Privity of Contract and Third Party Rights in European Construction Projects

Privity of contract has lately been criticized in several European jurisdictions, particu-larly due to the onerous consequences it gives rise to in arrangements typical for the modern exchange such as chains of contracts. Privity of contract is a classical premise of contract law, which prohibits a third party to acquire or enforce rights under a contract to which he is not a party. Such a premise is usually seen to be manifested in the doctrine of privity of contract developed under common law, however, the jurisdictions of continental Europe do recognize a corresponding starting point in contract law. One of the traditional industry sectors affected by this premise is the construction industry. A typical large construction project includes a contractual chain comprised of an employer, a main contractor and a subcontractor. The employer is usually dependent on the subcontractor's performance, however, no contractual nexus exists between the two. Accordingly, the employer might want to circumvent the privity of contract in order to reach the subcontractor and to mitigate any risks imposed by such a chain of contracts. From this starting point, the study endeavors to examine the concept of privity of con-tract in European jurisdictions and particularly the methods used to circumvent the rule in the construction industry practice. For this purpose, the study employs both a com-parative and a legal dogmatic method. The principal aim is to discover general principles not just from a theoretical perspective, but from a practical angle as well. Consequently, a considerable amount of legal praxis as well as international industry forms have been used as references. The most important include inter alia the model forms produced by FIDIC as well as Olli Norros' doctoral thesis "Vastuu sopimusketjussa". According to the conclusions of this study, the four principal ways to circumvent privity of contract in European construction projects include liability in a chain of contracts, collateral contracts, assignment of rights as well as security instruments. The contempo-rary European jurisdictions recognize these concepts and the references suggest that they are an integral part of the current market practice. Despite the fact that such means of circumventing privity of contract raise a number of legal questions and affect the risk position of particularly a subcontractor considerably, it seems that the impairment of the premise of privity of contract is an increasing trend in the construction industry.

Comparison of adhesion layers of gold on silicate glasses for SERS detection

Gold is one of the most widely used metals for building up plasmonic devices. Although slightly less efficient than silver for producing sharp resonance, its chemical properties make it one of the best choices for designing sensors. Sticking gold on a silicate glass substrate requires an adhesion layer, whose effect has to be taken into account. Traditionally, metals (Cr or Ti) or dielectric materials (TiO2 or Cr2O3 ) are deposited between the glass and the nanoparticle. Recently, indium tin oxide and (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane (MPTMS) were used as a new adhesion layer. The aim of this work is to compare these six adhesion layers for surface- enhanced Raman scattering sensors by numerical modeling. The near-field and the far-field optical responses of gold nanocylinders on the different adhesion layers are then calculated. It is shown that MPTMS leads to the highest field enhancement, slightly larger than other dielectric materials. We attributed this effect to the lower refractive index of MPTMS compared with the others.

Adipose-derived stem cell adhesion on laminin-coated microcarriers improves commitment toward the cardiomyogenic lineage

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APP RERMS enriched matrix as an adhesion substrate for neuritic outgrowth

Specific domains can determine protein structural functional relationships. For the Alzheimer’s Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) several domains have been described, both in its intracellular and extracellular fragments. Many functions have been attributed to APP including an important role in cell adhesion and cell to cell recognition. This places APP at key biological responses, including synaptic transmission. To fulfil these functions, extracellular domains take on added significance. The APP extracellular domain RERMS is in fact a likely candidate to be involved in the aforementioned physiological processes. A multidisciplinary approach was employed to address the role of RERMS. The peptide RERMS was crosslinked to PEG (Polyethylene glycol) and the reaction validated by FTIR (Fourier transform infrared spectrometry). FTIR proved to be the most efficient at validating this reaction because it requires only a drop of sample, and it gives information about the reactions occurred in a mixture. The data obtained consist in an infrared spectra of the sample, where peaks positions give information about the structure of the molecules, and the intensity of peaks is related to the concentration of the molecules. Subsequently substrates of PEG impregnated with RERMS were prepared and SH-SY5Y (human neuroblastoma cell line) cells were plated and differentiated on the latter. Several morphological alterations were clearly evident. The RERMS peptide provoked cells to take on a flatter appearance and the cytoskeletal architecture changed, with the appearance of stress fibres, a clear indicator of actin reorganization. Given that focal adhesions play a key role in determining cellular structure the latter were directly investigated. Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is one of the most highly expressed proteins in the CNS (central nervous system) during development. It has been described to be crucial for radial migration of neurons. FAK can be localized in growth cones and mediated the response to attractive and repulsive cues during migration. One of the mechanisms by which FAK becomes active is by auto phosphorylation at tyrosine 397. It became clearly evident that in the presence of the RERMS peptide pFAK staining at focal adhesions intensified and more focal adhesions became apparent. Furthermore speckled structures in the nucleus, putatively corresponding to increased expression activity, also increased with RERMS. Taken together these results indicate that the RERMS domain in APP plays a critical role in determining cellular physiological responses. Here is suggested a model by which RERMS domain is recognized by integrins and mediate intracellular responses involving FAK, talin, actin filaments and vinculin. This mechanism probably is responsible for mediating cell adhesion and neurite outgrowth on neurons.

