Ceramic coating for refractories protection against carbon oxidation, Part 1: Protection mechanisms

For retarding carbon oxidation in refractories during the preheating of metallurgical furnaces, a ceramic coating, made mainly of sodium phosphosilicate and clay was developed. The coating presents high adherence to the substrate with no swelling. The coating was characterized by thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction at room temperature (XRD) and at high temperature (HTXRD), X-ray fluorescence and scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). The glass transition temperature is reached at 800 °C and only glassy phase is observed above this temperature. Thus the mechanism of protection seems to be the formation of a glassy phase on the surface of the refractory, and the coating tends to be more efficient at temperatures higher than 800 °C.

Balancing knowledge sharing and protection in collaborative innovation - The roles and dynamics of contracts, IPR's and trust

Pro-gradu tutkielman tavoitteena on tutkia, miten yritykset tasapainoilevat tiedon jakamisen ja suojaamisen välillä innovaatioyhteistyöprojekteissa, ja miten sopimukset, immateriaalioikeudet ja luottamus voivat vaikuttaa tähän tasapainoon. Yhteistyössä yritysten täytyy jakaa tarpeellista tietoa kumppanilleen, mutta toisaalta niiden täytyy varoa, etteivät ne menetä ydinosaamiseensa kuuluvaa tietoa ja kilpailuetuaan. Yrityksillä on useita keinoja tietovuodon estämiseen. Tutkielmassa keskitytään patenttien, sopimusten ja liikesalaisuuksien käyttöön tietoa suojaavina mekanismeina. Kyseiset suojamekanismit vaikuttavat luottamukseen kumppaneiden välillä, ja täten myös näiden halukkuuteen jakaa tietoa kumppaneilleen. Jos kumppanit eivät jaa tarpeeksi tietoa toisilleen, voi yhteistyö epäonnistua. Sopimusten, immateriaalioikeuksien ja luottamuksen rooleja ja vuorovaikutusta tutkitaan kahdenvälisissä yhteistyöprojekteissa. Tutkielmassa esitellään neljä case-esimerkkiä, jotka on koottu suomalaisen metsätoimialan yrityksen haastatteluista.

La protection des créances des sous-traitants dans le domaine de la construction

La sous-traitance est une pratique constante dans le domaine de la construction, en raison de ses atouts économiques et techniques. Par cette pratique, les sous-traitants effectuent des travaux sans être, sur le plan juridique, liés contractuellement au maître de l’ouvrage. Comment assurer le paiement de leurs créances, eu égard au risque de défaillance de l'entrepreneur. Le législateur a prévu un régime légal de protection et la pratique a élaboré des mécanismes. Le régime légal, bien qu’il assure efficacement la protection des créances des sous-traitants, comporte certaines faiblesses dans son application qui peuvent causer des inconvénients aux sous-traitants et au propriétaire. L’assurance de titres et des retenues de fonds par l’institution financière ou le notaire peuvent pallier ces difficultés pour le propriétaire. Les mécanismes de protection élaborés par la pratique, tels que le cautionnement et les garanties monétaires, accroissent la protection des sous-traitants lorsqu’ils sont utilisés parallèlement au régime légal et profitent au propriétaire.

Inclusive Social Protection in Latin America: a comprehensive, rights-based approach

Incluye Bibliografía

Shaping the future of social protection: access, financing and solidarity

Includes bibliography

Labour markets, worker protection and lifelong learning in a global economy: experiences and perspectives of Latin America and the Caribbean

Includes bibliography

Complex Protection System of Metadata-based Distributed Information Systems

A description of architecture and approaches to the implementation of a protection system of metadatabased adaptable information systems is suggested. Various protection means are examined. The system described is a multilevel complex based on a multiagent system combining IDS functional abilities with structure and logics protection means.

