John F. Sonnett Memorial Lecture Series: The Attorney General: The Federal Government\u27s Chief Lawyer and Chief Litigator, or One Among Many?

Speaker introduction to a lecture by U.S. Attorney General Griffin B. Bell (1977-1979) and United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (1961-1976). A published version of this lecture can be found under Articles.https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/events_programs_sonnet_lectures/1015/thumbnail.jp

Quadrature domains and kernel function zipping

It is proved that quadrature domains are ubiquitous in a very strong sense in the realm of smoothly bounded multiply connected domains in the plane. In fact, they are so dense that one might as well assume that any given smooth domain one is dealing with is a quadrature domain, and this allows access to a host of strong conditions on the classical kernel functions associated to the domain. Following this string of ideas leads to the discovery that the Bergman kernel can be zipped down to a strikingly small data set. It is also proved that the kernel functions associated to a quadrature domain must be algebraic.Comment: 13 pages, to appear in Arkiv for matemati

A filamentation instability for streaming cosmic-rays

We demonstrate that cosmic rays form filamentary structures in the precursors of supernova remnant shocks due to their self-generated magnetic fields. The cosmic-ray filamentation results in the growth of a long wavelength instability, and naturally couples the rapid non-linear amplification on small scales to larger length scales. Hybrid magnetohydrodynamics--particle simulations are performed to confirm the effect. The resulting large scale magnetic field may facilitate the scattering of high energy cosmic rays as required to accelerate protons beyond the knee in the cosmic-ray spectrum at supernova remnant shocks. Filamentation far upstream of the shock may also assist in the escape of cosmic rays from the accelerator.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA

Ethnic differences in adiposity and diabetes risk – insights from genetic studies

Type 2 diabetes is more common in non-Europeans and starts at a younger age and at lower BMI cut-offs. This review discusses the insights from genetic studies about pathophysiological mechanisms which determine risk of disease with a focus on the role of adiposity and body fat distribution in ethnic disparity in risk of type 2 diabetes. During the past decade, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 400 genetic variants associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes. The Eurocentric nature of these genetic studies have made them less effective in identifying mechanisms that make non-Europeans more susceptible to higher risk of disease. One possible mechanism suggested by epidemiological studies is the role of ethnic difference in body fat distribution. Using genetic variants associated with an ability to store extra fat in a safe place, which is subcutaneous adipose tissue, we discuss how different ethnic groups could be genetically less susceptible to type 2 diabetes by developing a more favourable fat distribution