Learning the Law-Thoughts Toward a Human Perspective

The history of American legal education is notable for a sparsity of ideas on how to convey learning about law. There has been even less focal understanding of what learning is and what it takes to establish a process which will prepare lawyers for their profession. A window on this history was provided in historical survey by Alfred Z. Reed in 1921 and, more recently, by Professors Preble Stolz and Calvin Woodward. It is principally their accounts of eighteenth and nineteenth century developments that we here briefly integrate and summarize. The perspective-a consideration of legal education in terms of social change and, especially, educational theory and practice-is, of course, our own

From heterotaxy to VACTER-H syndrome: the clinical variability of ZIC3-related disorders

BACKGROUND: The ZIC3 gene functions as a transcription factor in early stages of left-right body axis formation. Mutations in ZIC3 gene cause a variety of clinical manifestations including isolated congenital heart disease (CHD), heterotaxy & other midline CNS, urogenital & hindgut malformations. We report a four generation family with X-linked heterotaxy associated with a deletion of the ZIC3 gene at ...postprin

Are Adolescent Risk Assessment Tools Sensitive to Change? A Framework and Examination of the SAVRY and the YLS/CMI

Although many adolescent risk assessment tools include an emphasis on dynamic factors, little research has examined the extent to which these tools are capable of measuring change. In this article, we outline a framework to evaluate a tool’s capacity to measure change. This framework includes: (1) measurement error and reliable change, and (2) sensitivity (i.e., internal, external, and relative sensitivity). We then used this framework to evaluate the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) and Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI). Research assistants conducted 509 risk assessments with 146 adolescents on probation (101 male, 45 female), who were assessed every 3 months over a 1-year period. Internal sensitivity was partially supported, as a modest proportion of youth showed changes over time. External sensitivity (i.e., the association between change scores and reoffending) was also partially supported. In particular, 22% of the associations between change scores and any and violent reoffending were significant at a 6-month follow-up. However, only one change score (i.e., Peer Associations) remained significant after the Bonferroni correction was applied. Finally, relative sensitivity was not supported, as the SAVRY and YLS/CMI was not more dynamic than the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV). Specifically, the 1-year rank-order stability coefficients for the SAVRY, YLS/CMI, and PCL:YV Total Scores were .78, .75, and .76, respectively. Although the SAVRY and YLS/CMI hold promise, further efforts may help to enhance sensitivity to short-term changes in risk

The Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits: Reliability, Convergent Validity, and Predictive Validity for Reoffending in Adolescents on Probation

This prospective study assessed the reliability and validity of the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU) in a sample of 70 adolescent offenders. With the exception of the Unemotional subscale, ICU scores showed acceptable reliability. ICU total and Callousness scores demonstrated moderate associations with the Antisocial Process Screening Device and the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version. The ICU also demonstrated moderate predictive accuracy for violent reoffending over an 18-month follow-up period. While these findings provide some support for the ICU’s validity, more research is needed to determine if it is appropriate for use in applied settings with adolescent offenders

Modelización de datos de supervivencia en nidos: estudio comparativo de varios métodos desarrollados recientemente que pueden implementarse en MARK y SAS

Estimating nest success and evaluating factors potentially related to the survival rates of nests are key aspects of many studies of avian populations. A strong interest in nest success has led to a rich literature detailing a variety of estimation methods for this vital rate. In recent years, modeling approaches have undergone especially rapid development. Despite these advances, most researchers still employ Mayfield’s ad–hoc method (Mayfield, 1961) or, in some cases, the maximum–likelihood estimator of Johnson (1979) and Bart & Robson (1982). Such methods permit analyses of stratified data but do not allow for more complex and realistic models of nest survival rate that include covariates that vary by individual, nest age, time, etc. and that may be continuous or categorical. Methods that allow researchers to rigorously assess the importance of a variety of biological factors that might affect nest survival rates can now be readily implemented in Program MARK and in SAS’s Proc GENMOD and Proc NLMIXED. Accordingly, use of Mayfield’s estimator without first evaluating the need for more complex models of nest survival rate cannot be justified. With the goal of increasing the use of more flexible methods, we first describe the likelihood used for these models and then consider the question of what the effective sample size is for computation of AICc. Next, we consider the advantages and disadvantages of these different programs in terms of ease of data input and model construction; utility/flexibility of generated estimates and predictions; ease of model selection; and ability to estimate variance components. An example data set is then analyzed using both MARK and SAS to demonstrate implementation of the methods with various models that contain nest–, group– (or block–), and time–specific covariates. Finally, we discuss improvements that would, if they became available, promote a better general understanding of nest survival rates.La estimación del éxito de nidificación y la evaluación de los factores potencialmente relacionados con las tasas de supervivencia de los mismos son aspectos clave de numerosos estudios sobre poblaciones de aves. El gran interés por el éxito de nidificación se ha traducido en una rica literatura que detalla varios métodos de estimación de esta tasa vital. En los últimos años, los enfoques de modelización han experimentado un rápido desarrollo. No obstante, pese a estos avances, la mayoría de los investigadores siguen empleando el método ad–hoc de Mayfield (Mayfield, 1961) o, en algunos casos, el estimador de probabilidad máxima de Johnson (1979) y Bart & Robson (1982). Tales métodos permiten el análisis de datos estratificados, pero, en cambio, no permiten modelos más complejos y realistas de la tasa de supervivencia en nidos cuando se incluyen covariantes que cambian según el individuo, la edad del nido, el tiempo, etc., y que pueden ser continuas o categóricas. Actualmente, con la ayuda de Program MARK, así como de Proc GENMOD y Proc NLMIXED de SAS, es posible implementar métodos que permiten a los investigadores evaluar rigurosamente la importancia de varios factores biológicos susceptibles de incidir en las tasas de supervivencia en nidos. Por consiguiente, no está justificada la utilización del estimador de Mayfield sin antes evaluar la necesidad de emplear modelos más complejos para determinar la tasa de supervivencia en nidos. Con objeto de incrementar el empleo de métodos más flexibles, primero describimos la probabilidad empleada para estos modelos, para posteriormente tomar en consideración cuál es el tamaño de muestra eficaz para el cálculo de AICc. Seguidamente, tomamos en consideración las ventajas y desventajas de estos programas por lo que respecta a la facilidad de introducción de datos y de construcción de modelos, la utilidad/flexibilidad de las estimaciones y predicciones generadas, la facilidad de la selección de modelos y la capacidad para estimar los componentes de la varianza. A continuación, analizamos un conjunto de datos de ejemplo utilizando los programas MARK y SAS con objeto de demostrar la implementación de los métodos con varios modelos que contienen nido–, grupo– (o bloque–), y covariantes específicas al tiempo. Por último, comentamos varias mejoras que, si estuvieran disponibles, fomentarían una mejor comprensión general de las tasas de supervivencia en nidos

