Regionalizing Labor Policy Through NAFTA: Beyond President Bush’s Temporary Worker Proposal

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) sought to create an expanded and secure market for the goods and services produced in its member territories. It represented huge improvements in the freedom of goods, services, and investments to move between member nations, but remained silent on the issue of freedom of movement of labor. The major objection to unrestricted movement of labor within NAFTA was the concern of permanent immigration from Mexico into, mainly, the United States. In early 2004, President George W. Bush introduced a proposal to allow, unilaterally, freer movement of temporary laborers into the United States. This Note argues that the President’s proposal is flawed because it fails to seek a multilateral agreement for the freedom of movement beyond that which flows into the United States, and especially ignores U.S. citizens seeking employment abroad. Rather than the United States acting unilaterally, this Note argues for a re-consideration of movement of labor within NAFTA

Validation of the M-Vac cell collection system for forensic purposes

Thesis (M.S.F.S.)There is need for further development of cellular collection techniques in the field of forensic science. Currently, forensic analysts are limited to the use of swabs, taping, cutting, and scraping methods to collect cellular material. Each of these methods has its own benefits and drawbacks, however, none of them result in 100% recovery of the cells. The Microbial Vacuum system (M-Vac®), developed by MSI, is a liquid based cellular collection system that was originally developed to collect microbes in the food-processing industry from various surfaces. This research represents a detailed study into the feasibility of utilizing the M-Vac® system for forensic purposes. Specifically, the phosphate buffer used with the M-Vac® was tested to confirm that it does not have a detrimental effect on cellular retrieval. Further, the ability of the M-Vac® to collect cellular material from a variety of substrates was tested. It was determined the M-Vac® can successfully collect both blood and semen from tile, denim, carpet, and brick materials in sufficient quantity for downstream PCR analysis. Additionally, examination into whether DNA was dispersed during collection due to the significant force of impact of the liquid striking the surface was conducted. Specifically, areas surrounding the sample collection region were swabbed after collection with the M-Vac® and tested. Quantitative PCR analysis showed that DNA was retrieved up to 4 inches away from the collection area. This indicates that the M-Vac® system is a viable cell collection technique for forensic purposes, but only for samples which are isolated (i.e. where there is not another probative sample adjacent to it). If there are two probative samples within the same vicinity, then swabbing or taping is the recommended method of collection

The process of discursive institutional work in creating an innovative degree development practice: an institutionalisation approach to innovation

Developing sector-specific university degrees is a challenging process for universities and sectoral members. The development of these degrees needs to incorporate industry-specific resources whilst satisfying the universities’ institutional degree requirements. The process is particularly problematic when there has not previously been a degree devoted to the sector and when there has not been sector-wide communication about the need for a degree. This study provides an empirical investigation of the development of Canada’s first retail management degree and examines how discursive processes constituted an innovative practice of sector-specific degree development in a fragmented, occupational field. These processes were innovative because they involved a corporate-university partnership, multiple collaborations of institutional and corporate embedded actors, and particular forms of legitimating discursive work. Given the institutional nature of the university, this practice represents a process of institutionalisation, whereby the innovative practice becomes a legitimate means of degree development. By examining this unique case, this study develops an analytic framework to analyse discursive institutionalisation through archival documentation and qualitative interviews. The discursive work performed through the data is characterised by the prominence of generalised issues, and by the nature of its synchronicity, recursiveness and convergence. The resulting institutionalisation processes perform discursive institutional work that is purposive, synchronised, recursive and convergent. This study therefore provides an understanding of how discursive processes institutionalise an innovative practice of retail management degree development

Between tradition and modernization: attitudes toward women's employment and gender roles in Croatia

Despite the fact that state socialism promoted the employment of women and, at least formally, gender equality as means of societal modernization, the prevailing picture of the Southeast European region is one of rather traditional, patriarchic societies. The postcommunist transition was characterized by high social costs and political attempts at retraditionalization, particularly through the increasingly public role of religion. At the same time, the societies were under more universal influence of modernity processes of individualization and permissiveness. Thus, it is difficult to assess in which direction, toward modernity or traditionalism, these societies are heading. In this article we analyze attitudes toward gender roles and women’ s employment in Croatia. Using the South-East European Social Survey Project (SEESSP) data set (2003), we test several hypotheses linking respondents’ attitudes with their socioeconomic characteristics as well as their upbringing. Our analyses have implications for gender policy in transitional economies that are burdened by consistently high unemployment rates, particularly among women, and by frequent, politically motivated, attempts at retraditionalization

Midwifing the notion of a 'good' birth: a philosophical analysis.

