Development of a [2]-Catenane Synthetic Method and a Student Beliefs Survey for a Hybrid Organometallics Course

In this study, the value-added of a new upper-level chemistry course, CHEM 372-Organometallics, was defined using a Student Beliefs Survey that was answered by students in CHEM 372 and by faculty who teach upper-level chemistry courses at Coastal Carolina University. The laboratory portion of CHEM 372 focused on the synthesis of a [2]-catenane, which is a molecularly interlocked molecule (MIM). The intention was to give the CHEM 372 students a goal to work toward over the course of the semester instead of different, unrelated, experiments each week. Using this style of lab teaching, the students were introduced to graduate school-level research and real-world application of laboratory technique. From the survey, the course was found to be 85% valuable, based on the similar responses between the experts and students. This indicates that CHEM 372 is a value-added, studio-based (laboratory-based) course that should be kept in the Coastal Carolina University\u27s Chemistry Department as an upper-level course option for chemistry students

All Rape is Not Created Equal: A Cure for the Ambiguity of Consent in Louisiana’s Third-Degree Rape Statute

The article discusses the development of the current third-degree rape regime in Louisiana, introduces the expansion of the consent clause and examines how consent is defined in Louisiana\u27s courtrooms

Wal-Mart in the Garden District: Does the Arbitrary and Capricious Standard of Review in NEPA Cases Undermine Citizen Participation?

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), enacted in 1969, requires that agencies of the U.S. government or those seeking to use federal funds to construct projects study the environmental and social impacts of said projects. Under the provisions of NEPA, a first-level review must be conducted for all projects not otherwise exempted. If the entity conducting the review deems that the project will result in a significant impact on humans or the environment, an environmental impact statement (EIS) must be prepared. The decision about whether or not to prepare an EIS can be controversial due to the fact that the entity charged with preparing the initial review ultimately makes decisions regarding the necessity of the preparation of the EIS. This paper explains the NEPA review process and the controversy that may result when the entity preparing the EIS does not respond to public concerns that a proposed project has a significant impact on the environment. The legal history of Coliseum Square Ass\u27n, Inc. v. Jackson, 465 F.3d 215 (5th Cir. 2006), provides a glimpse of a growing concern that the standard of review employed in these cases undermines efforts to involve citizens in the public comment process. The paper concludes with a discussion of how NEPA might be modified to ensure that citizens are given an adequate opportunity to participate in NEPA review

Caractéristiques moléculaires de l'immunité des plantes induite par les rhizobactéries non pathogènes

Molecular characteristics of the rhizobacteria-triggered plant immunity. Recognition of certain non-pathogenic rhizobacteria by plants can trigger a systemic resistance reaction that renders the host less susceptible to subsequent infection by a virulent agent. Used in combination with other approaches, this induced systemic resistance (ISR) phenomenon is considered as a promising strategy for plant disease control both in greenhouse cultures and under field conditions. This review emphasizes the molecular aspects of this three-step process involving sequentially the perception by plant cells of elicitors produced by the inducing agents that initiates the phenomenon, signal transduction that is needed to propagate the induced state systemically through the plant and expression of defense mechanisms sensu stricto that limit or inhibit pathogen penetration into the host tissues. The current state of knowledge about rhizobacteria-stimulated ISR is discussed in parallel with the better characterized systemic acquired resistance induced by incompatible pathogens

Equal Protection and Aesthetic Zoning: A Possible Crack and a Preemptive Repair

In Village of Willowbrook v. Olech, the property owner alleged the Village intentionally demanded a 33-foot easement as a condition of connecting her property to the municipal water supply where the Village required only a 15-foot easement from other similarly situated property owners. The complaint further described the village\u27s demand as irrational and wholly arbitrary. According to the Seventh Circuit, the property owner could allege an equal protection violation by asserting the state\u27s action was motivated solely by a spiteful effort to \u27get\u27 him for reasons wholly unrelated to any legitimate state objective. On appeal, the Supreme Court agreed, holding that [t]hese allegations, quite apart from the Village\u27s subjective motivation, are sufficient to state a claim for relief under traditional equal protection analysis. Although it affirmed the Seventh Circuit\u27s decision, the Court explicitly [did] not reach the alternative theory of \u27subjective ill will\u27 relied on by [the lower] court. This article considers whether Olech infers that unreasoned zoning decisions violate the Equal Protection Clause, and explores the meaning of similarly situated. The authors further examine what type of evidence might be necessary to ensure that aesthetic regulations pass constitutional muster with respect to the Fourteenth Amendment\u27s Equal Protection Clause

