Labelling Genetically Modified Products Under International Law

This paper focuses on the debate on the health, policy and legal regimes that require the special labeling of food, drugs and other products that contain genetically-modified-organisms. The paper examines national and international regulatory schemes on genetically-modified-organisms and the roles of the General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and World Trade Organization (WTO) conventions for non-restrictive global trade. This paper analyzes the scope, aims and objectives of the proposed international Biosafety Protocol in line with the overarching goals of GATT/WTO. The paper concludes that the food industry and individual producers should have the liberty to decide whether to label the genetically-modified products because having regulations based on consumer anxiety without any scientific evidence of harm violates the GATT objectives

History of the Captivity and Providential Release Therefrom of Mrs. Caroline Harris

Wife of the late Mr. Richard Harris, of Franklin County, State of New-York; who, with Mrs. Clarissa Plummer, wife of Mr. James Plummer, were, in the Spring of 1835, (with their unfortunate husbands,) taken prisoners by the Camanche tribe of Indians, while emigrating from said Franklin County (N.Y.) to Texas; and after having been made to witness the tragical deaths of their husbands, and held nearly two years in bondage, were providentially redeemed therefrom by two of their countrymen attached to a company of Santa Fe Fur Traders. It was the misfortune of Mrs. Harris, and her unfortunate female companion (soon after the deaths of their husbands,) to be separated by, and compelled to become the companions of, and to cohabit with, two disgusting Indian Chiefs, and from whom they received the most cruel and beastIy treatment

Simultaneous cathodoluminescence hyperspectral imaging and X-ray microanalysis

A facility has been developed to acquire hyperspectral cathodoluminescence (CL) images simultaneously with X-ray composition data. Based around an electron microprobe, the system uses a built-in Cassegrain microscope to efficiently couple emitted light directly into the entrance slit of an optical spectrograph. A cooled array detector allows the parallel acquisition of CL spectra, which are then built up into a multidimensional data-cube containing the full set of spectrally- and spatially-resolved information for later analysis. This setup has the advantage of allowing wavelength-dispersive X-ray (WDX) data to be recorded concurrently, providing a powerful technique for the direct comparison of luminescent and compositional properties of materials. The combination of beam and sample scanning thus allows the correlation of composition and luminescence inhomogeneities on length scales ranging from a few cm to sub-micron

A Simple and Efficient Tool for Trapping Gravid Anopheles at Breeding Sites.

No effective tool currently exists for trapping ovipositing malaria vectors. This creates a gap in our ability to investigate the behavior and ecology of gravid Anopheles.\ud Here we describe a simple trap that collects ovipositing Anopheline and Culicine mosquitoes. It consists of an acetate sheet coated in glue that floats on the water surface. Ten breeding sites were selected in rural Tanzania and 10 sticky traps set in each. These caught a total of 74 gravid Anopheles (54 An. arabiensis, 1 An. gambiae s.s. and 16 unamplified) and 1333 gravid Culicines, in just two trap nights. This simple sampling tool provides an opportunity to further our understanding of the behavior and ecology of gravid female Anophelines. It strongly implies that at least two of the major vectors of malaria in Africa land on the water surface during the oviposition process, and demonstrates that Anophelines and Culicines often share the same breeding sites. This simple and efficient trap has clear potential for the study of oviposition site choice and productivity, gravid dispersal, and vector control techniques which use oviposition behavior as a means of disseminating larvicides

Can State Gratitude be Increased through Mindfulness Practice and a Gratitude Story?

Abstract Gratitude is the quality of being thankful and readily showing appreciation for opportunities in life. Gratitude in an individual can be experienced on two levels: trait and state. Trait gratitude involves a predisposition, interpersonal experience that an individual holds on a daily basis. State gratitude is context based and is experienced during specific events. In past research there seems to be a relationship between meditation practice and levels of trait gratitude, but there is little literature investigating this same connection with state gratitude (Chen et al., 2017). For our research, we wanted to expand on this research and test the effects of gratitude meditation and a gratitude story on the levels of state gratitude in participants. We hypothesized that participants who took part in a gratitude meditation and read a gratitude story would have the highest level of state gratitude and those who received a mind wandering exercise, and a control story would show the lowest level of state gratitude

Media reactions to the Panorama programme ‘Behind Closed Doors:Social Care Exposed’ and care staff reflections on publicity of poor practice in the care sector

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present an analysis of media reactions to the BBC Television Panorama programme, Behind Closed Doors’ and to set this in the context of interviews with care staff about their reflections on publicity about poor practice in the care sector. Design/methodology/approach This paper reports on an analysis of media reactions to recent exposé of abuse in social care in England and data from an interview-based study of care workers. The interviews were analysed to consider the impact of such media reports on staff and to explore their views of action that might be need to be taken about care failings. Findings There are mixed reactions to exposé of poor care on television and to the debates that precede and follow their broadcast. Debates occur in print and on television, but also in social media. The particular exposé of care home practices by the Panorama programme, Behind Closed Doors, led to debate in England about the potential role of covert cameras in care homes. The interviews revealed that while care staff are affected by scandals in the media about social care, they do not necessarily focus on themes that the media stories subsequently highlight. Overall some are disenchanted while others have ideas of what needs to change to improve practice. Care staff consider that there remain problems in raising concerns about practices and some staff feel unable to stay in workplaces where they have made complaints. Research limitations/implications The care workers interviewed may not be representative of the sector and they may have wished to provide socially acceptable answers to the researchers. Practice was not observed. Practical implications Local Safeguarding Adult Boards may wish to develop a communications strategy to deal with requests for reactions to media reports locally and nationally. Safeguarding practitioners may wish to prepare for increased referrals following media coverage of poor care in their areas. They may later be able to use media reports to discuss any local differences of interpretation over matters such as prosecutions for abuse. Trainers and educationalists may wish to clarify the importance given by care providers to raising concerns, the ways in which difficult conversations can be held, and the protections available to whistle-blowers or those raising concerns – with local examples to provide assurance that this is not mere rhetoric. Originality/value Television reports of problems with social care attract wide media interest but the authors know very little about how care workers respond to depictions of their work and their occupational grouping. This paper links media and expert commentator reactions to television exposé with data acquired from interviews with those on the frontline of care. </jats:sec