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Risks Inherent (risk + inherent)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	28%

Selected Abstracts

Complementary therapy for psoriasis

DERMATOLOGIC THERAPY, Issue 2 2003
Giovanni Luigi Capella
ABSTRACT: The authors provide some specifications regarding the correct terminology to be applied in the field of complementary medicine, and review and comment on several complementary treatments for psoriasis. Putative psychotherapeutic equivalents are kept distinct from treatments based on the surreptitious administration of physical or pharmacologic agents. Limits on the application of psychotherapeutic techniques are discussed. Risks inherent to complementary treatments (psychological derangements, moral subjugation, physical damage, economic exploitation) are underscored. The authors plead for the application of adequate scientific criticism in complementary medicine, but warn that any approach to the practice of medicine which is not disinterested and patient oriented,as the academic one should be,will be inappropriate, misleading, or even immoral. In the authors' opinion, this could also apply to the evidence-based medicine movement (often perceived as the archenemy of alternative medicine), should this movement be influenced by economical, political, or other nonmedical factors. [source]

Political and Regulatory Risk in Water Utilities: Beta Sensitivity in the United Kingdom

JOURNAL OF BUSINESS FINANCE & ACCOUNTING, Issue 7-8 2001
Roger Buckland
UK utilities are generally regulated by the periodic setting of a price cap (the RPI-X mechanism). To establish these caps, regulators must determine what returns are appropriate on the capital employed by utilities. This paper addresses the issue of the level of risk inherent in investment in the equity of regulated water utilities in the UK. It uses the techniques of the Kalman Filter to estimate daily betas for the major utilities in the period from privatisation to mid-1999. The paper demonstrates that water utilities' risk is time-variant. It demonstrates, also, that there have been significant political and regulatory influences in the systematic risk faced by water utility shareholders. It finds beta to display little evidence of cyclical variation across the regulatory review cycle. The paper also confirms that significant excess returns have been generated over the history of the privatised water sector and suggests that over-estimation of systematic risk faced by investors in the sector may imply further excess returns in the next regulatory review period. [source]

Performance analysis of small size pilot plant and laboratory relief valves

PROCESS SAFETY PROGRESS, Issue 3 2003
Richard P. Palluzi
Spring-loaded relief valves are one of the most common safety devices installed in pilot plants and laboratory bench-top units. They are typically used in sizes much smaller than those in process units, but their performance is assumed to be equivalent. Most organizations provide only limited preventive maintenance and re-inspection for these valves under the assumption that they are very reliable devices and operation is fairly assured. Our experience and detailed test data with small size (1/2-inch and less) spring-loaded relief devices indicates that most will not perform as reliably as expected due to adhesion of the elastomer seal over time. This leads to initial relief pressures well over the 10% overpressure considered routine, with 30% overpressure being fairly common among certain sizes and conditions. Failing to recognize this problem can lead to otherwise preventable accidents, and even injuries. Data on more than 1,000 relief devices in actual research service for several years was analyzed and the performance measured over time. The data clearly indicate the problem is endemic across all manufacturers and not easily solved. Results are presented in summary form to allow evaluation of the risk inherent in the use of these devices. It indicates a lower level of confidence in actual valve performance, as well as a need for more detailed hazard analysis and risk assessment of the potential for significant relief valve overpressure. [source]

Risk Mapping and Key Risk Indicators in Operational Risk Management

ECONOMIC NOTES, Issue 2 2005
Sergio Scandizzo
In this article I describe a methodology for the mapping of Operational Risk with the objective of identifying the risks inherent in the different steps of a business process, selecting a set of variables providing an estimate for the likelihood and the severity of operational risk (Key Risk Indicators , KRIs) and designing the most appropriate control activities. I then present two examples of how the methodology described can be applied to map risks and of how a set of relevant KRIs can be identified in the front office of a trading business and in the back office of a lending business. Finally, I discuss how the information conveyed by the KRIs can be organised and summarised in order to provide a comprehensive look at the risk profile of the various business lines. The structured presentation of KRIs covering the business processes of a bank is what we call an Operational Risk Scorecard. [source]

Requirements for ground investigations in shield tunnelling / . Anforderungen an die Baugrunderkundung für Schildvortriebe

