bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The morbidly adherent placenta: an overview of management options
Authors: Doumouchtsis Stergios K. , Arulkumaran Sabaratnam
Published: August 2010

Morbidly adherent placenta is often associated with severe maternal morbidity. An increased incidence over the recent years may be secondary to the increased cesarean section rates. Identification of patients with risk factors antenatally is essential for the early diagnosis and management. Diagnosis can be achieved by ultrasound or MRI in the majority of cases. Management aims to ensure a safe delivery of the fetus, alongside measures of prevention or effective management of postpartum hemorrhage. When a hysterectomy is performed, a multidisciplinary team with surgical expertise and facilities for transfusion and further interventions including arterial ligation and interventional radiology should be available. The options for conservative treatments offer the potential to preserve fertility but further research with prospective evaluation of the different approaches is necessary.
Biology of pregnancy‐associated plasma protein‐A in relation to prenatal diagnostics: an overview
Authors: Kirkegaard Ida , Uldbjerg Niels , Oxvig Claus
Published: August 2010

Pregnancy‐associated plasma protein‐A (PAPP‐A) is highly efficient as a serum marker in first‐trimester screening for chromosomal abnormalities. Furthermore, there is increasing evidence that low levels of PAPP‐A in the first trimester are associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes such as preterm delivery, intrauterine growth retardation, preeclampsia, and stillbirth. PAPP‐A is a glycoprotein, produced in the placenta, and it is present in the maternal circulation in increasing concentrations during pregnancy. By means of its proteolytic activity, PAPP‐A functions as a regulatory protein in the insulin‐like growth factor system, known to be important for placental formation and regulation of fetal growth. This overview describes aspects of biochemistry, synthesis, and biological functions of PAPP‐A, with a focus on information of importance to clinicians. The clinical applications of PAPP‐A are summarized, and new insights regarding the analyses of PAPP‐A discussed.
Phase-contrast X-ray imaging of breast
Authors: Keyriläinen Jani , Bravin Alberto , Fernández Manuel , Tenhunen Mikko , Virkkunen Pekka , Suortti Pekka
Published: August 2010

When an X-ray wave traverses an object, its amplitude and phase change, resulting in attenuation, interference, and refraction, and in phase-contrast X-ray imaging (PCI) these are converted to intensity changes. The relative change of the X-ray phase per unit path length is even orders of magnitude larger than that of the X-ray amplitude, so that the image contrast based on variation of the X-ray phase is potentially much stronger than the contrast based on X-ray amplitude (absorption contrast). An important medical application of PCI methods is soft-tissue imaging, where the absorption contrast is inherently weak. It is shown by in vitro examples that signs of malignant human breast tumor are enhanced in PCI images. Owing to the strong contrast, the radiation dose can be greatly reduced, so that a high-resolution phase-contrast X-ray tomography of the breast is possible with about 1 mGy mean glandular dose. Scattered radiation carries essential information on the atomic and molecular structure of the object, and particularly small-angle X-ray scattering can be used to trace cancer. The imaging methods developed at the synchrotron radiation facilities will become available in the clinical environment with the ongoing development of compact radiation sources, which produce intense X-ray beams of sufficient coherence. Several developments that are under way are described here.
Predicting cardiotoxicity propensity of the novel iodinated contrast medium GE-145: Ventricular fibrillation during left coronary arteriography in pigs
Authors: Chai Chun-Ming , Rasmussen Henrik , Eriksen Morten , Hvoslef Anne-Marie , Evans Paul , Newton Ben B. , Videm Signe
Published: August 2010

Background: Severe side effects caused by iodinated radiographic contrast media (CM) are rare, but can occur in high risk patients and during percutaneous coronary intervention. To minimize this risk a new nonionic CM with low inherent osmolality has been designed, giving room for a relatively high concentration of favorable electrolytes in the isotonic formulation.

Purpose: To test a new radiographic CM (GE-145) in a pig model of cardiotoxicity by comparing its ventricular fibrillation (VF) propensity and hemodynamic effects to that of iodixanol.

Material and Methods: Test agents were injected into the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) of pigs through an inflated balloon catheter (injection volume 25 ml, injection rate 0.4 ml/s, maximum injection time 62.5 s). Series 1: GE-145 (338 mg I/ml) + 45 mM NaCl and iodixanol (321 mg I/ml) + 19 mM NaCl were injected in five pigs. Series 2: GE-145 (320 mg I/ml) + 45 mM NaCl + 0.1, 0.3, or 0.7 mM CaCl2 and iodixanol (320 mg I/ml) + 19 mM NaCl + 0.3 mM CaCl2 (Visipaque) were injected in six pigs.

