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The response of partially saturated granular cargoes during maritime transportation has resulted in the capsize and sinking of 27 bulk carriers at sea and the loss over 90 seafarers' lives in the last decade. The partially saturated granular material response to energy imparted during cargo loading, ship engine vibrations and vessel rolling motions from sea states causes a change in state of the granular cargo, which can lead to vessel instability and ultimately capsize. However, the mechanisms driving the response of partially saturated granular cargos within a bulk carrier hold are not well understood. This paper presents results from an experimental study of rolling table centrifuge model tests on a partially saturated silica sand to contribute to improved understanding of the response of granular cargoes during maritime transport. Observed settlement, pore pressure, moisture content and density changes during and/or following a sequence of large amplitude rolling motions are presented. The results indicate that for the conditions considered, a progressive upwards migration of pore water during rolling led to creation of a free surface of water above the granular sample that was left in a denser, lower moisture content sample compared to its initial state. Sloshing of free water on top of even a competent cargo during rolling motions of the ship can contribute to loss of ship stability and ultimately capsize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past few years, more and more competition authorities have expanded their powers in conducting market inquiries. Some competition laws have given the competition authorities the power to impose remedies after a market inquiry and to impose fines on undertakings that resist providing information during a market inquiry. Some competition authorities are in the process of amending their laws to mirror this development. The COMESA Competition Commission is an exemplary incident of a competition authority that is amending its law to cloth it with expansive powers in the conduct of market inquiries. This article explores whether or not such expanded powers in a market inquiry are overly intrusive and whether they are consistent with the constitutional and natural justice guarantees. An interrogation on whether there are safeguards to ensure that these powers are not unfettered and do not result in abuse of the rights of those that are subject to this power will also be conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Journal of Applied Linguistics 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.)

Copyright of Middle East Journal of Legal & Jurisprudence Studies / Mağallaẗ al-Šarq al-Awsaṭ li-l-ʿulūm al-Qānūniyyaẗ wa-al-Fiqhiyyaẗ is the property of Manar Elsharq for Studies & Research 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 main drawback of recycled fibers is the deterioration of fiber bonding dependent papermaking properties (like tensile, tear and burst indexes) due to the hornification effect, as a results of drying during papermaking. In order to improve the papermaking properties through increasing fiber bonding, an alkaline treatment of Old Corrugated Cardboard (OCC) followed by fractionation were carried out in this investigation. Alkaline treatment dissolved 6.6 % organics (carbohydrates and lignin) and fibers became wider as a results of fiber swelling. The alkali treatment decreased fines from 39.9 % to 28.5 %, consequently, decreased drainage resistance from 26 °SR to 21 °SR. The papermaking properties of OCC pulp increased on alkaline treatment. Fiber fractionation of alkaline treated OCC further increased papermaking properties. At 40 °SR value, the tensile index, burst index and tear index of alkaline treated longer fiber fraction was 49 N m/g, 3.2 kPa m2/g, 7.2 mN m2/g, respectively while it was 40.4 N m/g, 2.1 kPa m2/g and 6.1 kPa m2/g, for non-treated longer fiber fraction, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper expands our understanding of the lived experience of policing by exploring how people describe and analyze one of its salient aspects: its economic consequences. Despite growing scholarship on predatory policing strategies in the aftermath of the Justice Department's investigation of Ferguson, Missouri, we lack an understanding of how these practices are experienced, theorized, and resisted by policed, race-class subjugated (RCS) communities. How do people narrate, make meaning from, or theorize their material relationship to policing? Do policed publics understand such practices as part of broader processes of racialized governance, political power, and community inequality? Utilizing the Portals Policing Project, we collected the largest contemporary database of narratives about policing, including over 850 dialogues that were qualitatively coded. Using a grounded theory approach we analyzed a subset of dialogues that focus on financial aspects of police, court, and carceral encounters to examine how people discussed their experiences with monetary sanctions and their broader meanings and relationships to racialized political economy and geography. When people analyzed the material dimensions of policing and incarceration, four prominent discursive theorizations emerged: (1) Police and courts deploy a variety of techniques (criminalizing public space, strategic application of child support fees, unfair taxation, among others) to structurally control the flow of RCS resources, often toward the state and non-policed White communities. (2) Such resource flows occur in the broader context of municipal prioritization of police and carceral institutions over schools and social services, which