Assessment Procedures for Paved and Gravel Roads

The funding available to local agencies in Indiana to manage roadways has decreased in recent years, and many agencies cannot provide adequate maintenance with the available resources. Consequently, agencies are doing everything they can to evaluate the least expensive method to maintain their roads that will meet their objectives and needs. In some cases, the most appropriate surface type is a paved road, and in some cases, it is a gravel road. The decision as to the most appropriate surface type depends on a variety of factors, such as cost, traffic volume, development and public input. The purpose of this study was to review the applicable research and develop an assessment procedure that local agencies in Indiana can use to help determine the most appropriate surface type for a given road

Do Patients with Craniosynostosis Have an Increased Incidence of Auditory Neuropathy as Newborns?

Neuroscience - Vision & Functional Brain Imaging Poster SessionOBJECTIVE: To investigate the incidence of auditory neuropathy, abnormal auditory brainstem response (ABR) with normal otoacoustic emissions, in newborn patients with craniosynostosis as compared to published standards. DESIGN: A retrospective review of consecutive patients with single or multiple-suture craniosynostosis who were seen between 2002 and 2009. Patients identified by the diagnostic code of craniosynostosis were divided into groups based on suture involvement. The newborn ABR screening and, if patients were referred, diagnosis from audiologic diagnostic testing were obtained from the Missouri Department of Health. Institutional review board approval was obtained. PATIENTS: One hundred and thirty-five patients were identified. Seventy-two were excluded; 3 were listed as “missed” and 69 were not born in-state. The 63 patients included in the study were grouped by involved sutures: 2 left coronal, 7 right coronal, 2 nonsyndromic bicoronal, 3 syndromic bicoronal, 13 sagittal, 17 operative metopic, 15 nonoperative metopic, 1 pansynostosis, and 3 multiple-suture. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The newborn screening results for each patient were recorded as well as the diagnosis from audiologic diagnostics if the patient was referred. RESULTS: Of the 63 patients, 94% (59/63) passed their ABR screening. Four were referred for diagnostic exam in both ears. Of those, one had a normal exam (right coronal) and three did not have diagnostic exams on file (right coronal, bicoronal syndromic and bicoronal non-syndromic). CONCLUSIONS: According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1.8 percent of newborns failed their ABR screening in 2007. Of those, 37% were found to have normal hearing on diagnostic exam. Although our study was inconclusive due to inadequate state records, it does demonstrate an increased incidence in abnormal ABR's in patients with coronal craniosynostosis. This is consistent with a recent publication that demonstrated higher incidence of abnormal ABR's in syndromic coronal craniosynostosis. If auditory abnormalities are present at birth, as our study suggests, the etiology would be unrelated to increased intracranial pressures

U.S. v. Briggs: Brief of Members of Congress As Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioner

This amicus brief filed in the U.S. Supreme Court case of United States v. Briggs on behalf of a bipartisan group of thirteen members of Congress discusses the absence of any statute of limitation for rape prosecutions within the military. It argues that the Constitution entrusts Congress with authority over military discipline, including the authority to determine what (if any) statutes of limitations apply to crimes that occur within the military. By classifying rape as an “offense punishable by death” and stipulating that “offenses punishable by death” are not subject to statutes of limitations, Congress entrenched the policy that rape within the military is not subject to any statute of limitations at all. Whether the death penalty can be constitutionally imposed for the rape of an adult—an open question in the specialized military context—is wholly irrelevant to the key question in the case: Whether Congress determined that the death penalty is warranted for rape in the military. Congress’ policy judgment—that rape within the military is so heinous and so damaging to military effectiveness that no temporal restriction should be placed on its prosecution—is entitled to respect. Rape in the military has devastating effects on survivors individually and military readiness generally. And the military’s hierarchical command structure can exacerbate the understandable reluctance of rape survivors to come forward and report the crimes committed against them. In light of those considerations, the provisions in the Uniform Code of Military Justice that address rape in the military have been understood for decades to reflect Congress’ intent that those who commit the crime of rape should not be permitted to escape justice by hiding behind the passage of time

Kansas v. Boettger: On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the Supreme Court of the State of Kansas

