Queer Theory, Historicism, and Early Modern Sexualities

Queer/Early/Modern (Carla Freccero) Before Intimacy: Asocial Sexuality in Early Modern England (Daniel Juan Gil) Incest and Agency in Elizabeth’s England (Maureen Quilligan) Constructions of Female Homoeroticism in Early Modern Drama (Denise A. Walen

Cutting the Financial Fat From the Failing Firm Defense: Refocusing the Failing Firm Defense on Antitrust Law

(Excerpt) This Note proposes that the failing firm defense be strengthened to an “Assets Exiting Defense,” which would allow an otherwise anticompetitive merger to go forward only if there are no other alternative purchasers that would make the acquisition less anticompetitive and if the target firm’s assets would exit the relevant market without the acquisition. A stronger “Assets Exiting Defense” that focuses exclusively on antitrust principles is necessary because in a distressed economy, the current failing firm defense could become an escape hatch for anticompetitive transactions involving firms that are only in financial distress. This Note argues that the assets exiting the market requirement is crucial for antitrust purposes, that the requirement has not been consistently considered by Antitrust Regulators, and that removing it from the list of elements in the 2010 merger guidelines makes the failing firm defense easier to use by firms only in financial distress. Part I provides an overview of the failing firm defense and its history. Part II explains the conceptual underpinnings of the failing firm defense and how the elements of the defense have been analyzed. Part III examines the application of the 1992 Merger Guidelines version of the failing firm defense in the Trans World Airlines (“TWA”) merger with American Airlines and the future application of the defense after the newly created 2010 Merger Guidelines. This Part concludes that Antitrust Regulators have been allowing firms that are only financially distressed to use the defense, as opposed to firms that are failing in the antitrust sense. Part IV proposes using an “Assets Exiting Defense” to replace the current failing firm defense. An “Assets Exiting Defense” would ensure that Antitrust Regulators focus exclusively on antitrust principles and do not apply the defense too broadly to include anticompetitive transactions involving firms only in financial distress. The purpose of the defense should be to protect competition, not to protect firms from failing in a distressed economy

Cutting the Financial Fat From the Failing Firm Defense: Refocusing the Failing Firm Defense on Antitrust Law

(Excerpt) This Note proposes that the failing firm defense be strengthened to an “Assets Exiting Defense,” which would allow an otherwise anticompetitive merger to go forward only if there are no other alternative purchasers that would make the acquisition less anticompetitive and if the target firm’s assets would exit the relevant market without the acquisition. A stronger “Assets Exiting Defense” that focuses exclusively on antitrust principles is necessary because in a distressed economy, the current failing firm defense could become an escape hatch for anticompetitive transactions involving firms that are only in financial distress. This Note argues that the assets exiting the market requirement is crucial for antitrust purposes, that the requirement has not been consistently considered by Antitrust Regulators, and that removing it from the list of elements in the 2010 merger guidelines makes the failing firm defense easier to use by firms only in financial distress. Part I provides an overview of the failing firm defense and its history. Part II explains the conceptual underpinnings of the failing firm defense and how the elements of the defense have been analyzed. Part III examines the application of the 1992 Merger Guidelines version of the failing firm defense in the Trans World Airlines (“TWA”) merger with American Airlines and the future application of the defense after the newly created 2010 Merger Guidelines. This Part concludes that Antitrust Regulators have been allowing firms that are only financially distressed to use the defense, as opposed to firms that are failing in the antitrust sense. Part IV proposes using an “Assets Exiting Defense” to replace the current failing firm defense. An “Assets Exiting Defense” would ensure that Antitrust Regulators focus exclusively on antitrust principles and do not apply the defense too broadly to include anticompetitive transactions involving firms only in financial distress. The purpose of the defense should be to protect competition, not to protect firms from failing in a distressed economy

