Search

Equal pay litigation is often highly technical, with a drawn out and costly legal battle for claimants. This is somewhat because of the way equal pay law is constructed, as the requirement to have specific, named comparators can be an area of intense dispute. The complexity and length of cases look set to increase as the parameters of equal pay for work of equal value are explored, and occupational segregation is challenged in the employment tribunals and courts. This article considers one of the largest obstacles to quick and efficient equal pay litigation: the imbalance of access to information between employer and employee. The difficulties of applications for disclosure orders are discussed, alongside pay transparency measures and the recent proposals for a right to direct access to a suspected comparator’s pay data. We consider whether the proposed right is a viable, swifter route to information parity and greater efficiency in equal pay litigation, in light of the experience of freedom of information requests regarding equal pay. Specifically, we note the tension that may arise between the ‘Right to Know’ a comparator’s pay, and the data protection obligations of the employer.

The activation energy associated with bulk electrical conduction in functional materials is an important quantity which is often determined by impedance spectroscopy using an Arrhenius-type equation. This is achieved by linear fitting of bulk conductivity obtained from complex (Z*) impedance plots versus T-1 which gives an activation energy Ea(σ) or by linear fitting of the characteristic frequency fmax obtained from the large Debye peak in M’’-logf spectroscopic plots against T-1 which gives an activation energy Ea(fmax). We report an analysis of Ea(σ) and Ea(fmax) values for some typical non-ferroelectric and ferroelectric materials and employ numerical simulations to investigate combinations of different conductivity-temperature and permittivity-temperature profiles on the logfmax – T-1 relationship and Ea(fmax). Results show the logfmax – T-1 relationship and Ea(fmax) are strongly dependent on the permittivity-temperature profile and the temperature range measured relative to Tm (temperature of the permittivity maximum). Ferroelectric materials with a sharp permittivity peak can result in non-linear logfmax – T-1 plots in the vicinity of Tm. In cases where data are obtained either well above or below Tm, linear logfmax – T-1 plots can be obtained but overestimate or underestimate the activation energy for conduction, respectively. It is therefore not recommended to use Ea(fmax) to obtain the activation energy for bulk conduction in ferroelectric materials, instead Ea(σ) should be used.

The study of anthropogenic climate change is a research area of vital importance for the coming decades, with rainfall change and variability expected to be keenly felt in vulnerable regions of the world, including Africa. The focus of this study is daily rainfall during the short rains season over East Africa from October to December, which has one of the most coherent increasing rainfall projections in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) dataset. This thesis aims to examine the fidelity of coupled climate models over an East African domain, with the question approached through focus on the daily (rather than monthly) rainfall field. The self-organising map is used as a clustering tool to establish contemporary characteristics of daily rainfall events in reanalysis (ERA-40) and satellite (TRMM) rainfall datasets between 1971-2000 and 1998-2010 respectively for the East African short rains. Moisture flux divergence is found to be the circulation parameter that is most closely related to the presence of rainfall events or dry conditions over East Africa. Coupled climate models are poor at replicating the daily rainfall field over the domain. A key result of the analysis is the consistent overestimation of daily rainfall by climate models for days where dry conditions of suppressed convection should prevail. In contrast, the moisture flux divergence field maps well to dry nodes for days of the self-organising map array for the models. Dry days are associated with widespread anomalous moisture flux divergence and rainfall events with co-located anomalous moisture flux convergence. This is in agreement with the moisture flux divergence field in the ERA-40 dataset; it is the rainfall field where there is disagreement for days of suppressed convection. Twenty to thirty-five percent of the projected rainfall increase towards the end of the twenty-first century results from an increase in the proportion of days assigned to nodes of suppressed convection in six of the seven models and the ensemble mean. There is an accompanying projected rainfall increase associated with days assigned to these nodes. Such days in the 2090s are characterised by projected increased strength moisture flux divergence over East Africa. Given that the moisture flux field was more successfully simulated in the coupled models under contemporary conditions than the daily rainfall field, this suggests that rainfall projections under a high emissions scenario at the end of the twenty-first century are overestimated and that an important part of the key increase in the projected rainfall may not be real.

Background. A systematic review of purine analogs revealed heterogeneity between trials in treatment effects on response and progression free survival, but not survival, perhaps partly due to variations in analysis methods. In addition, combination treatments required evaluation. Design and Methods. Individual patient data were sought for all randomized trials in untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia which involved a purine analog, but not including antibody therapies. Results. Sixteen trials were found, addressing seven comparisons. Eight trials, with 2753 patients, showed that single agent purine analog improved progression free survival (Odds ratio = 0.71; 95% confidence interval =0.63-0.79). Heterogeneity remained substantial. Three trials, with 1403 patients, showed that progression free survival was further improved by the addition of cyclophosphamide (Odds ratio = 0.54; 0.47-0.62). Fewer data were available on the addition of other drugs to purine analog, and none showed clear benefit. Two trials, with 544 patients, suggested cladribine improved progression free survival compared to fludarabine (Odds ratio = 0.77; 0.63-0.95). No differences were seen in overall survival for any comparisons. Conclusions. Purine analogs, particularly combined with cyclophosphamide, significantly improve progression free survival but not survival. Some groups, such as the elderly, may not see the same benefits and maximising doses may be important for all treatments, including chlorambucil. Longer follow-up, consistent definitions and detailed reporting of trials should be encouraged.