Fixed Stars: Famous First Amendment Phrases and Their Indelible Impact

Some passages in First Amendment law have taken on a life and legend of their own, entering our cultural lexicon for their particular power, precision or passion. Some phrases are just so beautifully written that they cannot escape notice. Others aptly capture the essence of a key concept in a memorable way. Still others seemingly have grown in importance simply by the frequency for which they are cited in later court decisions. This article analyzes ten phrases from U.S. Supreme Court First Amendment decisions that qualify as some of the most enduring passages in First Amendment jurisprudence

Beyond Sérsic + exponential disc morphologies in the Coma Cluster

Galaxies are not limited to simple spheroid or bulge + disc morphologies. We explore the diversity of internal galaxy structures in the Coma Cluster across a wide range of luminosities (−17 > Mg > −22) and cluster-centric radii (0 10 kpc). 11 per cent of galaxies (N = 52) feature a break in their outer profiles, indicating ‘truncated’ or ‘antitruncated’ discs. Beyond the break radius, truncated galaxies are structurally consistent with exponential discs, disfavouring physical truncation as their formation mechanism. Bulge luminosity in antitruncated galaxies correlates strongly with galaxy luminosity, indicating a bulge-enhancing origin for these systems. Both types of broken disc are found overwhelmingly (>70 per cent) in ‘barred’ galaxies, despite a low measured bar fraction for Coma (20 ± 2 per cent). Thus, galaxy bars play an important role in formation of broken disc structures. No strong variation in galaxy structure is detected with projected cluster-centric radius

How Important Are Data Curation Activities to Researchers? Gaps and Opportunities for Academic Libraries

Introduction: Data curation may be an emerging service for academic libraries, but researchers actively “curate” their data in a number of ways—even if terminology may not always align. Building on past user-needs assessments performed via survey and focus groups, the authors sought direct input from researchers on the importance and utilization of specific data curation activities. Methods: Between October 21, 2016, and November 18, 2016, the study team held focus groups with 91 participants at six different academic institutions to determine which data curation activities were most important to researchers, which activities were currently underway for their data, and how satisfied they were with the results. Results: Researchers are actively engaged in a variety of data curation activities, and while they considered most data curation activities to be highly important, a majority of the sample reported dissatisfaction with the current state of data curation at their institution. Discussion: Our findings demonstrate specific gaps and opportunities for academic libraries to focus their data curation services to more effectively meet researcher needs. Conclusion: Research libraries stand to benefit their users by emphasizing, investing in, and/or heavily promoting the highly valued services that may not currently be in use by many researchers

Does mitochondrial DNA predispose to neuromyelitis optica (Devic's disease)?

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO), or Devic's disease, is a relapsing demyelinating disease of the central nervous system characterized by optic neuritis and myelitis with distinct clinical, imaging, CSF and serological features (Wingerchuk et al. , 2006). There is increasing evidence that NMO is an antibody-mediated organ-specific autoimmune disease associated with anti-aquaporin 4 antibodies detectable in serum (Lennon et al. , 2004), supported by four recent papers in the same edition of Brain (Matsuoka et al. , 2007; Misu et al. , 2007; Roemer et al. , 2007; Takahashi et al. , 2007) and the accompanying scientific commentary (Compston, 2007). However, it is still not known why the disorder specifically targets the optic nerves and spinal cord. Several siblings with NMO have been reported (McAlpine, 1938; Keegan and Weinshenker, 2000; Yamakawa et al. , 2000), raising the possibility of a genetic predisposition, but no pathogenic mutations have been identified in the AQP4 gene on chromosome 18q11.2-q12.1 (Lu et al. , 1996). NMO has similarities with Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON, MIM 535 000) which is primarily due to mutations of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) that disrupt complex I of the respiratory chain (Carelli et al. , 2004). Although the genetic defect in LHON is present in all tissues, the pathology also is strikingly tissue-specific. Most affected individuals develop sub-acute painless visual failure due to focal involvement of both optic nerves (Newman et al. , 1991; Riordan-Eva et al. , 1995), but some also develop a progressive myelopathy, with high signal extending over multiple spinal levels on MR imaging, and the absence of oligoclonal bands in the CSF (Johns et al. , 1991; Jaros et al. , 2007). Tissue-specific susceptibility to mitochondrial dysfunction is thought to explain why the neurodegeneration in LHON only affects specific neuronal

Accurate prediction of gene expression by integration of DNA sequence statistics with detailed modeling of transcription regulation

