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A new chapter started.for collective actions with the 2020 Dutch Mass Damage Settlement in Collective Actions Act (WAMCA) and the E.U. Directive on representative actions for consumer cases. The expansion of the class action mechanism has not only raised procedural and practical questions but has also triggered debates on the funding of inherently expensive collective claims for damages. Absent appropriate public legal aid schemes, third-party litigation funding has been on the rise and commercial funding has become one of the most discussed and controversial topics in European civil justice. Developments in collective actions andfunding have prompted the Dutch Ministry of Justice to commission a study on the financing of collective actions and the desirability of establishing a litigation fund. This paper reviews Dutch collective actions and the quest for suitable funding mechanisms under the WAMCA at the background of E.U. developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Populations of invasive species continue to expand globally, causing extensive ecological and economic damages and are thus frequently the focus of control efforts. To effectively control invasive species populations, management agencies need to apply efforts that will overcome the population's resistance and resilience to disturbance. For aquatic invasive species, initial control efforts often use mechanical removals, which are frequently challenged by size‐selectivity of gears used. Consequently, successful control often requires additional or alternative strategies. Identifying the scale at which alternative strategies need to be applied to benefit control efforts is critical to effective allocation of limited resources. Here, we use a simulation modelling approach to characterize the effect of ecosystem size (as an index of resistance) and population productivity (as an index of resilience) on the effectiveness of a non‐size‐selective method, targeted poison bait, for invader control. We examine the population‐level response to a range of control effort intensities across a range of ecosystem sizes and population productivities. Further, we use our approach to address a case study of ongoing common carp (Cyprinus carpio) control in a very large, shallow lake (Utah Lake, UT, USA), where mechanical removal has been challenged by compensatory recruitment, gear limitations and dynamic lake conditions. Poison bait quantities required annually to meet population reduction targets increased linearly with increasing ecosystem size and population productivity. Critically, we identify the presence of minimum effort levels below which management has no impact on long‐term invader biomass, and these minimum effort levels increase with ecosystem size and population productivity. In our case study at Utah Lake, successful carp control would require long‐term application of >11 t of poison bait annually and would require a 65–485× increase in historic annual budget, depending on acceptable level of risk and timeline to success. Synthesis and applications. Our analysis highlights the challenges presented by highly productive invasive species occupying large ecosystems, and the critical need to appropriately scale control efforts to produce the desired impact on target populations. Failure to appropriately scale control efforts can result in expensive long‐term control programs which produce no long‐term impact on target populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Passive non-destructive evaluation tools such as acoustic emission (AE) testing and acousto-ultrasonics (AU) approach present a complex problem in damage localisation in complex and nonhomogeneous geometries. A novel AU-guided AE frequency interpretation approach is proposed in this research work which aims at overcoming this limitation. For the experimental evaluation, the damage sources from a geometrically complex clear dental aligners are tested under cyclic compression load and their origins are evaluated. Despite the rapid worldwide diffusion of the clear aligners, their mechanical behaviour is poorly investigated. In this work, the frequency characteristics of the artificially simulated stress wave, generated from different dental positions of the clear aligners, are studied using the AU approach. These frequency characteristics are then used to analyse the AE signals generated by these aligners when subjected to cyclic compressive loading. In addition, the time domain characteristics of the AE signals are studied using their Time of Arrival (ToA). The Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) is used to estimate the ToA. These frequency and time domain characteristics of the AE signals are used to estimate the local damage origin in the clear dental aligners. This will help in identifying localised damage sources during the usage period of the aligners. Experimental results revealed significant damages in the left maxillary premolar and right maxillary third molar of the aligners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the regenerative mechanisms of biological organisms, self-healing provides useful functions for soft electronics or associated systems. However, there have been few examples of soft electronics where all components have self-healing properties while also ensuring compatibility between components to achieve multifunctional and resilient bio-integrated electronics. Here, we introduce a stretchable, biodegradable, self-healing conductor constructed by combination of two layers: (i) synthetic self-healing elastomer and (ii) self-healing conductive composite with additives. Abundant dynamic disulfide and hydrogen bonds of the elastomer and conductive composite enable rapid and complete recovery of