The Regression of Good Faith in Maryland Commercial Law

“Good faith,” in the affirmative or as the absence of bad faith, has always been a challenge to define and judge as a matter of conduct, motive, or both. Different tests apply a subjective standard, an objective standard, or even a combination of the two. Some parties may be held to different expectations than others. This determination of good faith has always been fact-driven and somewhat transcendental. Until recently, however, the question invoked a construct of fairness, resting on a two-pronged metric, at least insofar as several key titles of the Maryland Uniform Commercial Code were concerned. Since June 1, 2012, the various Maryland Uniform Commercial Code definitions of good faith have been stripped to the bare, subjective “honesty in fact.”1 The ramifications of this deviation from the Uniform Law Commission’s2 promulgated Uniform Commercial Code (“UCC”) and decades of jurisprudence with consistency among most states have yet to unfold; the bench and bar are just discovering the change. This comment explores how this occurred and what the potential consequences are and also recommends remediation of Maryland’s statutory language to conform to the UCC

Helping preteens and adolescents adjust to divorce (2016)

"Families and relationships. ""Focus on kids."This guide is part of a series aimed at helping families in which parents are separated or divorcing and who share parenting responsibilities for children. We will use the terms divorce and separation interchangeably to describe parents who are separated from each other.New 4/16/1M

Simplicial models of social aggregation I

This paper presents the foundational ideas for a new way of modeling social aggregation. Traditional approaches have been using network theory, and the theory of random networks. Under that paradigm, every social agent is represented by a node, and every social interaction is represented by a segment connecting two nodes. Early work in family interactions, as well as more recent work in the study of terrorist organizations, shows that network modeling may be insufficient to describe the complexity of human social structures. Specifically, network theory does not seem to have enough flexibility to represent higher order aggregations, where several agents interact as a group, rather than as a collection of pairs. The model we present here uses a well established mathematical theory, the theory of simplicial complexes, to address this complex issue prevalent in interpersonal and intergroup communication. The theory enables us to provide a richer graphical representation of social interactions, and to determine quantitative mechanisms to describe the robustness of a social structure. We also propose a methodology to create random simplicial complexes, with the purpose of providing a new method to simulate computationally the creation and disgregation of social structures. Finally, we propose several measures which could be taken and observed in order to describe and study an actual social aggregation occurring in interpersonal and intergroup contexts.Comment: 31 page

Aberrant Mesoappendix Vasculature: A Unique Cause of Partial Small Bowel Obstruction

This report describes a case of small bowel obstruction caused by an aberrant intraabdominal vessel

Information Diffusion, Facebook Clusters, and the Simplicial Model of Social Aggregation: A Computational Simulation of Simplicial Diffusers for Community Health Interventions

By integrating the simplicial model of social aggregation with existing research on opinion leadership and diffusion networks, this article introduces the constructs of simplicial diffusers (mathematically defined as nodes embedded in simplexes; a simplex is a socially bonded cluster) and simplicial diffusing sets (mathematically defined as minimal covers of a simplicial complex; a simplicial complex is a social aggregation in which socially bonded clusters are embedded) to propose a strategic approach for information diffusion of cancer screenings as a health intervention on Facebook for community cancer prevention and control. This approach is novel in its incorporation of interpersonally bonded clusters, culturally distinct subgroups, and different united social entities that co-exist within a larger community into a computational simulation to select sets of simplicial diffusers with the highest degree of information diffusion for health intervention dissemination. The unique contributions of the article also include seven propositions and five algorithmic steps for computationally modeling the simplicial model with Facebook data

Wii have a problem: a review of self-reported Wii related injuries

Purpose The increasing popularity of the Wii video game console has been associated with a number of gameplay related traumas. We sought to investigate if there were any identifiable injury patterns associated with Wii use. Methods Utilising a database of self-reported Wii related injuries, the data was categorised by type of injury and game title being played at the time of injury. Findings We found that of 39 reported Wii related injuries over a two-year span, 46% occurred while playing the Wii Sports Tennis software. Further, we identified 14 distinct injury patterns sustained during gameplay. Of these injuries, hand lacerations were the most common, accounting for 44% of the total number of reported cases. Conclusions Injury associated with video game play is not unique to the Wii, nor is it a new phenomenon. However, the Wii console appears to have a higher rate of associated injuries than traditional game consoles because of its unique user interface. We review the literature and discuss some of the medical complications associated with the Wii and other video game consoles

Disclosures about important life events on Facebook: Relationship with stress and quality of life

a b s t r a c t The current study examined the relationship between general perceived levels of stress, quality of life, social networking usage, and disclosing important life events on Facebook in order to better understand the complex relationship between online disclosure and individual well-being. An online survey was completed by adult Facebook users aged 18-70. Results indicate that the more time spent on and the more social network memberships, the higher stress and lower quality of life; Facebook-specific usage was unrelated to either well-being variable. Together, these findings suggest that the current increase in social media variety and usage may be detrimental to user well-being. Users who shared important, bad health news on Facebook had higher stress and lower quality of life than those who did not, with no significant differences for sharing good health news. The more that users did not share important news on Facebook for self-protection and friend unresponsiveness reasons, the greater their stress. The self-protection reason was also negatively related to quality of life. These inconsistent findings can likely be partially explained by the nature of the information that is shared. These findings are discussed in light of disclosure and relationship patterns on social networks

Whole genome data from Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens strains associated with tan spot of mungbean and soybean reveal diverse plasmid profiles

Despite the substantial economic impact of Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens (Cff) on legume productions worldwide, the genetic basis of its pathogenicity and potential host association is poorly understood. The production of high-quality reference genome assemblies of Cff strains associated with different hosts sheds light on the genetic basis of its pathogenic variability and host association. Moreover, the study of recent outbreaks of bacterial wilt and microevolution of the pathogen in Australia requires access to high-quality, reference genomes that are sufficiently closely related to the population being studied within Australia. We provide the first genome assemblies of Cff strains associated with mungbean and soybean, which revealed high variability in their plasmid composition. The analysis of Cff genomes revealed an extensive suite of carbohydrate-active enzymes potentially associated with pathogenicity, including four carbohydrate esterases, 50 glycoside hydrolases, 23 glycosyl transferases, and a polysaccharide lyase. We also identified 11 serine peptidases, three of which were located within a linear plasmid, pCff119. These high-quality assemblies and annotations will provide a foundation for population genomics studies of Cff in Australia and for answering fundamental questions regarding pathogenicity factors and adaptation of Cff to various hosts worldwide, and, at a broader scale, contribute to unravelling genomic features of Gram-positive, xylem-inhabiting bacterial pathogens

Summer paddock survey finds fungal and bacterial diseases decreased but not eliminated [GRDC Field Crop Diseases Community of Practice, 1 October 2018 - Online community]

Summer crop paddocks across northern New South Wales, southern Queensland and central Queensland, were surveyed to monitor the fungal and bacterial diseases present in the 2017-2018 summer cropping season. The season was unusually hot and dry, which in most cases, led to reduced fungal and bacterial diseases, but did not eliminate all of them. In some cases, these conditions actually favoured the development of disease, for example charcoal rot in sorghum. Observations for maize, mungbean, peanut, sorghum, soybean and sun]ower are given below