permit and sustain RCS community criminalization, extraction, and reproduction of marginalization. (3) Police construct racialized urban spaces and markets, marking informal RCS economic activity as transgressive and delimiting their expansion. (4) Police surveillance is racially embodied and permeates daily life to restrict individual activity and, indirectly, economic potential. Overall, these narratives center the police and carceral state in processes of materialized race-making—the active reproduction of racial economic inequality and dispossession that goes beyond basic racial disparities in state punishment and revenue generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to the study of theoretical and practical problems of compensation for moral damage caused to the authorized subject by illegal actions, inaction, decisions of the obliged subject in the field of social protection, and the evaluation of the effectiveness of the appropriate penalty in the law of social security. It is proved that, given the fact that sanctions in the law of social security are characterized by a special legal force, which consists in directing the termination of the offense / elimination of its consequences and obstacles that stand in the way of ensuring the interests of the participants of material and procedural relations in the law of social security, causing negative consequences for a person who has not fulfilled the obligation provided for by law or contract in the field of social protection, it can be said that compensation for moral damage belongs to the number of sectoral sanctions of the law of social security, although it has a civil legal nature. The article states that the spread of the application of compensation for moral damages in social security law is connected with the transformation of sectoral social relations and a change in the mechanism of their regulation, which is characterized by the emergence of multi-component intersectoral legal constructions, which, nevertheless, fully meet the purpose of legal regulation of sectoral relations - ensuring social security of the population. It was established that the absence of a direct indication of the possibility of compensation for the moral suffering of the authorized subject in the social security legislation does not limit the ability of citizens to apply to the court with a corresponding claim. In any case, when solving the issue of protection of the right to social protection, the mechanism established by Art. 56 of the Constitution of Ukraine, Art. 23 of the Civil Code of Ukraine. The article concludes that, given the subject composition of social protection providers, the actual effectiveness of compensation for moral damages in the law of social security still depends on the budgetary financing of the execution of court decisions guarante ed by the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Violations of environmental regulations often involve multiple parties since companies, as well as employees of the companies, face regulatory obligations and can expend compliance-enhancing effort. When deterring such violations by punishing violators, court judges must determine which party or parties to punish with sanctions. Our study explores such sanction decisions made by Belgian judges in response to environmental offenses and the defendants' intent to comply as captured by three key Belgian legal elements reflecting culpability: purpose, willingness, and knowledge. Our empirical results reveal that the three culpability factors play strong roles in shaping judges' sanction decisions, especially the relative use of firm sanctions and employee sanctions. As important, our empirical results strongly demonstrate that judges appear to perceive firm and employee sanctions as complements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fines fraction in mechanical pulp, produced during wood processing can impact the mechanical properties of the resulting paper positively or negatively, making them potential additives for paper strength improvement at the right loading level. To enhance fines' effectiveness as paper strength additives that have heterogeneous surface chemistries, this work employed a regioselective surface esterification method conducted under mild conditions in acetone, with the addition of succinic anhydride and imidazole. This approach converted surface hydroxyl groups of fines into carboxylic acid groups, resulting in a final content of near 0.5 mmol g−1. This modification increased fines' hydrophilicity, as evidenced by enhanced moisture absorption capacity in dynamic vapor sorption analysis. These fines with additional functionality strengthened intermolecular bonding, leading to over 150% enhancement in tensile strength and Young's modulus when cast into thin films. Fines were substituted at 10–20 wt.% concentration to the fiber fraction of softwood thermomechanical pulp (TMP) and bleached chemi-thermomechanical pulp (BCTMP) forming handsheets. It was observed that fines modified with succinic anhydride and imidazole were more effective in enhancing paper strength, including tensile (up to 30%), burst (up to 39%) and tear (up to 4%) indices. This improvement was likely due to enhanced intermolecular bonding between modified fines and the fiber surfaces. By modifying mechanical pulp fines with succinic anhydride and imidazole, we have converted a potential heterogeneous waste product from the industry into a valuable by-product to enhance paper performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of New Building Materials / Xinxing Jianzhu Cailiao is the property of New Building Materials Editorial Office 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.)

