Constitutional Analogies in the International Legal System

This Article explores issues at the frontier of international law and constitutional law. It considers five key structural and systemic challenges that the international legal system now faces: (1) decentralization and disaggregation; (2) normative and institutional hierarchies; (3) compliance and enforcement; (4) exit and escape; and (5) democracy and legitimacy. Each of these issues raises questions of governance, institutional design, and allocation of authority paralleling the questions that domestic legal systems have answered in constitutional terms. For each of these issues, I survey the international legal landscape and consider the salience of potential analogies to domestic constitutions, drawing upon and extending the writings of international legal scholars and international relations theorists. I also offer some preliminary thoughts about why some treaties and institutions, but not others, more readily lend themselves to analysis in constitutional terms. And I distinguish those legal and political issues that may generate useful insights for scholars studying the growing intersections of international and constitutional law from other areas that may be more resistant to constitutional analogies

Heuristic Reasoning and the Observer's View: The Influence of Example-Availability on ad-hoc Frequency Judgments in Sport

Drawing upon evidence from broader social psychology, and an illustrative study of frequency estimation during a simple, sport-specific observe-and-recall task, this paper makes the case for the more thorough investigation of the availability heuristic (Tversky & Kahneman, 1973) on practical state-of-play reasoning in largely observational sporting activities. It is argued that this evidence particularly substantiates a need for a more robust body of research in two primary domains: (a) the gatekeeping tasks pertinent (and usually preliminary) to an individual’s sporting performance such as talent scouting, team selection, and substitution decisions, and (b) the business of officiating in high-tempo environments

Slow-wave sleep dysfunction in mild parkinsonism is associated with excessive beta and reduced delta oscillations in motor cortex

Increasing evidence suggests slow-wave sleep (SWS) dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease (PD) is associated with faster disease progression, cognitive impairment, and excessive daytime sleepiness. Beta oscillations (8–35 Hz) in the basal ganglia thalamocortical (BGTC) network are thought to play a role in the development of cardinal motor signs of PD. The role cortical beta oscillations play in SWS dysfunction in the early stage of parkinsonism is not understood, however. To address this question, we used a within-subject design in a nonhuman primate (NHP) model of PD to record local field potentials from the primary motor cortex (MC) during sleep across normal and mild parkinsonian states. The MC is a critical node in the BGTC network, exhibits pathological oscillations with depletion in dopamine tone, and displays high amplitude slow oscillations during SWS. The MC is therefore an appropriate recording site to understand the neurophysiology of SWS dysfunction in parkinsonism. We observed a reduction in SWS quantity (p = 0.027) in the parkinsonian state compared to normal. The cortical delta (0.5–3 Hz) power was reduced (p = 0.038) whereas beta (8–35 Hz) power was elevated (p = 0.001) during SWS in the parkinsonian state compared to normal. Furthermore, SWS quantity positively correlated with delta power (r = 0.43, p = 0.037) and negatively correlated with beta power (r = −0.65, p < 0.001). Our findings support excessive beta oscillations as a mechanism for SWS dysfunction in mild parkinsonism and could inform the development of neuromodulation therapies for enhancing SWS in people with PD

Skill Acquisition Methods Fostering Physical Literacy in Early-Physical Education (SAMPLE-PE): Rationale and Study Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial in 5–6-Year-Old Children From Deprived Areas of North West England

Background: There is a need for interdisciplinary research to better understand how pedagogical approaches in primary physical education (PE) can support the linked development of physical, cognitive and affective aspects of physical literacy and physical activity behaviors in young children living in deprived areas. The Skill Acquisition Methods fostering Physical Literacy in Early-Physical Education (SAMPLE-PE) study aims to examine the efficacy of two different pedagogies for PE, underpinned by theories of motor learning, to foster physical literacy. Methods: SAMPLE-PE will be evaluated through a cluster-randomized controlled trial targeting 5–6 year old children from schools located in areas of high deprivation in Merseyside, North-West England. Schools will be randomly allocated to one of three conditions: Linear Pedagogy, Non-linear Pedagogy, or Control. Non-linear and Linear Pedagogy intervention primary schools will receive a PE curriculum delivered by trained coaches over 15 weeks, while control schools will follow their usual practice. Data will be collected at baseline (T0), immediately post-intervention (T1), and 6 months after the intervention has finished (T2). Children’s movement competence is the primary outcome in this trial. Secondary outcomes include physical activity, perceived competence, motivation, executive functions, and self-regulation. An extensive process evaluation will also examine implementation factors such as intervention context, reach, dose, fidelity and acceptability. Discussion: The SAMPLE-PE project will enable better understanding surrounding how to operationalise physical literacy through enrichment of PE practices in early PE. The study will provide robust scientific evidence regarding the efficacy of underpinning PE pedagogy with theories of motor learning to promote the development of physical literacy