Access Denied: How Florida Judges Obstruct Young Peoples Ability to Obtain Abortion Care

The United States Supreme Court's stunning June 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization eliminated the constitutional right to access abortion in the US, giving states the authority to determine access to care. Within weeks, over a dozen US states, including much of the US South, had banned nearly all abortion. Pregnant people were left to navigate a rapidly changing web of barriers obstructing their ability to access time-sensitive health care. Abortion access in the US state of Florida became more significant than ever as a dizzying wave of new bans swept through the region.As this report documents, Florida judges—most of whom are elected—deny far too many young people's petitions, blocking or further delaying their ability to access time-sensitive care. Some young people appeal their denials, and in some cases, their appeals are also denied

A will and a way: An analysis of tax practitioner preparation compliance

This thesis proposes a propensity and opportunity model for tax practitioner preparation compliance. The model integrates the existing empirical tax practitioner compliance knowledge into a theoretical framework through an adaptation of Nagin and Paternoster’s (1993) individual differences and rational choice framework. The premise of this thesis is that preparation non-compliance occurs when there is both a will (propensity) and a way (opportunity). One of the most compelling findings was discovered through the development of the preparation compliance variable. Rather than a unitary construct with simple linear relationships with other variables, it was found that practitioners form distinct and very different clusters of preparation compliance. Four practitioner clusters were revealed. The Duteous cluster of practitioners exhibited the most virtuous approach to preparation practice and had the highest level of compliance within their clients’ tax returns. The Contingent cluster reported an intermediate commitment to compliant practice and client return compliance that was contingent on transaction visibility. The Aggressive cluster held the least compliant approach to preparation practice and reported the highest level of non-compliance within their clients’ returns. The Outlier cluster was an extreme version of the Aggressive pattern of results. While these groups clearly represent different levels of compliance (depicted in this thesis as the teardrop of practitioner compliance with a compliant base (Duteous) and non-compliant tip (Outliers)), gone was the assumption of compliance linearity. In its place was the knowledge that the practitioner population is not homogeneous, but instead comprises distinct practitioner types. Support was found for the propensity and opportunity model in the prediction of practitioner teardrop cluster membership. Both the higher-order constructs of propensity and opportunity were significant in the prediction of cluster membership at each ascending level of the teardrop. However, the features of propensity and opportunity that differentiated the lower teardrop practitioners were different to those that differentiated the upper teardrop practitioners. In differentiating between the Duteous and Contingent clusters, the propensity construct was characterised by an appetite for risk and power (lower for the Duteous), coupled with stronger commitment to business best practice and to the identity of being a competent practitioner among the Duteous. Opportunity was characterised by a perceived likelihood of success in preparing non-compliant returns and higher ambiguity of clients’ tax affairs, coupled with the perception of lower likelihood of detection for non-compliance. Different aspects of propensity and opportunity assumed importance in differentiating between the Contingent and Aggressive clusters. Propensity was characterised by a lack of preparation ethics and opportunity by ambiguity of clients’ tax affairs. These results have important implications for the regulation of tax practice. Tax authorities must recognise that there are multiple distinct groups of practitioners who hold different propensities and perceive different opportunities for non-compliance. Thus, the drivers and obstacles found for the population as a whole will not uniformly apply to sub-groups within that population. As such, the teardrop clusters require tailored regulatory strategy for optimal preparation compliance

Versatility of RNA-Binding Proteins in Cancer

Posttranscriptional gene regulation is a rapid and efficient process to adjust the proteome of a cell to a changing environment. RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) are the master regulators of mRNA processing and translation and are often aberrantly expressed in cancer. In addition to well-studied transcription factors, RBPs are emerging as fundamental players in tumor development. RBPs and their mRNA targets form a complex network that plays a crucial role in tumorigenesis. This paper describes mechanisms by which RBPs influence the expression of well-known oncogenes, focusing on precise examples that illustrate the versatility of RBPs in posttranscriptional control of cancer development. RBPs appeared very early in evolution, and new RNA-binding domains and combinations of them were generated in more complex organisms. The identification of RBPs, their mRNA targets, and their mechanism of action have provided novel potential targets for cancer therapy

