ISSCR standards for the use of human stem cells in basic research

The laboratory culture of human stem cells seeks to capture a cellular state as an in vitro surrogate of a biological system. For the results and outputs from this research to be accurate, meaningful, and durable, standards that ensure reproducibility and reliability of the data should be applied. Although such standards have been previously proposed for repositories and distribution centers, no widely accepted best practices exist for laboratory research with human pluripotent and tissue stem cells. To fill that void, the International Society for Stem Cell Research has developed a set of recommendations, including reporting criteria, for scientists in basic research laboratories. These criteria are designed to be technically and financially feasible and, when implemented, enhance the reproducibility and rigor of stem cell research

Atmospheric trace elements in aerosols observed over the Southern Ocean and coastal East Antarctica

Atmospheric aerosol samples were collected over the Southern Ocean (SO) and coastal East Antarctica (CEA) during the austral summer of 2010/11. Samples were analysed for trace elements, including Na, Mg, K, Al, Fe, Mn, Ni, Cd and Se, by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The mean atmospheric concentrations over the SO were 1100 ng m−3 for Na, 190 ng m−3 for Mg, 150 ng m−3 for Al, 14 ng m−3 for Fe, 0.46 ng m−3 for Mn and 0.25 ng m−3 for Se. Over CEA, the mean concentrations were 990 ng m−3 for Na, 180 ng m−3 for Mg, 190 ng m−3 for Al, 26 ng m−3 for Fe, 0.70 ng m−3 for Mn and 0.29 ng m−3 for Se. Particle size distributions, enrichment factors (EFs) and correlation analysis indicate that Na, Mg and K mainly came from the marine source, while Al, Fe and Mn were mainly from the crustal source, which also contributed to Mg and K over CEA. High EFs were associated with Ni, Cd and Se, suggesting likely contributions from mixed sources from the Antarctic continent, long-range transport, marine biogenic emissions and anthropogenic emissions. Sea-salt elements (Na, Mg, K) were mainly accumulated in the coarse mode, and crustal elements (Al, Fe, Mn) presented a bimodal size distribution pattern. Bioactive elements (Fe, Ni, Cd) were enriched in the fine mode, especially with samples collected over the SO, possibly affecting biogeochemical cycles in this oceanic region

PLANNED INCAPACITY TO SUCCEED? POLICY-MAKING STRUCTURE AND POLICY FAILURE

Policies may fail in two analytically distinct ways: they may fail to achieve their goals, or they may fail to retain political support and be terminated. By failing to distinguish between ineffectiveness and political failure, the three most common interpretations of the War on Poverty and the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (failure owing to central government incompetence, failure owing to pluralism, and "hidden" success) cannot adequately account for the gap between their ambiguous performance and their clear political failure. To understand these differences, one must understand the effect of America's fragmented political structure on the design and implementation of poverty and unemployment remedies. Under resource constraints and given a large degree of policy discretion, American states in the aggregate have retained their historic resistance to social policies that would increase short-term expenditures and reduce the attractiveness of their business climate. These jurisdictions and their Congressional representatives opposed new fully nationalized initiatives, insisting on policy designs that promised fiscal relief while protecting state and local policy control. National policymakers found that grant-in-aid programs offered the path of least resistance in these circumstances. Although social policy grant programs could win initial approval in Congress, these designs proved to be increasingly unwieldy, expensive, and difficult to control in practice. The programs yielded ambiguous overall results but provided unambiguous examples of waste, fraud and abuse, fueling the perception of failure and contributing to the backlash against these programs and their political failure. Copyright 1988 by The Policy Studies Organization.