Divergent fates: company unions and employee involvement committees under the railway labor and national labor relations acts

Well known is that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA, 1935) in the United States places a largely per se ban on nonunion employee representation (ER) groups which deal with employers over a term or condition of employment. Much less well known is that America’s other labor law, the Railway Labor Act (RLA, 1926), takes a different approach and permits employers to operate such councils and committees as long as they do not perform a collective bargaining function or interfere with workers’ free choice of a bargaining agent. Thus, under the RLA Delta Air Lines is able to operate what is today the closest living approximation to a 1920s-style ER plan while hundreds of other companies (e.g. Polaroid) under the jurisdiction of the NLRA have been forced over the years to disband similar groups on grounds they are a proscribed company union. No study to date has explored the history behind the RLA and NLRA’s divergent treatment of nonunion ER groups so this article takes a first look. The main part of the story covers the 1920–1935 period and examines the events, people, and experiences associated with company unions and ER in, respectively, the rail and manufacturing industries and why the legislative outcome in the former was a permissive stance on nonunion committees but prohibitive in the latter. The last part of the paper fast-forwards the RLA-NLRA story from the 1930s to contemporary law and practice in order to demonstrate how “history matters” when it comes to what employers can and cannot do with nonunion representation groups, such as works councils, participation and involvement committees, and dispute resolution forums.     

Sample Mining and Data Mining: Combined Real-Time and Retrospective Approaches for the Identification of Emerging Novel Psychoactive Substances

Novel psychoactive substances (NPS) are synthetic drugs that pose serious public health and safety concerns. A multitude of NPS have been identified in the United States, often implicated in forensic investigations. The most common and effective manner for identifying NPS is by use of mass spectrometry and the true utility lies within nontargeted acquisition techniques. During this study, a liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF-MS) assay was developed, validated, and implemented for forensic toxicology testing. A SCIEX TripleTOF™ 5600 + with SWATH^® acquisition was used. Resulting data were compared against an extensive library database containing more than 800 compounds. The LC-QTOF-MS assay was applied to the reanalysis of biological sample extracts to discover emergent NPS. More than 3,000 sample extracts were analyzed, and more than 20 emerging NPS were detected for the first time. Among these were isopropyl-U-47700, 3,4-methylenedioxy-U-47700, fluorofuranylfentanyl, N-methyl norfentanyl, 2F-deschloroketamine, 3,4-methylenedioxy-alpha-PHP, eutylone, and N-ethyl hexedrone.     

平台异化还是因债致罪？——P2P网贷涉非法吸收公众存款罪裁判文本实证研究

文章采用文献研究的方法对83份P2P网贷平台构成非法吸收公众存款罪的裁判文书进行实证分析。通过对平台异化模式的定性分析和平台负债情况的定量分析以及与刑事责任程度的交叉分析,文章认为,平台异化是P2P网贷平台构成非法吸收公众存款罪的基础性因素,负债规模、存款人人数和无法清偿的数额等三个因素都对刑事责任的程度产生影响。而且相比之下,无法清偿的数额对刑事责任影响的程度最为显著。实际上对P2P网贷平台追究非法吸收公众存款罪的刑事责任是因为网贷平台无法清偿举债数额巨大,即因债致罪。这种因债致罪的司法行为逻辑,可以从司法者作为“清场者”的功能定位和对社会秩序的价值追求来解释其合理性,但是从多元价值权衡和刑事民事分离的角度分析,其又是不合理的。     

鸡白细胞介素-2受体基因γ链的转录分析与表达

以脾单个核细胞总RNA为模板,对鸡白细胞介素-2受体基因γ链(chIL-2Rγ)进行了RT-PCR,获得了一1 047 bp的开放阅读框,编码由348个氨基酸残基组成的分子质量为37.8 ku的蛋白多肽。预测的鸡IL-2Rγ多肽链中包含4个保守半胱氨酸残基、1个WSXWS基序和7个N连接的糖基化位点。鸡IL-2Rγ与其他动物IL-2Rγ在氨基酸水平上的同源性仅为21.4%~38.2%。RT-PCR检测发现,鸡IL-2RγmRNA分布于大脑、小脑、脊髓、腔上囊、脾、胸腺、骨髓、盲肠扁桃体、腺胃、肌胃、空肠、卵黄囊憩室、回肠、盲肠、直肠、心脏、肾、肺、肝、骨骼肌和皮肤,而在十二指肠和睾丸中没有检测到其转录。构建了鸡IL-2Rγ胞外区的原核重组表达载体,进行了表达和鉴定。     