The Role of Volition in Exercise Behavior

Problem. Many theorists have long pondered the ability of human beings to self-determine or to demonstrate volition. Researchers in the human-studies field have been unable to demonstrate empirically the volitional components in human behavior due to the limitations of traditional, scientific methodologies. This study shows how volitional research could be conducted in the context of exercise behavior. Method. Thirty-five individuals were recruited who wished to increase exercise behavior in their lifestyles. The study ran for 112 consecutive days and was conducted in four phases: baseline, simple volition, volition-plus, and maintenance. In the two volitional conditions, subjects tried to exercise as much as possible on half of the days and tried to refrain from exercising on the other half. In the simple volition condition exercise days were randomly assigned, and the experimenter and subject understood at the beginning of the condition the exact pattern of try to exercise, try not to exercise. In the volition-plus condition the subject could wait until theday before to decide whether the following day would be a try to or try not to day. This study may be regarded as 34 single-subject experiments. The data were analyzed using a t-test for means of correlated groups, and analysis of variance for repeated measures. Results. (1) Subjects were able to demonstrate significant separation between exercise days and non-exercise days in the simple volition and volition-plus conditions. (2) Subjects exercised significantly more in the volition conditions than in baseline or maintenance conditions. Conclusions. The findings of this study indicate that subjects do have volitional control of their exercise behaviors. Further, this study demonstrates one newly developed methodology that can be used in volitional research. The study provides implications for practice and future research in developing research methodologies that more fully reflect the unique attributes of human beings

Application of the Western Hemisphere Health Index to Prehistoric Populations from Tennessee and the Semi-arid North of Chile: A Comparative Bioarchaeological Study of the Implications of Subsistence Choice

The Western Hemisphere Health Index was applied to prehistoric contemporaneous skeletal populations from Tennessee and the semi-arid North of Chile to ascertain four things: 1. overall health status for each culture; 2. comparison of health status between contemporaneous cultures; 3. if subsistence change (i.e., transition from gathering-hunting to agriculture) is consistently accompanied by a decline in overall health; and 4. the utility of the health index methodology. The skeletal populations analyzed from the semi-arid North of Chile were Archaic (7730 B.C. – A.D. 245) and Diaguita (A.D. 1000 – 1536). Prehistoric individuals examined from Tennessee were Archaic (8000 – 1000 B.C.); Woodland (1000 B.C. – A.D. 1000); and Mississippian (A.D. 1000 – 1600). (Total n = 433 individuals). Both Archaic populations had primarily a gathering and hunting subsistence strategy, Woodland peoples were emerging horticulturalists, and Mississippian and Diaguita populations practiced full-scale agriculture. As per health index methodology, seven indicators of health were scored (stature, linear enamel hypoplasia, dental disease, anemia, infection, degenerative joint disease, and trauma). Health index statistical methodology and Pearson chi-square were used to test the proposed hypotheses. Results indicated that the Archaic Tennessee population had the lowest health index value, and both Chilean populations had the highest. The results of the chi-square analyses run on each of the health indicators by population were in tandem with the health index results. In Tennessee, health appeared to improve through time; while in Chile, health essentially stayed the same during the subsistence transition. Such results suggest that the hypothesis of a health decline during and after subsistence change to agriculture is not always demonstrated. These findings further indicate that general rules regarding the association between health and subsistence change do not exist. Rather than applying generalizations to populations, research should focus on the specific situation of each population (environment, subsistence, socio-political organization, etcetera) followed by a comparison between populations to reveal similarities and differences. Such analyses will assist with identifying the relative importance of particular factors for each site. The utility of the health index methodology was also discussed. The index is a useful tool for population comparison, though further refinement of the methodological protocol is warranted

Would You Share? Examining How Knowledge Type and Communication Channel Influence Knowledge Sharing

Due to recent advances in computer-mediated communication technologies, individuals are able to communicate through a variety of channels to exchange knowledge. This paper extends prior research to include a comparison of knowledge exchange through face-to-face and computer-mediated communication environments (e-mail, electronic community, and electronic knowledge repository) for different knowledge types (computer program and expertise). Using social exchange theory, hypotheses are proposed based on the degree of an individual’s expectations of reciprocity and how this influences an individual’s knowledge sharing decision. Using vignettes adapted from prior empirical research, this study determines whether individuals adjust their knowledge sharing behaviors based on the different types of knowledge and the communication channel used. Results suggest that electronic knowledge repository and face-to-face are the preferred environments for sharing expertise and electronic knowledge repositories are preferred for sharing a computer program

The Impact of IT Structure and Firm Interdependency on Relational Rents in Innovation Collaboration Networks

This paper examines inter-organizational innovation collaboration networks (ICNs) using a relational view of the firm perspective. This study suggests that information technology (IT) structure and firm interdependencies can be significant predictors of relational rent generation for innovation collaboration networks. Furthermore, the authors argue that the alignment of these structural properties – IT structure and firm interdependency - will influence firm performance in terms of relational rents obtained by the innovation collaboration network. The relevant literature will be discussed and hypotheses proposed to empirically examine the relationship between IT structure and firm interdependencies on relational rent generation. Potential theoretical contributions to the relational view of the firm are identified and discussed. Limitations of the proposed study and discussion of the future research opportunities will also be provided