Virginia Circuit Court Opinions, Harrison on Wills and Administration in Virginia and West Virginia

Jesse Root. Nathaniel Chipman. George Caines. Ephraim Kirby. Most lawyers will not recognize these names. More familiar, perhaps, are Alexander Dallas, Henry Wheaton, and Richard Peters. In fact, all belong to the same distinguished group: compilers and reporters of America\u27s early judicial decisions. With the publication of Volumes One and Two of the Virginia Circuit Court Opinions (hereinafter Opinions ), Professor Hamilton Bryson bids fair to join this distinguished group

Virginia\u27s Jury Exemptions: Ripe for Reform

Jury exemptions are frequent targets of derisory comment. Who among us has not heard of the proverbial litigant who, upon hearing his lawyer describe juries and jury exemptions, remarked that only a fool would place his fate in the hands of seven or twelve people who were not smart enough to get excused through an exemption. Indeed, the number and scope of jury exemptions have grown so substantially over the years that it is not unreasonable to suppose that jury non-service is now the norm and jury service the exception

Legal Aspects of SIDS

My remarks today focus on four legal aspects of SIDS; the first three are problems of long standing and the fourth is less well recognized, an immediate problem to some but more of a cloud on the horizon to others. At the outset, I want to emphasize that I bring you no certain solutions. Rather my more modest objective is to provide a focus and framework for further discussions

Charged particle jet measurements with the ALICE experiment in proton-proton collisions at the LHC

We present preliminary results of measurements of charged particle jet properties in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV using the ALICE detector. Jets are reconstructed using $\rm anti-k_{T}, k_{T}$ and SISCone jet finding algorithms with resolution parameter $R=0.4$ in the range of transverse momentum from 20 to 100 GeV/$c$ in the midrapidity region (\mid\eta\mid\textless 0.5). The uncorrected charged jet spectra obtained using the three different jet finders show good agreement. The data are compared to predictions from PYTHIA-Perugia0, PYTHIA-Perugia2011, and PHOJET. The mean charged particle multiplicity in leading jets increases with increasing jet $p_{\rm T}$ and is consistent with model predictions. The radial distributions of transverse momentum about the jet direction and the distributions of the average radius containing 80% of the total jet $p_{\rm T}$ found in the jet cone ($R = 0.4$ in this analysis), indicate that high $p_{\rm T}$ jets are more collimated than low $p_{\rm T}$ jets.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, Conference Proceedings submitted for the 28th Winter Workshop on Nuclear Dynamics, Puerto Rico, April 7-14, 201

Loop Quantum Cosmology II: Volume Operators

Volume operators measuring the total volume of space in a loop quantum theory of cosmological models are constructed. In the case of models with rotational symmetry an investigation of the Higgs constraint imposed on the reduced connection variables is necessary, a complete solution of which is given for isotropic models; in this case the volume spectrum can be calculated explicitly. It is observed that the stronger the symmetry conditions are the smaller is the volume spectrum, which can be interpreted as level splitting due to broken symmetries. Some implications for quantum cosmology are presented.Comment: 21 page

Loop Quantum Cosmology I: Kinematics

The framework of quantum symmetry reduction is applied to loop quantum gravity with respect to transitively acting symmetry groups. This allows to test loop quantum gravity in a large class of minisuperspaces and to investigate its features - e.g. the discrete volume spectrum - in certain cosmological regimes. Contrary to previous studies of quantum cosmology (minisuperspace quantizations) the symmetry reduction is carried out not at the classical level but on an auxiliary Hilbert space of the quantum theory before solving the constraints. Therefore, kinematical properties like volume quantization survive the symmetry reduction. In this first part the kinematical framework, i.e. implementation of the quantum symmetry reduction and quantization of Gauss and diffeomorphism constraints, is presented for Bianchi class A models as well as locally rotationally symmetric and spatially isotropic closed and flat models.Comment: 24 page

Cosmic optical activity in the spacetime of a scalar-tensor screwed cosmic string

Measurements of radio emission from distant galaxies and quasars verify that the polarization vectors of these radiations are not randomly oriented as naturally expected. This peculiar phenomenon suggests that the spacetime intervening between the source and observer may be exhibiting some sort of optical activity, the origin of which is not known. In the present paper we provide a plausible explanation to this phenomenon by investigating the r\^ole played by a Chern-Simons-like term in the background of an ordinary or superconducting screwed cosmic string in a scalar-tensor gravity. We discuss the possibility that the excess in polarization of the light from radio-galaxies and quasars can be understood as if the electromagnetic waves emitted by these cosmic objects interact with a scalar-tensor screwed cosmic string through a Chern-Simons coupling. We use current astronomical data to constrain possible values for the coupling constant of this theory, and show that it turns out to be: $\lambda \sim 10^{-26}$ eV, which is two orders of magnitude larger than in string-inspired theories.Comment: Revised version, to appear in Phys. Rev.

A long post-reproductive lifespan is a shared trait among genetically distinct killer whale populations

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordData availability: Data to replicate the analyses are available from the online repository: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6t1g1jwxx. Requests for access to raw data can be directed to the authors, the Center for Whale Research (www.whaleresearch.com) or Fisheries and Oceans Canada (www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca)The extended female post-reproductive lifespan found in humans and some toothed whales remains an evolutionary puzzle. Theory predicts demographic patterns resulting in increased female relatedness with age (kinship dynamics) can select for a prolonged post reproductive lifespan due to the combined costs of inter-generational reproductive conflict and benefits of late-life helping. Here we test this prediction using >40 years of longitudinal demographic data from the sympatric yet genetically distinct killer whale ecotypes: resident and Bigg’s killer whales. The female relatedness with age is predicted to increase in both ecotypes, but with a less steep increase in Bigg’s due to their different social structure. Here, we show that there is a significant post-reproductive lifespan in both ecotypes with >30% of adult female years being lived as post-reproductive, supporting the general prediction that an increase in local relatedness with age predisposes the evolution of a post reproductive lifespan. Differences in the magnitude of kinship dynamics however, did not influence the timing or duration of the post-reproductive lifespan with females in both ecotypes terminating reproduction before their mid-40s followed by an expected post reproductive period of ~20 years. Our results highlight the important role of kinship dynamics in the evolution of a long post-reproductive lifespan in long-lived mammals, while further implying that the timing of menopause may be a robust trait that is persistent despite substantial variation in demographic patterns among populations.Nuffield FoundationNatural Environment Research Council (NERC)Leverhulme TrustEarthwatch InstituteNOAA FisheriesFisheries and Oceans Canada Species At Risk Progra

Evolution of the Scale Factor with a Variable Cosmological Term

Evolution of the scale factor a(t) in Friedmann models (those with zero pressure and a constant cosmological term Lambda) is well understood, and elegantly summarized in the review of Felten and Isaacman [Rev. Mod. Phys. 58, 689 (1986)]. Developments in particle physics and inflationary theory, however, increasingly indicate that Lambda ought to be treated as a dynamical quantity. We revisit the evolution of the scale factor with a variable Lambda-term, and also generalize the treatment to include nonzero pressure. New solutions are obtained and evaluated using a variety of observational criteria. Existing arguments for the inevitability of a big bang (ie., an initial state with a=0) are substantially weakened, and can be evaded in some cases with Lambda_0 (the present value of Lambda) well below current experimental limits.Comment: 29 pages, 12 figures (not included), LaTeX, uses Phys Rev D style files (revtex.cls, revtex.sty, aps.sty, aps10.sty, prabib.sty). To appear in Phys Rev