Genetische und biochemische Charakterisierung der m-AAA-Proteasefunktion in Mitochondrien von Saccharomyces cerevisiae

ATP-abhängige AAA-Proteasen in der inneren Mitochondrienmembran spielen eine entscheidene Rolle bei der Aufrechterhaltung der Qualitätskontrolle und während der Biogenese der Atmungskettenkomplexe. Ein Funktionsausfall der m- bzw. i-AAA-Protease in S. cerevisiae führt zu einer Beeinträchtigung der mitochondrialen Atmung und des Zellwachstums auf nicht fermentierbaren Kohlenstoffquellen. Eine gleichzeitige Inaktivierung beider AAA-Proteasen wirkt für Hefezellen synthetisch letal. Im ersten Teil dieser Arbeit sollte die Ursache dieser genetischen Wechselwirkung beider AAA-Proteasen anhand des konditional letalen Hefestammes yta10ts∆yme1 näher charakterisiert werden. Dieser Stamm trägt ein temperatursensitives Allel von YTA10 und verfügt durch eine Deletion von YME1 über keine i-AAA-Protease. In einem genetischen "Screen" konnten fünf Komponenten der PKC-MAPKinase Signalkaskade und das Co-Chaperon Mge1 als Suppressoren identifiziert werden, deren Überexpression die synthetische Letalität von yta10ts∆yme1 Zellen unterdrückt. Weitere Untersuchungen zeigten, dass die Inaktivierung beider AAA-Proteasen Auswirkungen sowohl auf die mitochondriale Mor-phologie als auch auf die Integrität der gesamten Zelle hat. So führt eine Destabilisierung der Zellwände zur Nekrose AAA-proteasedefizienter Zellen. Zellzyklusdefekte führen zu einer Hypersensitivität gegenüber Koffein und zu einer auffälligen Vergrößerung dieser Zellen. Daneben häufen sich auch vermehrt granuläre Strukturen an, was auf einen gestörten Sekretionsapparat hinweist. So ließ sich zeigen, dass eine mitochondriale Dysfunktion, verursacht durch einen Funktionsausfall der m- und i-AAA-Proteasen, offensichtlich die Zellintegrität beeinträchtigt. Im zweiten Teil dieser Arbeit wurde die Rolle der Transmembrandomänen von Unter-einheiten der m-AAA-Protease während der Proteolyse untersucht. Es konnte am Beispiel der Cytochrom c Peroxidase gezeigt werden, dass die Deletion der Transmembrandomäne einer Untereinheit der m-AAA-Protease nicht zum vollständigen Verlust der proteolytischen Akti-vität führt. Entsprechend war in diesen Zellen die Biogenese von Atmungskettenkomplexen und damit die Atmungskompetenz dieser Hefezellen nicht eingeschränkt. Dagegen führte das Fehlen der Transmembrandomäne einer Untereinheit zur Hemmung des Abbaus von mem-branintegrierten Proteinen bzw. konnte der Abbau von periperen Membranproteinen nur partiell durchgeführt werden. Diese Ergebnisse sprechen dafür, dass die Transmembran-domänen der m-AAA-Protease an der Dislokation von integralen Proteinen aus der Membran beteiligt sind und eine Voraussetzung für deren Abbau durch die m-AAA-Protease sind

Itinerant Ferromagnetism in an Atom Trap

We propose an experiment to explore the magnetic phase transitions in interacting fermionic Hubbard systems, and describe how to obtain the ferromagnetic phase diagram of itinerant electron systems from these observations. In addition signatures of ferromagnetic correlations in the observed ground states are found: for large trap radii (trap radius $R_T > 4$, in units of coherence length $\xi$), ground states are topological in nature -- a "skyrmion" in 2D, and a "hedgehog" in 3D.Comment: Final Published version. References adde

Simulating academic entrepreneurship and inter-organisational collaboration in university ecosystems, a hybrid system dynamics agent-based simulation

