Final Amendment Research Articles

유럽연합법의 자치성 원리와 기본권 보호에 관한 연구

The European Union's accession to the European Convention on Human Rights began in the 1970s and was marked by the Lisbon Treaty, which authorized the EU's accession. In 2013, a draft agreement was prepared by the Council of Europe's Steering Committee on Human Rights, but the draft agreement was rejected by the European Court of Justice in Opinion 2/13 on the question of the autonomy and specificity of EU law. The negotiations resumed after a gap of more than five years, and the issues raised in Opinion 2/13 were addressed through a process of consensus and amendments were finalized.
 This article revises the intent of the European Court of Justice's decision to reject the draft and compares the content of the final amendment to the draft to understand the process of reaching a consensus on respect for EU autonomy.
 The renegotiation process of the CDDH Negotiating Group has also organized the sections relating to the autonomy of EU law, which were challenged by the European Court of Justice in Opinion 2/13, into four baskets: Basket 1 is the EU’s specific mechanisms of the procedure before the European Court of Human Rights, Basket 2 is the operation of inter-party applications (Art. 33 of the Convention) and of references for an advisory opinion (Protocol No. 16 to the Convention) in relation to EU Member States, Basket 3 is Discussion of proposals submitted on the principle of mutual trust between the EU member states (in the area of freedom, justice and security), Basket 4 is Discussion of proposals submitted on the situation of EU acts in the area of the Common Foreign and Security Policy that are excluded from the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
 From the 6th meeting in 2020 to the 18th meeting in March 2023, the amendments largely accepted the issues of autonomy of EU law raised in the opinion 2/13. There was consensus in the negotiating group that the CFSP policy aspect of basket 4 should be resolved internally by the EU, and the recommendation to keep the CDDH informed of the EU's efforts and progress, and to actively monitor relevant issues, was accepted, leaving it up to the EU to resolve the issue, while respecting its autonomy.
 The future of the EU's accession to the Convention depends entirely on the will of the EU and its Member States. The rapid entry into force of the amendments proposed by the CDDH Negotiating Group will depend on how quickly the EU and its member states can come up with a solution to Basket 4, the issues of common foreign and security policy whose resolution is pending.
 As a result, the unanimous agreement on the amendment by the Negotiating Group of the Council of Europe's Human Rights Steering Committee is a clear indication that all countries involved are committed to the EU's accession to the European Convention on Human Rights.

2021년 개정 ｢지방자치법｣상 주민참여에 관한 공법적 검토

The 2021 Local Autonomy Act has been revised and implemented by strengthening decentralized factors such as diversity in institutional composition. In addition, the key elements and concepts of local autonomy, the elements of resident autonomy, were also systematically strengthened. Of course, it is regrettable that the “Residents' Self-Governing Council”, which was expected to be regulated by the final amendment, was not reflected in legislation, but it is recognized that the elements of decentralization and resident autonomy have been strengthened overall compared to the old law. Specifically, matters related to residents' participation in autonomous administration were included in the purpose regulations (Article 1), residents' participation in the policy-making and execution process was stipulated as rights (17)), residents' right to enact, revise, and abolish municipal ordinances (Article 19), and residents' rulemaking (Article 20). However, since the expression of strengthening resident sovereignty has recently emerged in discussions on strengthening resident autonomy, it is questionable whether it is appropriate to uncritically accept it in legal and institutional discourse. There is no need to refute the degree to which it is used as an emphasized expression of resident autonomy at the slogan level, but the strengthening of resident sovereignty elements in legal and institutional discussions is considered a different level, so separate discussions are needed in the future. In addition, the participation of residents is considered necessary, and this is understood as a factor that strengthens democratic legitimacy in autonomous administration. However, whether the participation of residents only needs to be secured quantitatively and mechanically is understood as a separate issue.

