Prevailing

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Distribution within Life Sciences

Kinds of Prevailing

  • condition prevailing

  • Terms modified by Prevailing

  • prevailing approach
  • prevailing assumption
  • prevailing condition
  • prevailing environmental condition
  • prevailing hypothesis
  • prevailing level
  • prevailing notion
  • prevailing paradigm
  • prevailing view
  • prevailing wind

  • Selected Abstracts


    The New Corporate Vehicle Societas Europaea (SE): consequences for European corporate governance

    CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, Issue 2 2007
    Caspar Rose
    This article presents an analysis of the newly created European company Societas Europaea (SE) focusing on the consequences for European corporate governance. The SE offers the possibility to organise the management of a SE as a one-tier, or alternatively a two-tier, system. It is argued that this flexibility will not result in a single board system prevailing in equilibrium, but instead this choice will be made depending on each firm's business environment. Thus, the SE gives the management the option to incorporate in another member state. As argued, this will, eventually, lay the ground for a European market for incorporations. Important issues such as investor protection and dual-class voting shares are also analysed. The most controversial topic in the creation process of the SE was the role of the employees. The article completes with a discussion of the employees' role in relation to the opponent doctrines of shareholder vs stakeholder value. [source]


    The ,Neoliberal Turn' and the New Social Policy in Latin America: How Neoliberal, How New?

    DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 5 2008
    Maxine Molyneux
    ABSTRACT The term neoliberal is widely used as shorthand to describe the policy environment of the last three decades. Yet the experience of the Latin American region suggests that it is too broad a descriptor for what is in fact a sequenced, fragmented and politically indeterminate process. This article examines the evolution of social protection in the region, and argues for a more grounded, historical approach to neoliberalism, and for some analytic refinement to capture the different ,moments' in its policy evolution, its variant regional modalities, and its co-existence with earlier policies and institutional forms. It suggests that totalizing conceptions of neoliberalism as imposing an inexorable market logic with predetermined social and political outcomes fail to capture the variant modalities, adaptations and indeed resistance to the global diffusion of the structural reforms. This article outlines the systems of social welfare prevailing in Latin America prior to the reforms, and then examines the principle elements of what has been termed the ,New Social Policy' in Latin America, engaging three issues: the periodization of neoliberalism; the role of the state; and the place of politics in the neoliberal reform agenda. [source]


    Effect of environmental variables on eukaryotic microbial community structure of land-fast Arctic sea ice

    ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 3 2010
    Brian Eddie
    Summary Sea ice microbial community structure affects carbon and nutrient cycling in polar seas, but its susceptibility to changing environmental conditions is not well understood. We studied the eukaryotic microbial community in sea ice cores recovered near Point Barrow, AK in May 2006 by documenting the composition of the community in relation to vertical depth within the cores, as well as light availability (mainly as variable snow cover) and nutrient concentrations. We applied a combination of epifluorescence microscopy, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and clone libraries of a section of the 18S rRNA gene in order to compare the community structure of the major eukaryotic microbial phylotypes in the ice. We find that the community composition of the sea ice is more affected by the depth horizon in the ice than by light availability, although there are significant differences in the abundance of some groups between light regimes. Epifluorescence microscopy shows a shift from predominantly heterotrophic life styles in the upper ice to autotrophy prevailing in the bottom ice. This is supported by the statistical analysis of the similarity between the samples based on the denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis banding patterns, which shows a clear difference between upper and lower ice sections with respect to phylotypes and their proportional abundance. Clone libraries constructed using diatom-specific primers confirm the high diversity of diatoms in the sea ice, and support the microscopic counts. Evidence of protistan grazing upon diatoms was also found in lower sections of the core, with implications for carbon and nutrient recycling in the ice. [source]


    d -Alanyl ester depletion of teichoic acids in Lactobacillus reuteri 100-23 results in impaired colonization of the mouse gastrointestinal tract

    ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 7 2007
    Jens Walter
    Summary The dlt operon of Gram-positive bacteria encodes proteins required for the incorporation of d -alanine esters into cell wall-associated teichoic acids (TA). d -Alanylation of TA has been shown to be important for acid tolerance, resistance to antimicrobial peptides, adhesion, biofilm formation, and virulence of a variety of pathogenic organisms. The aim of this study was to determine the importance of d -alanylation for colonization of the gastrointestinal tract by Lactobacillus reuteri 100-23. Insertional inactivation of the dltA gene resulted in complete depletion of d -alanine substitution of lipoteichoic acids. The dlt mutant had similar growth characteristics as the wild type under standard in vitro conditions, but formed lower population sizes in the gastrointestinal tract of ex- Lactobacillus -free mice, and was almost eliminated from the habitat in competition experiments with the parental strain. In contrast to the wild type, the dlt mutant was unable to form a biofilm on the forestomach epithelium during gut colonization. Transmission electron microscope observations showed evidence of cell wall damage of mutant bacteria present in the forestomach. The dlt mutant had impaired growth under acidic culture conditions and increased susceptibility to the cationic peptide nisin relative to the wild type. Ex vivo adherence of the dlt mutant to the forestomach epithelium was not impaired. This study showed that d -alanylation is an important cell function of L. reuteri that seems to protect this commensal organism against the hostile conditions prevailing in the murine forestomach. [source]


