The Higher-Cost Problem: How the CASE Act Addresses the History of Inequity in the American Copyright Regime

The legislative history of copyright law in the United States and its judicial interpretation resulted in a complex web of statutes and doctrine theoretically meant to further the constitutional goal of “promot[ing] the Progress of Science and the useful Arts.” But because of its complexity, enforcing rights against infringers in federal court became prohibitively expensive for most. The American copyright regime simultaneously allowed the music industry to unfairly profit from the creativity of the under-resourced—particularly, musicians of color. This Note discusses the disparate impact of the American copyright regime. Then, the Note discusses the Copyright Alternatives in the Small-Claims Enforcement Act, which Congress passed to address the high costs of pursuing copyright infringement claims in federal court. Specifically, this Note addresses constitutional and practical concerns raised by scholars about the Act and how the Act might finally signal a shift in Congressional focus toward the needs of minority artists in copyright legislation

Crisis Authority, the War on Terror and the Future of Constitutional Democracy

Italian political philosopher Giorgio Agamben has predicted the decline of liberal democracy at the hands of an overreaching executive in all present day democratic political systems. According to Agamben, crises, and the use of exceptional authority, or “the state of exception” as coined by Carl Schmitt, have allowed the executive branch to acquire legal powers beyond its original purpose, and this is eroding the balance of powers and checks on authority. To dispute this claim, I investigate the War on Terror, which Agamben cites as having led to “pure de-facto rule” (Agamben, 2005). I explore the acceptance of exceptional authority by the public, the exact legal violations of the president, the termination of the exception and the subsequent legal recovery. I suggest that, based on present day circumstances, Agamben’s predictions may be heavy handed

Metabolic, neuromuscular, and performance responses to graded carbohydrate ingestion during exercise

A dose response relationship between carbohydrate (CHO) ingestion and exercise performance has not been consistently reported. Additionally the underlying metabolic and neuromuscular explanations for an improvement in performance with increasing doses of CHO have not been fully explained. In Chapter 2 of this thesis 20 male cyclists completed 2 h of submaximal exercise followed by a time trial task (531 ± 48KJ). Three CHO electrolyte beverages, plus a control (water), were administered during a 2 h ride providing 0, 20, 39 or 64 g CHO·h-1 at a fluid intake rate of 1 L·h-1. Performance was assessed by time to complete the time trial task, mean power output sustained, and pacing strategy used. Mean task completion time (min:sec ± SD) for 39 g·h-1 (34:19.5 ± 03:07.1, p=0.006) and 64 g·h-1 (34:11.3 ± 03:08.5 p=0.004) of CHO were significantly faster than control (37:01.9 ± 05:35.0). The mean percentage improvement from control was -6.1% (95% CI: -11.3 to -1.0) and -6.5% (95% CI: -11.7 to -1.4) in the 39 and 64 g·h-1 trials respectively. The 20 g·h-1 (35:17.6 ± 04:16.3) treatment did not reach statistical significance compared to control (p = 0.126) despite a mean improvement of -3.7% (95% CI -8.8 to 1.5%). These data demonstrate that consuming CHO at a rate between 39 to 64 g·h-1 is likely to be optimal for most individuals looking to utilise a single source CHO as an ergogenic aid during endurance performances lasting less than 3 hrs. Attempts have been made to try and understand the acute metabolic regulation that occurs when ingesting increasing amounts of CHO. However, no one study has fully investigated the metabolic mechanisms underlying graded increments of CHO ingestion. In Chapter 3 we aimed to utilise stable isotopes and blood metabolite profiles to examine the integrated physiological responses to CHO ingestion when ingested at rates throughout the range where performance gains appear greatest. Twenty well-trained male cyclists completed 2 h constant load ride (95% lactate threshold, 185 ± 25W) where one of three CHO beverages, or a control (water), were administered every 15 min, providing participants with 0, 20, 39 or 64 g CHO·h-1 at a fixed fluid intake rate of 1L·h-1. Dual glucose tracer techniques (6,6,2H2 glucose and U13C labelled glucose) were used to determine glucose kinetics and exogenous carbohydrate oxidation (EXO) during exercise. Endogenous CHO contribution was suppressed in the second hour of exercise when consuming 39 and 64 g·h-1 in comparison to 0 g·h-1 (-7.3%, 95%CI: -13.1 to -1.6 and -11.2%, 95%CI: -16.9 to -5.5 respectively). Additionally, consuming 64 g·h-1 suppressed the endogenous CHO contribution by -7.2% (95%CI: -1.5 to -13.0) compared to the 20 g·h-1 treatment. Exogenous CHO oxidation rate increased by 0.13 g·min-1 (95%CI: 0.10 to 0.15) and 0.29 g·min-1 (95%CI: 0.27 to 0.31) when consuming 39 and 64 g·h-1 in comparison to 20 g·h-1 of CHO. Peak exogenous CHO oxidation rates were 0.34 (0.06), 0.54 (0.09) and 0.78 (0.19) g·min-1 for 20, 39 and 64 g·h-1 respectively. Plasma NEFA concentration was 0.10 (95%CI: 0.07 to 0.13), 0.12 (95%CI: 0.10 to 0.16) and 0.16 (95%CI: 0.13 to 0.19) mmol.L-1 higher when consuming 0 g·h-1 in comparison to 20, 39 and 64 g·h-1 respectively. Both 39 and 64 g·h-1 were effective at sparing endogenous CHO stores of which it is estimated that most of this is liver glycogen sparing, but the measured response was highly variable between individuals. Consuming 39 g·h-1 of CHO appears to be the minimum ingestion rate required to have a significant metabolic effect that results in an increase in performance. Recent research has indicated a key role of endogenous CHO sensing and oral glucose sensing in maintaining central drive and peripheral function during endurance exercise tasks. Consuming 39 and 64 g·h-1 of CHO elicits the greatest improvements in performance and also demonstrate a similar metabolic response. The improvement in subsequent time trial performance when consuming 39 and 64 g·h-1 coincided with significant alterations in whole body substrate usage that lead to endogenous CHO sparing at the same ingestion rates. In Chapter 4 we aimed to utilise gold standard neuromuscular function assessment techniques, alongside novel measures, to investigate the effect of consuming different rates of CHO on neuromuscular function during and following prolonged cycling exercise. In a double-blind, randomised cross-over design, well-trained male cyclists (n=20, mean±SD, age 34 ± 10 y, mass 75.8 ± 9 kg, peak power output 394 ± 36 W, V̇O2max 62 ± 9 ml·kg-1·min-1) completed 2 familiarisation trials then 4 experimental trials. Trials involved a 2 h submaximal ride followed by a high intensity time trial task lasting approx. 35 min with each of 0, 20, 39 and 64 g·h-1 CHO ingestion rates during submaximal exercise. Each trial involved pre and post exercise assessments (MVC, Mwave twitch potentiation and force, motor unit recruitment and firing rate assessment using high density EMG) and during exercise (gross EMG amplitude). MVC peak torque values were reduced post exercise by -20.4 nM (95%CI: -26.5 to -14.4) in comparison to pre value on all trials with no differences between trials. The firing rates of early recruited motor units significantly increased by 1.55 pps (95%CI: 0.51 to 2.59) following exercise in comparison to pre-exercise rates. Gross EMG during the 2 h cycling bout revealed a main effect of treatment (p<0.01) but post hoc comparisons provided no clarity and likely reflect methodological issues. Consuming CHO at ingestion rates between 20 and 64 g·h-1 had little to no impact on the neuromuscular function of well-trained cyclists when comparing pre and post fatiguing exercise values. Despite differences in time trial completion time between trials, following exercise to fatigue in an endurance task, no post exercise differences were detected

