Truth Recovery and Transitional Justice: Deferring human rights issues

This book investigates why some societies defer the solution of transitional justice issues, such as the disappeared/missing, even after successful democratic consolidation. It also explains why the same societies finally decide to deal with these human rights issues. In short, it considers the interesting and understudied phenomenon of post-transitional justice. The prolonged silences in Spain, Cyprus and Greece contradict the experience of other countries -- such as South Africa, Bosnia, and Guatemala -- where truth recovery for disappeared/missing persons was a central element of the transition to peace and democracy. Despite democratization, the exhumation of mass graves containing the victims from the violence in Cyprus (1963-1974) and the Spanish civil war (1936-1939) was delayed until the early 2000s, when both countries suddenly decided to revisit the past. Cyprus and Spain are not alone: this is an increasing trend among countries trying to come to terms with past violence. Interestingly, despite similar background conditions, Greece is resisting the trend, challenging both theory and regional experience. Truth Recovery and Transitional Justice considers three interrelated issues. First, what factors can explain prolonged silence on the issue of missing persons in some transitional settings? Second, which processes can address the occasional yet puzzling transformation of victims’ groups from opponents of truth recovery to vocal pro-reconciliation pressure groups? Third, under which conditions is it better to tie victims’ rights to an overall political settlement? The book looks at Spain and Cyprus to show how they have attempted to bring closure to deep trauma by exhuming and identifying their missing, albeit under considerably different conditions. It then probes the generalizability of the conclusions on Spain and Cyprus by looking at the Greek experience; oddly, despite similar background conditions, Greece remains resistant to post-transitional justice norms. Interestingly, each case study takes a different approach to transitional justice.

Using debate to teach pharmacy students about ethical issues

Objective. To create, implement, and evaluate debate as a method of teaching pharmacy undergraduate students about ethical issues.

Design. Debate workshops with 5 hours of contact with student peers and facilitators and 5 hours of self-study were developed for second-year pharmacy students. Student development of various skills and understanding of the topic were assessed by staff members and student peers.

Assessment. One hundred fifty students completed the workshops. The mean score for debating was 25.9 out of 30, with scores ranging from 23.2 to 28.7. Seventy percent of students agreed that the debates were a useful teaching method in the degree program.

Conclusion. A series of workshops using debates effectively delivered course content on ethical issues and resulted in pharmacy students developing skills such as teamwork, peer assessment, communication, and critical evaluation. These findings suggest that pharmacy students respond favorably to a program using debates as a teaching tool.

Recent contribution of sediments and fluids to the mantle's volatile budget

Subduction modifies the cycling of Earth's volatile elements. Fluid-rich sediments and hydrated oceanic lithosphere enter the convecting mantle at subduction zones. Some of the sediments and volatile components are released from the subducting slab, promote mantle melting and are returned to the surface by volcanism. The remainder continue into the deeper mantle. Quantification of the fate of these volatiles requires an understanding of both the nature and timing of fluid release and mantle melting(1). Here we analyse the trace element and isotopic geochemistry of fragments of upper mantle rocks that were transported to the surface by volcanic eruptions above the Batan Island subduction zone, Philippines. We find that the mantle fragments exhibit extreme disequilibrium between their U-Th-Ra isotopic ratios, which we interpret to result from the interaction of wet sediment melts and slab-derived fluids with rocks in the overlying mantle wedge. We infer that wet sediments were delivered from the slab to the mantle wedge between 8,000 and 10,000 years ago, whereas aqueous fluids were delivered separately much later. We estimate that about 625 ppm of water is retained in the wedge. A significant volume of water could therefore be delivered to the mantle transition zone at the base of the upper mantle, or even to the deeper mantle.

