Is Psychological Research on Self-Control Relevant to Criminal Law?

In recent years scholars have asked whether scientific discoveries - specifically in neuroscience and genetics - should have normative implications for criminal law doctrine and theory, especially with regard to free will and responsibility. This focus on novel and merely potential scientific findings makes Rebecca Hollander-Blumoff’s arguments all the more fascinating: she argues that criminal law scholars have neglected to mine a rich body of social psychological research on the mechanisms of self-control which has developed over the past two decades. She, herself, finds that the psychological research suggests that current criminal law inaccurately circumscribes the scope of situations in which an individual lacked the ability to control her actions. Moreover, she argues that the research permits us to separate issues of self-control from philosophical questions about the existence of free will.This article accepts Hollander-Blumoff’s invitation to mine the self-control research for normatively-relevant insight. It finds, however, that the research has surprisingly little to offer. It does not show that criminal law doctrine excuses too few, and it does not help us draw lines between the responsible and non-responsible independent of broader debates about free will. The article identifies different conceptions of control at work in criminal law doctrine to show the limited scope of law that is relevant to the conception of self-control under psychological study. It further explains why the research’s findings about the “capacity for self-control” are not helpful to discerning whether an individual had the capacity to control his conduct in the sense required for responsibility and blame. Finally, the article counters Hollander-Blumoff’s claim that the research supports the law’s alleged neutrality regarding free will debates. Specifically, the commentary defends Stephen Morse’s view that the law is not philosophically neutral but compatibilist, and in doing so, it responds to recent arguments by Adam Kolber against the compatibilist interpretation of criminal law

Human placental cytotrophoblasts produce the immunosuppressive cytokine interleukin 10.

The mechanism by which the mammalian mother accepts the implanting fetus as an allograft remains unexplained, but is likely to be the result of a combination of factors. Mononuclear cytotrophoblasts, the specialized fetal cells of the placenta that invade the uterus, play an important role. These cells express HLA-G, an unusual major histocompatibility complex class I-B molecule, and secrete cytokines and pregnancy-specific proteins that can regulate immune function. We investigated whether cytotrophoblasts secrete interleukin 10 (IL-10), a cytokine that potently inhibits alloresponses in mixed lymphocyte reactions. Cytotrophoblasts from all stages of pregnancy produced IL-10 in vitro, but neither placental fibroblasts nor choriocarcinoma (malignant trophoblast) cell lines did so. Spontaneous IL-10 production averaged 650, 853, and 992 pg/10(6) cells in the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy, respectively. IL-10 secretion dropped approximately 10-fold after the first 24 h of culture, and was paralleled by a decrease in messenger RNA. IL-10 messenger RNA was detected in biopsies of the placenta and the portion of the uterus that contains invasive cytotrophoblasts, suggesting that this cytokine is also produced in vivo. IL-10 secreted by cytotrophoblasts in vitro is bioactive, as determined by its ability to suppress interferon gamma production in an allogeneic mixed lymphocyte reaction. We conclude that human cytotrophoblast IL-10 may be an important factor that contributes to maternal tolerance of the allogeneic fetus

MELEES - e-support or mayhem?

This paper reports on progress in developing a web-based environment to support non-specialist mathematics students taking University level Mathematics as a compulsory subject in their first and second years. The scale and diversity of the service teaching provision at Nottingham invites the use of a technology-based framework in order to make available the ‘good practice’ features developed both locally and elsewhere. Initially the two year development is focusing on: • establishing a supportive environment; • providing feedback to students, their lecturers and importantly to their home Schools; • identifying and supporting e-learning strategies; • improving student motivation. Current activities have been primarily directed to the first three bullet points

Minimizing Bias in Biomass Allometry: Model Selection and Log‐Transformation of Data

Nonlinear regression is increasingly used to develop allometric equations for forest biomass estimation (i.e., as opposed to the traditional approach of log‐transformation followed by linear regression). Most statistical software packages, however, assume additive errors by default, violating a key assumption of allometric theory and possibly producing spurious models. Here, we show that such models may bias stand‐level biomass estimates by up to 100 percent in young forests, and we present an alternative nonlinear fitting approach that conforms with allometric theory

Beyond Burritos and Lumpia: Ethnic Identity as a Difference in Preservice Teacher Education

Teachers play a pivotal role in society. On a daily basis they influence the futures of the children they encounter. Not only do they teach children how to read and write butteachers are also charged with the task of creating responsible citizens who should think critically about society. Teacher educators, and specifically those individuals charged with the task of preparing preservice teachers, have responsibilities similar to teachers in the field. Education, on any level, ought to be a transformative process. Thus, the preparation of teachers as instruments of social change ought to be a central focus in preservice teacher education programs. Teacher educators, as well as elementary and secondary mentor school teachers, are agents who have the potential to guide preservice teachers to think critically about educational structures that either promote or hinder the development of social equality in schools. Our views are corroborated by scholars such as Gloria Ladson-Billings who states that teacher education programs throughout the nation have coupled their efforts at reform with revised programs committed to social justice and equity (1995, p. 466)

Hollow cathode plasma penetration study Final report

Hollow cathode electron beam discharge for penetrating plasma sheath around reentry vehicl

Oscillation Amplitude Growth for a Decelerating Object with Constant Pitch Damping

The equations governing the deceleration and oscillation of a blunt body moving along a planar trajectory are re-expressed in the form of the Euler-Cauchy equation. An analytic solution of this equation describes the oscillation amplitude growth and frequency dilation with time for a statically stable decelerating body with constant pitch damping. The oscillation histories for several constant pitch damping values, predicted by the solution of the Euler-Cauchy equation are compared to POST six degree-of-freedom (6-DoF) trajectory simulations. The simulations use simplified aerodynamic coefficients matching the Euler-Cauchy approximations. Agreement between the model predictions and simulation results are excellent. Euler-Cauchy curves are also fit through nonlinear 6-DoF simulations and ballistic range data to identify static stability and pitch damping coefficients. The model os shown to closely fit through the data points and capture the behavior of the blunt body observed in simulation and experiment. The extracted coefficients are in reasonable agreement with higher fidelity, nonlinear parameter identification results. Finally, a nondimensional version of the Euler-Cauchy equation is presented and shown to be a simple and effective tool for designing dynamically scaled experiments for decelerating blunt capsule flight

Design of Launch Abort System Thrust Profile and Concept of Operations

This paper describes how the Abort Motor thrust profile has been tailored and how optimizing the Concept of Operations on the Launch Abort System (LAS) of the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) aides in getting the crew safely away from a failed Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV). Unlike the passive nature of the Apollo system, the Orion Launch Abort Vehicle will be actively controlled, giving the program a more robust abort system with a higher probability of crew survival for an abort at all points throughout the CLV trajectory. By optimizing the concept of operations and thrust profile the Orion program will be able to take full advantage of the active Orion LAS. Discussion will involve an overview of the development of the abort motor thrust profile and the current abort concept of operations as well as their effects on the performance of LAS aborts. Pad Abort (for performance) and Maximum Drag (for separation from the Launch Vehicle) are the two points that dictate the required thrust and shape of the thrust profile. The results in this paper show that 95% success of all performance requirements is not currently met for Pad Abort. Future improvements to the current parachute sequence and other potential changes will mitigate the current problems, and meet abort performance requirements