PELAYANAN CUSTOMER SERVICE DALAM PEMBUATAN REKENING TABUNGAN SIMPEDES PADA PT. BRI (PERSERO) TBK UNIT WAY PANJI

The banking sector plays an important role in building the economy country because banks act as institutions. Apart from acting as an intermediary In transactions, the bank acts as a provider of related transaction services in financial financing, raising funds in the form of investments to support state development involving community enterprises. In this study, the author uses the observation method by identifying phenomena that take place on aspects related to services and prepare some questions and do a question and answer for collect data that can be taken on the object of research and collect data data by obtaining data through various books and other references, by qualitative descriptive method approach. This research discusses service Simpedes account creation by BankBRI, how to make savings BRISimpedes customers, can make an initial deposit and requirements such as e-KTP/SIM, NPWP (if any), and AD-ART, Deed of Establishment, Deed of Final Amendment, Non-NPWP Account Opening File, for individuals / companies. From result research obtained by creating accounts must be monitored and evaluated so that the creation of a prospective customer's savings account is completed in a relatively short time, in order to get a satisfaction for customers and prospective customers. Prevent early on the inhibition of connecting internet connections and other things that influential in the process of employee performance.

Changes in Shrimping Effort in the Gulf of Mexico and the Impacts to Red Snapper.

Despite a complex management landscape and decades of overfishing, Red Snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) stocks have grown substantially in the Gulf of Mexico and restrictions on the fisheries that catch them are being loosened. This year, annual shrimping effort was allowed to increase by 21% after National Marine Fisheries Service scientists concluded that the resulting bycatch of Red Snapper would only reduce the annual allowable catch in other fisheries by ∼1% and have no impact on population growth. Nonetheless, the recreational fishing sector intensely campaigned against this rule, fueled by wild mischaracterization of shrimp trawl bycatch in media outlets targeting anglers. Here, we aim to elevate the debates surrounding Red Snapper management by presenting scientific and historical context for the potential impacts from shrimping. We discuss our views of the current problems facing Red Snapper and key ecological questions to address for more effective management of this resource.

Of what use is connectomics? A personal perspective on the Drosophila connectome.

The brain is a network of neurons and its biological output is behaviour. This is an exciting age, with a growing acknowledgement that the comprehensive compilation of synaptic circuits densely reconstructed in the brains of model species is now both technologically feasible and a scientifically enabling possibility in neurobiology, much as 30 years ago genomics was in molecular biology and genetics. Implemented by huge advances in electron microscope technology, especially focused ion beam-scanning electron microscope (FIB-SEM) milling (see Glossary), image capture and alignment, and computer-aided reconstruction of neuron morphologies, enormous progress has been made in the last decade in the detailed knowledge of the actual synaptic circuits formed by real neurons, in various brain regions of the fly Drosophila It is useful to distinguish synaptic pathways that are major, with 100 or more presynaptic contacts, from those that are minor, with fewer than about 10; most neurites are both presynaptic and postsynaptic, and all synaptic sites have multiple postsynaptic dendrites. Work on Drosophila has spearheaded these advances because cell numbers are manageable, and neuron classes are morphologically discrete and genetically identifiable, many confirmed by reporters. Recent advances are destined within the next few years to reveal the complete connectome in an adult fly, paralleling advances in the larval brain that offer the same prospect possibly within an even shorter time frame. The final amendment and validation of segmented bodies by human proof-readers remains the most time-consuming step, however. The value of a complete connectome in Drosophila is that, by targeting to specific neurons transgenes that either silence or activate morphologically identified circuits, and then identifying the resulting behavioural outcome, we can determine the causal mechanism for behaviour from its loss or gain. More importantly, the connectome reveals hitherto unsuspected pathways, leading us to seek novel behaviours for these. Circuit information will eventually be required to understand how differences between brains underlie differences in behaviour, and especially to herald yet more advanced connectomic strategies for the vertebrate brain, with an eventual prospect of understanding cognitive disorders having a connectomic basis. Connectomes also help us to identify common synaptic circuits in different species and thus to reveal an evolutionary progression in candidate pathways.

Is there a selection bias in roll call votes? Evidence from the European Parliament

We examine the magnitude and significance of selection bias in roll call votes. Prior to 2009, all recorded (roll call) votes in the European Parliament had to be requested explicitly by European Political Groups. Since 2009, a roll call vote has been mandatory on all final legislative votes. We exploit that change in the rules and compare differences between final legislative votes, amendment votes and non-legislative votes before and after 2009, using a difference-in-differences approach with extensive controls. Using data from the Sixth (2004–2009) to Seventh (2009–2014) European Parliaments, we fail to find any large differences in voting cohesion for the main political groups. We find even less significance when we control for changes in parliamentary membership between those two periods. The results suggest that selection biases in the European Parliament associated with strategic choices are negligible.

