Labor unions as transnational actors

This has been a macro-level qualitative study exploring low-level (nationally and locally) based labor unions’ transnational capabilities. To guide the research, I asked how national labor unions function as transnational actors, and my question was guided by questions regarding what characterizes labor unions’ transnational activities, and what possibilities or constraints they are faced with in the international world. To answer my research question, I firstly outlined the economic landscape which labor unions operate within, followed by a theoretical debate on what labor unions are, what they do, what their structure looks like, what solidarity means in a labor unions context, and what issues labor unions face internationally. I used the case of the Indian farmers’ movement, which began in September of 2020 with the introduction of three new farming-related bills, as an illustrative case to grasp at a contemporary labor issue or international scope.M-I

Lacustrine oxygen isotope records from biogenic silica (δ18OBSi) – a global compilation and review

Isotope records are crucial for proxy-model comparison in paleoclimatology because of their advantage of being directly comparable with isotope-enabled paleoclimate model outputs. Oxygen isotopes (δ18O) are commonly measured on carbonates (i.e. ostracods, authigenic carbonates) and biogenic silica (mainly diatoms). Oxygen isotopes in lacustrine carbonates (δ18OCaCO3) have been studied extensively for several decades, yet they are subject to complex species-dependent fractionation processes and not available globally. Lacustrine oxygen isotope records from biogenic silica (δ18OBSi), on the other hand, likely do not display species-dependent fractionation effects (or only very minor) and offer insight even in data-sparse regions devoid of carbonates, such as the Arctic. To date, more than 70 lacustrine δ18OBSi records have been published. These case studies have been complemented with additional efforts addressing climatic and hydrological backgrounds, laboratory techniques and possible species-dependent fractionation as well as deposition and dissolution effects. Here, we present the first comprehensive review and global compilation of lacustrine δ18OBSi records, with explicit regard to their individual lake basin parameters. With this work, we aim at contributing to bridging the gap between modelling and isotope geochemistry approaches regarding terrestrial archives in paleoclimatology. Departing from hitherto prevalent case studies, we assess what we can learn from lacustrine δ18OBSi records globally, considering lake basin characteristics, spatial and temporal coverage as well as hydrological background information. This improves both the usability of δ18OBSi for proxy-model comparison and our understanding of the general constraints for interpreting lacustrine δ18OBSi records

Paleo-environmental gateways in the eastern Canadian arctic – Recent isotope hydrology and diatom oxygen isotopes from Nettilling Lake, Baffin Island, Canada

Nettilling Lake is located on Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada between the areas of past warming (Canadian High Arctic to the North) and climatic stability (Northern Quebec and Labrador region to the South). Despite being the largest lake in the Nunavut region with a postglacial marine to lacustrine transition history only a few paleo-environmental investigations were completed in this area. The oxygen isotope composition of diatoms (d18O diatom) can provide valuable insights into paleo-environmental conditions. Here, the recent (isotope) hydrology and hydrochemical data from the lake are presented to facilitate the interpretation of a d18O diatom record from an 82 cm sediment core (Ni-2B). The well-mixed lake (d18O water = -17.4‰) is influenced by a heavier (less negative) isotope composition (-18.80‰) from Amadjuak River draining Amadjuak Lake to the South and water of lighter (more negative) isotopic composition (-16.4‰) from the Isurtuq River originating from Penny Ice Cap in the North-East. From the d18O water and d18O diatom of the topmost sample of core Ni-2B a D18O silica-water of 1000 ln alpha(silica-water) = 40.2‰ for sub-recent diatoms of Nettilling Lake was calculated matching the known water-silica fractionation for fossil sediments well and thereby showing the general applicability of this proxy for paleo-reconstructions in this region. Extremely large d18O diatom variations in the core of more than 13‰ are mainly induced by changes in the isotopic composition of the lake water due to a shift from glaciomarine (d18O diatom = +34.6‰) through brackish (+23.4 to +27.2‰) towards lacustrine (+21.5‰) conditions (transition zones glaciomarine to brackish at 69 cm/7300 yr cal. BP and brackish to lacustrine at 35 cm/6000 yr cal. BP) associated with a shift in the degree of salinity. Our study provides the first evidence that paleo-salinity can be reconstructed by d18O diatom. Additionally, for the lacustrine section it could be demonstrated that d18O diatom may serve as a proxy for past air temperature within the same core recording a late Holocene cooling of about 4°C being consistent with other published values for the greater Baffin region

THE VARIABILITY OF MULTI-DRUG RESISTANCE ABCB1 GENE IN THE ROMA POPULATION FROM CROATIA

When overexpressed, a large transmembrane P-glycoprotein, the product of the ABCB1 gene, is a notable impediment to brain-targeted therapies (like antiepileptics) and chemotherapies. Some of the genetic biomarkers with evidence of multi-drug resistance in ABCB1 ― rs1045642, rs1128503, and rs3213619 ― were analyzed in 440 subjects, members of three socio-culturally different Roma (Gypsy) groups of Croatia. Minor allele frequencies (MAFs) of rs1045642 and rs1128503 were the highest in the Balkan Roma (63.6% and 69.4%, respectively) when compared to the Baranja (52.3% and 62.5%) and the Međimurje Roma (48.8% and 54.5%) (p=0.0005 and p=0.0011, respectively). rs3213619 was monomorphic in the Međimurje group, while its MAFs in other two Roma groups were very low (<1.9%). The distribution of five detected haplotypes (four in the Međimurje group) significantly differed between the Roma subpopulations (p<0.0001), just like the frequencies of diplotypes (p=0.0008). At a global scale, the positive relationship between genetic and geographic distances between the 21 investigated populations indicates isolation by spatial distance. However, this is not true for the relationship between Roma and other populations due to their population history. The analyzed ABCB1 loci indicate genetic distinctiveness of the Roma population

