Resolving Unresolved Relationship problems – the case of Cross Border Insolvency and Pending Arbitrations

The relationship between arbitration and insolvency in a cross border context is fraught with difficulties which can blight transnational insolvency practice. This article is concerned with the judicial constructs applied (in the EU, civil law and common law traditions) to resolve the conflict between a pending arbitration in one country and forthcoming insolvency proceedings in another. Should the arbitration be allowed to continue and what law should be used to determine the issue? In the EU, it might be said that the question is largely determined by the EU Insolvency Regulation. A comparative law and teleological discussion would highlight the different imperatives adopted in the different judicial approaches to the problem. The debate has sometimes been reduced to a pro or anti arbitration dispute. This article is less concerned with that direct confrontation. Instead, it is interested in the debate about the public interest which is claimed to be maintained when arbitration is allowed or disallowed to proceed in the light of impending insolvency. It thus draws on case examples from different jurisdictions to examine the perceived judicial role to protect the public interest by controlling arbitrations in this context

Renegotiating shipping contracts and contractual remedies in times of economic hardship

There is no doubt that the economic crisis has led to an increased number of shipping and trade cases before the courts which raise the issue of economic hardship as an excuse for non-performance of the contract. As a legal concept, even in western legal systems, the cultural and normative differences pose a serious challenge for judicial and arbitral tribunals to find the right solution. The two extremes are either that hardship does not excuse performance or that it requires the contract to be modified, either judicially or by the parties. This article highlights some of these differences between the legal systems and emphasises that commercial people can and should be trusted to find solutions to the disruptive effects to contractual relations. However, commercial arrangements or solutions are only as successful as the legal system on which they are founded. This article thus aims to study the developments in European commercial law thinking which might be said to support or hinder commercial creativity and innovation. From an English law point of view, it will be demonstrated that these developments could not be said to be doctrinal developments per se, but merely a more pragmatic, as consistent with the heritage of the common law, application of the current doctrinal rules. The doctrinal challenges however could impede these pragmatic solutions as would be argued. Shipping contracts provide a useful backdrop because of their globalised and transnational nature. Of course, shipping contracts are often seen as a pure version of contracts given the presumed equal bargaining positions of both parties

Renegotiating shipping contracts in turbulent economic times

This chapter considers the legal circumstances impacting on the feasibility of the relevant parties coming together to renegotiate their shipping contracts – notably large scale contracts such as charterparties – in times of economic hardship. The imperatives of insolvency law and shipping law are not always the same. Insolvency law is pivoted on a state imposed belief that corporate assets should be protected at times of insolvency. This work attempts to prove that shipping relationships and realities do not always render the continuation of a shipping contractual relationship worth preserving and so shows and tests the tension between insolvency law and party autonomy in that regard

Improving Mechanical Ventilator Clinical Decision Support Systems with A Machine Learning Classifier for Determining Ventilator Mode

Clinical decision support systems (CDSS) will play an in-creasing role in improving the quality of medical care for critically ill patients. However, due to limitations in current informatics infrastructure, CDSS do not always have com-plete information on state of supporting physiologic monitor-ing devices, which can limit the input data available to CDSS. This is especially true in the use case of mechanical ventilation (MV), where current CDSS have no knowledge of critical ventilation settings, such as ventilation mode. To enable MV CDSS to make accurate recommendations related to ventilator mode, we developed a highly performant ma-chine learning model that is able to perform per-breath clas-sification of 5 of the most widely used ventilation modes in the USA with an average F1-score of 97.52%. We also show how our approach makes methodologic improvements over previous work and that it is highly robust to missing data caused by software/sensor error

The contribution of perceived firm marketing innovation initiatives to customer perceived value and loyalty: does switching experience really matter?

In recent years, perceived firm marketing innovation initiatives (PFMII) are increasingly considered as an important means to ensure customers' continued loyalty. Although customer perceived value is believed to be a potential mediator between PFMII and customer loyalty, much of the evidence to date remains anecdotal or speculative. Furthermore, there is a dearth of knowledge about how the effect of PFMII on customer value differs between switchers and non-switchers. To bridge this knowledge gap, we propose a conceptual framework linking PFMII to customer perceived value and loyalty, and develop hypotheses about the moderating role of switching experience in some of these linkages. Data were collected from Generation Y(18–34 years old) who subscribed to post-paid mobile internet plans. The results showed that both functional and monetary values mediated the relationship between PFMII and customer loyalty. However, there was no significant difference in the effect of PFMII on functional and monetary values between switchers and non-switchers. This research contributes to theory and practice by clarifying linkages between PFMII and customer loyalty by investigating the often widely neglected role of customer perceived value. In addition, this study successfully extended Sweeney and Soutar (2001) PERVAL model by incorporating PFMII as the key driver of customer perceived value

Mechanism of paraquat resistance in crassocephalum crepidioides (Benth.) S. moore during immature stage

The mechanism of paraquat resistance in Crassocephalum crepidioides at the six-leaf stage was investigated. The extractable paraquat was not metabolized fly the leaf tissue in the resistant (R) and susceptible (S) biotypes. Therefore, differential metabolism does not appear to play a role in the mechanism of resistance. The S biotype absorbed 44% more 14Gparaquat than the R biotype. However, more than 98% of the absorbed 14G paraquat remained on the treated leaf of both biotypes. The difference in absorption had a negative correlation with the amount of epicuticular wax as well as the cuticle of leaf surfaces in both biotypes. The results of this study suggest that differential absorption may be a factor that accounts for resistance to paraquat at the six-leaf stage