Law, Liberty and the Rule of Law (in a Constitutional Democracy)

In the hunt for a better--and more substantial--awareness of the “law,” The author intends to analyze the different notions related to the “rule of law” and to criticize the conceptions that equate it either to the sum of “law” and “rule” or to the formal assertion that “law rules,” regardless of its relationship to certain principles, including both “negative” and “positive” liberties. Instead, he pretends to scrutinize the principles of the “rule of law,” in general, and in a “constitutional democracy,” in particular, to conclude that the tendency to reduce the “democratic principle” to the “majority rule” (or “majority principle”), i.e. to whatever pleases the majority, as part of the “positive liberty,” is contrary both to the “negative liberty” and to the “rule of law” itself

Dinamičko-kinetička MRI kralješnice pri uspravnom položaju i uz opterećenje: pMRI/kMRI

The purpose of the study was to demonstrate the general utility of the first dedicated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unit enabling upright, weight-bearing positional evaluation of the spinal column (pMRI) during various dynamic-kinetic maneuvers (kMRI) in patients with degenerative conditions of the spine. This study consisted of a prospective analysis of cervical or lumbar imaging examinations. All studies were performed on a recently introduced whole body MRI system (IndomitableTM, Fonar Corp, Melville, NY). The system operates at 0.6T using an electromagnet with a horizontal field, transverse to the longitudinal axis of the patient\u27s body. Depending upon spinal level, all examinations were acquired with either a cervical or lumbar solenoidal radiofrequency receiver coil. This unit is configured with a top-open design, incorporating a patient-scanning table with tilt, translation and elevation functions. The unique motorized patient handling system developed for the scanner allows for vertical (upright, weight bearing) and horizontal (recumbent) positioning of all patients. The top-open construction also allows for dynamic-kinetic flexion and extension maneuvers of the spine. Patterns of bony and soft tissue change occurring among recumbent (rMRI) and upright neutral positions (pMRI), and dynamic-kinetic acquisitions (kMRI) were sought. Depending on the specific underlying pathologic degenerative condition, significant alterations observed on pMRI and kMRI that were either more or less pronounced than on rMRI included: fluctuating anterior and posterior disc herniations, hypermobile spinal instability, central spinal canal and spinal neural foramen stenosis and general sagittal spinal contour changes. No patient suffered from the feelings of claustrophobia requiring termination of the examination. To conclude, the potential relative beneficial aspects of upright, weight-bearing (pMRI), dynamic-kinetic (kMRI) spinal imaging on this system over that of recumbent MRI (rMRI) include: the revelation of occult disease dependent on true axial loading, the unmasking of kinetic-dependent disease, and the ability to scan the patient in the position of clinically relevant signs and symptoms. This imaging unit also demonstrated low claustrophobic potential and yielded relatively high-resolution images with little motion/chemical artifact.Cilj ispitivanja bio je pokazati opću korisnost prvoga uređaja za prikazivanje magnetskom rezonancijom (MRI) koji omogućuje pozicijsku procjenu kralješnice u uspravnom položaju i pri opterećenju (pMRI) za vrijeme različitih dinamičko-kinetičkih zahvata (kMRI) u bolesnika s degenerativnim promjenama kralješnice. Istraživanje je obuhvatilo prospektivnu analizu oslikavanja cervikalnog i lumbalnog područja. Sva su istraživanja izvedena na nedavno uvedenom MRI uređaju za cijelo tijelo (Indomitablea, Fonar Corp, Melville, NY). Sustav radi pri 0,6 T, uporabom elektromagneta s horizontalnim poljem, poprečnim na uzdužnu os bolesnikova tijela. Ovisno o spinalnoj razini, svi su pregledi obavljeni s cervikalnom ili lumbalnom prijemnom solenoidnom zavojnicom radiofrekvencije. Uređaj je na vrhu otvoren, a sastoji se od stola za skeniranje koji se može naginjati, pomicati i podizati. Jedinstveni motorom pokretani sustav za namještanje bolesnika, konstruiran za potrebe skenera, omogućuje okomit (uspravan, uz opterećenje) i vodoravan (ležeći) položaj svih bolesnika. Izvedba s otvorom na gornjem dijelu omogućuje dinamičko-kinetičke fleksijske i ekstenzijske zahvate na kralješnici. Traženi su uzorci promjena koštanog i mekog tkiva u ležećem položaju (rMRI) i uspravnoj neutralnoj poziciji (pMRI), te dinamičko-kinetičkim akvizicijama (kMRI). Ovisno o specifičnom patološkom degenerativnom stanju, na pMRI i kMRI su uočene značajne promjene koje su bile više ili manje izražene u odnosu na rMRI, obuhvaćale su fluktuirajuće prednje ili stražnje hernijacije diska, hipermobilnu spinalnu nestabilnost, stenozu centralnog spinalnog kanala i spinalnog neuralnog foramena te opće promjene sagitalne spinalne konture. Nijedan bolesnik nije imao osjećaj klaustrofobije zbog koje bi se pretraga morala prekinuti. Potencijalni relativni aspekti korisnosti MRI kralješnice u uspravnom položaju i uz opterećenje (pMRI) te dinamičko-kinetičkog (kMRI) prikazivanja na ovom sustavu u odnosu na MRI u ležećem položaju (rMRI) obuhvaćaju: otkrivanje prikrivenih bolesti ovisno o stvarno maksijalnom opterećenju, razjašnjenje bolesti ovisnih o kinetici, te mogućnost skeniranja bolesnika u položaju pri kojemu su uočljivi klinički važni znakovi i simptomi. Opisani uređaj ima mali klaustrofobični potencijal te daje slike relativno visoke rezolucije, s malo artefakata vezanih uz pokrete i kemikalije

