Choosing Healthplans All Together: a deliberative exercise for allocating limited health care resources

CHAT (Choosing Healthplans All Together) is an exercise in participatory decision making designed to engage the public in health care priority setting. Participants work individually and then in groups to distribute a limited number of pegs on a board as they select from a wide range of insurance options. Randomly distributed health events illustrate the consequences of insurance choices. In 1999-2000, the authors conducted fifty sessions of CHAT involving 592 residents of North Carolina. The exercise was rated highly regarding ease of use, informativeness, and enjoyment. Participants found the information believable and complete, thought the group decision-making process was fair, and were willing to abide by group decisions. CHAT holds promise as a tool to foster group deliberation, generate collective choices, and incorporate the preferences and values of consumers into allocation decisions. It can serve to inform and stimulate public dialogue about limited health care resources.     

破产别除权理论与实务研究

别除权是破产程序中一项重要的优先受偿权利,其优先权的行使不受破产清算与和解程序的限制。根据新破产法的规定,别除权之债权属于破产债权,其担保物属于破产财产。别除权的基础权利是担保物权及特别优先权,定金担保债权和一般优先权不享有别除权。同一担保物上存在两个以上的担保性质相同或不同的别除权时,应依据相关法律规定确定各项别除权间的清偿顺序,以保证破产程序的公平、顺利进行。别除权人享有破产申请权,也应当申报债权,未依法申报债权者不得依照破产法规定的程序行使权利。别除权人是债权人会议的成员,未放弃优先受偿权者也有表决权,但对债权人会议与其无利害关系的特定决议事项无表决权。新破产法对债权人会议表决标准的规定仍有需完善之处。     

天津市地面沉降风险分析研究

地面沉降是城市主要地质灾害之一,天津市尤为严重。从地面沉降风险角度出发,运用AHP模糊综合评判法,对天津市地面沉降风险进行分析研究。在纵览前人研究基础上,结合自然灾害风险分析理论和天津市实际状况,建立天津市地面沉降风险评价指标体系,该指标体系由5个一级指标和18个二级指标组成。运用层次分析法确定指标相对权重,并选取5组不同权重集进行敏感度分析,以减少主观因素造成的判断误差。由于最大隶属度原则本身不足,采用加权平均法处理评判结果,得到风险综合指数,将5组风险综合指数求平均,进行最终评价。结果表明,天津市地面沉降风险水平在中等和较高之间,更偏向于较高。这与实际情况基本吻合,将该方法用于天津市地面沉降风险分析,可为防灾减灾提供科学依据。     

行政赔偿先行处理程序研究——以美国先行处理程序为借镜

就本质而言,先行赔偿程序属于民事交易程序而非行政程序。赔偿义务机关可以自由选择合适的程序来与赔偿请求人协商,而无需遵循正当法律程序原则,也无需司法化。但为了实现先行处理制度的功能,先行处理程序又具有一定程度的规范性。我国的先行处理程序在某些方面缺乏应有的规范性,致使先行处理的效率功能难以实现;在某些方面则因过度规范化而缺乏可协商性,因此需要从这些方面加以改进。     

夫妻共有股权行使的困境及其应对——兼论商法与婚姻法的关系

夫妻共有股权行使纠纷在近年来引发广泛关注。我国夫妻共有股权行使的内容既包括资产收益权、管理性权利等基本权能,也包括处分权。婚姻法与商法规范在夫妻共有股权行使条件上存在差异,前者强调夫妻双方“一致意见”,后者要求由公示方行使股权。将不同行使主体、条件和内容进行组合,行使效果存在明显区别,其中公示方擅自处分共有股权的法律效果引发了较大争议。商法和婚姻法规范既有交集也有差异,在法律适用上存在规范竞合。为解决夫妻共有股权行使过程中遇到的问题,需要更精细化的规则:第一,在公示上实现商法与婚姻法兼容;第二,在管理权行使上,商法规范具有特殊性,应当优先适用;第三,在行使处分权尤其是公示方擅自处分股权的问题上,婚姻法要求的夫妻一致意见具有特殊性,应当将商法与婚姻法综合运用以完善现有规则;第四,针对公众公司股权行使应保障商法优先。     

Photodegradation and laser desorption mass spectrometry for the characterization of dyes used in red pen inks

Photodegradation and laser desorption mass spectrometry (LDMS) is a powerful combination of methods capable of characterizing dyes found in pen inks. Rhodamine dyes in pens that contain red ink were analyzed directly from paper (no extraction step is necessary). Inks exposed to incandescent light form photodegradation products (compounds with lower molecular weights than that of the intact dye) and in some instances, photoproducts (compounds with higher molecular weights than that of the intact dye). The degradation products and photoproducts can be detected with LDMS, and the results can be used for dye identification. Advantages include: (1) the instrumental analysis takes less than a minute; (2) sample preparation is minimal; (3) LDMS is a minimally destructive technique; (4) incandescent light sources are inexpensive, safe to use, and readily available; and (5) isomeric dyes can be distinguished.     

