July/ 2013
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE EXEMPTION CLAUSE!
BY : Jusniza Abdul Jamal
The most frequently encountered exemption clauses
are in the second category. They generally operate to
exclude liability for breach of contract or for negligence
or sometimes even to limit liability to a specified sum. An
example of this can be seen in the wordings of section 4
of the Innkeepers Act 1952 which limit the hotels’ liability
for loss or injury up to RM500, excluding animals (pets) and
vehicles belonging to their guests. This means that a guest is
unable to claim any compensation more than RM500 for any
missing property while staying at the hotel unless the loss
or damage was due to the default or neglect of the hotel or
its employees.
In some cases, the exemption clause is not even stated
in a formal contract but is specified or referred to in an
informal tickets or a notice displayed at certain parts of
a building (as mentioned earlier). Normally, the courts are
reluctant to treat such terms as part of a contract unless
reasonable steps were taken to bring it to the notice of
the parties affected. In the case of Thornton v. Shoe Lane
Parking Ltd., the plaintiff’s car was damaged whilst being
parked in defendant’s premises. The plaintiff received a
ticket containing an exemption clause from an automated
machine at the entrance of the garage. The court held that
the plaintiff was not bound by the exemption clause printed
on the ticket as the contract was concluded when the car
was driven to the entrance of the garage. The ticket was
issued after the conclusion of the contract. In other words,
the ticket was not part of the contract between the plaintiff
and the defendant.
The decision of the above case was certainly favourable to
In cases where there are no formal contracts, ‘tickets’ are
normally intended as a mere acknowledgement of payment.
This has been seen in the case of Chapelton v. Barry UDC
where the plaintiff was given a ticket after hiring a deck
chair from the defendant. The plaintiff was unaware of
the fact that the ticket contained an exemption clause.
Nevertheless, the court allowed him to sue the defendant for
injury when the deck chair gave way beneath him because
the ticket was a mere receipt issued as proof of payment
and not intended to have any contractual effect. However, if
the court is satisfied that a notice is reasonably sufficient to
bring the customers’ attention to the exemption clause, then
the defendant might be able to exclude any liability for loss
or injury caused to their customers.
Even though parties to a contract are able to impose unfair
terms excluding them from liability, the courts are very
strict in interpreting exemption clauses. The wordings must
be very clear and unambiguous in a way that the parties
affected would understand the scope of the liability it sought
to exclude especially where negligence is involved. In any
event of doubt or ambiguity as to the meaning and the scope
of the exemption clause, the courts would apply the contra
proferentum rule. This means that the courts will construe
forcibly the words against the party putting forward the
document. In Hollier v. Rambler Motors Ltd., the court held
that the words “the garage is not responsible for damage
caused by fire to customers’ cars” did not exclude liability
for damage to a customer’s car caused by fire due to the
garage’s negligence. This case shows that it is not easy to
exclude liability for negligence especially where there is a
duty of care involved.
In light of the above discussion, it appears that generally
an exemption clause is only effective when it is properly
incorporated into the contract and the parties affected are
aware of it and understand the scope it covers. However,
there is still hope for the victims in cases involving gross
negligence where the courts will definitely strive to uphold
justice in any way they can.
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First of all, let us look at the definition of the word
‘exemption clause’ offered by the Oxford Concise Dictionary
of Law. ‘An exemption clause’ is defined as a term in a
contract purporting to exclude or restrict liability of one of
the parties in specified circumstances. Sadly, the Malaysian
Contracts Act 1950 contains no provision dealing with
exemption clauses yet. Therefore, the Malaysian courts still
rely heavily on the English common law in this particular
aspect. Basically, there are two types of exemption clause.
It is a term of a contract that attempts either to modify
the obligations under the contract or to limit or exclude
liability of a party which would otherwise arise as a result of
a breach of that party of his primary obligation.
the customers generally. However, the rule regarding ‘tickets’
is completely different when it comes to ‘airline tickets’.
