1,321 research outputs found
Afterward: A Reply to Commentators
Authors Gabriel J. Chin and Paul Finkelman respond to the comments on their article, The Free White Person Clause of the Naturalization Act of 1790 as Super-Statute
The Free White Person Clause of the Naturalization Act of 1790 as Super-Statute
A body of legal scholarship persuasively contends that some judicial decisions are so important that they should be considered part of the canon of constitutional law including, unquestionably, Marbury v. Madison and Brown v. Board of Education. Some decisions, while blunders, were nevertheless profoundly influential in undermining justice and the public good. Scholars call cases such as Dred Scott v. Sandford and Plessy v. Ferguson the anticanon. Recognizing the contemporary centrality of statutes, Professors William Eskridge and John Ferejohn propose that certain federal laws should be recognized as part of legal canon because of their extraordinary influence and duration. These so-called “super-statutes” include the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This Article proposes that the Naturalization Act of 1790 is a super-statute whose impact is not fully appreciated. Responding to George Washington’s first Address to Congress and reflecting a complaint leveled against King George III in the Declaration of Independence, in the 1790 Act, the First Congress limited naturalization to “any alien being a free white person.” The racial restriction, as modified, would remain in effect until 1952, inducing White immigration and discouraging that of others. Through the mechanism of the “declaration of intent to naturalize,” added in a 1795 amendment, Congress made it possible for state and federal law to grant political and economic rights to White immigrants immediately upon arrival while ensuring that non-White immigrants could never enjoy them. The Naturalization Act of 1790 helps explain why, for example, as late as 1960, more than 99 percent of Americans were White or Black. It also resolves the question of the racial attitudes of the Framers—whether or not they supported slavery, a majority of them unambiguously conceived of the United States as a White country.
Notwithstanding its racism, the Naturalization Act of 1790 has earned recognition as among the most effective pieces of legislation ever enacted by Congress. It deserves a place of dishonor alongside segregation laws, the Indian Removal Act, prohibitions on interracial marriage, and other laws establishing White supremacy
On the resistivity at low temperatures in electron-doped cuprate superconductors
We measured the magnetoresistance as a function of temperature down to 20mK
and magnetic field for a set of underdoped PrCeCuO (x=0.12) thin films with
controlled oxygen content. This allows us to access the edge of the
superconducting dome on the underdoped side. The sheet resistance increases
with increasing oxygen content whereas the superconducting transition
temperature is steadily decreasing down to zero. Upon applying various magnetic
fields to suppress superconductivity we found that the sheet resistance
increases when the temperature is lowered. It saturates at very low
temperatures. These results, along with the magnetoresistance, cannot be
described in the context of zero temperature two dimensional
superconductor-to-insulator transition nor as a simple Kondo effect due to
scattering off spins in the copper-oxide planes. We conjecture that due to the
proximity to an antiferromagnetic phase magnetic droplets are induced. This
results in negative magnetoresistance and in an upturn in the resistivity.Comment: Accepted in Phys. Rev.
