Good Judgment Research Articles

Prohibition Gangsters: The Rise and Fall of a Bad Generation MarcMappen. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2013.

Prohibition Gangsters: The Rise and Fall of a Bad Generation Marc Mappen. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2013.Professor Marc Mappen teaches at Rutgers University and has made a reputation as a historian of New Jersey. One of his books is entitled There's More to New Jersey Than the Sopranos (2009). In his latest work, Mappen turns from Tony Soprano to that character's real life progenitors, the gangsters who took advantage of America's experiment with Prohibition to establish illegal empires in its great cities. Mappen argues that the chief criminal beneficiaries of Prohibition form a distinct generation. Most of these men were born between 1880 and 1905. All came from an immigrant background. While the Irish were represented in their ranks, the bulk of the successful Prohibition gangsters were Italian or Jewish, products of the wave of immigration from southern and eastern Europe that reached America around the turn of the twentieth century. Mappen sees the achievements of the Prohibition gangsters as emblematic of a perverse process of Americanization, as these thugs integrated themselves with the wider society, albeit through its dark underbelly.Given its subject matter, a book about the Prohibition gangsters should be a fascinating and exciting read. Mappen does not disappoint. His fast-moving but authoritative narrative takes readers through the Prohibition years and beyond as he traces the careers of such underworld luminaries as John Torrio, Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Legs Diamond, and Dutch Schultz. To do so, he had to sift through questionable and sometimes contradictory sources. Much of what has been written about American gangsters has been in the form of true books, often produced by authors more interested in sensationalism than in the facts. Typical of the genre is The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano (1975). Purportedly based on Lucky Luciano's own memoirs of his turbulent life, this lurid potboiler was quickly denounced as exaggerated and replete with details that could not be substantiated. For obvious reasons, criminals are not going to leave a scrupulous paper trail on their activities. Certainly, the badly schooled Prohibition gangsters were not a literary bunch. Practically speaking, researching the early history of American organized crime is something like exploring ancient history, where sources are sparse, and good judgment in evaluating them is essential. Mappen does an excellent job of assessing the facts that can be gleaned from contemporary newspaper accounts, police and trial records, and the voluminous popular literature that grew up around the gangsters. …

Mark C. Bartusis. Land and Privilege in Byzantium: The Institution of Pronoia.

Mark C. Bartusis has provided the first comprehensive study of the pronoia in more than half a century. The pronoia was an institution of fundamental importance in the history of the later Byzantine Empire. The practice of allocating fiscal revenues and peasants to soldiers developed from the twelfth century c.e. and became an increasingly important source of soldiers for the army during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The origins of the institution are obscure, but it developed out of Byzantine fiscal privileges. Many of the difficulties in understanding this process are due to the imprecision of the word pronoia, which has a wide range of meanings in translation—care, solicitude, provision, and administration. It can be found in a range of sources: chronicles and histories, ecclesiastical texts, and documents issued by emperors and state officials. Often the word is used in a non-technical sense, meaning “care.” Bartusis has examined a multitude of ways the word was used in the sources, and with good judgment has separated the technical from the non-technical applications of the term. To add to the complexity of the problem, some sources that refer to fiscal grants to soldiers do not call them pronoia, but instead use phrases such as “grants of peasants.”

Correcting for Selection Bias in Reconciling the DCF and Market Methods—There Is No Substitute for Good Professional Judgment

Abstract What should an appraiser do when the value indication from the market methods are double or triple that of the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF)? In this article, the author presents a method to reverse engineer the implied growth rates of the Guideline Companies and come to a rational, defensible weighting of methods. In the author's first application of this method, he weighted the DCF 90%, splitting the remaining 10% between two market methods.