Feminist Judgments: Rewritten Opinions of the United States Supreme Court. By Kathryn M. Stanchi, Linda L. Berger, and Bridget J. Crawford (Eds.). New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016.

Feminist Judgments: Rewritten Opinions of United States Supreme Court. By Kathryn M. Stanchi, Linda L. Berger, and Bridget J. Crawford (Eds.). New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016.This collection of feminist rewritings of U.S. Supreme Court decisions is most recent contribution to burgeoning field of feminist judgments projects that have already emerged in number of common law jurisdictions, including Canada, England/Wales, Northern/Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. While feminist jurisprudence and feminist activism has led to demonstrable changes in legislative law reform, there is less evidence of impact of feminism in legal decisionmaking. These projects are motivated by belief that bringing feminist perspectives to legal decision-making can make difference to outcome, as well as reasoning, treatment of evidence and experience of witnesses. They aim to show that systemic inequalities are not intrinsic to law, but rather may be rooted in subjective (and often unconscious) beliefs and assumptions of decision makers (5).In this collection, 25 U.S. Supreme Court decisions have been rewritten to incorporate feminist methods and perspectives. From an initial list of 60 cases, Kathryn Stanchi, Linda Berger, and Bridget Crawford settled on 25 that they describe as the most significant gender justice cases decided by court from passage of final Civil Rights Amendment in 1870 to summer of 2015 (3). They called for authors to rewrite each of decisions from feminist perspective. A further group of authors have provided short commentaries to contextualize cases and comment on approaches taken.The introduction provides very useful account of project's methodology and identifies common feminist themes that emerged in rewritten decisions. Some authors have rewritten decision so that they arrive at different outcome; however, others have used feminist methods to change rhetorical conventions or relied upon alternative legal rules, framed issues differently or presented other rationales for decision. The authors were not required to write decisions that persuaded other justices. The editors point out that volume contains 15 re-imagined majority decisions, four concurring opinions, five dissenting opinions, and one partial concurrence/dissent. The majority opinions are almost equally divided between those that change ruling and those that changed to reasoning but not ruling.As with other feminist judgments projects, editors left it to authors of rewritten decisions to bring their own vision of what they meant by feminism. However, they identified their own approach to feminism as a movement and perspective historically grounded in politics, and one that motivates social, legal, and other battles for women's equality ... We believe that 'feminism' is not province of women only, and we acknowledge and celebrate multiple, fluid identities contained in category 'woman'. (3). Feminist methods employed by contributing authors include use of feminist practical reasoning, narrative feminist method, breaking rhetorical conventions and widening lens. The editors identify use of feminist theories: formal equality, anti-subordination/dominance feminism, anti-stereotyping, multi-dimensional theories, such as anti-essentialism and intersectionality, autonomy and agency, all of which they elaborate upon with reference to rewritten cases.In second chapter, Talking back: From feminist history and theory to feminist legal methods and judgments, Berta Esperanza Hernandez-Truyol provides valuable framework for collection by outlining historical, theoretical, and methodological context of feminist history and theory. She identifies and explains key waves and branches of U.S. feminism and elaborates on feminist legal methods. There is also brief history of women in U. …

An investigation into the future of discretionary trusts in South Africa: An income tax perspective: Part 2

