The Handmaid of Justice: Power and Procedure in the Inferior Courts

Summing up the history of procedure from the codification movement of the nineteenth century to the Federal Rules practice of today, Robert Bone observed, “Each generation of procedure reformers, it seems, diagnoses the malady and proposes a cure only to have the succeeding generation’s diagnosis treat the cure as a cause of the malady.” While playfully highlighting the contingencies and unexpected consequences of procedural history, Professor Bone was not advocating a cyclical view of history, in which “cost and delay” continually recur as the bugaboos of procedural reformers who can’t quite figure out how to solve the problem. Instead, Bone called on proceduralists to recognize that history mattered and moved in procedure. The cost and delay that the codifiers complained of were not the same costs and delays that mattered to the pragmatists of a later era, whether those costs involved the source of procedural law, the uniformity of rules across the national courts, or the fusion of legal and equitable remedies. Legal norms in these and other respects evolved, and Professor Bone counseled that “[t]he hope for the future lies in recognizing that procedural decisions require complex value choices no less controversial than those underlying substantive law and that those value choices in turn require the proceduralist to have thought through deeper jurisprudential questions concerning the nature of law and its relation to social life.

The Present Crisis in American Bail

More than fifty years after a predicted coming federal courts crisis in bail, district courts have begun granting major systemic injunctions against money bail systems. This Essay surveys the constitutional theories and circuit splits that are forming through these litigations. The major point of controversy is the level of federal court scrutiny triggered by allegedly unconstitutional bail regimes, an inquiry complicated by ambiguous Supreme Court precedents on (1) post-conviction fines, (2) preventive detention at the federal level, and (3) the adequacy of probable cause hearings. The Essay argues that the application of strict scrutiny makes the best sense of these precedents while also taking account of the troubled history of American bail, particularly during the Reconstruction Era from which the right to sue state officials in federal court for violations of constitutional rights emerged

Pythagorean Formula in Baseball: Creation of a Better Model Using Backward Elimination Stepwise Regression Analysis

Since the revealing of “Moneyball”, baseball organizations have increased its focus on the importance of statistical analysis (Lewis, 2003). This study attempts to create a model using baseball statistics that can predict a team’s wins, more accurately than the Pythagorean formula. The Pythagorean formula measures actual or projected runs scored against runs allowed and projects a team’s won-loss percentage (James, 1980). While this measure is accurate within reason, it excludes traditional and newer statistical measures from the equation. The author hypothesizes that a better model can be produced from more advanced statistical analysis, since Bill James’ developed the formula through experimental observation (James, 1980). This study uses backward elimination regression analysis from batting, pitching, and fielding statistics beginning with the 2005 season through the 2014 season to create a formula. The purpose of this study is to determine whether backward elimination regression will create a model that is more accurate at predicting wins than the Pythagorean formula. An additional forced entry regression analysis finds the amount of variance accounted for by the variables included in the Pythagorean formula. R2 values from both analyses were compared and the SEE from each equation was compared. The results indicate that a better model was created W = 28.723 +(.076*runs)+(.148*OPS+)+(.437*saves)-(.065*runs allowed)+(.09*ERA+)+ (1.537*SO/W) Equation 1. This model accounted for 92.7% of the variance while the Pythagorean formula variables accounted for 86.8% of the variance. The SEE of each formula resulted in the regression model, SE=2.99, being slightly better than the Pythagorean formula, SE=4.02. This study suggests that the model created through this study is about one game more accurate at predicting wins in a season

Instabilities and propagation of neutrino magnetohydrodynamic waves in arbitrary direction

In a previous work [16], a new model was introduced, taking into account the role of the Fermi weak force due to neutrinos coupled to magnetohydrodynamic plasmas. The resulting neutrino-magnetohydrodynamics was investigated in a particular geometry associated with the magnetosonic wave, where the ambient magnetic field and the wavevector are perpendicular. The corresponding fast, short wavelength neutrino beam instability was then obtained in the context of supernova parameters. The present communication generalizes these results, allowing for arbitrary direction of wave propagation, including fast and slow magnetohydrodynamic waves and the intermediate cases of oblique angles. The numerical estimates of the neutrino-plasma instabilities are derived in extreme astrophysical environments where dense neutrino beams exist

Brief of National Law Professors of Criminal, Procedural, and Constitutional Law, \u3ci\u3eIn re Humphrey\u3c/i\u3e, California Supreme Court, Regarding the Imposition of Money Bail and Conditions of Pretrial Release

