“The Brooding Spirit of the Law”: Supreme Court Justices Reading Dissents from the Bench

In rare instances, a Supreme Court justice may elect to call attention to his or her displeasure with a majority decision by reading a dissenting opinion from the bench. We document this phenomenon by constructing a data set from audio files of Court proceedings and news accounts. We then test a model explaining why justices use this practice selectively by analyzing ideological, strategic, and institutional variables. Judicial review, formal alteration of precedent, size of majority coalition, and issue area influence this behavior. Ideological distance between the dissenter and majority opinion writer produces a counterintuitive relationship. We suspect that reading a dissent is an action selectively undertaken when bargaining and accommodation among ideologically proximate justices has broken down irreparably

Pyeloplasty in children: is there a difference in patients with or without crossing lower pole vessel?

Introduction: Most of the children with hydronephrosis do not require any surgical intervention. However, in individual cases, irreversible loss of renal function can develop. Predictive criteria have been proven ineffective so far in determining in which children obstruction will lead to renal damage. The aim of our retrospective study was to determine the role of a crossing lower pole vessel (CV) in children undergoing pyeloplasty. Materials and methods: Between 1996 and 2003, 137 patients (age between 6weeks and 16years) with unilateral ureteropelvic junction obstruction and no associated urological pathologies underwent Anderson-Hynes dismembered pyeloplasty. A total of 112 patients were evaluated with complete data. One of the following criteria was considered to be indication for surgery in children with grade 4 hydronephrosis: differential renal function (DRF) 10% and washout patterns II or III b according to O'Reilly. We looked at the age during surgery and the kind of presentation. DRF was measured using diuretic renography preoperatively and 1year postoperatively. A postoperative change in DRF of group A (children without CV, n=84) was compared to that in group B (children with CV, n=28). Results: Median age at the time of surgery was 5months in group A compared to 23months in group B. Only in 21.4% of the children with CV compared to 60.7% without CV hydronephrosis was diagnosed by ultrasound examination antenatally. We found a preoperative DRF of 42.4%±11.2 SD in group A, and of 38.9%±11.7 SD in group B. The percentage of postoperative improvement was 3.3% in group A and 15.4% in group B. Conclusions: Children with ureteropelvic junction obstruction and CV received a delayed surgical treatment and showed a greater reduction in differential renal function preoperatively, in contrast to patients without CV. Our data show that CV is a risk factor for deterioration of renal function in children with hydronephrosis and we advocate for an early pyeloplasty in these children, especially if they have a high-grade dilatation and equivocal washout patterns in diuretic renographies. Further prospective studies are necessary in order to understand the natural history of CV and to reveal the importance of the crossing lower pole vessel as a structural anomaly lacking maturatio

Diapirs as the source of the sediment signature in arc lavas

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2011. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Nature Publishing Group for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Nature Geoscience 4 (2011): 641-646, doi:10.1038/ngeo1214Many arc lavas show evidence for the involvement of subducted sediment in the melting process. There is debate whether this “sediment melt” signature forms at relatively low temperature near the fluid-saturated solidus or at higher temperature beyond the breakdown of trace-element-rich accessory minerals. We present new geochemical data from high- to ultrahigh-pressure rocks that underwent subduction and show no significant depletion of key trace elements in the sediment melt component until peak metamorphic temperatures exceeded ~1050ºC from 2.7 to 5 GPa. These temperatures are higher than for the top of the subducting plate at similar pressures based on thermal models. To address this discrepancy, we use instability calculations for a non-Newtonian buoyant layer in a viscous half-space to show that, in typical subduction zones, solid-state sediment diapirs initiate at temperatures between 500–850ºC. Based on these calculations, we propose that the sediment melt component in arc magmas is produced by high degrees of dehydration melting in buoyant diapirs of metasediment that detach from the slab and rise into the hot mantle wedge. Efficient recycling of sediments into the wedge by this mechanism will alter volatile fluxes into the deep mantle compared to estimates based solely on devolatilization of the slab.Funding for this work was provided by NSF and WHOI’s Deep Ocean Exploration Institute

Mapping of a new locus for congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract on chromosome 8q24

Background. Congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT) account for the majority of end-stage renal disease in children (50%). Previous studies have mapped autosomal dominant loci for CAKUT. We here report a genome-wide search for linkage in a large pedigree of Somalian descent containing eight affected individuals with a non-syndromic form of CAKUT. Methods. Clinical data and blood samples were obtained from a Somalian family with eight individuals with CAKUT including high-grade vesicoureteral reflux and unilateral renal agenesis. Total genome search for linkage was performed using a 50K SNP Affymetric DNA microarray. As neither parent is affected, the results of the SNP array were analysed under recessive models of inheritance, with and without the assumption of consanguinity. Results. Using the non-consanguineous recessive model, a new gene locus (CAKUT1) for CAKUT was mapped to chromosome 8q24 with a significant maximum parametric Logarithm of the ODDs (LOD) score (LODmax) of 4.2. Recombinations were observed in two patients defining a critical genetic interval of 2.5 Mb physical distance flanked by markers SNP_A-1740062 and SNP_A-1653225. Conclusion. We have thus identified a new non-syndromic recessive gene locus for CAKUT (CAKUT1) on chromosome 8q24. The identification of the disease-causing gene will provide further insights into the pathogenesis of urinary tract malformations and mechanisms of renal developmen