electrical conductivity (~1000 siemens per centimeter) and stretchability (~500%) in response to repetitive damages, and chemical interactions of interpenetrated polymer chains of these components facilitate robust adhesion strength, even under extreme mechanical stress. System-level demonstration of soft, self-healing electronics with diagnostic/therapeutic functions for the urinary bladder validates the possibility for versatile, practical uses in biomedical research areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seismic damage indices (SDIs) quantify damages in civil structures at local or global level due to seismic activities with the help of various demand and capacity parameters. Conventionally, SDI estimation requires complex and computationally demanding nonlinear time-history analysis (NTA) to find the values of the demand parameters. Nowadays, buildings are equipped with sensors to monitor their responses during seismic activity. Therefore, a novel method utilizing such recorded floor-displacement data of reinforced concrete (RC) plane frames along with local and global capacity-based parameters to predict combined global damage index (GDI) is presented here. Two different GDI formulas, depending on the type of capacity parameters, are developed following the proposed method. Multilinear regression analysis is performed to develop the proposed formulas such that they can predict the G D I PA calculated from hysteresis energy-based weighted average of modified Park and Ang local damage indices. The application of the new method does not need dynamic responses of RC frames obtained from NTA. However, for establishing the new method in the present study, the output of NTAs for different RC frames due to several design spectrum-compatible ground motions are used for training and validation. Also, the explicit expressions for the regression coefficients are provided in terms of some structural properties (e.g., fundamental period, total height) and local soil type for wider applicability. It has been found that the estimated GDI values using the proposed method can satisfactorily represent global damage states based on the limiting values of G D I PA for the RC frames. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study quantified the regional damages resulting from temperature and sea level changes using the Regional Integrated of Climate and Economy (RICE) model, as well as the effects of enabling and disabling the climate impact module on future emission pathways. Results highlight varied damages depending on regional economic development and locations. Specifically, China and Africa could suffer the most serious comprehensive damages caused by temperature change and sea level rise, followed by India, other developing Asian countries (OthAsia), and other high-income countries (OHI). The comprehensive damage fractions for China and Africa are projected to be 15.1% and 12.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2195, with corresponding cumulative damages of 124.0 trillion and 87.3 trillion United States dollars (USD) from 2005 to 2195, respectively. Meanwhile, the comprehensive damage fractions in Japan, Eurasia, and Russia are smaller and projected to be lower than 5.6% of GDP in 2195, with cumulative damages of 6.8 trillion, 4.2 trillion, and 3.3 trillion USD, respectively. Additionally, coastal regions like Africa, the European Union (EU), and OHI show comparable damages for sea level rise and temperature change. In China, however, sea level-induced damages are projected to exceed those from temperature changes. Moreover, this study indicates that switching the damage modules on or off affects the regional and global emission trajectories, but the magnitude is relatively small. By 2195, global emissions under the experiments with all of the damage modules switched off, only the sea level damage module switched on, and only the temperature damage module switched on, were 3.5%, 2.3% and 1.2% higher than those with all of the damage modules switched on, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Only a few physicians are willing to comprehensively concern themselves with how a legally watertight treatment documentation should be structured, in addition to their practical activities; however, the importance of the documentation cannot be emphasized enough, not only for a potential case of liability but also for the medical (further) treatment. This article therefore illustrates the legal foundations of the mandatory documentation and the most important questions associated with it for the practice, in particular on the content of the documentation, the timing of the documentation, the preservation of treatment documents and on the conduct in cases of an impending incident. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article cites reasons for the failure of tort reform in Florida. It discusses the proposed goals of the tort reform system and the legislature's methods to accomplish those goals. Tort reform methods for limiting medical malpractice insurance premium lawsuits include statutory presuit process, the Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Plan, limitation of recovery against state-run hospitals, limitation of how much an injured party may recover and cap on noneconomic damages.

The article compares the departure from plain language of the statute of limitations under Idaho Code Section 5-219(4) to common law completed tort theory. Topics discussed include accrual at the time of tortious act or omission, accrual based on factual patterns, court failure to define damage in misdiagnosis injury cases, consequences of the departure from the plain language, abrogation of the completed tort theory in 2011, and permission of accrual before damage under the Idaho Constitution.

