2,129 research outputs found
True Criminal?: An Analysis and Discussion of the Crimes Committed by Detective Rustin Cohle in Season One of HBO’s Mini-Series True Detective
The purpose of this Article is to identify and discuss the numerous laws that Cohle broke during the course of the eight episodes – each episode is discussed separately in Sections II through IX. Here, an extremely important point needs to be made – this Article is not intended to pinpoint exactly how many laws that Cohle would likely be convicted of violating; rather, as is the case generally in the legal profession, many of the actual offenses and charges would be subject to prosecutorial discretion and therefore reasonable minds may disagree with the exact charge. To the extent possible, this Article discusses the potential criminal charges that may be brought against Cohle but clearly understands that the actual number and degree may vary greatly, particularly in different jurisdictions and with different prosecutors. To that end, the Article will only tally and calculate potential state law charges but may make reference to some potential federal crimes where applicable. In an effort to keep track of the various charges and potential maximum sentence, the Article will keep the Cohle Crime Count (“CCC”) and Cohle Maximum Sentence Tally (“CMST”) after each potential charge in the footnotes and will assume a potential consecutive sentence. Further, since the show takes place in three distinct time periods, to avoid any confusion, the current statutes will be cited – even though in criminal proceedings the law at the time of the commission of the crime is applicable and no statute of limitations will apply. Additionally, in Sections II, A. and V, A., the Article will briefly address a few of the more critical legal issues raised in the show. For example, it will posit that Cohle’s entire videotaped interview in 2012 – when he was the subject of an investigation similar to the Dora Lange murder from 1995 – would have been admissible in a subsequent proceeding against him, if any, regardless of the fact that he had been drinking alcohol purchased by and provided to him by the investigating detectives, Detective Maynard Gilbough and Detective Thomas Papania. Moreover, if Cohle was actually charged for any crimes while conducting his rogue investigation in Episodes Four and Five, the Article discusses his potential defense of acting in an undercover capacity and concludes such a defense would likely not be successful. By the end, the Article will quantify, with some degree of specificity, Cohle’s statement that, throughout the course of the show, he did in fact do “terrible things” with impunity
The Rebirth of the NBA - Well, Almost: An Analysis of the Maurice Clarett Decision and Its Impact on the National Basketball Association
High discharge rate characteristics of nickel-cadmium batteries for pulse load filtering
Several tests of specially fabricated nickel-cadmium batteries having circular disk type electrodes were considered. These batteries were evaluated as filter elements between a constant current power supply and a five hertz pulsed load demanding approximately twice the power supply current during the load on portion of the cycle. Short tests lasting 10,000 cycles were conducted at up to a 21 C rate and an equivalent energy density of over 40 Joules per pound. In addition, two batteries were subjected to 10 to the 7 charge/discharge cycles, one at a 6.5 C rate and the other at a 13 C rate. Assuming an electrode to battery weight ratio of 0.5, these tests represent an energy density of about 7 and 14 Joules per pound respectively. Energy density, efficiency, capacitance, average voltage, and available capacity were tracked during these tests. After 10 to the 7 cycles, capacity degradation was negligible for one battery and about 20% for the other. Cadmium electrode failure may be the factor limiting lifetime at extremely low depth of discharge cycling. The output was examined and a simple equivalent circuit was proposed
Six questions on the construction of ontologies in biomedicine
(Report assembled for the Workshop of the AMIA Working Group on Formal Biomedical Knowledge Representation in connection with AMIA Symposium, Washington DC, 2005.)
Best practices in ontology building for biomedicine have been frequently discussed in recent years. However there is a range of seemingly disparate views represented by experts in the field. These views not only reflect the different uses to which ontologies are put, but also the experiences and disciplinary background of these experts themselves. We asked six questions related to biomedical ontologies to what we believe is a representative sample of ontologists in the biomedical field and came to a number conclusions which we believe can help provide an insight into the practical problems which ontology builders face today
Prosecutorial Discretion under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines: Is the Fox Guarding the Hen House
American Shad Habitat Plan for the Commonwealth of Virginia
In Virginia, American shad are found in the Chesapeake Bay and its major tributaries, including the Potomac, Rappahannock, York, and James rivers, as well as smaller tributaries and other coastal habitats (e.g., along the Delmarva peninsula) (Fig. 1). Additionally, American shad are found in certain rivers in Virginia that drain to North Carolina (Desfosse et al., 1994). Here we focus on the major western tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay as these areas have come to define the primary stocks in Virginia waters (the James, York, and Rappahannock stocks). Although certain spawning/rearing reaches are known for American shad for individual rivers (Bilcovic et al. 2002), the a mount of habitat used by American shad for these life history stages at a river-wide scale is unknown for Virginia tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay. Several tidal portions of the three major Virginia tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay have been designated as high priority areas for living resources, and migratory fishes in particula
Expanded analysis of high-grade astrocytoma with piloid features identifies an epigenetically and clinically distinct subtype associated with Neurofibromatosis Type 1
High-grade astrocytoma with piloid features (HGAP) is a recently recognized glioma type whose classification is dependent on its global epigenetic signature. HGAP is characterized by alterations in the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, often co-occurring with CDKN2A/B homozygous deletion and/or ATRX mutation. Experience with HGAP is limited and to better understand this tumor type, we evaluated an expanded cohort of patients (n = 144) with these tumors, as defined by DNA methylation array testing, with a subset additionally evaluated by next-generation sequencing (NGS). Among evaluable cases, we confirmed the high prevalence CDKN2A/B homozygous deletion, and/or ATRX mutations/loss in this tumor type, along with a subset showing NF1 alterations. Five of 93 (5.4%) cases sequenced harbored TP53 mutations and RNA fusion analysis identified a single tumor containing an NTRK2 gene fusion, neither of which have been previously reported in HGAP. Clustering analysis revealed the presence of three distinct HGAP subtypes (or groups = g) based on whole-genome DNA methylation patterns, which we provisionally designated as gNF1 (n = 18), g1 (n = 72), and g2 (n = 54) (median ages 43.5 years, 47 years, and 32 years, respectively). Subtype gNF1 is notable for enrichment with patients with Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (33.3%, p = 0.0008), confinement to the posterior fossa, hypermethylation in the NF1 enhancer region, a trend towards decreased progression-free survival (p = 0.0579), RNA processing pathway dysregulation, and elevated non-neoplastic glia and neuron cell content (p \u3c 0.0001 and p \u3c 0.0001, respectively). Overall, our expanded cohort broadens the genetic, epigenetic, and clinical phenotype of HGAP and provides evidence for distinct epigenetic subtypes in this tumor type
Chemotherapy accelerates immune-senescence and functional impairments of Vδ2pos T cells in elderly patients affected by liver metastatic colorectal cancer.
