Global trade in GM food and the cartagena protocol on biosafety: Consequences for China

The UN Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety adopted in Montreal, 29 January, 2000 and opened for signature in Nairobi, 15-26 May, 2000 will exert a profound effect on international trade in genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and their products. In this paper, the potential effects of various articles of the Protocol on international trade in GMOs are analyzed. Based on the present status of imports of GMOs and domestic research and development of biotechnology in China, likely trends in imports of foreign GM food and related products after China accedes to WTO is explored. Also, China's potential countermeasures to control and regulate imports of GMOs in line with implementation of the Protocol are discussed. China, in recent times, has increased its food and agricultural imports substantially from USA and Canada. China imported soybean 10.42 mill. tons in 2000 and about 15 mill tons in 2001, of which majority are from USA where GM soybean accounts for 60%. The plantation of US Monsanto's transgenic Bt cotton was increased to more than 1 million ha in China in 2001. Though China has paid great attention to develop biotechnology, it appears to have little scope to export GMOs and GM products. So China may consider a range of administrative measures to implement the Cartagena Protocol and to regulate its import of GMOs and GM agricultural products. Consequently, the Regulation on Safety of Agri-GMOs was issued on June, 2001 and followed three detailed rules issued in Jan. of 2002, with a priority to limit foreign GMOs importing by safety certification and labeling system. These were outlined taking into account policies adopted in Western countries such as green barriers to international trade.

A curious experiment: the paradigm switch from observation and speculation to experimentation, in the understanding of neuromuscular function and disease

The four-link chain of the motor unit represents the contemporary end-point of some two millennia of evolving knowledge in neuroscience. The paradigm shift in neuromuscular epistemology occurred in the mid-17th century. In 1666, the newly graduated Dutch doctor, Jan Swammerdam (1637-1680) published his former investigations of dissected nerve-muscle preparations. These experiments comprised the quantum leap from observation and speculation, to that of experimentation in the field of neuroanatomy and neurophysiology. In what he termed 'A Curious Experiment' he also described the phenomenon of intrinsic muscle excitability - I cannot observe that the muscle in the living animal ever absolutely ceases from all motion. Eighty years later (1752), von Haller demonstrated experimentally that irritability (contractility) was an intrinsic property of all muscular tissue; and distinguished between the sensibility of nerve impulses and the irritability of muscular contraction. This experimental progression from Swammerdam to von Haller culminated in 1850, when Claude Bernard's studies in experimental pharmacology confirmed that muscle was a functional unit, independent of any electrical innervation via its supplying nerve. This account comprises an audit of Swammerdam's work in the perspective of neuromuscular knowledge. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Sex allocation in the sexually monomorphic fairy martin

Offspring sex ratios were examined at the population and family level in the sexually monomorphic, socially monogamous fairy martin Petrochelidon ariel at five colony sites over a 4-year period (1993 1996). The sex of 465 nestlings from 169 broods % as determined using sex-specific PCR at the CHD locus. In accordance with predicted sex allocation patterns, population sex ratios at hatching and fledging did not differ from parity in an), year and the variance in brood sex ratios did not deviate from the binomial distribution, Further, brood sex ratio did not vary with hatching date during the season, brood number, brood size or colony size, The sex ratio or broods with extra-pair young did not differ from those without, while the sex ratio of broods fathered by males that gained extra-pair fertilizations did not differ from broods fathered by other males. Extra-pair chicks were as likely to be male as female. Neither the total number of feeding visits to the brood nor the relative feeding contribution by the sexes varied significantly with brood sex ratio. Brood sex ratios were also unrelated to paternal size, condition and breeding experience or maternal condition and breeding experience, However, contrary to our prediction, brood sex ratio was negatively correlated with maternal size. Generally, these results were consistent with our expectations that brood sex ratios would not vary with environmental factors or parental characteristics, and would not influence the level of parental provisioning. However, the finding that females with longer tarsi produced an excess of daughters is difficult to reconcile with our current understanding or fairy martin life history and breeding ecology.

