Weighing Fiduciary Duties with 21st Century Realities \u27 Evaluating the Viability of Remote Participation for Boards of Directors

Changes to technology have greatly improved the way companies communicate. However, many states have yet to update their laws to allow for companies to take advantage of improving technology for formal corporate activities, including Board of Director actions. This is in contrast to stockholder meetings, where many states already allow for remote participation. If states uniformly update their laws to allow remote participation for Board of Director meetings, companies can run more efficiently and save money. Although there is a justifiable fear that a remotely participating director may not be as active a participant in the meeting, there is a system of checks and balances that stockholders can put in place to ensure directors uphold their duties to the company. If states do not enact laws expressly allowing for remote participation, they risk losing business to more technologically progressive states

PEMBUATAN DAN PENGUJIAN MODEL TANGGUL PEMANEN ENERGI KINETIK SEBAGAI PEMBANGKIT LISTRIK DENGAN MEKANISME GETARAN DAN INDUKSI ELEKTROMAGNETIK

SARI Munculnya krisis energi konvensional sebagai permasalahan global dewasa ini serta meningkatnya penggunaan kendaraan bermotor yang sebanding dengan peningkatan aktivitas di jalan raya telah memunculkan suatu tantangan dan peluang baru. Tantangan muncul dari bagai mana mengurangi ketergantungan akan energi konvensional dengan mencari sumber energi baru serta peluang yang bisa dimanfaatkan dari besarnya aktivitas kendaraan di jalan raya. Pada tugas akhir ini, sebuah model pembangkit listrik yang mengadopsi bentuk tanggul jalan direkayasa secara mekanik sebagai sebuah sistem pemanen energi kinetik dari tumbukan kendaraan yang melaluinya. Komponen tanggul berupa massa tanggul yang ditumpu dengan pegas, dipasangkan empat buah generator linier dengan posisi tertentu di bagian bawahnya. Bagian atas tanggul yang dibuat lebih tinggi dari permukaan jalan memudahkan kendaraan mengeksitasi sistem dan menghasilkan getaran. Eksitasi sekaligus ikut menggetarkan subsistem generator yang terdiri dari massa magnet yang ditumpu pegas serta lilitan kawat konduktor. Pergerakan osilasi massa magnet menghasilkan induksi elektromagnetik sehingga menghasilkan energi listrik. Pengujian dilakukan dengan simulasi lindasan satu sepeda motor. Perhitungan numerik dari model sistem menunjukan bahwa pembangkit memanen energi maksimal pada frekuensi 16,42 Hz. Pada pengujian, frekuensi generator terekam sebesar 17.5 Hz, 18 Hz, 19 Hz, dan 21 Hz. Tegangan listrik maksimum yang terpanen generator adalah 2,5 Volt dengan daya bangkitan sebesar 8,9 x 10-3 Watt. Sedangkan tegangan total yang terpanen dari keempat generator sebesar 7,92 Volt dan daya bangkitan total sebesar 2,3 x 10-2 Watt. Adapun faktor yang mempengaruhi besarnya energi yang dihasilkan adalah kecepatan gangguan akibat tumbukan yang diberikan kendaraan. Kata kunci : Pemanen energi, tanggul jalan, generator linier, getaran, induksi elektromagneti

Effect of Monetary Incentives on Mail Survey Response Rates for Midwestern Farmers

Response rates to mail-based surveys have declined in recent decades, and survey response rates for farmers tend to be low overall. Maintaining high response rates is necessary to prevent non-response bias. Historically, incentives have been an effective tool to increase response rates with general populations. However, the effect of incentives on farmers has not been well tested. In this study, we experimentally manipulated the use of a $2 incentive in two surveys targeted at farmers. We tested both the use of the incentive and the timing of incentive distribution in the survey process. We found the incentive significantly increased response rates with farmers but there was no significant effect of when the incentive was distributed. Additionally, we evaluated the cost-effectiveness of using the incentive. While the incentive increased response rate, the cost per survey response also increased and the cost of the incentive was not offset by the increased response rate

High and persistent excretion of hepatitis A virus in immunocompetent patients.

The duration and level of virus excretion in blood and faeces of patients with hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection were studied in relation to levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), disease severity and HAV genotype. Clinical data, blood and faeces were collected from 27 patients with acute hepatitis A (median age: 33 years) for a maximum of 26 weeks. Single blood donations from 55 other patients with acute HAV (median age: 32 years) were also used. Virus loads were quantified by competitive nested RT-PCR. HAV was excreted in faeces for a median period of 81 days after disease onset, with 50% of patients still excreting high levels at Day 36 (2 x 10(6) - 2 x 10(8) copies/ml faeces suspension). Viraemia was detected, but not quantifiable, for a median period of 42 days. In the first 10 days of illness, higher ALT levels were correlated with higher viraemia levels. Comparison of patients infected with genotype 1a with those infected with type 1b did not differ significantly in terms of the duration of HAV excretion or jaundice. In conclusion, faecal excretion of HAV is at a high titre in the first month, perhaps making patients infectious for a longer period than assumed currently. Blood banks should be aware that viraemia may be present for more than 1 month, and genotype did not affect the duration of virus excretion or jaundice

