Before You Log-On: Incorporating the Free Web in Your Legal Research Strategy

In 2006, the American Bar Association (ABA) published its Legal Technology Survey Report, which included a volume on Online Research. In the report, attorneys responded that 91% are conducting at least some of their research online. Though 39% report that they start their research using a fee-based service like Westlaw or Lexis, the report shows that even those who start their research with a fee-based resource eventually get it right-87% of attorneys report using some free online resources at some point over the course of a research project

Gamma rays from accretion onto rotating black holes

Ionized matter falling onto an isolated, rotating black hole will be heated sufficiently that proton-proton collisions will produce mesons, including neutral pions, which decay into gamma rays. For massive (1000 M sub circled dot), black holes, the resulting gamma-ray luminosity may exceed 10 to the 36th power engs/s, with a spectrum peaked near 20 MeV

Inflation and the E M S

Since the European Monetary System was instituted in March 1979, there has been a dramatic reduction in the inflation rates of member countries This development is widely attributed to the EMS itself. The purpose of this paper is to argue that the theoretical and empirical basis for such a claim is far from conclusive. On the theoretical side, the paper develops a model which highlights two issues. First, changes in the "rules" of the exchange rate system need not coincide with changes in expectations about Central Bank behavior. In fact, I expectations in France do not seem to have changed until policy makers "got tough" in 1982-83. Second, different researchers have made quite different I assumptions about exactly what "rules" the EMS imposes. The paper shows that how the system works matters in terns of the effect joining will have on inflation. On the empirical side, the paper shows that effects which have been attributed to the EMS are in large part due to the global deflation since 1979 and to the fact that EMS members had relatively low inflation before 1979. However, even these estimates should be interpreted with caution. They are very sensitive to time period and to which non EMS countries are included in the sample.

Construction and Refinement of Coarse-Grained Models

A general scheme, which includes constructions of coarse-grained (CG) models, weighted ensemble dynamics (WED) simulations and cluster analyses (CA) of stable states, is presented to detect dynamical and thermodynamical properties in complex systems. In the scheme, CG models are efficiently and accurately optimized based on a directed distance from original to CG systems, which is estimated from ensemble means of lots of independent observable in two systems. Furthermore, WED independently generates multiple short molecular dynamics trajectories in original systems. The initial conformations of the trajectories are constructed from equilibrium conformations in CG models, and the weights of the trajectories can be estimated from the trajectories themselves in generating complete equilibrium samples in the original systems. CA calculates the directed distances among the trajectories and groups their initial conformations into some clusters, which correspond to stable states in the original systems, so that transition dynamics can be detected without requiring a priori knowledge of the states.Comment: 4 pages, no figure

Voldemort Tyrannos: Plato’s Tyrant in the Republic and the Wizarding World

In the Harry Potter novel series, by J. K. Rowling, the character of Lord Voldemort is the dictatorial ruler of the Death Eaters and aspiring despot of the entire wizarding community. As such, he serves as an apt subject for the application of Plato’s portrait of the tyrant in Republic IX. The process of applying Plato to Voldemort, however, leads to an apparent anomaly, the resolution of which requires that we move beyond the Republic to the account of beauty presented by Plato in the Symposium. In doing so, we shall find that while Plato can help us to understand Voldemort, Voldemort can also help us to attain a deeper understanding of Plato

Pragmatism and Meaning: Assessing the Message of Star Trek: The Original Series

The original Star Trek television series purported to depict a future in which such evils as sexism and racism do not exist, and intelligent beings from numerous planets live in a condition of peace and mutual benefit. As many scholars have observed, from a standpoint of contemporary theoretical analysis, Star Trek: The Original Series contains many elements that are inimical to the utopia it claims to depict and thus undermine its supposed message. A different perspective may be gained by drawing on the American pragmatist movement, in which the value of an idea is judged by its effectiveness, how it ‘cashes out’ in terms of its impact in real life. Thus, the meaning and value of Star Trek: TOS can be assessed by observing its effects on its audience. This perspective coordinates well with Taylor’s discussion of the necessary conditions for the realization of a protreptic moral order in the social imaginary, as well as a pragmatist understanding of audience engagement and education

Identifying the practice components of youth councils: contributions of theory

Social workers are involved in numerous efforts to engage youth in programs, communities, and civic life. One potential strategy has focused on engagement and empowerment of youth through the form of youth councils. Multiple theoretical frames have characterized the scholarly literature. This has limited the conceptual coherence of the field. In this paper, we report empirical data on the operation of several youth councils. We analyze the data to identify the implicit frameworks in use and apply the data from our study to sort practice components within frameworks. This effort is designed to improve conceptualization of youth councils, to inform the development of councils, and eventually to improve outcomes of councils.Published versionAccepted manuscrip