“Under the Influence of Mahan”: Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt and their Understanding of American National Interest

This article explores links in the grand strategic outlook of Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt, with particular reference to the influence upon both men of Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan. It focuses upon an episode during Franklin Roosevelt's tenure as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, when he was in direct correspondence with both Theodore and Mahan on matters of grand strategy and naval policy. The paper argues that Theodore Roosevelt proved a crucial conduit in the formulation of Franklin Roosevelt's grand strategic outlook, both through his promulgation of Mahanian thought and his support of Franklin's correspondence with the Admiral. This in turn would be important later during Franklin Roosevelt's leadership of the United States.     

On claims of culture and duties of recognition in democratic states

One important way in which individuals and groups express their ideas and principles, and present their proposals and demands, is in the language of identity or difference. They argue that what they value and what they deserve are related to their distinctive identities. Working within the framework of a political theory of recognition, I argue in this article that particular cultural communities may have reasonable expectations that their distinctive identities receive public recognition, and that others may therefore have good reasons to give those identities such recognition. To be specific, I contend that there are distinct and complementary ways in which the state and its citizens should respond to identity-related demands for public recognition. Using terms introduced by Axel Honneth, I argue that the state should give ‘public attention’ to some cultural communities, and that citizens should show one another ‘well-meaning attention’. I conclude that both these forms of attention can be justified by reference to a new, fourth principle of recognition, so long as this is understood as a principle of political inclusion rather than one of cultural recognition.     

The Scope of Conversion: Property and Contract

The article asks whether the tort of conversion should be expanded so as to protect contractual rights. The suggestion, found in recent case law and academic texts, that conversion should protect contractual rights because such rights belong to the law of property is rejected. It is argued that this approach is purely semantic and ignores the fact that contractual rights have different characteristics to other kinds of rights that we typically class as ‘property rights’. The better approach, it is argued, is to ask whether it is actually possible to protect contractual rights through the tort of conversion. The article attempts to show that the absence of certain features from contractual rights, in particular the fact that such rights do not relate to a physical object and are not exigible against the world, makes the expansion of conversion extremely difficult.     

Differentiation of epithelial cell types by cell diameter

Genital swabs play an important role in cases of alleged sexual assault. The aim of our study was to see if epithelial cells from the vagina, glans penis, or mouth could be distinguished on the basis of size. Vaginal swabs were taken from 12 women in different phases of their menstrual cycles; penile swabs were taken from 5 men, and mouth swabs were taken from 6 men and 6 women. For each swab, a sample was smeared across a microscope slide and allowed to dry. The dried epithelial samples were then viewed without any further processing with a "SteReoLumar.V12" stereo microscope. The microscope slide surfaces were divided into grids and all single epithelial cells whose contours could be clearly distinguished were photographed. The maximum diameter for each photographed cell was digitally determined using the Axiovision software. In total, 995 vaginal epithelial cells, 211 penile epithelial cells, 329 male oral epithelial cells, and 525 female oral epithelial cells were measured. Menstrual cycle phase did not affect vaginal epithelial cell diameter. The mean vaginal epithelial cell diameter was 63.95 microm (min. = 28.08 microm, max. = 108.06 microm, s = 11.50 microm). The mean penile epithelial cell diameter was 39.24 microm (min. = 28.38 microm, max. = 51.02 microm, s = 4.84 microm). The diameter of oral epithelial cells hardly differed for both sexes, although the female cells were, on the whole, slightly larger. On the basis of these results, it is not possible to conclude that epithelial cells of less than a certain diameter found in the assessment of a vaginal swab must be of penile origin. It is also not possible to usefully distinguish vaginal epithelial cells from male or female oral epithelial cells on the basis of the diameter. However, finding epithelial cells with a diameter distinctly greater than 50 microm in a penile swab sample suggests the presence of vaginal or oral epithelial cells. Epithelial cells examined with the presented method can be used without restrictions for further examinations, such as single-cell DNA analysis after single-cell picking with the micromanipulator developed by Aura Optik (Jena).     

The economics of emergency response

Federal first responder funding is estimated to be $98 billion below the minimum required level over the 5 years ending in 2010. A significant portion of that shortfall can be covered by savings attained by eliminating non-public-good services, initiating public–private partnerships for meeting peak time demand in emergency situations, and contracting-out other public services. We concentrate on such savings in the context of response to false calls to police, fire, and ambulance services. Solving the false alarm problem for police, fire, and ambulance services and eliminating some non-public-good police services could release significant service-hours and 23.7–31.4% of the required additional Homeland Security (HLS) annual spending. Reducing false alarms means 88,000 police, fire, and ambulance first responders could be shifted to HLS activities.

Estimation of stature from static and dynamic footprints

The ability to estimate accurately from known parameters is a fundamental aspect of science and is evident as an emerging approach in the area of footprints and stature estimation within the field of forensic identification. There are numerous foot dimensions that have been measured in the literature to predict stature with varying degrees of confidence but few studies have tried to link the strength of estimation to anatomical landmarks. Such an approach is utilised in this study which estimates stature from the right footprints of sixty one adult male and female UK participants. Static and dynamic footprints were taken from each volunteer using the 'inkless paper system'. The prints were digitised and twelve length, width and angle measurements were chosen for the analysis. The highest correlations with stature were shown to be the heel to fourth toe print for the static group of footprints (r=0.786, p<0.01), and the heel to fifth toe print in the dynamic footprints (r=0.858, p<0.01). Collinearity statistics suggest the heel to fifth toe print length measurement is independent and not influenced by any other variables in the estimation of stature for the dynamic prints. Linear regression equations for this measurement presented the smallest standard error of estimate (SEE) and highest shared variance (R(2)) of all included variables (SEE 4.16, R(2) 0.74). Our study discusses a potential anatomical explanation as to why the lateral border of the foot and hence the impression it makes upon a hard surface, is a more stable indicator in the estimation of stature. The investigation recommends the use of Calc_A4 and Calc_A5 length measurements when estimating stature from footprint impressions.     

Die Ausgaben der Schweizer Kantone ‐ Eine Fuzzy Set QCA

The paper investigates the factors influencing the 26 Swiss Cantons' government expenditures. While the question has been subject to various statistical analyses, the present study has an alternative focus by adopting a configurative perspective. We take the findings of the 2002‐study by Vatter and Freitag, as our point of departure and re‐analyse their significant variables with regard to their combined impact using updated data from 2000 to 2006 and employing Fuzzy Set QCA. The results underline the important effect of monetary transfers from the federation thus corroborating the Flypaper Effect thesis from Economic Theory.