Legal Origins and Evolution of Local Ethics Reform in New Orleans

The Office of Inspector General came first, and like many another reform in city government, it was born as a campaign commitment. When I met with state senator Marc H. Morial in September 1993 to discuss the issues component of his campaign for mayor, ideas poured out of him for an hour and a half, and I took copious notes. “We need an Inspector General,” he said, “and we need Charter Revision”—the two ideas linked from this first campaign convening. When he was elected mayor six months later and inaugurated in May 1994, charter reform became an early and important item of business in his new administration. This article focuses in Part 1 on the 1994–1995 charter revision process that was the initial vehicle for local ethics reform. Part 2 examines the stuttering, stop-and-go history of implementation after the successful charter revision process—a period during which enactment of formal legal instruments was followed by halting implementation steps, accompanied throughout by the need for further legal instruments to reform and restructure ethics entities. Part 3 draws some considered conclusions, taking a long perspective on the evolution of local ethics reforms

Teaching, Training, and Technology in Legislative Drafting

(Beitrag 5. Europäisches Symposium zur Verständlichkeit von Rechtsvorschriften des Bundesministeriums der Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz) Legislative drafters play an important role in upholding the rule of law by crafting legislative instruments that promote procedural regularity—a cornerstone of governmental legitimacy. We must, therefore, be concerned about best practices in preparing legislative drafters. This article draws upon more than 30 years of experience at The Public Law Center (Tulane University, New Orleans) in teaching law students and training legislative drafters. It identifies the components of a common curriculum and discusses differences in providers, methods, and materials for students and drafters. The article examines controversies in drafting between the academy and the practice; compares drafting texts that are widely used among students and drafters; and considers how drafting manuals serve both practical and pedagogical purposes in legislative drafting. A survey of technology acknowledges the role of Zoom during the pandemic, recommends several useful websites, and speculates about the future of artificial intelligence in legislative drafting. A penultimate section explains why statutory construction is “off my list” of helpful subjects in legislative drafting, and the conclusion reaffirms drafting as a vital support in rule-of-law systems

Identification of a rhythmic firing pattern in the enteric nervous system that generates rhythmic electrical activity in smooth muscle

The enteric nervous system (ENS) contains millions of neurons essential for organization of motor behavior of the intestine. It is well established that the large intestine requires ENS activity to drive propulsive motor behaviors. However, the firing pattern of the ENS underlying propagating neurogenic contractions of the large intestine remains unknown. To identify this, we used high-resolution neuronal imaging with electrophysiology from neighboring smooth muscle. Myoelectric activity underlying propagating neurogenic contractions along murine large intestine [also referred to as colonic migrating motor complexes, (CMMCs)] consisted of prolonged bursts of rhythmic depolarizations at a frequency of ∼2 Hz. Temporal coordination of this activity in the smooth muscle over large spatial fields (∼7 mm, longitudinally) was dependent on the ENS. During quiescent periods between neurogenic contractions, recordings from large populations of enteric neurons, in mice of either sex, revealed ongoing activity. The onset of neurogenic contractions was characterized by the emergence of temporally synchronized activity across large populations of excitatory and inhibitory neurons. This neuronal firing pattern was rhythmic and temporally synchronized across large numbers of ganglia at ∼2 Hz. ENS activation preceded smooth muscle depolarization, indicating rhythmic depolarizations in smooth muscle were controlled by firing of enteric neurons. The cyclical emergence of temporally coordinated firing of large populations of enteric neurons represents a unique neural motor pattern outside the CNS. This is the first direct observation of rhythmic firing in the ENS underlying rhythmic electrical depolarizations in smooth muscle. The pattern of neuronal activity we identified underlies the generation of CMMCs

EVALUASI KEKUATAN GEDUNG 11 LANTAI BERDASARKAN SNI 1726:2019 DAN ANALISIS KINERJA BERDASARKAN ASCE 41-17 (Studi Kasus Proyek X di Kota Semarang)

Pembangunan bangunan gedung yang bertumbuh perlu disertai dengan pemeriksaan ketahanan bangunan secara berkala untuk memastikan keamanan bangunan terhadap beban-beban yang mungkin terjadi. Oleh karena itu, penelitian ini adalah analisa evaluasi kekuatan gedung yang didasari pada SNI 1726:2019 dan analisis kinerja berdasarkan ASCE 41-17 yang diterapkan pada gedung sampel 11 lantai yang masih menggunakan SNI lama. Evaluasi ini bertujuan untuk menilai kekuatan gedung yang didasari pada SNI 1726:2019 dan analisis kinerja berdasarkan ASCE 41-17. Adapun instrumen yang diterapkan berupa melakukan Studi literatur mengenai gempa, bangunan tahan gempa, performance based assessment, Evaluasi Ketahanan seismic bangunan eksisting, prosedur, prosedur non-linier statik, Pengolahan data, proses analisis data dan pemabahasan hasil data

