Territorial development, planning reform and urban governance: the case of Ireland's second-tier cities

The increased emphasis within Europe on the role of second-tier cities has implications for the ways in which these urban centres are considered within national spatial planning strategies. In centralised, monocentric states like Ireland, there has been a general ambivalence towards urban policy for cities outside the capital city, and historically this has prevented the development of a strong, diversified urban hierarchy undermining prospects for balanced regional development. This paper examines the extent to which a new found emphasis on Ireland’s second-tier cities which emerged in the ‘Gateways’ policy of the National Spatial Strategy (NSS, 2002) was matched by subsequent political and administrative commitment to facilitate the development of these urban centres. Following a discussion of the position of second-tier cities in an international context and a brief overview of recent demographic and economic trends, the paper assesses the relative performance of Ireland’s second-tier cities in influencing development trends, highlighting a comprehensive failure to deliver compact urban growth. In this context, the paper then discusses the implications of current development plans for the second-tier cities and proposals for Irish local government reform for securing compact urban development.

Small states and the promotion of their foreign policy agenda in the international scenario: Trinidad and Tobago and the Kyoto Protocol

Este estudio de caso busca identificar los elementos del portafolio de política exterior de Trinidad y Tobago que le permitieron promover exitosamente sus intereses en el Protocolo de Kioto. Al hacer esto, este texto analizará las limitaciones de Trinidad y Tobago en términos de vulnerabilidades de localización, burocracia y recursos. Posteriormente, una revisión del portafolio de política exterior de este Estado ilustrará el uso de estrategias de creación de capacidades y de organización como lo son el contacto con actores institucionales y no gubernamentales, la formación de coaliciones y estrategias argumentativas, entre otras. Finalmente, este artículo concluirá que dichas acciones permitieron la promoción de la agenda de política exterior de Trinidad y Tobago a través de la creación de hojas de ruta y la coordinación de la incertidumbre con el Protocolo de Kioto. Para hacer esto, este trabajo se concentrará en examinar conceptos como vulnerabilidad y priorización, asimismo contrastando diferentes artículos académicos en la materia junto con documentos oficiales de Trinidad y Tobago.

Regulating Vertical Agreements: A Comparative Law & Economics analysis of Brazil and Europe

This PhD thesis discusses antitrust enforcement of anti-competitive vertical agreements in Europe and in Brazil from an institutional perspective. It considers both the evolution of the legal framework and the application of the existing policies, with the analysis of case studies. The research highlights the main challenges of the current approaches adopted by the competition authorities in these jurisdictions and formulates specific proposals for future improvements. Because the Brazilian competition rules were originally inspired by the European legal framework, this thesis also summarizes the contemporary discussions regarding comparative law and the efficiency of transplanting laws and good practices. In a Law & Economics perspective, vertical agreements have always been a paradoxical topic and constitute one of the most dynamic disputes for antitrust enforcement. The reason for that concern is the fact that those contracts among companies are complex in nature. Taking into account this background, the thesis provides an original analysis of the pro- and anti-competitive effects of vertical agreements, based on the classical literature of Law & Economics. One of the novelties of the research is the extension of the economic analysis of vertical agreements to also consider new forms of contractual abuses in the context of digital markets, such as the contractual restrictions that are being put I practice in e-commerce platforms. The international comparative approach focuses on the Brazilian and European experiences, and opens up a reflection about the policy recommendations applied to several countries with similar economic and institutional realities.

Comparative Cytogenetics Of Physalaemus albifrons And Physalaemus Cuvieri Species Groups (anura, leptodactylidae).

Recently, Physalaemus albifrons (Spix, 1824) was relocated from the Physalaemus cuvieri group to the same group as Physalaemus biligonigerus (Cope, 1861), Physalaemus marmoratus (Reinhardt & Lütken, 1862) and Physalaemus santafecinus Barrio, 1965. To contribute to the analysis of this proposition, we studied the karyotypes of Physalaemus albifrons, Physalaemus santafecinus and three species of the Physalaemus cuvieri group. The karyotype of Physalaemus santafecinus was found to be very similar to those of Physalaemus biligonigerus and Physalaemus marmoratus, which were previously described. A remarkable characteristic that these three species share is a conspicuous C-band that extends from the pericentromeric region almost to the telomere in the short arm of chromosome 3. This characteristic is not present in the Physalaemus albifrons karyotype and could be a synapomorphy of Physalaemus biligonigerus, Physalaemus marmoratus and Physalaemus santafecinus. The karyotype of Physalaemus santafecinus is also similar to those of Physalaemus marmoratus and Physalaemus biligonigerus owing to the presence of several terminal C-bands and the distal localization of the NOR in a small metacentric chromosome. In contrast, the Physalaemus albifrons karyotype has no terminal C-bands and its NOR is located interstitially in the long arm of submetacentric chromosome 8. The NOR-bearing chromosome of Physalaemus albifrons very closely resembles those found in Physalaemus albonotatus (Steindachner, 1864), Physalaemus cuqui Lobo, 1993 and some populations of Physalaemus cuvieri Fitzinger, 1826. Additionally, the Physalaemus albifrons karyotype has an interstitial C-band in chromosome 5 that has been exclusively observed in species of the Physalaemus cuvieri group. Therefore, we were not able to identify any chromosomal feature that supports the reallocation of Physalaemus albifrons.

