Obvious error in approach to default costs assessment

The decision of Henry J in Ginn & Anor v Ginn; ex parte Absolute Law Lawyers & Attorneys [2015] QSC 49 provides clarification of the approach to be taken on a default costs assessment under r708 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999

Credit Default Swaps and Insurance: Against the Potts Opinion

Little attention has been given to the possibility that CDS transactions might be construed as insurance contracts in English law. This article challenges the widespread “Potts opinion”, which states that CDSs are not insurance, because they do not require the protection buyer to sustain a loss or to have an insurable interest in the subject matter. CDSs often do provide protection against loss that the buyer is exposed to; loss indemnity is not a necessary characterisation of an insurance contract; insurable interest does not form part of the definition of insurance, but is an additional requirement of valid insurance; and what matters is the substance not the form of the contract. The situation in the US and Australia is also briefly considered.

Fiscal imbalances, inflation and sovereign default dynamics

Resumen: La cuestión central que este artículo busca responder es como la política monetaria puede afectar el comportamiento de equilibrio de primas por riesgo soberano y cesación de pagos. El artículo se basa en el modelo de “una-tasa-interés”. La deuda pública se hace riesgosa a causa de una política fiscal activa, como en Uribe (2006), reflejando la habilidad limitada de la autoridad fiscal para controlar el superávit primario. El problema de insolvencia es debido a una oleada de mala suerte (shocks negativos que afectan el superávit primario). Pero en contraste a los resultados de Uribe, a medida que aumenta el costo de la deuda soberana (que resulta de un excedente primario débil), la cesación de pagos se anticipa y es reflejada por una creciente prima de riesgo en el país y una probabilidad de cesación de pagos. La cesación de pagos se define como un incumplimiento de un acuerdo contractual y por ende la decisión es tomada por la autoridad fiscal. Mientras tanto, objetivos conflictivos entre la autoridad monetaria y fiscal juegan un rol importante en llevar a la autoridad fiscal a la cesación de pagos sobre sus pasivos. La característica de la política del gobierno necesaria para restaurar el equilibrio después de la cesación de pagos también es analizada.

Statement submitted by the United States of Brazil to the President of the United States of America as arbitrator : under the provisions of the treaty concluded september 7, 1889, between Brazil and the Argentine Republic

Exposição que os Estados Unidos do Brazil apresentam ao Presidente dos Estados Unidos da América como árbitro seguindo as estipulações no Tratado de 7 de setembro de 1889, concluído entre o Brazil e a Republica Argentina.

Can a change in the spawning pattern of Argentine hake (Merluccius hubbsi) affect its recruitment?

Argentine hake (Merluccius hubbsi) inhabit waters of the Southwest Atlantic Ocean between 22° and 55°S, at depths ranging from 50 to 500 m (Cousseau and Perrota, 1998). This species has historically been among the more abundant fish resources in the Argentine Sea, where its biomass has ranged between one and two million metric tons annually since 1986 (Aubone et al., 2000). In this area, there are two identified fishing stocks, limited by the 41°S parallel. The southern group (Patagonian stock) is the more important with an abundance of about 85% of the total biomass estimated for this species in 1999 (Aubone et al., 2000). During the late 1990s, the spawning biomass of both stocks and their recruitment indices declined drastically, both of which were attributed to an increase in exploitation (Aubone et al., 2000).

Early life history of the Argentine sandperch Pseudopercis semifasciata (Pinguipedidae) off northern Patagonia

The Argentine sandperch Pseudopercis semifasciata (Pinguipedidae) sustains an important commercial and recreational fishery in the northern Patagonian gulfs of Argentina. We describe the morphological features of larvae and posttransition juveniles of P. semifasciata and analyze the abundance and distribution of early life-history stages obtained from 19 research cruises conducted on the Argentine shelf between 1978 and 2001. Pseudopercis semifasciata larvae were distinguished from other larvae by the modal number of myomeres (between 36 and 38), their elongated body, the size of their gut, and by osteological features of the neuro- and branchiocranium. Pseudopercis semifasciata and Pinguipes brasilianus (the other sympatric species of pinguipedid fishes) posttransition juveniles were distinguished by their head shape, pigmentation pattern, and by the number of spines of the dorsal fin (five in P. semifasciata and seven in P. brasilianus). The abundance and distribution of P. semifasciata at early stages indicate the existence of at least three offshore reproductive grounds between 42−43°S, 43−44°S, and 44−45°S, and a delayed spawning pulse in the southern stocks.