    Empirical and modeling evidence of regional atmospheric transport of current-use pesticides

    ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 10 2004
    Derek C. G. Muir
    Abstract Water samples from 30 lakes in Canada and the northeastern United States were analyzed for the occurrence of 27 current-use pesticides (CUPs). Eleven CUPs were frequently detected in lakes receiving agricultural inputs as well as in remote lakes hundreds of kilometers from known application areas. These included the triazine herbicide atrazine and its desethylated degradation product; the herbicides alachlor, metolachlor, and dacthal; the organophosphate insecticides chlorpyrifos, diazinon, and disulfoton; the organochlorine insecticides ,-endosulfan and lindane; and the fungicides chlorothalonil and flutriafol. For six of the pesticides, empirical half-distances on the order of 560 to 1,820 km were estimated from the water-concentration gradient with latitude. For most of the pesticides, a suite of assessment models failed to predict such atmospheric long-range transport behavior, unless the effect of periods of lower hydroxyl radical concentrations and dry weather were taken into account. Observations and model results suggest that under the conditions prevailing in south-central Canada (relatively high latitude, low precipitation rates), many CUPs will be able to undergo regional-scale atmospheric transport and reach lakes outside areas of agricultural application. When assessing the potential of fairly reactive and water-soluble substances to undergo long-range transport, it is imperative to account for periods of no precipitation, to assure that degradation rate constants are correct, and to apply oxidant concentrations that are valid for the region and time period of interest. [source]


    Field contamination of the starfish Asterias rubens by metals.

    ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 9 2003
    Part 1: Short-, long-term accumulation along a pollution gradient
    Abstract The accumulation of Cd, Pb, Zn, and Cu in the starfish Asterias rubens was studied in a Norwegian fjord characterized by a gradient of metal pollution in the sediments, ranging from very high metal concentrations at its head to much lower levels at its opening. The concentrations of metals in starfish from natural populations along the gradient (long-term accumulation) and in starfish that were transferred up the gradient (short-term accumulation) were compared. At long-term, Cd and Pb accumulations by starfish living at normal salinity (30,) were related to the level of contamination of of the environment while Cu and, to a lesser extent, Zn accumulations appeared strictly controlled. At short-term, Pb was accumulated steadily, Cd and Zn were accumulated transiently in the pyloric caeca (fast compartment), and Cu was not accumulated at all. Depuration experiments (transfer down the gradient) showed that Cd and Pb were efficiently eliminated from the pyloric caeca but not from the body wall (slow compartment). It is concluded that Pb is chronically accumulated, without apparent control, Cd is subjected to a regulating mechanism in the pyloric caeca which is overwhelmed over the long-term; Zn is tightly controlled in the pyloric caeca and Cu in both pyloric caeca and body wall. A distinct color variety of starfish is restricted to the low salinity (22-26,) superficial water layer. This variety showed a different pattern of metal accumulation over the long-term. This pattern is attributed to the particular hydrological conditions prevailing in this upper layer. [source]


    Cadmium uptake by earthworms as related to the availability in the soil and the intestine

    ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 8 2001
    Leonard A. Oste
    Abstract The free metal concentration in the soil solution is often considered a key parameter for metal uptake by and toxicity to soft-bodied soil organisms. The equilibrium partitioning theory, which assumes a relationship between the contaminant concentration in pore water and the contaminant concentration in the body tissue, can be used to describe uptake by earthworms. This theory has proved useful for organic chemicals, but its applicability is less clear for metals. In this study, the Cd concentration in soil pore water (pw) was varied by increasing the soil pH by the addition of lime (Ca(OH)2) and by adding manganese oxide (MnO2), which has a high metal binding capacity. Both lime (0.135% w/w) and MnO2 (1% w/w) decreased [Cd2+]pw by a factor of 25, while CdWorm was reduced only by a factor of 1.3 in lime-treated soils and 2.5 in MnO2 -treated soils. Cadmium uptake was weakly related to the free metal concentration (R2adj = 0.66). Adding pH as an explanatory variable increased R2adj to 0.89, indicating that Cd uptake from pore water is pH dependent, which might be attributed to competition of protons and Cd at the surface of the earthworm body. However, previous earthworm experiments in reconstituted groundwater showed a conspicuously smaller pH dependency of Cd uptake. The differences in metal uptake between earthworms in lime- and MnO2 -treated soils are therefore more likely to reflect the predominance of pH-independent intestinal uptake of Cd. Equilibrating the soil with a solution of 0.01 M CaCl2 and 0.1 M triethanolamine (buffered at pH 7.2), simulating the conditions prevailing in the worm intestine, yielded free Cd concentrations that were closely (R2adj = 0.83) and linearly related to the Cd concentration in the earthworm tissue. [source]


