Academic literature on the topic 'Revised laws'

The nineteenth century witnessed a huge increase in both private and public institutions to control and to contain two elements deemed to be the most dangerous in British society: the prostitute and the fallen woman. These individuals were considered deviant at a time when the middle-class exercised philanthropy supporting the double standard code of morality. Charity and state intervention were carried out by two kinds of institutions which were closely connected: lock hospitals and lock asylums. However, the role of lock hospitals was to cure venereal disease, whereas the role of the lock asylums was the reformation and instruction of these women. As a consequence, this paper seeks to examine the importance of the London Lock Hospital and Asylum Laws and By-laws of 1840, especially in relation to female patients and penitents, so as to ascertain the roles of these two institutions in the reproduction of the moral standards of the middle-class and of the religious discourse of the time. We shall see that these regulations reflect the ideas of industriousness, repentance and atonement for these women’s past lives, emphasizing the differences between the sexes as far as sexual and moral behaviour were concerned.

This study used panel data from a sample of cities and counties to examine the effects of curfew laws on youth crime rates. The analysis estimated the impact of new and revised laws on juvenile homicide victimizations (1976 to 1995) and on juvenile arrests for a variety of offenses (1985 to 1996). The results show statistically significant decreases in burglary, larceny, and simple assault arrests after revised laws, but only in the county data. Homicide rates did not change in either counties or cities, and new laws were not followed by reductions in crime. Any preventive effects of curfews appear to be small.

The main purpose of the current study is to evaluate the deterrent effects of the two juvenile law revisions in Japan. The time series data of delinquency rates in Japan (1965-2014) are investigated through auto-regressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) modeling. Results demonstrates that there are insignificant deterrent effects of the revisions on the whole juvenile delinquencies, repeat offenses, or murder cases, after controlling for serial dependency and other factors. In terms of practical implications, these results suggest that the public and politicians should acknowledge that harsher policies are less likely to deter juvenile delinquency. While the current macro-level analysis is informative in that it provides a big picture of delinquency in a society, further research efforts are needed to explain why the law revisions failed to deter juvenile delinquency.

