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David Rosenberg - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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the judicial posner on neglicence versus strict liability indiana harbor belt railroad co v American Cyanamid co
Harvard Law Review, 2007Co-Authors: David RosenbergAbstract:Does Richard Posner lead a double life as scholar and judge? Posner's prodigious and prolific scholarship, developing and applying the functionalist, rational approach (he might call it economic or pragmatic) in virtually every field of law, ranks him among the greatest legal thinkers. It also places him at the forefront of the revolutionary assault on the formalist establishment's continuing dominance of the teaching, and therefore the practice, of law. Indeed, scholarly Posner seems to relish the role of provocateur; witness his recent contribution in these pages skewering the pontiffs of constitutional law. (1) But what of Judge Posner, now marking his twenty-fifth year on the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit? In that time he has served a lengthy term as Chief Judge and authored volumes of opinions. Besides wondering how he does it all, I want to know how Posner squares the role of judge with that of scholar provocateur. Is he a judicial Clark Kent, passing himself off as a mild-mannered, droll, keen-witted judge, wearing glasses and a black robe as a disguise, only to throw them off to write seditious tracts and save the world? Some clues may be found in Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad Co. v. American Cyanamid Co., (2) a Posner opinion that has become a basic staple of torts courses on the preeminent question of when it is better to use negligence or strict liability. After commenting on the importance as well as the problematics of this opinion, I surmise what he might actually be up to--all in tribute to the judicial Posner. I. A student of torts takes notice when Judge Posner, one of the transformational scholars in the field, opens his Indiana Harbor Belt opinion with the following question presented: "whether the shipper of a hazardous chemical by rail should be strictly liable for the consequences of a spill ... en route." (3) When he goes on to declare the question "novel" under governing Illinois law, the absence of helpful precedent from other jurisdictions, and the need therefore to develop an answer from the "ground up," the reader anticipates the unfolding of a modern torts classic. (4) The case before Judge Posner was a long-running litigation between one of the railroads involved in shipping a hazardous chemical, Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad (IHBR), and the chemical's manufacturer, American Cyanamid. On January 9, 1979, four thousand gallons of Cyanamid's shipment of acrylonitrile spilled from the broken bottom outlet of its tank car while it was parked in IHBR's Blue Island rail yard outside Chicago. (5) Alleging negligence as well as strict liability, IHBR sued Cyanamid to recover the nearly $1 million the railroad expended to comply with cleanup directives from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. (6) The case reached Judge Posner on the strict liability count alone. Cyanamid was appealing the district court's adverse summary judgment ruling that transport of acrylonitrile into the heavily populated Chicago metropolitan area constituted an abnormally dangerous activity subjecting the company to strict liability for the resulting harm. Focusing primarily on one of the six Second Restatement of Torts factors for determining whether an activity is abnormally dangerous, the district court found Cyanamid's activity indisputably abnormal for being "singularly 'inappropriate' in the Restatement sense of the word, given the character of the area surrounding that yard." (7) It was "fairer," the court said, "to place the burden of the loss on the person who created the inordinate risk than on someone who has no relation to the activity other than an injury from it." (8) Reversing, Judge Posner, writing for the court of appeals, overruled the abnormally dangerous finding as a matter of law, and remanded the case solely for further proceedings on the negligence count. (9) Judge Posner's opinion, in classic form, boldly stated the general principles that should govern the resolution of the centuries-old question of negligence versus strict liability. …
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the judicial posner on negligence versus strict liability indiana harbor belt railroad co v American Cyanamid co
Social Science Research Network, 2007Co-Authors: David RosenbergAbstract:Judge Richard Posner's opinion in Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad is a staple of torts courses on the basic question of negligence versus strict liability. This paper critically examines the importance and problematic aspects of the opinion. But, the main conclusion is that much of his analysis was beside the point. Judge Poser was not presented with a torts case, that is, a case calling for judicial regulation of the market. Rather the parties in that case and others like it should allocate the risk of accident by contract or pay the cost of using the courts to resolve their dispute.
