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Crime and Punishment: Adam Smith\u27s Theory of Sentimental Law and Economics
Get PDFFor Adam Smith, a crime is not the result of a rational calculation of loss and gain but the consequence of envy and a vain desire to parade wealth to attract the approbation of others, combined with a natural systematic bias in overestimating the probability of success. Similarly, Smith does not conceive of legal sanctions as a rational deterrent but as deriving from the feeling of resentment. While the prevailing approach of the eighteenth century is a rational explanation of crime and a utilitarian use of punishment, Adam Smith instead builds his theory of criminal behavior and legal prosecution consistently on the sentiments. A well-functioning legal system is thus an unintended consequence of our desire to bring justice to the individual person, not the result of a rational calculation to promote the public good, just like a well-functioning economic system is the unintended consequence of our desire to better our own condition, not the result of a rational calculation to promote public good
Territorial Rights in Brazil: Chronic Difficulties and New Approaches to Sustaining Traditional Landscapes
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Female Sports Officials and Mental Health: The Overlooked Problem
Get PDFSporting culture often celebrates mental toughness and chides weakness, which can stigmatize mental health issues. While some sport organizations have prioritized addressing mental well-being, referees have been ignored. Referees work in high-pressure environments; thus, the need to understand, destigmatize, and normalize the conversation around mental health within the referee community and the larger sporting system is important. Because the prevalence of stress-related issues is greater for women, this study focused on female referees’ well-being, interviewing 20 female U.S. basketball referees via a hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Participants represented various geographical regions in the United States and officiated at levels ranging from high school to professional. Findings revealed Gendered Aggressions negatively impacted the referees, mental health issues are Stigmatized, and more Resources and Support are needed. Results also indicated that officiating can be Cathartic. Suggestions for addressing the referee shortage and improving the officiating experience are included
The Dynamics of Cross-Sector Collaboration in Centralized Disaster Governance: A Network Study of Interorganizational Collaborations during the MERS Epidemic in South Korea
Get PDFThe debate continues as to which governance structure is most appropriate for collaborative disaster response, particularly between centralization and decentralization. This article aims to contribute to this debate by analyzing the structural characteristics of a multisectoral network that emerged and evolved under strong state control during the 2015 outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome-coronavirus (MERS) in South Korea. This study particularly focuses on the evolution of intra- and inter-sectoral collaboration ties in the network. The data for the study were collected through a content analysis of government documents and news articles. Using social network analysis, the authors found that the network evolved into a centralized structure around a small number of governmental organizations at the central level, organizing the ties between participating organizations rather hierarchically. The network displayed a preponderance of internal ties both among health and non-health organizations and among public and nonpublic health organizations, but under different influences of structural characteristics. This tendency was intensified during the peak period. Based on these findings, the authors conclude that the centralization of disaster management may not or only marginally be conducive to cross-sector collaboration during public health disasters, calling for a careful design of governance structures for disaster response
Motility of \u3cem\u3eEscherichia coli\u3c/em\u3e Near Surfaces
Get PDFMost bacteria, including the well-studied Escherichia coli, exist in two modes of life: individual cells swimming in bulk fluid, and cells that have aggregated on surfaces in relatively immotile communities. In bulk fluid, E. coli swims in relatively straight paths. However, as E. coli approaches a surface, hydrodynamic interactions between the bacterium and the surrounding fluid change, causing the bacterium to acquire circular trajectories. This near-surface swimming behavior provides a measure of what bacteria experience as they transition from free swimming to surface aggregation, which is an important step in early biofilm formation.
Here we examine the near-surface dynamics of E. coli. We present a new method for imaging and analyzing near-surface swimming dynamics involving TIRF microscopy and computational image analysis. TIRF microscopy is used to record E. coli swimming near a surface. The raw TIRF microscopy data is passed to custom MATLAB code that tracks the bacteria, reconstructs their trajectories in three dimensions, and extracts measurements of near-surface dynamics. We aim to validate our methodology by measuring cell motility near glass surfaces, which has been previously studied and quantified for E. coli. Once we validate our methodology, we plan to expand the scope of our experiment to study how properties of the surface affect near-surface motility. We present a plan to synthesize new biomimetic surfaces with tunable viscosity and outline methods to characterize the surfaces. These biomimetic surfaces will be used in future bacterial motility experiments to examine the relationship between near-surface dynamics and surface viscosity
Best Practices for Building and Curating Databases for Comparative Analyses
