Negligence construction: does anything remain of Canada Steamship?

Assesses Persimmon Homes Ltd v Ove Arup and Partners Ltd and the courts’ approach to exclusion clauses purporting to exclude liability for negligence. Notes the more relaxed approach by the courts in this context and the departure from Canada Steamship Lines Ltd v King, The

Contractual variations and promises to accept less:pragmatism in the Court of Appeal

Examines the Court of Appeal judgment in MWB Business Exchange Centres Ltd v Rock Advertising Ltd on whether a non-oral variation clause in a licence for the occupation of a commercial premises necessarily precluded an oral agreement to revise the licence fee payment schedule. Assesses whether the practical benefit obtained by the claimant from the change amounted to good consideration, notwithstanding the House of Lords ruling in Foakes v Beer

Geochemical and mineralogical impacts of sulfuric acid on clays between pH 5.0 and -3.0

Natural and constructed clay liners are routinely used to contain waste and wastewater. The impact of acidic solutions on the geochemistry and mineralogy of clays has been widely investigated in relation to acid mine drainage systems at pH > 1.0. The impact of sulfuric acid leachate characterized by pH < 1.0, including potentially negative pH values on the geochemistry and mineralogy of clays is, however, not clear. To address this deficiency a series of batch and diffusion cell studies, investigating the geochemical and mineralogical impacts of H2SO4 solutions (pH 5.0 to -3.0), were conducted on three mineralogically distinct clays (Kc, Km, and BK). Batch testing was conducted at seven pH treatments (5.0, 3.0, 1.0, 0.0, -1.0, -2.0 and -3.0) using standardized sulfuric acid solutions for four exposure periods (14, 90, 180, and 365 d). Aqueous geochemical, XRD, and Si and Al XANES analyses showed: increased dissolution of aluminosilicates with decreasing pH and increasing exposure period; preferential dissolution of aluminosilicate Al-octahedral layers relative to Si-tetrahedral layers; formation of an amorphous silica-like phase that was confined to the surface layer of the altered clay samples at pH ¡Ü 0.0 and t ¡Ý 90 d; and precipitation of anhydrite and a Al-SO4-rich phase (pH ¡Ü -1.0, t ¡Ý 90 d). The diffusive transport of H2SO4 (pH =1.0, -1.0, and -3.0) through the Kc and Km clays for 216 d was examined using single reservoir, constant concentration, diffusion cells. The diffusive transport of H+ within the cells was modeled using 1-D transport models that assumed no absorption, linear absorption, and non-linear absorption of H+. The absorption isotherms were calculated from the pH 5.0, 3.0, and 1.0 batch experiment results, which were assumed representative of H+ absorption at pH < 1.0. However, model results indicated that the batch test results can not account for the observed H+ consumption in all cells and greatly underestimate the amount of H+ consumption in the pH -1.0 and -3.0. In the Kc and Km diffusion cells, above-background Ca, Al, Fe, and Si aqueous concentrations were associated with depth intervals characterized by decreased pH values. Respective peak concentrations of 325, 403, 176, 11.7, and 1.38 x 103 ¦Ìmol g-1 (Kc) and 32.4, 426, 199, 7.2, and 1.22 x 103 ¦Ìmol g-1 (Km) were measured in the pH -3.0 cells. XRD results showed that the elevated concentrations corresponded to the loss of carbonates and montmorillonite peaks and decreased peak intensities for illite and kaolinite in depth intervals with pH ¡Ü 1.0, in the Kc and Km pH -1.0 and -3.0 cells. The combined results of these studies indicated that the long-term diffusion of H2SO4 through clays at pH < 1.0 will result in a large amount of primary phase dissolution; however, this will be accompanied by precipitation of soluble Ca and Al sulfate salts and amorphous silica, especially at pH ¡Ü 0.0. Additionally, the presence of even a small amount of carbonate will serve to greatly buffer the diffusive transport of H2SO4 through clays, even at a source pH of -3.0

The contextual nature of the market orientation and organisational performance relationship: an Australian and New Zealand study

As part of a broader study of the relationship between traditional and online marketing mix elements and organisational performance, the study reported in this paper utilised structural equation modelling to examine the relationship between market orientation and organisational performance. The study found that there was an insignificant relationship between market orientation and organisational performance, thereby lending support to studies conducted in the UK, Ghana, and the US (since the studies in the US by Narver and Slater (1990)), which found that there may be a contextual nature to the relationship between the two constructs. The study, therefore, does not support Pulendran et al. (2000).<br /

Experiential dimensions in internet marketing : an exploratory investigation

This paper examines the dimensions of an experience in product marketing conceptualised by Pine II and Gilmore (1998) &ndash; customer participation and customer connection &ndash; by extending the study of the dimensions to the online context. In online marketing, the business aim is to hold attention, have visitors more deeply penetrate a Website, purchase, and return to the site, among other objectives. The paper analyses and synthesises findings from a three-part study of Internet use, the WebQUAL Audit, and presents the proposition that the dimensions suggested by Pine II and Gilmore as attractors to many experiential offerings in the physical world, may not be applicable in the online environment populated by commercial Websites. The paper also suggests a future research agenda to reconcile the requirements of users and the perspective of Web designers and other contributors to commercial Websites as discussed in the literature review presented.<br /

Small business perceptions of postal and online survey research

Concerns over the overall cost of marketing research and the cost per usable response have in large measure caused marketing practitioners to turn to online marketing research techniques, either as a solus technique, or in a mixed mode application. However, the use of e-mail and mixed mode surveys such as postal invitations to complete online questionnaires present both familiar and new issues, as the extant literature illustrates. This paper examines an earlier study before reporting findings from the present study, which employs a method that ascertains the probability of commissioning four survey research methods, described in scenarios and delivered using e-mail and the World Wide Web (Web). It is evident that while perceptions of e-mail, the Internet, and privacy have changed since early use of the Internet and more particularly the World Wide Web, and there is acknowledgement in the literature concerning the lower costs and faster response speeds of online marketing research, small businesses do appear to discriminate in favour of targeted online survey methods over postal surveys, portrayed as scenarios in this study, but that this perception does not apply to all hybrid survey modes.<br /

Recession, changed circumstances, and renegotiations: the inadequacy of principle in English law

This article analyses and critiques English law’s response to the enforceability of renegotiations of terms of existing contracts in the light of dramatic changes in circumstances, such as an economic recession. The article exposes English law’s difficulties and inadequacies in developing clear principles governing renegotiations, and suggests possible solutions

Periods, Organized (PeriodO): A gazetteer of period assertions for linking and visualizing periodized data

The PeriodO project seeks to create an online gazetteer of authoritative assertions about the chronological and geographic extent of historical and archaeological periods. Starting with a trial dataset related to Classical antiquity, this gazetteer will combine period thesauri used by museums and cultural heritage bodies with published assertions about the dates and locations of periods in authoritative print sources. These assertions will be modeled in a Linked Data format (JSON-LD, a serialization of RDF). They will be given Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) and served from a public GitHub repository, where they can act as a shared reference point to describe data in datasets with periodized information. We will also create a search and visualization tool to view the temporal and geographic extent of an assertion and compare it with others. Authoritative users will be able to add their own period assertions