When the government proposes to incarcerate a person before trial, it must provide thorough justification, whether the mechanism of detention is a transparent detention order or its functional equivalent, the imposition of unaffordable money bail. A court contemplating money bail must determine whether it is likely to result in detention. If so, and the court nonetheless wishes to impose it, the court must find, by clear and convincing evidence established through an adversary hearing, that the unaffordable bail amount serves a compelling interest of the state that no less restrictive condition of release can meet. This will rarely be the case. Few defendants pose an acute risk of willful flight or of committing serious harm in the pretrial phase. For the vast majority, attainable conditions of release can adequately protect the state’s interests in ensuring appearance and protecting public safety, while also preserving the fundamental right to pretrial liberty. The principle that the government must thoroughly justify any order of pretrial detention is not radical. Rather, it is continuous with the historical commitments of the bail system. Clarification of this core constitutional mandate is essential to recovering a rational system of pretrial detention and release, and the freedom it protects

GSK-3β phosphorylation of functionally distinct tau isoforms has differential, but mild effects

Background: Tau protein exists as six different isoforms that differ by the inclusion or exclusion of exons 2, 3 and 10. Exon 10 encodes a microtubule binding repeat, thereby resulting in three isoforms with three microtubule binding repeats (3R) and three isoforms that have four microtubule binding repeats (4R). In normal adult brain, the relative amounts of 3R tau and 4R tau are approximately equal. These relative protein levels are preserved in Alzheimer's disease, although in other neurodegenerative tauopathies such as progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration and Pick's disease, the ratio of 3R:4R is frequently altered. Because tau isoforms are not equally involved in these diseases, it is possible that they either have inherently unique characteristics owing to their primary structures or that post-translational modification, such as phosphorylation, differentially affects their properties. Results: We have determined the effects of phosphorylation by a kinase widely believed to be involved in neurodegenerative processes, glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β), on the microtubule binding and inducer-initiated polymerization of these isoforms in vitro. We have found that each isoform has a unique microtubule binding and polymerization profile that is altered by GSK-3β. GSK-3β phosphorylation had differential effects on the isoforms although there were similarities between isoforms and the effects were generally mild. Conclusion: These results indicate that tau phosphorylation by a single kinase can have isoform specific outcomes. The mild nature of these changes, however, makes it unlikely that differential effects of GSK-3β phosphorylation on the isoforms are causative in neurodegenerative disease. Instead, the inherent differences in the isoform interactions themselves and local conditions in the diseased cells are likely the major determinant of isoform involvement in various neurodegenerative disorders

Bail at the Founding

How did criminal bail work in the founding era? This question has become pressing as bail, and bail reform, have attracted increasing attention, in part because history is thought to bear on the meaning of bail-related provisions in state and federal constitutions. To date, however, there has been no thorough account of bail at the Founding. This Article begins to correct the deficit in our collective memory by describing bail law and practice in the founding era, from approximately 1790 to 1810. In order to give a full account, we surveyed a wide range of materials, including founding-era statutes, case law, legal treatises, and manuals for justices of the peace; and original court, jail, administrative, and justice-of-the-peace records held in archives and private collections. The historical inquiry illuminates three key facts. First, the black-letter law of bail in the founding era was highly protective of pretrial liberty. A uniquely American framework for bail guaranteed release, in theory, for nearly all accused persons. Second: Things were different on the ground. The primary records reveal that, for those who lived on the margins of society, bail practice bore little resemblance to the law on the books, and pretrial detention was routine. The third key point cuts across the law and reality of criminal bail: Both in theory and in practice, the bail system was a system of unsecured pledges, not cash deposits. It operated through reputational capital, not financial capital. This fact refutes the claim, frequently advanced by opponents of contemporary bail reform, that cash bail is a timeless American tradition. The contrast between the law-on-the-books and the practice of bail in the founding era, meanwhile, highlights the difficulty of looking to the past for a determinate guide to legal meaning