Bid-rigging harms economies and societies. While existing research has primarily focused on quantifying the economic damages resulting from bid-rigging cartels, there is a relative dearth of studies exploring how firms interact and the specific techniques they use to rig tenders. Our paper examines the bidding behaviours associated with bid-rigging. Specifically, we investigate how cartel companies exploit legal opportunities, engage in joint and similar bidding and adapt tactics based on the number of colluding bidders. Our study relies on judicial evidence and a dataset of 1,242 companies (including 112 colluding entities) participating in 357 roadwork bid auctions in Italy. Through bootstrap logistic regressions, we analyse company-level indicators and their association with cartel involvement. The results reveal that cartels frequently exploit subcontracts and price similarity. Moreover, we find that bid-rigging tactics vary depending on the number of bidding cartel companies involved. When colluding companies are the majority of bidders, cartels rely on widespread member participation to cover a broad range of prices. Conversely, when cartel companies constitute less than half of the bidders, they tend to form temporary associations. These findings untangle the complexity inherent in cartel agreements and strategies, highlighting the importance of assessing firm interactions and relational patterns within co-bidding networks for a comprehensive understanding of collusive dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Burns affect 11 million people worldwide annually. Electrical burns (EBs) are renowned for inflicting extensive harm and long-term consequences that can lead to severe illnesses and fatalities. People in both occupational and nonoccupational settings may be exposed to EBs, leading to functional or anatomical consequences. We identified sociodemographic features related to EBs in both settings. A cross-sectional design, using an open dataset of electrical shock injuries that occurred in Colombia during the 2010-2021 period, was carried out. Sociodemographic features of people injured in occupational and nonoccupational settings were described in counts (%), incidence per 100 000 people (I 0; 95% CI). To identify related factors (age-sex adjusted) with injuries in occupational and nonoccupational settings, we applied a binary logistic regression. Over the 12-year period, there were 1.274 EBs (I 0: 2.47; 2.34-2.61), 287 in the occupational setting (I 0: 1.35; 1.20-1.51), and 987 in the nonoccupational setting (I 0: 3.25; 3.05-3.46). Age median was 31 years, and most cases were distributed in middle adulthood (52.8%), males (88.1%), high school/technician (42.8%), urban location (73.7%), weekdays (95.3%), and daytime hours (85.5%). Factors related to EBs in the occupational setting were males, middle adulthood, high school/technician, Thursday, and daytime hours. Other factors related to EBs in the nonoccupational setting were early childhood, primary school, urban location, and weekends. Both settings pose a risk of injuries to individuals. We have identified sociodemographic factors related to these injuries in both occupational and nonoccupational settings, which could aid in preventing damages and long-term complications, especially among vulnerable subgroups such as those determined above. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Wirtschaft und Wettbewerb is the property of Fachmedien Otto Schmidt KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Sea level rise (SLR) due to climate change poses a serious threat to human populations in coastal areas. As a result, assessing the impacts of SLR and evaluating potential adaptations is essential. This study assesses the impacts of SLR and ocean tides on coastal Japanese prefectures by estimating the extent of potentially inundated areas, affected populations, and economic damages. The latest climate scenarios, tidal data, and shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) are used to estimate the SLR and its inundation effects at a resolution of 1 km. Economic damages are estimated following the methods outlined in the "Manual for economic evaluation of flood control investment (draft)." It was found that all impacts (inundated areas, affected populations, and economic damages) under RCP2.6-SSP1 are significantly smaller than those under RCP8.5-SSP5, suggesting the importance of mitigation efforts. In addition, the study evaluates the cost and effectiveness of protection and relocation adaptations using data on the cost of constructing dikes and the cost of relocating houses and infrastructure. While relocations due to SLR have not yet been undertaken in Japan, the relocation costs could be estimated based on the conventional scheme of community relocation for natural disasters such as life-threatening floods and tsunamis caused by major earthquakes. It was found that the costs of relocation can exceed those of protection under the current framework of Japanese relocation policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers news briefs related to the dental nursing industry. Topics include Dental Defence Union's call for reform in clinical negligence costs, highlighting the unsustainable nature of current litigation expenses; the disproportionate legal costs in dental negligence claims, the impact on National Health Service resources, and proposals for fixed recoverable costs to address these issues.

Introduction: Despite significant advances in surgical techniques and patient outcomes, organ transplantation (OT) remains fraught with legal challenges and ethical dilemmas. This study aims to address the notable gap in literature on malpractice claims specifically related to OT, providing insights into litigation trends, outcomes, and implications for medical practice and patient care. Methods: We retrospectively queried the Verdictsearch database from 1988 to 2023, and captured malpractice claims involving several organs. Data on demographics, organ types, and litigation outcomes were collected to compare compensation across different categories of malpractice and patient outcomes. Results: Out of 292 malpractice cases identified, 62 met inclusion criteria, distributed across 19 states with kidney being the most implicated organ (46.8%). Defendants prevailed in 53.2% of cases, while settlements were reached in 29.0%, and plaintiffs won in 16.1% of cases. Surgical errors and complications were the most frequent allegations, followed by medication and treatment errors. The median compensation for deceased plaintiffs was significantly higher ($1,300,000) compared to living plaintiffs at litigation initiation ($128,000). Discussion: Our study sheds light on the challenges and trends in malpractice