In Malaysian Airlines System Bhd. v. Malini Nathan & Anor, a
passenger tried to sue the airline for overbooking. The court
held that MAS was not in breach of contract for failing to
accommodate the passenger on the said flight. They were
entitled to rely on the clause printed on the ticket which
stated that the times shown in the timetables or elsewhere
are not guaranteed and form no part of the contract. It
seems here that airline ticket is treated as a contract and the
parties are bound by the conditions printed on it. This may
due to the fact that their services are rendered sometime in
the future and the flight schedules could often change due to
unforeseen circumstances.
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“Park at your own risk!”. “The management of this hotel
is not responsible for any loss of or damage done to any
vehicles parked here.” Looks familiar? These are just
some of the examples of exemption clauses that we often
encountered when we enter a parking space at the hotels
or shopping malls. How effective are these clauses and do
you feel that they are unfair to us? Is it true that we are
not entitled to claim any compensation for any loss of or
damage done to our vehicles?
OrganicTransistor
Transistor
Organic
Written by : Nordiana Mukahar & Nor Syamaliah Ngah
Over the years, the drastic progress of transistor
technology from micron to nano scale of channel length
size has revolutionized the field of electronic and
paves the way for smaller and cheaper devices. Ever
since the transistor was discovered by three scientists
from America at Bell’s lab in 1947, it has changed the
history in a big way for computer and all electronics.
Originally, the first computer was about the size of a
large room and its size reduced to a palm size with the
invention of transistors.
It was claimed by the researchers and scientists as
one of the greatest innovation in 20th century. The
evolution of transistor continues in which the latest
finding demonstrated that organic transistor will be
new paradigm in the electronic field replacing inorganic
transistor. Have you imagined that the television at your
home can be folded or rolled up? Wearing the smart
phone made of electronic paper, flexible and the phone
can curl up into a ball? All these have been realized by
the new invention of organic transistor which uses an
organic compound in its channel. Researchers have been
focusing on the creation of more efficient and natural
ways for human beings to interact with the complex
information processed in these high-performance
devices and biodegradable electron
Application of organic transistor
(Source : www.sony.net)
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Organic transistor is transistors with organic
semiconductor in their semiconductor layer. An
organic material is one with molecules consisting of a
carbon (C ) skeleton linking together other elements.
These materials are similar to resins, such as plastics
and vinyl. Organic field effect transistor (OFET) can
be prepared by either vacuum evaporation of small
molecules or by mechanical transfer of a peeled single-
crystalline organic layer onto substrate and it have
been fabricated with various geometries. In contrast
with organic transistor, an inorganic transistor is made
from silicon (Si) and silicon crystals are extremely
hard. Organic substances on the other hand are light
and flexible, making them ideal for creating flexible,
human-friendly devices.
A few giant companies have been making their move
to produce the so called biodegradable electronic
devices using organic transistor, for example Sony
has demonstrated its ability to create flexible, dropproof displays by using organic transistors on plastic
substrates to create drivers for a flexible transmissive
LCD display and a flexible OLED display. Such a display
could also be dropped without breaking, rolled up,
or folded unlike LCD and OLED displays made from
inorganic transistor which is hard to bend. Researchers
from Queens’s University in Kingston Ontario Canada
have recently came up with a paper thin and flexible
smartphone that is able to alter its physical body shape
to give notification of call, message, email and etc. It
is still very much in the prototype stage and will be
available to consumers within the next five to ten years.
The organic transistor is a new technology that is still
in the early stages of its evolution. There are a few
major issues remaining to be resolved before adopting
it for widespread use and applications. Organic
material suffers from thermal instability due to its low
melting temperatures and large thermal expansion
coefficients that can cause thermal degradation. One
of the differences between organic transistor and
inorganic transistor is the simplicity of the method
used to produce them and temperature at which they
are fabricated. Inorganic transistors require massive
vacuum systems and complex manufacturing processes
and require high temperatures (500-1,000ºC). On the
other hand, organic transistors can be produced using
printing application method between room temperature
and 200ºC. However, most of organic transistors
operate at high voltages (> 40V) as compared to the
inorganic transistor. Comprehensive development
and intensive research needs to be conducted on the
printing process, device fabrication and design methods
to improve the performance and stability of organic
transistor technology.
Sources :
.
