A Sitting Duck: Local Government Regulation of Hunting and Weapons Discharge in the State of New York

On March 31, 2014, the New York State Legislature significantly modified New York\u27s Environmental Conservation Law. The Environmental Conservation Law imposes limitations on the discharge of longbows. A longbow is defined by New York\u27s Department of Environmental Conservation as “a longbow, recurve bow or compound bow which is designed to be used by holding the bow at arm\u27s length, with arrow on the string, and which is drawn, pulled and released by hand or with the aid of a hand-held trigger device attached to the bowstring.” Before the 2014 amendment, longbows could not be discharged in such a way that an arrow passes over a road or within 500 feet of a dwelling, except with the consent of the owner of such dwelling. The 2014 amendment reduced this 500-foot setback to 150 feet, making New York\u27s rule generally consistent with that of neighboring states. This is a radical difference: a circle with a 500 foot radius has an area of slightly over 18 acres while a circle with a 150 foot radius has an area of slightly over 1.6 acres

Virtual Currency, Not a Currency?

With public interest in Bitcoin and other virtual currencies continuing to grow, the question of whether virtual currencies are regulated at the Federal level has arisen. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, in particular, has been aggressive in asserting its regulatory authority over a broad swath of activities and transactions involving virtual currencies. In doing so, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission appears to have taken the position that virtual currency is a commodity and not, for the Commission\u27s regulatory purposes, a currency. This paper analyzes the Commodity Futures Trading Commission\u27s position with respect to virtual currency and whether it is appropriate for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to treat virtual currency as a commodity or a currency

The Survey of London and Cultural Preservation Through Disaster

John Stowe, a famous London historian, began writing his Survey of London in 1598: the books chronicled the history of the city as well as defining features of current London. However, if you were to read these books today, you would be reading descriptions of a London that no longer exists after the destruction of the Great Fire of London in 1666. With this specific copy, it is possible to analyze its journey as a means of post-disaster preservation. This copy of the Survey of London comes with evidence of at least two previous owners: Silvester Slater and Richard Lauler. By exploring their respective lives, more of this book’s journey throughout history will become clear. Examining the specific descriptions of early-17th century London within the Survey of London in conjunction with its specific ownership history prompts analysis of this copy as a vessel for cultural preservation.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2024/1063/thumbnail.jp

Challenging Assumptions About Minority Participation in US Clinical Research

Although extensive research addresses minorities’ low participation in clinical research, most focuses almost exclusively on therapeutic trials. The existing literature might mask important issues concerning minorities’ participation in clinical trials, and minorities might actually be overrepresented in phase I safety studies that require the participation of healthy volunteers. It is critical to consider the entire spectrum of clinical research when discussing the participation of disenfranchised groups; the literature on minorities’ distrust, poor access, and other barriers to trial participation needs reexamination. Minority participation in clinical trials is an important topic in public health discussions because this representation touches on issues of equality and the elimination of disparities, which are core values of the field

Burden Estimates, Post-diagnosis Care, and Outcomes Associated with Peripheral Artery Disease in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a progressive atherosclerotic disorder of the lower extremities that causes adverse individual- and health care system-level consequences as populations age. This doctoral dissertation research estimated the annual period prevalence and incidence of PAD as well as the frequency of care and mortality following diagnosis in the outpatient or inpatient setting. The majority (>70%) of all PAD encounters occurred in the outpatient setting. The weighted mean age-standardized prevalence and incidence of outpatient PAD was 11.8% (95% CI: 11.5, 12.1) and 22.4 (95% CI: 20.8, 24.0) per 1000 person-years, respectively. Blacks had a higher mean weighted mean age-standardized prevalence (15.6%; 95% CI: 14.6, 16.4) as compared to whites (11.4%; 95% CI: 11.1, 11.7). Blacks also had a higher incidence rate of PAD (31.3 per 1000 person-years; 95% CI: 27.3, 35.4) as compared to whites (25.4 per 1000 person-years; 95% CI: 23.5, 27.3). PAD prevalence and incidence did not differ by gender alone. One-thousand eighty six incident cases of PAD were identified from 2002-2010. PAD-related post-diagnosis encounters were 2.15 (95% CI: 2.10, 2.21) and 1.02 (95% CI: 0.94, 1.10) among those with an incident PAD diagnosis in the outpatient and inpatient setting, respectively. Participants with PAD had an average of 6-8 primary care encounters per person-year over the course of our study. PAD-related and all-cause hospitalization was 6.4% (95% CI: 4.8, 8.1) and 32.2% (95% CI: 29.0, 35.2) at one year among those with incident outpatient PAD. Approximately 14% (95% CI: 9.3, 18.7) of participants diagnosed with inpatient PAD had a PAD-related rehospitalization at one year while 43.4% (95% CI: 36.3, 49.7) had an all-cause rehospitalization at one year. One year age-standardized case fatality was 7.1% (95% CI: 5.4, 8.7) and 16.0% (95% CI: 11.0, 21.1) among those diagnosed in the outpatient and inpatient setting, respectively. Peripheral artery disease and utilization of outpatient health care services was common among men and women 65 years of age and older with enrollment in a Medicare fee-for-service program sampled of four US communities.Doctor of Philosoph

Healthy volunteers in US phase I clinical trials: Sociodemographic characteristics and participation over time

Background Increasing the diversity of research participants is an important focus of clinical trials. However, little is known regarding who enrolls as healthy volunteers in Phase I clinical trials, which test the safety and tolerability of investigational new drugs. Despite the risk, healthy volunteers can derive no medical benefit from their participation, and they are financially compensated for enrolling. Objective This study’s purpose is to describe sociodemographic characteristics and clinical trial participation histories of healthy people who enroll in US Phase I trials. Methods The HealthyVOICES Project (HVP) is a longitudinal study of healthy individuals who have enrolled in Phase I trials. We describe self-reported sociodemographic information and Phase I trial history from HVP recruitment (May-December 2013) through the project’s end three years later (December 2016). Trial experiences are presented as medians and quartiles. Results The HVP included 178 participants. Nearly three-fourths of participants were male, and two-thirds were classified as racial and ethnic minorities. We found that some groups of participants were more likely to have completed a greater number of clinical trials over a longer timeframe than others. Those groups included participants who were male, Black, Hispanic, 30-39-years-old, unemployed, had received vocational training in a trade, or had annual household incomes of less than $25,000. Additionally, the greater the number of clinical trials participants had completed, the more likely they were to continue screening for new trials over the course of three years. Participants who pursued clinical trials as a full-time job participated in the greatest number of trials and were the most likely to continuing screening over time. Implications Participation as a healthy volunteer in US Phase I trials is driven by social inequalities. Disadvantaged groups tend to participate in a greater number of clinical trials and participate longer than more privileged groups

Altruism in clinical research: Coordinators’ orientation to their professional roles

Research coordinators have significant responsibilities in clinical trials that often require them to find unique ways to manage their jobs, thus re-shaping their professional identities

United States Private-Sector Physicians and Pharmaceutical Contract Research: A Qualitative Study

There have been dramatic increases over the past 20 years in the number of nonacademic, private-sector physicians who serve as principal investigators on US clinical trials sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry. However, there has been little research on the implications of these investigators' role in clinical investigation. Our objective was to study private-sector clinics involved in US pharmaceutical clinical trials to understand the contract research arrangements supporting drug development, and specifically how private-sector physicians engaged in contract research describe their professional identities