The human multidrug-resistance protein (MRP) gene family contains at least six members: MRP1, encoding the multidrug-resistance protein; MRP2 or cMOAT, encoding the canalicular multispecific organic anion transporter; and four homologs, called MRP3, MRP4, MRP5, and MRP6. In this report, we characterize MRP3, the closest homolog of MRP1. Cell lines were retrovirally transduced with MRP3 cDNA, and new monoclonal antibodies specific for MRP3 were generated. We show that MRP3 is an organic anion and multidrug transporter, like the GS-X pumps MRP1 and MRP2. In Two members of the large family of ABC transporters are known thus far to confer multidrug resistance in human cancer cells. These are the MDR1 P-glycoprotein (1) and the multidrugresistance protein MRP1 (2). Both membrane proteins transport a wide range of drugs with different cellular targets and confer resistance by decreasing the intracellular concentration of drugs. P-glycoprotein transports these drugs in unmodified form, whereas MRP1 can transport drugs either conjugated to anionic ligands such as glutathione (GSH), glucuronide, or sulfate, or in an unmodified form, possibly together with GSH. Well known substrates for MRP1 are, for example, cysteinyl leukotrienes, glutathione disulfide, S-(2,4-dinitrophenyl-)glutathione, ethacrynic acid S-glutathione, etoposide glucuronide, certain steroid glucuronides, and bile salt derivatives (3-6). Transporters with the characteristics of MRP1 are known as GS-X pumps (7) or multispecific organic anion transporters (8).Another GS-X pump is MRP2, a homolog of MRP1. Unlike MRP1, which is nearly ubiquitously expressed (9), MRP2 is present mainly in the canalicular membrane of hepatocytes (10), but is also present in other apical domains of polarized cells such as the epithelial cells of the proximal tubules of the kidney (11). Studies with mutant rats (TR Ϫ ͞GY or EHBR), which lack the MRP2 protein in the canalicular membrane of hepatocytes, have shown that the substrate specificity of MRP2 is very similar to that of MRP1 (12, 13). MRP2 also contributes to transport of anticancer drugs and some metals. The mutant rats showed a reduced biliary clearance of methotrexate (14), of the topoisomerase I inhibitor CPT-11 and its metabolites (15), and of mercury, cadmium, and arsenite (refs. 16 and 17; R.O.E., unpublished observation). Cells transduced with an MRP2 cDNA construct transport the cytostatic drug vinblastine (18). Moreover, overexpression of the MRP2 gene has been found in several cisplatinresistant cell lines (19,20), and transfection of an MRP2-antisense construct into liver cells was reported to confer an increased sensitivity to cytotoxic drugs (21). All these observations strongly suggest that MRP2 may confer multidrug resistance, but whether it does so in cancer patients remains to be established.Besides MRP1 and MRP2, there are at least four MRP homologs expressed in humans, called MRP3, MRP4, MRP5, and MRP6 (20,22). Not much is known about the substrate specificity of these putative new transporters...

The classical conceptualization of the working class, of workers' collective action and, especially, of trade unionism, was implicitly or explicitly based on the Standard Employment Relationship that, for a few decades, has been dominant in North America, Europe, Japan and Australasia. The 'classical' model of collective bargaining, which has shaped the world's traditional labour movements, was based on this conceptualization. However, it is now increasingly undermined by the rapid spread of 'informal' or 'precarious' labour in the global North. It is our contention that the 'classical' view of the working class and workers' collective action is fundamentally biased and takes as a norm or standard what was in fact an historical exception. The real norm or standard in global capitalism is insecurity, informality or precariousness, and the Standard Employment Relationship is an historical phenomenon which had a deep impact in a limited part of the world for a relatively short period of time. If, as we argue, the 'Rest' is not now becoming like the 'West', but the other way round, then the 'traditional' forms of collective action that have developed in the North Atlantic region during the last two centuries are gradually losing much of their impact. New forms of collective action are emerging, though these are often still at an embryonic stage. It is, therefore, high time to rethink the concept of the working class and the ways in which it can further its interests. THE RISE AND FALL OF LABOUR RIGHTS AND SOCIAL SECURITY IN THE GLOBAL NORTHFrom the start of the twentieth century, the plight of the working class in western Europe and other advanced capitalist countries began to improve, offering a solution to the poverty and bad living and working conditions brought about by the industrial revolution. As Karl Polanyi has shown in his seminal book The Great Transformation (1944), this change was unavoidable, since the dynamic of an unfettered commoditized economy is self-destructive. A prominent feature of the emerging system was regular Development and Change 45(5): 920-940.

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Robotic thymectomy in patients with MG is safe and feasible. A neurological benefit and decreased use of steroids can be obtained in the majority of patients. No significant difference in neurological outcome was observed as the result of timing of robot thymectomy after the onset of MG.

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Building on Robert Merton's theory of unanticipated consequences of purposive action and Charles Tilly's theory of error correction, the present article presents a stylized narrative about the British campaign to abolish the trading in African slaves, from its beginning in 1807 until the end of the nineteenth century. In the end, this campaign was largely successful, though it required error corrections that had extremely far-reaching consequences. The colonization of Africa was, to a certain extent, a second-degree unanticipated consequence. This case study suggests that three sorts of error correction can be distinguished, namely (a) measures that are taken to facilitate the effective implementation of the purposive action; (b) measures that are taken to minimize unintended consequences, after the purposive action has been carried out; and (c) new purposive actions that widen the objective and are more far-reaching than the original purposive action.We all have the tendency to interpret developments in the past more rationally than they in fact were. But historical processes that at first look "logical" and driven by necessity, at closer inspection, often seem significantly less straightforward. Even the most well thought out and carefully planned social actions are somewhat erratic if observed from nearby (Watter 1996, p. 22). Robert Merton raised an important aspect of this problem when he pointed out, in his famous article published in 1936, on the "Unanticipated Consequences of Purposive Action," that actions don't always lead to the objectives that have been set. We do not know enough to gain a picture of all their implications; we assume, incorrectly that actions that were successful in the past, will also be successful in the future; we allow short-term evaluations to weigh more heavily than long-term concerns; we let ourselves be led by basic values that incite us to take immediate action, even though we have not considered the consequences thoroughly enough; or we rely for our actions on a forecast of what