Contemporary Forms of Slavery in Brazil

This document is part of a digital collection provided by the Martin P. Catherwood Library, ILR School, Cornell University, pertaining to the effects of globalization on the workplace worldwide. Special emphasis is placed on labor rights, working conditions, labor market changes, and union organizing.ASI_2006_OSR_Brazil_Contemporary_forms.pdf: 266 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Contemporary Forms of Slavery in Bolivia

This document is part of a digital collection provided by the Martin P. Catherwood Library, ILR School, Cornell University, pertaining to the effects of globalization on the workplace worldwide. Special emphasis is placed on labor rights, working conditions, labor market changes, and union organizing.ASI_2006_OSR_Bolivia_Contemporary_forms.pdf: 171 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

The formation of IRIS diagnostics V. A quintessential model atom of C II and general formation properties of the C II lines at 133.5 nm

The 133.5 nm lines are important observables for the NASA/SMEX mission Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS). To make 3D non-LTE radiative transfer computationally feasible it is crucial to have a model atom with as few levels as possible while retaining the main physical processes. We here develop such a model atom and we study the general formation properties of the C II lines. We find that a nine-level model atom of C I-C III with the transitions treated assuming complete frequency redistribution (CRD) suffices to describe the 133.5 nm lines. 3D scattering effects are important for the intensity in the core of the line. The lines are formed in the optically thick regime. The core intensity is formed in layers where the temperature is about 10kK at the base of the transition region. The lines are 1.2-4 times wider than the atomic absorption profile due to the formation in the optically thick regime. The smaller opacity broadening happens for single peak intensity profiles where the chromospheric temperature is low with a steep source function increase into the transition region, the larger broadening happens when there is a temperature increase from the photosphere to the low chromosphere leading to a local source function maximum and a double peak intensity profile with a central reversal. Assuming optically thin formation with the standard coronal approximation leads to several errors: Neglecting photoionization severly underestimates the amount of C II at temperatures below 16kK, erroneously shifts the formation from 10kK to 25kK and leads to too low intensities.Comment: Accepted for publication by the Astrophysical Journa

Long noncoding RNAs in prostate cancer: overview and clinical implications.

Prostate cancer is the second most common cause of cancer mortality among men in the United States. While many prostate cancers are indolent, an important subset of patients experiences disease recurrence after conventional therapy and progresses to castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), which is currently incurable. Thus, there is a critical need to identify biomarkers that will distinguish indolent from aggressive disease, as well as novel therapeutic targets for the prevention or treatment of CRPC. In recent years, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as an important class of biological molecules. LncRNAs are polyadenylated RNA species that share many similarities with protein-coding genes despite the fact that they are noncoding (not translated into proteins). They are usually transcribed by RNA polymerase II and exhibit the same epigenetic signatures as protein-coding genes. LncRNAs have also been implicated in the development and progression of variety of cancers, including prostate cancer. While a large number of lncRNAs exhibit tissue- and cancer-specific expression, their utility as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers is just starting to be explored. In this review, we highlight recent findings on the functional role and molecular mechanisms of lncRNAs in the progression of prostate cancer and evaluate their use as potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets

Russia’s summit with ASEAN: Pivot to the East?

Russia is hosting a summit in Sochi on 19-20 May 2016 to commemorate twenty years of its dialogue relations with ASEAN. It will explore further cooperation between the two in another affirmation of Russia’s growing ‘pivot to the east’ policy under President Vladimir Putin, concurrent with its falling-out with the West. What are Russia’s objectives, its ‘Asian’ credentials and the potential for economic and strategic cooperation with ASEAN

Syntheses, Characterization and Reactions of Early Transition Metal Guanidinate and Imide Compounds

Early transition metal compounds and their reactions have been widely used in catalysis and preparation of advanced materials such as metal oxides in microelectronic devices. Studies of the compounds and their reactions provide a fundamental understanding of chemistry of the compounds and are critical to their applications. This dissertation focuses on the following areas: (a) Reactions of Group 4 amide guanidinates with dioxygen or water; (b) Formation of a tantalum imide complex through an unusual α [alpha]-SiMe3 [trimethylsilyl] abstraction. Reactions of the amide guanidinates with either dioxygen or water yield products that are identified to be dimers and polymers of guanidinate oxo complexes based on NMR, IR and MS characterization. Reaction of (Me2N)2Zr[iPrNC(NMe2)NiPr]2 [diamidozirconium diguanidinate] with 1.0 atm dioxygen at 80-105 oC [degree Celsius] follows pseudo first-order kinetics: ΔH≠ [activation enthalpy] = 8.7(1.1) kcal/mol; ΔS≠ [activation entropy] = -54(3) eu; ΔG≠ 358K [activation free energy] = 28(2) kcal/mol. Addition of a radical initiator, 2,2’-azobis(2-methylpropionitrile), increases the reaction rate by almost six times. Zr(NMe2)2[iPrNC(NMe2)NiPr]2 and carbon tetrachloride undergo an amidechloride exchange, giving Zr(Cl)(NMe2)[iPrNC(NMe2)NiPr]2 [amidochlorozirconium diguanidinate] and ZrCl2[iPrNC(NMe2)NiPr]2 [dichlorozirconium diguanidinate]. Zr(Cl)(NMe2)[iPrNC(NMe2)NiPr]2 has also been prepared from the reaction of ZrCl(NMe2)3 [zirconium chloro triamide] with 2 equiv of diisopropyl carbodiimide. Ta(NMe2)4[N(SiMe3)2] [tantalum amide] has been found to undergo unusual elimination of Me3Si-NMe2 [(trimethylsilyl)dimethylamine], converting the N(SiMe3)2 [bis(trimethylsilyl)amido] ligand to the =NSiMe3 [trimethylsilylimido] ligand in [Ta(NMe2)3(=NSiMe3)]2 [hexakis(dimethylamido)bis(µ-trimethylsilylimido)]ditantalum]. The α-SiMe3 abstraction at 70–110 oC to give the imide follows first–order kinetics giving the activation parameters: ΔH≠ = 21.3(1.0) kcal/mol; ΔS≠ = -17(2) eu; ΔG≠ 343K = 27(2) kcal/mol. Crystal structure of the imide dimer is discussed

