Director and Officer Liability in the Zone of Insolvency; A Comparative Analysis

It is the duty of the directors of a company to run the business of the company in the best interests of the company and its shareholders. In principle, the company, alone, is responsible for the debts incurred in the running of the company and the creditors are, in principle, precluded from looking to the directors or shareholders for payment of any shortfall arising as a result of the company's insolvency. This principle has, in a number of jurisdictions undergone statutory change such that in certain circumstances, the directors and others who were concerned with the management of the company may be made liable to contribute, personally, to meet the payment – in part or entirely – of the company's debts. This paper aims to explore this statutory jurisdiction. It also seeks to describe succinctly the process by which the shift from unlimited to limited liability trading was achieved. It will end by examining briefly a comparatively new phenomenon, namely that of a shift in the focus of the directors' duties from company and shareholders to the creditors as the company becomes insolvent and nears the stage of a formal declaration of its insolvent status – the so-called 'zone of insolvency'.  &nbsp

The outcome of trachomatous trichiasis surgery in Ethiopia: risk factors for recurrence.

BACKGROUND: Over 1.2 million people are blind from trachomatous trichiasis (TT). Lid rotation surgery is the mainstay of treatment, but recurrence rates can be high. We investigated the outcomes (recurrence rates and other complications) of posterior lamellar tarsal rotation (PLTR) surgery, one of the two most widely practised TT procedures in endemic settings. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We conducted a two-year follow-up study of 1300 participants who had PLTR surgery, conducted by one of five TT nurse surgeons. None had previously undergone TT surgery. All participants received a detailed trachoma eye examination at baseline and 6, 12, 18 and 24 months post-operatively. The study investigated the recurrence rates, other complications and factors associated with recurrence. Recurrence occurred in 207/635 (32.6%) and 108/641 (16.9%) of participants with pre-operative major (>5 trichiatic lashes) and minor (5 lashes (major recurrence). Recurrence was greatest in the first six months after surgery: 172 cases (55%) occurring in this period. Recurrence was associated with major TT pre-operatively (OR 2.39, 95% CI 1.83-3.11), pre-operative entropic lashes compared to misdirected/metaplastic lashes (OR 1.99, 95% CI 1.23-3.20), age over 40 years (OR 1.59, 95% CI 1.14-2.20) and specific surgeons (surgeon recurrence risk range: 18%-53%). Granuloma occurred in 69 (5.7%) and notching in 156 (13.0%). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Risk of recurrence is high despite high volume, highly trained surgeons. However, the vast majority are minor recurrences, which may not have significant corneal or visual consequences. Inter-surgeon variation in recurrence is concerning; surgical technique, training and immediate post-operative lid position require further investigation

Definitions and Standardization of a New Grading Scheme for Eyelid Contour Abnormalities after Trichiasis Surgery

Approximately 8 million individuals worldwide suffer from trichiasis, a condition characterized by in-turned lashes that rub against the eye. Trichiasis is caused by repeated or prolonged ocular infection with Chlamydia trachomatis. Surgery is available to correct in-turned lashes. In most programmatic and research settings, the primary determinant of surgical success is whether or not lashes are touching the globe post-operatively. However, other surgical outcomes such as the contour of the eyelid are also important. Yet, no standard method for evaluating and reporting this outcome has been defined. In this study, we developed and tested a grading system for evaluating the severity of eyelid contour abnormalities after surgery using photographs of eyelids six weeks post-operatively. We found good agreement across photograph graders and also between field and photograph grades. This system should be useful in helping to standardize reporting of this outcome

Remaking Africa's informal economies: youth, entrepreneurship and the promise of inclusion at the bottom of the pyramid

In recent years, the quest for 'inclusive markets' that incorporate Africa's youth has become a key focus of national and international development efforts, with so-called bottom of the pyramid (BoP) initiatives increasingly seen as a way to draw the continent's poor into new networks of global capitalism. SSA has become a fertile frontier for such systems, as capital sets its sights on the continents vast 'under-served' informal economies, harnessing the entrepreneurial mettle of youth to create new markets for a range of products, from solar lanterns and shampoo to cook stoves and sanitary pads. Drawing on ethnographic research with youth entrepreneurs, we trace the prcesses of individual and collective 'transformation' that the mission of (self-) empowerment through entrepreneurship seeks to bring about. We argue that, while such systems are meant to bring those below the poverty line above it, the 'line' is reified and reinforced through a range of discursive and strategic practices that actively construct and embed distinctions between the past and the future, valuable and valueless, and the idle and productive in Africa's informal economies