Results: Iodixanol + NaCl caused VF in 6 of 13 injections (46%) after 60.3±7.5 s (mean ± SD). GE-145 + NaCl did not cause any VF in 13 injections (0%) ( P<0.05). Iodixanol + 19 mM NaCl + 0.3 mM CaCl2 caused VF in 9 of 9 injections (100%) after 61±4 s. GE-145 + 45 mM NaCl + 0.1, 0.3, or 0.7 mM CaCl2 did not cause any VF during or after 9 injections of each agent (0%) ( P<0.05). The least hemodynamic effects were seen with GE-145 + 45 mM NaCl + 0.7 mM CaCl2.

Conclusion: In this model of direct administration of CM into the LAD of anesthetized pigs, the tested GE-145 formulations had a significantly lower propensity to induce VF than iodixanol with electrolytes. Favorable hemodynamic properties of GE-145 can be achieved by optimizing concentrations of sodium and calcium.
Performance of Recycled Hot-Mix Asphalt Overlays in Rehabilitation of Flexible Pavements
Authors: Carvalho Regis L. , Shirazi Hamid , Ayres Manuel , Selezneva Olga
Published: September 2010

The most frequent application of recycling materials in pavements is the reuse of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) to produce recycled hot-mix asphalt (HMA). When designed properly, RAP mixes have demonstrated quality comparable to virgin HMAs in laboratory tests. Despite all the information available about the quality of RAP mixes, obstacles still promote their more frequent use in pavement engineering. Short- and long-term field performance of RAP mixes was investigated compared with virgin HMA overlays used in flexible pavements. Data from the 18 Specific Pavement Studies-5 (SPS-5) sites from the Long-Term Pavement Performance program located across the United States and Canada were used. Performance data were collected during periods ranging from 8 to 17 years. Repeated measures analysis of variance was the statistical analysis tool chosen, pairing distress measurements with survey dates to compare performance and response. The results suggest that in the majority of scenarios RAP mixes have performance statistically equivalent to virgin HMA mixes. The statistical equivalency of deflections suggests that RAP overlays can provide structural improvement equivalent to virgin HMA overlays.
Network-Level Pavement Roughness Prediction Model for Rehabilitation Recommendations
Authors: Kargah-Ostadi Nima , Stoffels Shelley M. , Tabatabaee Nader
Published: September 2010

Pavement performance models are key components of any pavement management system (PMS). These models are used in a network-level PMS to predict future performance of a pavement section and identify the maintenance and rehabilitation needs. They are also used to estimate the network conditions after the application of various maintenance and rehabilitation alternatives and to determine the relative cost effectiveness of each maintenance and rehabilitation alternative. Change in pavement surface roughness over time is one of the most important performance indicators in this regard. A model for changes in the international roughness index (IRI) over time was developed through artificial neural networks (ANNs) pattern recognition, using information from the Specific Pavement Study (SPS)-5 asphalt concrete rehabilitation experiment extracted from FHWA's Long-Term Pavement Performance database. This model can be used to predict and compare pavement roughness variation trends after various rehabilitation alternatives. An example illustrates the implementation of the roughness model along with life-cycle cost analysis in making future pavement rehabilitation recommendations. Model testing results indicate prediction of IRI with minimal errors, and predicted future roughness trends match perfectly with the past performance. These findings indicate that the ANN model performs successfully in predicting IRI trends following each kind of treatment in the SPS-5 experiment. The ANN model was developed for the SPS-5 flexible pavement rehabilitation sections in a wet–freeze climate and may be applied for similar conditions. The example also shows that the detailed model development and implementation framework provided in this study can assist in network-level PMS decision making.
Spatial Econometrics Approach to Integration of Behavioral Biases in Travel Demand Analysis
Authors: Smirnov Oleg A.
Published: September 2010

Random utility models customarily assume strict independence of individual decision makers. Evidence of crowding, peer pressure, herd behavior, and other instances of spontaneous discrete choice coordination indicates that decision makers interact and thus affect choices made by others. Socially influenced individual choices become biased toward either agreeing with or contradicting the choices made by peers. Because many social interdependencies are spatial, a basic spatial discrete choice model was obtained by extending random utility theory to discrete choices made by heterogeneous spatially dependent individuals. Although interdependencies are unobserved, the model permits the study of behavioral biases arising from spatial interdependencies. The spatial discrete choice model is shown to address the effects of behavioral biases on conditional choice probabilities, the marginal effects of exogenous variables on revealed preferences, and the spatial patterns of discrete choices. A pseudo maximum likelihood (PML) estimator for the model is developed, and closed-form expressions for conditional choice probability estimates are derived. The PML estimator is shown to be consistent and computationally feasible for large spatial data sets. Simulated data were used to illustrate the performance of the PML estimator for the spatial discrete choice model.
Empirical Case Study of Spatial–Temporal Student Activity Population
Authors: Eom Jin Ki , Stone John R. , Kang Kyungwoo
Published: September 2010