In this paper, we offer a conjunctural analysis of policing and incarceration, examining their expansion in relation to structural economic conditions over the last 50 years and interrogating how the sudden onset of the Covid-19 pandemic enabled extraordinary growth in policing powers in the Australian jurisdictions of New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria (VIC). We examine how popular support for police-led responses to crisis and fines as a common-sense solution to social problems were sought during the period that the Public Health Orders were in effect in the two states. We argue that the discursive project of naturalizing the police-led response to the pandemic—via official communications from the state governments as well as media coverage of the pandemic—attempts to further entrench a vision of law and order governance in which infrastructures of discipline and punishment are necessary and inevitable. We identify this vision as a direct barrier to abolition and a significant limit on the capacity to imagine alternative frameworks for justice. We end by considering a small archive of tweets from users in NSW and VIC published on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter (now called X) in 2020–21. We argue that this archive registers the way the common-sense status of the fine as an efficient, effective, and equitable punishment gives way to punitive fantasies about police and prisons. We read this archive alongside the broad refusal to pay Covid-related fines and the ongoing legal disputes contesting the legitimacy of their issuance, concluding by proposing that the conjunctural moment of the Covid-19 pandemic has given rise to unresolved contradictions between the naturalized logic of law and order crisis management and the potential for this logic to come undone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the recent data protection failures in Greece's public sector, particularly examining the Hellenic Data Protection Authority's (DPA) findings in high-profile incidents like the ELTA cyberattack. Topics include the details of the ELTA case, including the breach's severity and implications, the DPA's assessment of compliance with GDPR regulations, and the broader context of data protection law developments in Greece.

Freeze-thaw (F-T) cycles are a major cause of pavement distress in seasonal frost regions, and the presence of fines in bases can accelerate the pavement degradation induced by cyclic freeze and thaw. Among countermeasures used to mitigate the F-T induced damages in pavements, geocell-reinforced bases can be an effective solution in mitigating F-T damage to cold region roads. However, there is almost no research dedicated to understanding the potential benefit of geocells and the underlying mechanisms in this regard. This study employed a custom-made model test device to investigate the F-T performance of geocell-reinforced sands considering different fines contents. The experimental results showed that the increase in fines content substantially increased the peak heave and thaw settlement and decreased the stiffness and ultimate bearing pressure. The application of geocells reduced the peak heave and thaw settlement by 11–18% and 22–35%, respectively, but this benefit was negligible at high kaolin content (12%). The use of geocells increased the stiffness and ultimate bearing pressure by about 43–90% and 41–73%, respectively, after five F-T cycles. The findings of this study are relevant to the design of geocell-reinforced bases under F-T cycles and advance the understanding of the underlying mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legal financial obligations (LFOs) associated with justice system involvement are increasingly a focus for policymakers and researchers seeking to understand sources of inequality and the factors that promote successful reentry. These conversations often rely on an assumption that LFOs are associated with or may even drive higher rates of recidivism. The empirical research in this area, however, has not kept up with the growing strength of these claims. This study reports findings that may offer a new perspective and contribute to an evidence‐based debate. Multisourced administrative data on all individuals released from carceral supervision in an East Coast state (N = 21,301) over 3 years are used to examine the complex relationship between criminal justice debt and reoffending. We detail the results of survival analyses estimating the impact of these debts on various forms of recidivism. Broadly, we find that even though the relationship between case‐level LFO assessments and future offending did not reach statistical significance, the association with the cumulative effect of monetary sanctions over the life course did. Furthermore, the impact of LFO debt is greater for certain racial groups, supporting theoretical and practical inquiries into factors informing structural disadvantage. Implications for policy and future research are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a novel procedure to assess fragmentation from automatic analysis of 3D photogrammetric models with a commercial software. The muckpiles from 12 blasts were photographed with a conventional drone to build 3D photogrammetric models; the flights were made with a relatively constant ground sampling distance (GSD) of 6.2 sd 0.92 mm (mean and standard deviation, respectively). A comparison with already published mass-based size distributions from 11 of these blasts, shows a good performance of automatic 3D-fragmentation measurements in the coarse range (P ≥ 60%), while deviations between mass-based and 3D model fragmentation analysis grow towards the central-fines range. As a solution, the Swebrec function is fitted to the reliable part of the size distributions, well above the GSD, and then is extended towards the fines, down to a percentage passing of 5–10%. The suitable fitting range is obtained iteratively from the mass-based fragmentation data; the lower fragment size considered is independent of the model's resolution (i.e. GSD) with mean of 357 mm (equivalent to a passing in the range 66–86%, and well above the GSD of our models). The resulting distributions match properly mass-based size distributions with relative errors in percentile sizes of 15.5 sd 3.4%, and they can be represented with the simplest form of the fragmentation-energy-fan. As a guideline for reconstruction of size distributions and fines assessment when mass-based data is not available, the lower-fitting limit of 357 mm yields reasonable results (mean errors in pass in the range 5–36%) for the present case. The errors are limited enough to keep a sound description of the variation of fragmentation with change in blast design. Highlights: 3D photogrammetric models are obtained from UAV flights over the muckpiles to assess fragmentation from blasting with a commercial software. The coarse fraction is reasonably well estimated through automatic analysis of 3D muckpile models. To correct deviations in the central-fines range, the Swebrec function is fitted to the coarse range (passings generally above 70%) and extrapolated to passing of 5–10%. The smaller fragment size considered for the fit is estimated for each blast from sieving data and it is independent of the model's resolution; the mean of these sizes (357 mm) procures a proper fines assessment for the present case. The reconstructed image-based size distributions match properly mass-based size distributions and are sensitive to changes in the powder factor in line with fragmentation-energy-fan principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Law / Teise is the property of Vilnius University 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.)