    Viruses of pome fruit trees in Syria

    EPPO BULLETIN, Issue 1 2006
    F. Ismaeil
    A survey was conducted to evaluate the sanitary status of pome fruit trees in Syria during spring 2003 and 2004 in 6 governorates: Damascus, Al-Qunaitara and Al-Sweida (Southern region), Homs and Hama (Central region) and Latakia (Costal Western region), as the main production areas of pome fruits. Leaf samples from 1077 apples, 54 pears and 14 quince were collected and tested for the presence of Apple chlorotic leaf spot virus (ACLSV), Apple stem grooving virus (ASGV) and Apple mosaic virus (ApMV) in 70 commercial orchards and 3 varietal collections by ELISA. Results showed that the virus infection rates were 34 and 2% in apple and pear, respectively. Quince trees were found to be virus tested free. ACLSV was prevailing on apple with 34%, whereas ASGV and ApMV were found in 2 and 0.2% of tested trees, respectively. Pear trees were infected only with ACLSV (2%). 21 apples and 15 pears representative budwood samples were indexed by grafting on the following indicators: (i) Malus pumila cvs. Virginia Crab and Radiant for apple and (ii) M. pumila cv. V. Crab and Pyrus communis cv. Nouveau Poiteau for pear. The virus infection rates by woody indexing were much higher than ELISA, Apple stem pitting virus (ASPV) and ASGV were found in 86 and 82% of apple tested samples, whereas they were 80 and 60% of pear tested samples, respectively. Additional RT-PCR testing carried out for a limited number of samples confirmed the high incidence of ACLSV ASPV, ASGV and the presence of ApMV. This is the first report on pome fruit viruses in Syria, indicating an unsatisfactory sanitary status of the industry. As a consequence, a certification program is recommended for producing locally healthy propagating material. [source]


    Temporal filtering by prefrontal neurons in duration discrimination

    EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 11 2008
    Ken-ichi Oshio
    Abstract Neural imaging studies have revealed that the prefrontal cortex (PFC) participates in time perception. However, actual functional roles remain unclear. We trained two monkeys to perform a duration-discrimination task, in which two visual cues were presented consecutively for different durations ranging from 0.2 to 2.0 s. The subjects were required to choose the longer cue. We recorded single-neuron activity from the PFC while the subjects were performing the task. Responsive neurons for the first cue period were extracted and classified through a cluster analysis of firing rate curves. The neuronal activity was categorized as phasic, ramping and sustained patterns. Among them, the phasic activity was the most prevailing. Peak time of the phasic activity was broadly distributed about 0.8 s after cue onset, leading to a natural assumption that the phasic activity was related to cognitive processes. The phasic activity with constant delay after cue onset might function to filter current cue duration with the peak time. The broad distribution of the peak time would indicate that various filtering durations had been prepared for estimating C1 duration. The most frequent peak time was close to the time separating cue durations into long and short. The activity with this peak time might have had a role of filtering in attempted duration discrimination. Our results suggest that the PFC contributes to duration discrimination with temporal filtering in the cue period. [source]


    1,3-Chirality Transfer by Fragmentation of Allylsulfinic Acids: A Diastereoselective Approach to Vinyl Bromides Related to trans -Hydrindane or trans -Decalin

    EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, Issue 15 2007
    Chochrek
    Abstract Diastereoselective approaches to vinyl bromides from bromoallylic alcohols by fragmentation of the respective allylsulfinic acids have been investigated. Bromoallylic alcohols 1a and 6 were transformed into the respective 1,3-benzothiazol-2-yl sulfides 2a and 7 by the Mitsunobu inversion reaction under modified conditions. The sulfides were then oxidized into sulfones 11a and 12a, respectively. Reduction of 11a and 12a with sodium borohydride gave the respective allylsulfinic acid salts 13a and 15 which, without isolation, were treated with aqeous tartaric acid. The salt 13a gave exclusively 5,-cholestane derivative 14a whereas 15 provided a mixture of the 5, and 5, derivatives 16 and 17 (after deprotection), the former prevailing. In an alternative approach, benzothiazolyl sulfides 2a and 7 were treated sequentially with BH3·THF and LiAlH4 to give thiols 18a and 19a, respectively. Oxidation of thiols 18a and 19a with oxaziridine 21 gave the respective sulfinic acids which, on gentle heating, afforded bromoolefins 14a and 22a, respectively, as the only products. Analogous reaction sequences starting from allylic alcohols devoid of the bromine substituent 1b and 8 have also been studied.(© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2007) [source]


