Strict Scrutiny Research Articles

Sustainable Strategies for Improving Humanitarian Supply Chain Management in the United Nations Using Dynamic Capability Theory

The purpose of the qualitative multiple case study was to explore the strategies some supply chain managers of the United Nations (UN) use to leverage operational efficiencies in the UN humanitarian programs. As a result, communities supporting sustainability and peace or those fostering economic development will be able to respond effectively to humanitarian crises. Moreover, the UN can remain operational and engage in political and conflict-reduction interventions integral to economic and social recovery and sustainability. This study applied the qualitative multiple case study through semi-structured interviews with nine supply chain managers in the United Nations, direct observations, document analysis, and artifacts. The research is grounded in the dynamic capability theory (DCT). The research revealed several strategies that supply chain managers of the UN use to ensure operational efficiencies grouped around three themes: (a) analytical, innovation, and knowledge management strategies; (b) effective supply chain management leadership strategies; and (c) risk management strategies. This study is one of the first to apply generic findings of humanitarian supply chain studies to the United Nations, the global organization with diverse mandates that continuously strives to achieve efficiencies required by donors providing financial support, thus remaining operational. The study’s results could help leaders in the various humanitarian organizations who operate in vulnerable environments and under strict scrutiny from donors to deliver their aid programs most efficiently by understanding dynamic capabilities. Previous studies indicate the lack of strategic frameworks applicable to the United Nations that could improve decision-making at the strategic, tactical, and operational levels, facilitate collaboration among supply chain stakeholders, and reduce the costs of the operational performance of the supply chain system in the UN.

Decoding the ‘andolanjeevis’: foregrounding ‘reasoned emotion’ as a mobiliser in the Justice for Rohith Vemula movement

Civic protests around the globe have tried to highlight the increasing soft authoritarianism in democratic states. Under strict scrutiny, protestors have to devise a methodology that can help spread their message and yet not attract legal attention. Using a first-hand account, through activist-participatory observation, in the Justice for Rohith Vemula movement at the University of Hyderabad, India in 2016, this article develops the concept of ‘reasoned emotion’ to show how andolanjeevis tried to reach out to the non-protesting university community. The movement was aimed at seeking justice for the institutional discrimination meted out to Dalit-Bahujan students in Indian universities, and it started after the suicide of Rohith Vemula – an exceptionally bright, politically active Dalit doctoral researcher at the University of Hyderabad. By sharing factual legal documents to gain legitimacy and highlight the atrocities committed by the university administration in ‘socially boycotting’ five Dalit students, the andolanjeevis used binding reason to appeal to the emotional knowledge of the students. The performative aspect of the emotional appeal not only empowers protestors to mobilise empathy but also engenders an act of de-silencing suppressed narratives. This conceptualisation of the activism space foregrounds reason with emotion to build affective communities of support and solidarity.

Understand impact of legal landscape on DEI efforts

It's been just over a year since the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College and University of North Carolina, 600 US 181 (2023). That June 29, 2023 decision effectively eliminated the ability for institutions of higher education to consider an individuals’ protected status as a factor in admissions decisions designed to advance diversity. The Supreme Court found that Harvard's and North Carolina's consideration of protected status in admissions couldn’t satisfy strict scrutiny. The programs therefore violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Prevalence of Depression in Patients and Survivors of Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review.

Depression is an illness prevalent worldwide and much more common in certain groups of people. Individuals suffering from breast cancer as well as the survivors of breast cancer are at an increased risk of developing depression. We conducted this systematic review using articles from different countries of the world to get an estimate of the prevalence of depression in this specified population. For this, we collected about 262 articles from Google Scholar, PubMed, and ScienceDirect, and after strict scrutiny, 13 articles were used to extract our data. From our collected data, we were able to get an estimate of depression prevalence rates among breast cancer patients and survivors globally and identify different factors that affected these rates. More cohort studies must be done so that more precise information about the causes, preventions, and therapies of depression specifically in breast cancer patients and survivors may be gathered.