Courts in many jurisdictions remain indifferent to criticisms for their overly harsh or unequal treatments. There has been a debate whether this is attributed to judges' individual dispositions or rather their environments. This article contributes to this debate by offering evidence from Thai courts about their indifference to inequality generated by the wealth-insensitive fine and fine-default custody. It argues that judges are situationally driven to adopt rigid framing about justice when performing duties, as a result of which judges develop indifference to the 'side-effects' of their frame-influenced decisions. The findings imply the possibility that the same mechanisms may exist in other jurisdictions and underline the need to address indifference to prevent failure in reforming for a more egalitarian system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fine or penalties are parts of measures in preventing accidents fatalities on Nigeria roads due to erratic driver behavior. This study thus examined the influence of monetary penalties on driver behavior in Lagos State. The study employed survey research design by purposively distributed four hundred (400) structure questionnaires to both private and commercial drivers. The results of the study showed that 76% of the respondents attested to the effectiveness of monetary penalty in changing driver behavior despite its 28% (R2= .276) statistical contribution. However, it was concluded that changing of driver attitude is not as effective when the focus is concentrated on monetary penalty only. Therefore, it was recommended that, implementation of alternative penalty measures, including fines, community service, driver's license revocation or the utilization of combinations of two penalty options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural volcanic soils containing pumice particles are commonly found in Hokkaido, Japan, and this type of soil is prone to landslides, internal erosion, and liquefaction. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to summarise the hydro-mechanical response of volcanic ash soil subjected to internal erosion using the modified erosion triaxial apparatus, based on the literature and additional investigations. The results of the study show that the rate of erosion and shear strain during the erosion process are influenced by initial density, stress state, and hydraulic gradient. Notably, anisotropic consolidation is experienced by specimens under seepage flow. Additionally, the removal of fines leads to a slight decrease in the grading state index. Moreover, suffosion increases the maximum shear modulus and Poisson’s ratio of the soil, while increasing seepage time stabilises the peak shear strength of eroded specimens. Furthermore, the critical state line does not change much with internal erosion. To sum up, this study offers valuable insights into the behaviour of volcanic ash soil subjected to internal erosion and provides an integrated interpretation of hydro-mechanical response of volcanic ash on removal of fines.

