A Judicial Balancing Act: Evaluating the First Amendment Claims of Sitting Judges

On April 14, 2017, members of the New Millennium Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, gathered outside of Arkansas’s Governor’s Mansion to protest capital punishment. The mansion’s resident, Governor Asa Hutchinson, had recently scheduled eight executions for the month of April. Two members of the congregation held signs reading, “Other states are trying to abolish the death penalty[,] mine’s putting it on express lane.” New Millennium Church’s lead minister Wendell Griffen lay on a cot in front of his parishioners to symbolize the use of capital punishment on Jesus Christ

Lead-free piezoelectric K0.5Bi0.5TiO3–Bi(Mg0.5Ti0.5)O3 ceramics with depolarisation temperatures up to ~220 C

The properties of K0.5Bi0.5TiO3-rich ceramic solid solutions in the system (1 - x)K0.5Bi0.5TiO3– xBi(Mg0.5Ti0.5)O3 are reported. The highest values of piezoelectric charge coefficient, d33, and field-induced strains are found in compositions located close to a compositional boundary between single-phase tetragonal and mixed tetragonal ? cubic perovskite phases. Maximum d33 values were *150 pC/N for x = 0.03, with positive strains of *0.25 %; the x = 0.04 composition had a d33 * 133 pC/N and strain of 0.35 % (bipolar electric field, 50 kV/ cm, 1 Hz). Depolarisation temperature Td is an important selection criterion for any lead-free piezoelectric for actuator or sensor applications. A Td of *220 C for x = 0.03 is *100 C higher than for the widely reported Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3–BaTiO3 system, yet d33 values and strains are similar, suggesting the new material is worthy of further attention as a lead-free piezoceramic for elevated temperature applications

Dielectric stability in the relaxor: Na₀.₅Bi₀.₅TiO₃-Ba₀.₈Ca₀.₂TiO₃-Bi(Mg₀.₅Ti₀.₅)O₃- NaNbO₃ ceramic system

Ceramics with temperature-stable dielectric characteristics have been developed in the system: 0.6[0.85Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3-(0.15-x)Ba0.8Ca0.2TiO3-xBi(Mg0.5Ti0.5)O3]−0.4NaNbO3, x ≤ 0.15. Dielectric measurements exhibited relaxor ferroelectric characteristics with temperature-stable relative permittivity from εr~1330 ± 15% in the temperature range from −70 °C – 215 °C and tanδ ≤ 0.02 from −20 °C to 380 °C for x = 0 compositions. For the Bi(Mg0.5Ti0.5)O3 modified compositions the temperature range of stable relative permittivity extended from −70 °C to 400 °C, with εr ~ 950 ± 15% and tanδ ≤ 0.02 from −70 °C to 260 °C. Values of dc resistivity were ~ 108 Ω m at a temperature of 300 °C and the corresponding RC constant values were in the range from 0.40 − 0.78 s at 300 °C. All ceramic samples exhibited a linear polarisation-electric field response at maximum applied electric field of 5 kV/cm (1 kHz)

Air quality in Mecca and surrounding holy places in Saudi Arabia during Hajj: initial survey.

The Arabian Peninsula experiences severe air pollution, the extent and sources of which are poorly documented. Each year in Saudi Arabia this situation is intensified during Hajj, the Holy Pilgrimage of Islam that draws millions of pilgrims to Mecca. An initial study of air quality in Mecca and surrounding holy sites during the 2012 Hajj (October 24-27) revealed strongly elevated levels of the combustion tracer carbon monoxide (CO, up to 57 ppmv) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) along the pilgrimage route-especially in the tunnels of Mecca-that are a concern for human health. The most abundant VOC was the gasoline evaporation tracer i-pentane, which exceeded 1200 ppbv in the tunnels. Even though VOC concentrations were generally lower during a follow-up non-Hajj sampling period (April 2013), many were still comparable to other large cities suffering from poor air quality. Major VOC sources during the 2012 Hajj study included vehicular exhaust, gasoline evaporation, liquefied petroleum gas, and air conditioners. Of the measured compounds, reactive alkenes and CO showed the strongest potential to form ground-level ozone. Because the number of pilgrims is expected to increase in the future, we present emission reduction strategies to target both combustive and evaporative fossil fuel sources

Fast Sequences of Non-spatial State Representations in Humans

SummaryFast internally generated sequences of neural representations are suggested to support learning and online planning. However, these sequences have only been studied in the context of spatial tasks and never in humans. Here, we recorded magnetoencephalography (MEG) while human subjects performed a novel non-spatial reasoning task. The task required selecting paths through a set of six visual objects. We trained pattern classifiers on the MEG activity elicited by direct presentation of the visual objects alone and tested these classifiers on activity recorded during periods when no object was presented. During these object-free periods, the brain spontaneously visited representations of approximately four objects in fast sequences lasting on the order of 120 ms. These sequences followed backward trajectories along the permissible paths in the task. Thus, spontaneous fast sequential representation of states can be measured non-invasively in humans, and these sequences may be a fundamental feature of neural computation across tasks

Effects of Triticale-Based Diets fed in Deep-Bedded Hoop Barns on Finishing Pig Performance and Pork Quality

Triticale is a synthetic small grain that results from an intergeneric cross between durum wheat and rye. Triticale has shown potential as a feedstuff in swine diets. Producers who may find this to be an attractive crop may also raise swine in an alternative swine production system. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of triticale-based diets on pork quality and finishing pig performance of pigs reared in deep-bedded hoop barns