Our Administrative System of Criminal Justice

To commemorate our founding in 1914, the Board of Editors has selected six influential pieces published by the Law Review over the past 100 years and will republish one piece in each issue. The fourth piece selected by the Board is Our Administrative System of Criminal Justice, an article written by Gerard E. Lynch that is among the most cited works in the Law Review’s history. This article illustrates how the practice of plea bargaining blurs the boundaries between adversarial and inquisitorial criminal justice systems. Judge Lynch now sits on the Second Circuit having eventually succeeded the late Judge Joseph M. McLaughlin, who also is honored in the pages of this book for the permanent mark he left on Fordham Law School and the Law Review. We think it is fitting that the Law Review feature two of the many contributions that judges of the Second Circuit have made to legal education and scholarship in this issue

Применение данных дистанционного зондирования для исследования прибрежной зоны Обской губы

Практические результаты работы могут быть применены при исследовании эмиссии парниковых газов с временно затапливаемых прибрежных площадей в условиях Обской губы.Practical results of the work can be applied in the study of greenhouse gas emissions from temporarily flooded coastal areas in the conditions of the Ob Bay

Relationship between perception of emotional home atmosphere and fruit and vegetable consumption in European adolescents: Results from the I.Family survey

Objective: Consumption of fruits and vegetables (F&V) among adolescents falls below recommendations in many Western countries. The impact of social and emotional aspects of family life on adolescent dietary behaviour may contribute to this, yet remains under-investigated. The present study examines the association between adolescents'' perceptions of emotional home atmosphere (EHA) and their F&V consumption frequency. Design: An FFQ was used to assess F&V consumption frequency. EHA was assessed by an eight-item measure with three subscales: Perceived home warmth, strictness and relational tension. EHA subscales were used as binary variables: A score equal to or above the median value was considered as a higher perception, while a score below the median was considered as a lower perception of the EHA in question. Country differences in meeting the European 5-a-day recommendations were described. Further, the association between EHA and F&V consumption frequency was investigated using multiple linear regression. Setting: Regional examination centres in eight European countries. Participants: Adolescents (n 3196) aged 12-18 years. Results: The mean F&V consumption frequency was 3·27 (sd 2·84) times/d. Only 16·1 % of boys and 18 % of girls in our study sample met the recommendation of five F&V daily. After controlling for age, sex, education level of the parents and country of origin, perceived home warmth was associated with a 16 (95 % CI 9, 22) % higher F&V consumption frequency (P < 0·001). Conclusions: F&V consumption frequency was suboptimal in the survey areas. Interventions targeting perceived warmth as a component of EHA could potentially have a positive effect on adolescents'' dietary behaviour

Bidirectional associations between psychosocial well-being and adherence to healthy dietary guidelines in European children: Prospective findings from the IDEFICS study

Background: In children the relationship between a healthy diet and psychosocial well-being has not been fully explored and the existing evidence is inconsistent. This study investigates the chronology of the association between children''s adherence to healthy dietary guidelines and their well-being, with special attention to the influence of weight status on the association. Methods: Seven thousand six hundred seventy five children 2 to 9 years old from the eight-country cohort study IDEFICS were investigated. They were first examined between September 2007 and June 2008 and re-examined again 2 years later. Psychosocial well-being was measured using self-esteem and parent relations questions from the KINDL® and emotional and peer problems from the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. A Healthy Dietary Adherence Score (HDAS) was calculated from a 43-item food frequency questionnaire as a measure of the degree to which children''s dietary intake follows nutrition guidelines. The analysis employed multilevel logistic regression (country as random effect) with bidirectional modeling of dichotomous dietary and well-being variables as both exposures and outcomes while controlling for respective baseline values. Results: A higher HDAS at baseline was associated with better self-esteem (OR 1.2, 95% CI 1.0;1.4) and fewer emotional and peer problems (OR 1.2, 95% CI 1.1;1.3 and OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.2;1.4) 2 years later. For the reversed direction, better self-esteem was associated with higher HDAS 2 years later (OR 1.1 95% CI 1.0;1.29). The analysis stratified by weight status revealed that the associations between higher HDAS at baseline and better well-being at follow-up were similar in both normal weight and overweight children. Conclusion: Present findings suggest a bidirectional relation between diet quality and self-esteem. Additionally, higher adherence to healthy dietary guidelines at baseline was associated with fewer emotional and peer problems at follow-up, independent of children''s weight status

