Dual Practice of Law and Accountancy: A Lawyer’s Paradox

If a man is qualified both as a lawyer and as a certified public accountant, is there any reason to prohibit him from practicing both professions at the same time? The Professional Ethics Committee of the ABA thinks so, but the author of this article, a lawyer-CPA himself, strongly disagrees. He argues that the Committee\u27s position is not in the public interest, not a proper interpretation of the Canons of Ethics, and perhaps even unconstitutional

Explicit memory schemes for evolutionary algorithms in dynamic environments

Copyright @ 2007 Springer-VerlagProblem optimization in dynamic environments has atrracted a growing interest from the evolutionary computation community in reccent years due to its importance in real world optimization problems. Several approaches have been developed to enhance the performance of evolutionary algorithms for dynamic optimization problems, of which the memory scheme is a major one. This chapter investigates the application of explicit memory schemes for evolutionary algorithms in dynamic environments. Two kinds of explicit memory schemes: direct memory and associative memory, are studied within two classes of evolutionary algorithms: genetic algorithms and univariate marginal distribution algorithms for dynamic optimization problems. Based on a series of systematically constructed dynamic test environments, experiments are carried out to investigate these explicit memory schemes and the performance of direct and associative memory schemes are campared and analysed. The experimental results show the efficiency of the memory schemes for evolutionary algorithms in dynamic environments, especially when the environment changes cyclically. The experimental results also indicate that the effect of the memory schemes depends not only on the dynamic problems and dynamic environments but also on the evolutionary algorithm used

A relativistic action-at-a-distance description of gravitational interactions?

It is shown that certain aspects of gravitation may be described using a relativistic action-at-a-distance formulation. The equations of motion of the model presented are invariant under Lorentz transformations and agree with the equations of Einstein's theory of General Relativity, at the first Post-Newtonian approximation, for any number of interacting point masses

An Unusual Digestive Foreign Body

Foreign digestive bodies present unusual circumstances because they are associated with various degrees of local trauma and may lead to direct perforation or delayed local injury. Patients with foreign bodies should be evaluated upon admission for signs of impaction and perforation. While all objects impacted in the esophagus require urgent treatment, rectal foreign bodies are usually removable through the anus. The current case illustrates successful endoscopic retrieval of a proximally located foreign body in a particular legal situation where physicians had to work closely with police officers and court members

Level and Eigenfunction Statistics in Billiards with Surface Scattering

Statistical properties of billiards with diffusive boundary scattering are investigated by means of the supersymmetric sigma-model in a formulation appropriate for chaotic ballistic systems. We study level statistics, parametric level statistics, and properties of electron wavefunctions. In the universal regime, our results reproduce conclusions of the random matrix theory, while beyond this regime we obtain a variety of system-specific results determined by the classical dynamics in the billiard. Most notably, we find that level correlations do not vanish at arbitrary separation between energy levels, or if measured at arbitrarily large difference of magnetic fields. Saturation of the level number variance indicates strong rigidity of the spectrum. To study spatial correlations of wavefunction amplitudes, we reanalyze and refine derivation of the ballistic version of the sigma-model. This allows us to obtain a proper matching of universal short-scale correlations with system-specific ones.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures included. Minor corrections, references adde

Consensus on circulatory shock and hemodynamic monitoring. Task force of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine.

OBJECTIVE: Circulatory shock is a life-threatening syndrome resulting in multiorgan failure and a high mortality rate. The aim of this consensus is to provide support to the bedside clinician regarding the diagnosis, management and monitoring of shock. METHODS: The European Society of Intensive Care Medicine invited 12 experts to form a Task Force to update a previous consensus (Antonelli et al.: Intensive Care Med 33:575-590, 2007). The same five questions addressed in the earlier consensus were used as the outline for the literature search and review, with the aim of the Task Force to produce statements based on the available literature and evidence. These questions were: (1) What are the epidemiologic and pathophysiologic features of shock in the intensive care unit ? (2) Should we monitor preload and fluid responsiveness in shock ? (3) How and when should we monitor stroke volume or cardiac output in shock ? (4) What markers of the regional and microcirculation can be monitored, and how can cellular function be assessed in shock ? (5) What is the evidence for using hemodynamic monitoring to direct therapy in shock ? Four types of statements were used: definition, recommendation, best practice and statement of fact. RESULTS: Forty-four statements were made. The main new statements include: (1) statements on individualizing blood pressure targets; (2) statements on the assessment and prediction of fluid responsiveness; (3) statements on the use of echocardiography and hemodynamic monitoring. CONCLUSIONS: This consensus provides 44 statements that can be used at the bedside to diagnose, treat and monitor patients with shock

Assessing the carcinogenic potential of low-dose exposures to chemical mixtures in the environment: the challenge ahead.

Lifestyle factors are responsible for a considerable portion of cancer incidence worldwide, but credible estimates from the World Health Organization and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) suggest that the fraction of cancers attributable to toxic environmental exposures is between 7% and 19%. To explore the hypothesis that low-dose exposures to mixtures of chemicals in the environment may be combining to contribute to environmental carcinogenesis, we reviewed 11 hallmark phenotypes of cancer, multiple priority target sites for disruption in each area and prototypical chemical disruptors for all targets, this included dose-response characterizations, evidence of low-dose effects and cross-hallmark effects for all targets and chemicals. In total, 85 examples of chemicals were reviewed for actions on key pathways/mechanisms related to carcinogenesis. Only 15% (13/85) were found to have evidence of a dose-response threshold, whereas 59% (50/85) exerted low-dose effects. No dose-response information was found for the remaining 26% (22/85). Our analysis suggests that the cumulative effects of individual (non-carcinogenic) chemicals acting on different pathways, and a variety of related systems, organs, tissues and cells could plausibly conspire to produce carcinogenic synergies. Additional basic research on carcinogenesis and research focused on low-dose effects of chemical mixtures needs to be rigorously pursued before the merits of this hypothesis can be further advanced. However, the structure of the World Health Organization International Programme on Chemical Safety 'Mode of Action' framework should be revisited as it has inherent weaknesses that are not fully aligned with our current understanding of cancer biology