Discretion in Student Discipline

Little research exists that examines the exercise of discretion by principals in their disciplinary decision making. This study sought to understand the application of values by principals as they engage in student disciplinary decision making within legally fixed parameters of their administrative discretion. This qualitative methodology used semistructured in-depth interviews of 10 urban elementary school principals in western Canada. Data were analyzed through coding into data segments and then by grouping segments into categories, patterns, and themes. The principals appeared to understand discretion as being part of larger, more complex issues or a gray area; the exercise of good judgment; and necessary in order for them to be fair and reasonable in their disciplinary decision making. Influences upon their decision making included pressure from their superiors, the expectations of parents and staff, and the threat of legal action. The principals understood discretion as allowing them to differentiate in order to be fair and to adapt rules for their personal definitions of equity. Discretion delegated to school leaders should be structured through clear and specific discipline plans and policies and limited by restricting the circumstances and context under which it will be considered. Discretionary decisions also should be subject to review by the appropriate stakeholders. Elementary principals should gain a greater understanding of applicable case law in order that their decision making aligns with current jurisprudence. Future directions for research include examining students’ perception of fairness of principals’ discretionary decision making in disciplinary matters.

Primary prevention of cardiovascular disease with statins in the elderly.

Owing to the progressive aging of the population, and the fact that cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death among the elderly, the prevention of CVD in the elderly is becoming increasingly important. Although there is no doubt that statin treatment should be used for reducing CVD risk in the elderly in secondary prevention in the same way as in younger individuals, the evidence that such treatment really prolongs life in elderly subjects in primary prevention is still not so clear. However, it seems that it does reduce CVD morbidity in elderly individuals. Because of limited evidence regarding the benefit of such therapy, particularly in very old subjects (older than 80-85 years), the decision whether to treat or not treat an elderly individual with statins in primary prevention should be based on good clinical judgment and considering the individual subject's situation regarding comorbidities, polypharmacy, and possible adverse effects.

THE BUSINESS JUDGMENT RULE EN LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS: UNA REGLA CON DIMENSIÓN PROCESAL Y FUERZA SUSTANTIVA

In Delaware, in the United States, the Business Judgment Rule (bjr) has been described as “a presumption that in making a business decision the directors of a company acted on an informed basis, in good faith and in the honest belief that the action taken was in the best interest of the company”. The party seeking to challenge the decision must rebut the application of that presumption. In the event that the party achieves rebut, the burden of proof will be reversed, so that it will be the administrators who must prove the “entire fairness” of the transaction. This article also discusses three justifications for bjr, like some criticism of the rule based on or associated with a cost-benefit analysis. Furthermore, this article focuses on the application of bjr on banking issues, particularly in cases involving mergers and acquisitions (M & A). Keywords author: Good business judgment rule, directors, board of directors, fiduciary duties, due diligence, loyalty, good faith, secondary duties, directors’ liability, actions against directors, mergers and acquisitions, hostile takeovers, banks, banking law, bank managers.

