ELDER LAW—MY LIFE, MY CHOICE

As the most recent past president of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) I have been involved in elder law for over thirty years, even before there was a sub-practice of estate planning called elder law. In fact, for estate planning, I recall when the primary document a client needed was a will. The required document has expanded and now includes a will, health proxy, power of attorney, a POLST form (Physician’s Order for Life Sustaining Treatment), sometimes a living will, and other various documents a client may desire, such as a cremation order, a pre-arranged burial, and the like. Many years ago, it was also the norm that many wished to be kept alive by machines, or did not take a stand as to their preference, with many families refusing to talk about it. It was also the norm that most people were buried and not cremated. Times have changed, and the pendulum has swung the other way in many cases. I remember how my mother was ill for many years, and it was determined that all measures would be taken to keep her alive, even at the end of her life when there was absolutely no chance of recovery

Chemisorbed Oxygen at Pt(111): a DFT Study of Structural and Electronic Surface Properties

Simulations based on density functional theory are used to study the electronic and electrostatic properties of a Pt(111) surface covered by a layer of chemisorbed atomic oxygen. The impact of the oxygen surface coverage and orientationally ordered interfacial water layers is explored. The oxygen adsorption energy decreases as a function of oxygen coverage due to the lateral adsorbate repulsion. The surficial dipole moment density induced by the layer of chemisorbed oxygen causes a positive shift of the work function. In simulations with interfacial water layers, ordering and orientation of water molecules strongly affect the work function. It is found that the surficial dipole moment density and charge density are roughly linearly dependent on the oxygen surface coverage. Moreover, we found that water layers exert only a small impact on the surface charging behavior of the surface

ELDER LAW—MY LIFE, MY CHOICE

As the most recent past president of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) I have been involved in elder law for over thirty years, even before there was a sub-practice of estate planning called elder law. In fact, for estate planning, I recall when the primary document a client needed was a will. The required document has expanded and now includes a will, health proxy, power of attorney, a POLST form (Physician’s Order for Life Sustaining Treatment), sometimes a living will, and other various documents a client may desire, such as a cremation order, a pre-arranged burial, and the like. Many years ago, it was also the norm that many wished to be kept alive by machines, or did not take a stand as to their preference, with many families refusing to talk about it. It was also the norm that most people were buried and not cremated. Times have changed, and the pendulum has swung the other way in many cases. I remember how my mother was ill for many years, and it was determined that all measures would be taken to keep her alive, even at the end of her life when there was absolutely no chance of recovery

The Amphimedon queenslandica genome and the evolution of animal complexity

Sponges are an ancient group of animals that diverged from other metazoans over 600 million years ago. Here we present the draft genome sequence of Amphimedon queenslandica, a demosponge from the Great Barrier Reef, and show that it is remarkably similar to other animal genomes in content, structure and organization. Comparative analysis enabled by the sequencing of the sponge genome reveals genomic events linked to the origin and early evolution of animals, including the appearance, expansion and diversification of pan-metazoan transcription factor, signalling pathway and structural genes. This diverse `toolkit' of genes correlates with critical aspects of all metazoan body plans, and comprises cell cycle control and growth, development, somatic-and germ-cell specification, cell adhesion, innate immunity and allorecognition. Notably, many of the genes associated with the emergence of animals are also implicated in cancer, which arises from defects in basic processes associated with metazoan multicellularity