抵押预告登记优先受偿效力的解释论

作为预告登记的一个子类型,按照法教义学的逻辑推演,抵押预告登记并不产生优先受偿效力。但该制度的创设目的在于满足商品房预售交易中当事人的担保需求,若抵押预告登记权利人最终无法实现优先受偿权,这一制度将难以发挥其应有的作用,最终沦为具文。当符合已办理建筑物所有权首次登记且预告登记未失效等条件时,抵押预告登记转本登记的实质条件已满足,允许抵押预告登记权利人直接行使优先受偿权并不违反物权法基本原理。虽然《民法典担保制度解释》最终未对强制执行程序中抵押预告登记的效力作出规定,但不妨碍预告登记权利人依照该司法解释第52条第1款的规定行使优先受偿权。在破产程序中,抵押预告登记权利人行使优先受偿权无须以已办理建筑物所有权首次登记为前提,优先受偿的范围也不应限制在人民法院受理破产申请时抵押财产的价值范围内。     

论保险代位求偿权行使的权利限制

保险代位求偿权虽然为保险人的一项法定权利,但并不意味着其行使该权利不受任何限制.首先,保险人因为弃权在行使代位求偿权时权利受到一定限制及至丧失该权利;第二,第三人可依法定事由或约定事由向保险人行使抗辩权;第三,对第三人加以限定会使保险人的代位求偿权受限;第四,保险人的代位求偿权不绝对排斥被保险人对第三人的损害赔偿请求权;最后,被保险人在代位权诉讼中优先于保险人受偿.     

船舶扣押后的船舶留置权

船舶留置权是担保造船人、修船人债权的船舶担保物权,船舶扣押是法院为保障海事请求人的海事请求而采取的保全措施。当法院扣押修理中的船舶,船舶留置权与船舶扣押就会发生冲突,因为关于留置权人在船舶扣押前没有行使船舶留置权而在船舶扣押后是否仍享有该留置权的问题,法律没有规定。主要从占有和优先受偿两个方面分析船舶在扣押后继续停留在修船厂时留置权人的权利,并对船舶在扣押后离开修船厂的弊端及避免纠纷的措施进行探讨,指出船舶扣押前留置权人未行使船舶留置权的,船舶扣押后留置权人对船舶丧失了占有,但其相关债权对船舶价款仍享有优先受偿权,而且船舶在扣押后不应离开留置权人的修船厂,除非扣船请求人提供担保。     

Sharing governmental authority: Blue Cross and hospital planning in New York City.

Hospital planning in New York has been since the 1930s an intensely political process with high stakes. The leaders of Blue Cross and their allies used the hospital planning process in the city and the state as a means to extend and protect corporate authority in what they took to be the public interest. When Blue Cross was established in the 1930s, its leaders used the mechanisms of formal planning as part of their solution to pressing problems in the organization and distribution of hospital services. In the decade after World War II, Blue Cross had an immense impact on hospital planning in New York as a result of its growth and its underwriting policies. Conflicts between Blue Cross and state regulators beginning in the 1950s led to a new formulation of the politics of planning. Blue Cross became a partner with the state in regulating hospitals. The state and Blue Cross behaved as co-regulators until the 1980s. The interpretation in this paper revises the earlier accounts of health politics in New York by Law (1976) and Alford (1975).     

Basic Rights and Democracy in Jurgen Habermas's Procedural Paradigm of the Law*

Abstract . A central element of Habermas's discourse theory of law is his procedural paradigm. This includes a procedural understanding of basic rights, which is supposed to resolve both the classical tension between basic rights and democracy and the problem of collision between basic rights. I try to show that the procedural paradigm can do the first only at the cost of inadmissible idealization. Under realistic conditions one can only attempt to institutionalize the tension between basic rights and democracy as rationally as possible. Also, the problem of collision of basic rights cannot really be solved by the procedural paradigm. What can be substantiated is merely a prima facie priority of participation in the process of public opinion- and will-formation over merely private activities. Whether this prima facie priority becomes a definite priority in a concrete case or group of cases depends on the weight of counterarguments, as to which the procedural paradigm is silent.     

A comparison of weighted and unweighted analyses in the national Crime Victimization Survey

The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) data tapes include several variables of weights that reflect how many households or persons are represented by a given data record. While these sampling weights are crucial for estimating overall victimization rates, they do not have as much of an effect on methodological models, because weights in the NCVS are used primarily in ratio estimation adjustments and to compensate for a relatively low nonresponse rate. The general use of weights is discussed, and several examples are given that indicate that although there may be some differences in the coefficients, the basic conclusions drawn from the models are the same with or without weights. It is recommended that weighted analyses in the NCVS be used primarily as a tool in model development.     

