Nonretroactivity in Constitutional Tax Refund Cases

A recent series of cases decided by the United States Supreme Court point out a classic conflict between individual rights and state interests. The cases revolve around a simple question-whether a state will be required to refund monies collected under an unconstitutional taxing scheme. While the question itself is straightforward, the Court\u27s current approach is characterized by conflict and uncertainty. In McKesson v. Division of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco, it declared unanimously that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires the states to provide meaningful backward looking relief for any unconstitutional deprivation. But McKesson\u27s seemingly clear mandate leads to a fundamental conflict between the individual taxpayer\u27s right to a remedy and the state\u27s interest in preserving the fisc. In attempting to resolve the dilemma the tax refund cases present, the Court has relied upon its controversial civil retroactivity doctrine to limit state\u27s retroactive liability. This Note examines the constitutional tax refund cases. The analysis reveals that the use of nonretroactivity in these cases needlessly confuses and fails adequately to address the issues presented. The Note also highlights the intriguing jurisprudential questions these cases raise-the Justices\u27 differing approaches to nonretroactivity in many ways reflect their differing conceptions of the Court\u27s role as constitutional arbiter. Finally, the Note proposes a framework for resolving the dilemma presented in a practical and above-board manner; one that takes account of both the individual\u27s right to a remedy and the state\u27s interest in fiscal stability

Effect of a skin-deep surface zone on formation of two-dimensional electron gas at a semiconductor surface

Two dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) at surfaces and interfaces of semiconductors are described straightforwardly with a 1D self-consistent Poisson-Schr\"{o}dinger scheme. However, their band energies have not been modeled correctly in this way. Using angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy we study the band structures of 2DEGs formed at sulfur-passivated surfaces of InAs(001) as a model system. Electronic properties of these surfaces are tuned by changing the S coverage, while keeping a high-quality interface, free of defects and with a constant doping density. In contrast to earlier studies we show that the Poisson-Schr\"{o}dinger scheme predicts the 2DEG bands energies correctly but it is indispensable to take into account the existence of the physical surface. The surface substantially influences the band energies beyond simple electrostatics, by setting nontrivial boundary conditions for 2DEG wavefunctions.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, 2 table

New assessment of Pondaungia and Amphipithecus (Primates) from the late middle Eocene of Myanmar, with a comment on 'Amphipithecidae'

337-372http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/48663/2/ID530.pd

An Ibis-like Bird (Aves: cf. Threskiornithidae) from the Late Middle Eocene of Myanmar

p. 179-184http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41254/1/Vol 31 No 7 Final.pd

Pediatric feeding and swallowing rehabilitation: An overview

Children with neurological disabilities frequently have problems with feeding and swallowing. Such problems have a significant impact on the health and well-being of these children and their families. The primary aims in the rehabilitation of pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders are focused on supporting growth, nutrition and hydration, the development of feeding activities, and ensuring safe swallowing with the aim of preventing choking and aspiration pneumonia. Pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders can be divided into four groups: transient, developmental, chronic or progressive. This article provides an overview of the available literature about the rehabilitation of feeding and swallowing disorders in infants and children. Principles of motor control, motor learning and neuroplasticity are discussed for the four groups of children with feeding and swallowing disorders

Phylogenetic signal of genomic repeat abundances can be distorted by random homoplasy: a case study from hominid primates

The genomic abundance of different types of repetitive DNA elements contains a phylogenetic signal useful for inferring the evolutionary history of different groups of organisms. Here we test the reliability of this approach using the Hominidae family of primates, whose consensus phylogeny is well accepted. We used the software RepeatExplorer to identify the different repetitive DNA clusters and quantify their abundances. With these data, we performed phylogenetic analyses by maximum parsimony, including one, two or three individuals per species, technical replicates, and including or discarding two clusters of repetitive elements (i.e. a satellite DNA and an endogenous retrovirus) that generated random homoplasy, because they were abundant in Pan and Gorilla but almost absent in Homo and Pongo. The only phylogenetic tree congruent with the accepted topology for hominids, thus coinciding with that obtained from the mitogenomes of the same individuals, was the one built after filtering out the libraries for the two homoplasious clusters and using three individuals per species. Our results suggest some caution in the use of repeat abundance for phylogenetic studies, because some element abundances are homoplasious, which severely distorts the phylogenetic signal owing to their differential amplification among evolutionary lineages

