Territorial Sovereignty and the Evolving Boumediene Factors: Al Maqaleh v. Gates and the Future of Detainee Habeas Corpus Rights

[Excerpt] “In November 2010, the U.S. government prosecuted in a civilian federal court an accused terrorist detainee housed since 2004 at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center (Guantanamo Bay). The Obama Administration considered this trial a “test case” for prosecuting accused terrorist detainees in civilian federal courts. Of the more than 280 charges against the detainee defendant, a civilian jury convicted him of one count and acquitted him of the remaining charges. Yet, the defendant received a life sentence without parole. This “test case” is one example of a changing landscape in international armed conflict and detainee rights jurisprudence following September 11, 2001. This Note discusses one area of American constitutional law that has clearly evolved in recent detainee rights litigation: the extraterritorial reach of the Suspension Clause and extension of habeas corpus rights to detainees held beyond U.S. sovereign territory. Historically, territorial sovereignty determined the extraterritorial reach of the Suspension Clause. In 2008, however, Boumediene v. Bush greatly impacted the role of territorial sovereignty in extraterritorial habeas jurisprudence. In Boumediene, the Supreme Court developed a practical, multi-factor test for determining the reach of the Suspension Clause while holding that federal courts were not foreclosed from entertaining habeas petitions from Guantanamo Bay detainees. This was the first decision to allow detainee foreign nationals held beyond U.S. sovereign territory to seek habeas corpus relief through the federal courts. Now that Guantanamo Bay has been addressed, recently, the focus has shifted to detainees held at the Bagram Theater Internment Facility (Bagram) in Afghanistan. In May 2010, the D.C. Circuit in Al Maqaleh v. Gates held that the balance of Boumediene’s multi-factor test weighed against extending the Suspension Clause to four detainees captured beyond Afghanistan and detained at Bagram as unlawful enemy combatants. By analyzing the development of the Boumediene multifactor test and focusing on its application to the Bagram detainees, this Note proposes that territorial sovereignty is no longer a controlling or driving factor in today’s extraterritorial habeas analysis. Furthermore, this Note provides a few practical recommendations for future applications of the Boumediene multi-factor test and addresses some unanswered questions in applying the test in future detainee cases. Part II provides a brief history of the extraterritorial habeas jurisprudence relating to foreign national detainees leading up to Al Maqaleh. Part III discusses the Al Maqaleh decisions in both the district court and the court of appeals. Part IV analyzes the declining role that territorial sovereignty plays in today’s habeas analysis. Part IV also discusses various unanswered questions that await decision by the Supreme Court in applying the Boumediene test in future detainee cases.

Estimation of additive and dominance effects of a mutant glutathione S-transferase gene on anthocyanin content in muscadine grape (Vitis rotundifolia)

The skin color of muscadine grapes (Vitis rotundifolia) is typically classified as black or bronze. A glutathione S-transferase, VrunGST4, has been identified as a candidate gene for berry skin color in muscadine grapes. A molecular marker was developed within VrunGST4 to distinguish between muscadine genotypes (cultivars and selections) with bronze (T:T), heterozygote black (C:T), and homozygote black (C:C) berries. The objectives of this study were to determine whether there was a correlation between berry skin color and total anthocyanin content and to calculate additive and dominance effects of VrunGST4 in determining total anthocyanins in the berries of two biparental F1 muscadine populations with the intragenic VrunGST4 marker. No correlation was found between the berry skin color measurements of hue and lightness and anthocyanin content of black-fruited genotypes in either population. However, there was a slight correlation (r = 0.64) between anthocyanin content and chroma in one of the populations. There was no difference in total anthocyanin content of homozygote black (C:C) and heterozygote black (C:T) genotypes in either population, indicating that VrunGST4 had completely dominant gene action. The total anthocyanin content of the berry skins from black-fruited genotypes in one population was approximately four times greater than black-fruited genotypes in our other population. This finding suggests that other genetic loci may contribute to variation in total anthocyanin content in black-fruited muscadine grapes

Decreased microbial co-occurrence network stability and SCFA receptor level correlates with obesity in African-origin women.

