Beyond Racial Precedents: Loving v. Virginia as an Appropriate Legal Model and Strategy for Same-Sex Marriage Litigation

This thesis explores how LGBT marriage activists and lawyers have employed a racial interpretation of due process and equal protection in recent same-sex marriage litigation. Special attention is paid to the Supreme Court's opinion in Loving v. Virginia, the landmark case that declared anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional. By exploring the use of racial precedent in same-sex marriage litigation and its treatment in state court cases, this thesis critiques the racial interpretation of due process and equal protection that became the basis for LGBT marriage briefs and litigation, and attempts to answer the question of whether a racial interpretation of due process and equal protection is an appropriate model for same-sex marriage litigation both constitutionally and strategically. The existing scholarly literature fails to explore how this issue has been treated in case briefs, which are very important elements in any legal proceeding. I will argue that through an analysis of recent state court briefs in Massachusetts and Connecticut, Loving acts as logical precedent for the legalization of same-sex marriage. I also find, more significantly, that although this racial interpretation of due process and equal protection represented by Loving can be seen as an appropriate model for same-sex marriage litigation constitutionally, questions remain about its strategic effectiveness, as LGBT lawyers have moved away from race in some arguments in these briefs. Indeed, a racial interpretation of Due Process and Equal Protection doctrine imposes certain limits on same-sex marriage litigation, of which we are warned by some Critical Race theorists, Latino Critical Legal theorists, and other scholars. In order to fully incorporate a discussion of race into the argument for legalizing same-sex marriage, the dangers posed by the black/white binary of race relations must first be overcome.

Microcharcoal concentration and elongation, and age model of sediment core MD96-2098

Although grassland and savanna occupy only a quarter of the world's vegetation, burning in these ecosystems accounts for roughly half the global carbon emissions from fire. However, the processes that govern changes in grassland burning are poorly understood, particularly on time scales beyond satellite records. We analyzed microcharcoal, sediments, and geochemistry in a high-resolution marine sediment core off Namibia to identify the processes that have controlled biomass burning in southern African grassland ecosystems under large, multimillennial-scale climate changes. Six fire cycles occurred during the past 170,000 y in southern Africa that correspond both in timing and magnitude to the precessional forcing of north-south shifts in the Intertropical Convergence Zone. Contrary to the conventional expectation that fire increases with higher temperatures and increased drought, we found that wetter and cooler climates cause increased burning in the study region, owing to a shift in rainfall amount and seasonality (and thus vegetation flammability). We also show that charcoal morphology (i.e., the particle's length-to-width ratio) can be used to reconstruct changes in fire activity as well as biome shifts over time. Our results provide essential context for understanding current and future grassland-fire dynamics and their associated carbon emissions.

Bulk stable carbon and oxygen isotopes from ODP Site 1258, and Fe intensities from ODP Site 1262, and minimal tuning age model options for ODP Site 1258 and 1262

Timing is crucial to understanding the causes and consequences of events in Earth history. The calibration of geological time relies heavily on the accuracy of radioisotopic and astronomical dating. Uncertainties in the computations of Earth's orbital parameters and in radioisotopic dating have hampered the construction of a reliable astronomically calibrated time scale beyond 40 Ma. Attempts to construct a robust astronomically tuned time scale for the early Paleogene by integrating radioisotopic and astronomical dating are only partially consistent. Here, using the new La2010 and La2011 orbital solutions, we present the first accurate astronomically calibrated time scale for the early Paleogene (47-65 Ma) uniquely based on astronomical tuning and thus independent of the radioisotopic determination of the Fish Canyon standard. Comparison with geological data confirms the stability of the new La2011 solution back to ~54 Ma. Subsequent anchoring of floating chronologies to the La2011 solution using the very long eccentricity nodes provides an absolute age of 55.530 {plus minus} 0.05 Ma for the onset of the Paleocene/Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), 54.850 {plus minus} 0.05 Ma for the early Eocene ash -17, and 65.250 {plus minus} 0.06 Ma for the K/Pg boundary. The new astrochronology presented here indicates that the intercalibration and synchronization of U/Pb and 40Ar/39Ar radiometric geochronology is much more challenging than previously thought.

Brownian dynamics simulations of protein folding: Access to milliseconds time scale and beyond

Protein folding occurs on a time scale ranging from milliseconds to minutes for a majority of proteins. Computer simulation of protein folding, from a random configuration to the native structure, is nontrivial owing to the large disparity between the simulation and folding time scales. As an effort to overcome this limitation, simple models with idealized protein subdomains, e.g., the diffusion–collision model of Karplus and Weaver, have gained some popularity. We present here new results for the folding of a four-helix bundle within the framework of the diffusion–collision model. Even with such simplifying assumptions, a direct application of standard Brownian dynamics methods would consume 10,000 processor-years on current supercomputers. We circumvent this difficulty by invoking a special Brownian dynamics simulation. The method features the calculation of the mean passage time of an event from the flux overpopulation method and the sampling of events that lead to productive collisions even if their probability is extremely small (because of large free-energy barriers that separate them from the higher probability events). Using these developments, we demonstrate that a coarse-grained model of the four-helix bundle can be simulated in several days on current supercomputers. Furthermore, such simulations yield folding times that are in the range of time scales observed in experiments.