Comparative Study Of Planned And Unplanned Excisions For The Treatment Of Soft Tissue Sarcoma Of The Extremities.

Unplanned excision of soft tissue sarcomas is common because benign soft tissue lesions are very frequent. This study evaluated the impact of unplanned resections on overall survival, local recurrence and distant metastasis in patients with soft tissue sarcomas of the extremities. In total, 52 patients who were diagnosed with soft tissue sarcomas between May 2001 and March 2011 were analyzed in a retrospective study. Of these patients, 29 (55.8%) had not undergone previous treatment and the remaining 23 (44.2%) patients had undergone prior resection of the tumor without oncological planning. All subsequent surgical procedures were performed at the same cancer referral center. The follow-up ranged from 6 to 122 months, with a mean of 39.89 months. Age, lesion size and depth, histological grade, surgical margins, overall survival, local and distant recurrence and adjuvant therapies were compared. Residual disease was observed in 91.3% of the re-resected specimens in the unplanned excision group, which exhibited greater numbers of superficial lesions, low histological grades and contaminated surgical margins compared with the re-resected specimens in the planned excision group. No differences were observed in local recurrence and 5-year overall survival between the groups, but distant metastases were significantly associated with planned excision after adjustment for the variables. There was no difference between patients undergoing unplanned excision and planned excision regarding local recurrence and overall survival. The planned excision group had a higher risk of distant metastasis, whereas there was a high rate of residual cancer in the unplanned excision group.

Comparative Study Of Transgenic And Non-transgenic Maize (zea Mays) Flours Commercialized In Brazil, Focussing On Proteomic Analyses.

Genetically modified foods are a major concern around the world due to the lack of information concerning their safety and health effects. This work evaluates differences, at the proteomic level, between two types of crop samples: transgenic (MON810 event with the Cry1Ab gene, which confers resistance to insects) and non-transgenic maize flour commercialized in Brazil. The 2-D DIGE technique revealed 99 differentially expressed spots, which were collected in 2-D PAGE gels and identified via mass spectrometry (nESI-QTOF MS/MS). The abundance of protein differences between the transgenic and non-transgenic samples could arise from genetic modification or as a result of an environmental influence pertaining to the commercial sample. The major functional category of proteins identified was related to disease/defense and, although differences were observed between samples, no toxins or allergenic proteins were found.

Comparative study of chemical and mechanical retentive systems for bonding of indirect composite resin to commercially pure titanium

This study evaluated the effect of chemical and mechanical surface treatments for cast metal alloys on the bond strength of an indirect composite resin (Artglass) to commercially pure titanium (cpTi). Thirty cylindrical metal rods (3 mm diameter x 60 mm long) were cast in grade-1 cpTi and randomly assigned to 6 groups (n=5) according to the received surface treatment: sandblasting; chemical treatment; mechanical treatment - 0.4 mm beads; mechanical treatment - 0.6 mm beads; chemical/mechanical treatment - 0.4 mm; and chemical/mechanical treatment - 0.6 mm beads. Artglass rings (6.0 mm diameter x 2.0 mm thick) were light cured around the cpTi rods, according manufacturer's specifications. The specimens were invested in hard gypsum and their bond strength (in MPa) to the rods was measured at fracture with a universal testing machine at a crosshead speed of 2.0 mm/min and 500 kgf load cell. Data were analyzed statistically by one-way ANOVA and Tukey test (a=5%). The surface treatments differed significantly from each other (p<0.05) regarding the recorded bond strengths. Chemical retention and sandblasting showed statistically similar results to each other (p=0.139) and both had significantly lower bond strengths (p<0.05) than the other treatments. In conclusion, mechanical retention, either associated or not to chemical treatment, provided higher bond strength of the indirect composite resin to cpTi.