The spatial–temporal activity–presence approach is used to estimate and validate hourly activity populations for individual buildings. A case study modeled the spatial–temporal activity of students at North Carolina State University. For the validation of results, student registration records provide observations of class schedules and locations for dynamic, time-varying class or study activity populations at individual buildings. Results show that the spatial–temporal activity–presence approach provides reliable estimates. This empirical case study should improve acceptance of the spatial–temporal activity procedure for activity distribution and demonstrate its value for other planning applications.
Changes in Travel Behavior in Response to Weather Conditions
Authors: Cools Mario , Moons Elke , Creemers Lieve , Wets Geert
Published: September 2010

Weather can influence travel demand, traffic flow, and traffic safety. A hypothesis—the type of weather determined the likelihood of a change in travel behavior, and changes in travel behavior because of weather conditions depended on trip purpose—was assayed. A stated adaptation study was conducted in Flanders (the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium). A survey, completed by 586 respondents, was administered both on the Internet and as a traditional paper-and-pencil questionnaire. To ensure optimal correspondence between the survey sample composition and the Flemish population, observations in the sample were weighted. To test the main hypotheses, Pearson chi-square independence tests were performed. Results from both the descriptive analysis and the independence tests confirm that the type of weather matters and that changes in travel behavior in response to these weather conditions are highly dependent on trip purpose. This dependence of behavioral adjustments on trip purpose provides policy makers with a deeper understanding of how weather conditions affect traffic. Further generalizations of the findings are possible by shifting the scope toward revealed travel behavior. Triangulation of both stated and revealed travel behavior on the one hand and traffic intensities on the other hand is a key challenge for further research.
Assessing the Impact of Public Holidays on Travel Time Expenditure
Authors: Cools Mario , Moons Elke , Wets Geert
Published: September 2010

The impact of public holidays on the underlying reasons for travel behavior, namely, the activities people perform and the trips made, is seldom investigated. Therefore, the effect of holidays on travel time expenditure in Flanders, differentiated by trip motive, is examined. The data used for the analysis stem from a household travel survey carried out in 2000. The zero-inflated Poisson regression approach is used; it explicitly takes into account the inherent contrast between travelers and nontravelers. The zero-inflated Poisson regression models yield findings that are harmonious with international literature: sociodemographic variables, temporal effects, and transportation preferences contribute significantly to unraveling the variability of travel behavior. In particular, it is shown that the effect of public holidays on daily travel behavior cannot be ignored. Triangulation of quantitative and qualitative techniques is a solid basis for insight into the underpinnings of travel behavior.
Scobit-Based Panel Analysis of Multitasking Behavior of Public Transport Users
Authors: Zhang Junyi , Timmermans Harry
Published: September 2010

With a focus on the multitasking behavior of public transportation users during travel, an examination is made of factors affecting activity participation along the axis of travel time. The probability of participation in an activity is represented by using a scobit (or a skewed logit) model, within which the widely used logit model is nested with the help of a skewness parameter. With this skewness parameter, it is not necessary to assume that individuals with a probability of 0.5 for performing an activity are most sensitive to changes in travel time or other influential factors. This analysis is the first attempt to apply the scobit model to transportation issues. An empirical analysis was conducted by using data (523 individuals) collected in Hiroshima City, Japan, in December 2008. Because multitasking behavior along the axis of travel time may be interrelated, the scobit model is extended to simultaneously incorporate the influences of state dependency and the remaining travel time as well as the other influential factors, by dealing with the data as panel data. As a result, a scobit-based panel model was developed. Model estimation results confirm the effectiveness of the scobit model. It was further revealed that introduction of a heterogeneous skewness parameter is more effective for representing activity participation than assumption of a homogeneous skewness parameter. Calculation results of travel time elasticity show that activity participation is sensitive to change in the travel time up to the first half of travel time and becomes less sensitive to travel time afterward.
Influence of E-Shopping on Shopping Travel
Authors: Cao Xinyu , Douma Frank , Cleaveland Fay
Published: September 2010

Research was done to reveal the travel impact of e-shopping in the Minneapolis–St. Paul (Twin Cities) metropolitan area of Minnesota. A sample of Internet users drawn from urban, suburban, and exurban neighborhoods was used to identify the relationship between e-shopping and in-store shopping. An online survey composed of direct and attitudinal questions was used to obtain the data. Ordered probit models were developed to account for the influences of a variety of confounding factors, such as shopping attitudes, shopping accessibility, shopping responsibility, and sociodemographics. The preliminary results, controlled for the confounding factors, show that e-shopping behavior (for online searching and online buying) tends to have a complementarity effect on in-store shopping.
Remedies for Breach of Contract: The Future Development of Scots Law in its European and International Context
Authors: MacQueen Hector L
Published: August 2010