litigation within the field of OT. By identifying key areas of concern and the influence of patient outcomes on litigation resolution, this study offers valuable insights for healthcare providers, legal practitioners, and policymakers aimed at enhancing patient safety, reducing litigation risks, and fostering a deeper understanding of the ethical and legal complexities in OT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tea tussock moth is a pest that damages tea leaves, affecting the quality and yield of tea and causing huge economic losses. The efficient asymmetric total synthesis of the sex pheromone of the tea tussock moth was achieved using commercially available starting materials with a 25% overall yield in 11 steps. Moreover, the chiral moiety was introduced by Evans' template and the key C-C bond construction was accomplished through Julia–Kocienski olefination coupling. The synthetic sex pheromone of the tea tussock moth will facilitate the subsequent assessment and implementation of pheromones as environmentally friendly tools for pest management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Road accidents have always been one of the important reasons for fatalities and financial losses. Since road accidents on rural highways cause more serious injuries than those on urban highways, providing a suitable method to increase safety in the curves can be a significant contributor to preventing these damages. Although speed is one of the most important variables affecting highway safety, numerous studies have been performed on the reliability analysis of horizontal curves without taking the speed variable into account. The aim of this research is reliability (probability of noncompliance) assessment in the horizontal curve design using geometric design consistency criteria. The radius, superelevation, and operating speed of 19 horizontal curves were collected by field research on the Mashhad‐Torbat Heydarieh highway in Iran. Three different approaches were defined based on the geometric design consistency criterion of a single horizontal curve, and consecutively, the probability of noncompliance was calculated using these approaches. According to the obtained results, this study showed that radius enhancement increases the probability of noncompliance and the consistency level of the geometric design. Finally, the high values of the probability of noncompliance (failure) indicate that the geometric design guidelines need calibration in the design of horizontal curves, especially for higher radii. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with a case of medical liability in which a vegan suffered damages due to a vitamin B12 deficiency. The treating general practitioner did not recognize the deficiency and did not adequately respond to the plaintiff's complaints. The court has decided that the doctor is liable for the resulting damage. It has been determined that there was a gross error in the examination and that the faulty treatment is responsible for the plaintiff's health damages. The court has declared the plaintiff's claim against the defendants to be justified. [Extracted from the article]

Resilient systems can absorb and recover from disturbances and adapt to changed conditions to maintain system functionality. Uncertainty about the meaning of resilience and the attributes it requires has limited the application of resilience thinking in biosecurity. However, considering increasing pressures from trade, travel and climate change, enhancing the resilience of biosecurity systems is likely to be critical to reduce the impacts of pests and diseases on economies, societies and environments.Here we provide a pathway for resilience thinking into risk management. Based on a literature review we discuss its benefits, develop an operational definition of resilience for biosecurity systems and identify the fundamental attributes that support resilience.We show that resilient biosecurity systems can anticipate disturbances, cope with low‐probability high‐impact events and adapt to new and changing circumstances. The status of biosecurity system resilience can be measured using evaluative rubrics, which give decision‐makers an overall performance rating and insight into system weaknesses. General measures, objective functions and simulation approaches are potential avenues for quantifying biosecurity system resilience in practice.Policy implications: Adopting resilience thinking into biosecurity risk management has the potential to reduce the damages caused by invading pests and diseases. If resilience thinking is used alongside traditional risk analysis, then regulators can more effectively address and prepare for the systemic consequences of high‐impact incursions and outbreaks of pests and diseases, which are unpredictable, low‐probability events. However, the design of resilience‐enhancing measures should be guided by economic principles and consider the rate of return of these measures over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: School Resource Officer (SRO) programs do not reduce school violence and increase school discipline. We describe the use of a culturally responsive framework to form a school community collaborative among students, parents, staff, administrators, and law enforcement to reform an SRO program, promote school safety, and reduce punitive measures. METHODS: Members of a participating school district, a local county, and a university collaborated. Adapting an identified culturally responsive model, a racially/ethnically diverse school community co‐developed and implemented a School Community Collaborative (SCC) to address a school safety priority (SRO program reform). The main outcomes were SCC model development and implementation, policy change, and school community feedback. RESULTS: Sixteen community members participated in the 5‐week SCC with students, staff, law enforcement, and parents. The SCC revised the district's SRO memorandum of understanding (MOU) with law enforcement. Participants reported favorable feedback, and 89% reported the inclusion of diverse voices. CONCLUSIONS: Co‐development and implementation of an SCC process with schools were feasible. School SCC participated in a community‐engaged evaluation and revision of an MOU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the interpretation and application of Section 1983 of the federal law, examining its historical context and modern implications. Topics include debates over whether Section 1983 created a new cause of action or merely codified existing constitutional rights, challenges in applying the statute without clear federal guidance on elements such as damages and causation, and the ongoing controversy surrounding official immunities and potential doctrinal reforms.

