Rule 24 Notwithstanding: Why Article III Should Not Limit Intervention of Right

The Supreme Court recently decided in Town of Chester v. Laroe Estates, Inc. that intervenors of right under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(a)(2) must demonstrate independent Article III standing when they pursue relief different from that requested by an original plaintiff. This decision resolved, in part, a decades-long controversy among the Courts of Appeals over the proper relationship between Rule 24 intervention and Article III standing that the Court first acknowledged in Diamond v. Charles. But the Court’s narrow decision in Town of Chester hardly disposed of the controversy, and Courts of Appeals are still free to require standing of defendant-intervenors and, it stands to reason, plaintiff-intervenors even if they do not pursue different relief. With this debate yet unresolved, this Note takes a less conventional approach. In addition to arguing that the Supreme Court’s precedents implicitly resolved this question before Town of Chester, this Note argues that the nature of judicial decisions raises two concerns that a liberal application of Rule 24(a)(2) would mitigate. First, this Note argues that stare decisis limits the right of litigants to be heard on the merits of their claims and defenses in a way that undermines the principles of due process. Second, this Note argues that the process of judicial decisionmaking is fraught with potential epistemic problems that can produce suboptimal legal rules. After considering these two concerns, this Note argues that Rule 24(a)(2) is a better and more practical way to mitigate these problems than are Rule 24(a)(2)’s alternatives

The effect of cubic damping on a base excited isolator: an experimental study for harmonic excitation

An experimental study has been conducted to validate theoretical solutions for the response of a base excited single degree-of-freedom isolation system possessing pure cubic damping. The cubic damping characteristic was implemented using an electromagnetic shaker with a simple non-linear velocity feedback control. The rig and practical implementation of the active damping are described. The base excitation was harmonic at a set of discrete frequencies with constant displacement amplitude. Consistent with theoretical predictions, the isolation performance at high excitation frequencies is shown to be worse than either the undamped or linear viscously damped isolation system with the displacement transmissibility tending to unity. This is contrary to the case of force excitation reported in the literature where cubic damping offers improved performance. The physical causes of the distinct behaviours and the consequences for isolator design are discusse

Insurance for autonomous underwater vehicles

The background and practice of insurance for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are examined. Key topics include: relationships between clients, brokers and underwriters; contract wording to provide appropriate coverage; and actions to take when an incident occurs. Factors that affect cost of insurance are discussed, including level of autonomy, team experience and operating environment. Four case studies from industry and academia illustrate how AUV insurance has worked in practice. The paper concludes by stressing the importance of effective dialogue between client, broker and underwriter to review, assess and reduce risk to the benefit of all parties

Direct detection of galaxy stellar halos : NGC 3957 as a test case

We present a direct detection of the stellar halo of the edge-on S0 galaxy NGC 3957, using ultra-deep VLT/VIMOS V and R images. This is achieved with a sky subtraction strategy based on infrared techniques. These observations allow us to reach unprecedented high signal-to-noise ratios up to 15 kpc away from the galaxy center, rendering photon-noise negligible. The 1 sigma detection limits are R = 30.6 mag/arcsec^2 and V = 31.4 mag/arcsec^2. We conduct a thorough analysis of the possible sources of systematic errors that could affect the data: flat-fielding, differences in CCD responses, scaling of the sky background, the extended halo itself, and PSF wings. We conclude that the V-R colour of the NGC 3957 halo, calculated between 5 and 8 kpc above the disc plane where the systematic errors are modest, is consistent with an old and preferentially metal-poor normal stellar population, like that revealed in nearby galaxy halos from studies of their resolved stellar content. We do not find support for the extremely red colours found in earlier studies of diffuse halo emission, which we suggest might have been due to residual systematic errors.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A - "language edited

Online learning : towards enabling choice

Education is rapidly evolving from an opportunity that was provided mainly for an elite to one that is available to a mass markets and as such is prone to the forces generated by this environment. Where, in the established pattern, commercial interest was limited mainly to the use of skills developed during the educational process, the future model of educational provision will involve extensive commercial activity in the production, delivery and marketing of material. Already there are a number of commercial companies offering framework products enabling "off the shelf solutions" for the construction and delivery of web based courses in any subject area. The commercialisation of education is underway and it is inevitable that it will be viewed, by entrepreneurs and customers alike, as any other commercial product. It would seem reasonable that the consumer should be able to evaluate the performance of these new modes of working in a similar manner to other commercial products. This paper draws together current thinking on the problems associated with evaluating computer and communication based learning

Multiplicity of fibronectin-binding alpha V integrin receptors in colorectal cancer.

Current data from in vitro and in vivo animal models indicate that fibronectin-binding integrin receptors expressed by colon cancer cells may regulate tumour growth. While individual members of the beta 1 subfamily of integrins have now been clearly identified in colorectal cancer, little information exists with respect to the alpha V subfamily. In the present study we show that alpha V can associate with multiple and different beta subunits capable of binding fibronectin in this tumour type. This is likely to have functional implications for growth and spread of colorectal cancer