Fault Detection, Isolation and Recovery in the MMX Rover Locomotion Subsystem

In any mechatronic system, faults can occur. Likewise also in the MMX rover, which is a wheeled rover mutually developed by CNES (Centre national d'études spatiales) and DLR (German Aerospace Center), intended to land on Phobos. An essential part of the MMX rover is the locomotion subsystem which includes several sensors and eight motors actuating the four legs and the four wheels. In each of these components and their interfaces, there is a possibility that faults arise and lead to subsystem failures, which would mean that the rover cannot move anymore. To reduce this risk, the possible faults of the MMX locomotion subsystem were identified in a FMECA study and their criticality was classified, which is presented in here. During this examination, the criticality was graded depending on different mission phases. With the help of this study, the hardware, firmware and software design were enhanced. Fur- ther, certain fault detection, isolation and recovery strategies were implemented in the locomotion firmware and software as well as in the full rover software

Driving in Milli-G: The Flight Model of the MMX Rover Locomotion Subsystem and its Integration & Testing in the Rover

IDEFIX is a 25 kg four-wheeled rover that will explore the surface of the Martian Moon Phobos in 2027. The rover is jointly developed by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and will be brought to Phobos within the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Martian Moon eXploration (MMX) mission. Being the world's first wheeled system to drive in milli-gravity, IDEFIX's locomotion deserves special attention. This paper gives an overview of the locomotion subsystem (LSS) of the rover, which is entirely developed and built by the Robotics and Mechatronics Center of DLR (DLR-RMC). A representative LSS, mounted on an IDEFIX prototype, is shown in Figure 1. The LSS is tailored to the needs for the IDEFIX rover and the most important, sizing challenges and functional requirements are summarized. It is then shown how the final flight model (FM) design answers to these requirements. The assembly, integration and testing (AIT) with respect to the LSS consists of several steps of integration and testing at different facilities as well as a comprehensive test sequence once the rover is mostly integrated. Since the LSS is an important, interconnected and the functionally most complex subsystem of the rover, some functionalities could only be tested once the LSS was integrated into IDEFIX. These AIT aspects are therefore summarized in this paper as well

Characterization of the MMX Rover Locomotion Flight Model for Check-Out and Parameterization

IDEFIX is a four-wheeled 25kg rover that is jointly developed and built by the French Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). It will be brought to the Martian Moon Phobos by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) as part of the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission in 2027. IDEFIX's objectives are to scout the surface, demonstrate driving in milligravity and perform scientific measurements. To upright after landing on the surface, drive and align the rover to the sun, each wheel is mounted on a leg, which can be rotated full 360° in its respective shoulder joint. In previous publications, the development, flight design and qualification of the locomotion subsystem were presented. During the cruise phase there will be several health checks and - once landed on Phobos - the locomotion will be checkedout. To be able to analyze the health state quantitatively and parameterize the system properly, a good characterization of the system is important. The foundation of this characterization are tests and health-checks on the flight model (FM), as well as performance test results on the qualification model (QM). A selection of the post-processing and analysis of this measured data, that was done for the characterization of the Loco FM, is presented in this paper

MMX Rover Locomotion Subsystem - Development and Testing towards the Flight Model

Wheeled rovers have been successfully used as mobile landers on Mars and Moon and more such missions are in the planning. For the Martian Moon eXploration (MMX) mission of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), such a wheeled rover will be used on the Marsian Moon Phobos. This is the first rover that will be used under such low gravity, called milli-g, which imposes many challenges to the design of the locomotion subsystem (LSS). The LSS is used for unfolding, standing up, driving, aligning and lowering the rover on Phobos. It is a entirely new developed highly-integrated mechatronic system that is specifically designed for Phobos. Since the Phase A concept of the LSS, which was presented two years ago [1], a lot of testing, optimization and design improvements have been done. Following the tight mission schedule, the LSS qualification and flight models (QM and FM) assembly has started in Summer 2021. In this work, the final FM design is presented together with selected test and optimization results that led to the final state. More specifically, advances in the mechanics, electronics, thermal, sensor, firmware and software design are presented. The LSS QM and FM will undergo a comprehensive qualification and acceptance testing campaign, respectively, in the first half of 2022 before the FM will be integrated into the rove

A membrane-associated movement protein of Pelargonium flower break virus shows RNA-binding activity and contains a biologically relevant leucine zipper-like motif

[EN] Two small viral proteins (DGBp1 and DGBp2) have been proposed to act in a concerted manner to aid intra- and intercellular trafficking of carmoviruses though the distribution of functions and mode of action of each protein partner are not yet clear. Here we have confirmed the requirement of the DGBps of Pelargonium flower break virus (PFBV), p7 and p12, for pathogen movement Studies focused on p12 have shown that it associates to cellular membranes, which is in accordance to its hydrophobic profile and to that reported for several homologs. However, peculiarities that distinguish p12 from other DGBp52 have been found. Firstly, it contains a leucine zipper-like motif which is essential for virus infectivity in plants. Secondly, it has an unusually long and basic N-terminal region that confers RNA binding activity. The results suggest that PFBV p12 may differ mechanistically from related proteins and possible roles of PFBV DGBps are discussed. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.We gratefully thank Dr. Vicente Pallas for critical reading of the manuscript and Dolores Arocas and Isabella Avellaneda for their technical assistance. This research was supported by grant BFU2006-11230 and BFU2009-11699 from the Ministerio Ciencia e Innovacion (MICINN, Spain) and by grants ACOM/2006/210 and ACOMP/2009/040 (Generalitat Valenciana, GV) to C. H. S. M.-T. was the recipient of a predoctoral fellowship from GV and of a predoctoral contract from MICINN.Martínez Turiño, S.; Hernandez Fort, C. (2011). A membrane-associated movement protein of Pelargonium flower break virus shows RNA-binding activity and contains a biologically relevant leucine zipper-like motif. Virology. 413(2):310-319. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.virol.2011.03.001S310319413