Railways serve as a vital link for global trade and transportation in any country, but the rail sections are susceptible to damage due to factors such as traffic, extreme environment, and other unavoidable conditions. Monitoring such damages in real time is crucial to prevent casualties and economic losses. Non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques have been used for damage localization, and the acoustic emission (AE) technique has gained attention for real-time monitoring. However, conventional AE approaches are complex, time-consuming, and require multiple sensors. An alternative method is needed for easy and effective implementation of damage localization in rail sections using AE signals. In this study presents, a deep learning approach deploying Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) models under AI is illustrated experimentally for easy and effective implementation of the damage localization process in the rail section. The novelty in this approach is the application of single AE sensor data which makes the damage localization process economical and less time-consuming. These findings have significant implications for the scientific community and rail transportation industries, ensuring safe and efficient operations.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the Damages Directive victims of infringements of competition law are entitled to full compensation. To achieve this goal overcharges, passing-on, and volume effects should play a role in the calculation of damages (for any purchaser who is not yet the final consumer). Whereas the Damages Directive promotes the passing-on defence for the defendants, it does not regulate volume effects in depth. The computation of these effects requires information on counterfactual prices and quantities. Since this information cannot be observed, the size of the volume effect tends to be uncertain. This paper discusses policy-options that aspire to bring compensation closer to full compensation, given uncertainty about the size of the volume effect. Based on the maximin-principle, a principle for decision-making under uncertainty, not allowing a passing-on defence appears to be an attractive option since this may lead to the minimization of the maximum gap between actual and full compensation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After thirty-two years of the devastating earthquake in Mexico City in 1985, the city was again shaken by the consequences of the 7.1 Mw earthquake that struck central Mexico on September 19, 2017. The impact of the disaster nationwide was 369 deaths, 6000 injured, 256,000 total affected people, and damages in the order of US$ 6 billion. Although the earthquake's impact figures are not consistent yet, some sources indicate that in Mexico City alone, the earthquake caused 228 deaths, 44 collapsed buildings, and 73,000 damaged properties, including 5765 homes and 973 schools. The effect on the economy was estimated at between 0.1 and 0.3% of GDP for 2018, and the funds needed for reconstruction were calculated at more than US$3.4 billion. Local government responses to the earthquake were dosed and limited to immediate actions based on a traditional and militarized perspective. Once again, after the quake hit, city authorities and urban planners introduced several actions and initiatives to rethink how disasters can be managed in the city. Regular assessment of impacts on the security of the facilities at risk, liability, damages and losses initiatives, changes to the law, and purges in the local civil protection offices were carried on. As we argue in this article, all these actions are increasingly seen as a cause of serious concerns about the accountability of the authorities responsible for civil protection and risk management at the different levels of government. This article briefly introduces the renewed interest that has emerged in recent years around the globe, including Mexico City, regarding the increasing demands for accountability related to disasters. In the second section, the methodology of the article is described. It will then examine the results and discussion of the analysis of the disaster triggered by the earthquake of September 19, 2017. This included three major topics: (1) background from a hazard perspective and a general characterization of earthquake exposure, (2) damages and losses, and (3) insights into disaster management. The final section concerning closing remarks aims to reflect on future challenges for disaster accountability and community involvement in disaster risk management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the impacts of climate change come to fruition, plaintiffs battle strict standing requirements to litigate climate harms. Federal courts impose increasingly strict definitions of injury in fact while Congress continually fails to present a comprehensive climate plan, leaving plaintiffs without a remedy. The Supreme Court recently made standing even more difficult in its decision TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, where it narrowed the definition of concrete injury. This Note examines the impact of TransUnion’s holding on climate plaintiffs and proposes three ways the case should be read narrowly to protect climate change standing. It argues that TransUnion’s standing test should be applied only to Fair Credit Reporting Act cases, to cases for damages, or to suits against private entities. By applying a narrow reading, federal courts may protect the ability of climate plaintiffs to assert an injury in fact and help stop climate change in its tracks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Konfliktmanagement is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

