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Water is absolutely essential for the normal functioning of the skin and especially the stratum corneum (SC). However, as the SC is continuously exposed to varying humidities, maintenance of water within the tissue is crucial. Under most circumstances water present within the SC will be derived from bodily water, being lost by transepidermal water loss, and is normally bound by proteins together with naturally occurring hygroscopic compounds found largely within, but also external to, the corneocytes. Small amounts of water escape through this slightly leaky barrier to hydrate the dehydrated outer layers of the SC, and this is key to maintaining SC flexibility, SC maturation and SC desquamation. The retention of water in the SC is dependent on three major mechanisms: (a) the intercellular lamellar lipids whose physical conformation, predominantly an orthorhombic gel phase, provides a tight and effective barrier to the passage of water through the tissue, (b) the presence of corneodesmosome-bound and ceramide-hydrophobed corneocytes which influence the tortuosity of the SC and thereby the diffusion path length of water and (c) the presence of both intracellular and extracellular SC natural moisturizing factors (NMF). The structure, biochemistry and function of the SC and the epidermis can however be disturbed upon environmental challenge, particularly by disruption of the SC barrier resulting in the precipitation of dry flaky skin conditions. The maintenance of barrier function and thereby SC hydration is central to the production and optimal functioning of the SC. Fluctuating atmospheric conditions (high and low dew points) influence the formation of the epidermal barrier lipids, NMF, corneocyte envelope phenotypes and the desquamatory enzymes and are thus an initiator of dry skin. At low atmospheric dew points, the reduced SC water content precipitates the dry skin phenotype. On perturbation of barrier function, a cycle of events begins initially with the superficial dehydration of the SC (leaking of extracellular lipids, disruption of lipid lamellar architecture, loss of water-soluble NMF), the release of inflammatory mediators, induction of hyperproliferation of epidermal keratinocytes resulting in disturbed epidermal differentiation leading to an inferior SC (enhanced production of sphingosine-containing ceramides relative to phytosphingosine-containing ceramides and reduced transglutaminase activity leading to retention of fragile corneocyte envelopes in the superficial layers of the SC that have reduced levels of covalently bound ceramides), together with a flaky skin condition (reduced desquamatory enzyme activities and reduced corneodesmolysis). In extreme cases when inflammation is present, increased levels of proteases are observed in the SC and reduced interleukin 1 (IL-1) levels with increased IL-1 receptor antagonist protein levels. If left untreated, these events will continuously cycle to produce an even poorer skin condition, and ultimately mechanical cracking of corneodesmosomes between the corneocytes will result in mechanical trauma to the SC.

The M. H. Ross Papers contain information pertaining to labor, politics, social issues of the twentieth century, coal mining and its resulting lifestyle, as well as photographs and audio materials. The collection is made up of five different accessions; L2001-05, which is contained in boxes one through 104, L2002-09 in boxes 106 through 120, L2006-16 in boxes 105 and 120, L2001-01 in boxes 120-121, and L2012-20 in boxes 122-125. The campaign materials consist of items from the 1940 and 1948 political campaigns in which Ross participated. These items include campaign cards, posters, speech transcripts, news clippings, rally materials, letters to voters, and fliers. Organizing and arbitration materials covers labor organizing events from "Operation Dixie" in Georgia, the furniture workers in North Carolina, and the Mine-Mill workers in the Western United States. Organizing materials include fliers, correspondence, news articles, radio transcripts, and some related photos. Arbitration files consist of agreements, decisions, and agreement booklets. The social and political research files cover a wide time period (1930's to the late 1970's/early 1980's). The topics include mainly the Ku Klux Klan, racism, Communism, Red Scare, red baiting, United States history, and literature. These files consist mostly of news and journal articles. Ross interacted with coal miners while doing work for the United Mine Workers Association (UMWA) and while working at the Fairmont Clinic in West Virginia. Included in these related files are books, news articles, journals, UMWA reports, and coal miner oral histories conducted by Ross. Tying in to all of the activities Ross participated in during his life were his research and manuscript files. He wrote numerous newspaper and journal articles on history and labor. Later, as he worked for the UMWA and at the Fairmont Clinic, he wrote more in-depth articles about coal miners, their lifestyle, and medical problems they faced (while the Southern Labor Archives has many of Ross's coal mining and lifestyle articles, it does not have any of his medical articles). Along with these articles are the research files Ross collected to write them, which consist of notes, books, and newspaper and journal articles. In additional to his professional career, Ross was adamant about documenting his and his wife's family history in the oral history format. Of particular interest are the recordings of his interviews with his wife's family - they were workers, musicians, and singers of labor and folk songs. Finally, in this collection are a number of photographs and slides, which include images of organizing, coal mining (from the late 19th through 20th centuries), and Appalachia. Of note is a small photo album from the 1930s which contains images from the Summer School for Workers, and more labor organizing. A few audio items are available as well, such as Ross political speeches and an oral history in which Ross was interviewed by his daughter, Jane Ross Davis in 1986. All photographic and audio-visual materials are at the end of their respective series. ; Myron Howard "Mike" Ross was born November 9, 1919 in New York City. He dropped out of school when he was seventeen and moved to Texas, where he worked on a farm. From 1936 until 1939, Ross worked in a bakery in North Carolina. In the summer of 1938, he attended the Southern School for Workers in Asheville, North Carolina. During the fall of 1938, Ross would attend the first Southern Conference on Human Welfare in Birmingham, Alabama. He would attend this conference again in 1940 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. From 1939 to 1940, Ross worked for the United Mine Workers Non-Partisan League in North Carolina, working under John L. Lewis. He was hired as a union organizer by the United Mine Workers of America, and sent to Saltville, Virginia and Rockwood, Tennessee. In 1940, Ross ran for a seat on city council on the People's Platform in Charlotte, North Carolina. During this time, he also married Anne "Buddie" West of Kennesaw, Georgia. From 1941 until 1945, Ross served as an infantryman for the United States Army. He sustained injuries near the Battle of the Bulge in the winter of 1944. From 1945 until 1949, Ross worked for the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, then part of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), as a union organizer. He was sent to Macon, Georgia, Savannah, Georgia and to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where he worked with the United Furniture Workers Union. He began handling arbitration for the unions. In 1948, Ross ran for United States Congress on the Progressive Party ticket in North Carolina. He also served as the secretary for the North Carolina Progressive Party. Ross attended the University of North Carolina law school from 1949 to 1952. He graduated with honors but was denied the bar on the grounds of "character." From 1952 until 1955, he worked for the Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers as a union organizer, first in New Mexico (potash mines) and then in Arizona (copper mines). From 1955 to 1957, Ross attended the Columbia University School of Public Health. He worked for the United Mine Workers of America Welfare and Retirement Fund from 1957 to 1958, where he represented the union in expenditure of health care for mining workers. By 1958, Ross began plans for what would become the Fairmont Clinic, a prepaid group practice in Fairmont, West Virginia, which had the mission of providing high quality medical care for miners and their families. From 1958 until 1978, Ross served as administrator of the Fairmont Clinic. As a result of this work, Ross began researching coal mining, especially coal mining lifestyle, heritage and history of coal mining and disasters. He would interview over one hundred miners (coal miners). Eventually, Ross began writing a manuscript about the history of coal mining. Working for the Rural Practice Program of the University of North Carolina from 1980 until 1987, Ross taught in the medical school. M. H. Ross died on January 31, 1987 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. ; Digitization of the M. H. Ross Papers was funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