GEOMECHANICS AND TUNNELLING, Issue 3 2010
Dietmar Placzek Prof. Dr.-Ing.Article first published online: 1 JUN 2010
Mechanized tunnelling; Reconnaissance; Maschineller Vortrieb; Baugrunderkundung Abstract The success of a tunnel project depends on successfully overcoming the ground conditions and the geological risks. Despite this basic fact, the production of technical regulations and guidelines, the further development of machine technology and improving methods of surveying and control, mishaps still often occur during tunnel drives, affecting either the tunnel itself or the surroundings, e.g. existing infrastructure or buildings. The causes are often multifaceted but can almost always be attributed to the existing ground conditions, which had not been appropriately determined, described, or considered in the design, or taken into account during construction. The following explanations describe the risks inherent in ground conditions and show how these risks can be countered by appropriate ground investigations for tunnelling. Der Erfolg eines Tunnelvortriebs hängt von der sicheren Beherrschung des Baugrunds und der hierin liegenden Risiken ab. Trotz dieser grundlegenden Erkenntnis, der Erarbeitung von technischen Vorschriften und Richtlinien, der Weiterentwicklung der Maschinentechnik sowie einer verfeinerten Mess- und Steuerungstechnik kommt es immer Tunnelvortrieb wieder beim zu Schäden, die entweder unmittelbar den Vortrieb selbst oder das Umfeld, z. B. bestehende Infrastruktur oder Bauwerke, betreffen. Die Ursachen sind häufig vielfältiger Natur, lassen sich aber überwiegend auf die vorherrschenden Baugrundverhältnisse zurückführen, die entweder nicht zutreffend ermittelt, beschrieben, planerisch umgesetzt oder ausführungstechnisch berücksichtigt wurden. Die nachfolgenden Ausführungen beschreiben die im Baugrund vorhandenen Risiken und zeigen auf, wie diesen Risiken durch gezielte Baugrunduntersuchungen für den Tunnelbau begegnet werden kann. [source]

Understanding software maintenance and evolution by analyzing individual changes: a literature review

JOURNAL OF SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE AND EVOLUTION: RESEARCH AND PRACTICE, Issue 6 2009
Hans Christian Benestad
Abstract Understanding, managing and reducing costs and risks inherent in change are key challenges of software maintenance and evolution, addressed in empirical studies with many different research approaches. Change-based studies analyze data that describes the individual changes made to software systems. This approach can be effective in order to discover cost and risk factors that are hidden at more aggregated levels. However, it is not trivial to derive appropriate measures of individual changes for specific measurement goals. The purpose of this review is to improve change-based studies by (1) summarizing how attributes of changes have been measured to reach specific study goals and (2) describing current achievements and challenges, leading to a guide for future change-based studies. Thirty-four papers conformed to the inclusion criteria. Forty-three attributes of changes were identified, and classified according to a conceptual model developed for the purpose of this classification. The goal of each study was to either characterize the evolution process, to assess causal factors of cost and risk, or to predict costs and risks. Effective accumulation of knowledge across change-based studies requires precise definitions of attributes and measures of change. We recommend that new change-based studies base such definitions on the proposed conceptual model. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Enlisting close connections: a matter of course for vicarious liability?

LEGAL STUDIES, Issue 2 2008
Po Jen Yap
In determining whether an employer is vicariously liable for the torts committed by his employee, the House of Lords in the landmark decision of Lister v Hesley Hall proposed that courts should now focus on the relative closeness between the nature of the employment and the tort. Unfortunately, this touchstone test simply begs the question of how close must the nature of employment and the tortious action be before liability can be found. To say that the tort in question was inextricably interwoven or so closely connected with the nature of the employment is conclusory not prescriptive. The close connection test in itself merely provides the court with a formula to confirm its result, not reach one. This author seeks to argue instead that the following legal tests should be employed to determine whether an employee's wrong was committed in the course of his employment. (1) Where the employee has been negligent in the performance of his duties or where the employee has deliberately engaged in self-serving conduct (not amounting to a tort) and in doing so negligently causes injury to another, the employer would only be vicariously responsible if the injury suffered by the victim arises from the inherent risks of the employment. (2) Where the tort committed by the employee is trespassory/intentional in nature, the employer would only be vicariously liable if he has materially increased the likelihood of occurrence of an injury that arises from an inherent risk of the employment. Essentially, my suggested formula would only find liability when the injury suffered by the victim arises from the risks inherent in the tortfeasor's employment, ie the employer would not be liable for all risks he creates when the wayward worker is in his employ. [source]