BACKGROUND: School Resource Officer (SRO) programs do not reduce school violence and increase school discipline. We describe the use of a culturally responsive framework to form a school community collaborative among students, parents, staff, administrators, and law enforcement to reform an SRO program, promote school safety, and reduce punitive measures. METHODS: Members of a participating school district, a local county, and a university collaborated. Adapting an identified culturally responsive model, a racially/ethnically diverse school community co‐developed and implemented a School Community Collaborative (SCC) to address a school safety priority (SRO program reform). The main outcomes were SCC model development and implementation, policy change, and school community feedback. RESULTS: Sixteen community members participated in the 5‐week SCC with students, staff, law enforcement, and parents. The SCC revised the district's SRO memorandum of understanding (MOU) with law enforcement. Participants reported favorable feedback, and 89% reported the inclusion of diverse voices. CONCLUSIONS: Co‐development and implementation of an SCC process with schools were feasible. School SCC participated in a community‐engaged evaluation and revision of an MOU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Computer und Recht is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper considers a supply chain consisting of a manufacturer and a retailer. The manufacturer sells its products through the retailer and an online platform and adopts green technology in the blockchain era. The platform can operate with marketplace mode or reselling mode. The network effect is considered to reflect the power of the platform to enlarge the potential market size. In the decentralised supply chain, the online platform encroaches the offline demand despite the same retail price. The increase of the network coefficient improves the abatement level, and benefits the manufacturer and the platform but damages the retailer's profit. For the supply chain coordination, the abatement level with reselling mode in the centralised supply chain is less than that in the decentralised supply chain if the network coefficient is high. Both marketplace mode and reselling mode can coordinate the supply chain if the network coefficient is low. Blockchain technology helps the products become greener and brings more profits for the manufacturer and the platform. And it induces supply chain coordination. Based on real data of a supply chain, its profit is increased by 3% after coordination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the positions of the Supreme Court regarding discharge from criminal liability in view of reconciliation of the offender and the victim. It is noted that the interpretation of the conditions of the discharge, namely the commission of a first-time minor offence or reckless minor crime, is not controversial and the judicial practice in this case is unanimous. Instead, it is stated that the interpretation of the grounds for the specified type of discharge in judicial practice contains contradictions, and there are also issues that are still unresolved. It is stated that the legal positions regarding the understanding of the concept of «reconciliation» are consistent. It is noted that the death of the victim excludes the possibility of reconciliation, however, the issue of the possible expression of the will to reconcile by a minor, juvenile, incapacitated or limitedly capable victim remains unresolved. Decisions of the Supreme Court in cases of discharge from criminal liability under Art. 46 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine for an offender who has committed a criminal offence against public order are mentioned. It is noted that there is no unambiguous answer as to whether this type of discharge is possible in criminal offenses that cause or pose a real threat of causing significant harm not only to individuals, but also to the public interest, nevertheless, the possibility of applying this type of discharge in such cases has not been denied. It is concluded that in cases where the criminal offence has not caused harm or damages, application of Art. 46 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine is possible without establishing the specified ground for discharge. It is specified that reimbursement of damages or elimination of harm may be incomplete upon agreement with the victim. It is noted that the issues of the victim's ability to refuse compensation, as well as to reach an agreement on reimbursement in the future, remain unresolved. The authors also mention the positions of the Supreme Court stating that discharge from criminal liability in view of reconciliation of the offender and the victim is a mandatory typ e of discharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As population growth, economic development, and climate change increase the risks of inland flooding across the US and worldwide, a range of flood mitigation approaches must be considered and evaluated, including flood forecast and early warning systems (FFEWS). Cost–benefit analysis (CBA) has long been used to scrutinize flood mitigation investments, and although most applications have addressed physical infrastructure projects, a growing body of research has focused on assessing the benefits of information-based approaches such as FFEWS. This review summarizes research to date on the economic benefits of FFEWS, using value-of-information (VOI) analysis as a conceptual and organizing framework. This framework emphasizes the role of FFEWS in improving protective action decisions and flood-related outcomes. I also use the framework to categorize the methods used to assess FFEWS benefits, distinguishing between methods that focus specifically on prevented flood damage and those that take a more holistic VOI-based approach. Through a systematic search and screening of the literature, I identified 66 articles and reports published from 1970 to 2023 in more than 15 countries. Overall, I found that relatively few of the studies (15) applied a VOI-based approach, and most of them estimated VOI in relative rather than absolute (i.e., monetary) terms. In contrast, almost half of the studies used expert assessments or surveys of household or businesses to quantify the effectiveness of warnings for prompting protective actions and for reducing damages. Even so, evidence from these studies regarding the economic value of avoided flood damages is limited and is particularly lacking for the US. These findings highlight the continuing need for empirical research to inform VOI analyses of FFEWS and to isolate the effect of FFEWS on incurred flood damages and on protective action costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the world’s largest foreign trading country, China has faced numerous trade investigations in recent years. We select panel data from China’s manufacturing A-share listed companies from 2012 to 2021 to explore the impact of Sino-US trade friction on corporate resilience and its internal mechanisms. The results show that: (1) The intensification of Sino-US trade friction significantly reduces the resilience of Chinese microenterprises. This conclusion remains robust after a series of tests using PSM-DID and other methods. (2) Heterogeneity analysis shows that the resilience of export enterprises, high-tech enterprises, and enterprises in developed regions are more severely impacted by Sino-US trade friction. (3) Mechanism tests reveal that Sino-US trade friction damages enterprise resilience mainly through three channels: damaging the spirit of entrepreneurs, reducing internal operating profits, and exacerbating external financing constraints. The results provide theoretical and empirical support for understanding the survival effects of microeconomic entities under the impact of Sino-US trade friction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Olive cultivation, like other evergreen fruit cropsworldwide, is limited by the occurrence of frost episodes in different times of the year, mainly in winter or early spring. Some contradictory results are reported about cultivars' response to frost, which depends on the physiological stage of the tissues (acclimated or not acclimated) when the cold or frost episode occurs. This work aimed to implement a user-friendly and reliable lab method for discerning frost tolerance. Methods: Our methodology considered both detached leaves and potted plantlets. The optimal temperature at which damage differentiated between cultivars was evaluated, as well as the time of exposure to cold and the recovery time for the correct evaluation of the symptoms. