Trusts - Spendthrift Trusts - Deviation from Trust Terms on the Basis of Unforeseen Emotional Emergencies

Plaintiff and her son were the principal beneficiaries of a testamentary spendthrift trust which had been created by plaintiff\u27s husband. The son, Montgomery Ward Thorne, was found dead under unusual circumstances. His will left a portion of his interest in the trust to his fiancée and her mother. A contest over the son\u27s will developed between plaintiff and the designated beneficiaries in the will which caused intense bitterness between the parties. A compromise agreement was entered into, and plaintiff brought suit to obtain (1) court approval of the will contest settlement and (2) a direction to defendant trustee to invade the corpus of the spendthrift trust to provide funds for the settlement. The chancellor approved the settlement and directed defendant trustee to invade the corpus. On appeal, held, affirmed. The chancellor had authority to deviate from the trust terms on the basis of an emotional emergency engendered by the son\u27s death and the subsequent dispute between plaintiff and her son\u27s beneficiaries. The existence of spendthrift provisions did not prevent deviation. Thorne v. Continental Ill. Nat. Bank b Trust Co., (Ill. App. 1958) 151 N.E. (2d) 398

Constitutional Law - Search and Seizure - Admissibility in a Federal Court of Evidence Illegally Obtained by State Officers

In response to a call from a citizen whose suspicions had been aroused by the actions of the defendant and a companion, Maryland police unlawfully arrested the companion and searched the premises occupied by him and the defendant. & a result of this search, money was found which had been stolen in the District of Columbia. Although the search was illegal under Maryland law and in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, this money was used as evidence to convict the defendant of housebreaking and larceny in the District of Columbia federal court. On appeal, held, conviction reversed and remanded for a new trial excluding such evidence. As the evidence was obtained in violation of the Constitution, it should be excluded on principle and as a matter of sound judicial policy even though only state officers participated in the unlawful proceedings. Hanna v. United States, (D.C. Cir. 1958) 260 F. (2d) 723

Taxation - Ordinary and Necessary Expenses - Deduction of Advertising Expenses Incurred to Defeat State Initiative Measures

Petitioners were members of a partnership engaged in the wholesale distribution of beer in Washington. In 1948 the partnership made contributions to a publicity campaign instituted to defeat an initiative to be presented to the voting public, the passage of which would have placed retail beer and wine sales exclusively in state hands. In their 1948 tax returns petitioners deducted the amount contributed as ordinary and necessary business expense. After the Commissioner disallowed the deduction the petitioners paid the deficiency under protest and sued for a refund in the district court. That court denied the refund, ruling that the payments were expended for the defeat of legislation within the meaning of an existing treasury regulation which prohibited deduction of such expenditures as ordinary and necessary business expense under section 23 (a) (1) (A) of the 1939 Internal Revenue Code. The court of appeals affirmed. On certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, held, affirmed. The pertinent regulation is designed to implement the sound public policy of keeping the Treasury out of political controversies and has acquired the force of law due to (1) reenactment without change of the code provision which the regulation interprets and (2) consistent rulings by the courts disallowing such deductions in accordance with the regulation. Cammarano v. United States, 358 U.S. 498 (1959)

Total Synthesis of Ionic Liquid Systems for Dissolution of Lunar Simulant

For purposes of Space Resource Utilization, work in the total synthesis of a new ionic liquid system for the extraction of oxygen and metals from lunar soil is studied and described. Reactions were carried out according to procedures found in the chemical literature, analyzed via Thin-Layer Chromatography and 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and purified via vacuum distillation and rotary evaporation. Upon final analysis via 1H NMR, it was found that while the intermediates of the synthesis had been achieved, unexpected side products were also present. The mechanisms and constraints of the synthesis are described as well as the final results of the project and recommendations for continued stud

Understanding the threats posed by non-native species: public vs. conservation managers.

