9150 research outputs found
Sort by
Retributivism, Agency, and the Voluntary Act Requirement
Get PDFThe Voluntary Act Requirement (“VAR”) is the fundamental predicate for imposing legal punishment. Punishing solely on the basis of evil thoughts or a villainous character is impermissible. The VAR also embodies the notion that we must not punish someone for conduct over which she lacked sufficient control. But why not punish someone for conduct that was not within her control? One answer is retributivist—it would be unjust to do so because that defendant could not have been morally responsible for, and therefore could not deserve punishment for, what she did. Agent causalism is a contentious view about how criminal defendants voluntarily act according to which the defendants themselves cause their free, morally responsible actions, as opposed to events or states of affairs involving them, their brains, their circumstances, and so forth. This article argues that for retributivist justifications of the VAR to be plausible, agent causalism must be true. Agent causalism might be false, and if it is, then retributivism could not play any role in justifying our fundamental legal precondition for ever imposing any criminal liability upon anyone. This article does not argue that agent causalism is false, however. It elaborates and renders plausible an agent causalist position, and it shows how that position could handle types of cases that notoriously pose challenges to the VAR—cases involving complex unconscious conduct, cases involving crimes of omission, and cases involving habitual conduct
Internalized Homonegativity and Relationship Quality in Same-Sex Romantic Couples: A Test of Mental Health Mechanisms and Gender as a Moderator
No full textPrior research has consistently found greater internalized homonegativity to be associated with lower relationship quality for individuals in same-sex relationships. Yet, few studies have examined different dimensions of relationship quality, what mechanisms explain the association between internalized homonegativity and relationship quality, or whether the association varies for women versus men. This study sought to build upon past research to better understand the associations between internalized homonegativity and specific aspects of relationship quality in lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals in same-sex relationships, while considering the potential mediating roles of symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as the potential moderating role of gender. Using data from an online survey, I conducted analyses with a sample of 97 men and 84 women who were living in the U.S., at least 18 years old, and in a same-sex relationship for at least 3 months. Regression analyses revealed that controlling for length of relationship, self and partner concealment of sexual orientation, age, gender, and partner sexual identity, internalized homonegativity was associated with greater symptoms of depression and anxiety, but not directly with dimensions of relationship quality. However, bootstrap mediation analyses revealed an indirect association of internalized homonegativity with lower relationship satisfaction through greater depressive symptoms. Gender was also an important moderator. Gender moderated the associations of internalized homonegativity with both depressive and anxiety symptoms, with those associations being significant for men but not women. Further, the indirect association of internalized homonegativity with relationship satisfaction through depressive symptoms was significant for men only. Results suggest a number of viable directions for future research to continue to understand the role of internalized homonegativity in same-sex relationships, mechanisms involved, and differences by gender. A better understanding of these dynamics can inform clinical practice and ultimately lead to improved individual and relational functioning in LGB individuals
Protection of The Marine Environment Under International Law and Kuwaiti Criminal Law
Get PDFThe marine environment has unique characteristics that distinguish it from other elements of nature. Since seas and oceans cover more than two-thirds of the earth, they play a vital role in achieving biological and climatic balance on the planet. The marine environment also plays an important role in human life, since it has plenty of nutritious and industrial resources that directly affect human welfare. It also contains huge amounts of oil and natural gas, which has played a role in the economic prosperity of the world. Moreover, seas are considered a source of freshwater through resorting to desalination of seawater in countries that suffer from a shortage of freshwater resources. In addition, the marine environment is considered an important source of food for human beings and other living organisms.
Kuwait\u27s interest in protecting the marine environment started earlier than that of other Gulf States. In 1964, Kuwait enacted a law preventing pollution of navigable waters by oil. This law is deemed the first law to protect the marine environment from the negative effect arising from the activities of exploration, extraction, and exportation of oil, which began to increase in the 1950s. Moreover, Kuwait\u27s efforts aimed to protect the environment were not limited to the issuance of environmental laws at the national level. In fact, Kuwait played a leading role at the regional level of marine environmental conservation, as well. In the 1960s, Kuwait urged and encouraged the states overlooking the Arabian Gulf to ratify a regional convention aimed at cooperating in the protection of the marine environment of the Arabian Gulf (later called The Kuwait Convention of 1978). The Kuwait Convention (1978) reflected awareness of the importance of co-operation and co-ordination of action on a regional basis with the aim to protect the marine environment of the region for the benefit of all concerned of its members. This convention was considered the first regional convention on the protection of the marine environment in the Middle East. It contained many important provisions for the protection of the marine environment applicable until now. Kuwait did not only execute the convention, but it continued its efforts to establish a regional organization consisting of the Kuwait convention members. The main duty of the organization is to ensure the valid execution of the provisions of the Kuwait Convention. This organization is located in the State of Kuwait and is named The Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment (ROPME).
