Abstract
Professional sports have unwritten, but nevertheless well-appreciated and behavior-guiding rules that have come to be viewed as obligatory and subject to enforcement. This essay uses such ...unwritten rules from professional sports as novel lenses through which to view afresh, and more richly to appreciate, customary international law (CIL) rules’ nature, origins, and evolution. Though much CIL scholarship has presumed that merely tradition and self-interest have empowered CIL’s legal force, unwritten rules from professional sports demonstrate that emergent and even unacknowledged norms can and do necessitate widely accepted actions and penalties. This essay begins with a discussion of CIL’s literature, distinct nature, and methodological challenges. It turns next to a review and analysis of four prominent, unwritten rules drawn from professional sports. Finally, based on that analysis, it identifies particular lessons of salience for students of CIL. This essay also specifies the broader implications for CIL of professional sports’ unwritten-but-obligatory rules.
The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability of an easily administered paper-pencil temporal discounting task modeled loosely on the hypothetical money choice task (
Rachlin, Raineri, & ...Cross, 1991
). Our group-administered task used 2 descriptions of discounting, the slope constant (
k
) of the hyperbolic function
V
=
A
/(1 +
kD
) and the area under the curve (AUC). The task was initially administered to 387 (163 men, 188 women, and 35 unspecified gender) introductory psychology students in groups ranging in size from 15 to 45. Six weeks later, 299 students (131 men and 168 women) repeated the task in groups ranging from 15 to 30. At each test time, the data from participants who met specified discounting criteria (about 85%) were fit well with the hyperbolic function (mean
r
2
= .90). The test-retest correlation for log
k
was
r
= .64; for AUC scores, it was
r
= .70, with a correlation of
r
= −.96 between log
k
and AUC scores at Test 1. The (dislike for) Cognitive Complexity and Cognitive Instability subscales of the Barratt Impulsivity Scales, Version 11, administered only at the retest correlated with
k
values (
r
= .20,
p
= .001, and
r
= .179,
p
= .003), and women discounted more than men (
p
< .001) at both test times. The results are discussed in terms of the utility of the procedure and a detailed comparison of
k
and AUC measures of discounting.
Time to surgery (TTS) is of concern to patients and clinicians, but controversy surrounds its effect on breast cancer survival. There remains little national data evaluating the association.
To ...investigate the relationship between the time from diagnosis to breast cancer surgery and survival, using separate analyses of 2 of the largest cancer databases in the United States.
Two independent population-based studies were conducted of prospectively collected national data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare-linked database and the National Cancer Database (NCDB). The SEER-Medicare cohort included Medicare patients older than 65 years, and the NCDB cohort included patients cared for at Commission on Cancer-accredited facilities throughout the United States. Each analysis assessed overall survival as a function of time between diagnosis and surgery by evaluating 5 intervals (≤30, 31-60, 61-90, 91-120, and 121-180 days) and disease-specific survival at 60-day intervals. All patients were diagnosed with noninflammatory, nonmetastatic, invasive breast cancer and underwent surgery as initial treatment.
Overall and disease-specific survival as a function of time between diagnosis and surgery, after adjusting for patient, demographic, and tumor-related factors.
The SEER-Medicare cohort had 94 544 patients 66 years or older diagnosed between 1992 and 2009. With each interval of delay increase, overall survival was lower overall (hazard ratio HR, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.06-1.13; P < .001), and in patients with stage I (HR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.08-1.18; P < .001) and stage II disease (HR 1.06; 95% CI, 1.01-1.11; P = .01). Breast cancer-specific mortality increased with each 60-day interval (subdistribution hazard ratio sHR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.02-1.54; P = .03). The NCDB study evaluated 115 790 patients 18 years or older diagnosed between 2003 and 2005. The overall mortality HR was 1.10 (95% CI, 1.07-1.13; P < .001) for each increasing interval, significant in stages I (HR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.12-1.21; P < .001) and II (HR, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.05-1.13; P < .001) only, after adjusting for demographic, tumor, and treatment factors.
