Examining relationships between customary and state institutions in Ghana's decentralized system:

Traditional authorities are powerful leaders alongside the state in Ghana. The chieftaincy has been resilient to “modernization”—maintaining land rights, allegiance from citizens, and influence in rural communities. Nonetheless, there are few rules defining their official role in the local government structure. It is empirically acknowledged that chiefs seriously impact the development of their communities. Hence, this study looks for factors that might explain the state's deficiency in policy regarding chiefs. This analysis combines the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework with theory on formal and informal rules. Not only does this adaptation provide additional insight, but it helps to reduce the complexity in political research on dual governance bodies. Findings suggest that the formal and informal rule sets coupled with the resources available to state and customary actors result in strong exchange organizations between the two institutions. Incentives encourage noninterference and avoidance from the state; thus, rules concerning the chieftaincy are rarely enforced or modified. If attempting to harness collaboration and mitigate conflict and collusion, the state—in partnership with the chiefs—might reconsider the lawful role and authorities of the chiefs at local levels. Based on the analysis, policy revisions are needed to improve the outcomes of the institutional arrangement; however, major changes may be difficult to achieve in the current political context.customary law, Decentralization, Incentives, rules, state system, traditional authority,

Professional Liability of Lawyers in Pennsylvania

In the past decade, the bar, and especially the trial bar, has become keenly aware of the problems relating to the professional liability of medical doctors, osteopaths, and other practitioners of the healing arts. The number of medical malpractice suits, particularly against surgeons, has multiplied during that period of time. The verdicts in medical malpractice actions and the settlements arising out of such actions have been headlined in the newspapers in various parts of the country. While the law of medical malpractice has been developing into something of a specialty among some members of the trial bar, and while the bar generally has developed a familiarity with the problems relating to medical malpractice, little attention has been given its counterpart in the legal profession-the responsibility of lawyers for professional negligence

Cellular distribution of the prion protein in palatine tonsils of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni)

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) that affects members of the Cervidae family, including deer (Odocoileus spp.), elk (Cervus Canadensis spp.), and moose (Alces alces spp.). While CWD is a neurodegenerative disease, lymphoid accumulation of the abnormal isoform of the prion protein (PrPSc) is detectable early in the course of infection. It has been shown that a large portion of the PrPSc lymphoid accumulation in infected mule deer takes place on the surface of follicular dendritic cells (FDCs). In mice, FDC expression of PrPC has been shown to be essential for PrPSc accumulation. FDCs have been shown to normally express high levels of PrPC in mice and humans but this has not been examined in natural hosts for CWD. We used double immunofluorescent labeling and confocal microscopy to determine the PrPC expression characteristics of B and T lymphocytes as well as FDCs in palatine tonsils of CWD-negative mule deer and elk. We detected substantial PrPC colocalization with all cellular phenotypic markers used in this study, not just with FDC phenotypic markers

Democratic Elitism in the Name of Participatory Democracy: A Critical-Theoretical Analysis of State Supported “Publics” in Brazil

The discourse of participation in and about Brazil has contributed to the wider discourse of the public sphere. As an occasion to revise the general concept of the public sphere, it carries its own limitations as well. The public sphere is an arena where citizens come together to discuss matters of general interest and through this discussion are then able to influence the state. The concept public sphere is a challenged concept and is often called exclusive and “unrealistic.” One scholar revises this challenged concept, Leonardo Avritzer, author of Democracy and the Public Space in Latin America. Avritzer’s revision claims to take the revision further in the direction of participatory, democratic publics. Yet it adds an administrative dimension to the public sphere that is problematic both conceptually and practically. It allows for state control of the public sphere in the name of “accountability” and “democratic elitism.” The paper offers a critique of such a revision by showing that accountability means elite governance through a reduction of participation to administered publics as a false “necessity.

The Relationship Between Trait Mindfulness and Memory Performance

Previous research has found a link between trait mindfulness and various aspects of wellbeing and cognition. Further, research on state mindfulness has found it to relate to performance on a memory task designed to examine eyewitness susceptibility. In the present study, I sought to expand on these findings by examining whether levels of trait mindfulness would also predict how susceptible individuals’ memories are to external suggestion. Seventy-three participants studied six common household scenes, and then rated the pleasantness of items they were told were recalled by another participant. These items included six suggested items not present in the scenes. After completing a two-part memory task including a free recall test and a source recognition test, participants completed a mindfulness questionnaire to measure levels of trait mindfulness. Results showed that participants demonstrated false memory for the suggested items on the recall test, but not the recognition test. Further, I found a positive correlation between mindfulness levels and accurate recognition. These results suggest that people who are higher in mindfulness may show better source monitoring abilities, but their susceptibility to misleading information from a social source may not be related

Accurate bundle adjustment calibration of multicamera volumetric velocimetry systems

Several three-dimensional (3D) flow velocimetry systems use multiple cameras to perform volume reconstruction. The accuracy of velocity fields derived from reconstructed volumes depends on accurate camera calibration. Calibrating by accurately placing a precision target throughout the volume is an error prone chore. However, the use of multiple cameras allows for bundle adjustment, which results in very accurate calibration when applied appropriately. Bundle adjustment routines have traditionally been used in computer vision applications to simultaneously estimate camera parameters and 3D scene point locations through minimization of reprojection errors. This study presents a multicamera model that accounts for index of refraction changes in the lines of sight encountered at air–wall–water interfaces. Accurate estimation of camera parameters, scene points and refractive interface parameters is demonstrated using a bundle adjustment algorithm applied to simulated and experimental data. The only accurate a priori information required is the 2D geometry of a calibration plane and the wall thickness of the interface; other parameters can be initialized with relatively poor guesses. This talk also places an emphasis on how multicamera calibration accuracy is quantified. Oftentimes in multicamera 3D flow velocimetry literature, reprojection error is assumed to be the measure of calibration accuracy. In general, this is incorrect as bundle adjustment minimization routines are not guaranteed to converge to a global minimum. Without certain geometric constraints, camera parameters and scene points may be estimated inaccurately even while reprojection error is reduced to subpixel levels. Methods for ensuring accurate geometric calibration are reviewed and the pitfalls of unconstrained self-calibration are discussed

Thompson Document 08: A Letter from Jack Belden to Henrietta Thompson

A letter from Jack Belden to Henrietta Thompson. About the Walkout, Belden writes to Thompson: “The only way such a small affair could have significance is a from a human standpoint where it could be fictionalized into a symbol.” On the whole, Belden seems to wish to convey that he regards Thompson\u27s project with ambivalence. As he does in all of the letters in this collection, Belden refers to his poverty, here he also mentions being badly treated by his publishers.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/henrietta_thompson_papers/1005/thumbnail.jp

Thompson Document 04: Letter from Jack Belden to Henrietta Thompson

This is the first letter Jack Belden wrote to Henrietta Thompson. Responding to Thompson\u27s letter proposing that they meet to discuss the Walkout, Belden describes himself as “sympathetic to but not overly excited or approving of your [Thompson’s] project.” Nevertheless, Belden writes that he will be at his address most of the time, and that Thompson may visit him there. The letter is undated, Thompson notes that she received it on October 3, 1971.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/henrietta_thompson_papers/1001/thumbnail.jp