    Experimental and steady-state analysis of the GAL regulatory system in Kluyveromyces lactis

    FEBS JOURNAL, Issue 14 2010
    Venkat R. Pannala
    The galactose uptake mechanism in yeast is a well-studied regulatory network. The regulatory players in the galactose regulatory mechanism (GAL system) are conserved in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Kluyveromyces lactis, but the molecular mechanisms that occur as a result of the molecular interactions between them are different. The key differences in the GAL system of K. lactis relative to that of S. cerevisiae are: (a) the autoregulation of KlGAL4; (b) the dual role of KlGal1p as a metabolizing enzyme as well as a galactose-sensing protein; (c) the shuttling of KlGal1p between nucleus and cytoplasm; and (d) the nuclear confinement of KlGal80p. A steady-state model was used to elucidate the roles of these molecular mechanisms in the transcriptional response of the GAL system. The steady-state results were validated experimentally using measurements of ,-galactosidase to represent the expression for genes having two binding sites. The results showed that the autoregulation of the synthesis of activator KlGal4p is responsible for the leaky expression of GAL genes, even at high glucose concentrations. Furthermore, GAL gene expression in K. lactis shows low expression levels because of the limiting function of the bifunctional protein KlGal1p towards the induction process in order to cope with the need for the metabolism of lactose/galactose. The steady-state model of the GAL system of K. lactis provides an opportunity to compare with the design prevailing in S. cerevisiae. The comparison indicates that the existence of a protein, Gal3p, dedicated to the sensing of galactose in S. cerevisiae as a result of genome duplication has resulted in a system which metabolizes galactose efficiently. [source]


    Why are species' body size distributions usually skewed to the right?

    FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2002
    Jan Koz, owski
    Summary 1.,Species' body size distributions are right-skewed, symmetric or left-skewed, but right-skewness strongly prevails. 2.,Skewness changes with taxonomic level, with a tendency to high right-skewness in classes and diverse skewness in orders within a class. Where the number of lower taxa allows for analysis, skewness coefficients have normal distributions, with the majority of taxa being right-skewed. 3.,Skewness changes with geographical scale. For a broad range, distributions in a class are usually right-skewed. For a narrower scale, distributions remain right-skewed or become symmetric or even close to uniform. 4.,The prevailing right-skewness of species' body size distributions is explained with macroevolutionary models, the fractal character of the environment, or body size optimization. 5.,Macroevolutionary models assume either size-biased speciation and extinction, or the existence of a constraint on small size. Macroevolutionary mechanisms seem insufficient to explain the pattern of species' body size distributions, but they may operate together with other mechanisms. 6.,Optimization models assume that directional and then stabilizing selection works after speciation events. There are two kinds of optimization approaches to study species' body size distributions. Under the first approach, it is assumed that a single energetic optimum exists for an entire taxon, and that species are distributed around this optimum. Under the second approach, each species has a separate optimum, and the species' body size distribution reflects the distribution of optimal values. 7.,Because not only energetic properties but also mortality are important in determining optimal sizes, only the second approach, that is, seeking the distribution of optimal values, seems appropriate in the context of life-history evolution. This approach predicts diverse shapes of body size distributions, with right-skewness prevailing. [source]


    Stratigraphic landscape analysis: Charting the Holocene movements of the Nile at Karnak through ancient Egyptian time

    GEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 3 2008
    J. M. Bunbury
    Geological analysis of 5,10-m-long sediment cores in the context of the anthropologically derived materials within them has allowed us to identify ancient landscape features in the Theban area around Luxor, Egypt. From these observations we propose a sequence of island formation and northwestward movement of the Nile from the Middle Kingdom onward in the area of the temple complexes of Karnak. The geoarchaeological techniques used appear to document the Holocene lateral migration and vertical aggradation of the Nile. Our method can be used to test postulated movements and is applicable to sites in river or coastal plains where sediments were being deposited during the occupation of the site. The sediments were sieved to retrieve sherds and numerous other small items (2 mm and larger), which included worked stone fragments, rootlet concretions (rhizocretions), desert polished sand grains, and occasionally beads. The small stone fragments can be correlated with buildings and sherds of known age within the site, while the rhizocretions and desert sand grains indicate environmental conditions prevailing at the time of deposition. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]


    The Elephant in the Corner?