Greater TTS is associated with lower overall and disease-specific survival, and a shortened delay is associated with benefits comparable to some standard therapies. Although time is required for preoperative evaluation and consideration of options such as reconstruction, efforts to reduce TTS should be pursued when possible to enhance survival.
A time-domain body exact strip theory is developed to predict maneuvering of a vessel in a seaway. A frame following the instantaneous position of the ship, by translating and rotating in the ...horizontal plane, is used to set up the boundary value problem (BVP) for the perturbation potentials. A boundary integral technique is used for solving the Laplace equation. Linearized free surface boundary conditions are used for stability and computational efficiency, and exact body boundary conditions are used to capture nonlinear effects. A nonlinear rigid body equation of motion solver is coupled to the hydrodynamic model to predict ship responses. Results are presented for the turning circle maneuver of the containership S-175 in calm water and in the presence of regular waves. The results are compared with available experimental results. The simulations are able to capture general qualitative aspects and overall physics of the problem.
•A time-domain body-exact strip theory is developed to predict maneuvering of a vessel in a seaway.•A translating and rotating frame following the ship, is used to set up the B.V.P for the perturbation potentials.•A blended method scheme is used to capture nonlinear aspects and maintain computational efficiency.•A fully nonlinear rigid body equation of motion solver is coupled to the hydrodynamic model to predict ship responses.•Turning circle maneuvers of containership S-175 have been simulated in calm water and waves.
ABSTRACT
We perform an analysis of two-point galaxy clustering and galaxy bias using Subaru Hyper-Suprime Cam (HSC) data taken jointly by the Subaru Strategic Program and the University of Hawaii in ...the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) field over an area of 1.8 sq deg. The depth of the data is similar to the ongoing Hawaii Two-0 (H20) optical galaxy survey, thus the results are indicative of future constraints from tenfold area. We measure the angular autopower spectra of the galaxy overdensity in three redshift bins, defined by dropouts from the g, r, and i bands, and compare them to the theoretical expectation from concordance cosmology with linear galaxy bias. We determine the redshift distribution of each bin using a standard template-based photometric redshift method, coupled with a self-organizing map to quantify colour space coverage. We also investigate sources of systematic errors to inform the methodology and requirements for H20. The linear galaxy bias fit results are $b_{\mathrm{gal,g}} = 3.90 \pm 0.33 (\mathrm{stat}) \substack{ +0.64 \\ -0.24 } (\mathrm{sys})$ at redshift z ≃ 3.7, $b_{\mathrm{gal,r}} = 8.44 \pm 0.63 (\mathrm{stat}) \substack{ +1.42 \\ -0.72 } (\mathrm{sys})$ at z ≃ 4.7, and $b_{\mathrm{gal,i}} = 11.94 \pm 2.24 (\mathrm{stat}) \substack{ +1.82 \\ -1.27 } (\mathrm{sys})$ at z ≃ 5.9.
New treatments are introduced routinely into clinical practice without rigorous economic analysis. The specific aim of this study was to examine the cost effectiveness of proton beam radiation ...compared with current state-of-the art therapy in the treatment of patients with prostate cancer.
A Markov model was informed with cost, freedom from biochemical failure (FFBF), and utility data obtained from the literature and from patient interviews to compare the cost effectiveness of 91.8 cobalt gray equivalent (CGE) delivered with proton beam versus 81 CGE delivered with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). The length of how many years the model was run, patient's age, probability of FFBF after treatment with proton beam therapy and IMRT, utility of patients treated with salvage hormone therapy, and treatment cost were tested in sensitivity analyses.
Analysis at 15 years resulted in an expected mean cost of proton beam therapy and IMRT of $63,511 and $36,808, and $64,989 and $39,355 for a 70-year-old and 60-year-old man respectively, with quality-adjusted survival of 8.54 and 8.12 and 9.91 and 9.45 quality-adjusted life-years (QALY), respectively. The incremental cost effectiveness ratio was calculated to be $63,578/QALY for a 70-year-old man and $55,726/QALY for a 60-year-old man.
