Ethics and intervention: The 'humanitarian exception' and the problem of abuse in the case of Iraq

This article investigates the ethics of intervention and explores the decision to invade Iraq. It begins by arguing that while positive international law provides an important framework for understanding and debating the legitimacy of war, it does not cover the full spectrum of moral reasoning on issues of war and peace. To that end, after briefly discussing the two primary legal justifications for war (implied UN authorization and pre-emptive self-defence), and finding them wanting, it asks whether there is a moral 'humanitarian exceptions to this rule grounded in the 'just war' tradition. The article argues that two aspects of the broad tradition could be used to make a humanitarian case for war: the 'holy war' tradition and classical just war thinking based on natural law. The former it finds problematic, while the latter it argues provides a moral space to justify the use of force to halt gross breaches of natural law. Although such an approach may provide a moral justification for war, it also opens the door to abuse. It was this very problem that legal positivism from Vattel onwards was designed to address. As a result, the article argues that natural law and legal positivist arguments should be understood as complementary sets of ideas whose sometimes competing claims must be balanced in relation to particular cases. Therefore, although natural law may open a space for justifying the invasion of Iraq on humanitarian terms, legal positivism strictly limits that right. Ignoring this latter fact, as happened in the Iraq case, opens the door to abuse.

The problem of purity in evaluating surfactant performance

Labeled surfactants have impurities in the form of un-reacted molecules or distributed products which is a constraint in evaluating its performance. This short review deals with the purity issue of surfactants and is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the methods of purification employed for obtaining a surface chemically pure surfactant for evaluation. In the second part the use of surface chemically impure surfactant in application areas of formulations is presented to highlight the impending impact on reproducibility of results.

Living in a potentially toxic environment: comparisons of endofauna in two congeneric sponges from the Great Barrier Reef

The abundance and community composition of the endofauna in 2 species of sponge, Haliclona sp. 1 and Haliclona sp. 2 (phylum Porifera: order Haplosclerida), were examined at different sites on the slope at Heron Island Reef, in the southern Great Barrier Reef, on 2 separate occasions. Both species of Haliclona Occupy Similar habitats on the reef slope and are often found living adjacent to each other, but the major groups of secondary metabolites and the gross external morphology in the 2 species of sponge are different. The 2 species of sponge supported significantly different endofaunal communities, with Haliclona sp. 2 Supporting 3 to 4 times more individuals than Haliclona sp. 1. Fewer demersal zooplankton (copepods), nematodes and some peracarid crustaceans were found in Haliclona sp. I compared with Haliclona sp. 2. There were also differences in the numbers of spionid, nereidid and syllid. polychaetes living in the 2 species of sponge. The only taxon that was more abundant in Haliclona sp. 1 than Haliclona sp. 2 was the spionid Polydorella prolifera, and this difference was only evident on 1. of the 2 occasions. The amount of free space (pores, channels, cavities) for a given weight of sponge was only 19% greater in Haliclona sp. 2 than in Haliclona sp. 1, suggesting other factors, such as the differences in the allelochemicals, may have a role in determining the numbers and types of animals living in these 2 species of sponge.

Occurrence and simulation of nitrification in two contrasting sugarcane soils from the Australian wet tropics

The concentration of ammonium-nitrogen (NH4+-N) frequently exceeds that of nitrate-N (NO3--N) in Australian wet tropical sugarcane soils. The amount of mineral N in soil is the net result of complex processes in the field, so the objective of this experiment was to investigate nitrification and ammonification in these soils under laboratory conditions. Aerobic and saturated incubations were performed for 1 week on 2 wet tropical soils. Net NO3--N increased significantly in both soils during both types of incubation. A second series of aerobic incubations of these soils treated with NH4+-N and inoculated with subtropical nitrifying soils was conducted for 48 days. Nitrification in the wet tropical soils was not significantly affected by inoculation, and virtually all added N was nitrified during the incubation period. Mineral N behaviour of the 48-day incubations was captured with the APSIM-SoilN model. As nitrification proceeded under laboratory conditions and was able to be captured by the model, it was concluded that nitrification processes in the wet tropical soils studied were not different from those in the subtropical soils. Processes that remove NO3- from the soil, such as leaching and denitrification, may therefore be important factors affecting the proportions of NH4+-N and NO3--N measured under field conditions.

