Digging up the Corp(ses): Holston Investments v. Lanlogistics Corp. and the Continuing Struggle to Determine the Citizenship of Dissolved and Inactive Corporations for the Purposes of Diversity Jurisdiction

Since the early 1990s, the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals have been divided on how to determine the citizenship of dissolved or inactive corporations for the purposes of diversity jurisdiction. By the beginning of the twenty-first century, courts of appeals addressing the issue had settled on one of three conclusions: (1) citizenship should be determined only by the corporation’s state of incorporation; (2) citizenship should be determined both by the corporation’s state of incorporation and its last principal place of business; or (3) citizenship should always be determined by the corporation’s state of incorporation, but only be determined by principal place of business on a case-by-case basis. In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court in Hertz Corp. v. Friend clarified the standard for determining an active corporation’s principal place of business. Two years later, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Holston Investments, Inc. B.V.I. v. LanLogistics Corp. ruled that the reasoning of Hertz settled the debate over the citizenship of dissolved or inactive corporations: only the inactive or dissolved corporation’s state of incorporation determines citizenship. This Note argues that although Hertz provided useful guidance to the courts of appeals on how to determine the citizenship of dissolved and inactive corporations, the Eleventh Circuit misinterpreted that guidance. The Eleventh Circuit should have adopted a modified version of an existing rule, which always factors both an inactive or dissolved corporation’s state of incorporation and its last principal place of business when determining citizenship. This test better accords with the Court’s reasoning in Hertz, the intent behind the statutory definition of corporate citizenship, and broader principles of diversity of citizenship jurisdiction

Digging up the Corp(ses): Holston Investments v. Lanlogistics Corp. and the Continuing Struggle to Determine the Citizenship of Dissolved and Inactive Corporations for the Purposes of Diversity Jurisdiction

Since the early 1990s, the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals have been divided on how to determine the citizenship of dissolved or inactive corporations for the purposes of diversity jurisdiction. By the beginning of the twenty-first century, courts of appeals addressing the issue had settled on one of three conclusions: (1) citizenship should be determined only by the corporation’s state of incorporation; (2) citizenship should be determined both by the corporation’s state of incorporation and its last principal place of business; or (3) citizenship should always be determined by the corporation’s state of incorporation, but only be determined by principal place of business on a case-by-case basis. In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court in Hertz Corp. v. Friend clarified the standard for determining an active corporation’s principal place of business. Two years later, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Holston Investments, Inc. B.V.I. v. LanLogistics Corp. ruled that the reasoning of Hertz settled the debate over the citizenship of dissolved or inactive corporations: only the inactive or dissolved corporation’s state of incorporation determines citizenship. This Note argues that although Hertz provided useful guidance to the courts of appeals on how to determine the citizenship of dissolved and inactive corporations, the Eleventh Circuit misinterpreted that guidance. The Eleventh Circuit should have adopted a modified version of an existing rule, which always factors both an inactive or dissolved corporation’s state of incorporation and its last principal place of business when determining citizenship. This test better accords with the Court’s reasoning in Hertz, the intent behind the statutory definition of corporate citizenship, and broader principles of diversity of citizenship jurisdiction

Ultrasound in the evaluation of penetrating thoraco-abdominal trauma: a review of the literature

Abstract The use of ultrasound in the evaluation of blunt thoraco-abdominal trauma is well described. Evidence for the use of ultrasound in the evaluation of penetrating cardio-thoracic and abdominal trauma, however, is more limited and varied. Current literature demonstrates that ultrasound is an excellent screening tool for penetrating thoracic and cardiac injuries with a high sensitivity for detecting injury requiring acute intervention. For abdominal injuries, however, the sensitivity for detection of injury is low and thus the utility of ultrasound as a screening tool is limited. This review summarizes the existing literature addressing the clinical utility of ultrasound for penetrating trauma to the pericardium, thorax and abdomen

Ultrasound in the evaluation of penetrating thoraco-abdominal trauma: a review of the literature