This paper,first presented on 21 October 1995 at ajoint seminar ofthe Scottish Law Commission and the Faculty of Law, University of Edinburgh, on the subject of breach of contract, considers the future development of the law in this area, first by considering its history and current state in comparative terms and drawing the conclusion that it is characterised by a mixture of Civilian and Common Law elements; second, by comparing Scots law with the provisions on breach contained in recently published proposals for a harmonised law of contract (the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts, the Principles of European Contract Law prepared by the Lando Commission, and the draft “code”for the United Kingdom prepared on behalf of the English Law Commission by Harvey McGregor in the late 1960s) and in international conventions on the sale of goods. Although Scots law emerges reasonably wellfrom this exercise, there are a number of points to be taken on board in any future reform, as well as some insights into important underlying principles.
Constructive Trusts: I
Authors: Gretton George L
Published: August 2010

This paper was delivered in Edinburgh on 19 October 1996, at a conference on constructive trusts sponsored by the Scottish Law Commission, the University of Strathclyde and the University of Edinburgh. The first part, which appears below, deals with the nature of the constructive trust, and raises the question of whether it in fact exists in Scots law, and, if it does, to what extent and to what effect. The view arrived at is that it does exist, though only at the margin. It is argued that the doctrine is an unhelpful one and can be productive of injustice. In the second part, which will appear in the next issue, possibilities for law reform are examined.
Constructive Trusts: II
Authors: Gretton George L
Published: August 2010

The first part of this article, which appeared in the May issue, considered whether Scots law has the constructive trust, and concluded that it does, but only to a very limited degree. It was also suggested that the doctrine is an unsatisfactory one. This part looks at options for law reform.
Curses, Oaths, Ordeals and Trials of Animals
Authors: Watson Alan
Published: August 2010

To the outsider, a foreign legal system may at times appear irrational, with a belief in the efficacy, usually with supernatural assistance, of curses, oaths and ordeals, and that animals may properly be punished, even restrained from anti-human behaviour, after a criminal trial. But caution must be exercised. There may be little real belief that the deity will intervene—for instance, that the ordeal will reveal guilt or innocence. Rather, the society may be faced with an intolerable problem, with no reasonable solution, and the participants may resort to extraordinary legal measures as a “Last Best Chance”, or “The Second Best”. Something has to be done, even if nothing satisfactory can be done. This dodge reveals itself by its use being restricted to a few situations. Thus in ancient Hebrew law ritual legal cursing is not used as a punishment, and in fact is found only where a husband accuses his wife of adultery but has not the very strict evidence required by law. The medieval ordeal was normally used only for serious offences and where there was considerable evidence against the accused. The main purpose of “The Last Best Chance” is to produce a result but, paradoxically perhaps, it serves to preserve the integrity of the system.
The Uses and Abuses of Constructive Trusts: The Experience of England and Wales
Authors: Harpum Charles
Published: August 2010

This paper, which was first given on 19 October 1996 at a seminar on constructive trusts organised by the Universities of Edinburgh and Strathclyde with the Scottish Law Commission, examines the role that constructive trusts play in English law. It explains the amorphous nature of such trusts, how they are rooted in concepts of equity and conscience, and how they are often imposed in accordance with equity's traditional grounds for intervention. The central thesis of the paper is that a constructive trust, when imposed, will cause the trustee to become subject to one or more fiduciary obligations or incidents. One situation in which this is not the case— where a constructive trust is employed to impose an encumbrance on a transferee of property—is criticised. There is also a critique of the recourse to equitable maxims as a reason for the imposition of constructive trusts. The paper concludes with some reflections on the likely path of development of constructive trusts in English law and whether they ought to be more widely received into Scots law.
Law-Making in Scotland: From APS to ASP
Authors: Clive Eric
Published: August 2010

This article is the revised text of the fourth Wilson Memorial Lecture, delivered at the Old College, University of Edinburgh, on 17 December 1998. It argues that Acts of the Scottish Parliament (ASPs) need not be, and in some respects cannot be, the same in form and style as those of the United Kingdom Parliament. There is no point in going back to the form and style of pre-Union Acts of the Parliament of Scotland (APS), but there is a need for early consideration of such matters as the enacting formula, the short title, the long title, the extent provision and duration provisions. The form of Bills also needs to be considered before bad precedents become established. The main criterion should be the convenience of the ultimate users of the legislation. So far as style is concerned, the start of a new legislative tradition ought to boost existing trends towards simpler language and grammatical structures and more gender-neutral drafting. The powers of the Scottish Parliament would be well suited to the enactment of codifying legislation.
Illegal Contracts and Unjustified Enrichment
Authors: Macgregor Laura J
Published: August 2010

