Winning Lessons from the NAFTA Loss

[Excerpt] The period around last fall\u27s Congressional vote on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was the best of times and the worst of times for organized labor. The threat of NAFTA\u27s passage galvanized tens of thousands of rank-and-file union activists. Working in local coalitions with farmers, environmentalists, consumer advocates, Perot supporters, and other forces, union members waged a spirited, high-profile campaign over a public-policy question affecting millions of Americans

High Tech Professionals Are Hard to Organize Too

[Excerpt] It is unlikely that any technical and professional employees will be organized in non-union high tech firms until more blue-collar production workers become union members. There are, however, some high technology companies which already have heavily unionized blue-collar workforces. Two industrial unions have recently tried to recruit new members among the engineering and computer personnel at such firms. The experiences of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) at AT&T Technologies and the International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Technical, Salaried, & Machine Workers (IUE) at Raytheon indicate that the obstacles facing unions in this type of high tech organizing are formidable

Organizing High Tech: Unions & Their Future

[Excerpt] Statistics compiled by the American Electronics Association—a leading defender of high tech\u27s union-free environment\u27—indicate the difficulty unions have had organizing electronics workers. The AEA surveyed almost 1,200 firms about union activity in their plants between 1971 and 1982. They reported fewer than 100 NLRB representation elections during that period, with unions winning only 21. These figures understate labor\u27s problem. Through a sophisticated mixture of paternalism and repression, the high tech industry has prevented the vast majority of employee organizing efforts from reaching the stage of a Labor Board election. As a result, the AEA\u27s 1900 member companies have only 90 union contracts. In this article, we will examine the job problems facing high tech workers, the factors inhibiting union organizing in their industry, the experiences of some recent high tech campaigns, and strategies for overcoming the obstacles to worker self-organization in this crucial sector of the U.S. economy

Molecular clouds in the center of M81

We investigate the molecular gas content and the excitation and fragmentation properties in the central region of the spiral galaxy Messier 81 in both the ^{12}CO(1-0) and ^{12}CO(2-1) transitions. We have recently observed the two transitions of CO in the M~81 center with A, B, and HERA receivers of the IRAM 30-m telescope. We find no CO emission in the inner $\sim$ 300 pc and a weak molecular gas clump structure at a distance of around 460 pc from the nucleus. Observations of the first two CO transitions allowed us to compute the line ratio, and the average I_{21}/I_{10} ratio is 0.68 for the M~81 center. This low value, atypical both of the galactic nuclei of spiral galaxies and of interacting systems, is probably associated to diffuse gas with molecular hydrogen density that is not high enough to excite the CO molecules. After analyzing the clumping properties of the molecular gas in detail, we identify very massive giant molecular associations (GMAs) in CO(2-1) emission with masses of $\sim$ 10$^{5}$ M$_\odot$ and diameters of $\sim$ 250 pc. The deduced N(H_{2})/I_{CO} ratio for the individually resolved GMAs, assumed to be virialized, is a factor of $\sim$ 15 higher than the \textit{standard} Galactic value, showing - as suspected - that the X ratio departs significantly from the mean for galaxies with an unusual physics of the molecular gas.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, 6 tables. Accepted for pubblication in A&

[CI] and CO in the center of M 51

We present J=2-1, J=3-2, J=4-3 12CO maps as well as J=2-1, J=3-2 13CO and 492 GHz [CI] measurements of the central region in M51. The distribution of CO is strongly concentrated towards the spiral arms. The center itself is poor in, though not devoid of, CO emission. The observed line intensities require modelling with a multi-component molecular gas. A dense component must be present with n(H2) = 1000 cm-3 and kinetic temperature T(kin)= 100 K, combined with either a less dense (about 100 cm-3) component of the same temperature, or a more dense (n(H2) = 3000 cm-3) and much cooler (T(kin) = 10-30 K) component. Atomic carbon amounts are between 5 and 10 times those of CO. Much of the molecular gas mass is associated with the hot PDR phase. The center of M 51 has a face-on gas mass density of about 40+/-20 M(O) pc-2, and a well-established CO-to-H2 conversion ratio X four to five times lower than the standard Galactic value.Comment: Accepted for publication by A&

Development and Validation of a Modified Multiple Errands Test for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities

Background: The aims of the current study were to adapt a version of the MET for people with intellectual disabilities (IDs) and assess its ecological and construct validity. Material and Methods: Using a correlational design, 40 participants with IDs were invited to complete a battery of neuropsychological assessments and the modified Multiple Errands Test for Intellectual Disabilities (mMET-IDs). Results: The ability to successfully complete tasks on the mMET-IDs correlated significantly with measures of the Supervisory Attentional System, namely, the Tower of London Test and the Six Parts Test. However, performance on the mMET-IDs and the Six Parts Test could be accounted for by Verbal IQ and receptive vocabulary. The mMET-IDs failed to correlate with the DEX-IR. Conclusions: The mMET-IDs can be successfully used to assess some aspects of the Supervisory Attentional System in people with IDs. Further development is needed, however, to improve the ecological validity of the mMET-IDs

Attitudes Towards Standardization of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells—A Qualitative Exploration of Expert Views

Pharmacopoeial standards ensure quality control of established medicines. It is widely believed that translation of cell therapy medicines will be facilitated by defining and adopting relevant standards. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are used extensively for multiple indications in regenerative medicine. They are highly heterogeneous in terms of their biological characteristics and their mechanisms of action, making standardization a challenging undertaking. Furthermore, the use of MSCs in therapy appears to attract diverse views, ranging from concern and caution to enthusiastic positivity. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 expert stakeholders from academia, industry, regulatory agencies, non-governmental organizations and clinicians to explore their views, experiences, recommendations, and concerns regarding standardization of MSCs. Qualitative thematic analysis of transcribed records led to development of a consensus framework, which identified 5 key themes to facilitate exploration of the interviews’ content. On the basis of our findings, we conclude that (1) there is undoubtedly an appetite for standardization, particularly in development of assays that enable comparison or benchmarking across manufacturers, processes, and cell sources; (2) stakeholder groups are not homogeneous in their concerns and attitudes; (3) careful consideration must be given to the points along the development timeline at which different standardization approaches could be beneficial; and (4) the roles of standards could be promoted further for specific aspects of advanced therapy medicinal product (ATMP) development and regulation such as qualification of decentralized manufacturing sites. A unified cross-stakeholder approach will help to advance MSC therapeutics and other cell therapy medicines

Certain anatomical and functional interrelations between the tegmentum of the midbrain and the basal ganglia

No Abstract.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/49970/1/901080104_ftp.pd