Collective Employee Representation and the Impact of Law: Initial Response to the Employment Relations Act 1999.

Using data gathered primarily during interviews with managers and trade union officials, this article examines how trade unions and employers have reacted to the introduction of the statutory procedure for union recognition in the Employment Relations Act 1999 (ERA). Findings indicate that the ERA and the drift of EU influence have had a substantial effect in shifting the balance of employer attitudes towards greater approval of trade unions and have accelerated the rate at which employers are redesigning their relationships with unions. Although employers are tending to restrict unions' influence over traditional issues such as pay-setting, they are increasingly seeking their assistance in implementing difficult organisational changes. The article explores the impact of such changes on trade union activity and collective representation more broadly.Collective bargaining, employee representation, trade union recognition labour legislation

Exhaustion and Technological Development: a macro-dynamic policy model

The main components of the problem complex posed by the Club of Rome are what the joint effect will be, and how it can be influenced, of (i) population growth, (ii) increase of pollution, (iii) the exhaustion of material resources and (iv) technological development. From the discussions of the last few years my main impressions are that policies to curb population growth and pollution are within reach, even though formidable obstacles will have to be faced. Put in oversimplified terms, the population explosion begins to be seen by a rapidly increasing number of people as a danger; various means to put a break on it have been developed and there is a group of countries where the effect of their use begins to be visible. Also a number of expert calculations on the means needed to keep pollution under control suggest that these are of the order of 4 per cent of national income for some developed countries; a figure not too deconcerting. The author is indebted to Professors O. Rademaker and H. Linnemann for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this article. Of course the responsibility for the present text is mine

Effect of lensing non-Gaussianity on the CMB power spectra

Observed CMB anisotropies are lensed, and the lensed power spectra can be calculated accurately assuming the lensing deflections are Gaussian. However, the lensing deflections are actually slightly non-Gaussian due to both non-linear large-scale structure growth and post-Born corrections. We calculate the leading correction to the lensed CMB power spectra from the non-Gaussianity, which is determined by the lensing bispectrum. The lowest-order result gives ∼0.3% corrections to the BB and EE polarization spectra on small-scales, however we show that the effect on EE is reduced by about a factor of two by higher-order Gaussian lensing smoothing, rendering the total effect safely negligible for the foreseeable future. We give a simple analytic model for the signal expected from skewness of the large-scale lensing field; the effect is similar to a net demagnification and hence a small change in acoustic scale (and therefore out of phase with the dominant lensing smoothing that predominantly affects the peaks and troughs of the power spectrum)

Effect of silver content on the structure and antibacterial activity of silver-doped phosphate-based glasses

Staphylococcus aureus can cause a range of diseases, such as osteomyelitis, as well as colonize implanted medical devices. In most instances the organism forms biofilms that not only are resistant to the body's defense mechanisms but also display decreased susceptibilities to antibiotics. In the present study, we have examined the effect of increasing silver contents in phosphate-based glasses to prevent the formation of S. aureus biofilms. Silver was found to be an effective bactericidal agent against S. aureus biofilms, and the rate of silver ion release (0.42 to 1.22 µg·mm–2·h–1) from phosphate-based glass was found to account for the variation in its bactericidal effect. Analysis of biofilms by confocal microscopy indicated that they consisted of an upper layer of viable bacteria together with a layer (20 µm) of nonviable cells on the glass surface. Our results showed that regardless of the silver contents in these glasses (10, 15, or 20 mol%) the silver exists in its +1 oxidation state, which is known to be a highly effective bactericidal agent compared to that of silver in other oxidation states (+2 or +3). Analysis of the glasses by 31P nuclear magnetic resonance imaging and high-energy X-ray diffraction showed that it is the structural rearrangement of the phosphate network that is responsible for the variation in silver ion release and the associated bactericidal effectiveness. Thus, an understanding of the glass structure is important in interpreting the in vitro data and also has important clinical implications for the potential use of the phosphate-based glasses in orthopedic applications to deliver silver ions to combat S. aureus biofilm infections

