Should Brian Nichols Be Tried in a Federal Court?

Although Brian Nichols has been sentenced in state court to a total of 485 years of imprisonment, the question has been raised whether he should subsequently be tried in federal court for the murder of an off-duty U.S. Customs agent. Prof. Carlson argues in the affirmative, while Prof. Wilkes finds the suggestion stupendously stupid

Individualized quality of life, standardized quality of life, and distress in patients undergoing a phase I trial of the novel therapeutic Reolysin (reovirus)

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the individualized and standardized quality of life (QL) and psychological distress of patients participating in a Phase I trial of the novel therapeutic reovirus (Reolysin). METHODS: 16 patients with incurable metastatic cancer were interviewed prior to being accepted into the phase I trial with a semi-structured expectations interview, the Schedule for the Evaluation of Individual Quality of Life – Direct Weighting (SEIQoL-DW), the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30), the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Spiritual Health Inventory (SHI). RESULTS: Patients were able to complete all measures. They felt hopeful and excited about the trial, with about two thirds hoping for disease regression and one third hoping for a cure. The most commonly spontaneously nominated areas of QL were family relationships, activities and friends, and the overall SEIQoL mean index score was 69. Health was nominated by only 38% of the sample. Scores on the SEIQoL were correlated with global QL on the EORTC QLQ C-30. Scores on the BDI and BSI were lower than reported for similar populations, and on the SHI scores were similar to other samples. Global QL on the EORTC QLQ C-30 and depression scores were associated with time to death in the nine patients who had died at the time of writing. CONCLUSIONS: Individualized QL is easy to assess in seriously ill cancer patients, provides useful information relative to each individual, and is related to standard QL measures. Repeated assessment of individualized QL of patients in Phase I trials would be a useful addition to the research

Seasonal Changes in Titan's Surface Temperatures

Seasonal changes in Titan's surface brightness temperatures have been observed by Cassini in the thermal infrared. The Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) measured surface radiances at 19 micron in two time periods: one in late northern winter (Ls = 335d eg) and another centered on northern spring equinox (Ls = 0 deg). In both periods we constructed pole-to-pole maps of zonally averaged brightness temperatures corrected for effects of the atmosphere. Between late northern winter and northern spring equinox a shift occurred in the temperature distribution, characterized by a warming of approximately 0.5 K in the north and a cooling by about the same amount in the south. At equinox the polar surface temperatures were both near 91 K and the equator was 93.4 K. We measured a seasonal lag of delta Ls approximately 9 in the meridional surface temperature distribution, consistent with the post-equinox results of Voyager 1 as well as with predictions from general circulation modeling. A slightly elevated temperature is observed at 65 deg S in the relatively cloud-free zone between the mid-latitude and southern cloud regions

Thermal Infrared Spectroscopy of Saturn and Titan from Cassini

The Cassini spacecraft completed its nominal mission at Saturn in 2008 and began its extended mission. Cassini carries the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS); a Fourier transform spectrometer that measures the composition, thermal structure and dynamics of the atmospheres of Saturn and Titan, and also the temperatures of other moons and the rings

Experimental determination of the surface density for the 6He exotic nucleus

Angular distributions for the elastic scattering of 4,6He on 58Ni have been measured at near-barrier energies. The present data, combined with others for the 4He158Ni system at intermediate energies, allowed the determination of the 4,6He ground-state nuclear densities through an unfolding method. The experimentally extracted nuclear densities are compared with the results of theoretical calculations

The clustering of massive galaxies at z~0.5 from the first semester of BOSS data

We calculate the real- and redshift-space clustering of massive galaxies at z~0.5 using the first semester of data by the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). We study the correlation functions of a sample of 44,000 massive galaxies in the redshift range 0.4<z<0.7. We present a halo-occupation distribution modeling of the clustering results and discuss the implications for the manner in which massive galaxies at z~0.5 occupy dark matter halos. The majority of our galaxies are central galaxies living in halos of mass 10^{13}Msun/h, but 10% are satellites living in halos 10 times more massive. These results are broadly in agreement with earlier investigations of massive galaxies at z~0.5. The inferred large-scale bias (b~2) and relatively high number density (nbar=3e-4 h^3 Mpc^{-3}) imply that BOSS galaxies are excellent tracers of large-scale structure, suggesting BOSS will enable a wide range of investigations on the distance scale, the growth of large-scale structure, massive galaxy evolution and other topics.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures, matches version accepted by Ap