Modulation of Tau Dysfunction In Vitro

The microtubule associated protein tau is a causative factor in a class of neurodegenerative diseases termed tauopathies. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent tauopathy. In AD, natively unfolded, tau becomes hyperphosphorylated, and undergoes a conformational change allowing hexapeptide regions near microtubule binding repeat region 2 to aggregate into fibers. Tau exists in neurons as six alternatively spliced isoforms. The expression levels of tau are not changed in many tauopathies; however, various levels of each isoform can be included in aggregation depending on the disease. This indicates post-translational modifications or interactions with other proteins causes certain tau isoforms to be included in or excluded from these insoluble inclusions. Tau functions by assembling and stabilizing microtubules and is regulated by phosphorylation. In AD, the phosphorylation state of tau is altered so the affinity for microtubules is reduced; however, how changes in tau phosphorylation affect polymerization of tau isoforms is not fully understood. Abnormal aggregation of protein in a cell is mediated by molecular chaperones. A class of molecular chaperones, heat shock proteins, is upregulated in response to cellular stress. The most widely involved is heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70), which has upregulated and inversely proportional protein levels to tau aggregation in hippocampal neurons. Hsp70 can increase tau solubility in cells; however, it is unknown if Hsp70 can act directly on tau to prevent its dysfunction. This dissertation explores how phosphorylation with GSK-3β, the major kinase believed to be involved in tau hyperphosphorylation, and interactions with Hsp70, affect tau dysfunction (polymerization) and function (microtubule binding and assembly). Tau isoforms were found to be differentially affected by phosphorylation, as indicated by differences in their overall polymerization and various morphologies. Likewise, tau phosphorylation differentially affected their affinity for stabilized microtubules. Tau isoform polymerization was inhibited by Hsp70, with various concentrations of Hsp70 needed for complete inhibition. Finally, while Hsp70 altered the microtubule assembly properties of tau isoforms, each individual isoform was able to assemble microtubules robustly. Taken together, this dissertation shows tau isoforms respond differently to modifications and interaction with Hsp70, indicating each isoform could play a specific role in the progression of tauopathies

Neutrino magnetohydrodynamics

A new neutrino magnetohydrodynamics (NMHD) model is formulated, where the effects of the charged weak current on the electron-ion magnetohydrodynamic fluid are taken into account. The model incorporates in a systematic way the role of the Fermi neutrino weak force in magnetized plasmas. A fast neutrino-driven short wavelengths instability associated with the magnetosonic wave is derived. Such an instability should play a central role in strongly magnetized plasma as occurs in supernovae, where dense neutrino beams also exist. In addition, in the case of nonlinear or high frequency waves, the neutrino coupling is shown to be responsible for breaking the frozen-in magnetic field lines condition even in infinite conductivity plasmas. Simplified and ideal NMHD assumptions were adopted and analyzed in detail

Evidenciação contábil de ativos intangíveis: um estudo em duas empresas catarinenses pertencentes ao setor cerâmico de revestimentos

Monografia apresentada ao Setor de Pós-graduação da Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense - UNESC, para a obtenção do título de especialista em MBA em Gestão Estratégica de Finanças e Controladoria.Frente às novas práticas contábeis referentes aos ativos intangíveis, este estudo tem como finalidade verificar as evidenciações sobre os ativos intangíveis nas demonstrações contábeis de duas empresas catarinenses pertencentes ao setor cerâmico no período de 2007 a 2011. A pesquisa caracteriza-se como descritiva com abordagem qualitativa e quantitativa por meio de análise documental das demonstrações contábeis das companhias investigadas. Os resultados demonstraram um quadro evolutivo da evidenciação dos intangíveis, uma vez que, inicialmente em 2007, não eram divulgados e com o passar do tempo verificou-se que além da divulgação, teve uma melhora na qualidade das explanações encontradas nas notas explicativas. Os ativos intangíveis mais divulgados pelas companhias foram: direito contratual, softwares, marcas e patentes. Os ativos intangíveis representaram um pequeno percentual em relação ao ativo total das duas companhias analisadas. As práticas contábeis de evidenciação mostraram que os demonstrativos contábeis estão se adequando as alterações da legislação com uma crescente melhora na qualidade das informações apresentadas. Conclui-se que os ativos intangíveis nas empresas investigadas estão vinculados a atividade fim, agregando valor às companhias. Observa-se, também, que os ativos intangíveis são recursos estratégicos para as companhias e fonte de vantagens competitivas, pois proporcionam benefícios econômicos futuros. Portanto, a evidenciação contábil é de suma importância, pois viabiliza a compreensão e análise do desempenho econômico-financeiro das entidades, bem como auxilia a tomada de decisões