Conscience, discretion and the creation of property rights

This paper considers the utility of the concept of conscience or unconscionable conduct as a contemporary rationale for intervention in two principles applied where a person seeks to renege on an informal agreement relating to land: the principle in Rochefoucauld v Boustead; and transfers 'subject to' rights in favour of a claimant. By analysing the concept in light of our current understanding of the nature of judicial discretion and the use of general principles, it responds to arguments that unconscionability is too general a concept on which to base intervention. In doing so, it considers the nature of the discretion that is actually in issue when the court intervenes through conscience in these principles. However, the paper questions the use of constructive trusts as a response to unconscionability. It argues that there is a need, in limited circumstances, to separate the finding of unconscionability from the imposition of a constructive trust. In these limited circumstances, once unconscionability is found, the courts should have a discretion as to the remedy, modelled on that developed in the context of proprietary estoppel. The message underlying this paper is that many of the concerns expressed about unconscionability that have led to suggestions of alternative rationales for intervention can in fact be addressed whilst retaining an unconscionability analysis. Unconscionability remains a preferable rationale for intervention as it provides a common thread that links apparently separate principles and can assist our understanding of their scope.

The "value" of property rights in social security law

This article provides a critical examination of the way that property rules are applied judicially in the context of social security law concerned with the assessment of capital, and especially in connection with the determination of ownership and the valuation of assets, which can have a critical bearing on entitlement to various means-tested benefits.

Property rights as a public policy tool: an empirical analysis of the social and economic effects

Secure property rights are considered a key determinant of economic development. However, the evaluation of the causal effects of land titling is a difficult task. The Brazilian government through a program called "Papel Passado" has issued titles, since 2004, to over 85,000 families and has the goal to reach 750,000. Furthermore, another topic in Public Policy that is crucial to developing economies is income generation and child labor force participation. Particularly, in Brazil, about 5.4 million children and teenagers between 5 and 17 years old are still working. This thesis examines the direct impact of securing a property title on income and child labor force participation. In order to isolate the causal role of ownership security, this study uses a comparison between two close and very similar communities in the City of Osasco case (a town with 650,000 people in the São Paulo metropolitan area). One of them, Jardim Canaã, was fortunated to receive the titles in 2007, the other, Jardim DR, given fiscal constraints, only will be part of the program schedule in 2012, and for that reason became the control group. Also, this thesis also aims to test if there is any relationship between land title and happiness. The estimates suggest that titling results in a substantial decrease of child labor force participation, increase of income and happiness for the families that received the title compared to the others.

Epidemiological aspects of rheumatoid arthritis patients affected by oral bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaws

This literature review aims to evaluate the epidemiologic profile of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) that developed a bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis that affect the jaws (BRONJ), including demographic aspects, as well as clinical and therapeutic issues. A search of PUBMED/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Cochrane databases from January 2003 to September 2011 was conducted with the objective of identifying publications that contained case reports regarding oral BRONJ in RA patients. Patients with RA who develop oral BRONJ are usually women above 60 years taking steroids and long-term alendronate. Most of them have osteoporosis, and lesions, triggered by dental procedures, are usually detected at stage II in the mandible. Although there is no accepted treatment protocol, these patients seem to have better outcomes with conservative approaches that include antibiotic therapy, chlorhexidine, and drug discontinuation.

Neuroendocrine and reproductive aspects of adult male rats exposed neonatally to an antiestrogen

The present study was designed to investigate the effects of a single dose of an estrogen antagonist-clomiphene-during neonatal life, on later neuroendocrine system and reproductive performance. Immediately after birth, male pups received clomiphene citrate (s.c.). At adulthood, although testosterone levels and wet weights of reproductive organs were not altered, the treatment induced an increased number of spermatozoa and a delay in the transit time in the cauda epididymis. Additionally, there was impairment of sexual behavior evidenced by a delay in the latencies to the first mount and first intromission. Treated rats also showed decreased dopaminergic and serotonergic neurotransmissions in the hypothalamus and decreased dopaminergic neurotransmission in the striatum. The decreased dopaminergic activity could be related to the lower sexual motivation observed. These results indicate the necessity of preventing exposure to drugs that may impair sexual differentiation, which can compromise later mating success as well as the capacity to generate descendants. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Integrable aspects of the scaling q-state Potts models II: finite-size effects

