The Nativity Scene Case: An Error of Judgment

On March 22, 1985, Professor of Law, Norman Dorsen of New York University School of Law, delivered the Georgetown Law Center’s fifth Annual Philip A. Hart Memorial Lecture: Nativity Scenes and Judicial Responsibility. Norman Dorsen is Counselor to the President of New York University and Stokes Professor of Law, NYU School of Law, where he has taught since 1961. He is co-director of the Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Program and was the founding director of NYU\u27s Hauser Global Law School Program in 1994. Dorsen performed military service in the office of the Secretary of the Army, where he assisted the Army throughout the 1954 Army-McCarthy Hearings. He served as law clerk to Chief Judge Calvert Magruder of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and to Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan. He is the author or editor of many articles and 16 books on all aspects of constitutional law. He is the founder and was editorial director of the International Journal of Constitutional Law 2003-2009 (I•CON). Dorsen served as president of the American Civil Liberties Union 1976-1991. Earlier, while general counsel to the ACLU, he argued many Supreme Court cases including those that won for juveniles the right to due process, upheld constitutional rights of out-of-wedlock children, and advanced abortion rights. He also helped write petitioner’s brief in Roe v. Wade and appeared amicus curiae in the Gideon case, the Pentagon Papers case and the Nixon Tapes case. Dorsen was the founding president of the Society of American Law Teachers and the founding president of the U.S. Association of Constitutional Law, an affiliate of the International Association of Constitutional Law. Dorsen also was a founding member of the governing board of the International Association of law Schools. He was chair for four years of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (now Human Rights First) and has chaired U.S. Government commissions for the Department of Health, Education and Welfare and the Treasure Department. Among other honors, he received the Medal of Liberty from the French Minister of Justice in 1983 and the Eleanor Roosevelt Medal for contributions to human rights from Bill Clinton in 2000. In 2007, the Association of American Law Schools presented him with its first triennial award for “lifetime contributions to the law and to legal education.

Mountain-pine beetle outbreaks and shifting social preferences for ecosystem services

Conventional wisdom appears to implicate climate change as the root cause of the unprecedented mountain pine beetle (MPB) outbreak currently underway in the western United States. While climate change is undoubtedly a factor, historic changes in public forest management have resulted in greater numbers of large-diameter host trees in MPB habitat. We present a model that integrates standard economic and ecological principles in an attempt to clarify the roles of climate change and public forest management in the current MPB outbreak. Using data on timber sales, climate change and MPB populations, model simulations illustrate how an increased emphasis on non-timber ecosystem services induced a regime shift from climate-independent to climate-dependent disturbance processes, amplifying the current MPB outbreak.mountain pine beetle; climate change; forests

On-Line Process Fiber Optic Refractometer for Measuring Edible Oil Hydrogenation

The process of edible oil partial hydrogenation has improved steadily over the past decades, but few on-line process instruments exist capable of measuring the extent of hydrogenation. This work describes the design of a prototype, on-line fiber optic refractometer for controlling and monitoring of oils. It uses an established correlation between the degree of hydrogenation of an edible oil and its refractive index (Rl). The refractometer cell uses a bare optical fiber in direct contact with processing oil. Equations are given describing the power transmission characteristics of an optical fiber as a function of its cladding Rl. Comparisons between calculated and experimental data are shown using test liquids flowing through the refractometer

Fulvestrant treatment of precocious puberty in girls with McCune-Albright syndrome

BACKGROUND: McCune-Albright Syndrome (MAS) is usually characterized by the triad of precocious puberty (PP), fibrous dysplasia, and café au lait spots. Previous treatments investigated for PP have included aromatase inhibitors and the estrogen receptor modulator, tamoxifen. Although some agents have been partially effective, the optimal pharmacologic treatment of PP in girls with MAS has not been identified. The objective of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of fulvestrant (Faslodex(TM)), a pure estrogen receptor antagonist, in girls with progressive precocious puberty (PP) associated with McCune-Albright Syndrome (MAS). METHODS: In this prospective international multicenter trial, thirty girls ≤ 10 years old with MAS and progressive PP received fulvestrant 4 mg/kg via monthly intramuscular injections for 12 months. Changes in vaginal bleeding, rates of bone age advancement, growth velocity, Tanner staging, predicted adult heights, and uterine and ovarian volumes were measured. RESULTS: Median vaginal bleeding days decreased from 12.0 days per year to 1.0 day per year, with a median change in frequency of -3.6 days, (95% confidence interval (CI) -10.10, 0.00; p = 0.0146). Of patients with baseline bleeding, 74% experienced a ≥50% reduction in bleeding, and 35% experienced complete cessation during the study period (95% CI 51.6%, 89.8%; 16.4%, 57.3%, respectively). Average rates of bone age advancement (ΔBA/ΔCA) decreased from 1.99 pre-treatment to 1.06 on treatment (mean change -0.93, 95% CI -1.43, -0.43; p = 0.0007). No significant changes in uterine volumes or other endpoints or serious adverse events occurred. CONCLUSIONS: Fulvestrant was well tolerated and moderately effective in decreasing vaginal bleeding and rates of skeletal maturation in girls with MAS. Longer-term studies aimed at further defining potential benefits and risks of this novel therapeutic approach in girls with MAS are needed. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT0027891

