EVIDENCE OF SURVIVORSHIP IN COMMON DISASTER CASES

Almost daily, newspapers recount the details of another automobile accident or airplane crash in which numerous persons are killed--a common disaster. And determination of survivorship in common disaster cases presents some of the most vexing problems that lawyers and judges meet. Lawyers must search for evidence, frequently hard to obtain, and then must face difficult questions of relevancy, materiality, and probative value, since in almost all cases where any evidence is available it is wholly circumstantial. Judges must decide preliminary disputes over who shall bear the burden of proof, and then must rule on the sufficiency of evidence, which is usually sparse. And if, as in fully half the cases, there is no evidence tending to prove survivorship, both lawyers and judges must wrestle with a question which cannot be solved except arbitrarily. On this last question much has been written. But strangely enough, almost no attention has been given to the questions which arise when it is sought to establish survivorship by proof, a course which all courts agree is open to litigants in common disaster cases. The writers propose, therefore, to suggest some of these questions, to point out possible sources of evidence of survivorship, and to indicate how courts may be expected to deal with such evidence. But first it is necessary to know what is a common disaster and why survivorship must be determined

Near field performance of staged diffusers in shallow water

This work was performed by John H. Trowbridge as part of his masters thesis in the M.I.T. Dept. of Civil Engineering, 1979.Submerged diffusers are commonly used to dilute condenser cooling water from coastal power plants. A staged diffuser, in which the diffuser centerline is perpendicular to shore and the nozzles are direc- ted essentially offshore, is often used at sites where there is a long- shore, reversing current. Because of the symmetry of this design, dilution is improved by a longshore current in either direction, and the diffuser's position perpendicular to shore allows it to intercept a crossflow effectively. The performance of a staged diffuser in shallow water of constant depth has been analysed previously by treating the diffuser as a continuously distributed line source of momentum (Almquist and Stolzen- bach, 1976). This theory has been reviewed and extended to consider the case of a sloping bottom and to compute the external (entrainment) flow field set up by the diffuser. In these analyses the important parameters are the gross diffuser dimensions, including total flow rate, discharge velocity, water depth and diffuser length. Length scales are on the order of one diffuser length, and the characteristics of the individual jets are assumed to be insignificant in describing diffuser performance at this level. A more detailed analysis of staged diffuser performance in the near field is useful if one wishes to describe the temperatures and shear stresses experienced by organisms that are entrained into the diffuser plume. Length scales in this problem are on the order of the port spacing, and characteristics of the individual jets are very important at this level. Relevant diffuser dimensions are discharge velocity, port diameter D , port spacing, port elevation h, water depth H, and discharge orientation. A description of the near field at this level has been obtained by solving for the trajectories, velocities, temperatures and flow rates of individual jets. Boundary layer approximations are made similar to those used in the classical analysis of free turbulent jets, and the analysis includes the effects of shallow water, the flowfield set up by adjacent jets, and an ambient current. Theoretical predictions are compared with the results of an experimental program. The analysis is then used to evaluate different diffuser designs from the stand- point of temperature and shear stress exposure of entrained organisms

Coupled near and far field thermal plume analysis using finite element techniques