1)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_fieldeffect_transistor
2)
http://www.sony.net/
3)
L. Torsi, A. Dodabalapur, L. J. Rothberg, A.W.P.
Fung, H.E. Katz, ”Performance limits of organic
transistors”, 54th Annual Device Research
Conference, pp. 78-79, 1996.
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Mammogram is the main tool used for the detection
and diagnosis of breast malignancies. Mammography
is very sensitive in the detection of microcalcification.
However, the specificity of mammogram remains low
because there are some benign calcifications that cannot
be distinguished from those indicating malignancy (Moon
et al., 2000).
Although mammography is the most powerful modality
for early detection, it is hazardous for use in young
women due to x-ray exposure. Another modality of image
diagnosis is ultrasound echo technique, but it is not as
powerful in detecting breast cancer as mammography.
Ultrasound scanning or ultrasound imaging is also known
as sonography. It is an imaging technique that uses
sound waves to look inside the body.
In addition, to view the image inside the body, a clinician
spread a thin lubricating jelly over the breast and the
hand-held. Then ultrasound transducer used to obtain
the image sending out ultrasonic sound waves at a high
frequency. Ultrasonic sound waves move through the
skin and other breast tissues when the transducer is
placed on the breast at certain locations and angles.
The sound waves bounce off the tissues like an echo
and return to the transducer. The transducer picks up
the reflected waves, which are then converted into an
electronic picture of breast.
According to Ikeda (2004), ultrasound is a useful
in assisting mammography for the diagnosis and
management of breast disease. It is used to distinguish
cysts from solid masses, evaluate palpable lumps in
young women and provide guidance for percutaneous
biopsy.
Ultrasound is commonly used as the first modality to
evaluate palpable finding in young patients. Women
younger than 30 years have breasts that are composed
of mostly glandular tissue. These glandular tissues may
hide a cancer (Ikeda, 2004).
Palpable masses in women with radiographically dense
breast on mammography can be evaluated by using
ultrasound. Breast tissue is composed of mostly dense
fibro glandular tissue in young women and the dense
tissue turns into fat with age (Ikeda, 2004).
Besides that, ultrasound is used to characterize a mass
initially detected by mammography as cyst or solid.
Cysts are smooth and mobile and are most common
breast mass (Ikeda, 2004). Cysts are not premalignant
and may cause lump that mimic round cancer on physical
examination or mammography (Ikeda, 2004).
However the radiology info (2008), states that
sonography still has limitations where the image does
Although sonography has limitations, it has some
benefits. The benefit of identifying abnormalities by
using sonography are that, sonography are non invasive,
painless, widely available, easy to use and less expensive
than other imaging methods. Sonography uses no ionizing
radiation. In addition to that, sonography give a clear
picture of soft tissue which does not show up well on
x-ray images and sonography can help detect lesions in
women with dense breasts.
Since the mammogram and sonography procedures
complement each other, they can be used for patients
of 30 years of age or older. Sonography alone is also
sufficient to determine whether on area of concern needs
a biopsy or not.
REFERENCES
Ikeada, D. M. (2004). Breast Imaging. California: Stanford
University School of
medicine.
Moon, K. W., Im, J. G., Koh, Y. H., Noh, D. Y., Park, I. A.
(2000). US of
mammographically
detected
clustered
microcalcifications. Radiology, 271, 849-854.
RadiologyInfo: The Radiology Information Resource for
Patients. Retrived September 6,
2008
from
http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.
cfm?PG=breastus
BOARD
Patrons >>
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Samad Abdol Nawi
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Baharom Abdul Rahman
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mazidah Puteh
Advisor >>
Gopala Krishnan
Chief Editor >>
Hanith Iskandar
Editors >>
Wan Najmiyyah Wan Md Adnan
Norashikin Mohd Mokhtar
Siti ‘Aisyah Sa’dan
Layout & Graphics >>
Hanith Iskandar
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Nursyazni Binti Mohamad Sukri
Noor Khairiah Binti Razali
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VS
SONOGRAPHY
MAMMOGRAM
not show up all the abnormalities. In some cases, when
sonography is not able to determine whether a mass is
cancerous, a biopsy will be recommended. Sometimes
calcifications seen on mammography cannot be seen in
sonography. Sonography is one of the tools used in breast
imaging, but it does not replace annual mammography
and careful clinical and self breast examination.
