Individual Contracts Research Articles

Dismissal of employees due to reduction of the number or state of staff

The dismissal of employees reprezents the termination of individual employment contracts at the initiative of the employers. Dismisssal of employees is allowed only in the cases strictly provided by lae, the eployer not havind the roght to establish additional cases of dismissal of employees through normatice acts at unit level. The economics crisis iften causes employers ti lay off employees duet o a reduction in the number or staffing levels. In these cases of employee dismissal, the employer is obligated ti comply with a series of legal conditions, mbeing the mostcomplex procedure for employee dismissal. In this article we propose ti analyze the normative framework related to the procedure for the dismissal of employees due to a reduction in the number or stuffing levels.

Detrimental effects of effortful physical exertion on a working memory dual-task in older adults.

Action and cognition often interact in everyday life and are both sensitive to the effects of aging. The present study tested the effects of a simple physical action, effortful handgrip exertion, on working memory (WM) and inhibitory control in younger and older adults. Using a novel dual-task paradigm, participants engaged in a WM task with 0 or 5-distractors under concurrent physical exertion (5% vs. 30% individual maximum voluntary contraction). Effortful physical exertion, although failing to effect WM accuracy in the distractor absent condition for both age groups, reduced WM accuracy for the older, but not young adults, in the distractor-present condition. Similarly, older adults experienced greater distractor interference in the distractor-present condition under high physical exertion, indexed by slower reaction time (RT), confirmed by hierarchical Bayesian modeling of RT distributions. Our finding that a simple but effortful physical task results in impaired cognitive control may be empirically important for understanding everyday functions of older adults. For example, the ability to ignore task-irrelevant items declines with age and this decline is greater when simultaneously performing a physical task, which is a frequent occurrence in daily life. The negative interactions between cognitive and motor tasks may further impair daily functions, beyond the negative consequences of reduced inhibitory control and physical abilities in older adults. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Innovative contract solutions for the AECPGs provision: Which features meet the farmers’ approval? Insights from Emilia-Romagna (Italy)

The agroecological transition promoted worldwide is supported by the European Union Common Agricultural Policy towards different strategies and policy tools. The agri-environmental schemes, offering farmers the possibility to adopt environment-friendly practices (thus mitigating negative externalities/providing positive ones) represent a straightforward example. However, there is dissatisfaction about their effectiveness and efficiency, while their improvement is envisaged through a flexible mix of new instruments: novel contract solutions fostering result-based payments, collective implementation, involving value chains and land tenure systems coupled to environmental conditionality. This paper investigates how farmers from Emilia-Romagna (Italy) perceive these innovative contract solutions as “easy to understand”, “applicable”, “economic beneficial”, and their willingness to enrol. The applied ordered logistic regression models include socio-demographic characteristics, structural features of the holdings, and the farmers’ preference(s) for 13 individual contract features. Farmers’ perceptions are driven by the previous experience acquired from similar measures, key socio-demographic characteristic/holding structural features, and peculiar contractual elements.

Has collaboration contributed to goal achievement in Swedish public transport?

Collaborative contracting between public transport authorities (PTAs) and bus operators has been presented as a successful method for reaching public transport policy goals. This paper examines management processes and outcome data, asking whether this management approach, incorporating more far-reaching collaborative elements, is associated with higher goal achievement in two Swedish regions and two contracts. Stated regional policy goals are ridership growth, reaching set levels of customer satisfaction, and some cost-efficiency. This management approach suggests that PTAs should delegate more planning responsibility to operators. PTA management assessed the approach to be valid but, to our surprise, also said that they frequently reclaimed previously abandoned control to secure desired outcomes. This indicates that more delegation may not necessarily have led to increased goal achievement. Without making claims as to causality, we note that ridership increased in both regions and individual contracts, while customer satisfaction stagnated and costs increased steeply in both regions, but not in one contract. The paper questions whether collaborative contracting, on average, has contributed to ridership increases generally, although it may have in some instances.