Suffusion is one of the four mechanisms of internal erosion. The embankments and their foundations can exhibit different forms of heterogeneity which can be a major factor initiating suffusion. Although several experimental studies on the effect of heterogeneities have been performed, numerical studies remain less approached. In this paper, the effect of material heterogeneity is examined using the discrete element method and the computational fluid dynamics model (DEM-CFD). The suffusion process is studied by simulating a soils sample in a column, subjected to downward flow. Heterogeneity is addressed by adding coarse particles at two-layer positions (mid-length or downstream) at three coarse fractions (20%, 40%, 60%). Its effect is investigated in terms of erodible particles, retention efficiency, and contact forces at the particle scale. In particular, the numerical simulation results show that the erosion occurs in a heterogeneous way, and the downstream configuration provides more suffusion than the central one. In addition, the introduction of coarse particles can lead to increase the filtration efficiency. The effect of involved heterogeneities on erosion depends simultaneously on the coarse fraction and configuration heterogeneity. The comparison of the numerical results with those obtained by a suffusion test shows a concordance and validates the numerical approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aeolian sand (AS) is locally available in desert area that can be used as road construction material. However, AS is a loose granular material with low bearing capacity which needs to be stabilized. This paper presents a novel study of using geopolymer (GP) and fines to stabilize AS. A series of cyclic triaxial tests was conducted to study the effect of GP and fines contents on cyclic response of stabilized AS. The experimental results show that adding fines into AS can effectively increase the cyclic loading capacity but increase the accumulated axial strain of the mixture; inclusion of GP into the AS-fines mixture greatly enhances the cyclic loading capacity and reduces the accumulated axial strain of the mixture. The shakedown response of the untreated AS changes from plastic shakedown to incremental collapse with increase in cyclic stress ratio (CSR); however, the GP-fines-AS mixture with higher fines and GP contents mainly experiences plastic shakedown. The modulus index of untreated AS or fines-containing AS shows an increase-stable trend with loading cycles, indicating strengthening in the soil matrix, but that of the GP-fines-AS mixture shows increase-stable, stable or decrease-stable trend with loading cycles, depending on the CSR and fines and GP contents. Microcharacterization using scanning electron microscope (SEM) shows that the added fines greatly alter the microstructure of AS by filling the voids and acting as lubricant, which facilitates the movement of AS particles and thus induces larger axial strain. The added GP increases the cyclic loading capacity of the treated soil by inducing a chemical fabric in the treated soils. Increase in fines and GP content results in larger contact area and stronger fabric leading to enhanced stabilizing effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the use of the concept of Fair Funds for consumer competition law enforcement from an EU perspective. With such Fair Funds, the US Securities and Exchange Commission distributes collected fines and disgorged profits to compensate victims of securities law violations. The paper explains the use of Fair Funds in US law, highlights similarities, and adapts the concept for use in European competition law enforcement. It places an emphasis on the usefulness of such a concept against the role of consumers, but the conclusions can equally be drawn for small and medium enterprises’ private enforcement or private enforcement of competition law in general. It shows the advantages and disadvantages of including a system of Fair Funds. The paper argues that Fair Funds can serve as an alternative form of compensation, particularly for large groups of individual victims harmed in a small amount, such as consumers, with that overcome the lack of a harmonized collective redress system on EU level, and improve the coordination between public and private enforcement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If policy makers wish to encourage members of a population to take a socially beneficial action, should they reward those who take the desired behavior or punish those who do not? This article develops a model that facilitates both utilitarian and majoritarian perspectives on the use of incentives and disincentives in public policy. An asymmetry arises between the two types of policy: as incentives grow, higher shares of the population take the beneficial action and earn the reward, driving administrative costs up; as disincentives grow, however, smaller shares of the population fail to take the desired action, requiring fewer fines and exerting downward pressure on administrative costs. Domains that favor inducing high (low) shares of the population to take a desired behavior thus indirectly favor the use of disincentives (incentives). Distributive implications amplify this tendency, such that majoritarian