Remaking the United States Supreme Court in the Courts’ of Appeals Image

We argue that Congress should remake the United States Supreme Court in the U.S. courts\u27 of appeals image by increasing the size of the Court\u27s membership, authorizing panel decisionmaking, and retaining an en banc procedure for select cases. In so doing, Congress would expand the Court\u27s capacity to decide cases, facilitating enhanced clarity and consistency in the law as well as heightened monitoring of lower courts and the other branches. Remaking the Court in this way would not only expand the Court\u27s decisionmaking capacity but also improve the Court\u27s composition, competence, and functioning

The effects of Bodymax high-repetition resistance training on measures of body composition and muscular strength in active adult women

This is the author's PDF version of an article published in Journal of strenght and conditioning research in 2003. The definitive version is available at http://www.nsca-jscr.orgThe purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a light, high-repetition resistance-training program on skinfold thicknesses and muscular strength in women. Thirty-nine active women (mean age 38.64 +/- 4.97 years) were randomly placed into a resistance-training group (RT; n = 20) or a control group (CG; n = 19). The RT group performed a resistance-training program called Bodymax for 1 hour, 3 d.wk(-1), which incorporated the use of variable free weights and high repetitions in a group setting. The CG group continued its customary aerobic training for 1 hour 3 d.wk(-1). Five skinfold and 7 muscular strength measures were determined pretraining and after 12 weeks of training. Sum of skinfolds decreased (-17 mm; p < 0.004) and muscular strength increased (+57.4 kg; p < 0.004) in the RT group. Effect sizes for individual skinfold sites and strength measures were "medium" and "high," respectively. Bodymax is an effective resistance-training program for reducing skinfold thickness and increasing muscular strength in active women. Therefore, women with a similar or lower-activity status should consider incorporating such training into their regular fitness programs

Voluntary activation of quadriceps femoris in patients with unilateral anterior cruciate ligament rupture within 6 months of injury: a cross-sectional observational study

Background: Deficits in quadriceps femoris strength and voluntary activation have been well documented in chronic anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries, but less is known about the acute or early phase after injury. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the levels of quadriceps voluntary activation (VA) and strength in both limbs of participants with unilateral ACL ruptures (complete tears) within 6 months of injury. Design: Cross-sectional observational study. Method: Seventeen participants, 12 male, mean age 30 (17-45) years, performed maximal voluntary isometric contractions with the interpolated twitch technique. Results: Mean (SD) peak VA was significantly lower in the injured limb 76.5 (15.0) % than the uninjured limb 85.9 (6.7) % (p = 0.02). Mean (SD) peak torque in the injured limb was significantly lower 162.7 (74.1) Nm than the uninjured limb 240.5 (81.0) Nm (p &lt; 0.01). Conclusions: This between-limb difference in VA has not previously been observed in patients within 6 months of ACL rupture. Our findings suggest that early rehabilitation programs for adults with ACL rupture should focus on reducing VA deficits to facilitate improvement of the quadriceps femoris muscle strength in the injured limb to comparable values of the uninjured limb.</p

Effectiveness of alcohol brief intervention in a general hospital: a randomized controlled trial

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of an alcohol brief intervention (ABI) on alcohol consumption in hazardous or harmful drinkers compared with screening alone within a general hospital setting. Method: Following screening, 124 hazardous or harmful drinkers (103 men, ages 18–80 years, score of 3–12 on the Fast Alcohol Screening Test [FAST]) admitted to medical and orthopedic wards during the 13-month recruitment period were randomized to receive an ABI or control. The intervention group received an ABI where they were supported to set their own personalized alcohol reduction goals, and both groups received a health information leaflet. Retrospective alcohol consumption for 7 days was reported for the week, before hospital admission and 6 months after it. Results: Demographics and clinical characteristics at baseline showed no statistical differences between the two groups on all variables except FAST score, which was higher in the intervention group (p ≤ .05). A reduction of 85 grams of alcohol per week (95% CI [162.46, 7.54]) was observed between groups in favor of the intervention group based on changes from baseline. However, there was no significant difference between groups for absolute grams of alcohol per week at 6 months. A significant mean difference in favor of the intervention group (U = 1,537, p = .043) was observed for weekly heavy drinking episodes. Conclusions: Our results suggest screening with delivery of ABI for harmful/hazardous drinkers in a general hospital is beneficial in reducing alcohol consumption compared with screening alone