A new hypothesis on preventable neuropsychiatric illness in Africa

BackgroundCommunicable diseases are still the most important public health challenge in Africa. Many of them such as malaria, schistosomiasis and pneumonia are frequently treated with quinoline derived substances, which are known to have neuropsychiatric side effects.Millions of Africans have to take two or three of them simultaneously (e.g. quinine and ciprofloxacin or praziquantel). Almost nothing is known about their additive effects or interactions. HypothesisWe hypothesize, that a parallel therapy with quinoline derived antimicrobial substances leads to a preventable neuropsychiatric syndrome and suggest to find the joint pathobiochemical explanation for this condition in the l-Tryptophane–Kynurenine–Serotonine pathway. DiscussionAlmost all intermediary substances of the Kynurenine pathway (tryptophan, kynurenine, kynurenic acid, quinolinic acid and serotonin) are known to have neuropsychiatric properties on their own.Direct interactions between quinolines and the oxygenases of the pathway (especially with the indoleamine (2,3)-dioxygenase and kynurenine-monoxygenase) and indirect influences via the interferon-γ induced breakdown of tryptophane are discussed, as well as the modifying effect of the already existing neurotoxicity of the single quinoline related drug used.Three different mechanisms were discovered which can influence the complex, well balanced biochemical equilibrium of the kynurenine pathway. Due to the complexity of the pathway and the fact that all substances have their own, even contradictory, neuropsychiatric properties, we do not argue that through a certain type of postulated metabolism a certain drug might have a specific effect, but we do hypothesize that it is the disturbance of a well balanced equilibrium which makes a neuropsychiatric effect of the parallel antimicrobial therapy with quinolines more than probable. ConsequencesIf confirmed, our hypothesis demonstrates that parallel therapy with quinoline antimicrobials constitutes an under addressed public health challenge in Africa with severe diagnostic, therapeutic and financial implications.The individual physician has to take a new entity into account for the neuropsychiatric differential diagnosis, especially in patients suffering from another neurological illness, being treated with efavirenz or belonging to high risk groups affecting the health of others like mini-bus drivers.Further direct consequences apply to physicians in the rich countries dealing with migrants, refugees, long term expats or professional groups in need of a high level of psychological stability, good judgement and fine motor skills. ConclusionThe hypothesis needs urgent confirmation in a randomized, prospective trial comparing levels of quinolinic acid etc., in patients on quinoline treatment versus a quinoline-naïve patients for several body fluids and ideally in the brain post-mortem.

Proof-Reading Aristotle’s Rhetoric

Abstract: This paper offers a new interpretation of the first chapter of Aristotle’s Rhetoric and of Aristotle’s understanding of rhetoric throughout the treatise. I defend the view that, for Aristotle, rhetoric was a skill in offering the listener ‘proofs’ (pisteis), that is, proper grounds for conviction. His arguments in the opening chapters of the treatise state and defend this controversial, epistemically normative view against the rival views of Gorgias, Thrasymachus and the rhetorical handbook writers, on the one hand, and against those of Plato, on the other. Aristotle defends his view on the basis that rhetoric is a skill in discharging an important role in the state – the role of helping citizens to good publicly-deliberated judgements.

Technology Focus: History Matching and Forecasting (April 2014)

Technology Focus In the past decade, there has been a great deal of research and progress in the development of computational methods to assist reservoir engineers in the arduous task of history matching their models. Developments in computer hardware and software and the use of geostatistics, optimization, and Monte Carlo methods are among the reasons for such progress. However, the requirements for a good history match also have been increasing. If, in the past, we were satisfied with a good data fit, this is definitely not the case anymore. Modern history matching is a much more comprehensive discipline. It entails geological modeling, geostatistics, reservoir simulation, scale issues, data analysis, deep understanding of reservoir mechanisms, interdisciplinary approaches, optimization methods, statistics, and inverse-problems theory. Nevertheless, we have to recognize that history matching in itself is not the goal. The goal is to generate models for production forecasting aiding the decision-making process involved in the development and management of petroleum reservoirs. One can definitely argue that a good history match does not ensure a reliable forecast. On the other hand, forecasting from models without a reasonable history match is most certainly temerarious (and probably meaningless). In fact, forecasting is an inherently uncertain process. In this sense, the goal of history matching is to mitigate this uncertainty. However, we have to keep in mind that uncertainty will never be removed completely. First, models are only representations of the actual physical phenomena; there will always be approximation errors. Second, data are insufficient and have measurement errors; hence, it is impossible to fully determine all unknown model parameters. Finally, uncertainty quantification has a high degree of subjectivity. Hence, bad forecasting often will be related to wrong assumptions and misinterpretations. Among current research trends in history matching and forecasting, it is worth mentioning uncertainty quantification, methods based on ensembles, assimilation of time-lapse seismic data, and history matching of models with complex physics (e.g., fractured reservoirs and thermal recovery processes). However, one particular topic has caught the attention of many researchers: the development of history matching workflows that fully integrate the geological modeling in the loop. This is often called the “big-loop approach.” Despite the developments in methods, software, and computers, human intervention and good engineering judgment will continue to be vital. Therefore, it is important to keep up to date in the literature. The papers summarized in this feature and those indicated in the additional-reading list are good examples of recent developments in, and field applications of, history matching and forecasting. JPT Recommended additional reading at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org. SPE 163638 Estimation of Mutual Information and Conditional Entropy for Surveillance Optimization by Duc H. Le, The University of Tulsa, et al. SPE 167150 Prior Information Enhances Uncertainty Quantification in Shale- Gas Decline-Curve Forecasts by Raul Gonzalez, Texas A&M University, et al. SPE 163604 Preventing Ensemble Collapse and Honoring Multipoint Geostatistics With the Subspace EnKF/ EnS and Kernel PCA Parameterization by Pallav Sarma, Chevron ETC, et al.

