Rational Habit Formation: Experimental Evidence from Handwashing in India

We test the predictions of the rational addiction model, reconceptualized as rational habit formation, in the context of handwashing in rural India. To track handwashing, we design soap dispensers with timed sensors. We test for rational habit formation by informing some households about a future change in the returns to daily handwashing. Monitoring and incentives raise handwashing contemporaneously, and effects persist well after they end. In addition, people are rational about this habit formation: when they anticipate future monitoring, they increase their current handwashing. Average child weight and height increase for all study arms given soap dispensers. (JEL D12, D83, D91, I12, I18, J13, O12)

‘PERICULUM VERBUM GENERALE EST’: RISK ALLOCATION IN THE COMMENTARIES OF JACQUES CUJAS

Jacques Cujas was a French humanist and one of the most distinguished 16th-century legal experts. This paper analyses the rules governing liability and the meaning of periculum (risk) in his commentaries to Roman law. My study is focused on two examples which offer surprising interpretations of risk. The first case concerns a person who lost an object given for valuation. Here Cujas uses the term periculum in two different meanings. The first is general and covers all types of irresistible events. The second is limited to only one type of event – theft. This distinction is fundamental for the evaluation of the legal consequences arising from the loss of the object. Te inspector would have had to bear the risk of theft (periculum furti), but not other risks, especially not those related to force majeure. The second case I discuss deals with the complexities of risk allocation in the contract of sale. In one of his earlier commentaries, Cujas accepted the Roman legal principle of periculum emptoris – that the risk of the loss of the object sold should be on the buyer. At the same time, in his discussion of particular cases Cujas was flexible in allocating various risks to either of the parties, thus paving the way for his future change of mind on periculum venditoris.

Chemical compounds and antioxidant activity of Antarctic lichens

We assessed the content of some major and trace elements and lichen compounds as well as antioxidant activity in eight lichen species representing four families collected in areas > 1 km distant from Bellingshausen (King George Island) and > 1 km distant from Molodezhnaya (Thala Hills, Enderby Land) research stations. Content levels of Cu, Pb, Cd, Zn and As in Physcia caesia, Physconia muscigena, Umbilicaria aprina, Umbilicaria decussata and Usnea aurantiaco-atra thalli were similar to or lower than previously reported for these species in the Maritime and Continental Antarctic, as well as from reference sites. The first data on the contents of 15 elements in Ramalina terebrata and Thamnolecania brialmontii thalli from the Maritime Antarctic are reported. Our analyses confirmed the presence of the main photosynthetic pigments in the species examined (chlorophyll a and b, phaeophytin a and b, neoxanthin, violaxanthin, lutein and β-carotene). We identified protolichesterinic acid in T. brialmontii thalli for the first time. Antioxidant activity varied from 190 μg/g dry weight (U. decussata) to 14,740 μg/g dry weight (T. brialmontii). The data obtained complement previous research while also providing new baseline data that will have utility in monitoring and identifying future change.

Research Methodology for Selection of Optimum Plant Layout

This paper proposes an efficient and flexible research methodology for selection of plant layout for optimum utilization of resources and deal with future change. It consists of two steps, one for generating the layout alterative and other for selecting the optimum layout, generation of layout with the help of SLP (Systematic Layout Planning) and selection of optimum layout by using MCDM tools and technique by considering weight of each criteria. this research framework consists of define the problem, data collection, generation of alternative, selection of criteria & criteria score, MCDM tools & technique and selection & maintain. this methodology allows flexibility to be incorporated into the design of a new plant layout or provide improvement in exiting one.

Robustness of future atmospheric circulation changes over the EURO-CORDEX domain

European climate is associated with variability and changes in the mid-latitude atmospheric circulation. In this study, we aim to investigate potential future change in circulation over Europe by using the EURO-CORDEX regional climate projections at 0.11° grid mesh. In particular, we analyze future change in 500-hPa geopotential height (Gph), 500-hPa wind speed and mean sea level pressure (MSLP) addressing different warming levels of 1 °C, 2 °C and 3 °C, respectively. Simple scaling with the global mean temperature change is applied to the regional climate projections for monthly mean 500-hPa Gph and 500-hPa wind speed. Results from the ensemble mean of individual models show a robust increase in 500-hPa Gph and MSLP in winter over Mediterranean and Central Europe, indicating an intensification of anticyclonic circulation. This circulation change emerges robustly in most simulations within the coming decade. There are also enhanced westerlies which transport warm and moist air to the Mediterranean and Central Europe in winter and spring. It is also clear that, models showing different responses to circulation depend very much on the global climate model ensemble member in which they are nested. For all seasons, particularly autumn, the ensemble mean is much more correlated with the end of the century than most of the individual models. In general, the emergence of a scaled pattern appears rather quickly.

THE METHODOLOGICAL STRUCTURE FOR LEGAL RESEARCH: A PERSPECTIVE FROM THE MALAYSIAN LAND LAW AND ISLAMIC LAW

A legal research shall be secured with the idea to facilitate a future change; either in the law itself or in the manner of its administration from the production of ‘pure’ academic knowledge which is concerned legal doctrines. Therefore, this paper purpose is to propose a methodological structure for legal research within perspective Malaysian Land Law and Islamic Law to establish a regulation or amendment in the existing foundation. This paper adopts method of content analysis to understanding on the underlying reasons through expert opinions on the legal issues. The finding of this research revealed that a legal methodological framework is easily simplified in form of system theory approach. This type of methodological structure is common amongst the legal researchers, lawyers and legal scholars who embrace Pure and Applied Legal Research. The methodological structure for legal research in form of system theory shall make a better regulation proposal in the perspective of Malaysian Land Law and Islamic Law. By adopt this methodological structure; researchers shall propose new regulation or amendments as legal researchers, lawyers and legal scholars.

How emerging trends in historiography expose the Canadian Army’s past discriminatory practices and provide hope for future change

This “lessons learned” article examines how emerging trends over time in the historiography of the Canadian Army have challenged and continue to challenge the white Anglophone masculine heterosexual culture which is especially associated with its combat units. This study began as an examination of the intersection between the historiography and the current priorities for sufficient female participation in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) which are intended to improve past abusive patriarchal practices and create effective and safe international interventions. Gender and sexual abuses were the initial foci, but the historiography revealed the interconnectedness of widespread discriminations against all “others”—defined here as anyone with a different gender, sexuality, race, language, religion, or culture. The article opens with a brief summary of evolving feminist ideas about security forces in general. It then delves into the historiographical trends which have demonstrated how systemic discriminations have privileged white Anglo men in combat roles while underplaying their contributions and the contributions of “others” in support roles in the Canadian Army over time. The key lesson learned from this work is that gender balance alone is not enough to address the profound cultural issues which plague the Canadian Army.

Cultural Differences in Susceptibility to the End of History Illusion

The End of History Illusion (EoHI) is the tendency to report that a greater amount of change occurred in the past than is predicted to occur in the future. We investigated if cultural differences exist in the magnitude of the EoHI for self-reported life satisfaction and personality traits. We found an effect of culture such that the difference between reported past and predicted future change was greater for U.S. Americans than Japanese, and that individual differences in two aspects of the self (self-esteem and self-concept clarity) mediated the link between culture and the magnitude of the EoHI. We also found a robust cultural difference in perceptions of past change; U.S. Americans tended to think about the past more negatively than their Japanese counterparts. These findings yield new insight onto the link between cultural context and the way people remember the past and imagine the future.