Qualified market access: an economic, empirical and legal analysis

In the aftermath of the debate on trade and “collective preferences” launched by Pascal Lamy in 2004, this paper considers a proposal for non-product related production process measures developed within the European Parliament, which involved surcharges on the imports of products produced in ways which do not satisfy the EU’s rules mainly but not exclusively for agricultural commodities and in particular on animal welfare. The proposal called “Qualified Market Access” would also have made the revenues from surcharges available to exporting countries to finance compliance. This paper discusses the philosophy behind this specific proposal to qualify market access and address consumer preferences and competitiveness concerns, as identified in a number of other actual and proposed measures, including the ban on seal fur imports into the EU and the ensuing challenge to this measure in the WTO Dispute Settlement Body. The paper contends that it cannot be ruled out that such a measure would be welfare improving if consumers have strong preferences regarding what other people consume, in which case labelling alone will not work and the case for such a proposal cannot be excluded a priori, even from a legal perspective. However, in reviewing the evidence, the paper concludes that there is no empirical evidence to support such a proposal

Playing the computer game Tetris prior to viewing traumatic film material and subsequent intrusive memories: Examining proactive interference.

Visuospatial working memory (WM) tasks performed concurrently or after an experimental trauma (traumatic film viewing) have been shown to reduce subsequent intrusive memories (concurrent or retroactive interference, respectively). This effect is thought to arise because, during the time window of memory consolidation, the film memory is labile and vulnerable to interference by the WM task. However, it is not known whether tasks before an experimental trauma (i.e. proactive interference) would also be effective. Therefore, we tested if a visuospatial WM task given before a traumatic film reduced intrusions. Findings are relevant to the development of preventative strategies to reduce intrusive memories of trauma for groups who are routinely exposed to trauma (e.g. emergency services personnel) and for whom tasks prior to trauma exposure might be beneficial. Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 conditions. In the Tetris condition (n = 28), participants engaged in the computer game for 11 min immediately before viewing a 12-min traumatic film, whereas those in the Control condition (n = 28) had no task during this period. Intrusive memory frequency was assessed using an intrusion diary over 1-week and an Intrusion Provocation Task at 1-week follow-up. Recognition memory for the film was also assessed at 1-week. Compared to the Control condition, participants in the Tetris condition did not report statistically significant difference in intrusive memories of the trauma film on either measure. There was also no statistically significant difference in recognition memory scores between conditions. The study used an experimental trauma paradigm and findings may not be generalizable to a clinical population. Compared to control, playing Tetris before viewing a trauma film did not lead to a statistically significant reduction in the frequency of later intrusive memories of the film. It is unlikely that proactive interference, at least with this task, effectively influences intrusive memory development. WM tasks administered during or after trauma stimuli, rather than proactively, may be a better focus for intrusive memory amelioration

Quantum and classical chaos for a single trapped ion

In this paper we investigate the quantum and classical dynamics of a single trapped ion subject to nonlinear kicks derived from a periodic sequence of Guassian laser pulses. We show that the classical system exhibits diffusive growth in the energy, or 'heating', while quantum mechanics suppresses this heating. This system may be realized in current single trapped-ion experiments with the addition of near-field optics to introduce tightly focussed laser pulses into the trap.Comment: 8 pages, REVTEX, 8 figure

Potent and Broad Inhibition of HIV-1 by a Peptide from the gp41 Heptad Repeat-2 Domain Conjugated to the CXCR4 Amino Terminus.

HIV-1 entry can be inhibited by soluble peptides from the gp41 heptad repeat-2 (HR2) domain that interfere with formation of the 6-helix bundle during fusion. Inhibition has also been seen when these peptides are conjugated to anchoring molecules and over-expressed on the cell surface. We hypothesized that potent anti-HIV activity could be achieved if a 34 amino acid peptide from HR2 (C34) were brought to the site of virus-cell interactions by conjugation to the amino termini of HIV-1 coreceptors CCR5 or CXCR4. C34-conjugated coreceptors were expressed on the surface of T cell lines and primary CD4 T cells, retained the ability to mediate chemotaxis in response to cognate chemokines, and were highly resistant to HIV-1 utilization for entry. Notably, C34-conjugated CCR5 and CXCR4 each exhibited potent and broad inhibition of HIV-1 isolates from diverse clades irrespective of tropism (i.e., each could inhibit R5, X4 and dual-tropic isolates). This inhibition was highly specific and dependent on positioning of the peptide, as HIV-1 infection was poorly inhibited when C34 was conjugated to the amino terminus of CD4. C34-conjugated coreceptors could also inhibit HIV-1 isolates that were resistant to the soluble HR2 peptide inhibitor, enfuvirtide. When introduced into primary cells, CD4 T cells expressing C34-conjugated coreceptors exhibited physiologic responses to T cell activation while inhibiting diverse HIV-1 isolates, and cells containing C34-conjugated CXCR4 expanded during HIV-1 infection in vitro and in a humanized mouse model. Notably, the C34-conjugated peptide exerted greater HIV-1 inhibition when conjugated to CXCR4 than to CCR5. Thus, antiviral effects of HR2 peptides can be specifically directed to the site of viral entry where they provide potent and broad inhibition of HIV-1. This approach to engineer HIV-1 resistance in functional CD4 T cells may provide a novel cell-based therapeutic for controlling HIV infection in humans

