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Lower Percent (lower + percent)
Selected AbstractsAttorney Fees in Class Action Settlements: An Empirical StudyJOURNAL OF EMPIRICAL LEGAL STUDIES, Issue 1 2004Theodore Eisenberg Study of two comprehensive class action case data sets covering 1993,2002 shows that the amount of client recovery is overwhelmingly the most important determinant of the attorney fee award. Even in cases in which the courts engage in the lodestar calculation (the product of reasonable hours and a reasonable hourly rate), the client's recovery generally explains the pattern of awards better than the lodestar. Thus, the time and expense of a lodestar calculation may be wasteful. We also find no robust evidence that either recoveries for plaintiffs or fees of their attorneys increased over time. The mean fee award in common fund cases is well below the widely quoted one-third figure, constituting 21.9 percent of the recovery across all cases for a comprehensive data set of published cases. A scaling effect exists: fees constitute a lower percent of the client's recovery as the client's recovery increases. Fees are also correlated with risk: the presence of high risk is associated with a higher fee, while low-risk cases generate lower fees. Fees as a percent of class recovery were found to be higher in federal than state court. The presence of "soft" relief (such as injunctive relief or coupons) has no material effect on the fee, regardless of whether the soft relief was included in the quantified benefit for the class used as the basis for computing the attorney fee. The study also addresses costs and expenses. Like fees, these display significant scale effects. The article proposes a simple methodology by which courts can evaluate the reasonableness of fee requests. [source] The effects of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke on pulmonary function in children undergoing anesthesia for minor surgeryPEDIATRIC ANESTHESIA, Issue 5 2006JAMES M. O'ROURKE FFARCSI Summary Background:, The objectives of this study were to assess whether children exposed to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) present for surgery with poorer pulmonary function, and experience a more pronounced deterioration in pulmonary function following anesthesia and surgery, than non-ETS-exposed children. Methods:, Fifty-four children aged 5,15 years with a history of ETS exposure from one or both parents and 54 children with no such ETS history were included in the study. All participants were presenting for ambulatory surgery and were judged to conform to American Society of Anesthesiology class I or II. Spirometry was performed preoperatively, postoperatively in the recovery ward when the child met criteria for discharge (Aldrete score 8), and before discharge from the day ward. Results:, The ETS-exposed group had a significantly lower mean preoperative peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) (9.5 points lower percent predicted, 95% confidence interval ,18.1 to ,1.0, P = 0.03). Although not statistically significant, they also had lower percent predicted baseline mean values of the other spirometric variables that were measured (forced expiratory volume in 1 s ,4.5%, P = 0.07; forced vital capacity ,4.1%, P = 0.10; forced expiratory flow between 25% and 75%,3.6%, P = 0.44). Pulmonary function tests (PFTs) performed in recovery were between 8% and 14% worse than preoperative values, but the results were similar in the two groups of children. PFTs performed before hospital discharge demonstrated an near-complete recovery to baseline values. Again the pattern was similar in exposed and nonexposed children. Conclusions:, Environmental tobacco smoke exposure is associated with lower preoperative PEFR values, but does not impact on recovery from anesthesia for healthy children undergoing ambulatory anesthesia. [source] Pseudomonas aeruginosa and other predictors of mortality and morbidity in young children with cystic fibrosis,PEDIATRIC PULMONOLOGY, Issue 2 2002Julia Emerson MD Abstract We conducted a registry-based study to determine prognostic indicators of 8-year mortality and morbidity in young children with cystic fibrosis (CF). Patients ages 1,5 years from the 1990 U.S. Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) National Patient Registry served as the study cohort (N,=,3,323). Registry data provided information on baseline characteristics in 1990, 8-year mortality, and clinical outcomes in 1998. P. aeruginosa respiratory infection was found to be a major predictor of morbidity and mortality. The 8-year risk of death was 2.6 times higher in patients who had respiratory cultures positive for P. aeruginosa in 1990 (95% confidence interval 1.6, 4.1) than in children without P. aeruginosa in their respiratory cultures. Culture-positive patients in 1990 also had a significantly lower percent predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1) and weight percentile at follow-up, and they had an increased risk of continued P. aeruginosa respiratory infection and hospitalization for acute respiratory exacerbation in 1998. Among the other predictors of increased morbidity and mortality were lower baseline weight percentiles and number of CF-related hospitalizations during the baseline year. These findings confirm reports from previous smaller studies of outcomes among young children with CF, and highlight the potential to decrease the morbidity and mortality of young patients with CF through early intervention. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2002; 34:91,100. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Tree and forest characteristics influence sleeping site choice by golden lion tamarinsAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 9 2007Sarah J. Hankerson Abstract Lion tamarin monkeys are among a small number of primates that repeatedly use a few tree holes for the majority of their sleeping sites. To better understand why lion tamarins rely on tree holes as sleeping sites, we compared the physical characteristics of frequently used sleeping sites, infrequently used sleeping sites, and randomly selected forest locations at multiple spatial scales. From 1990 to 2004, we recorded 5,235 occurrences of sleeping site use by 10 groups of golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia) in Poço das Antas Reserve, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. Of those, 63.6% were tree holes. Bamboo accounted for an additional 17.5% of observations. Frequently used tree holes were more likely to be found in living trees and their entrances were at lower canopy heights than infrequently used tree holes. We also found that frequently used sleeping sites, in comparison to random sites, were more likely to be found on hillsides, be close to other large trees, have a lower percent of canopy cover, and have larger diameter at breast height. Topography and small-scale variables were more accurate than were habitat-level classifications in predicting frequently used sleeping sites. There are ample tree holes available to these lion tamarins but few preferred sites to which they return repeatedly. The lion tamarins find these preferred sites wherever they occur including in mature forest and in relics of older forest embedded in a matrix of secondary forest. Am. J. Primatol. 69:976,988, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] | ||||||||||