Military Commissions Revived: Persisting Problems of Perception

[Excerpt] “When the first military commission proceedings began in July 2004, the Bush Administration identified fifteen Guantanamo Bay detainees subject to the military commissions. Subsequently, Bush Administration officials asserted that they had evidence to move forward with between sixty and eighty cases within the commission system. But, by the time President George W. Bush left office in early 2009, the commissions had resolved only three cases. Upon taking office, President Barack Obama initially suspended the military commission proceedings in the thirteen cases in which charges were pending, but, in May 2009, he announced his intention to move forward with some commission trials at Guantanamo Bay. In January 2009, the Obama Administration’s Guantanamo Review Task Force reported that it had identified thirty-six cases slated for prosecution. On November 13, 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the government would pursue civilian court prosecutions of the five defendants accused of conspiring to commit the 9/11 attacks and military commissions for five other detainees. Over a year later, military commissions have resolved only three additional cases, all resulting in plea deals, and there have been only sporadic proceedings in any pending cases.

The Next-generation Solar Cell: Exploring the Role of Rear Junctions in Efficiency Enhancement

Solar cell efficiencies have grown in recent years, but further improvements must be made in order for this sustainable energy technology to see widespread commercial use. Traditional solar cells use a junction near the top surface of the cell to separate charge carriers to create electric current; however, with new advances in technology and improved material quality, the role of the junction has become less clear. Recently designed high-efficiency solar cells have taken advantage of high charge carrier lifetimes to shrink the base and move the junction toward the back of the cell, away from the source of carrier generation. For example, in 2013, a GaInP solar cell was created using a rear-junction design with a base width of just 40 nanometers, yielding a record single-junction efficiency of 20.8%. The reason for this improvement, however, is not well understood. In this study, we develop a model of this record efficiency cell in a numerical device simulator to discover the mechanisms leading to the rise in efficiency. By matching simulation parameters with experimental and theoretical characteristics, we are able to show that the large electric field at the rear junction may diminish recombination due to defects in the bulk region in the cell. We also demonstrate consistent improvement in cell efficiency as the junction is moved toward the back of the GaInP cell. These results provide us with a deeper understanding of present-day high-efficiency solar cell operation and suggest how future efficiencies can be pushed closer to their theoretical limit

Quantitative Analysis of Free D-threonines: A Novel Exploitation of L-threionine Aldolase

In biological systems the majority of amino acids consist of the stereoisomer L-amino acids, but there is also the presence of D-amino acids which have a different stereochemistry. The main purpose of this experiment is to isolate the threonine D-amino acids by using L-threonine aldolase (LTA) enzyme to catalyze the reaction of L-threonine and leave D-threonine and D-allo threonine to be isolated by Mass Spectrophotometry (MS/MS). To isolate D-threonine and D-allo threonine the LTA enzyme from E. coli must be isolated. To do this the E.coli were transformed and had a plasmid inserted into its genome to produce enzyme expression. Once enzyme was expressed purification of the enzyme LTA took place along with its refolding from solution and kinetics to determine the protein\u27s concentration. The protein expression proved successful from PCR results that showed LTA enzyme gene expression, SDS-PAGE analysis showed that positive LTA expression as well. The activity of the enzyme was measured using Beer-Lambert\u27s law which showed tho the reaction occurred in a 5mM L-threonine substrate solution, and a mouse plasma solution, which both showed activity

Truly Accomplished: Exploratory Study of Success Map Development

The current study examined Truly Accomplished (TA), an intervention designed to help individuals develop personalized systems to measure and improve behavior by utilizing well-established principles and research on motivation, participation and feedback. This study focused on participation during Success Map development (an integral step in the TA process) and the impact of using experts to develop Success Maps in the TA system. Using the context of fitness, 40 female participants were randomly assigned to either complete the regular TA process, developing their own Success Maps, or the modified TA process, using expert-developed Success Maps. A repeated-measures design with one between-subjects independent variable was used to measure overall effectiveness scores, changes in fitness performance (plank, wall-sit, push-ups, curl-ups) and body composition (BMI, percent body fat), attitudes of system development, satisfaction with TA and satisfaction with life. Additionally, the similarities between expert and self-developed Success Maps were compared. Across all participants, large gains in effectiveness were found, including significant increases in all measurers of fitness performance; however, attitudes were poorer when Success Maps were developed by experts. Moreover, there were differences between expert and self-developed Success Maps. Results support TA as an effective intervention for positive behavior change. The practical and theoretical implications of the differences found between conditions are discussed

Extracting Medical Injury Information from the Legal System to Improve Patient Safety in the Health System: A Social Utility Approach

As many as 400,000 people die each year, and a million are injured, by preventable medical injuries sustained in the U.S. health system. Collection of data to enhance understanding of how unintended medical injuries happen is an essential part of harm-reduction strategies. While health system data collection and reporting processes have improved in recent years, the scope and intractability of the medical injuries problem demands new efforts. The legal system could contribute valuable medical injury data to patient safety efforts but current practices largely prevent it. In medical malpractice claims where parties settle, case information is routinely protected from disclosure by confidentiality agreements thus any medical injury information is inaccessible. Parties who litigate may convince a court to seal their case files, thereby keeping data out of investigator’s reach. Insurers have extensive claim files, rich with information, but provide access only at their discretion. Most notably, fewer than 3% of patients who are injured in the health system ever bring a claim. Therefore, a vast pool of medical injury information lies dormant, never developed through legal claims. This Note argues that the tort system’s social utility purpose would be better served if more information about medical harm were exposed. Though numerous barriers would need to be overcome, data of value to the health system, and the patients who depend on it, could be extracted from (1) out-of-court settlements, (2) sealed court records, (3) medical malpractice insurance claims, and (4) by stimulating medical malpractice claims to create a larger data pool