Voidable Preferences and Protection of the Expectation Interest

One of the principal duties of a trustee in bankruptcy is to marshall the unsecured assets of the bankrupt estate, liquidate them, and distribute the proceeds among the estate\u27s unsecured creditors in a statutorily prescribed manner. In performing this duty, the trustee enjoys a number of so-called avoiding powers, carefully delimited in sections 60, 67 and 70 of the present Federal Bankruptcy Act. These powers enable the trustee to set aside certain pre-petition transfers made by the bankrupt and to recover the transferred assets for the benefit of the bankrupt\u27s unsecured creditors. Among the transfers subject to the trustee\u27s avoiding powers are those involving security interests. Those sections of the Bankruptcy Act that define the trustee\u27s avoiding powers provide the principal forum for determining which pre-bankruptcy security transactions will survive the acid test of bankruptcy and which will not

Multicast Delivery of IPTV Over the Internet

Television represents one of the greatadvancements in information delivery. Traditionally, televisionservice has been delivered using dedicated communicationmethods such as terrestrial and satellite based wirelesstransmissions and fixed cable based transmissions. Some of thesedelivery mechanisms have advanced and now provide servicesincluding voice and Internet access. Another communicationmethod, traditional telephone service, has greatly improvedand expanded to deliver services such as television and Internetaccess.This convergence of service provides cost savings, allowingproviders to utilize existing communication networks to deliveradditional services to its customers, often at minimal or zeroinfrastructure cost. One disadvantage of this method is customerreach is still limited to those with access to dedicated serviceprovider networks. The ability to disengage television servicefrom these dedicated networks and move it to a more ubiquitousnetwork would greatly improve the customer reach of theproviders.The most obvious network choice for a delivery mediumis the Internet. Given that television delivery mechanisms havealready started the progression towards IPTV, the service isa natural fit. One issue hindering this transition is bandwidthavailability. In private delivery networks, the issue of bandwidthavailability for IPTV is often combated through the use of IPMulticasting. Considering the Internet is already believed to bebandwidth constrained, the use of multicasting could be deemeda requirement. The following paper will explore current issueswith deploying IPTV over the Internet, the use of multicast tocombat some of these problems, and the inherent challenges ofpushing multicast based IPTV services over the Internet

Age and Growth of Sand Seatrout (Cynoscion arenarius) in the Estuarine Waters of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico

Sand seatrout, Cynoscion arenarius, support a large recreational fishery in Florida, but information on the population characteristics of the species is lacking. Sand seatrout were collected incidentally during random sampling conducted by a fisheries-independent monitoring program in three Florida estuaries from Oct. 2001 through Sept. 2003. The collection gear included a 183-m haul seine (38- mm stretch mesh), a 183-m purse seine (51-mm stretch mesh), and a 6.1-m otter trawl (3-mm mesh liner). The sample was supplemented in one estuary with fish captured by hook and line. For aging, otoliths were extracted and sectioned from specimens greater than 90 mm standard length. This is the first comprehensive study of this species\u27 age and growth characteristics derived from otoliths. A total of 1,080 sand seatrout were captured from the estuarine areas of Cedar Key, Tampa Bay, and Charlotte Harbor. Annulus counts had a high level of agreement between readers. Most disagreements between readers on the number of annuli present were whether zero or one annulus was present. Marginal-increment analysis indicated that annuli had been formed in most individuals by March. Otoliths had up to five annuli and estimated ages extended to nearly 6 yr. Observed mean length-at-age for fish of a given sex was similar across all estuaries. Length-at-age of females was greater than that of males in all estuaries. Von Bertalanffy growth models were significantly different for females and males (P \u3c 0.01). Length: weight and length:length relationships are provided

Z2SAL: a translation-based model checker for Z

Despite being widely known and accepted in industry, the Z formal specification language has not so far been well supported by automated verification tools, mostly because of the challenges in handling the abstraction of the language. In this paper we discuss a novel approach to building a model-checker for Z, which involves implementing a translation from Z into SAL, the input language for the Symbolic Analysis Laboratory, a toolset which includes a number of model-checkers and a simulator. The Z2SAL translation deals with a number of important issues, including: mapping unbounded, abstract specifications into bounded, finite models amenable to a BDD-based symbolic checker; converting a non-constructive and piecemeal style of functional specification into a deterministic, automaton-based style of specification; and supporting the rich set-based vocabulary of the Z mathematical toolkit. This paper discusses progress made towards implementing as complete and faithful a translation as possible, while highlighting certain assumptions, respecting certain limitations and making use of available optimisations. The translation is illustrated throughout with examples; and a complete working example is presented, together with performance data

Direct comparison of high-temporal-resolution CINE MRI with Doppler ultrasound for assessment of diastolic dysfunction in mice

Diastolic dysfunction is a sensitive early indicator of heart failure and can provide additional data to conventional measures of systolic function. Transmitral Doppler ultrasound, which measures the one-dimensional flow of blood through the mitral valve, is currently the preferred method for the measurement of diastolic function, but the measurement of the left ventricular volume changes using high-temporal-resolution cinematic magnetic resonance imaging (CINE MRI) is an alternative approach which is emerging as a potentially more robust and user-independent technique. Here, we investigated the performance of high-temporal-resolution CINE MRI and compared it with ultrasound for the detection of diastolic dysfunction in a mouse model of myocardial infarction. An in-house, high-temporal-resolution, retrospectively gated CINE sequence was developed with a temporal resolution of 1 ms. Diastolic function in mice was assessed using a custom-made, open-source reconstruction package. Early (E) and late (A) left ventricular filling phases were easily identifiable, and these measurements were compared directly with high-frequency, pulsed-wave, Doppler ultrasound measurements of mitral valve inflow. A repeatability study established that high-temporal-resolution CINE MRI and Doppler ultrasound showed comparable accuracy when measuring E/A in normal control mice. However, when applied in a mouse model of myocardial infarction, high-temporal-resolution CINE MRI indicated diastolic heart failure (E/A = 0.94 ± 0.11), whereas ultrasound falsely detected normal cardiac function (E/A = 1.21 ± 0.11). The addition of high-temporal-resolution CINE MRI to preclinical imaging studies enhances the library of sequences available to cardiac researchers and potentially identifies diastolic heart failure early in disease progression.</p

High stakes and low bars: How international recognition shapes the conduct of civil wars

When rebel groups engage incumbent governments in war for control of the state, questions of international recognition arise. International recognition determines which combatants can draw on state assets, receive overt military aid, and borrow as sovereigns—all of which can have profound consequences for the military balance during civil war. How do third-party states and international organizations determine whom to treat as a state's official government during civil war? Data from the sixty-one center-seeking wars initiated from 1945 to 2014 indicate that military victory is not a prerequisite for recognition. Instead, states generally rely on a simple test: control of the capital city. Seizing the capital does not foreshadow military victory. Civil wars often continue for many years after rebels take control and receive recognition. While geopolitical and economic motives outweigh the capital control test in a small number of important cases, combatants appear to anticipate that holding the capital will be sufficient for recognition. This expectation generates perverse incentives. In effect, the international community rewards combatants for capturing or holding, by any means necessary, an area with high concentrations of critical infrastructure and civilians. In the majority of cases where rebels contest the capital, more than half of its infrastructure is damaged or the majority of civilians are displaced (or both), likely fueling long-term state weakness