A basic assumption in our legal system is that once a federal court issues an order, the government will obey. But the validity of that assumption has been tested over the years, including in the ...immigration context, and for reasons both related to and separate from the identity of the President. Indeed, understanding the government's failure to adhere to judicial authority in the immigration context requires an appreciation for the doctrinal, statutory, bureaucratic, and institutional-design factors that have aggrandized the role of the executive branch-both at the level of the President and in the lower ranks of the bureaucracy - in the arena of deportation. This feature explores executive defiance in the deportation state. It focuses attention on several categories of executive defiance that have emerged in the immigration context, and at varying levels of the Executive: (1) failure by the Board of Immigration Appeals to follow federal appeals court remands, which implicates the competence of the most robust adjudicatory process in the deportation system; (2) deportations that violate federal court orders, which highlight the power of frontline deportation agents; and (3) agency litigation conduct that violates professional norms, such as misrepresentations to courts or failure to comply with deadlines, where the role of various government lawyers comes into view. The feature asserts that the judicial branch can and should respond with reasonable vigilance to instances of non-compliance, as can the Executive and Congress. However, the nature of executive defiance points to a need to rethink the underlying factors driving the rise and dominance of the deportation state.
Current work investigated the ability of different tea (green, oolong and black teas) in inhibiting human salivary α-amylase (HSA) and mammalian α-glucosidase (AGH). The inhibitory profiles were ...correlated to their major polyphenol content (theaflavins and catechins). The fully fermented black tea was demonstrated to be most potent in inhibiting HSA and AGH (IC50 of 0.42 to 0.67 and 0.56 to 0.58 mg of tea leaves/mL respectively). Its capability in retarding the digestion of a real food system (rice noodle) was further elucidated with an in vitro digestion study. Results indicated that black tea was able to retard starch digestion moderately, thereby allowing a gradual reduction of sugar liberation. Polyphenolic profile analysis suggested that the oxidized catechins, theaflavins, may be responsible for its activity. We have found that refractive index (RI) measurement is a rapid, direct, and highly convenient method for quantifying the degree of enzymatic starch digestion and kinetics. The RI method has good linearity range, limit of detection (0.1596 mg/mL, maltose equivalent) and limit of quantitation (0.6312 mg/mL) and was successfully applied in our study.
Geraniol, an active constituent of rose and palmarosa essential oils, possesses several pharmacological properties, including antioxidant, antibacterial and antiulcer activity. Geraniol was therefore ...investigated for its antiulcer and anti-Helicobacter pylori activity in rats. Ulcers were induced by injecting acetic acid into the sub-serosal layer of the stomach followed by orogastric inoculation of H. pylori for 7 days. Geraniol (15 and 30 mg/kg), vehicle and a standard drug combination (amoxicillin, 50 mg/kg; clarithromycin, 25 mg/kg and omeprazole, 20 mg/kg) were administered twice daily for 14 days. All the parameters were measured at the end of treatment. The ulcer index was significantly (P ＜ 0.05) lowered in geraniol and standard drug-treated rats as compared to the H. pylori control group (4.13 ± 0.43). Treatment with geraniol (30 mg/kg) significantly (P ＜ 0.01) increased the gastric pH along with a reduction in total acidity and gastric juice volume. Geraniol significantly (P ＜ 0.05) attenuated the myeloperoxidase activity and augmented the total glutathione level in gastric mucosa. The extent of damage in the stomach was measured using a histopathological score. The score in H. pylori control, geraniol (30 mg/kg) and standard drugs was 9, 3.5 and 2.0 respectively. In the rapid urease test, treatment with geraniol (30 mg/kg) and the standard drugs produced a 33% and 67% cure respectively from H. pylori infection. Further, the reduction in bacterial load in the gastric mucosa was confirmed using modified Giemsa staining. Geraniol was observed to exhibit significant antiulcer and anti-H. pylori activity in a rodent model.
Short telomeres are associated with chronic disease and early mortality. Recent studies in adults suggest an association between telomere length and exposure to particulate matter, and that ethnicity ...may modify the relationship. However associations in children are unknown.
We examined associations between air pollution and telomere length in an ethnically diverse group of children exposed to high levels of traffic derived pollutants, particularly diesel exhaust, and to environmental tobacco smoke.
Oral DNA from 333 children (8–9years) participating in a study on air quality and respiratory health in 23 inner city London schools was analysed for relative telomere length using monochrome multiplex qPCR. Annual, weekly and daily exposures to nitrogen oxides and particulate matter were obtained from urban dispersion models (2008–10) and tobacco smoke by urinary cotinine. Ethnicity was assessed by self-report and continental ancestry by analysis of 28 random genomic markers. We used linear mixed effects models to examine associations with telomere length.
