The ambivalent shadow of the pre-Wilsonian rise of international law

The generation of American international lawyers who founded the American Society of International Law in 1906 and nurtured the soil for what has been retrospectively called a “moralistic legalistic approach to international relations” remains little studied. A survey of the rise of international legal literature in the U.S. from the mid-19th century to the eve of the Great War serves as a backdrop to the examination of the boosting effect on international law of the Spanish American War in 1898. An examination of the Insular Cases before the US Supreme Court is then accompanied by the analysis of a number of influential factors behind the pre-war rise of international law in the U.S. The work concludes with an examination of the rise of natural law doctrines in international law during the interwar period and the critiques addressed.by the realist founders of the field of “international relations” to the “moralistic legalistic approach to international relation

Reframing Kurtz’s Painting: Colonial Legacies and Minority Rights in Ethnically Divided Societies

Minority rights constitute some of the most normatively and economically important human rights. Although the political science and legal literatures have proffered a number of constitutional and institutional design solutions to address the protection of minority rights, these solutions are characterized by a noticeable neglect of, and lack of sensitivity to, historical processes. This Article addresses that gap in the literature by developing a causal argument that explains diverging practices of minority rights protections as functions of colonial governments’ variegated institutional practices with respect to particular ethnic groups. Specifically, this Article argues that in instances where colonial governments politicize and institutionalize ethnic hegemony in the pre-independence period, an institutional legacy is created that leads to lower levels of minority rights protections. Conversely, a uniform treatment and depoliticization of ethnicity prior to independence ultimately minimizes ethnic cleavages post-independence and consequently causes higher levels of minority rights protections. Through a highly structured comparative historical analysis of Botswana and Ghana, this Article builds on a new and exciting research agenda that focuses on the role of long-term historio-structural and institutional influences on human rights performance and makes important empirical contributions by eschewing traditional methodologies that focus on single case studies that are largely descriptive in their analyses. Ultimately, this Article highlights both the strength of a historical approach to understanding current variations in minority rights protections and the varied institutional responses within a specific colonial government

On Variants of CM-triviality

We introduce a generalization of CM-triviality relative to a fixed invariant collection of partial types, in analogy to the Canonical Base Property defined by Pillay, Ziegler and Chatzidakis which generalizes one-basedness. We show that, under this condition, a stable field is internal to the family, and a group of finite Lascar rank has a normal nilpotent subgroup such that the quotient is almost internal to the family

Global oceanic emission of ammonia: constraints from seawater and atmospheric observations

Current global inventories of ammonia emissions identify the ocean as the largest natural source. This source depends on seawater pH, temperature, and the concentration of total seawater ammonia (NHx(sw)), which reflects a balance between remineralization of organic matter, uptake by plankton, and nitrification. Here we compare [NHx(sw)] from two global ocean biogeochemical models (BEC and COBALT) against extensive ocean observations. Simulated [NHx(sw)] are generally biased high. Improved simulation can be achieved in COBALT by increasing the plankton affinity for NHx within observed ranges. The resulting global ocean emissions is 2.5 TgN a−1, much lower than current literature values (7–23 TgN a−1), including the widely used Global Emissions InitiAtive (GEIA) inventory (8 TgN a−1). Such a weak ocean source implies that continental sources contribute more than half of atmospheric NHx over most of the ocean in the Northern Hemisphere. Ammonia emitted from oceanic sources is insufficient to neutralize sulfate aerosol acidity, consistent with observations. There is evidence over the Equatorial Pacific for a missing source of atmospheric ammonia that could be due to photolysis of marine organic nitrogen at the ocean surface or in the atmosphere. Accommodating this possible missing source yields a global ocean emission of ammonia in the range 2–5 TgN a−1, comparable in magnitude to other natural sources from open fires and soils

Lacrimal Gland Involvement in Lymphomatoid Granulomatosis and Review of the Literature

Objective. To describe the clinicoradiological and histopathological findings in a case of lacrimal gland enlargement secondary to lymphomatoid granulomatosis (LG) and to review the literature. Design. Case report and systematic literature review. Methods. A 75-year-old woman presented with right ptosis. Computerised tomography showed lacrimal gland enlargement, and biopsy done was inconclusive. She subsequently developed pulmonary symptoms and underwent transbronchial biopsy that was diagnosed as LG. Pub Med and OVID databases were searched using the term “orbit/eye involvement in lymphomatoid granulomatosis”. Articles that predated the databases were gathered from current references. Results. The patient underwent lacrimal gland biopsy which revealed necrotic and inflamed tissue with no further categorisation but transbronchial biopsy helped in establishing the diagnosis of LG. On initiation of prednisolone and cyclophosphamide, her orbital lesion resolved but the patient died following massive pulmonary hemorrhage within a month of diagnosis. Conclusion. Ophthalmic involvement in LG is very rare. Varied presentations are due to central nervous system involvement, vasculitis, or infiltration of ocular or orbital structures. LG is an angiocentric and angiodestructive granulomatous disorder and can involve any tissue, thus accounting for the variable presentations reported in literature

Staged Concept for Treatment of Severe Postsaphenectomy Wound Infection

The saphenous vein remains the most commonly used conduit in coronary artery bypass surgery. Vein harvest is a critical component with significant morbidity associated with leg wounds from open technique. Occurring complications are hematoma, postoperative pain, skin changes, neuropathy, and septic or nonseptic wound complications. Within the context of a recent case, we present our approach to postsaphenectomy wound management