Good Humor on The Bench: Just Desserts in a Judicial Diet

Lawyers, long the subject of jokes, are themselves often portrayed as humorless

Abolishing the Peremptory Challenge: The Verdict of Emerging Caselaw

In Batson v. Kentucky, the 1986 Supreme Court decision that made it unconstitutional to use the peremptory challenge to reject jurors on the basis of race, Justice Thurgood Marshall applauded the majority for its holding

Contributions of soil and crop factors to plant available soil water capacity of annual crops on Black and Grey Vertosols

Improved methods for field measurements of plant available soil water capacity (PAWC) of Black and Grey Vertosols in Australia’s north-eastern grain region were employed to characterise 83 soil–crop combinations over 7 depth intervals to 180 cm. Soil sub-order was shown to influence all components of PAWC (means of 224 and 182 mm in Black and Grey Vertosols, respectively) with drained upper limit (DUL), bulk density (BD), and crop lower limits (CLL) showing clear separation between soil sub-orders and a trend with soil depth. In addition to soil sub-order and soil depth effects, CLL showed crop effects such that expected PAWC of various crops when adjusted for soil sub-orders were: cotton 240 mm; wheat 233 mm; sorghum 225 mm; fababean 209 mm; chickpea 197 mm; barley 191 mm; and mungbean 130 mm. A total of 549 measured CLL values were used to develop a predictive model for estimating CLL from the soil sub-order, depth, DUL, and crop by predicting a CLL as a function of DUL and a depth-dependent variable for each crop–soil sub-order. The model CLL = DUL * (a + b * DUL) explained 85% of observed variation in the measured data with no significant bias between observed and predicted data. While properly measured data would be more reliable than estimated data, where specific site accuracy is less critical, this model may be used to estimate PAWC with an acceptable degree of accuracy

Online Popularity and Topical Interests through the Lens of Instagram

Online socio-technical systems can be studied as proxy of the real world to investigate human behavior and social interactions at scale. Here we focus on Instagram, a media-sharing online platform whose popularity has been rising up to gathering hundred millions users. Instagram exhibits a mixture of features including social structure, social tagging and media sharing. The network of social interactions among users models various dynamics including follower/followee relations and users' communication by means of posts/comments. Users can upload and tag media such as photos and pictures, and they can "like" and comment each piece of information on the platform. In this work we investigate three major aspects on our Instagram dataset: (i) the structural characteristics of its network of heterogeneous interactions, to unveil the emergence of self organization and topically-induced community structure; (ii) the dynamics of content production and consumption, to understand how global trends and popular users emerge; (iii) the behavior of users labeling media with tags, to determine how they devote their attention and to explore the variety of their topical interests. Our analysis provides clues to understand human behavior dynamics on socio-technical systems, specifically users and content popularity, the mechanisms of users' interactions in online environments and how collective trends emerge from individuals' topical interests.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, Proceedings of ACM Hypertext 201

Small union with large set of centers

Let $T\subset{\mathbb R}^n$ be a fixed set. By a scaled copy of $T$ around $x\in{\mathbb R}^n$ we mean a set of the form $x+rT$ for some $r>0$. In this survey paper we study results about the following type of problems: How small can a set be if it contains a scaled copy of $T$ around every point of a set of given size? We will consider the cases when $T$ is circle or sphere centered at the origin, Cantor set in ${\mathbb R}$, the boundary of a square centered at the origin, or more generally the $k$-skeleton ($0\le k<n$) of an $n$-dimensional cube centered at the origin or the $k$-skeleton of a more general polytope of ${\mathbb R}^n$. We also study the case when we allow not only scaled copies but also scaled and rotated copies and also the case when we allow only rotated copies

On the density of periodic configurations in strongly irreducible subshifts

Let $G$ be a residually finite group and let $A$ be a finite set. We prove that if $X \subset A^G$ is a strongly irreducible subshift of finite type containing a periodic configuration then periodic configurations are dense in $X$. The density of periodic configurations implies in particular that every injective endomorphism of $X$ is surjective and that the group of automorphisms of $X$ is residually finite. We also introduce a class of subshifts $X \subset A^\Z$, including all strongly irreducible subshifts and all irreducible sofic subshifts, in which periodic configurations are dense

Selection criteria of Zebrafish male donors for sperm cryopreservation

Selection criteria for sperm cryopreservation are highly relevant in zebrafish since sperm quality is particularly variable in this species. Successful cryopreservation depends on high-quality sperm, which can only be ensured by the selection of breeders. Consequently, male selection and management are a priority to improve cryopreservation, and therefore, this study aimed to characterize optimal age and sperm collection frequency in zebrafish. For this purpose, males from wild type (AB) and from a transgenic line [Tg(runx2:eGFP)] were sampled at 6, 8, 12, and 14 months. For each age, sperm were collected at time 0 followed by samplings at 2, 7, and 14 days of rest. Sperm quality was assessed according to motility and membrane viability parameters. Quality assessment showed that Tg(runx2:eGFP) displayed significantly higher motility than AB and younger males showed higher motility in both lines. Sperm collection frequency affected membrane viability. While AB fish recovered sperm viability after 14 days of rest, Tg(runx2:eGFP) could not recover. Consequently, it may be important to study the sperm quality of each zebrafish line before sperm cryopreservation. Taking into consideration the results achieved in both lines, sperm collection should be performed between 6 and 8 months of age with a minimum collection interval of 14 days.N730984, EBB-EAPA_501/2016, PEst-C/MAR/LA0015/2011info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Relative efficacy of topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and topical capsaicin in osteoarthritis: protocol for an individual patient data meta-analysis

Background Pain is the most troubling issue to patients with osteoarthritis (OA), yet current pharmacological treatments offer only small-to-moderate pain reduction. Current guidelines therefore emphasise the need to identify predictors of treatment response. In line with these recommendations, an individual patient data (IPD) meta-analysis will be conducted. The study aims to investigate the relative treatment effects of topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and topical capsaicin in OA and to identify patient-level predictors of treatment response. Methods IPD will be collected from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of topical NSAIDs and capsaicin in OA. Multilevel regression modelling will be conducted to determine predictors for the specific and the overall treatment effect. Discussion Through the identification of treatment responders, this IPD meta-analysis may improve the current understanding of the pain mechanisms in OA and guide clinical decision-making. Identifying and prescribing the treatment most likely to be beneficial for an individual with OA will improve the efficiency of patient management