Telomere length increased with increasing annual exposure to NOx (model coefficient 0.003, 0.001, 0.005, p<0.001), NO2 (0.009 0.004, 0.015, p<0.001), PM2.5 (0.041, 0.020, 0.063, p<0.001) and PM10 (0.096, 0.044, 0.149, p<0.001). There was no association with environmental tobacco smoke. Telomere length was increased in children reporting black ethnicity (22% 95% CI 10%, 36%, p<0.001)
Pollution exposure is associated with longer telomeres in children and genetic ancestry is an important determinant of telomere length. Further studies should investigate both short and long-term associations between pollutant exposure and telomeres in childhood and assess underlying mechanisms.
•This is the first study on air pollution and telomere length in children.•Genetic ancestry is a major determinant of telomere length in children.•Continuous exposure to pollution is associated with telomere elongation.•Future research should investigate longitudinal effects on telomeres.
In December 2020, Her Majesty's Assistant Coroner for Inner South London, UK, Philip Barlow, ruled that traffic-related particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide were contributary factors in the death ...of a young girl from asthma whose house was on London's South Circular Road 1. The coroner's subsequent Prevention of Future Deaths report highlights the need for all health professionals to communicate the risks of air pollution to parents and children with asthma. Generic advice is available for use in consultations.
Using an advice-based intervention in a cohort of children with asthma, designed to reduce personal pollution exposure, a mean reduction in black carbon exposure of 34% was found, the primary reduction happening within the home environment
https://bit.ly/301Xemt
Background
Flush osteochondral plugs can reduce contact pressure compared with an empty defect in the articular cartilage. However, incongruities such as graft angulation have an unknown effect.
...Hypothesis
Incongruity of the articular cartilage after osteochondral transplantation affects articular surface contact pressure.
Study Design
Controlled laboratory study.
Methods
An 80-N load was applied with a material testing system for 120 seconds to the femoral condyles of 50 fresh swine knees. Contact pressures were measured using Prescale super low film. Five conditions were tested: (1) intact articular surface; (2) surface with 4.5-mm-diameter circular defect; (3) defect grafted with a flush 4.5-mm-diameter plug from the contralateral condyle; (4) defect grafted with a 30 ° angled 4.5-mm-diameter plug, with lower edge flush (tip elevated with respect to the adjacent surface); and (5) defect grafted with a 30 ° plug, with tip flush to the adjacent surface (lower edge sunk). Angled grafts were obtained using a rotational bearing vise aligned with a 30 ° fixed-angle track. The film was digitally scanned and analyzed, and standard statistical tests were performed.
Results
Mean peak pressures of intact cartilage (8.57 kg/cm2), flush graft (9.81 kg/cm2), and sunk and angled graft (9.15 kg/cm2) were not significantly different (P <. 5). The mean pressures for defects (12.01 kg/cm2) and the elevated angled graft (14.50 kg/cm2) were significantly (P <. 05) higher than that of intact cartilage.
Clinical Relevance
Slightly sunk grafts were still able to reduce elevated contact pressures to normal levels. However, elevated angled grafts increased contact pressure. These results suggest that it is preferable to leave an edge slightly sunk rather than elevated.
Urban particulate matter (PM) enhances airway dendritic cell (DC) maturation in vitro. However, to date, there are no data on the association between exposure to urban PM and DC maturation in vivo. ...We sought to determine whether exposure of school-age children (8 to 14 y) to PM was associated with expression of CD86, a marker of maturation of airway conventional DCs (cDC). Healthy London school children underwent spirometry and sputum induction. Flow cytometry was used to identify CD86 and CCR7 expression on cDC subsets (CD1c+ cDC2 and CD141+ cDC1). Tertiles of mean annual exposure to PM ≤ 10 microns (PM10) at the school address were determined using the London Air Quality Toolkit model. Tertiles of exposure from the 409 children from 19 schools recruited were; lower (23.1 to 25.6 μg/m3, n = 138), middle (25.6 to 26.8 μg/m3, n = 126), and upper (26.8 to 31.0 μg/m3, n = 145). DC expression was assessed in 164/370 (44%) children who completed sputum induction. The proportion (%) of cDC expressing CD86 in the lower exposure tertile (n = 47) was lower compared with the upper exposure tertile (n = 49); (52% (44 to 70%) vs 66% (51 to 82%), p<0.05). There was a higher percentage of cDC1 cells in the lower tertile of exposure (6.63% (2.48 to 11.64) vs. 2.63% (0.72 to 7.18), p<0.05). Additionally; children in the lower exposure tertile had increased FEV1 compared with children in the upper tertile; (median z-score 0.15 (-0.59 to 0.75) vs. -0.21 (-0.86 to 0.48), p<0.05. Our data reveal that children attending schools in the highest areas of PM exposure in London exhibit increased numbers of "mature" airway cDCs, as evidenced by their expression of the surface marker CD86. This data is supportive of previous in vitro data demonstrating an alteration in the maturation of airway cDCs in response to exposure to pollutants.