An electromyographic analysis of the deep cervical flexor muscles in performance of craniocervical flexion

Background and Purpose. This study evaluated an electromyographic technique for the measurement of muscle activity of the deep cervical flexor (DCF) muscles. Electromyographic signals were detected from the DCF, sternocleidomastoid (SCM), and anterior scalene (AS) muscles during performance of the craniocervical flexion (CCF) test, which involves performing 5 stages of increasing craniocervical flexion range of motion-the anatomical action of the DCF muscles. Subjects. Ten volunteers without known pathology or impairment participated in this study. Methods. Root-mean-square (RMS) values were calculated for the DCF, SCM, and AS muscles during performance of the CCF test. Myoelectric signals were recorded from the DCF muscles using bipolar electrodes placed over the posterior oropharyngeal wall. Reliability estimates of normalized RMS values were obtained by evaluating intraclass correlation coefficients and the normalized standard error of the mean (SEM). Results. A linear relationship was evident between the amplitude of DCF muscle activity and the incremental stages of the CCF test (F=239.04, df=36, P<.0001). Normalized SEMs in the range 6.7% to 10.3% were obtained for the normalized RMS values for the DCF muscles, providing evidence of reliability for these variables. Discussion and Conclusion. This approach for obtaining a direct measure of the DCF muscles, which differs from those previously used, may be useful for the examination of these muscles in future electromyographic applications.

Two-locus Linkage Analysis Applied to Putative Quantitative Trait Loci for Lipoprotein(a) Levels

Plasma levels of lipoprotein(a) _ Lp(a) _ are associated with cardiovascular risk (Danesh et al., 2000) and were long believed to be influenced by the LPA locus on chromosome 6q27 only. However, a recent report of Broeckel et al. (2002) suggested the presence of a second quantitative trait locus on chromosome 1 influencing Lp(a) levels. Using a two-locus model, we found no evidence for an additional Lp(a) locus on chromosome 1 in a linkage study among 483 dizygotic twin pairs.

Evidence for a QTL on chromosome 19 influencing LDL cholesterol levels in the general population

The genetic basis of cardiovascular disease (CVD) with its complex etiology is still largely elusive. Plasma levels of lipids and apolipoproteins are among the major quantitative risk factors for CVD and are well-established intermediate traits that may be more accessible to genetic dissection than clinical CVD end points. Chromosome 19 harbors multiple genes that have been suggested to play a role in lipid metabolism and previous studies indicated the presence of a quantitative trait locus (QTL) for cholesterol levels in genetic isolates. To establish the relevance of genetic variation at chromosome 19 for plasma levels of lipids and apolipoproteins in the general, out-bred Caucasian population, we performed a linkage study in four independent samples, including adolescent Dutch twins and adult Dutch, Swedish and Australian twins totaling 493 dizygotic twin pairs. The average spacing of short-tandem-repeat markers was 6 - 8 cM. In the three adult twin samples, we found consistent evidence for linkage of chromosome 19 with LDL cholesterol levels ( maximum LOD scores of 4.5, 1.7 and 2.1 in the Dutch, Swedish and Australian sample, respectively); no indication for linkage was observed in the adolescent Dutch twin sample. The QTL effects in the three adult samples were not significantly different and a simultaneous analysis of the samples increased the maximum LOD score to 5.7 at 60 cM pter. Bivariate analyses indicated that the putative LDL-C QTL also contributed to the variance in ApoB levels, consistent with the high genetic correlation between these phenotypes. Our study provides strong evidence for the presence of a QTL on chromosome 19 with a major effect on LDL-C plasma levels in outbred Caucasian populations.

Local colours for Indonesian National police

As a result of the local autonomy program that commenced in Indonesia in Jan 2001, there is a concern regarding the applicability of the formalized model of security & the possibility of that being replaced by a local community-based security model. This rather informal security model is then promoted to be the only form of security used between societies & the nation. However, this model does not solve the problem because of widespread corruption, collusion, & nepotism, & the many limitations of the Indonesian National Police (Polri), a police department that has a mediocre & generalized level of service. In relation to autonomy, the effort of empowering the police units from the regional police down will bridge the gap between the people's ability to protect themselves & the limitations of those that are sworn to uphold the law. 17 References. Adapted from the source document.

O mito da impessoalidade na reda????o oficial

O artigo trata da necessidade de compreender a correspond??ncia oficial como mecanismo eficaz para comunica????o. Guerra acredita que exista uma arte de comunicar, embora se cometam tantos erros ao se seguir normas de a??o na reda????o. Ele cita Penteado (1964) ao listar os principais enganos na comunica????o escrita: a for??a da tradi????o, o desejo de impressionar e o fato de n??o se pensar bem antes de escrever. Como principal exemplo de naturalidade, objetividade e efici??ncia no universo da linguagem oficial, Guerra cita os relat??rios de Graciliano Ramos, na ??poca em que era prefeito em Palmeira dos ??ndios, munic??pio do interior de Alagoas. Essas pe??as informativas cl??ssicas entrariam para a hist??ria da reda????o oficial brasileira como exemplo de renova????o e clareza da informa????o.