We compared the gut microbial populations in 100 women, from rural Ghana and urban US [50% lean (BMI < 25 kg/m2) and 50% obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2)] to examine the ecological co-occurrence network topology of the gut microbiota as well as the relationship of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) with obesity. Ghanaians consumed significantly more dietary fiber, had greater microbial alpha-diversity, different beta-diversity, and had a greater concentration of total fecal SCFAs (p-value < 0.002). Lean Ghanaians had significantly greater network density, connectivity and stability than either obese Ghanaians, or lean and obese US participants (false discovery rate (FDR) corrected p-value ≤ 0.01). Bacteroides uniformis was significantly more abundant in lean women, irrespective of country (FDR corrected p < 0.001), while lean Ghanaians had a significantly greater proportion of Ruminococcus callidus, Prevotella copri, and Escherichia coli, and smaller proportions of Lachnospiraceae, Bacteroides and Parabacteroides. Lean Ghanaians had a significantly greater abundance of predicted microbial genes that catalyzed the production of butyric acid via the fermentation of pyruvate or branched amino-acids, while obese Ghanaians and US women (irrespective of BMI) had a significantly greater abundance of predicted microbial genes that encoded for enzymes associated with the fermentation of amino-acids such as alanine, aspartate, lysine and glutamate. Similar to lean Ghanaian women, mice humanized with stool from the lean Ghanaian participant had a significantly lower abundance of family Lachnospiraceae and genus Bacteroides and Parabacteroides, and were resistant to obesity following 6-weeks of high fat feeding (p-value < 0.01). Obesity-resistant mice also showed increased intestinal transcriptional expression of the free fatty acid (Ffa) receptor Ffa2, in spite of similar fecal SCFAs concentrations. We demonstrate that the association between obesity resistance and increased predicted ecological connectivity and stability of the lean Ghanaian microbiota, as well as increased local SCFA receptor level, provides evidence of the importance of robust gut ecologic network in obesity

Generalised Framework for Controlling and Understanding Ion Dynamics with Passivated Lead Halide Perovskites

Metal halide perovskite solar cells have gained widespread attention due to their high efficiency and high defect tolerance. The absorbing perovskite layer is as a mixed electron-ion conductor that supports high rates of ion and charge transport at room temperature, but the migration of mobile defects can lead to degradation pathways. We combine experimental observations and drift-diffusion modelling to demonstrate a new framework to interpret surface photovoltage (SPV) measurements in perovskite systems and mixed electronic ionic conductors more generally. We conclude that the SPV in mixed electronic ionic conductors can be understood in terms of the change in electric potential at the surface associated with changes in the net charge within the semiconductor system. We show that by modifying the interfaces of perovskite bilayers, we may control defect migration behaviour throughout the perovskite bulk. Our new framework for SPV has broad implications for developing strategies to improve the stability of perovskite devices by controlling defect accumulation at interfaces. More generally, in mixed electronic conductors our framework provides new insights into the behaviour of mobile defects and their interaction with photoinduced charges, which are foundational to physical mechanisms in memristivity, logic, impedance, sensors and energy storage

Exclusion limits on the WIMP-nucleon cross-section from the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search

The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) employs low-temperature Ge and Si detectors to search for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) via their elastic-scattering interactions with nuclei while discriminating against interactions of background particles. For recoil energies above 10 keV, events due to background photons are rejected with >99.9% efficiency, and surface events are rejected with >95% efficiency. The estimate of the background due to neutrons is based primarily on the observation of multiple-scatter events that should all be neutrons. Data selection is determined primarily by examining calibration data and vetoed events. Resulting efficiencies should be accurate to about 10%. Results of CDMS data from 1998 and 1999 with a relaxed fiducial-volume cut (resulting in 15.8 kg-days exposure on Ge) are consistent with an earlier analysis with a more restrictive fiducial-volume cut. Twenty-three WIMP candidate events are observed, but these events are consistent with a background from neutrons in all ways tested. Resulting limits on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon elastic-scattering cross-section exclude unexplored parameter space for WIMPs with masses between 10-70 GeV c^{-2}. These limits border, but do not exclude, parameter space allowed by supersymmetry models and accelerator constraints. Results are compatible with some regions reported as allowed at 3-sigma by the annual-modulation measurement of the DAMA collaboration. However, under the assumptions of standard WIMP interactions and a standard halo, the results are incompatible with the DAMA most likely value at >99.9% CL, and are incompatible with the model-independent annual-modulation signal of DAMA at 99.99% CL in the asymptotic limit.Comment: 40 pages, 49 figures (4 in color), submitted to Phys. Rev. D; v.2:clarified conclusions, added content and references based on referee's and readers' comments; v.3: clarified introductory sections, added figure based on referee's comment