A roadmap to the economic evaluation of the activities of the Newhaven Community Development Association

NCDA provides a range of services to the local community with the general aim of supporting regeneration in the Newhaven area. We were asked to provide an economic evaluation of NCDA’s services and we chose to focus on a subset of those activities where the better quality data are available. These are the nursery, the family learning programme and the youth service. These three accounted for 20% of the costs of all services provided by NCDA (another 31% goes to the government-sponsored Work Programme). The paucity of good quality data meant that it proved difficult to obtain solid evidence on the benefits of the services provided (e.g. youths abstaining from drug abuse). We therefore had to look at research evidence from similar activities elsewhere, such as pre-school programmes in the USA or the Families and Schools Together (FAST) programme, which runs in several countries. These programmes are likely to provide benefit-cost ratios (BCRs) and rates of return which suggest such activities are worthwhile investments. Investment in pre school typically has BCRs of around 2; the FAST programme has a ratio of around 3. For the youth service, evidence from research gives a wide range of results, from a BCR of 1.2 all the way up to 13. In the literature we surveyed, small projects seem to have higher rates of return: there are diminishing returns to such activities. Using these research findings we have estimated the potential economic benefits of the NCDA activities, assuming that both the delivery of the interventions by NCDA and the characteristics of their client groups are identical to these programmes. If this holds true, the annual cost of the nursery of £240,000 could yield benefits in the order of £635,000, while the benefit-cost ratio of the youth service could be positive or negative depending on which existing programme is used as the basis of the estimation. There are many shortcomings with this approach. While similar programmes appear to have substantial benefits relative to theirs costs, Newhaven’s programmes need to be evaluated in their own right to be certain that they are realising the same benefits. We suggest some simple measures, which NCDA might like to take to improve the quality of the data they have and the use of it for analysis of their work

Electronic processing and control system with programmable hardware

A computer system with reprogrammable hardware allowing dynamically allocating hardware resources for different functions and adaptability for different processors and different operating platforms. All hardware resources are physically partitioned into system-user hardware and application-user hardware depending on the specific operation requirements. A reprogrammable interface preferably interconnects the system-user hardware and application-user hardware

