The Tennessee Rule Against Perpetuities: A Proposal for Statutory Reform

For several decades, there has been agitation for reform of the common-law Rule Against Perpetuities. For the most part, the reformers have urged that improvements in the Rule and the manner of its application be accomplished through legislative enactment.\u27 Only a few jurisdictions have opted for reform by the judiciary. Thus far, there has been no legislative reform of the Rule in Tennessee; the appellate courts of the state continue to apply the Rule inits common-law form with all the confusing rubrics attached to it by centuries of development. The condition of Tennessee\u27s law on the subject contrasts sharply with that of neighboring Kentucky where significant reform has been achieved. Considering the potential for serious mischief and even catastrophic consequences in property and estate transactions when the common-law rule is applied, it seems appropriate to take a fresh look at the Rule and its application in Tennessee. It is the purpose of this article to review the development of the Rule Against Perpetuities, the policies it undertakes to advance, the peculiar problems which have evolved in the centuries of its development, the Tennessee experience in applying the concept, and the possible legislative or judicial avenues to a more efficient application of the Rule and its underlying policies

Dedication

It is a privilege for me to write a few words about my friend and colleague, Professor Igor Kavass. It has been the good fortune of the Vanderbilt Law School to have this ingenious and engaging man\u27s high competence over the last decade, and it has been my good fortune as Dean and a fellow professor to know and cherish him as a colleague. While his classroom teaching, committee service, and collegiality are valued highly by this institution, Professor Kavass\u27 most enduring contribution to the Law School has been his accomplishments as the Law Librarian. In the course of ten years, he and his carefully selected and outstanding staff have fashioned a superb tool for legal research from a relatively small and underfunded law library. For this achievement he has received acclaim from both his colleagues and students

Exclusionary Zoning Practices: An Examination of the Current Controversy

For the last 45 years the idea that local zoning administration is a highly desirable exercise of the state police power has become progressively more entrenched in urban thinking and planning. Although opponents of zoning have quarreled with details of administration or decried the failure of the Supreme Court to continuously oversee implementation of the zoning concept, they have assumed basic Euclidian zoning theory\u27 to be beyond serious challenge. This assumption is no longer valid, for classic municipal zoning is on the firing line and its survival is by no means certain

Two-dimensional temperature model for target materials bombarded by ion beams

The ion implantation process is a very precise, controllable, and reproducible method used to enhance material properties of finished components such as ball bearings. Essentially, the target material is bombarded by accelerated ions to form a thin alloyed layer in the substrate. As the ions deposit their kinetic energy in the target it begins to heat up. To prevent thermal distortion in the finished pieces the ion implantation is performed at dose levels (dependent on the ion fluence and time duration of implantation) to insure that the target pieces stay at relatively low temperatures. Consequently, the low temperature requirement for many applications limits the economic, and probably, the physical success of ion implantation. The purpose of this study was to show the applicability of using a two-dimensional computer code developed to model plasma disruptions and subsequent energy deposition on a fusion reactor first wall to calculate surface and bulk temperature information during ion implantation. In turn the code may assist researchers pursuing development of adequate cooling for target materials in an attempt to overcome the low temperature constraint. All data supported the hypotheses that the two-dimensional code previously developed for fusion reactor applications was adequate to model the ion implantation process

Profiles and species of Mn, Fe and trace metals in soils near a ferromanganese plant in Bagnolo Mella (Brescia, IT)

For the last forty-five years (from 1974 to present) ferroalloy production in Bagnolo Mella, Northern Italy, has generated particulate emissions enriched in potentially toxic metals and metalloids including arsenic (As), lead (Pb) and manganese (Mn). Of these, Mn is unique in that it has a significant background concentration and is seldom studied as a contaminant but is potentially a significant toxin derived from dusts regionally. Here we examine the distribution, redistribution, speciation and bioavailability of the Mn-contaminated top soils affected by atmospheric emissions adjacent to the ferroalloy plant. Four sites, variably located in the study area in terms of both distance and direction from the plant, were considered as representative of increasing levels of industrial influence. Soil profiles showed that metal concentrations (measured by X-ray fluorescence) varied considerably by location, i.e. higher in the sites closer to the plant and also at the surface level, although distributed throughout the top 15 cm, suggesting appreciable redistribution possibly due to soil mixing or infiltration. Most metal concentrations were correlated, except Mn which was independent and more variable across the sites than the other elements. Sequential chemical extractions indicated that Pb was primarily associated with Mn oxides, while As was most significantly associated with iron oxides. When Mn concentration significantly exceeded background levels, it was present in phases that were resistant to acid dissolution, very different from typical uncontaminated soils. X-ray Absorption Near Edge Spectroscopy (XANES) analyses suggested this recalcitrant Mn phase is likely a Mn-bearing spinel such as magnetite, that can be particularly toxic if ingested or inhaled. These first results highlight the legacy of ferroalloy production on surrounding soils, as well as the importance of Mn speciation for soil apportionment evaluation and human exposure estimation

