The Lack of Money is the Root of All Evil: Louisiana’s Ban on Bail Without Surety

The article presents a historical overview of bail and due process of law in Louisiana. Topics discussed include the Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure article 334.4 imposes a ban on judges releasing defendants; constitutionality of Article 334.4; and laws aimed to prevent violation of procedural due process, equal protection, and the excessive bail clauses of the Louisiana

The Effects of Situational Access to Firearms on Sensitivity to Risk of Criminal Victimization: A Contextual Analysis.

The focus of this research is on the association of the availability of firearms for protection and fear of crime. More specifically, the study explores the relationship of firearms to persons\u27 sensitivity to perceived risk of criminal victimization. The data used were drawn from a state-wide survey of Louisiana residents conducted in 1984. The research was directed by the long-standing inability of researchers to identify any relationship between guns and fear of crime, although it has long been assumed that such a relationship does exist. This study used the innovative strategy of examining fear of crime levels in their relationship to perceived risk of victimization. It was argued that the influence of guns on fear would appear in their effect on sensitivity to perceived risk. Two measures of firearms availability were used; (1) whether or not persons had guns present in their household, and (2) whether or not persons carried guns with them, for purposes of protection, when they left home. The results indicate that sensitivity to risk of victimization is associated, at least for some types of offenses, with the availability of firearms for protection. It was also found that this association varies, both in intensity and direction, by the measure used of firearms availability and by persons\u27 socio-cultural and experiential characteristics. It was argued, in conclusion, that further research specifically designed to study firearms and fear of crime is needed, and some theoretical directions for such research are offered

Growth and Performance of Broiler Chicks During the Starter and Grower Phases in Phase-Feeding

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of a nutrition program referred to as “phase-feeding” (PF) over the first 6 weeks posthatching. Diets were formulated using amino acid recommendations from the National Research Council (NRC) (1994) or from linear regression equations generated from best estimates of lysine (Lys), sulfur amino acid (SAA), and threonine (Thr) requirements. Regression equations were used to predict weekly Lys, SAA, and Thr requirements for use in a PF regimen that involved lowering amino acid levels following each respective week of the experiment, resulting in six diets fed over the 6-week period. Over the entire experiment (0 to 6 weeks), birds fed a PF regimen throughout had an increased (P \u3c 0.05) weight gain, feed intake, and weight gain per unit of digestible Thr intake relative to birds fed NRC requirements throughout. No differences (P \u3c 0.05) in carcass yield or abdominal fat percentage were noted. These data suggest that PF during the first 6 weeks of age can support growth and carcass yield comparable to diets formulated using NRC requirements. Dietary cost analysis indicates that substantial economic benefits may result from the use of PF during the starter and grower periods

Phase-feeding affects crude protein intake, excretion, and retention of broilers from 21 to 63 days

An experiment was conducted to assess effects of phase-feeding (PF) on crude protein (CP) intake, excretion, and retention of broilers. Six birds were housed individually and were fed diets formulated using recommendations from National Research Council (NRC) or linear regression equations. Two PF treatments were prepared: standard (PF) and low (PF10), in which predicted lysine, sulfur amino acids, and threonine recommendations were reduced by 10%. For PF and PF10, two diets (high-nutrient and low-nutrient density) were blended in variable quantities to produce rations matching predicted amino acid requirements over two intervals. Birds were fed a single NRC grower and finisher diet or a series of PF and PF10 diets that were switched every other day. With the exception of weight gain, which was lower for PF than for birds fed the NRC and PF10 diets, no differences in growth performance were observed. Both PF diets reduced CP intake numerically from 21-43 d and 21-63 d, and significantly from 43-63 d (P \u3c 0.055). Retention of CP was not impacted by diet although there was a tendency toward increased CP retention in birds fed the PF10 diet from 43-63 d (P = 0.071). Excretion of CP during the finisher period was reduced (P \u3c 0.05) for birds fed PF and PF10 diets, and total CP excretion was numerically reduced (4.0% and 8.6%, respectively). These data indicate that in addition to economic benefits, PF may result in environmental benefits

Deep Quality-Value (DQV) Learning

We introduce a novel Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) algorithm called Deep Quality-Value (DQV) Learning. DQV uses temporal-difference learning to train a Value neural network and uses this network for training a second Quality-value network that learns to estimate state-action values. We first test DQV's update rules with Multilayer Perceptrons as function approximators on two classic RL problems, and then extend DQV with the use of Deep Convolutional Neural Networks, `Experience Replay' and `Target Neural Networks' for tackling four games of the Atari Arcade Learning environment. Our results show that DQV learns significantly faster and better than Deep Q-Learning and Double Deep Q-Learning, suggesting that our algorithm can potentially be a better performing synchronous temporal difference algorithm than what is currently present in DRL