Overcoming the problem of loss-in-capacity of calcium oxide in CO2 capture

Calcium oxide has been identified to be one of the best candidates for CO2 capture in zero-emission power-generation systems. However, it suffers a well-known problem of loss-in-capacity (i.e., its capacity of CO2 capture decreases after it undergoes cycles of carbonation/decarbonation). This problem is a potential obstacle to the adoption of the new technologies. This paper proposes a method of fabricating a CaO-based adsorbent without the problem of loss-in-capacity. An adsorbent was fabricated using the method and tested on a thermogravimetric analyzer. It was shown that the sorbent attained a utilization efficiency of more than 90% after 9 cycles of carbonation/decarbonation.

Cultures within culture: Unity and diversity of two generations of employees in state-owned enterprises

This study adopts integration and differentiation perspectives to examine why unity and diversity of organizational cultures emerged as a function of economic reform, and how subcultural differences were reflected in employees' perceptions of cultural practices. Data were gathered from in-depth interviews and a large-scale survey in two large, state-owned enterprises in north-east China. Results indicated that, although all employees were oriented towards a common set of cultural themes, the two generations of employees did not exemplify the themes in the same way. Specifically, unity was illustrated by employees' desire to maintain Harmony and to reduce Inequality. Diversity was revealed by first-generation employees' higher ratings on Loyalty, Security and even Bureaucracy. The findings are discussed in the light of traditional Chinese cultural values, political ideology and the social context. Implications are drawn for organizational cultural theory and research.

The Mre11 complex and ATM: a two-way functional interaction in recognising and signaling DNA double strand breaks

Mutations in components of the Mre 11/Rad50/Nbs1 complex give rise to genetic disorders characterized by neurological abnormalities, radiosensitivity, cell cycle checkpoint defects, genomic instability and cancer predisposition. Evidence exists that this complex associates with chromatin during DNA replication and acts as a sensor of double strand breaks (dsbs) in DNA after exposure to radiation. A series of recent reports provides additional support that the complex senses breaks in DNA and relays this information to ATM, mutated in ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T), which in turn activates pathways for cell cycle checkpoint activation. Paradoxically members of the Mre11 complex are also downstream of ATM in these pathways. Here, Lavin attempts to make sense of this sensing mechanism with reference to a series of recent reports on the topic. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Beyond verbal fluency: Investigating the long-term effects of bilateral subthalamic (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) on language in two cases

Cognitive functioning has been described as largely impervious to chronic STN-DBS administered over 12-month periods. In relation to the domain of language, however, the effects of STN-DBS are yet to be thoroughly delineated. Verbal fluency tasks represent an almost exclusively applied index of linguistic proficiency relative to neuropsychological research within this population. Comprehensive investigations of the impact of STN-DBS on language function, however, have never been undertaken. The more precise elucidation of the role of the STN in the mediation of language processes, by way of assessments which probe language comprehension and production mechanisms, served as the primary focus of this research. Longitudinal analysis also afforded consideration of the way in which cognitive-linguistic circuits respond to STN-DBS over time. Bilateral STN-DBS primarily effected clinically reliable fluctuations (i.e., both improvements and declines) in performance in both subjects on tasks demanding cognitive-linguistic flexibility in the formulation and comprehension of complex language. Of particular note, both subjects demonstrated a cumulative increase in the proportion of reliable post-operative improvements achieved over time. The findings of this research lend support to models of subcortical participation in language which endorse a role for the STN, and suggest that bilateral STN-DBS may serve to enhance the proficiency of basal ganglia-thalamocortical linguistic circuits over time.

Understanding problem gambling in two ethnic communities in Brisbane, Queensland - A pilot study

This paper aims to present findings from a pilot study on understanding gambling within the Greek and Vietnamese communities in Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland State. It explores gambling behaviour among gamblers and views of workers from their own communities. Rich data were obtained by conducting qualitative semi-structured interviews. Three themes that emerged are the causes of gambling, the impact of gambling, and participants' views on existing delivery of gambling services. It appears that a more culturally appropriate gambling service is necessary to address the needs and problems of gamblers from non-English speaking backgrounds.

Prediction of minimum spouting velocity in two-dimensional flat bottom spouted beds

Spouted beds have been used in industry for operations such as drying, catalytic reactions, and granulation. Conventional cylindrical spouted beds suffer from the disadvantage of scaleup. Two-dimensional beds have been proposed by other authors as a solution for this problem. Minimum spouting velocity has been studied for such two-dimensional beds. A force balance model has been developed to predict the minimum spouting velocity and the maximum pressure drop. Effect of porosity on minimum spouting velocity and maximum pressure drop has been studied using the model. The predictions are in good agreement with the experiments as well as with the experimental results of other investigators.