Highlights function

function display_highlights($_category_slug = 'research-highlights', $_count_posts = 3)
{
    $my_cat = get_category_by_slug($_category_slug);
    $highlights_query = new WP_Query('orderby=date&order=DESC&showposts='.$_count_posts.'&cat='.@$my_cat->term_id);
    if ($my_cat):
    ?>
        <div class="research-highlights">
            <h3><a href="<?php echo get_category_link($my_cat->term_id); ?>"><?php print $my_cat->name; ?></a></h3>
    <?php
    if ($highlights_query->have_posts()):
        ?>
            <ul>
                <?php while ($highlights_query->have_posts()) :
                    $highlights_query->the_post();
                    global $post;
                    ?>
                    <li>
                        <div class="txt">
                            <p><a class="read-more-title-link" href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></p>
                        </div>
                    </li>
                <?php endwhile; ?>
            </ul>
            <a class="lnk-more" href="<?php echo get_category_link($my_cat->term_id); ?>">more</a>
    <?php else: ?> <p>There are no <?php print $my_cat->name; ?> at this time.</p><p>Please check back again soon.</p>
    <?php
    endif;
     ?>
        </div>
<?php else: ?> <div class="research-highlights"><h3><?php print $my_cat->name; ?></h3><p>The category name has been changed. Please change back to restore feed.</p></div>
<?php endif;
}