A preliminary treatment of the genus Campylopus (Musci: Dicranaceae) in Central America

There are 26 species of Campylopus in Central America. They are divided into three groups on the basis of two characters: the presence or absence in the costa of a ventral layer of enlarged, hyaline cells and the presence or absence in the stem of an outer hylodermis. Dicranum costaricensis Bartr. is transferred to Campylopus as C. valerioi nom. nov. Campylopus hoffmanii and C. standleyi are recognized as distinct species. Six new synonyms are proposed: C. straminifolius = C. densicoma; C. costaricensis = C. surinamensis; C. roellii = C. tallulensis; C. donnellii = C. zygodonticarpus; C. tuerckheimii = C. zygodonticarpus; C. sargii = C. zygodonticarpus

Hard Cases Under the Convention on the International Sale of Goods: A Proposed Taxonomy of Interpretative Challenges

CISG was formally uniform at the time of its adoption. It used the same words in all of the jurisdictions adopting it. But uniform words are not enough to guarantee uniform application. For many commentators, in fact, the most significant impediment to the continued existence or efficacy of the CISG is the lack of uniform interpretive outcomes in hard CISG cases – cases where a CISG provision is vague either on its face or in its application. Without greater uniformity of interpretive outcomes, these commentators suggest, the CISG will, over time, fail to supply standard solutions to similar contracting problems and thus fail to supply the predictability that parties need. In this Article, Professor Allen Blair argues that these commentators start with an exaggerated expectation about the kind and degree of uniformity called for by the CISG and demanded by parties. Contrary to the standard conception of CISG interpretation, uniformity of interpretive outcomes is an improper goal with respect to CISG provisions cast as open-textured standards, and any effort to harden these standards into rigid rules could, in fact, undermine the efficiency goals of contracting parties

A revision of the genus Crossomitrium (Musci: Hookeriaceae)

Crossomitrium is a genus of neotropical, essentially epiphyllous mosses. The genus consists of six species that are distributed in two sections: section Crossomitrium (C. acuminatum, C. patrisiae, and C. scabrisetum) and section Cormophila (C. epiphyllum, C. saprophilum, and C. sintenisii). Section Crossomitrium is characterized by 1. plants nearly always on leaves or twigs, 2. lateral leaves oblongacuminate and widest below the middle, 3. leaves when dry that arch from an erect base downward to the substrate and, 4. the presence of specialized brood branches that are closely adnate to the substrate and have tightly imbricate leaves. Section Cormophila is characterized by 1. plants growing on rocks and tree trunks as well as on leaves, 2. lateral leaves oval to obovate, acute to apiculate and widest above the middle, 3. leaves when dry flattened to the substrate and, 4. the presence of erect, specialized brood branches that have leaves spreading on all sides. Crossomitrium is placed in the Hookeriaceae (sensu Whittemore & Allen, 1989) on the basis of its branched stems, ecostate leaves, straight, unbranched rhizoids that are tightly clustered just posterior to the leaf bases, 2-celled axillary hairs and weakly pigmented stem cortex. Within the Hookeriaceae Crossomitrium is considered close to the genus Lepidopilum by virtue of 1. its peristome which is hydrocastique and has a high basal membrane, 2. the spinose setae of C.acuminatum and C. scabrisetum, 3. the irregular subdivision of its stomatal guard cells (including the presence of stomates at the base of raised pustules), 4. leaves doubly serrulate by the projecting ends of contiguous marginal cells, 6. absence of a stem central strand. It differs from Lepidopilum in its 1. symmetric, ecostate leaves, 2. calyptra fimbriate by downward projecting, multicellular hairs that arise from the margins of the calyptra, 3. collenchymatous exothecial cells, 4. the presence of broodbodies on specialized brood branches as well as in clusters just below the junction of the leaf with the stem

Fast magnetic reconnection and the ideal evolution of a magnetic field

Regardless of how small non-ideal effects may be, phenomena associated with changes in magnetic field line connections are frequently observed to occur on an Alfv\'enic time scale. Since it is mathematically impossible for magnetic field line connections to change when non-ideal effects are identically zero, an ideal evolution must naturally lead to states of unbounded sensitivity to non-ideal effects. That such an evolution is natural is demonstrated using Lagrangian coordinates based on the flow velocity of the magnetic field lines. The Lagrangian representation of an evolving magnetic field is highly constrained when neither the magnetic field strength nor the forces exerted by the magnetic field increase exponentially with time. The development of a state of fast reconnection consistent with these constraints (1) requires a three-dimensional evolution, (2) has an exponentially increasing sensitivity to non-ideal effects, and (3) has a parallel current density, which lies in exponentially thinning but exponentially widening ribbons, with a magnitude that is limited to a slow growth. The implication is that exponential growth in sensitivity is the cause of fast magnetic reconnection when non-ideal effects are sufficiently small. The growth of the non-ideal effect of the resistivity multiplied by the parallel current density is far too slow to be competitive.Comment: 13 pages, no figure

Hard Cases Under the Convention on the International Sale of Goods: A Proposed Taxonomy of Interpretative Challenges

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The MINE project: Minority Involvement in NASA Engineering

The Mine Project developed by Lewis Research Center (LRC) along with Tennessee State University and Tuskegee Institute, is described. The project calls for LRC to assemble on-going NASA university affairs programs aimed at benefiting the school, its faculty, and its student body. The schools receive grants to pursue research and technology projects that are relevant to NASA's missions. Upon request from the universities, LRC furnishes instructors and lecturers. The schools have use of surplus government equipment and access to NASA research facilities for certain projects. Both the faculty and students of the universities are eligible for summer employment at LRC through special programs. The MINE Project is designed to establish a continuing active relationship of 3 to 5 years between NASA and the universities, and will afford LRC with an opportunity to increase its recruitment of minority and women employees