Comparative study of intermaxillary relationships of manual and swallowing methods

This study compared the mandibular displacement from three methods of centric relation record using an anterior jig associated with (A) chin point guidance, (B) swallowing (control group) and (C) bimanual manipulation. Ten patients aged 25-39 years were selected if they met the following inclusion criteria: complete dentition (up to the second molars), Angle class I and absence of signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders and diagnostic casts showing stability in the maximum intercuspation (MI) position. Impressions of maxillary and mandibular arches were made with an irreversible hydrocolloid impression material. Master casts of each patient were obtained, mounted on a microscope table in MI as a reference position and 5 records of each method were made per patient. The mandibular casts were then repositioned with records interposed and new measurements were obtained. The difference between the two readings allowed measuring the displacement of the mandible in the anteroposterior and lateral axes. Data were analyzed statistically by ANOVA and Tukey's test at 5% significance level. There was no statistically significant differences (p>0.05) among the three methods for measuring lateral displacement (A=0.38 ± 0.26, B=0.32 ± 0.25 and C=0.32 ± 0.23). For the anteroposterior displacement (A=2.76 ± 1.43, B=2.46 ± 1.48 and C=2.97 ± 1.51), the swallowing method (B) differed significantly from the others (p<0.05), but no significant difference (p>0.05) was found between chin point guidance (A) and bimanual manipulation (C). In conclusion, the swallowing method produced smaller mandibular posterior displacement than the other methods.

Micromorphological and hardness analyses of human and bovine sclerotic dentin: a comparative study

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that both human and bovine sclerotic dentin have similar hardness properties, in addition to similar micromorphological characteristics. Sixteen teeth (8 human and 8 bovine) exhibiting exposed dentin in the incisal edge and showing characteristics typical of sclerosis were used. Vickers surface microhardness testing was conducted. Three areas of the dentin surface of each specimen were selected. All teeth were processed for scanning electron microscopy in order to estimate the amount (in percentage) of solid dentin on the sclerotic dentin surface. The data were compared by Student's t test (α = 0.05). The micromorphological and microhardness data were compared by Pearson's linear correlation test (α = 0.05). The mean percentages of solid dentin of human and bovine sclerotic dentin were similar (human 90.71 ± 0.83 and bovine 89.08 ± 0.81, p = 0.18). The mean microhardness value (VHN) of human sclerotic dentin was significantly higher than that of bovine sclerotic dentin (human 45.26 ± 2.92 and bovine 29.93 ± 3.83, p = 0.006). No correlation was found between the microhardness values and the amount of solid dentin in the sclerotic dentin, irrespective of the species considered (human R² = 0.0240, p = 0.714; bovine R² = 0.0017, p = 0.923; and combined R² = 0.038, p = 0.46). We concluded that although both bovine and human sclerotic dentin present a similar amount of solid tissue, human sclerotic dentin presents higher microhardness than bovine sclerotic dentin.

Comparative morphology among representatives of main taxa of Scaphopoda and basal protobranch Bivalvia (Mollusca)

This study deals with detailed morphology and anatomy of 4 species of Scaphopoda and 5 species of protobranch Bivalvia. Both classes are traditionally grouped in the taxon Diasoma, which has been questioned by different methodologies, such as molecular and developmental. This study is developed under a phylogenetic methodology with the main concern in performing it in an intelligible and testable methodology. The analyzed Scaphopoda species came from the Brazilian coast and belong to the family Dentaliidae [(1) Coccodentalium carduus; (2) Paradentalium disparile] and Gadiliidae; [(3) Polyschides noronhensis, n. sp. from Fernando de Noronha Archipelago; (4) Gadila braziliensis]. These species represent the main branches of the class Scaphopoda. From protobranch bivalves, representatives of the families Solemyidae [(5) Solemya occidentalis, from Florida; S. notialis, n. sp. from S.E. Brazil], Nuculanidae [(6) Propeleda carpentieri from Florida], and Nuculidae [(7) Ennucula puelcha, from south Brazil] are included. These species represent the main branches of the basal Bivalvia. The descriptions on the anatomy of S. occidentalis and of P. carpentieri are published elsewhere. The remaining are included here, for which a complete taxonomical treatment is performed. Beyond these species, representatives of other taxa are operationally included as part of the ingroup (indices are then shared with them), as a procedure to test the morphological monophyly of Diasoma. These taxa are: two lamellibranch bivalves [(8) Barbatia - Arcidae; (9) Serratina - Tellinidae; both published elsewhere;, and Propilidium (10) Patellogastropoda, and (11) Nautilus, basal Cephalopoda, based on basal taxa. The effective outgroups are (12) Neopilina (Monoplacophora) and (13) Hanleya (Polyplacophora). The phylogenetic analysis based on morphology revealed that the taxon Diasoma is supported by 14 synapomorphies, and is separated from Cyrtosoma (Gastropoda + Cephalopoda). Although they are not the main goal of this paper, the taxa Scaphopoda and Bivalvia are supported by 8 and by 7 synapomorphies respectively. The taxon Protobranchia resulted paraphyletic. Both scaphopod orders resulted monophyletic. The obtained cladogram is: ((((Coccodentalium carduus - Paradentalium disparile) (Polyschides noronhensis - Gadila brasiliensis)) ((Solemya occidentalis - S. notialis) (Propeleda carpenteri (Ennucula puelcha (Barbatia cancellaria - Serratina capsoides))))) (Propilidium curumim - Nautilus pompilius - Lolliguncula brevis)).

