Translating European Labor Relations Practices to the United States Through Global Framework Agreements? German and Swedish Multinationals Compared

Extensive research has shown that European multinational enterprises (MNEs) have a propensity to avoid collective employee representation when going abroad. This study investigates whether Global Framework Agreements (GFAs) can reverse this pattern by comparing how four European MNEs—two from Germany and two from Sweden—implement GFAs in the United States, a country with weak collective representation rights. The authors find that an MNE’s home country labor relations (LR) system mediates whether GFAs support collective representation in the United States. Sweden’s monistic LR system, in which unions are the dominant organizations legally representing workers, gives unions the power to directly influence the negotiation and implementation of GFAs. By contrast, Germany’s dualistic LR system, in which unions and works councils share worker representation, weakens the influence of unions on implementing the GFA. MNEs’ home country LR systems thus influence how transnational instruments are used to improve collective representation in host countries

Spectroscopy of stripe order in La1.8Sr0.2NiO4 using resonant soft x-ray diffraction

Strong resonant enhancements of the charge-order and spin-order superstructure-diffraction intensities in La1.8Sr0.2NiO4 are observed when x-ray energies in the vicinity of the Ni L2,3 absorption edges are used. The pronounced photon-energy and polarization dependences of these diffraction intensities allow for a critical determination of the local symmetry of the ordered spin and charge carriers. We found that not only the antiferromagnetic order but also the charge-order superstructure resides within the NiO2 layers; the holes are mainly located on in-plane oxygens surrounding a Ni2+ site with the spins coupled antiparallel in close analogy to Zhang-Rice singlets in the cuprates.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Prediction of huge X-ray Faraday rotation at the Gd N_4,5 threshold

X-ray absorption spectra in a wide energy range around the 4d-4f excitation threshold of Gd were recorded by total electron yield from in-plane magnetized Gd metal films. Matching the experimental spectra to tabulated absorption data reveals unprecedented short light absorption lengths down to 3 nm. The associated real parts of the refractive index for circularly polarized light propagating parallel or antiparallel to the Gd magnetization, determined through the Kramers-Kronig transformation, correspond to a magneto-optical Faraday rotation of 0.7 degrees per atomic layer. This finding shall allow the study of magnetic structure and magnetization dynamics of lanthanide elements in nanosize systems and dilute alloys.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, final version resubmitted to Phys. Rev. B, Brief Reports. Minor change

The role of the dentate gyrus and adult neurogenesis in hippocampal-basal ganglia associated behaviour

The ability of the brain to continually generate new neurons throughout life is one of the most intensely researched areas of modern neuroscience. While great advancements in understanding the biochemical mechanisms of adult neurogenesis have been made, there remain significant obstacles and gaps in connecting neurogenesis with behavioural and cognitive processes such as learning and memory. The purpose of the thesis was to examine by review and laboratory experimentation the role of the dentate gyrus and of adult neurogenesis within the hippocampus in the performance of cognitive tasks dependent on the hippocampal formation and hippocampal-basal ganglia interactions. Advancement in understanding the role of neurogenesis in these processes may assist in improving treatments for common brain injury and cognitive diseases that affect this region of the brain. Mild chronic stress reduced the acquisition rate of a stimulus-response task (p=0.043), but facilitated the acquisition of a discrimination between a small and a large reward (p=0.027). In locomotor activity assays, chronic stress did not shift the dose-response to methamphetamine. Analysis of 2,5-bromodeoxyuridine incorporation showed that, overall, chronic mild stress did not effect survival of neuronal progenitors . However, learning of the tasks had a positive influence on cell survival in stressed animals (p=0.038). Microinjections of colchicine produced significant lesions of the dentate gyrus and surrounding CA1-CA3 and neocortex. Damage to these regions impaired hippocampal-dependent reference memory (p=0.054) while preserving hippocampal independent simple discrimination learning. In a delay discounting procedure, the lesions did not induce impulsive-like behaviour when delay associated with a large reward was introduced. The experiments uphold a current theory that learning acts as a buffer to mitigate the negative effects of stress on neurogenesis

Notes for genera: basal clades of Fungi (including Aphelidiomycota, Basidiobolomycota, Blastocladiomycota, Calcarisporiellomycota, Caulochytriomycota, Chytridiomycota, Entomophthoromycota, Glomeromycota, Kickxellomycota, Monoblepharomycota, Mortierellomycota, Mucoromycota, Neocallimastigomycota, Olpidiomycota, Rozellomycota and Zoopagomycota)

Compared to the higher fungi (Dikarya), taxonomic and evolutionary studies on the basal clades of fungi are fewer in number. Thus, the generic boundaries and higher ranks in the basal clades of fungi are poorly known. Recent DNA based taxonomic studies have provided reliable and accurate information. It is therefore necessary to compile all available information since basal clades genera lack updated checklists or outlines. Recently, Tedersoo et al. (MycoKeys 13:1--20, 2016) accepted Aphelidiomycota and Rozellomycota in Fungal clade. Thus, we regard both these phyla as members in Kingdom Fungi. We accept 16 phyla in basal clades viz. Aphelidiomycota, Basidiobolomycota, Blastocladiomycota, Calcarisporiellomycota, Caulochytriomycota, Chytridiomycota, Entomophthoromycota, Glomeromycota, Kickxellomycota, Monoblepharomycota, Mortierellomycota, Mucoromycota, Neocallimastigomycota, Olpidiomycota, Rozellomycota and Zoopagomycota. Thus, 611 genera in 153 families, 43 orders and 18 classes are provided with details of classification, synonyms, life modes, distribution, recent literature and genomic data. Moreover, Catenariaceae Couch is proposed to be conserved, Cladochytriales Mozl.-Standr. is emended and the family Nephridiophagaceae is introduced