The Phoenix Court

Like the famed Phoenix, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rose on October 1, 1982, from the ashes of two former courts. On that day, the 127 year old United States Court of Claims and the 73 year old United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals went out of existence, leaving a history of outstanding contributions to the administration of justice. Though every federal court serves the role on numerous occasions, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit should in a special way earn the title of The Conscience of the Government. This article briefly discusses the operation of the new court and the role it will fill in the federal court system

ICAR: endoscopic skull‐base surgery

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The Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium - A protocol for building a national environmental exposure data platform for integrated analyses of urban form and health

Background: Multiple external environmental exposures related to residential location and urban form including, air pollutants, noise, greenness, and walkability have been linked to health impacts or benefits. The Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium (CANUE) was established to facilitate the linkage of extensive geospatial exposure data to existing Canadian cohorts and administrative health data holdings. We hypothesize that this linkage will enable investigators to test a variety of their own hypotheses related to the interdependent associations of built environment features with diverse health outcomes encompassed by the cohorts and administrative data. Methods: We developed a protocol for compiling measures of built environment features that quantify exposure; vary spatially on the urban and suburban scale; and can be modified through changes in policy or individual behaviour to benefit health. These measures fall into six domains: air quality, noise, greenness, weather/climate, and transportation and neighbourhood factors; and will be indexed to six-digit postal codes to facilitate merging with health databases. Initial efforts focus on existing data and include estimates of air pollutants, greenness, temperature extremes, and neighbourhood walkability and socioeconomic characteristics. Key gaps will be addressed for noise exposure, with a new national model being developed, and for transportation-related exposures, with detailed estimates of truck volumes and diesel emissions now underway in selected cities. Improvements to existing exposure estimates are planned, primarily by increasing temporal and/or spatial resolution given new satellite-based sensors and more detailed national air quality modelling. Novel metrics are also planned for walkability and food environments, green space access and function and life-long climate-related exposures based on local climate zones. Critical challenges exist, for example, the quantity and quality of input data to many of the models and metrics has changed over time, making it difficult to develop and validate historical exposures. Discussion: CANUE represents a unique effort to coordinate and leverage substantial research investments and will enable a more focused effort on filling gaps in exposure information, improving the range of exposures quantified, their precision and mechanistic relevance to health. Epidemiological studies may be better able to explore the common theme of urban form and health in an integrated manner, ultimately contributing new knowledge informing policies that enhance healthy urban living

A Judicial Need for the 80\u27s: Schooling in Judicial Ethics

New judges should be required to take a brief course in judicial ethics before going on the bench. There is a need for this requirement. It is justified by the good it would do for judges, for the judiciary, and for the resolution of many conceptional conflicts in the ethical imperatives confronting judges. I. Need II. Justification—The Judge III. Justification—The Judiciary IV. Justification—Research and Development V. Independence v. Accountability VI. Isolation v. Involvement VII. Presumptions—Impartiality v. Partiality VIII. Appearance v. Reality IX. The Monitors X. The Pathfinders XI. Conclusio

The Phoenix Court

Like the famed Phoenix, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rose on October 1, 1982, from the ashes of two former courts. On that day, the 127 year old United States Court of Claims and the 73 year old United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals went out of existence, leaving a history of outstanding contributions to the administration of justice. Though every federal court serves the role on numerous occasions, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit should in a special way earn the title of The Conscience of the Government. This article briefly discusses the operation of the new court and the role it will fill in the federal court system