The demise of a model? The state of collective bargaining and worker representation in Germany.

This article investigates collective bargaining trends in the German private sector since 2000. Using data from the IAB Establishment Panel and the German Establishment History Panel, it provides both cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence on these developments. It confirms that the hemorrhaging of sectoral bargaining, first observed in the 1980s and 1990s, is ongoing. Furthermore, works councils are also in decline, so that the dual system also displays erosion. For their part, any increases in collective bargaining at firm level have been minimal in recent years, while the behavior of newly-founded and closing establishments does not seem to lie at the root of a burgeoning collective bargaining free sector. Although there are few obvious signs of an organic reversal of the process, some revitalization of the bargaining system from above is implied by the labor policies of the new coalition government

Ray methods for free boundary problems

We discuss the use of the WKB ansatz in a variety of parabolic problems involving a small parameter. We analyse the Stefan problem for small latent heat, the Black–Scholes problem for an American put option, and some nonlinear diffusion equations, in each case constructing an asymptotic solution by the use of ray methods

Book Review: Cases on the Law of Damages

After fifteen years of drought, relieved only once by a gentle shower in the form of a second edition of McCormick\u27s Cases, a two-casebook downpour has fallen on the field of Damages. First came Professor Wright\u27s Cases on Remedies, which concentrates on the substantive law of damages but does not neglect the alternative restitutionary and equitable remedies. It was followed within a few weeks by Professor Crane\u27s Cases on the Law of Damages, a third edition which continues to confine itself strictly to problems involving the classic damage remedy. Both books are the product of the same rainmaker, the West Publishing Company. Hence both appear in the new red-covered, two-columned, slim-jim format recently designed by West to facilitate student and teacher cartage at the expense of marginal note space. Both volumes follow the current trend toward shorter books-a trend that is unfortunately as traceable to the demands of overworked teachers for books that can be taught on an automatic for tomorrow take the next twenty pages basis as it is to increased paper and printing costs. Both books can, and will, be used by teachers offering courses called Damages. But here the resemblance ends. In both aim and attitude, Professors Crane and Wright are generations apart

Book Review: Pricing of Military Procurements

Take the profit out of war has long been a crowd-catching slogan. It has an understandable appeal. And no one denies that profiteering in time of war -whether hot war or cold -is an unsavory, wasteful and morale-destroying activity that should be stamped out. But as John Miller so persuasively argues in this second of the series Studies in National Policy, it is both undesirable and unrealistic to propose the elimination of all chance for profit in war contracts

A Scotsman abroad: the architecture of John Scotland in colonial Nelson

John Scotland was one of a small number of architects practising in Nelson during the 1870s. Born in Stirlingshire in 1812, he was the son of a master mason and followed that same calling. However, only scant details of his life are known until he emigrated to New Zealand aged in his mid-50s. As with a number of his contemporaries in the building trades, Scotland turned to architecture, and established a practice in Nelson in 1866. He designed some of that city's grandest homes, including Melrose and Fellworth, both now listed by Heritage New Zealand, as well as various commercial premises and a synagogue. Scotland returned to his native land in 1885, and died in Glasgow two years later

High-Resolution Paleoceanography Of The Gulf Of Alaska, Subarctic Northeast Pacific Ocean, Since The Last Glacial Maximum: Insights Into A Dynamic Atmosphere-Ocean-Ecosystem Linkage At Decadal To Millennial Timescales

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2009Environmental conditions in the Subarctic Northeast Pacific Ocean are an important component of North American climate patterns, as well as a potential driver of Northern Hemisphere climate variability. The North Pacific Ocean is also the terminus of modern global thermohaline circulation, suggesting that paleoceanographic records from this region have the potential to preserve evidence of both climate forcing and response on regional and global scales. A suite of high-resolution marine sediment cores collected from the Gulf of Alaska margin in 2004 provide new paleoceanographic records at decadal and centennial timescales from fjord and continental slope environments. Key findings include: (i) decadal oscillations in marine productivity correlate with previously identified terrestrial records, indicative of forcing by the Aleutian Low pressure cell; (ii) the standard binary model of the modern Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) as the major pattern of ocean-atmosphere variability is insufficient to describe the full range of Holocene paleoenvironmental fluctuations observed in Gulf of Alaska records of marine productivity, freshwater discharge, and bottom-water anoxia; (iii) the North Pacific ecosystem is a sensitive recorder of abrupt climate events observed in global records; and (iv) the fjords of Southeast Alaska contain a detailed record of volcanic activity and fallout events useful for developing composite chronological models of sedimentation that correlate with other regionally important stratigraphic records. Collectively, the results presented here will potentially redefine current theoretical models of atmosphere-ocean-ecosystem variability in the North Pacific Ocean, as well as contribute to a growing body of high-resolution paleoenvironmental time-series datasets from the high latitudes

The functionally relevant role of sdRNA-19b and sdRNA-24 in prostate cancer

In recent studies small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNA) have been shown to be processed into smaller microRNA-like fragments known as sno-derived RNA (sdRNA). We recently identified 9 snoRNAs that contribute to prostate malignancy using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) patient prostate tumor next-generation sequencing datasets. These snoRNA were found to be processed into sdRNAs, heavily misexpressed in prostate cancer cell types 8140 and 8550, and shown to function by binding Ago proteins in order to impact mRNA translation. SdRNA-19b and sdRNA-24 in particular stood out as having significant differential expression in prostate cancer vs. control tissue. Interestingly, the targets for sdRNA-19b and sdRNA-24 were then predicted to be well known tumor suppressors and oncogenes. SdRNA-19b aligned with STAT5b, CDK6 and CD44 while sdRNA-24 aligned with were predicted to be RHOH, Timp3 and AR, all of which were confirmed through the use of luciferase assays. Additionally, our phenotypic assays show that over-expressions of sdRNA-19b and sdRNA-24 lead to increased cell proliferation and over expressions of sdRNA-19b lead to increased cell migration rates, indicating a direct impact on sdRNA levels to the proliferative and migratory ability of prostate cancer cells. Current results also strongly indicate that when sdRNA-19b and sdRNA-24 are inhibited they are significantly less likely to survive the presence of chemotherapeutic agents, providing a new potential target for effective chemotherapy treatment. In summary, our results indicate that sdRNA-19b and sdRNA-24 actively contribute to the malignant phenotype of prostate cancer through miRNA-like regulation

St James and the Good Shepherd: windows on the landscape

Two New Zealand churches completed in the 1930s, St James' Church at Franz Josef/Waiau (James Stuart Turnbull and Percy Watts Rule, 1931) and the Church of the Good Shepherd on the shores of Lake Tekapo (Richard Strachan De Renzy Harman, 1935), feature large plate glass windows behind the altar, affording expansive views of the natural landscape beyond. This represented a significant departure from prevailing ecclesiastical design ideas of the time, with the interior of the churches being intimately connected to the landscape outside, rather than the usual largely internalized atmosphere with any sense of the surroundings limited to light coming through strategically placed decorative or stained-glass windows. It is, however, a design aesthetic that has seldom been utilized in New Zealand since. This paper traverses the history and design of the two churches and their relationships with the landscapes in which they are situated, and concludes that St James' Church provides a heightened religious experience and is a more successful metaphor for the Christian journey