VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
The use of vague language in law and adjudication

Vagueness in the language of the law leads to indeterminacies in some (not in all) of the requirements of the law. This thesis supports that 'indeterminacy claim', and explores its consequences for understanding law and adjudication. I elaborate the indeterminacy claim with a categorical claim that vagueness is ineliminable from law, and with a more tentative claim that indeterminacies in the application of vague language are not trivial or marginal. The indeterminacy claim is defended against legal theorists who argue that the law has other resources, besides the words that lawmakers use, which make it possible for judges to decide all cases consistently and according to law.
Philosophers of language and of logic have sought a theory of the application of vague words that would solve the 'sorites paradox'. Such a solution might contradict the indeterminacy claim, either by showing that there are no cases in which the application of vague language is indeterminate, or by providing a model of reasoning with vague language that supports the 'other resources' arguments of legal theorists.
I suggest reasons for resisting the urge to seek a solution, the chief being 'higher-order vagueness' and incommensurabilities in the application of many vague expressions. I propose a 'similarity model' of vagueness, in which a vague expression is viewed as applying to objects sufficiently similar to paradigms. The 'sufficiently' element in this model corresponds to a connection between the application of vague words and evaluative judgments. The 'paradigms' element is examined by assessing the role of paradigms in the theories of Herbert Hart and Ronald Dworkin.
On the basis of the indeterminacy claim, the thesis argues that courts frequently cannot decide cases by giving effect to the requirements of the law, and that they cannot always decide like cases alike. A concluding chapter addresses implications for the ideal of the rule of law. It might seem that the rule of law is necessarily unattainable, to the extent that the requirements of the law are indeterminate. I propose an understanding of the ideal that rejects that conclusion, and that identifies the resolution of unresolved disputes as an important, independent duty of judges.
Gender, power and the body : some figurations of femininity in Milton and seventeenth-century women's writing

This thesis deals with gender, the body and political power in the seventeenth century through readings of selected nonliterary texts set against readings of the writings of Milton and seventeenth-century women. Milton's poems and even his prose have most often been contextualized with reference to the higher reaches of literary history; here they are placed in more unfamiliar contexts: certain seventeenth-century women's writings, the emerging discourses of feminine conduct, and the discourses of 'news' produced in and around the Civil War. I show how both Milton and women writers struggle to come to terms with the implications of the new and powerful ideological formulations which result from the explosion of print culture which produces these texts.
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Risk, expertise and judicial review : scope of review and decision making under scientific uncertainty

Judicial review of risk regulation rule making in the United States has been a highly controversial area of administrative law. How a court should substantively review expert decision makers acting under scientific uncertainty is by no means clear. While there has been much criticism, few answers have been forthcoming, and the present approach taken by the courts has led to ossification of the rule making process.
While risk regulation may seem the product of late twentieth century America, courts in carrying out judicial review have been tackling the problems created by expertise and scientific uncertainty since at least the turn of the century. The courts' approach in applying such scope of review standards as the substantial evidence and arbitrary and capricious tests has been largely determined by their understanding of what is an expert administrative agency. Two models of administrative expertise can be identified - the deliberative and the rationalist. The rationalist expert agency is defined as an analytical fact finder which does not stray outside precise legislative boundaries. In contrast the deliberative expert agency is a complex problem solver in the public interest. It engages in deliberation informed by analysis to solve problems identified by Congress. Through an examination of the impact of these models on scope of review doctrine an appreciation can be gained of why judicial review is presently carried out the way it is and how it can be reformed.
In the early half of this century, scope of review doctrine was underpinned by the deliberative model. With the creation of the risk regulatory agencies in the early 1970s there was much confusion over both the role of these new agencies and how the courts should review their decisions. Due to a number of circumstances, both internal and external to risk regulation, judicial review was by 1980 underpinned by the rationalist paradigm. Influential factors included: growing distrust of public administration, hard look review, debates about administrative procedure, and legislative ambiguity.
It is argued that the rationalist model is at odds with the task of risk regulators and what is expected of them. It is the rationalist paradigm rather than judicial review per se which has led to the problems of ossification. The deliberative paradigm can and should be the basis for effective judicial review and this is illustrated with a mock judgement.
Women and law in Zimbabwe : access to justice on divorce