Probation migration(s): Examining occupational culture in a turbulent field

In June 2014 approx. 54 per cent of the total probation service workforce in England and Wales were transferred to the newly created Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) as part of the government’s plans to establish a market for offender management services. This marked the beginning of one of the largest and most significant migrations of criminal justice staff from the public to the private sector in England and Wales. This article presents findings from an ethnographic study of the formation of one of these CRCs through to the period immediately following the transfer into private ownership. The authors discuss the key features of this migration which are identified as ‘splitting and fracturing’, ‘adapting and forming’ and ‘exiting or accommodation’. It is contended that this development not only has significant implications for the future of probation services but also provides a unique example of the impact on an occupational culture of migration from the public to the private sector

Quantitative 3-dimensional imaging and tissue cytometry reveals lymphatic expansion in acute kidney injury

The lymphatic system plays an integral role in physiology and has recently been identified as a key player in disease progression. Tissue injury stimulates lymphatic expansion, or lymphangiogenesis (LA), though its precise role in disease processes remains unclear. LA is associated with inflammation, which is a key component of acute kidney injury (AKI), for which there are no approved therapies. While LA research has gained traction in the last decade, there exists a significant lack of understanding of this process in the kidney. Though innovative studies have elucidated markers and models with which to study LA, the field is still evolving with ways to visualize lymphatics in vivo. Prospero-related homeobox-1 (Prox-1) is the master regulator of LA and determines lymphatic cell fate through its action on vascular endothelial growth factor receptor expression. Here, we investigate the consequences of AKI on the abundance and distribution of lymphatic endothelial cells using Prox1-tdTomato reporter mice (ProxTom) coupled with large-scale three-dimensional quantitative imaging and tissue cytometry (3DTC). Using these technologies, we describe the spatial dynamics of lymphatic vasculature in quiescence and post-AKI. We also describe the use of lymphatic vessel endothelial hyaluronan receptor-1 (LYVE-1) as a marker of lymphatic vessels using 3DTC in the absence of the ProxTom reporter mice as an alternative approach. The use of 3DTC for lymphatic research presents a new avenue with which to study the origin and distribution of renal lymphatic vessels. These findings will enhance our understanding of renal lymphatic function during injury and could inform the development of novel therapeutics for intervention in AKI

Bifurcated homeland and diaspora politics in China and Taiwan towards the Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia

The conventional literature on diaspora politics tends to focus on one ‘homeland’ state and its relations with ‘sojourning’ diaspora around the world. This paper examines an instance of ‘bifurcated homeland:’ the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 1949. The paper investigates the changing dynamics of China's and Taiwan's diaspora policies towards Overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia throughout the Cold War and post-Cold War periods. They were affected by their ideological competition, the rise of Chinese nationalism, and the ‘indigenisation’ of Taiwanese identity. Illustrating such changes through the case of the KMT Yunnanese communities in Northern Thailand, this paper makes two interrelated arguments. First, we should understand relations through the lens of interactive dynamics between international system-level changes and domestic political transformations. Depending on different normative underpinnings of the international system, the foundations of regime legitimacy have changed. Subsequently, the nature of relations between the diaspora and the homeland(s) transformed from one that emphasises ideological differences during the Cold War, to one infused with nationalist authenticity in the post-Cold War period. Second, the bifurcated nature of the two homelands also created mutual influences on their diaspora policies during periods of intense competition

How to Build Collective Capabilities: The 3C-Model for Grassroots-led Development

Capabilities need to be built from the bottom-up. Social innovations at the grassroots seek to present new solutions to existing social problems. However, since the poor suffer from limitations on their individual capabilities and agency, they engage in acts of collective agency to generate new collective capabilities that each individual alone would not be able to achieve. The question is: how can these acts of collective agency be initiated, supported and sustained in practice? What roles can development actors (such as the state, donors and NGOs) play in supporting these acts of collective agency? Drawing on the literature on social innovation, the capability approach, participation and empowerment, the paper argues that three crucial C-processes are integral conditions for promoting successful, scalable and sustainable social innovations at the grassroots, namely: (1) Conscientization; (2) Conciliation and (3) Collaboration. By linking the individual, collective and institutional levels of analysis, the paper demonstrates the importance of individual behavioural changes, collective agency and local institutional reforms for the success, sustainability and scalability of social innovations at the grassroots. The paper acknowledges conflict, capture and cooptation as potential limitations and recognizes the role of contextual factors in initiating, implementing and sustaining social innovations at the grassroots

Correlations, Causes and the Logic of Obscuration: Donor Shaping of Dominant Narratives in Indonesia's Irrigation Development

This article analyses policy trends in Indonesian irrigation, particularly during the last five decades, from the perspective of dominant narratives, as authored, suggested and pushed by international donors. It argues that international donors' adherence to ‘deferred maintenance’ as the core element of irrigation policy problem framing does not match with farmers' and the irrigation agency staff perceptions and practices. The logic of obscuration and the discursive manoeuvers that maintain it are analysed. The article concludes that there is space for more profound conceptual contestation and for alternative actions pathways even within the ‘dominant paradigm’ to address management problems more effectively

Ferritin Light Chain Confers Protection Against Sepsis-Induced Inflammation and Organ Injury

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