Usucapi??o

Era inevit??vel. Toda vez que se come??a a ouvir repetidamente uma palavra incomum, surge a interroga????o no ar, desafiando o conhecimento dos mais velhos. E os mais velhos, coitados, nem sempre se acham apetrechados para responder a quem interroga. No momento, usucapi??o est?? ocupando o lugar que um dia pertenceu a plebiscito e depois foi ocupado por hermen??utica, inform??tica, ergometria e outras nebulosas vocabulares, hoje mais ou menos decifradas. ??? Papai, que tro??o ?? esse de usucapi??o? ??? pergunta o garoto de curiosidade insaci??vel, que, de resto, pouco se importa em saber o sentido das palavras; prefere saber as coisas diretamente. E o pai, que h?? muitos anos ouvira falar nisso e n??o guardara na cabe??a, responde: ??? Hem, usucapi??o? Usucapi??o ?? um neg??cio que... quer dizer... ora, ???pra??? que voc?? quer saber, menino?

A face oculta do Leviat??: gest??o da informa????o e transpar??ncia administrativa

As reflex??es sobre a transpar??ncia do Estado no Brasil encontram espa??o particularmente nos anos oitenta, no bojo da conjuntura pol??tica referente aos projetos de democratiza????o do pa??s. No marco de tais reflex??es, o direito ?? informa????o e o direito ?? privacidade face ?? a????o do Estado passam a freq??entar assiduamente o discurso pol??tico. Tais an??lises n??o se expressam ainda em tentativas de formula????o de pol??ticas p??blicas na ??rea de informa????o durante o mesmo per??odo.

O Brasil e a revolu????o educacional

H?? quatro problemas b??sicos na educa????o brasileira: quantidade, qualidade, tempo e infraestrutura rural. O Brasil dever?? atender a 20 milh??es de crian??as e jovens em 1975. Isto custar?? ao pa??s quase 2 bilh??es de d??lares anualmente, sendo a metade destinada aos sal??rios dos professores prim??rios e secund??rios. Al??m do sistema escolar deveremos investir em educa????o suplementar, auxiliando adultos que hoje sentem necessidade de saber mais. S??o priorit??rios a alfabetiza????o funcional, a recupera????o do ensino prim??rio e, principalmente, o treinamento profissional b??sico, condi????o essencial ?? introdu????o de tecnologia contempor??nea nos setores prim??rio (agropecu??ria, pesca, etc), e terci??rio (com??rcio, transporte, servi??os, etc), da economia, onde ainda geralmente prevalecem t??cnicas antiquadas. Al??m do problema quantitativo, existe o qualitativo talvez ainda mais dif??cil. Quarenta e dois por cento dos professores prim??rios n??o s??o diplomados;

A funcion??ria p??blica sob a Constitui????o de 1937

Na primeira edi????o de 2010 da Revista do Servi??o P??blico, a RSP Revisitada relembra as lutas, ao longo da hist??ria do pa??s, pela garantia de direitos civis das mulheres brasileiras, com a publica????o deste artigo. A trajet??ria profissional de Am??lia Duarte ?? exemplo do processo de afirma????o da cidadania das brasileiras. Em 1936, ela rompeu paradigmas ao ingressar no Minist??rio P??blico Federal, tornando-se a primeira mulher nos quadros da institui????o. Seguida do direito ao voto, obtido em 1932, a conquista de Am??lia Duarte foi um s??mbolo de que as brasileiras estavam, sim, preparadas para exercer cargos mais elevados na Rep??blica.

A carreira de especialista em pol??ticas p??blicas e gest??o governamental e o fortalecimento do estado brasileiro

Buscou-se ter um quadro de funcion??rios, recrutados por concurso, que fosse permanente e qualificado para a formula????o, implementa????o e avalia????o de pol??ticas p??blicas como atividade inerente ao governo. N??o podemos ver como carreira se n??o for para atuar no governo, como n??cleo de recursos humanos estrat??gicos, respons??vel para dar suporte a atividade governamental.

O contexto da cria????o da carreira de especialista em pol??ticas p??blicas e gest??o governamental

O artigo tr??s uma apresenta????o da experi??ncia do autor, do hist??rico da cria????o da Escola Nacional de Administra????o P??blica (ENAP), dentro do qual a carreira de gestor p??blico tem um papel importante.