Les PROMs (Patient-Reported Outcomes Measures) son mesures basades en autoinformes que avaluen diferents aspectes de salut des de la perspectiva del pacient. La seva aplicació fa possible la identificació de problemes que no es podrien avaluar amb altres mesures, com la simptomatologia relacionada amb els efectes adversos d’un tractament. Tanmateix, el seu ús també facilita la presa de decisions clíniques relacionades amb la planificació del tractament, la comparabilitat de resultats i l’avaluació dels costos econòmics derivats de les intervencions sanitàries. Degut als beneficis relacionats amb l’ús de les PROMs, diferents organitzacions promouen la seva implementació en les institucions sanitàries, com l’Organització per a la Cooperació i el Desenvolupament Econòmic (OCDE), i el Servei Nacional de Salut de Gran Bretanya (NHS). Foster et al. (2018) identifiquen factors que facilitarien la seva implementació, com la selecció de la mesura més adequada, vàlida, fiable i factible. En aquest context, l’objectiu general d’aquesta tesi és proporcionar un marc metodològic per avaluar i seleccionar les PROMs de salut més adequades, amb dos objectius específics: a) avaluar les propietats de mesura de les PROM relacionades amb el confort del pacient, com la validesa, fiabilitat, sensibilitat, i factibilitat (costos, càrrega, mode d’administració); b) analitzar com avaluen els investigadors i els professionals de la salut les propietats de les PROMs, en concret en l’àmbit de la qualitat de la vida. Respecte al primer objectiu es dissenya una revisió psicomètrica per avaluar la qualitat de les propietats de mesura mitjançant eines estandarditzades. Respecte al segon objectiu, es dissenya una meta-revisió per descriure els diferents procediments que utilitzen els revisors per valorar les propietats de mesura de les PROMs i la qualitat metodològica dels estudis primaris inclosos en les revisions psicomètriques, així com de les pròpies revisions. Els resultats de la nostra revisió psicomètrica destaquen la falta de consens en l’avaluació de la qualitat de la mesura i la falta de valoració de la seva factibilitat en un context determinat. Els resultats de la nostra meta-revisió destaquen, entre altres aspectes, la falta d’adherència dels revisors a les guies de reporte i de qualitat metodològica de les revisions sistemàtiques (RS), i l’escassa freqüència d’ús d’eines estandarditzades per a l’avaluació de les propietats de mesura, malgrat l’existència de nombroses propostes desenvolupades des de diferents marcs teòrics, com The Consensus-based Standards for the selection of Health Instruments (COSMIN, 2018). En general, assenyelem algunes carències metodològiques respecte a la qualitat del procés d’avaluació de les propietats de la mesura, i establim diferents línies d’investigació. Una primera línia estaria orientada a millorar la qualitat del reportatge de les RS de propietats de mesura, proposant la elaboració d’unes noves guies Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) adaptades a aquest tipus de revisions, ja que les actuals guies PRISMA estan dissenyades per a les RS d’intervencions. Una segona línia estaria orientada a millorar la qualitat metodològica de les RS de propietats de mesura, proposant la incorporació de l’avaluació del risc de biaix (RdB) dels estudis psicomètrics. Una tercera línia seria la incorporació de l’aproximació qualitativa en els PROMs per afavorir l’obtenció d’informació rellevant. Finalment, assenyalem la importància d’avaluar la qualitat de les PROM tradicionals adaptades a les noves tecnologies, ePROMs, especialment en relació amb la seva validesa de contingut i l’equivalència entre formats d’administració. En conclusió, aquesta tesi aporta resultats rellevants sobre l’avaluació de la qualitat de les PROMs i obre noves línies d’investigació.
Las PROMs (Patient-Reported Outcomes Measures) son medidas basadas en auto-informes que evalúan diferentes aspectos de salud desde la perspectiva del paciente. Su aplicación hace posible la identificación de problemas que no podrían evaluarse con otras medidas, como la sintomatología relacionada con los efectos adversos de un tratamiento. Asimismo, su aplicación también facilita la toma decisiones clínicas relacionadas con la planificación del tratamiento, la comparabilidad de resultados y la evaluación de los costes económicos derivados de las intervenciones sanitarias. Debido a los beneficios relacionados con el uso de las PROMs, diferentes organizaciones promueven su implementación en las instituciones sanitarias, como la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económico (OECD), y el Servicio Nacional de Salud de Gran Bretaña (NHS). Foster et al. (2018) identifican factores que facilitarían su implementación, como la selección de la medida más adecuada, válida, fiable y factible. En este contexto, el objetivo general de esta tesis es proporcionar un marco metodológico para evaluar y seleccionar las PROMs de salud más adecuadas, con dos objetivos específicos: a) evaluar las propiedades de medida de las PROMs relacionadas con el confort del paciente, como son la validez, la fiabilidad, sensibilidad, y factibilidad (costes, carga, modo de administración); b) analizar cómo evalúan los investigadores y los profesionales de la salud las propiedades de las PROMs, en concreto en el ámbito de la calidad de vida. Respecto al primer objetivo se diseña una revisión psicométrica para evaluar la calidad de las propiedades de medida mediante herramientas estandarizadas. Respecto al segundo objetivo, se diseña una meta-revisión para describir los diferentes procedimientos que utilizan los revisores para valorar las propiedades de medida de las PROMs y la calidad metodológica de los estudios primarios incluidos en las revisiones psicométricas, así como de las propias revisiones. Los resultados de nuestra revisión psicométrica destacan tanto la falta de consenso en la evaluación de la calidad de la medida como la falta de valoración de su factibilidad en un contexto determinado. Los resultados de nuestra meta revisión destacan, entre otros aspectos, la falta de adherencia de los revisores a las guías de reporte y de calidad metodológica de las revisiones sistemáticas (RS), y la escasa frecuencia de uso de herramientas estandarizadas para la evaluación de las propiedades de medida, a pesar de la existencia de numerosas propuestas desarrolladas desde diferentes marcos teóricos, como The Consensus-based Standards for the selection of Health Instruments (COSMIN, 2018). En general, señalamos algunas carencias metodológicas respecto a la calidad del proceso de evaluación de las propiedades de medida, y establecemos diferentes líneas de investigación. Una primera línea estaría orientada a mejorar la calidad del reporte de las RS de propiedades de medida, proponiendo la elaboración de unas nuevas guías Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) adaptadas a este tipo de revisiones, pues las actuales guías PRISMA están diseñadas para las RS de intervenciones. Una segunda línea estaría orientada a mejorar la calidad metodológica de las RS de propiedades de medida, proponiendo la incorporación de la evaluación del riesgo de sesgo (RdS) de los estudios psicométricos. Una tercera línea sería la incorporación de la aproximación cualitativa en las PROMs para favorecer la obtención de información relevante. Finalmente, señalamos la importancia de evaluar la calidad de las PROMs tradicionales adaptadas a las nuevas tecnologías, ePROMs, especialmente en relación con su validez de contenido y la equivalencia entre formatos de administración. En conclusión, esta tesis aporta resultados relevantes sobre la evaluación de la calidad de las PROMs y abre nuevas líneas de investigación.
PROMs (Patient-Reported Outcomes Measures) are self-reported instruments measuring different health outcomes reported by the patient. Their use allows identifying problems that could not be evaluated with other measures, such as symptoms related to the adverse effects of treatment. Their implementation also facilitates the clinical decision-making, allows comparison across various medical conditions, and enables the cost-effectiveness assessment of health interventions. Because the use of PROMs in the clinical practice provides numerous benefits, different organizations promote strategies to implement them in health institutions, such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the National Health Service of Great Britain (NHS). Likewise, Foster et al. (2018) identify factors that would facilitate their implementation, as the selection of the most appropriate, valid, reliable and feasible measure. In this context, the general objective of this thesis is to provide a methodological framework to evaluate and select the most suitable PROMs, with two specific objectives: a) to evaluate the measurement properties of PROMs assessing patient comfort, such as the validity, reliability, sensitivity, and feasibility (costs, burden, mode of administration); b) to analyze how researchers and health professionals usually appraise the measurement properties of PROMs, specifically in the field of health-related quality of life. To accomplish the first objective, a psychometric review was designed to assess the quality of the measurement properties using standardized tools. Concerning the second objective, a meta-review was performed to describe the different procedures that the reviewers use to assess the measurement properties of PROMs and the methodological quality of the primary studies included in the psychometric reviews, as well as of the reviews themselves. The findings of the psychometric review highlighted the lack of consensus for evaluating the quality of the instrument as well as its feasibility in a given context. The results of the meta-review mainly indicated the lack of adherence of the reviewers to the reporting and methodological quality guidelines to conduct systematic reviews (SR), as well as the scarce use of standardized tools to evaluate the measurement properties, although numerous proposals have been developed within different theoretical frameworks, such as The Consensus-based Standards for the selection of Health Instruments (COSMIN, 2018). In general, we highlight methodological shortcomings regarding the quality of the measurement properties evaluation process, and we establish different lines of research. A first line would be aimed at improving the quality of the reporting of SR of measurement properties, proposing the development of new Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyzes (PRISMA) guidelines adapted to this type of reviews, as the current PRISMA guidelines are focused on SRs of interventions. A second line would be aimed at improving the methodological quality of the SR of measurement properties, proposing the assessment of the risk of bias (RoB) of psychometric studies. A third line would be the incorporation of the qualitative approach in the PROMs to obtain relevant information. Finally, we pointed out the importance of assessing the quality of traditional PROMs adapted to new technologies, namely ePROMs, especially concerning their content validity and the equivalence between administration forms. In conclusion, this thesis provides relevant results concerning the evaluation of PROMs and proposes future research lines.

