Misleading Representations Research Articles

THE USE OF COLOR IN THE SCIENTIFIC VISUALIZATION OF ACOUSTICAL PHENOMENA

Color is commonly used in representing scientific data, especially as color output devices have become widely available. The misuse of color can lead to confusing or even misleading representations of data. The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of guidelines for using color effectively, specifically aimed at the computational acoustics community. The question of whether or not to use color at all is initially raised, and gray-scale is suggested for appropriate cases. Human color deficiencies in technical audiences are then described, and the consequential choices of equally-accessible color schemes are discussed. The topics of human color perception models, hypsometric tints, contoured plots, and histogram equalization are introduced. Color palettes specifically suited for acoustical phenomena, such as linear and dB magnitudes, scales for positive and negative data, circular palettes for phase, and methods for illustrating different classes of phenomena (e.g., wave types) on a single plot, are discussed in detail. Color examples and Mathematica code are provided, and final recommendations are made for choosing effective color schemes.

Image Advertising and the Law

The Trade Practices Act prohibits misleading or deceptive conduct and various forms of false or misleading representations. The paper examines how the provisions have been used in litigation and how they have been interpreted. It considers promotional appeals such as names or designs.

Response to the society of toxicology task force re-examination of the ED 01 study

This communication has re-examined and justified certain of the NCTR's analyses and recommendations from the ED01 Study, which were either misunderstood or misinterpreted by the SOT Task Force. In addition, we have shown that some of the Task Force's own analyses and interpretations are subject to review on scientific grounds. The Task Force's rejection of the linear extrapolation method recommended by the NCTR was stated because of a suspected force-fitting of a linear model to data, an approach that is not part of the NCTR procedure. In suspecting a protective effect of 2-AAF against bladder tumors, the Task Force used an inappropriate model that overpredicted the background bladder tumor rate in control mice. Contrary to the Task Force's belief, a failure to account adequately for time to tumor response was more characteristic of analyses performed by the Task Force rather than those performed by the NCTR. The Task Force's questioning of the multistage model for risk assessment was based on its use of inappropriate, crude tumor data rather than upon NCTR's use of the multistage model with time-adjusted tumor data. The Hartley-Sielken model did not fit the ED01 tumor data as well as the Task Force had presumed. In a risk extrapolation comparison by the Task Force, a coarse time partition of the ED01 data that had been questioned by the Task Force actually produced more stable results than a finer partition proposed by the Task Force. Another problem in the Task Force report concerns the change of protocol. Instead of resulting in a loss of strength as anticipated by the Task Force, the change of protocol during the ED01 Study resulted in an increase in information as alluded to by the Task Force. If the Task Force's proposal for restricting the length of feeding studies had been followed in the ED01 Study, most of the dose related tumor information would not have been obtained. Also, the Task Force's belief that low doses of 2-AAF had some effect on the prevention of early death was not supported by a statistical analysis. In summary, the review conducted by the SOT Task Force contained some misleading representations of the data from the ED01 Study and statements that showed a misunderstanding of NCTR's analyses of the study.

Replacement of Life Insurance: A Financial Approach

In seeking a solution for the problem of life insurance policies, the NAIC followed in the path of full disclosure. Full disclosure laws seek to provide the consumer with as much relevant information as possible without interfering with the consumer's right to make the final decision. The NAIC Model Life Insurance Replacement Regulation adopted was a good first step toward providing the consumer with good, relevant information. This paper develops a new financial disclosure section for the Model Regulation and suggests a modification in procedures under the Regulation. Both the new section and the modified procedure seek to provide the consumer with more relevant information and more adequate protection against a twist. The problem of life insurance replacement began in the early 1870's and was one reason for the establishment of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.' Replacements by agents became a problem at the turn of the century. In 1905 the Armstrong Committee became interested in a special part of the replacement problem, twisting.2 The NAIC made some recommendations relative to twisting in 1912. In the 1930's, ninety-four companies signed an agreement requiring that a question relative to replacement be included in applications for life insurance, and requiring the company that is replacing to notify the company that is being replaced. Even the Temporary National Economic Committee, in 1940, cited lapses and replacement as detrimental activities. A question of magnitude arises. Is replacement of sufficient economic impact to require the attention of insurance regulators? A recent estimate Peter R. Kensicki, D.B.A., C.L.U., is Assistant Professor of Finance at Ohio University. He was a Consultant to the Comptroller General (the Insurance Commissioner) of the State of Georgia. Dr. Kensicki is also Chairman of the Board and President of the Institute of Research Studies, and is a Trustee of the Griffith Foundation for Insurance Education. This paper was presented at the 1973 Annual Meeting of ARIA. 1The major problem in the 1870's was mergers of life insurance companies. Subsequent reinsurance into the new corporation resulted in a large number of lapses due to the failure of the new company to notify insureds of the change. Since nonforfeiture values as they are known today were practically nonexistent, the reserves behind the reinsured policies would inure to company surplus. 2Twisting is an industry term for a replacement that is induced by use of misleading representations or incomplete or fraudulent comparison.