Separation Agreements in Missouri

In the calendar year of 1968 an estimated 537,000 divorces took place in the United States. In many of these divorces the respective future rights and responsibilities of the parties were fixed in a written agreement known as the Separation Agreement. The purpose of this comment is to present the practical problems encountered in Missouri in the use of such agreements and to suggest possible solutions for them. In the absence of an agreement respecting the future responsibilities of the parties, the court\u27s authority in such matters is limited. According to section 452.070, RSMo 1969, the court can grant a decree of divorce or separate maintenance and pursuant to such decree it may award alimony, custody of the children, support for the children, attorney\u27s fees, and court costs. Specific personal property may only be decreed to the wife in a divorce suit pursuant to an agreement of the parties. In Bishop v. Bishop, the court stated that, in the absence of an agreement, it has no authority to adjudicate a settlement of property rights, or to divest the title to property, real or personal out of one party and vest it in the other. Also, a valid separation agreement can limit the court\u27s authority in the disposition of alimony. Therefore, a separation agreement can serve a very useful purpose and, in effect, either broaden or restrict the court\u27s authority

Noise-induced inhibitory suppression of malfunction neural oscillators

Motivated by the aim to find new medical strategies to suppress undesirable neural synchronization we study the control of oscillations in a system of inhibitory coupled noisy oscillators. Using dynamical properties of inhibition, we find regimes when the malfunction oscillations can be suppressed but the information signal of a certain frequency can be transmitted through the system. The mechanism of this phenomenon is a resonant interplay of noise and the transmission signal provided by certain value of inhibitory coupling. Analyzing a system of three or four oscillators representing neural clusters, we show that this suppression can be effectively controlled by coupling and noise amplitudes.Comment: 10 pages, 14 figure

The structure of volcanic cristobalite in relation to its toxicity; relevance for the variable crystalline silica hazard

BACKGROUND: Respirable crystalline silica (RCS) continues to pose a risk to human health worldwide. Its variable toxicity depends on inherent characteristics and external factors which influence surface chemistry. Significant population exposure to RCS occurs during volcanic eruptions, where ashfall may cover hundreds of square km and exposure may last years. Occupational exposure also occurs through mining of volcanic deposits. The primary source of RCS from volcanoes is through collapse and fragmentation of lava domes within which cristobalite is mass produced. After 30 years of research, it is still not clear if volcanic ash is a chronic respiratory health hazard. Toxicological assays have shown that cristobalite-rich ash is less toxic than expected. We investigate the reasons for this by determining the physicochemical/structural characteristics which may modify the pathogenicity of volcanic RCS. Four theories are considered: 1) the reactivity of particle surfaces is reduced due to co-substitutions of Al and Na for Si in the cristobalite structure; 2) particles consist of aggregates of cristobalite and other phases, restricting the surface area of cristobalite available for reactions in the lung; 3) the cristobalite surface is occluded by an annealed rim; 4) dissolution of other volcanic particles affects the surfaces of RCS in the lung. METHODS: The composition of volcanic cristobalite crystals was quantified by electron microprobe and differences in composition assessed by Welch's two sample t-test. Sections of dome-rock and ash particles were imaged by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and elemental compositions of rims determined by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. RESULTS: Volcanic cristobalite contains up to 4 wt. % combined Al(2)O(3) and Na(2)O. Most cristobalite-bearing ash particles contain adhered materials such as feldspar and glass. No annealed rims were observed. CONCLUSIONS: The composition of volcanic cristobalite particles gives insight into previously-unconsidered inherent characteristics of silica mineralogy which may affect toxicity. The structural features identified may also influence the hazard of other environmentally and occupationally produced silica dusts. Current exposure regulations do not take into account the characteristics that might render the silica surface less harmful. Further research would facilitate refinement of the existing simple, mass-based silica standard by taking into account composition, allowing higher standards to be set in industries where the silica surface is modified.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)Moyes Foundation - studentshi

A Framework for Integrated Assessment Modelling

“Air quality plans” according to Air Quality Directive 2008/50/EC Art. 23 are the strategic element to be developed, with the aim to reliably meet ambient air quality standards in a cost-effective way. This chapter provides a general framework to develop and assess such plans along the lines of the European Commission’s basic ideas to implement effective emission reduction measures at local, region, and national level. This methodological point of view also allows to analyse the existing integrated approaches

Affinity panning of a library of peptides displayed on bacteriophages reveals the binding specificity of BiP

We have used affinity panning of libraries of bacteriophages that display random octapeptide or dodecapeptide sequences at the N-terminus of the adsorption protein (plll) to characterize peptides that bind to the endoplasmic reticulum chaperone BiP and to develop a scoring system that predicts potential BiP-binding sequences in naturally occurring polypeptides. BiP preferentially binds peptides containing a subset of aromatic and hydrophobic amino acids in alternating positions, suggesting that peptides bind in an extended conformation, with the side chains of alternating residues pointing into a cleft on the BiP molecule. Synthetic peptides with sequences corresponding to those displayed by BiP-binding bacteriophages bind to BiP and stimulate its ATPase activity, with a half-maximal concentration in the range 10-60 μM

A new method to determine Young's modulus of refractory

International audienceThis paper proposes a new method to determine the Young modulus from high temperature bending test. Considering that the global behaviour of experimental device and sample is purely elastic during the unload phase and exploiting that the effects of the indentation under the contact are lower at the beginning of the unloading, it is proposed to deduce the Young's modulus from the slope of the unloading curve. Young modulus obtained with this method for different SiC based refractories are in good agreement with results of others tests such as tensile test or ultrasonic measurement

Mapping a candidate gene (MdMYB10) for red flesh and foliage colour in apple

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Integrating plant genomics and classical breeding is a challenge for both plant breeders and molecular biologists. Marker-assisted selection (MAS) is a tool that can be used to accelerate the development of novel apple varieties such as cultivars that have fruit with anthocyanin through to the core. In addition, determining the inheritance of novel alleles, such as the one responsible for red flesh, adds to our understanding of allelic variation. Our goal was to map candidate anthocyanin biosynthetic and regulatory genes in a population segregating for the red flesh phenotypes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have identified the <it>Rni </it>locus, a major genetic determinant of the red foliage and red colour in the core of apple fruit. In a population segregating for the red flesh and foliage phenotype we have determined the inheritance of the <it>Rni </it>locus and DNA polymorphisms of candidate anthocyanin biosynthetic and regulatory genes. Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs) and Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in the candidate genes were also located on an apple genetic map. We have shown that the MdMYB10 gene co-segregates with the <it>Rni </it>locus and is on Linkage Group (LG) 09 of the apple genome.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We have performed candidate gene mapping in a fruit tree crop and have provided genetic evidence that red colouration in the fruit core as well as red foliage are both controlled by a single locus named <it>Rni</it>. We have shown that the transcription factor MdMYB10 may be the gene underlying <it>Rni </it>as there were no recombinants between the marker for this gene and the red phenotype in a population of 516 individuals. Associating markers derived from candidate genes with a desirable phenotypic trait has demonstrated the application of genomic tools in a breeding programme of a horticultural crop species.</p