The Religious Liberty of Judges

This Article begins by reviewing the government employee line of cases, starting with United Public Workers v. Mitchell in 1947.29 The first section concludes that the modified Pickering balancing test set forth in United States v. National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) is the appropriate level of scrutiny for judicial conduct rules. The body of this Article reviews ways in which the four canons of the ABA Model Code of Judicial Ethics and official interpretations of and rulings regarding them limit the religious activities of judges. I conclude that numerous applications of the Model Code are unconstitutional infringements on judges’ First Amendment rights to free speech, free association, and free exercise of religion

Interpreting the Wisconsin Constitution

The Wisconsin Constitution is the state’s fundamental law and is often the final authority over important issues of public moment. When interpreting a provision in the state constitution, the Wisconsin Supreme Court relies on three primary sources: the plain meaning of the text, the legislative and ratification history surrounding the clause, and construction by the legislature. The second and third sources that the Court uses to resolve constitutional cases are significantly flawed for both practical and jurisprudential reasons. By contrast, the Wisconsin Supreme Court focuses first and foremost on the text when interpreting statutes. The Court only turns to history when it must to resolve an obstinate ambiguity. This approach avoids the flaws associated with the Court’s current method of constitutional interpretation while also advancing positive values for the rule of law. Therefore, the author recommends that in its next constitutional case the Court should set aside its current methodology for constitutional interpretation and instead announce its adoption of its statutory method for constitutional cases as well

The Past and the Present: Stare Decisis in Wisconsin Law

Non

Effect of Speed on Steering Efficiency

Studies have shown that there is a definite tendency for a driver to lose in steering efficiency when he takes one hand off the wheel. Johnson and Lauer (1) found either hand alone to be 91.4 per cent as efficient in manipulative ability as both hands used together. Their findings were confirmed in a lesser degree by Lauer and Suhr (2) for both simple and complex driving. The present study was made to determine whether or not a loss in steering efficiency occurs when driving speed is increased

Friction and wear in railway ballast stone interfaces

Particle friction in railway ballast influences strongly the behaviour of ballasted tracks. New challenges posed on railway infrastructure increase the requirement for simulations, which need the friction coefficient as an input parameter. Measured friction coefficients of ballast stone contacts were found only in two studies, both under constant loads. In this work, two types of ballast were investigated in cyclic friction tests with incremental increase of the applied load after several cycles. Before each load increase, 3D-scans of some ballast stones allowed to calculate the contact area. Estimating the stress in the contact, the stress-dependency of the friction coefficient and wear were investigated. These experimental observations are discussed regarding their impact for friction modelling in the simulation of railway ballast

Shape analysis of railway ballast stones : curvature-based calculation of particle angularity

Particle shape analysis is conducted, to compare two types of railway ballast: Calcite and Kieselkalk. Focus lies on the characterisation of particle angularity using 3D scanner data. In the literature, angularity is often characterised using 2D data, as these types of data are easier to collect. 3D scanner data contain a vast amount of information (e.g. curvatures) which can be used for shape analysis and angularity characterisation. Literature approaches that use 3D data are often not thoroughly tested, due to a lack of test cases. In this work, two new curvature-based angularity indices are introduced and compared to one from the literature. Analytical test bodies with shapes ranging from spherical towards cubic are used for a first plausibility test. Then, 3D scans of ballast stones are compared to artificially rounded meshes. Only one out of three evaluated angularity indices seem to be suited to characterise angularity correctly in all of the above tests: the newly introduced scaled Willmore energy. A complete shape analysis of the scanned ballast stones is conducted and no difference between the two types of ballast can be seen regarding form, angularity, roughness, sphericity or convexity index. These findings of shape analysis are set in the context of previous works, where experimental results and DEM simulations of uniaxial compression tests and direct shear tests were presented for the same ballast types

Editorial Board

Aim: Cardiac troponins and natriuretic peptides are established for risk stratification in light-chain amyloidosis. Data on cardiac biomarkers in transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR) are lacking. Methods and results: Patients (n = 1617) with any of the following cardiac biomarkers, BNP (n = 1079), NT-proBNP (n = 550), troponin T (n = 274), and troponin I (n = 108), available at baseline in the Transthyretin Amyloidosis Outcomes Survey (THAOS) were analyzed for differences between genotypes and phenotypes and their association with survival. Median level of BNP was 68.0 pg/mL (IQR 30.5–194.9), NT-proBNP 337.9 pg/mL (IQR 73.0–2584.0), troponin T 0.03 μg/L (IQR 0.01–0.05), and troponin I 0.08 μg/L (IQR 0.04–0.13). NT-proBNP and BNP were higher in wild-type than mutant-type ATTR, troponin T and I did not differ, respectively. Non-Val30Met patients had higher BNP, NT-proBNP and troponin T levels than Val30Met patients, but not troponin I. Late-onset Val30Met was associated with higher levels of troponin I and troponin T compared with early-onset. 115 patients died during a median follow-up of 1.2 years. Mortality increased with increasing quartiles (BNP/NT-proBNP Q1 = 1.7%, Q2 = 5.2%, Q3 = 21.7%, Q4 = 71.3%; troponin T/I Q1 = 6.5%, Q2 = 14.5%, Q3 = 33.9%, Q4 = 45.2%). Three-year overall-survival estimates for BNP/NT-proBNP and troponin T/I quartiles differed significantly (p<0.001). Stepwise risk stratification was achieved by combining NT-proBNP/BNP and troponin T/I. From Cox proportional hazards model, age, modified body mass index, mutation (Val30Met vs. Non-Val30Met) and BNP/NT-proBNP (Q1–Q3 pooled vs. Q4) were identified as independent predictors of survival in patients with mutant-type ATTR. Conclusions: In this ATTR patient cohort, cardiac biomarkers were abnormal in a substantial percentage of patients irrespective of genotype. Along with age, mBMI, and mutation (Val30Met vs. Non-Val30Met), cardiac biomarkers were associated with surrogates of disease severity with BNP/NT-proBNP identified as an independent predictor of survival in ATTR

Permafrost meta-omics and climate change

Permanently frozen soil, or permafrost, covers a large portion of the Earth's terrestrial surface and represents a unique environment for cold-adapted microorganisms. As permafrost thaws, previously protected organic matter becomes available for microbial degradation. Microbes that decompose soil carbon produce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, contributing substantially to climate change. Next-generation sequencing and other -omics technologies offer opportunities to discover the mechanisms by which microbial communities regulate the loss of carbon and the emission of greenhouse gases from thawing permafrost regions. Analysis of nucleic acids and proteins taken directly from permafrost-associated soils has provided new insights into microbial communities and their functions in Arctic environments that are increasingly impacted by climate change. In this article we review current information from various molecular -omics studies on permafrost microbial ecology and explore the relevance of these insights to our current understanding of the dynamics of permafrost loss due to climate change