The use of the open cycle cooling process for thermal power plants requires significant effluent discharges into aquatic environments. Both engineering and environmental considerations require accurate prediction of resulting temperature distribution in the receiving waters. Most predictive models have looked at one of two distinct regions of the discharge--the near or the far field--to the neglect of the other.A methodology is developed in this work to combine the attributes of both near and far field models. A finite element far field code is utilized which calculates both the circulation and heat distribution over a large area of the domain. From the far field coarse grid, a semi-circular area is removed which corresponds to the near field region of the discharge. At the new edge of the domain, which represents the near-far field boundary, mass flux and temperature boundary conditions are specified which simulate both the discharge into and entrainment out of the domain resulting from the surface discharge jet.Initial verification and testing of the model's characteristics is carried out in a hypothetical idealized domain. A more realistic verification is done at two prototype sites by comparing calculated results to previously acquired field data. The two sites are Millstone Nuclear Power Station (on Long Island Sound near Waterford, Connecticut) operating with two units and Brayton Point Generating Station (in Mt. Hope Bay near Somerset, Massachusetts) operating with three units on open cycle (existing conditions) and with four units on open cycle (proposed future condition). These comparisons suggest that the model can realistically describe the far field flow patterns associated with near field mixing thus making the model a useful tool in evaluating induced circulations, the source of entrained organisms, etc. These flow patterns are a direct function of the near field entrainment and discharge distributions which are specified as model boundary conditions and are thus easily calibrated and, if necessary, modified. Comparison between measured and predicted temperatures indicates that the predicted lengths and areas of isotherms are similar to measured lengths and areas. Predicted temperatures generally indicate greater dispersion than measured temperatures thus leading to overprediction of intake recirculation. Also, because boundary conditions on the near-far boundary have been assumed constant, the shape of predicted isotherms is not as responsive to changes in ambient current direction (e.g., tidal variations) as the measurements indicate.Future efforts should emphasize grid and program coding refinement to improve computational efficiency, use of methods to reduce numerical dispersion and incorporation of time-varying near-far field boundary conditions

APPLICATION OF A BIO-ECONOMIC-ENGINEERING MODEL FOR SHRIMP MARICULTURE SYSTEMS

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

The Management of Hunting Leases By Rural Landowners

Most of the land in Texas is privately owned and is an important as a source for hunting recreation. Profit maximization theory (PMT) and economic behavioral theory (EBT) were used to explain differences in the net incomes of Texas landowners who sold hunting leases during the 1989-90 hunting season. In 1990, 4,621 landowners who were licensed to sell hunting leases by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department responded to a mail survey. Findings indicated that the statewide median net lease income was $1,100, few landowners considered their leasing operations as businesses, and few practiced intensive management of their operations. Number of acres leased had the most important effect on net lease income. Findings supported aspects of both PMT and EBT

Enhancing Seed Availability For the Hard Clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) Aquaculture Industry By Applying Remote Setting Techniques

The goal of this study was to test a technology that may help ensure a reliable and consistent supply of high quality and inexpensive clam seed to growers, thus fostering an emerging aquaculture industry by eliminating a seed shortage that limits sustainability. The overall objectives were to develop, test and demonstrate technical procedures and determine the financial feasibility of transferring remote setting technology from the Pacific Northwest molluscan shellfish industry to the hard clam aquaculture industry in Florida. (PDF has 44 pages.

Butler\u27s Landing Outlier and Its Fossil Flora

The early geologists who surveyed the state reported many small, scattered patches of Pennsylvanian sandstone north and east of the principal Pennsylvanian area in Iowa, The outliers along the Iowa River north and east of Iowa City were among the first to be described. Subsequently more complete descriptions of these and other outliers in Johnson and adjacent counties have appeared in the publications of the Iowa Geological Survey and in other scientific journals. References to these articles can be found in Ia. Geol. Survey Rept. Vol. 22, 1912

Cdc53p acts in concert with Cdc4p and Cdc34p to control the G1 to S phase transition and identifies a conserved family of proteins

Regulation of cell cycle progression occurs in part through the targeted degradation of both activating and inhibitory subunits of the cyclin-dependent kinases. During G1, CDC4, encoding a WD-40 repeat protein, and CDC34, encoding a ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme, are involved in the destruction of these regulators. Here we describe evidence indicating that CDC53 also is involved in this process. Mutations in CDC53 cause a phenotype indistinguishable from those of cdc4 and cdc34 mutations, numerous genetic interactions are seen between these genes, and the encoded proteins are found physically associated in vivo. Cdc53p defines a large family of proteins found in yeasts, nematodes, and humans whose molecular functions are uncharacterized. These results suggest a role for this family of proteins in regulating cell cycle proliferation through protein degradation