Covariant perturbations of f(R) black holes: the Weyl terms

In this paper we revisit non-spherical perturbations of the Schwarzschild black hole in the context of f(R) gravity. Previous studies were able to demonstrate the stability of the f(R) Schwarzschild black hole against gravitational perturbations in both the even and odd parity sectors. In particular, it was seen that the Regge-Wheeler and Zerilli equations in f(R) gravity obey the same equations as their General Relativity counterparts. More recently, the 1+1+2 semi-tetrad formalism has been used to derive a set of two wave equations: one for transverse, trace-free (tensor) perturbations and one for the additional scalar modes that characterise fourth-order theories of gravitation. The master variable governing tensor perturbations was shown to be a modified Regge-Wheeler tensor obeying the same equation as in General Relativity. However, it is well known that there is a non-uniqueness in the definition of the master variable. In this paper we derive a set of two perturbation variables and their concomitant wave equations that describe gravitational perturbations in a covariant and gauge invariant manner. These variables can be related to the Newman-Penrose (NP) Weyl scalars as well as the master variables from the 2+2 formalism

A multi-messenger model for neutron star - black hole mergers

We present a semi-analytic model for predicting kilonova light curves from the mergers of neutron stars with black holes (NSBH). The model is integrated into the MOSFiT platform, and can generate light curves from input binary properties and nuclear equation-of-state considerations, or incorporate measurements from gravitational wave (GW) detectors to perform multi-messenger parameter estimation. The rapid framework enables the generation of NSBH kilonova distributions from binary populations, light curve predictions from GW data, and statistically meaningful comparisons with an equivalent BNS model in MOSFiT. We investigate a sample of kilonova candidates associated with cosmological short gamma-ray bursts, and demonstrate that they are broadly consistent with being driven by NSBH systems, though most have limited data. We also perform fits to the very well sampled GW170817, and show that the inability of an NSBH merger to produce lanthanide-poor ejecta results in a significant underestimate of the early (< 2 days) optical emission. Our model indicates that NSBH-driven kilonovae may peak up to a week after merger at optical wavelengths for some observer angles. This demonstrates the need for early coverage of emergent kilonovae in cases where the GW signal is either ambiguous or absent; they likely cannot be distinguished from BNS mergers by the light curves alone from ~2 days after the merger. We also discuss the detectability of our model kilonovae with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST).Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. This is the author's final submitted version. The model code is available through MOSFiT at https://github.com/guillochon/MOSFi

Polymicrobial oral biofilm models: simplifying the complex

Over the past century, numerous studies have used oral biofilm models to investigate growth kinetics, biofilm formation, structure and composition, antimicrobial susceptibility and host–pathogen interactions. In vivo animal models provide useful models of some oral diseases; however, these are expensive and carry vast ethical implications. Oral biofilms grown or maintained in vitro offer a useful platform for certain studies and have the advantages of being inexpensive to establish and easy to reproduce and manipulate. In addition, a wide range of variables can be monitored and adjusted to mimic the dynamic environmental changes at different sites in the oral cavity, such as pH, temperature, salivary and gingival crevicular fluid flow rates, or microbial composition. This review provides a detailed insight for early-career oral science researchers into how the biofilm models used in oral research have progressed and improved over the years, their advantages and disadvantages, and how such systems have contributed to our current understanding of oral disease pathogenesis and aetiology

Determinants of voluntary audit and voluntary full accounts in micro- and non-micro small companies in the UK

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Accounting and Business Research, 42(4), 441 - 468, 2012, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/00014788.2012.667969.This study investigates the link between the auditing and filing choices made by a sample of 592 small private companies, which includes 419 micro-companies. It examines decisions made in connection with the 2006 accounts following UK's adoption of the maximum EU size thresholds in 2004, and the impact of the proposed Directive on the annual accounts of micro-companies. The research extends the model of cost, management and agency factors associated with voluntary audit, and develops a complementary model for voluntary full accounts. The results show the benefits of placing full audited accounts on public record that outweigh the costs for a significant proportion of companies. In non-micro small companies, voluntary audit is determined by cost and agency factors, whereas in micro-companies it is driven by cost, management and agency factors. In both groups, the predictors of voluntary full accounts include management and agency factors, and choosing voluntary audit is one of the key factors. The study provides models that can be tested in other jurisdictions to provide evidence of the needs of micro-companies, and the discussion of the methodological challenges for small company researchers in the UK makes further contribution to the literature