Consumer Problems and ADR: An Analysis of the Federal Trade Commission-Ordered General Motors Mediation and Arbitration Program

This Article evaluates a controversial mediation and arbitration program established by General Motors (GM) for owners of certain cars. It began in 1984, under the terms of a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) consent order settling charges that GM had deceptively failed to inform buyers that particular models of cars contained components that had unusually low durability. When the settlement was proposed, debate centered on whether the public interest would be served best by: 1) creation of mediation and arbitration opportunities for individual owners; or 2) prosecution of a single action seeking uniform compensation for all owners. One commissioner feared that the dispute resolution process could substitute \u27random redress\u27 for the automatic restitution to which these consumers are entitled. \u27 Twenty-nine state attorneys general wrote that the amount of redress will turn on factors personal to each consumer, and not necessarily on the vehicle problem. 2 A commissioner in favor of the settlement replied that it offers the Commission the fastest and indeed the only feasible way to redress the injury suffered by many GM owners.

The tyrosine phosphatase CD148 is an essential positive regulator of platelet activation and thrombosis

Platelets play a fundamental role in hemostasis and thrombosis. They are also involved in pathologic conditions resulting from blocked blood vessels, including myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke. Platelet adhesion, activation, and aggregation at sites of vascular injury are regulated by a diverse repertoire of tyrosine kinase–linked and G protein–coupled receptors. Src family kinases (SFKs) play a central role in initiating and propagating signaling from several platelet surface receptors; however, the underlying mechanism of how SFK activity is regulated in platelets remains unclear. CD148 is the only receptor-like protein tyrosine phosphatase identified in platelets to date. In the present study, we show that mutant mice lacking CD148 exhibited a bleeding tendency and defective arterial thrombosis. Basal SFK activity was found to be markedly reduced in CD148-deficient platelets, resulting in a global hyporesponsiveness to agonists that signal through SFKs, including collagen and fibrinogen. G protein–coupled receptor responses to thrombin and other agonists were also marginally reduced. These results highlight CD148 as a global regulator of platelet activation and a novel antithrombotic drug targe

A measurement of the millimetre emission and the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect associated with low-frequency radio sources

We present a statistical analysis of the millimetre-wavelength properties of 1.4GHz-selected sources and a detection of the Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (SZ) effect associated with the haloes that host them. We stack data at 148, 218 and 277GHz from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope at the positions of a large sample of radio AGN selected at 1.4GHz. The thermal SZ effect associated with the haloes that host the AGN is detected at the 5σ level through its spectral signature, representing a statistical detection of the SZ effect in some of the lowest mass haloes (average M 200 ≈ 10 13 M. h −1 70 ) studied to date. The relation between the SZ effect and mass (based on weak lensing measurements of radio galaxies) is consistent with that measured by Planck for local bright galaxies. In the context of galaxy evolution models, this study confirms that galaxies with radio AGN also typically support hot gaseous haloes. Adding Herschel observations allows us to show that the SZ signal is not significantly contaminated by dust emission. Finally, we analyse the contribution of radio sources to the angular power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background

Local text cohesion, reading ability and individual science aspirations: key factors influencing comprehension in science classes

In response to the concern of the need to improve the scientific skills of school children, this study investigated the influence of text design (in terms of text cohesion) and individual differences, with the aim of identifying pathways to improving science education in early secondary school (Key Stage 3). One hundred and four secondary school children (56 females, 48 males), aged 12–13 years took part in the study. To assess the influence of local cohesion (lexical and grammatical links between adjacent sentences) in science texts, we measured students’ comprehension (through multiple choice questions) of science text that was high and low in local cohesion. To explore the role of individual differences, students completed tests to measure general reading ability, general intelligence, facets of conscientiousness, science self-concept and individual, friends and family aspirations in science. Students were more accurate in answering comprehension questions after reading text that was high in cohesion than low in cohesion, suggesting that high local text cohesion improved students’ comprehension of science text. Reading ability predicted increased comprehension for both text designs. Individual aspirations in science accounted for unique variance for comprehension for high cohesion text. Implications for the teaching of secondary school science are discussed

Reducing energy demand through low carbon innovation: a sociotechnical transitions perspective and thirteen research debates

Improvements in energy efficiency and reductions in energy demand are expected to contribute more than half of the reduction in global carbon emissions over the next few decades. These unprecedented reductions require transformations in the systems that provide energy services. However, the dominant analytical perspectives, grounded in neoclassical economics and social psychology, focus upon marginal changes and provide only limited guidance on how such transformations may occur and how they can be shaped. We argue that a socio-technical transitions perspective is more suited to address the complexity of the challenges involved. This perspective understands energy services as being provided through large-scale, capital intensive and long-lived infrastructures that co-evolve with technologies, institutions, skills, knowledge and behaviours to create broader ‘sociotechnical systems’. To provide guidance for research in this area, this paper identifies and describes thirteen debates in socio-technical transitions research, organized under the headings of emergence, diffusion and impact, as well as more synthetic cross-cutting issues