Book Censorship in Public Schools: Examining Florida HB 1467 (2022)

Several pieces of legislation have sprung up in recent years in Florida aiming to restrict public school library books and curricular materials. Notably, this coincides with other state legislative moves to restrict what students read and learn in school with partisan purposes. Library associations have reported that nationally, removed books disproportionately contain LGBTQ and racial minority themes. One law at the heart of these restrictions, Florida HB 1467 (2022), empowers community members to challenge and remove public school books and adds bureaucratic obstacles to the access of previously allowable materials. The vague and broad language of the Florida law leads to erratic application by school districts across the state, resulting in the suppression of protected speech. This article examines a key constitutional tension: Under what circumstances does the students’ right to receive information under the First Amendment outweigh school officials’ authority, and, by extension, parental authority over local education under the Tenth Amendment? The U.S. Supreme Court in Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District v. Pico (1982) offers one answer, holding that political orthodoxy is an unacceptable rationale for removal, but pervasive vulgarity and educational unsuitability are acceptable. These three standards are useful, yet entangle in ways Pico is not fully suited to address. This article argues HB 1467 (2022) is unconstitutional under the political orthodoxy Pico standard, strict scrutiny analysis of content-based regulations, and the vagueness and overbreadth doctrines of the 1st Amendment.

Kartogenin Induces Chondrogenesis in Cartilage Progenitor Cells and Attenuates Cell Hypertrophy in Marrow-Derived Stromal Cells.

Kartogenin (KGN) is a synthetic small molecule that stimulates chondrogenic cellular differentiation by activating smad-4/5 pathways. KGN has been proposed as a feasible alternative to expensive biologic growth factors, such as transforming growth factor β, which remain under strict regulatory scrutiny when it comes to use in patients. This study reports the previously unexplored effects of KGN stimulation on cartilage- derived mesenchymal progenitor cells (CPCs), which have been shown to be effective in applications of cell-based musculoskeletal tissue regeneration. Our findings demonstrate that KGN treatment significantly increased markers of chondrogenesis, SOX9 and COL2 following 3-10 days of treatment in human CPCs. KGN treatment also resulted in a significant dose-dependent increase in GAG production in CPCs. The same efficacy was not observed in human marrow-derived stromal cells (BM-MSCs); however, KGN significantly reduced mRNA expression of cell hypertrophy markers, COL10 and MMP13, in BM-MSCs. Parallel to these mRNA expression results, KGN led to a significant decrease in protein levels of MMP-13 both at 0-5 days and 5-10 days following KGN treatment. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that KGN can boost the chondrogenicity of CPCs and inhibit hypertrophic terminal differentiation of BM-MSCs.

Defending Race-Conscious Policy

Beginning in the 1980s, a coalition of community groups, activists, and non-profits loosely referred to as the “environmental justice movement” campaigned to draw awareness to the disproportionate distribution of environmental burdens to low-income communities of color. These burdens cause severely negative health impacts, reduce property values (which in turn reduce generational wealth), and im-pact quality of life. Low-income communities of color also receive few-er environmental benefits, including parks and green space (which re-duces heat in urban areas) and access to healthy food. Climate change further threatens vulnerable communities by causing increased heat in already-overheated neighborhoods, more frequent and severe storms, and rising sea levels in coastal areas. In 2019, New York State enacted the Climate Leadership and Com-munity Protection Act (CLCPA), an ambitious piece of legislation that creates a framework to reduce statewide greenhouse gas emissions and to invest in “disadvantaged communities” (DACs). The latter goal reflects the environmental justice movement’s success. The current set of criteria developed under the CLCPA to identify U.S. census tracts within New York as DACs considers, among a large set of factors, the racial and ethnic demographics of the tracts. While this approach re-flects the environmental justice movement’s values, it also makes the CLCPA vulnerable to a potential constitutional challenge. Drawing on decades of precedent from the U.S. Supreme Court in cases regarding affirmative action programs, a plaintiff might bring a case arguing that the New York State government is distributing benefits based onindividuals’ race or ethnicity, in violation of the Equal Protection Clause. This Note examines the degree to which the CLCPA’s current DAC criteria are vulnerable to such a challenge, and sets forth how the state might argue that the DAC criteria do not violate the Equal Protection Clause. Specifically, this Note argues that the state could mount a strong argument at the outset that such a plaintiff cannot satisfy the requirements for standing. In the alternative, the state could argue that the criteria should not draw strict scrutiny because race and eth-nicity are relatively insignificant factors in a complex and context-sensitive process. If the criteria do draw strict scrutiny, the govern-ment could argue that it has a compelling interest in remedying the ef-fects of its past acts of racial discrimination, and that the criteria are narrowly tailored to this interest. And finally, the government could argue that even if the criteria are unconstitutional for considering race, the issue is severable, and the criteria can be easily amended to remove race and ethnicity.

