A Study of the Second and Third Committees of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea

The Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea was divided along lines established for the preparitory Conference. The plenary consisted of all delegates of all delegations and was generally used to make formal what had already been negotiated in closed sessions. In the fifth session, it took on a new function as a forum for debating in closed session proposed articles on dispute settlement. In the future, it will look at drafts of the preamble and final clauses to the Convention. Each of three primary committees was empowered with specific issues to consider, again stemming from the preparitory Conference. Within these committees, subcommittees often discussed specific topics or working groups tried to obtain limited agreement on articles

Myosin II regulates activity dependent compensatory endocytosis at central synapses

Recent evidence suggests that endocytosis, not exocytosis, can be rate limiting for neurotransmitter release at excitatory CNS synapses during sustained activity and therefore may be a principal determinant of synaptic fatigue. At low stimulation frequencies, the probability of synaptic release is linked to the probability of synaptic retrieval such that evoked release results in proportional retrieval even for release of single synaptic vesicles. The exact mechanism by which the retrieval rates are coupled to release rates, known as compensatory endocytosis, remains unknown. Here we show that inactivation of presynaptic myosin II (MII) decreases the probability of synaptic retrieval. To be able to differentiate between the presynaptic and postsynaptic functions of MII, we developed a live cell substrate patterning technique to create defined neural circuits composed of small numbers of embryonic mouse hippocampal neurons and physically isolated from the surrounding culture. Acute application of blebbistatin to inactivate MII in circuits strongly inhibited evoked release but not spontaneous release. In circuits incorporating both control and MIIB knock-out cells, loss of presynaptic MIIB function correlated with a large decrease in the amplitude of evoked release. Using activity-dependent markers FM1–43 and horseradish peroxidase, we found that MII inactivation greatly slowed vesicular replenishment of the recycling pool but did not impede synaptic release. These results indicate that MII-driven tension or actin dynamics regulate the major pathway for synaptic vesicle retrieval. Changes in retrieval rates determine the size of the recycling pool. The resulting effect on release rates, in turn, brings about changes in synaptic strength

Safety and efficacy of fluticasone propionate in the topical treatment of skin diseases

Fluticasone propionate - the first carbothioate corticosteroid - has been classified as a potent anti-inflammatory drug for dermatological use. It is available as 0.05% cream and 0.005% ointment formulations for the acute and maintenance treatment of patients with dermatological disorders such as atopic dermatitis, psoriasis and vitiligo. This glucocorticoid is characterized by high lipophilicity, high glucocorticoid receptor binding and activation, and a rapid metabolic turnover in skin. Although skin blanching following fluticasone propionate exceeds that of corticosteroids of medium strength, several clinical trials demonstrate a low potential for cutaneous and systemic side-effects, even in difficult-to-treat areas like the face, the eyelids and intertriginous areas. Even among paediatric patients with atopic dermatitis, fluticasone propionate proved to be safe and effective. These pharmacological and clinical properties are reflected by the high therapeutic index of this glucocorticoid

For Sale: Barriers to Riches

This paper formallizes stories linking vested interests to the non- adoption of superior technologies. Coalitions of workers skilled in the operation of incumbent technologies lobby government for a prohibition on the adoption of better technologies. For reasonable parameter values, we find that the model generates significant levels of protection in equilibrium. The model also generates protection cycles that lead to TFP growth cycles. Protection has a level effect on per capita output. "Productivity slowdowns" lead to increased levels of protection. The level of protection is increasing in the venality of governments. Increased population growth rates increase the value of protection, and can lead to an increase in the level of protection.vested interests; technology adoption; barriers

Natural green spaces, sensitization to allergens, and the role of gut microbiota during infancy

The environment plays an instrumental role in the developmental origins of health and disease. Protective features of the environment in the development of asthma and atopy have been insufficiently studied. We used data from the CHILD (Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development) Cohort Study to examine relationships between living near natural green spaces in early infancy in Edmonton, AB, Canada and the development of atopic sensitization at 1 year and 3 years of age in a cohort of 699 infants, and whether these associations were mediated by infant gut microbiota (measured using 16s V4 amplicon sequencing) at 4 months. The Urban Planning Land Vegetation Index (uPLVI) map of the City of Edmonton was used to assess infants' exposure to natural spaces based on their home postal codes, and atopic sensitization was assessed using skin prink testing (SPTs) for common food and inhalant allergens. Our findings suggest there is a protective effect of natural green space proximity on the development of multiple inhalant atopic sensitizations at 3 years (odds ratio = 0.28 [95% CI 0.09, 0.90]). This relationship was mediated by changes to Actinobacteria diversity in infant fecal samples taken at 4 months. We also found a positive association between nature proximity and sensitization to at least one food or inhaled allergen; this association was not mediated by gut microbiota. Together, these findings underscore the importance of promoting natural urban greenspace preservation to improve child health by reducing atopic disease susceptibility. IMPORTANCE Our findings highlight the importance of preserving natural green space in urban settings to prevent sensitization to environmental allergens and promote early-life gut microbiota pathways to this health benefit. These findings support a mediating role of gut microbiome compositions in health and disease susceptibility. This study used unique, accurate, and comprehensive methodology to classify natural space exposure via a high-resolution topographical map of foliage subtypes within the City of Edmonton limits. These methods are improvements from other methods previously used to classify natural space exposure, such as the normalized density vegetation index from satellite imagery, which is not able to distinguish anthropogenic from green space. The use of these methods and the associations found between natural green space exposure and atopic sensitization outcomes support their use in future studies. Our findings also provide many avenues for future research including longer term follow up of this cohort and investigation of a causal role of reduced Actinobacteria diversity on atopic sensitization development