The Highly Political Supreme Court

This paper investigates whether Republicans or Democrats support a strong Supreme Court and why. Furthermore, by analyzing data from the 2012 American National Election Survey, I will study support of the court based on gender, age, and race. Since the early 1980’s the court has taken a strong conservative direction, to the dismay of many liberals. Republicans feel comfortable sending a congressional dispute to the courts while Democrats may feel disenfranchised with the judicial process. I also believe that younger people believe the court is an outdated method of making laws and interpreting the constitution. Originally the Supreme Court was supposed to be an unbiased part of the government, insulated from political parties and interest groups, but today it is hardly close to its original intent. The Supreme Court was first created by the Founding Fathers in Article III of the Constitution, but its role in American society has shifted greatly. Initially, the court focused mainly on constitutional ambiguities interpreting federal law and resolving disputes with the federal government. Today, the court is much more politically driven, being essentially a rubber-stamp for the party that they were nominated by. Presidents care less about how fair a judge is, but whether he will vote consistently with his or her party. Currently there are 5 justices appointed by Republican presidents, and 4 appointed by Democratic presidents. Controversial decisions are consistently ruled on a 5-4 basis along party lines. I believe that there is a correlation between which party holds more seats on the court and how much they support a strong supreme court. Through analysis of other journal articles and the study of unanimous rulings, this paper will determine if the Supreme Court is still viewed as a legitimate institution and which kinds of people respect its authority

Correlations among traits in dual purpose cattle

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Novel use of in-stream microchip readers to monitor wild platypuses

A variety of techniques have been used to monitor platypus populations to assess the impacts of the threats they face, but each technique has limitations. In this study we investigated the novel use of in-stream microchip readers, to remotely monitor the movements of microchipped wild platypuses. Over 13 months, we recorded movements of 18 microchipped individuals past nine fixed locations in the Inglis Catchment in northwest Tasmania, using three units of which all were capable of detecting Trovan® unique microchips and two were additionally capable of detecting ISO microchips. Each site was monitored one or two times, for durations of 8–39 days. We undertook direction of movement investigations during two monitoring periods, by placing the antennas from two systems in the same creek within 3 m of each other. In a total of 264 days of monitoring, 528 platypus observations were made from 18 individual platypuses, consisting of 13 of 18 (72%) platypuses captured at the monitoring sites within 16 months prior to monitoring, two platypuses captured at other sites in the same time period, and three of seven (43%) individuals microchipped 3–5 years previously. This number of platypus observations, in combination with the stable number of platypuses observed per day, the range of movement behaviours recorded and the results of the direction of movement investigations, indicates that at appropriate sites, in-stream microchip readers are an effective method of monitoring the movements and survivorship of microchipped wild platypuses

Investigation into individual health and exposure to infectious agents of platypuses (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) in two river catchments in northwest Tasmania

Changes in the health of individuals within wildlife populations can be a cause or effect of population declines in wildlife species. Aspects of individual platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) health have been reported. However, holistic studies investigating potential synergistic effects of both pathogens and environmental factors are needed to expand understanding of platypus individual health. We collected baseline data on the health of platypuses in two Tasmanian river catchments (including evidence of the potentially fatal fungal disease mucormycosis) and on individual, demographic, and geographic patterns associated with health data results. We examined 130 wild platypuses from the Inglis River Catchment and 24 platypuses from the Seabrook Creek Catchment in northwest Tasmania between 29 August 2011 and 31 August 2013. More than 90% of captured platypuses were infected with ticks, Theileria spp., and trypanosomes. Evidence of exposure to other infections, including Salmonella spp., Leptospira spp., and intestinal parasites, was low (<10%). Three platypuses had single fungal granulomas in the webbing of a forefoot, but no evidence of mucormycosis was found in any of the study animals. Possible subclinical hepatopathies or cholangiohepatopathies were found in six platypuses. Exposure to infectious agents did not cluster geographically, demographically, or in individuals, and there was minimal evidence of morbidity resulting from infection. This study has provided important baseline data for monitoring the effects of threatening processes, including mucormycosis, on the health of infected populations