This thesis of approximately 98000 words is an empirically based study of the divorce process and women's experiences of the law. It begins by looking at the historical background of marriage and divorce through the different periods starting with colonization. It then looks at modern marriage and divorce. This is a sociological study of the types of relationships which people have and goes beyond the three state recognised marriages to look at other more informal unions and at the modes of dissolution thereof. It then discusses the research design and relates the study population to the general population before moving on to consider the reasons for the women's dissatisfaction in their relationships and the process of justifying or legitimating their discontent.
The helpseeking careers of the women are examined paying particular attention to the agents consulted and the advice that they received from the various agencies. A theory of disputing which sees the litigation process as being less orderly and more dynamic than that advanced in traditional literature on dispute processing is advanced. The thesis then moves on to look at the women's use of the formal legal system examining barriers to access, the use of lawyers as the agents of transformation of disputes from the informal into the formal sphere and also at the provision of legal aid. The various actions instituted are considered in greater detail as are the difficulties encountered in trying to enforce the judgements obtained in court. The final data based chapter is an examination of the women's post-divorce lives from an economic and social perspective.
Ultimately, it would seem that the problem may not be one of obtaining access to law, but rather of trying to obtain substantive satisfaction of the claim. Methods of enforcement and at state provision of assistance to lone parent families is considered in the light of constraints facing a developing country with limited resources.
The logic of adjudication : an analysis of the grounds for judicial assertion

In the process of adjudication, judges are required to assert propositions that answer the issues a particular case raises. To understand whether the judge is correct in his assertions, a theory is needed which would explain the grounds for asserting propositions within a judicial decision. This thesis presents such a theory: that of judicial pluralism. Pluralism claims that the basis for judicial assertion lies in individual conceptions of judicial role. One uses one's conception to construct a tiered prepositional schema^ whereby particular questions may be answered. The schema is conventional, in that one's conception of role is based on beliefs about what sources a particular society demands that a judge use in reaching a decision, rather than what sources he ought to use. However, an individual's beliefs and attitudes figure prominently, as the concept of role is one about which disagreement is likely to be great.
Pluralism is contrasted with three other theories. It attacks the skeptical position that assertion is subjective and a matter of personal belief, in part because that position fails to notice the conventional aspect of judicial role. It attacks the positivist position that claims that a master rule yielding a normative model can be found in legal systems, in part because that position fails to notice the disparity in positions among judges and observers due to varying propositional schemata. It attacks the position of Professor Dworkin, who claims that a theory of adjudication can always ensure a two-ordered truth value for any judicial question, in part because his position assumes agreement on concepts when such agreement is wanting.
Pluralism is used to address several issues concerning reasoning within the judicial decision. It is also applied to analyze problems within contracts and constitutional law, including a discussion of the political consequences such analysis suggests.
Transition magazine and the development and transmission of modernism

Our understanding of modern art draws a distinction between the Anglo-American and continental European traditions. These two traditions overlapped in the 1920s and 1930s with the publication of transition magazine, an expatriate American journal based in Paris. Its editor Eugene Jolas was an American raised in Europe who used his little magazine to bring to readers in the United States highlights of literary and other artistic innovations on both sides of the Atlantic. The general purpose of this thesis is to explore the role of transition in the development of modernism from the middle of the 1920s, with an emphasis on the important part played by the magazine in transmitting an international vision of modern art to its English-speaking audience. Chapter One provides a chronological history of transition, framing its story in the context of that which has been written about the perils of producing little magazines. Chapter Two outlines the aesthetic program by which transition came to be edited, exploring whether or not an emphasis on writing prejudiced the presentation of other art forms. Chapter Three examines the issues surrounding translation in transition, and the role of the translator in sharing modern writing across frontiers. Chapter Four explains the importance of James Joyce and Gertrude Stein in transition, outlining the ways in which the former was more appropriate to the program undertaken in the magazine. Chapter Five explores the apolitical foundation of transition, outlining the battles it fought against politically engaged writers between the world wars. Chapter Six assesses the influence of transition in America, tracing the way in which its reception mirrored the general reception of modern art in the United States. Chapter Seven explores the role of the little magazine in the historical writing of modernism, distinguishing between its conservative and avant-gardist impulses.
Savings behaviour and savings mobilization in developing countries : a comparative analysis of the Philippines and Thailand