The trace elements in coal play an important role in its mining, treatment and usage. This book is a unique blend of relevant information on the 24 trace elements of environmental interest. Major emphasis is on background matters (content, geology, modes of occurrence) and to practical aspects (beneficiation, combustion, effects in emission control systems). Other topics dealt with in detail are the transport and dispersion of plumes, deposition from the atmosphere around a power station, leaching from coal ash, and mineland reclamation. In contrast to other publications, this book is an up-to-date, balanced account of the overall situation. Audience: Coal scientists and technologists involved in the environmental aspects of coal production and use, and regulatory bodies

In the article the widespread opinion concerning the exclusively negative impact of globalization on environmental situation in developing countries is disputed. But analysis of environmental consequences of trade and investment liberalization in these states proves that the role of foreign investments in deteriorating of national environmental situation is too exaggerated. On the contrary, the "export of environmentalism" is associated with TNK activities. On the one hand, globalization originates new threats. On the other hand, the integration of developing countries into the world economy favors the solution of many environmental problems by attraction of foreign private investments in industrial development and costly infrastructure projects; transfer of clean technology; promotion of international environmental cooperation and increase of environmental responsibility of national business.

This paper analyzes resource partnerships and their influence on the environmental quality in a resource-rich country by introducing incomplete contracts, imperfect property rights protection, and a lack of valuation for the environment by the government in the South. Employing numerical simulations, I determine the equilibrium extraction rate, the applied extraction technology, and the environmental quality in dependence of the state of democracy in the resource-rich country. In contrast to what one might expect, under certain circumstances it can be environmentally beneficial to have incomplete contracts that induce the utilization of a suboptimal technology for resource extraction. Further, reducing the holdup problem by shifting bargaining power to the North, is only desirable if the environmental quality increases with a better extraction technology.

Chapter 1. Introduction: The New Role of the Arctic Region -- Chapter 2. Russian Arctic Policy and Key Barriers for the Development in the Northern Latitudes -- Chapter 3. Development of the Northern Sea Route as a Eurasian Transport Corridor -- Chapter 4. Chinese Arctic Strategy: a Threat or Opportunity for Russia?

This book explores the Arctic as a rapidly evolving phenomenon in international affairs of a rising number of stakeholders. For decades, Arctic studies used to be an affair of a relatively narrow group of experts from northern countries. This time is over due to a new Chinese Arctic policy, as well as growing regional interests from South Korea, Singapore, India and Japan. Contributors reflect on new roles for the Arctic region: both as a playground for the old school nation state competition and even confrontation, and a new source for international cooperation in energy, logistics and natural sciences. Climate change, political tensions and economic competition make Arctic a hotter venue of international relations. This new Arctic fever, studied through a comparative analysis of different regional agendas, especially with a focus on the USChinaRussia triangle, represents the main subject of our book, which will be of interest to scholars of geopolitics, of climate change, and of 21st century energy economics. Anastasia Likhacheva works as a Dean at the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs at the Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Moscow, Russia. Her key area of expertise includes geo-economics with a particular focus on sanctions, Eurasian integration and Russian foreign policy in Greater Eurasia. She regularly prepares policy briefs for senior Russian public authorities and has been a member of expert working groups of the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East since 2014. She also co-leads the ThinkArctic Project within the Program of Russian Chairmanship in the Arctic Councli 2021-2023.