Readability and Clarity of Individual Pension Product Contracts

The study analyses the readability and clarity of economic specialised texts on supplementary individual pensions. The research includes agreements on individual pension products available on the Polish market at the beginning of 2017. The level of comprehensibility of language has been assessed using the “Jasnopis” application, based, among others, on the FOG index, while the structure of the content of the agreements has been assessed by an expert linguist (the expert linguist is one of the authors of this and a number of other publications on clear and understandable texts). In addition, one of the texts was subject to a survey, the so-called cloze text, which provided more accurate information about readability for a specific reader group. The results obtained allow the conclusion that the language of agreements on individual pension products is very difficult and their understanding requires higher education or expertise in the field of finance.

A structural bio-chemo-mechanical model for vascular smooth muscle cell traction force microscopy.

Altered vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) contractility is both a response to and a driver for impaired arterial function, and the leading experimental technique for quantifying VSMC contraction is traction force microscopy (TFM). TFM involves the complex interaction among several chemical, biological, and mechanical mechanisms, making it difficult to translate TFM results into tissue-scale behavior. Here, a computational model capturing each of the major aspects of the cell traction process is presented. The model incorporates four interacting components: a biochemical signaling network, individual actomyosin fiber bundle contraction, a cytoskeletal network of interconnected fibers, and elastic substrate displacement due to cytoskeletal force. The synthesis of these four components leads to a broad, flexible framework for describing TFM and linking biochemical and biomechanical phenomena on the single-cell level. The model recapitulated available data on VSMCs following biochemical, geometric, and mechanical perturbations. The structural bio-chemo-mechanical model offers a tool to interpret TFM data in new, more mechanistic ways, providing a framework for the evaluation of new biological hypotheses, interpolation of new data, and potential translation from single-cell experiments to multi-scale tissue models.

Harnessing fast and slow thinking to ensure sustainability of general practice and functional universal health coverage in Australia.

Harnessing fast and slow thinking to ensure sustainability of general practice and functional universal health coverage in Australia.

Competitive multiproduct contracting under multinomial logit demand

Despite the prevalence of multiproduct firms in many industries, the supply chain contracting literature has predominantly focused on problems where an upstream player offers only one product. This paper studies multiproduct contract design for competing manufacturers each with several products to sell via a common retailer. We consider two contracting schemes under multinomial logit demand (MNL): individual contracting, in which the manufacturers set a wholesale price for each of their products separately; and aggregate contracting, in which the manufacturers set the price as a function of the order quantities for their own products. We find that under individual contracting it is optimal for each manufacturer to offer the full range of his products to the retailer and set an equal wholesale margin for these products. This suggests that the classic result of an equal‐margin policy for the retailer also holds true for the manufacturers. Further, there is an equilibrium characterized by a system of nonlinear equations that can be solved using the standard bisection search method. Under aggregate contracting, a simple cost‐plus contract is optimal for the manufacturers. In equilibrium, each manufacturer charges a markup equal to his marginal contribution to the supply chain, and the supply chain profit is maximized. Comparing these two contracting schemes, we find among other results that the retailer prefers aggregate contracting when there is a large number of products from each manufacturer or when consumer heterogeneity is low, while the opposite is true for the manufacturers. In addition, both the retailer and the manufacturers prefer aggregate contracting when there are few manufacturers in the supply chain. It is also found that as the number of manufacturers or the number of products from each manufacturer increases, the supply chain efficiency loss induced by individual contracting is reduced. Finally, we extend our model to a hybrid setting in which one manufacturer adopts aggregate contracting and the other adopts individual contracting, and demonstrate to the manufacturers the value of aggregate contracting. These results provide useful guidance on optimal contract design for multiproduct firms.

The Impact of Additional Taxation of Part-Time Employment Contracts in the Romanian Economy Against the Background of an Accumulation of Recessions

For the business entities, especially for micro-entities, the year 2022 has represented an economic collapse due to fiscal changes. One of the most controversial measures adopted by the Government aims overtaxing of the employees who obtain income based on a part-time individual employment contract. The article hereby aims to draw attention to the impact of the Fiscal Code changes on the income from salaries for the part-time employment contracts, changes overlapped against the background of the world energy crisis and the military crisis at the Romanian border.

