Scoring the sum of correlated results in analytical proficiency testing

In proficiency tests the participants' results are usually converted into scores. In some schemes the participants are required to report the sum of the concentrations of a number of analytes and this total also is converted into a score. In such instances the scoring procedure for the total should be mathematically consistent with that for the separate analytes. When these analytes are determined from a single test portion, however, the errors in the results from a participant are likely to be correlated because some stages of the analysis are common to all of the analytes. For a consistent outcome, the scoring method must take account of such correlation

Why New Corporate Law Arises: Implications for the 21st Century

The corporate governance landscape is much different than a generation ago. Independent directors now hold a great majority of all board seats, institutional shareholders hold a supermajority of all shares in public corporations, and activist shareholders have become a recurring player in entity governance. In turn, other corporate stakeholders express increasing concern about shareholders’ use of their power for selfish reasons and the perceived pernicious impact of shareholder wealth maximization as a guide for corporate law. This chapter, part of a book on “The Corporate Contract in Changing Times” asks: Why does corporate law change and how it might change now? Corporate law changed regularly in the first half of our country’s history. A series of innovations followed one after another during the nineteenth century—limited liability; general incorporation statutes; a strong shift to director-centric corporate governance; authorization of corporations holding stock in other corporations; and the disappearance of ultra vires and other limits on corporate behavior. By the arrival of the twentieth century all the key economic elements of the modern corporation were in view and corporate law settled into a stable pattern we still see today. State law abandoned its prior regulatory approach and its continual change in favor of a director-centric structure with expansive room for private ordering that has remained remarkably stable. Federal law stepped in to restrain economic concentration (antitrust law), to protect employees and consumers against corporate power (done by industry regulation, employment and consumer laws not corporate governance), to limit corporate political contributions, and to make recurring, if sporadic and non-comprehensive, efforts to enhance the role of shareholders against managers. This chapter examines this history of change in corporate law in America, the dramatic and abrupt shift in the focus of state corporate law visible in last decade or so of the nineteenth century, the interactive pattern of state and federal law that has grown up over the second half of the country’s history and prominent theories explaining what leads to corporate law change. Together these various strands suggest there will be no fundamental change in state corporate law even in this time of visible stress to the now classic structure. Changes that we see is more likely to come from federal law or, as has been most visible in recent times, because of market and technological-driven changes outside of law

The Haunting of L.S. Lowry: Class, Mass Spectatorship and the Image at The Lowry, Salford, UK

In a series of momentary encounters with the surface details of The Lowry Centre, a cultural venue located in Salford, Greater Manchester, UK, this article considers the fate of the image evoked by the centre’s production and staging of cultural experience. Benjamin’s notion of ‘aura’ as inimical to transformations of art and cultural spectatorship is explored, alongside its fatal incarnation in Baudrillard’s concept of ‘simulation’. L.S. Lowry, I argue, occupies the space as a medium: both as a central figure of transmission of the centre’s narrative of inclusivity through cultural regeneration, and as one who communes with phantoms: remainders of the working-class life and culture that once occupied this locale. Through an exploration of various installations there in his name, Lowry is configured as a ‘destructive character’, who, by making possible an alternative route through its spaces, refuses to allow The Lowry Centre to insulate itself from its locale and the debt it owes to its past

Abbott, AIDS, and the ADA: Why a Per Se Disability Rule for HIV/AIDS is Both Just and a Must

HIV/AIDS should be classified as a per se disability under the Americans with Disablities Act. Such a ruling is justified by the plain language of the act itself, legislative history, administrative regulations, and court precedent. Absent such a ruling, individuals with HIV must demonstrate that they have (1) an mental or physical impairment, (2) that substantially limits (3) a major life activity. While most courts to address the applicability of the ADA to individuals with HIV/AIDS have found that such individuals are disabled because HIV impairs the major life activity of reproduction, such an interpretation leaves open the possibility that courts may refuse to classify those otherwise not interested in or capable of reproduction, arguably including homosexuals, as falling beyond the scope of the ADA\u27s protection

