Numerical Simulation Of Impact Effects On Multilayer Fabrics

High strength fabrics provide lightweight impact protection and are employed in a wide range of applications. Examples include body armor for law enforcement and military personnel and orbital debris shielding for the International Space Station. Numerical simulation of impact effects on fabric protection systems is difficult., due to the complex woven structure of the fabric layers and the typical application of fabrics in a multilayer configuration. Recent research has applied a new particle-element method to the simulation of impact effects on multilayer fabrics, applicable over a wide range of impact velocities, for use in body armor and orbital debris shielding design applications.Mechanical Engineerin

The Eighth Circuit Set to Grapple with Sexual Orientation Discrimination

In this article, Kenny Bohannon discusses whether the Eighth Circuit in the case of Horton v. Midwest Geriatric Management will determine that Title VII bars discrimination based upon sexual discrimination.https://scholarship.law.slu.edu/lawjournalonline/1029/thumbnail.jp

Copyright Infringement and Harmless Speech

Copyright law is a glaring and unjustified exception to the rule that the government may not prohibit speech without a showing that it causes real harm. While the First Amendment sometimes protects even harmful speech, it virtually never allows the prohibition of harmless speech. Yet, while other speech-burdening laws, such as defamation and right-of-publicity laws, require that the defendant\u27s speech is likely to cause harm, copyright law does not make harm a requirement of infringement. Copyright law considers harm to the market for the copyrighted work as a factor in fair use analysis, but harm is not always required and is so poorly defined that the concept has become circular. Moreover, the defendant ordinarily bears the burden of proof to show the absence of harm. As a result, courts often find liability for infringement, and therefore burden speech, where harm is nonexistent or purely speculative. Potential explanations for copyright\u27s anomalous treatment are unpersuasive. Copying involves speech as well as conduct, and the fact that copyrights are in some sense property does not justify their aberrant treatment. Moreover, copyright\u27s role in encouraging creative expression does not obviate First Amendment concerns. Drawing from cases holding that speech restrictions must be justified by an important or compelling governmental interest, this Article argues that the First Amendment requires real harm to the copyright holder\u27s incentives in order to impose liability. It also explores the types of harm that might arise in copyright infringement cases. It concludes that demonstrable harm of market substitution is cognizable under First Amendment principles. On the other hand, the First Amendment generally would not permit recognition of harm to the reputation of copyrighted works, or, except in cases of unpublished works, harm to an author or copyright holder\u27s privacy, right not to speak, or right not to associate

Copyright Harm, Foreseeability, and Fair Use

Copyright law needs a theory of harm that can give effect to its constitutional purpose. The Patent and Copyright Clause of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to enact federal copyright law “To Promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts.” In order to achieve this objective, copyright law must balance the rights of owners and users. Copyrights must be broad enough to give authors sufficient incentive to create, yet limited enough to allow others to use and build upon those works. In this Article, I argue that Supreme Court and other cases reflect a harm-based approach to fair use and develop a concept of “copyright harm” that is central to fair use analysis. Read together, and consistent with the incentive purpose of copyright, these cases define copyright harm as the uncompensated violation of an exclusive right that would be likely to have a material effect on a reasonable copyright owner’s ex ante decision to create or distribute the work. This definition of harm is an objective one that infers harm from foreseeable uses and requires proof of harm for less foreseeable ones. Thus, it avoids the circularity that arises from an abstract legal concept of harm by relating harm to the purpose of copyright. As such, this view of fair use helps to delineate the scope of copyright liability in much the same way that the elements of harm and proximate (legal) cause help to delineate tort liability. In Part II, I show that the fair use doctrine’s role historically was to excuse uses that cause no foreseeable harm to the copyright owner, and that doctrinal developments in copyright law have threatened that role. In Part III, I argue that a harm-based approach to fair use serves copyright’s purpose to promote creativity, showing why alternative theories of fair use, including the market failure and balancing theories, are rarely capable of achieving copyright’s incentive purpose. I also show how the Supreme Court has attempted to develop a harm-based approach to fair use. In Part IV, I explain how courts do or should apply the statutory fair use provision consistent with the harm-based approach, and I suggest some doctrinal changes courts must make to realize this approach fully. Foremost, I argue that the harm-based approach focuses on harm in fact, requiring proof or a meaningful likelihood that the defendant’s use supplanted the plaintiff’s sales or licensing revenues. Accordingly, it rejects any theory of “copyright dilution,” under which some courts have found “harm” where the defendant’s use of a copyrighted work impairs the image or distinctiveness of the work without causing market substitution. I also argue that the harm-based approach requires courts to allow defendants to mitigate evidence of harm to a copyright owner’s sales by showing that the defendant’s use also increases sales of the plaintiff’s work

Mental Toughness as a Predictor for Pre-Season Depression and Anxiety Symptoms, and Changes Over the Course of an Athletic Season

Background: Mental toughness (MT) has been considered necessary for individuals to be successful in the athletic setting. A connection has been theorized between MT and mental health. Purpose: ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­The purpose was to investigate if MT could be utilized as a predictor of the presence of depression and/or anxiety symptoms. This study also explored if MT, and depression/anxiety symptoms change over the course of a competitive season. Methods: 43 individuals (19.42 ± 1.26 years) participating in a fall team sport from the same Division I University participated in the study. Data was captured during pre-season, high stakes, and end of season, and included: demographic information, Mental Toughness Index (MTI), Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item (GAD-7), and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Data Analysis: Separate linear regressions determined if there was a relationship between pre-season MTI and GAD-7/PHQ-9 scores. Changes in MTI, PHQ-9, and GAD-7 scores were determined using t-tests. Results: A significant, weak inverse relationship was identified between pre-season MTI scores and pre-season GAD-7 (r = -0.315; p = 0.020) and PHQ-9 (r = -0.318; p = 0.019) scores. MTI significantly predicted GAD-7 scores (β = -.315, p = 0.04) and PHQ-9 scores (β = -0.318, p = 0.038). High-stakes PHQ-9 scores were significantly greater (p = 0.026) than pre-season scores. Conclusions: This study supports the use of the MTI as a supplementary screening tool but does not support the replacement of the PHQ-9/GAD-9. It may be appropriate to administer the PHQ-9/GAD-7 during varying time points over the course of a competitive season

Spectrophotometry of emission-line stars in the magellanic clouds

The strong emission lines in the most luminous stars in the Magellanic Clouds indicate that these stars have such strong stellar winds that their photospheres are so masked that optical absorption lines do not provide an accurate measure of photospheric conditions. In the research funded by this grant, temperatures and gravities of emission-line stars both in the Large (LMC) and Small Magellanic Clouds (SMC) have been measured by fitting of continuum ultraviolet-optical fluxes observed with IUE with theoretical model atmospheres. Preliminary results from this work formed a major part of an invited review 'The Distribution of Types of Luminous Blue Variables'. Interpretation of the IUE observations obtained in this grant and archive data were also included in a talk at the First Boulder-Munich Hot Stars Workshop. Final results of these studies are now being completed for publication in refereed journals