Soldiers for Hire: Contextualising the Private Military's Legal Conundrums

The industry surrounding private military and security companies (PMSCs) is a conflict-driven industry. It often operates in regions with a significant security vacuum and a lack of an efficient legal and judicial system. This underscores the importance of effective regulatory oversight that may be international, national, or an amalgamation of both. Currently, the framing and subsequent enforcement of regulations continue to be a challenge due to divergent approaches among various stakeholders. The research paper focuses on the need to develop a consensus and bring accountability to the industry due to its far-reaching consequences. The research was based on analysing the existing regulations and using primary as well as secondary sources to identify legal gaps that impede the process of ensuring accountability from the PMSCs. Furthermore, the paper contextualised the legal ambiguities by taking up case studies of prominent PMSCs that have shaped current regulations. Apart from identifying the legal ambiguities, the research also highlighted the current scope of regulations and remedies in practice. It emphasised the importance of bringing good practises together and adding new dimensions to the definition of a mercenary by promoting better training procedures, effective and detailed vetting processes, and registering both PMSCs and individual contractors.

RELIABILITY OF THE ISOMETRIC DYNAMOMETER IN CONTROL, PARAPLEGIC, AND AMPUTEE INDIVIDUALS.

To determine the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC), Standard Error of Measurement (SEM), Minimum Detectable Change (MDC), and the Minimum Clinically Important Difference (MCID) of the isometric measurements of muscle strength of trunk extension and of flexion and knee extension at maximum contraction in healthy, paraplegic, and amputee individuals, by using an isometric dynamometer with a belt for stabilization. An observational cross-sectional study was carried out to assess the reliability of a portable isometric dynamometer in the trunk extension and flexion and knee extension movements of each group. In all measurements, ICC ranged from 0.66 to 0.99, SEM from 0.11 to 3.73 kgf, and MDC from 0.30 to 10.3 kgf. The MCID of the movements ranged from 3.1 to 4.9 kgf in the amputee group and from 2.2 to 3.66 kgf in the paraplegic group. The manual dynamometer demonstrated good intra-examiner reliability, presenting moderate and excellent ICC results. Thus, this device is a reliable resource to measure muscle strength in amputees and paraplegics. Level of Evidence II, Cross-Sectional Study.

Effects of an acute Mindfulness-based intervention on exercise tolerance, maximal strength, pain and effort-related experiences in individuals with primary chronic low back pain: a pilot study

Introduction: This study investigated the effects of an acute mindfulness-based intervention on exercise tolerance, maximal voluntary contraction (MVC), pain and effort-related experiences in individuals with primary chronic low back pain. Method: Participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group and a control group. Before and after the intervention, participants completed a MVC test, a modified Sorensen test and numerical rating scales about pain intensity, pain unpleasantness, perceived effort and use of coping strategies. Dispositional measures such as pain catastrophizing, trait anxiety, dispositional mindfulness and impulsivity were also assessed. T-tests and linear mixed models were performed. Results: Participants from the control group significantly decreased their MVC across time and showed a trend towards a decrease in exercise tolerance over time, which was not the case for the experimental group. For both groups, pain unpleasantness and effort were perceived higher during the second modified Sorensen test. Analyses revealed neither significant effect of time nor group on pain intensity and the use of coping strategies. Discussion: The results highlight the value of involving individuals with primary chronic pain in mindfulness-based interventions to improve adaptations to effort while targeting referred pain. Larger samples and controlling for individuals’ functional status appear necessary for further research.

Online Platforms and New Forms of Employment: Asian and African Countries

The spread of digital technologies, rapid proliferation of digital economy is accompanied by development of online platforms. Gig economy is the activity on the labour market, in which demand and supply are interconnected through online platforms. Special online platforms act as intermediaries between customers and services providers. There are three forms of employment via platforms. 1) freelancing: tasks are given to individual contractors who send accomplished tasks by internet. 2) crowdsourcing: online platforms divide large tasks into micro-jobs that are distributed among numerous contractors, “a crowd”. 3) location-based gig jobs are distributed by online platforms, such as Uber, there is a direct contact between customers and contractors. The article reviews typical features of each type of employment, their positive and negative sides. The author analyzes development of three types of gig jobs in Asian countries, with India in the focus, incomes of contractors, gender and age aspects of these types of employment. Among freelancers in India, Pakistan, “zoomers” and millennials predominate. Freelancers appreciate remote work, “work from anywhere”, an opportunity to combine work and taking care of children, relative autonomy. Platform employment allows to solve unemployment problems. But work on platforms has some negative features: lack of social security, absence of sick leaves and paid vacations, unpredictable schedules of work and unstable incomes. On the one side, work on platforms is enabled by digital technologies, but on the other side, it may seem as a return to informal sector, which has significant positions in Asian and African countries.

