Franchisees, Consumers, and Employees: Choice and Arbitration

Commentators and lawmakers have called attention to the rising frequency of contractual arbitration as a non-negotiable condition of many relationships. Indeed, it is a rare individual who is not subject to at least one pre-dispute, binding arbitration agreement. This Article studies common concerns associated with binding, pre-dispute arbitration agreements and evaluates their use in consumer-vendor, employee-employer, and franchisee-franchisor relationships. Having introduced concepts relevant throughout the Article, the Article in Part I studies contractual arbitration as a form of alternative dispute resolution for transactional disputes between consumers and vendors. It examines industry self-regulation, due process, consumer salience, and forum accessibility including online dispute resolution, among other matters. Part II evaluates concerns about unfairness toward the less powerful party in employment arbitration, including judicial safeguards against unconscionability and the proposed Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act (the FAIR Act), while Part III critically examines bargaining power disparities between franchisees and franchisors. Based on a comprehensive review of available data and literature, this Article finds that, while the most charitable interpretations by arbitration proponents are untenable, some measured but broadly supportive arguments for contractual arbitration can be persuasive. Although unchecked bargaining power disparities are rightfully concerning and should be addressed, contractual arbitration can nonetheless play a useful role in relational contracts

Decidability of strong equivalence for subschemas of a class of linear, free, near-liberal program schemas

The article attached is a preprint version of the final published article which can be accessed at the link below. The article title has been changed. For referencing purposes please use the published details. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.A program schema defines a class of programs, all of which have identical statement structure, but whose functions and predicates may differ. A schema thus defines an entire class of programs according to how its symbols are interpreted. Two schemas are strongly equivalent if they always define the same function from initial states to final states for every interpretation. A subschema of a schema is obtained from a schema by deleting some of its statements. A schema S is liberal if there exists an initial state in the Herbrand domain such that the same term is not generated more than once along any executable path through S. In this paper, we introduce near-liberal schemas, in which this non-repeating condition applies only to terms not having the form g() for a constant function symbol g. Given a schema S that is linear (no function or predicate symbol occurs more than once in S) and a variable v, we compute a set of function and predicate symbols in S which is a subset of those defined by Weiser's slicing algorithm and prove that if for every while predicate q in S and every constant assignment w:=g(); lying in the body of q, no other assignment to w also lies in the body of q, our smaller symbol set defines a correct subschema of S with respect to the final value of v after execution. We also prove that if S is also free (every path through S is executable) and near-liberal, it is decidable which of its subschemas are strongly equivalent to S. For the class of pairs of schemas in which one schema is a subschema of the other, this generalises a recent result in which S was required to be linear, free and liberal.This work was supported by a grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Grant EP/E002919/1

Characterizing minimal semantics-preserving slices of predicate-linear, free, liberal program schemas

This is a preprint version of the article - Copyright @ 2011 ElsevierA program schema defines a class of programs, all of which have identical statement structure, but whose functions and predicates may differ. A schema thus defines an entire class of programs according to how its symbols are interpreted. A subschema of a schema is obtained from a schema by deleting some of its statements. We prove that given a schema S which is predicate-linear, free and liberal, such that the true and false parts of every if predicate satisfy a simple additional condition, and a slicing criterion defined by the final value of a given variable after execution of any program defined by S, the minimal subschema of S which respects this slicing criterion contains all the function and predicate symbols ‘needed’ by the variable according to the data dependence and control dependence relations used in program slicing, which is the symbol set given by Weiser’s static slicing algorithm. Thus this algorithm gives predicate-minimal slices for classes of programs represented by schemas satisfying our set of conditions. We also give an example to show that the corresponding result with respect to the slicing criterion defined by termination behaviour is incorrect. This complements a result by the authors in which S was required to be function-linear, instead of predicate-linear.This work was supported by a grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Grant EP/E002919/1

Discovery of an introduced Florida Flagfish (\u3ci\u3eJordanella floridae\u3c/i\u3e) population in Coastal Mississippi

The recent discovery of Jordanella floridae (Florida Flagfish) in Harrison County, Mississippi represents the first known occurrence of the species in the state. Native along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of Florida from Jacksonville to Tallahassee, this species has been introduced outside of its range via aquarium introductions. We hypothesize that an aquarium introduction was also the source of the newly discovered population, which has persisted at the location since 2020. Multiple collections of the species have been taken from a small waterbody which has a direct connection to the Tchoutacabouffa River (25mm-47mm TL). While it is unknown if this represents the only population in the system, further surveys should be conducted to determine population numbers at the site of collection, the extent of the invasion within the Tchoutacabouffa, and the impact to the native fish fauna

