Does Ideology Matter in Bankruptcy? Voting Behavior on the Courts of Appeals

This Article empirically examines whether courts of appeals judges cast ideological votes in the bankruptcy context. The empirical study is unique insofar as it is the first to examine the voting behavior of circuit court judges in bankruptcy cases. More importantly, it focuses on a particular type of dispute that arises in bankruptcy: debt-dischargeability determinations. The study implements this focused approach in order to reduce heterogeneity in result. We find, contrary to our hypotheses, no evidence that circuit court judges engage in ideological voting in bankruptcy cases. We also find, however, non-ideological factors—including the race of the judge and the disposition of the case by lower courts—that substantially influence the voting pattern of the judges in our study. The Article makes three broad contributions. First, it indicates that bankruptcy voting is comparatively non-ideological, at least at the level of the courts of appeals. Second, by identifying the influence of certain non-ideological factors on voting behavior, the Article suggests avenues for profitable future research. And third, the Article makes a methodological contribution through its fine-grained approach, which demonstrates the importance of focusing on particular legal issues in order to reduce heterogeneity in, and bolster the reliability of, findings from empirical legal studies

An Empirical Investigation into Appellate Structure and the Perceived Quality of Appellate Review

Commentators have theorized that several factors may improve the process, and thus perhaps the accuracy, of appellate review: (1) review by a panel of judges, (2) subject-matter expertise in the area of the appeal, (3) other lawfinding ability, (4) adherence to traditional notions of appellate hierarchy, and (5) the judicial independence of appellate judges. The considerable discussion that has expounded upon these theories has occurred in a vacuum of abstract generalization. This Article adds a new dimension by presenting the results of an empirical study of bankruptcy appellate opinions issued over a three-year period. The federal bankruptcy appellate structure provides certain litigants the choice to appeal, in the first instance, to one of two distinct appellate tribunals—district courts and bankruptcy appellate panels (BAPs)—whose structural features relating to the theorized qualities of appellate review differ. As BAPs appear to have more of the features identified as improving the quality of appellate review, the study tests the theory through various hypotheses that focus on the perception held by other federal courts within the bankruptcy appellate structure of the quality of appellate review provided by these distinct appellate tribunals. The data show that, as measured by (1) the subsequent disposition rendered by courts of appeals and (2) the citation practices of other federal courts to the appellate opinions issued by BAPs and district courts, BAPs have been perceived to provide a better quality of appellate review. Having unearthed some evidence that supports the theoretical notions underlying the quality of appellate review, this Article concludes that commentators and policymakers ought to be encouraged to explore further, in a more detailed manner, the question of how appellate structure can be designed to produce better results

Three photometric methods tested on ground-based data of Q 2237+0305

The Einstein Cross, Q~2237+0305, has been photometrically observed in four bands on two successive nights at NOT (La Palma, Spain) in October 1995. Three independent algorithms have been used to analyse the data: an automatic image decomposition technique, a CLEAN algorithm and the new MCS deconvolution code. The photometric and astrometric results obtained with the three methods are presented. No photometric variations were found in the four quasar images. Comparison of the photometry from the three techniques shows that both systematic and random errors affect each method. When the seeing is worse than 1.0", the errors from the automatic image decomposition technique and the Clean algorithm tend to be large (0.04-0.1 magnitudes) while the deconvolution code still gives accurate results (1{sigma} error below 0.04) even for frames with seeing as bad as 1.7". Reddening is observed in the quasar images and is found to be compatible with either extinction from the lensing galaxy or colour dependent microlensing. The photometric accuracy depends on the light distribution used to model the lensing galaxy. In particular, using a numerical galaxy model, as done with the MCS algorithm, makes the method less seeing dependent. Another advantage of using a numerical model is that eventual non-homogeneous structures in the galaxy can be modeled. Finally, we propose an observational strategy for a future photometric monitoring of the Einstein Cross.Comment: 9 pages, accepted for publication in A&

Assessment of RNAi-induced silencing in banana (Musa spp.)

In plants, RNA- based gene silencing mediated by small RNAs functions at the transcriptional or post-transcriptional level to negatively regulate target genes, repetitive sequences, viral RNAs and/or transposon elements. Post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) or the RNA interference (RNAi) approach has been achieved in a wide range of plant species for inhibiting the expression of target genes by generating double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). However, to our knowledge, successful RNAi-application to knock-down endogenous genes has not been reported in the important staple food crop banana

Time-dependent changes in ghrelin-immunoreactivity in dissociated neuronal cultures of the newborn rat neocortex