If a contract is treated as an illegal contract, the contracting parties are denied the contractual remedies which would normally be available to them on breach of contract. The contract may, however, have been partially performed. For example, one contracting party may have delivered goods and received no payment from the other contracting party. The availability of unjustified enrichment remedies in this type of situation has been a vexed question, not only in Scots law, but in many other jurisdictions. This article looks at the Scottish approach to the availability of enrichment remedies and also at the related question of whether it is possible for title to goods to pass under an illegal contract. The focus thereafter lies on options for reform, and, in particular, the use of legislative discretion.
The Criminal Liability of Corporations and Scots Law: Learning the Lessons of Anglo-American Jurisprudence
Authors: Mays Richard
Published: August 2010

It is the contention of this article that Scotland, in response to the social, economic and physical dangers of corporate crime, requires a properly constructed framework of corporate criminal liability based on ideas drawn from Anglo-American jurisprudence. A proposal for such a framework is put forward and explained.
Milk and Livestock Quotas as Property
Authors: Cardwell Michael
Published: August 2010

Although implemented in essence as a means of production control, milk quotas and livestock quotas are now frequently regarded as enjoying an independent existence and exhibit several characteristics typical of property rights. In particular, they may he transferred for value. That having been said, it is becoming increasingly axiomatic that they do not fit into any of the traditional categories of property. As production controls, the quotas themselves do not infringe the right to property, although there has been more debate about adjustments to the systems for the purpose of gaining or preserving entitlement to quota or compensation in respect of quota. Quotas are, in the end, products of their own legislation.
We are Family (Sometimes): Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Relationships after Fitzpatrick
Authors: Norrie Kenneth McK
Published: August 2010

Fitzpatrick v Sterling Housing Association is offundamental importance as thefirst time that the House of Lords has held that a same-sex couple can he a “family” for certain legal purposes. It consigns the concept of a “pretended family relationship” to the dustbin of history and is one of a line of important decisions from supreme courts around the world which, in different ways, are developing the law in the same direction. This article analyses Fitzpatrick and explores how it relates to international developments in discrimination law. It also identifies Scottish statutes which may now be accessible by same-sex couples in this jurisdiction and explores how similar foreign statutes are already accessible by such couples.
The Renunciation by the Crown of the Right to Prosecute and the European Convention on Human Rights
Authors: Styles Scott Crichton
Published: August 2010

As “master of the instance” the Lord Advocate has traditionally enjoyed absolute control of the decision whether or not to prosecute. But all actions of the Lord Advocate must now be compatible with the rights conferred on citizens by the European Convention on Human Rights. This article looks at the effect of the introduction of Convention rights upon the practice of the Crown issuing declarations that there will be no prosecution of a specific suspect of a specific crime or even of certain specified categories of criminal offence.
Natural Law and Common Law
Authors: Ibbetson D J
Published: August 2010

If you scan through the law reports ofthe last century or so, you will come across a sprinkling of references to Natural Law, commonly in conjunction with some such phrase as “manifest nonsense”.1 Introductory books dealing with the sources of law hardly place it in the forefront of their treatment, to say the least; and anyone writing a practitioners' manual on some practically useful area of law who began with a chapter on Natural Law would be thought to have taken leave of his senses. Go back two or three hundred years or so and the picture looks very different. References to the law of nature abound in the reports of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; institutional writers dealing with the Common Law will regularly list Natural Law as one of its principal sources, and when Stewart Kyd wrote the first English book on what we would now call company law2 the obvious starting pointfor his first chapter was the work of the Natural Lawyers of the previous century. England, like everywhere else in Europe, had been caught up in a fervour of Natural Law thinking. Legal historians, of course, are well aware of this, but commonly portray it in their books as part of the background against which the Common Law was worked out, rather than as an integral part ofthe story of English law's development.3 This downplaying of the practical significance of Natural Law represents something of a lost opportunity, not merely because it can give a frame of reference within which some sense can be made ofthe reorientation of English law in the eighteenth century, but also because it provides an important point ofcontact between the all-too-insular history ofEnglish law and the apparently more homogeneous legal history of the rest of Europe.
Constitutionalising the Role of the Judge: Scotland and the New Order
Authors: Tierney Stephen
Published: August 2010

The extensive process of constitutional reform which is presently being undergone in the UK will fundamentally alter the way in which the body politic is thought about and talked about, leading in time to a new constitutionalism. In the course of this development a more central role is promised for the courts as judges are called upon to interpret and develop these changes. In addition, judges will be required to reconsider their own part in this process and to assess the legitimacy of the courts as presently constituted to meet these new challenges. In the past two years these developments have been most keenly felt in Scotland with the establishment of devolved government. This article will examine some of the early cases involving devolution issues in Scotland which have already impacted on the judicial role in two main respects. The first involves the task of judicial self definition, whereby judges evaluate the extent to which they themselves satisfy the requirements of due process in terms of two related matters: judicial impartiality and judicial independence. The second element of the judicial role which has been called into question is concerned not so much with procedural fairness but more with the substantive aspects of constitutional adjudication: in other words, with how judges confront the task of balancing the competing interests between individual and state and between centre and devolved unit which emerge from the new constitutional arrangements. The article will conclude by considering the extent to which changes in the self-definitional or due process elements of the judicial role connect to questions about the substantive role the courts ought to play in modelling and refining constitutional change itself.
The Civil Law in Scotland
Authors: Gordon William M
Published: August 2010

