This dissertation examines the influence of politics and legal education on choice of law for international contracts. The motivation for this study is to challenge the traditional approach of analyzing choice of law by highlighting the impact of areas exogenous to law in the judge’s decision-making process; as well as the importance of examining choice of law from a multi-disciplinary perspective. This motivation is achieved through the comparison of five jurisdictions belonging to a variety of geographical locations and legal traditions. They represent the common (U.S.) and civil law traditions (Venezuela), a mixed jurisdiction (Puerto Rico), an Arabic jurisdiction (Lebanon), and a European jurisdiction (England). Each one of these sample jurisdictions is examined in a chapter that includes the evolution of choice of law for international contracts, and the evaluation of the influence of legal education and politics in case law. When necessary, a historical background is included to clarify the previous aspects. Data have been collected from books, periodicals, online newspapers, blogs and reports, case law, interviews with university professors, judges and practitioners, and the offices of academic services from two universities. The investigation of each jurisdiction leads to a final comparative chapter in which overall and structural remarks are made. The struggle between certainty and flexibility, the interaction between judges and legislators, the expansion of flexible connecting factors, and the internationalization of commercial needs are some of the aspects evaluated under the overall comparisons. The abuse of discretionary power, the count of contacts as a choice of law method, the role of public policy in civil law traditions, and the relationships between presumptions and escape clauses, and lack choice and implied choice of law, are among the topics examined under the structural comparison section. The conclusion of this study is that judges belong to a society that shapes them and influences their decisions in ways that lawyers do not always consider when choosing the applicable law to international contracts. Two of the means by which society affects judges are legal education and politics; in this era of pluralism of the sources their impact can no longer be ignored. / acase@tulane.edu

The purpose of this dissertation is to study on the Chinese, American, British, Korean, Japanese and international ship finance regimes on a comparative basis. The first part of the dissertation introduces various shipping finance sources. The second part of the dissertation focuses on analysis of the loan agreement, security documents and other related legal documentation and their principal clauses as well as implications to the shipping finance practice. The author then researches on the ship lease financing in China, Coastwise Trade Endorsement and Jones Act Sale Leaseback in the United States, Tax Lease regime in the UK and government finance models in Japan and Korea. The author also compares the ship mortgage regimes in China, the United States, Liberia and the Marshall Islands, and illustrates practices and legal issues in connection with ship construction, sale and purchase and classification society. In the final part of the dissertation, the authors proposes alternatives and improvements for Chinese shipping finance and advantages of the U.S., Japanese and Korean regimes which China could learn from. / acase@tulane.edu

The initial hypothesis of this dissertation was that Afghan insurgents' attacks on Afghan civilians have lowered popular confidence in the Afghan government and its institutions. The goal of the insurgents has been to convince Afghans that their local, provincial, and national governments and security forces cannot protect them. Insurgents harm and kill civilians as part of their strategy of intimidation. Conversely, counterinsurgents try to convince the Afghan people that their government is responsive, that the economy is promising, that the rule of law is strong, and that Armed Forces of Afghanistan are viable. For the counterinsurgency to have been successful, the level of national confidence would need to have been high. National confidence is intangible, often fleeting, and sometimes difficult to gauge. There are standard measurements of human development, such as economic growth; longevity; access to medicine and health clinics, levels of literacy, potable water, security, and others. However, measuring confidence presents unique challenges for the researcher. The Taliban were, by far, the most powerful and largest of the insurgent groups, but there were others. The strategy of the insurgents to break confidence in the Afghan local, provincial and national governments was based on three basic principles: crippling the economy, terrorizing their domestic enemies; and destroying the will of foreign states to continue their support for Kabul. All these tactics were predicated on violence. In this dissertation, quantitative methods associated the impact of violent incidents, which were the independent variables, to various indicators of national morale, which are the dependent variables. The results confirmed some elements of the hypothesis and disproved others. Several components of national confidence declined from 2008 and 2010, but only marginally. For the scales that were measured, there was a decline of national confidence in four scales, but an increase in one scale. There were decreases in the confidence of economic prosperity in villages and neighborhoods where citizens live, and a decline in the confidence of citizens in national and provincial governments. In security, there was a very slight decline. However, there was an increase in the confidence of citizens in institutions, organizations, and officials. The findings suggest that the overarching counterinsurgency strategy of building national confidence through sustained human development was successful in the years analyzed in this dissertation. Despite a spike in insurgent attacks during 2009, national confidence in 2010 was not significantly eroded. The author of this dissertation is a military analyst for the Department of Defense. All material in this work - its observations, conclusions, recommendations, and opinions - are those of the author and his alone. No element of this dissertation, officially or unofficially, reflects the policy of the Department of Defense or any element or agency of the United States government. / acase@tulane.edu