Objective: to ponder afresh what makes a good birth experience in a listening manner. Design: a hermeneutic approach that first explores the nature of how to listen to a story that is already familiar to us and then draws on Heidegger's notion of the fourfold to seek to capture how the components of a'good birth' come together within experience. Setting: primary birthing centre, New Zealand Participants: the focus of this paper is the story of one participant. It was her second birth; her first birth involved a lot of medical intervention. She had planned to travel one hour to the tertiary birthing unit but in labour chose to stay at the Birth Centre. Her story seems to portray a 'very good birth'. Findings: in talking of birth, the nature of a research approach is commonly to focus on one aspect: the place, the care givers, or the mode of care. In contrast, we took on the challenge of first listening to all that was involved in one woman's story. We came to see that what made her experience 'good' was'everything' gathered together in a coherent and supportive oneness. Heidegger's notion of the fourfold helped reveal that one cannot talk about one thing without at the same time talking about all the other things as well. Confidence was the thread that held the story together. Key conclusions: there is value in putting aside the fragmented approach of explicating birth to recognise the coming together of place, care, situation, and the mystery beyond explanation. Women grow a confidence in place when peers and community encourage the choice based on their own experience. Confidence of caregiver comes in relationship. Feeling confident within 'self' is part of the mystery. When confidence in the different dimensions holds together, birth is 'good'. Implications or practice: one cannot simply build a new birthing unit and assume it will offer a good experience of birth. Experience is about so much more. Being mindful of the dimensions of confidence that need to be built up and sheltered is a quest for wise leaders. Protecting the pockets where we know 'good birth' already flourishes is essential

Target-D: a stratified individually randomized controlled trial of the diamond clinical prediction tool to triage and target treatment for depressive symptoms in general practice: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BackgroundDepression is a highly prevalent and costly disorder. Effective treatments are available but are not always delivered to the right person at the right time, with both under- and over-treatment a problem. Up to half the patients presenting to general practice report symptoms of depression, but general practitioners have no systematic way of efficiently identifying level of need and allocating treatment accordingly. Therefore, our team developed a new clinical prediction tool (CPT) to assist with this task. The CPT predicts depressive symptom severity in three months' time and based on these scores classifies individuals into three groups (minimal/mild, moderate, severe), then provides a matched treatment recommendation. This study aims to test whether using the CPT reduces depressive symptoms at three months compared with usual care.MethodsThe Target-D study is an individually randomized controlled trial. Participants will be 1320 general practice patients with depressive symptoms who will be approached in the practice waiting room by a research assistant and invited to complete eligibility screening on an iPad. Eligible patients will provide informed consent and complete the CPT on a purpose-built website. A computer-generated allocation sequence stratified by practice and depressive symptom severity group, will randomly assign participants to intervention (treatment recommendation matched to predicted depressive symptom severity group) or comparison (usual care plus Target-D attention control) arms. Follow-up assessments will be completed online at three and 12 months. The primary outcome is depressive symptom severity at three months. Secondary outcomes include anxiety, mental health self-efficacy, quality of life, and cost-effectiveness. Intention-to-treat analyses will test for differences in outcome means between study arms overall and by depressive symptom severity group.DiscussionTo our knowledge, this is the first depressive symptom stratification tool designed for primary care which takes a prognosis-based approach to provide a tailored treatment recommendation. If shown to be effective, this tool could be used to assist general practitioners to implement stepped mental-healthcare models and contribute to a more efficient and effective mental health system.Trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR 12616000537459 ). Retrospectively registered on 27 April 2016. See Additional file 1 for trial registration data