Universities are increasingly expected to actively contribute to socio-economic development. Academic entrepreneurship and the evolution of the entrepreneurial university within ecosystems have received increasing attention from both policymakers and academic communities over the last decades. However, most studies on universities' external engagement have focused on individual activities and single universities, hereby neglecting the feedback effects between different activities and how universities are linked through an overlap of their ecosystems. The result is an incomplete understanding of how universities interact with their ecosystem and the resulting inter- and intra-organisational dynamics. This research addresses this issue by developing a hybrid system dynamics agent-based model, which captures feedback structure and the internal decision-making of universities and companies. Both the conceptual and simulation model are based on a triangulation of the literature, interviews with representatives of Scottish universities, and secondary data for Scottish universities and UK businesses. This research makes several theoretical, methodological, and empirical contributions. From a theoretical perspective, it contributes in two distinct ways to the field of entrepreneurship by defining university ecosystems in new way that provides a basis for future research and developing a multi-modal simulation model that can be applied in tested in different contexts. The methodological contributions to the field of modelling and simulation in management science include a modelling process for hybrid simulations, new practices for modelling the size of agent populations through different designs of stocks and flows in the system dynamics module in hybrid simulations, and complex events for recognising emergent behaviour. Lastly, this research makes two empirical contributions to the field of entrepreneurship. This research shines a light on the dynamics of academic entrepreneurship and how universities can partially overcome a low research prestige to increase academic entrepreneurship. Implications for policy and practice are outlined and opportunities for future research conclude this thesis.Universities are increasingly expected to actively contribute to socio-economic development. Academic entrepreneurship and the evolution of the entrepreneurial university within ecosystems have received increasing attention from both policymakers and academic communities over the last decades. However, most studies on universities' external engagement have focused on individual activities and single universities, hereby neglecting the feedback effects between different activities and how universities are linked through an overlap of their ecosystems. The result is an incomplete understanding of how universities interact with their ecosystem and the resulting inter- and intra-organisational dynamics. This research addresses this issue by developing a hybrid system dynamics agent-based model, which captures feedback structure and the internal decision-making of universities and companies. Both the conceptual and simulation model are based on a triangulation of the literature, interviews with representatives of Scottish universities, and secondary data for Scottish universities and UK businesses. This research makes several theoretical, methodological, and empirical contributions. From a theoretical perspective, it contributes in two distinct ways to the field of entrepreneurship by defining university ecosystems in new way that provides a basis for future research and developing a multi-modal simulation model that can be applied in tested in different contexts. The methodological contributions to the field of modelling and simulation in management science include a modelling process for hybrid simulations, new practices for modelling the size of agent populations through different designs of stocks and flows in the system dynamics module in hybrid simulations, and complex events for recognising emergent behaviour. Lastly, this research makes two empirical contributions to the field of entrepreneurship. This research shines a light on the dynamics of academic entrepreneurship and how universities can partially overcome a low research prestige to increase academic entrepreneurship. Implications for policy and practice are outlined and opportunities for future research conclude this thesis

Pricing and hedging in incomplete financial markets

In the practical part, Chapter 4 considers numerical methods for indifference pricing in a stochastic volatility model. In Chapter 5, a feasible procedure is developed for calculating the CVaR price in unit-linked insurance products under an additional assumption. This assumption is relaxed in Chapter 6.

The Director\u27s Presence

This text is partial record and narrative of the process and productions of Orphans by Lyle Kessler that opened on March 29th 2007 for a four day run ending on April 1st, The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh that opened October 28th 2007 for a three day run ending on October 30th, and Terra Nova by Ted Tally that opened on February 21st 2008 for a four day run ending on February 24th. The majority of the text follows the three shows from Spring 2007, Fall 2007, to Spring 2008, focusing on the process of direction of each production. Incorporated in the writing are the experiences, lessons, and complications that arose while directing the three shows. The text contains several notes on directing, acting, collaboration, choreography, casting, rehearsal and different perspectives on the creative process of the productions: all combined create an aesthetic inherent in the author\u27s three years of study at the Virginia Commonwealth University Theatre Pedagogy Program with an emphasis in Acting and Directing