Technique for Radiometer and Antenna Array Calibration - TRAAC

Highly sensitive receivers are used to detect minute amounts of emitted electromagnetic energy. Calibration of these receivers is vital to the accuracy of the measurements. Traditional calibration techniques depend on calibration reference internal to the receivers as reference for the calibration of the observed electromagnetic energy. Such methods can only calibrate errors in measurement introduced by the receiver only. The disadvantage of these existing methods is that they cannot account for errors introduced by devices, such as antennas, used for capturing electromagnetic radiation. This severely limits the types of antennas that can be used to make measurements with a high degree of accuracy. Complex antenna systems, such as electronically steerable antennas (also known as phased arrays), while offering potentially significant advantages, suffer from a lack of a reliable and accurate calibration technique. The proximity of antenna elements in an array results in interaction between the electromagnetic fields radiated (or received) by the individual elements. This phenomenon is called mutual coupling. The new calibration method uses a known noise source as a calibration load to determine the instantaneous characteristics of the antenna. The noise source is emitted from one element of the antenna array and received by all the other elements due to mutual coupling. This received noise is used as a calibration standard to monitor the stability of the antenna electronics

Nonmarket Valuation of Recreational Pursuits in Tennessee: An Application of Travel Cost and Contingent Valuation Methods

In order to assure that public lands are being used in an efficient manner, both market and non-market values of these lands must be compared. Two popular recreational pursuits, off-highway vehicle recreation and rock climbing, were analyzed using basic economic modeling techniques to provide insight into user behavior as well as estimates of value. The scope of the study was off-highway vehicle recreation in the state of Tennessee and rock climbing at the Obed Wild and Scenic River. The objectives were to: i) document use numbers for both recreational pursuits, ii) analyze individual demographics of both user groups, iii) model user behavior for both· user groups, iv) identify the acceptance/effectiveness of two proposed fee programs for off-highway vehicle recreation, v) estimate the value of both recreational pursuits in terms of consumer surplus, and vi) formulate management prescriptions based on these findings. Data for the OHV portion of the survey was obtained from both on-site and phone surveys conducted throughout the state of Tennessee. Rock climbing survey data were obtained through on-site surveys performed at the Obed Wild and Scenic River in Morgan County, Tennessee. In addition to use numbers and personal demographics, travel cost expenditures and annual trip estimates were obtained for both types of recreation. Poisson regression techniques were used to estimate patterns in user behavior as well as various consumer surplus measures. In addition, logistic regression was used to analyze contingent valuation payment card data to determine user acceptance of two proposed fee programs. As expected by theory, travel costs were found to have a negative effect on the number of trips taken for each type of recreation. Consumer surplus estimates per trip were found to range between $46 and$61 depending on the type of off-highway vehicle used while consumer surplus per trip for rock climbing was found to be significantly higher at $170. Based on these estimates of use and trip taking behavior, general management recommendations are suggested for both types of recreation

Writing in Britain and Ireland, c. 400 to c. 800

No abstract available

The effects of dietary fish oil on exercising skeletal muscle vascular and metabolic control in chronic heart failure rats

The ATP-sensitive K+ (KATP) channel is a class of inward rectifier K+ channels that can link cellular metabolic status to vasomotor tone across the metabolic transients seen with exercise. This investigation tested the hypothesis that if KATP channels are crucial to exercise hyperaemia then blockade via glibenclamide (GLI) would lower hindlimb skeletal muscle blood flow (BF) and vascular conductance (VC) during treadmill exercise. In 14 adult male Sprague Dawley rats mean arterial pressure (MAP), blood [lactate], and hindlimb muscle BF (radiolabelled microspheres) were determined at rest (n = 6) or during exercise (n = 8; 20 m min⁻¹, 5% incline) under control (CON) and GLI conditions (5 mg kg⁻¹, i.a). At rest and during exercise, MAP was higher (Rest, CON: 130 ± 6, GLI: 152 ± 8; Exercise, CON: 140 ± 4, GLI: 147 ± 4 mmHg, P < 0.05) and heart rate (HR) was lower (Rest, CON: 440 ± 16, GLI: 410 ± 18; Exercise, CON: 560 ± 4, GLI: 540 ± 10 beats min⁻¹, P < 0.05) with GLI. Hindlimb muscle BF (CON: 144 ± 10, GLI: 120 ± 9 ml min⁻¹ (100 g)⁻¹, P < 0.05) and VC were lower with GLI during exercise but not at rest. Specifically, GLI decreased BF in 12, and VC in 16, of the 28 individual hindlimb muscles and muscle parts sampled during exercise with a greater fractional reduction present in muscles comprised predominantly of type I and type IIa fibres (P < 0.05). Additionally, blood [lactate] (CON: 2.0 ± 0.3; GLI: 4.1 ± 0.9 mmol L⁻¹, P < 0.05) was higher during exercise with GLI. That KATP channel blockade reduces hindlimb muscle BF during exercise in rats supports the obligatory contribution of KATP channels in large muscle mass exercise-induced hyperaemia