Maternal effects on fecundity and egg quality of the Patagonian stock of Argentine Hake (Merluccius hubbsi)

The influences of age, size, and condition of spawning females on fecundity and oocyte quality were analyzed for the Patagonian stock of Argentine Hake (Merluccius hubbsi). Samples of mature females were collected in the spawning area as part of 2 research surveys conducted in January 2010 and 2011, during the peak of the reproductive season. Batch fecundity (BF) ranged between 40,500 (29 cm total length [TL]) and 2,550,000 (95 cm TL) hydrated oocytes, and was positively correlated with TL, gutted weight, age, hepatosomatic index (HSI), and the relative condition factor (Kn). Relative fecundity ranged between 85 and 1040 hydrated oocytes g–1 and showed significant positive relationships with gutted weight, HSI, and Kn; however, coefficients of determination were low for all regressions. Dry weights of samples of 100 hydrated oocytes ranged between 1.8 and 3.95 mg and were positively correlated with all variables analyzed, including batch and relative fecundity. Multiple regression models created with data of the morphophysiological characteristics of females supported maternal influences on fecundity and egg weights. Within the studied size range (29–95 cm TL), larger individuals had better somatic and egg condition, mainly revealed by higher HSI and hydrated oocytes with larger oil droplets (275.71μm [standard error 1.49]). These results were associated with the higher feeding activity of larger females during the spawning season in comparison with the feeding activity of young individuals (<5 years old); the better nutritional state of larger females, assumed to result from more feeding, was conducive to greater production of high-quality eggs.

Insula and striatum mediate the default bias.

Humans are creatures of routine and habit. When faced with situations in which a default option is available, people show a consistent tendency to stick with the default. Why this occurs is unclear. To elucidate its neural basis, we used a novel gambling task in conjunction with functional magnetic resonance imaging. Behavioral results revealed that participants were more likely to choose the default card and felt enhanced emotional responses to outcomes after making the decision to switch. We show that increased tendency to switch away from the default during the decision phase was associated with decreased activity in the anterior insula; activation in this same area in reaction to "switching away from the default and losing" was positively related with experienced frustration. In contrast, decisions to choose the default engaged the ventral striatum, the same reward area as seen in winning. Our findings highlight aversive processes in the insula as underlying the default bias and suggest that choosing the default may be rewarding in itself.

A logic for default reasoning

The need to make default assumptions is frequently encountered in reasoning about incompletely specified worlds. Inferences sanctioned by default are best viewed as beliefs which may well be modified or rejected by subsequent observations. It is this property which leads to the non-monotonicity of any logic of defaults. In this paper we propose a logic for default reasoning. We then specialize our treatment to a very large class of commonly occuring defaults. For this class we develop a complete proof theory and show how to interface it with a top down resolution theorem prover. Finally, we provide criteria under which the revision of derived beliefs must be effected.

Movimento vertical do herbicida hexazinone em latossolo vermelho distrófico do córrego Espraiado, Ribeirão Preto, SP, cultivado com cana-de-açúcar - simulações considerando dados local e default.

Este trabalho utilizou técnica de simulação computacional para analisar a movimentação vertical do herbicida hexazinone, considerando dados médios default de literatura e dados calculados para suas meia-vida no solo (t½) e coeficiente de adsorção ao carbono orgânico do solo (Koc) em Latossolo Vermelho Distrófico (LVd) do Córrego do Espraiado, Ribeirão Preto-SP. Informações sobre o solo avaliado, climáticas e os dados da cultura de cana-deaçúcar foram utilizadas no simulador CMLS-94. O cenário base de simulação considerou um período de um ano e quatro meses, apresentando data de corte da cultura no mês de agosto e a aplicação de hexazinone, um mês após o corte, na dose de 0,40 kg ha-1, a qual é encontrada em produto comercial utilizado no local. As seguintes profundidades e quantidades finais foram obtidas ao final do período simulado: a) cenário com dado ?default?: 1,89 m e 0,12 kg ha-1; b) cenário com dado local calculado: 2,78 m e 0,18 kg ha-1. Observou-se uma maior movimentação do produto para o cenário simulado com dados locais, principalmente a partir do 63o dia após a aplicação do produto, embora as concentrações tenham se mantido próximas, em ambos cenários. As profundidades alcançadas não comprometem o lençol em sua zona saturada (40m).

Default ARTMAP

The default ARTMAP algorithm and its parameter values specified here define a ready-to-use general-purpose neural network system for supervised learning and recognition.

Default ARTMAP 2

Default ARTMAP combines winner-take-all category node activation during training , distributed activation during testing, and a set of default parameter values that define a ready-to-use, general-purpose neural network system for supervised learning and recognition. Winner-take-all ARTMAP learning is designed so that each input would make a correct prediction if re-presented immediately after its training presentation, passing the "next-input test." Distributed activation has been shown to improve test set prediction on many examples, but an input that made a correct winner-take-all prediction during training could make a different prediction with distributed activation. Default ARTMAP 2 introduces a distributed next-input test during training. On a number of benchmarks, this additional feature of the default system increases accuracy without significantly decreasing code compression. This paper includes a self-contained default ARTMAP 2 algorithm for implementation.