The1997 Scottish referendum : an analysis of the Scottish referendum

Referendums are rare events in the United Kingdom. Only one UK-wide referendum has been held - on membership of the European Community (as it then was) in 1975 - and before 1997 there had been only three other significant referendums: in 1973, in Northern Ireland, on the constitutional position of the province, and in 1979, in Scotland and Wales, on proposals for devolution. Thus the scarcity of cases available for study in itself makes the 1997 referendum on a Scottish parliament worthy of close attention. In addition, however, the fact that Scottish voters were asked to vote on, not one, but two questions - whether or not they were in favour of a Scottish parliament and whether such a parliament should have tax-varying powers - made the Scottish referendum unique among the (admittedly few) referendums that have been held in Britain

Some aspects of the problem of guilt, with special reference to Kafka, Kierkegaard and Dostoevsky

Guilt, we are told by Hegel, belongs intrinsically to action; and it is manifestly through action that such declarative terms as "criminality" and "heinous sin" become attached semantically to the word guilt. The Oxford English Dictionary associates with the word guilt those explicit, conceptual terms which enable one to see at once the intimate connection between guilt on the one hand and justice and the rule of law on the other. Terms such as "heinous moral offence ", "responsibility for an action ", and "great culpability" cannot easily be mistaken for purely abstract or subjective sentiments; clearly, what is indicated here is not private opinion but public judgement. In like manner the terms "delinquent ", "criminal'', and "deserving of punishment" attach to the word guilty

Susceptibility of Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Colony Areas to Southern Pine Beetle Infestation in East Texas

Seven red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis) colonies and stands within a one-quarter mile radius were hazard-rated for susceptibility to the southern pine beetle (Dendroctonus Frontalis Zimm.). Individual colonies generally were ranked low to moderate hazard using the Texas Hazard system and moderate hazard using the National Forest Risk system. Within one quarter mile of the colonies, 28% of the stands were low hazard, 25% moderate, 0.3% high and 7.5% extreme with Texas Hazard. Four percent were low hazard, 52% moderate, and 6% high with National Forest Risk. Moderate to extreme hazard stands within one-quarter mile of the colonies could increase the probability of beetle infestation in these areas, thus threatening foraging areas and individual colony trees. Documented bark beetles activity within colonies did not correspond directly with hazard ratings, suggesting that development of a different model may be needed for these RCW colonies to incorporate stand characteristics disturbances, cavity tree condition, and other bark beetle species

Use of a microcomputer database system in a statewide effort for data collection in medical genetics

pre-printThe Genetics Office Automation System (GOAS) is a database management system for the collection and reporting of medical genetics data. We have previously reported on its implementation in a single university center [1,2]. We report here on its implementation in a coordinated data collection effort for the State of Missouri. We discuss the current status of the data collection activities and procedures to share data collected at an individual center with state, regional, and national data collection efforts

Response to Crocetti et al.

No abstract available

Rotation of Coulomb crystals in a magnetized inductively coupled complex plasma

Under suitable conditions, micron-sized dust particles introduced into inductively coupled argon plasma form a stable microscopic crystal lattice, known as a Coulomb (or plasma) crystal. In the experiment described, an external axial magnetic field was applied to various configurations of Coulomb crystal, including small crystal lattices consisting of one to several particles, and large crystal lattices with many hundreds of particles. The crystals were observed to rotate collectively under the influence of the magnetic field. This paper describes the experimental procedures and the preliminary results of this investigation

Culture for Service

Community Service Learning promotes active citizenship and addresses community needs through youth service. It is an educational process which involves young people in their own learning as they give valuable service to the community. Research has shown that numerous benefits accrue from the practice of service learning. Students\u27 level of social responsibility increases, their critical thinking skills improve, and they become more competent in their subject matter. Teachers are able to combine instruction with real-world experiences. Educational institutions are able to link significant academic concerns with major community problems and improve community relationships

In Vivo Effect of Leukemia Inhibitory Factor (LIF) and an Anti-LIF Polyclonal Antibody on Murine Embryo and Fetal Development Following Exposure at the Time of Transcervical Blastocyst Transfer

Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) enhances in vitro murine preimplantation development in a time- and dose-dependent fashion. Knockout experiments have demonstrated that endometrial LIF is essential for in vivo murine implantation. We assessed the impact of LIF and an anti-LIF polyclonal antibody (pab) on in vivo development and developed a novel and successful nonsurgical method of embryo transfer for this species, a transcervical blastocyst transfer technique. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of LIF and the anti-LIF pab on 1) implantation, resorption, pregnancy, and viability rates and 2) the overall structural and skeletal development. Two-cell embryos were recovered from superovulated mated donors, cultured to the expanded blastocyst stage, and transferred transcervically into pseudopregnant recipients. Exposure to 5000 U/ml LIF resulted in significant increases in implantation, pregnancy, and viability rates compared with controls. A similar dose of pab produced overall inhibitory effects with a significant decrease in implantation rate. Paradoxically, lower pab doses resulted in significantly increased viability rates. Exposure to LIF had no effect on fetoplacental development. However, pab treatments had variable but significant negative effects on placental length, ossification of the exoccipital bone, and vertebral space width compared with controls. Exposure of murine blastocysts to LIF at the time of transcervical transfer resulted in pronounced positive effects on implantation and pregnancy rates without affecting fetal development. A similar pab dose dramatically reduced implantation and pregnancy rates; at high and low doses, pab produced deleterious effects on placental and skeletal development