WTO Dispute Settlement at Ten: Evolution, Experiences, and Evaluation

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: On 1 January 1995, the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU) entered into force. During its first ten years, the DSU has since been applied to 324 complaints – more cases than dispute settlement under the GATT 1947 had dealt with in nearly five decades. The system is perceived, both by practitioners and in academic literature, to work generally well. However, it has also revealed some flaws. Negotiations to review and reform the DSU have been taking place since 1997 (“DSU review”), however, without yielding any result so far. In the meantime, WTO Members and adjudicating bodies managed to develop the system further through evolving practice. While this approach may remedy some practical shortcomings of the DSU text, the more profound imbalance between relatively efficient judicial decisionmaking in the WTO (as incorporated in the DSU) and nearly blocked political decisionmaking evolves into a serious challenge to the sustainability of the system. This article provides an overview of the first ten years of DSU practice, the on- going DSU review negotiations, and the challenges to the dispute settlement system. GERMAN ABSTRACT: Am 1. Januar 1995 trat das Übereinkommen über Regeln und Verfahren für die Streitschlichtung (Dispute Settlement Understanding; DSU) als Teil des WTO-Abkommens in Kraft. In den ersten zehn Jahren seines Bestehens fand das DSU auf 324 Klagebegehren Anwendung – mehr Fälle, als unter den Streitschlichtungsregeln des GATT 1947 in dessen nahezu fünfzigjähriger Geschichte behandelt wurden. Die Funktionsweise des Systems wird sowohl in der handelspolitischen Praxis als auch in der wissenschaftlichen Literatur als gut eingestuft. Gleichwohl hat der Mechanismus in seiner Anwendung auch einige Schwächen offenbart. Diese sollen auf dem Verhandlungswege („DSU Review“) behoben werden, doch blieben die seit Ende 1997 laufenden Gespräche bislang erfolglos. Zugleich ist es den Mitgliedstaaten und den Spruchorganen aber stellenweise gelungen, das System im Rahmen der praktischen Anwendung fortzuentwickeln. Während auf diesem Weg einige praktische Probleme des Verfahrenstextes behoben werden konnten, dürfte das beträchtliche Ungleichgewicht in der WTO zwischen einem vergleichsweise effizienten juristischen Entscheidungsmechanismus (in Form des DSU) und den häufig blockierten politischen Entscheidungsmechanismen fortbestehen. Dieses Ungleichgewicht bedroht die Systemnachhaltigkeit. Der vorliegende Artikel gibt einen Überblick über die ersten zehn Jahre DSU-Praxis, die laufenden DSU-Review-Verhandlungen sowie einen Ausblick auf zukünftige Herausforderungen.WTO, Dispute Settlement, DSU Review Negotiations

The Carcinoembryonic Antigen Gene Family

The molecular cloning of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and several cross-reacting antigens reveals a basic domain structure for the whole family, which shows structural similarities to the immunoglobulin superfamily. The CEA family consists of approximately 10 genes which are localized in two clusters on chromosome 19. So far, mRNA species for five of these genes have been identified which show tissue variability in their transcriptional activity. Expression of some of these genes in heterologous systems has been achieved, allowing the localization of some epitopes. The characterization of a CEA gene family in the rat and a comparison with its human counterpart has been utilized in the development of an evolutionary model

Intra- and Interspecies Analyses of the Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA) Gene Family Reveal Independent Evolution in Primates and Rodents

Various rodent and primate DNAs exhibit a stronger intra- than interspecies cross-hybridization with probes derived from the N-terminal domain exons of human and rat carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)-like genes. Southern analyses also reveal that the human and rat CEA gene families are of similar complexity. We counted at least 10 different genes per human haploid genome. In the rat, approximately seven to nine different N-terminal domain exons that presumably represent different genes appear to be present. We were able to assign the corresponding genomic restriction endonuclease fragments to already isolated CEA gene family members of both human and rat. Highly similar subgroups, as found within the human CEA gene family, seem to be absent from the rat genome. Hybridization with an intron probe from the human nonspecific cross-reacting antigen (NCA) gene and analysis of DNA sequence data indicate the conservation of noncoding regions among CEA-like genes within primates, implicating that whole gene units may have been duplicated. With the help of a computer program and by calculating the rate of synonymous substitutions, evolutionary trees have been derived. From this, we propose that an independent parallel evolution, leading to different CEA gene families, must have taken place in, at least, the primate and rodent orders