Glacial influence on the geochemistry of riverine iron fluxes to the Gulf of Alaska and effects of deglaciation

This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 38 (2011): L16605, doi:10.1029/2011GL048367.Riverine iron (Fe) derived from glacial weathering is a critical micronutrient source to ecosystems of the Gulf of Alaska (GoA). Here we demonstrate that the source and chemical nature of riverine Fe input to the GoA could change dramatically due to the widespread watershed deglaciation that is underway. We examine Fe size partitioning, speciation, and isotopic composition in tributaries of the Copper River which exemplify a long-term GoA watershed evolution from one strongly influenced by glacial weathering to a boreal-forested watershed. Iron fluxes from glacierized tributaries bear high suspended sediment and colloidal Fe loads of mixed valence silicate species, with low concentrations of dissolved Fe and dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Iron isotopic composition is indicative of mechanical weathering as the Fe source. Conversely, Fe fluxes from boreal-forested systems have higher dissolved Fe concentrations corresponding to higher DOC concentrations. Iron colloids and suspended sediment consist of Fe (hydr)oxides and organic complexes. These watersheds have an iron isotopic composition indicative of an internal chemical processing source. We predict that as the GoA watershed evolves due to deglaciation, so will the source, flux, and chemical nature of riverine Fe loads, which could have significant ramifications for Alaskan marine and freshwater ecosystems.We appreciate support from the USGS CMGP, NCCWSC, and the Mendenhall Postdoctoral Program

An examination of the influence of thermokarst activity on arctic lake sediment methanogenesis

Accelerated warming in the Arctic contributes to the formation of landscape features known as thermokarsts, or ground surface depressions created by the thermal degradation of permafrost. As a significant portion of the global carbon pool is stored in high latitude ecosystems, it is of concern that accelerated permafrost thaw and the resulting formation of thermokarst features along lake margins may act as a positive feedback to climate warming by influencing the delivery of methanogenic substrates to arctic lake sediments. We designed an experiment to determine how thermokarst features may impact arctic lake sediment methanogenesis. We investigated 3 lakes with the presence of a thermokarst feature adjacent to their banks, and 3 lakes without this landscape feature in the foothills of the Brooks Range, Alaska. Using a sediment core incubation method, methanogenesis, methane oxidation and net sediment CH4 flux to the water column were compared between lake types. Although a significant difference in CH4 production was not found between lake types, a negative trend was found between methanogenesis and distance from shoreline in both lake types. Sediment traps served as a proxy to assess material delivered by an adjacent thermokarst feature. Although sedimentation rates were significantly greater in traps near a thermokarsting shore than those opposite, the organic matter content in the traps was lower near thermokarsts. Regression models suggested that the catchment area/lake area ratio, water column DOC (mg/L), dissolved oxygen (mg/L) and glacial till were the most useful variables for predicting sediment methanogenesis in arctic lakes. However, our study does not suggest that thermokarst activity along lake shores enhances methanogenesis in lake sediments

Physical weathering intensity controls bioavailable primary iron(II) silicate content in major global dust sources

The speciation of iron (Fe) reaching the ocean, for instance in wind‐blown dust and coastal sediments, impacts its bioavailability to phytoplankton and its impact on atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and climate. For dust reaching the Southern Ocean, primary Fe(II) silicates that are physically weathered from bedrock are highly bioavailable compared to more chemically weathered, Fe(III)‐rich species, suggesting that weathering in dust source regions impacts the bioavailable Fe supply. However, this phenomenon has not been studied in other important terrestrial Fe sources, where weathering regimes and source geology vary. Here, we use Fe X‐ray absorption spectroscopy on marine sediment cores to show that major global dust and sediment sources impacted by high physical weathering contain abundant primary minerals and thus are overlooked as a source of highly bioavailable Fe globally. Thus, it is important to consider the role of physical versus chemical weathering in Fe fertilization and biotic CO2 cycling

Dehydration and ionic conductance quantization in nanopores

There has been tremendous experimental progress in the last decade in identifying the structure and function of biological pores (ion channels) and fabricating synthetic pores. Despite this progress, many questions still remain about the mechanisms and universal features of ionic transport in these systems. In this paper, we examine the use of nanopores to probe ion transport and to construct functional nanoscale devices. Specifically, we focus on the newly predicted phenomenon of quantized ionic conductance in nanopores as a function of the effective pore radius - a prediction that yields a particularly transparent way to probe the contribution of dehydration to ionic transport. We study the role of ionic species in the formation of hydration layers inside and outside of pores. We find that the ion type plays only a minor role in the radial positions of the predicted steps in the ion conductance. However, ions with higher valency form stronger hydration shells, and thus, provide even more pronounced, and therefore, more easily detected, drops in the ionic current. Measuring this phenomenon directly, or from the resulting noise, with synthetic nanopores would provide evidence of the deviation from macroscopic (continuum) dielectric behavior due to microscopic features at the nanoscale and may shed light on the behavior of ions in more complex biological channels.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figure