North Korean Detention of US Nationals: International Law Violations and Means of Recourse

North Korean detention of U.S. citizens has prompted considerable attention in the U.S. media over the years, especially with the most recent case of Otto Warmbier’s death. Releases have usually been negotiated through diplomatic channels on a humanitarian basis. While detainee treatment is influenced primarily by political considerations, this Article asks what international legal implications arise from these detentions in terms of international law violations and recourse. Specifically, this Article analyzes (1) violations of consular law and international human rights law as applied to the detainees, such as standards for arrest, investigation, trial, and detention, and (2) whether viable legal recourse exists. While North Korea has acted contrary to international law in its treatment of U.S. detainees in a number of respects, including through violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and other treaties and principles of customary law, legal recourse is practically limited in both international and U.S. domestic law due to jurisdictional barriers and weak international enforcement mechanisms

The shrinking instability of toroidal liquid droplets in the Stokes flow regime

We analyze the stability and dynamics of toroidal liquid droplets. In addition to the Rayleigh instabilities akin to those of a cylindrical droplet there is a shrinking instability that is unique to the topology of the torus and dominates in the limit that the aspect ratio is near one (fat tori). We first find an analytic expression for the pressure distribution inside the droplet. We then determine the velocity field in the bulk fluid, in the Stokes flow regime, by solving the biharmonic equation for the stream function. The flow pattern in the external fluid is analyzed qualitatively by exploiting symmetries. This elucidates the detailed nature of the shrinking mode and the swelling of the cross-section following from incompressibility. Finally the shrinking rate of fat toroidal droplets is derived by energy conservation.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure

Chaos and Energy Redistribution the Nonlinear Interaction of Two Spatio-Temporal Wave Triplets

In this paper we examine the spatio-temporal dynamics of two nonlinearly coupled wave triplets sharing two common modes. Our basic findings are the following. When spatial dependence is absent, the homogeneous manifold so obtained can be chaotic or regular. If chaotic, it drives energy diffusion from long to small wavelengths as soon as inhomogeneous perturbations are added to the system. If regular, one may yet have two distinct cases: (i) energy diffusion is again present if the inhomogeneous modes are linearly unstable and triplets are effectively coupled; (ii) energy diffusion is absent if the inhomogeneous modes are linearly stable or the triplets are uncoupled.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Physica D (1997

Mechanismus der enzymatischen Freisetzung von Acetaldehyd aus “aktivem Acetaldehyd” (α-hydroxyaethyl-2-thiaminpyrophosphat)

1. 1.Die Freisetzung von Acetaldehyd aus “Aktivem Acetaldehyd” mit gereinigter Apopyruvatdecarboxylase aus Bierhefe wird durch. Thiaminpyrophosphat gehemmt. Diese Konkurrenzhemmung erklärt (zumindest teilweise) die langsame Freisetzung von Acetaldehyd beim enzymatischen Umsatz von Präparaten, die viel Thiamin-pyrophosphat enthalten. 2. 2. Die Freisetzung von Acetaldehyd aus “Aktivem Acetaldehyd” mit Apo-carboxylase erfolgt nicht in einer früher von uns diskutierten Austauschreaktion mit Pyruvat, sondern in einer direkten Reaktion: Aktiver Acetaldehyd å Acetaldehyd + TPP.1. 1. The enzymic formation of acetaldehyde from α-hydroxyethyl thiamine pyrophosphate with purified apopyrubate decarboxylase from yeast is inhibited by thiamine pyrophosphate. This inhibition explains (at least partly) the slow enzymic production of acetaldehyde from α-hydroxyethyl thiamine pyrophosphate preparations containing a considerable amount of thiamine pyrophosphate. 2. 2. The enzymic formation of acetaldehyde from α-hydroxyethyl thiamine pyrophosphate with apocarboxylase does not take place in form of an exchange reaction with pyruvate, as discussed earlier, but in form of the direct reaction: α-hydroxyethyl thiamine pyrophosphate → acetaldehyde + thiamine pyrophosphate

Fractal entropy of a chain of nonlinear oscillators

We study the time evolution of a chain of nonlinear oscillators. We focus on the fractal features of the spectral entropy and analyze its characteristic intermediate timescales as a function of the nonlinear coupling. A Brownian motion is recognized, with an analytic power-law dependence of its diffusion coefficient on the coupling.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, revised version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Four Sonnets by Feng Zhi

Translation of Feng Zhi\u27s Sonnets 6, 12, 16, and 18 by Emily Goedde

The Dutch East Indies

In this presentation, I explore the effect of the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies through a PowerPoint slide presentation. The Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies would have detrimental effects on the country and economy. American involvement would be beneficial to the Dutch East Indies unlike other times the US has been involved with other countries. Furthermore, the British put an end to the occupation of the East Indies by Japan

Human Second Window Pre-Conditioning and Post-Conditioning by Nitrite Is Influenced by a Common Polymorphism in Mitochondrial Aldehyde Dehydrogenase

Pre-conditioning is an exciting physiological phenomenon that, despite great efforts, has so far resisted translation to mainstream clinical medicine. Many potential triggers (e.g., ischemia of the organ in question or a remote organ, many different drugs) have been investigated, but recent work has implicated activation of mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2) as central to the process. A genetic polymorphism, known as ALDH2*2, is common worldwide (present in up to 40% of Han Chinese people) and produces a functionally different enzyme. The authors used a variety of protocols in the human ischemic forearm model, in participants with both enzyme types, to assess cytoprotection with low-dose sodium nitrite and attempt to further elucidate the role of ALDH2