Disability Rights in Cambodia: Using the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities to Expose Human Rights Violations

In Cambodia, the percentage of the population living with disabilities is one of the highest in the world. At least 650,000 Cambodians live with a disability, and the exact count may be as high as 1.4 million. The incidence of disability is also expected to increase in the future. Despite the fact that many Cambodians have at least one disability, the country does not have adequate legal provisions to protect the human rights of people with disabilities. There are no comprehensive laws that address disability issues. The few existing laws provide only implicit protections and some directly discriminate against people with disabilities. The inadequacy of Cambodia’s disability rights scheme is reflected in Cambodia’s failure to comply with the new Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (“Convention”), a treaty that Cambodia has already signed and is expected to ratify soon. To provide a minimal level of protection for people with disabilities, Cambodia’s first critical move should be to pass the proposed disability law that the legislature has been considering since 2003. Cambodia should use the Convention’s guidance to revise this draft law to provide a more comprehensive protective scheme for its most vulnerable citizens. This proposed law would improve the existing scheme of disability rights and bring Cambodia into substantial compliance with the Convention

Flight Test of an Adaptive Controller and Simulated Failure/Damage on the NASA NF-15B

The method of flight-testing the Intelligent Flight Control System (IFCS) Second Generation (Gen-2) project on the NASA NF-15B is herein described. The Gen-2 project objective includes flight-testing a dynamic inversion controller augmented by a direct adaptive neural network to demonstrate performance improvements in the presence of simulated failure/damage. The Gen-2 objectives as implemented on the NASA NF-15B created challenges for software design, structural loading limitations, and flight test operations. Simulated failure/damage is introduced by modifying control surface commands, therefore requiring structural loads measurements. Flight-testing began with the validation of a structural loads model. Flight-testing of the Gen-2 controller continued, using test maneuvers designed in a sequenced approach. Success would clear the new controller with respect to dynamic response, simulated failure/damage, and with adaptation on and off. A handling qualities evaluation was conducted on the capability of the Gen-2 controller to restore aircraft response in the presence of a simulated failure/damage. Control room monitoring of loads sensors, flight dynamics, and controller adaptation, in addition to postflight data comparison to the simulation, ensured a safe methodology of buildup testing. Flight-testing continued without major incident to accomplish the project objectives, successfully uncovering strengths and weaknesses of the Gen-2 control approach in flight

The evolution of glutathione metabolism in phototrophic microorganisms

The low molecular weight thiol composition of a variety of phototropic microorganisms is examined in order to ascertain how evolution of glutathione (GSH) production is related to the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis. Cells were extracted in the presence of monobromobimane (mBBr) to convert thiols (RSH) to fluorescent derivatives (RSmB) which were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Significant levels of GSH were not found in green sulfur bacteria. Substantial levels were present in purple bacteria, cyanobacteria, and eukaryotic algae. Other thiols measured included cysteine, gamma-glutamylcysteine, thiosulfate, coenzyme A, and sulfide. Many of the organisms also exhibited a marked ability to reduce mBBr to syn-(methyl,methyl)bimane, an ability which was quenched by treatment with 2-pyridyl disulfide or 5,5 prime-bisdithio - (2-nitrobenzoic acid) prior to reaction with mBBr. These observations indicate the presence of a reducing system capable of electron transfer to mBBr and reduction of reactive disulfides. The distribution of GSH in phototropic eubacteria indicates that GSH synthesis evolved at or around the time that oxygenic photosynthesis evolved

O estado da arte para aplicação do pensamento de resiliência em sistemas socioecológicos

Reinette Biggs, Maja Schlüter, Michael L. Schoon (editores). Principles for Building Resistance: SustainingEcosystem Services in Social-Ecological Systems. Cambridge University Press, 2015. 290 p.ISBN: 978-1-107-08265-6

Representantes da sociedade, governo e setor privado em Mato Grosso são unânimes:: “desmatamento se combate com incentivos e com trabalho conjunto”

O Dossiê Avaliação da Resiliência Socio-ecológica como Ferramenta para Entender a Fronteira Amazônica: Experiências e Reflexões é fruto de um Curso de Especialização para capacitação de lideranças em Mato Grosso. Convidamos 3 profissionais que participaram em todo o processo a conversar sobre suas diferentes perspectivas e visões a respeito do desafio de integrar a conservação com o desenvolvimento em Mato Grosso e como eles aplicam conceitos de resiliência em sua vida profissional.Os três debatedores são unânimes ao reconhecer que ações de comando e controle só conseguem controlar o desmatamento quando acompanhadas por incentivos econômicos. Mas são otimistas que as pressões do mercado, do governo e dos próprios produtores estão conduzindo Mato Grosso para um processo de consolidação do aumento da produção combinada à redução do desmatamento. Os debatedores destacam a abordagem sistêmica e a valorização das perspectivas de diferentes atores trazidas pelo curso como contribuição importante para seus trabalhos

Resiliência, incerteza e gestão de sistemas socioecológicos complexos.: Entrevista com o professor Lance Gunderson

