In portions of the Gila National Forest some ranchers claim that the steady increase in elk numbers has caused them to run livestock numbers below that allocated by the United States Forest Service. This has resulted in numerous management challenges including the management of forage utilization for livestock and wildlife. A research study was designed to obtain documented information on livestock and elk forage utilization in portions of the Gila National Forest. To determine forage utilization we concentrated on five selected riparian areas. Our three main objectives were 1) determine an index of relative elk and livestock use, 2) determine forage utilization by elk, and 3) determine utilization by elk and livestock combined. Current data from the study shows a trend that forage utilization in riparian areas during spring and summer months is heavy regardless of which species is present. During fall and winter months utilization of riparian areas decreases dramatically. However, data has only been collected for one year and is still in progress. During the year this data was collected (1996) the Gila National Forest was experiencing below average precipitation causing drought like conditions and a decrease in upland forage. Due to these conditions, elk and livestock populations concentrated in riparian areas causing an increase in forage utilization

Recurrent neck abscesses due to cervical tuberculous lymphadenopathy in an elderly woman post-splenectomy: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>There are approximately 7000 new cases of tuberculosis every year in the UK, the majority of which are pulmonary. Approximately 5% affect the lymph nodes in immunocompetent patients. Scrofula is an old term used to describe lymph nodes of the neck infected with tuberculosis</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>In the elderly population, growing neck lumps are always treated as red flags until a diagnosis is confirmed. Here, the case of an 89-year-old Caucasian woman is presented. She was reluctant to seek medical help as she feared the cause was sinister and did not want surgical intervention.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>It is difficult to culture tuberculosis from superficial swabs, resulting in a high proportion of false negative results. Where there is a high degree of clinical suspicion for tuberculosis, it is important to consider a biopsy with culture. Patients over the age of 65 have waning immunity and are therefore a vulnerable group for acute infections as well as the re-activation of indolent organisms. Post-splenectomy patients are at a major disadvantage during sepsis and when a cellular immune response is required, such as when faced with a <it>Mycobacterium tuberculosis </it>infection. Scrofula is treated with a similar regime as pulmonary tuberculosis and has a near 100% success rate.</p

Types of problems elicited by verbal protocols for blind and sighted participants

Verbal protocols are often used in user-based studies of interactive technologies. This study investigated whether different types of problems are revealed by concurrent and retrospective verbal protocols (CVP and RVP) for blind and sighted participants. Eight blind and eight sighted participants undertook both CVP and RVP on four websites. Overall, interactivity problems were significantly more frequent in comparison to content or information architecture problems. In addition, RVP revealed significantly more interactivity problems than CVP for both user groups. Finally, blind participants encountered significantly more interactivity problems than sighted participants. The findings have implications for which protocol is appropriate, depending on the purpose of a particular study and the user groups involved

Somatic LKB1 Mutations Promote Cervical Cancer Progression

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is the etiologic agent for cervical cancer. Yet, infection with HPV is not sufficient to cause cervical cancer, because most infected women develop transient epithelial dysplasias that spontaneously regress. Progression to invasive cancer has been attributed to diverse host factors such as immune or hormonal status, as no recurrent genetic alterations have been identified in cervical cancers. Thus, the pressing question as to the biological basis of cervical cancer progression has remained unresolved, hampering the development of novel therapies and prognostic tests. Here we show that at least 20% of cervical cancers harbor somatically-acquired mutations in the LKB1 tumor suppressor. Approximately one-half of tumors with mutations harbored single nucleotide substitutions or microdeletions identifiable by exon sequencing, while the other half harbored larger monoallelic or biallelic deletions detectable by multiplex ligation probe amplification (MLPA). Biallelic mutations were identified in most cervical cancer cell lines; HeLa, the first human cell line, harbors a homozygous 25 kb deletion that occurred in vivo. LKB1 inactivation in primary tumors was associated with accelerated disease progression. Median survival was only 13 months for patients with LKB1-deficient tumors, but >100 months for patients with LKB1-wild type tumors (P = 0.015, log rank test; hazard ratio = 0.25, 95% CI = 0.083 to 0.77). LKB1 is thus a major cervical tumor suppressor, demonstrating that acquired genetic alterations drive progression of HPV-induced dysplasias to invasive, lethal cancers. Furthermore, LKB1 status can be exploited clinically to predict disease recurrence

The effect of Puerariae radix on lipoprotein metabolism in liver and intestinal cells