Public perception is a key factor influencing current conservation policy. Therefore, it is important to determine the influence of the public, end-users and scientists on the prioritisation of conservation issues and the direct implications for policy makers. Here, we assessed public attitudes and the perception of conservation managers to five non-native species in the UK, with these supplemented by those of an ecosystem user, freshwater anglers. We found that threat perception was not influenced by the volume of scientific research or by the actual threats posed by the specific non-native species. Media interest also reflected public perception and vice versa. Anglers were most concerned with perceived threats to their recreational activities but their concerns did not correspond to the greatest demonstrated ecological threat. The perception of conservation managers was an amalgamation of public and angler opinions but was mismatched to quantified ecological risks of the species. As this suggests that invasive species management in the UK is vulnerable to a knowledge gap, researchers must consider the intrinsic characteristics of their study species to determine whether raising public perception will be effective. The case study of the topmouth gudgeon Pseudorasbora parva reveals that media pressure and political debate has greater capacity to ignite policy changes and impact studies on non-native species than scientific evidence alone

The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment: Exploring Fundamental Symmetries of the Universe

The preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early Universe, the dynamics of the supernova bursts that produced the heavy elements necessary for life and whether protons eventually decay --- these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our Universe, its current state and its eventual fate. The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE) represents an extensively developed plan for a world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions. LBNE is conceived around three central components: (1) a new, high-intensity neutrino source generated from a megawatt-class proton accelerator at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, (2) a near neutrino detector just downstream of the source, and (3) a massive liquid argon time-projection chamber deployed as a far detector deep underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility. This facility, located at the site of the former Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota, is approximately 1,300 km from the neutrino source at Fermilab -- a distance (baseline) that delivers optimal sensitivity to neutrino charge-parity symmetry violation and mass ordering effects. This ambitious yet cost-effective design incorporates scalability and flexibility and can accommodate a variety of upgrades and contributions. With its exceptional combination of experimental configuration, technical capabilities, and potential for transformative discoveries, LBNE promises to be a vital facility for the field of particle physics worldwide, providing physicists from around the globe with opportunities to collaborate in a twenty to thirty year program of exciting science. In this document we provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess.Comment: Major update of previous version. This is the reference document for LBNE science program and current status. Chapters 1, 3, and 9 provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess. 288 pages, 116 figure

Noise Sensitivity in Continuum Percolation

We prove that the Poisson Boolean model, also known as the Gilbert disc model, is noise sensitive at criticality. This is the first such result for a Continuum Percolation model, and the first for which the critical probability p_c \ne 1/2. Our proof uses a version of the Benjamini-Kalai-Schramm Theorem for biased product measures. A quantitative version of this result was recently proved by Keller and Kindler. We give a simple deduction of the non-quantitative result from the unbiased version. We also develop a quite general method of approximating Continuum Percolation models by discrete models with p_c bounded away from zero; this method is based on an extremal result on non-uniform hypergraphs.Comment: 42 page

Proteomic Characterization of Cellular and Molecular Processes that Enable the Nanoarchaeum equitans-Ignicoccus hospitalis Relationship

Nanoarchaeum equitans, the only cultured representative of the Nanoarchaeota, is dependent on direct physical contact with its host, the hyperthermophile Ignicoccus hospitalis. The molecular mechanisms that enable this relationship are unknown. Using whole-cell proteomics, differences in the relative abundance of >75% of predicted protein-coding genes from both Archaea were measured to identify the specific response of I. hospitalis to the presence of N. equitans on its surface. A purified N. equitans sample was also analyzed for evidence of interspecies protein transfer. The depth of cellular proteome coverage achieved here is amongst the highest reported for any organism. Based on changes in the proteome under the specific conditions of this study, I. hospitalis reacts to N. equitans by curtailing genetic information processing (replication, transcription) in lieu of intensifying its energetic, protein processing and cellular membrane functions. We found no evidence of significant Ignicoccus biosynthetic enzymes being transported to N. equitans. These results suggest that, under laboratory conditions, N. equitans diverts some of its host's metabolism and cell cycle control to compensate for its own metabolic shortcomings, thus appearing to be entirely dependent on small, transferable metabolites and energetic precursors from I. hospitalis