Optimized Diffusion-Weighting Gradient Waveform Design (ODGD) formulation for motion compensation and concomitant gradient nulling

Producción CientíficaPurpose: To present a novel Optimized Diffusion-weighting Gradient waveform Design (ODGD) method for the design of minimum echo time (TE), bulk motion-compensated, and concomitant gradient (CG)-nulling waveforms for diffusion MRI. Methods: ODGD motion-compensated waveforms were designed for various moment-nullings Mn (n=0,1,2), for a range of b-values, and spatial resolutions, both without (ODGD-Mn) and with CG-nulling (ODGD-Mn-CG). Phantom and in-vivo (brain and liver) experiments were conducted with various ODGD waveforms to compare motion robustness, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps with state-of-the-art waveforms. Results:ODGD-Mn and ODGD-Mn-CG waveforms reduced the TE of state-of-the-art waveforms. This TE reduction resulted in significantly higher SNR (P < 0.05) in both phantom and in-vivo experiments. ODGD-M1 improved the SNR of BIPOLAR (42.8+-5.3 versus 32.9+-3.3) in the brain, and ODGD-M2 the SNR of motion-compensated (MOCO) and Convex Optimized Diffusion Encoding-M2 (CODE-M2) (12.3+-3.6 versus 9.7+-2.9 and 10.2+-3.4, respectively) in the liver. Further, ODGD-M2 also showed excellent motion robustness in the liver. ODGD-M2-CG waveforms reduced the CG-related dephasing effects of non CG-nulling waveforms in phantom and in-vivo experiments, resulting in accurate ADC maps. Conclusions: ODGD waveforms enable motion-robust diffusion MRI with reduced TEs, increased SNR, and reduced ADC bias compared to state-of-the-art waveforms in theoretical results, simulations, phantoms and in-vivo experiments.TEC2013-44194-PVA069U1

A Comparative Study of the ReCell® Device and Autologous Spit-Thickness Meshed Skin Graft in the Treatment of Acute Burn Injuries.

Early excision and autografting are standard care for deeper burns. However, donor sites are a source of significant morbidity. To address this, the ReCell® Autologous Cell Harvesting Device (ReCell) was designed for use at the point-of-care to prepare a noncultured, autologous skin cell suspension (ASCS) capable of epidermal regeneration using minimal donor skin. A prospective study was conducted to evaluate the clinical performance of ReCell vs meshed split-thickness skin grafts (STSG, Control) for the treatment of deep partial-thickness burns. Effectiveness measures were assessed to 1 year for both ASCS and Control treatment sites and donor sites, including the incidence of healing, scarring, and pain. At 4 weeks, 98% of the ASCS-treated sites were healed compared with 100% of the Controls. Pain and assessments of scarring at the treatment sites were reported to be similar between groups. Significant differences were observed between ReCell and Control donor sites. The mean ReCell donor area was approximately 40 times smaller than that of the Control (P &lt; .0001), and after 1 week, significantly more ReCell donor sites were healed than Controls (P = .04). Over the first 16 weeks, patients reported significantly less pain at the ReCell donor sites compared with Controls (P ≤ .05 at each time point). Long-term patients reported higher satisfaction with ReCell donor site outcomes compared with the Controls. This study provides evidence that the treatment of deep partial-thickness burns with ASCS results in comparable healing, with significantly reduced donor site size and pain and improved appearance relative to STSG

Contrasting the direct radiative effect and direct radiative forcing of aerosols

The direct radiative effect (DRE) of aerosols, which is the instantaneous radiative impact of all atmospheric particles on the Earth's energy balance, is sometimes confused with the direct radiative forcing (DRF), which is the change in DRE from pre-industrial to present-day (not including climate feedbacks). In this study we couple a global chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) with a radiative transfer model (RRTMG) to contrast these concepts. We estimate a global mean all-sky aerosol DRF of −0.36 Wm[superscript −2] and a DRE of −1.83 Wm[superscript −2] for 2010. Therefore, natural sources of aerosol (here including fire) affect the global energy balance over four times more than do present-day anthropogenic aerosols. If global anthropogenic emissions of aerosols and their precursors continue to decline as projected in recent scenarios due to effective pollution emission controls, the DRF will shrink (−0.22 Wm[superscript −2] for 2100). Secondary metrics, like DRE, that quantify temporal changes in both natural and anthropogenic aerosol burdens are therefore needed to quantify the total effect of aerosols on climate.United States. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA STAR Program)Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Charles E. Reed Faculty Initiative Fund)United States. Environmental Protection Agency (grant/cooperative agreement (RD-83503301)

Spring 1971

Damage to the GOlf Course by James L. HOlmes (page 3) Editorial (7) Turf Bulletin\u27s Photo Quiz by Frederick G. Cheney (7) Pesticide Waste Disposal by R.G. Novak and O.H. Hammer (8) 1971 Turf Conference Program (12-13) Turf Management by A.J. Powell, Jr. (14) Homeowner\u27s Guide for Spring Lawn Care (16) The Role of Shade Trees in Urban Arboriculture by Malcolm A. McKenzie (17) Locating Cause of Pressure Loss in Power Sprayers (18) How Soil pH is Affected by the Fertilizers You Use by F.E. Hutchinson (20