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of damage on both young and mature leaves was conducted. To validate the efficacy of the methodology, assessments were conducted on the cultivars 'Arbequina' (tolerant), 'Picual' (moderately tolerant), and 'Frantoio' (susceptible) under acclimated and non-acclimated conditions. Results and discussion: The results indicated that, when detached leaves were used for frost evaluation, a temperature of -10°C ± 1°C for 30 min and a recovery time at 26°C for 24-48 h after exposure to cold are enough to induce damages on the leaves and discriminate between cultivar susceptibility. Under these conditions, a precise assessment of symptoms can be made, facilitating the categorization of frost tolerance level in various olive cultivars. Notably, no significant differences were observed between young and mature leaves during the evaluation process. On the other hand, the critical temperature to assess damages on potted plantlets was determined to be -7°C ± 1°C. In addition, it was observed that acclimated plants exhibited fewer symptoms compared to non-acclimated ones, with 'Frantoio' being the most affected alongside 'Picual' and 'Arbequina'. Conclusion: The implemented methodology will allow the assessment of frost tolerance in several olive cultivars within a short timeframe, and it is proven to be user-friendly and reliable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On August 21, 2019, in Sullivan v. Flora, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit adopted the Independent Economic Value Test (IEV Test) to ascertain whether the constituent elements of a copyrighted material were multiple “individual works” or a “compilation” for purposes of statutory damages. In practice, this means that copyright owners, particularly in the music industry, can obtain significantly larger damages by permitting individual awards for each song within an album. The Seventh Circuit, in adopting the IEV Test, joined a growing list of federal circuit courts that rejected the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit’s more limited issuance test, which evaluates the group nature of the copyrighted material as promulgated by the copyright holder. This Comment argues that the IEV Test adopted in Sullivan is the better of the two approaches because it respects Congress’s intent to allow for an objective and particularized analysis of the constituent elements of large collections of copyrighted material. Furthermore, it argues that the IEV Test could be further enhanced with structured jury instructions and the addition of a Fifth Amendment constitutional due process defense that defendants can assert when the aggregate award of statutory damages is excessive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article details the legal case involving Erica Byrom, who sued Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center for alleged negligence during her labor and delivery. Topics include the medical complications and treatment decisions faced by Byrom, the legal claims of improper informed consent and failure to perform a cesarean section, and the expert testimony during the trial suggesting the care team's focus on negative outcomes rather than providing a balanced perspective.

Modeling and evaluation of a system reliability is a key issue in shock model analysis. In cumulative shock model, a system fails when the total damages caused by shocks exceeds the system failure threshold level. The reliability of a system with random failure threshold level under cumulative shocks is investigated in this work, considering the general dependency between inter‐arrival times of shocks and their damages magnitudes. Clustering, as one of the unsupervised machine learning methods, is utilized here by applying a genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO) for its implementation. Phase‐type (PH) distributions and their properties are also applied for finding a system failure distribution functions, determining the convolutions, evaluating the integrals, and ultimately modeling the system reliability. An illustrative example is provided to demonstrate the implementation and effectiveness of the proposed modeling procedure and the suggested approach for computing the system reliability and remaining useful lifetime (RUL). Also, an example case study of X‐ray machine in healthcare industry is provided to demonstrate the application of the proposed model. Applying other machine learning methods for patterns recognition is an area for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with two different topics. The first part of the article deals with the liquidation rights of elective doctors in hospitals. It is stated that there is no automatic liquidation right for elective doctors and that hospital operators are not obliged to grant elective doctors a liquidation right. The second part of the article deals with the procurement of ready-to-use cytostatic drugs from abroad. It is stated that pharmacists are obliged to inform health insurance companies about alternative procurement routes and that they must inform health insurance companies about the procurement of ready-to-use drugs that are not intended for the German market. The State Social Court has ruled that a health insurance company is obliged to pay damages. [Extracted from the article]

The article presents a court case in which a Miami-Dade County trial court ruled that golf cart owners are liable for damages if they lend their golf carts and their drivers negligently cause injuries. In the case Gonzales v. Chiong, the court held that cart owners are liable and awarded over 50 million dollars in damages to the victim. Other topics include the Florida laws governing the use of golf carts.