Abstract The use of ultrasound in the evaluation of blunt thoraco-abdominal trauma is well described. Evidence for the use of ultrasound in the evaluation of penetrating cardio-thoracic and abdominal trauma, however, is more limited and varied. Current literature demonstrates that ultrasound is an excellent screening tool for penetrating thoracic and cardiac injuries with a high sensitivity for detecting injury requiring acute intervention. For abdominal injuries, however, the sensitivity for detection of injury is low and thus the utility of ultrasound as a screening tool is limited. This review summarizes the existing literature addressing the clinical utility of ultrasound for penetrating trauma to the pericardium, thorax and abdomen

The psychological science accelerator’s COVID-19 rapid-response dataset

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Psychological Science Accelerator coordinated three large-scale psychological studies to examine the effects of loss-gain framing, cognitive reappraisals, and autonomy framing manipulations on behavioral intentions and affective measures. The data collected (April to October 2020) included specific measures for each experimental study, a general questionnaire examining health prevention behaviors and COVID-19 experience, geographical and cultural context characterization, and demographic information for each participant. Each participant started the study with the same general questions and then was randomized to complete either one longer experiment or two shorter experiments. Data were provided by 73,223 participants with varying completion rates. Participants completed the survey from 111 geopolitical regions in 44 unique languages/dialects. The anonymized dataset described here is provided in both raw and processed formats to facilitate re-use and further analyses. The dataset offers secondary analytic opportunities to explore coping, framing, and self-determination across a diverse, global sample obtained at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which can be merged with other time-sampled or geographic data

Consistent patterns of common species across tropical tree communities

Trees structure the Earth’s most biodiverse ecosystem, tropical forests. The vast number of tree species presents a formidable challenge to understanding these forests, including their response to environmental change, as very little is known about most tropical tree species. A focus on the common species may circumvent this challenge. Here we investigate abundance patterns of common tree species using inventory data on 1,003,805 trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm across 1,568 locations1,2,3,4,5,6 in closed-canopy, structurally intact old-growth tropical forests in Africa, Amazonia and Southeast Asia. We estimate that 2.2%, 2.2% and 2.3% of species comprise 50% of the tropical trees in these regions, respectively. Extrapolating across all closed-canopy tropical forests, we estimate that just 1,053 species comprise half of Earth’s 800 billion tropical trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm. Despite differing biogeographic, climatic and anthropogenic histories7, we find notably consistent patterns of common species and species abundance distributions across the continents. This suggests that fundamental mechanisms of tree community assembly may apply to all tropical forests. Resampling analyses show that the most common species are likely to belong to a manageable list of known species, enabling targeted efforts to understand their ecology. Although they do not detract from the importance of rare species, our results open new opportunities to understand the world’s most diverse forests, including modelling their response to environmental change, by focusing on the common species that constitute the majority of their trees.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e., a controlling message) compared with no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared with the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing. Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intention to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges

A multi-country test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions globally. Left unchecked, these emotional changes might have a wide array of adverse impacts. To reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions, we tested the effectiveness of reappraisal, an emotion-regulation strategy that modifies how one thinks about a situation. Participants from 87 countries and regions (n = 21,644) were randomly assigned to one of two brief reappraisal interventions (reconstrual or repurposing) or one of two control conditions (active or passive). Results revealed that both reappraisal interventions (vesus both control conditions) consistently reduced negative emotions and increased positive emotions across different measures. Reconstrual and repurposing interventions had similar effects. Importantly, planned exploratory analyses indicated that reappraisal interventions did not reduce intentions to practice preventive health behaviours. The findings demonstrate the viability of creating scalable, low-cost interventions for use around the world

The Psychological Science Accelerator’s COVID-19 rapid-response dataset

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Psychological Science Accelerator coordinated three large-scale psychological studies to examine the effects of loss-gain framing, cognitive reappraisals, and autonomy framing manipulations on behavioral intentions and affective measures. The data collected (April to October 2020) included specific measures for each experimental study, a general questionnaire examining health prevention behaviors and COVID-19 experience, geographical and cultural context characterization, and demographic information for each participant. Each participant started the study with the same general questions and then was randomized to complete either one longer experiment or two shorter experiments. Data were provided by 73,223 participants with varying completion rates. Participants completed the survey from 111 geopolitical regions in 44 unique languages/dialects. The anonymized dataset described here is provided in both raw and processed formats to facilitate re-use and further analyses. The dataset offers secondary analytic opportunities to explore coping, framing, and self-determination across a diverse, global sample obtained at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which can be merged with other time-sampled or geographic data