352 research outputs found
New Things Under the Sun: How the CFTC is Using Virtual Currencies to Expand Its Jurisdiction
A decade has passed since Bitcoin solved a fundamental problem plaguing virtual currencies: How to ensure, without resort to financial intermediaries or other trusted central authorities, that a unit of digital currency can be spent only once. In that time, Bitcoin has inspired countless follow-on projects. Some have attempted to improve the technologyâs potential use for digital cash, by, for example, increasing the number of transactions processed per second or improving user privacy. Others have strayed further from Bitcoinâs original intent, building on blockchainâBitcoinâs central innovationâto enable distributed computing and so-called smart contracting, decentralized lending, governance, data storage, and digital collectibles, among others. At the same time, regulators and scholars have struggled to keep pace. A range of federal agencies has waded into the world of virtual currencies, often beginning by characterizing the assets as something recognizably within their authority (property, money, a commodity, a security, and so on). And much of the scholarly discourse has run along a parallel track, as scholars have wrestled with the basic question of how legally to classify these new assets. In focusing, alongside government agencies, on questions of classification, however, the scholarship has neglected an important aspect of the advent of virtual currencies: the way in which a regulatorâs efforts to fit an utterly novel asset into a statutory definition so often not only define the asset but redefine the definition itself. The very uncertainty of a virtual currencyâs classificationâboth legal and metaphysicalâenables regulators not only to claim jurisdiction over that asset but also to reshape and broaden that jurisdiction. Enthusiasts and entrepreneurs have proposed numerous use cases for blockchain and virtual currencies. Federal regulators, without saying as much, have put forward their own
Counsel\u27s Control over the Presentation of Mitigating Evidence during Capital Sentencing
The Sixth Amendment gives a defendant the right to control his defense and the right to a lawyer\u27s assistance. A lawyer\u27s assistance, however, sometimes interferes with a defendant\u27s control over his case. As a result, the Supreme Court, over time, has had to delineate the spheres of authority that pertain to counsel and defendant respectively. The Court has not yet decisively assigned control over mitigating evidence to either counsel or defendant. This Note argues that counsel should control the presentation of mitigating evidence during capital sentencing. First, and most importantly, decisions concerning the presentation of mitigating evidence are best characterized as strategic, and the Sixth Amendment right to counsel allocates strategic decisions to attorneys. Second, the criminal justice system\u27s need for reliable and legitimate outcomes - a need that reaches its zenith during capital sentencing - outweighs a capital defendant\u27s limited claims to autonomy
Big data for monitoring educational systems
This report considers âhow advances in big data are likely to transform the context and methodology of monitoring educational systems within a long-term perspective (10-30 years) and impact the evidence based policy development in the sectorâ, big data are âlarge amounts of different types of data produced with high velocity from a high number of various types of sources.â Five independent experts were commissioned by Ecorys, responding to themes of: students' privacy, educational equity and efficiency, student tracking, assessment and skills. The experts were asked to consider the âmacro perspective on governance on educational systems at all levels from primary, secondary education and tertiary â the latter covering all aspects of tertiary from further, to higher, and to VETâ, prioritising primary and secondary levels of education
Synthesis, structural studies, and redox chemistry of bimetallic [Mn(CO)â] and [Re(CO)â] complexes
Manganese ([Mn(CO)â]) and rhenium tricarbonyl ([Re(CO)â]) complexes represent a workhorse family of compounds with applications in a variety of fields. Here, the coordination, structural, and electrochemical properties of a family of mono- and bimetallic [Mn(CO)â] and [Re(CO)â] complexes are explored. In particular, a novel heterobimetallic complex featuring both [Mn(CO)â] and [Re(CO)â] units supported by 2,2âČ-bipyrimidine (bpm) has been synthesized, structurally characterized, and compared to the analogous monomeric and homobimetallic complexes. To enable a comprehensive structural analysis for the series of complexes, we have carried out new single crystal X-ray diffraction studies of seven compounds: Re(CO)âCl(bpm), anti-[{Re(COâ)Cl}â(bpm)], Mn(CO)âBr(bpz) (bpz = 2,2âČ-bipyrazine), Mn(CO)âBr(bpm), syn- and anti-[{Mn(CO3)Br}â(bpm)], and syn-[Mn(COâ)Br(bpm)Re(CO)âBr]. Electrochemical studies reveal that the bimetallic complexes are reduced at much more positive potentials (ÎE â„ 380 mV) compared to their monometallic analogues. This redox behavior is consistent with introduction of the second tricarbonyl unit which inductively withdraws electron density from the bridging, redox-active bpm ligand, resulting in more positive reduction potentials. [Re(COâ)Cl]â(bpm) was reduced with cobaltocene; the electron paramagnetic resonance spectrum of the product exhibits an isotropic signal (near g = 2) characteristic of a ligand-centered bpm radical. Our findings highlight the facile synthesis as well as the structural characteristics and unique electrochemical behavior of this family of complexes