This article is a revised version of an address given at the Annual General Meeting of the Stair Society on 6 November 1999. It explores three issues relating to the use of the Civil Law in Scotland. The first is the distinction to be drawn between Roman Law and the Civil Law and the use that can be made of the Civil Law as distinct from Roman Law. The second is the issue of reception of another legal system, the reception of the Civil Law in Scotland in particular, and the countervailing influence of English law. The third is the place of Roman Law and the Civil Law in legal education in Scotland.
The Agreement of Uncontroversial Evidence and the Presumption of Innocence: An Insoluble Dilemma?
Authors: Duff Peter
Published: August 2010

On 1 April 1996, a rather odd provision was introduced into the Scottish criminal justice process, namely a duty on both prosecution and defence to try to agree uncontroversial evidence in advance of criminal trial.1 As far as the writer is aware, such a provision is unique, although the philosophy underlying its introduction is not totally alien to inquisitorial systems of criminal justice.2 What is particularly peculiar about this duty is that there is no sanction for a failure, however unreasonable, to agree uncontroversial evidence.3 The lack of a sanction resulted from a concern that the creation of any penalty would impinge unjustifiably upon the rights of the accused. The intention in this article is to explore in detail the relationship between the duty to agree uncontroversial evidence and the position of the accused, and to suggest that the imposition of a sanction for a breach of this duty is not as problematic as was thought by those responsible for the legislation.
Accession of Movables to Land: II
Authors: Vliet L P W van
Published: August 2010

The first part of this article, which appeared in the last issue, argued that the rules governing accession of movables to land are based on the dual principles of preservation of value and protection of third parties. Neither principle allows subjective intention or any other criterion unrecognisable to outsiders. The first part showed that Dutch, Scots and English law apply criteria which are purely objective and recognisable to third parties. German law, on the other hand, allows criteria which are objective but not always recognisable. This second part of the article will reveal that French and South African law take a different approach in giving effect to subjective intention. Moreover, it will be seen that the whole picture of accession becomes more complex when the right of severance is taken into consideration.
A British ius commune? A Debate on the Union of the Laws of Scotland and England during the First Years of James VI/I's English Reign
Authors: Wijffels Alain
Published: August 2010

This article considers the debate about the union of Scots and English law which followed the Union of the Crowns in 1603. The catch-phrase “union of law” was itself ambivalent, referring as it did to a range of different forms ofharmonisation of Scots and English law. Moreover, the British debate is not altogether alien, whatever the special status and weight the English Common Law had already acquired, from that which went on at the same time on the European continent. The same fundamental tension can be perceived between an established order and a new, emerging constitution of the commonwealth. On one side, a traditional attachment to ancient freedoms inherited from medieval times and struggles was perceived by many as the very foundation of partiadar laws expressed through a variety of authorities, the extension of which could be anything from a local custom or statute to a body of legal rules prevailing throughout the realm. On the other side, the growing concept of sovereignty based on fresh premises, sometimes connected to the first signs heralding some national identity, paved the way for a transformation of the established legal traditions (such as customs, statutes, and the learned law), which lost henceforth some of their autonomy in order to accommodate the new dynamics of early-modern sovereignty. The most successful legal developments of that period were indeed those which combined that medieval legal heritage of “ancient liberties” and the early-modern concept of sovereignty. It is easy to see several parallels between the present-day discussion on the making of a European “common law” and the debate on the union of laws which was meant to “perfect” the union of the Crowns in 1603.
Specific Performance: A Comparative Analysis (1)
Authors: Herman Shael
Published: August 2010

This paper explores the regulation of specific performance of sales by reference to Spain and the USA, two jurisdictions which are exemplars of their respective legal families. It contrasts provisions under the Spanish Civil Code, Spain's Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil, and under the American Uniform Commercial Code, and speculates on the interaction of these municipal laws with the regulation of specific performance under the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). The study is split into two parts, the first of which appears here, and the second of which follows in the next issue of the Edinburgh Law Review. In this first part, section B outlines method, while section C explores the modern Spanish doctrine on performance and damages in light of the Romano-Germanic preference for performance. Section D examines the preference for damages over performance in US commercial law. By comparing Spanish and United States approaches to specific performance, Section E identifies points of possible convergence between the two systems as well as some noteworthy differences between them. In the second part of the study, Section F will explore the CISG's approach to specific performance, with the goal of inquiring, on one hand, whether the drafters have successfully accounted for both the Anglo-American and the Romano-Germanic preferences, or, on the other hand, whether the CISG's synthesis of the preferences is faulty and manifests incompatible goals that may be difficult to harmonise. Recent US decisions on specific performance under the CISG will be sampled in section G, which will make explicit some assumptions underlying the reasoning processes of US courts in commercial cases. Section H, an epilogue, will speculate on reasons for the intensity of the rivalry between proponents of specific performance as a primary remedy and those favouring damages as a primary remedy.
Personal Bar: Case-Law in Search of Principle
Authors: Reid Elspeth
Published: August 2010