Tackling Invasive Alien Species in Europe: the Top 20 Issues

Globally, Invasive Alien Species (IAS) are considered to be one of the major threats to native biodiversity, with the World Conservation Union (IUCN) citing their impacts as ?immense, insidious, and usually irreversible?. It is estimated that 11% of the c. 12,000 alien species in Europe are invasive, causing environmental, economic and social damage; and it is reasonable to expect that the rate of biological invasions into Europe will increase in the coming years. In order to assess the current position regarding IAS in Europe and to determine the issues that were deemed to be most important or critical regarding these damaging species, the international Freshwater Invasives - Networking for Strategy (FINS) conference was convened in Ireland in April 2013. Delegates from throughout Europe and invited speakers from around the world were brought together for the conference. These comprised academics, applied scientists, policy makers, politicians, practitioners and representative stakeholder groups. A horizon scanning and issue prioritization approach was used by in excess of 100 expert delegates in a workshop setting to elucidate the Top 20 IAS issues in Europe. These issues do not focus solely on freshwater habitats and taxa but relate also to marine and terrestrial situations. The Top 20 issues that resulted represent a tool for IAS management and should also be used to support policy makers as they prepare European IAS legislation.

Masks as methodology and the phenomenological turn: issues of interpretation

The purposes of this chapter are to argue for (i) the heuristic value of the concept of mask and masking in research which has its basis in psychodynamic theory but relating it to socio-cultural theory as means to understanding self-experience (ii) the value of creating and performing masks as one valuable methodological ‘embodied’ form in social and educational research that represent individuals’ richly textured self-other constructions and allow for the interrogation of any simplistic dichotomies associated with notions of ‘inside’ ‘outside’ categories (iii) exploring possibilities and dilemmas of interpretation within this frame

The formal specification of abstract data types and their implementation in Fortran 90: Implementation issues concerning the use of pointers

In this paper we continue our investigation into the development of computational-science software based on the identification and formal specification of Abstract Data Types (ADTs) and their implementation in Fortran 90. In particular, we consider the consequences of using pointers when implementing a formally specified ADT in Fortran 90. Our aim is to highlight the resulting conflict between the goal of information hiding, which is central to the ADT methodology, and the space efficiency of the implementation. We show that the issue of storage recovery cannot be avoided by the ADT user, and present a range of implementations of a simple ADT to illustrate various approaches towards satisfactory storage management. Finally, we propose a set of guidelines for implementing ADTs using pointers in Fortran 90. These guidelines offer a way gracefully to provide disposal operations in Fortran 90. Such an approach is desirable since Fortran 90 does not provide automatic garbage collection which is offered by many object-oriented languages including Eiffel, Java, Smalltalk, and Simula.

Promoting science literacy via science journalism: Issues and challenges

Science journalism is the source of much of the science an individual will encounter beyond formal education. Science-based media reports, which might have been associated with informal education, are increasingly becoming incorporated into formal school contexts. Unlike science textbooks, the science reported in the news is often tentative and sometimes contested. It can involve difficult socio-scientific issues. Descriptors of ‘science literacy’ generally include reading and responding critically to media reports of science. The challenge of using science-based news effectively encourages teachers to reassess their knowledge and pedagogical practices.
In addition to creating interest in science and making links beyond the classroom, news media can be used to introduce pupils to elements of science enquiry and teachers can promote basic literacy and critical reading skills through systematic and imaginative use of media reports with a science component.
This chapter explores the knowledge, skills and attitudes that underpin the use of science journalism in the classroom. The unique characteristics and constraints of science journalism that influence the way science is presented and perceived are considered, and the importance of media awareness as a foundation for critical reading of science news is argued. Finally the characteristics of teaching programmes to support critical engagement with science-based media reports are outlined and the opportunities for cross-curricular initiatives highlighted.

Software as a Service: Analysing Security Issues

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) is a type of software service delivery model which encompasses a broad range of business opportunities and challenges. Users and service providers are reluctant to integrate their business into SaaS due to its security concerns while at the same time they are attracted by its benefits. This article highlights SaaS utility and applicability in different environments like cloud computing, mobile cloud computing, software defined networking and Internet of things. It then embarks on the analysis of SaaS security challenges spanning across data security, application security and SaaS deployment security. A detailed review of the existing mainstream solutions to tackle the respective security issues mapping into different SaaS security challenges is presented. Finally, possible solutions or techniques which can be applied in tandem are presented for a secure SaaS platform.