Emotional Maturity and Insecurity among School Teachers

Emotion is a state of special readiness for emergency action. It involves a changes in the activity of the organs a circulation digestion and so on. It also involves a change in mental activity and often a change in voluntary activity. Emotion has many values in our lives. It gives us extra power in physical emergencies. It provides a drive, a forcing in to action that is often very worthwhile. Emotion gives quality and color to our living moreover, mild present emotion seems to be good for us physically. Emotions, when strong, tend to disrupt our thinking. What is more, they are often a poor guide to action. We are apt to do something we shouldn’t if we follow our emotions blindly. Emotions can make us slaves to other people. An unscrupulous person can rouse our emotions, connect the action and if we want with those emotions and we will do what we want rather than what our own good judgment night tell us to do.

Some Glittering Nondescript Vertebrate: The Provocative Style of Realism in Howells’ A Hazard of New Fortunes

In his 1891 realist manifesto Criticism and Fiction, W. D. Howells pits his watchful eye against both the literary stylist, whose skills are “wasted in preening and prettifying,” and the hoodwinked reader, whose perceptual capacities are bedazzled and whose judgment is lulled by glamour or mystery.1 For Howells, realist perception is a quality for the writer and the reader alike to refine in order to escape the allure of artificial discourse, which rears its head in popular romance novels, imitations of past literary forms, prose that dwells on its own style rather than on truth, and advertisements that ignite desire. Criticism and Fiction thus promotes a two-pronged agenda, taking both writers and readers to task for succumbing too easily to the temptation to indulge in emotion, desire, and literary style when they ought to privilege the common stuff of real observation. Howells’ polemics stridently eschew both literature that enacts or induces misperceptions of reality and readers who embrace such literature. What emerges is a double definition of realism: it names observation as a mode of unmediated literary production, while it also identifies observation as a mode of reception that is mediated by the good judgment and common sense of the realist writer. Thus, even as realist representation implies a direct conduit from reality to text, effacing the mediating role of the writer in forming the text, realism as Howells would have it also constructs the selective intellectual frame that is necessary for its own apparently unmediated perception of the real. Critics have taken Howells to task on both accounts—for a naive faith in (or, alternately, for his anxious insistence on) the referentiality of his texts and, despite his avidly professed progressivism, for a transparent organizing

A dangerous idea? Freedom, children and the capability approach to education

This article begins by observing how education is currently appreciated primarily for its utility value, a view informed by utilitarianism and neoclassical economic theory. A critique of that framing is offered and an alternative way of valuing education informed by a Capabilities Approach is presented. In doing so, I also observe that while key proponents of the Capabilities Approach promote the idea of freedom, they deny it to children and some young people. The argument they present is that in the hands of children, freedom destroys their capabilities because they lack capacity for good judgment and therefore should only make minor decisions. The focus should be on adulthood because only at that stage can we exercise good judgment and exercise freedom properly. I explain why this view limits the application of Capabilities Approach, why it is problematic and offer a way of overcoming that constraint.

