Recent Cases: Evidence — Privilege Against Self-Incrimination — Waiver and its Effect Upon Subsequent Proceedings

Witness testified before a federal grand jury regarding his participation in acts regarded by the grand jury as constituting a conspiracy to commit an offense against or to defraud the United States. The grand jury returned an indictment naming the witness as a co-con­spirator. At the trial of the other co-conspirators the government call­ed the witness and asked him a series of questions similar to those answered by him at the grand jury investigation. He refused to answer these questions on the ground that his answers would tend to incriminate him. Held: the witness was privileged to refuse to answer these questions. His voluntary testimony at the grand jury investiga­tion did not constitute a waiver of his privilege against self-incrimination. This seems to be a case of first impression in the federal courts. Earlier, federal cases have held, on the theory of waiver, that a witness who has already incriminated himself by his testimony before a grand jury cannot stop short of full disclosure to the grand jury of all the facts surrounding his crime, unless these facts tend to further in­criminate him concerning other crimes. The record of this testimony has been used as evidence in a later criminal prosecution. However, in the instant case, the government, on the theory of waiver, sought to force the witness, himself, to divulge the evidence at the subsequent criminal prosecution

The Procedural Effect of Res Ipsa Loquitur in Nebraska

Since Chief Justice Pollock first used the phrase res ipsa loquitur in the opinion of Byrne v. Boadle, there has been disagreement regarding the exact meaning of the phrase and more particularly its procedural effect. Although various authorities have their own refinements, they generally adhere to one of three different views as to just what the phrase means. Dean Prosser states that the doctrine is nothing more than a form of circumstantial evidence and that the procedural effect of the doctrine may be great or small depending upon the facts of the particular case. A second theory proposes that res ipsa loquitur is a rule of substantive law which compels the court to take judicial notice of the fact that the defendant was negligent. There is a third view that the doctrine is merely a part of the best evidence rule, i.e., where the adverse party has access to the facts the burden of proof shifts to him

Sustainable polycarbonate adhesives for dry and aqueous conditions with thermoresponsive properties

Pressure sensitive adhesives are ubiquitous in commodity products such as tapes, bandages, labels, packaging, and insulation. With single use plastics comprising almost half of yearly plastic production, it is essential that the design, synthesis, and decomposition products of future materials, including polymer adhesives, are within the context of a healthy ecosystem along with comparable or superior performance to conventional materials. Here we show a series of sustainable polymeric adhesives, with an eco-design, that perform in both dry and wet environments. The terpolymerization of propylene oxide, glycidyl butyrate, and CO2, catalyzed by a cobalt salen complex bearing a quaternary ammonium salt, yields the poly(propylene-co-glycidyl butyrate carbonate)s (PPGBC)s. This polymeric adhesive system, composed of environmentally benign building blocks, implements carbon dioxide sequestration techniques, poses minimal environmental hazards, exhibits varied peel strengths from scotch tape to hot-melt wood-glue, and adheres to metal, glass, wood, and Teflon® surfaces.Published versio

Malate as a key carbon source of leaf dark-respired CO2 across different environmental conditions in potato plants

Dissimilation of carbon sources during plant respiration in support of metabolic processes results in the continuous release of CO(2). The carbon isotopic composition of leaf dark-respired CO(2) (i.e. δ (13) C (R)) shows daily enrichments up to 14.8‰ under different environmental conditions. However, the reasons for this (13)C enrichment in leaf dark-respired CO(2) are not fully understood, since daily changes in δ(13)C of putative leaf respiratory carbon sources (δ (13) C (RS)) are not yet clear. Thus, we exposed potato plants (Solanum tuberosum) to different temperature and soil moisture treatments. We determined δ (13) C (R) with an in-tube incubation technique and δ (13) C (RS) with compound-specific isotope analysis during a daily cycle. The highest δ (13) C (RS) values were found in the organic acid malate under different environmental conditions, showing less negative values compared to δ (13) C (R) (up to 5.2‰) and compared to δ (13) C (RS) of soluble carbohydrates, citrate and starch (up to 8.8‰). Moreover, linear relationships between δ (13) C (R) and δ (13) C (RS) among different putative carbon sources were strongest for malate during daytime (r(2)=0.69, P≤0.001) and nighttime (r(2)=0.36, P≤0.001) under all environmental conditions. A multiple linear regression analysis revealed δ (13) C (RS) of malate as the most important carbon source influencing δ (13) C (R). Thus, our results strongly indicate malate as a key carbon source of (13)C enriched dark-respired CO(2) in potato plants, probably driven by an anapleurotic flux replenishing intermediates of the Krebs cycle