Fault-Tolerant Coding for State Machines

Two reliable fault-tolerant coding schemes have been proposed for state machines that are used in field-programmable gate arrays and application-specific integrated circuits to implement sequential logic functions. The schemes apply to strings of bits in state registers, which are typically implemented in practice as assemblies of flip-flop circuits. If a single-event upset (SEU, a radiation-induced change in the bit in one flip-flop) occurs in a state register, the state machine that contains the register could go into an erroneous state or could hang, by which is meant that the machine could remain in undefined states indefinitely. The proposed fault-tolerant coding schemes are intended to prevent the state machine from going into an erroneous or hang state when an SEU occurs. To ensure reliability of the state machine, the coding scheme for bits in the state register must satisfy the following criteria: 1. All possible states are defined. 2. An SEU brings the state machine to a known state. 3. There is no possibility of a hang state. 4. No false state is entered. 5. An SEU exerts no effect on the state machine. Fault-tolerant coding schemes that have been commonly used include binary encoding and "one-hot" encoding. Binary encoding is the simplest state machine encoding and satisfies criteria 1 through 3 if all possible states are defined. Binary encoding is a binary count of the state machine number in sequence; the table represents an eight-state example. In one-hot encoding, N bits are used to represent N states: All except one of the bits in a string are 0, and the position of the 1 in the string represents the state. With proper circuit design, one-hot encoding can satisfy criteria 1 through 4. Unfortunately, the requirement to use N bits to represent N states makes one-hot coding inefficient

Effects of an extreme weather event on seabird breeding success at a North Sea colony

Quantifying the effects of extreme weather is a critical question in population ecology since climate models predict increased climate variability. Effects will vary among and within species due to exposure or susceptibility, yet few studies have considered these sources of variation simultaneously. We investigated the effects of a summer storm on the breeding success of 4 seabird species at a North Sea colony in relation to aspect, height above sea-level, distance to cliff edge and laying date. The storm lasted 8 h with gusts of >60 m s−1. In exposed plots, razorbills Alca torda had higher failure rates (28.5%) than European shags Phalacrocorax aristotelis (15.1%), black-legged kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla (15.6%) and common guillemots Uria aalge (10.4%). Conversely, failure rates in sheltered plots were negligible (shags 0.0%; kittiwakes 1.9%; no guillemot or razorbill plots in sheltered locations). Guillemots breeding closer to sea-level were more likely to fail, but cliff edge proximity did not affect failure rate. In razorbills, pairs that laid early were more likely to survive the storm. In all species, some failed pairs re-laid, and success of re-lays was lower than that of pairs that survived. Thus, re-laying only provided partial compensation, and, overall, the storm caused a net reduction in annual population production of 4.6, 10.7, 8.9 and 22.8% for shags, kittiwakes, guillemots and razorbills, respectively. Increased storm frequency may therefore have important consequences on seabird populations, but orientation of storms relative to colonies and timing in relation to the breeding season are likely to be critical in determining the overall effect

The association between self-reported stigma and loss-to-follow up in treatment eligible HIV positive adults in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

The relationship between loss-to-follow-up (LTFU) in HIV treatment and care programmes and psychosocial factors, including self-reported stigma, is important to understand. This prospective cohort study explored stigma and LTFU in treatment eligible adults who had yet not started antiretroviral therapy (ART).Psychosocial, clinical and demographic data were collected at a baseline interview. Self-reported stigma was measured with a multi-item scale. LTFU was defined as not attending clinic in the 90 days since last appointment or before death. Data was collected between January 2009 and January 2013 and analysed using Cox Regression.380 individuals were recruited (median time in study 3.35 years, total time at risk 1065.81 person-years). 203 were retained (53.4%), 109 were LTFU (28.7%), 48 had died and were not LTFU at death (12.6%) and 20 had transferred out (5.3%). The LTFU rate was 10.65 per 100 person-years (95% CI: 8.48-12.34). 362 individuals (95.3%) started ART. Stigma total score (categorised in quartiles) was not significantly associated with LTFU in either univariable or multivariable analysis (adjusting for other variables in the final model): second quartile aHR 0.77 (95%CI: 0.41-1.46), third quartile aHR 1.20(95%CI: 0.721-2.04), fourth quartile aHR 0.62 (95%CI: 0.35-1.11). In the final multivariable model, higher LTFU rates were associated with male gender, increased openness with friends/family and believing that community problems would be solved at higher levels. Lower LTFU rates were independently associated with increased year of age, greater reliance on family/friends, and having children.Demographic and other psychosocial factors were more closely related to LTFU than self-reported stigma. This may be consistent with high levels of social exposure to HIV and ART and with stigma affecting LTFU less than other stages of care. Research and clinical implications are discussed