Empty creditors and sovereign debt: what now?

... The place of credit default swaps (CDS) in sovereign finance has attracted high controversy in recent years. CDS—instruments that allow lenders to trade the economic risk of a loan or bond—have gained as much in fame as infamy through their short history. CDS on sovereign debt comprise a relatively small share of the overall CDS market1 but their workings have attracted enormous attention from domestic policy-makers. Not only are these instruments perceived as threats to financial stability but, insofar as CDS trade on domestic sovereign debt and impact treasury financing, their operations can prove risky for macroeconomic health. Fundamentally, commentators argue, CDS are uniquely primed to wreak havoc on sovereign and other credit markets. According to this view, lenders that purchase credit protection on debt lose all incentive to exercise good judgement and discipline with respect to their debtor. Rather, they possess an entirely different motivation. Namely, with their downside risk covered, lenders benefit as debtors veer ever closer to distress—and eventually default. With CDS in play, behaving recklessly—far from jeopardizing the creditor’s balance sheet—offers a very real pay-off: a quick and cheap exit from their investment and repayment on the CDS.2 Unsurprisingly then, the spread of sovereign crisis across the Eurozone in 2009–2011 has prompted regulators to critically examine—and sometimes swiftly curtail—CDS trading on their domestic sovereign debt.

Altruism and mature care

We discuss Carol Gilligan's original concept of mature care in the light of the altruistic approach to caring and good clinical judgment. In particular, we highlight how the concept of mature care can capture important challenges in today's nursing. Further, we illuminate how mature care might differ normatively from an altruistic approach to caring and the traditional prudential virtues in nursing. We also discuss similarities between mature care and virtue ethics. For nursing and nurses' identity, in today's health care system that is increasingly pressured to 'produce' health, we believe it is important to both developing further theories on mature care and having normative discussions about care.

Panel Relaxes Elders' Systolic Target to 150 mm

Panel Relaxes Elders' Systolic Target to 150 mm

Make the technology count.

Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment – Rita Mae Brown In spite of advances in imaging techniques, PCNL continues to be a blind procedure. Gallbladder puncture during PCNL has been a described complication, sometime resulting in biliary peritonitis and even mortality [1]. Very few cases concerning conservative management of gallbladder puncture during PCNL have been reported in literature to date [2]. It is important to document the solid organ injury and maintain a registry of this. Voilette and Denstedt have given a major contribution by introducing standard protocol for documentation of PCNL complications [3]. A structured apprenticeship program is required to train fellow residents [4]. Recent advances in imaging, establishment of advanced training centres, and development of simulators have decreased the incidence of complications significantly by improving technical skills. However, complications continue to plague even the most experienced surgeons. The occurrence of complications can be decreased only by gaining more experience and by learning from past mistakes. The two–dimensional information provided by X–ray/ultrasound guided tracking does not provide an assessment of calyceal depth during needle puncture [5]. Neuronavigation (i.e. stereotactic surgery) has been a promising step in the field of neurosurgery [6]. Application of stereotactic surgery in the field of endourology may help in obtaining real time imaging and 3–D localization of the pelvicalyceal system, thereby reducing the complications significantly.

Guidelines for prevention of hospital acquired infections.