This study analyzes the mobilization of domestic resources in the Philippines and Thailand, with special emphasis on the financial sector. The analysis consists of three parts. In the first part, the development of the level of savings in both countries is evaluated and alternative savings theories are examined. For households, the most important savings sector, the official national income accounts estimate is compared with a flow-of-funds estimate based on data compiled from a multitude of sources. The estimation of alternative savings functions reveals that income and income distribution are the main determinants of the level of savings, while interest rates, inflation, foreign capital inflow and financial intermediation have only a small impact overall.
In the second part of the study, the performance of the Philippine and Thai financial systems with respect to savings mobilization is evaluated. The six main financial instruments, that is, deposits, deposit substitutes, long-term debt securities, corporate shares, life insurance and employee benefit funds are analyzed with respect to accessibility, liquidity, yield, risk, product variation and information. It is argued that weaknesses in the financial systems and lack of attractive financial instruments are mainly due to ill-conceived government regulations and insufficient initiative on the part of the private financial institutions.
In the third part of the analysis, the structure of personal savings and the factors that influence it are studied. In order to explain the allocation of surplus funds among various financial instruments, the portfolio selection approach is applied. This is the first such attempt for developing economies. The results suggest that the framework of expected utility maximization in the form of mean-variance analysis is not adequate to explain fully the choice behaviour of individual investors in the Philippines and Thailand.
Stem cell research : a critical study of the thought of John Harris, Mary Warnock and H. Tristram Engelhardt in the light of Christian holistic anthropology

The primary concern in this thesis has been to examine the moral status of the embryo and whether it is morally justifiable to use embryos as research material. This has been the topic of a fervent debate in the area of bioethics for the last decade. Proponents of embryonic stem cell research proclaim the paramount importance of such research and they argue for the use of embryos in research, on the ground that they are not persons and hence, they do not have a moral worth. The opponents of embryonic stem cell research, on the other hand, insist that embryos are persons and have full moral value as a result of their humanity, therefore embryos should never be used as mere means. I believe the moral status of human embryos needs not be an 'all-or-nothing' issue. Although, embryos lack most, if not all, the characteristics of personhood, they still have something that can award to them a basic level of moral worth that is integral to their humanity.
This thesis argues for the intrinsic moral value of human embryos in virtue of their intrinsic nature. First, I look at the advances of biomedical research and all the possible future benefits of stem cell research. Then, in order to reveal the intrinsic nature of human embryos and consequently human beings, an anthropological theory that takes into account the complexity of human life is required. In search for such an anthropological account a critical appraisal of the thought of John Harris, Mary Warnock and H. Tristram Engelhardt is undertaken. In contrasting the thought of Harris and Warnock, difficulties arising from their understanding of human nature have been seen to be problematic, mainly their inability to distinguish between the terms 'full moral value' and 'intrinsic moral value'. In contrast, Engelhardt being a Christian theologian, proclaims the holistic anthropological theory that is to be found in the Christian traditions. However, he argues that such an anthropological theory is not tenable outside the Christian edifice. I show that contrary to Engelhardt's view, holism can be justified not only theologically but philosophically and scientifically. I suggest that holism better captures the fundamental nature of human beings and hence, can lead us to a more accurate assessment of the moral status of the human embryo. I conclude that the deliberate creation and destruction of human embryos is morally wrong, especially when other alternatives for the continuation of this type of research are widely available.
Signal processing in local sensor validation

Sensor integrity plays a crucial role in automatic control and system monitoring, both in achieving performance and guaranteeing safety. Conventional approaches in sensor failure detection demand precise process models and abundant central computing power. This thesis describes the development and the evaluation of a novel local sensor validation scheme which is independent of the underlying process and is applicable to a wide variety of sensors.
A signal-based in-situ sensor validation scheme is proposed. Typical sensor failures are classified according to their signal patterns. To avoid the ambiguity between genuine failures and legitimate measurand variations, a pair of decomposition filters are designed to partition the sensor output; and attention is focused on characteristics beyond the measurement signal bandwidth, which is the only essential process-related variable required. In addition, the application of decimating filters is explored, both as a relief to the analog anti-aliasing filter and as an enhancement in signal discretization. An expression is derived relating the oversampling rate and the attainable improvement in signal resolution.
Based on a period of failure-free observation, a whitening filter is identified by modelling the decomposed sensor signal as a stochastic time-series. Significant progress is achieved by a deliberate injection of bandlimited random noise to ensure signal stationarity and to avoid inadmissible leakage of measurement signal into the innovation sequence. The adopted failure detection strategy is primarily innovation-based. Pertinent sensor signal information is extracted recursively by a collection of efficient and robust signal processing algorithms. Its validity is continuously monitored by statistical tests on which a series of precursory failure alarms are formulated. Any aberration detected is then diagnosed under the supervision of a simple rule-based system.
The practicality, efficacy and flexibility of the proposed scheme are successfully demonstrated by a bench-top thermocouple experiment and extensive synthetic simulations.
A commentary on Rhesus 1-526, with an introduction