Irreversibility and Polymer Adsorption

Physisorption or chemisorption from dilute polymer solutions often entails irreversible polymer-surface bonding. We present a theory of the non-equilibrium layers which result. While the density profile and loop distribution are the same as for equilibrium layers, the final layer comprises a tightly bound inner part plus an outer part whose chains make only fN surface contacts where N is chain length. The contact fractions f follow a broad distribution, P(f) ~ f^{-4/5}, in rather close agreement with strong physisorption experiments [H. M. Schneider et al, Langmuir v.12, p.994 (1996)].Comment: 4 pages, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Market-Oriented Strategies to Improve Household Access to Food: Experience from Sub-Saharan Africa

The objectives of this report are to identify market-oriented strategies to alleviate both chronic and transitory food insecurity, and to examine the interactions between short-run targeting mechanisms and longer-run strategies designed to alleviate the chronic causes of inadequate access to food. The main premise of the report is that sustained improvements in household access to food in Sub-Saharan Africa require the development of more reliable food and input markets that (a) create incentives to adopt cost-reducing investments at various stages in the food system; and (b) offer incentives for rural households to shift from a subsistence-oriented pattern of production and consumption to more productive systems based on specialization and gains from exchange. Sustained productivity growth in most parts of the world has typically entailed some form of structural transformation, which, in the historical development processes of other regions, has been a prerequisite for broad-based and sustained growth in productivity, real incomes and purchasing power throughout society. Structural transformation involves a movement away from subsistence-oriented, household-level production toward an integrated economy based on specialization and exchange. But specialization makes households dependent on the performance of exchange systems. The ability to capture the productivity gains from new technology and specialization thus depends on reducing the risks and uncertainty of market-based exchange, thereby facilitating greater participation in the types of specialized production and consumption patterns involved in the process of structural transformation. Section 3 presents empirical evidence from research conducted in Africa to draw conclusions about how the design of agricultural policies and transfer programs have affected household access to food in both rural and urban areas. Based on the foregoing, section 4 presents the following guidelines for the design of strategies to promote access to food in Africa: (1.) Focus on achieving productivity gains in the food system. (2.) Focus on how food and income transfer programs can be designed to promote the long-run development of the food system- the basis for providing food for most people over the long run in addition to providing food to people in the short run. (3.) Focus on reducing consumer food costs by expanding the range of products available to produce and consume. (4.) Focus on the cost and reliability of food supplies to rural areas as a component of non-farm, livestock, and other income diversification strategies designed to promote access to food over the longer run. (5.) Focus on developing local analytical expertise to help guide food system development.Food Security and Poverty, Downloads July 2008-June 2009: 12,

Ten-year Trends in Physical Dating Victimization among Adolescent Boys and Girls in British Columbia, Canada

Physical dating violence (PDV) victimization among adolescents is a serious global problem. Although knowledge of trends in PDV victimization can help guide programming and health policies, little research has examined whether the prevalence of PDV victimization has increased, decreased, or remained stable over time among non-U.S.-based samples of youth. In addition, few studies have directly tested whether disparities in PDV victimization between boys and girls have narrowed, widened, or remained unchanged in recent years. To address these gaps, we used school-based data from the British Columbia Adolescent Health Surveys (BC AHS) of 2003, 2008, and 2013 (n boys = 18,441 and n girls = 17,459) to examine 10-year trends in PDV victimization. We also tested whether trends differed across self-reported sex. Data from the 2003 to 2013 BC AHS revealed that recent PDV victimization rates had significantly decreased among youth overall (5.9% to 5.0%) and boys (8.0% to 5.8%), but not girls (5.3% to 4.2%). Although boys had steeper declines than girls in PDV victimization rates, year-by-sex interactions indicate that the sex gap in PDV victimization had not significantly narrowed. Moreover, rates of PDV victimization over the 10-year period indicated significantly higher rates of PDV victimization among boys compared to girls. Despite positive declines in recent rates of PDV victimization among youth, important differences in rates of PDV victimization between boys and girls remain. These findings underscore the need for greater attention to sex differences in research and programming and health policies to reduce PDV victimization and the sex disparities therein

Energy efficient engine. High pressure compressor detail design report

A compressor optimization study defined a 10-stage configuration with a 22.6:1 pressure ratio, and adiabatic efficiency goal of 86.1%, and a polytropic efficiency of 90.6%; the corrected airflow is 53.5 kg/sec. Subsequent component testing included three full-scale tests: a six-stage rig test, and another 10-stage rig test completed in the second quarter of 1982. Information from these tests is being used to select the configuration for a core engine test scheduled for July 1982 and an integrated core/low spool test slated for early 1983. The test results will also provide data base for the flight propulsion system