European competition law originated after the end of the Second World War as a part of treaties instrumental to the European integration process and it evolved through secondary law and jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice from an international trade provision into its modern and truly general form. European Commission in it its endeavor to modernize competition law presents a review of the application of Article 82. The goal of the review is to base the policy on a sound economic framework, to aim on effects of abusive conduct rather than on its form and finally to focus mainly on the most important competition problems. This thesis advocates the necessity of an economic analysis while assessing the possible abuse of dominant position in concrete cases and therefore welcomes proclaimed goals of the review. Conversely it criticizes the insufficient fulfillment of these goals, which is in our view, mainly due to misunderstanding of the operation of market mechanism. Economics is in its most generalized form a complex science of purposeful human action. It is therefore not a toolbox, from which one could ad hoc take models or theories in order to assess the abuse of dominant position in real-world cases. This naive approach often leads authorities to make unsound or paradox rulings. We demonstrate the indispensability of correctly understanding the market mechanism in referencing the famous Microsoft case. Industries of the New Economy are characterized by strong network effects and a high portion of fixed costs, which makes the firms often compete "for the market" instead of "on the market". The corollary high market share is not in our view a manifestation of a monopoly position, which could be exploited using monopoly price. Modern economy explains how potential competition forces these highly efficient firms to continuously invest into new technologies and how it pushes down the price of final products. On the other hand, recourse to ad hoc doctrines or non adequate economic models may lead to erroneous assessment of abuse of dominant position.

