The EU Physical Agents (Electromagnetic Fields) Directive (which was adopted in April 2004 and must be enshrined in law in EU member states by April 2008) sets out exposure limits designed to provide a minimum standard of protection from occupational exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF). The Committee's report focuses on the impact of this Directive on the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment for diagnosis, treatment and research use. This is the first of three case studies under the Committee's over-arching inquiry into the way scientific evidence and advice is used by the UK Government to influence policy at EU level. It finds that there were failings in the way scientific advice was used to inform the Directive, both in Brussels and in the UK. The European Commission relied too heavily on one source of advice and was not sufficiently responsive to concerns raised by the magnetic resonance community, whilst there was serious failings in the consultation process in the UK, particular by the Health and Safety Executive and by the Health Protection Agency.

Borrowing its title from Madeline Harrison Caviness's influential work on the modes of seeing articulated by the twelfth-century cleric Richard of Saint Victor, this interdisciplinary collection brings together the work of thirty scholars from England, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and the United States. Each author has contributed an original article that engages with ideas formulated in Caviness's wide-ranging scholarship. The historiographic introduction discusses themes in Caviness's publications and their importance for art historical and medieval studies today. The book's thematic matrix groups together essays concerned with: The Material Object, Documentary Reconstruction, Post-Disciplinary Approaches, Multiple Readings, Gender and Reception, Performativity, Text and Image, Collecting and Consumption, and Politics and Ideology. The contributors include curators, art historians, historians, and literary scholars. Their subjects range from medieval stained glass to the nineteenth-century Gothic Revival, the Sachsenspiegel, and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. Many foreground issues of gender, reception, and textuality, which have permeated Caviness's scholarship. Some also present approaches to sites that have been the subject of important studies by Caviness, including Canterbury, Chartres, Reims, Saint-Denis, Sens, and Troyes. The volume offers a broad range of methodological approaches to key topics in the study of medieval imagery and thus highlights the vitality of the field today.

Credit rating agencies have been criticized for their role in the financial crisis by understating credit risk. The US subprime mortgage crisis highlighted the systemic relevance of the rating agencies and the deficiencies in their activities; this led to an international consensus to regulate the rating business. Written by those involved in developing European Legislation, this book explains EU Regulation in the context of global initiatives undertaken by the G-20, the Financial Stability Board, and IOSCO to address failures within the rating industry. Through an in-depth analysis of the EU Regulation's requirements on governance, conflicts of interest, methodologies, and transparency, the book provides a clear explanation of how rating agencies operate and how the identified failures have been addressed. Moreover, it examines the supervisory and enforcement powers of ESMA, the EU authority in charge of the registration and oversight of rating agencies. This is complemented with an analysis of guidance from supervisors (ESMA and EBA), IOSCO's recommendations, and US legislation. The book discusses possible new regulatory developments in areas such as the agencies' business model, competition, civil liability, and ratings of sovereign debt, in light of the Euro debt sovereign crisis. It concludes with the authors' support for an enhanced regulatory and oversight coordination at international level and for the implementation of the necessary steps to reduce the existing over-reliance on ratings.

Programming by Demonstration is a method that allows end users to create, customize, and extend programs by demonstrating what the program should do.

Air carriers remain a front-line defense against acts of terrorism that target the nation¿s civil aviation system. A key responsibility of air carriers is to check passengers¿ names against terrorist watch-list records to identify persons who should be prevented from boarding (the No Fly List) or who should undergo additional security scrutiny (the Selectee List). Eventually, the Transport. Security Admin. (TSA) is to assume this responsibility through its Secure Flight program. However, due to program delays, air carriers retain this role. This report examined: (1) the watch-list-matching requirements air carriers must follow that have been established by TSA; and (2) the extent to which TSA has assessed air carriers¿ compliance with these requirements. Illus.