Judicial Independence and the Ambiguity of Article III Protections

Is the federal judiciary truly an independent body? A quick glance at the Constitution would suggest the answer is yes. The Constitution provides for life tenure and a difficult removal process for federal judges that together, as the common wisdom goes, shield federal judges from the shifting winds of the more political branches and the public at large. The author of this essay argues, however, that on a closer examination of the protections provided for by the Constitution, judicial independence might be more mirage than truism. Threats to judicial independence arise not only externally through the actions of the other bodies of the federal government, but just as importantly, from within the judiciary itself The author focuses on these internal threats to judicial independence. First, judges are the children of an inherently political process: Judges are nominated by presidents, who by necessity must be political in their selection of judges, and the resulting confirmation process in the Senate is often a delicate, and sometimes brutal, political affair. The author proposes that judicial independence may be best served by divided government checking and balancing itself in the appointment process. Second, judges are often political creatures. They, as with most humans, have their own ideologies and ambitions, and the constitutional structure designed to maximize judicial independence may have the opposite effect of amplifying their political behavior. The author concludes that despite its flaws, Article III's judicial system is still a model system of dispute resolution

Courts of Good and Ill Repute: Garoupa and Ginsburg’s Judicial Reputation: A Comparative Theory

Nuno Garoupa and Tom Ginsburg have published an ambitious book that seeks to account for the great diversity of judicial systems based, in part, on how courts are designed to marshal the power of a high public opinion of the judiciary. Judges, the book posits, care deeply about their reputations both inside and outside the courts. Courts are designed to capitalize on judges’ desire to maximize their reputation, and judges’ existing stock of reputation can affect the design of the courts which they serve. We find much to like in this book, ranging from its intriguing and ambitious positive claims to its masterful use of comparative case studies from around the globe. However, we also have questions about the ability of the theory to hang together in a unified manner and to do the work assigned to it

Allelic variants of KLK2 gene predict presence of prostate cancer at biopsy

Objective: Several single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with prostate cancer risk have been reported in recent years. We evaluated polymorphisms in the human glandular kallikrein 2 (KLK2) genes because the protein product of this gene is known to be increased in prostate cancer. Materials and methods: Blood samples were collected from sixty patients who underwent prostate biopsy sectioning, and from their genomic DNA the SNPs in KLK2 gene were investigated by direct DNA sequencing. Another 138 archived prostate tissue sections were also evaluated using the TaqMan SNP genotyping assay. Results: Eighteen known SNPs were identified in the KLK2 gene. The SNPs were located in introns, coding exons and untranslated regions of the gene. Further analysis showed that two of the SNPs were associated with prostate disease. The T/T allele of rs198977 was significantly predictive of the presence of prostate cancer at biopsy and was also associated with high tumour grade. The A/A allele of rs2664155 was also significantly associated with the presence of benign hyperplasia at biopsy. Conclusion: Our results support previous reports of association of the rs198977 SNP with prostate cancer risk and also indicated a link with the disease phenotype. However, the second SNP (rs2664155) was more associated with benign hyperplasia than prostate cancer risk. The method of TaqMan SNP genotyping could be clinically useful in genetic screening and risk stratification of patients for prostate diseases

A cross-sectional study of predatory publishing emails received by career development grant awardees

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the scope of academic spam emails (ASEs) among career development grant awardees and the factors associated with the amount of time spent addressing them. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey of career development grant investigators via an anonymous online survey was conducted. In addition to demographic and professional information, we asked investigators to report the number of ASEs received each day, how they determined whether these emails were spam and time they spent per day addressing them. We used bivariate analysis to assess factors associated with the amount of time spent on ASEs. SETTING: An online survey sent via email on three separate occasions between November and December 2016. PARTICIPANTS: All National Institutes of Health career development awardees funded in the 2015 fiscal year. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Factors associated with the amount of time spent addressing ASEs. RESULTS: A total of 3492 surveys were emailed, of which 206 (5.9%) were returned as undeliverable and 96 (2.7%) reported an out-of-office message; our overall response rate was 22.3% (n=733). All respondents reported receiving ASEs, with the majority (54.4%) receiving between 1 and 10 per day and spending between 1 and 10 min each day evaluating them. The amount of time respondents reported spending on ASEs was associated with the number of peer-reviewed journal articles authored (p<0.001), a history of publishing in open access format (p<0.01), the total number of ASEs received (p<0.001) and a feeling of having missed opportunities due to ignoring these emails (p=0.04). CONCLUSIONS: ASEs are a common distraction for career development grantees that may impact faculty productivity. There is an urgent need to mitigate this growing problem