Forced Evictions, Mass Displacement, and the Uncertain Promise of Land and Property Restitution in Haiti

Haiti\u27s devastating 2010 earthquake produced human suffering on an unimaginable scale. The disaster\u27s aftermath-marked by widespread displacement, secondary occupation of land, and consequent forced evictions-raises critical questions of land ownership and housing rights. It also provided a testing ground for the body of restitutionary legal norms developed in the decades following the Cold War. Using the earthquake in Haiti as a lens, this article critically examines the development of the restitution model, from its inception in the Balkans conflicts of the 1990s to its current expression in the United Nation\u27s Pinheiro Principles. While the Pinheiro Principles are positive in many regards, the Haitian displacement crisis lays bare their shortcomings. In four major ways, the assumptions underlying the restitutionary model have failed to match up with the actual human needs of displaced persons in urban Port-au-Prince and surrounding cities. This article identifies those conceptual mismatches-centered around causes of displacement, informality of land title and tenure, the role of secondary occupation, and an unsupported distinction between the deserving and undeserving displaced-and concludes with a tentative, rights-based template for improvement tailored to the specific needs of Haiti\u27s poor

Recording advances for neural prosthetics

An important challenge for neural prosthetics research is to record from populations of neurons over long periods of time, ideally for the lifetime of the patient. Two new advances toward this goal are described, the use of local field potentials (LFPs) and autonomously positioned recording electrodes. LFPs are the composite extracellular potential field from several hundreds of neurons around the electrode tip. LFP recordings can be maintained for longer periods of time than single cell recordings. We find that similar information can be decoded from LFP and spike recordings, with better performance for state decodes with LFPs and, depending on the area, equivalent or slightly less than equivalent performance for signaling the direction of planned movements. Movable electrodes in microdrives can be adjusted in the tissue to optimize recordings, but their movements must be automated to be a practical benefit to patients. We have developed automation algorithms and a meso-scale autonomous electrode testbed, and demonstrated that this system can autonomously isolate and maintain the recorded signal quality of single cells in the cortex of awake, behaving monkeys. These two advances show promise for developing very long term recording for neural prosthetic applications

Getting The Biggest Bang For Your Buck: Wildlife Monitoring On Shrublands Of The Nevada Test Site

The Nevada Test Site (NTS) covers 3,561 km2 and extends over portions of both the Mojave and Great Basin Deserts. The resulting diverse and complex flora and fauna exhibit elements of both deserts. There are 20 vegetation associations, composed primarily of shrubs, nested within 10 vegetation alliances. Of the more than 1,200 invertebrate and 339 vertebrate species found in these shrubland habitats, 267 are considered sensitive or protected/regulated by federal or state laws. Wildlife and wildlife habitat monitoring ensures NTS activities comply with all federal and state laws enacted for the protection of these valuable biological resources and provides ecological information that can be used to predict and evaluate the potential impacts of proposed projects and current activities on these resources. This paper describes the monitoring approach used at this large site. Monitoring strategies include conducting preactivity surveys, proactively monitoring sensitive species, monitoring long-term population trends, and collaborating with other agencies and biologists. Ways to make monitoring more efficient and examples of successful monitoring and collaborations are discussed

