Organizing at the Margins: The Symbolic Politics of Labor in South Korea and the United States

[Excerpt] What might the striking convergence in the trajectories of the South Korean and U.S. labor movements mean for the dynamics of change taking place for labor on a global scale? To what extent does the embrace of marginalized groups of workers such as immigrants and women by previously exclusionary labor movements signal the development of more inclusive and democratic forms of labor politics? How can workers subject to overlapping forms of social, economic, and political marginality actually transform the unequal relations of power and domination that underpin downgraded forms of employment? The answers to these questions constitute the heart of this book. What unfolds is a story about a sea change in the dynamics of labor politics and organization. South Korea and the United States have two different paths of industrial development, histories of class formation, and positions in the larger world economic system, yet both labor movements are experiencing profound shifts in who the working class is and how to build collective power under processes of globalization

Building worker power for day laborers in South Korea's construction industry

This article examines how unions build worker power for day laborers in South Korea’s construction industry in the context of widespread informality. Drawing upon regional case studies of the Korean Construction Workers Union (KCWU), we find that construction day laborers experience poor working conditions and rampant employment violations under multiple layers of subcontracting that enable capital to bypass existing labor laws and regulations. Despite the regulatory challenges of complex subcontracting systems, unions can still exert direct pressure on firms to improve informal working conditions by securing and enforcing creative collective agreements. Key to this process is the development of regionally-specific forms of worker power that target firms located higher up the subcontracting chain to take responsibility for informal working conditions. Although the scope of influence varies depending on the type of worker power that unions cultivate (e.g. structural, associational, and symbolic), each form of worker power has enabled unions in different regional contexts to establish uniform standards regarding job quality and job security despite formal restrictions on the legal authority of unions as bargaining agents for informal workers. While such approaches require a high level of organizational and strategic capacity, they demonstrate the ongoing relevance of unions in challenging the global turn to informal work through workplace organizing and collective bargaining

A Test Of Pre-Main-Sequence Lithium Depletion Models

Despite the extensive study of lithium depletion during pre-main-sequence (PMS) contraction, studies of individual stars show discrepancies between ages determined from the Hertzsprung-Russell (H-R) diagram and ages determined from lithium depletion, indicating open questions in the PMS evolutionary models. To further test these models, we present high-resolution spectra for members of the beta Pictoris Moving Group (BPMG), which is young and nearby. We measure equivalent widths of the 6707.8 angstrom Li I line in these stars and use them to determine lithium abundances. We combine the lithium abundance with the predictions of PMS evolutionary models in order to calculate a lithium depletion age for each star. We compare this age to the age predicted by the H-R diagram of the same model. We find that the evolutionary models underpredict the amount of lithium depletion for the BPMG given its nominal H-R diagram age of similar to 12 Myr, particularly for the mid-M stars, which have no observable Li I line. This results in systematically older ages calculated from lithium depletion isochrones than from the H-R diagram. We suggest that this discrepancy may be related to the discrepancy between measured M-dwarf radii and the smaller radii predicted by evolutionary models

Responses of Mammalian Cells to Membrane-Disrupting Peptides.

Responses of cultured mouse fibroblasts, human erythrocytes, bovine erythrocytes, and liposomes with different phosphatidylcholine (PC) and sphingomyelin (SPM) ratios to both natural and synthetic lytic peptides were characterized. Peptide-induced morphological alterations of the plasma membrane of cells were examined by various light microscopic techniques and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The ability of natural and synthetic peptides to kill cells and cause increased permeability of liposomes was evaluated using Trypan Blue (TB) dye exclusion assay and fluorescent dye leakage assay, respectively. Differential interference contrast microscopy, SEM, and fluorescence studies revealed characteristic structural and lipid changes in the plasma membrane of lytic peptide-treated fibroblasts, and these alterations were accompanied by simultaneous changes in the cell permeability as indicated by the uptake of TB. Formation of membrane vesicles, composed primarily of lipids, was demonstrated in cells treated with a low lethal dose of melittin and eventually resulted in the liberation of membrane lipids. SEM revealed that much of the plasma membrane was lost by 5 minutes following peptide exposure. Confocal microscopy confirmed the translocation of membrane proteins from the cell surface to cytoplasmic areas in peptide-treated cells. A fluorescently labeled peptide was used to demonstrate the reaction of the peptides with the plasma membrane. The measurements of the ability of natural and synthetic peptides to kill fibroblasts allowed classification of these peptides into four groups. The results also suggested that peptide length and substitution of glycine for alanine affected the potency of synthetic peptides. Differential susceptibility of different cell types to destruction by the same peptides was demonstrated in mouse fibroblasts and human and bovine erythrocytes. These peptides were less efficient in lysing erythrocytes than in destroying fibroblasts. This difference in activity was possibly due to the higher content of membrane SPM in the resistant RBCs. Lytic peptides demonstrated less ability to permeate liposomes composed of 70% SPM. Synergistic effects were demonstrated in mammalian cells using weak lytic peptides and exogenous phospholipases. The effect was dependant upon the phospholipid composition of the target cells. Cell susceptibility and synergy between peptides and membrane reactive enzymes are important factors in the selection of therapeutic peptides