Ghrelin is a hormone, initially described as a gastric peptide stimulating appetite and growth hormone secretion, which also has an important role in the regulation of many other processes, including higher brain functions. Ghrelin has been described in situ in different parts of the brain, but so far there has been no data about its expression in cell cultures. Therefore, we aimed in this study to investigate the levels of ghrelin in dissociated cortical neurons at various times in culture. We applied the ABC immunocytochemical method for the detection of ghrelin in one-day-, one-week-, and two-week-old cultures. Our results clearly show that at the early stages after plating the cultures 86.2% (± 8.93) of the neurons are ghrelin-positive and their number decreases during the culturing period. As ghrelin is present in the majority of cultured newborn neurons, when the neuronal differentiation and network formation take place, it may also influence the early synaptic formation and cell-to-cell interactions, which are both very important for network functions like learning and memory

Selection and validation of reference genes for quantitative RT-PCR expression studies of the non-model crop Musa

Gene expression analysis by reverse transcriptase real-time or quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is becoming widely used for nonmodel plant species. Given the high sensitivity of this method, normalization using multiple housekeeping or reference genes is critical, and careful selection of these reference genes is one of the most important steps to obtain reliable results. In this study, reference genes commonly used for other plant species were investigated to identify genes displaying highly uniform expression patterns in different varieties, tissues, developmental stages, fungal infection, and osmotic stress conditions for the non-model crop Musa (banana and plantains). The expression stability of six candidate reference genes was tested on six different sample sets, and the results were analyzed using the publicly available algorithms geNorm and NormFinder. Our results show that variety, plant material, primer set, and gene identity can all influence the robustness and outcome of RT-qPCR analysis. In the case of Musa, a combination of three reference genes (EF1, TUB and ACT) can be used for normalization of gene expression data from greenhouse leaf samples. In the case of shoot meristem cultures, numerous combinations can be used because the investigated reference genes exhibited limited variability. In contrast, variability in expression of the reference genes was much larger among leaf samples from plants grown in vitro, for which the best combination of reference genes (L2 and ACT genes) is still suboptimal. Overall, our data confirm that the stability of candidate reference gene

Two critical localization lengths in the Anderson transition on random graphs

We present a full description of the nonergodic properties of wave functions on random graphs without boundary in the localized and critical regimes of the Anderson transition. We find that they are characterized by two critical localization lengths: the largest one describes localization along rare branches and diverges with a critical exponent ν∥=1 at the transition. The second length, which describes localization along typical branches, reaches at the transition a finite universal value (which depends only on the connectivity of the graph), with a singularity controlled by a new critical exponent ν⊥=1/2. We show numerically that these two localization lengths control the finite-size scaling properties of key observables: wave-function moments, correlation functions, and spectral statistics. Our results are identical to the theoretical predictions for the typical localization length in the many-body localization transition, with the same critical exponent. This strongly suggests that the two transitions are in the same universality class and that our techniques could be directly applied in this context

Scaling Theory of the Anderson Transition in Random Graphs: Ergodicity and Universality

We study the Anderson transition on a generic model of random graphs with a tunable branching parameter 1<K<2, through large scale numerical simulations and finite-size scaling analysis. We find that a single transition separates a localized phase from an unusual delocalized phase that is ergodic at large scales but strongly nonergodic at smaller scales. In the critical regime, multifractal wave functions are located on a few branches of the graph. Different scaling laws apply on both sides of the transition: a scaling with the linear size of the system on the localized side, and an unusual volumic scaling on the delocalized side. The critical scalings and exponents are independent of the branching parameter, which strongly supports the universality of our results

Three photometric methods tested on ground-based data of Q 2237+0305

The Einstein Cross, Q 2237+0305, has been photometrically observed in four bands on two successive nights at NOT (La Palma, Spain) in October 1995. Three independent algorithms have been used to analyse the data: an automatic image decomposition technique, a CLEAN algorithm and the new MCS deconvolution code. The photometric and astrometric results obtained with the three methods are presented. No photometric variations were found in the four quasar images. Comparison of the photometry from the three techniques shows that both systematic and random errors affect each method. When the seeing is worse than 1farcs0 , the errors from the automatic image decomposition technique and the Clean algorithm tend to be large (0.04-0.1 magnitudes) while the deconvolution code still gives accurate results (1sigma error below 0.04) even for frames with seeing as bad as 1farcs7 . Reddening is observed in the quasar images and is found to be compatible with either extinction from the lensing galaxy or colour dependent microlensing. The photometric accuracy depends on the light distribution used to model the lensing galaxy. In particular, using a numerical galaxy model, as done with the MCS algorithm, makes the method less seeing dependent. Another advantage of using a numerical model is that eventual non-homogeneous structures in the galaxy can be modeled. Finally, we propose an observational strategy for a future photometric monitoring of the Einstein Cross. Based on observations obtained at NOT, La Palma