U.S. System

There are at least four different classification systems for cemented carbides (7,12). The U.S. system is based on relative performance the U.K. system is based on properties, and the former USSR system on composition the fourth system, widely used in Europe and supported by the ISO, is based on apphcation and chip form. In this article, the U.S. system and the ISO system are briefly reviewed. 

The flaws in the U.S. system, particularly in the Freedom of Information Act, are not easy to fix. Legislation now pending in Congress will resolve the procedural flaws. It will, for the first time in eight years, protect academic research, which has not been protected by the law since government has not considered it "commercial." Changes to specific laws like the Pesticides Act, FIFRA, have been so hard to effectuate that we see that TSCA and the other statutes will... 

Wartenberg, 1996 Keller et al., 1998). One key difference of the U.S. systems from those in other countries is that they are voluntary (largely a reflection of the primarily private, that is, not national government, health care system in America). 

In the United States, regulation is by far file predominant controlling tool. The U.S. system is highly legalized. In the European countries and Japan, regulation is but one tool used,... 

This chapter will focus on some, but not all, of the areas in which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Union (EU) regulatory authorities have attempted to coordinate their efforts to provide uniform rules and standards for the pharmaceutical industry. Specifically, we will review the efforts to harmonize approaches relating to inspections (including public disclosure of confidential information) and product approval or authorization (including clinical trials). While space limitations do not provide sufficient opportunity to describe each regulatory authority s system or the harmonization attempts in detail, it is our hope to provide some background of where the efforts are now, where the efforts are intended to go, and what we believe will be the results of these efforts. In addition, the author is much more familiar with the U.S. system than the EU system because of his experience and daily exposure with FDA, this chapter will focus more on the U.S. structure. 

Canada has a system that is intermediate between the EU regulatory system (which is intended to be, at least ultimately, based on directives and/or regulations from the EC) and the U.S. system (where codes and standards are both developed by private companies and can be adopted, or not, by the various state and local governments). The National Building Code (NBC) of Canada can be different from provincial building codes, and standards are issued by private companies. 

As explained earlier, the U.S. system works primarily on the basis of individuals who are not employees of codes and standards organizations, but are codes and standards volunteers, working within the private codes and standards organizations, to develop new standards as well as revise existing... 

As discussed earlier, NFPA 13011 is another important document, because it is used for the regulation of train and underground system, by authorities having jurisdiction over local rail systems in some U.S. systems, some Canadian ones, and some Asian ones. Table 21.6 shows the reaction-to-fire requirements for rail cars. NFPA 130 also includes requirements for stations and trainways as well as rail vehicles. The key issues to be considered in stations are the same as in other assembly occupancies, namely electrical, interior finish, upholstered furniture, decorations, and trash disposal. With regard to trainways, the standard looks at the effect of areas that are potentially concealed spaces and considers that factor. 

The space exploration efforts were paralleled in the United States and the Soviet Union by the development of rocket-powered missiles for strategic military use. Such U.S. systems as the Air Force Minuteman, Peacekeeper, and Small ICBM and the Navy submarine-launched Polaris and Trident are widely deployed. 

The U.S. HVI system for the classification of fiber quality and instrumentation for measuring other fiber properties are becoming more widely used all over the industrialized world, as well as in some developing countries for determining the proper laydown and mix for processing cotton in textile mills. Therefore, the U.S. system will be described in more detail than the other classing systems. Information also is given on how the various quality parameters can affect cotton fiber chemistry. 

Whatever the source of the change, color reduction from the characteristic white observed for newly opened cotton is likely to be an indicator of deterioration in quality. Color differences in cotton can be a source of variations in dye shades in finished fabric. Color in raw cotton is measured by the cotton colorimeter. Two characteristics are measured—the reflectance (Rd) and the yellowness (+b)—under standard illumination and density. In the U.S. system, these two values are used to determine the color grade, which was previously determined visually. 

These developments formed the foundation of the U.S. system of health insurance — a voluntary system under which employers offer health insurance as a strategy to attract and retain employees, and employees are given the choice of participating or not in their employer s plan. In the unionized workplace, unions negotiate employer support for health benefits. In some cases, union members must join the healto plan operated by their union. 

Table 3 compares the most commonly used peat classification systems based primarily on degree of decomposition. The U.S. system (Soil Taxonomy, USDA, 1975) and the Canadian system (Day, 1968) are essentially similar except for terminology and are based on the amount of unrubbed or rubbed fiber content. 

The three decomposition classes of organic materials of the U.S. system have the following properties ... 

Fibric. Least decomposed of organic soil material. Has high fiber content (U.S. system). 

In fact, the procedure of jury selection in the U.S. system of civil law, a procedure known as uoir dire, typically leads to the dismissal of those candidates for jury duty who profess an expertise in a technical subject relevant to the case. Such dismissals occur because one of the attorneys, either for the defense or the plaintiff, believes that these candidates are potential threats to the authority of certain expert witnesses who may be called in the case. 

Other protozoal infections e.g., giardiasis, leishmaniasis, and malaria) and helminths are less common eye pathogens in the U.S. Systemic pharmacological management as weU as vitrectomy may be indicated. 

The course of studies available is very rigid. These are set up on a year-by-year basis. A student passes or fails by taking a final examination at the end of the year s study. He must pass all of the courses or repeat the entire year. There are a number of schools now adopting the U.S. system of semesters and continuous assessment. 

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