Background: Trusts have long been used as an estate planning mechanism, including the avoidance of estate duty and donations tax. In the 2016 National Budget the Minister of Finance indicated that Government was proposing several legislative measures during 2016/2017 to prevent individuals from using a trust to avoid estate duty (and donations tax to a certain extent). Unexpectedly, the 2016 draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill and the final Amendment Bill did not give effect to any of these proposals, but introduced other less drastic measures to control the abuse of trusts for tax purposes, albeit with the same stated purpose.Aim: The main aim of the study was to clarify the reform proposals (albeit unclear and consequently based on certain assumptions) and to compare the reform proposals with the final amendments. This comparison will shed some light on the fairness and appropriateness of the final amendments and, more importantly, on the possibility that the reform proposals published by National Treasury in February 2016 not included in the final amendments will be enacted in the future. This investigation will assist tax practitioners and taxpayers in effective tax and estate planning, given that the reform proposals and final amendments have a possible impact on the future of discretionary trusts in South Africa.Setting: This article examines existing literature in a South African income tax environment.Methods: In order to meet this objective a qualitative approach based on a literature study of pure theoretical aspects was used.Results and conclusion: It was found that should the reform proposals become law, many trusts would become ineffective from a tax-planning perspective and these changes might erode other benefits trusts offer, jeopardising the future of discretionary trusts in South Africa.

Solid anaerobic digestion batch of bio-waste as pre-treatment for improving amendment quality: The effect of inoculum recirculation

The effect of solid anaerobic digestion batch (SADB) on bio-waste performed with and without inoculum on the quality of the final amendment was investigated by means of determining the content of organic carbon, humic and fulvic acids and the degree of humification. Two different processes were compared: composting and SADB with post-composting. Six parallel tests were performed. In three of these tests the SADB was inoculated mixing the bio-waste with the digestate from the previous run in a 1:1 ratio by weight. The amendment obtained by the SADB with post-composting treatment, in which the SADB was not inoculated, had an organic carbon content ranging from 15.5% TS to 30.3% TS resulting from 1% up to 14% higher than that of the corresponding composting processes. Similar results were achieved for the degree of humification. On the other hand SADB in which the inoculum was used generated about 300NL/kgVS of biogas instead of about 267NL/kgVS for non-inoculated runs.

PARAMETRIC ANALYSIS OF THE BUCKLING RESISTANCE OF THE SILO STEEL WALL

The latest final draft amendment EN 1993-4- 1:2007/FprA1 brings a variety of changes that will apparently soon become valid. Present article deals with the issue(s) of silo steel wall design from the aspect of proposed changes related to the assessment of buckling resistance of the silo steel wall(s). The parametric analysis was performed according to the current standard, HRN EN 1993-4-1, and proposed amendment, EN 1993-4-1:2007/FprA1 by taking into account the silo fabrication quality parameter, as well as, the variations of the steel quality, wall thickness and wall curvature radius. The obtained results indicate that the new proposed amendment ensures a more realistic assessment of the silo steel wall buckling resistance. In that way the savings of material and economic benefit can be achieved easily.

The Medical Innovation Bill: Still more harm than good

The Medical Innovation Bill continues its journey through Parliament. On 23 January 2015, it was debated for the final time in the House of Lords and with one final amendment, the House moved to support the Bill, which then moved to the House of Commons on 26 January. It will be debated again on 27 February 2015. The Bill’s purpose is to encourage responsible innovation in medical treatment. Although this goal is laudable, it is argued that the Bill is unnecessary and has the potential to undermine the very cause it aims to advance. More useful for encouraging responsible innovation is the continued education of health-care professionals on how the law already supports practitioners who look to improve care through responsible innovation.

Necessary Improvements to the Australian Privacy Principles (Annex)

