U.S. Supreme Court Affirms Potentially Responsible Parties' Right of Action for Cost Recovery

In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in Aviall—that potentially responsible parties (PRPs) are not permitted to seek contribution from other PRPs under CERCLA unless they have been sued or otherwise settled their CERCLA liability—PRPs and the courts have struggled to identify a remedy for those that voluntarily undertake cleanup of contaminated sites. The Atlantic Research decision resolves a conflict among the circuits and clarifies that PRPs voluntarily incurring cleanup costs pursuant to CERCLA, can maintain an action for cost recovery against other PRPs. The authors discuss the current legal landscape regarding actions for cost recovery as presented in Atlantic Research.     

Peak blood-ethanol concentration and the time of its occurrence after rapid drinking on an empty stomach

Healthy men, 20 to 60 years old, drank a moderate dose of ethanol in the morning after an overnight fast. They consumed either neat whisky in amounts corresponding to 0.34, 0.51, 0.68, 0.85, or 1.02 g of ethanol per kilogram of body weight or 0.80 g/kg ethanol solvent diluted with orange juice. The peak blood-ethanol concentration (BEC) increased with the dose administered, but the time required to reach the peak was not markedly influenced over the range of doses studied. At a dose of 0.68 g/kg, the peak BEC ranged from 52 to 136 mg/dL (N = 83), and slow absorption (a late-occurring peak) produced a lower peak BEC. The peak BEC was reached between 0 and 45 min for 77% of the subjects (N = 152) and between 0 and 75 min for 97% of them. The time of peaking in venous blood occurred, on average, 10 min later than in capillary (fingertip) blood although the peak BEC was not appreciably different; the mean venous BEC was 97.0 mg/dL (range, 76 to 112 mg/dL), and the mean capillary BEC was 99.6 mg/dL (range, 75 to 123 mg/dL). When subjects drank 0.80 g/kg ethanol diluted with orange juice over 30 min, the average BEC increment between the end of drinking and the peak was 33 mg/dL (range, 0 to 58 mg/dL). The rate of absorption of ethanol was 1.78 mg/dL/min (range, 0.52 to 4.8 mg/dL/min), and the peak BEC occurred within 60 min after the end of drinking in 92% of the trials. The largest BEC increment (mean, 21 mg/dL; range, 0 to 44 mg/dL) was seen during the first 15 min after the drinking period.     

Determination of the Lewis blood group substances in stains of forensically relevant body fluids

Forensic investigations often demand a clear definition of secretor status. Lewis-typing of secretion stains may help to verify non-secretor results and to identify mixtures of secretions from Le (a-b-) persons and secretors (or non-secretors). Furthermore it gives an additional check on secretor status, determined by ABO-grouping. Few problems may arise, when testing prepared saliva or semen stains. Therefore our interest was focussed on the possibility of Lewis-typing in stains appearing in forensic case work such as cigarette tips, stamps and envelope flaps, semen stains and vaginal swabs, nasal secretion, sweat and urine stains. All stains with the exception of sweat and urine were successfully Lewis-typed. In saliva stains Lewis substances could be determined even after 5 years and in semen stains for at least up to 40 days.     

大练基本功 提高战斗力－在全省禁毒民警任职资格培训班上的讲话（节选）

全省禁毒民警任职资格培训在我省乃至全国来说都尚属首次。为什么公安部和省公安厅会下这么大的决心、花这么大的精力来抓此事呢 ?一是“科教兴国”战略实施的时代要求 ;二是当前境内外严峻的毒情形势所迫 ;三是建立一支高素质禁毒队伍所需。为了深入、持久而稳步地推进禁毒民警培训工作 ,把全省禁毒民警的综合素质提高到一个新的水平。一是树立全新观念 ;二是增强机遇意识 ;三是提高实践能力。     

Foundation Ownership and Financial Performance: Do Companies Need Owners?

A curious ownership structure is found in Northern Europe—foundations that own and operate business companies. The foundations are non-profit entities, they have no members and no owners, and they cannot be dissolved. In many cases, these entities control more than 50% of the votes in successful international companies. Obviously, this structure completely blocks the market for corporate control, but it also violates other basic principles of agency theory and corporate finance. Nevertheless, we present evidence that a sample of foundation-owned companies listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange are at least as efficient as other listed companies in terms of risk adjusted stock returns, accounting returns and Tobins Q. Thus, they question whether profit-seeking ownership is a necessary condition for competitive enterprise.JEL Classification: D23, G34, L31