Negotiating the Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement

Difficult and sensitive issues will command the attention of US and Korean officials as they negotiate a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA). The United States will have to put long-standing US barriers to Korean exports of textiles, apparel, and steel on the table and resolve problems with South Korean access to the US visa waiver program. In turn, South Korea will have to open new opportunities for US goods and services, including autos, beef, and rice. Such a deal will pose a stiff political challenge for Korean officials. However, they will be under pressure in any event to reform their farm programs--either in the context of a final deal in the WTO talks or in response to Chinese initiatives in the region, which Korea will need to match. Both Korea and the United States also have important foreign policy interests in the FTA, particularly enhanced security on the Korean peninsula. South Korea would like the FTA to promote the policy of constructive engagement with North Korea, which the former has been pursuing by extending trade preferences to goods produced in the Kaesong industrial complex in North Korea. However, such a request would put the entire negotiation in jeopardy since the US Congress would reject preferences for the North Korean regime.

The Interpersonal Consequences Of Humor

Humor is a fundamental part of personal and professional interactions. Yet, prior psychology and management literature has largely overlooked humor. By using field and experimental methods, I explore the interpersonal consequences of the use of humor. I find that humor significantly shapes interpersonal perception and behavior. In order to understand organizations, we must first understand humor

Microscopic evaluation of two-photon activated molecular nanomachines for next generation targeted cancer therapeutics

Unidirectional molecular nanomachines are small organic molecules consisting of two distinct halves; a stator, and rotor, connected by a sterically overcrowded carbon-carbon double bond. When excited with specific wavelengths of light, commonly used 355 and 365 nm, a cis-trans isomerisation occurs, resulting in a unidirectional 360° rotary mechanism capable of overcoming Brownian motion. This has previously been exploited to mechanically damage the outer membranes of cells, triggering an acceleration of irreversible necrotic cell death. Herein a series of systematic live-cell fluorescence microscopy studies are reported evaluating the capability of new functionalised molecular nanomachines to induce premature cell death. Specifically, work has been carried out to develop methodology and instrumentation capable of activating these molecules with more biologically favourable NIR wavelengths by way of two-photon activation - utilising pulsed (fs) laser light. In addition, experiments aimed at assessing newly developed families of molecular nanomachines capable of crossing the phospholipid bilayer and activating confined and controlled rotary mechanism from within the cell are presented. Key findings are presented showing how functionalisation of molecular nanomachines, with diamine moieties of various levels of methyl substitution, is able to induce a bathochromic shift in activation wavelength. Specifically, a greater level of amine substitution by electron donating alkyl chains is shown to increase this effect when attached to the rotor half of the nanomachine. Activation of polyethylene glycol functionalised nanomachines by way of a two-photon process is also illustrated both when in solution and, importantly, from within the cell. This is also extended to nanomachines functionalised with the mitochondrial targeted triphenylphosphine addend. These developments are then combined. Using attempts to activate internalised molecular nanomachines functionalised with triphenylphosphine from withinside cells. Specifically using therapeutically favourable, less phototoxic, 710 nm NIR wavelengths to induce more biologically compatible routes towards cell death, such as apoptosis. Miscopy images are presented illustrating that with the combination of these techniques, with short precisely designed windows of laser exposure, it is possible to observe clear morphological features of cell death without the addition of fluorescent signs of necrosis. These results represent a significant step forward towards the development of next generation targeted cancer therapeutics, but also leave a clear avenue for further work within the field. Suggestions are presented on how to extend this research, specifically on methods to measure the multiphoton cross section of photomechanical compounds, such as molecular nanomachines, more accurately. As well as methods for measuring apoptosis caused by nanomechanical damage, and importantly, how to distinguish this from necrotic processes

The role of a facilitated online workspace component of a community of practice: knowledge building and value creation for NASA