The Right to a Public Trial, Conditional Courtroom Entry and Tiers of Constitutional Scrutiny

The constitutional test the SupremeCourt has prescribed to review courtroom closures for compliance with the Sixth Amendment’s right to a public trial is in the nature of strict scrutiny. The Courtrequires an “overriding interest” to justify the closure, and a narrow, minimally restrictive scope to the closure. Many lower courts have imposed a less demanding test for “partial” closures, which admitto the courtroom some, but not all, of the public. These courts require a less demanding justification before closing the courtroom to certain individuals—the justification need be only “substantial,” rather than “overriding.” This standard is in the nature of intermediate scrutiny, as applied in other constitutional contexts. There is a third type of “closure,” however, beyond the complete closures the Supreme Court has reviewed, and the partial closures encountered by other courts. This third type is the imposition of entry conditions on would-be audience members, such as requiring a form of identification. These generally applicable conditions may not actually exclude anyone but could conceivably dissuade some audience members from attending a trial. For instance, an attendee might prefer not to provide identification to court personnel and might be turned away as a result. In keeping with the doctrinal model already followed by the courts—applying “tiered scrutiny” to courtroom closures—conditional courtroom entry should be reviewed according to the most lenient of the tiers, rational basis scrutiny. A sliding scale should apply to public trial scrutiny, “Waller” scrutiny, the most demanding, when all are excluded. “Substantial reason” scrutiny, less demanding, should apply when some are excluded. Andrational basis scrutiny, much less demanding, should apply when no one need be excluded, but for their non-compliance with a general rule. A lesser standard should apply in the case of entry conditions because they differ from other closures and cause minimal prejudice to the purposes of the right to a public trial.

Data’s Demise and the Rhetoric of SFFA

The Supreme Court’s holding that Harvard College’s and the University of North Carolina’s (UNC) “admissions systems” are invalid under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was an anticipated result. The Court’s 2016 decision in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (Fisher II), left some speculation that race-conscious admissions could eventually be struck down by the Court; however, Fisher II also offered some guidance for future litigants to address challenges. Colleges and universities needed to use data to “scrutinize the fairness of their admissions programs” to satisfy the burden strict scrutiny and narrow tailoring impose. Despite previously touting the importance of data, the current Justices of the Supreme Court disregarded the data presented by both Harvard and UNC. Furthermore, the Court ignored stare decisis by discounting the diversity rationale enshrined by Justice Powell in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. Since the Supreme Court’s decision on June 29, 2023, scholars and parties to the case have opined about the decision’s impact. Several writings focus on the majority opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts. Others highlight the dissents written by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown-Jackson, but few focus on the concurring opinions. This Article focuses on stare decisis and the data presented by Harvard and UNC in the case. It also posits that rhetoric has been used to falsely frame inclusion practices as racial preferences. As such, this Article explores the origins of rhetoric to evaluate Justice Thomas’s colorblind perspective of the United States Constitution, and more specifically, the Fourteenth Amendment. Finally, this Article conducts a deeper examination of the approach highlighted by Justice Thomas in his concurring opinion.

