Amending State Constitutions

In the dual system of Federal and State government as it exists in the United States of America, the constitution is the solemnly formulated chart by which the people of a State in their sovereign capacity prescribe the limits within which the natural rights of persons may be regulated by law for the public welfare, and define and limit the authority, powers and duties of those who are charged with the administration of the government of the State. The existing constitution of a State is the last and paramount word of authority and control from the sovereign people; and its mandates are subject only to the provisions and principles of the Federal constitution. By the latter instrument the people of the States, in order to conserve the general welfare, granted to the United States certain specified governmental functions and powers, to be exercised within the stated limits as the supreme law of the land, to which all State authority should yield

Developing and applying an integrated modular design methodology within a SME

Modularity within a product can bring advantages to the design process by facilitating enhanced design reuse, reduced lead times, decreased cost and higher levels of quality. While the benefits of modularity are becoming increasingly better known, at present it is usually left to the designers themselves to introduce modularity into products. Studies into modularity have shown that byimplementing 'formal' methods, further benefits can be made in terms of time, cost, quality and performance. Current approaches that have been proposed for the formal development of modular design methodologies fail to accurately represent knowledge that is inherently produced during design projects and fail to consider design from the different viewpoints of the development process. This work, built on previous work on modularity and design for reuse, aims to develop an integrated design methodology that will optimise the modules created through the design process and allow for modularity to be 'built-in' to product development from the initial stages. The methodology andassociated tools have been developed to provide an easy-to-use approach to modularity that has support for design rationales and company knowledge that aid in effective design decision making. The methodology, named GeMoCURE, provides an integrated total solution to modular design based on reuse of proven physical and knowledge modules. Its incremental nature allows for the optimalstructure to be maintained as the design progresses. A special focus has been on the application of this approach for Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which are typically challenged by a lack of design human resources and expertise

Shake-Modified Resonant Autoionization In Magnesium

Anomalous features in the resonantly excited 2p autoionization spectrum of Mg are attributed to overlapping shake transitions of the excited bound (spectator) electron. Universal features of the shake spectrum are displayed and related to the post-collision interaction

Reared Microgastrine Wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) from Yanayacu Biological Station and Environs (Napo Province, Ecuador): Diversity and Host Specialization

The microgastrine braconid wasps recovered up through 2007 by the NSF-sponsored rearing project “Caterpillars and Parasitoids of the Eastern Andes in Ecuador” are summarized in terms of their host specialization and faunistic uniqueness. Two hundred fifty eight rearings of caterpillars resulted in records of Microgastrinae, distributed among 14 genera (Apanteles Förster, Choeras Mason, Cotesia Cameron, Diolcogaster Ashmead, Distatrix Mason, Dolichogenidea Viereck, Exix Mason, Glyptapanteles Ashmead, Hypomicrogaster Ashmead, Papanteles Mason, Parapanteles Ashmead, Protapanteles Ashmead, Sathon Mason and Venanus Mason). Eleven records of hyperparasitoids of Microgastrinae are also summarized; Mesochorus Gravenhorst (Ichneumonidae) and Perilampidae are both recorded. The results are compared to those recovered by surveys in other parts of the world, especially by the Janzen-Hallwachs survey of the Area de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG) in Costa Rica. An annotated list of microgastrine genera not yet recorded at Yanayacu, but which we expect to eventually find there based on extrapolation from their known geographic distributions, is provided

The contribution of diet and genotype to iron status in women:a classical twin study

This is the first published report examining the combined effect of diet and genotype on body iron content using a classical twin study design. The aim of this study was to determine the relative contribution of genetic and environmental factors in determining iron status. The population was comprised of 200 BMI- and age-matched pairs of MZ and DZ healthy twins, characterised for habitual diet and 15 iron-related candidate genetic markers. Variance components analysis demonstrated that the heritability of serum ferritin (SF) and soluble transferrin receptor was 44% and 54% respectively. Measured single nucleotide polymorphisms explained 5% and selected dietary factors 6% of the variance in iron status; there was a negative association between calcium intake and body iron (p = 0.02) and SF (p = 0.04)

Angular anisotropy in the resonant Auger decay of 2p-photoexcited Mg

We have measured strongly negative β values of the 3s-participator lines at the magnesium 2p→4s and 2p1/2→3d excitations. Observed β values of the spectator lines following 2p→4s excitation are not reproduced by the strict spectator model. Our multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock calculations show that the resonant Auger spectra are influenced by unusually pronounced configuration interaction in the excited state. This influence is strongly enhanced by a change of sign in the Auger amplitude of the leading term near the transition energy, a dynamic effect similar to a Cooper minimum in photoionization

Effects of forest management practices on treefrog oviposition site choice

Abstract only availableGlobally, amphibian populations are declining faster than those of birds or mammals. Habitat destruction is considered the primary cause of these declines; however, what remains partly unexplored is the idea that some species may be more greatly affected than others by deforestation. Treefrogs (Family: Hylidae), because of their mobility, may be expected to circumvent disturbed habitats; however, because of their dependency on arboreal habitat, they may be adversely affected by different forms of forest management. As part of the LEAP (Land-Use Effects on Amphibian Populations) study, four forest management practices—clearcut with coarse woody debris (CWD) removed, clearcut with CWD retained, thinning of 25% basal area, and uncut forest—were implemented at four wetlands at the Savannah River Site. In May 2005, we placed wading pools 25 m into each treatment and allowed them to fill with rainwater. To monitor time to first oviposition event and to determine the number of events per treatment, pools were checked daily, eggs were counted, and tadpoles were raised to confirm that all eggs were indeed those of hylids. We measured water depth, canopy cover, and surrounding vegetation. These data will be analyzed to determine if suitable calling/breeding habitat (microhabitat) is a more reliable predictor of oviposition than treatment (macrohabitat). At three of the four wetlands, first oviposition events occurred in the thinning treatments, and second events occurred in the clearcuts with CWD retained. We found that more oviposition events also occurred in the thinning treatments (43%) and the clearcuts with CWD retained (33%) than in the clearcuts with CWD removed (13%) or the uncut forest controls (10%). One explanation for these findings is that hylids have evolved to locate openings in the forest canopy which could indicate a wetland or a fallen tree whose uprooting has caused an ephemeral pool to form.Life Sciences Undergraduate Research Opportunity Progra