Background
With improved outcomes for children transplanted with FSGS since previous NAPRTCS registry reports, this study re‐evaluates the association of living donation, immunosuppression, and DGF ...on graft survival.
Setting
Patients transplanted between 2002 and 2016, comparing FSGS diagnosis vs other glomerular diseases.
Methods
Primary outcomes were allograft survival and FSGS recurrent‐free graft survival. Potential risk factors were obtained at the time of transplant and up to 30 days post‐transplantation. Analysis considered a priori that DGF may be a proxy for severe FSGS recurrence. Multivariable survival models for outcome were tested for sensitivity without/with DGF to determine features independent of recurrence.
Results
From the larger cohort of 3010 patients, 5‐year graft survival in children with FSGS (n = 455) was worse (74.3%) compared with other glomerular diseases (87.1%, n = 690) (HR 1.45, P = 0.033). Modeling all glomerular diseases, survival risk was associated with deceased donor (HR 1.83, P = 0.002), re‐transplantation (HR 1.58, P = 0.013), and recipient age (HR 1.06/y, P = 0.002). The living donor advantage was not confirmed in a FSGS model (HR 1.51 for deceased, P = 0.12). DGF was highly associated with graft failure (HR 4.39, P < 0.001) and independent of re‐transplant history but not FSGS diagnosis. Induction agents or primary immunosuppression choices were not associated with survival.
Conclusion
Graft survival rates have improved since the previous report. Living donor did not predict graft failure, but there remains no survival advantage. DGF was the primary independent predictor for graft loss secondary to FSGS recurrence, consistent with DGF being a proxy for severe recurrent disease.
The effectiveness of intermittent montelukast for wheeze in young children is unclear. We aimed to assess whether intermittent montelukast is better than placebo for treatment of wheeze in this age ...group. Because copy numbers of the Sp1-binding motif in the arachidonate 5-lipoxygenase (ALOX5) gene promoter (either 5/5, 5/x, or x/x, where x does not equal 5) modifies response to montelukast in adults, we stratified by this genotype.
We did this multicentre, parallel-group, randomised, placebo-controlled trial between Oct 1, 2010, and Dec 20, 2013, at 21 primary care sites and 41 secondary care sites in England and Scotland. Children aged 10 months to 5 years with two or more wheeze episodes were allocated to either a 5/5 or 5/x+x/x ALOX5 promoter genotype stratum, then randomly assigned (1:1) via a permuted block schedule (size ten), to receive intermittent montelukast or placebo given by parents at each wheeze episode over a 12 month period. Clinical investigators and parents were masked to treatment group and genotype strata. The primary outcome was number of unscheduled medical attendances for wheezing episodes. Analysis was by intention to treat. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01142505.
We randomly assigned 1358 children to receive montelukast (n=669) or placebo (n=677). Consent was withdrawn for 12 (1%) children. Primary outcome data were available for 1308 (96%) children. There was no difference in unscheduled medical attendances for wheezing episodes between children in the montelukast and placebo groups (mean 2·0 SD 2·6 vs 2·3 2·7; incidence rate ratio IRR 0·88, 95% CI: 0·77–1·01; p=0·06). Compared with placebo, unscheduled medical attendances for wheezing episodes were reduced in children given montelukast in the 5/5 stratum (2·0 2·7 vs 2·4 3·0; IRR 0·80, 95% CI 0·68–0·95; p=0·01), but not in those in the 5/x+x/x stratum (2·0 2·5 vs 2·0 2·3; 1·03, 0·83–1·29; p=0·79, pinteraction=0·08). We recorded one serious adverse event, which was a skin reaction in a child allocated to placebo.
Our findings show no clear benefit of intermittent montelukast in young children with wheeze. However, the 5/5 ALOX5 promoter genotype might identify a montelukast-responsive subgroup.
Medical Research Council (UK) and National Institute for Health Research.
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