Inclusive (e,e′N)(e,e^\prime N), (e,e′NN)(e,e^\prime NN), (e,e′π)(e,e^\prime \pi) ... reactions in nuclei

We study the inclusive $(e,e^\prime N)$, $(e,e^\prime NN)$, $(e,e^\prime \pi)$, $(e,e^\prime \pi N)$ reactions in nuclei using a Monte Carlo simulation method to treat the multichannel problem of the final state. The input consists of reaction probabilities for the different steps evaluated using microscopical many body methods. We obtain a good agreement with experiment in some channels where there is data and make predictions for other channels which are presently under investigation in several electron laboratories. The comparison of the theoretical results with experiment for several kinematical conditions and diverse channels can serve to learn about different physical processes ocurring in the reaction. The potential of this theoretical tool to make prospections for possible experiments, aiming at pinning down certain reaction probabilities, is also emphasized.Comment: 21 pages (LaTeX + figure files

Closure of the Clymene Ocean and formation of West Gondwana in the Cambrian: Evidence from the Sierras Australes of the southernmost Rio de la Plata craton, Argentina

The formation of Gondwana took place across a series of Brasiliano?Pan African suture zones that record late Neoproterozoic to earliest Paleozoic collisions between Precambrian cratons. In South America, an internal suture zone marks the disappearance of the Clymene Ocean that separated the Amazon craton from the São Francisco and Rio de la Plata cratons. New geochronological data from the southern end of this massive collision zone in the Sierras Australes of central-eastern Argentina document Paleoproterozoic crust and suggest an Ediacaran age for the oldest sedimentary rocks. These two observations extend the known limit of the Rio de la Plata craton at least 200 km SW of previous estimates. New data also confirm the occurrence oflate Ediacaran to late Cambrian magmatism in the Sierras Australes. The age of these hypabyssal to volcanic rocks corresponds to igneous events in the Pampean belt along the western margin of the Rio de la Plata craton, although the shallow levelmagma emplacement in the Sierra da Ventana study area contrasts with the deeply exhumed rocks of the Pampean orogeny type locality. These new age data are compared with a broad compilation of geochronological age Clymene collision belts to the north, the Paraguai and Araguaia belts. The close overlap of the timing of orogenesis indicates the age of Clymene ocean closure in its northern reaches. In the south, the Pampean belt was unconfined, allowing continued tectonic activity and crustal accretion throughout the Paleozoic.Fil: Tohver, E.. University of Western Australia; AustraliaFil: Cawood, P. P.. University of Western Australia; Australia. University of St. Andrews; Reino UnidoFil: Rossello, Eduardo Antonio. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria; ArgentinaFil: Jourdan, J.. Curtin University; Australi

Gazelle seasonal mobility in the Jordanian steppe: The use of dental isotopes and microwear as environmental markers, applied to Epipalaeolithic Kharaneh IV

The Early/Middle Epipalaeolithic aggregation site of Kharaneh IV in the east Jordan steppe is one of the largest of the period, showing repeated use, high degrees of site investment, and relatively prolonged periods of occupation. Hunters relied heavily on the single prey species, Gazella subgutturosa. This paper reports on isotopic analyses of gazelle teeth, drawn from the Kharaneh IV assemblage, to explore the seasonal and spatial distribution of gazelle in life and examine models of long-distance seasonal gazelle migrations. Dental microwear analysis is also employed to assess hunting seasons. Results from sequential isotope analyses of 11 Epipalaeolithic gazelle molars show that, with one exception, gazelle did not move seasonally from the limestone steppe onto other geologies, nor did they seasonally relocate to areas with different climate regimes. Rather, seasonal herd mobility seems to have been local, meaning animals would have been available in the vicinity of Kharaneh IV year-round. Results from 19 microwear analyses show some gazelle to have died in spring when grass graze was available, whilst others had been browsing around their time of death, indicating non-spring hunting. Microwear evidence thus suggests gazelle were hunted in more than one restricted season. The implications of these new datasets for hunter-gatherer use of the steppe, and potential hunting methods, is highlighted