Comparative study of the hygienic behavior of Carniolan and Africanized honey bees directed towards grouped versus isolated dead brood cells

In Apis mellifera, hygienic behavior involves recognition and removal of sick, damaged or dead brood from capped cells. We investigated whether bees react in the same way to grouped versus isolated damaged capped brood cells. Three colonies of wild-type Africanized honey bees and three colonies of Carniolan honey bees were used for this investigation. Capped worker brood cells aged 12 to 14 days old were perforated with the pin-killing method. After making holes in the brood cells, the combs were placed back into the hives; 24 h later the number of cleaned cells was recorded in areas with pin-killed and control brood cells. Four repetitions were made in each colony. Isolated cells were more frequently cleaned than grouped cells, though variance analysis showed no significant difference (P = 0.1421). Carniolan bees also were somewhat, though not significantly more hygienic than Africanized honey bees (P = 0.0840). We conclude that honey bees can detect and remove both isolated and grouped dead brood. The tendency towards greater hygienic efficiency directed towards grouped pin-killed brood may be a consequence of a greater concentration of volatiles emanating from the wounds in the dead pupae.

Within-stand and seasonal variations of specific leaf area in a clonal Eucalyptus plantation in the Republic of Congo

Specific leaf area (SLA; m(leaf)(2) kg(leaf)(-1)) is a key ecophysiological parameter influencing leaf physiology, photosynthesis, and whole plant carbon gain. Both individual tree-based models and other forest process-based models are generally highly sensitive to this parameter, but information on its temporal or within-stand variability is still scarce. In a 2-4-year-old Eucalyptus plantation in Congo, prone to seasonal drought, the within-stand and seasonal variability in SLA were investigated by means of destructive sampling carried out at 2-month intervals, over a 2-year period. Within-crown vertical gradients of SLA were small. Highly significant relationships were found between tree-average SLA (SLA(t)) and tree size (tree height, H(t), or diameter at breast height, DBH): SLA(t) ranged from about 9 m(2) kg(-1) for dominant trees to about 14-15 m(2) kg(-1) for the smallest trees. The decrease in SLA(t) with increasing tree size was accurately predicted from DBH using power functions. Stand-average SLA varied by about 20% during the year, with lowest values at the end of the 5-month dry season, and highest values about 2-3 months after the onset of the wet season. Variability in leaf water status according to tree size and season is discussed as a possible determinant of both the within-stand and seasonal variations in SM. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Determination of Vecuronium Bromide in Pharmaceuticals: Development, Validation and Comparative Study of HPLC and CZE Analytical Methods

Vecuronium bromide is a neuromuscular blocking agent used for anesthesia to induce skeletal muscle relaxation. HPLC and CZE analytical methods were developed and validated for the quantitative determination of vecuronium bromide. The HPLC method was achieved on an amino column (Luna 150 x 4.6 mm, 5 mu m) using UV detection at 205 nm. The mobile phase was composed of acetonitrile:water containing 25.0 mmol L(-1) of sodium phosphate monobasic (50:50 v/v), pH 4.6 and flow rate of 1.0 mL min(-1). The CZE method was achieved on an uncoated fused-silica capillary (40.0 cm total length, 31.5 cm effective length and 50 mu m i.d.) using indirect UV detection at 230 nm. The electrolyte comprised 1.0 mmol L(-1) of quinine sulfate dihydrate at pH 3.3 and 8.0% of acetonitrile. The results were used to compare both techniques. No significant differences were observed (p > 0.05).

Comparative analysis of the gas-phase reactions of cylindrospermopsin and the difference in the alkali metal cation mobility

Cylindrospermopsin (CYN) belongs to a group of toxins produced by several strains of freshwater cyanobacteria. It is a compact zwitterionic molecule composed of a uracil section and a tricyclic guanidinium portion with a primarily hepatotoxic effect. Using low multi-stage and high-resolution mass spectrometry, the gas-phase reactions of this toxin have been investigated. Our data show that collision-induced dissociation (CID) spectra of CYN are dominated by neutral losses, and three major initial fragmentation pathways are clearly distinguishable. Interestingly, comparative analysis of protonated and cationizated molecules showed a significant difference in the balance of the SO(3) and terminal ring elimination. These data indicate that the differential ion mobility of H(+), Li(+), Na(+) and K(+) leads to different fragmentation pathways, giving rise to mass spectra with different profiles. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.