This thesis is in two parts. The introduction begins with an examination of the myths of Rhesus and Dolon which are independent of Iliad 10. It concludes that the author knew of these and adapted parts of them. The section on authenticity summarises those features of Rh. which have been regarded by scholars as incompatible with Euripidean authorship, as well as some evidence which has previously been ignored. It concludes that a combination of unusual features in Rh. point away from the play being an early work of E.
In particular, these are: a limited use of colloquialism; the absence of περί and the scarcity of άπό; the lameness of many of the repetitions; intertextual allusions to other tragic texts; enjambement between strophe and antistrophe at 350-351; the presence of two sets of separated strophes and antistrophes; the delivery of a lyric monody by the deus ex machina; a preference for shorter periods in anapaests than E.; the absence of a dramatic exposition; the unannounced symmetrical entries at 264; physical contact between actor and chorus at 681; the appearance of two dei ex machina; the realistic role of the chorus and the absence of any intellectual or emotional dimension. I believe that Rh. was written after the death of E. , but have found no evidence to suggest who wrote it. The introduction concludes with a brief survey of the textual sources.
The commentary is based on J. Diggle's text (1994), although some other readings or conjectures have been preferred. New conjectures have been introduced at 4-5 and 247. It is the first commentary written on lines 1-526 since that of W.H. Porter (19292) and follows the standard format except that the lyric schemata are examined in the introduction. The anapaestic opening is defended and a άπ. λεγ. is reported for the first time at 353 (ύδρειδης).
Impact damage tolerance of carbon fibre reinforced plastics

Carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) is a composite composed of very high strength and stiffness carbon fibres within a polymer matrix. Low mass and cost make CFRP attractive for aerospace applications. At present application of CFRP is limited by the poor residual strength and fatigue properties of the material following impact damage, and because of the limited understanding of the problem.
Damage to CFRP results in a combination of fibre fracture and matrix cracking. The strength of CFRP perpendicular to the fibre direction is relatively poor and so the material is generally used as a laminate of unidirectional plies of different fibre orientations. Laminates are particularly prone to delamination, this is matrix cracking which separates plies.
In this thesis techniques for measurement of damage type and severity in CFRP are evaluated. These are used to quantify the distribution of damage resulting from hard body impacts at high, low and quasi-static incident velocities. A composite material damage model in a dynamic finite element analysis computer program (DYNA 3D) was used to predict the experimentally measured impact damage. However the prediction was found to be insufficiently accurate for reliable use by designers. Recommendations are made for improvements in the numerical modelling of impact damage in CFRP.
Mechanical tests that provide data on the effect of impact damage on the residual strength of CFRP specimens are reported. These show that providing impact damage is limited to delamination, with little fibre fracture ocurring, the compressive residual strength will be more severely reduced than the tensile property. Strain gauge measurements show that this effect is caused by local compressive buckling of the delaminated plies in the impact damaged area. Lquivalent hole sizes, causing the same residual strengths as in the impact damaged specimens, are given.
Cyclic load tests were conducted providing stress-life data for impact damaged specimens of CFRP. The data fit a stress-life diagram divided into three scatter band regions: static fracture; cycle dependent damage growth; and infinite life. Qualitative and quantitative observations are given of the progression of damage in a fatigue after impact damage test. Strain gauge and force/extension measurements show the presence of creep and energy absorption in undamaged and impact damaged CFRP. Much of the observed behaviour may be explained by a viscoelastic model. Because of the presence of viscoelastic creep it is suggested that the fatigue mechanism must depend on interacting cycle dependent and time dependent mechanisms.