Emerging trends in WTO dispute settlement : back to the GATT?

As the number of cases in the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement system has increased, there has been a greater effort by the academic community to analyze the data for emerging trends. Holmes Rollo, and Young seek to develop this literature using data up to the end of 2002 to ask whether recent trends confirm previously identified patterns and to examine whether there are divergences from the overall pattern according to the type of dispute. They focus on three questions in particular: What explains which countries are most involved in complaints under the dispute settlement understanding? Is there a discernible pattern to which countries win? Is there a difference to these patterns depending on the type of measure at the heart of the complaint? The authors find that: A country's trade share is a pretty robust indicator of its likelihood to be either a complainant or a respondent. The frequently remarked absence of the least developed countries from the dispute settlement system can be explained by their low volume of trade. There is not much, if any, evidence of a bias against developing countries either as complainants or respondents. Regulatory issues are fading as reasons for disputes and trade defense disputes are the rising issue. Complainants overwhelmingly win (88 percent of cases). There is no strong evidence that the rate of completion of cases is biased against newly industrializing countries or traditional less developed countries.Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Judicial System Reform,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Information Technology,Judicial System Reform,Economic Theory&Research,Information Technology,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Trade and Services

UTILIZATION OF EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION IN KINDERGARTEN

This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of utilizing explicit instruction in kindergarten at P. Kindat Elementary School in the school year 2022-2023. The researcher utilized a non-equivalent group quasi-experimental design because the learners were grouped heterogeneously for which random selection and assignment were not possible. The study was conducted at P. Kindat Elementary School, Dadiangas West District, Division of General Santos City with 60 bona fide kindergarten learners as respondents of this study. The study found that the majority of the performance of the two groups of kindergarten learners before the utilization of explicit instruction was fair. It means that they did not meet the learning standards needed. Moreover, their performances after the utilization of explicit and without explicit instruction in the control group show that the majority of the kindergarten learners had fair performance, while the experimental group who are using explicit instruction met the minimum learning standards needed. Lastly, there was no significant difference in the control group, while there was a significant difference in the experimental group. This means that the utilization of explicit instruction was effective in teaching kindergarten learners.  Article visualizations

BULLYING ENCOUNTERED AND THEIR PERCEIVED IMPACTS ON STUDENTS’ SENSE OF SELF

This cross-sectional research study explores various forms of bullying experienced by students and their impacts on their sense of self at selected national high schools in Apopong District, Division of General Santos City. Three key questions are addressed: identification of encountered bullying forms, examination of their effects on students' sense of self (physical, emotional, intellectual, behavioral, social, and creative), and development of school interventions based on the findings. Data was collected from forty-five high school students through a survey questionnaire adapted from Anderson's (2007) work, with triangulation through focus group discussions. Results show verbal bullying is most prevalent, followed by emotional and physical bullying. The impact on students' sense of self varies, with physical sense moderately affected. perceived impact leads to feelings of powerlessness, inferiority, and fighting back. Recommendations include debriefing workshops to address self-esteem issues. Further research in diverse settings is advised to understand bullying prevalence and design effective interventions. The proposed "Bullying Prevention Program" empowers teachers to create secure learning environments and enhance student well-being. Continuous monitoring and evaluation ensure program efficacy.  Article visualizations

Cheilanthoid Ferns (Pteridaceae: Cheilanthoideae) in the Southwestern United States and Adjacent Mexico-A Molecular Phylogenetic Reassessment of Generic Lines