Routine histological technique applied to a biological model for environmental studies

Introduction and aim Earthworms are an important test organisms used in several standard ecotoxicological tests (e.g. ISO, 2008, 2012; OECD, 2004, 1094) and they are also model organisms to test soil structure and permeability, as well as for important soil services as the degradation organic matter. Although histopathological changes have been demonstrated to be good biomarkers to assess the exposure of these animals to different physical and chemical stress agents, studies with clear and high quality images describing normal tissue conditions are scarce in the literature, so the aim of this work was to better characterize this biological model. Material and Methods Eight adult earthworms exposed to an artificial standard soil (OECD, 2004) for 28 days, were extracted and placed in a plastic box to depurate their gut content, fixed in 10% neutral-buffered formalin and processed for routine histopathological diagnosis. Results and discussion Satisfactory histological sections were obtained. Some difficulties were faced related with microtome sectioning, resulting in artefacts, namely lines across sections produced by a nick in the cutting edge of the microtome knife cutting tear, motivated by the presence of sand and other solid particles that persisted in the gut of earthworms. Nevertheless, it was possible to obtain representative figures from different earthworm sections. Conclusion Routine histological technique was effective for obtaining satisfactory histological sections and the knowledge of the histology of earthworms could be very useful for future application in environmental studies, using this biological model.

Characterization of histopathological lesions in a biological model for environmental studies: Eisenia andrei Bouché. Preliminar results

Introduction The strong expansion of the world production of plastics caused a severe accumulation of plastic debris in the environment, which makes them one of the most important contaminants, growing as a global environmental problem. Although the production in Europe has been relatively constant in the last 10 years, world plastic production continues to increase, affecting soil biota and their functions. Objectives Thus, in order to evaluate the effects of MP in soil-dwelling organisms, earthworms (Eisenia andrei Bouché), were exposed to standard artificial soil mixed with MPs and the authors documented, using microscopic figures, the pathological lesions found in this biological model. Material and Methods Eight adult earthworms extracted from soils contaminated with different concentrations of MP (mg/kgdw) with sizes ranging between 250-1000 m, were fixed in 10% neutral-buffered formalin and processed for routine histopathological diagnosis. Results and discussion Contrary to what would be expected, MP were not found throughout the GI tube of earthworms but several lesions were found in the individuals extracted from the soils with high MP concentrations, when compared with control group, namely epithelial intestinal atrophy and evidences of inflammatory responses to this stress agent. Conclusion Earthworms have probably avoided the consumption of the biggest MPs. However, evidences point for lesions that were likely caused by the smallest MPs that were likely egested during the depuration phase.

Cost evaluation for nine Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards: Task VIII - FMVSS 301, fuel system integrity - determination of the model year when manufacturers made changes to meet Standard's 1976 requirements. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

Organizational, intermediate (field), (direct and general support), and depot maintenance repair parts and special tools list : engine, gasoline, 6 HP, military standard models, DOD model 4A032-1, 4A032-2, NSN 2805-00-776-0483, 2805-00-068-7512.

"April 1977."

Organizational maintenance manual : lathe, engine, bench mounted, solid bed type, 10 inch swing, no. 2 Morse taper center, 1-3/8 spindle hole, 110-volts, 60 cycle, single phase 3/4-horsepower, w/Army dwg. no. 7550151 bench (standard-modern tool series 2,000 model, 11 inch) (3416-517-0955).

"November 1965."

Operator's, organizational, direct support and general support maintenance manual : DC transfer standard, John Fluke model 730A.

"November 1971."

Operator, organizational, intermediate (field), (direct support and general support), and depot level maintenance manual : engine, gasoline, 6 HP, military standard models, DOD model 4A032-1, 4A032-2, NSN 2805-00-776-0483, 2805-00-068-7512.

Includes index.

Organizational, intermediate (field) (direct support and general support) and depot maintenance repair parts and special tools list : engine, gasoline, 1 1/2 HP; military standard models (model 1A08-1, NSN 2805-00-601-5181), (model 1A08-II, NSN 2805-00-714-8552), (model 1A08-III, NSN 2805-00-068-7510).

"Department of the Marine Corps stock list, SL-4-81283B."