Brooke Group Ltd. v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp.: A Victory for Consumer Welfare Under the Robinson-Patman Act

The preservation of competition among business entities is vital to the success of any economy. Recognizing the importance of competition, the United States Congress has passed antitrust laws that seek to enhance productivity and protect consumers. Although the antitrust laws, like all statutes, are vulnerable to a variety of different interpretations, [t]he language of the antitrust statutes, their legislative histories, the major structural features of the antitrust law, and considerations of the scope, nature, consistency, and ease of administration of the law all indicate that the law should be guided solely by the criterion of consumer welfare. The antitrust laws are intended to prohibit monopolization, predatory pricing, and other behaviors that adversely affect competition and ultimately consumer welfare. In the consumer-driven, capitalist economy of the United States, competition is the foundation of economic success. Price discrimination, when used to undermine competition and destroy consumer welfare, violates the purpose of the antitrust laws

The effects of the toxins of Lophopodella carteri (ectoprocta) on the blood gas properties of the bluegill Lepomis macrochirus

Lepomis macrochirus (bluegill) were exposed, in small containers, to homogenates of Lophopodella carteri, an ectoproct that contains substances toxic to gilled vertebrates. Blood pH, pco2, and po2 were determined with a blood gas analyzer. Blood carbonic anhydrase activity was measured manometrically. The ectoproct toxins caused significant decreases in blood pH and po2 and a significant increase in blood pco2 and carbonic anhydrase activity. It is proposed that these changes in blood properties were initiated by a film of mucus covering the gill epithelium. The secretion of mucus is thought to be a response to irritation of the gills by the ectoproct toxins

Aerosol and thermodynamic effects on tropical cloud systems during TWPICE and ACTIVE

Regularly occurring storms over the Tiwi Islands, north of Darwin, Australia are used as a laboratory for investigating the relative importance of thermodynamic parameters, shear and aerosols on the amount and intensity of convection over the islands during the pre-monsoon and monsoon break periods of the 2005–2006 summer wet season. Storm systems on individual days are characterised by simple metrics derived from polarimetric radar data. The analysis shows clear dependencies on thermodynamic and shear parameters. The shear dependence was unexpected, as high shear implied less activity, but this is likely an island effect. There are some indications of a dependence of storm intensity on aerosol, but mid-level moisture differences may also play a role

Expert system for controlling plant growth in a contained environment

In a system for optimizing crop growth, vegetation is cultivated in a contained environment, such as a greenhouse, an underground cavern or other enclosed space. Imaging equipment is positioned within or about the contained environment, to acquire spatially distributed crop growth information, and environmental sensors are provided to acquire data regarding multiple environmental conditions that can affect crop development. Illumination within the contained environment, and the addition of essential nutrients and chemicals are in turn controlled in response to data acquired by the imaging apparatus and environmental sensors, by an "expert system" which is trained to analyze and evaluate crop conditions. The expert system controls the spatial and temporal lighting pattern within the contained area, and the timing and allocation of nutrients and chemicals to achieve optimized crop development. A user can access the "expert system" remotely, to assess activity within the growth chamber, and can override the "expert system"

Expert system for controlling plant growth in a contained environment

In a system for optimizing crop growth, vegetation is cultivated in a contained environment, such as a greenhouse, an underground cavern or other enclosed space. Imaging equipment is positioned within or about the contained environment, to acquire spatially distributed crop growth information, and environmental sensors are provided to acquire data regarding multiple environmental conditions that can affect crop development. Illumination within the contained environment, and the addition of essential nutrients and chemicals are in turn controlled in response to data acquired by the imaging apparatus and environmental sensors, by an ''expert system'' which is trained to analyze and evaluate crop conditions. The expert system controls the spatial and temporal lighting pattern within the contained area, and the timing and allocation of nutrients and chemicals to achieve optimized crop development. A user can access the ''expert system'' remotely, to assess activity within the growth chamber, and can override the ''expert system''

Moral sensitivity, moral distress and moral functioning

For this open issue of the Etikk i Praksis: Nordic Journal of Applied Ethics, we put together a broad mix of different articles tackling current important issues in the field

Organizing Practice and Practicing Organization: An Outline of Translational Mobilization Theory

Understanding the relationship between emergent social phenomena and the stabilizing mechanisms that make collective action possible is a long-standing concern in social science, but remains an inadequately theorized area. This article sets out a middle range theory—translational mobilization theory—to address this challenge. Adopting a practice-based approach, we connect interactionist perspectives on social order, analyses of sociotechnical networks, and theories of strategic action fields, to describe and explain how projects of institutionally sanctioned collective action are progressed by actors interacting with and through socially constructed objects. Investigating these mechanisms is a prerequisite to advancing empirical and theoretical understanding of the complex organizational processes and structures that characterize contemporary society

Can the Federal Baldrige Survey Measure Workforce Well-being in an Academic Health Center?

Introduction. Experts suggest health care institutions switch focusfrom measuring burnout to measuring positive organizational psychology.Concerns include burnout being a late sign of organizationaldecline. The Baldrige survey is promoted by the U.S. Departmentof Commerce to measure positive worksite conditions (e.g., workforcewellbeing of industries, including health care and education).For years, the survey has been completed by managers within organizations,but now the same survey is promoted for completion byan organization’s workforce. We tested the structure of the Baldrigesurvey when completed by an academic health care workforce. Inaddition, we tested whether the results in an academic worksite correlatewith an example metric of an organizational mission.Methods.xIn 2015, our academic health center surveyed facultyand staff with the Baldrige survey. The validity of the Baldrige wastested with confirmatory factor analyses. Within the School of Medicine,responses for the Baldrige’s concepts were correlated againsta measure of organizational outcome: graduates’ assessments ofDepartmental educational quality.Results. The structure of the Baldrige survey did not validate whenassessed by a workforce (RMSEA = 0.086; CFI = 0.829; TLI = 0.815).None of its concepts correlated with learner reported educationalquality.Conclusions. The Baldrige survey, when administered to a workforcerather than managers, did not appear to measure workforcewell-being within an academic health care center. We discourage useof the current survey for this purpose. Kans J Med 2019;12(1):4-6