Gene regulation involves a hierarchy of events that extend from specific protein-DNA interactions to the combinatorial assembly of nucleoprotein complexes. The effects of DNA sequence on these processes have typically been studied based either on its quantitative connection with single-domain binding free energies or on empirical rules that combine different DNA motifs to predict gene expression trends on a genomic scale. The middle-point approach that quantitatively bridges these two extremes, however, remains largely unexplored. Here, we provide an integrated approach to accurately predict gene expression from statistical sequence information in combination with detailed biophysical modeling of transcription regulation by multidomain binding on multiple DNA sites. For the regulation of the prototypical lac operon, this approach predicts within 0.3-fold accuracy transcriptional activity over a 10,000-fold range from DNA sequence statistics for different intracellular conditions.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure

Policies for an Ageing Workforce Work-life balance, working conditions and equal opportunities 2019

At a time of rapid population ageing, a key means of sustaining current welfare states is to extend the length of working lives. In 2050, the share of people over the age of 75 years will be the same as the share over 65 years today. And just as not all are able to work to the age of 65 now, not everyone will be able to work to the age of 75 in 2050; even if future older workers will in all likelihood be healthier and have better working aids at their disposal. Extending average working lives by 10 years, and at the same time ensuring an adequate social safety net for those unable to work into their late 60s and 70s, is a major social policy challenge for the coming decades. And because people are much more likely to work late in life if they had stable careers before reaching 60, tackling this policy challenge means pulling on many more social policy levers than just pension policy. While being keenly aware of these issues and how they relate to the overall agenda of active ageing, Commissioner Thyssen also reminds us in her Foreword that marked increases in life expectancy – both past and in the future – represent enormous social progress. The Commissioner makes the point that older people too contribute to society. And more so with lifelong learning and investment in skills

Crummer SunTrust Portfolio Recommendations: Crummer Investment Management [2021]

SunTrust endowed this portfolio to provide scholarships for future Crummer students and to give current students a practical, hands-on learning opportunity. This year, we are pleased to be able to award $50,000 in scholarships. We are extremely grateful for SunTrust’s generosity and investment in higher education. We have all learned a great deal from this experience and the responsibility of managing real money. Our first challenge is to establish a portfolio position that takes advantage of economic opportunities while avoiding unnecessary risk and conforming to the Crummer SunTrust Investment Policy Statement (IPS). We are also tasked by the IPS to operate at two levels simultaneously – tactical for the near term, and strategic for the long run. Additionally, this portfolio presents some unusual portfolio management challenges by trading only once a year, in early April. Our tactical approach began with a top-down sector analysis. We established an economic forecast based on research and consultation with economists, including Professor William Seyfried of the Crummer School and Philip Rich of Seaside Bank. We based our equity and fixed income split on that forecast with a modest allocation to bonds of 10%. That forecast also drove our allocation among the eleven S&P sectors: Communication Services, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Energy, Financials, Healthcare, Industrials, Information Technology, Materials, Real Estate, and Utilities. This year, we have forecast a strong economic recovery within the next twelve-month period and tilted the allocation towards sectors that should do well in an expansion while paying attention to post-pandemic dynamics. Our asset class allocation embodies the long-run strategy of our portfolio. The IPS sets asset class ranges from low to moderate risk to keep the portfolio from being whipsawed by transitory market cycles. Our equity allocations entail a reasonable level of risk, consistent with our view that the stock market will continue an upward trend between now and March 2022. We maintain an allocation to a sector ETF in each sector to ensure diversification. Additionally, as a practical matter, we are limiting each sector to a maximum of two individual stocks. Fixed income is our anchor sector, providing a hedge against the risk of an economic slowdown adversely impacting our equity holdings. Consistent with our slightly steeper yield curve projection, we are at the low end of our IPS range for fixed income at 10%, which is lower than last year’s 15% and down slightly from the 12% market position on March 1, 2021. Furthermore, we have continued to incorporate the theme of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing into our portfolio selection process. Whether you believe a high ESG rating signals a company’s prospects or that ESG ratings are a popularity contest, the ESG wave is sweeping the equity markets as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Regardless of a security’s consistency with this theme, all recommendations must be undervalued after rigorous quantitative and qualitative analysis. In other words, our intent is not to maximize the ESG impact of our portfolio but to tilt towards this factor. Specifically, the proposed equity holdings in this year’s portfolio have a weighted average FTSE ESG score of 3.52 out of 5, while S&P 500 holdings have a cap-weighted average score of 3.25. We have witnessed an extraordinary and unpredictable year in many respects. However, with innovations in healthcare and technology leading the way, there is a cautious optimism in the air for the near future. We do not intend to simply follow the crowd. Yet, echoing the philosophy of Warren Buffett, “our opinions and beliefs, grounded in economics and guided by all of those who have counseled us,” lead us to a strategy that is not significantly different from many investors. Even so, we accept responsibility for our investment decisions. We are investing for the long-term and we have been fairly conservative in our forecasts and recommendations. Simultaneously, in the short term, we are mindful of the need to protect the portfolio’s commitment to scholarships

