The Presence Is an Essential Function Myth: The ADA\u27s Trapdoor for the Chronically Ill

In nearly all cases, long-term chronic illnesses satisfy the ADA\u27s broad definition of disability. However, when these illnesses begin to cause absenteeism, the presence is an essential function rule effectively denies protection to the victims of these illnesses, as they are no longer qualified individuals under the ADA regardless of whether they satisfy the technical requirements for a position. The idea that presence is an essential function is a myth because (1) it erroneously assumes that most jobs can be performed only at the worksite, and (2) virtually all employers are able to, and do, accommodate some degree of employee absenteeism. Thus, this Comment argues that the presence is an essential function rule is unsound. The courts should discard this rule and, instead, ask the question that is mandated by the ADA: Can the chronically ill employee be accommodated? This approach is appropriate for four reasons: First, the unnecessarily broad and sweeping language that presence is an essential function is both unnecessary and misleading. Second, the ADA and its interpretive regulations mandate fact-intensive, casespecific inquiries in order to satisfy the ADA\u27s goal of making employment opportunities available to the maximum number of disabled individuals. Third, it is the disabled individual, not his or her absenteeism, that must be accommodated. Finally, numerous reasonable accommodations exist for individuals with disability-related absenteeism. Part II of this Comment will describe the legislative history and provisions of Title I of the ADA. It will also trace the evolution of the qualified individual and the duty to accommodate, as well as the emergence of the presence is an essential function myth. Part III will describe how the courts\u27 invention and continued application of the presence is an essential function myth is contrary to the purposes of the ADA. Finally, Part IV will offer an appropriate approach to analyzing cases involving disability-related absenteeism

Selected Bibliography: The Reintegration of Hong Kong into China

The reintegration of Hong Kong into the People\u27s Republic of China (hereinafter P.R.C.) on July 1, 1997, brought together two countries, one capitalist and one communist, under one rule. As evidenced by the variety of perspectives offered at the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law\u27s Symposium on Hong Kong\u27s Reintegration into the P.R.C., there is much scholarly debate concerning this merger and the effect it will have on the people and politics of both countries as well as on the international community. An earlier version of this bibliography is included in the May 1997 issue of the Journal. This bibliography has been updated to reflect the scholarship on Hong Kong and China published since the May 1997 issue. This bibliography includes books and articles written specifically about the reintegration of Hong Kong into the P.R.C., as well as books and articles written about each country respectively. The topics covered include: (1) General Constitutional and Sovereignty Concerns, (2) Human Rights/Environmental Issues, and (3) Business and Economic Implications / Trade Concerns. Also included are treaties, statutes and Web Sites for further research. It is our hope that this updated bibliography will serve as a research tool for individuals interested in reading or writing about the reintegration of Hong Kong into the P.R.C. We look forward to reading their scholarship and to watching the evolving relationship between Hong Kong and the P.R.C

A Preliminary Annotated Checklist of Mississippi Mecoptera (Insecta)

We summarize distribution records for 22 Mecoptera species known to occur in Mississippi. These include the fi rst specimens of Bittacus occidentis Walker, B. strigosus Hagen, Hylobittacus apicalis (Hagen) and Panorpa insolens Carpenter to be recorded from the state

A Preliminary Annotated Checklist of Mississippi Mecoptera (Insecta)

We summarize distribution records for 22 Mecoptera species known to occur in Mississippi. These include the fi rst specimens of Bittacus occidentis Walker, B. strigosus Hagen, Hylobittacus apicalis (Hagen) and Panorpa insolens Carpenter to be recorded from the state

A Preliminary Annotated Checklist of Mississippi Mecoptera (Insecta)

We summarize distribution records for 22 Mecoptera species known to occur in Mississippi. These include the fi rst specimens of Bittacus occidentis Walker, B. strigosus Hagen, Hylobittacus apicalis (Hagen) and Panorpa insolens Carpenter to be recorded from the state

Optometric assessment and co-management of patients with inner ear disorders

Patients often present to the optometrist with symptoms of dizziness and imbalance. This article reviews the most common visual signs and symptoms of individuals suffering from peripheral vestibular disorders. It also explains the five most common peripheral vestibular disorders-benign paroxysmal positional vertigo/nystagmus, Meniere\u27s disease, secondary hydrops, perilymph fistula, and vestibular neuritis. A vestibular screening battery that can be performed by optometrists in office is presented. Management and treatment options such as lenses, prisms and vision therapy are explored. In addition, proper referral guidelines to neuro-otologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and psychologists are discussed

Functional equivalence of stem cell and stem cell-derived extracellular vesicle transplantation to repair the irradiated brain.

Cranial radiotherapy, although beneficial for the treatment of brain tumors, inevitably leads to normal tissue damage that can induce unintended neurocognitive complications that are progressive and debilitating. Ionizing radiation exposure has also been shown to compromise the structural integrity of mature neurons throughout the brain, an effect believed to be at least in part responsible for the deterioration of cognitive health. Past work has shown that cranially transplanted human neural stem cells (hNSCs) or their extracellular vesicles (EVs) afforded long-term beneficial effects on many of these cognitive decrements. To provide additional insight into the potential neuroprotective mechanisms of cell-based regenerative strategies, we have analyzed hippocampal neurons for changes in structural integrity and synaptic remodeling after unilateral and bilateral transplantation of hNSCs or EVs derived from those same cells. Interestingly, hNSCs and EVs similarly afforded protection to host neurons, ameliorating the impact of irradiation on dendritic complexity and spine density for neurons present in both the ipsilateral and contralateral hippocampi 1 month following irradiation and transplantation. These morphometric improvements were accompanied by increased levels of glial cell-derived growth factor and significant attenuation of radiation-induced increases in postsynaptic density protein 95 and activated microglia were found ipsi- and contra-lateral to the transplantation sites of the irradiated hippocampus treated with hNSCs or hNSC-derived EVs. These findings document potent far-reaching neuroprotective effects mediated by grafted stem cells or EVs adjacent and distal to the site of transplantation and support their potential as therapeutic agents to counteract the adverse effects of cranial irradiation

