Industrial Relations

The institutional mechanisms that regulate labour relations will be all the more effective that they make sense within the cultural universes of meaning of the negotiating partners. This close linkage is illustrated by two contrasting situations. The first, which stands as a counterexample, takes place in a French territory of the South Pacific where transferred institutions induce deep misunderstandings between managers from metropolitan France and Oceanian trade unionists. The second is located in the United States. In that case, the bargaining system fits the American interpretations of labour relations in terms of market relations. This coherence sheds light on the performance and longevity of a bargaining system that is unparalleled in the rest of the world.

A Tarim-South China-North India connection in the periphery of Rodinia: Constraints from provenance of middle Neoproterozoic sedimentary rocks in the Altyn Tagh orogen, southeastern Tarim

<p>Locating Tarim during assembly and breakup of Supercontinent Rodinia remains enigmatic, with different models advocating a Tarim-Australia linkage or a location between Australia and Laurentia at the heart of unified Rodinia. In this study, zircon U-Pb dating results first revealed middle Neoproterozoic sedimentary rocks in the Altyn Tagh orogen, southeastern Tarim. These sedimentary rocks were deposited between ca. 880 and 750 Ma in a rifting-related setting slightly prior to breakup of Rodinia at ca. 750 Ma. A compilation of Neoproterozoic geological records indicates that the Altyn Tagh orogen in southeastern Tarim underwent ca. 1.0-0.9 Ga collision and ca. 850-600 Ma rifting related to assembly and breakup of Rodinia, respectively. In order to place Tarim in Rodinia, available detrital zircon U-Pb ages and Hf isotopes from Meso- to Neoproterozoic sedimentary rocks in relevant Rodinia blocks are compiled. Comparable detrital zircon ages (at ca. 0.9, 1.3-1.1, and 1.7 Ga) and Hf isotopes indicate a close linkage among southeastern Tarim, Cathaysia, and North India, but rule out a North or West Australian affinity for Tarim. In addition, detrital zircons from northern Tarim exhibit a prominent age peak at ca. 830 Ma with minor spectra at ca. 1.9 and 2.5 Ga but lack Mesoproterozoic ages, which are comparable to those from northern and western Yangtze. Together with comparable geological responses to assembly and breakup of Rodinia, a new Tarim-South China-North India connection is inferred in the periphery of Rodinia.</p>

New types of windows’ forms as a fundamental to reach multifunctional properties of windows in agricultural facilities

The presented article deals with problems of internal environmental characteristics in premises of agricultural facilities in regions with hot and sunny climate. Environmental conditions are being considered in close linkage with forms, proportions and sizes of windows traditionally used in regions in question and with geometrics of new types of windows. It was stated that windows in the said climate have a great effect on the different microclimatic environmental regimes in the premises in question, i.e. on the internal lighting of interiors, thermal gains due to solar radiation, noise penetration, etc. Also, the paper considers another variable – the informative quality of a window. This one not only dictates the geometrics of window openings, but also needs a vast experimental research to be conducted on subjective appraisal of quantity and quality of outdoor information through considered windows.

The Close Linkage between Nutrition and Environment through Biodiversity and Sustainability: Local Foods, Traditional Recipes, and Sustainable Diets

This special issue, “The Close Linkage between Nutrition and Environment through Biodiversity and Sustainability: Local Foods, Traditional Recipes, and Sustainable Diets” is focused on the close correlation between the potential benefits and “functional role” of a food and the territory, including papers on the characterization of local foods and traditional recipes, on the promotion of traditional dietary patterns and sustainable diets.

The Politics of Financing the Highway Boom in China

Fiscal federalism has provided the institutional basis for the rapid highway boom in China for three decades, creating a close linkage between subnational investment and revenue claims on tolled roads. This model of capitalization is financially unsustainable and undermines the standardization of taxation and contracting of public–private partnership projects.