Consumer preferences and the National Treatment Principle: emerging environmental regulations prompt a new look at an old problem

Should consumers’ preference for ‘green’ products help justify,from a WTO perspective, emerging regulations such as restrictions on trade in non-sustainable biofuels? Despite the role consumer preferences have played in WTO disputes, in association with the ‘ like ’ products concept, there has not been enough focused examination of their specific influence, particularly in disputes on ethical public policy issues, such as environmental or health regulations. To this end, this paper examines key GATT Article III disputes, pointing out that they included attempts both to measure, and also to interpret, consumer preferences. The latter approach becomes more tempting when consumer preferences are difficult to measure; import bans or restrictions associated with ethical public policy regulations can bring about such a situation. A hypothetical dispute about EC biofuels sustainability criteria demonstrates this problem. Options to make the concept of consumer preferences more coherent include limitations on how they can be invoked, and an increased commitment to capturing them through measurement

No Change in Bicarbonate Transport but Tight-Junction Formation Is Delayed by Fluoride in a Novel Ameloblast Model

We have recently developed a novel in vitro model using HAT-7 rat ameloblast cells to functionally study epithelial ion transport during amelogenesis. Our present aims were to identify key transporters of bicarbonate in HAT-7 cells and also to examine the effects of fluoride exposure on vectorial bicarbonate transport, cell viability, and the development of transepithelial resistance. To obtain monolayers, the HAT-7 cells were cultured on Transwell permeable filters. We monitored transepithelial resistance (TER) as an indicator of tight junction formation and polarization. We evaluated intracellular pH changes by microfluorometry using the fluorescent indicator BCECF. Activities of ion transporters were tested by withdrawal of various ions from the bathing medium, by using transporter specific inhibitors, and by activation of transporters with forskolin and ATP. Cell survival was estimated by alamarBlue assay. Changes in gene expression were monitored by qPCR. We identified the activity of several ion transporters, NBCe1, NHE1, NKCC1, and AE2, which are involved in intracellular pH regulation and vectorial bicarbonate and chloride transport. Bicarbonate secretion by HAT-7 cells was not affected by acute fluoride exposure over a wide range of concentrations. However, tight-junction formation was inhibited by 1 mM fluoride, a concentration which did not substantially reduce cell viability, suggesting an effect of fluoride on paracellular permeability and tight-junction formation. Cell viability was only reduced by prolonged exposure to fluoride concentrations greater than 1 mM. In conclusion, cultured HAT-7 cells are functionally polarized and are able to transport bicarbonate ions from the basolateral to the apical fluid spaces. Exposure to 1 mM fluoride has little effect on bicarbonate secretion or cell viability but delays tight-junction formation, suggesting a novel mechanism that may contribute to dental fluorosis

Uncertainty Analysis Methodology for Measurements of Dynamic Millimeter-Wave Channels

Quantification of uncertainties in the results of channel sounding measurements is important for their interpretation and further usage. In this paper, a novel uncertainty analysis methodology to quantify uncertainties of condensed parameters in measurements of dynamic millimeter-wave channels is presented. The bandwidth limitation and multipath threshold are identified as important impairments. Therefore, the methodology provides three uncertainty metrics for condensed parameters, namely a standard uncertainty to quantify the impact of random variations; a bias due to the multipath threshold; and a total bias including the impact of the bandwidth limitation. These uncertainty metrics are highly channel dependent. Therefore, the proposed methodology creates reference channels, which are representative of corresponding measured channels. Hardware and processing impairments are included in the analysis via a Monte Carlo simulation. This results in a general methodology that can quantify uncertainties in both static and dynamic channel measurements of any wideband channel sounder. The methodology is implemented, verified and demonstrated for the TU/e channel sounder, which exemplifies how it can be used. The proposed methodology can improve the analysis, interpretation and reporting of channel measurement results.</p

Taking the Enforcement of Labour Standards in the EU’s Free Trade Agreements Seriously

The progression of EU law: Accommodating change and upholding value

Blockchain: technology looking for a problem?:visions of blockchain technology in real estate

At the moment of writing of this article, mid-2018, the topic ‘blockchain’ was introduced in the real estate industry in the Netherlands about two years ago. Blockchain will have a large impact in the way we share information and make transactions. Its promise is big, interest in the topic and the number of experiments doubles each year, and not only in the Netherlands, but globally too. So you might expect the number of actual ‘blockchain products’ for the real estate market to follow the same exponential pattern. In reality, however, this is hardly the case at all. Does that mean there are barely any problems to which blockchain is the solution? Perhaps the problems do exist, but the market is not ready yet? And why not? The two most frequently asked questions in the real estate industry are the following: 1. How will blockchain change my business model? 2. Where can I buy it so that I can employ it tomorrow