A Strict Scrutiny Regime for Free Exercise Post-Smith

A Strict Scrutiny Regime for Free Exercise Post-Smith

대한민국헌법상 국민에 대한 국가의 의무

Rights have corresponding obligations. The state is also subject to obligations regarding basic rights guaranteed under the Constitution. These obligations do not necessarily need to be written in the Constitution. This is because rights logically presuppose the duties of the state. However, the Constitution of the Republic of Korea declares the state’s obligation to guarantee fundamental rights in Article 10, Sentence 2, which can be seen as reaffirming the logical result of the fact that fundamental rights should be guaranteed.
 On the contrary, obligations are not necessarily established on the premise of rights. The duty to the citizens granted to the state under the Constitution is not necessarily premised on basic rights. Aside from the state’s obligations related to guaranteeing basic rights, there are also many state obligation provisions in the Constitution of the Republic of Korea. Although these duties of the state are very important in the relationship with the people, there are many duties of the state that cannot be considered from the perspective of basic rights.
 This study pursues the goal of guaranteeing the basic rights of the people, but examines it from the perspective of duty rather than the perspective of rights. Meanwhile, the purpose is to reveal a comprehensive system that guarantees the status of the people, including the relationship between the state and the people, which cannot be seen from the perspective of rights. Specifically speaking, it is to find ways to guarantee the fulfillment of national obligations. In principle, non-performance of state duties can be evaluated as a violation of the Constitution, but the standard by which to judge its unconstitutionality is a very important issue in constitutional reviews.
 The basic rights system theory has been developed regarding the guarantee level of basic rights, according to which various methods of basic rights are classified. State obligations can be also classified according to the theory of state duty. First, the state’s duty can be divided into the duty to act and the duty to omit. Since the duty of omission is violated through active action, it is appropriate to conduct strict scrutiny especially when it is related to fundamental rights. In the case of obligation to act, omission and insufficient action are issues. In the former case, strict scrutiny is applied in the same sense as restriction, but in the latter case, various standards of review could be applied considering the legislative discretion and related concrete circumstances. But it may be applied the milder review, in principle, when the legislative discretion is permitted. This article specifically examines each individual obligation imposed on the state from this stand of view.

A Study on Evaluation of Drug Package Inserts in Kashmir, India

Background: Drugs constitute a major part of the therapeutic modality for most of the patients. Accurate and authentic drug information is important for its safe and effective marketing. Drug package insert (PI) is the primary source of such information. They serve very important role in minimizing the medication errors. PIs need to be updated regularly, but despite regulations, studies have shown that Indian PIs provide inadequate information. Aims and Objectives: To check the completeness of information provided in package inserts of allopathic drugs. Material and Methods: This observational study was carried out for a period of 3months in the department of pharmacology, GMC Srinagar. 139 PIs were collected from local pharmacies and drug store of tertiary care hospital of Government Medical College, Srinagar.17 duplicate package inserts were excluded. The remaining PIs (122) were evaluated according to section 6.2, 6.3 of schedule D (II), Drugs and Cosmetics Act (1940) and Rules (1945).Data was entered in Microsoft Excel Sheet and then analyzed. Results: Among 122 PIs evaluated maximum package inserts were of antibiotics (15%) and anti-diabetics (15%) followed by CNS drugs (14%). Considering the dosage forms 60% inserts wereoral preparations followed by intravenous injections 17%. Regarding the various components of Section 6.2 of Schedule D (II), Drug and Cosmetic Act, posology and method of administration was present in 100% inserts, special precautions and warnings were present in 97%, side effects in 96%, contraindication in 94%. With regards the components of Section 6.3, excipients were mentioned in 78% inserts, incompatibility in 49% inserts, shelf life in the product package for sale was present in 28%, shelf life after dilution in 30%. Conclusion: Our study concluded that only a few inserts contained all the headings of Section 6.2 and 6.3 of Drug and Cosmetic Act (1945). Completeness of information has improved a lot as compared to past, still a lot needs to be done so that patients can derive maximum benefit from them. This demands strict scrutiny of inserts by regulatory authorities.