Unveiling the electronic structure of pseudo-tetragonal WO3_3 thin films

WO$_3$ is a binary 5d compound which has attracted remarkable attention due to the vast array of structural transitions that it undergoes in its bulk form. In the bulk, a wide range of electronic properties has been demonstrated, including metal-insulator transitions and superconductivity upon doping. In this context, the synthesis of WO$_3$ thin films holds considerable promise for stabilizing targeted electronic phase diagrams and embedding them in technological applications. However, to date, the electronic structure of WO$_3$ thin films is experimentally unexplored, and only characterized by numerical calculations. Underpinning such properties experimentally would be important to understand not only the collective behavior of electrons in this transition metal oxide, but also to explain and engineer both the observed optical responses to carriers' concentration and its prized catalytic activity. Here, by means of tensile strain, we stabilize WO$_3$ thin films into a stable phase, which we call pseudo-tetragonal, and we unveil its electronic structure by combining photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations. This study constitutes the experimental demonstration of the electronic structure of WO$_3$ thin-films and allows us to pin down the first experimental benchmarks of the fermiology of this system

Performance of heat transfer mechanism in nucleate pool boiling -a relative approach of contribution to various heat transfer components

Nucleate pool steaming is an effective mode of transfer of heat that helps to reduce the use of fossil fuels and thus reduce pollution. Transfer of heat in nucleate pool steaming is examined to occur through the combination of natural convection, enhanced latent heat and convection transport. At the intermediate heat flux range, all three components play a principal character. In the elevated flux of heat area as the heat flux increases the enhanced convection contribution decreases while latent heat transport contribution has been found to increase considerably. In this study, we attempt to develop a heat transfer relationship for the coefficient of transfer of heat and suggested based on the relative benefactions of three components to the boiling flux of heat. The current work stressed the absolute motion of warmth guaranteeing from the summation of each of the three segments of regular convection, upgraded convection and idle warmth transport for water and methanol with round mathematical formed. The hypotheses of air pocket development in nucleate pool bubbling hypothesize for a significant bit of warmth move to the air pocket happens by conduction through a fluid microlayer framed on the warmed surface has been thought of. The maximum deviation of error between the present analytical and experimental one for water, methanol, ethanol and benzene is 6.89%, 5.24%, 5.64% and 6.21% respectively. The highest divergence in the middle of the forecasted data and different (analytical and investigational) outcomes is found to be ±2.54. Results from many other investigators have also been compared for the better visualization of heat transfer correlations to the present one. The highest divergence in the middle of the forecasted data and investigational one for Nusselt number is observed to be ±3.27 along with the present analytical ones.https://http//www.elsevier.com/locate/csiteam2022Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineerin

Posterior lamellar versus bilamellar tarsal rotation surgery for trachomatous trichiasis in Ethiopia: a randomised controlled trial

Background Eyelid surgery is done to correct trachomatous trichiasis to prevent blindness. However, recurrent trichiasis is frequent. Two procedures are recommended by WHO and are in routine practice: bilamellar tarsal rotation (BLTR) and posterior lamellar tarsal rotation (PLTR). This study was done to identify which procedure gives the better results. Methods A randomised, controlled, single masked clinical trial was done in Ethiopia. Participants had upper lid trachomatous trichiasis with one or more eyelashes touching the eye or evidence of epilation, in association with tarsal conjunctival scarring. Exclusion criteria were age less than 18 years, recurrent trichiasis after previous surgery, hypertension, and pregnancy. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to either BLTR or PLTR surgery, stratifi ed by surgeon. The sequences were computer-generated by an independent statistician. Surgery was done in a community setting following WHO guidelines. Participants were examined at 6 months and 12 months by assessors masked to allocation. The primary outcome was the cumulative proportion of individuals who developed recurrent trichiasis by 12 months. Primary analyses were by modifi ed intention to treat. The intervention eff ect was estimated by logistic regression, controlled for surgeon as a fi xed eff ect in the model. The trial is registered with the Pan African Clinical Trials Registry (number PACTR201401000743135). Findings 1000 participants with trichiasis were recruited, randomly assigned, and treated (501 in the BLTR group and 499 in the PLTR group) between Feb 13, 2014, and May 31, 2014. Eight participants were not seen at either 6 month or 12 month follow-up visits and were excluded from the analysis: three from the PLTR group and fi ve from the BLTR group. The follow-up rate at 12 months was 98%. Cumulative recurrent trichiasis by 12 months was more frequent in the BLTR group than in the PLTR group (110/496 [22%] vs 63/496 [13%]; adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1·96 [95% CI 1·40–2·75]; p=0·0001), with a risk diff erence of 9·50% (95% CI 4·79–14·16). Interpretation PLTR surgery was superior to BLTR surgery for management of trachomatous trichiasis, and could be the preferred procedure for the programmatic management of trachomatous trichiasis

