Facilitating Distinctive and Meaningful Change Within U.S. Law Schools (Part 2): Pursuing Successful Plan Implementation Through Better Resource Management

In Part 1 of this series, one of the current authors used institutional theory, behavioral economics, and psychology to explain why U.S. law schools have had difficulty evolving faster and better. The author then used institutional entrepreneurship to propose a seven-step, faculty-led, operational change process designed to overcome institutional isomorphism and to enable each law school to formulate a distinctive, meaningful, strategic plan. In Part 2, the current article addresses the typical implementation challenges to be expected within the context of existing law school governance. The article begins by discussing the Resource Based View of the firm and the role of resource management in achieving competitive advantages. These considerations lay the foundation for the critical role of faculty engagement and law school leadership in successful strategic plan implementation. Next, within this context, the article discusses four questions whose answers may foreshadow implementation problems. Lastly, the article discusses the results of several Monte Carlo Simulations. The simulations provide insight into the likely performance problems caused by faculty misaligned with, or disengaged from, their law school’s strategic goals. The results suggest that even minimal faculty misalignment can have a significant deleterious effect on the ability of a given law school to achieve any distinctive position. All told, the article concludes that U.S. law schools can successfully implement distinctive and meaningful strategic plans within existing shared governance structures. However, success will be difficult to achieve. It requires the full engagement and leadership by both the faculty and the Dean, sustained operational support for strategic change, and the active management of law school resources

Multilevel Particle Filters for L\'evy-driven stochastic differential equations

We develop algorithms for computing expectations of the laws of models associated to stochastic differential equations (SDEs) driven by pure L\'evy processes. We consider filtering such processes and well as pricing of path dependent options. We propose a multilevel particle filter (MLPF) to address the computational issues involved in solving these continuum problems. We show via numerical simulations and theoretical results that under suitable assumptions of the discretization of the underlying driving L\'evy proccess, our proposed method achieves optimal convergence rates. The cost to obtain MSE $O(\epsilon^2)$ scales like $O(\epsilon^{-2})$ for our method, as compared with the standard particle filter $O(\epsilon^{-3})$

Andersen-Tawil Syndrome

Andersen-Tawil syndrome (ATS) is a rare condition consisting of ventricular arrhythmias, periodic paralysis, and dysmorphic features. In 2001, mutations in KCNJ2, which encodes the α subunit of the potassium channel Kir2.1, were identified in patients with ATS. To date, KCNJ2 is the only gene implicated in ATS, accounting for approximately 60% of cases. ATS is a unique channelopathy, and represents the first link between cardiac and skeletal muscle excitability. The arrhythmias observed in ATS are distinctive; patients may be asymptomatic, or minimally symptomatic despite a high arrhythmia burden with frequent ventricular ectopy and bidirectional ventricular tachycardia. However, patients remain at risk for life-threatening arrhythmias, including torsades de pointes and ventricular fibrillation, albeit less commonly than observed in other genetic arrhythmia syndromes. The characteristic heterogeneity at both the genotypic and phenotypic levels contribute to the continued difficulties with appropriate diagnosis, risk stratification, and effective therapy. The initial recognition of a syndromic association of clinically diverse symptoms, and the subsequent identification of the underlying molecular genetic basis of ATS has enhanced both clinical care, and our understanding of the critical function of Kir2.1 on skeletal muscle excitability and cardiac action potentia

Discovery of Pulsed X-ray Emission from the SMC Transient RX J0117.6-7330

We report on the detection of pulsed, broad-band, X-ray emission from the transient source RX J0117.6-7330. The pulse period of 22 seconds is detected by the ROSAT/PSPC instrument in a 1992 Sep 30 - Oct 2 observation and by the CGRO/BATSE instrument during the same epoch. Hard X-ray pulsations are detectable by BATSE for approximately 100 days surrounding the ROSAT observation (1992 Aug 28 - Dec 8). The total directly measured X-ray luminosity during the ROSAT observation is 1.0E38 (d/60 kpc)^2 ergs s-1. The pulse frequency increases rapidly during the outburst, with a peak spin-up rate of 1.2E-10 Hz s-1 and a total frequency change 1.8%. The pulsed percentage is 11.3% from 0.1-2.5 keV, increasing to at least 78% in the 20-70 keV band. These results establish RX J0117.6-7330 as a transient Be binary system.Comment: 17 pages, Latex, aasms, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Three New Long Period X-ray Pulsars Discovered in the Small Magellanic Cloud

The Small Magellanic Cloud is increasingly an invaluable laboratory for studying accreting and isolated X-ray pulsars. We add to the class of compact SMC objects by reporting the discovery of three new long period X-ray pulsars detected with the {\it Chandra X-ray Observatory}. The pulsars, with periods of 152, 304 and 565 seconds, all show hard X-ray spectra over the range from 0.6 - 7.5 keV. The source positions of the three pulsars are consistent with known H-alpha emission sources, indicating they are likely to be Be type X-ray binary star systems.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

INTRODUCTION: SUSTAINING THE LIFE OF THE POLIS.

How are publics of protection and care defined in African cities today? The effects of globalization and neo-liberal policies on urban space are well documented. From London to São Paulo, denationalization, privatization, offshoring and cuts in state expenditure are creating enclaves and exclusions, resulting in fragmented, stratified social geographies (see Caldeira 2000; Ong 2006; Harvey 2006; Murray 2011). 'Networked archipelagoes', islands connected by transnational circulations of capital, displace other spatial relations and imaginaries. Spaces of encompassment, especially, such as 'the nation' or simply 'society' as defined by inclusion within a whole, lose practical value and intellectual purchase as referents of citizenship (Gupta and Ferguson 2002; Ferguson 2005). In African cities, where humanitarian, experimental or market logics dominate the distribution of sanitation and healthcare, this fragmentation is particularly stark (see, for example, Redfield 2006, 2012; Fassin 2007; Bredeloup et al. 2008; Nguyen 2012). Privilege and crisis interrupt older contiguities, delineating spaces and times of exception. The 'public' of health is defined by survival or consumption, obscuring the human as bearer of civic rights and responsibilities, as inhabitants of 'objective' material worlds 'common to all of us' (Arendt 1958: 52). Is it possible, under these conditions, to enact and imagine public health as a project of citizens, animated in civic space

Two dimensional dynamical systems which admit Lie and Noether symmetries

We prove two theorems which relate the Lie point symmetries and the Noether symmetries of a dynamical system moving in a Riemannian space with the special projective group and the homothetic group of the space respectively. The theorems are applied to classify the two dimensional Newtonian dynamical systems, which admit a Lie point/Noether symmetry. Two cases are considered, the non-conservative and the conservative forces. The use of the results is demonstrated for the Kepler - Ermakov system, which in general is non-conservative and for potentials similar to the H\`enon Heiles potential. Finally it is shown that in a FRW background with no matter present, the only scalar cosmological model which is integrable is the one for which 3-space is flat and the potential function of the scalar field is exponential. It is important to note that in all applications the generators of the symmetry vectors are found by reading the appropriate entry in the relevant tables.Comment: 25 pages, 17 table