These guidelines, written for clinicians, contains evidence-based recommendations for the prevention of hospital acquired infections Hospital acquired infections are a major cause of mortality and morbidity and provide challenge to clinicians. Measures of infection control include identifying patients at risk of nosocomial infections, observing hand hygiene, following standard precautions to reduce transmission and strategies to reduce VAP, CR-BSI, CAUTI. Environmental factors and architectural lay out also need to be emphasized upon. Infection prevention in special subsets of patients - burns patients, include identifying sources of organism, identification of organisms, isolation if required, antibiotic prophylaxis to be used selectively, early removal of necrotic tissue, prevention of tetanus, early nutrition and surveillance. Immunodeficient and Transplant recipients are at a higher risk of opportunistic infections. The post tranplant timetable is divided into three time periods for determining risk of infections. Room ventilation, cleaning and decontamination, protective clothing with care regarding food requires special consideration. Monitoring and Surveillance are prioritized depending upon the needs. Designated infection control teams should supervise the process and help in collection and compilation of data. Antibiotic Stewardship Recommendations include constituting a team, close coordination between teams, audit, formulary restriction, de-escalation, optimizing dosing, active use of information technology among other measure. The recommendations in these guidelines are intended to support, and not replace, good clinical judgment. The recommendations are rated by a letter that indicates the strength of the recommendation and a Roman numeral that indicates the quality of evidence supporting the recommendation, so that readers can ascertain how best to apply the recommendations in their practice environments.

Classification of pelvic fractures and its clinical relevance

Pelvic fractures are one of the common cause of mortality in polytrauma patients, especially following high velocity trauma. The management in emergency requires good clinical judgment and access to radiological modalities. There are various classifications to define the pattern of injury in pelvic fractures. Previously, fracture patterns were described on the basis of anatomical fracture pattern on radiographs. With the introduction of concept of force vector and stability defined by Pennal and Tile, which was further modified by Young and Burgess, the corrective forces required to reduce such fractures were defined. With the introduction of these newer classification systems along with the introduction of external fixators, the mortality and morbidity has significantly reduced in pelvic fractures.

Leadership, collaboration, and effective training principles and practices from a decade of training by a center for public health preparedness

To review a decade's experience of a Centers for Disease Control and Preparedness (CDC) funded Center for Public Health Preparedness (hereafter referred to as the Center) and to identify interventions that led to surmounting serious obstacles to achieving the Center's CDC-mandated goals and objectives. The Center's purpose was to train the public health workforce to protect the population from bioterrorism, infectious diseases, and emerging public health threats. This case study used the concepts of the judgment process as developed by Noel Tichy and Warren Bennis to describe the experiences and actions of the Center's leaders. Center staff used public health principles of collaboration, the use of relevant science, and professional training principles in developing and delivering training in epidemiology, behavioral health, crisis leadership, and other fields through distance learning and on-site methods. The study's primary focus was on training in Florida, although the program's reach was national and international. Preparedness training was provided to approximately 10,000 public health officials, primarily drawn from Florida. This is a descriptive study of the Center's activities. The interventions were the steps taken by Center leadership to accomplish the federal and state goals of the program, despite meeting major challenges. The outcome measures were degrees of success, as measured by federal and state officials and other indicators, in delivering high quality training that met CDC and state goals. The Center delivered trainings in fields determined to be needed in Florida and nationally. Participant and observer evaluations were strongly positive. Nationally published papers and presentations contributed to the training evidence base. The Florida Department of Health incorporated the trainings into Florida's mandatory training for Incident Command strike teams. The leaders of the Center and the Florida Department of Health developed a formal statement of principles to guide the training. These could be useful to other training organizations. The study illustrates the value of the Tichy and Bennis judgment process framework to describe actions of the Center leadership's successful effort to overcome system obstacles and provide high quality training to public health workers. The framework can be used by leaders in other organizations to increase their ability to make good judgments.

Beyond education for economic productivity alone: The Capabilities Approach

The Capabilities Approach, as developed by philosopher Martha Nussbaum, provides a much needed re-balancing of aims in education. With its Aristotle-inspired ethical dimension this approach values the capabilities of practical reason and affiliation as critical for individual and societal development. As shown by social science research children continue to face difficulties in society today, whether in respect of educational or psychosocial development. A narrow utilitarian approach in education aimed at economic productivity alone, often prevalent in policy in England, exacerbates this situation. By contrast, it is proposed that the Capabilities Approach, with its broader aims, be embraced in education to help children flourish as engaged actors in society capable of making good judgments individually and with others.