influence on policy making tends to generate stronger disincentives and weaker incentives than are efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Old corrugated container (OCC) pulp was fractionated and it was found that the longer fiber fraction represented 76.54% and the short fiber fraction – 21.3% of the OCC pulp. The fiber length was 1.22 mm for the long fiber fraction and 0.6 mm for the short fiber, which was longer and shorter, respectively, than the fiber length of the whole OCC pulp (0.95 mm). In addition to fibers in pulp, the cellulosic microparticles that pass through a mesh screen or a perforated plate with a hole diameter of 76 μm, called fines, also have an impact on the properties of the final paper product. The fines content in both longer and shorter fiber fractions was lower than in the whole OCC pulp, consequently, drainage resistance (°SR) in the longer fiber fraction decreased to 14 from 21 in the whole OCC pulp. The air permeability and papermaking properties of the longer fiber were higher than those corresponding to the whole OCC and shorter fiber pulp. Therefore, the longer fraction of pulps can be used to manufacture test liner products and the shorter fiber fraction – for fluting paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Majalat Monazaat Al-Aamal is the property of Majalat Monazaat Al-Aamal 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 Derecho Penal y Criminologia is the property of Universidad Externado de Colombia, Departamento de Derecho Penal y Criminologia 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 article examines how litigants from the 1190s through the 1270s combined final concords with other forms of documentary and symbolic agreement: affirmations given through letters and in court, homage, and charters. The end of the twelfth century through the mid-thirteenth century saw the growth of the royal courts as a more standardized and powerful legal system. Over this period, litigants increasingly trusted final concords as a secure way to transfer land and rights and to settle disputes. At the same time, they continued to combine final concords with other forms of agreement. This enabled them to expand concords beyond the principal parties to other claimants and authority figures. By layering multiple types of documentary and symbolic acts, litigants were also able to connect to both administrative and personal authority, and to reinforce agreements within their local social networks. These patterns show how early final concords, despite their routine form, were flexible enough to accommodate individual needs. Litigants' ability to deploy these documents creatively demonstrates the overall flexibility of the early common law, and its space for continuity with earlier approaches to dispute resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution develops critique from analysing forms of misconduct by knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) firms, especially the largest, globally located and client-interactive on all five continents. Management consultancy infractions range from supplying spurious advice, to advising clients on fraudulent practice, to acting complicitly in corrupt government practices, including engaging in ‘state capture’ by channelling internal state revenue into private holding bank accounts. Because the litany of misconduct is too massive for encompassing in a single contribution, and in the spirit of this task, the spotlight is only on a few cases that represent typical ‘creative economy’ companies contracted to ‘Big 3′ P-KIBS (Professional KIBS) corporations. Of importance to open innovation’s critical edge, the contribution articulates the puzzle of why academic KIBS research has presented the field without comment on its ‘dark’ side, questioning ‘leadership’ and ‘agency’ ‘observer’ and ‘confirmation bias’. For interpretation of data discovery, we utilise evolutionary ‘pattern recognition’ methodology set within an evolutionary theoretical framework.

Police-issued penalty notices were heavily relied upon to deter and punish breaches of emergency restrictions in the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This article critically examines the use of penalty notices in this context and explores the implications for our understanding of contemporary criminalisation practices. The origins, drivers and existing theoretical accounts of penalty notice regimes are first examined. Attention is drawn to their often overlooked disruptive and punitive effects in the domains of public order policing and administrative fines enforcement. Against this background, a case study of the COVID-19 Delta variant outbreak in New South Wales, Australia is presented. This case study exemplifies the substantial discretionary, penal and quasi-judicial functions ceded to police and state debt recovery agencies through modern penalty notice regimes. It exemplifies the ‘chameleon criminalisation’ enacted by penalty notices. Despite appearing transactional and benign, ‘on-the-spot’ fines subtly expand executive power and disproportionately penalise the most vulnerable and marginalised.

