Pathways to Just, Equitable and Sustainable Trade and Investment Regimes

In this report we discuss what a Fair, Just and Equitable approach to the global, liberalized and hyper-competitive system of global trade and investments should be. The global market for goods and capital affect the life of producers and workers, stimulates the run towards cheaper products and puts farmers and workers against each other. The current vision of trade and investments is based on the silencing of gendered and reproductive labour and is responsible for the increase in inequality and relative poverty. Furthermore, it stimulates the extraction of commodities and contributes to the degradation of the planet, it has a significant impact on greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) due to transportation representing above 7% of the world total GHG, and it is closely linked with the appropriation of nature through patenting and the shift towards capital-intensive forms of production.In light of this, our report claims that the Fair Trade Movement shall not play ‘outside the market’ nor accept that the existing narrative and mechanisms will provide a solution that addresses the root causes of the problem. If the Fair Trade Movement was to play outside the market, it would create islands of fairness in a sea of degradation and violence, which sooner or later would also swallow those few bubbles (unless they can be reproduced thanks to the support of an elite interested in fair and sustainable products). This is because the global market is characterized by an inherent expansionist tendency and needs to stretch its frontiers, compete for resources and ensure a larger shares of consumers. If the approach was that of tweaking with current mechanisms and narratives, it would accept the historical violence and inequality of colonialism and uneven development that are at the basis of the global system of trade, it would dismiss the role that global trade has in piercing the planetary boundaries, and it would accept that contemporary social problems shall be addressed by making the pie larger rather than adequately redistributing what is already available.Given that the aim is that of implementing justice, equity and sustainability, we thus suggest ten principles/recommendations to be utilized by the Fair Trade movement when thinking about its approach to trade, its campaigns and where does it stand vis-à-vis concrete issues. The adoption of an intersectional and systemic approach to justice, equity and sustainability has concrete implications on the approach that the Fair Trade movement should adopt with regards to a set of trade and investments issues that are prominent in the contemporary international and regional debate. In the last part of this report we engage with five of these topics and present the main elements of a renew policy approach that follows the indications contained in our analysis

Short-term dietary choline supplementation alters the gut microbiota and liver metabolism of finishing pigs

Choline is an essential nutrient for pig development and plays a role in the animal's growth performance, carcass characteristics, and reproduction aspects in weaned pigs and sows. However, the effect of choline on finishing pigs and its potential regulatory mechanism remains unclear. Here, we feed finishing pigs with 1% of the hydrochloride salt of choline, such as choline chloride (CHC), under a basic diet condition for a short period of time (14 days). A 14-day supplementation of CHC significantly increased final weight and carcass weight while having no effect on carcass length, average backfat, or eye muscle area compared with control pigs. Mechanically, CHC resulted in a significant alteration of gut microbiota composition in finishing pigs and a remarkably increased relative abundance of bacteria contributing to growth performance and health, including Prevotella, Ruminococcaceae, and Eubacterium. In addition, untargeted metabolomics analysis identified 84 differently abundant metabolites in the liver between CHC pigs and control pigs, of which most metabolites were mainly enriched in signaling pathways related to the improvement of growth, development, and health. Notably, there was no significant difference in the ability of oxidative stress resistance between the two groups, although increased bacteria and metabolites keeping balance in reactive oxygen species showed in finishing pigs after CHC supplementation. Taken together, our results suggest that a short-term supplementation of CHC contributes to increased body weight gain and carcass weight of finishing pigs, which may be involved in the regulation of gut microbiota and alterations of liver metabolism, providing new insights into the potential of choline-mediated gut microbiota/metabolites in improving growth performance, carcass characteristics, and health

Reconstruction du traitement juste et équitable du point de vue de la protection des droits de l'homme