Common SNPs in FTO Gene Are Associated with Obesity Related Anthropometric Traits in an Island Population from the Eastern Adriatic Coast of Croatia

Multiple studies have provided compelling evidence that the FTO gene variants are associated with obesity measures. The objective of the study was to investigate whether FTO variants are associated with a broad range of obesity related anthropometric traits in an island population.We examined genetic association between 29 FTO SNPs and a comprehensive set of anthropometric traits in 843 unrelated individuals from an island population in the eastern Adriatic coast of Croatia. The traits include 11 anthropometrics (height, weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, bicondilar upper arm width, upper arm circumference, and biceps, triceps, subscapular, suprailiac and abdominal skin-fold thicknesses) and two derived measures (BMI and WHR). Using single locus score tests, 15 common SNPs were found to be significantly associated with "body fatness" measures such as weight, BMI, hip and waist circumferences with P-values ranging from 0.0004 to 0.01. Similar but less significant associations were also observed between these markers and bicondilar upper arm width and upper arm circumference. Most of these significant findings could be explained by a mediating effect of "body fatness". However, one unique association signal between upper arm width and rs16952517 (P-value = 0.00156) could not be explained by this mediating effect. In addition, using a principle component analysis and conditional association tests adjusted for "body fatness", two novel association signals were identified between upper arm circumference and rs11075986 (P-value = 0.00211) and rs16945088 (P-value = 0.00203).The current study confirmed the association of common variants of FTO gene with "body fatness" measures in an isolated island population. We also observed evidence of pleiotropic effects of FTO gene on fat-free mass, such as frame size and muscle mass assessed by bicondilar upper arm width and upper arm circumference respectively and these pleiotropic effects might be influenced by variants that are different from the ones associated with "body fatness"

A global compilation of diatom silica oxygen isotope records from lake sediment – trends and implications for climate reconstruction

© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Oxygen isotopes in biogenic silica (δ 18OBSi) from lake sediments allow for quantitative reconstruction of past hydroclimate and proxy-model comparison in terrestrial environments. The signals of individual records have been attributed to different factors, such as air temperature (Tair), atmospheric circulation patterns, hydrological changes, and lake evaporation. While every lake has its own local set of drivers of δ 18O variability, here we explore the extent to which regional or even global signals emerge from a series of paleoenvironmental records. This study provides a comprehensive compilation and combined statistical evaluation of the existing lake sediment δ 18OBSi records, largely missing in other summary publications (i.e. PAGES network). For this purpose, we have identified and compiled 71 down-core records published to date and complemented these datasets with additional lake basin parameters (e.g. lake water residence time and catchment size) to best characterize the signal properties. Records feature widely different temporal coverage and resolution, ranging from decadal-scale records covering the past 150 years to records with multi-millennial-scale resolution spanning glacial-interglacial cycles. The best coverage in number of records (NCombining double low line37) and data points (NCombining double low line2112) is available for Northern Hemispheric (NH) extratropical regions throughout the Holocene (roughly corresponding to Marine Isotope Stage 1; MIS 1). To address the different variabilities and temporal offsets, records were brought to a common temporal resolution by binning and subsequently filtered for hydrologically open lakes with lake water residence times 45°N) lakes, we find common δ 18OBSi patterns among the lake records during both the Holocene and Common Era (CE). These include maxima and minima corresponding to known climate episodes, such as the Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM), Neoglacial Cooling, Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) and the Little Ice Age (LIA). These patterns are in line with long-term air temperature changes supported by previously published climate reconstructions from other archives, as well as Holocene summer insolation changes. In conclusion, oxygen isotope records from NH extratropical lake sediments feature a common climate signal at centennial (for CE) and millennial (for Holocene) timescales despite stemming from different lakes in different geographic locations and hence constitute a valuable proxy for past climate reconstructions.Peer reviewe

Impact of climate change and industrialization on remote Lake Bolshoe Toko, Siberia&amp;#160;

&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;To test if recent climate change and pollution affected remote lake ecosystems without direct human influence, we used paleolimnological methods on lake sediments from a large, prestine, and deep lake in Yakutia, Russia. We compared diatoms and sediment-geochemistry from before and after the onset of industrialization in the mid-nineteenth century, at water depths between 12.1 and 68.3 m in Lake Bolshoe Toko. We analyzed diatom species changes and geochemical changes including mercury concentrations. Chronologies were established using &amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;210&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt;Pb and &amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;137&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt;Cs revealing sedimentation rates between 0.018 and 0.033 cm y&amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;-1&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt; at shallow- and deep-water sites, respectively. Increase in light planktonic diatoms (&amp;lt;em&amp;gt;Cyclotella&amp;lt;/em&amp;gt;) and decrease in heavily silicified euplanktonic &amp;lt;em&amp;gt;Aulacoseira&amp;lt;/em&amp;gt; through time at deep-water sites can be related to warming air temperatures and shorter periods of lake-ice cover, causing pronounced thermal stratification. Diatom beta diversity changed only significantly in shallow-water communities which can be related to the development of new habitats with macrophyte growth. Mercury concentrations increased by a factor of 1.6 as a result of atmospheric fallout. Increases in the chrysophyte &amp;lt;em&amp;gt;Mallomonas&amp;lt;/em&amp;gt; indicates a trend towards acidification. We conclude that also remote boreal lakes are susceptible to human-induced long-distance pollution and recent climate change.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;</jats:p