WIPO and the Reinforcement of the Nagoya Protocol: Towards Effective Implementation of an Access and Benefit Sharing Regime for the Protection of Traditional Knowledge Associated with Genetic Resources

Traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources (TKaGRs) is acknowledged as a valuable resource. Its value draws from economic, social, cultural, and innovative uses. This value places TK at the heart of competing interests as between indigenous peoples who hold it and depend on it for their survival, and profitable industries which seek to exploit it in the global market space. The latter group seek, inter alia, to advance and maintain their global competitiveness by exploiting TKaGRs leads in their research and development activities connected with modern innovation. Biopiracy remains an issue of central concern to the developing world and has emerged in this context as a label for the inequity arising from the misappropriation of TKaGRs located in the South by commercial interests usually located in the North. Significant attention and resources are being channeled at global efforts to design and implement effective protection mechanisms for TKaGRs against the incidence of biopiracy. The emergence and recent entry into force of the Nagoya Protocol offers the latest example of a concluded multilateral effort in this regard. The Nagoya Protocol, adopted on the platform of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), establishes an open-ended international access and benefit sharing (ABS) regime which is comprised of the Protocol as well as several complementary instruments. By focusing on the trans-regime nature of biopiracy, this thesis argues that the intellectual property (IP) system forms a central part of the problem of biopiracy, and so too to the very efforts to implement solutions, including through the Nagoya Protocol. The ongoing related work within the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), aimed at developing an international instrument (or a series of instruments) to address the effective protection of TK, constitutes an essential complementary process to the Nagoya Protocol, and, as such, forms a fundamental element within the Nagoya Protocol’s evolving ABS regime-complex. By adopting a third world approach to international law, this thesis draws central significance from its reconceptualization of biopiracy as a trans-regime concept. By construing the instrument(s) being negotiated within WIPO as forming a central component part of the Nagoya Protocol, this dissertation’s analysis highlights the importance of third world efforts to secure an IP-based reinforcement to the Protocol for the effective eradication of biopiracy.

Timing of rotator cuff activation during shoulder external rotation in throwers with and without symptoms of pain

Study Design: Fine-wire EMG rotator cuff onset time analysis in 2 matched groups of throwers with and without pain. Objective: To identify if there is a difference in the activation patterns of the rotator cuff muscles during a rapid shoulder external rotation task between throwers with and without pain. Background: The coordinated action of the rotator cuff is recognized as essential for glenohumeral joint control in the throwing athlete. Identification of abnormalities occurring in muscle activation patterns for injured athletes is relevant when prescribing rehabilitative exercises. Methods and Measures: Twelve throwers with shoulder pain were compared to a matched group of 11 asymptomatic throwers. Participants were matched for age, height, body mass, and habitual activity. Fine-wire EMG electrodes were inserted into the subscapularis, supraspinatus, and infraspinatus. EMG activity was measured during a reaction time task of rapid shoulder external rotation in a seated position. The timing of onset of EMG activity was analyzed in relation to visualization of a light (reaction time) and to the onset of infraspinatus activity (relative latency). Results: In the group with shoulder pain, the onset of subscapularis activity was found to be significantly delayed (reaction time, P = .0018; relative latency, P = .0005) from the onset of infraspinatus activity when compared to the control group. Conclusions: The presence of shoulder pain in these athletes was associated with a difference in the onset of subscapularis EMG activity during a rapid shoulder external rotation movement. This was an initial step in the understanding of the joint protection mechanisms of the glenohumeral joint and the problems that occur in throwers. This information may assist in providing future guidelines for more effective rehabilitation and prevention strategies for this condition.

Tests pharmacogénétiques: bientôt avant chaque prescription [Pharmacogenetic testing: soon before every prescription?]

Genetic polymorphisms have currently been described in more than 200 systems affecting pharmacological responses (cytochromes P450, conjugation enzymes, transporters, receptors, effectors of response, protection mechanisms, determinants of immunity). Pharmacogenetic testing, i.e. the profiling of individual patients for such variations, is about to become largely available. Recent progress in the pharmacogenetics of tamoxifen, oral anticoagulants and anti-HIV agents is reviewed to discuss critically their potential impact on prescription and contribution/limits for improving rational and safe use of pharmaceuticals. Prospective controlled trials are required to evaluate large-scale pharmacogenetic testing in therapeutics. Ethical, social and psychological issues deserve particular attention.