We continue our discussion of the q-state Potts models for q less than or equal to 4, in the scaling regimes close to their critical and tricritical points. In a previous paper, the spectrum and full S-matrix of the models on an infinite line were elucidated; here, we consider finite-size behaviour. TBA equations are proposed for all cases related to phi(21) and phi(12) perturbations of unitary minimal models. These are subjected to a variety of checks in the ultraviolet and infrared limits, and compared with results from a recently-proposed non-linear integral equation. A non-linear integral equation is also used to study the flows from tricritical to critical models, over the full range of q. Our results should also be of relevance to the study of the off-critical dilute A models in regimes 1 and 2. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Inheritance of resistance to powdery mildew in pea and pathogenesis-related aspects

A herança da resistência ao oídio na cultivar de ervilha MK-10 e alguns aspectos histológicos da infecção foram estudados. Para o estudo da herança, as gerações F1, F2, retrocuzamentos e geração F3 de MK-10 com duas populações suscetíveis foram avaliadas. Nas avaliações histológicas observou-se a porcentagem de conídios germinados, porcentagem de conídios que formaram apressório, porcentagem de conídios que estabeleceram colônia e número de haustórios por colônia. Para comparar as razões de segregação obtidas no estudo da herança da resistência, adotou-se o teste do Qui-quadrado (X²) e para os dados das análises histológicas, utilizou-se o teste Tukey a 5% de probabilidade. Concluiu-se que a resistência de MK-10 ao oídio é devida a um par de alelos recessivos e que a resistência é expressa na fase de pré-penetração, completada por uma morte celular localizada pós-penetração, característica da presença do par de alelos recessivos er1er1.

Duration of Protopolybia exigua exigua (de Saussure) nests and related aspects as influenced by phorid fly infestation (vespidae, polistinae, epiponini)

The main characteristics of 55 nests of Protopolybia exigua exigua were periodically evaluated in Ribeirão Preto, southeastern Brazil. Although the queens' life-span can eventually reach one year, nests barely thrive for six months because most of them are periodically invaded by the scavenger phorid fly, Megaselia aff. picta. Under heavy infestation the adult wasp population partially closes the nest entrance, migrates and constructs a new nest in the neighborhood. Afterwards the old-nest's entrance can be completely closed by the wasps which results in blocking the parasitoid flies inside. In the tropics, predation by ants is considered the main selective pressure which shaped most of the bionomic characteristics of Polistinae wasps. It is suggested that Megaselia can easily overcome the usual wasps defensive tactics just because they are so specialized against ants. Aerial raids, fast erratic-jerking movements, rapid and efficient oviposition behavior, etc. can eventually turn Megaselia into a very important enemy of some social wasps.

Nutritional and social hierarchy establishment of the primitively eusocial wasp Mischocyttarus cassununga (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Mischocyttarini) and related aspects

The results on the nutritional influence in the social hierarchy establishment among females from six colonies of Mischocyttarus cassununga show that: - there was no caste determination in the pre-imaginal period concerning ingested food quantities, however, in relation to qualification (proteins and carbohydrate) the Mann-Whitney test applied showed variation among colonies: in two colonics (colony 3, p=0.0209; colony 4, p=0.0090) the larvae which ingested a higher quantity of solid food became adults of hierarchically higher position, however in two other colonies, colony 1 (p=0.6744) and colony 2 (p=0.3367) this difference was not statistically significant; in two experimentally manipulated colonies the caste determination was observed in the imaginal phase (it was verified that the larger the food quantity consumed, the higher the assumed hierarchical position by the individuals); - adult individuals of hierarchically higher position in two colonies ingested a greater amount of solid than liquid food (Mann-Whitney; p ≤ 0.05), however in the other three colonies there was no difference. It can be seen that for all colonies (2, 3, 4, 5 and 6) the high tendency to solid food ingestion occurs. In colony 1, this data was not collected because the observation purpose was different); - inside the colony hierarchy, the older individuals were the ones that occupied higher hierarchical positions; - more than one inseminated female per colony was found in the two experimentally manipulated colonies ; - ovarian development is greater in inseminated females; - the average height of the 3rd tergite was greater for inseminated females, indicating an adaptation to accommodate larger ovary development (t-Student test; p ≤ 0.05).

Latin American South-South integration and cooperation: from a regional public goods perspective

Includes bibliography