BACKGROUND: Animal studies investigating the beneficial effects of Puerariae radix on cardiovascular disease have suggested this plant possesses anti-diabetic and lipid lowering properties. However, the exact mechanism by which Puerariae radix affects lipid metabolism is currently unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the water extract of Puerariae radix on the secretion of VLDL and chylomicrons from HepG2 liver cells and CaCo2 cells, respectively, in humans. METHODS: The amount of apoB(100 )(a protein marker for VLDL) and apoB(48 )(a protein marker for chylomicrons) in cells and media were quantified by Western Blotting and enhanced chemiluminescence (ECL). Total, free and esterified cholesterol concentrations were measured by gas liquid chromatography. RESULTS: Treatment of cells with water extract of Puerariae radix significantly decreased apoB(100 )production and secretion from HepG2 cells up to 66% in a dose dependent manner. The intracellular total cholesterol and free cholesterol concentration in HepG2 cells also decreased with increasing concentration of the Puerariae radix. In contrast, water extract of Puerariae radix attenuated apoB(48 )concentrations in cells, but not apoB(48 )secretion from CaCo2 enterocytes. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, our findings suggest that the water extract of Puerariae radix attenuates the hepatic lipoprotein production and secretion. Our present cell culture findings may explain why circulating VLDL and LDL levels were attenuated in animals supplemented with Puerariae radix. Since decreasing the production and secretion of atherogenic lipoproteins decreases the risk of development of cardiovascular disease, diets supplemented with radix may provide a safe and effective beneficial cardioprotective effects in humans

Metal-enhanced fluorescence of colloidal nanocrystals with nanoscale control

Engineering the spectral properties of fluorophores, such as the enhancement of luminescence intensity, can be achieved through coupling with surface plasmons in metallic nanostructures This process, referred to as metal-enhanced fluorescence, offers promise for a range of applications, including LEDs, sensor technology, microarrays and single-molecule studies. It becomes even more appealing when applied to colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals, which exhibit size-dependent optical properties, have high photochemical stability, and are characterized by broad excitation spectra and narrow emission bands. Other approaches have relied upon the coupling of fluorophores (typically organic dyes) to random distributions of metallic nanoparticles or nanoscale roughness in metallic films. Here, we develop a new strategy based on the highly reproducible fabrication of ordered arrays of gold nanostructures coupled to CdSe/ZnS nanocrystals dispersed in a polymer blend. We demonstrate the possibility of obtaining precise control and a high spatial selectivity of the fluorescence enhancement process

Scopolamine Administration Modulates Muscarinic, Nicotinic and NMDA Receptor Systems

Studies on the effect of scopolamine on memory are abundant but so far only regulation of the muscarinic receptor (M1) has been reported. We hypothesized that levels of other cholinergic brain receptors as the nicotinic receptors and the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, known to be involved in memory formation, would be modified by scopolamine administration

Induction of Erythroid Differentiation in Human Erythroleukemia Cells by Depletion of Malic Enzyme 2

Malic enzyme 2 (ME2) is a mitochondrial enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of malate to pyruvate and CO2 and uses NAD as a cofactor. Higher expression of this enzyme correlates with the degree of cell de-differentiation. We found that ME2 is expressed in K562 erythroleukemia cells, in which a number of agents have been found to induce differentiation either along the erythroid or the myeloid lineage. We found that knockdown of ME2 led to diminished proliferation of tumor cells and increased apoptosis in vitro. These findings were accompanied by differentiation of K562 cells along the erythroid lineage, as confirmed by staining for glycophorin A and hemoglobin production. ME2 knockdown also totally abolished growth of K562 cells in nude mice. Increased ROS levels, likely reflecting increased mitochondrial production, and a decreased NADPH/NADP+ ratio were noted but use of a free radical scavenger to decrease inhibition of ROS levels did not reverse the differentiation or apoptotic phenotype, suggesting that ROS production is not causally involved in the resultant phenotype. As might be expected, depletion of ME2 induced an increase in the NAD+/NADH ratio and ATP levels fell significantly. Inhibition of the malate-aspartate shuttle was insufficient to induce K562 differentiation. We also examined several intracellular signaling pathways and expression of transcription factors and intermediate filament proteins whose expression is known to be modulated during erythroid differentiation in K562 cells. We found that silencing of ME2 leads to phospho-ERK1/2 inhibition, phospho-AKT activation, increased GATA-1 expression and diminished vimentin expression. Metabolomic analysis, conducted to gain insight into intermediary metabolic pathways that ME2 knockdown might affect, showed that ME2 depletion resulted in high orotate levels, suggesting potential impairment of pyrimidine metabolism. Collectively our data point to ME2 as a potentially novel metabolic target for leukemia therapy

Medium-size-vessel vasculitis

Medium-size-artery vasculitides do occur in childhood and manifest, in the main, as polyarteritis nodosa (PAN), cutaneous PAN and Kawasaki disease. Of these, PAN is the most serious, with high morbidity and not inconsequential mortality rates. New classification criteria for PAN have been validated that will have value in epidemiological studies and clinical trials. Renal involvement is common and recent therapeutic advances may result in improved treatment options. Cutaneous PAN is a milder disease characterised by periodic exacerbations and often associated with streptococcal infection. There is controversy as to whether this is a separate entity or part of the systemic PAN spectrum. Kawasaki disease is an acute self-limiting systemic vasculitis, the second commonest vasculitis in childhood and the commonest cause of childhood-acquired heart disease. Renal manifestations occur and include tubulointerstitial nephritis and renal failure. An infectious trigger and a genetic predisposition seem likely. Intravenous immunoglobulin (IV-Ig) and aspirin are effective therapeutically, but in resistant cases, either steroid or infliximab have a role. Greater understanding of the pathogenetic mechanisms involved in these three types of vasculitis and better long-term follow-up data will lead to improved therapy and prediction of prognosis