Consistent alleviation of abiotic stress with silicon addition: a meta-analysis

1. Hundreds of single species studies have demonstrated the facility of silicon (Si) to alleviate diverse abiotic stresses in plants. Understanding of the mechanisms of Si-mediated stress alleviation is progressing, and several reviews have brought information together. A quantitative assessment of the alleviative capacity of Si, however, which could elucidate plant Si function more broadly, was lacking. 2. We combined the results of 145 experiments, predominantly on agricultural species, in a meta-analysis to statistically assess the responses of stressed plants to Si supply across multiple plant families and abiotic stresses. We interrogated our database to determine whether stressed plants increased in dry mass and net assimilation rate, oxidative stress markers were reduced, antioxidant responses were increased and whether element uptake showed consistent changes when supplied with Si. 3. We demonstrated that across plant families and stress types, Si increases dry weight, assimilation rate and chlorophyll biosynthesis and alleviates oxidative damage in stressed plants. In general, results indicated that plant family (as a proxy for accumulator type) and stress type had significant explanatory power for variation in responses. The consistent reduction in oxidative damage was not mirrored by consistent increases in antioxidant production, indicative of the several different stress alleviation mechanisms in which Si is involved. Silicon addition increased K in shoots, decreased As and Cd in roots and Na and Cd in shoots. Silicon addition did not affect Al, Ca or Mn concentration in shoots and roots of stressed plants. Plants had significantly lower concentrations of Si accumulated in shoots but not in roots when stressed. 4. Meta-analyses showed consistent alleviation by Si of oxidative damage caused by a range of abiotic stresses across diverse species. Our findings indicate that Si is likely to be a useful fertilizer for many crops facing a spectrum of abiotic stresses. Similarities in responses across families provide strong support for a role of Si in the alleviation of abiotic stress in natural systems, where it has barely been explored. We suggest this role may become more important under a changing climate and more experiments using non-agricultural species are now needed

Worldline approach to helicity flip in plane waves

We apply worldline methods to the study of vacuum polarisation effects in plane wave backgrounds, in both scalar and spinor QED. We calculate helicity-flip probabilities to one loop order and treated exactly in the background field, and provide a toolkit of methods for use in investigations of higher-order processes. We also discuss the connections between the worldline, S-matrix, and lightfront approaches to vacuum polarisation effects.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figur

Cognitive Control Signals for Neural Prosthetics

Recent development of neural prosthetics for assisting paralyzed patients has focused on decoding intended hand trajectories from motor cortical neurons and using this signal to control external devices. In this study, higher level signals related to the goals of movements were decoded from three monkeys and used to position cursors on a computer screen without the animals emitting any behavior. Their performance in this task improved over a period of weeks. Expected value signals related to fluid preference, the expected magnitude, or probability of reward were decoded simultaneously with the intended goal. For neural prosthetic applications, the goal signals can be used to operate computers, robots, and vehicles, whereas the expected value signals can be used to continuously monitor a paralyzed patient's preferences and motivation

The 1993 baseline biological studies and proposed monitoring plan for the Device Assembly Facility at the Nevada Test Site

This report contains baseline data and recommendations for future monitoring of plants and animals near the new Device Assembly Facility (DAF) on the Nevada Test Site (NTS). The facility is a large structure designed for safely assembling nuclear weapons. Baseline data was collected in 1993, prior to the scheduled beginning of DAF operations in early 1995. Studies were not performed prior to construction and part of the task of monitoring operational effects will be to distinguish those effects from the extensive disturbance effects resulting from construction. Baseline information on species abundances and distributions was collected on ephemeral and perennial plants, mammals, reptiles, and birds in the desert ecosystems within three kilometers (km) of the DAF. Particular attention was paid to effects of selected disturbances, such as the paved road, sewage pond, and the flood-control dike, associated with the facility. Radiological monitoring of areas surrounding the DAF is not included in this report