Le débat portant sur la relation entre la protection des droits de l'homme et la protection des investissements étrangers n’est pas nouveau. Quand cette dernière et la protection des droits de l'homme des peuples locaux s'opposent, quelle solution le régime du droit de l'investissement devrait-il proposer? Est-il possible d'inclure la protection des droits de l'homme des investisseurs étrangers dans le régime du droit international de l'investissement? Il faudrait trouver le moyen de rendre le régime du droit international de l'investissement compatible avec le régime du droit international des droits de l'homme. C'est le problème principal que cette thèse souhaite traiter. Je propose d'inclure la protection des droits de l'homme par le biais de la clause du traitement juste et équitable (TJE) dans les TBI. Le sens littéral du TJE est de donner aux investisseurs étrangers le traitement qu'ils méritent. Cela veut dire que l'on ne devrait leur donner ni plus ni moins que ce qu'ils méritent. On leur donne plus quand leur investissement est protégé sans que l'on accorde l'attention qui lui revient à la protection des droits de l'homme des peuples locaux. En même temps, les investisseurs étrangers méritent un environnement d'investissement dans lequel leurs droits de l'homme sont respectés. Pour l'argument de la cohérence, on a pu voir que le TJE était en général la mise en œuvre de l'état de droit. Les investisseurs étrangers méritent un environnement d'investissement où l'état de droit existe. L'état de droit inclut la protection des droits de l'homme. Les investisseurs étrangers méritent un environnement d'investissement où les droits de l'homme sont protégés.The relationship between human rights protection and foreign investment protection has been an issue that has been widely discussed. When the foreign investment protection and the human rights protection of local people conflicts, how should the investment law regime solve the problem? Moreover, is it possible that foreign investors' human rights protection be included in the international investment law regime? The international investment law regime should find a way to make itself compatible with international human rights law regime. The aforementioned is the major issue that this thesis intends to address. I have proposed to include human rights protection through the fair and equitable treatment (FET) clause in BITs. The literal meaning of FET is to give foreign investors the treatment that they deserve. This means that foreign investors should not be given neither less than they deserve, nor more than they deserve. Foreign investors were given more than they deserve when their investment were protected without giving due regard to local people's human rights protection. Meanwhile, foreign investors deserve an investment environment where their human rights are protected. For the coherence argument, FET is generally the implementation of the rule of law. In its interpretation, there is a presupposed warrant. The warrant is "foreign investors deserve an investment environment where rule of law is implemented." Foreign investors deserve an investment environment where rule of law is implemented. Rule of law includes the protection of human rights. Foreign investors therefore deserve an investment environment where the protection of human rights is implemented

LC/8YSZ TBCs Thermal Cycling Life and Failure Mechanism under Extreme Temperature Gradients

The purpose of this paper is to study the thermal shock resistance and failure mechanism of La2Ce2O7/8YSZ double-ceramic-layer thermal barrier coatings (LC/8YSZ DCL TBCs) under extreme temperature gradients. At high surface temperatures, thermal shock and infrared temperature measuring modules were used to determine the thermal cycling life and insulation temperature of LC/8YSZ DCL TBCs under extreme temperature gradients by an oxygen–acetylene gas flame testing machine. A viscoelastic model was used to obtain the stress law of solid phase sintering of a coating system using the finite element method. Results and Conclusion: (1) Thermal cycling life was affected by the surface temperature of LC/8YSZ DCL TBCs and decreased sharply with the increase of surface temperature. (2) The LC ceramic surface of the failure coating was sintered, and the higher the temperature, the faster the sintering process. (3) Accelerated life test results showed that high temperature thermal cycling life is not only related to thermal fatigue of ceramic layer, but is also related to the sintering degree of the coating. (4) Although the high temperature thermal stress had great influence on the coating, great sintering stress was produced with sintering of the LC ceramic layer, which is the main cause of LC/8YSZ DCL TBC failure. The above results indicate that for new TBC ceramic materials, especially those for engines above class F, their sinterability should be fully considered. Sintering affects the thermal shock properties at high temperature. Our research results can provide reference for material selection and high temperature performance research

Inactivation of the CRL4-CDT2-SET8/p21 ubiquitylation and degradation axis underlies the therapeutic efficacy of pevonedistat in melanoma

The cullin-based CRL4-CDT2 ubiquitin ligase is emerging as a master regulator of cell proliferation. CRL4-CDT2 prevents re-initiation of DNA replication during the same cell cycle “rereplication” through targeted degradation of CDT1, SET8 and p21 during S-phase of the cell cycle. We show that CDT2 is overexpressed in cutaneous melanoma and predicts poor overall and disease-free survival. CDT2 ablation inhibited a panel of melanoma cell lines through the induction of SET8- and p21-dependent DNA rereplication and senescence. Pevonedistat (MLN4924), a specific inhibitor of the NEDD8 activating enzyme (NAE), inhibits the activity of cullin E3 ligases, thereby stabilizing a vast number of cullin substrates and resulting in cancer cell inhibition in vitro and tumor suppression in nude mice. We demonstrate that pevonedistat is effective at inhibiting the proliferation of melanoma cell lines in vitro through the induction of rereplication-dependent permanent growth arrest as well as through a transient, non-rereplication-dependent mechanism. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated heterozygous deletion of CDKN1A (encoding p21) or SET8 in melanoma cells demonstrated that the rereplication-mediated cytotoxicity of pevonedistat is mediated through preventing the degradation of p21 and SET8 and is essential for melanoma suppression in nude mice. By contrast, pevonedistat-induced transient growth suppression was independent of p21 or SET8, and insufficient to inhibit tumor growth in vivo. Pevonedistat additionally synergized with the BRAF kinase inhibitor PLX4720 to inhibit BRAF melanoma, and suppressed PLX4720-resistant melanoma cells. These findings demonstrate that the CRL4-CDT2-SET8/p21 degradation axis is the primary target of inhibition by pevonedistat in melanoma and suggest that a broad patient population may benefit from pevonedistat therapy. Research in Context: The identification of new molecular targets and effective inhibitors is of utmost significance for the clinical management of melanoma. This study identifies CDT2, a substrate receptor for the CRL4 ubiquitin ligase, as a prognostic marker and therapeutic target in melanoma. CDT2 is required for melanoma cell proliferation and inhibition of CRL4CDT2 by pevonedistat suppresses melanoma in vitro and in vivo through the induction of DNA rereplication and senescence through the stabilization of the CRL4CDT2 substrates p21 and SET8. Pevonedistat also synergizes with vemurafenib in vivo and suppresses vemurafenib-resistant melanoma cells. These findings show a significant promise for targeting CRL4CDT2 therapeutically