ABNORMALITIES IN BREAST
Nursyazni Binti Mohamad Sukri, Noor Khairiah Binti Razali
Breast cancer is a common disease in women. It is a condition where the cells in the body grow, change and multiply
out of control. The group of cells that are dividing rapidly
may form masses. Tumor is the mass. It can be malignant
(cancerous) or benign (non cancerous). Breast cancer refers
to the erratic growth proliferation of cells that started in
breast tissue and a malignant tumor that has developed from
cell in the breast.
In Malaysia, breast cancer is the most common female malignancy. Its incidence in Malaysia in 2000 was 41.9 cases per 100000.
In 2002, 4337 cases of breast of breast cancer were reported to
the National Cancer Registry with an incidence rate of 52.8 per
100000 and accounting for 30.4% of all diagnosed malignancies
in Malaysia women (Omar & Yip, 2005).
The breast is a unique organ. It is not fully formed at birth,
but starts to involutes long before menopause. The breast is
attached to the front of the chest wall on either side of the
breast bone or sternum by ligament. They rest on the major
chest muscle.
According to the Imaging (2008), the breast consists of fatty
tissues, mass of glandular and fibrous tissues positioned over
the pectoral muscles of the chest wall. A layer of fatty tissue surrounds the breast stands and extends throughout the
breast. The fatty tissue gives the breast a soft consistency.
The milk glands of the breast produce milk and transfer to
the nipple through the ducts. Pink or brown pigmented region surrounding the nipple are called areola. Each breast
contains 15 to 20 lobes arranged in a circular fashion. Lobes
are covered by fat and it will give the breast its size and
shape. Figure 1 below show the breast anatomy.
Figure 2: Breast Phantom Setting
Source: (Supertech)
This phantom consists of a group of vertical plane targets.
There is a target per group that has 18cm deep range and
2cm spacing from each other. The material used for vertical plane target is 0.1mm nylon monofilament.
Besides that, the phantom also consist a group of horizontal
plane targets. The number of target per group is 7 with 9cm
of depth range and 2cm spacing of each other the material that used for horizontal plane targets is 0.1mm nylon
monofilament.
Near field targets and axial resolution targets are also an
element of ultrasound phantom image. A group of axial resolution target consist 12 of target with 3mm depth the spacing target are 0.5mm, 1mm, 2mm, 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6mm.
Material used for both group targets is 0.1mm nylon wire.
On the other hand, phantom also consists of cyst as an anechoic target and solid as a high contrast target with 8mm
diameter of target and 4cm depth of target. The contrast
of anechoic target is -15dB to background material and the
contrast of high contrast target is +15dB to background material (McNitt, 2009).
Figure 1: Breast Anatomy
Source: (National Cancer
Institute, America)
Many women have at least one calcification that can be seen
on mammogram. Breast calcifications are usually benign but
certain pattern such as tight cluster with irregular shape may
indicate breast cancer. There are two types of calcification
namely microcalcification and macrocalcification. Macrocalcification is almost benign and required no further follow up
but additional mammogram and a biopsy may be needed if
they appear suspicious.
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An example of phantom breast is shown in Figure 2. This
phantom is designed with 0.5 dB/cm/MHz of attenuation coefficient and speed of sound of 1540m/s.
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A phantom refers to a test object used to stimulate radiographic characteristics of compressed tissue and it contains
component will can radiographically model aspects of breast
disease and cancer. By using this phantom, characteristic of
abnormalities in the breast can be studied.
Among the test that can be used to detect and diagnose
breast cancer are Breast Self Exam (BSE), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Estrogen and Progesterone Receptor
Test, Mammogram, Biopsy and Ultrasound.
REFERENCES
Imaging (2008): Genaral Information on Breast Cancer. Retrived June 24,
2008 from http://www.imaginis.com/breasthealth/breast_
cancer.asap
Imaging (2008): Breast Anatomy and Physiology.Retrived
May 29, 2008
from http://www.imaginis.com/breasthealth/breast_anatomy.asp
McNitt.D, B.(2009). General Purpose Ultrasound Phantom
Model 054. The basic
standard for ultrasound quality assurance. Supertech.
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