A study of employee affective organisational commitment and retention in Pakistan:the roles of psychological contract breach and norms of reciprocity

Social exchange theory and notions of reciprocity have long been assumed to explain the relationship between psychological contract breach and important employee outcomes. To date, however, there has been no explicit testing of these assumptions. This research, therefore, explores the mediating role of negative, generalized, and balanced reciprocity, in the relationships between psychological contract breach and employees’ affective organizational commitment and turnover intentions. A survey of 247 Pakistani employees of a large public university was analyzed using structural equation modeling and bootstrapping techniques, and provided excellent support for our model. As predicted, psychological contract breach was positively related to negative reciprocity norms and negatively related to generalized and balanced reciprocity norms. Negative and generalized (but not balanced) reciprocity were negatively and positively (respectively) related to employees’ affective organizational commitment and fully mediated the relationship between psychological contract breach and affective organizational commitment. Moreover, affective organizational commitment fully mediated the relationship between generalized and negative reciprocity and employees’ turnover intentions. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Review of Program Integrity Operations At Six Managed Care Organizations Delivering Medicaid Services under a Contract with the South Carolina Department of Health & Human Services

The State contracted with six managed care organizations to deliver Medicaid managed care at an annual cost of $2.7 billion, representing 10% of the State’s annual budget, to 750,000 Medicaid beneficiaries in South Carolina. This review’s scope and objectives were: Test the six MCOs’ compliance and effective execution of the SCDHHS’s managed care contract “Section 11 - Program Integrity” focusing on the operational components of pre-payment review and post-payment review. Identify opportunities to improve SCDHHS’s biennial managed care contract, contract monitoring, and MCO compliance and effective execution of the contract.

An Analysis of the Early Prediction of Highway Construction Project Completion using the Contract Status Report

History has shown that projects move in and out of poor status through the life of the project. Predicting the success or failure of a project to complete on time because of its recent history on the contract status report could provide our project managers another tool for monitoring contract progress. In many instances, poor contract progress results in the loss of contract time and late completion of projects. This research evaluates the combinations of work type, point in time physical work begins, recent poor status, and contract bid amount as indicators of late project completion.

Allegation of a Violation of the State Procurement Code and Other Issues Related to a Statewide Term Contract Involving the Department of Revenue and the Department of Health and Environmental Control

A complainant alleged the Department of Revenue violated the South Carolina Procurement Code. This paper examines that complaint.

Implications of Blockchain-Based Smart Contracts on Contract Law

Smart contracts are the most advanced blockchain applications. They can also be used in the contractual domain for the encoding and automatic execution of contract terms. Smart contracts already existed before the blockchain, but they take advantage of the characteristics of that technology. Namely, the decentralised and immutable characters of the blockchain determine that no single contracting party can control, modify, or interrupt the execution of smart contracts. As every new phenomenon, blockchain-based smart contracts have attracted the attention of institutions. For example, in its Resolution of 3 October 2018 on distributed ledger technologies and blockchain, the European Parliament has stressed the need to undertake an in-depth assessment of the legal implications,starting from the analysis of existing legal frameworks. Indeed, the present research thesis aims to verify how blockchain-based smart contracts fit into contract law. To this end, the analysis starts from the most discussed and relevant aspects and develops further considerations. Before that, it provides a detailed description and clarifications about the characteristics, the functioning, and the development of the technology, which is an essential starting point for a high-level quality legal analysis. It takes into considerations already existing rules concerning the use of technology in the life cycle of contracts, from vending machines to computable contracts, and verifies its applicability to blockchain-based smart contracts. The work does not limit to consider the mere technology, but some concrete scenarios of adoption of blockchain-based smart contracts in the contractual domain. Starting from the latter, it focuses on the implications of blockchain-based smart contracts on contract formation, contract performance, and applicable law and jurisdiction.

Reasonableness in European and Chinese Contract Law. A Comparative Law Study

Contemporary private law, in teh last few decades, TEMPhas been increasingly characterized by teh spread of general clauses and standards and by teh growing role of interpreters in teh framework of teh sources of law. dis process TEMPhas also consistently effected those systems dat are not typically centered on judge-made law. In particular in contract law general clauses and standards has assumed a leading role and has become protagonists of processes of integration and harmonization of teh law. Wifin dis context, teh reasonableness clause TEMPhas come to teh attention of scholars, emerging as a new element of connection between different legal systems -first of all between common law and civil law – and even between different legal traditions. dis research aims at reconstructing teh patterns of emersion and evolution of teh TEMPprincipal of reasonableness in contract law both wifin European Union Law and in teh Chinese legal system, in order to identify evolutionary trends, processes of emersion and circulation of legal models and teh scope of operation of teh TEMPprincipal in teh two contexts. In view of teh increasingly intense economic relations between Europe and China, wifin teh framework of teh new project called Belt and Road Initiative, a comparative survey of dis type can foster mutual understanding and make communications more TEMPeffective, at teh level of legal culture and commercial relations, and to support teh processes of supranational harmonization of contract law rules.

