ALBERT

Notes: Abstract This analysis uses an analytical frameworkgrounded in political economy perspectives of theglobalization of the agro-food sector combined with acase study approach focusing on the Marine StewardshipCouncil (MSC) to inform discussions regarding thecharacteristics of societal regulation in thepost-Fordist era. More specifically, this analysisuses the case of the emergence of the MSC toinvestigate propositions regarding the existence of,and location of, nascent forms of a transnationalState. The MSC proposes to regulate the certificationof sustainable fisheries at the global level throughan eco-labeling program. The MSC was created in 1996by the transnational environmental organization theWorld Wildlife Fund and the transnational corporationUnilever. The emergence of the MSC has generatedheated discussion in fisheries management circles thatis in general divided along North/South lines. Thisanalysis indicates that the case of the MSC providesvaluable insights into the possible characteristics ofsupranational regulatory mechanisms that might emulatethe role of the nation-State in the post-Fordist era.

Notes: Abstract Experimental infection with enterovirus type 71 (EV71) induced death in neonatal mice in an age- and dose-dependent manner. The mortality rate was 100% following intraperitoneal inoculation 1-day-old ICR mice and this gradually decreased as the age at the time of inoculation increased (60% in 3-day-old mice and no deaths occurred in mice older than 6 days of age). A lethal dose greater than 108 PFU was necessary. Lethargy, failure to gain weight, rear limb tremors and paralysis were observed in the infected mice before death. EV71 was isolated from various tissues of the dead mice. Using a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction technique with a specific primer pair, a 332-bp product was detected in the tissues that produced a culture positive for EV71. Protection against EV71 challenge in neonatal mice was demonstrated following passive transfer of serum from actively immunized adult mice 1 day after inoculation with the virus. Pups from hyperimmune dams were resistant to EV71 challenge. Additionally, maternal immunization with a formalin-inactivated whole-virus vaccine prolonged the survival of pups after EV71 lethal challenge.

Notes: Abstract The behavior of individaals and their responses to external stimuli are controlled by the microsocial environment, which for most mammals is associated with dominant-subordinate relationships. Physiological and behavioral differences between dominant and subordinate individuals may be ‘primary’ (genetically determined) or ‘secondary’ (due to position in the group's hierarchical structure). A series of experiments was conducted to investigate the physiological (pain response threshold), immunological (thymus, spleen weights, primary immune response), and behavioral (motor activity, behavior in a shuttle box test) characteristics of dominant and subordinate individuals in groups of three laboratory mice formed on the basis of linear hierarchy. Assessment of the effects of group conditions was made using a conditioned reflex location preference test. The results showed: 1) there are no statistically significant differences in physiological and behavioral (except for motor activity) parameters between dominant and subordinate mice; 2) co-housing of dominant and subordinate individuals in groups with stable hierarchical relationships was not aversive for them.

Notes: Abstract During the last 20 years, the existence of rich systems of local knowledge, and their vital support to resource use and management regimes, has been demonstrated in a wide range of biological, physical and geographical domains, such as agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry and agroforestry, medicine, and marine science and fisheries. Local knowledge includes empirical and practical components that are fundamental to sustainable resource management. Among coastal-marine fishers, for example, regular catches and, often, long-term resource sustainment are ensured through the application of knowledge that encompasses empirical information on fish behaviour, marine physical environments, fish habitats and the interactions among ecosystem components, as well as complex fish taxonomies. Local knowledge is therefore an important cultural resource that guides and sustains the operation of customary management systems. The sets of rules that compose a fisheries management system derive directly from local concepts and knowledge of the resources on which the fishery is based. Beyond the practical and the empirical, it is essential to recognise the fundamental socio-cultural importance of local knowledge to any society. It is through knowledge transmission and socialisation that worldviews are constructed, social institutions perpetuated, customary practices established, and social roles defined. In this manner, local knowledge and its transmission, shape society and culture, and culture and society shape knowledge. Local knowledge is of great potential practical value. It can provide an important information base for local resources management, especially in the tropics, where conventionally-used data are usually scarce to non-existent, as well as providing a shortcut to pinpoint essential scientific research needs. To be useful for resources management, however, it must be systematically collected and scientifically verified, before being blended with complementary information derived from Western-based sciences. But local knowledge should not be looked on with only a short-term utilitarian eye. Arguments widely accepted for conserving biodiversity, for example, are also applicable to the intellectual cultural diversity encompassed in local knowledge systems: they should be conserved because their utility may only be revealed at some later date or owing to their intrinsic value as part of the world's global heritage. At least in cultures with a Western liberal tradition, more than lip-service is now being paid to alternative systems of knowledge. The denigration of alternative knowledge systems as backward, inefficient, inferior, and founded on myth and ignorance has recently begun to change. Many such practices are a logical, sophisticated and often still-evolving adaptation to risk, based on generations of empirical experience and arranged according to principles, philosophies and institutions that are radically different from those prevailing in Western scientific circles, and hence all-but incomprehensible to them. But steadfastly held prejudices remain powerful. In this presentation I describe the 'design principles' of local knowledge systems, with particular reference to coastal-marine fishing communities, and their social and practical usefulness. I then examine the economic, ideological and institutional factors that combine to perpetuate the marginalisation and neglect of local knowledge, and discuss some of the requirements for applying local knowledge in modern management.

Notes: The title compounds can be synthesized in quantitative yields by arc-melting of stoichiometric amounts of HfSb2, Hf and one of the 3d metals V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu. These antimonides crystallize in a substitution variant of the W5Si3 type, in which one position is statistically mixed, occupied by the 3d metal atom M or the Sb2 atom in different ratios. Within the linear (M,Sb) chain, the M:Sb ratio may vary between 3:1 and 2:3. According to calculations of the electronic structures of Hf10MδSb6-δ with δ = 1, these phases are metallic compounds stabilized by strong Hf-Hf, Hf-M, and Hf-Sb bonds, and to a smaller extent by bonding interactions within the linear (M,Sb) chain. The metallic character was confirmed by measurements of the electrical resistivity and the magnetism of selected samples. Whereas Pauli paramagnetism was observed experimentally for M = V, Co, and Ni, Hf10FeSb5 is apparently the only phase with localized magnetic moments and magnetic coupling. This is in agreement with the magnetic ground state obtained solely for the ordered structure model of Hf10FeSb5 with spin-polarized calculation within the local spin density approximation.