In the globalized world of today, ironically, companies find competitive advantages in locating in proximity of each other. These highly present industrial groupings are called clusters. A popular model to describe the benefits of a cluster environment is the Porter’s Diamond, also called the Diamond Model.

Since the Diamond Model was published in 1990, there is a need of complements, in order for it to fit the dynamic business world of today. Hence, the purpose of this thesis is to examine the benefits of a cluster environment with theories from four different designated perspectives other than Porter’s Diamond. This, to see if these theories can complement the Diamond Model to show a more contemporary, and comprehensive picture of the benefits in a cluster environment.

The research is intended to examine if the theoretically stated benefits can be recognized by the companies situated in a cluster environment. A compilation is created by the theoretical framework and tested with the Diamond Model to see if it presents a better picture of cluster benefits. The thesis conclusions fortified the saying “age before beauty”, at least if age is complemented with a social attitude.

The changes to the British Columbia Municipal Act repealing land use contracts in 1978 by Bill 42, and the subsequent amendments leading up to Bill 62 in 1985 and Bill 30 in 1987 have been both dramatic and comprehensive in their effect on land development and the approval process. Since the repealing of land use contracts and in spite of the new amendments, B.C. planning legislation has been increasingly criticized among developers, planners, and local governments for the lack of development agreement provisions and adequate flexibility in the municipal approval process. This thesis investigates the possibility of reintroducing land use contracts as a development agreement control in the context of current planning practices. A literature review of the evolution of municipal planning control in B.C. is conducted to provide background information for a theoretical and practical evaluation of the current system of controls in comparison to the former system of land use contracts. The theoretical evaluation is based on measuring both systems against normative criteria, whereas the practical evaluation is comprised of a local government/development industry survey and several case studies. The following conclusions are made in this research: - Land use contracts were introduced in response to a growing need among local governments for some legitimate legislative means of entering into development agreements with developers to require developers to assist in providing the municipal services associated with their development. - Local government support for the land use contract was based on the ability to regulate design, ensure regulation performance, and to enter into off-site servicing and amenity agreements. - The development industry was initially supportive of land use contracts because they offered unlimited flexibility during negotiations and the certainty of a legal contract immune to future zoning changes. Developers eventually withdrew their support for land use contracts complaining of large scale downzoning, lengthy approval delays and excessive impost fees. Many of these allegations are dispelled in this research, but the real weakness of the land use contract was that it was difficult to amend and could be used extensively to replace zoning, effectively "fettering" future council's planning powers. - In the absence of the land use contract, many municipal governments are continuing with a land use contract practice, but without a legislative or in some instances legal basis. - The theoretical analysis, survey and case studies determine that the current planning legislation is adequate for the most part. There is a need however, for a land use contract mechanism to accommodate mixed use, comprehensive or complicated developments. This type of control was determined to be superior in accommodating these types of projects to the current approach of using a variety of planning mechanisms. Generally there is support among local governments and the development industry in B.C. for new land use contract legislation as long as it is more clearly defined to avoid the mistakes of its use in the 1970's. On the basis of this analysis, the study recommends that land use contract reintroduced but in a much more controlled and limited way.
Applied Science, Faculty of
Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of
Graduate