    GEOGRAPHY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 2 2010
    Reviewing India-Africa Relations in the New Millennium
    As countries of the ,global South' seek to challenge existing uneven architectures of economic, political and institutional power, now under different circumstances to those prevailing during the Cold War, relations between African countries and various ,Rising Powers' have drawn a great deal of academic and public attention. This scrutiny has been heavily tilted towards analysis of China's African activities. This paper aims to partially redress this balance with an introductory review of India's contemporary relations with sub-Saharan Africa. A number of analysts suggest that in the longer term, India may well achieve a more prosperous and stable economy than China, while in the shorter term, its economic and political profile may result in a more productive relationship for many different African countries, sectors and constituencies. But India will also bring its own challenges in its African commercial interactions, bilateral relations and through its part in shaping the multilateral polity and global economy. This paper therefore aims to critically review contemporary India-Africa relations on four broad thematic points. 1Changing geographies of Indo-African relations; 2Trade and foreign direct investment; 3Development cooperation; and 4Geopolitics and diplomacy. India's confidence as a global political and economic actor is apparent in its African diplomacy and economic engagements, but claims to exceptionalism (relative both to Chinese and Western actors) in such relations are not as self-evident as some have asserted. Whether recent shifts in relations between African nations and India will work in the interests of less privileged citizens, workers and consumers in Africa and in India also remain unclear. [source]


    Addressing non-uniqueness in linearized multichannel surface wave inversion

    GEOPHYSICAL PROSPECTING, Issue 1 2009
    Michele Cercato
    ABSTRACT The multichannel analysis of the surface waves method is based on the inversion of observed Rayleigh-wave phase-velocity dispersion curves to estimate the shear-wave velocity profile of the site under investigation. This inverse problem is nonlinear and it is often solved using ,local' or linearized inversion strategies. Among linearized inversion algorithms, least-squares methods are widely used in research and prevailing in commercial software; the main drawback of this class of methods is their limited capability to explore the model parameter space. The possibility for the estimated solution to be trapped in local minima of the objective function strongly depends on the degree of nonuniqueness of the problem, which can be reduced by an adequate model parameterization and/or imposing constraints on the solution. In this article, a linearized algorithm based on inequality constraints is introduced for the inversion of observed dispersion curves; this provides a flexible way to insert a priori information as well as physical constraints into the inversion process. As linearized inversion methods are strongly dependent on the choice of the initial model and on the accuracy of partial derivative calculations, these factors are carefully reviewed. Attention is also focused on the appraisal of the inverted solution, using resolution analysis and uncertainty estimation together with a posteriori effective-velocity modelling. Efficiency and stability of the proposed approach are demonstrated using both synthetic and real data; in the latter case, cross-hole S-wave velocity measurements are blind-compared with the results of the inversion process. [source]


    The Liquidity Premium in the Money Market: A Comparison of the German Mark Period and the Euro Area

    GERMAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 2 2006
    Alain Durré
    Expectations hypothesis; money market; liquidity premium; cointegration analysis Abstract. This paper investigates to what extent the expectations hypothesis of the term structure (EHTS) of interest rates receives some support since the launch of the European single currency. Empirical evidence shows that in general this theory applies to most European countries, and to Germany in particular. The objective of this paper thus is twofold. First, the EHTS for the German money market and for a larger sample including the German mark period and the euro money market is tested in order to check whether the results for the former are affected by the new financial environment since January 1999. Second, the implications of the results for the monetary policy assessment are discussed. We estimate cointegrating vector autoregressive models in order to quantify the level of the liquidity premium. The results suggest that financial markets do not consider the monetary policy of the European Central Bank simply as the one prevailing during the German period. [source]


    The American Indian in German Novels Up To The 1850s

    GERMAN LIFE AND LETTERS, Issue 4 2000
    Wynfrid Kriegleder
    A close look at a number of early German novels about the USA (e.g. Sophie von La Roche, Erscheinungen am See Oneida, 1798: Henriette Frölich, Virginia oder Die Kolonie von Kentucky, 1820; Charles Sealsfield, Der Legitime und die Repunlikaner, 1833; Jogann Christoph Biernatzki, Der braune Knabe, 1839) reveals that they hardly ever portray Indians as noble savages in an enviable state of nature - the image prevailing in many late nineteenth-century novels (e.g. by Karl May) that tend to sympathise with the Indians' lot and even suggest a peculiar affinity between them and the Germans. On the contrary, the earlier novels wholeheartedly embrace the notion that the bast continent of Northern America is there to be civilised - which is to say: Europeanised. The Indians are considered as representatives of a lower social and cultural order that will either voluntarily join the new, European order of things or else disappear. [source]


