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To provide the key findings of a WTO Panel regarding Mexico's commitments in basic telecommunications service in a way that will help telecom regulators and government policy makers implement their WTO commitments and to respond to criticism of the panel's findings.

The article assists government policy makers and telecommunications regulatory authorities to understand the WTO Panel's decision which concluded that Mexico failed to carry out its WTO obligations in basic telecom services. It analyzes the WTO Panel decision and articles criticizing the decision, reviews relevant WTO documents and draws on the author's participation in the WTO basic telecom services negotiations. It provides a brief introduction to the relevant WTO agreements, describes the key findings of the WTO Panel and lessons for telecom regulators and policy makers based on those findings, sets out the claims made by the USA against Mexico, and describes the WTO Panel findings. The article also includes a response to criticisms leveled against the WTO Panel decision.

The WTO Panel decision provides important guidance in interpreting the scope of obligations in cross‐border supply of international telecom services, cost‐oriented interconnection, access to and use of the public switched network on reasonable terms and conditions and the scope of anti‐competitive conduct that needs to be regulated. Much of the criticism of the WTO Panel decision is based on incorrect interpretation of WTO obligations, lack of knowledge of the negotiating history and exaggerated readings of the panel decision.

The WTO Panel decision clarifies many of the most important WTO obligations related to basic telecom services. Government policy makers and regulatory authorities need to understand the WTO Panel decision as they take action to implement their own WTO obligations and as they consider undertaking new obligations.

The article offers practical advice to government policy makers and regulatory authorities on how to implement their WTO commitments in basic telecom services.

Social entrepreneurship literature acknowledges that social capital is vital to the success of social entrepreneurship efforts and trust is integral to the process of building social capital. However, there has been limited research on trust itself in social entrepreneurship literature. This article aims to begin filling this gap by utilizing a specific social entrepreneurship initiative to illustrate the role of trust in social entrepreneurship efforts. It describes the model of trust developed by Sheppard and Sherman and the social entrepreneurship initiative, Global Brigades. The article discusses the relationships between the parties involved in the initiative and applies Sheppard and Sherman's model to these relationships. It illustrates the importance of trust to social entrepreneurship efforts, as well as the need for additional research regarding social entrepreneurship and trust.

Scandia, Inc., is a commercial vessel management company located in the New York Metropolitan area and is part of a family of firms including Scandia Technical; International Tankers, Ltd.; Global Tankers, Ltd.; Sun Maritime S.A.;Adger Tankers AS; Leeward Tankers, Inc.; Manhattan Tankers, Ltd.; and Liuʼs Tankers, S.A. The companyʼs current market niche is the commercial management of chemical tankers serving the transatlantic market with a focus on the east and gulf coast of the United States and Northern Europe. This three-part case describes the commercial shipping industry as well as several mishaps that the company and its President, Chris Haas, have had to deal with including withdrawal of financial support by creditors, intercorporate firm conflict, and employee retention. Part A, which was published in the Fall 2010 issue, presented an overview of the commercial vessel industry and set the stage for Parts B and C where the firm℉s operation is discussed.

This article focuses on the consequences of having FraX‐E, the rare but well recognised variant of fragile X syndrome. The authors provide some background on the condition and report on recent research and evidence. Three case reports are outlined and the specific behavioural aspects of the syndrome are considered. The authors argue that it is important that the behavioural phenotype for FraX‐E is clearly identified and defined in order to give those with the condition relevant psychological and educational support in the future.

The purpose of this paper is to test the “power few” concept in relation to missing persons and the locations from which they are reported missing.

Data on missing persons’ cases (n = 26,835) were extracted from the record management system of a municipal Canadian police service and used to create data sets of all of the reports associated with select repeat missing adults (n = 1943) and repeat missing youth (n = 6,576). From these sources, the five locations from which repeat missing adults and youth were most commonly reported missing were identified (“power few” locations). The overall frequency of reports generated by these locations was then assessed by examining all reports of both missing and repeat missing cases, and demographic and incident factors were also examined.

