The World Trade Organization at Work: Performance in a Member-Driven Milieu

This article discusses performance in the context of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Applying the framework by Gutner and Thompson and inspired by principal-agent theory, it is argued that existing studies have underspecified the institutional milieu that affects performance. The WTO represents a member-driven organization where Members are part of the international organization (IO) (e.g., through rule-making) and at the same time act outside the IO (e.g., through implementation). Thus, a narrow reading of the IO (focusing on the civil servants and the Director-General and his staff) will not suffice to understand IO performance in the WTO context. Selected evidence is presented to illustrate aspects of the WTO’s inner-working and the institutional milieu of performance. In addition, the article discusses a number of performance parameters, including the relationship between Secretariat autonomy and performance, the role of information, and the mechanisms of performance aggregation. The article ends by cautioning against quick fixes to the system to improve performance.

Estimation of the postmortem interval by means of ¹H MRS of decomposing brain tissue: influence of ambient temperature

Standard methods for the estimation of the postmortem interval (PMI, time since death), based on the cooling of the corpse, are limited to about 48 h after death. As an alternative, noninvasive postmortem observation of alterations of brain metabolites by means of (1)H MRS has been suggested for an estimation of the PMI at room temperature, so far without including the effect of other ambient temperatures. In order to study the temperature effect, localized (1)H MRS was used to follow brain decomposition in a sheep brain model at four different temperatures between 4 and 26°C with repeated measurements up to 2100 h postmortem. The simultaneous determination of 25 different biochemical compounds at each measurement allowed the time courses of concentration changes to be followed. A sudden and almost simultaneous change of the concentrations of seven compounds was observed after a time span that decreased exponentially from 700 h at 4°C to 30 h at 26°C ambient temperature. As this represents, most probably, the onset of highly variable bacterial decomposition, and thus defines the upper limit for a reliable PMI estimation, data were analyzed only up to this start of bacterial decomposition. As 13 compounds showed unequivocal, reproducible concentration changes during this period while eight showed a linear increase with a slope that was unambiguously related to ambient temperature. Therefore, a single analytical function with PMI and temperature as variables can describe the time courses of metabolite concentrations. Using the inverse of this function, metabolite concentrations determined from a single MR spectrum can be used, together with known ambient temperatures, to calculate the PMI of a corpse. It is concluded that the effect of ambient temperature can be reliably included in the PMI determination by (1)H MRS.

Stability of coagulation assays performed in plasma from citrated whole blood transported at ambient temperature

Many preanalytical variables affect the results of coagulation assays. A possible way to control some of them would be to accept blood specimens shipped in the original collection tube. The aim of our study was to investigate the stability of coagulation assays in citrated whole blood transported at ambient temperature for up to two days after specimen collection. Blood samples from 59 patients who attended our haematology outpatient ward for thrombophilia screening were transported at ambient temperature (outdoor during the day, indoor overnight) for following periods of time: <1 hour, 4-6, 8-12, 24-28 and 48-52 hours prior to centrifugation and plasma-freezing. The following coagulation tests were performed: PT, aPTT, fibrinogen, FII:C, FV:C, FVII:C, FVIII:C, FIX:C, FX:C, FXI:C, VWF:RCo, VWF:Ag, AT, PC activity, total and free PS antigen, modified APC-sensitivity-ratio, thrombin-antithrombin-complex and D-dimer. Clinically significant changes, defined as a percentage change of more than 10% from the initial value, were observed for FV:C, FVIII:C and total PS antigen starting at 24-28 hours, and for PT, aPTT and FVII:C at 48-52 hours. No statistically significant differences were seen for fibrinogen, antithrombin, or thrombin-antithrombin complexes (Friedman repeated measures analysis of variance). The present data suggest that the use of whole blood samples transported at ambient temperature may be an acceptable means of delivering specimens for coagulation analysis. With the exception of factor V and VIII coagulant activity, and total PS antigen all investigated parameters can be measured 24-28 hours after specimen collection without observing clinically relevant changes.