    2-(2,4-Dinitrobenzyl)pyridine (DNBP): A Potential Light-Activated Proton Shuttle

    HELVETICA CHIMICA ACTA, Issue 10 2009
    Catrin Goeschen
    Abstract The well-known photochromic tautomerism of 2-(2,4-dinitrobenzyl)pyridine (1; CH; Scheme,1) was re-investigated by flash photolysis in aqueous solution in view of its potential application as a light-activated proton pump. Irradiation of 1 yields the enamine tautomer NH (,max=520,nm) that rapidly equilibrates with its conjugate base CNO, (,max=420,nm). The pH,rate profile for the first-order decay of NH and CNO, provides a direct determination of the acidity constant of NH, pK=5.94±0.12 (I=0.1M) and serves to clarify the mechanisms of proton transfer prevailing in aqueous solutions. The acidity constant of protonated 1 (CHNH+), pK=4.18±0.02, was determined by spectrophotometric titration. [source]


    Health Care and Pension Benefits for Construction Workers: TheRole of Prevailing Wage Laws Health Care and Pension Benefits for Construction Workers

    INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, Issue 2 2000
    Jeffrey S. Petersen
    This article examines the affect of state prevailing wage laws (PWLs) on the amount and mix of wages and benefits paid to construction workers. PWLs require contractors who win bids on state-financed construction projects to pay compensation rates equivalent to those prevailing in local construction markets. During 1982-1992, 6 states repealed their PWLs, 9 states who never had a PWL did not enact one, and 32 states kept their PWLs. Data from the Form 5500 series, the Census of Construction Industries, the Current Employment Statistics, and the Current Population Survey are combined to evaluate the effects of PWL repeals on compensation. When comparing the experiences of different states, PWLs enhance both wages and benefits, with the largest percentage increase going toward employer pension contributions. PWLs appear to create an incentive for both employers to pay and workers to accept a larger percentage of their total compensation in the form of benefits. [source]


    Pursuing centralised bargaining in an era of decentralisation?

    INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS JOURNAL, Issue 1 2001
    A progressive union goal in Korea from a comparative perspective
    During the last decade, progressive Korean unions have attempted to transform the organisation and bargaining of enterprise unionism into an industrial unionism. This vitalised development in collective bargaining contrasts with trends prevailing in many advanced nations. This paper, on the basis of case studies, examines factors shaping bargaining structures in the context of Korean industrial relations. A theoretical framework regarding factors shaping bargaining structures, one formed in comparative industrial relations studies of advanced nations, proves useful in examining the subject. This finding implies that the attempt of progressive unions will face formidable obstacles. [source]


    Cracking risk of partially saturated porous media,Part I: Microporoelasticity model

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS IN GEOMECHANICS, Issue 2 2010
    Bernhard Pichler
    Abstract Drying of deformable porous media results in their shrinkage, and it may cause cracking provided that shrinkage deformations are hindered by kinematic constraints. This is the motivation to develop a thermodynamics-based microporoelasticity model for the assessment of cracking risk in partially saturated porous geomaterials. The study refers to 3D representative volume elements of porous media, including a two-scale double-porosity material with a pore network comprising (at the mesoscale) 3D mesocracks in the form of oblate spheroids, and (at the microscale) spherical micropores of different sizes. Surface tensions prevailing in all interfaces between solid, liquid, and gaseous matters are taken into account. To establish a thermodynamics-based crack propagation criterion for a two-scale double-porosity material, the potential energy of the solid is derived, accounting,in particular,for mesocrack geometry changes (main original contribution) and for effective micropore pressures, which depend (due to surface tensions) on the pore radius. Differentiating the potential energy with respect to crack density parameter yields the thermodynamical driving force for crack propagation, which is shown to be governed by an effective macrostrain. It is found that drying-related stresses in partially saturated mesocracks reduce the cracking risk. The drying-related effective underpressures in spherical micropores, in turn, result in a tensile eigenstress of the matrix in which the mesocracks are embedded. This way, micropores increase the mesocracking risk. Model application to the assessment of cracking risk during drying of argillite is the topic of the companion paper (Part II). Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Numerical simulation of bolt-supported tunnels by means of a multiphase model conceived as an improved homogenization procedure

