The Challenge of Reforming the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding

The May 2003 deadline for the completion of the negotiations on improvements and clarifications of the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) under the Doha Mandate has not been met. However, Members agreed in July 2003 to extend the deadline for the review until the end of May 2004. This article briefly summarises the past six years of negotiations on the DSU review, the most contentious issues and the systemic difficulties of the negotiations. We conclude with prospects for the forthcoming negotiations until 2004.WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding DSU Review

Fan blade protection system

In one type of aircraft propulsion system, propeller blades are mounted on a ring which surrounds a turbine. An annular space exists between the turbine and the ring. If a propeller blade should break free, the unbalanced centrifugal load tends to deform the ring. The invention reduces the deformation, as by locating spacers between the turbine and the ring

Flexible connector for use in aircraft

The invention concerns a connector, in an aircraft engine, for mounting a ring to a turbine rotor which the ring surrounds. The ring carries propeller blades, and the connector transmits both thrust and torque loads between the ring and the rotor, without significant deformation. However, the connector does deform in order to accommodate differential thermal growth between the ring and the rotor

Palatal rugae patterns in Australian Aborigines and Caucasians

The document attached has been archived with permission from the Australian Dental Association. An external link to the publisher’s copy is included.The purpose of this study was to determine whether rugae patterns change with age and to compare the number and pattern of rugae in Australian Aborigines with those of Caucasians. For the longitudinal part of the study, serial dental casts of ten Aborigines, from 6 to 20 years of age, were examined and rugae patterns were recorded. To enable comparisons to be made between different ethnic groups an additional 100 dental casts of Australian Aborigines and 200 casts of Caucasians, ranging in age from 13 to 17 years, were examined. Characteristics observed were number, length, shape, direction and unification of rugae. The length of rugae increased significantly with age but the total number of rugae remained constant. Thirty-two per cent of rugae showed changes in shape, while 28 per cent displayed a change in orientation. In contrast to studies suggesting that rugae move forward with age, the majority of Aboriginal rugae that changed direction moved posteriorly. Changes in rugae patterns have been assumed to result from pala al growth but alterations in pattern were observed in the Aboriginal sample even after palatal growth had ceased. The mean number of primary rugae in Aborigines was higher than in Caucasians, although more primary rugae in Caucasians exceeded 10 mm in length than in Aborigines. The most common shapes in both ethnic groups were wavy and curved forms, whereas straight and circular types were least common. There was a statistically significant association between rugae forms and ethnicity, straight forms being more common in Caucasians whereas wavy forms were more common in Aborigines.Sunita Kapali, Grant Townsend, Lindsay Richards, Tracey Paris

Rotating cowling

The invention concerns a cowling for aircraft propulsion systems of the counterrotating propeller type. The cowling includes a pair of mounting rings located fore and aft of a propeller array. Removable panels extend between the mounting rings and contain openings through which the propeller blades extend

Finding a job: Consequences for life satisfaction and interactions with job quality

Mit deutschen und britischen Panel-Daten analysieren wir, wie sich der Übergang aus Arbeitslosigkeit in (Vollzeit-)Beschäftigung auf die Lebenszufriedenheit auswirkt, und berücksichtigen dabei insbesondere den Einfluss der Arbeitsplatzqualität. Im Durchschnitt sind deutliche positive Effekte einer Beschäftigungsaufnahme in beiden Ländern festzustellen, auch wenn man für Einkommensänderungen und andere Faktoren kontrolliert. Diese Effekte sind in Deutschland kleiner, wenn es sich um Niedriglohn-Jobs handelt (aber nicht in Großbritannien), und sie sind in beiden Ländern kleiner, wenn eine befristete Beschäftigung aufgenommen wird; aber auch für die letztere Gruppe ist im Vergleich zu Personen, die arbeitslos bleiben, ein signifikanter Zuwachs an Lebenszufriedenheit zu verzeichnen. Das gilt allerdings nicht, wenn man Arbeitszufriedenheit als Indikator für die Arbeitsplatzqualität verwendet: Wiederbeschäftigte Personen mit niedriger Arbeitsplatzqualität sind nicht signifikant zufriedener mit ihrem Leben als diejenigen, die weiterhin arbeitslos sind

Exploration of bivalent ligands targeting putative mu opioid receptor and chemokine receptor CCR5 dimerization

Modern antiretroviral therapies have provided HIV-1 infected patients longer lifespans and better quality of life. However, several neurological complications are now being seen in these patients due to HIV-1 associated injury of neurons by infected microglia and astrocytes. In addition, these effects can be further exacerbated with opiate use and abuse. One possible mechanism for such potentiation effects of opiates is the interaction of the mu opioid receptor (MOR) with the chemokine receptor CCR5 (CCR5), a known HIV-1 co-receptor, to form MOR-CCR5 heterodimer. In an attempt to understand this putative interaction and its relevance to neuroAIDS, we designed and synthesized a series of bivalent ligands targeting the putative CCR5-MOR heterodimer. To understand how these bivalent ligands may interact with the heterodimer, biological studies including calcium mobilization inhibition, binding affinity, HIV-1 invasion, and cell fusion assays were applied. In particular, HIV-1 infection assays using human peripheral blood mononuclear cells, macrophages, and astrocytes revealed a notable synergy in activity for one particular bivalent ligand. Further, a molecular model of the putative CCR5-MOR heterodimer was constructed, docked with the bivalent ligand, and molecular dynamics simulations of the complex was performed in a membrane-water system to help understand the biological observation

Recent Updates to the CFD General Notation System (CGNS)

The CFD General Notation System (CGNS) - a general, portable, and extensible standard for the storage and retrieval of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis data has been in existence for more than a decade (Version 1.0 was released in May 1998). Both structured and unstructured CFD data are covered by the standard, and CGNS can be easily extended to cover any sort of data imaginable, while retaining backward compatibility with existing CGNS data files and software. Although originally designed for CFD, it is readily extendable to any field of computational analysis. In early 2011, CGNS Version 3.1 was released, which added significant capabilities. This paper describes these recent enhancements and highlights the continued usefulness of the CGNS methodology

Superfluid density of superconductor-ferromagnet bilayers

We report the first measurements of the effective superfluid density n_S(T) \propto \lambda^{-2}(T) of Superconductor-Ferromagnet (SC/FM) bilayers, where \lambda is the effective magnetic field penetration depth. Thin Nb/Ni bilayers were sputtered in ultrahigh vacuum in quick succession onto oxidized Si substrates. Nb layers are 102 A thick for all samples, while Ni thicknesses vary from 0 to 100 A. T_C determined from \lambda^{-2}(T) decreases rapidly as Ni thickness d_Ni increases from zero to 15 A, then it has a shallow minimum at d_Ni \approx 25 A. \lambda^{-2}(0) behaves similarly, but has a minimum several times deeper. In fact, \lambda^{-2}(0) continues to increase with increasing Ni thickness long after T_C has stopped changing. We argue that this indicates a substantial superfluid density inside the ferromagnetic Ni films.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, MMM 2007 proceeding