Is a friend in need a friend indeed? Inclusion and exclusion in mutual insurance networks in southern Ghana

Mutual insurance has been shown, theoretically and empirically, to be incomplete and limited by asymmetric information and lack of enforcement mechanisms. While some research has shown that networks based on kinship, neighborhood and ethnicity may provide a locus of insurance and thus a way of overcoming these problems, these studies are not fine enough to predict the inclusion and exclusion of individuals. Using data from rural Ghana, we examine the role of social relations in obtaining assistance in the face of shocks. We examine this at both the intra-household and community levels. At the household level, asking for and receiving assistance from the spouse is related to gender, the quality of the marital relationship, and the wealth of household members. At the community level, asking for and receiving help are correlated with membership in a major lineage, participation in secular organizations, the individual¿s fostering history, and anticipated land inheritance. We also show that these factors differ depending on whether the shortfall was for a household or personal item (as perceived by the respondent). This work helps us to identify individuals who are more likely to fall outside of mutual insurance networks and require interventions to help them cope with ris

CRIMINAL LAW-NEW TRIAL-ABSENCE OF ACCUSED FROM TRIAL BECAUSE OF ATTORNEY\u27S NEGLIGENCE

Defendant, represented by an attorney, was ordered, under an appearance bond, to appear at the November term of the court of general sessions to answer to an indictment for assault and battery with intent to kill. The indictment was not prepared during the November term, and at the end of the term the court ordered all those whose cases were not called to appear at the next term of court. At the February term defendant\u27s case came up, but his attorney had apparently failed to read the court calendar, as neither the defendant nor the attorney knew that the trial was at hand. Defendant was convicted by a jury in his absence. His attorney filed a motion for a new trial, alleging that the court and prosecuting attorney had not protected defendant\u27s rights as carefully as they would have if counsel for the defendant had been present. The trial court denied the motion for new trial, and defendant appealed. Held, affirmed. Defendant had statutory notice of the terms of court and had the duty to be present. State v. Johnson, (S.C. 1948) 49 S.E. (2d) 6

TRUSTS-TENTATIVE TRUSTS-EFFECT OF DELIVERY OF PASSBOOK

Anna Farrell, a confined incompetent at the time of this suit, had a savings bank deposit in her own name, in trust for my daughter Lucy Farrell. Just prior to Anna\u27s admission to the hospital, while still of sound mind, she handed a sealed envelope to Lucy and told Lucy to hold it for her. The envelope contained, among other papers, the pass book to the bank deposit. Thereafter, Lucy claimed the money in the account on the ground that she had, over the years, delivered the money in the account to her mother for safekeeping. Anna\u27s guardian petitioned for an order allowing him to pay Lucy\u27s claim against the estate. The trial court found that Anna had merely turned the book over to Lucy for safekeeping, intending a mere bailment; on this ground the petition was denied. Held, order modified, three judges dissenting. . . . [D]elivery of that passbook transformed the tentative trust created by the deposit into an irrevocable trust . . . terminating upon the death of Anna Farrell. In re Farrell, 298 N.Y. 129, 81 N.E. (2d) 51 (1948)

Molecular studies on intraspecific diversity and phylogenetic position of Coniothyrium minitans

Simple sequence repeat (SSR)±PCR amplification using a microsatellite primer (GACA)% and ribosomal RNA gene sequencing were used to examine the intraspecific diversity in the mycoparasite Coniothyrium minitans based on 48 strains, representing eight colony types, from 17 countries world-wide. Coniothyrium cerealis, C. fuckelii and C. sporulosum were used for interspecific comparison. The SSR±PCR technique revealed a relatively low level of polymorphism within C. minitans but did allow some differentiation between strains. While there was no relationship between SSR±PCR profiles and colony type, there was some limited correlation between these profiles and country of origin. Sequences of the ITS 1 and ITS 2 regions and the 5±8S gene of rRNA genes were identical in all twenty-four strains of C. minitans examined irrespective of colony type and origin. These results indicate that C. minitans is genetically not very variable despite phenotypic differences. ITS and 5±8S rRNA gene sequence analyses showed that C. minitans had similarities of 94% with C. fuckelii and C. sporulosum (which were identical to each other) and only 64% with C. cerealis. Database searches failed to show any similarity with the ITS 1 sequence for C. minitans although the 5±8S rRNA gene and ITS 2 sequences revealed an 87% similarity with Aporospora terricola. The ITS sequence including the 5±8S rRNA gene sequence of Coniothyrium cerealis showed 91% similarity to Phaeosphaeria microscopica. Phylogenetic analyses using database information suggest that C. minitans, C. sporulosum, C. fuckelii and A. terricola cluster in one clade, grouping with Helminthosporium species and 'Leptosphaeria' bicolor. Coniothyrium cerealis grouped with Ampelomyces quisqualis and formed a major cluster with members of the Phaeosphaeriacae and Phaeosphaeria microscopica

