Decentralized Administrative Law in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

The article examines administrative law practices at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and is being published as part of an issue of Law & Contemporary Problems on global administrative law. While the OECD is neither a well-known nor well-studied international organization (I worked there from 1990-1992), a number of its activities influence domestic agency action far more than is generally realized. It also provides a wonderful example for the study of global administrative law for the simple reason that it is a hybrid organization. Through its many diverse activities, OECD shares aspects of primarily law-making international bodies such as the EU, primarily standard-setting bodies such as the World Health Organization, and primarily data gathering and research organizations such as the UN Conference on Trade and Development. Perhaps surprisingly, there is no uniform administrative law in the OECD. In managing this constellation of activities, the OECD has chosen largely to decentralize its administrative law down to its subject-specific directorates who develop administrative procedures on an ad hoc basis. Thus in studying administrative law at the OECD, one is effectively studying multiple administrative law systems under one roof. Because the OECD does not garner much attention from scholars or the public, The article commences with a description of the OECD\u27s origins, operations, and examples of its range of activities. Four case studies then examine the OECD\u27s multiple roles and how these bear on the development of the organization\u27s administrative law. The cases range from traditional treaty-making, to consensus development of standards, to quasi-judicial review of the actions of multinational enterprises. Each of these examples relies on different types of administrative mechanisms to address the core concerns of transparency, responsiveness and accountability. The final section explores whether administrative law safeguards should apply to OECD activities that, while not lawmaking themselves, exert important influence on domestic lawmaking and underscores why the OECD has adopted a decentralized model of administrative law

ProbeMaker: an extensible framework for design of sets of oligonucleotide probes

BACKGROUND: Procedures for genetic analyses based on oligonucleotide probes are powerful tools that can allow highly parallel investigations of genetic material. Such procedures require the design of large sets of probes using application-specific design constraints. RESULTS: ProbeMaker is a software framework for computer-assisted design and analysis of sets of oligonucleotide probe sequences. The tool assists in the design of probes for sets of target sequences, incorporating sequence motifs for purposes such as amplification, visualization, or identification. An extension system allows the framework to be equipped with application-specific components for evaluation of probe sequences, and provides the possibility to include support for importing sequence data from a variety of file formats. CONCLUSION: ProbeMaker is a suitable tool for many different oligonucleotide design and analysis tasks, including the design of probe sets for various types of parallel genetic analyses, experimental validation of design parameters, and in silico testing of probe sequence evaluation algorithms

How far away is the next basket of eggs? Spatial memory and perceived cues shape aggregation patterns in a leaf beetle

Gregarious organisms need to handle the trade-off between increasing food competition and the positive effects of group living, and this is particularly important for ovipositing females. We hypothesized that insect females consider how many conspecifics previously visited a host plant. In a no-choice assay, we show that the gregarious blue willow leaf beetle (Phratora vulgatissima) laid the most eggs and the largest clutches on plants where a sequence of few individual females was released, compared to plants where one or many different females were repeatedly released. Therefore, this species is more sensitive to the indirectly perceived number of conspecifics than the directly perceived number of eggs on a plant. We further hypothesized that females adjust their own intra-plant egg clutch distribution to that of conspecifics and discovered a new behavioral component, i.e., the modulation of distances between clutches. Females adjusted these distances in ways indicating the use of spatial memory, because the largest distance increases were observed on plants with their own clutches, compared to plants with clutches from conspecifics. However, adjustment of aggregation level and distance between clutches occurred only on a suitable, and not on an unsuitable, Salix genotype. We conclude that both behaviors should reduce competition between sibling and non-sibling larvae

Biological control of strawberry diseases by Aureobasidium pullulans and sugar beet extract under field conditions

Grey mould (caused by Botrytis cinerea) is the most important pathogen underlying high fungicide dependence in strawberry fields. Reliable biocontrol agents (BCAs) with improved efficiency are needed to replace fungicides. The yeast-like beneficial fungus Aureobasidium pullulans (AP-SLU6) has previously exhibited great potential to combat grey mould in greenhouse environments. Here we report results from a two-year full-factorial field trial in a conventional strawberry field, in which we tested two different concentrations of A. pullulans (10(7) CFU/ml and 10(6) CFU/ml) and sugar beet extract (SBE). The results showed that all the field treatments reduced grey mould severity postharvest and increased shelf life of the harvested fruit in both years. The best effect was achieved using the highest conidial concentration of A. pullulans, which also resulted in 53% higher fruit production compared to the control treatment at the end of the season, indicating a plant-growth promoting effect of the BCA. These results reveal that spray applications of these novel BCAs contribute to reliable biocontrol of grey mould, leading to improvement of the shelf life of strawberry sales boxes. These findings suggest that A. pullulans and SBE can contribute to a shift from chemical fungicides to sustainable methods without compromising cropping security