No full textComparative analyses have a long history of macro-ecological and - evolutionary approaches to understand structure, function, mechanism and constraint. As the pace of science accelerates, there is ever-increasing access to diverse types of data and open access databases that are enabling and inspiring new research. Whether conducting a species-level trait-based analysis or a formal meta-analysis of study effect sizes, comparative approaches share a common reliance on reliable, carefully curated databases. Unlike many scientific endeavors, building a database is a process that many researchers undertake infrequently and in which we are not formally trained. This Commentary provides an introduction to building databases for comparative analyses and highlights challenges and solutions that the authors of this Commentary have faced in their own experiences. We focus on four major tips: (1) carefully strategizing the literature search; (2) structuring databases for multiple use; (3) establishing version control within (and beyond) your study; and (4) the importance of making databases accessible. We highlight how one’s approach to these tasks often depends on the goal of the study and the nature of the data. Finally, we assert that the curation of single-question databases has several disadvantages: it limits the possibility of using databases for multiple purposes and decreases efficiency due to independent researchers repeatedly sifting through large volumes of raw information. We argue that curating databases that are broader than one research question can provide a large return on investment, and that research fields could increase efficiency if community curation of databases was established
Spectroscopic Characterization of Mn\u3csup\u3e2+\u3c/sup\u3e and Cd\u3csup\u3e2+\u3c/sup\u3e Coordination to Phosphorothioates in the Conserved A9 Metal Site of the Hammerhead Ribozyme
No full textPhosphorothioate modifications have widespread use in the field of nucleic acids. As substitution of sulfur for oxygen can alter metal coordination preferences, the phosphorothioate metal-rescue experiment is a powerful method for identifying metal coordination sites that influence specific properties in a large RNAs. The A9/G10.1 metal binding site of the hammerhead ribozyme (HHRz) has previously been shown to be functionally important through phosphorothioate rescue experiments. While an A9-SRp substitution is inhibitory in Mg2+, thiophilic Cd2+ rescues HHRz activity. Mn2+ is also often used in phosphorothioate metal-rescue studies but does not support activity for the A9-SRp HHRz. Here, we use EPR, electron spin-echo envelope modulation (ESEEM), and X-ray absorption spectroscopic methods to directly probe the structural consequences of Mn2+ and Cd2+ coordination to Rp and Sp phosphorothioate modifications at the A9/G10.1 site in the truncated hammerhead ribozyme (tHHRz). The results demonstrate that while Cd2+ does indeed bind to S in the thio-substituted ligand, Mn2+ coordinates to the non‑sulfur oxo group of this phosphorothioate, regardless of isomer. Computational models demonstrate the energetic preference of Mn–O over Mn–S coordination in metal-dimethylthiophosphate models. In the case of the tHHRz, the resulting Mn2+ coordination preference of oxygen in either Rp or Sp A9 phosphorothioates differentially tunes catalytic activity, with Mn–O coordination in the A9-SRp phosphorothioate enzyme being inhibitory
Strengthening the Accounting Pipeline Through Diversity: Preference for Big 4 Employment and Intentions to Change
No full textHigh turnover rates in public accounting, particularly in Big 4 firms, are troublesome considering the shortage of accounting professionals. This study investigates the factors that influence the choice of career path upon graduation and the long-term career goals of accounting students in the United States (US) and Mexico. Analysis of survey data explores students’ intentions to exit Big 4 public accounting. Findings suggest that US participants who desire a Big 4 career path tend to be younger, male, and less concerned with economic factors while their Mexican counterparts tend to be more concerned with growth opportunities, less concerned with social factors, and feel more external pressure. Of those students that choose Big 4 upon graduation, 33% of US (primarily male) and 44% of Mexican students (primarily female) intend to remain with a Big 4 firm. This study contributes to the discussion of diversity and the accounting profession pipeline
Monitoring and Alert System for the Mabee Organic Waste Solution Final Project Repory
Get PDFMabee Dining Hall at Trinity University has tasked the Mabee Organic Waste Solution team with the design and implementation of an in-vessel monitoring and alert device to monitor and report on the status of compost. This device is intended to provide running updates on important parameters - temperature, relative humidity, and oxygen concentration - in order to ensure production of successful, aerobic compost. If action must be taken by Mabee employees as a result of the values of these parameters falling out of an acceptable range, our device is capable of alerting the user and providing instruction to keep the compost viable.
The project requirements state that our device must be able to monitor up to 100 pounds of food waste while mitigating additional labor and unnecessary contact with the compost. It must be durable and reliable enough to withstand a full composting cycle, and intuitive enough that a user with minimal knowledge of compost care will be able to follow the given instructions with the help of a training manual provided by the team. Design constraints include the given $1200 budget, portability, ease of use, and the versatility to be implemented in any in-vessel composting unit supplied with ~100 lbs. of food waste daily. The design constraints are detailed in Sections 3.1-3.4. The full design requirements can be found in Sections 3.5-3.9.
Our final design consists of three main subsystems: the sensor capsule, which rests inside the compost to house and protect the sensor, the communications system which interprets sensor readings and transmits instructions via Bluetooth to the interface, and the interface which displays any necessary corrective actions that must be taken. Our team was able to complete preliminary testing to ensure that each subsystem is functional within the constraints of our project. In the future, we recommend fully testing the system by placing it within a compost vessel for a complete compost cycle. Additionally, as conditions across the compost are generally not homogenous, use of multiple sensor capsules throughout the vessel to provide a more comprehensive observation of the state of the compost may be beneficial.
The central microcontroller of the partially working prototype failed to display the data from its peripheral counterpart, but the devices were still able to communicate with each other and send the sensor data. Due to a short in the wiring, the working prototype’s sensors were damaged and the microcontroller in the peripheral likely to be replaced. We are mostly confident that our current prototype meets the power requirements to last a full composting cycle with our chosen battery. The corrective actions written by our team to be prescribed by measurements of the compost conditions have demonstrably improved the state of the compost in our test environment. At the time of the presentation we intend to have resolved the hardware issues with the interface subsystem, and have a fully functional working prototype ready for delivery to our sponsor