Even when based on the unproven assumption that protons will permit a 10-Gy escalation of prostate dose compared with IMRT photons, proton beam therapy is not cost effective for most patients with prostate cancer using the commonly accepted standard of $50,000/QALY. Consideration should be given to limiting the number of proton facilities to allow comprehensive evaluation of this modality.
The reactions of ( i Pr3P)2Ni0 precursors with Ph2SiHCl, Ph2SiH2, PhSiH3, and Ph3SiH provide mononuclear, dinuclear, tetranuclear, and pentanuclear complexes with silyl and silylene ligands. Reaction ...of the dinuclear Ni(0) dinitrogen complex ( i Pr3P)2Ni2(μ-η1:η1-N2) with Ph2SiHCl afforded the thermally sensitive mononuclear complex ( i Pr3P)2Ni(H)SiClPh2 (1), which displays considerable hydridic character in the Ni–H–Si interaction. This species thermally converts to the dinuclear complex ( i Pr3P)Ni(μ-SiHPh2)2 (2), where the silyl ligand bridges via an agostic Si–H interaction. Alternate higher-yield routes to 2 include the rapid room-temperature reaction of Ph2SiH2 with ( i Pr3P)2Ni2(μ-η1:η1-N2) and the reaction of Ph2SiH2 with Ni(1,5-cyclooctadiene)2 and i Pr3P at elevated temperatures. Double Si–H activations are observed in the reaction of PhSiH3 with ( i Pr3P)2Ni2(μ-η1:η1-N2), which provides the tetranuclear C 3-symmetric complex ( i Pr3P)Ni( i Pr3P)Ni(μ3-SiHPh)3 (3) as the major product and the pentanuclear S 4-symmetric complex Ni( i Pr3P)Ni(μ3-SiHPh)4 (4) as a minor product. Density functional theory (DFT) geometry optimizations of model complexes support the presence of agostic Ni–H–Si interactions within the tetra- and pentanuclear cores of 3 and 4. The reaction of Ph3SiH with ( i Pr3P)2Ni2(μ-η1:η1-N2) results in Si–C bond cleavage to provide the asymmetric dinuclear complex ( i Pr3P)2Ni2(μ-C6H5)(μ-SiHPh2) (5), where the phenyl moiety is asymmetrically bridging. Complexes 2–5 all display similar coordination environments at one of the nickel centers, suggestive of formal oxidation state assignments of Ni(III)–Ni(I) in tetranuclear 3 and Ni(IV)–Ni(I) in pentanuclear 4.
Predation by brown tree snakes (Boiga irregularis) devastated the avifauna of Guam in the Mariana Islands during the last half of the twentieth century, causing the extirpation or serious reduction ...of most of the island's 25 resident bird species. Past studies have provided qualitative descriptions of the decline of native forest birds but have not considered all species or presented quantitative analyses. We analyzed two sets of survey data gathered in northern Guam between 1976 and 1998 and reviewed unpublished sources to provide a comprehensive account of the impact of brown tree snakes on the island's birds. Our results indicate that 22 species, including 17 of 18 native species, were severely affected by snakes. Twelve species were likely extirpated as breeding residents on the main island, 8 others experienced declines of ≥90% throughout the island or at least in the north, and 2 were kept at reduced population levels during all or much of the study. Declines of ≥90% occurred rapidly, averaging just 8.9 years along three roadside survey routes combined and 1.6 years at a 100-ha forested study site. Declines in northern Guam were also relatively synchronous and occurred from about 1976 to 1986 for most species. The most important factor predisposing a species to coexistence with brown tree snakes was its ability to nest and roost at locations where snakes were uncommon. Large clutch size and large body size were also related to longer persistence times, although large body size appeared to delay, but not prevent, extirpation. Our results draw attention to the enormous detrimental impact that brown tree snakes are likely to have upon invading new areas. Increased containment efforts on Guam are needed to prevent further colonizations, but a variety of additional management efforts would also benefit the island's remaining bird populations.
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