Amino Acids from Icy Amines: A Radiation-Chemical Approach to Extraterrestrial Synthesis

Detections of amino acids in meteorites go back several decades, with at least 100 such compounds being reported for the Murchison meteorite alone. The presence of these extraterrestrial molecules raises questions as to their formation, abundance, thermal stability, racemization, and possible subsequent reactions. Although all of these topics have been studied in laboratories, such work often involves many variables and unknowns. This has led us to seek out model systems with which to uncover reaction products, test chemical predictions, and sited light on underlying reaction mechanisms. This presentation will describe one such study, focusing on amino-acid formation in ices

The Escherichia coli phage-shock-protein (psp) operon

The phage-shock-protein (psp) operon helps to ensure survival of Escherichia coli in tate stationary phase at alkaline pH, and protects the cell against dissipation of its proton-motive force against challenge. It is strongly induced by filamentous phage pIV and its bacterial homologues, and by mutant porins that don't localize properly, as well as by a number of other stresses. Transcription of the operon is dependent on sigma(54) and a constitutively active, autogenously controlled activator. psp-operon expression is controlled by one negatively and several positively acting regulators, none of which is a DNA-binding protein. The major product of the operon, PspA, may also serve as a negative regulator of an unusual porin, OmpG

Liberal equality: political not erinaceous

Ronald Dworkin’s Justice for Hedgehogs defends liberal political morality on the basis of a rich account of dignity as constitutive of living well. This article raises the Rawlsian concern that making political morality dependent on ethics threatens citizens’ political autonomy. Thereafter, it addresses whether the abandonment of (erinaceous) ethical foundations signals the demise of Dworkin’s liberalism and explores the possibility of laundering his conception so as to facilitate a marriage between the political philosophies of Rawls and Dworkin. The article finishes by rebutting some objections Dworkin raises against Rawls’s account of public reason

Global equality of resources and the problem of valuation

The principle that every individual on the planet has a claim to an equal share of Earth’s natural resources has an intuitive attraction. Yet the Principle of Natural Resource Equality is not without its problems. This article focuses on the problem of valuation. Unless and until its adherents are able to develop an adequate theoretical mechanism for determining the comparative value of two or more bundles of natural resources the principle lacks applicability and persuasive force. Three adequacy constraints on such a mechanism are presented and then applied to a theorisation of the Principle of Natural Resource Equality that I have already expounded elsewhere: Global Equality of Resources. In each case I try to argue that Global Equality of Resources could satisfy the adequacy constraint, provided that both this theory and the relevant constraint are properly understood

Thermochemolysis: A New Sample Preparation Approach for the Detection of Organic Components of Complex Macromolecules in Mars Rocks via Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry in SAM on MSL

Organic chemicals, when present in extraterrestrial samples, afford precious insight into past and modern conditions elsewhere in the Solar System . No single technology identifies all molecular components because naturally occurring molecules have different chemistries (e.g., polar vs. non-polar, low to high molecular weight) and interface with the ambient sample chemistry in a variety of modes (i.e., organics may be bonded, absorbed or trapped by minerals, liquids, gases, or other organics). More than 90% of organic matter in most natural samples on Earth and in meteorites is composed of complex macromolecules (e.g. biopolymers, complex biomolecules, humic substances, kerogen) because the processes that tend to break down organic molecules also tend towards complexation of the more recalcitrant components. Thus, methodologies that tap the molecular information contained within macromolecules may be critical to detecting extraterrestrial organic matter and assessing the sources and processes influencing its nature