The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and Single-Employer Plan Terminations

[Excerpt] Recent high-profile terminations of defined benefit pension plans have focused attention on the process for terminating plans and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) regulates plan terminations. It provides for three types of single-employer plan terminations — standard, distress, and involuntary — and imposes different responsibilities on the PBGC for each type. This report discusses ERISA’s procedures for terminating single-employer plans and the PBGC’s role in such terminations

Legal Issues in Terminations of Single-Employer Pension Plans: Beck v. PACE International Union

[Excerpt] On January 19, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Beck v. PACE International Union. The case concerns the decision by an employer in bankruptcy proceedings to terminate its pension plans. The employer, which was both plan sponsor and administrator, had the option of terminating the plans by buying annuities for plan participants and beneficiaries or by merging the plans with a multiemployer plan. It chose the annuity option. At issue in Beck is whether the employer breached the fiduciary duty owed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to plan participants and beneficiaries by failing to adequately consider the merger proposal. This report discusses the Beck case and will be updated as events warrant

Семинар на тему "Международные и национальные нормы защиты меньшинств и их роль в обеспечении равенства"

проектыменьшинстваМАЛЫЕ ГРУППЫмеждународное сотрудничествосеминарыЗАКОНОДАТЕЛЬСТВ

Palliative Care

Population ageing and the implications these present for care towards the end of life are major public health issues for 21st century. In the line with aging of the population, the pattern of diseases that people suffer and die from is also changing. Palliative care should be an integral part of health care and take place in any setting. Palliative care services are structured in three levels of ascending specialization, referred to the expertise of the staff providing the service: palliative care approach, general palliative care and specialist palliative care. Priority care needs for the three illness trajectories, for short period of evident decline (mostly cancer), for chronic illnesses with intermittent exacerbations and sudden dying (organ system failure), and for slow dwindling (mostly frailty and dementia) are different and specific palliative care services are needed through different length of time

Interview with Peter Lunder by Mike Hastings

Biographical NotePeter H. Lunder was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, on September 14, 1933, to Ann and Michael Lunder. He was graduated from Colby College in 1956 with a degree in business. He joined the family shoe business, where he eventually became president and co-chair of the board for Dexter Shoes. His uncle was Harold Alfond. In 1977 he was part of the Yawkey Group that bought the Red Sox. He served on the Smithsonian American Art Museum Board in the early 1990s, and at the time of this interview he was an overseer of Colby College. SummaryInterview includes discussion of: Lunder’s time at Colby College; beginning a career in the shoe industry; his acquaintance with George Mitchell; Lunder’s friendship with Robbie Mitchell and the Mitchell family; running a business in Maine; Lunder’s interest in the Colby Art Museum; visiting Mitchell while he was in the Senate; Mitchell’s role in the Middle East; and Mary McAleney

Requiring Individuals to Obtain Health Insurance: A Constitutional Analysis

[Excerpt] This report analyzes certain constitutional issues raised by requiring individuals to purchase health insurance under Congress’s authority under its taxing power or its power to regulate interstate commerce. It also addresses whether the exceptions to the minimum coverage provision to purchase health insurance satisfy First Amendment freedom of religion protections. Finally, this report discusses some of the more publicized legal challenges to ACA, as well additional issues that are currently before the Court

A Simulation of the LISA Data Stream from Galactic White Dwarf Binaries

Gravitational radiation from the galactic population of white dwarf binaries is expected to produce a background signal in the LISA frequency band. At frequencies below 1 mHz, this signal is expected to be confusion-limited and has been approximated as gaussian noise. At frequencies above about 5 mHz, the signal will consist of separable individual sources. We have produced a simulation of the LISA data stream from a population of 90k galactic binaries in the frequency range between 1 - 5 mHz. This signal is compared with the simulated signal from globular cluster populations of binaries. Notable features of the simulation as well as potential data analysis schemes for extracting information are presented.Comment: Submitted to QC

The importance and possibility of medical prevention among miners with tinea

Porast učestalosti palmoplantarnih oblika dermatofitija primjećuje se gotovo svugdje u svijetu a ima profesija, npr. rudari, koje su naročito pogođene. Kod slučajnog uzorka 287 rudara iz zasavskih rudokopa (Trbovlje, Hrastnik, Zagorje) utvrđeno je pozitivnim mikološkim nalazom 175 bolesnika, tj. više od 60% pretraženih radnika. Suvremena lokalna terapija potpomognuta antibiotikom griseofulvinom i povremeno kirurškim mjerama očigledno nije u stanju spriječiti daljnji porast dermatofitija. Samim tim postaje uloga preventive sve važnija. S obzirom na izrazito multifaktorski značaj uzroka koji utječu na proširenost dermatofitija, moraju preventivne mjere obuhvatiti: higijenu radnog mjesta, osobnu higijenu, periodične preglede i zdravstveno prosvjećivanje, ali uz napomenu da se uspjeh može postići samo timskim radom.An increase in the incidence of tinea pedum et manuum has been observed all over the world. In some occupational groups, e. g. among miners, the disease, is especially frequent. In a randomly selected sample of 287 miners from the mines of Zasavje (Trbovlje, Hrastnik, Zagorje), the mycological examination revealed parasites in 175 individuals, i. e. in more than 60 per cent of the examined miners. Obviously, modern topical therapy, combined with the antibiotic griseofulvin and the timely surgical treatment, cannot successfully prevent a further spread of the disease. Preventive measures are therefore assuming a more and more important role. Considering a great variety of causative factors promoting the spread of tinea, the preventive measures should comprise: hygiene of the workplace, personal hygiene, periodic medical examinations and health education. Success can only be achieved by teamwork. Since tinea belongs to parasitic dermatoses, special emphasis is laid on preventing the parasite-host contact