Astrometric orbits of SB9 stars

Hipparcos Intermediate Astrometric Data (IAD) have been used to derive astrometric orbital elements for spectroscopic binaries from the newly released Ninth Catalogue of Spectroscopic Binary Orbits (SB9). Among the 1374 binaries from SB9 which have an HIP entry, 282 have detectable orbital astrometric motion (at the 5% significance level). Among those, only 70 have astrometric orbital elements that are reliably determined (according to specific statistical tests discussed in the paper), and for the first time for 20 systems, representing a 10% increase relative to the 235 DMSA/O systems already present in the Hipparcos Double and Multiple Systems Annex. The detection of the astrometric orbital motion when the Hipparcos IAD are supplemented by the spectroscopic orbital elements is close to 100% for binaries with only one visible component, provided that the period is in the 50 - 1000 d range and the parallax is larger than 5 mas. This result is an interesting testbed to guide the choice of algorithms and statistical tests to be used in the search for astrometric binaries during the forthcoming ESA Gaia mission. Finally, orbital inclinations provided by the present analysis have been used to derive several astrophysical quantities. For instance, 29 among the 70 systems with reliable astrometric orbital elements involve main sequence stars for which the companion mass could be derived. Some interesting conclusions may be drawn from this new set of stellar masses, like the enigmatic nature of the companion to the Hyades F dwarf HIP 20935. This system has a mass ratio of 0.98 but the companion remains elusive.Comment: Astronomy & Astrophysics, in press (16 pages, 12 figures); also available at http://www.astro.ulb.ac.be/Html/ps.html#Astrometr

Avoiding Wrongful Convictions: Re-examining the Wrong-Person Defense

This Article reviews the history of the right to present a defense and closely examines the United States Supreme Court\u27s modern analysis of that right. Part III analyzes the emergence of the right to present a defense that a third party committed the crime and concludes with a discussion of the Supreme Court\u27s recent decision in South Carolina v. Holmes. Part IV then describes the current restrictive implementation of the wrong-person defense by the lower courts. Part V argues that the constitutional right to present a wrong-person defense is being insufficiently protected under current, arbitrary standards, and prescribes a constitutional analysis of the defense that is consistent with the Supreme Court\u27s jurisprudence, more reflective of what the lower courts actually are doing, and that is likely to produce more reliable results

Psychological Aspects of Visual Merchandising

Undergraduate Creative and Artisti

Ministers of Justice and Mass Incarceration

Over the past few years, scholars, legislators, and politicians have come to recognize that our current state of “mass incarceration” is the result of serious dysfunction in our criminal justice system. As a consequence, there has been significant attention to the causes of mass incarceration. These include the war on drugs and political decisions based on a “law and order” perspective. Congressional and state legislative enactments increased the financing of the expansion of police powers and provided for severely punitive sentencing statutes, thereby giving prosecutors uniquely powerful weapons in securing guilty pleas. All of this occurred as crime rates dropped. Where were the lawyers when our criminal justice system was evolving into a system of mass incarceration? Surprisingly, in looking for the causes and cures for the mass incarceration state, very little, if any, attention has been paid to the role of the most powerful actor in the criminal justice system: the prosecutor. It is the prosecutor who exercises virtually unreviewable discretion in seeking charges, determining bail, negotiating a resolution, and fixing the sentence. Now, however, there is data that identifies aggressive prosecutorial charging practices as the major cause of the explosion in our prison population. That is, over the past twenty years prosecutors have brought felony charges in more cases than ever before, resulting in a dramatic increase in prison admissions. If prosecutorial charging practices have been a major cause of the universally recognized mass incarceration problem, what should be done? How does the role of the prosecutor need to change to prevent a continuation, or a worsening, of our mass incarceration problem? This Article examines the recognized role of the prosecutor as a “minister of justice,” and makes a range of suggested changes to the prosecution function. These include re-calibrating the minister of justice and advocacy role balance in recognition of the current mass incarceration crisis; enacting measures to ensure independence from law enforcement in the charging function; collecting currently non-existent, objective data that breaks down and memorializes available information on each decision to charge as well as its consequences; and drafting written charging procedures and policies based on the collection of that data-driven information

Flow dynamics control the effect of sphingosine-1-phosphate on endothelial permeability in a microfluidic vessel bifurcation model

Blood vessels are lined by endothelial cells that form a semipermeable barrier to restrict fluid flow across the vessel wall. The endothelial barrier is known to respond to various molecular mechanisms, but the effects of mechanical signals that arise due to blood flow remain poorly understood. Here, we report a microfluidic model that mimics the flow conditions and endothelial/extracellular matrix (ECM) architecture of a vessel bifurcation to enable systematic investigation of how flow dynamics that arise within bifurcating vessels guides the endothelial response to biochemical signals. Applying the strengths of our system, we further investigate the endothelial response to sphingosine-1-phosphate, a bioactive lipid that has demonstrated flow-dependent regulation of vascular permeability. We demonstrate that bifurcated fluid flow (BFF) that arises at the base of vessel bifurcations and laminar shear stress (LSS) that arises along downstream vessel walls induce a decrease in endothelial permeability. Furthermore, we identify that flow-dynamics and chaperone proteins regulate the endothelial response to S1P. Through pharmacological inhibition of S1P receptors 1 and 2, we report ligand-independent mechanical activation of S1P receptors 1 and 2, providing support for the role of G protein-coupled receptors as mechanosensors. These findings introduce BFF as an important regulator of vascular permeability, and establish flow dynamics as a determinant of the endothelial response to S1P.Pelotonia Fellowship ProgramBarry M. Goldwater Excellence in Education FoundationThe Ohio State University College of EngineeringA one-year embargo was granted for this item.Academic Major: Biomedical Engineerin