Exploring the contribution of a leadership development program on the implementation of improvement projects at a South African central hospital

Background It is recognized that healthcare leaders of today would need to not only be responsive to the rapid changes around them, but also plan for the future of healthcare by creating a climate that is sensitive to the context of the organization while responding to the service needs. In the South African public healthcare context, where the service demands outweigh the ability to satisfy these needs with limited resources, leadership and leadership development is required to create more adaptive and resilient leaders and leadership. This PhD therefore aimed to study the implementation of a strategy to improve the leadership of the executive team at the hospital through a leadership development program, specifically analysing whether and how the program facilitated their capacity as leaders and their continuing work, with their respective multidisciplinary teams to implement improvement processes across the hospital. Methodology Given the limited knowledge on implementing a leadership development program (LDP) at a large South African central hospital, this study was comprised of two phases. Phase one of the study used a qualitative exploratory design, to explore the experiences and perspectives of the thirteen executive leaders on the LDP and whether these learnings played any role in developing their capacity. This was done by reviewing 242 documents and 13 one on one interviews with the hospital executive leaders, using purposive sampling. The second phase of this study used the insights of phase one to guide the analysis of four improvement processes initiated at the hospital. This phase explored which factors contributed to the success or failure of the implementation of the improvement processes in the executive leaders' respective areas and how their leadership of the process contributed to these factors. This was done by conducting in-depth case studies through focus group interviews with a total number of 36 participants in the respective teams and six one-on-one interviews with key informants (members of the team who had retired, but were integral to the process) that were involved in the improvement processes. Results The results of the study indicated the need for a context specific, practical LDP that provided benefit to the executive leaders, both as individuals and as team leaders. The executives reflected on their growth as leaders through building relationships, developing themselves through self-awareness and developing multidisciplinary teams. The analysis of the case studies in turn showed that leaders who engaged and supported their teams were more successful in their improvement processes. Concluding remarks This research summarized eight major conclusions drawn from the study as a contribution to what is possible in the public sector. Both the leadership development program and the case studies provided a broad conceptual framework of the Individual, the Team and the System as components that can be used to develop leaders, develop teams and improve overall leadership at a hospital. Based on the study learnings, the bottom-up approach and specific tools developed could serve as a basis for other hospitals to implement a leadership development program (LDP) and improvement processes in similar contexts. Further research on LDPs in a South African context could test the findings of this study and assist in enhancing the development of leaders at public sector hospitals

Russia’s Asia Pivot: Engaging the Russian Far East, China and Southeast Asia

The Russia-ASEAN summit being held in Sochi on 19-20 May 2016 to mark twenty years of Russia’s dialogue partnership with ASEAN is a further indicator of President Vladimir Putin’s ‘pivot to Asia’ policy, triggered also by its current confrontation with the west. Through this pivot, Moscow wants to assert Russia’s geopolitical status as a Euro-Pacific as well as AsiaPacific power. It is a pragmatic response to the shifting of global power to Asia. It also builds on the growing Russo-Chinese relations to develop the Russian Far East, a resource-rich but underdeveloped region into the gateway for expansion of Russia into the Asia Pacific. At the same time, the growing asymmetry in achieving the economic and strategic goals of Russia and China has resulted in fears that the Russian Far East will turn into a raw materials appendage of China. Moscow lacks the financial resources to support Putin’s Asia pivot. Therefore, Russia needs to strengthen ties with other Asia-Pacific countries and ASEAN as a regional grouping so as to attract more diversified trade and investments into its Far East region. It is in this context that the Sochi summit takes on added significance. However, given Russia’s sporadic interest in Southeast Asia and its strategic role defined mainly by the limited potential of Russian energy and arms exports to ASEAN Member States, the PR diplomacy and summitry at Sochi may not deliver substantive outcomes for Russia. Nonetheless, Moscow aims to enhance its status in the east and seek business and strategic opportunities through the summit thereby compensating to some extent Russia’s loss following the sanctions imposed by the west over the annexation of Crimea

A study on Impact of Job Characteristics on Key Attitudes of Faculty Members in Professional Educational Institutes.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of job characteristics on key attitudes (job satisfaction and organisational commitment) of faculty member’s in professional educational institutes in Delhi region. Also the study explored the satisfaction level and commitment level of faculty with different dimensions of their job. A survey  of 251 faculty members working in private professional educational institutes was conducted. Several analytical techniques were used such as Pearson correlation, Hierarchical regression to evaluate the relationship among variables. The findings of the study indicated that job characteristics promotional opportunities, task variety, pay satisfaction and professional development resulted into high affective commitment while participation in decision making was related with normative commitment. Promotional opportunity, pay and participation were highly related with job satisfaction of the faculty members