This amicus brief in support of Kansas’ petition for certiorari in Kansas v. Boettger discusses the important issue of whether the First Amendment require proof of specific intent to criminally punish violent threats. The brief argues that the First Amendment does not contain any such requirement and that creating any such requirement would interfere with effective prosecution of domestic violence. The Kansas Supreme Court’s decision over which review is being sought required the state to prove that an abuser had a specific intent to cause fear. If allowed to stand, the decision will make prosecuting and preventing domestic violence even more challenging, without any corresponding benefit. In domestic violence cases, there is rarely direct evidence of specific intent, and domestic-violence victims often struggle to confront their abusers in court. Indeed, the impact of abusers’ psychological, emotional, and physical abuse is often so severe that victims frequently struggle even to seek help. The Kansas Supreme Court’s decision to impose a specific intent requirement in a case involving violent threats is inconsistent with decisions from other courts, the law in over a dozen states, the Model Penal Code, and the history and tradition of the First Amendment. This amicus brief concludes that the Supreme Court should grant certiorari to review the decision below and reverse it

Evolution of a 3 \msun star from the main sequence to the ZZ Ceti stage: the role played by element diffusion

The purpose of this paper is to present new full evolutionary calculations for DA white dwarf stars with the major aim of providing a physically sound reference frame for exploring the pulsation properties of the resulting models in future communications. Here, white dwarf evolution is followed in a self-consistent way with the predictions of time dependent element diffusion and nuclear burning. In addition, full account is taken of the evolutionary stages prior to the white dwarf formation. In particular, we follow the evolution of a 3 \msun model from the zero-age main sequence (the adopted metallicity is Z=0.02) all the way from the stages of hydrogen and helium burning in the core up to the thermally pulsing phase. After experiencing 11 thermal pulses, the model is forced to evolve towards its white dwarf configuration by invoking strong mass loss episodes. Further evolution is followed down to the domain of the ZZ Ceti stars on the white dwarf cooling branch. Emphasis is placed on the evolution of the chemical abundance distribution due to diffusion processes and the role played by hydrogen burning during the white dwarf evolution. Furthermore, the implications of our evolutionary models for the main quantities relevant for adiabatic pulsation analysis are discussed. Interestingly, the shape of the Ledoux term is markedly smoother as compared with previous detailed studies of white dwarfs. This is translated into a different behaviour of the Brunt-Vaisala frequency.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

State of Arizona v. Guy James Goodman: On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the Arizona Supreme Court

Arizona’s pending certiorari petition in Arizona v. Goodman provides the Supreme Court with an opportunity to review the important issue of the circumstances under which the Constitution permits an accused sex offender to be denied bail pending trial. In 2002, Arizona voters amended their state constitution, rendering a defendant categorically ineligible for bail if “the proof is evident or the presumption great” that he committed sexual assault. In a narrowly divided opinion, the Arizona Supreme Court found that this measure unconstitutional. And yet the Court’s opinion makes clear that the Constitution does not prohibit denying bail to defendants who present (1) “a continuing danger to the community” or (2) “a risk of flight.” Nor does the Constitution prohibit categorically denying bail based on the nature of the charged offense. Indeed, thirty-four states categorically deny bail to persons charged with capital offenses, murder, specified sex offenses, or offenses punishable by life imprisonment. Review of the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision is needed to resolve the conflict between it and the Court’s precedent on an important issue of constitutional law that affects the criminal justice system, crime victims, and community safety in States across the Nation. The Court’s review is especially needed because of the serious implications for victims and their communities if the judgment below is permitted to stand. Given sex offenders’ high recidivism rates, and the life-altering harm suffered by their victims, Arizona’s legislature was entirely reasonable when it opted to categorically deny bail to sexual-assault defendants on the ground that sexual assault is an adequate proxy for future dangerousness - and to build in procedural protections that go above and beyond in ensuring due process. The Constitution does not prohibit States like Arizona and others from taking these steps to ensure sex offenders are brought to justice, victims are protected, and communities are safeguarded

Numerical simulations of strongly correlated fermions confined in 1D optical lattices

On the basis of quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations we study the formation of Mott domains in the one-dimensional Hubbard model with an additional confining potential. We find evidences of quantum critical behavior at the boundaries of the Mott-insulating regions. A local compressibility defined to characterize the local phases exhibits a non-trivial critical exponent on entering the Mott-insulating domains. Both the local compressibility and the variance of the local density show universality with respect to the confining potential. We also study the momentum distribution function of the trapped system, and determine its phase diagram.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures. Published in a special issue on Ultracold Atoms and Degenerate Quantum Gase