难以辨识的法院庭审管理——以药家鑫案庭审发放意见表为中心

药家鑫案引发了颇多可供讨论的法律问题,比如媒体与司法的关系、司法民主与司法公正的关联等。仅就一审法院在庭审中发放"旁听案件反馈意见表"的行为来说,就可以映射出许多关于当前中国司法改革的样态。究其本质,发放意见表实则难属司法行为或审判行为,其更多地表现为一种法院的管理行为。从庭审管理的角度而言,这一行为彰显了在当前集权体制下行政化的法院管理模式逐渐难堪的现实,同时也反映了当前法院还算占绝对优势控制的庭审管理环节深受媒体和舆论的压制而艰难前行的无奈,并且还反映了法院在以政治为首要职能的高压下难以实施专业性技能管理的困境。     

税收优先权的顺位分析

税收优先权是优先权的一种形式,但税收又是一种公法上的债权债务关系。因此,当税收优先权与其他优先权竟合时,既可以适用私法债权优先权竞合时的原则,又要考虑国家的特殊政策需要。由于涉及的优先权类型很多,且税收优先权有与其竞合的可能,故有必要对优先权进行分析,并指出税收优先权的法律地位。     

论破产程序对担保物权优先性的限制

担保物权的优先性在民法中不可质疑,但在破产程序中,尤其在破产重整程序中则受到诸多限制.这种限制系破产程序本身的特点所决定,同时也是破产法立法价值嬗变的结果.基于利益衡平原则,对担保物权优先性的限制必须合理,我国这方面的立法尚存在诸多缺陷,有待进一步完善.     

National fingermark visualisation collaborative exercise 2020

In 2020, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory organised and ran what is believed to be the first UK national collaborative exercise of its kind in the field of fingermark visualisation, on behalf of the Forensic Science Regulator. Laboratories were provided with a piece of wrapping paper, a challenging item for fingermark visualisation due to its semi-porous characteristics, both from a planning and processing perspective, and asked to treat it as a major crime exhibit. Due to the complexity of the substrate, variation in approach was anticipated. 23 laboratories from 21 organisations completed the exercise. In general, laboratories performed well, providing assurance to the Forensic Science Regulator regarding their ability to visualise fingermarks. Key learning points were identified around decision-making, planning and implementation of fingermark visualisation processes – all of which assist in raising the level of understanding around the likely success of fingermark visualisation. Lessons learnt, along with the overall findings, were shared and discussed in a workshop held in summer 2021. The exercise provided a useful insight into the current operational practices of participating laboratories. Areas of good practice were identified as well as the areas within the laboratories’ approach that could be altered or adapted.     

Law Centres, Citizenship, and Participation

It's difficult to redirect things once we'd started up as a casework agency. It's difficult to keep casework under control. Cases can only be related to one another; if you justify taking on one case, it's difficult to avoid taking on similar cases. There is still not sufficient priority given to educational and community work. This is so because of the demands of [individual] casework … It's difficult to change approach from casework to educational and community work. (Lawyer at the Urban Community Law Centre)
From the beginning we have attempted to do work with people rather than for them. This has meant that wherever possible we have brought people with similar problems together so that they learn how to cope with different establishment bodies … more important, they realize they can exercise control over their own lives. Whether we help an individual deal with his or her own personal problem, or help a group of people get to grips with whatever is oppressing them, our main aim is to inculcate a practical philosophy of self-reliance. (Statement of aims of the Northern Neighbourhood Law Centre¹)     

Ranking of sectors based on fuzzy importance measure

The changing nature of policy variables specific to any planned developmental programme often leads to conflicting decisional problems regarding the identification of thrust areas. Hence the inherent requirement is for a composite index which eases out such ambiguous choice issues. The present paper introduces the measure of sectoral importance which is capable of encompassing different variables with their associated weights and ranks sectors in an economy based on such a measure. However, the term importance suggests the qualitativeness and subjectivity involved in defining such a concept and thus establishes the need for the concepts of fuzzy mathematics. The theory of fuzzy subsets is capable of dealing with qualitative variables within a quantitative framework. The sectoral importance measures derived from the sectoral output linkages, employment multipliers and value added multipliers, have been represented as fuzzy subsets, or to be precise, as fuzzy numbers. A comparison of these numbers through the binary approach of determination of the measure of relative strength provides the basis for the ranking of sectors. The novelty of the approach lies in its simplicity and flexibility in treating qualitative factors which characterise most decision support socio economic planning problems. The validity of the exercise has been tested by applying it to the economy of West Bengal, a State of India.     

Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS); corrections to the CHAMPUS Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) payment system rates and weights--DoD. Corrections to notice of revised rates

This document corrects an error that appeared in the notice of revised rates which was published on January 27, 1993, (58 FR 6254) and which revised the rates and weights to be used in the CHAMPUS DRG-based payment system effective for admissions occurring on or after October 1, 1992. It also clarifies the rates and weights to be used for two DRGs for which no rates and weights were calculated.     

The administration of remedial education in Spain Origins, influences and present situation

This article examines the regulation of remedial education in Spain that has emerged from a sweeping reform of the educational system, originating from and inspired by constitutional principles and the regulation of the right to an education. The components of this theme display certain similarities with (a) specific programmes in U.S. educational institutions; (b) the English system of priority areas for the improvement of the educational infrastructure and materials, and teacher incentives and (c) the planning, opening, and specific nature of Educational Priority Areas in France. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.