Statistical theory of the small-scale structure of turbulent flows with consideration of intermittency is revised and some calculation results of variability constants, including the breakdown coefficients (the scaling exponents) and Kolmogorov constants (for “two-thirds” and the energy dissipation power laws) in the inertial-subrange, are presented. The theory is constructed on the assumption of the presence of the turbulent and nonturbulent fluid (medium) within the generalized region of a turbulent flow as well as the dissipative and nondissipative fluid within a turbulent fluid. It is assumed that Kolmogorov laws are only true to a dissipative fluid; all small-scale constants of the theory are treated as statistical variability constants and depend on intermittency coefficient. A correlation between inertial-subrange variability constants and intermittency coefficient is established as well as that between the coefficients of the internal and external intermittency. The variability constants were calculated and compared with the data of the well studied (on experimental target) small-scale structure of the nonhomogeneous turbulent flows of a classical type. In conclusion, one of the distinctive features of the presented theory is that the statistical nature of inertial-subrange variability constants, including scaling exponents in power laws and Kolmogorov constants, was taken into account.

In China, the radioactive environmental impact assessment (EIA) for nuclear power plants (NPPs) had been carried out in detail due to the specific characteristic of radiation and the social universal attention. However, the nonradioactive environment impact assessment for NPP doesn’t get enough attention. This should be improved, since the operation of NPPs could cause some serious nonradioactive environment impacts. Based on the investigation of EIA for American NPPs, the following suggestions were put forward for Chinese EIA: (1) the laws and regulations in China need to be revised for the EIA of NPPs; (2) the statistics of chemicals or biocides used in the operation of NPPs and their discharged concentration need to be tested; (3) the impact assessments of nonradioactive gas emissions as well as hazardous wastes need to be carried out to meet the national requirements; and (4) the monitoring of nonradioactive waste also needs to be carried out for NPPs to obtain the basic data.

A stepwise site selection process has been adopted for geological disposal of HLW in Japan. Literature surveys, followed by preliminary investigations (PI) and, finally, detailed investigations in underground facilities will be carried out in the successive selection stages. In the PI stage, surface-based investigations such as borehole surveys and geophysical prospecting will be implemented. In order to conduct the PI appropriately and efficiently within a restricted timeframe and budget, planning and management of PI are very important. NUMO therefore compiled existing knowledge and experience in the planning and managing of investigations in the form of manuals to be used to improve and maintain internal expertise. The first editions of the two manuals were prepared on the basis of experience overseas, and then they were revised by taking geological environment, laws and regulation in Japan into consideration. This paper introduces the procedure of PI planning using the manual as well as the results of the dry-run, with the Yokosuka area as a hypothetical PI area, where the demonstration study is under way. Based on the dry-run, applicability of the manual is checked and, at the same time, further revisions are made to improve the content.

