Why do policy decision-makers opt for command and control environmental regulation? An economic analysis with special reference to Sri Lanka

This chapter examines why policy decision-makers opt for command and control environmental regulation despite the availability of a plethora of market-based instruments which are more efficient and cost-effective. Interestingly, Sri Lanka has adopted a wholly command and control system, during both the pre and post liberalisation economic policies. This chapter first examines the merits and demerits of command and control and market-based approaches and then looks at Sri Lanka’s extensive environmental regulatory framework. The chapter then examines the likely reasons as to why the country has gone down the path of inflexible regulatory measures and has become entrenched in them. The various hypotheses are discussed and empirical evidence is provided. The chapter also discusses the consequences of an environmentally slack economy and policy implications stemming from adopting a wholly regulatory approach. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the main results.

Organotypic culture of normal, dysplastic and squamous cell carcinoma-derived oral cell lines reveals loss of spatial regulation of CD44 and p75(NTR) in malignancy

Oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) often arise from dysplastic lesions. The role of cancer stem cells in tumour initiation is widely accepted, yet the potential existence of pre-cancerous stem cells in dysplastic tissue has received little attention. Cell lines from oral diseases ranging in severity from dysplasia to malignancy provide opportunity to investigate the involvement of stem cells in malignant progression from dysplasia. Stem cells are functionally defined by their ability to generate hierarchical tissue structures in consortium with spatial regulation. Organotypic cultures readily display tissue hierarchy in vitro; hence, in this study, we compared hierarchical expression of stem cell-associated markers in dermis-based organotypic cultures of oral epithelial cells from normal tissue (OKF6-TERT2), mild dysplasia (DOK), severe dysplasia (POE-9n) and OSCC (PE/CA P J15). Expression of CD44, p75NTR, CD24 and ALDH was studied in monolayers by flow cytometry and in organotypic cultures by immunohistochemistry. Spatial regulation of CD44 and p75NTR was evident for organotypic cultures of normal (OKF6-TERT2) and dysplasia (DOK and POE-9n) but was lacking for OSCC (PE/CA PJ15)-derived cells. Spatial regulation of CD24 was not evident. All monolayer cultures exhibited CD44, p75NTR, CD24 antigens and ALDH activity (ALDEFLUOR® assay), with a trend towards loss of population heterogeneity that mirrored disease severity. In monolayer, increased FOXA1 and decreased FOXA2 expression correlated with disease severity, but OCT3/4, Sox2 and NANOG did not. We conclude that dermis-based organotypic cultures give opportunity to investigate the mechanisms that underlie loss of spatial regulation of stem cell markers seen with OSCC-derived cells.

Tipping the balance : sclerotinia sclerotiorum secreted oxalic acid suppresses host defenses by manipulating the host redox environment

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a necrotrophic ascomycete fungus with an extremely broad host range. This pathogen produces the non-specific phytotoxin and key pathogenicity factor, oxalic acid (OA). Our recent work indicated that this fungus and more specifically OA, can induce apoptotic-like programmed cell death (PCD) in plant hosts, this induction of PCD and disease requires generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the host, a process triggered by fungal secreted OA. Conversely, during the initial stages of infection, OA also dampens the plant oxidative burst, an early host response generally associated with plant defense. This scenario presents a challenge regarding the mechanistic details of OA function; as OA both suppresses and induces host ROS during the compatible interaction. In the present study we generated transgenic plants expressing a redox-regulated GFP reporter. Results show that initially, Sclerotinia (via OA) generates a reducing environment in host cells that suppress host defense responses including the oxidative burst and callose deposition, akin to compatible biotrophic pathogens. Once infection is established however, this necrotroph induces the generation of plant ROS leading to PCD of host tissue, the result of which is of direct benefit to the pathogen. In contrast, a non-pathogenic OA-deficient mutant failed to alter host redox status. The mutant produced hypersensitive response-like features following host inoculation, including ROS induction, callose formation, restricted growth and cell death. These results indicate active recognition of the mutant and further point to suppression of defenses by the wild type necrotrophic fungus. Chemical reduction of host cells with dithiothreitol (DTT) or potassium oxalate (KOA) restored the ability of this mutant to cause disease. Thus, Sclerotinia uses a novel strategy involving regulation of host redox status to establish infection. These results address a long-standing issue involving the ability of OA to both inhibit and promote ROS to achieve pathogenic success.

The 'Stakeholder Approach' to corporate governance and regulation : an assessment

The framework by which organizations are governed has been changed. A reason for this change is related with the force of stakeholders that compel the political power and the business society to review the ways in which companies are governed. Stakeholder thinking has gradually put this change at the center of research into business and society relations. Based on the stakeholder thinking, the corporate regulation framework has extended a new dimension in the business and society interface. This article assesses these issues.

