Recent Developments--Recent Decisions

All nations recognize the enormous problem of marine pollution. The sources of marine pollution are definable, and there are methods by which these sources may be restricted. Virtually all mankind would prefer less pollution to more. Prevention, however, becomes less attractive in light of its costs, which assume both political and economic characteristics. Varying political and economic climates coupled with problems of sovereignty and national self-interest render agreement on the imposition of standards difficult. This Recent Development will chart past and present efforts at the preservation of the marine environment, consider the issues confronting the United Nations Third Conference on the Law of the Sea and the United Nations Environment Program, and attempt to predict future approaches to this area of international law. ================== Plaintiffs, the New York Shipping Association (NYSA) and the International Longshoremen\u27s Association, AFL-CIO (ILA) filed a joint petition with the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) for an order declaring that a formula in their collective bargaining agreement was not subject to the filing or approval requirements of section 15 of the Shipping Act of 1916. The formula in question established a method for assessing charges to fund a benefit plan created to mitigate the impact on longshoremen of unemployment caused by technological innovation. Petitioners alleged that the formula was not an agreement between persons subject to the Act and, therefore, was not within the purview of section 15. In addition, they argued that because the assessment arrangement was part of the collective bargaining agreement between NYSA and ILA, it was exempt from the provisions of the Act in all respects

Pediatric aspects of the Michigan polybrominated biphenyl contamination

In 1973, Michigan cattle feed was accidentally contaminated with polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and subsequently PBB has been found in the serum, body fat, and breast milk of most Michigan residents. Because of numerous complaints of ill health, a survey of Michigan farm children, the most heavily exposed group, was undertaken in 1976 to determine the nature and scope of the problem. Examination of the data from 292 Michigan children showed that the prevalence of symptoms was related to the quarantine status of the farm and to the method of invitation into the study. Serum PBB levels were related to the quarantine status of the farm but not to the method of invitation into the study. No significant effects of age or sex were found on the prevalence of symptoms or serum PBB levels, except that the teenage (13-16) males had somewhat higher PBB levels. Despite the frequent reporting of symptoms of ill health, physical examination failed to reveal any objective alterations that could be attributed to PBB. The most striking finding has been a statistically significant negative correlation between the prevalence of symptoms and the serum-PBB levels. So far, the reason for this negative correlation is unexplained.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/23275/1/0000212.pd

Absolutely stable proton and lowering the gauge unification scale

A unified model is constructed, based on flipped SU(5) in which the proton is absolutely stable. The model requires the existence of new leptons with masses of order the weak scale. The possibility that the unification scale could be extremely low is discussed

Kinetic mechanism of ornithine hydroxylase (PvdA) from Pseudomonas aeruginosa: substrate triggering of O2 addition but not flavin reduction

This publication was made possible by NIH Grant P20 RR-17708-05 from the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes of Health. K.M.M. was a recipient of a National Institutes of Health Predoctoral Training Grant Fellowship (GM08545).PvdA catalyzes the hydroxylation of the sidechain primary amine of ornithine in the initial step of the biosynthesis of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa siderophore pyoverdin. The reaction requires FAD, NADPH, and O2. PvdA uses the same co-substrates as several flavin-dependent hydroxylases that differ one from another in the kinetic mechanisms of their oxidative and reductive half-reactions. Therefore, the mechanism of PvdA was determined by absorption stopped-flow experiments. By contrast to some flavin-dependent hydroxylases (notably, p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase), binding of the hydroxylation target is not required to trigger reduction of the flavin by NADPH: the reductive half-reaction is equally facile in the presence and absence of ornithine. Reaction of O2 with FADH2 in the oxidative half-reaction is accelerated by ornithine 80-fold, providing a mechanism by which PvdA can ensure coupling of NADPH and ornithine oxidation. In the presence of ornithine, the expected C(4a)-hydroperoxyflavin intermediate with 390-nm absorption accumulates and decays to the C(4a)-hydroxyflavin in a kinetically competent fashion. The slower oxidative half-reaction that occurs in the absence of ornithine involves accumulation of an oxygenated flavin species and two subsequent states that are tentatively assigned as C(4a)-peroxy- and -hydroperoxyflavin intermediates and the oxidized flavin. The enzyme generates stoichiometric hydrogen peroxide in lieu of hydroxyornithine. The data suggest that PvdA employs a kinetic mechanism that is a hybrid of those previously documented for other flavin-dependent hydroxylases