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We examine a dynamic model of up-or-down problem solving. A decision maker can either spend resources investigating a new problem before deciding what to do or decide on the basis of similarity with precedent problems. Over time, a decision-making framework, or jurisprudence, develops. We focus on the model's application to judgemade law. We show that judges summarily apply precedent in some cases. The law may converge to efficient or inefficient rules. With positive probability, identical cases are treated differently. As the court learns over time, inconsistencies become less likely. We discuss the existing empirical evidence and the model's testable implications.We would like to thank the associate editor and two anonymous referees; their insightful comments have led to a substantial improvement of the paper. We also thank participants at workshops at

Patent applications are evaluated in light of the prior art. What this means is that patent examiners evaluate a claimed invention by comparing it with what in a rough sense corresponds to the set of ideas and inventions already known to the public. This is done for three reasons. First, the comparison helps to ensure that patents issue only in cases where an inventor has made a non-trivial contribution to the public's store of knowledge. Second, it protects a possible reliance interest on the part of the public since, once an invention is widely known, members of the public might reasonably assume that the invention is free for all to use. And third, it pressures inventors to file their patent applications promptly lest some other inventor disclose a related invention or the applicant himself inadvertently let slip some fraction of his own research result.The prior art inquiry has a fourth policy implication, however, and while this one might not have been one of the motivating factors for establishing the inquiry in the first place, it is just as important when it comes to designing and interpreting sensible prior art rules. That additional wrinkle is simply this: the fact that patent applications are evaluated in light of the prior art gives firms a strategic incentive to create prior art. A firm can publish a journal article or engage in a public demonstration and in that way affect both a rival's ability to patent a related invention and the rival's incentive to do so. Perhaps surprisingly, this can make the disclosing firm better off even though, by revealing information, the firm is likely helping its rival and, worse, narrowing or even fully preempting the very patent it seeks.In this Article, then, we explain the incentive for strategic disclosure. We show that a firm trailing in a given patent race has an incentive to disclose information in the hopes of preempting a rival's patent, but only if the laggard itself has little chance of leapfrogging the

This paper examines the strategic interaction of a defendant and a prosecutor during the plea bargaining process. A four-stage game of incomplete information is developed where the defendant's guilt or innocence is private information but the amount of resources available to the prosecutor is common knowledge. The basic result of the paper is that equilibrium is semi-separating; the plea offer is accepted by a proportion of the guilty defendants and is rejected by all of the innocent defendants and the remaining guilty defendants. In this model an increase in the resources available to the prosecutor increases the proportion of guilty defendants who accept plea offers. Although the prosecutor is unable to generate complete separation of the guilty and innocent defendants through the plea bargaining process, prosecutorial resources are beneficial from a societal standpoint.

The analysis of soil and sediment samples using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS ) was studied. Solution-based calibration was used for the quantification of trace elements in these samples. In most cases, the measured concentrations were within ±20% of the certified values using 60Ni or 107Ag as the internal standard. Measurements with Ag were carried out to investigate whether an internal standard could be spiked into soils for quantification purposes. The influence of particle size on the applicability of sample spiking was briefly studied, and it was demonstrated that particle size could significantly influence measurements if only the surface constituents of the particle were ablated. Use of 43Ca or 44Ca as an internal standard produced poorer results owing to interferences at these masses. In some cases, such as with Sr, Ba, Y and Rb, the measured concentrations were low by a factor of 2-3. This could be remedied by using one of these elements as an internal standard for the others. The effects of elemental speciation, organic content and particle size were investigated. Elemental speciation and organic content of the soils did not appear to significantly affect the LA-ICP-MS measurements. Particle size, however, was found to influence the precision and sensitivity of the measurements. Samples with smaller particle sizes yielded higher signal levels and better precision.

A standard cross-flow nebulizer and commercially available microconcentric nebulizer (MCN-100) have been compared for capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) measurements. Metallothionein samples were separated and detected to characterize the performance of the two nebulizers for chemical speciation measurements. The MCN-100 offered improved sensitivity and lower detection limits compared to the cross-flow nebulizer, but provided slightly poorer resolution. The detection limit for 114Cd in metallothionein solutions was 90 ng/g with the cross-flow nebulizer and 10 ng/g with the MCN-100 for ∼ 4 nL injections. These values correspond to absolute detection limits of 360 fg Cd in the injected sample with the cross-flow nebulizer and 40 fg Cd for the MCN-100. Quantitation of Cd in metallothioneins (rabbit liver and horse kidney) with the use of a well-characterized rabbit liver metallothionein sample as the calibration standard is reported. Measured Cd concentrations agreed with results obtained by both graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) and solution nebulization ICP-MS.

No abstract

Roasting is an important cocoa processing step, but has been reported to reduce the polyphenol content in the beans. We investigated the impact of whole-bean roasting on the polyphenol content, aroma-related chemistry, and in vitro pancreatic lipase (PL) inhibitory activity of cocoa under a range of roasting conditions. Total phenolics, (-)-epicatechin, and proanthocyanidin (PAC) dimer - pentamer content was reduced by roasting. By contrast, roasting at 150 °C or greater increased the levels of catechin and PAC hexamers and heptamers. These compounds have greater PL inhibitory potency. Consistent with these changes in PAC composition and this previous data, we found that roasting at 170 °C time-dependently increased PL inhibitory activity. Cocoa aroma-related compounds increased with roasting above 100 °C, whereas deleterious sensory-related compounds formed at more severe temperatures. Our results indicate that cocoa roasting can be optimized to increase the content of larger PACs and anti-PL activity, while maintaining a favorable aroma profile.