Rules vs. Standards in Private Ordering

The tradeoff between bright-line rules and general standards is one of the bedrocks of law design. This tradeoff determines how legal norms are composed. The tradeoff between rules and standards pervasively affects private ordering as well: it determines how contractual norms are composed. Yet, scholars exploring the rule vs. standard dichotomy have either entirely overlooked the tradeoff taking place in private orderings or equated it with the public tradeoff that dominates lawmaking. This Article is the first to systematically examine the rule vs. standard tradeoff in private orderings. The Article carries out this task by identifying and analyzing the fundamental asymmetries between the contractual rule vs. standard tradeoff and the parallel tradeoff taking place in lawmaking. The two tradeoffs differ from each other in three fundamental respects: (1) contractual standards, unlike legal standards, do not gradually transform into rules over time; (2) the standards’ indeterminacy at the onset of contractual relationships allows the parties to generate and realize the benefits of mutual trust and collaborative knowledge acquisition—a benefit never present in legal standards; and (3) the enforcement of contractual rules and standards does not generate a linear aggregation of social welfare: rather, it involves a strategic give-and-take bargaining that accounts for the benefits of all contractual parties. The Article explains these asymmetries and unfolds a comprehensive analysis of the rule vs. standard tradeoff in private orderings. This analysis generates a recipe for the choice between contractual rules and standards and yields several insights critical for understanding the design and interpretation of contracts generally and, in particular, for understanding the design and interpretation of sophisticated corporate contracts. Specifically, the Article reveals the impact of the rule vs. standard tradeoff on the choice between debt and equity financing and governance and on the design of the most intensely negotiated provisions in corporate acquisition agreements

High Density Preheating Effects on Q-ball Decays and MSSM Inflation

Non-perturbative preheating decay of post-inflationary condensates often results in a high density, low momenta, non-thermal gas. In the case where the non-perturbative classical evolution also leads to Q-balls, this effect shields them from instant dissociation, and may radically change the thermal history of the universe. For example, in a large class of inflationary scenarios, motivated by the MSSM and its embedding in string theory, the reheat temperature changes by a multiplicative factor of $10^{12}$.Comment: 4 page

Obtaining research biopsies during pediatric colonoscopy: Safety and adverse events

AIM: To investigate the safety profile of acquiring additional intestinal biopsies for research purposes in children undergoing a medically indicated colonoscopy. METHODS: A retrospective review of 122 pediatric patients who underwent colonoscopy over a 9 mo time period was completed. 38/122 participants consented to a research study in which 4 additional biopsies were obtained, in addition to routine biopsies. The outcomes after colonoscopy were measured in the research participants, and compared to 84 control participants who did not consent for the study. Groups were compared with regard to number of biopsies obtained, underlying diagnosis, and both serious and minor adverse outcomes. Data was collected including: age, gender, race, indication, diagnosis, number of biopsies obtained per case and post procedure adverse events. Medical records were reviewed and a questionnaire was completed by each of the ten gastroenterologists who performed procedures during the study. Physicians were asked about individual patient outcomes to ensure that all adverse events, such as perforation, excessive bleeding, infection, and minor gastrointestinal outcomes, were captured and included. RESULTS: The research group had more biopsies obtained (mean = 13.58 +/- 4.21) compared to controls (mean = 9.33 +/- 4.40),

A study of personal information management strategies for online faculty

The literature suggests that personal information management is a serious challenge for many computer users. Online faculty are especially challenged because of the large number of electronic files necessitated by teaching online. Those who have experience in this environment may offer valuable insights regarding information management challenges and practices. Faculty who teach online courses as part of the WISE (Web-based Information Science Education) Consortium responded to a survey that questioned the ways they manage e-mail, computer desktops, web-based information, and learning management systems. The authors concluded that "filter failure" rather than information overload is the key issue in information management. The study concludes with a list of recommendations for faculty to manage their personal information

Mosaicism of 50,XX/51,XX in a Murrah buffalo Bubalus bubalis

International audienc

Conversion of Dynamic High Pressures from Air to Water for a Spherical TNT Charge

A numerical method has been applied to convert the dynamic high pressures from air-to-water for a spherical TNT charge. Standard equation of scaling law in air for TNT has been utilised to make the necessary conversions. The investigations have been made by taking into consideration the ambient pressure values for the two media. The calculations have been performed under the scaled distances to get better results. Experimental measurements using indigenous blast pressure gauge have been undertaken by detonating spherical charges of TNT under the same scaled distances in water to check the correctness of results and direct application of this method. A fairly close agreement between the theoretically computed and the experimental values of the dynamic high pressures shows the practical utility of this approach in that it enables an estimate of the experimental shock wave pressures, without conducting underwater experiments

Probing Wolf-Rayet Winds: Chandra/HETG X-Ray Spectra of WR 6

With a deep Chandra/HETGS exposure of WR 6, we have resolved emission lines whose profiles show that the X-rays originate from a uniformly expanding spherical wind of high X-ray-continuum optical depth. The presence of strong helium-like forbidden lines places the source of X-ray emission at tens to hundreds of stellar radii from the photosphere. Variability was present in X-rays and simultaneous optical photometry, but neither were correlated with the known period of the system or with each other. An enhanced abundance of sodium revealed nuclear processed material, a quantity related to the evolutionary state of the star. The characterization of the extent and nature of the hot plasma in WR 6 will help to pave the way to a more fundamental theoretical understanding of the winds and evolution of massive stars.Comment: Accepted by the Astrophysical Journa