Like the law of estoppel, its broad equivalent in Common Law jurisdictions, the law of personal bar in Scotland has an extensive case-law but an uncertain conceptual structure. This article draws upon that case-law to offer the framework of analysis for a unitary doctrine in which the central focus is the assessment of unfairness. The framework invites a reappraisal of the traditional terminological divisions within personal bar in order to identify indicators of unfairness specific to the particular context in question.
THE BANNATYNE MANUSCRIPT—A MARIAN ANTHOLOGY
Authors: MacDonald Alasdair A.
Published: August 2010

In the last fifteen years the Bannatyne MS has been the subject of a great deal of attention but some of this recent work has been vitiated as a result of failing to take account of the historical circumstances prevailing at the time of its transcription, traditionally assigned to the plague months of late 1568. When the manuscript is put in its proper context, the two years following Mary's marriage to Darnley in 1565, one can better appreciate some of its distinctive features: these result, not from Bannatyne's precocity as literary editor, but from its devious attempts to camouflage the essentially Marian character of the anthology.
Irish priests in the Highlands: judicial evidence from Argyll
Authors: Macdonald Fiona A.
Published: August 2010

Please note that the final paragraph on p.21 should read as follows:
Red Dots, Green Dots, Yellow Dots and Blue: Some Reflections on the Vocalisation of Early Qur'anic Manuscripts – Part I
Authors: Dutton Yasin
Published: August 2010

In this article, which is divided into Parts I and II, we consider the use of coloured dots – primarily red, green, yellow and blue – to indicate vocalisation in early Qur'anic manuscripts. Hitherto, Western scholars have been confused as to the purpose of these dots: from our researches it is clear that red dots indicate the main reading while dots of other colours illustrate various types of variant, including those which are shādhdh (‘irregular’).

In this article, we explore the types of variant indicated and their significance for an understanding of the history of the Qur'anic text.

Part I consists of a survey of previous literature on this subject, from both European and Arabic sources. This is followed by a detailed examination of the types of variant revealed by fourteen out of twenty-one ‘Kufic’ manuscript fragments in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. The remaining seven fragments are examined in Part II, which also includes an overall analysis of the different types of variant and a general appreciation of their broader significance.
Muḥkam and Mutashābih: An Analytical Study of al-Ṭabarī's and al-Zamakhsharī's Interpretations of Q.3:7
Authors: Syamsuddin Sahiron
Published: August 2010

This essay is devoted to the study of al-Ṭabarī's and al-Zamakhsharī's interpretations of Q.3:7. The problem of their exegetical methods, as a consequence of which they differ markedly in their findings, is a major concern herein. Using phenomenological, comparative and analytical approaches, we conclude that exegetical differences result from the methods they use and their sectarian tendencies. It is also emphasised that al-Tabarī and al-Zamakhsharī fall victim to methodological inaccuracy and sectarian reductionism respectively.
The Historical Geography of the Qur'an: A Study in asbāb al-nuzūl
Authors: Cragg Kenneth
Published: August 2010

Our reading of the Qur'an is inevitably guided and informed by a sense of its ‘timeless’ and ‘spaceless’ nature - or, alternatively, of its being inextricably bound to seventh-century Arabia. We would argue that these two notions of the nature of the Qur'an are not necessarily opposed to each other. Indeed, if we take seriously the view that the Qur'an remains, in some sense, ‘applicable’, we need to look at how its precepts were interpreted to fit the changing circumstances of early Islam. Central to this interpretive effort is a radical rethinking of the concepts of asbāb al-nuzūl and naskh. An assessment of the technological challenges and social realignments currently facing the Muslim world bring us to the conclusion that by broadening the concept of naskh in relation to the Qur'an, we would arrive at a more nuanced understanding of the Qur'an's timelessness.
Red Dots, Green Dots, Yellow Dots and Blue: Some Reflections on the Vocalisation of Early Qur'anic Manuscripts (Part II)
Authors: Dutton Yasin
Published: August 2010

