Luther v. Borden: A Taney Court Mystery Solved

It has not been generally remarked that Chief Justice Taney wrote surprisingly few of the Taney Court’s major opinions—those cases that tend to be anthologized and remembered by generalists. Those major cases which Taney did write are consistently about slavery (or states’ rights or state powers, which in Taney’s mind may have amounted to the same thing). There is a notable exception: Luther v. Borden—a case about the Guarantee Clause. This raises a question. Setting aside his opinions on slavery or states’ rights, what could have moved the author of Dred Scott, by consensus the worst Supreme Court opinion in history, to choose Luther v. Borden as one of the few remembered major opinions he did write? To begin to unravel this little mystery of history, a glimpse into the character and judgment of Roger Brooke Taney is offered, with an amusing parallel drawn between the respective nominations to the Supreme Court of Taney and Robert Bork. Luther is reconsidered in light of the Transcripts of Record, and with an unembarrassed presentism rather than historicism. In view of Chief Justice Warren’s thinking in Powell v. McCormack, much of Chief Justice Taney’s reasoning in Luther is shown not only to be evasive, illogical and unconvincing, but also intellectually dishonest, if he is to be credited with the understandings of law and its processes reasonably attributable to a former Attorney General of the United States. Even more disturbingly, Luther v. Borden can plausibly be read as having a darker side than is conventionally understood, with an impact of surprising magnitude and hurtfulness, placing it well within the ambitions of the author of Dred Scott

GEN.SG = NOM.PL : A mystery solved?

The paper proposes an explanation for the identity of form between GEN.SG and NOM.PL

Polycythemia: a mystery solved by history

Testosterone is responsible for increased muscle mass. Leaner body mass helps control weight and increases energy. High levels of testosterone help build muscles and also stimulate growth in strength. Androgenic-anabolic steroids (AAS) are drugs that are structurally related to the cyclic steroid rings system and have similar effects to testosterone in the body. Athletes who abuse steroids do so for muscle growth and quick recovery. Testosterone - whether it's injected, applied via a patch or cream, or taken orally - allows athletes to rapidly increase muscle mass beyond their usual capacity, and also reduces their recovery time which allows them to train continuously with little need to rest their bodies in between workouts. Physiologically, erythrocytosis is defined by an erythrocyte mass that exceeds 125% of that predicted for sex and body mass. Much of the concern with the use of testosterone involves increase in blood viscosity, resulting from increased red blood cell mass causing a potential increased risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE), myocardial infarction (MI), and cerebrovascular accidents (CVA). We report a case of secondary polycythemia related to testosterone therapy

A mystery solved: the mass ratio of the dwarf nova EM Cygni

We have discovered that the spectrum of the well-known dwarf nova EM Cyg is contaminated by light from a K2-5V star (in addition to the K-type mass donor star). The K2-5V star contributes approximately 16 per cent of the light from the system and if not taken into account has a considerable effect upon radial velocity measurements of the mass donor star. We obtain a new radial velocity amplitude for the mass donor star of K2 = 202 +/- 3 km/s, which compares with the value of K2 = 135 +/- 3 km/s obtained in Stover, Robinson & Nather's classic 1981 study of EM Cyg. The revised value of the amplitude combined with a measurement of rotational broadening of the mass donor vsini = 140 +/- 6 km/s, leads to a new mass ratio of q = M2/M1 = 0.88 +/- 0.05. This solves a long standing problem with EM Cyg because Stover et al.'s measurements indicated a mass ratio q > 1, a value which should have led to dynamically unstable mass transfer for the secondary mass deduced by Stover et al. The revised value of the mass ratio combined with the orbital inclination i = 67 +/- 2 degrees leads to masses of 0.99 +/- 0.12 Msun and 1.12 +/- 0.08 Msun for the mass donor and white dwarf respectively. The mass donor is evolved, since it has a later spectral type (K3) than its mass would imply. We discuss whether the K star could be physically associated with EM Cyg or not, and present the results of the spectroscopic study.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Plasmodium falciparum 26S Proteasome Network: A Mystery Solved

One ofthe most devastating diseases thatthreatens the world population is malaria. The 26S proteasome complex of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, which was previously unknown, was characterized by the authors through an affinity purification protocol that isolated functional 26S proteasome complexes. This allowed for the identification of subunit composition and PfUSP14, a proteasomeassociated deubiquitinase. This new understanding presents a potential target to disrupt protein regulation in thequest for effective antimalarial strategies

Inside un libro de cocina: A mystery solved through collaboration

In the spring of 2021, Laura Kanost, professor of modern languages, expressed interest in incorporating one of the collection’s Spanish language manuscript cookbooks into a class project

60 YEARS AGO

60 years ago three Rockefeller University scientists solved a revolutionary scientific mystery. What is the chemical basis of heredity? While some scientists suggested DNA, other researchers countered that the more complex proteins must make up our genes. On February 1, 1944 Rockefeller University solved the mystery: it’s DNA. See also The Transforming Principle: DNA, The Molecule of Heredityhttps://digitalcommons.rockefeller.edu/posters/1053/thumbnail.jp

The Unexpected Guest

This newly discovered Agatha Christie mystery is a must for all would-be sleuths! Set in a foggy estate in Wales, “The Unexpected Guest” opens as a stranger walks into a house to find a man murdered and his beautiful young wife standing over him with a gun. But this mystery is far from solved and a thrilling evening of suspense and intrigue has only just begun. ‘The impact is tremendous...just when the murder seems solved, all the ends tied up, and you are groping for your hat. Miss Christie pulls her almighty knock-out punch.” -London Evening News. “That last-minute twist defies detection.” -London Evening Standard. Once again, we’ll give you a chance to solve this mystery and win free tickets by voting for your favorite suspect at intermission. Guest artist R. Sebastian Russ who recently appeared as Friar Lawrence in the Otterbein College Theatre production of Romeo and Juliet will direct and star in this superb mystery/thriller.https://digitalcommons.otterbein.edu/summer_production_1989/1003/thumbnail.jp