Scanning Capacitance Spectroscopy on n\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3e-p Asymmetrical Junctions in Multicrystalline Si Solar Cells

We report on a scanning capacitance spectroscopy (SCS) study on the n+-p junction of multicrystalline silicon solar cells. We found that the spectra taken at space intervals of ∼10 nm exhibit characteristic features that depend strongly on the location relative to the junction. The capacitance-voltage spectra exhibit a local minimum capacitance value at the electrical junction, which allows the junction to be identified with ∼10-nm resolution. The spectra also show complicated transitions from the junction to the n-region with two local capacitance minima on the capacitance-voltage curves; similar spectra to that have not been previously reported in the literature. These distinctive spectra are due to uneven carrier-flow from both the n- and p-sides. Our results contribute significantly to the SCS study on asymmetrical junctions

The Solar Neighborhood XLII. Parallax Results from the CTIOPI 0.9-m Program --- Identifying New Nearby Subdwarfs Using Tangential Velocities and Locations on the H-R Diagram

Parallaxes, proper motions, and optical photometry are presented for 51 systems made up 37 cool subdwarf and 14 additional high proper motion systems. Thirty-seven systems have parallaxes reported for the first time, 15 of which have proper motions of at least 1"/yr. The sample includes 22 newly identified cool subdwarfs within 100 pc, of which three are within 25 pc, and an additional five subdwarfs from 100-160 pc. Two systems --- LSR 1610-0040 AB and LHS 440 AB --- are close binaries exhibiting clear astrometric perturbations that will ultimately provide important masses for cool subdwarfs. We use the accurate parallaxes and proper motions provided here, combined with additional data from our program and others to determine that effectively all nearby stars with tangential velocities greater than 200 km s$^{-1}$ are subdwarfs. We compare a sample of 167 confirmed cool subdwarfs to nearby main sequence dwarfs and Pleiades members on an observational Hertzsprung-Russell diagram using $M_V$ vs.~$(V-K_{s})$ to map trends of age and metallicity. We find that subdwarfs are clearly separated for spectral types K5--M5, indicating that the low metallicities of subdwarfs set them apart in the H-R diagram for $(V-K_{s})$ = 3--6. We then apply the tangential velocity cutoff and the subdwarf region of the H-R diagram to stars with parallaxes from {\it Gaia} Data Release 1 and the MEarth Project to identify a total of 29 new nearby subdwarf candidates that fall clearly below the main sequence.Comment: accepted for publication in Astronomical Journa

Salvianolic acids: small compounds with multiple mechanisms for cardiovascular protection

Salvianolic acids are the most abundant water-soluble compounds extracted from Radix Salvia miltiorrhiza (Danshen). In China, Danshen has been wildly used to treat cardiovascular diseases for hundreds of years. Salvianolic acids, especially salvianolic acid A (Sal A) and salvianolic acid B (Sal B), have been found to have potent anti-oxidative capabilities due to their polyphenolic structure. Recently, intracellular signaling pathways regulated by salvianolic acids in vascular endothelial cells, aortic smooth muscle cells, as well as cardiomyocytes, have been investigated both in vitro and in vivo upon various cardiovascular insults. It is discovered that the cardiovascular protection of salvianolic acids is not only because salvianolic acids act as reactive oxygen species scavengers, but also due to the reduction of leukocyte-endothelial adherence, inhibition of inflammation and metalloproteinases expression from aortic smooth muscle cells, and indirect regulation of immune function. Competitive binding of salvianolic acids to target proteins to interrupt protein-protein interactions has also been found to be a mechanism of cardiovascular protection by salvianolic acids. In this article, we review a variety of studies focusing on the above mentioned mechanisms. Besides, the target proteins of salvianolic acids are also described. These results of recent advances have shed new light to the development of novel therapeutic strategies for salvianolic acids to treat cardiovascular diseases