Excessive PM2.5 emissions in China threaten peoples’ health and cause massive economic burdens to society. Under pressure from the public, and the international community, China published PM2.5 standards for the first time in March 2012. Following the introduction of standards, several pilot cities began to build PM2.5 monitoring networks. This paper is designed to explore whether PM2.5 monitoring can be effectively undertaken and implemented in China and whether monitoring results can offer a technical basis to facilitate a significant reduction in actual PM2.5 emissions and protect public health. PM2.5 monitoring is essential in helping the government and public monitor pollution levels and supervise local compliance with PM2.5 standards. Key aspects to facilitate an effective monitoring process are discussed in the analysis. In addition, a case study – Lanzhou’s PM2.5 monitoring network – is provided to analyze and improve current PM2.5 monitoring practices at local levels, as well as suggest credible technical support to local authorities so as to cut PM2.5 emissions levels. Based on detailed analysis, the results suggest that PM2.5 monitoring can be successfully implemented in China by following several key principles – designing a representative PM2.5 monitoring network, applying QA/QC to ensure data quality, interpreting the data scientifically to understand real pollution levels, etc. In addition, this paper recommends three measures critical to realizing PM2.5 reduction goals: (1) emissions source control, (2) public participation to add input to the decision-making process and supervise local compliance with PM2.5 standards, and (3) non-governmental organization/international cooperation to improve local government and environmental agencies’ capacity with regards to environmental protection. Lessons derived from the case study can help improve PM2.5 monitoring performance not just in Lanzhou, but in cities that share similar monitoring issues across China. Scientific monitoring, together with the application of the above three measures, can more effectively curb PM2.5 emissions, improve air quality, and mitigate negative health effects associated with air pollution. / acase@tulane.edu

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This study is based on the assumption that seasonal influenza in tropical region correlates with climatic, geographical, and socio-economic factors. There are very few studies addressing seasonality and geographical distribution of influenza epidemic in Thailand, not to mention, study on association between influenza incidence and its contributing factors. The main objectives of this study are to 1) identify seasonality, spatial dependency, and spatiotemporal correlation of seasonal influenza in Thailand, 2) identify climatic, geographical, and socio-economic factors associated with influenza incidence in Thailand, and 3) develop comprehensive prediction models of influenza incidence in Thailand. The results of the study suggest that there is obvious seasonal pattern of influenza incidence in Thailand. The peak of the epidemic occurs in rainy season (June-July). The bottom of the epidemic happens in the middle of summer (April) and in winter (December). ArcGIS, geographical information system software, was used in this study to identify spatial dependency. The epidemic displays spatial dependency as there were 127 districts out of 928 districts having significantly higher incidence of influenza than neighboring districts, while 21 districts showing significantly lower incidence than neighboring districts. Rainfall, temperature, humidity, altitude, population, and household incomes showed significant correlations with influenza incidence in Thailand. Population is the most important contributing factor. However, correlations of all factors are weak to very weak. A GWR model was developed to predict influenza incidence. The variables included in the model are accumulated rainfall, and district population. The correlation coefficient of the model was 0.369. And a series of GWR models for each month of the year were also developed. The correlation coefficients of the models suggested that the monthly GWR models predict the incidence better than the general GWR model only in the months with high incidence of influenza (June-August). According to the finding of this study, we know that when and where influenza vaccination should be provide in order to control annual spread of seasonal influenza in Thailand. Although, the GWR model developed in this study is not a good prediction model, but it provides common ground for further study on seasonal influenza in Thailand and the region. / acase@tulane.edu

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Thesis (LL. M)--York University, 2002. / "Graduate Programme in Law." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 157-168). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ75397.

Thesis (D. Jur.)--York University, 2001. / Typescript. "Graduate Programme in Law, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 351-371). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pNQ67941.

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