Oil on Troubled Waters-Multinational Corporations and Realising Human Rights in the Developing World with Particular Reference to Nigeria

This article examines the current state of tension in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. It locates the current unrest in the continued denial of economic, social and cultural rights to the oil-rich communities in the area. The author argues that this denial happened with the complicity and acquiescence of the international community. The Nigerian government as well as multinational corporations operating in the area have not been responsive to the development needs of the people. The article argues that, although the primary obligation for realising the economic, social and cultural rights of host communities rests on the government, multi-national corporations in developing countries, considering their awesome resources and influence on government policies, should be similarly obligated to respect, promote and protect those rights.

Temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity of imidazolium ionic liquids

The electrical conductivities of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ionic liquids and of 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium ionic liquids with different anions were determined in the temperature range between 123 and 393 K on the basis of dielectric measurements in the frequency range from 1 to 10(7) Hz. Most of the ionic liquids form a glass and the conductivity values obey the Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann equation. The glass transition temperatures are increasing with increasing length of the alkyl chain. The fragility is weakly dependent on the alkyl chain length but is highly sensitive to the structure of the anion. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Temperature Dependence of the Primary Relaxation in 1-Hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis{(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl}imide

We present results from complementary characterizations of the primary relaxation rate of a room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL), 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis{(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl} imide, [C(6)mim][Tf2N], over a wide temperature range. This extensive data set is successfully merged with existing literature data for conductivity, viscosity, and NMR diffusion coefficients thus providing, for the case of RTILs, a unique description of the primary process relaxation map over more than 12 decades in relaxation rate and between 185 and 430 K. This unique data set allows a detailed characterization of the VTF parameters for the primary process, that are: B = 890 K, T-0 = 155.2 K, leading to a fragility index m = 71, corresponding to an intermediate fragility. For the first time neutron spin echo data from a fully deuteriated sample of RTIL at the two main interference peaks, Q = 0.76 and 1.4 angstrom(-1) are presented. At high temperature (T > 250 K), the collective structural relaxation rate follows the viscosity behavior; however at lower temperatures it deviates from the viscosity behavior, indicating the existence of a faster process.

Highly resolved absolute cross-sections for dissociative electron attachment to SF5CF3

Using two complementary experimental methods, we have measured partial (mass-resolved) cross-sections for dissociative electron attachment to the molecule trifluoromethyl sulfurpentafluoride (SF5CF3) at the gas temperature T-G = 300 K over a broad range of electron energies (E = 0.001-12 eV). The absolute scale for these cross-sections was obtained with reference to the thermal (T = 300 K) rate coefficient for anion formation (8.0(3) x 10(-8) cm(3) s(-1)). Below 1 eV, SF5- is the dominant product anion and formed through the lowest anion state which cuts the neutral SF5CF3 potential close to the S-C equilibrium distance. The highly resolved laser photoelectron attachment data exhibit a downward Wigner cusp at 86meV, indicating that the nu(4)(alpha(1)) vibrational mode is important for the primary attachment dynamics. Both SF5- and F- anions are formed with similar yields through the first excited resonance located near 3.6eV. Towards higher energies, the anions CF3-, SF4-, and SF3- are also produced. Summation of the partial cross-sections yields a total absolute cross-section for anion formation over the energy range 0.001-12 eV. This is used to calculate the dependence of the rate coefficient for dissociative electron attachment over a broad range of electron temperatures for the fixed gas temperature T-G = 300 K; good agreement is found between the calculated values and those obtained in a drift tube experiment. In addition to the experimental work, semiempirical R-matrix calculations have been Carried out for the energy dependence of the cross-section for SF5- formation. The experimental findings are semi-quantitatively recovered. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Low-energy electron attachment to chloroform (CHCl3) molecules: A joint experimental and theoretical study

Results from a joint experimental and theoretical study of electron attachment to chloroform (CHCl3) molecules in the gas phase are reported. In an electron swarm study involving a pulsed Townsend technique with equal gas and electron temperatures, accurate attachment rate coefficients were determined over the temperature range 295-373 K; they show an Arrhenius-type rise with increasing temperature, corresponding to an activation energy of 0.11 (1) eV. In a high resolution electron beam experiment involving two versions of the laser photoelectron attachment method, the relative cross section for Cl- formation from CHCl3 over the energy range 0.001-1.25 eV at the gas temperature T-G = 300 K was measured. It exhibits clear downward cusp structure at the threshold for excitation of one quantum of the vibrational symmetric deformation mode nu(3), indicating that this mode is active in the primary attachment process. With reference to our thermal attachment rate coefficient k(T = 300 K) = 3.9(2) x 10(-9) cm(3) s(-1), a new highly resolved absolute attachment cross section for T-G = 300 K was determined. This cross section is extended to higher energies by measurements, carried out with a pulsed electron beam apparatus which also provided new data for the distinctly weaker fragment anions HCl2- and CCl2-. The resulting total absolute cross section for anion formation is used to calculate the dependence of the attachment rate coefficient k(T-e;T-G) on electron temperature T-e over the range 50-15000 K at the fixed gas temperature T-G = 300 K. In addition, we report the dependence of the relative cross section for Cl- formation on gas temperature T-G = 310-435 K). For comparison with the experimental data, R-matrix calculations have been carried out for the dominant anion channel Cl-. The results recover the main experimental observations and predict the dependence of the DEA cross section on the initial vibrational level nu(3) and on the vibrational temperature. Our results are compared with those of previous electron beam and electron swarm experiments.

No longer Sukumbasis: Challenges in grassroots-led squatter resettlement program in Kathmandu with special reference to Kirtipur Housing Project.

The paper is the outcome of a systematic effort to study and analyze the experiences of the Kirtipur Housing Project (KHP), the first ever grassroots-led squatter resettlement project in Kathmandu. It is widely hailed as a success story as it has been able to provide a legal, affordable and good quality housing solution to the Sukumbasis through grassroots mobilization. The paper analyses the dynamics of this mobilization and the roles of different actors to show how community empowerment, civil actions and local government interests have converged to create a constructive partnership in line with wider enabling principles. Apart from meeting the narrowly defined objective to rehouse 44 households, the project reflects capacity of the community, quite apart from lobbying and protest, in areas of project planning and management. While no grassroots mobilisation can be expected to replicate in a dynamic environment, the paper draws some policy insights that indicate the ability of the grassroots mobilization in Kathmandu to continue and grow. Conversely, the lessons learned from the project also point to limitations in terms lack of prerequisite critical mass or economic benefits to influence the government to prepare a policy framework under which it can foster in a more structured way.

Hierarchical Video Summarization in Reference Subspace

In this paper, a hierarchical video structure summarization approach using Laplacian Eigenmap is proposed, where a small set of reference frames is selected from the video sequence to form a reference subspace to measure the dissimilarity between two arbitrary frames. In the proposed summarization scheme, the shot-level key frames are first detected from the continuity of inter-frame dissimilarity, and the sub-shot level and scene level representative frames are then summarized by using K-mean clustering. The experiment is carried on both test videos and movies, and the results show that in comparison with a similar approach using latent semantic analysis, the proposed approach using Laplacian Eigenmap can achieve a better recall rate in keyframe detection, and gives an efficient hierarchical summarization at sub shot, shot and scene levels subsequently.