Copyright of Sakarya University Journal of Law Faculty (SHD) is the property of Sakarya University Journal of Law Faculty (SHD) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Sakarya University Journal of Law Faculty (SHD) is the property of Sakarya University Journal of Law Faculty (SHD) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") has been a flashpoint during most of its twenty-five-year existence. One of the most controversial parts of the DMCA is section 1201. Among other things, section 1201 prohibits third parties from circumventing certain controls to copyrighted content or trafficking in tools that enable circumvention of technological controls. However, despite its nearly quarter-of-a-century lifespan, we know very little about section 1201 empirically. While empiricists have assessed parts of the DMCA, they have left section 1201 largely untouched. Our understanding of section 1201 is largely based on anecdotal evidence, in the form of leading opinions from historically prominent copyright circuits. In this Article, we seek to bolster these anecdotes with greater empirical evidence for ongoing discussions about how section 1201 is performing and whether it needs revising. To do so, we conducted a broad-based search of Westlaw to collect every issued opinion, whether reported or not, where a court purported to apply some part of section 1201. We then reviewed these cases to glean as much information about section 1201 as possible. This review led to a number of important and, in some cases, surprising results. First, section 1201 opinions are a relative rarity. In the nearly quarter of a century since the DMCA's enactment, we could find only a little over 200 opinions, with only about sixty of those being published. The average number of opinions during the DMCA's existence has been around nine annually, which pales in comparison to other types of copyright cases. Second, despite the Second Circuit receiving much attention in anecdotal accounts of section 1201, courts within it issue section 1201 opinions infrequently. The Ninth Circuit is the dominant section 1201 court, both in terms of citations to its opinions and overall number of opinions, and the Sixth and Eleventh Circuits both issue more section 1201 opinions than the Second Circuit. This result stands in contrast to other types of copyright litigation, where the Second Circuit is a behemoth. Third, the most common subject matter in dispute in section 1201 cases is computer software, followed distantly by audiovisual material such as movies. Music stands in last place, showing up in only a couple issued opinions. Debates at the time of the DMCA's enactment were informed by widespread fears of copyright infringement relating to digital music and other types of digital content. Yet section 1201 litigation has resulted in but few written opinions involving those subject matters. Fourth, suits and defaults against individuals happen relatively frequently in the section 1201 context, with courts often assessing large statutory damages against those individuals. As we discuss in this Article, this result raises important equity issues. Fifth, despite section 1201 including a number of statutory exemptions, these exemptions basically never make their way into issued opinions. Fair use, too, only infrequently enters courts' section 1201 discussions. This means, effectively, that the primary way to escape section 1201 liability is through administrative exemptions granted by the Library of Congress on a triennial basis. But as we shall see, this process has significant holes. Finally, plaintiffs disproportionately win section 1201 cases. This result is somewhat bloated because of the frequency of defaults against individuals. Setting these aside, plaintiffs still enjoy tremendous success under section 1201. However, when looking at opinions only outside of the Ninth Circuit, win rates become mostly even. I conclude with several calls for DMCA reform. These include bolstering statutory exemptions and more closely tying section 1201 to copyright infringement. Pursuing these reforms will more faithfully align section 1201 with its purported objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 2002 and 2017, concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) decreased 37% in the United States. Environmental economic theory generally assumes that environmental improvement is associated with a decrease in the marginal damage of emissions. In this case, the marginal damages of PM2.5 precursor emissions (NH3, NOX, primary PM2.5, and SO2) increased substantially. I calculate the change in the marginal damages of emissions between 2002 and 2017, finding increases, on average, of 30% for NH3, 46% for NOX, 61% for primary PM2.5, and 36% for SO2. The increase in marginal damages is especially large in the southeastern United States, with values more than double over this time period. The key factors that influence this change in marginal damages are the shape of the concentration-response (C-R) function that was adopted for these calculations between PM2.5 exposure and mortality (positive effect), the increase in the real value of a statistical life (positive effect), the increased population (positive effect), the aging of the population (positive effect), the decreased age-specific mortality rates (negative effect), and the geographic distribution of emissions (mixed effect). Between 32 and 65% of the increase in marginal damages is attributable to the shape of the C-R function and the decreased concentration of PM2.5. The C-R function adopted here indicates that the marginal effect of concentration reductions is higher at lower concentrations. Thus, at the lower PM2.5 concentrations resulting from improvements over 15 years, there would be a larger reduction in mortality from each additional unit of pollution reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is dedicated to the study of the issue of compensation for damages caused by violations of competition law within the European Union. The author analyzes the main provisions of Directive 2014/104/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 November 2014 on certain rules governing actions for damages under national law for infringements of the competition law provisions of the Member States and of the European Union, as well as the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union concerning compensation for damages caused by an undertaking in a dominant position. The article addresses problematic issues that were either not sufficiently covered or only fragmentarily outlined in the provisions of Directive 2014/104/EU, but which were clarified in the preliminary rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The author pays particular attention to issues related to the implementation of Directive 2014/104/EU by the Member States of the European Union and evaluates the progress of its implementation. Additionally, based on the analysis of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, the article reflects the key positions of the Court of Justice of the European Union regarding clauses on the choice of court/jurisdiction in the context of claims for damages caused by abuse of a dominant position. Specifically, the article highlights the approaches of the Court of Justice of the European Union concerning the determination of the place related to the occurrence of consequences of illegal behavior in the form of abuse of a dominant position. Furthermore, given that claims for damages caused, in particular, by the abuse of a dominant position can be filed both without a prior decision of the competition authority establishing a violation of competition law and after the adoption of the relevant decision by the competition authority, the author reveals problematic issues regarding the disclosure of evidence contained in the materials of the competition authority's case and analyzes the main levels of protection of evidence contained in the materials of the competition authority's case as reflected in Directive 2014/104/EU. The author finds that the provisions of directive in question are not aimed at resolving all issues that may arise in private enforcement, but considering the positions of the Court of Justice of the European Union during the reform of domestic competition law will allow for the full implementation of the provisions of the aforementioned directive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]