This article, divided into Parts I and II, considers the use of coloured dots – primarily red, green, yellow and blue – to indicate vocalisation in early Qur'anic manuscripts. Hitherto, Western scholars have been confused as to the purpose of these dots: from our researches it is clear that red dots indicate the main reading while dots of other colours illustrate various types of variant, including those which are shādhdh (‘irregular’). In this article we explore the types of variant indicated and their significance for an understanding of the history of the Qur'anic text. Part I (JQS 1:1, 1999) consisted of a survey of previous literature on this subject, from both European and Arabic sources, followed by a detailed examination of the types of variant illustrated by fourteen out of twenty-one ‘Kufic’ manuscript fragments in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. The other seven fragments are examined in this issue, together with an extensive analysis of the different types of variant and a general appreciation of their broader significance.
The Meaning of Hikma in Sūrat al-Baqara (Q.2:129)
Authors: Khalifa Abd al-Karim
Published: August 2010

This article follows the concept of ḥikma (wisdom) in the Qur'anic verse: ‘Our Lord! And raise up in them an Apostle from among them who shall recite to them Thy communications and teach them the Book and the wisdom and purify them; surely Thou art the Mighty, the Wise.’ (Q.2:129) The notion of ḥikma is explained in the compilations of several Qur'anic commentators, representing different scientific methods and ideological groups. Moreover, the above-mentioned verse is the first to occur with this sense of ḥikma, in terms of the Qur'anic order. This study traces the different linguistic meanings and origins of this concept, through the compilations of famous ancient Arab linguists and poetic citations, especially from pre-Islamic poetry. In addition to the linguistic meaning of the term, the article also explores its metaphorical meaning. The study reaches the conclusion that the Qur'anic concept of ḥikma is specified through the context, in other words, through the literal and the versificational. The various meanings which the commentators attribute to the concept indicate that interpretative judgements are limited by the human capability to specify the meanings of Qur'anic concepts. Therefore the human language differs from that of God, who descended the Qur'an by revelation 'in plain Arabic language' (Q.26:195).
Complete and Near Synonymy in the Holy Qur'an
Authors: Omar Ahmed Mukhtar
Published: August 2010

This article examines the concept of synonymy and how it occurs in the Qur'an. Complete synonymy is differentiated from near synonymy in that the former denotes sameness of meaning among a group of words in a specific context, without any difference in secondary, regional and emotional meanings. Near synonymy refers to likeness of meaning among a group of words gathered together under one semantic field, keeping in mind that each of them has special connotations by which it is distinguished from the others in the same area of meaning. It is noted that the occurrence of complete synonymy is rare either in Arabic in general, or more particularly in the Qur'an; near synonymy, however, is widespread in Arabic and examples abound in the Qur'an. After discussing examples of both types of synonymy found in the Qur'an, we turn to the Names of Allah, as cited in the Qur'an, in order to prove that no two of these names are identical in meaning and that consequently no synonymity occurs. Difference in meaning is found to be due either to difference in root meaning or difference in word formation.
The Children of Israel in Ancient Egypt as Taken from the Holy Qur'an
Authors: Hassan Tammam
Published: August 2010

The Qur'an gives us many details about the history of the migration of the Children of Israel and their expulsion from Egypt. In this article, their history is traced through the Qur'an from the many different verses which provide us with these details. The article begins with the advent of Yūsuf to Egypt as a child and the beginning of his prophethood. His message was believed by some Egyptians, but after the expulsion of the more tolerant Hyksos, those believers of Asian origin and the Jews among them were persecuted. Mūsā was born into this atmosphere of persecution and evidence is discussed that the Pharaoh of Mūsā was Ramses and his wife Nefertari. Having accidentally killed someone, Mūsā was persecuted and forced to flee, but subsequently on Mount Sinai received the message to go back to Pharaoh. He called upon the Children of Israel to adopt his faith, but only a few of them did. Finally they fled, but on the shore of the Gulf of Suez (al-cayn al-sukhnā) Pharaoh caught up with them and there occurred the miracle of the passing over the sea and the drowning. The Israeli followers passed the Gulf and headed for Sinai, but were lost in the wilderness for forty years before they reached the land of Canaan in Palestine. Many Qur'anic verses show that the Children of Israel suffered punishment because their faith was shaken and they committed sins.
Negotiating Justice: A Pre-Canonical Reading of the Qur'anic Creation Accounts1 (Part I)
Authors: Neuwirth Angelika
Published: August 2010

With the evaluation of the polythematic sūra, i.e. with the transition of the Qur'an from an oral to a written and thus Scripture-orientated text, a complex structure for the primordial drama emerges. The divine election of man as God's closest creature and the forecast of an elected community is framed in the story of a bargain contracted between God and Iblīs in pre-existence which entails for Iblīs the freedom to test man – with the exception of God's elect. This story is retold with ever-changing focus in six sūras; only the later ones are complemented by the account of the transgression itself, i.e. the first enactment of the test staged by Satan and involving the first couple, Adam and his companion. The paper will show how, in the wake of the abolition of the old mythical structures, gradually new – Islamic – images laden with symbolic meanings emerge, leading finally to the concept of a divine agency on earth, the khilāfa.