《鹿特丹规则》下无单放货解决机制：从凭保函放货到凭指示放货

《鹿特丹规则》对无单放货问题设计了新的解决机制，通过使特定条件下的无单放货合法化，试图减轻承运人的负担，平衡船货双方的利益。采取规范分析的方法，对这一机制进行解构，论述其给各当事方的法律地位所带来的变化，认为对现有制度进行改良可能是更好的选择。     

SPF雏鸡感染网状内皮组织增殖病病毒后白细胞介素2和干扰素诱生活性的变化

对1日龄SPF雏鸡人工感染网状内皮组织增殖病病毒(REV)后,胸腺T淋巴细胞白细胞介素2(IL-2)诱生活性于14～49 d极显著低于对照组(P＜0.01);脾T淋巴细胞IL-2诱生活性于14 d明显低于对照组(P＜0.05),感染后21～49 d极显著降低(P＜0.01);脾淋巴细胞干扰素(IFN)的诱生活性于感染后7～49 d极显著降低(P＜0.01).提示SPF雏鸡受REV感染后机体免疫器官的分子免疫调节机能明显降低或发生障碍.     

甲基安非他命（冰毒）诱导基因表达变化研究进展

甲基安非他命进入机体后,其最根本的变化是引起了成瘾者许多基因转录和表达改变。这些基因包括与神经元损害有关的基因、与日节律有关的基因、与行为异常有关的基因及其它一些无法分类的基因。它们基因转录和表达水平增高或者降低引起了甲基安非他命成瘾者各种临床表现。研究这些基因表达可以为法医学鉴定提供依据。     

华东地区汉族人群D2S1399和D5S2500基因座的遗传多态性研究

目的研究D2S1399和D5S2500基因座在中国华东地区汉族群体遗传多态性。方法应用PCR、聚丙烯酰胺垂直电泳及银染技术检测D2S1399和D5S2500基因座的遗传多态性。结果D2S1399和D5S2500基因座在中国华东汉族群体分别检出11个和9个等位基因,其观察杂合度(Ho)分别为0.745和0.807,多态信息含量(PIC)分别为0.850和0.750,个体识别能力(DP)分别为0.958和0.917,非父排除率(PE)分别为0.554和0.643。结论D2S1399和D5S2500两个基因座是高度多态性STR基因座,在法医学中有重要应用价值。     

传染性腔上囊病病毒HN01超强毒株VP2基因的克隆和序列分析

根据GenBank中登录的传染性腔上囊病病毒(IBDV)标准强毒株52-70株基因组序列,设计并合成了1对扩增IBDV VP2基因的特异性引物.以IBDV超强毒分离株HN01感染发病鸡腔上囊组织中提取的病毒RNA为模板,用RT-PCR扩增出了1.45 kb的cDNA产物,将扩增的IBDV HN01株VP2基因克隆于pMD 18-T载体上,获得了pMD 18-T-VP2重组质粒.将IBDV HN01株 VP2基因序列测定结果与已发表的其他IBDV毒株VP2基因序列进行分析比较,绘出系统进化树.结果表明,HN01株与欧洲超强毒株UK661、日本超强毒株OKYM、香港超强毒株HK46等非常相似,而与经典强毒株、弱毒株和变异株相差较大.     

再论跟单信用证条件下的提单担保物权性质

本文从质押合同成立及生效条件、银行对信用证条件下提单具有质押权的质疑、银行对提单留置权的取得与实行 ,及我国现行法律体制能否有效地保护银行的提单质押权等方面论述了提单在跟单信用证条件下的担保物权性质。