Since 1979, and despite the political problems and wars that occurred among the members of the organization, ROPME succeeded in overcoming these obstacles. This success is attributed to the fact that the ROPME has focused its efforts on urging its members to work on combating environmental pollution, protecting the marine environment of the Arabian Gulf, and avoiding discussion of the political issues
Knowledge Graph Syntax Validation and Visual Navigation for Developing Intelligent Systems
No full textIntelligent systems depend on effective knowledge representation and knowledge-based decision-making. While OWL is the dominant industry standard for knowledge representation, it has some limitations which include the lack of support for custom relations, it’s reliance on the single “is-a” relation, and the emulation of other relations via complex object and data properties. Pace University has extended OWL to support knowledge graph as a replacement to better support knowledge representation and decision-making. One of the challenges is how to better support domain experts to create knowledge graphs and verify their correctness. Since a real-life knowledge graph can easily contain hundreds or thousands of classes with complex inter-relations, it is a major challenge for domain experts to review and validate their knowledge representation, and hard for application developers to fully understand the complex relations among the classes. This research contributes a knowledge graph syntax validation algorithm and two knowledge graph visualization tools. Use cases such as the Cyber Security Communications Facilitator are used to verify the correctness and effectiveness of the contributed solutions
Achieving Very High PV Penetration
Get PDFThis article argues that optimally deployed intermittency solutions could affordably transform solar power generation into the firm power delivery system modern economies require, thereby enabling very high solar penetration and the displacement conventional power generation. The optimal deployment of these high‐penetration enabling solutions imply the existence of a healthy power grid, and therefore imply a central role for utilities and grid operators. This article also argues that a value‐based electricity compensation mechanism, recognizing the multifaceted, penetration‐dependent value and cost of solar energy, and capable of shaping consumption patterns to optimally match resource and demand, would be an effective vehicle to enable high solar penetration and deliver affordable firm power generation
Individual Differences in Prospection Skills: Links with Mentalizing Ability
No full textThis study sought to determine what individual differences affect ability to prospect, particularly after experiencing an emotionally charged event (e.g. affective prospection). The researchers believed this to be an important skill as it allows one to prepare for the future and accurately plan their lives; thus understanding it better may allow one to increase their accuracy. The researchers hypothesized that those with increased mentalizing skills will be better at affective prospection, as supported by previous research. In addition the researchers hypothesized that actors, who may inherently (or be trained to) mentalize more often, will also be better at affective prospection. In addition, the researchers hypothesized that those with higher levels of grit and mindfulness would demonstrate more accurate affective prospection abilities. The study also originally sought to determine how individuals are able to evaluate their prospection abilities retroactively, by use of a post experiment survey; however this was not deemed possible with current data. Prospection skills were evaluated by use of individual differences measures, and correlated with individual differences in ability to mentalize, grit, and group differences between actors versus non-actors. Group differences in prospection, as well as independent variables that might predict prospection abilities were analyzed. Results of the experiment indicated that having training as an actor did not predict differences in affective prospection. In addition there were no significant differences seen in performance based on mentalizing ability, grit, and/ or mindfulness
Arbitration Case Law Update 2016
Get PDFThis chapter identifies decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court and selected federal and high state courts in the past year that interpret and apply the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). This chapter also analyzes the impact some of these cases might have on securities arbitration practice
The Impact of Ad hoc, Informal Communication on Virtual Team Effectiveness: A Study of IM Usage and Team Collaboration
No full textGeographically dispersed teams face unique challenges in fostering informal communication that has been shown to enhance trust among team members. Though many studies have identified several inefficiencies of global virtual teams, little qualitative research has investigated the impact of communal networking technology and its perceived effects on team dynamics and performance. Using semi-structured interviews and chatlog observation, this participatory research specifically examined the role of instant messaging (IM) in ad hoc, informal communication. This research also examined the perceived merits and demerits of Virtual Team Interaction (VTI) in dispersed teams compared to face-to-face (FTF) communication in co-located teams. The findings suggest IM has a positive influence on both informal communication and work-related interaction, as well as on team efficiency, team contentment, and team accomplishment. Based on these findings, recommendations for practice include more education and training on best uses of IM for virtual teams. Virtual team members should have a good working knowledge of their technologies for communicating because it allows the team members to house well-coordinated, yet still informal, communication. Furthermore, communication technology should allow for frequent interaction between team leaders and members, both formally and informally. In light of these findings, recommendations for further research include an update to the definition of informal communication that better accommodates the contemporary realities of geographically dispersed work team members
