The round window membrane presents the only non‐osseous wall of the labyrinth. Electron microscopic study of the round window membrane was undertaken in order to determine whether it could act as a route of transmission from the middle to the inner ear.
In the cat round window membrane three layers can be identified. The tympanic surface is composed of a single layer of flat cells resting on the basal lamina. Multiple desmosomes and tight cell junctions are present. The intermediate layer contains supporting elements collagen and elastic tissues. The labyrinthine layer is composed of a single layer of long squamous cells which lie end to end on the basal lamina.
The absence of intracellular organelles and microvilli, and the lack of basal lamina involutions into the epithelial cells preclude the presence of an active transport mechanism. The tight cell junctions also seem to present a barrier to free diffusion across the membrane.
The chemical agents which have been observed to pass from the middle ear into the inner ear may have done so by diffusion through the round window membrane after altering the cell junctions; however, a readily accessible route of transmission through the round window membrane does not appear to be present.
Collective bargaining and antitrust law emancipated players. The advent of free agency and related contractual provisions created a battle line over splitting revenues. Work stoppages can foster players’ resisting or employers’ enforcing “salary restraint mechanisms.” Each major sport had a major showdown and corresponding turnaround in “survival bargaining.” My framework adds “litigious and other maneuvers” as backups to the traditional strategic choices of “reconfiguring” versus “forcing” or “resisting change.” It expands on Walton and McKersie’s “sanction as an investment device,” “intra-organizational bargaining,” and “attitudinal structuring” (1965). In each major turnaround management eventually achieved a stable contractual formula consistent with a three-pronged formula: (1) demonstrate a performance gap, (2) play on worst fears via sanctions or their threat, and (3) provide incentives to settle or change.
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