Estimation of mechanistic parameters in the gas-phase reactions of ozone with alkenes for use in automated mechanism construction

Reaction with ozone is an important atmospheric removal process for alkenes. The ozonolysis reaction produces carbonyls and carbonyl oxides (Criegee intermediates, CI), which can rapidly decompose to yield a range of closed shell and radical products, including OH radicals. Consequently, it is essential to accurately represent the complex chemistry of Criegee intermediates in atmospheric models in order to fully understand the impact of alkene ozonolysis on atmospheric composition. A mechanism construction protocol is presented which is suitable for use in automatic mechanism generation. The protocol defines the critical parameters for describing the chemistry following the initial reaction, namely the primary carbonyl/CI yields from the primary ozonide fragmentation, the amount of stabilisation of the excited CI, the unimolecular decomposition pathways, rates and products of the CI, and the bimolecular rates and products of atmospherically important reactions of the stabilised CI (SCI). This analysis implicitly predicts the yield of OH from the alkene–ozone reaction. A comprehensive database of experimental OH, SCI and carbonyl yields has been collated using reported values in the literature and used to assess the reliability of the protocol. The protocol provides estimates of OH, SCI and carbonyl yields with root mean square errors of 0.13 and 0.12 and 0.14, respectively. Areas where new experimental and theoretical data would improve the protocol and its assessment are identified and discussed

Comparative chromosome painting discloses homologous Segments in distantly related mammals

Comparative chromosome painting, termed ZOO-FISH, using DNA libraries from flow sorted human chromosomes 1,16,17 and X, and mouse chromosome 11 discloses the presence of syntenic groups in distantly related mammalian Orders ranging from primates (Homo sapiens), rodents (Mus musculus), even-toed ungulates (Muntiacus muntjak vaginalis and Muntiacus reevesi) and whales (Balaenoptera physalus). These mammalian Orders have evolved separately for 55-80 million years (Myr). We conclude that ZOO-FISH can be used to generate comparative chromosome maps of a large number of mammalian species

Aptamer-based multiplexed proteomic technology for biomarker discovery

Interrogation of the human proteome in a highly multiplexed and efficient manner remains a coveted and challenging goal in biology. We present a new aptamer-based proteomic technology for biomarker discovery capable of simultaneously measuring thousands of proteins from small sample volumes (15 [mu]L of serum or plasma). Our current assay allows us to measure ~800 proteins with very low limits of detection (1 pM average), 7 logs of overall dynamic range, and 5% average coefficient of variation. This technology is enabled by a new generation of aptamers that contain chemically modified nucleotides, which greatly expand the physicochemical diversity of the large randomized nucleic acid libraries from which the aptamers are selected. Proteins in complex matrices such as plasma are measured with a process that transforms a signature of protein concentrations into a corresponding DNA aptamer concentration signature, which is then quantified with a DNA microarray. In essence, our assay takes advantage of the dual nature of aptamers as both folded binding entities with defined shapes and unique sequences recognizable by specific hybridization probes. To demonstrate the utility of our proteomics biomarker discovery technology, we applied it to a clinical study of chronic kidney disease (CKD). We identified two well known CKD biomarkers as well as an additional 58 potential CKD biomarkers. These results demonstrate the potential utility of our technology to discover unique protein signatures characteristic of various disease states. More generally, we describe a versatile and powerful tool that allows large-scale comparison of proteome profiles among discrete populations. This unbiased and highly multiplexed search engine will enable the discovery of novel biomarkers in a manner that is unencumbered by our incomplete knowledge of biology, thereby helping to advance the next generation of evidence-based medicine