Ensuring Fair Play: Abuse Of Dominance And Intellectual Property Rights Top Of Form Bottom Of Form

Dominance in the market gives businesses many advantages, enabling them to change business dynamics and influence customer choices. This dominance, while used improperly, can damage clients via way of means of stifling competition and innovation. The distinct rights that intellectual property rights deliver authors and inventors over their works, on the alternative hand, lead them to critical equipment for selling innovation. Abuse of dominance and Intellectual Property rights are associated while dominant corporations make the most of their intellectual property rights to stifle competition. This article attempts to examines the feasible reasons of the subject matter, which includes inflated licensing charges, unwarranted litigation, and patent hold-up tactics. The interplay among abuse of dominance with intellectual property rights (IPR) marks a pivotal factor withinside the improvement of competition law. This article captures the essence of this complicated connection and affords a window into its complicated dynamics. It further attempts to emphasise the critical factor of convergence among those fields: the sensitive stability among selling innovation and retaining marketplace opposition receives disenchanted while dominant groups use their intellectual property rights to impede competition. Such abuse of IPR might also additionally take many unique forms, from extortionate licensing charges to pointless court cases meant to save your competition from coming into the marketplace. Case studies that function an examples from across the globe provide important insights into the rational consequences of intellectual property rights violations. The difficulties in finding the appropriate stability are demonstrated by notable instances such as the legal actions related to Qualcomm's SEP and Microsoft's antitrust actions in the EU. Emerging technologies in the virtual age, like as biotechnology and artificial intelligence, raises new concerns about supremacy and intellectual property rights. One example of an increasing burden in 5G technology is Standard-essential patents (SEPs). Using well-known case studies and international regulatory reactions, this article also attempts to provide a brief discussion of the issues and headaches associated with the abuse of dominance within the framework of intellectual property rights. Strict regulatory scrutiny is necessary to prevent dominant marketplace contributors from engaging in anti-competitive behaviour. The conflict between preventing anti-competitive behaviour and promoting innovation through intellectual property rights safety is a fundamental dilemma. Finding a balance between the two needs is essential if one is to sell innovation and keep markets competitive. In this regard, the author attempts to highlight how crucial it is to handle the junction between rights to intellectual property and abuse of dominance in an appropriate manner. It draws attention to the necessity of prudent legislation that preserves innovative incentives while maintaining sincere competition. In order to fully utilize intellectual property rights for the goodness of society, it is imperative to achieve this delicate balance. In a global economic system that is rapidly changing, legislators, lawyers, corporations, and students must all comprehend and navigate the intricate relationship between abuse of power and intellectual property rights. This article lays the groundwork for additional investigation and debate in the article by offering a concise yet comprehensive synopsis of the key traits and problems in this intricate field.

Mast v. Fillmore: A Perfect 50th Birthday Present for Yoder

The 1972 decision in Wisconsin v. Yoder is among the significant U.S. Supreme Court rulings adjudicating and establishing precedents around conflicts between religious beliefs and state interest. That Yoder has endured a half century is a testament not to its reasoning, but rather to a continuation of the sociological jurisprudential underpinnings that provided the defendants with the justice that others sought for them. This essay argues that the 2021 ruling in Mast v. Fillmore County, Minnesota, which vacated and remanded for further consideration a Minnesota state court ruling, could not have come at a better time for the fifty-year-old Yoder decision because Mast situates questions of Amish religious liberty squarely in the arena of strict scrutiny (in this case, of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000) rather than by invoking any sociological exceptionalism.

Drug use Pattern with Standard Indicators in Chattogram Medical College Hospital in Bangladesh

Irrational prescription being a global problem leading to ineffective, unsafe treatment. This study was conducted between November 10, 2019 to January 20, 2020 to assess drug use pattern using WHO/INRUD core prescribing indicators at Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH). Total 500 patients were selected randomly. The results showed average number of drugs per encounter is 4.41 (optimal range = 1.6–1.8), generic drug prescription was 1.54% (optimal value = 100%), encounters with an antibiotic prescribed were 32.6% (optimal range =20.0–26.8%), encounters with an injection prescribed were 24.8% (optimal range =13.4–24.1%), drugs prescribed from EDL were 50.43% (optimal value = 100%) and drugs prescribed from the WHO EDL were 56.96% (optimal value = 100%). Average consultation time was 3.1 min (optimal value ≥10 min), average dispensing time was 35 s (optimal value ≥90 s) and the patients’ knowledge of correct dosage was 62.1% (optimal value =100%. The hospital had no copy of EDL and key drugs available in the stock were 82% (optimal value =100%). The concept of generic prescribing was negligible. There was reduced prescription of drugs from the National List of Essential Medicines, the prescription of antibiotics and injections was slightly higher than normal. Shorter consultation and dispensing time may lead to inadequate information about the medication being given to patients and patients had little chance to obtain information about their treatment. This study necessitates we are in need of strict scrutiny on the prescribing method of our country. So, we can achieve the goal of rational use of drug.