Integrating agency and resource dependence theory : firm profitability, industry regulation, and board task performance

Boards of directors are key governancemechanisms in organizations and fulfill twomain tasks:monitoringmanagers and firm performance, and providing advice and access to resources. In spite of a wealth of researchmuch remains unknown about how boards attend to the two tasks. This study investigates whether organizational (firm profitability) and environmental factors (industry regulation) affect board task performance. The data combine CEOs' responses to a questionnaire, and archival data from a sample of large Italian firms. Findings show that past firm performance is negatively associatedwith board monitoring and advice tasks; greater industry regulation enhances perceived board task performance; board monitoring and advice tasks tend to reinforce each other, despite their theoretical and practical distinction.

Legal regulation of 'decent work' : evidence from two big industries in Bangladesh

In most developing countries, the overall quality of the livelihood of labourers, work place environment and implementation of labour rights do not progress at the same rate as their industrial development. To address this situation, the ILO has initiated the concept of 'decent work' to assist regulators articulate labour-related social policy goals. Against this backdrop, this article assesses the Bangladesh Labour Law 2006 by reference to the four social principles developed by the ILO for ensuring 'decent work'. It explains the impact of the absence of these principles in this Law on the labour administration in the ready-made garment and ship-breaking industries. It finds that an appropriate legislative framework needs to be based on the principles of 'decent work' to establish a solid platform for a sound labour regulation in Bangladesh.

Harnessing SD and CSR within corporate self-regulation of weak economies : a meta-regulation approach

The semantic of the terms “sustainable development” and “corporate social responsibility” have changed over time to a point where these concepts have become two interrelated processes for ensuring the far-reaching development of society. Their convergence has given dimension to the environmental and corporate regulation mechanisms in strong economies. This article deals with the question of how the ethos of this convergence could be incorporated into the self-regulation of businesses in weak economies where nonlegal drivers are either inadequate or inefficient. It proposes that the policies for this incorporation should be based on the precepts of meta-regulation that have the potential to hold force majeure, economic incentives, and assistance-related strategies to reach an objective from the perspective of weak economies.

Probing second harmonic components of pH-sensitive Redox processes in a mesoporous TiO2-Nafion film electrode with Fourier-transformed large-amplitude sinusoidally modulated voltammetry

Electrochemical processes in mesoporous TiO2-Nafion thin films deposited on indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes are inherently complex and affected by capacitance, Ohmic iR-drop, RC-time constant phenomena, and by potential and pH-dependent conductivity. In this study, large-amplitude sinusoidally modulated voltammetry (LASMV) is employed to provide access to almost purely Faradaic-based current data from second harmonic components, as well as capacitance and potential domain information from the fundamental harmonic for mesoporous TiO2-Nafion film electrodes. The LASMV response has been investigated with and without an immobilized one-electron redox system, ferrocenylmethyltrimethylammonium+. Results clearly demonstrate that the electron transfer associated with the immobilized ferrocene derivative follows two independent pathways i) electron hopping within the Nafion network and ii) conduction through the TiO2 backbone. The pH effect on the voltammetric response for the TiO2 reduction pathway (ii) can be clearly identified in the 2nd harmonic LASMV response with the diffusion controlled ferrocene response (i) acting as a pH independent reference. Application of second harmonic data derived from LASMV measurement, because of the minimal contribution from capacitance currents, may lead to reference-free pH sensing with systems like that found for ferrocene derivatives.

Voltage regulation, power balancing and battery storage discharge control by smart demand side management and multi-objective decision making

A novel intelligent online demand side management system is proposed for peak load management. The method also regulates the network voltage, balances the power in three phases and coordinates the battery storage discharge within the network. This method uses low cost controllers with low bandwidth two-way communication installed in costumers' premises and at distribution transformers to manage the peak load while maximizing customer satisfaction. A multi-objective decision making process is proposed to select the load(s) to be delayed or controlled. The efficacy of the proposed control system is verified through an event-based developed simulation in Matlab.

Energy-based motion control of marine vehicles using interconnection and damping assignment passivity-based control : a survey

This paper reviews some recent results in motion control of marine vehicles using a technique called Interconnection and Damping Assignment Passivity-based Control (IDA-PBC). This approach to motion control exploits the fact that vehicle dynamics can be described in terms of energy storage, distribution, and dissipation, and that the stable equilibrium points of mechanical systems are those at which the potential energy attains a minima. The control forces are used to transform the closed-loop dynamics into a port-controlled Hamiltonian system with dissipation. This is achieved by shaping the energy-storing characteristics of the system, modifying its interconnection structure (how the energy is distributed), and injecting damping. The end result is that the closed-loop system presents a stable equilibrium (hopefully global) at the desired operating point. By forcing the closed-loop dynamics into a Hamiltonian form, the resulting total energy function of the system serves as a Lyapunov function that can be used to demonstrate stability. We consider the tracking and regulation of fully actuated unmanned underwater vehicles, its extension to under-actuated slender vehicles, and also manifold regulation of under-actuated surface vessels. The paper is concluded with an outlook on future research.