Molecular and functional characterization of BDNF-overexpressing human retinal pigment epithelial cells established by sleeping beauty transposon-mediated gene transfer

More and more patients suffer from multifactorial neurodegenerative diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD). However, their pathological mechanisms are still poorly understood, which complicates the development of effective therapies. To improve treatment of multifactorial diseases, cell-based gene therapy can be used to increase the expression of therapeutic factors. To date, there is no approved therapy for dry AMD, including late-stage geographic atrophy. We present a treatment option for dry AMD that transfers the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene into retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells by electroporation using the plasmid-based Sleeping Beauty (SB) transposon system. ARPE-19 cells and primary human RPE cells were co-transfected with two plasmids encoding the (SB100X) transposase and the transposon carrying a BDNF transcription cassette. We demonstrated efficient expression and secretion of BDNF in both RPE cell types, which were further increased in ARPE-19 cell cultures exposed to hydrogen peroxide. BDNF-transfected cells exhibited lower apoptosis rates and stimulated neurite outgrowth in human SH-SY5Y cells. This study is an important step in the development of a cell-based BDNF gene therapy that could be applied as an advanced therapy medicinal product to treat dry AMD or other degenerative retinal diseases

A search for trachoma in Timor-Leste: no evidence to justify undertaking population-based prevalence surveys

Purpose: We sought evidence to justify undertaking population-based trachoma surveys in Timor-Leste, believing that in the absence of such evidence, the country could be categorized as not needing interventions to eliminate trachoma.Methods: We undertook a systematic review of published literature on trachoma in Timor-Leste, with results updated to 28 April 2018. We also undertook a series of clinic- and field-based screening exercises, consisting of: (1) in October 2015, conjunctival examination of all children attending a school in Vila, Atauro Island; (2) from 1 November 2016 to 30 April 2017, examination for trichiasis, by specifically-trained frontline eye workers, of all individuals presenting to the ophthalmic clinics of six referral hospitals and five district eye clinics; and (3) house-to-house case searches in a total of 110 households, drawn from three communities that were reported by investigators from the 2016 Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (RAAB) to include residents with trachoma.Results: Three RAABs (2005, 2009–2010, 2016) and two relevant published papers were identified. The 2016 RAAB reported one female subject to have been diagnosed with trachomatous corneal opacity. Re-examination of that individual revealed that she had ankyloblepharon, without evidence of trichiasis or entropion. No children on Atauro Island, no clinic attendees, and no individuals examined in the targeted house-to-house searches had any sign of trachoma.Conclusion: Trachoma is very unlikely to be a public health problem in Timor-Leste. It would not be appropriate to incur the costs of conducting formal population-based trachoma prevalence surveys here

Percutaneous Irreversible Electroporation: Long-term survival analysis of 71 patients with inoperable malignant hepatic tumors

Aim of this retrospective analysis was to evaluate the survival times after percutaneous irreversible electroporation (IRE) in inoperable liver tumors not amenable to thermal ablation. 71 patients (14 females, 57 males, median age 63.5 +/- 10.8 years) with 103 liver tumors were treated in 83 interventions using IRE (NanoKnife((R)) system). The median tumor short-axis diameter was 1.9 cm (minimum 0.4 cm, maximum 4.5 cm). 35 patients had primary liver tumors and 36 patients had liver metastases. The Kaplan-Meier method was employed to calculate the survival rates, and the different groups were compared using multivariate log-rank and Wilcoxon tests. The overall median survival time was 26.3 months; the median survival of patients with primary land secondary liver cancer did not significantly differ (26.8 vs. 19.9 months; p = 0.41). Patients with a tumor diameter > 3 cm (p < 0.001) or more than 2 lesions (p < 0.005) died significantly earlier than patients with smaller or fewer tumors. Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and Child-Pugh class B or C cirrhosis died significantly earlier than patients with Child-Pugh class A (p < 0.05). Patients with very early stage HCC survived significantly longer than patients with early stage HCC with a median survival of 22.3 vs. 13.7 months (p < 0.05)