Haplotype Network Branch Diversity, a New Metric Combining Genetic and Topological Diversity to Compare the Complexity of Haplotype Networks

A common way of illustrating phylogeographic results is through the use of haplotype networks. While these networks help to visualize relationships between individuals, populations, and species, evolutionary studies often only quantitatively analyze genetic diversity among haplotypes and ignore other network properties. Here, we present a new metric, haplotype network branch diversity (HBd), as an easy way to quantifiably compare haplotype network complexity. Our metric builds off the logic of combining genetic and topological diversity to estimate complexity previously used by the published metric haplotype network diversity (HNd). However, unlike HNd which uses a combination of network features to produce complexity values that cannot be defined in probabilistic terms, thereby obscuring the values’ implication for a sampled population, HBd uses frequencies of haplotype classes to incorporate topological information of networks, keeping the focus on the population and providing easy-to-interpret probabilistic values for randomly sampled individuals. The goal of this study is to introduce this more intuitive metric and provide an R script that allows researchers to calculate diversity and complexity indices from haplotype networks. A group of datasets, generated manually (model dataset) and based on published data (empirical dataset), were used to illustrate the behavior of HBd and both of its terms, haplotype diversity, and a new index called branch diversity. Results followed a predicted trend in both model and empirical datasets, from low metric values in simple networks to high values in complex networks. In short, the new combined metric joins genetic and topological diversity of haplotype networks, into a single complexity value. Based on our analysis, we recommend the use of HBd, as it makes direct comparisons of network complexity straightforward and provides probabilistic values that can readily discriminate situations that are difficult to resolve with available metrics

Characterization of the near-Earth Asteroid 2002NY40

In August 2002, the near-Earth asteroid 2002 NY40, made its closest approach to the Earth. This provided an opportunity to study a near-Earth asteroid with a variety of instruments. Several of the telescopes at the Maui Space Surveillance System were trained at the asteroid and collected adaptive optics images, photometry and spectroscopy. Analysis of the imagery reveals the asteroid is triangular shaped with significant self-shadowing. The photometry reveals a 20-hour period and the spectroscopy shows that the asteroid is a Q-type

On the determination of a cloud condensation nuclei from satellite : Challenges and possibilities

We use aerosol size distributions measured in the size range from 0.01 to 10+ μm during Transport and Chemical Evolution over the Pacific (TRACE-P) and Aerosol Characterization Experiment-Asia (ACE-Asia), results of chemical analysis, measured/modeled humidity growth, and stratification by air mass types to explore correlations between aerosol optical parameters and aerosol number concentration. Size distributions allow us to integrate aerosol number over any size range expected to be effective cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and to provide definition of a proxy for CCN (CCNproxy). Because of the internally mixed nature of most accumulation mode aerosol and the relationship between their measured volatility and solubility, this CCNproxy can be linked to the optical properties of these size distributions at ambient conditions. This allows examination of the relationship between CCNproxy and the aerosol spectral radiances detected by satellites. Relative increases in coarse aerosol (e.g., dust) generally add only a few particles to effective CCN but significantly increase the scattering detected by satellite and drive the Angstrom exponent (α) toward zero. This has prompted the use of a so-called aerosol index (AI) on the basis of the product of the aerosol optical depth and the nondimensional α, both of which can be inferred from satellite observations. This approach biases the AI to be closer to scattering values generated by particles in the accumulation mode that dominate particle number and is therefore dominated by sizes commonly effective as CCN. Our measurements demonstrate that AI does not generally relate well to a measured proxy for CCN unless the data are suitably stratified. Multiple layers, complex humidity profiles, dust with very low α mixed with pollution, and size distribution differences in pollution and biomass emissions appear to contribute most to method limitations. However, we demonstrate that these characteristic differences result in predictable influences on AI. These results suggest that inference of CCN from satellites will be challenging, but new satellite and model capabilities could possibly be integrated to improve this retrieval