SNM Radiation Signature Classification Using Different Semi-Supervised Machine Learning Models

The timely detection of special nuclear material (SNM) transfers between nuclear facilities is an important monitoring objective in nuclear nonproliferation. Persistent monitoring enabled by successful detection and characterization of radiological material movements could greatly enhance the nuclear nonproliferation mission in a range of applications. Supervised machine learning can be used to signal detections when material is present if a model is trained on sufficient volumes of labeled measurements. However, the nuclear monitoring data needed to train robust machine learning models can be costly to label since radiation spectra may require strict scrutiny for characterization. Therefore, this work investigates the application of semi-supervised learning to utilize both labeled and unlabeled data. As a demonstration experiment, radiation measurements from sodium iodide (NaI) detectors are provided by the Multi-Informatics for Nuclear Operating Scenarios (MINOS) venture at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) as sample data. Anomalous measurements are identified using a method of statistical hypothesis testing. After background estimation, an energy-dependent spectroscopic analysis is used to characterize an anomaly based on its radiation signatures. In the absence of ground-truth information, a labeling heuristic provides data necessary for training and testing machine learning models. Supervised logistic regression serves as a baseline to compare three semi-supervised machine learning models: co-training, label propagation, and a convolutional neural network (CNN). In each case, the semi-supervised models outperform logistic regression, suggesting that unlabeled data can be valuable when training and demonstrating value in semi-supervised nonproliferation implementations.

Doctrinal Instability in Contextual Race-Conscious Review: The Continuing Legacy of the Korematsu Court’s Ultra-Deference Standard

The judicial tools of standards of review are designed to recognize historical inequities by applying heightened burdens of proof for discrimination and the abridgment of constitutional rights. In this Article, I argue that, in the past twenty-seven years since Adarand Constructors v. Peña, the Supreme Court’s contextual application of strict scrutiny for race and national origin discrimination has evolved to a point of instability, rendering its outcomes indeterminate. This instability is a result of our national conflict over when and how to use race to remedy race-based discrimination.The Court has selectively applied different standards of deferenced epending on the reasons that the government uses race. In applying these standards, the Court treats governmental use of race, whether benign or invidious, as two sides of the same problem, when in fact they are distinct legal questions. In other words, the Court treats the use of race as suspect regardless of its remedial application. This universalist approach has been defended as the best method to address and capture the complexity of different contexts. However, the universalist approach at its core, represents two diametrically opposed viewpoints on the role of race in American society.This inconsistency extends back before Adarand to the 1942 Korematsu v. U.S. decision. Since Korematsu, the Court has overwhelmingly given substantial deference—what I refer to as ultra-deference—to government rationales of national security and safety over the interest of civil liberties and civil rights protections for minorities and marginalized groups. Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, this practice of ultra-deference has become firmly established in regulatory and jurisprudential practices. Most recently, the principles of Korematsu reappeared in the 2018 Trump v. Hawaii decision. Justice Robert’s opinion reflects that, even when presented with clear and convincing evidence of religious and national origin discrimination that should trigger a higher standard of strict scrutiny, ultra-deferential justices are willing to imply a presumption of a rational basis for government justifications.This ultra-deference occurs despite insufficient facts to satisfy the standard threshold for the discharge of the government’s burden of proof when its policy discriminates on the basis of race and national origin. Ultradeference is manifested in the mechanics of when, whether, and how to apply the strict scrutiny standard of review to suspect classifications of race and national origin. Ultra-deference to national security and safety rationales has been most often used in cases involving politically sensitive issues such as immigration. It has been presumed in cases where the Court deemed the national security interest of paramount importance to outweigh evidence of even invidious motivation, let alone disparate impact.While others may argue that a contextual application of strict scrutiny is an appropriate individualized response to the diversity of factual scenario striggering the suspect classification of race, such deference is in direct contrast to the universalist application of strict scrutiny to race-conscious policies regardless of benign, remedial, or invidious purposes. This inconsistency raises the importance of a thorough legal analysis of the role that implicit bias plays when there is clear evidence of disparate impact on the basis of race or national origin.