Journal Staff

There is an international tendency toward increased demand for both cost-efficiency and high reliability of power distribution systems. To meet these demands, asset management methods, including reliability analyses, have been developed. These reliability analyses often utilize only mean values and hence do not take into consideration the consequences of severe events. This paper proposes a framework for more detailed quantitative risk analysis methods. The aim is to allocate resources more cost-effectively. The suggested framework is exemplified and evaluated by implementing it within the analyses of a real power distribution system. The main concept is to divide comprehensive projects into minor analyses and then in a final step compile the results. The proposed analysis framework can be used independently or combined with earlier proposed vulnerability methods. The latter provides a two-dimensional analysis framework. It is shown that totally different investment alternatives could be preferred depending on whether a traditional analysis method using average values is employed compared with the proposed analysis framework, which also considers severe system states. This demonstrates the risks involved in using average values and the strength of the proposed method. Furthermore, it is shown that already available information can be used for improved asset management decision support. In addition, the performed case study gives combined reliability and weather statistics useful as reference material.QC 20150123</p

A conceptual framework for integrated pest management

The concept of integrated pest management (IPM) has been accepted and incorporated in public policies and regulations in the European Union and elsewhere, but a holistic science of IPM has not yet been developed. Hence, current IPM programs may often be considerably less efficient than the sum of separately applied individual crop protection actions. Thus, there is a clear need to formulate general principles for synergistically combining traditional and novel IPM actions to improve efforts to optimize plant protection solutions. This paper addresses this need by presenting a conceptual framework for a modern science of IPM. The framework may assist attempts to realize the full potential of IPM and reduce risks of deficiencies in the implementation of new policies and regulations

Aureobasidium spp.: Diversity, Versatility, and Agricultural Utility

The black yeast-like fungi Aureobasidium spp. are ubiquitous microorganisms found in a wide variety of extreme and benign environments as saprophytes, endophytes, and pathogens. Since this diverse genus includes species with potential uses in agriculture and the food industry, it is important that we explore their evolution and spread in the context of climate change. Aureobasidium spp. are known to be capable of producing a plethora of various metabolites, many of which find applications in the field in the control of plant pathogens. The present review aims to explain how these microorganisms can provide ecological and safe strategies that might be adopted in agricultural production systems and food processing. The versatility and potential of the Aureobasidium genus lie perfectly within the Sustainable Development Goals Agenda 2021-2030 by opening new horizons that are respectful to the environment and human health

PieceMaker: selection of DNA fragments for selector-guided multiplex amplification

We describe PieceMaker, a software tool for the design of applications of selector probes–oligonucleotide probes that direct circularization of target nucleic acid molecules. Such probes can be combined in parallel to circularize a selection of fragments from restriction digested total genomic DNA. These fragments can then be amplified in a single PCR using a common primer pair, yielding substrates for subsequent analyses, such as parallel genotyping or sequencing. However, designing multiplex selector assays is a laborious task. The PieceMaker program alleviates this problem by selecting restriction enzymes to generate suitable fragments for selection, and generating the output data required to design the selector probes

Plant-sex-biased tritrophic interactions on dioecious willow

Plant sex effects on herbivores are well studied, but little is known about these effects on predators and predator-herbivore dynamics. Here we take a holistic approach to study, simultaneously, plant sex effects on herbivore and predator preference and performance, as well as population densities and predation pressure in the field. For dioecious Salix cinerea (grey willow) we found that male plants represented higher host plant quality than females for an omnivorous predator (Anthocoris nemorum, common flower bug), while host plant quality for its herbivorous prey (Phratora vulgatissima, blue willow beetle) was not sex-biased. The herbivore strongly preferred the host plant sex (female) that was suboptimal for the predator, which in turn followed its prey to female plants, leading to plant-sex-biased predation. These results provide new insight into the far-reaching effects of plant sex on insect communities, and open up novel opportunities for improving biocontrol of the herbivore in Salix short rotation coppice

Wild strawberry shows genetic variation in tolerance but not resistance to a generalist herbivore

Plants' defenses against herbivores usually include both resistance and tolerance mechanisms. Their deployment has predominantly been studied in either single-plant genotypes or multiple genotypes exposed to single herbivores. In natural situations, however, most plants are attacked by multiple herbivores. Therefore, aims of this study were to assess and compare the effects of single and multiple herbivores on plant resistance and tolerance traits, and the consequences for overall plant performance. For this, we exposed multiple genotypes of wild woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca) to jasmonic acid (JA), to mimic chewing herbivory and induce the plants' defense responses, and then introduced the generalist herbivoreSpodoptera littoralisto feed on them. We found that woodland strawberry consistently showed resistance toS. littoralisherbivory, with no significant genetic variation between the genotypes. By contrast, the studied genotypes showed high variation in tolerance, suggesting evolutionary potential in this trait. Prior JA application did not alter these patterns, although it induced an even higher level of resistance in all tested genotypes. The study provides novel information that may be useful for breeders seeking to exploit tolerance and resistance mechanisms to improve strawberry crops' viability and yields, particularly when multiple herbivores pose significant threats