Malate as a key carbon source of leaf dark-respired CO2 across different environmental conditions in potato plants

Carbon isotope analyses revealed malate as a key carbon source of leaf dark-respired CO2 in potato plants under different temperature and soil moisture conditions during a daily cycl

(E)-2-(2-Methyl­cyclo­hexyl­idene)hydrazinecarbothio­amide

In the crystal of the title compound, C8H15N3S, mol­ecules are linked by N—H⋯S hydrogen bonds, forming chains along [10]. An intra­molecular N—H⋯N hydrogen bond is also present

Brown adipose tissue thermogenesis precedes food intake in genetically obese Zucker (fa/fa) rats.

In Sprague?Dawley rats, brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis occurs in an episodic ultradianmanner (BAT on-periods) as part of the basic rest?activity cycle (BRAC). Eating occurs approximately 15 min after the onset of BAT on-periods. Zucker obese (fa/fa) rats eat larger less frequent meals than control rats. In chronically instrumented conscious unrestrained Zucker obese rats we examined ultradian fluctuations in BAT, body and brain temperatures, and the relation between BAT temperature and eating. The interval between BAT temperature peaks for the 12 hour dark phase was 121 ? 3 (mean ? SE) min for Zucker obese rats and 91 ? 3 min for control lean rats (p b 0.01). Corresponding values for the light phase were 148 ? 6 and 118 ? 4 min (p b 0.01).Mean BAT and body temperatures were lower in Zucker obese rats, in comparison with lean controls, during both BAT on-periods and BAT off-periods. Mean brain temperatures were lower during BAT off-periods. Amplitudes of the BRAC-related increases in all 3 temperatures were greater in the Zucker obese rats. Meal onset in Zucker obese rats commenced 15 ? 1 min after the onset of a BAT on-period, not significantly different for the delay observed in lean control rats (18 ? 1 min, p > 0.05). Thus periods between eating are increased in the Zucker obese rats, but the action of leptin, absent in these animals, is not crucial for the timing of eating in relation to increases in BAT and body temperature. Lack of the normal excitatory action of leptin on brain-regulated BAT sympathetic discharge could also contribute to lower BAT thermogenesis in Zucker obese rats

Green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles using Solanum torvum (L) leaf extract and evaluation of the toxicological profile of the ZnO nanoparticles–hydrogel composite in Wistar albino rats

Current study reports a simple and one-pot synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) using an aqueous extract of Solanum torvum and evaluation of its toxicological profile (0.5% w/w and 1.0% w/w) in Wistar albino rats with respect to the biochemical index. The nanoparticles were characterized using ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction technique. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) and zeta potential of synthesized nanoparticles were analyzed to know the average size and stability of particles. Synthesized nanoparticles were stable, discreet, and mostly spherical, and size of particles was within the nanometre range. Biochemical markers of hepatic and renal functions were measured. Zinc oxide nanoparticles significantly decreased serum uric acid level (p  less than  0.001) in a dose-dependent manner, while the serum alkaline phosphatase level was increased at the two test doses. The level of alanine transaminase was increased after exposure for 28 days (p  less than  0.05). This study concludes that biogenic zinc oxide nanoparticles-infused hydrogel applied dermatologically could affect hepatic and renal performance in rats, and there was an observed cumulative toxicological effect with time of exposure

Testing variational estimation of process parameters and initial conditions of an earth system model

We present a variational assimilation system around a coarse resolution Earth System Model (ESM) and apply it for estimating initial conditions and parameters of the model. The system is based on derivative information that is efficiently provided by the ESM's adjoint, which has been generated through automatic differentiation of the model's source code. In our variational approach, the length of the feasible assimilation window is limited by the size of the domain in control space over which the approximation by the derivative is valid. This validity domain is reduced by non-smooth process representations. We show that in this respect the ocean component is less critical than the atmospheric component. We demonstrate how the feasible assimilation window can be extended to several weeks by modifying the implementation of specific process representations and by switching off processes such as precipitation