Part I of this article is a Submission to the Australian Senate’s Finance and Public Administration Committee on the Exposure Draft of the Privacy Amendment Legislation submitted by the government to Parliament in 2010. The general thrust of the Submission is that the proposed Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) in the Exposure Draft Bill are weaker than the Australian Law Reform Commissson’s (ALRC’s) proposed UPPs and the current Information Privacy Principles (IPPs) for the public sector and National Privacy Principles (NPPs) for the private sector. Unless significantly improved during the Parliamentary process, this proposed Bill will lead to an overall reduction in privacy protection. The government has gone backwards instead of forwards in terms of modernising the principles, and seems to have been unduly influenced by both business and agency interests, to the detriment of the interests of the citizens and consumers who the Privacy Act is intended to protect. In the case of government agencies, a raft of changes have been ‘slipped in’ at the last minute to avoid some agencies having to rigorously apply well-designed existing exceptions. Such lazy drafting and special pleading should be rejected. There are a few improvements to the ALRC proposals in the government’s draft Bill, but in many cases proposed changes to the language of the principles which appear minor and superficially innocuous in fact have very significant adverse effects. In particular, the cross-border disclosure principle, which has an ever-increasing importance in the context of borderless networks and ‘cloud’ computing, is seriously inadequate. There are a few improvements to the ALRC proposals in the government’s draft Bill, but in many cases proposed changes to the language of the principles which appear minor and superficially innocuous in fact have very significant adverse effects. In particular, the cross-border disclosure principle, which has an ever-increasing importance in the context of borderless networks and ‘cloud’ computing, is seriously inadequate. Part II of this article is the ‘Improved Exposure Draft’ annexed to the Submission, which contains the detail of our recommended changes. Our proposed additions to and deletions from the Exposure Draft are visible from the change tracking to the document. It is unfortunate that the government has released an Exposure draft of the APPs without drafts of other provisions relating to compliance and enforcement, and some coverage, exemption and definition matters not yet addressed. We understand the rationale for a staged release, and this is acceptable in relation to the specific credit reporting and health privacy rules. But a complete judgement as to the effect of changes to the principles can only be made in the context of the Information and Privacy Commissioners’ functions and powers, and other parts of the Act, which may or may not change in the final amendment Bill. [Postscript: As of March 2012, a Bill to change the privacy principles has not been submitted to Parliament. It is expected that such a Bill will be submitted during 2012, but whether it will be any different from the Exposure Draft is unknown.]

Tenecteplase for the improvement of blood flow rate in dysfunctional hemodialysis catheters

We evaluated the efficacy and safety of the thrombolytic agent tenecteplase for the treatment of dysfunctional hemodialysis (HD) catheters. Data were pooled from 2 Phase III clinical studies: the randomized, placebo-controlled TROPICS 3 trial and the open-label TROPICS 4 trial. Eligible patients received either an initial dose of tenecteplase (2 mg/lumen) or placebo (TROPICS 3 only) for a 1-h intracatheter dwell. Treatment success was defined as blood flow rate (BFR) ≥ 300 ml/min and a ≥ 25 ml/min increase from baseline BFR, without line reversal, 30 min before and at the end of HD. All TROPICS 4 patients and the TROPICS 3 patients enrolled after the final protocol amendment without treatment success received an instillation of tenecteplase at the end of the initial visit for an extended dwell of up to 72 h. A total of 372 patients with dysfunctional catheters were enrolled in the 2 studies. Of the 297 patients treated with tenecteplase at the initial visit, 31% achieved treatment success, with a mean (SD) change from baseline BFR of 73 (120) ml/min. Among the 179 patients who received a 1-h dwell of study drug followed by extended-dwell tenecteplase, 46% had treatment success at the end of the next HD session. Six catheter-related bloodstream infections and 2 thromboses were reported in patients following tenecteplase exposure. Tenecteplase, administered as a 1-h dwell or a 1-h dwell followed by an extended dwell, was associated with improved BFR in dysfunctional HD catheters in the TROPICS 3 and 4 clinical trials.

Final Results from an International, Multi-Center, Single-Arm Study Evaluating the Safety and Efficacy of Romiplostim in Adults with Primary Immune Thrombocytopenia (ITP),