Saglasnost za zaključenje ugovora

The topic of this paper is the consent of a third party to the conclusion of a contract. The current lack of interest of legal science in the institution of third-party consent to contract is a consequence of its scattered normative regulation. Considering third-party consent is required often, in numerous and diverse cases, it is sporadically regulated in parts of regulations governing these contracts. Given the large number of cases where third-party consent to contract is required, this institution is sporadically regulated in parts of regulations governing individual contracts for which consent is required. Therefore, this paper examines contracts for which it is necessary to obtain third-party consent and which most often appear in legal transactions, such as contracts involving persons with limited business capacity, as well as consent required for the conclusion of sublease and sublicense contracts. This paper also includes an analysis of the current regulation of consent in the legislation of the Republic of Serbia, as well as an analysis of issues related to the form, legal nature, and consequences of the absence of third-party consent. The paper also presents a comparative legal analysis of solutions contained in the legislation of Germany, France, and Switzerland.

Insights into the Correlation of Microscopic Motions of [c2]Daisy Chains with Macroscopic Mechanical Performance for Mechanically Interlocked Networks.

Mimicking filament sliding in sarcomeres using artificial molecular muscles such as [c2]daisy chains has aroused increasing interest in developing advanced polymeric materials. Although few bistable [c2]daisy chain-based mechanically interlocked polymers (MIPs) with stimuli-responsive behaviors have been constructed, it remains a significant challenge to establish the relationship between microscopic responsiveness of [c2]daisy chains and macroscopic mechanical properties of the corresponding MIPs. Herein, we report two mechanically interlocked networks (MINs) consisting of dense [c2]daisy chains with individual extension (MIN-1) or contraction (MIN-2) conformations decoupled from a bistable precursor, which serve as model systems to address the challenge. Upon external force, the extended [c2]daisy chains in MIN-1 mainly undergo elastic deformation, which is able to assure the strength, elasticity, and creep resistance of the corresponding material. For the contracted [c2]daisy chains, long-range sliding motion occurs along with the release of latent alkyl chains between the two DB24C8 wheels, and accumulating lots of such microscopic motions endows MIN-2 with enhanced ductility and ability of energy dissipation. Therefore, by decoupling a bistable [c2]daisy chain into individual extended and contracted ones, we directly correlate the microscopic motion of [c2]daisy chains with macroscopic mechanical properties of MINs.

USING FACTOR ANALYSIS TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF PARTICIPATION IN TENDERS OF CONTRACTING ENTERPRISES

The article proposes to use factor analysis as a methodological basis for determining the expediency of participation in tenders, substantiation and adoption of business decisions in the field of procurement and conducting competitive procurement procedures for construction works for contractor construction enterprises.
 Based on the analysis and summarization of data on tender offers for the execution of construction works in the Prozorro electronic system in 2018-2022, a number of factors have been selected that can characterize the degree of desirability of the contract for each individual contractor participating in the bidding. The following input variables were selected for the analysis of tender offers and the determination of the degree of desirability of contracts for subcontractors: the ratio of the amount under the contract to the revenue from the sale of the enterprise for the past period, the level of mechanization of construction works, funds to cover administrative costs, the level of inflation, estimated wages, initial cost as part of the applicant's offer (contract price), funds to cover general production costs, the share of material resources in the estimated cost, estimated profit, the number of competitors, the ratio of the number of tenders won to the number of submitted offers.
 The assessment was carried out by means of factor analysis - the method of principal components. As a result, according to the "stone scree" method, three components are distinguished: the first is the market component; the second is the resource component of the contract, which differs for an individual contractor, as well as the degree of riskiness of the contract for an individual contractor. The three selected components collectively explain 86.2% of the variability of input indicators.
 The use of the approach proposed in the article and the evaluation of tender proposals according to the criterion "the degree of desirability of the contract" will provide potential participants with additional tools for decision-making. The proposed toolkit can be used not only by construction contractors, but also by other participants in the investment and construction process.

