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[E]quity is a law in our hearts; it conforms to no rule, but to circumstances, and decides by the consciousness of right and wrong. --George Crabb (1) INTRODUCTION The North [...]

INTRODUCTION After a century of evolution, the Fourth Amendment's exclusionary rule may be in danger of extinction. Several recent Supreme Court decisions have threatened to dramatically curtail the suppression remedy, [...]

The analysis of six landing sites that were candidates for the two NASA Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) benefited from recently available image data from the Thermal Emission Imaging Spectrometer (THEMIS) onboard the 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. The combination of daytime and nighttime thermal infrared images from THEMIS supplemented by additional data sets has lead to new or expanded insights into the nature of each landing site. In Meridiani Planum, a layer of lighter-toned, higher thermal inertia material is observable just below the hematite-bearing layer. Gusev Crater displays a more complex stratigraphy than previously observed, including an upper layer with lobate margins. The highest inertia unit of southern Isidis Planitia is confined to topographic lows in the rim/basin margin and does not appear to be due to highland material transported onto the basin floor. The enigmatic, ovoid, blocky terrain on the floor of Melas Chasma displays higher thermal inertia than its surroundings, an indication that it contains coarser or more indurated material than the adjacent aeolian bedforms. The myriad channels of Athabasca Valles display distinctive thermal signatures despite the presence of a bright layer of dust covering the region. The presence of alluvial fans produced from spur-and-gulley erosion of the walls of Eos Chasma demonstrates that mass movements have occurred following the canyon scouring floods. Keywords: Mars, surface, Infrared observations

Does public mood influence the decisions of U.S. Supreme Court Justices? Under what conditions might Justices vote against their typical ideological leanings and in favor of public opinion? We employ both quantitative and qualitative methods to address these questions. For the quantitative portion, logistic regression analysis indicates a strong relationship between public mood and Supreme Court Justices' votes both in the aggregate and for a number of liberal and conservative Justices individually during the 1946 to 2011 Court terms. Justices respond less strongly to public opinion when the Court is highly polarized and when the legal issues to be decided are highly politically salient. For the qualitative portion, we examine Justice Harry Blackmun's personal papers in the Library of Congress for evidence of an apparent "switch" from an attitudinal posture to a public mood posture. We findfour cases in which he made such a switch: Planned Parenthood v. Danforth, Committee for Public Education v. Nyquist, Pennsylvania Central Transportation v. New York City, and Maine v. Thibotout. We also closely examine Justice Thurgood Marshall's normative views on judicial neutrality and the role of public opinion on judging. Our research demonstrates the enduring power of popular influences on the Supreme Court, showing that despite public and scholarly reports about growing ideological intransigence in the Court, the public holds significant sway over the decisions of individual members of the nation's highest court. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: These studies were undertaken to determine methamphetamine (METH) and smoking effects on umbilical vascular dynamics and pregnancy outcomes., Materials and Methods: Umbilical cords (54) were collected prospectively at birth, washed of blood, and stored at -80°C. Cords were thawed and lysates prepared, then catecholamine levels quantified with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)., Results: Catecholamine levels in umbilical cords were not associated with maternal or gestational age, gravidity, parity, neonatal or placental weight. Neither smoking nor METH affected dopamine or epinephrine. However, smoking (two-fold) and METH (four-fold) decreased norepinephrine and together a 60-fold reduction occurred (p = 0.025). Cesarean section and hypertension were both associated with lower norepinephrine levels (p < 0.001) regardless of drug status. In normotensive pregnancies, smoking and METH significantly decreased norepinephrine levels (two-fold and 3.5-fold each, respectively) with a 40-fold decrease for METH/smoking together., Discussion: Depletion of norephinephrine by METH and smoking likely contributes to pregnancy complications, including the higher incidence of respiratory distress and postpartum hemorrhage in cesarean section.

Genes from Ugt1a family in placenta and fetal liver are responsible for hormone, nutrient and chemical balance during pregnancy. Assisted reproduction technologies (ART) i.e. intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) alter steroid homeostasis in pregnancy through increased glucuronidation. Here we show that ART (particularly ICSI) upregulates Ugt1a1, 1a2, 1a6 and 1a9 expression in murine placentas and fetal livers with higher mRNA related to lower progesterone (1a1) and cholesterol (1a2, 1a6) in placentas. Greater steroid clearance in ART through transcriptional upregulation of Ugt1a in the placental-fetal unit may decrease the availability of essential molecules, mediating negative reproductive outcomes., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)