Criminal Law and Procedure

This Article surveys recent developments in criminal procedure and law in Virginia. Because of space limitations, the authors have limited their discussion to the most significant appellate decisions and legislation

On Rank Problems for Planar Webs and Projective Structures

We present old and recent results on rank problems and linearizability of geodesic planar webs.Comment: 31 pages; LaTeX; corrected the abstract and Introduction; added reference

Research Priorities in Limb and Task-Specific Dystonias

Dystonia, which causes intermittent or sustained abnormal postures and movements, can present in a focal or a generalized manner. In the limbs, focal dystonia can occur in either the upper or lower limbs and may be task-specific causing abnormal motor performance for only a specific task, such as in writer’s cramp, runner’s dystonia, or musician’s dystonia. Focal limb dystonia can be non-task-specific and may, in some circumstances, be associated with parkinsonian disorders. The true prevalence of focal limb dystonia is not known and is likely currently underestimated, leaving a knowledge gap and an opportunity for future research. The pathophysiology of focal limb dystonia shares some commonalities with other dystonias with a loss of inhibition in the central nervous system and a loss of the normal regulation of plasticity, called homeostatic plasticity. Functional imaging studies revealed abnormalities in several anatomical networks that involve the cortex, basal ganglia, and cerebellum. Further studies should focus on distinguishing cause from effect in both physiology and imaging studies to permit focus on most relevant biological correlates of dystonia. There is no specific therapy for the treatment of limb dystonia given the variability in presentation, but off-label botulinum toxin therapy is often applied to focal limb and task-specific dystonia. Various rehabilitation techniques have been applied and rehabilitation interventions may improve outcomes, but small sample size and lack of direct comparisons between methods to evaluate comparative efficacy limit conclusions. Finally, non-invasive and invasive therapeutic modalities have been explored in small studies with design limitations that do not yet clearly provide direction for larger clinical trials that could support new clinical therapies. Given these gaps in our clinical, pathophysiologic, and therapeutic knowledge, we have identified priorities for future research including: the development of diagnostic criteria for limb dystonia, more precise phenotypic characterization and innovative clinical trial design that considers clinical heterogeneity, and limited available number of participants

On planar webs with infinitesimal automorphisms

We investigate the space of abelian relations of planar webs admitting infinitesimal automorphisms. As an application we construct 4k − 14 new algebraic families of global exceptional k-webs on the projective plane, for each k ≥ 5

Growth and field-emission properties of vertically aligned cobalt nanowire arrays

We present the fabrication of vertically aligned cobalt nanowire arrays on planar surfaces as well as preliminary field-emission (FE) experiments using them as cold electron cathodes. These arrays are obtained by electrodeposition into nanoporous templates on Au/Ti/Si substrates at very low temperature (<100 degreesC). After the removal of the template, the arrays consist of statistically positioned vertical free-standing nanowires with high aspect ratios, uniform dimensions, and predetermined densities. The electron field-emission measurements show metallic and reproducible characteristics. Emission is found to be reasonably homogeneous over the whole sample area, and a current density of 1 mA/cm(2) has been obtained. We show that the growth process permits us to predetermine the field amplification factor precisely, which is of primary importance for FE sources, A large variety of FE applications can be envisaged, including FE displays and microwave amplifiers