Abstract 3279▪▪This icon denotes a clinically relevant abstract Background:ITP is an autoimmune disorder characterized by increased platelet destruction and suboptimal platelet production. Romiplostim stimulates platelet production via the TPO-receptor, and is recommended for second- and third-line treatment of chronic ITP in adults. We report final data from a large prospective study of romiplostim in adults with ITP of varying duration and severity. Methods: Eligibility criteria were broad: patients ≥18 years of age, who had received prior ITP therapies (final protocol amendment: ≥1, previous amendments: ≥3), with low platelet counts (final amendment: ≤ 30 × 109/L, previous amendments: ≤ 10, ≤ 20 × 109/L) or experiencing uncontrolled bleeding. The only excluded comorbidities were: hematological malignancy, myeloproliferative neoplasms, MDS and bone marrow stem cell disorder. Romiplostim was initiated at 1 (final amendment) or 3 (previous amendments) μg/kg/week, with dose adjustments allowed to maintain platelet counts ≥50 × 109/L. Patients could continue on study until they had access to commercially available romiplostim. Rescue medications were allowed at any time; concurrent ITP therapies could be reduced when platelet counts were > 50 × 109/L. Primary endpoint was incidence of adverse events (AEs) and antibody formation. Secondary endpoint was platelet response, defined as either (1) doubling of baseline count and ≥ 50 × 109/L or (2) ≥20 × 109/L increase from baseline. Results: A total of 407 patients received romiplostim, 60% of whom were female. Median (Q1, Q3) time since ITP diagnosis was 4.25 (1.20, 11.40) years (maximum 57.1 years), with 51% of patients splenectomised and 39% receiving baseline concurrent ITP therapies. Seventy-one percent of patients completed the study, with requirement for alternative therapy and withdrawn consent the most common reasons for discontinuation (5% each). Median (Q1, Q3) on-study treatment duration was 44.29 (20.43, 65.86) weeks (maximum 201 weeks), with a total of 20,201 subject-weeks on study. Incidence and type of AEs were consistent with previous studies. The most common serious treatment-related AEs were cerebrovascular accident, headache, bone marrow reticulin fibrosis (with no evidence of positive trichrome staining for collagen and no evidence suggesting primary idiopathic myelofibrosis), nausea, deep vein thrombosis, hemorrhage and pulmonary embolism, with each reported in 2 of 407 (0.5%) patients. All other serious treatment-related AEs were each reported in one patient. Eighteen patients died; 3 deaths (hemolysis, intestinal ischaema, aplastic anemia) were considered treatment-related. No neutralizing antibodies to romiplostim or TPO were reported. Approximately 90% of patients achieved each of the platelet response definitions, regardless of splenectomy status. Overall, median (Q1, Q3) time to response was 2 (1, 4) weeks for response definition 1, and 1 (1, 3) week for response definition 2. Median (Q1, Q3) baseline platelet count was 14 (8, 21) × 109/L. After 1 week of treatment median (Q1, Q3) platelet count had increased to 42 (18, 101) × 109/L. From week 8 onwards, and excluding counts within 8 weeks of rescue medication use, median platelet counts were consistently above 100 × 109/L (range 101.0–269.5 × 109/L). Median (Q1, Q3) average weekly romiplostim dose was 3.62 (1.99, 6.08) μg/kg. Summary/conclusions: This is the largest prospective study in adult ITP reported to date. The data reported here are similar to those reported for previous romiplostim studies, with romiplostim able to safely induce a rapid platelet response in adult ITP patients with low platelet counts or bleeding symptoms. Romiplostim is an important, well-tolerated, treatment option for adult ITP patients, which significantly increases and maintains platelet counts.Adverse Event Subject IncidenceN=407n (%)All AEs377 (93)Most common AEsHeadache119 (29)Arthralgia80 (20)Fatigue75 (18)Nausea72 (18)Epistaxis70 (17)Nasopharyngitis69 (17)Petechiae63 (16)Contusion62 (15)Serious AEs122 (30)Treatment-related AEs193 (47)Serious, treatment-related AEs29 (7)Platelet ResponseSplenectomisedNon-splenectomisedOverallN = 208N = 199N = 407n (%)n (%)n (%)Subjects achieving a doubling of baseline platelet count and a count ≥50 × 109/L183 (88)187 (94)370 (91)95% CI(83, 92)(90, 97)(88, 94)Subjects achieving a ≥20 × 109/L increase from baseline191 (92)189 (95)380 (93)95% CI(87, 95)(91, 98)(90, 96) Disclosures:Janssens:Amgen: Consultancy; Roche: Speakers Bureau; GSK: Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees. Tarantino:Cangene corporation: Research Funding; Baxter: Research Funding; Talecris: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Up-to-date: Patents & Royalties; The Bleeding and Clotting Disorders Institute: Board Member. Bird:Amgen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Honoraria, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; GSK: Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees. Boccia:Amgen: Equity Ownership, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Lopez-Fernandez:Amgen: Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Kozak:Amgen: Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees. Steurer:Amgen: Honoraria. Dillingham:Amgen Limited: Employment, Equity Ownership. Lizambri:Amgen: Employment, Equity Ownership.

