The Case for Appellate Court Revision

A Review of Rationing Justice on Appeal: The Problems of the U.S. Courts of Appeals by Thomas E. Bake

The Constitution\u27s Second Century - The Shift in Emphasis from Property Rights to Personal Rights

We celebrate the two hundredth anniversary of the Constitution this year confident that it will survive for at least another hundred years. As is true of many things American, the observance of the occasion has devoted more than enough attention to the historic days of 1787 when the document was drafted. The Constitution of today, in reality, consists not only of the original text but of significant court decisions over the years. To gain some understanding of what is meant by constitutional rights today requires a review of some of the important cases. The focus here is on the shift from the courts\u27 early emphasis on property rights to the later attention to what might be called personal rights and is largely a historical and chronological review rather than a philosophical one

The Federal Courts Study Committee Begins Its Work.

Abstract Forthcoming

Rapid prototyping of carbon-based chemiresistive gas sensors on paper

Chemically functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are promising materials for sensing of gases and volatile organic compounds. However, the poor solubility of carbon nanotubes hinders their chemical functionalization and the subsequent integration of these materials into devices. This manuscript describes a solvent-free procedure for rapid prototyping of selective chemiresistors from CNTs and graphite on the surface of paper. This procedure enables fabrication of functional gas sensors from commercially available starting materials in less than 15 min. The first step of this procedure involves the generation of solid composites of CNTs or graphite with small molecule selectors—designed to interact with specific classes of gaseous analytes—by solvent-free mechanical mixing in a ball mill and subsequent compression. The second step involves deposition of chemiresistive sensors by mechanical abrasion of these solid composites onto the surface of paper. Parallel fabrication of multiple chemiresistors from diverse composites rapidly generates cross-reactive arrays capable of sensing and differentiating gases and volatile organic compounds at part-per-million and part-per-thousand concentrations.Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Soldier NanotechnologiesNational Cancer Institute (U.S.) (Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award F32CA157197

Down-regulation of the transcription factor snail in the placentas of patients with preeclampsia and in a rat model of preeclampsia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Placental malfunction in preeclampsia is believed to be a consequence of aberrant differentiation of trophoblast lineages and changes in utero-placental oxygenation. The transcription factor Snail, a master regulator molecule of epithelial-mesenchymal transition in embryonic development and in cancer, is shown to be involved in trophoblast differentiation as well. Moreover, Snail can be controlled by oxidative stress and hypoxia. Therefore, we examined the expression of Snail and its downstream target, e-cadherin, in human normal term, preterm and preeclamptic placentas, and in pregnant rats that developed preeclampsia-like symptoms in the response to a 20-fold increase in sodium intake.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Western blotting analysis was used for comparative expression of Snail and e- cadherin in total protein extracts. Placental cells expressing Snail and e-cadherin were identified by immunohistochemical double-labeling technique.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The levels of Snail protein were decreased in human preeclamptic placentas by 30% (<it>p < 0.01) </it>compared to normal term, and in the rat model by 40% (<it>p < 0.001) </it>compared to control placentas. In preterm placentas, the levels of Snail expression varied, yet there was a strong trend toward statistical significance between preterm and preeclamptic placentas. In humans, e-cadherin protein level was 30% higher in preeclamptic <it>(p < 0.05) </it>placentas and similarly, but not significantly <it>(p = 0.1)</it>, high in the preterm placentas compared to normal term. In the rat model of preeclampsia, e-cadherin was increased by 60% (<it>p < 0.01)</it>. Immunohistochemical examination of human placentas demonstrated Snail-positive staining in the nuclei of the villous trophoblasts and mesenchymal cells and in the invasive trophoblasts of the decidua. In the rat placenta, the majority of Snail positive cells were spongiotrophoblasts of the junctional zone, while in the labyrinth, Snail-positive sinusoidal giant trophoblasts cells were found in some focal areas located close to the junctional zone.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We demonstrated that human preeclampsia and the salt-induced rat model of preeclampsia are associated with the reduced levels of Snail protein in placenta. Down-regulation of the transcription factor Snail in placental progenitor cell lineages, either by intrinsic defects and/or by extrinsic and maternal factors, may affect normal placenta development and function and thus contribute to the pathology of preeclampsia.</p