This study uncovers ten addresses (five for adults; five for youths) in the City from which this data was derived that account for 45 percent of all adults and 52 percent of all youth missing person reports. Even more striking, the study data suggest that targeting these top five locations for adults and youths could reduce the volume of repeat missing cases by 71 percent for adults and 68.6 percent for youths. In relation to the demographic characteristics of the study’s sample of adults and youths who repeatedly go missing, the authors find that female youth are two-thirds more likely to go missing than male youth. Additionally, the authors find that Aboriginal adults and youths are disproportionately represented among the repeat missing. Concerning the incident factors related to going missing repeatedly, the authors find that the repeat rate for going missing is 63.2 percent and that both adults and youths go missing 3–10 times on average.

The study results suggest that, just as crime concentrates in particular spaces among specific offenders, repeat missing cases also concentrate in particular spaces and among particular people. In thinking about repeat missing persons, the present research offers support for viewing these concerns as a behavior setting issue – that is, as a combination of demographic factors of individuals, as well as factors associated with particular types of places. Targeting “power few” locations for prevention efforts, as well as those most at risk within these spaces, may yield positive results.

Very little research has been conducted on missing persons and, more specifically, on how to more effectively target police initiatives to reduce case volumes. Further, this is the first paper to successfully apply the concept of the “power few” to missing persons’ cases.

Balance Theory has accumulated an impressive record of empirical confirmation at both the micro- and macro-levels. Yet, it is unclear why humans consistently prefer balanced relations when imbalance offers the opportunity to reap material rewards. We argue that balance is preferred because it functions as a “compression heuristic,” allowing networks to be more easily encoded in, and recalled from, memory.

We present the results of a novel randomized laboratory experiment using nearly 300 subjects. We evaluate the independent and joint effects of degree of balance/imbalance and presence/absence of kin compression heuristics on network recall.

We find that memory for relationship valence is more accurate for balanced, rather than imbalanced, networks and that relationship existence and relationship valence are separable cognitive elements. We also use comparisons between kin and non-kin networks to suggest that humans are implicitly aware of the conditions under which imbalanced networks will be most durable.

We show that the tension/strain postulated to generate mental and behavioral responses to increase balance likely stems from cognitive limitations. More broadly, this connects balance theory to models of human cognition and evolution and suggests that human general processing ability may have evolved in response to social, rather than physical, challenges.

We examine the question of whether peer-mentoring programs in higher education develop leadership skills in student mentors.

The various forms of peer mentoring are discussed, as well as the benefits that these programs can bestow on mentors. We then turn to a discussion of the relationship between peer mentoring and leadership, and place particular emphasis on implicit leadership theories and the research in this area. A case study of a large peer-mentoring program at an Australian university is undertaken and the various aspects of implicit leadership theory are examined in the light of comments collected from both mentees and mentors.

Evidence of implicit leadership skills of mentors was seen in the responses of mentees. However, the explicit treatment of leadership skills in the peer-mentoring program needs to be approached in a more deliberate manner if students are to benefit fully from the experience of mentoring.

While the results of this study were inconclusive, it does provide a basis for further inspection of leadership development within peer-mentoring communities.

While some of us enjoy engaging in many forms of bioethical activity, including philosophical analysis and debate, clinical ethics consultation, and empirical research, only the latter matters much to the practicing physician. Practically minded, most doctors have little concern with fine moral distinctions when faced with a patient's request for assistance in dying or a pharmaceutical company's offer to attend a product “consultation” session at a first class resort in addition to an attractive fee for participation. Physicians want to know what facts might bear on ethical questions they confront, how ethical conflicts that have an impact on patient care can be understood and resolved, and whether research reveals consistently clear, helpful findings. The following discussion offers some examples of how empirical research related to bioethical issues has provided evidence and guides for physicians at both individual-patient care and policy levels, and further reviews areas that warrant continued research attention.