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of an online workspace component of a community in the work of a community of practice. Much has been studied revealing the importance of communities of practice to organizations, project success, and knowledge management and some of these same successes hold true for virtual communities of practice. Study participants were 75 Education and Public Outreach community members of NASA\u27s Science Mission Directorate Earth Forum. In this mixed methods study, online workspace metrics were used to track participation and a survey completed by 21 members was used to quantify participation. For a more detailed analysis, 15 community members (5 highly active users, 5 average users, and 5 infrequent users) selected based on survey responses, were interviewed. Finally, survey data was gathered from 7 online facilitators to understand their role in the community. Data collected from these 21 community members and 5 facilitating members suggest that highly active users (logging into the workspace daily), were more likely to have transformative experiences, co-create knowledge, feel ownership of community knowledge, have extended opportunities for community exchange, and find new forms of evaluation. Average users shared some similar characteristics with both the highly active members and infrequent users, representing a group in transition as they become more engaged and active in the online workspace. Inactive users viewed the workspace as having little value, being difficult to navigate, being mainly for gaining basic information about events and community news, and as another demand on their time. Results show the online workspace component of the Earth Science Education and Outreach Forum is playing an important and emerging role for this community by supporting knowledge building and knowledge sharing, and growing in value for those that utilizing it more frequently. The evidence suggests that with increased participation or usage comes increased value to the participant and the organization. This research illustrates the possible change in mindset held by participating community members when it comes to the nature of co-location. Additionally, it may be of particular importance in exploring changes in the community members\u27 feelings of connection and belonging

Florida.

T.G. Bradford\u27s 1838 map of Florida, engraved by G.W. Boynton. Map was Entered according to act of Congress in the year of 1838, by T.G. Bradford. Map includes fortication indication. Map scale [ca. 1:2,216,600].https://stars.library.ucf.edu/cfm-images/1827/thumbnail.jp

The Voice of the Frontier: John Bradford\u27s Notes on Kentucky

From 1826 to 1829, John Bradford, founder of Kentucky\u27s first newspaper, the Kentucky Gazette, reprinted in its pages sixty-six excerpts that he considered important documents on the settlement of the West. Now for the first time all of Bradford\u27s Notes on Kentucky—the primary historical source for Kentucky\u27s early years—are made available in a single volume, edited by the state\u27s most distinguished historian. The Kentucky Gazette was established in 1787 to support Kentucky\u27s separation from Virginia and the formation of a new state. Bradford\u27s Notes deal at length with that protracted debate and the other major issues confronting Bradford and his pioneering neighbors. The early white settlers were obsessed with Indian raids, which continued for more than a decade and caused profound anxiety. A second vexing concern was overlapping land claims, as swarms of settlers flowed into the region. And as quickly as the land was settled, newly opened fields began to yield mountains of produce in need of outside markets. Spanish control of the lower Mississippi and rumors of Spain\u27s plan to close the river for twenty-five years were far more threatening to the new economy than the continuing Indian raids. Equally disturbing was the British occupation of the northwest posts from which it was believed the northern Indianraids emanated. Not until Anthony Wayne\u27s sweeping campaign against the Miami villages and the signing of the Treaty of Greenville in 1794 was tension from that quarter relieved. Finally, the Jay Treaty with Britain and the Pinckney Treaty with Spain diplomatically cleared the Kentucky frontier for free expansion of the white populace. John Bradford\u27s Notes on Kentucky, now published together for the first time, deal with all of these pertinent issues. No other source portrays so intimately or so graphically the travail of western settlement. Thomas D. Clark, professor emeritus of history at the University of Kentucky, is the author of many books on the history of Kentucky and the American South. Brings together for the first time the complete text of John Bradford’s legendary Notes on Kentucky—one of the classic and (until now) most elusive sources of early Kentucky history. —Lexington Herald-Leader An essential book for all collectors of Kentuckiana. —Register of the Kentucky Historical Society Now for the first time all of Bradford’s Notes on Kentucky—the primary historical source for Kentucky’s early years—are made available in a single volume, edited by the state’s most distinguished historian. —Appalachian Quarterlyhttps://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_united_states_history/1105/thumbnail.jp

Application of the Reetz reagent, Dichlorodimethyltitanium, to develop sterically congested quaternary centers. The Synthesis of Herbertene

A general protocol for conversion of a tetrasubstituted alkene to a highly methylated hydrocarbon is tested with a concise synthesis of the natural product, herbertene. The conversion: alkene --\u3e 1,2-diol --\u3e 1,2-dimethylated hydrocarbon should find application in a number of synthesis designs

Kinetic vs. thermodynamic control in the dehydration of 2-Methylcyclopentanol

A two part organic laboratory experiment illustrating the Grignard reaction and the concept of kinetic versus thermodynamic control is described. The reaction of phenylmagnesium bromide with 2-methylcyclopentanone yileds an unsymmetrical benzylic alcohol which can be dehydrated using toluenesulfonic acid to give predominately the less substituted alkene. Application of heat to the reaction mixture over a period of two hours reverses the trend to give the more substituted alkene as the major product in 91% relative yield. The dehydration is monitored by GC/MS and the experiment can be performed using macro and microscale techniques