The process of recycled pulp refining is usually associated with a significant change in the morphological characteristics of the secondary fiber and the formation of additional amounts of fines. It is well known that fines have a great impact on the pulp properties, the papermaking process and the quality of the resulting paper. At the same time, the effect of fines both on the paper properties and on the papermaking process depends on the morphological characteristics of the fines. The aim of the study was to evaluate the changes in the morphological characteristics of the fines during gentle low-consistency refining of the recycled pulp. The recycled pulp was obtained from commercial wet-strength tissue paper, consisting of 100 % bleached softwood kraft pulp (BSKP) made from pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). The repulping of wet-strength paper was performed at 60 °C in three ways, namely, repulping with sodium hydroxide (indicated as RP (NaOH)), repulping with sodium hydroxide and sodium persulfate (RP (NaOH + Na2S2O8)), and finally repulping with sodium hydroxide and potassium monopersulfate (RP (NaOH + KHSO5)). Using an optical fiber analyzer, L&W Fiber Tester, it was found that accelerated persulfate and monopersulfate repulping of the wet-strength paper led to an increase in fines content after pulp refining by 0.20…0.28 % on length and by 0.9…1.5 % on number of particles. In addition, some fines were not detected due to the limited resolution of the measuring device. The morphological characteristics of the recycled pulps showed that the studied fines were relatively straight particles (Sl = 93.5...94.0 %) with low length polydispersity ((Ll/Ln) = 1.08...1.09). Fines had a mean slenderness ratio (L/W)l and (L/W)w of about 7, which in some length classes reached 8...9. Taking into account the experimental data on fines length (Ll = 132…134 µm) and fiber width (Wl = 29.7…30.0 µm), as well as SEM images of recycled paper, we can conclude that these particles can form fines-assisted bridges between several close deposited fibers in the fiber network, thus strengthening the paper web. For citation: Penkin A.A., Kazakov Y.V. Changes in the Morphological Characteristics of Secondary Fiber Obtained from Wet-Strength Paper During Gentle Refining of the Recycled Pulp. Part 2. Fines Characteristics. Lesnoy Zhurnal = Russian Forestry Journal, 2023, no. 4, pp. 169–179. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.37482/0536-1036-2023-4-169-179

The natural environment is suffering greatly from population growth, industrialization, and waste production. When pavements are to be repaired or reconstructed, the waste material poses a threat as it is landfilled and not used up to its potential. Reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) has been gaining importance as there is a depletion of natural resources as well as its potential to perform well if reused or recycled. The extraction and recovery process is carried out to evaluate the properties of the aged binder in RAP. Extraction and recovery need to be coupled with gravitational sedimentation and filtration for the removal of mineral fillers from the aged binder + solvent solution. This study uses Centrifuge extraction and a rotary evaporator for extraction and recovery, respectively. In this study, three different solvents, namely tri-chloroethylene (TCE), toluene, and n-propyl bromide (nPB) are used for the centrifuge extraction. Extraction was followed by gravitational sedimentation and filtration. The results were evaluated by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Gravitational sedimentation is carried out and samples are tested after 0, 30, 60, 120, 240, and 1440 min by FTIR followed by filtration. In order to assess the properties of aged binder accurately, it should be free from mineral fines. Based on the properties of aged asphalt, percentages of RAP binder and rejuvenator by virgin binder can be evaluated. The results demonstrated that the removal efficiencies were affected by the type of solvent used for extraction.

El proyecto de reforma del derecho canónico penal recogido en el CIC, anunciado en 2010 por el PCTL, dio años después un paso más mediante la elaboración de un segundo borrador. La comparación con el primero se presta a señalar y valorar aspectos relevantes, de fondo y de detalle, que se observan en el proceso en cuestiones como la imputabilidad, los tipos penales, las penas, el precepto penal, el proceso y los fines de las penas. En líneas generales se aprecia un endurecimiento del derecho sancionador de la Iglesia, así como la incidencia de la normativa especial para delitos reservados a la CDF. Se proyecta dar respuesta en el CIC a distintas problemáticas que se vienen señalando en él, y aún quedarían algunas pendientes de atender.

A diferencia del derecho penal, la extinción de dominio tiene un desarrollo dogmático escaso. La mayoría de los planteamientos que se han hecho en la materia fundamentan al instituto desde dentro del sistema comoquiera que lo ubican como una figura constitucional, penal o simplemente como un instrumento del derecho penal del enemigo. En este escrito se pretende, en cambio, darle una fundamentación exógena anclada a la teoría de la anomia de Merton, dado que se encuentra como el instituto bajo estudio es un corrector de anomia pues pretende hacer hincapié en los medios lícitos permitidos por la sociedad y no tanto en los fines.