Ruminant Agriculture: A Tool for Climate Change Mitigation

The quest to address and mitigate climate change has been dubbed a “wicked problem” as it involves many interconnected processes requiring a multifaceted, comprehensive approach. Animal agriculture contributes roughly 15% to CO2 equivalent (CO2e) emissions; as a result, a concerted effort is being made to develop and promote more climate-friendly production practices. These practices include species diversification in grasslands, improving grazing rotation, adding nitrogen amendments, and the use of feed additives to reduce enteric fermentation. Successful inter-seeding of legumes and deep-rooted native grasses increases soil organic carbon (SOC) pools in many systems by increasing the biological carbon inputs to the rhizosphere. Rotational grazing increases the concentration of ruminant waste in smaller areas resulting in a more uniform application of nutrients and forage use. The rotational grazed pasture allows for longer pasture recovery, thereby increasing SOC stocks indirectly through increased root and aboveground biomass growth. Fertilization of pasturelands with nitrogen-only fertilizers increases SOC stocks. Enteric methane emission makes up over 44% of animal agriculture’s carbon footprint (Tubiello et al. 2013) and can be reduced using novel feed additives to mixed rations for confined cattle consumption. It’s important to consider that none of these management practices is a silver bullet that works in any situation; instead, these can be effective tools to draw down carbon emissions. Many barriers, particularly financial ones, have kept land managers from implementing these climate-improving practices. To help growers address these barriers to adoption Agoro Carbon™ Alliance is implementing carbon offset projects, which provide both financial incentives and education that facilitate the adoption of multiple, improved agricultural management practices involving animal agriculture

The effects of combined glucosamine sulfate and chondroitin sulfate supplements on condylar cartilage remodeling during functional appliance therapy. A Micro-CT study.

Glucosamine and chondroitin sulphate supplementation is used to prevent the degeneration of articular surfaces and also to enhance repair and regeneration of cartilage. The ability for adaptation of condylar cartilage to mandibular forward positioning is what constitutes the fundamental rationale for orthodontic functional therapy, which partially contributes to the correction of jaw discrepancies in growing Skeletal II mandibular retrusive patients. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively and quantitatively analyse the effect of Glucosamine sulphate (GS) and Chondroitin sulphate (CS) supplementation on condylar remodeling with functional appliance therapy in rats. One hundred and forty 3-week-old female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 4 groups consisting of; baseline controls, supplementation only, functional appliances only and those receiving both supplements and functional appliances. Supplements were preloaded for a period of 2 weeks prior to the placement of functional appliances at five weeks of age. The animals were sacrificed at days 0, 7 and 21 after appliance placement. The appliances were removed in the remaining experimental animals on day 21 with sacrifice on day 28 to analyse post growth modification changes. Condylar samples were then soaked in 0.2 M Gadolinium Chloride (GdCl3) (aq) for 6 days and analyzed using micro-computed tomography (μCT) for morphological characteristics and linear and volumetric measurements of the mandibular condyle. The results demonstrated supplement therapy increased the volume of cartilage with and without functional appliance therapy. Functional appliance therapy alone resulted in increases in cartilage volume over untreated animals, with peak volume increases occurring by day 7 of appliance wear followed with decreases as endochondral ossification ensued. Supplement therapy was found to enhance the normal biological response to functional appliance therapy in the rat model

A new perspective of the structural complexity of HCMV-specific T-cell responses

Background: In studies exploring the effects of HCMV infection on immune system aging (‘immunosenescence’), after organ transplantation or in other settings, HCMV-specific T-cell responses are often assessed with respect to purportedly ‘immunodominant’ protein subunits. However, the response structure in terms of recognized antigens and response hierarchies (architecture) is not well understood and actual correlates of immune protection are not known. Methods: We explored the distribution of T-cell response sizes and dominance hierarchies as well as response breadth in 33 HCMV responders with respect to >200 HCMV proteins. Results: At the individual responder level HCMV-specific T-cell responses were generally arranged in clear dominance hierarchies; interestingly, the number of proteins recognized by an individual correlated closely with the size of their biggest response. Target-specificity varied considerably between donors and across hierarchy levels with the presence, size, and hierarchy position of responses to purportedly ‘immunodominant’ targets being unpredictable. Conclusions: Predicting protective immunity based on isolated HCMV subunit-specific T-cell responses is questionable in light of the complex architecture of the overall response. Our findings have important implications for T-cell monitoring, intervention strategies, as well as the application of animal models to the understanding of human infection

Ly49P recognition of cytomegalovirus-infected cells expressing H2-Dk and CMV-encoded m04 correlates with the NK cell antiviral response

Natural killer (NK) cells are crucial in resistance to certain viral infections, but the mechanisms used to recognize infected cells remain largely unknown. Here, we show that the activating Ly49P receptor recognizes cells infected with mouse cytomegalovirus (MCMV) by a process that requires the presence of H2-Dk and the MCMV m04 protein. Using H2 chimeras between H2-Db and -Dk, we demonstrate that the H2-Dk peptide-binding platform is required for Ly49P recognition. We identified m04 as a viral component necessary for recognition using a panel of MCMV-deletion mutant viruses and complementation of m04-deletion mutant (Δm04) virus infection. MA/My mice, which express Ly49P and H2-Dk, are resistant to MCMV; however, infection with Δm04 MCMV abrogates resistance. Depletion of NK cells in MA/My mice abrogates their resistance to wild-type MCMV infection, but does not significantly affect viral titers in mice infected with Δm04 virus, implicating NK cells in host protection through m04-dependent recognition. These findings reveal a novel mechanism of major histocompatability complex class I–restricted recognition of virally infected cells by an activating NK cell receptor