TRUSTS-POWER TO REVOKE THROUGH UNRESTRICTED POWER TO AMEND

Plaintiff and defendant were the settlors and trustees of a twenty year trust created in 1945. Their wives were the beneficiaries. The settlors retained the unrestricted power to amend the trust, but reserved no power to revoke. In October, 1945 the trust was amended, giving to either trustee the power to terminate the trust at any time, upon notice to the other trustee. In 1947, plaintiff gave notice of revocation to the defendant, and when this notice was ignored, plaintiff petitioned for a decree of termination. A demurrer was sustained, and plaintiff appealed. Held, reversed. \u27\u27If the power to modify is subject to no restrictions, it includes the power to revoke the trust. Stahler v. Sevinor, (Mass. 1949) 84 N.E. (2d) 447

The object binary interface: C++ objects for evolvable shared class libraries

Object-oriented design and object-oriented languages support the development of independent software components such as class libraries. When using such components, versioning becomes a key issue. While various ad-hoc techniques and coding idioms have been used to provide versioning, all of these techniques have deficiencies - ambiguity, the necessity of recompilation or re-coding, or the loss of binary compatibility of programs. Components from different software vendors are versioned at different times. Maintaining compatibility between versions must be consciously engineered. New technologies such as distributed objects further complicate libraries by requiring multiple implementations of a type simultaneously in a program. This paper describes a new C++ object model called the Shared Object Model for C++ users and a new implementation model called the Object Binary Interface for C++ implementors. These techniques provide a mechanism for allowing multiple implementations of an object in a program. Early analysis of this approach has shown it to have performance broadly comparable to conventional implementations

INSURANCE-INSURABLE INTEREST-JOINT ADVENTURERS

Plaintiff and the deceased were operating an airplane commercially. Plaintiff had purchased the plane, and was paying the deceased $25 per week plus half of the profits of the venture. The deceased acted as pilot, and was instrumental in obtaining business. Plaintiff took out insurance on the plane, and also on the life of the deceased, although their only relationship was through the joint venture. The plane was wrecked and the deceased was killed while on company business. The claim for the plane was paid, but the defendant refused to pay on the life insurance policy, claiming that the plaintiff had no insurable interest in the life of the deceased. The case was submitted to a jury which found that the plaintiff had an insurable interest. Defendant appealed. Held, affirmed. It was not necessary to prove that the death of the insured resulted in a substantial loss to the beneficiary . . . . It is sufficient that the beneficiary has a reasonable expectation of some benefit or advantage from the continuance of the life of the assured. Indemnity Ins. Co. of North America v. Dow, (6th Cir. 1949) 174 F. (2d) 168

WILLS-HOLOGRAPHIC-EVIDENCE AS TO TESTAMENTARY INTENT

The deceased had in her possession, at the time of her death, an envelope entitled \u27Will of Ella McNair. The envelope contained three separate sheets of paper dated some nineteen months prior to Ella\u27s death, upon which was written, entirely in the hand of the deceased, what purported to be a will. The document opened with the statement I, Ella McNair . . . do hereby make my last will. The exordium was followed by fifteen specific bequests, and then the writing ended abruptly at the middle of the back of the third sheet. At the top of the second sheet was written \u27Will of Ella McNair, and \u27Will. Ella McNair was at the top of the third. Ella had, with a few exceptions, followed the form of a holographic will provided by her attorney. She had omitted the clause revoking prior wills, the clause appointing an executor, and her signature. There was evidence that before and during Ella\u27s final visit to the hospital, the instrument in question was not regarded by her as her will, and that she was planning to draw up a new one. The will was admitted to the probate, and the contestants appealed. Held, affirmed, two justices dissenting. Taking into account the general appearance of the writing, the language and phraseology employed therein, . . . we are constrained to hold that there was, at least in the mind of Mrs. McNair, a document before her sufficiently complete to induce her to affix her name thereon [referring to the inscription \u27Will. Ella McNair\u27 at the top of the third page] in token of execution of the same as her will. In re McNair\u27s Estate, (S.D. 1949) 38 N.W. (2d) 449

A Generalized Approach for Testing the Association of a Set of Predictors with an Outcome: A Gene Based Test

In many analyses, one has data on one level but desires to draw inference on another level. For example, in genetic association studies, one observes units of DNA referred to as SNPs, but wants to determine whether genes that are comprised of SNPs are associated with disease. While there are some available approaches for addressing this issue, they usually involve making parametric assumptions and are not easily generalizable. A statistical test is proposed for testing the association of a set of variables with an outcome of interest. No assumptions are made about the functional form relating the variables to the outcome. A general function is fit using any statistical learning algorithm, with the SuperLearner algorithm suggested. The parameter of interest is the cross-validated risk and this is compared to an expected risk. A Wald test is proposed using the influence curve of the cross-validated risk to obtain the variance. It is shown both theoretically and via simulation that the test maintains appropriate type I error control and is more powerful than parametric tests under more general alternatives. The test is applied to an MS candidate gene study. Three separate analyses are performed highlighting the flexibility of the approach