Protonâhydride tautomerism in hydrogen evolution catalysis
Efficient generation of hydrogen from renewable resources requires development of catalysts that avoid deep wells and high barriers. Information about the energy landscape for H_2 production can be obtained by chemical characterization of catalytic intermediates, but few have been observed to date. We have isolated and characterized a key intermediate in 2e^â + 2H^+ â H_2 catalysis. This intermediate, obtained by treatment of Cp*Rh(bpy) (Cp*, η^5-pentamethylcyclopentadienyl; bpy, Îș^2-2,2âČ-bipyridyl) with acid, is not a hydride species but rather, bears [η^4-Cp*H] as a ligand. Delivery of a second proton to this species leads to evolution of H_2 and reformation of η^5-Cp* bound to rhodium(III). With suitable choices of acids and bases, the Cp*Rh(bpy) complex catalyzes facile and reversible interconversion of H^+ and H_2
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Pevonedistat (MLN4924), a FirstâinâClass NEDD8âactivating enzyme inhibitor, in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia and myelodysplastic syndromes: a phase 1 study
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111220/1/bjh13323.pd
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Geometrical Features Underlying the Perception of Colinearity
The magnitude of the Poggendorff bias in perceived collinearity was measured with a 2AFC task and roving pedestal, and was found to be in the region of 6â8 deg, within the range of previous estimates. Further measurements dissected the bias into several components: (1) The small (âŒ1 deg) repulsion of the orientation of the pointer from the parallel, probably localized in the part of the line near the intersection (2) A small (1 deg) bias in the orientation of virtual lines crossing the gap between two parallels, towards the orientation of the parallels, or equivalently (4) An orthogonal bias in actively constructing a virtual line across the gap. We conclude that orientation repulsion by itself is an inadequate explanation of the Poggendorff effect, and that a full explanation must take account of the way in which observers construct virtual lines in visual space in order to carry out elementary geometrical tasks such as extrapolation
DigiTranScope: some key findings
Digitranscope originated from the JRC Strategy 20301. The strategy identified ten strategic topics on which the JRC should concentrate to anticipate future policy requests. One of these topics was âData and Digital Transformationâ, to which the JRC set up two initiatives: the first being a transversal project on âArtificial Intelligence and Digital Transformationâ, the second being a CAS research project on digital transformation, which was to be more exploratory in nature. The CAS project originally proposed to address two key issues: i) how the information glut triggered by digital transformation reverses the cognitive balance between humans and machines, and ii) the impact of digital information technology on the rules and institutions that guide modern societies. This proposal therefore led to the establishment of two projects in 2017: âHuman behaviour and machine intelligenceâ (HUMAINT)2 and our project, âDigital transformation and the governance of human societyâ (Digitranscope)
DigiTranScope: some key findings
Digitranscope originated from the JRC Strategy 20301. The strategy identified ten strategic topics on which the JRC should concentrate to anticipate future policy requests. One of these topics was âData and Digital Transformationâ, to which the JRC set up two initiatives: the first being a transversal project on âArtificial Intelligence and Digital Transformationâ, the second being a CAS research project on digital transformation, which was to be more exploratory in nature. The CAS project originally proposed to address two key issues: i) how the information glut triggered by digital transformation reverses the cognitive balance between humans and machines, and ii) the impact of digital information technology on the rules and institutions that guide modern societies. This proposal therefore led to the establishment of two projects in 2017: âHuman behaviour and machine intelligenceâ (HUMAINT)2 and our project, âDigital transformation and the governance of human societyâ (Digitranscope)
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