Ecological Monitoring and Compliance Program 2006 Report

The Ecological Monitoring and Compliance program (EMAC), funded through the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office (NNSA/NSO), monitors the ecosystem of the Nevada Test Site (NTS) and ensures compliance with laws and regulations pertaining to NTS biota. This report summarizes the program's activities conducted by National Security Technologies LLC (NSTec) during the Calendar Year 2006. Program activities included: (a) biological surveys at proposed construction sites, (b) desert tortoise compliance, (c) ecosystem mapping and data management, (d) sensitive plant species monitoring, (e) sensitive and protected/regulated animal monitoring, (f) habitat monitoring, (g) habitat restoration monitoring, and (h) monitoring of the Nonproliferation Test and Evaluation Complex (NPTEC). Sensitive and protected/regulated species of the NTS include 44 plants, 1 mollusk, 2 reptiles, over 250 birds, and 26 mammals protected, managed, or considered sensitive as per state or federal regulations and natural resource agencies and organizations. The threatened desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) is the only species on the NTS protected under the Endangered Species Act. Biological surveys for the presence of sensitive and protected/regulated species and important biological resources on which they depend were conducted for 34 projects. A total of 342.1 hectares (ha) (845.37 acres [ac]) was surveyed for these projects. Sensitive and protected/regulated species and important biological resources found included: 2 inactive tortoise burrows, 2 western burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia hypugaea), several horses (Equus caballus), 2 active predator burrows, mature Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia), yuccas and cacti; and also 1 bird nest (2 eggs), 1 barn owl (Tyto alba) and 2 great-horned owls (Bubo virginianus). NSTec provided a written summary report of all survey findings and mitigation recommendations, where applicable. All flagged burrows were avoided during construction activities. Twenty one of the 34 projects had sites within the distribution range of the threatened desert tortoise. NNSA/NSO must comply with the terms and conditions of a permit (called a Biological Opinion) from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) when conducting work in tortoise habitat. No tortoises were found in or displaced from project areas. No desert tortoises were accidentally injured or killed, nor were any captured or displaced from project sites. One desert tortoise was accidentally killed along a paved road. One site specific re-vegetation plan was submitted this year as required by the desert tortoise habitat re-vegetation plan approved in 2004. This year a total of 1.89 ha (4.69 ac) of tortoise habitat was disturbed. Re-vegetation of habitat at the Bren Tower burn was completed in the spring of 2006. In the summer of 2006, NSTec scientists prepared a Biological Assessment of the security activities that were being conducted at the Device Assembly Facility (DAF). NNSA requested a Biological Opinion from FWS in late 2006. Ecosystem mapping and data management in 2006 focused primarily on two tasks: (a) converting hardcopies of about 17 reports (EMAC annual reports and selected topical reports from 1996 to 2003) into electronic versions (Portable Document Format [PDF] files) to facilitate electronic document exchange, rapid retrieval, duplication, and printing, and (b) conducting an annual vegetation survey to determine wildland fire hazards on the NTS. Copies of the PDF documents were sent to DOE's Office of Scientific and Technical Information website in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the DOE National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office (NNSA/NSO) Public Reading Facility

Three-Dimensional Imaging of Drosophila melanogaster

The major hindrance to imaging the intact adult Drosophila is that the dark exoskeleton makes it impossible to image through the cuticle. We have overcome this obstacle and describe a method whereby the internal organs of adult Drosophila can be imaged in 3D by bleaching and clearing the adult and then imaging using a technique called optical projection tomography (OPT). The data is displayed as 2D optical sections and also in 3D to provide detail on the shape and structure of the adult anatomy.We have used OPT to visualize in 2D and 3D the detailed internal anatomy of the intact adult Drosophila. In addition this clearing method used for OPT was tested for imaging with confocal microscopy. Using OPT we have visualized the size and shape of neurodegenerative vacuoles from within the head capsule of flies that suffer from age-related neurodegeneration due to a lack of ADAR mediated RNA-editing. In addition we have visualized tau-lacZ expression in 2D and 3D. This shows that the wholemount adult can be stained without any manipulation and that this stain penetrates well as we have mapped the localization pattern with respect to the internal anatomy.We show for the first time that the intact adult Drosophila can be imaged in 3D using OPT, also we show that this method of clearing is also suitable for confocal microscopy to image the brain from within the intact head. The major advantage of this is that organs can be represented in 3D in their natural surroundings. Furthermore optical sections are generated in each of the three planes and are not prone to the technical limitations that are associated with manual sectioning. OPT can be used to dissect mutant phenotypes and to globally map gene expression in both 2D and 3D