Relationship between soil oxidizable carbon and physical, chemical and mineralogical properties of umbric ferralsols

The occurrence of Umbric Ferralsols with thick umbric epipedons (> 100 cm thickness) in humid Tropical and Subtropical areas is a paradox since the processes of organic matter decomposition in these environments are very efficient. Nevertheless, this soil type has been reported in areas in the Southeast and South of Brazil, and at some places in the Northeast. Aspects of the genesis and paleoenvironmental significance of these Ferralsols still need a better understanding. The processes that made the umbric horizons so thick and dark and contributed to the preservation of organic carbon (OC) at considerable depths in these soils are of special interest. In this study, eight Ferralsols with a thick umbric horizon (UF) under different vegetation types were sampled (tropical rain forest, tropical seasonal forest and savanna woodland) and their macromorphological, physical, chemical and mineralogical properties studied to detect soil characteristics that could explain the preservation of high carbon amounts at considerable depths. The studied UF are clayey to very clayey, strongly acidic, dystrophic, and Al-saturated and charcoal fragments are often scattered in the soil matrix. Kaolinites are the main clay minerals in the A and B horizons, followed by abundant gibbsite and hydroxyl-interlayered vermiculite. The latter was only found in UFs derived from basalt rock in the South of the country. Total carbon (TC) ranged from 5 to 101 g kg-1 in the umbric epipedon. Dichromate-oxidizable organic carbon represented nearly 75 % of TC in the thick A horizons, while non-oxidizable C, which includes recalcitrant C (e.g., charcoal), contributed to the remaining 25 % of TC. Carbon contents were not related to most of the inorganic soil variables studied, except for oxalate-extractable Al, which individually explained 69 % (P < 0.001) of the variability of TC in the umbric epipedon. Clay content was not suited as predictor of TC or of the other studied C forms. Bulk density, exchangeable Al3+, Al saturation, ECEC and other parameters obtained by selective extraction were not suitable as predictors of TC and other C forms. Interactions between organic matter and poorly crystalline minerals, as indicated by oxalate-extractable Al, appear to be one of the possible organic matter protection mechanisms of these soils.

Security, Privacy and Anonymity in Legal Distribution of Copyrighted Multimedia Content over Peer-to-Peer Networks: A Brief Overview

Peer-reviewed

De la gestion des ressources fauniques à la participation au processus d'évaluation environnementale : l'évolution d'un droit constitutionnel chez les Cris de la Baie James

Les Cris de la Baie James sont parmi les premiers bénéficiaires d'un traité moderne qui prévoit un rôle déterminant pour les Autochtones dans la gestion de l'environnement et du développement des ressources naturelles. À travers la Convention de la Baie James et du Nord québécois, les Cris participent à la gestion de l'environnement et sont assurés d'un droit de regard sur les projets de développement futurs dans l'ensemble de leur partie du territoire conventionné. Cette participation, qui est le fruit d'une intense négociation, est aujourd'hui renforcée, à travers des ententes de coopération subséquentes, grâce notamment, à l'émergence du mouvement écologiste qui a contribué à la reconnaissance d'un rôle particulier pour les Autochtones à l'égard de l'environnement. Par l'examen des mécanismes de protection de l'environnement, notamment le processus d'évaluation environnementale, aux termes du chapitre 22 de la Convention de la Baie James et du Nord québécois, cette étude met en lumière l'importance du processus de négociation et des droits qui en résultent par rapport à ceux reconnus en vertu de la doctrine des droits ancestraux telle que développée récemment par les tribunaux canadiens.

Efectos de la jurisprudencia de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos en los países miembros de la OEA

Uno de los eventos jurídicos más importantes del siglo XX, sin duda, ha sido la consolidación del derecho internacional de los derechos humanos. Instrumentos internacionales y mecanismos de protección se han puesto en funcionamiento y afianzado, tanto a nivel global como regional. No obstante, en muchos casos, este desarrollo de principios, normas y órganos de protección a nivel internacional no se ha reflejado en iguales progresos en ámbito nacional. Lo cual permite todavía afirmar que si bien la universalización de los derechos ha sido una etapa sustancial para la consolidación de la protección de los derechos humanos el desafío sigue siendo el hacerlos efectivos. El artículo lleva a cabo un examen de la jurisprudencia de los países de la región que permite llegar a la consideración que se están produciendo importantes avances en este terreno y cada vez más los altos tribunales de varios países de la región utilizan como parámetro de interpretación la jurisprudencia de la Corte Interamericana para resolver cuestiones internas y concluir que en Latinoamérica, gracias a la influencia integradora de la Convención Americana y de la jurisprudencia de la Corte Interamericana con la jurisprudencia nacional, se está lentamente consolidado lo que podría ser definido como un estándar mínimo común en materia de protección de los derechos humanos. Un núcleo fundamental o esencial de derechos que poco a poco se va imponiendo en los países miembros dando origen a un nuevo ius commune para Latinoamérica.