This article is a systematic review of the purposes of performance appraisal (PAPs) and provides an agenda for future research. The study highlights the importance of PAPs in decision-making on other human resource policies and recognizes the need for more exploration of PAPs by academics and researchers. The findings suggest a decrease in interest in researching PAPs, but also emphasize the potential for PAPs to improve the perception of appraisers and appraisees on the usefulness of the appraisal system. The study contributes to the understanding of PAPs in different cultural and organizational contexts, particularly in Asia and Africa. [Extracted from the article]

Evolution from fines migration to deposition and clogging is critical for many geotechnical and environmental engineering practices. In this study, the coupling of computational fluid dynamic and discrete element method was adopted to tackle fines migration. The surface energy density term γ was used to represent the combination of Coulomb forces and van der Waals interactions. A particle-scale mechanical analysis method was adopted to identify three criteria of particle deposition conditions. (1) The drag force on the fines should be less than the electrical forces between particles, (2) the drag force and electrical force torques should be on the same order of magnitude, and (3) the contact angle between particles should be greater than 5.5°. The deposition efficiency increases from 8.5 to 37.8% as surface density energy increases from 0.001 to 0.01 J/m2 at a Reynolds number of 10. As the electrical force is more than 10 times the drag force, clogging occurred. Due to the inertial and Dean forces and the filtration effect of micropillars, a band of lacking particles appears in the symmetrical center of the pore throat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a quantitative analysis of the European Commission's cartel decisions in the 2010–2019 decade. It assesses the way the Commission's 2006 guidelines on fines were applied in practice and the operation of the leniency and settlement procedures. It also provides an overview of the types of cartels prosecuted, how they were detected, and how long the Commission took to investigate a cartel. It looks at rends in the Commission's enforcement activity and assesses some frequently made claims such as whether recidivism is rife; whether the Commission's leniency program is excessively generous and disproportionately benefits larger, more culpable firms; how much the settlements procedure reduces the length of the Commission's investigations; and why the Commission takes so long to conclude its investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Police-issued penalty notices were heavily relied upon to deter and punish breaches of emergency restrictions in the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This article critically examines the use of penalty notices in this context and explores the implications for our understanding of contemporary criminalisation practices. The origins, drivers and existing theoretical accounts of penalty notice regimes are first examined. Attention is drawn to their often overlooked disruptive and punitive effects in the domains of public order policing and administrative fines enforcement. Against this background, a case study of the COVID-19 Delta variant outbreak in New South Wales, Australia is presented. This case study exemplifies the substantial discretionary, penal and quasi-judicial functions ceded to police and state debt recovery agencies through modern penalty notice regimes. It exemplifies the ‘chameleon criminalisation’ enacted by penalty notices. Despite appearing transactional and benign, ‘on-the-spot’ fines subtly expand executive power and disproportionately penalise the most vulnerable and marginalised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, states and municipalities have increasingly relied on court fines and fees to overcome budget shortfalls. Existing literature underscores the varied and adverse impacts of court debt, as well as the disproportionate incidence of such debt on people of color and poor people of all races. Yet, few pieces of scholarship directly link increased imposition of court fines and fees to decreased dependence on traditional progressive taxes. This article aims to fill the gap. Using the Law and Political Economy (LPE) framework, I argue that increased imposition of court debt derives from heightened antitax sentiment and the erosion of the state and local tax bases. In the process, I contend, the tax and court debt systems reflect and exacerbate racial inequality. I conclude by proposing a conceptual framework to abate reliance on court debt, advancing the LPE mission.

Copyright of Logos: Anales del Seminario de Metafísica (1575-6866) is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid 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 natural environment is suffering greatly from population growth, industrialization, and waste production. When pavements are to be repaired or reconstructed, the waste material poses a threat as it is landfilled and not used up to its potential. Reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) has been gaining importance as there is a depletion of natural resources as well as its potential to perform well if reused or recycled. The extraction and recovery process is carried out to evaluate the properties of the aged binder in RAP. Extraction and recovery need to be coupled with gravitational sedimentation and filtration for the removal of mineral fillers from the aged binder + solvent solution. This study uses Centrifuge extraction and a rotary evaporator for extraction and recovery, respectively. In this study, three different solvents, namely tri-chloroethylene (TCE), toluene, and n-propyl bromide (nPB) are used for the centrifuge extraction. Extraction was followed by gravitational sedimentation and filtration. The results were evaluated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Gravitational sedimentation is carried out and samples are tested after 0, 30, 60, 120, 240, and 1440 min by FTIR followed by filtration. In order to assess the properties of aged binder accurately, it should be free from mineral fines. Based on the properties of aged asphalt, percentages of RAP binder and rejuvenator by virgin binder can be evaluated. The results demonstrated that the removal efficiencies were affected by the type of solvent used for extraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Annotation on the Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 10 November 2022 in Case C-385/21 Zenith Media Communications SRL v Consiliul Concurenţei. National rules for calculating fines for infringements of competition rules which require national competition authorities to only consider an undertakings' total annual turnover, without factoring in evidence that that turnover does not reflect an undertakings' true economic situation, is contrary to Union law. In this regard, the Zenith Communications ruling reduces the discretion of the Member States in the setting of fines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of College of Law Journal for Legal & Political Sciences / Magallat Kulliyyat Al-Qanun Li-L-ulum Al-Qanuniyyat Wa-Al-Siyasiyyat is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) 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 Prawne Problemy Górnictwa i Ochrony Środowiska is the property of Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Slaskiego 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.)