Gestione della disponibilità nella catena di distribuzione del sangue con Smart Contract in Ethereum

All’inizio di questa tesi viene discusso il funzionamento delle tecnologie visionate, Bitcoin ed Ethereum, cercando di identificarne i punti principali e salienti: la gestione delle transazioni, le tipologie di Blockchain adottate oggi e l’introduzione degli Smart Contract per sviluppare applicazioni decentralizzate. Successivamente viene considerato il caso di studio, il quale sottolinea la distribuzione delle sacche di sangue tra un centro trasfusionale e un’azienda sanitaria, con lo scopo di mettere in evidenza le interazioni tra queste, concentrandosi sulla disponibilità. Infine, dopo un’analisi del linguaggio Solidity e dopo la descrizione della modalità di sviluppo adottata accompagnata da una fase di testing, viene esposta l’implementazione realizzata concentrandosi sui dettagli delle funzionalità proposte.

Bitumen aggregate adhesion and bitumen rheology of hard modified binders

The waterproofing of hydraulic structure is done traiditionally like laying road on dam surface but with specific modified binders. An italian firm recently patented a new method that is re-adaptation of typical surface treatment of roads. The purpose of this study is to find out best aggregate-bitumen mixture that can perform well under service conditions of a large hydraulic structure such as dams. So, 4 different hard modified bitumen were tested with 2 aggregate types i.e. limestone and basalt. The experimental program contained the testing of bitumen aggregate adhesion, using the rolling bottle test and rheology of hard modified binders using multiple stress creep and recovery test and dynamic viscosity test. The results and discussion are presented in detail in this work.

Proof of Location through a Blockchain Agnostic Smart Contract Language: Design and Evaluation over Algorand and Ethereum

Le applicazioni che offrono servizi sulla base della posizione degli utenti sono sempre più utilizzate, a partire dal navigatore fino ad arrivare ai sistemi di trasporto intelligenti (ITS) i quali permetteranno ai veicoli di comunicare tra loro. Alcune di questi servizi permettono perfino di ottenere qualche incentivo se l'utente visita o passa per determinate zone. Per esempio un negozio potrebbe offrire dei coupon alle persone che si trovano nei paraggi. Tuttavia, la posizione degli utenti è facilmente falsificabile, ed in quest'ultima tipologia di servizi, essi potrebbero ottenere gli incentivi in modo illecito, raggirando il sistema. Diviene quindi necessario implementare un'architettura in grado di impedire alle persone di falsificare la loro posizione. A tal fine, numerosi lavori sono stati proposti, i quali delegherebbero la realizzazione di "prove di luogo" a dei server centralizzati oppure collocherebbero degli access point in grado di rilasciare prove o certificati a quegli utenti che si trovano vicino. In questo lavoro di tesi abbiamo ideato un'architettura diversa da quelle dei lavori correlati, cercando di utilizzare le funzionalità offerte dalla tecnologia blockchain e dalla memorizzazione distribuita. In questo modo è stato possibile progettare una soluzione che fosse decentralizzata e trasparente, assicurando l'immutabilità dei dati mediante l'utilizzo della blockchain. Inoltre, verrà dettagliato un'idea di caso d'uso da realizzare utilizzando l'architettura da noi proposta, andando ad evidenziare i vantaggi che, potenzialmente, si potrebbero trarre da essa. Infine, abbiamo implementato parte del sistema in questione, misurando i tempi ed i costi richiesti dalle transazioni su alcune delle blockchain disponibili al giorno d'oggi, utilizzando le infrastrutture messe a disposizione da Ethereum, Polygon e Algorand.

Bipolar Tribocharging Signal During Friction Force Fluctuations At Metal-insulator Interfaces.

Friction and triboelectrification of materials show a strong correlation during sliding contacts. Friction force fluctuations are always accompanied by two tribocharging events at metal-insulator [e.g., polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)] interfaces: injection of charged species from the metal into PTFE followed by the flow of charges from PTFE to the metal surface. Adhesion maps that were obtained by atomic force microscopy (AFM) show that the region of contact increases the pull-off force from 10 to 150 nN, reflecting on a resilient electrostatic adhesion between PTFE and the metallic surface. The reported results suggest that friction and triboelectrification have a common origin that must be associated with the occurrence of strong electrostatic interactions at the interface.