EVALUASI KEKUATAN GEDUNG 11 LANTAI BERDASARKAN SNI 1726:2019 DAN ANALISIS KINERJA BERDASARKAN ASCE 41-17 (Studi Kasus Proyek X di Kota Semarang)

Pembangunan bangunan gedung yang bertumbuh perlu disertai dengan pemeriksaan ketahanan bangunan secara berkala untuk memastikan keamanan bangunan terhadap beban-beban yang mungkin terjadi. Oleh karena itu, penelitian ini adalah analisa evaluasi kekuatan gedung yang didasari pada SNI 1726:2019 dan analisis kinerja berdasarkan ASCE 41-17 yang diterapkan pada gedung sampel 11 lantai yang masih menggunakan SNI lama. Evaluasi ini bertujuan untuk menilai kekuatan gedung yang didasari pada SNI 1726:2019 dan analisis kinerja berdasarkan ASCE 41-17. Adapun instrumen yang diterapkan berupa melakukan Studi literatur mengenai gempa, bangunan tahan gempa, performance based assessment, Evaluasi Ketahanan seismic bangunan eksisting, prosedur, prosedur non-linier statik, Pengolahan data, proses analisis data dan pemabahasan hasil data

Drought, agricultural adaptation, and sociopolitical collapse in the Maya Lowlands

Paleoclimate records indicate a series of severe droughts was associated with societal collapse of the Classic Maya during the Terminal Classic period (∼800–950 C.E.). Evidence for drought largely derives from the drier, less populated northern Maya Lowlands but does not explain more pronounced and earlier societal disruption in the relatively humid southern Maya Lowlands. Here we apply hydrogen and carbon isotope compositions of plant wax lipids in two lake sediment cores to assess changes in water availability and land use in both the northern and southern Maya lowlands. We show that relatively more intense drying occurred in the southern lowlands than in the northern lowlands during the Terminal Classic period, consistent with earlier and more persistent societal decline in the south. Our results also indicate a period of substantial drying in the southern Maya Lowlands from ∼200 C.E. to 500 C.E., during the Terminal Preclassic and Early Classic periods. Plant wax carbon isotope records indicate a decline in C_4 plants in both lake catchments during the Early Classic period, interpreted to reflect a shift from extensive agriculture to intensive, water-conservative maize cultivation that was motivated by a drying climate. Our results imply that agricultural adaptations developed in response to earlier droughts were initially successful, but failed under the more severe droughts of the Terminal Classic period

Effect of antibodies to intercellular adhesion molecule type 1 on the protection of distant organs during reperfusion syndrome in rats

We investigated kidney and lung alterations caused by intercellular adhesion molecule type 1 (ICAM-1) blockade after ischemia and reperfusion of hind limb skeletal muscles. Rats were submitted to ligature of the infrarenal aorta for 6 h. The animals were randomized into three groups of 6 rats each: group I, sacrificed after ischemia; group II, reperfusion for 24 h, and group III, reperfusion for 24 h after receiving monoclonal anti-ICAM-1 antibodies. At the end of the experiment, blood samples were collected for creatinine, lactate dehydrogenase, creatine phosphokinase, potassium, pH and leukocyte counts. Samples were taken from the muscles of the hind limbs and from the kidneys and lungs for histological analysis and measurement of the neutrophil infiltrate by myeloperoxidase staining. The groups did not differ significantly with regard to the laboratory tests. There were no major histological alterations in the kidneys. An intense neutrophil infiltrate in the lungs, similar in all groups, was detected. Myeloperoxidase determination showed that after reperfusion there was significantly less retention of polymorphonuclear neutrophils in the muscles (352 ± 70 vs 1451 ± 235 × 10² neutrophils/mg; P<0.01) and in the kidneys (526 ± 89 vs 852 ± 73 × 10² neutrophils/mg; P<0.01) of the animals that received anti-ICAM-1 before perfusion compared to the group that did not. The use of anti-ICAM-1 antibodies in this experimental model minimized neutrophil influx, thus reducing the inflammatory process, in the muscles and kidneys after ischemia and reperfusion of the hind limbs.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Escola Paulista de Medicina Departamento de CirurgiaUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Escola Paulista de Medicina Departamento de ClínicaUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Escola Paulista de Medicina Departamento de PatologiaUNIFESP, EPM, Depto. de CirurgiaUNIFESP, EPM, Depto. de ClínicaUNIFESP, EPM, Depto. de PatologiaSciEL

Jahn-Teller effects in initial and final states: high-resolution X-ray absorption, photoelectron and Auger spectroscopy of allene

Carbon K-edge resonant Auger spectra of gas-phase allene following excitation of the pre-edge 1s → π* transitions are presented and analysed with the support of EOM-CCSD/cc-pVTZ calculations. X-Ray absorption (XAS), X-ray photoelectron (XPS), valence band and non-resonant Auger spectra are also reanalysed with a series of computational approaches. The results presented demonstrate the importance of including nuclear ensemble effects for simulating X-ray observables and as an effective strategy for capturing Jahn-Teller effects in spectra