Operator product expansions as a consequence of phase space properties

The paper presents a model-independent, nonperturbative proof of operator product expansions in quantum field theory. As an input, a recently proposed phase space condition is used that allows a precise description of point field structures. Based on the product expansions, we also define and analyze normal products (in the sense of Zimmermann).Comment: v3: minor wording changes, as to appear in J. Math. Phys.; 12 page

Dephasing in Quantum Dots: Quadratic Coupling to Acoustic Phonons

A microscopic theory of optical transitions in quantum dots with carrier-phonon interaction is developed. Virtual transitions into higher confined states with acoustic phonon assistance add a quadratic phonon coupling to the standard linear one, thus extending the independent Boson model. Summing infinitely many diagrams in the cumulant, a numerically exact solution for the interband polarization is found. Its full time dependence and the absorption lineshape of the quantum dot are calculated. It is the quadratic interaction which gives rise to a temperature-dependent broadening of the zero-phonon line, being here calculated for the first time in a consistent scheme.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

cDNA and Gene Analyses Imply a Novel Structure for a Rat Carcinoembryonic Antigen-related Protein

The gene encoding the human tumor marker carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) belongs to a gene family which can be subdivided into the CEA and the pregnancy-specific glycoprotein subgroups. The corresponding proteins are members of the immunoglobulin superfamily, characterized through the presence of one IgV-like domain and a varying number of IgC-like domains. Since the function of the CEA family is not well understood, we decided to establish an animal model in the rat to study its tissue- specific and developmental stage-dependent expression. To this end, we have screened an 18-day rat placenta cDNA library with a recently isolated fragment of a rat CEA-related gene. Two overlapping clones containing the complete coding region for a putative 709 amino acid protein (rnCGM1; Mr = 78,310) have been characterized. In contrast to all members of the human CEA family, this rat CEA-related protein consists of five IgV-like domains and only one IgC-like domain. This novel structure, which has been confirmed at the genomic level might have important functional implications. Due to the rapid evolutionary divergence of the rat and human CEA gene families it is not possible to assign rnCGM1 to its human counterpart. However, the predominant expression of the rnCGM1 gene in the placenta suggests that it could be analogous to one of the human pregnancy-specific glycoprotein genes

Emergent collective chemotaxis without single-cell gradient sensing

Many eukaryotic cells chemotax, sensing and following chemical gradients. However, experiments have shown that even under conditions when single cells cannot chemotax, small clusters may still follow a gradient. This behavior has been observed in neural crest cells, in lymphocytes, and during border cell migration in Drosophila, but its origin remains puzzling. Here, we propose a new mechanism underlying this "collective guidance", and study a model based on this mechanism both analytically and computationally. Our approach posits that the contact inhibition of locomotion (CIL), where cells polarize away from cell-cell contact, is regulated by the chemoattractant. Individual cells must measure the mean attractant value, but need not measure its gradient, to give rise to directional motility for a cell cluster. We present analytic formulas for how cluster velocity and chemotactic index depend on the number and organization of cells in the cluster. The presence of strong orientation effects provides a simple test for our theory of collective guidance.Comment: Updated with additional simulations. Aspects of v1 of this paper about adaptation and amplification have been extended and turned into a separate paper, and removed from the current versio

Pathomorphologie und Entstehungsfaktoren des Pankreaskarzinoms

Zusammenfassung: Grundlagen: Pankreatische Neoplasmen nehmen ihren Ursprung von exokrinen und endokrinen Komponenten des Pankreas, seltener vom fibrovaskulären Stroma. Methodik: Diese Übersicht beschränkt sich auf Tumoren des exokrinen Apparats, welche mehr als 90% der Neoplasmen des Pankreas stellen. Ergebnisse: Es werden die wesentlichen Tumortypen gemäß ihrer morphologischen Präsentation und ihrer klinischen Relevanz diskutiert, und es wird auch kurz auf seltenere neoplastische Prozesse eingegangen. Ferner werden Faktoren, die bei der Entstehung von Pankreaskarzinomen eine Rolle spielen, besprochen. Schlußfolgerungen: Die Pathomorphologie gibt Hinweise auf die Prognose, das Erkennen von möglichen Entstehungsfaktoren kann vielleicht in Zukunft das Pankreaskarzinom verhinder