Tariff reform: an imperial strategy, 1903-1913

Historians of the Edwardian tariff reform movement have disagreed about its aims. This article examines the motivations of the leadership of the Tariff Reform League, which was by far the most influential organization in the tariff lobby. It argues that the League's leaders were more empire-minded than often allowed, and that it was the preferential tariff which they were most determined to promulgate and defend. Indeed, attempts by the Balfourite wing of the Unionist party to twist tariff reform away from its imperial origins were strongly resisted by the League, and the forces of protection within the organization were also carefully controlled. When the Tariff Reform League finally gave way on the issue of imperial preference in January 1913, it was not because it had suddenly ceased to be concerned about the unity of the empire. Rather, the widespread public hostility to the imposition of food duties showed no sign of diminishing, thus making it difficult to persuade a critical mass within the Unionist party that tariff reform was a politically viable strategy of imperial federation

Initial teacher education for the education and training sector in England: development and change in generic and subject specialist provision

This report reviews the current system of initial teacher education (ITE) for the education and training sector and its development from earlier systems. The report also discusses subject-specialist teaching in the education and training sector, leading to a provisional assessment of the potential of the current ITE system for enhancing subject-specialist pedagogy. The report begins by contextualising the development of ITE from the post-war period to the beginning of the New Labour years, followed by a more detailed discussion of the reforms introduced by Labour governments in 2001 and 2007 and the moves away from regulation introduced by the Conservative–Liberal Democrat Coalition government. The report then discusses the main features of the qualifications framework established following the Lingfield Review of 2011-12. The final part of the report focuses on the development of subject-specialist pedagogy in ITE courses, relating concerns expressed by Ofsted to debates about teacher knowledge and vocational pedagogies. A model for understanding approaches to subject-specialist pedagogy is developed, and applied to consider the potential of the current ITE system for strengthening this area of professional development

Sport Specific Drinking Motives Among Male Collegiate Hockey Players

Research shows that student athletes are consuming more alcohol than any other population on college campuses. Many studies have suggested that the culture of sport combined with the social setting and pressures of playing on a team put these athletes at a high risk for drinking heavily and suffering multiple alcohol related consequences. One area of research that has not been studied is the concept of sport specific drinking motives. Each individual sport has a unique culture and with it very diverse personalities. For this reason, we hypothesize that individual sports will likewise have unique drinking motives and expectations with regard to alcohol use. In particular, hockey players at UAF may drink for different reasons than the general UAF population

Surface Water Infiltration in Loess Soils of the Lower Mississippi River Valley: An Emphasis on Land Use

The Alluvial Aquifer is the shallowest and most heavily used groundwater aquifer in the Lower Mississippi River Valley, particularly in the Delta region of eastern Arkansas. However, the Alluvial Aquifer is being depleted faster than the rate of recharge, primarily due to excessive withdrawals for irrigated crop production. Since extensive irrigation in the highly agriculturally productive Delta region of eastern Arkansas has been a main culprit in the groundwater depletion issues the region faces, a better understanding of how ecological factors and/or agricultural best management practices could possibly increase infiltration, to consequently increase recharge, are needed in order to either slow down or reverse the declining aquifer levels through the Delta region of eastern Arkansas. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of landuse on surface water infiltration into alluvial and loessial soils in the Delta region of eastern Arkansas. Landuse combinations of interest included conventional and no-tillage agricultural practices, deciduous and coniferous forests, and native/natural grasslands. Replicate infiltration measurements were conducted using a double-ring infiltrometer, with a 15-cm inner-ring diameter, across multiple sites representing each of the five landuses. Despite the initial soil water content being greater (P \u3c 0.05) in the grassland than in all other ecosystems, the overall infiltration rate into the deciduous forest ecosystem (1.2 cm hr-1) was greater (P \u3c 0.05) than all other landuse types, which did not differ and averaged 0.10 cm hr-1. In addition, though the slope of the relationship between the natural logarithm of the infiltration rate versus the mid-point of time was unaffected (P \u3e 0.05) by landuse, the intercept parameter differed (P \u3c 0.05) among landuses. Results of this study demonstrated that landuse significantly affects infiltration processes in the fine-textured loessial and alluvial soils in the Delta region of eastern Arkansas; thus, further research is warranted into factors that can increase surface infiltration and potentially groundwater recharge