The Case Against Race-Based Quotas in Pharmaceutical Trials.

This Article is the first to offer a comprehensive case against using racial quotas in pharmaceutical studies by providing a detailed examination of the arguments for and against the practice. It begins by discussing the current racial classification system, calls for racial quotas in pharmaceutical trials, and the troubling history of combining race and scientific investigation. It next examines the cautionary tale of BiDil, the first drug authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in only Black people. The third part of the Article sets forth the arguments against racial quotas. The fourth part provides legal analysis of these arguments, concluding that racial quotas in pharmaceutical trials likely would not satisfy the strict scrutiny standard for two independent reasons. The fifth part evaluates the alleged benefits of racial quotas and demonstrates that when properly understood they are insignificant in comparison to the disadvantages. The final part weighs the evidence to arrive at a conclusion and considers future implications.Ultimately, this Article provides a valuable framework for assessing the legal and pragmatic implications not just for pharmaceutical trial quotas but also for other racial-classification issues in health care. For example, while it presents a cumulative case against the proposed practice of racial quotas in pharmaceutical trials, many of the same arguments presented are also applicable to the currently mandated practice of acquiring and reporting racial data of pharmaceutical trial participants. It will serve as a valuable resource not only for opponents of racial quotas but also for advocates. For example, this Article provides numerous race-neutral alternatives for consideration. And the strong case against racial quotas helps facilitate a refocus of efforts away from merely ameliorating the end results of health care disparities and instead targeting the root causes. Evidence suggests that this redirected focus on root causes is more effective at producing positive change. In this way, rejecting these quotas is not in conflict with addressing health disparities; rather, it is beneficial to it. This Article will hopefully serve as a catalyst for future research regarding best practices on how pragmatic; legal; and diversity, equity, and inclusion considerations can synergistically exist.

Construction of Green Concrete Incorporating Fabricated Plastic Aggregate from Waste Processing

The recent industrial revolution has improved the quality of human life with technological advancement; adversely, it has also doubled waste generation, including plastic waste, in the last two decades. The concrete industry is under strict scrutiny to deliver tangible sustainable solutions to lessen its carbon footprint; the use of plastic waste in concrete can deliver a potential solution to these global environmental issues. In the current study, the fresh, mechanical and durability properties, including water absorption and chloride ion permeability of green concrete containing a plastic, fabricated aggregate were examined. The compressive and flexural strength gain with time was also examined and compared to reference concrete. All the mechanical parameters including compressive strength, flexural strength, splitting tensile strength and modulus of elasticity were found to decrease with the addition of fabricated plastic aggregates as compared to the reference concrete. The increase in the compressive strength and flexural strength at 100% replacement, with an increase in the curing period from 28 to 90 days, was 13% and 11%, respectively. The flexural deformation of green fabricated plastic aggregate concrete signposted the ductile behavior compared to the reference concrete. The concrete with 100% fabricated plastic aggregates showed an increase of 16.4% and a decrease of 68% in the water absorption and chloride ion permeability in comparison to the reference concrete, respectively. This study presents an effectual method for the utilization of plastic waste with promising results, especially for non-structural applications.

The Far Reach of the Texas Top Ten Percent Plan: Consideration of Professional School Degrees

ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to document the indirect effects of the Texas Top Ten Percent Plan on professional school degrees awarded and to propose the far reach of the law as an alternative argument in support of race-conscious admissions policies challenged under the strict scrutiny standard. Designed around the two tests of strict scrutiny, this study first highlights the essential need for a diverse constituency of professionals to enable societal advancement as a compelling state interest established by the courts and then provides empirical evidence to support additional narrowly tailored race-conscious admissions policies. Complementary interrupted time series analysis and logistic regression find that current admissions policies fail to improve diversity in professional school degrees awarded.