Nesta edição especial, os editores convidados apresentam uma entrevista (texto principal em inglês), realizada com o ilustre professor e pesquisador Dr. Lance Gunderson, um dos precursores da abordagem da resiliência nos Estados Unidos e no mundo. Lance Gunderson possui bacharelado e mestrando em Botânica, e doutorado em Engenharia Ambiental cursados na Universidade da Flórida. Atualmente, ele atua como professor titular no Departamento de Ciências Ambientais da Universidade de Emory nos Estados Unidos, sendo também co-editor chefe do periódico internacional Ecology and Society (www.ecologyandsociety.org). Lance possui uma notável experiência acadêmica e profissional, desempenhando um papel crítico no estabelecimento do grupo Aliança para a Resiliência, e tendo servido como diretor executivo da Rede para a Resiliência, coordenador da Aliança para a Resiliência, e membro do comitê científico do Centro de Pesquisa e Monitoramento do Grand Canyon, além de outras posições de destaque. Desde o início de sua carreira acadêmica como estudante e então pesquisador de pós-doutorado na Universidade da Flórida, o Dr. Gunderson tem produzido uma extensa quantidade de livros e artigos sobre a temática da ecologia e dinâmica de sistemas socioecológicos complexos, tendo organizado, juntamente com o Prof. Buzz Holling, o livro “Panarchy” em 2002 (Panarquia em português), que trata do estudo da dinâmica multi e trans-escalar de sistemas complexos. Em 2007, ele foi condecorado com o título de Beijer Fellow, pelo Instituto Beijer de Ecologia Econômica da Academia de Ciências da Suécia (www.beijer.kva.se). O seu trabalho é voltado para a integração entre ciência e políticas públicas para a gestão de sistemas naturais de larga escala

The NASA F-15 Intelligent Flight Control Systems: Generation II

The Second Generation (Gen II) control system for the F-15 Intelligent Flight Control System (IFCS) program implements direct adaptive neural networks to demonstrate robust tolerance to faults and failures. The direct adaptive tracking controller integrates learning neural networks (NNs) with a dynamic inversion control law. The term direct adaptive is used because the error between the reference model and the aircraft response is being compensated or directly adapted to minimize error without regard to knowing the cause of the error. No parameter estimation is needed for this direct adaptive control system. In the Gen II design, the feedback errors are regulated with a proportional-plus-integral (PI) compensator. This basic compensator is augmented with an online NN that changes the system gains via an error-based adaptation law to improve aircraft performance at all times, including normal flight, system failures, mispredicted behavior, or changes in behavior resulting from damage

Clinical utility of tibial motor and sensory nerve conduction studies with motor recording from the flexor hallucis brevis: a methodological and reliability study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Standard tibial motor nerve conduction measures are established with recording from the abductor hallucis. This technique is often technically challenging and clinicians have difficulty interpreting the information particularly in the short segment needed to assess focal tibial nerve entrapment at the medial ankle as occurs in posterior tarsal tunnel syndrome. The flexor hallucis brevis (FHB) has been described as an alternative site for recording tibial nerve function in those with posterior tarsal tunnel syndrome. Normative data has not been established for this technique. This pilot study describes the technique in detail. In addition we provide reference values for medial and lateral plantar orthodromic sensory measures and assessed intrarater reliability for all measures.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Eighty healthy female participants took part, and 39 returned for serial testing at 4 time points. Mean values ± SD were recorded for nerve conduction measures, and coefficient of variation as well as intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Motor latency, amplitude and velocity values for the FHB were 4.1 ± 0.9 msec, 8.0 ± 3.0 mV and 45.6 ± 3.4 m/s, respectively. Sensory latencies, amplitudes, and velocities, respectively, were 2.8 ± 0.3 msec, 26.7 ± 10.1 μV, and 41.4 ± 3.5 m/s for the medial plantar nerve and 3.2 ± 0.5 msec, 13.3 ± 4.7 μV, and 44.3 ± 4.0 msec for the lateral plantar nerve. All values demonstrated significant ICC values (<it>P </it>≤ 0.007).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Motor recording from the FHB provides technically clear waveforms that allow for an improved ability to assess tibial nerve function in the short segments used to assess tarsal tunnel syndrome. The reported means will begin to establish normal values for this technique.</p

Avaliação da Resiliência como ferramenta para entender a fronteira amazônica como um sistema socioecológico

This article introduces resilience thinking and a methodology for Resilience Assessment that consists of defining the system (key issue and system boundaries in time and space); looking at history (timeline and cross-scale drivers and interactions); specifying resilience of what to what (defining attributes and variables); scenarios (likely future drivers and possible desirable and undesirable future regimes); and developing management considerations to promote desirable scenarios. Resilience assessment for three major social groups of Cotriguaçu municipality in Mato Grosso, Brazil -- medium to large landholders, the Rikbaktsa indigenous people, and family farmers -- found that each social group has gone through multiple iterations of the growth-collapse-reorganization adaptive cycle and that the dynamics of this system are largely determined by economic and policy drivers that come from a larger scale. Contributions to the resilience assessment methodology are to base the analysis of the system on its historical trajectory, seek to explicitly incorporate the perspectives of local actors, and use scenario analysis to develop possible management interventions.Este artigo apresenta o pensamento de resiliência e uma metodologia para avaliação desta que consisteem definir o sistema (pergunta-chave e limites do sistema no tempo e no espaço); olhando paraa história (linha do tempo, fatores desencadeantes e interações entre escalas); especificando a resiliência“do que” e “contra que” (definição de atributos e variáveis); cenários (prováveis fatores desencadeantesfuturos e possíveis regimes futuros desejáveis e indesejáveis); e desenvolvimento deconsiderações de gestão para promover cenários desejáveis. A avaliação de resiliência de três grandesgrupos sociais do município de Cotriguaçu em Mato Grosso, Brasil ”“ proprietários de terras médias egrandes, os povos indígenas Rikbaktsa e agricultores familiares ”“ revelou que cada grupo social passoupor várias iterações do ciclo adaptativo (crescimento-colapso-reorganização), e que a dinâmica dessesistema é em grande parte determinada por fatores econômicos e políticos que vêm de uma escala&nbsp;maior. Contribuições para a metodologia de avaliação de resiliência incluem basear a análise do sistemaem sua trajetória histórica, procurar incorporar explicitamente as perspectivas dos atores locais, eusar a análise de cenários para desenvolver possíveis intervenções de gestão