Monsoon versus Uplift in Southwestern China–Late Pliocene Climate in Yuanmou Basin, Yunnan

Yuanmou Basin of Yunnan, SW China, is a famous locality with hominids, hominoids, mammals and plant fossils. Based on the published megaflora and palynoflora data from Yuanmou Basin, the climate of Late Pliocene is reconstructed using the Coexistence Approach. The results indicate a warm and humid subtropical climate with a mean annual temperature of ca. 16–17°C and a mean annual precipitation of ca. 1500–1600 mm in the Late Pliocene rather than a dry, hot climate today, which may be due to the local tectonic change and gradual intensification of India monsoon. The comparison of Late Pliocene climate in Eryuan, Yangyi, Longling, and Yuanmou Basin of Yunnan Province suggests that the mean annual temperatures generally show a latitudinal gradient and fit well with their geographic position, while the mean annual precipitations seem to be related to the different geometries of the valleys under the same monsoon system

Human mandibular shape is associated with masticatory muscle force

Understanding how and to what extent forces applied to the mandible by the masticatory muscles influence its form, is of considerable importance from clinical, anthropological and evolutionary perspectives. This study investigates these questions. Head CT scans of 382 adults were utilized to measure masseter and temporalis muscle cross-sectional areas (CSA) as a surrogate for muscle force, and 17 mandibular anthropometric measurements. Sixty-two mandibles of young individuals (20-40 years) whose scans were without artefacts (e.g., due to tooth filling) were segmented and landmarked for geometric morphometric analysis. The association between shape and muscle CSA (controlled for size) was assessed using two-block partial least squares analysis. Correlations were computed between mandibular variables and muscle CSAs (all controlled for size). A significant association was found between mandibular shape and muscle CSAs, i.e. larger CSAs are associated with a wider more trapezoidal ramus, more massive coronoid, more rectangular body and a more curved basal arch. Linear measurements yielded low correlations with muscle CSAs. In conclusion, this study demonstrates an association between mandibular muscle force and mandibular shape, which is not as readily identified from linear measurements. Retrodiction of masticatory muscle force and so of mandibular loading is therefore best based on overall mandibular shape

Life without the Movius Line: The structure of the East and Southeast Asian Early Palaeolithic

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA.The starting point of this paper is that the Movius Line is no longer an appropriate way of studying the Early Palaeolithic of East and Southeast Asia, and should be disregarded. Instead, it is argued that the Early Palaeolithic of East and Southeast Asia needs to be seen as comparable to that in the rest of Eurasia, rather than the product of an isolated backwater. Contra Movius, East Asia was not isolated throughout the entire Early and Middle Pleistocene, but open to immigration during interglacials, as is indicated by its fossil hominin record. As in Europe and Southwest Asia, both bifacial and non-biface assemblages are present in China and Korea, thus indicating the presence of an Acheulean component, although the lack of agreement over how the Acheulean should be defined creates difficulties in establishing its extent in Southeast Asia. Regarding non-biface assemblages, Zhoukoudian was an unfortunate choice of an East Asian site that lacked bifaces, as bifaces are also rare or absent in a number of caves in Southwest Asia and Europe. Additionally, the absence of bifaces in some sites is not convincingly demonstrated because of the small size of the lithic assemblage. Finally, the simple flake industries in Southeast Asia are likely contemporary with Upper Pleistocene, Middle Palaeolithic and microlithic assemblages in India rather than with Middle Pleistocene, Acheulean assemblages, as proposed by Movius