The Tragedy of Darfur and the Limits of the Responsibility to Protect

The view that states which claim sovereign status must comply with the responsibility to protect their own citizens is gaining ground in international politics. When a state is unable or unwilling to meet this responsibility, the international community is justified in intervening militarily to end widespread human rights violations. This article argues that a diffuse responsibility to protect, as currently conceived, may have important negative consequences. By using the ongoing tragedy of Darfur as an example, the article argues that the responsibility to protect is reactive and focused on the short term, contributes to the outbreak of violence and perversely provides repressed groups with a further incentive to continue their armed struggle after war breaks out. The tragedy of Darfur shows that effective protection requires case-specific policies aimed at prevention, democratization and economic and political development.

Championing the interface between mental health and child protection: evaluation of a service initiative to improve joint working in Northern Ireland

The importance of establishing effective interagency working between adult mental health services and child care services in order to safeguard children has been repeatedly identified by research, policy, inquiries and inspection reports. This article reports on the evaluation of an initiative in one Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland that aimed to facilitate joint working and so improve service provision and protection for children and families. The Champions Initiative involved identifying a champion in each multi-disciplinary community mental health team and in each family and child care team who would have responsibility for providing information, promoting joint working and identifying any obstacles to better co-operation. The evaluation of this initiative assessed levels of experience, training, confidence, understanding and awareness in the Champions and their team members at baseline. The Champions and their Team Leaders were then followed-up after six months to obtain their qualitative views of the impact of the initiative. The results include comparisons between mental health and child care staff, and crucially, views about whether the initiative has had any impact on working together. This study also generated recommendations for further service development in this complex and important area of practice.

Evaluating Train Protection Systems

This paper arose from the work carried out for the Cullen/Uff Joint Inquiry into Train Protection Systems. It is concerned with the problem of evaluating the benefits of safety enhancements in order to avoid rare, but catastrophic accidents, and the role of Operations Research in the process. The problems include both input values and representation of outcomes. A key input is the value of life. This paper briefly discusses why the value of life might vary from incident to incident and reviews alternative estimates before producing a 'best estimate' for rail. When the occurrence of an event is uncertain, the normal method is to apply a single 'expected' value. This paper argues that a more effective method of representing such situations is through Monte-Carlo simulation and demonstrates the use of the methodology on a case study of the decision as to whether or not advanced train protection (ATP) should have been installed on a route to the west of London. This paper suggests that the output is more informative than traditional cost-benefit appraisals or engineering event tree approaches. It also shows that, unlike the results from utilizing the traditional approach, the value of ATP on this route would be positive over 50% of the time.

Protection of cattle against a natural infection of Fasciola hepatica by vaccination with recombinant cathepsin L1 (rFhCL1)

The liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica causes liver fluke disease, or fasciolosis, in ruminants such as cattle and sheep. An effective vaccine against the helminth parasite is essential to reduce our reliance on anthelmintics, particularly in light of frequent reports of resistance to some frontline drugs. In our study, Friesian cattle (13 per group) were vaccinated with recombinant F. hepatica cathepsin L1 protease (rFhCL1) formulated in mineral-oil based adjuvants, Montanide (TM) ISA 70VG and ISA 206VG. Following vaccination the animals were exposed to fluke-contaminated pastures for 13 weeks. At slaughter, there was a significant reduction in fluke burden of 48.2% in the cattle in both vaccinated groups, relative to the control non-vaccinated group, at p

Protection of corneal endothelium from irrigation damage:A comparison of sodium hyaluronate and hydroxypropylmethyl-cellulose

Purpose: To compare the endothelial protection of sodium hyaluronate and hydroxypropylmethylcellulose against endothelial damage induced by irrigation. Methods: An in vitro assay with freshly excised porcine eyes was developed using the Janus green photometry technique. Irrigation and aspiration technique was standardised. Forty pairs of porcine eyes were used. One randomly chosen eye was filled with sodium hyaluronate (SH) and the other with hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC). Irrigation and aspiration was carried out with balanced salt solution for 5 min. Twenty additional pairs of porcine eyes served as controls. Student's t-test was used for statistical analysis. Results: Both viscoelastic agents protected the endothelium as compared with controls. The endothelial protection, determined with the Janus green photometric technique, was significantly greater with HPMC than with SH. Conclusions: Viscoelastic agents are effective in protecting the endothelium from irrigation damage in porcine eyes in vitro. HPMC provided greater protection than SH in this particular model.

Estimation of fetal and effective dose for CT examinations

Doses from CT examinations are difficult to estimate. However, they are requested more frequently due to the increase in CT examinations. In particular, fetal dose estimations are frequently required for patients who have discovered, subsequent to the examination, that they were pregnant when the examination was conducted. A computer model has been developed to facilitate such dose calculations. This model combines empirical beam data with anatomical information. The model has been verified using thermoluminescent dosemeter (TLD) readings of internal and surface dose from both phantoms and patients, including intrauterine doses for patients undergoing afterloading gynaecological intracavitary treatment. Although only limited experimental data were available, the results indicate that the model accurately predicts uterine doses within acceptable errors. This approach has been validated for fetal dose estimation. The model was also used in a comparison with the nationally available CT dose data from the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB). The two models were found to be in agreement for fetal dose estimations.

