Beware of Numbers (and Unsupported Claims of Judicial Bias)

In a recent set of articles, Professor Kevin Clermont and Professor Theodore Eisenberg advance the claim that federal appellate judges harbor an unprincipled bias against plaintiff/appellants. The line of reasoning that the authors follow to reach this conclusion is, in our view, quite extraordinary. They first point to data that they claim show that defendants are more likely than plaintiffs to secure reversals in appeals from judgments and verdicts in federal civil cases. They next assert that appellate judges perceive trial courts, especially juries, to be biased in favor of plaintiffs. And, finally, they speculate that, in an effort to overcome the perceived pro-plaintiff bias in the trial courts, appellate judges routinely favor defendants on appeal. The authors dub their conclusion the “anti-plaintiff effect” in federal appellate civil litigation. This thesis is specious, because it is founded on flawed reasoning and deficient empirical research

HUMMINGBIRD FRUGIVORY IN A COSTA RICAN CLOUD FOREST

Four species of hummingbirds Ppurple-crowned Fairy, Heliothryx barroti; Stripe-tailed Hummingbird, Eupherusa eximia; White-tailed Emerald, Elvira chionura; and White-throated Mountain-gem, Lampornis castaneoventris) were observed feeding on the fruits of the tree Saurauia montana (Actinidiaceae) in secondary cloud forest in the Talamanca mountains of Costa Rica. These fruits are small (1 cm) berries with mucilaginous pulp; feeding occurred via repeated puncture of the epicarp. This is the first record of frugivory in any of these hummingbird species and one of the few records of hummingbird frugivory on plants other than Cactaceae

Exposure of benthic invertebrates to sediment vibration: From laboratory experiments to outdoor simulated pile-driving

Activities directly interacting with the seabed, such as pile-driving, can produce vibrations that have the potential to impact benthic invertebrates within their vicinity. This stimuli may interfere with crucial behaviors such as foraging and predator avoidance, and the sensitivity to vibration is largely unknown. Here, the responsiveness of benthic invertebrates to sediment vibration is discussed in relation to laboratory and semi-field trials with two marine species: the mussel (Mytilus edulis) and hermit crab (Pagurus bernhardus). Sensory threshold curves were produced for both species in controlled laboratory conditions, followed by small-scale pile-driving exposures in the field. The merits of behavioral indicators are discussed, in addition to using physiological measures, as a method of determining reception and measuring responses. The measurement and sensors required for sediment vibration quantification are also discussed. Response and threshold data were related to measurements taken in the vicinity of anthropogenic sources, allowing a link between responsiveness and actual operations. The impact of pile-driving on sediment-dwelling invertebrates has received relatively little research, yet the data here suggest that such activities are likely to impact key coastal species which play important roles within the marine environment

An Introduction to Nuclear Supersymmetry: a Unification Scheme for Nuclei

The main ideas behind nuclear supersymmetry are presented, starting from the basic concepts of symmetry and the methods of group theory in physics. We propose new, more stringent experimental tests that probe the supersymmetry classification in nuclei and point out that specific correlations should exist for particle transfer intensities among supersymmetric partners. We also discuss possible ways to generalize these ideas to cases where no dynamical symmetries are present. The combination of these theoretical and experimental studies may play a unifying role in nuclear phenomena.Comment: 40 pages, 11 figures, lecture notes `VIII Hispalensis International Summer School: Exotic Nuclear Physics', Oromana, Sevilla, Spain, June 9-21, 200

Salt of the earth: Disentangling natural and anthropogenic landscapes in the Poole Harbour catchment using deposit modelling

Poole Harbour and its wider catchment is internationally renowned for its natural beauty and biodiversity. Land to the north and east of the harbour form the urban areas of Poole and Bournemouth while the southern and western sides are regarded as undeveloped natural landscapes, consisting of heath, marsh and forested land. Such is the capital placed on this natural landscape that in 2021, over 3,000 hectares was designated as a ‘super’ National Nature Reserve (NNR). Operationally, the NNR has the overarching aim to restore ‘natural’ processes across the landscape making it more resilient to climate change and other pressures, yet the fundamental character of the Poole harbour catchment is arguably the product of millennia of human interaction and modification. In order to assess the impact of past human activities on modern landscapes, deposit modelling using geochemical and magnetic susceptibility analysis was undertaken at the site of Wytch Farm, Dorset. This project excavated a large-scale industrial complex that included salt production and metal working evidence. The programme of deposit modelling explored the wider landscape impact of these processes, mapping their extent and intensity, identifying a heavily modified, anthropogenically influenced landscape. The natural character of the Poole Harbour catchment, as visible today, is therefore the result of complex relationship between past coastal communities and natural resources. This study shows that the extent of the impact of human activity is often greater than the focal points of activities themselves and highlights the value of mid-scale landscape studies

Multidisciplinary analysis of a mummified cranium claimed to be that of a medieval execution victim

This article presents a multidisciplinary analysis of a human skull with preserved soft tissue curated by a small museum in Boscastle, Cornwall, UK. The skull lacks a mandible and is coated in a black tar-like substance. Records left by a previous museum curator (now deceased) claimed the skull to be the head of a medieval execution victim. The skull was purportedly recovered from a London church that was destroyed during the Second World War where it had been kept in a carved oak box. If these details are correct, the skull would appear to have been venerated as a relic. The skull and box have been analysed using a range of techniques including computerised tomography, laser scanning, microscopy, infrared spectroscopy and radiocarbon dating. These analyses demonstrated the skull in fact to be that of an Egyptian mummy dating from the Ptolemaic period. Other instances have been noted of parts of Egyptian mummies being presented as European saintly relics, and the ‘Boscastle skull’ would appear to be an example of such. A wider point illustrated by the work presented here is that sufficient application of modern analytical techniques may reveal considerable information regarding human remains which otherwise have little or no provenance. This point strengthens arguments for the retention of such remains by curating institutions