International Law in Comparative Perspective. Edited by William E. Bytler

What might a comparative perspective upon international law mean, or reveal? The phrase evokes the tradition of Comparative Law with its related methods and purposes. That tradition is rooted in the study of national legal systems. Scholars within one such system explore another or several others--a cross-cultural inquiry serving both practical and broad scholarly aims. However illuminating, these explorations cannot be viewed as indispensable to the study of national law. They stand at the periphery rather than core of most students\u27 or scholars\u27 concerns. Does a comparative method within international law serve a similarly confined purpose? Or should we understand it as more central and pervasive a phenomenon, even vital to a threshold inquiry into the nature, norms and processes for development of international law? Such are the questions stimulated by this useful book

Dissolution of Nontronite in Low Water Activity Brines and Implications for the Aqueous History of Mars

Water is essential to life on Earth and is likely to play a role in determining the habitability of other planets. Pure liquid water is not stable on the surface of Mars but brines can temporarily remain liquid, and increasing evidence suggests the presence of recent liquid water, including brines, on Mars. Brines can host life at temperatures as low as -30 ºC and some organisms can live at activities of water as low as 0.61. Therefore, if brines have been present on Mars, they may act as habitable environments. The Fe-rich smectite nontronite, (CaO0.5,Na)0.3 Fe3+2(Si,Al)4O10(OH)2·nH2O, has been detected on the surface of Mars, particularly in ancient terrains. If the surface of Mars experienced brine solutions throughout its history, those brines have likely impacted nontronite. Therefore, understanding alteration of nontronite in brines can help interpret past aqueous, and potentially habitable, conditions on Mars. To interpret interactions of nontronite with brines, duplicate batch experiments were used to measure the dissolution rates of nontronite at 25 ºC at activities of water (aH2O) of 1.00 (0.01 M CaCl2 or NaCl representative of dilute waters), 0.75 (saturated NaCl and 3.00 mol kg-1 CaCl2), and 0.50 (5.00 mol kg-1 CaCl2). Experiments at aH2O = 1 (0.01 M CaCl2) were also conducted at 4 ºC, 25 ºC, and 45 ºC to calculate an apparent activation energy for dissolution of nontronite. Results indicate that with decreasing activity of water the dissolution rate of nontronite also decreases. Dissolution rates at 25 ºC in CaCl2-containing solutions decreased with decreasing activity of water as follows: 1.18x10-12 ± 9.30 x10-14 moles mineral m-2 s-1(aH2O = 1)\u3e 2.36x10-13 ± 3.07 x10-14 moles mineral m-2 s-1( aH2O = 0.75)\u3e 2.05x10-14 ± 2.87 x10-15 moles mineral m-2 s-1 ( aH2O = 0.50). Similar results were observed at 25 ºC in NaCl-containing solutions with dissolution rates as follows: 1.89x10-12 ± 9.59 x10-14 moles mineral m-2 s-1 (aH2O = 1)\u3e 1.98x10-13 ± 2.26x10-14 moles mineral m-2 s-1(aH2O = 0.75). An apparent activation energy of 54.6 ± 1.0 kJ/mol was calculated from the following dissolution rates in dilute CaCl2- containing solutions at temperatures of 4 ºC, 25 ºC, and 45 ºC: 2.33x10-13 ± 1.25x10-14 moles mineral m-2 s-1( 4 ºC), 1.18x10-12 ± 9.30 x10-14 moles mineral m-2 s-1( 25 ºC), and 4.98x10-12 ± 3.84 x10-13 moles mineral m-2 s-1( 45 ºC). These results suggest that martian nontronite perceptibly altered by brines at low temperatures may have experienced very long periods of water-rock interaction, with important implications for the paleoclimate and long-term potential habitability of Mars

Efficient room temperature aqueous Sb2S3 synthesis for inorganic-organic sensitized solar cells with 5.1% efficiencies.

Sb2S3 sensitized solar cells are a promising alternative to devices employing organic dyes. The manufacture of Sb2S3 absorber layers is however slow and cumbersome. Here, we report the modified aqueous chemical bath synthesis of Sb2S3 absorber layers for sensitized solar cells. Our method is based on the hydrolysis of SbCl3 to complex antimony ions decelerating the reaction at ambient conditions, in contrast to the usual low temperature deposition protocol. This simplified deposition route allows the manufacture of sensitized mesoporous-TiO2 solar cells with power conversion efficiencies up to η = 5.1%. Photothermal deflection spectroscopy shows that the sub-bandgap trap-state density is lower in Sb2S3 films deposited with this method, compared to standard deposition protocols.Cambridge Trust, the Mott Fund for Physics of the Environment and Corpus Christi College Cambridge for funding. A.S. acknowledges funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).This is the final version. It first appeared at http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2015/CC/c5cc01966d#!divAbstract

Necessary fictions: indigenous claims and the humanity of rights

Indigenous right insistently challenges the surpassing arrogations of sovereign right. In so doing, it affirms dimensions of being-together denied or stunted in sovereign modes of political formation. This force of Indigenous right is amplified here through legal and literary instantiations. These, in turn, uncover the continuously created and fictional quality of rights, revealing them to be necessary fictions