Beyond rules: The next generation of expert systems

The PARAGON Representation, Management, and Manipulation system is introduced. The concepts of knowledge representation, knowledge management, and knowledge manipulation are combined in a comprehensive system for solving real world problems requiring high levels of expertise in a real time environment. In most applications the complexity of the problem and the representation used to describe the domain knowledge tend to obscure the information from which solutions are derived. This inhibits the acquisition of domain knowledge verification/validation, places severe constraints on the ability to extend and maintain a knowledge base while making generic problem solving strategies difficult to develop. A unique hybrid system was developed to overcome these traditional limitations

Criminal Corporate Character

In the last few years, corporations have been accused of crimes ranging from environmental pollution on an unprecedented scale, to manslaughter, to election tampering, to large-scale antitrust violations. Many of these accused companies had previously committed similar acts or even the exact same offense. Unfortunately, the rules of evidence in the federal system and in virtually every state system prohibit the use of this information in a prosecution for such crimes. The reasons for this prohibition are based in historical anomalies, a mistaken understanding of corporate function, and a misplaced anthropomorphism of the corporation. This combination of errors has resulted in the questionable practice of excluding relevant evidence in cases where the justifications for exclusion are either nonexistent or weak and the benefits of admitting the evidence clearly prevail. This Article demonstrates the fallacies of this continued practice and argues in favor of change. Specifically, this Article shows why evidence concerning the character of a corporation should be allowed in criminal settings to prove that the corporation acted in conformity with that character on the date in question. Courts so far have not given much consideration to the question and have simply assumed that the character evidence rules apply to corporations. I base my objections to this practice on the goals of corporate criminal liability, the inherent weaknesses of the character evidence rules generally, and the way in which corporate structure exacerbates those weaknesses. Lawyers should argue that the character evidence rules do not apply to corporations, judges should decide accordingly, and legislatures should amend both the Federal Rules of Evidence and their state counterparts to make it unambiguously clear that corporations are not covered by the same principles regarding character as individuals

(Gun) Tag, Congress Is It!

The current majority of the Supreme Court has significantly increased access to firearms. In last year’s New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen decision, the majority curtailed legislative options for protecting U.S. citizens from the danger presented by unfettered access to life-threatening weapons. The majority refused to acknowledge the danger inherent in firearms and the substantive difference in function between an antique flintlock and an AK-47. The Court’s refusal to consider the change that technology has brought to firearm capabilities has resulted in a dramatically reduced ability for any legislation to address the danger of firearms in a constructive manner. However, this reduction is not necessarily an elimination. Even with the historically inaccurate and logically flawed decision of the current majority, there are still measures that can be taken. Modern technology can be used to limit the harm posed by rampant gun possession even under the Court’s recent interpretation of the Second Amendment. The majority in Bruen embraced analyzing the purpose of the Second Amendment to hold that people should be allowed to carry a gun outside their home and on the streets of every city in America. The adoption of purpose analysis, however, can not only enlarge gun rights but also constrain gun harms, such as via technological means. This same purpose analysis can be used to establish meaningful safeguards to help reduce unnecessary deaths that even this majority will be hard-pressed to deem unconstitutional. Legislators should use purpose analysis to establish regulations that will help protect Americans from gun violence. This Article proposes the introduction of methods like gun tagging to promote greater safety in our country. The contributions of this work are thus two-fold: an analysis of the Bruen decision both from a historical and legal perspective, and the introduction of gun tagging as a mechanism to enhance public safety in the United States. This analysis shows the flaws in the majority opinion in Bruen but simultaneously highlights the fact that the proposal in this Article works under that regime until the members of the Court are changed and that law can be overturned. This solution balances the concerns of gun skeptics with the judicial embrace of gun rights, for better or for worse, in our nation’s history

Elevated Depressive Symptoms In A Community Sample Of African-Americans And Whites

This study examined demographic and psychosocial correlates of elevated depressive symptoms among African-Americans and Whites from comparable socioeconomic and neighborhood backgrounds. 851 African-Americans and 597 Whites from adjacent census tracts were interviewed using previously validated indicators of depressive symptoms, social support, religious practices and various demographic characteristics. More Whites than African-Americans reported elevated depressive symptoms and the groups also differed on several demographic variables and psychosocial variables. Employment, marital status and age were salient demographic covariates for African Americans, while income was for Whites. For both groups, social support and church attendance were inversely associated with depressive symptoms. Prayer was positively associated with depressive symptoms. Future research should explore within racial/ethnic group variations in depressive symptoms. Insights also are needed into possible changes over time in the relationship between religious variables and depressive symptoms, and how social support limits depressive symptoms in diverse populations

Communication Networks

Contains report on one research project.M.I. T. Vinton Hayes Fun

Introduction to the Special Issue: "Introduction and intensification of agriculture in Central Eurasia and adjacent regions"

For well over a century, scholars from across the social and biological sciences have been trying to understand the origins and spread of agriculture. This debate is often intertwined with discussions of climate change and human environmental impact. Over the past decade, this debate has spread into Central Eurasia, from western China to Ukraine and southern Russia to Turkmenistan, a part of the world often thought to have been largely dominated by pastoralists. A growing interest in the prehistory of Central Eurasia has spurred a new chapter in the origins of agriculture debate; archaeobotanical research is showing how important farming practices in this region were in regard to the spread of crops across the Old World. While early people living in Central Eurasia played an influential role in shaping human history, there is still limited understanding of the trajectories of social evolution among these populations. In March 2015, 30 leading scholars from around the globe came together in Berlin, Germany, to discuss the introduction and intensification of agriculture in Central Eurasia and adjacent regions. At the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, DAI), these scholars presented novel data on topics covering East, South, and Central Asia, spanning a wide realm of methodological approaches. The present special edition volume deals with a selection of the papers given at this conference, and it marks a significant step toward recognizing the contribution of Central Eurasian populations in the spread and development of agricultural systems over the course of the Holocene

Discovery of an introduced Florida Flagfish (\u3ci\u3eJordanella floridae\u3c/i\u3e) population in Coastal Mississippi

The recent discovery of Jordanella floridae (Florida Flagfish) in Harrison County, Mississippi represents the first known occurrence of the species in the state. Native along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of Florida from Jacksonville to Tallahassee, this species has been introduced outside of its range via aquarium introductions. We hypothesize that an aquarium introduction was also the source of the newly discovered population, which has persisted at the location since 2020. Multiple collections of the species have been taken from a small waterbody which has a direct connection to the Tchoutacabouffa River (25mm-47mm TL). While it is unknown if this represents the only population in the system, further surveys should be conducted to determine population numbers at the site of collection, the extent of the invasion within the Tchoutacabouffa, and the impact to the native fish fauna