International conflict related environmental claims - A critical analysis of the UN Compensation Commission

The Gulf War of 1990–91, precipitated by Iraq’s invasion and occupation of Kuwait, resulted in massive environmental damage to neighbouring countries. After the Gulf War, the UN Security Council established the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) to process claims for war reparations, including claims for environmental damage. The environmental claims were unprecedented. This thesis explores (a) whether key actors influenced the rules and environmental claims, and if so, what means they used to achieve their goals, (b) how key actors used these means to influence the rules and environmental claims and (c) the extent to which the environmental rule and claims might have been different if the UNCC had adopted more transparent, inclusive and accountable processes. The thesis argues that environmental claims and rules are as much the product of human interactions as they are of legal principles. Key actors influenced the UNCC rules and environmental claims by advocating for or against four principles. The principles they advocated or opposed were effective and expeditious justice for the victims of war, due process for Iraq, secrecy and transparency. They did so through the predominant mechanism or tool of modelling which they deployed through webs of dialogue and coercion. Key actors sometimes displaced political conflict on to procedural terrain. The thesis asserts that the UNCC was a transitional institution somewhere between a tribunal administering victor’s justice and an independent and impartial international judicial body. In my conclusions, I draw lessons about the importance of environmental monitoring and assessment studies, due process, the need for adequate claim processing time, the role of experts and precedent in the claims process and the need for transparency and accountability

Solvent Induced Shifts in the UV Spectrum of Amides

Solvent effects on the electronic spectra of formamide and trans-N-methylacetamide are studied using four different levels of theory: singly excited configuration interaction (CIS), equations of motion coupled-cluster theory with singles and doubles (EOM-CCSD), completely renormalized coupled-cluster theory with singles and doubles with perturbative triple excitations (CR-EOM-CCSD(T)), and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT), employing small clusters of water molecules. The simulated electronic spectrum is obtained via molecular dynamics simulations with 100 waters modeled with the effective fragment potential method and exhibits a blue-shift and red-shift, respectively, for the n → π* and πnb → π* vertical excitation energies, in good agreement with the experimental electronic spectra of amides

Anharmonicity of Weakly Bound M+−H2 Complexes

The anharmonicity of weakly bound complexes is studied using the vibrational self-consistent field (VSCF) approach for a series of metal cation dihydrogen (M+−H2) complexes. The H−H stretching frequency shifts of M+−H2 (M+ = Li+, Na+, B+, and Al+) complexes are calculated with the coupled-cluster method including all single and double excitations with perturbative triples (CCSD(T)) level of theory with the cc-pVTZ basis set. The calculated H−H stretching frequency of Li+−H2, B+−H2, Na+−H2, and Al+−H2 is red-shifted by 121, 202, 74, and 62 cm-1, respectively, relative to that of unbound H2. The calculated red shifts and their trends are in good agreement with the available experimental and previously calculated data. Insight into the observed trends is provided by symmetry adapted perturbation theory (SAPT)

Excited-State Hydrogen Atom Transfer Reaction in Solvated 7-Hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin

Excited-state enol to keto tautomerization of 7-hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin (C456) with three water molecules (C456:3H2O), is theoretically investigated using time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) combined with the polarizable continuum model and 200 waters explicitly modeled with the effective fragment potential. The tautomerization of C456 in the presence of three water molecules is accompanied by an asynchronous quadruple hydrogen atom transfer reaction from the enol to the keto tautomer in the excited state. TDDFT with the PBE0 functional and the DH(d,p) basis set is used to calculate the excited-state reaction barrier height, absorption (excitation), and fluorescence (de-excitation) energies. These results are compared with the available experimental and theoretical data. In contrast to previous work, it is predicted here that the coumarin 456 system undergoes a hydrogen atom transfer, not a proton transfer. The calculated reaction barrier of the first excited state of C456:3H2O with 200 water molecules is found to be −0.23 kcal/mol without zero-point energy (−5.07 kcal/mol with zero point energy, i.e., the activation energy)

