User definition and mission requirements for unmanned airborne platforms, revised

The airborne measurement requirements of the scientific and applications experiment user community were assessed with respect to the suitability of proposed strawman airborne platforms. These platforms provide a spectrum of measurement capabilities supporting associated mission tradeoffs such as payload weight, operating altitude, range, duration, flight profile control, deployment flexibility, quick response, and recoverability. The results of the survey are used to examine whether the development of platforms is warranted and to determine platform system requirements as well as research and technology needs

Perceptions of a service redesign by adults living with type 2 diabetes

<b>Aim:</b> This article is a report of a study conducted to explore the perceptions of adults with type 2 diabetes towards the service redesign. <b>Background:</b> Diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions and the management of this chronic illness is changing in response to this challenge. In the United Kingdom, there is ongoing restructuring of healthcare services for people with chronic illnesses to ensure that their general health and clinical needs are met predominantly in primary care. <b>Method:</b> An explorative qualitative approach was used. Eight focus groups were conducted with 35 people with type 2 diabetes in one urban location between 2003 and 2004. Five focus groups were conducted with people who had recently experienced the restructured service and three groups with people who had up to 2 years' experience of the new service. Concurrent data collection and thematic analysis were conducted by three researchers and credibility and verification sought by feedback to participants. <b>Findings:</b> Five main themes were identified: impact of living with diabetes; understanding diabetes; drivers for organizational change; care in context and individual concerns. Participants identified issues for ongoing development of the service. <b>Conclusion:</b> People with type 2 diabetes appreciate their care management within the primary care setting where there has been investment in staff to deliver this care. Healthcare resources are required to support the development of staff and the necessary infrastructure to undertake management in primary care. Policy makers need to address the balance of resources between primary and secondary care

Keynote Address: Broadband Deployment in a Multi-Media World: Moving beyond the Myths to Seize the Opportunities

Keynote Address as prepared for delivery before the Content Abundance in a Multimedia World: Challenges and Opportunities for Multi-Platform Content Delivery and Regulation Symposium held on March 15, 2007 at The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law. Robert M. McDowell is Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission

Limitation Periods for Federal Causes of Action After the Judicial Improvements Act of 1990

Congress often enacts statutes that create specific causes of action for aggrieved individuals. Many federal statutes, however, create duties with no corresponding action for breach, leaving courts to create causes of action for individuals owed those duties.\u27 When the courts, rather than Congress, create a cause of action, no specific statute of limitations governs the suit. Surprisingly, many statutory causes of action also lack limitation periods. Courts frequently face actions not governed by any statute of limitations because traditionally there has been no general statute of limitations governing all federal actions. Courts usually are not content to find that a party may bring suit at any time after the cause of action accrues. Throughout history,courts have found time limitations necessary to protect possible defendants, the judicial system, and society in general. Because many federally derived causes of action do not have statutory limitation periods,courts must look elsewhere for appropriate time restrictions. In 1990 Congress sought to relieve the courts of the arduous task of borrowing limitation periods. The Judicial Improvements Act of 1990 (the Act) contains a general statute of limitations governing actions arising under federal statutes that contain no specific limitation periods. Part II of this Note discusses the Act in more detail. Part III evaluates options courts have when confronting a federal cause of action with no limitation period, including borrowing from state law, borrowing from federal law, applying no limitation period, limiting the action with laches, or simply creating an appropriate period. Part IV examines steps Congress could take to ensure that every action arising under a federal statute has an appropriate limitation period and examines constitutional concerns regarding congressional delegation of the power to fix statutes of limitations. Finally, this Note concludes that the general fallback statute of limitations in the Act is insufficient as a remedy for the uncertainty caused by Congress\u27s failure to provide limitation periods in statutes that create causes of action. Because courts are unable to provide uniform solutions to this problem, Congress must enact additional legislation

Quasar x-ray spectra revisited

A sample of 45 quasars observed by the Imaging Proportional Counter (IPC) on the Einstein satellite is used to re-examine the relationship between the soft (0.2-3.5 keV) X-ray energy index and radio-loudness. We found the following: (1) the tendency for radio-loud quasars to have systematically flatter X-ray slopes than radio-quiet quasars (RQQ's) is confirmed with the soft X-ray excess having negligible effect; (2) there is a tendency for the flatness of the X-ray slope to correlate with radio core-dominance for radio-loud quasars, suggesting that a component of the X-ray emission is relativistically beamed; (3) for the RQQ's the soft X-ray slopes, with a mean of approximately 1.0, are consistent with the slopes found at higher energies (2-10 keV) although steeper than those observed for Seyfert 1 galaxies (also 2-10 keV) where the reflection model gives a good fit to the data; (4) the correlation of FeII emission line strength with X-ray energy index is confirmed for radio-quiet quasars using a subset of 18 quasars. The radio-loud quasars show no evidence for a correlation. This relation suggests a connection between the ionizing continuum and the line emission from the broad emission line region (BELR) of radio-quiet quasars, but in the opposite sense to that predicted by current photoionization models; and (5) the correlations of X-ray slope with radio core dominance and FeII equivalent width within the radio-loud and radio-quiet sub-classes respectively imply that the observed wide range of X-ray spectral slopes is real rather than due to the large measuring uncertainties for individual objects

