Mortgage Foreclosure in Post-Katrina New Orleans

Hurricane Katrina caused widespread property destruction in the city of New Orleans. This Article analyzes data gathered from the Orleans Parish Recorder of Mortgages office and the Civil District Court and concludes that foreclosure filing rates in the year after Katrina decreased significantly from the rates for the corresponding period in the year prior to the storm. This Article evaluates in detail the legal and market responses to mortgage default after the storm that contributed to the reduction in foreclosure actions. Secondary mortgage market initiatives provided the principal means for relief; however, even though these initiatives were successful in protecting mortgage debtors after Katrina, their limited scope make them inadequate to address the years of financial distress that might likely follow any future disaster of Katrina\u27s magnitude. Thus, although the experience demonstrates that secondary market interventions can effectively reduce debtor distress after a major disaster, such interventions should not be seen as a substitute for traditional legal responses to mortgage debtor distress after disasters or other economic crises

Pharmacologic Manipulation of Conventional Outflow Facility in Ex Vivo Mouse Eyes

PURPOSE. Mouse models are useful for glaucoma research, but it is unclear whether intraocular pressure (IOP) regulation in mice operates through mechanisms similar to those in humans. Our goal was to determine whether pharmacologic compounds that affect conventional outflow facility in human eyes exert similar effects in C57BL/6 mice. METHODS. A computerized perfusion system was used to measure conventional outflow facility in enucleated mouse eyes ex vivo. Paired eyes were perfused sequentially, either immediately after enucleation or after 3 hours storage at 4°C. Three groups of experiments examined sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P), S1P with antagonists to S1P(1) and S1P(2) receptors, and the prostanoid EP(4) receptor agonist 3,7-dithia PGE(1). We also examined whether a 24-hour postmortem delay affected the response to 3,7-dithia prostaglandin E(1) (PGE(1)). RESULTS. S1P decreased facility by 39%, and was blocked almost completely by an S1P(2), but not S1P(1), receptor antagonist. The S1P(2) receptor antagonist alone increased facility nearly 2-fold. 3,7-dithia PGE(1) increased facility by 106% within 3 hours postmortem. By 24 hours postmortem, the facility increase caused by 3,7-dithia PGE(1) was reduced 3-fold, yet remained statistically detectable. CONCLUSIONS. C57BL/6 mice showed opposing effects of S1P(2) and EP(4) receptor activation on conventional outflow facility, as observed in human eyes. Pharmacologic effects on facility were detectable up to 24 hours postmortem in enucleated mouse eyes. Mice are suitable models to examine the pharmacology of S1P and EP(4) receptor stimulation on IOP regulation as occurs within the conventional outflow pathway of human eyes, and are promising for studying other aspects of aqueous outflow dynamics

Epidemiological patterns of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in highly endemic areas

This paper uses meta-analysis of published data and a deterministic mathematical model of hepatitis B virus (HBV) transmission to describe the patterns of HBV infection in high endemicity areas. We describe the association between the prevalence of carriers and a simple measure of the rate of infection, the age at which half the population have been infected (A50), and assess the contribution of horizontal and perinatal transmission to this association. We found that the two main hyper-endemic areas of sub-Saharan Africa and east Asia have similar prevalences of carriers and values of A50, and that there is a negative nonlinear relationship between A50 and the prevalence of carriers in high endemicity areas (Spearman's Rank, P = 0·0086). We quantified the risk of perinatal transmission and the age-dependent rate of infection to allow a comparison between the main hyper-endemic areas. East Asia was found to have higher prevalences of HBeAg positive mothers and a greater risk of perinatal transmission from HBeAg positive mothers than sub-Saharan Africa, though the differences were not statistically significant. However, the two areas have similar magnitudes and age-dependent rates of horizontal transmission. Results of a simple compartmental model suggest that similar rates of horizontal transmission are sufficient to generate the similar patterns between A50 and the prevalences of carriers. Interrupting horizontal transmission by mass immunization is expected to have a significant, nonlinear impact on the rate of acquisition of new carriers

Will Cyberlaw Be Uniform? An Introduction to the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce

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Uncovering the hidden costs of offshoring: The interplay of complexity, organizational design, and experience

This study investigates estimation errors due to hidden costs—the costs of implementation that are neglected in strategic decision-making processes—in the context of services offshoring. Based on data from the Offshoring Research Network, we find that decision makers are more likely to make cost-estimation errors given increasing configuration and task complexity in captive offshoring and offshore outsourcing, respectively. Moreover, we show that experience and a strong orientation toward organizational design in the offshoring strategy reduce the cost-estimation errors that follow from complexity. Our findings contribute to research on the effectiveness of sourcing and global strategies by stressing the importance of organizational design and experience in dealing with increasing complexity

An Institutional Analysis of Consumer Law

This Article explores the revival of interest in consumer protection in the United States, and the impact of this revival on the consumer movement. The Author examines the influence that political organizations and institutions have upon the final shape and content of consumer law in the United States and European Union. The Article begins with a general introduction to institutional theory across academic disciplines and to the institutional environment and arrangements in which consumer lawmaking proceeds in the United States and Europe. Next, the Article assesses consumer initiatives in the United States and the European Union, focusing on deceptive advertising, unfair contract terms, consumer credit, and consumer access to justice problems. The Author\u27s assessment illuminates the institutional factors that shape consumer protection initiatives. Finally, the Article discusses the limits of traditional United States perspectives on consumer law. The Article concludes that an institutional approach provides a better and more accurate framework for analyzing consumer issues

Psyxpert: An Expert system for aiding psychiatrists in the diagnosis of psychotic disorders

Psyxpert is an expert computer system designed to aid psychiatrists in the diagnosis of mental disorders when psychotic features are the prominent part of the presenting clinical picture. The knowledge base contains psychiatric knowledge in the form of production rules. The system uses a backward-chaining control strategy to guide the consultation. Psyxpert provides a menu-driven user interface and an explanation subsystem. The system uses certainty and importance measures to produce a diagnosis with an attached certainty factor and recommendations for further evaluation or therapy. Psyxpert is written in Virginia Tech HC Prolog and runs on Digital Equipment Corporation\u27s VAX 11/780 under the VMS operating system