Cheilanthoids are the most commonly encountered fern species of the arid southwest and other xeric habitats throughout the world. Cheilanthes, Notholaena, Pellaea, and Bommeria are the best known southwestern genera, but some authors recognize segregate genera such as Argyrochosma, Aspidotis, Astrolepis, and Pentagramma. Others reject distinctions among some of these genera as artificial, leaving cheilanthoid generic concepts in a state of flux. This unsettled taxonomy is often attributed to morphological homoplasy associated with adaptation to xeric habitats, suggesting the need for new analyses that do not depend on potentially misleading morphology. Nucleotide sequences of the maternally inherited, chloroplast-encoded rbcL gene from 57 species that bear on the relationships of the cheilanthoids of the southwest were cladistically analyzed under the optimality criterion of maximum parsimony. The results provide new insights into phylogenetic relationships and generic circumscriptions of these ferns. Mexican Llavea cordifolia is rejected from the cheilanthoids, traditional Cheilanthes, Notholaena, and Pellaea are polyphyletic, and the segregations of Argyrochosma, Aspidotis, Astrolepis, and Pentagramma are supported. To assess confidence in these conclusions, results of the rbcL-based analysis are compared with those based on ITS sequences of biparentally inherited nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) for a subset of cheilanthoid taxa. These two data sets yield remarkably congruent topologies at shallower phylogenetic levels, suggesting that previous taxonomic problems in this group may indeed be attributable to difficulties in interpreting the taxonomic significance of morphological characters. Disagreement at deeper levels of the topologies suggests the need to incorporate data from less rapidly evolving nrDNA regions

Semantic traffic sensor data: The TRAFAIR experience

Modern cities face pressing problems with transportation systems including, but not limited to, traffic congestion, safety, health, and pollution. To tackle them, public administrations have implemented roadside infrastructures such as cameras and sensors to collect data about environmental and traffic conditions. In the case of traffic sensor data not only the real-time data are essential, but also historical values need to be preserved and published. When real-time and historical data of smart cities become available, everyone can join an evidence-based debate on the city''s future evolution. The TRAFAIR (Understanding Traffic Flows to Improve Air Quality) project seeks to understand how traffic affects urban air quality. The project develops a platform to provide real-time and predicted values on air quality in several cities in Europe, encompassing tasks such as the deployment of low-cost air quality sensors, data collection and integration, modeling and prediction, the publication of open data, and the development of applications for end-users and public administrations. This paper explicitly focuses on the modeling and semantic annotation of traffic data. We present the tools and techniques used in the project and validate our strategies for data modeling and its semantic enrichment over two cities: Modena (Italy) and Zaragoza (Spain). An experimental evaluation shows that our approach to publish Linked Data is effective

Sperm competition shapes gene expression and sequence evolution in the ocellated wrasse.

Gene expression differences between males and females often underlie sexually dimorphic phenotypes, and the expression levels of genes that are differentially expressed between the sexes are thought to respond to sexual selection. Most studies on the transcriptomic response to sexual selection treat sexual selection as a single force, but postmating sexual selection in particular is expected to specifically target gonadal tissue. The three male morphs of the ocellated wrasse (Symphodus ocellatus) make it possible to test the role of postmating sexual selection in shaping the gonadal transcriptome. Nesting males hold territories and have the highest reproductive success, yet we detected feminization of their gonadal gene expression compared to satellite males. Satellite males are less brightly coloured and experience more intense sperm competition than nesting males. In line with postmating sexual selection affecting gonadal gene expression, we detected a more masculinized expression profile in satellites. Sneakers are the lowest quality males and showed both de-masculinization and de-feminization of gene expression. We also detected higher rates of gene sequence evolution of male-biased genes compared to unbiased genes, which could at least in part be explained by positive selection. Together, these results reveal the potential for postmating sexual selection to drive higher rates of gene sequence evolution and shape the gonadal transcriptome profile

Use of training with BCI (Brain Computer Interface) in the management of impulsivity

Impulsivity represents one of the risk factors strongly related to dependent behavior in subjects with a diagnosis of substance dependence. The risk appetite, in particular, represents a construct connected with other components such as jumping to conclusion and risk taking.There are several forms of treatment used with subjects who have problems related to impulsivity. A good part of these is aimed at subjects with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), in the form of training or exercises implemented on software. This work aims to evaluate the use of training for concentration, attention and meditation on reducing risk appetite. The experimental design, of a pre-post type, involves assessing the risk appetite before and after training, to be carried out in six sessions over two weeks. The comparison between the experimental group and the control groups showed significant efficacy in reducing the levels of impulsivity in subjects with addiction.This work represents a pilot study on the possible use of meditation, concentration, and training exercises and demonstrates how these can be considered as excellent forms of training for the reduction of impulsiveness and risk appetite, showing their feasibility in the contexts of intervention and cure for addictions