US/Leap Quarterly Newsletter, Issue #3

The US Labor Education in the Americas Project is an independent non-profit organization that supports the basic rights of workers in Latin America, especially those who are employed directly or indirectly by U.S. companies. This newsletter includes articles on the Latin American Banana Union’s action plan in their campaign with Dole, Maquila updates, and the Colombian flower workers’ strike

Ethical Consumption: US/Leap Views on Fair Trade, Other Certification Programs, and Consumer Power

This article presents US/Leap’s views Fair Trade labeling schemes and their benefits to workers and consumers globally. Examples of effective certification labels and other tools that serve mainly as corporate marketing tools are included. US/Leap mostly takes the position that certification programs have not yet demonstrated that they are effective enough to ensure protection for worker rights and justice for workers

U.S. DOL Certifies Approximately 8,600 Workers in 17 States as Eligible to Apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance

Workers facing layoffs or reduced hours due to direct foreign competition may receive Trade Adjustment Assistance to help prepare them for new jobs in emerging sectors. Includes chart of effected workplaces

US DOL Awards $6.4 M in Grants to Support International Worker Rights

Announces the allocation of grant funds from the US DOL to implement projects promoting adherence to international core labor standards, support the rights of workers, and study topics related to international labor standards in Haiti, Lesotho, Pakistan and Sri Lanka

US DOL Announces Grant Exceeding $553,000 to Assist Workers affected By Layoffs From Textile Manufacturing Industry in Maine

One hundred workers laid off from West Point in Biddeford, ME will receive assistance in retraining and re-employment services in effort to help them fill new high-growth, high-demand sectors

The United States Strategic Bombing Survey: The Effects of Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, June 30, 1946

https://docs.rwu.edu/rwu_ebooks/1000/thumbnail.jp

Total Antioxidant Activity in Normal Pregnancy

Objective: Pregnancy is a state, which is more prone for oxidative stress. Various studies report development of a strong defence mechanisms against free radical damage, as the pregnancy progresses. Aim of our study is to assess the antioxidant status by measuring the total antioxidant activity. Methods: Total antioxidant activity was assayed by Koracevic’ et al’s method, with the plasma of twenty five pregnant women (with normal blood pressure) as test group and twenty five age matched non-pregnant women as control group. All complicated pregnancies are excluded from the study. Results: Highly significant decline (P< 0.001) in antioxidant activity was observed in pregnant women with a value of 1.40 ± 0.25mmol/l, as compared to controls, 1.63 ± 0.21 mmol/l. Conclusion: Reduction in total antioxidant activity could be due to the fall in individual antioxidant levels. But several studies report an elevated enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants during pregnancy. Any way total antioxidant activity is not a simple sum of individual antioxidants, but the dynamic equilibrium & cooperation between them. So inspite the rise in individual antioxidants , total antioxidant activity may be low. Further studies need to be done with antioxidant activity as a marker of complicated pregnancies like pregnancy induced hypertension