Human (gamma delta) γδ T cells are unconventional innate-like lymphocytes displaying a broad array of anti-tumor activities with promising perspectives in cancer immunotherapy. In this context, Vδ2pos T cells represent the preferential target of several immunotherapy protocols against solid tumors. However, the impact of both aging and chemotherapy (CHT) on Vδ2pos T cells is still unknown. The present study evaluates with multi-parametric flow cytometry the frequencies, terminal differentiation, senescence and effector-functions of peripheral blood and tumor infiltrating Vδ2pos T cells purified from liver metastases (CLM) of patients affected by colorectal cancer (CRC) compared to those of sex- and age-matched healthy donors. The peripheral blood of CLM patients underwent CHT is characterized by decreased amounts of Vδ2pos T cells showing a relative increase of terminally-differentiated CD27neg/CD45RApos (TEMRA) cells. The enrichment of this latter subset is associated with an increased expression of the senescent marker CD57. The acquisition of CD57 on TEMRA Vδ2pos T cells is also coupled with impairments in cytotoxicity and production of TNF-α and IFN-γ. These features resemble the acquisition of an immune-senescent profile by Vδ2pos T cells from CLM patients that received CHT, a phenomenon that is also associated with the loss of the co-stimulatory marker CD28 and with the induced expression of CD16. The group of CLM patients underwent CHT and older than 60 years old showed higher frequencies of CD57pos and TEMRA Vδ2pos T cells. Similar results were found for tumor infiltrating Vδ2pos T cell subset purified from CLM specimens of patients treated with CHT. The toxicity of CHT regimens also affects the homeostasis of Vδ2pos T cells by inducing higher frequencies of circulating CD57pos TEMRA subset in CLM underwent CHT and younger than 60 years old. Taken together, our data demonstrate that the enrichment of senescent Vδ2pos T cells in CLM patients is not only induced by patients' aging but also by the toxicity of CHT that further accelerates the accumulation of CD57pos TEMRA cells highly dysfunctional in their anti-tumor activities. These results are important to both predict the clinical outcome of CLM and to optimize those protocols of cell cancer immunotherapy employing unconventional Vδ2pos T cells
Electronic structure of CaSrVO: a tale of two energy-scales
We investigate the electronic structure of CaSrVO using
photoemission spectroscopy. Core level spectra establish an electronic phase
separation at the surface, leading to distinctly different surface electronic
structure compared to the bulk. Analysis of the photoemission spectra of this
system allowed us to separate the surface and bulk contributions. These results
help us to understand properties related to two vastly differing energy-scales,
namely the low energy-scale of thermal excitations (~) and the
high-energy scale related to Coulomb and other electronic interactions.Comment: 4 pages and 3 figures. Europhysics Letters (appearing
Standardizing data exchange for clinical research protocols and case report forms: An assessment of the suitability of the Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC) Operational Data Model (ODM)
AbstractEfficient communication of a clinical study protocol and case report forms during all stages of a human clinical study is important for many stakeholders. An electronic and structured study representation format that can be used throughout the whole study life-span can improve such communication and potentially lower total study costs. The most relevant standard for representing clinical study data, applicable to unregulated as well as regulated studies, is the Operational Data Model (ODM) in development since 1999 by the Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC). ODM’s initial objective was exchange of case report forms data but it is increasingly utilized in other contexts. An ODM extension called Study Design Model, introduced in 2011, provides additional protocol representation elements.Using a case study approach, we evaluated ODM’s ability to capture all necessary protocol elements during a complete clinical study lifecycle in the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health. ODM offers the advantage of a single format for institutions that deal with hundreds or thousands of concurrent clinical studies and maintain a data warehouse for these studies. For each study stage, we present a list of gaps in the ODM standard and identify necessary vendor or institutional extensions that can compensate for such gaps. The current version of ODM (1.3.2) has only partial support for study protocol and study registration data mainly because it is outside the original development goal. ODM provides comprehensive support for representation of case report forms (in both the design stage and with patient level data). Inclusion of requirements of observational, non-regulated or investigator-initiated studies (outside Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation) can further improve future revisions of the standard
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