GMP-grade manufacturing and quality control of a non-virally engineered advanced therapy medicinal product for personalized treatment of age-related macular degeneration

The introduction of new therapeutics requires validation of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-grade manufacturing including suitable quality controls. This is challenging for Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMP) with personalized batches. We have developed a person-alized, cell-based gene therapy to treat age-related macular degeneration and established a vali-dation strategy of the GMP-grade manufacture for the ATMP; manufacturing and quality control were challenging due to a low cell number, batch-to-batch variability and short production duration. Instead of patient iris pigment epithelial cells, human donor tissue was used to produce the transfected cell product ("tIPE"). We implemented an extended validation of 104 tIPE productions. Procedure, operators and devices have been validated and qualified by determining cell number, viability, extracellular DNA, sterility, duration, temperature and volume. Transfected autologous cells were transplanted to rabbits verifying feasibility of the treatment. A container has been engineered to ensure a safe transport from the production to the surgery site. Criteria for successful validation and qualification were based on tIPE's Critical Quality Attributes and Process Parameters, its manufacture and release criteria. The validated process and qualified operators are essential to bring the ATMP into clinic and offer a general strategy for the transfer to other manufacture centers and personalized ATMPs

A novel monoclonal anti-CD81 antibody produced by genetic immunization efficiently inhibits Hepatitis C virus cell-cell transmission

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a challenge to prevent and treat because of the rapid development of drug resistance and escape. Viral entry is required for initiation, spread, and maintenance of infection, making it an attractive target for antiviral strategies. METHODS: Using genetic immunization, we produced four monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against the HCV host entry factor CD81. The effects of antibodies on inhibition of HCV infection and dissemination were analyzed in HCV permissive human liver cell lines. RESULTS: The anti-CD81 mAbs efficiently inhibited infection by HCV of different genotypes as well as a HCV escape variant selected during liver transplantation and re-infecting the liver graft. Kinetic studies indicated that anti-CD81 mAbs target a post-binding step during HCV entry. In addition to inhibiting cell-free HCV infection, one antibody was also able to block neutralizing antibody-resistant HCV cell-cell transmission and viral dissemination without displaying any detectable toxicity. CONCLUSION: A novel anti-CD81 mAb generated by genetic immunization efficiently blocks HCV spread and dissemination. This antibody will be useful to further unravel the role of virus-host interactions during HCV entry and cell-cell transmission. Furthermore, this antibody may be of interest for the development of antivirals for prevention and treatment of HCV infection

Performance of real-world functional vision tasks by blind subjects improves after implantation with the Argus (R) II retinal prosthesis system

Background: The main objective of this study was to test Argus II subjects on three real‐world functional vision tasks. / Design: The study was designed to be randomized and prospective. Testing was conducted in a hospital/research laboratory setting at the various participating centres. / Participants: Twenty eight Argus II subjects, all profoundly blind, participated in this study. / Methods: Subjects were tested on the three real‐world functional vision tasks: Sock Sorting, Sidewalk Tracking and Walking Direction Discrimination task. / Main Outcome Measures: For the Sock Sorting task, percentage correct was computed based on how accurately subjects sorted the piles on a cloth‐covered table and on a bare table. In the Sidewalk Tracking task, an ‘out of bounds’ count was recorded, signifying how often the subject veered away from the test course. During the Walking Direction Discrimination task, subjects were tested on the number of times they correctly identified the direction of testers walking across their field of view. / Results: The mean percentage correct OFF versus ON for the Sock Sorting task was found to be significantly different for both testing conditions (t‐test, P < 0.01). On the Sidewalk Tracking task, subjects performed significantly better with the system ON than they did with the system OFF (t‐test, P < 0.05). Eighteen (18) of 27 subjects (67%) performed above chance with the system ON, and 6 (22%) did so with system OFF on the Walking Direction Discrimination task. / Conclusions: Argus II subjects performed better on all three tasks with their systems ON than they did with their systems OFF