Notes on Contributions to the Science of Rare Earth Element Enrichment in Coal and Coal Combustion Byproducts
Coal and coal combustion byproducts can have significant concentrations of lanthanides (rare earth elements). Rare earths are vital in the production of modern electronics and optics, among other uses. Enrichment in coals may have been a function of a number of processes, with contributions from volcanic ash falls being among the most significant mechanisms. In this paper, we discuss some of the important coal-based deposits in China and the US and critique classification systems used to evaluate the relative value of the rare earth concentrations and the distribution of the elements within the coals and coal combustion byproducts
Development of Short-Form Versions of the Screener and Opioid Assessment for Patients with Pain-Revised (SOAPP-R):A Proof-of-Principle Study
BACKGROUND: The Screener and Opioid Assessment for Patients with Pain-Revised (SOAPP-R) is a 24-item questionnaire designed to assess risk of aberrant medication-related behaviors in chronic pain patients. The introduction of short forms of the SOAPP-R may save time and increase utilization by practitioners. OBJECTIVE: To develop and evaluate candidate SOAPP-R short forms. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: Pain centers. SUBJECTS: Four hundred and twenty-eight patients with chronic noncancer pain. METHODS: Subjects had previously been administered the full-length version of the SOAPP-R and been categorized as positive or negative for aberrant medication-related behaviors via the Aberrant Drug Behavior Index (ADBI). Short forms of the SOAPP-R were developed using lasso logistic regression. Sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve (AUC) of all forms were calculated with respect to the ADBI using the complete data set, training-test analysis, and 10-fold cross-validation. The coefficient alpha of each form was also calculated. An external set of 12 pain practitioners reviewed the forms for content. RESULTS: In the complete data set analysis, a form of 12 items exhibited sensitivity, specificity, and AUC greater than or equal to those of the full-length SOAPP-R (which were 0.74, 0.67, and 0.76, respectively). The short form had a coefficient alpha of 0.76. In the training-test analysis and 10-fold cross-validation, it exhibited an AUC value within 0.01 of that of the full-length SOAPP-R. The majority of external practitioners reported a preference for this short form. CONCLUSIONS: The 12-item version of the SOAPP-R has potential as a short risk screener and should be tested prospectively
Sequential solvent extraction for the modes of occurrence of selenium in coals of different ranks from the Huaibei Coalfield, China
Forms of selenium in bituminous coal, anthracite, and cokeite (natural coke) from Huaibei Coalfield, Anhui, China, have been determined by sequential solvent extraction. The selenium content in bulk samples is 4.0, 2.4, and 2.0 ÎĽg/g in bituminous coal, anthracite, and cokeite, respectively. The six forms of selenium determined by six-step solvent extraction are water-leachable, ion-exchangeable, organic matter-associated, carbonate-associated, silicate-associated, and sulfide-associated. The predominant forms of selenium in bituminous coal are organic matter-associated (39.0%), sulfide-associated (21.1%), and silicate bound (31.8%); these three forms account for 92% of the total. The organic matter bound-selenium decrease dramatically from bituminous coal (39.0%) to anthracite (11.6%) and to cokeite (0%), indicating that organic matter bound selenium is converted to other forms during metamorphism of the coal, most likely sulfide-form. The sulfide-associated form increased remarkably from bituminous coal (21.1%) to anthracite (50.4%) and cokeite (54.5%), indicating the formation of selenium sulfide, possibly in pyrite during the transformation of bituminous coal to anthracite and cokeite. The silicate-associated selenium in bituminous coal (31.8%) is much higher than that in anthracite (16.4%) and cokeite (15.8%), indicating that silicate-associated selenium is partly converted to sulfide during metamorphism
γδ T cells affect IL-4 production and B-cell tolerance
γδ T cells can influence specific antibody responses. Here, we report that mice deficient in individual γδ T-cell subsets have altered levels of serum antibodies, including all major subclasses, sometimes regardless of the presence of αβ T cells. One strain with a partial γδ deficiency that increases IgE antibodies also displayed increases in IL-4–producing T cells (both residual γδ T cells and αβ T cells) and in systemic IL-4 levels. Its B cells expressed IL-4–regulated inhibitory receptors (CD5, CD22, and CD32) at diminished levels, whereas IL-4–inducible IL-4 receptor α and MHCII were increased. They also showed signs of activation and spontaneously formed germinal centers. These mice displayed IgE-dependent features found in hyper-IgE syndrome and developed antichromatin, antinuclear, and anticytoplasmic autoantibodies. In contrast, mice deficient in all γδ T cells had nearly unchanged Ig levels and did not develop autoantibodies. Removing IL-4 abrogated the increases in IgE, antichromatin antibodies, and autoantibodies in the partially γδ-deficient mice. Our data suggest that γδ T cells, controlled by their own cross-talk, affect IL-4 production, B-cell activation, and B-cell tolerance
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