Robert Mrkvicka - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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influence of suture technique and suture material selection on the mechanics of end to end and end to side anastomoses
The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, 1996Co-Authors: Norbert Baumgartner, Mark D. Morasch, Philip B. Dobrin, Quan Sheng Dong, Robert MrkvickaAbstract:Abstract Experiments were performed in dogs to evaluate the mechanics of 26 end-to-end and 42 end-to-side artery-vein graft anastomoses constructed with continuous polypropylene sutures (Surgilene; Davis & Geck, Division of American Cyanamid Co., Danbury, Conn.), continuous polybutester sutures (Novafil; Davis & Geck), and interrupted stitches with either suture material. After construction, the grafts and adjoining arteries were excised, mounted in vitro at in situ length, filled with a dilute barium sulfate suspension, and pressurized in 25 mm Hg steps up to 200 mm Hg. Radiographs were obtained at each pressure. The computed cross-sectional areas of the anastomoses were compared with those of the native arteries at corresponding pressures. Results showed that for the end-to-end anastomoses at 100 mm Hg the cross-sectional areas of the continuous Surgilene anastomoses were 70% of the native artery cross-sectional areas, the cross-sectional areas of the continuous Novafil anastomoses were 90% of the native artery cross-sectional areas, and the cross-sectional areas of the interrupted anastomoses were 107% of the native artery cross-sectional areas ( p
Mohamed Naceur Belgacem - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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crab shell chitin whiskers reinforced natural rubber nanocomposites 3 effect of chemical modification of chitin whiskers
Biomacromolecules, 2003Co-Authors: Kalaprasad Gopalan Nair, Alain Dufresne, Alessandro Gandini, Mohamed Naceur BelgacemAbstract:The purpose of this study was to chemically modify the surface of chitin whiskers and to investigate the effect of the incorporation of these modified whiskers into a natural rubber (NR) matrix on the properties of the ensuing nanocomposite. Different chemical coupling agents were tested, namely, phenyl isocyanate (PI), alkenyl succinic anhydride (ASA) (Accosize 18 from American Cyanamid), and 3-isopropenyl-alpha,alpha'-dimethylbenzyl isocyanate (TMI). The extent of chemical modification was evaluated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and surface energy analysis. After chemical modification, nanocomposite films were obtained using a toluene natural rubber solution in which the whiskers were dispersed. Their mechanical properties were found to be inferior to those of unmodified chitin/NR composites presented in our previous study. In fact, even though there is an increase in filler-matrix interaction as a result of chemical modification of the chitin whiskers, this does not contribute to the improvement in the mechanical properties of the resulting nanocomposite. It is concluded that this loss of performance is due to the partial destruction of the three-dimensional network of chitin whiskers assumed to be present in the unmodified composites.
Norbert Baumgartner - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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influence of suture technique and suture material selection on the mechanics of end to end and end to side anastomoses
The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, 1996Co-Authors: Norbert Baumgartner, Mark D. Morasch, Philip B. Dobrin, Quan Sheng Dong, Robert MrkvickaAbstract:Abstract Experiments were performed in dogs to evaluate the mechanics of 26 end-to-end and 42 end-to-side artery-vein graft anastomoses constructed with continuous polypropylene sutures (Surgilene; Davis & Geck, Division of American Cyanamid Co., Danbury, Conn.), continuous polybutester sutures (Novafil; Davis & Geck), and interrupted stitches with either suture material. After construction, the grafts and adjoining arteries were excised, mounted in vitro at in situ length, filled with a dilute barium sulfate suspension, and pressurized in 25 mm Hg steps up to 200 mm Hg. Radiographs were obtained at each pressure. The computed cross-sectional areas of the anastomoses were compared with those of the native arteries at corresponding pressures. Results showed that for the end-to-end anastomoses at 100 mm Hg the cross-sectional areas of the continuous Surgilene anastomoses were 70% of the native artery cross-sectional areas, the cross-sectional areas of the continuous Novafil anastomoses were 90% of the native artery cross-sectional areas, and the cross-sectional areas of the interrupted anastomoses were 107% of the native artery cross-sectional areas ( p
Kalaprasad Gopalan Nair - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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crab shell chitin whiskers reinforced natural rubber nanocomposites 3 effect of chemical modification of chitin whiskers
Biomacromolecules, 2003Co-Authors: Kalaprasad Gopalan Nair, Alain Dufresne, Alessandro Gandini, Mohamed Naceur BelgacemAbstract:The purpose of this study was to chemically modify the surface of chitin whiskers and to investigate the effect of the incorporation of these modified whiskers into a natural rubber (NR) matrix on the properties of the ensuing nanocomposite. Different chemical coupling agents were tested, namely, phenyl isocyanate (PI), alkenyl succinic anhydride (ASA) (Accosize 18 from American Cyanamid), and 3-isopropenyl-alpha,alpha'-dimethylbenzyl isocyanate (TMI). The extent of chemical modification was evaluated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and surface energy analysis. After chemical modification, nanocomposite films were obtained using a toluene natural rubber solution in which the whiskers were dispersed. Their mechanical properties were found to be inferior to those of unmodified chitin/NR composites presented in our previous study. In fact, even though there is an increase in filler-matrix interaction as a result of chemical modification of the chitin whiskers, this does not contribute to the improvement in the mechanical properties of the resulting nanocomposite. It is concluded that this loss of performance is due to the partial destruction of the three-dimensional network of chitin whiskers assumed to be present in the unmodified composites.