Judicial Review of Commercial Arbitration Awards North of the 49th Parallel

Unlike the United States, all Canadian provinces and the federal government have adopted legislation implementing the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration ( bit.ly/1DbWZiC ) that governs international arbitrations conducted in Canada and the enforcement of international arbitration awards. Principles first enunciated in the 1958 New York Convention ( bit.ly/1n4KXNT ) and amplified in the Model Law that limit judicial intervention and preclude any review of the merits of an arbitral award on matters of either fact or law are therefore applicable and consistently enforced throughout Canada with respect to international arbitrations. The Canadian province of British Columbia was the first jurisdiction anywhere in the world to adopt the Model Law.     

Efficiency and availability driven R&D issues for DEMO

DEMO is the main step foreseen after ITER to demonstrate the technological and commercial viability of a fusion power plant. DEMO R&D requirements are usually identified on the basis of the functions expected from each individual system. An approach based on the analysis of overall plant functional requirements sheds new light on R&D needs. The analysis presented here focuses on two overall functional requirements, efficiency and availability. The results of this analysis are presented here putting emphasis on systems not sufficiently considered up to now, e.g. the heating and current drive systems, while more commonly addressed systems such as tritium breeding blankets are not discussed in detail. It is also concluded that an overall functional analysis should be adopted very early in the DEMO conceptual design studies in order to provide a fully integrated approach, which is an absolute requirement to ensure that the ambitious goals of this device will be ultimately met.     

Measurement and assessment issues in performance appraisal.

Performance appraisal is a topic that is of both theoretical interest and practical importance. As such, it is one of the most researched topics in industrial and organisational psychology. Several measurement issues are central to performance appraisal including: (a) how performance has been measured, (b) how to improve performance appraisal ratings, (c) what is meant by performance, and (d) how the quality of ratings has been defined. Each of these are discussed along with the shortcomings of the extant literature in helping to come to grips with these important issues. Next, some of the new challenges facing performance appraisal, given its historical focus on single individuals being evaluated, are highlighted. In particular, the appraisal problems inherent in the assessment of team performance and the complexities inherent in multisource feedback systems are covered. We conclude with a short discussion of the litigious issues that can arise as a result of poor performance management practises. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An exploratory study of the value of pretraining end-user participation

Although software training is widely seen as an essential contributor to the productive use of computers in organizations, research has not focused on identifying the processes through which software trainers assess end users' training requirements. This research draws from self-regulation theories to examine the impacts of pretraining end-user participation on the outcomes of software training. Self-regulation theories aim to explain why individuals behave in a certain manner in an organizational context. Pretraining end-user participation consists of a pretraining interview designed to learn the needs of the trainee, and to gain insights into a training design that can make learning the target software more relevant to the trainee. The context of the study was a training programme for a database retrieval software package in a medium-sized manufacturing company. Approximately half the trainees were involved in the pretraining interview process. Trainees also received one of two training approaches, either applications-based (relevant problem focused) or construct-based (generic training approach) training. Data were gathered from questionnaires, quizzes and interviews. Although no clear differences were found, the data indicate that pretraining end-user participation should be considered a potentially effective tool in enhancing training effectiveness. Pretraining end-user participation is more likely to suggest who will or will not use a software application after formal training, provide a more realistic view of the content and usefulness of the training, and facilitate motivation planning and management. The paper discusses some potential critical success factors for making pretraining end-user participation more effective.     

Endotoxin causes reciprocal changes in hepatic nitric oxide synthesis, gluconeogenesis, and flux through phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase

Treatment of rats with bacterial endotoxin resulted in a significant induction of hepatic nitric oxide synthase within 3 hours. The response was maximal at 12 hours and was maintained over 18 hours. The induction of nitric oxide synthase correlated well with the increase in plasma nitrate plus nitrite concentrations and also with the inhibition of glucose synthesis in subsequently isolated hepatocytes. The decline in the rate of gluconeogenesis also correlated with an inhibition of flux through phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase but not with alterations in flux through either pyruvate kinase or 6-phosphofructo-1-kinase, suggesting that a nitric oxide-induced inhibition of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase may underlie the decreased glucose production in sepsis.     

La recherche en psychologie industrielle et organisationnelle dans les forces Canadiennes.

This special issue discusses various topics in industrial and organizational psychology. The focus is on the military, soldiers and applied psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interactive repair assistant: A knowledge-based system forproviding advice to field technicians

The IRA (Intelligent Repair Assistant) expert system is described. This system is used to assist mobile field technicians who are repairing circuits and having noise and transmission problems. It is shown how artificial intelligence techniques can be used by using software tools that are common to the application but not necessarily suited to artificial intelligence. It is stressed that integrating the expert system within the operational environment is a crucial factor in choosing the appropriate software tool     

The behavioural effects of manipulating GABA function in the globus pallidus

Effects of drugs on precapillary vessels and oxygen uptake may differ from effects on resistance vessels and total flow in skeletal muscle. This study was performed to compare effects of phentolamine and isoproterenol, two drugs which are used to treat shock, on oxygen uptake in skeletal muscle. Oxygen uptake of gracilis muscle (GVO2) was measured in muscles perfused at constant flow or constant pressure in normotensive dogs. We compared effects of the drugs on oxygen uptake at doses chosen so that both drugs produced comparable effects on vascular resistance. With flow constant, phentolamine increased but isoproterenol decreased or did not alter GVO2. With constant pressure, phentolamine produced significantly greater increases in GVO2. For example, increases in GVO2 occurred with all three doses of phentolamine, but only with the high dose of isoproterenol. Neither drug altered oxygen-hemoglobin affinity of red blood cells or oxygen consumption of skeletal muscle in vitro. The results suggest that phentolamine produces more favorable effects than isoproterenol on oxygen uptake in skeletal muscle, presumably because of greater dilator action on precapillary sphincters.     

Materials requirements for liquid metal fast breeder reactors

Materials requirements for Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactors (LMFBRs) are quite varied with requisite applications ranging from ex-reactor components such as piping, pumps, steam generators and heat exchangers to in-reactor components such as heavy section reactor vessels, core structurais, fuel pin cladding and subassembly flow ducts. Requirements for ex-reactor component materials include: good high temperature ten-sile, creep and fatigue properties; compatibility with high temperature flowing sodium; resistance to wear, stress corrosion cracking, and crack propagation; and good welda-bility. Requirements for in-reactor components include most of those cited above for ex-reactor components as supplemented by the following: resistance to radiation embrittle-ment, swelling and radiation enhanced creep; good neutronics; compatibility with fuel and fission product materials; and resistance to mass transfervia flowing sodium. Extensive programs are currently in place in a number of national laboratories and industrial con-tractors to address the materials requirements for LMFBRs. These programs are fo-cused on meeting the near term requirements of early LMFBRs such as the Fast Flux Test Facility and the Clinch River Breeder Reactor as well as the longer term require-ments of larger near-commercial and fully-commercial reactors.