Final regulatory amendment to set 2011-2015 total allowable catch and adjust bag limit for red grouper : including environmental assessment, regulatory impact review, and regulatory flexibility act analysis

Final regulatory amendment to set 2011-2015 total allowable catch and adjust bag limit for red grouper : including environmental assessment, regulatory impact review, and regulatory flexibility act analysis

Nematode succession during composting and the potential of the nematode community as an indicator of compost maturity

Abstract One of the key issues in compost research is to assess when the compost has reached a mature stage. The maturity status of the compost determines the quality of the final soil amendment product. The nematode community occurring in a Controlled Microbial Composting (CMC) process was analyzed with the objective of assessing whether the species composition could be used as a bio-indicator of the compost maturity status. The results obtained here describe the major shifts in species composition that occur during the composting process. Compared to terrestrial ecosystems, nematode succession in compost differs mainly in the absence of K-strategists and numerical importance of diplogastrids. At the beginning of the composting process (thermophilic phase), immediately after the heat peak, the nematode population is primarily built by bacterial feeding enrichment opportunists (cp-1) (Rhabditidae, Panagrolaimidae, Diplogastridae) followed by the bacterial-feeding general opportunists (cp-2) (Cephalobidae) and the fungal-feeding general opportunists (Aphelenchoididae). Thereafter, during the cooling and maturation stage, the bacterial-feeding-predator opportunistic nematodes (Mononchoides sp.) became dominant. Finally, at the most mature stage, the fungal-feeding Anguinidae (mainly Ditylenchus filimus) were most present. Both, the Maturity Index (MI) and the fungivorous/bacterivorous ratio (f/b ratio), increase as the compost becomes more mature (ranging, respectively, from 1 to 1.86 and from 0 to 11.90). Based on these results, both indices are suggested as potential suitable tools to assess compost maturity.

The politics and economics of mental health 'parity' laws.

The enactment of the Domenici-Wellstone amendment in September 1996, which calls for the elimination of certain limits on coverage for mental health care under private insurance, is being hailed as a major step forward in the quest for "parity" in mental health coverage. Parity legislation is being introduced in a number of state legislatures and is finding new enthusiasm in Congress. In this paper we consider the efficiency rationale for these laws and examine their likely impact in the era of managed care. We conclude that although such successes represent important political events, they may offer only small gains in the efficiency and fairness of insurance markets.

Hazardous waste storage, disposal, remediation, and closure

Hazardous waste storage, disposal, remediation, and closure

The Amending Process in Canada and the United States: A Comparative Perspective

For 115 years the basic written constitution of Canada had been a statute of the United Kingdom Parliament, the British North America Act of 1867 (BNA) and its amendments.' On April 17, 1982, Queen Elizabeth II brought these acts home to Canada in a ceremony celebrating the recent passage by the United Kingdom Parliament of the Canada Act of 1982.2 The Canada Act was the final amendment by the Parliament in London of the BNA Act; this basic document will henceforth be a wholly domestic Canadian law, amendable by Canada alone without the unseemly necessity of petition to the parliament of a foreign government. Passed two years after the American Civil War, the British North America Act united the British colonies of Canada (Ontario and Quebec), Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick into a new federated nation. The BNA Act provided the basic constitution of Canada, allocating authority between the federal and provincial governments. As a statute of the United Kingdom, however, it could be changed only by the Parliament in London. In practice amendments have been made upon (and only upon) formal request by the government of Canada.3 For half a century, efforts have been made to patriate the Canadian Constitution: that is, to terminate the formal power of the United Kingdom Parliament to change the BNA and to make its provisions a part of the law of Canada, amendable by processes wholly Canadian. And for half a century these efforts were unsuccessful, for the Canadian federal government and the governments of the ten Canadian provinces were unable to agree upon a formula for amending the constitution once it became part of Canadian law and no longer subject to revision by the United Kingdom Parliament.4 Finally, in November 1981, after months of intense controversy, the Canadian federal government and nine of the ten provinces reached agreement on a future amending process.5 In spite of the objections of Quebec, the Parliament of the