Oral doxycycline for the prevention of postoperative trachomatous trichiasis in Ethiopia: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Trachomatous trichiasis is treated surgically to prevent sight loss. Unfavourable surgical outcomes remain a major challenge. We investigated the hypothesis that doxycycline might reduce the risk of postoperative trichiasis following surgery in patients with trachomatous trichiasis through anti-matrix metalloproteinase and anti-inflammatory activity. METHODS: In this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, adults (aged >18 years) with upper lid trachomatous trichiasis in association with tarsal conjunctive scarring were recruited through community-based screening and surgical outreach campaigns in Ethiopia. Individuals who had previously had eyelid surgery were excluded. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1), with random block sizes of four or six, to receive oral doxycycline (100 mg once a day) or placebo for 28 days immediately after trichiasis surgery. Randomisation was stratified by surgeon. Patients, investigators, surgeons, and all other study team members were masked to study group allocation and treatment. Participants were examined at 10 days, and 1, 6, and 12 months after surgery. The primary outcome was the cumulative proportion of individuals who developed postoperative trichiasis by 12 months. Primary analyses were done in all participants who attended at least one of the four follow-up assessments. Safety analyses were done in all participants who attended either the 10 day or 1 month follow-up assessments. This trial is registered with the Pan African Clinical Trials Registry, number PACTR201512001370307. FINDINGS: Between Dec 21, 2015, and April 6, 2016, 1000 patients with trichiasis were enrolled and randomly assigned to treatment (499 patients to doxycycline, 501 patients to placebo). All but one participant attended at least one follow-up assessment. Thus, 999 participants were assessed for the primary outcome: 498 in the doxycycline group and 501 in the placebo group. By month 12, 58 (12%) of 498 patients in the doxycycline group and 62 (12%) of 501 patients in the placebo group had developed postoperative trichiasis (adjusted odds ratio 0·91, 95% CI 0·61 to 1·34, p=0·63), with a risk difference of -0·5% (-4·5% to 3·5%). Significantly more patients in the doxycycline group had an adverse event than in the placebo group (18 [4%] of 498 vs six [1%] of 501; odds ratio 3·09, 95% CI 1·21-7·84; p=0·02). The most frequent adverse events in the doxycycline group were gastritis symptoms (n=9), constipation (n=4), and diarrhoea (n=4). INTERPRETATION: Doxycycline did not reduce the risk of postoperative trichiasis and is therefore not indicated for the improvement of outcomes following trachomatous trichiasis surgery. Surgical programmes should continue to make efforts to strengthen surgical training and supervision to improve outcomes. FUNDING: The Wellcome Trust

Eureka and beyond: mining's impact on African urbanisation

This collection brings separate literatures on mining and urbanisation together at a time when both artisanal and large-scale mining are expanding in many African economies. While much has been written about contestation over land and mineral rights, the impact of mining on settlement, notably its catalytic and fluctuating effects on migration and urban growth, has been largely ignored. African nation-states’ urbanisation trends have shown considerable variation over the past half century. The current surge in ‘new’ mining countries and the slow-down in ‘old’ mining countries are generating some remarkable settlement patterns and welfare outcomes. Presently, the African continent is a laboratory of national mining experiences. This special issue on African mining and urbanisation encompasses a wide cross-section of country case studies: beginning with the historical experiences of mining in Southern Africa (South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe), followed by more recent mineralizing trends in comparatively new mineral-producing countries (Tanzania) and an established West African gold producer (Ghana), before turning to the influence of conflict minerals (Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone)