Promoting Proportionate Justice: A Study of Case Management and Proportionality

This work examines the principles of proportionality and active case management that were introduced by the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (the ‘CPR’). The aim is to consider precisely what ‘proportionality’ means in a case management context, how it has been applied to date, and whether there is any need or scope for improvement. Consideration is given to proportionality as a general principle of law. This establishes a conceptual background against which to consider the principle in an English procedural context. After reviewing the introduction and development of both proportionality and active case management in English civil procedure, case management proportionality is placed against that background. In doing so, and in identifying similarities and differences, the principle is given greater definition. The heart of this work is a review of case law dealing with case management issues. This identifies inconsistencies in both how proportionality has been applied and the extent to which courts have taken on the management role required of them by the CPR. It also highlights the fact that litigants and their legal representatives retain a crucial role in ensuring that litigation proceeds in a proportionate manner, but that in many instances that role is not fulfilled. The review also provides a wealth of information that may assist in tackling these issues and inconsistencies. That information, together with points drawn from a review of management techniques in other common law jurisdictions, is taken forward into some proposals for the improvement of case management proportionality. Those proposals fall into two general categories: the publication of guidance and amendments to the CPR. The aim is to provide practical suggestions that may have a tangible impact on improving the consistency with which case management proportionality is applied, and thus improving the provision of access to proportionate justice

Blurred Lines: Disparate Impact and Disparate Treatment Challenges to Subjective Decisions-- The Case of Reductions in Force

Subjective employment decisions may be challenged under disparate treatment (intentional discrimination) and/or disparate impact (the discriminatory consequences of a neutral policy) theories of discrimination. However, these theories and supporting evidence often are conflated when the criteria for selecting employees are ill-defined or unrecorded. In those instances, the process by which employees are selected merges with the selections themselves, these legal theories converge as well. This Article critically discusses how courts have struggled to distinguish these theories in cases alleging a discriminatory reduction in force. It suggests how these cases should be submitted to juries, to preserve the liability and remedies specific to each theory.

Durvalumab: an investigational anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody for the treatment of urothelial carcinoma.

Our expanding knowledge of immunotherapy for solid tumors has led to an explosion of clinical trials aimed at urothelial carcinoma. The primary strategy is centered on unleashing the immune system by releasing the inhibitory signals propagated by programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) and its ligand programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1). Many antibody constructs have been developed to block these interactions and are used in clinical trials. The Food and Drug Administration has already approved a number of checkpoint inhibitors such as anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA4) monoclonal antibodies including ipilimumab; anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibodies including nivolumab and pembrolizumab; anti-PD-L1 antibodies including atezolizumab, avelumab, and durvalumab. One of the latest inhibitors is durvalumab, which is a high-affinity human immunoglobulin G1 kappa monoclonal antibody and blocks the interaction of PD-L1 with PD-1 and CD80. Currently, there are a number of ongoing trials in advanced urothelial carcinoma both using durvalumab monotherapy and in combination with other targeted therapies. In addition, durvalumab is being investigated in the non-muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma, which is centered around intravenous formulations. These exciting developments have added a significant number of therapies in a previously limited treatment landscape

Struggling for success : an ethnographic exploration of the construction of young femininities in a selective, single-sex school

Recent research focusing on young femininities has successfully argued that the 'post-feminist' success story of girls 'having it all' and 'in the conditions of their own making' is substantially misleading (Epstein and Ringrose 2006, Harris 2004). Nevertheless, the popular conception of girls' single-sex, private education as nothing less than a place of pleasure, privilege and perfection still persists. This thesis is an ethnographic exploration of the possibilities for identity construction for girls in this setting. Undertaken across two school years (Years Six and Seven), in one single-sex, selective, private school, this thesis examines the 'classed', 'gendered', 'sexualised', 'generational' and 'academic' discourses and discursive practices that constituted these girls' identities (as 'upper-middle class', 'girls', 'pupils' and 'children'). An eclectic theoretical approach has been adopted for the purposes of this study integrating feminist post-structural theory, Bourdieu's notions of capital, habitus and field, and the concept of 'social generationing' developed by proponents of the 'new' sociology of childhood (Alanen 2001). By exploring the significant and inter-related role that the body, academic achievement, sporting practices and age-based transitions played in the processes of identity constitution, the thesis will also explore the pleasures and pains articulated by these girls as they 'grew-up' and moved schools. In particular discourses of heterosexualised hyper-femininity featured strongly in the ways in which girls' identities were constructed in this setting -with many girls suggesting that they (even more than their co-educational counterparts) had to present themselves as outwardly 'heterosexual' due to the frequent (homo)sexualisation of close same-sex relationships, positionings that were intensified within a single-sex environment. Throughout the thesis the discourse of success and its relationship to femininity within the context of this elite single-sex setting is shown to be highly performative (Butler 1990), positioning girls in multiple, shifting and contradictory ways.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Shape and Core-Excited Resonances in Thiophene

We present a comprehensive study of resonance formation in electron collisions with thiophene. Detailed calculations have been performed using the ab initio R-matrix method. Three shape resonances previously described, two of π* character and one σ*, as well as a number of resonances of core-excited or mixed character are identified and characterized. Differential cross sections for electron impact excitation up to 18~eV and for two scattering angles, 90° and 135°, are measured. The measured cross sections provide experimental confirmation for a number of the core-excited resonances. The link between these resonances and prior DEA experiments is discusse

Struggling for success: an ethnographic exploration of the construction of young femininities in a selective, single-sex school

Recent research focusing on young femininities has successfully argued that the 'post-feminist' success story of girls 'having it all' and 'in the conditions of their own making' is substantially misleading (Epstein and Ringrose 2006, Harris 2004). Nevertheless, the popular conception of girls' single-sex, private education as nothing less than a place of pleasure, privilege and perfection still persists. This thesis is an ethnographic exploration of the possibilities for identity construction for girls in this setting. Undertaken across two school years (Years Six and Seven), in one single-sex, selective, private school, this thesis examines the 'classed', 'gendered', 'sexualised', 'generational' and 'academic' discourses and discursive practices that constituted these girls' identities (as 'upper-middle class', 'girls', 'pupils' and 'children'). An eclectic theoretical approach has been adopted for the purposes of this study integrating feminist post-structural theory, Bourdieu's notions of capital, habitus and field, and the concept of 'social generationing' developed by proponents of the 'new' sociology of childhood (Alanen 2001). By exploring the significant and inter-related role that the body, academic achievement, sporting practices and age-based transitions played in the processes of identity constitution, the thesis will also explore the pleasures and pains articulated by these girls as they 'grew-up' and moved schools. In particular discourses of heterosexualised hyper-femininity featured strongly in the ways in which girls' identities were constructed in this setting -with many girls suggesting that they (even more than their co-educational counterparts) had to present themselves as outwardly 'heterosexual' due to the frequent (homo)sexualisation of close same-sex relationships, positionings that were intensified within a single-sex environment. Throughout the thesis the discourse of success and its relationship to femininity within the context of this elite single-sex setting is shown to be highly performative (Butler 1990), positioning girls in multiple, shifting and contradictory ways

Hand hygiene with hand sanitizer versus handwashing: what are the planetary health consequences?

In order to reduce the transmission of pathogens, and COVID-19, WHO and NHS England recommend hand washing (HW) and/or the use of hand sanitizer (HS). The planetary health consequences of these different methods of hand hygiene have not been quantified. A comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) was carried out to compare the environmental impact of the UK population practising increased levels of hand hygiene during the COVID-19 pandemic for 1 year. Washing hands with soap and water was compared to using hand sanitizer (both ethanol and isopropanol based sanitizers were studied). The isopropanol-based HS had the lowest environmental impact in 14 out of the 16 impact categories used in this study. For climate change, hand hygiene using isopropanol HS produced the equivalent of 1060 million kg CO2, compared to 1460 million for ethanol HS, 2300 million for bar soap HW, and 4240 million for liquid soap HW. For both the ethanol and isopropanol HS, the active ingredient was the greatest overall contributing factor to the environmental impact (83.24% and 68.68% respectively). For HW with liquid soap and bar soap, there were additional contributing factors other than the soap itself: for example tap water use (28.12% and 48.68% respectively) and the laundering of a hand towel to dry the hands (10.17% and 17.92% respectively). All forms of hand hygiene have an environmental cost, and this needs to be weighed up against the health benefits of preventing disease transmission. When comparing hand sanitizers to handwashing with soap and water, this study found that using isopropanol based hand sanitizer is better for planetary health. However, no method of hand hygiene was ideal; isopropanol had a greater fossil fuel resource use than ethanol based hand sanitizer. More research is needed to find hand hygiene sources which do not diminish planetary health, and environmental impact is a consideration for public health campaigns around hand hygiene

Total synthesis and structure-activity-relationship of Alternaric acid delivers an herbicide vector

E.M.I and A.J.B.W. thank Syngenta and EPSRC for an iCASE PhD studentship.Global food security is one of the foremost challenges of our time and requires a multifaceted solution. Crop protection strategies are an essential part of this response; however, there is increasing resistance to known modes of action. Since its discovery in 1949, the natural product alternaric acid has been proposed as a starting point for herbicide development. However, this target is undeveloped due to its poor synthetic accessibility and a lack of knowledge of the associated pharmacology. Here we report the discovery of herbicidal compounds from alternaric acid that operate via a potentially unknown mode of action. Development of a total synthesis enabled structure–activity relationship profiling of compound libraries, which, combined with phenotypic screening and molecular modelling data, identified small-molecule lead compounds with enhanced and broader spectrum herbicidal activity than alternaric acid.PostprintPeer reviewe