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS IN GEOMECHANICS, Issue 13 2008
    Patrick de Buhan
    Abstract This paper examines the possibility of applying a homogenization procedure to analyze the convergence of a tunnel reinforced by bolts, regarded as periodically distributed linear inclusions. Owing to the fact that a classical homogenization method fails to account for the interactions prevailing between the bolts and the surrounding ground and thus tends to significantly overestimate the reinforcement effect in terms of convergence reduction, a so-called multiphase model is presented and developed, aimed at improving the classical homogenization method. Indeed, according to this model, the bolt-reinforced ground is represented at the macroscopic scale as the superposition of two mutually interacting continuous phases, describing the ground and the reinforcement network, respectively. It is shown that such a multiphase approach can be interpreted as an extension of the homogenization procedure, thus making it possible to capture the ground,reinforcement interaction in a proper way, provided the constitutive parameters of the model and notably those relating to the interaction law can be identified from the reinforced ground characteristics. The numerical implementation of this model in a finite element method-based computer code is then carried out, and a first illustrative application is finally presented. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Relationship between atmospheric circulation types over Greece and western,central Europe during the period 1958,97

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY, Issue 14 2004
    Christina Anagnostopoulou
    Abstract An attempt is made to examine the relationship of the surface circulation prevailing over Europe with the corresponding surface and 500 hPa over Greece by correlating Lamb weather types for western Europe and Hess and Brezowsky (HB) types for central Europe with those derived from a new classification scheme for the Greek area. It was found that it was difficult to formulate rules controlling the frequency distributions of the circulation types over the Greek area in relation to the circulation over western and central Europe. However, statistically significant correlation was found between certain types with high frequency, which is greater between Lamb and HB types with the surface circulation types over the Greek area, compared with 500 hPa circulation types. For the most correlated pairs, seasonal composites of mean sea-level pressure and 500 hPa geopotential height anomalies demonstrated that the formation of the circulation types over the Greek area depends on the extent, intensity of the anticyclonic or cyclonic centres, air mass characteristics, and stability profile in the lower troposphere over the regions examined, but especially over the central and eastern Mediterranean. Copyright © 2004 Royal Meteorological Society [source]


    NO emission characteristics in counterflow diffusion flame of blended fuel of H2/CO2/Ar

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH, Issue 3 2002
    Jeong Park
    Abstract Flame structure and NO emission characteristics in counterflow diffusion flame of blended fuel of H2/CO2/Ar have been numerically simulated with detailed chemistry. The combination of H2, CO2 and Ar as fuel is selected to clearly display the contribution of hydrocarbon products to flame structure and NO emission characteristics due to the breakdown of CO2. A radiative heat loss term is involved to correctly describe the flame dynamics especially at low strain rates. The detailed chemistry adopts the reaction mechanism of GRI 2.11, which consists of 49 species and 279 elementary reactions. All mechanisms including thermal, NO2, N2O and Fenimore are taken into account to separately evaluate the effects of CO2 addition on NO emission characteristics. The increase of added CO2 quantity causes flame temperature to fall since at high strain rates a diluent effect is prevailing and at low strain rates the breakdown of CO2 produces relatively populous hydrocarbon products and thus the existence of hydrocarbon products inhibits chain branching. It is also found that the contribution of NO production by N2O and NO2 mechanisms are negligible and that thermal mechanism is concentrated on only the reaction zone. As strain rate and CO2 quantity increase, NO production is remarkably augmented. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    What is a role of haeme oxygenase-1 in psoriasis?

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PATHOLOGY, Issue 2 2007
    Current concepts of pathogenesis
    Summary The skin is constantly exposed to endogenous and environmental pro-oxidant agents, which lead to harmful generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Healthy skin, being a potential target for oxidative stress, is equipped with a large number of defence mechanisms including antioxidant systems. This protection can be corrupted by an imbalance between ROS and antioxidants with pathological level of oxidants prevailing. There is a great body of evidence indicating that some inflammatory skin diseases, such as psoriasis, are mediated by oxidative stress. Keratinocytes of normal skin, the primary target for pro-oxidant agents, show strong expression of ROS-detoxifying enzymes. In addition, normal keratinocytes express haeme oxygenase (HO), an enzyme which might be involved in the protection of cells against oxidative stress. HO (inducible HO-1, constitutive HO-2 and HO-3) is the rate-limiting enzyme in haeme catabolism, which leads to the generation of biliverdin, iron, and carbon monoxide. HO-1 is a stress-responsive protein whose expression is induced by various oxidative agents. HO-1 is known for its cytoprotective, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Interestingly, a strong overexpression of HO-1 was observed in psoriatic skin. However, the role of HO-1 in psoriasis remains unclear. In this review, we will discuss some current concepts concerning pathogenesis of psoriasis and the contribution of HO-1 in skin inflammation to show the relationships between HO-1, ROS and cytokine network in psoriatic skin. We will try to answer a question whether enhanced HO-1 expression in keratinocytes results in beneficial or detrimental effect on the development and severity of psoriatic lesions. [source]


    Catalytic, Asymmetric Vinylogous Mukaiyama Aldol Reactions of Pyrrole- and Furan-Based Dienoxy Silanes: How the Diene Heteroatom Impacts Stereocontrol