Prednisolone treatment induces tolerogenic dendritic cells and a regulatory milieu in myasthenia gravis patients

FOXP3-expressing naturally occurring CD4(+)CD25(high) T regulatory cells (Treg) are relevant in the control of autoimmunity, and a defect in this cell population has been observed in several human autoimmune diseases. We hypothesized that altered functions of peripheral Treg cells might play a role in the immunopathogenesis of myasthenia gravis, a T cell-dependent autoimmune disease characterized by the presence of pathogenic autoantibodies specific for the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. We report in this study a significant decrease in the in vitro suppressive function of peripheral Treg cells isolated from myasthenia patients in comparison to those from healthy donors. Interestingly, Treg cells from prednisolone-treated myasthenia gravis patients showed an improved suppressive function compared with untreated patients, suggesting that prednisolone may play a role in the control of the peripheral regulatory network. Indeed, prednisolone treatment prevents LPS-induced maturation of monocyte-derived dendritic cells by hampering the up-regulation of costimulatory molecules and by limiting secretion of IL-12 and IL-23, and enhancing IL-10. In addition, CD4(+) T cells cultured in the presence of such tolerogenic dendritic cells are hyporesponsive and can suppress autologous CD4(+) T cell proliferation. The results shown in this study indicate that prednisolone treatment promotes an environment that favors immune regulation rather than inflammation.

Das radikale Milieu im vorrevolutionären Russland

This article traces the networks in the Russian revolutionary underground from the 1860s untill 1917 and subsumes them under the term radical milieu. Though there existed ideological differences all Russian radicals shared a common identity as „anti-society“ against the tsarist regime. In the radical milieu with its own values the participants tried to create their own reality, where all members regardless of their social origin or sex were seen as equal. The radical milieu was backed by a sphere of sympathisers that constituted the main source of material support and the main recruiting field. But the radicals were very careful when selecting new members for their underground world. Applicants had to fulfil defined criteria. The radical milieu in Russia was in a permanent danger to be infiltrated by the secret police. This situation between fear and hope was the background where ideas of solidarity but also visions of violence and revenge against the “traitors” were ripening and then became realised.

Leben für die Sache. Vera Figner, Vera Zasulič und das radikale Milieu im späten Zarenreich

In der zweiten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts treten in Russland vermehrt Frauen und Männer in die Öffentlichkeit, die durch radikale Veränderungen einen „neuen Menschen“ und mit ihm eine neue Gesellschaft schaffen wollen. Vera Figner und Vera Zasulič, die beiden Protagonistinnen der vorliegenden Untersuchung, sind herausragende Vertreterinnen der radikalen Bewegung im ausgehenden Zarenreich. Während Vera Zasulič mit ihrem Attentat auf den St. Petersburger Stadtkommandanten Fëdor Trepov 1878 am Beginn der ersten terroristischen Welle in Russland steht, ist Vera Figner bei ihrer Verhaftung 1883 das letzte führende Mitglied der Terrororganisation Narodnaja Volja (Volkswille), die am 1./13. März 1881 einen tödlichen Anschlag auf Zar Aleksandr II. verübt. Die beiden Frauen verbindet zwar kein engerer persönlicher Kontakt, dafür aber die Zugehörigkeit zum selben Milieu. Beeinflusst von der progressiven Debatte in der Intelligencija der 1860er Jahre entschlossen sie sich bereits in ihrer Jugend, sich von traditionellen Standes- und Geschlechterrollen zu lösen, ihr Schicksal „in die eigenen Hände zu nehmen“ und sich einer „Sache“ zu verschreiben. Zusammen mit anderen Radikalen gerieten sie dadurch in einen immer heftigeren Konflikt mit der autokratischen Staatsmacht, der sich schließlich zu einem Kampf mit terroristischen Mitteln steigerte. Stephan Rindlisbacher nutzt die Biographien dieser beiden radikalen Frauen als „Scheinwerfer“, um das radikale Milieu mit seinen Merkmalen, Funktionsmechanismen und Handlungsspielräumen auszuleuchten. Aus zwei voneinander unabhängigen aber vergleichbaren Blickwinkeln zeichnet er ein eindrucksvolles Bild nicht nur der radikalen Netzwerkstrukturen, Symbole, Praktiken und Identitätsnarrativen, sondern auch der beteiligten Menschen mit ihren Wünschen, Hoffnungen und Ängsten.