Gift Certificate: Problem of Uncertainty of Legal Nature

Currently, there is no clear definition of the legal nature of a gift certificate in Russian law, which is very popular among consumers in retail sales. Due to the fact that the civil law does not regulate the status of a gift certificate, the law enforcement practice does not contain a single approach and does not differ in uniformity, which creates a problem in the protection of consumer rights. The purpose of this article is to analyze the judicial practice and position of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on the legal nature of gift certificates, as well as, based on the experience of leading states on this issue, to propose a solution taking into account the specifics of the Russian legal system. To achieve this goal, the following tasks were set: 1) consider the concept of a gift certificate; 2) analyze the positions that determine the function of a gift certificate on the example of foreign experience, individual contracts and judicial practice; 3) analysis of the position of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on the recognition of a gift certificate as a form of advance payment; 4) establishment of a range of problems related to the legal nature of the gift certificate and the issues arising from it, as well as putting forward its position on solving this problem. When writing this article, such methods of scientific research as the system method, formal-legal and comparative-legal methods, as well as methods of synthesis, analysis, induction and deduction were used. The results of this research were the range of issues to determine the legal nature of a gift certificate and hotel developed by the authors for solving problems, taking account of the specific characteristics of gift certificates.

Rhythmic auditory stimulation incorporated in training improved movements in individuals with psychotic-like experiences.

Movement abnormalities, including movement slowing and irregular muscle contraction, exist in individuals with psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and serve as vulnerable factors of developing psychotic diseases in the psychosis continuum. To date scarce studies have developed early intervention programs tackling these initial impairments, which may be caused by basal ganglia alterations, in the early stage of the psychosis course. Rhythmic auditory stimulation (RAS) is a technique of neurological music therapy and has been proved effective in inducing faster movements in patients with psychotic diseases. This pilot study examined if RAS incorporated in functional movement training reduced severity of movement slowing and irregular muscle contraction in individuals with PLEs. Seventeen individuals with PLEs were randomly allocated to receiving RAS or receiving no RAS and underwent daily 40-min movement training (picking up beans) for three weeks. This study used motion analysis to measure movement performance at pretest and posttest. Eighteen age- and gender-matched individuals without PLEs were also recruited to provide data of intact movements. Results showed that RAS may reduce severity of movement slowing and irregular muscle contraction in individuals with PLEs. This pilot study is one of the pioneering studies validating effectiveness of early intervention programs tackling movement abnormalities, which are initial impairments in the psychosis continuum, in individuals with PLEs.

Identifying the determinants of lapse rates in life insurance: an automated Lasso approach

Lapse risk is a key risk driver for life and pensions business with a material impact on the cash flow profile and the profitability. The application of data science methods can replace the largely manual and time-consuming process of estimating a lapse model that reflects various contract characteristics and provides best estimate lapse rates, as needed for Solvency II valuations. In this paper, we use the Lasso method which is based on a multivariate model and can identify patterns in the data set automatically. To identify hidden structures within covariates, we adapt and combine recently developed extended versions of the Lasso that apply different sub-penalties for individual covariates. In contrast to random forests or neural networks, the predictions of our lapse model remain fully explainable, and the coefficients can be used to interpret the lapse rate on an individual contract level. The advantages of the method are illustrated based on data from a European life insurer operating in four countries. We show how structures can be identified efficiently and fed into a highly competitive, automatically calibrated lapse model.

Legal liability for breach of employment contract duties and breach of ethics rules in university activity. Individualization of applicable sanctions

The teaching and research staff, the teaching and research staff auxiliary, as well as the management, guidance and control staff in higher education are disciplinary liable for breach of their duties under the individual employment contract, as well as for breach of ethical or behavioral rules which harms the interest of education and the prestige of the university. The sanctions applicable in such cases are those provided for in the legislation underlying the conduct of teaching activities, but it is necessary that they be individualized so that the general principles of fairness and good faith are respected.