    ADVANCED SYNTHESIS & CATALYSIS (PREVIOUSLY: JOURNAL FUER PRAKTISCHE CHEMIE), Issue 11-12 2010
    Claudio Curti
    Abstract Denmark's chiral bisphosphoramide/silicon tetrachloride system performs as an excellent Lewis base-Lewis acid catalyst for the vinylogous Mukaiyama aldol reaction of pyrrole- and furan-based dienoxy silanes with aromatic and heteroaromatic aldehydes. This asymmetric methodology provides a powerful synthetic entry to a variety of ,-hydroxylated ,-butenolide-type frameworks with high efficiency and valuable margins of regio-, diastereo-, and enantioselectivity. Notably, the nature of the heteroatom within the vinylogous dienoxy silane donor heavily impacts the diastereocontrol, with syn -configured aldol adducts emerging from pyrroles bearing electron-withdrawing N -protecting groups (Boc, Ts, and Cbz) and anti -configured adducts prevailing when furan- or N -alkyl/alkenylpyrrole donors are involved. [source]


    Complexes self-associate by hydrogen bonding and metallophilic attraction: Theoretical study

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF QUANTUM CHEMISTRY, Issue 4 2006
    Fernando Mendizabal
    Abstract Hydrogen bonding and metallophilic attractions are studied in the model systems: [(AuNH3Cl)2], [(AuNH(CH3)2Cl)2], [{Au2(,-SH)(PH2O)(PH2OH)}2], [(CuNH3Cl)2], and [{Cu(NH3)Cl}4] at the Hartree,Fock (HF) and second-order Møller,Plesset (MP2) levels. The two interactions are found to be comparable and prevailing in the final structure. It is determined that the aurophilic contact has a same magnitude that the hydrogen bonding, and is stronger than the cuprophilic interaction. The presence of hydrogen bond directs the growth of the crystal. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2006 [source]


    Christian democracy, social democracy and the paradoxes of earnings-related social security

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WELFARE, Issue 1 2002
    Johan Jeroen De Deken
    This article compares the retirement policies of Belgium and Sweden in order to reveal the different incentive structures built into the pensions systems prevailing in countries that are taken to represent different approaches to welfare capitalism. It addresses the question of why in a Christian Democratic welfare state that is said to grant pensions rights on the basis of merit and past work performance one can find extremely low labour-force participation rates among elderly workers, while in a Social Democratic welfare state that is supposed to grant pension rights relatively independent of past labour-market performance, one can find quite high participation rates amongst that section of the labour force. This apparent paradox is explained in terms of the different purposes of the early-retirement schemes in the two countries: in Belgium they were primarily part of a strategy to combat (youth) unemployment, in Sweden they had more to do with reforms that sought to accomplish a ,humanisation of work' by softening the abrupt transition from work into retirement. [source]


    How Views about Flow Adaptations of Benthic Stream Invertebrates Changed over the Last Century

    INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF HYDROBIOLOGY, Issue 4-5 2008
    Bernhard StatznerArticle first published online: 15 OCT 200
    Abstract Throughout the last century, stream ecologists tried to answer the question: how do benthic invertebrates cope with the flows prevailing in streams? Whereas the pioneers frequently sought answers using imagination and speculation in a hefty debate, subsequent research on flow adaptations of stream invertebrates relied increasingly on the transfer of concepts (from fluid mechanics to stream ecology) and technological innovations. Correspondingly, views about flow adaptations of stream invertebrates changed considerably over the last century. However, stream ecologists are still far from understanding how stream invertebrates are adapted to the many different flow conditions they face during their life, because the near-bottom flows they experience are extremely complex and create so diverse constraints that adaptation to all of them is physically impossible. This instance shows how ignorant we are of the physical factors in the environment which ultimately shape the organisms, and how difficult it is to understand the utility of a structure without knowing the requirements for which it is produced Sunder Lal Hora, 1930 (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source]


    State, Corruption, and Criminalisation in China

    INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCE JOURNAL, Issue 169 2001
    Guilhem Fabre
    Given the decentralisation and opening-up that China has been experiencing since 1979, the rise of corruption and the criminal economy can be attributed to the increased opportunities observable at macro-economic level and a context of relative impunity for the most serious offences. Functionalist and culturalist interpretations of this corruption fail to take account of its political dimension, which is not simply a matter of its instrumentalisation in the struggle between ruling factions. Contrary to the situation prevailing in certain democratic developing countries, criminals in China do not have the option of becoming state representatives, but certain state representatives, notably at local level, are well placed to make choices to the advantage of criminal circles, as happens in Mexico, and so share in the illicit gains. [source]