Regulation and integral control of an underactuated robotic system using IDA-PBC with dynamic extension

This paper proposes a method for design of a set-point regulation controller with integral action for an underactuated robotic system. The robot is described as a port-Hamiltonian system, and the control design is based on a coordinate transformation and a dynamic extension. Both the change of coordinates and the dynamic extension add extra degrees of freedom that facilitate the solution of the matching equation associated with interconnection and damping assignment passivity-based control designs (IDA-PBC). The stability of the controlled system is proved using the closed loop Hamiltonian as a Lyapunov candidate function. The performance of the proposed controller is shown in simulation.

Manoeuvring control of underactuated surface vessels using manifold regulation for Port-Hamiltonian systems

This paper considers the manoeuvring of underactuated surface vessels. The control objective is to steer the vessel to reach a manifold which encloses a waypoint. A transformation of configuration variables and a potential field are used in a Port-Hamiltonian framework to design an energy-based controller. With the proposed controller, the geometric task associated with the manoeuvring problem depends on the desired potential energy (closed-loop) and the dynamic task depends on the total energy and damping. Therefore, guidance and motion control are addressed jointly, leading to model-energy-based trajectory generation.

Environmental regulation of leaf colour in red 35S : PAP1 Arabidopsis thaliana

High-temperature, low-light (HTLL) treatment of 35S:PAP1 Arabidopsis thaliana over-expressing the PAP1 (Production of Anthocyanin Pigment 1) gene results in reversible reduction of red colouration, suggesting the action of additional anthocyanin regulators. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LCMS) and Affimetrix®-based microarrays were used to measure changes in anthocyanin, flavonoids, and gene expression in response to HTLL. HTLL treatment of control and 35S:PAP1 A. thaliana resulted in a reversible reduction in the concentrations of major anthocyanins despite ongoing over-expression of the PAP1 MYB transcription factor. Twenty-one anthocyanins including eight cis-coumaryl esters were identified by LCMS. The concentrations of nine anthocyanins were reduced and those of three were increased, consistent with a sequential process of anthocyanin degradation. Analysis of gene expression showed down-regulation of flavonol and anthocyanin biosynthesis and of transport-related genes within 24 h of HTLL treatment. No catabolic genes up-regulated by HTLL were found. Reductions in the concentrations of anthocyanins and down-regulation of the genes of anthocyanin biosynthesis were achieved by environmental manipulation, despite ongoing over-expression of PAP1. Quantitative PCR showed reduced expression of three genes (TT8, TTG1 and EGL3) of the PAP1 transcriptional complex, and increased expression of the potential transcriptional repressors AtMYB3, AtMYB6 and AtMYBL2 coincided with HTLL-induced down-regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis. HTLL treatment offers a model system with which to explore anthocyanin catabolism and to discover novel genes involved in the environmental control of anthocyanins.

Molecular and cellular analysis of basement membrane invasion by human breast cancer cells in Matrigel-based in vitro assays

In vitro analyses of basement membrane invasiveness employing Matrigel (a murine tumor extract rich in basement membrane components) have been performed on human breast cancer model systems. Constitutive invasiveness of different human breast cancer (HBC) cell lines has been examined as well as regulation by steroid hormones, growth factors, and oncogenes. Carcinoma cells exhibiting a mesenchymal-like phenotype (vimentin expression, lack of cell border associated uvomorulin) show dramatically increased motility, invasiveness, and metastatic potential in nude mice. These findings support the hypothesis that epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT)-like events may be instrumental in the metastatic progression of human breast cancer. The MCF-7 subline MCF-7ADR appears to have undergone such a transition. The importance of such a transition may be reflected in the emergence of vimentin expression as an indicator of poor prognosis in HBC. Matrix degradation and laminin recognition are highlighted as potential targets for antimetastatic therapy, and analyses of laminin attachment and the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) family in HBC cell lines are summarized. Matrigel-based assays have proved useful in the study of the molecular mechanisms of basement membrane invasiveness, their regulation in HBC cells, and their potential as targets for antimetastatic therapy.

Sphingosine-1-phosphate, a novel second messenger involved in cell growth regulation and signal transduction, affects growth and invasiveness of human breast cancer cells

This review will focus on the role of sphingosine and its phosphorylated derivative sphingosine-1-phosphate (SPP) in cell growth regulation and signal transduction. We will show that many of the effects attributed to sphingosine in quiescent Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts are mediated via its conversion to SPP. We propose that SPP has appropriate properties to function as an intracellular second messenger based on the following: it elicits diverse cellular responses; it is rapidly produced from sphingosine by a specific kinase and rapidly degraded by a specific lyase; its concentration is low in quiescent cells but increases rapidly and transiently in response to the growth factors, fetal calf serum (FCS) and platelet derived growth factor (PDGF); it releases Ca2+ from internal sources in an InsP3-independent manner; and finally, it may link sphingolipid signaling pathways to cellular ras-mediated signaling pathways by elevating phosphatidic acid levels. The effects of this novel second messenger on growth, differentiation and invasion of human breast cancer cells will be discussed. © 1994 Kluwer Academic Publishers.