Realizing Accelerated Cost-Effective Distributed RAID

The exponential growth in user and application data entails new means for providing fault tolerance and protection against data loss. High Performance Com- puting (HPC) storage systems, which are at the forefront of handling the data del- uge, typically employ hardware RAID at the backend. However, such solutions are costly, do not ensure end-to-end data integrity, and can become a bottleneck during data reconstruction. In this paper, we design an innovative solution to achieve a flex- ible, fault-tolerant, and high-performance RAID-6 solution for a parallel file system (PFS). Our system utilizes low-cost, strategically placed GPUs — both on the client and server sides — to accelerate parity computation. In contrast to hardware-based approaches, we provide full control over the size, length and location of a RAID array on a per file basis, end-to-end data integrity checking, and parallelization of RAID array reconstruction. We have deployed our system in conjunction with the widely-used Lustre PFS, and show that our approach is feasible and imposes ac- ceptable overhead.

Loss-of-Mains Protection System by Application of Phasor Measurement Unit Technology with Experimentally Assessed Threshold Settings

Loss-of-mains protection is an important component of the protection systems of embedded generation. The role of loss-of-mains is to disconnect the embedded generator from the utility grid in the event that connection to utility dispatched generation is lost. This is necessary for a number of reasons, including the safety of personnel during fault restoration and the protection of plant against out-of-synchronism reclosure to the mains supply. The incumbent methods of loss-of-mains protection were designed when the installed capacity of embedded generation was low, and known problems with nuisance tripping of the devices were considered acceptable because of the insignificant consequence to system operation. With the dramatic increase in the installed capacity of embedded generation over the last decade, the limitations of current islanding detection methods are no longer acceptable. This study describes a new method of loss-of-mains protection based on phasor measurement unit (PMU) technology, specifically using a low cost PMU device of the authors' design which has been developed for distribution network applications. The proposed method addresses the limitations of the incumbent methods, providing a solution that is free of nuisance tripping and has a zero non-detection zone. This system has been tested experimentally and is shown to be practical, feasible and effective. Threshold settings for the new method are recommended based on data acquired from both the Great Britain and Ireland power systems.

The performance of a cathodic protection system in reinforced concrete structure: Monitoring and Service Life Modelling

The use of cathodic protection in reinforced concrete is becoming increasingly common with such systems being installed on a number of structures throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. However the prescribed design lives (or service life) of each cathodic protection system vary widely. The aim of this project was to assess the effectiveness of a sacrificial anode cathodic protection system and to predict its design life through a series of laboratory based experiments. The experimental plan involved casting a number of slabs which represented a common road bridge structure. The corrosion of the steel within the experimental slabs was then accelerated prior to installation of a cathodic protection system. During the experiment corrosion potential of the steel reinforcement was monitored using half-cell measurement. Additionally the current flow between the cathodic protection system and the steel reinforcement was recorded to assess the degree of protection. A combination of theoretical calculations and experimental results were then collated to determine the design life of this cathodic protection system. It can be concluded that this sacrificial anode based cathodic protection system was effective in halting the corrosion of steel reinforcement in the concrete slabs studied. Both the corrosion current and half-cell potentials indicated a change in passivity for the steel reinforcement once sacrificial anodes were introduced. The corrosion current was observed to be sensitive to the changes to the exposure environment. Based on the experimental variables studied the design life of this sacrificial anode can be taken as 26 to 30 years.

Urethral atrophy after artificial urinary sphincter placement:Is cuff downsizing effective?

Purpose: We reviewed the outcome of cuff downsizing with an artificial urinary sphincter for treating recurrent incontinence due to urethral atrophy.

Materials and Methods: We analyzed the records of 17 patients in a 7-year period in whom clinical, radiological and urodynamic evidence of urethral atrophy was treated with cuff downsizing. Cuff downsizing was accomplished by removing the existing cuff and replacing it with a 4 cm. cuff within the established false capsule. Incontinence and satisfaction parameters before and after the procedure were assessed by a validated questionnaire.

Results: Mean patient age was 70 years (range 62 to 79). Average time to urethral atrophy was 31 months (range 5 to 96) after primary sphincter implantation. Mean followup after downsizing was 22 months (range 1 to 64). Cuff downsizing caused a mean decrease of 3.9 to 0.5 pads daily. The number of severe leakage episodes decreased from a mean of 5.4 to 2.1 The mean SEAPI (stress leakage, emptying, anatomy, protection, inhibition) score decreased from 8.2 to 2.4. Patient satisfaction increased from 15% to 80% after cuff downsizing. In 1 patient an infected cuff required complete removal of the device.

Conclusions: Patient satisfaction and continence parameters improved after cuff downsizing. We believe that this technique is a simple and effective method of restoring continence after urethral atrophy.

The International Protection of Refugees and Asylum Seekers: the Role of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights

This book presents a comprehensive assessment of regional responses to the crisis in the asylum/refugee system and critically examines how different regions tackle the problem. The chapters consider the fundamental challenges which undermine an effective asylum process as well as regional difficulties with the various circumstances surrounding asylum seekers. With contributions on Africa, Europe, Latin America, South Asia and the Middle East, and the Pacific, the collection strives to appreciate what informs each region’s approach to the asylum process and asks if there are issues common to every region and if regions can learn from one another. The book seeks an understanding of the existing legal regime for the protection of asylum seekers and how regional institutions such as human rights commissions and regional courts enforce and adjudicate the law.