Anharmonicity of Weakly Bound Li+−(H2)n (n = 1−3) Complexes

The anharmonicity of Li+–(H2)n (n = 1, 2, and 3) complexes is studied using the vibrational self-consistent field (VSCF) approach. The H–H stretching frequency shifts of Li+–(H2)ncomplexes are calculated with the coupled-cluster method including all single and double excitations with perturbative triples (CCSD(T)) level of theory with the cc-pVTZ basis set. The calculated IR active H–H stretching frequency in Li+–H2, Li+–(H2)2 and Li+–(H2)3 is red-shifted by 121, 109, and 96–99 cm–1, respectively, relative to that of isolated H2. The calculated red shifts and their trends are in good agreement with the available experimental data

A Quantile Regression Approach to Measuring the Educational Effect on Body Mass Index

Background: By use of a publically available database, the effects of education and geography on obesity as measured by body mass index (BMI) were evaluated with a quantile regression approach. The focus of the analysis was on the practical interpretation of the regression results to inform health policy decision makers about the importance of educational attainment for the growing public health issue of obesity in the US, particularly in the Southeast. Methods: With data from the 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), quantile regressions were employed to estimate the educational effect on BMI while controlling for relevant lifestyle, socioeconomic, geographic, and demographic factors. Results: The findings indicate that education is important, for college graduates have lower BMIs, regardless of their relative weight distribution. Persons with college educations and annual incomes of more than $50,000 had lower BMIs than those without college education and lower income. Also, after controlling for relevant lifestyle, socioeconomic, and demographic factors such as physical activity, education, and income, regional variations are evident. There are higher BMI levels in the South as compared to other regions in the US. Conclusions: For obesity, there are underlying causes and contributing factors, such as educational attainment and the related factor, income, that are not always considered as high priorities for addressing obesity issues. The focus has typically been on lifestyle choices, such as eating habits and physical activity. The present findings promote efforts for ensuring college education for young people to address various public health issues, including obesity. Further, econometric analysis of secondary databases could lead to a better understanding for policy makers in regard to allocation of resources to address educational attainment, recognizing its effect on public health issues such as obesity

Viral deubiquitinating proteases and the promising strategies of their inhibition

Several viruses are now known to code for deubiquitinating proteases in their genomes. Ubiquitination is an essential post-translational modification of cellular substrates involved in many processes in the cell, including in innate immune signalling. This post-translational modification is regulated by the ubiquitin conjugation machinery, as well as various host deubiquitinating enzymes. The conjugation of ubiquitin chains to several innate immune related factors is often needed to induce downstream signalling, shaping the antiviral response. Viral deubiquitinating proteins, besides often having a primary function in the viral replication cycle by cleaving the viral polyprotein, are also able to cleave ubiquitin chains from such host substrates, in that way exerting a function in innate immune evasion. The presence of viral deubiquitinating enzymes has been firmly established for numerous animal-infecting viruses, such as some well-researched and clinically important nidoviruses, and their presence has now been confirmed in several plant viruses as well. Viral proteases in general have long been highlighted as promising drug targets, with a current focus on small molecule inhibitors. In this review, we will discuss the range of viral deubiquitinating proteases known to date, summarise the various avenues explored to inhibit such proteases and discuss novel strategies and models intended to inhibit and study these specific viral enzymes.</p

Gauged Galileons From Branes

We show how the coupling of SO(N) gauge fields to galileons arises from a probe brane construction. The galileons arise from the brane bending modes of a brane probing a co-dimension N bulk, and the gauge fields arise by turning on certain off-diagonal components in the zero mode of the bulk metric. By construction, the equations of motion for both the galileons and gauge fields remain second order. Covariant gauged galileons are derived as well.Comment: 6 pages. v2: minor changes, version appearing in PL