Evolution of the Far-infrared Cloud at Titan's South Pole

A condensate cloud on Titan identified by its 220 cm (sup -1) far-infrared signature continues to undergo seasonal changes at both the north and south poles. In the north the cloud, which extends from 55 North to the pole, has been gradually decreasing in emission intensity since the beginning of the Cassini mission with a half-life of 3.8 years. The cloud in the south did not appear until 2012 but its intensity has increased rapidly, doubling every year. The shape of the cloud at the South Pole is very different from that in the north. Mapping in December 2013 showed that the condensate emission was confined to a ring with a maximum at 80 South. The ring was centered 4 degrees from Titan's pole. The pattern of emission from stratospheric trace gases like nitriles and complex hydrocarbons (mapped in January 2014) was also offset by 4 degrees, but had a central peak at the pole and a secondary maximum in a ring at about 70 South with a minimum at 80 South. The shape of the gas emissions distribution can be explained by abundances that are high at the atmospheric pole and diminish toward the equator, combined with correspondingly increasing temperatures. We discuss possible causes for the condensate ring. The present rapid build up of the condensate cloud at the South Pole is likely to transition to a gradual decline during 2015-16

Experiences and Perspectives of Polycystic Kidney Disease Patients following a Diet of Reduced Osmoles, Protein, and Acid Precursors Supplemented with Water:A Qualitative Study

Background Salt, protein, acid precursors, and fluid intake have been identified as factors that influence cyst growth in ADPKD. Unfortunately, the feasibility of following these dietary restrictions/enhancements from a patient's point-of-view has yet to be studied. The purpose of this study is to understand better the experiences of patients following a relatively complex dietary prescription targeting these factors. Methods Twelve adults with ADPKD and kidney function >30ml/min/1.73m(2) were recruited from the University of Kansas Medical Center Polycystic Kidney Disease clinic. In a qualitative design, semi-structured interviews of participants were conducted following a four week dietary intervention (experimental diet lower in sodium, protein, and acid precursors, and supplemented with water) either face-to-face or by telephone. All interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and checked for accuracy. Transcripts were analyzed thematically for emerging themes. Results Participants reported that eating less meat and more fruits and vegetables were the easiest components of the diet, whereas reaching the daily goal amount of fruits and vegetables and tracking the diet constantly were the most difficult components. Participants had little difficulty with fluid intake and reported the prescribed fluid goal as achievable. The tracking system for fruits and vegetables and protein was reported to be both helpful and intuitive, but tracking their intake on paper was tedious. Eating out was the most significant barrier to following the diet with some individuals avoiding restaurants in order to comply with the dietary prescription. Conclusion Participants on the experimental diet heightened their awareness of the consumption of dietary salt, protein, acid precursors, and fluid intake. Additionally, most participants believed adherence to the prescribed diet was feasible. However, participants wanted less cumbersome ways to track and monitor the diet, especially given that the prescribed diet is designed for lifelong adherence. Future studies should focus on targeting these specific dietary factors in larger groups of more ethnically and culturally diverse populations to help inform clinicians and how best to help diverse populations adhere to the dietary intervention

The Cascadia Initiative : a sea change In seismological studies of subduction zones

Author Posting. © The Oceanography Society, 2014. This article is posted here by permission of The Oceanography Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Oceanography 27, no. 2 (2014): 138-150, doi:10.5670/oceanog.2014.49.Increasing public awareness that the Cascadia subduction zone in the Pacific Northwest is capable of great earthquakes (magnitude 9 and greater) motivates the Cascadia Initiative, an ambitious onshore/offshore seismic and geodetic experiment that takes advantage of an amphibious array to study questions ranging from megathrust earthquakes, to volcanic arc structure, to the formation, deformation and hydration of the Juan De Fuca and Gorda Plates. Here, we provide an overview of the Cascadia Initiative, including its primary science objectives, its experimental design and implementation, and a preview of how the resulting data are being used by a diverse and growing scientific community. The Cascadia Initiative also exemplifies how new technology and community-based experiments are opening up frontiers for marine science. The new technology—shielded ocean bottom seismometers—is allowing more routine investigation of the source zone of megathrust earthquakes, which almost exclusively lies offshore and in shallow water. The Cascadia Initiative offers opportunities and accompanying challenges to a rapidly expanding community of those who use ocean bottom seismic data.The Cascadia Initiative is supported by the National Science Foundation; the CIET is supported under grants OCE- 1139701, OCE-1238023, OCE‐1342503, OCE-1407821, and OCE-1427663 to the University of Oregon