A Comparative Study on the Growth Performance and Gut Microbial Composition of Duroc and Yorkshire Boars

The intestinal microbiota is required for maintaining the development and health of the host. However, the gut microbiota contributing to the regulation of the growth performance and health of Duroc and Yorkshire boars remains largely unknown. In this study, we first evaluated the difference in the growth performance between Duroc and Yorkshire boars when their body weight reached 100 kg. Relative to Duroc boars, Yorkshire boars weighed 100 kg at a younger age and exhibited a significantly lower backfat thickness and eye muscle area. Microbial analysis of the fecal samples revealed a marked difference in gut microbiota composition between the two pig models and remarkably increased α-diversity in Yorkshire boars compared to Duroc boars. Further analysis indicated that Bacteroidota, Prevotellaceae, and Ruminococcaceae might be associated with the growth performance and lean meat rate of Yorkshire boars. Taken together, these results highlight that Yorkshire boars exhibit a faster growth rate and higher lean meat rate compared to Duroc boars, and these differences may be attributed to the influence of the gut microbiota, thereby providing valuable insight into optimizing pig breeding systems and selecting terminal paternal sires to enhance overall productivity and quality

Comparison of Growth Performance and Plasma Metabolomics between Two Sire-Breeds of Pigs in China

The Yorkshire pigs, renowned for their remarkable growth rate, low feed conversion ratio (FCR), and high meat production, emerge as a novel preference for paternal breeding. In this study, we found that purebred paternal Yorkshire pigs (PY) surpass the purebred Duroc breed in terms of growth rate. Specifically, purebred PY attain a weight of 100 kg at an earlier age compared to purebred Duroc (Male, 145.07 vs. 162.91; Female, 145.91 vs. 167.57; p-value p-value p-value < 0.05), exerting an impact on their growth and development. According to our results, PY could be a new paternal option as a terminal sire in three-way cross system

Data_Sheet_1_Short-term dietary choline supplementation alters the gut microbiota and liver metabolism of finishing pigs.zip

Choline is an essential nutrient for pig development and plays a role in the animal's growth performance, carcass characteristics, and reproduction aspects in weaned pigs and sows. However, the effect of choline on finishing pigs and its potential regulatory mechanism remains unclear. Here, we feed finishing pigs with 1% of the hydrochloride salt of choline, such as choline chloride (CHC), under a basic diet condition for a short period of time (14 days). A 14-day supplementation of CHC significantly increased final weight and carcass weight while having no effect on carcass length, average backfat, or eye muscle area compared with control pigs. Mechanically, CHC resulted in a significant alteration of gut microbiota composition in finishing pigs and a remarkably increased relative abundance of bacteria contributing to growth performance and health, including Prevotella, Ruminococcaceae, and Eubacterium. In addition, untargeted metabolomics analysis identified 84 differently abundant metabolites in the liver between CHC pigs and control pigs, of which most metabolites were mainly enriched in signaling pathways related to the improvement of growth, development, and health. Notably, there was no significant difference in the ability of oxidative stress resistance between the two groups, although increased bacteria and metabolites keeping balance in reactive oxygen species showed in finishing pigs after CHC supplementation. Taken together, our results suggest that a short-term supplementation of CHC contributes to increased body weight gain and carcass weight of finishing pigs, which may be involved in the regulation of gut microbiota and alterations of liver metabolism, providing new insights into the potential of choline-mediated gut microbiota/metabolites in improving growth performance, carcass characteristics, and health.</p