Insect Cell Expression and Purification of Recombinant SARS-COV-2 Spike Proteins That Demonstrate ACE2 Binding

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection has led to socio-economic shutdowns and the loss of over 5 million lives worldwide. There is a need for the identification of therapeutic targets to treat COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 spike is a target of interest for the development of therapeutic targets. We developed a robust SARS-CoV-2 S spike expression and purification protocol from insect cells and studied four recombinant SARS-CoV-2 spike protein constructs based on the original SARS-CoV-2 sequence using a baculovirus expression system: a spike protein receptor-binding domain that includes the SD1 domain (RBD) coupled to a fluorescent tag (S-RBD-eGFP), spike ectodomain coupled to a fluorescent tag (S-Ecto-eGFP), spike ectodomain with six proline mutations and a foldon domain (S-Ecto-HexaPro(+F)), and spike ectodomain with six proline mutations without the foldon domain (S-Ecto-HexaPro(-F)). We tested the yield of purified protein expressed from the insect cell lines Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) and Trichoplusia ni (Tni) and compared it to previous research using mammalian cell lines to determine changes in protein yield. We demonstrated quick and inexpensive production of functional glycosylated spike protein of high purity capable of recognizing and binding to the angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor. To further confirm functionality, we demonstrate binding of eGFP fused construct of the spike ectodomain (S-Ecto-eGFP) to surface ACE2 receptors on lung epithelial cells by flow cytometry analysis and show that it can be decreased by means of receptor manipulation (blockade or downregulation)

Very Metal-poor Stars in the Outer Galactic Bulge Found by the Apogee Survey

Despite its importance for understanding the nature of early stellar generations and for constraining Galactic bulge formation models, at present little is known about the metal-poor stellar content of the central Milky Way. This is a consequence of the great distances involved and intervening dust obscuration, which challenge optical studies. However, the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), a wide-area, multifiber, high-resolution spectroscopic survey within Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III), is exploring the chemistry of all Galactic stellar populations at infrared wavelengths, with particular emphasis on the disk and the bulge. An automated spectral analysis of data on 2,403 giant stars in twelve fields in the bulge obtained during APOGEE commissioning yielded five stars with low metallicity([Fe/H]$\le-1.7$), including two that are very metal-poor [Fe/H]$\sim-2.1$ by bulge standards. Luminosity-based distance estimates place the five stars within the outer bulge, where other 1,246 of the analyzed stars may reside. A manual reanalysis of the spectra verifies the low metallicities, and finds these stars to be enhanced in the $\alpha$-elements O, Mg, and Si without significant $\alpha$-pattern differences with other local halo or metal-weak thick-disk stars of similar metallicity, or even with other more metal-rich bulge stars. While neither the kinematics nor chemistry of these stars can yet definitively determine which, if any, are truly bulge members, rather than denizens of other populations co-located with the bulge, the newly-identified stars reveal that the chemistry of metal-poor stars in the central Galaxy resembles that of metal-weak thick-disk stars at similar metallicity.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, 2 table

Translation initiation from conserved non-AUG codons provides additional layers of regulation and coding capacity

Neurospora crassa cpc-1 and Saccharomyces cerevisiae GCN4 are homologs specifying transcription activators that drive the transcriptional response to amino acid limitation. The cpc-1 mRNA contains two upstream open reading frames (uORFs) in its >700-nucleotide (nt) 5' leader, and its expression is controlled at the level of translation in response to amino acid starvation. We used N. crassa cell extracts and obtained data indicating that cpc-1 uORF1 and uORF2 are functionally analogous to GCN4 uORF1 and uORF4, respectively, in controlling translation. We also found that the 5' region upstream of the main coding sequence of the cpc-1 mRNA extends for more than 700 nucleotides without any in-frame stop codon. For 100 cpc-1 homologs from Pezizomycotina and from selected Basidiomycota, 5' conserved extensions of the CPC1 reading frame are also observed. Multiple non-AUG near-cognate codons (NCCs) in the CPC1 reading frame upstream of uORF2, some deeply conserved, could potentially initiate translation. At least four NCCs initiated translation in vitro. In vivo data were consistent with initiation at NCCs to produce N-terminally extended N. crassa CPC1 isoforms. The pivotal role played by CPC1, combined with its translational regulation by uORFs and NCC utilization, underscores the emerging significance of noncanonical initiation events in controlling gene expression. IMPORTANCE There is a deepening and widening appreciation of the diverse roles of translation in controlling gene expression. A central fungal transcription factor, the best-studied example of which is Saccharomyces cerevisiae GCN4, is crucial for the response to amino acid limitation. Two upstream open reading frames (uORFs) in the GCN4 mRNA are critical for controlling GCN4 synthesis. We observed that two uORFs in the corresponding Neurospora crassa cpc-1 mRNA appear functionally analogous to the GCN4 uORFs. We also discovered that, surprisingly, unlike GCN4, the CPC1 coding sequence extends far upstream from the presumed AUG start codon with no other in-frame AUG codons. Similar extensions were seen in homologs from many filamentous fungi. We observed that multiple non-AUG near-cognate codons (NCCs) in this extended reading frame, some conserved, initiated translation to produce longer forms of CPC1, underscoring the significance of noncanonical initiation in controlling gene expression