Abstract ASME Code Case N-809 provides Fatigue Crack Growth (FCG) expressions for austenitic stainless steels operating in a primary water environment within a Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR). The code case currently contains different expressions for nominally low-carbon (304L, 316L) and conventional (304, 316) grades. Since the original work that provided the technical basis for N-809 was completed, an increased amount of FCG data has become available through industry testing, particularly for low-carbon stainless steels. A large database is now available that contains significantly more data than the one used in the original development of the code case. The data cover a wider range of testing conditions (temperature, loading rate, and mean stress) and represent a more diverse population of material types, including multiple heats. In this paper, the N-809 laws are re-analysed in terms of these new data, with a focus on each of the environmental dependencies that are currently included in the law. In particular, alternative R-ratio expressions from the literature are shown to provide an improved description of the effect of R-ratio for nominally low-carbon materials. The statistical distribution of FCG rates and the treatment of partially retarded data are also investigated as part of the derivation of revised descriptions of best-fit and bounding FCG rates. The analysis highlights a small amount of potential non-conservatism in the current N-809 description of best-fit FCG rates at higher R-ratios. The current description of upper-bounding behaviour is shown to still be valid, however significant over-conservatism exists at lower R-ratios.

The standard for the method of assessment for flaws in the welded joints of WES 2805 was first published in 1976 and was revised in 1980 and 1997. A further revision has been carried out by the technical committee of FTS in the Japan Welding Engineering Society and the revision was completed in 2007. The standard of WES 2805 is based on a CTOD (crack tip opening displacement) design curve approach for brittle fracture, and is used for the assessment of the significance of flaws in a stress concentrated region, where large scale yielding takes place. Main topics for the recent developments for flaw assessment methods are described in this paper. These are the interaction criterion of multiple flaws, fatigue crack growth laws, determination of equivalent crack length and strain due to stress concentration, estimation method of the critical CTOD from Charpy energy and proposal of partial safety factors. In order to examine the effectiveness of the standard, extensive 2-D and 3-D FE analyses are performed for various welded joints such as a load-carrying fillet welded joint, a non-load-carrying fillet welded joint and a box welded joint. Some of them are introduced in this paper. Their analytical results indicate that the present CTOD design curve method gives a reasonable evaluation.

ABSTRACT The boom in the development of unconventional petroleum resources, particularly shale gas in the United States of America during the last decade has had far reaching implications for energy markets across the world and particularly for Nigeria, a country that traditionally has been Africa’s leading crude oil producer and exporter. The Cretaceous Anambra Basin is currently the only inland basin in Nigeria where the existence of commercial quantities of oil and gas has been proven (outside the Tertiary Niger Delta Basin). The possibility of similarly finding commercially viable resources of unconventional petroleum resources in the basin appears quite attractive on the basis of the existence of seepages of shale oil and presence of coal-bed methane in some of the coal seams of the Mamu Formation (Lower Coal Measures) in the basin. This paper presents the results of our preliminary assessment of the shale oil and gas resources of the Anambra Basin. Our main objective is to locate the zones of very high quality plays within the basin, focusing on their depositional environments (whether marine or non-marine), areal extent of the target shale formations, gross shale intervals, total organic content, and thermal maturity. Data on the total organic content (TOC %, by weight) and thermal maturity of shales from different wells in the basin show that many of the shales have high TOCs (i.e greater than 2%) comparable to known shale gas and shale oil plays globally. Shale oil seepages are known to occur around Lokpanta in south-eastern Nigeria, but there is a general predominance of gas-prone facies in our inland basins indicating good prospects for finding unconventional petroleum in this and other Nigerian inland sedimentary basins. The main challenge to the exploration of unconventional resources in Nigeria today has to do with the absence of the enabling laws and regulatory framework governing their exploration and subsequent exploitation. The revised Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) currently under consideration in the National Assembly is expected to introduce drastic and lasting changes in the way the petroleum industry business is conducted in the country, but all the provisions of the draft law pertain mainly to conventional oil and gas resources.

This paper is part of series on self-contained papers in which a large part, if not the full extent, of the asymptotic limit theory of summands of independent random variables is exposed. Each paper of the series may be taken as review exposition but specially as a complete exposition expect a few exterior resources. For graduate students and for researchers (beginners or advanced), any paper of the series should be considered as a basis for constructing new results. The contents are taken from advanced books but the organization and the proofs use more recent tools, are given in more details and do not systematically follow previous one. Sometimes, theorems are completed and innovated