The Impact of Clapper v. Amnesty International USA on the Doctrine of Fear-Based Standing

The Supreme Court\u27s 2013 decision in Clapper v. Amnesty International USA dealt with the government\u27s electronic surveillance authority under the Foreign Intelligence SurveillanceAct (FISA) Amendments. In a 5- 4 opinion, the Court held that a variety of U.S. persons, including attorneys and media organizations, did not have standing to challenge the constitutionality of the FISA Amendments because the plaintiffs\u27 fear of future unlawful surveillance was not certainly impending. Depending on how lower courts choose to interpret Clapper, the decision could have a significant impact on the doctrine of fear-based standing, which allows plaintiffs to establish standing based on fear of future injury. While Clapper could be read as a directive to severely limit the scope of fear-based standing, it could also be reconciled with past precedent or limited to the foreign affairs context. However, the most accurate reading of the decision reveals that the Clapper Court devised a slightly stricter standing doctrine where the certainly impending test should be flexibly applied. This theory is supported by footnote five of the opinion, which references an alternative and more lenient substantial risk standing inquiry. This Note argues that lower courts should apply the more lenient footnote five test when hearing a constitutional challenge to a statute where the alleged fear of future harm is a threat of prosecution or the chilling of First Amendment right

The Opposition to Statehood Within the Territory of New Mexico, 1888-1903

The purpose of this thesis is to identify indications of opposition to statehood within New Mexico between the years 1888 and 1902. The sources of information were newspapers of the territory published during those years, government documents, letters and several other miscellaneous sources. The first chapter of the thesis [discusses] the nature and scope of the endeavor, with the attitude of political parties and leaders, both national and within the territory; the events occurring during the elimination of New Mexico from the Omnibus bill; and gives a summary of the reasons generally advanced in favor of admission. The second chapter deals with the early opposition starting with evidences of opposition found by Beadle when he visited New Mexico in 1872 and includes a summary of the reason for the opposition expressed early in the struggle, and also, some answers to these expressions of opposition. The bitterest controversies in the struggle for statehood were evidenced during the occurrences ensuing when a proposed constitution was defeated in 1890. These controversies, which included political, religious and economic phases, are discussed in the third chapter. The fourth chapter continues with the effects of the defeat of the constitution of 1890 and evidences a gradual change toward an attitude which is favorable to statehood but still retains some expressions of opposition when practical ends enter the picture. The concluding chapter starts with the intensive newspaper boom in the early 1900\u27s and continues to the final more or less complete silencing of open opposition. This chapter includes the opposition as recorded during the visit of the Beveridge Committee to New Mexico but concludes with open opposition to statehood a practice no longer discernible

PPARγ and high molecular weight adiponectin in white adipose tissue in an obesity model.

Adiponectin is a protein secreted from adipose (fat) tissue. It is secreted into the blood as either a trimer (low molecular weight), hexamer (middle molecular weight) or an 18-mer (high molecular weight). Adiponectin, particularly the high molecular weight (HMW) isoform, has been shown to increase insulin sensitivity, which is important for maintaining healthy blood glucose levels. Adiponectin levels have been shown to be decreased in individuals who are obese, and this may play a role in the diabetes which often accompanies obesity. PPARγ is a protein that is highly expressed in white adipose tissue and is responsible for regulating portions of metabolism such as glucose and fatty acid uptake and oxidation as well as proposed to be important in regulating adiponectin levels and the production of its high molecular weight isoform. This study examines the level of PPARγ and adiponectin isoforms in adipose tissue in a mouse model of obesity. White adipose tissue samples were removed from mice fed a high-fat or low-fat diet for 6, 10, or 16 weeks. An enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) was utilized for total adiponectin, HMW adiponectin, and PPARγ following homogenization and preparation of tissue sample. Levels of PPARγ, total adiponectin, and HMW adiponectin were statistically evaluated over the time course of the experiment both within and between the treatment groups. The level of PPARγ was not different over the course of low-fat feeding; however, the levels of PPARγ were significantly (P Results of this study suggest that, while there were some changes in PPARγ with high-fat feeding they were not correlated with alterations in the adipose tissue levels of adiponectin. This indicates that there is not a tight connection between PPARγ and regulation of adiponectin levels in this model of obesit