Degree-Day Requirements for Alfalfa Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Development in Eastern Nebraska

The alfalfa weevil, Hypera postica (Gyllenhal), is a serious, yet sporadic defoliator of alfalfa, Medicago sativa L., in Nebraska. A 2-yr study was conducted in 2005 and 2006 to test for variation in degree-day requirements by location in eastern Nebraska. Sampling took place along a latitudinal gradient in three regions of eastern Nebraska. Three fields were sampled in each region during the 2 yr of the study. Alfalfa weevil larval degree-day requirements were found to vary by latitude in eastern Nebraska. Alfalfa weevil larvae were discovered in southern regions after fewer developmental degree-days had accumulated than in fields in the northern regions. Alfalfa weevils may be more damaging to alfalfa in southern regions than in northern regions of eastern Nebraska because they emerge earlier relative to alfalfa growth. Management implications of this shift in alfalfa weevil phenology are discussed

Spatial Patterns and Sequential Sampling Plans for Estimating Densities of Stink Bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in Soybean in the North Central Region of the United States

Stink bugs are an emerging threat to soybean (Fabales: Fabaceae) in the North Central Region of the United States. Consequently, region-specific scouting recommendations for stink bugs are needed. The aim of this study was to characterize the spatial pattern and to develop sampling plans to estimate stink bug population density in soybean fields. In 2016 and 2017, 125 fields distributed across nine states were sampled using sweep nets. Regression analyses were used to determine the effects of stink bug species [Chinavia hilaris (Say) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) and Euschistus spp. (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)], life stages (nymphs and adults), and field locations (edge and interior) on spatial pattern as represented by variance–mean relationships. Results showed that stink bugs were aggregated. Sequential sampling plans were developed for each combination of species, life stage, and location and for all the data combined. Results for required sample size showed that an average of 40–42 sample units (sets of 25 sweeps) would be necessary to achieve a precision of 0.25 for stink bug densities commonly encountered across the region. However, based on the observed geographic gradient of stink bug densities, more practical sample sizes (5–10 sample units) may be sufficient in states in the southeastern part of the region, whereas impractical sample sizes (\u3e100 sample units) may be required in the northwestern part of the region. Our findings provide research-based sampling recommendations for estimating densities of these emerging pests in soybean

Low Frequency Vibration Approach for Assessing Performance of Wood Floor Systems1

The primary means of inspecting buildings and other structures is to evaluate each structure member individually. This is a time-consuming and expensive process, particularly if sheathing or other covering materials must be removed to access the structural members. The objective of this study was to determine if a low frequency vibration method could be used to effectively assess the structural performance of wood floors as component systems. Twelve wood floors were constructed with solid sawn wood joists in the laboratory and tested with both vibration and static load methods. The results indicated that the forced vibration method was capable of measuring the fundamental natural frequency (bending mode) of the wood floors investigated. An analytical model derived from the flexural beam theory was found to fit the physics of the floor structures and can be used to correlate natural frequency to section modulus (EI product) of the floor systems

Approximate Bayesian Computation of radiocarbon and paleoenvironmental record shows population resilience on Rapa Nui (Easter Island).

Examining how past human populations responded to environmental and climatic changes is a central focus of the historical sciences. The use of summed probability distributions (SPD) of radiocarbon dates as a proxy for estimating relative population sizes provides a widely applicable method in this research area. Paleodemographic reconstructions and modeling with SPDs, however, are stymied by a lack of accepted methods for model fitting, tools for assessing the demographic impact of environmental or climatic variables, and a means for formal multi-model comparison. These deficiencies severely limit our ability to reliably resolve crucial questions of past human-environment interactions. We propose a solution using Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) to fit complex demographic models to observed SPDs. Using a case study from Rapa Nui (Easter Island), a location that has long been the focus of debate regarding the impact of environmental and climatic changes on its human population, we find that past populations were resilient to environmental and climatic challenges. Our findings support a growing body of evidence showing stable and sustainable communities on the island. The ABC framework offers a novel approach for exploring regions and time periods where questions of climate-induced demographic and cultural change remain unresolved