Truth And Reconciliation Commissions: The Road To Democracy And Rule Of Law?

TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSIONS: THE ROAD TO DEMOCRACY AND RULE OF LAW? by JULIE A. KEIL December 2014 Advisor: Dr. Sharon Lean Major: Political Science Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Every year millions of dollars are spent on Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (TRC) designed to bring about post-conflict resolutions in states through a formal process. This paper explores the major TRCs comparatively to assess the relationship between TRCs and the growth of democracy and rule of law in post conflict societies and compares that performance to a control group of states that experienced a conflict but did not conduct a TRC. Seventy-seven TRCs have been conducted or were seriously proposed since 1971. All TRCs assert as part of their charter that their goals include the growth of democratic ideals and rule of law. There has been little quantitative study of this relationship and qualitative studies focus primarily on single state case studies rather than looking comparatively. This dissertation hypothesizes that there is a relationship between conducting a TRC and the growth of democracy and rule of law in post-conflict states. In order to test this hypothesis, data from the forty one TRCs conducted and concluded between 1981 and 2010 was analyzed, as well as data from post-conflict states where a TRC was not conducted. Polity IV data regarding democracy and CIRI data regarding the rule of law was utilized to determine changes in democracy and the rule of law. A case study was also concluded of Liberia, a state which conducted a TRC and Mozambique, a state which did not but did issue a general amnesty to look at the issues of democracy and rule of law most intensively. This paper concludes that post conflict states conducting TRCs have a greater improvement in democracy and rule of law than states that did not utilize a TRC and the relationship is significant statistically. The relationship is less when the conflict was an intense conflict involving more than one thousand battle deaths and is improved when an amnesty is given along with the TRC. The relationship provides a small portion of the explanation for change in democracy but when coupled with democracy scores provides almost one half of the explanation of change in rule of law but is also lower if the conflict has been intense in terms of battle deaths. Lastly, it concludes that the experience in Liberia with their TRC is too recent to show a relationship but that Mozambique, which utilized only an amnesty, is starting to experience deterioration in the levels of democracy and rule of law

La réconciliation de la démocratie locale et de la compétitivité internationale dans le discours réformiste à Toronto : Essai d’interprétation sur le néolibéralisme normalisé

S’appuyant sur l’exemple de Toronto, cet article cherche à élucider les raisons pour lesquelles plusieurs militants ont recours au langage de la démocratie locale dans leur lutte contre le néolibéralisme. Il est très fréquent que les citoyens perçoivent les réformes urbaines légitimées au nom de la compétitivité mondiale comme une menace directe à leur qualité de vie locale. Cet antagonisme, longtemps conçu par les analystes urbains comme un conflit entre la « valeur d’usage » et la « valeur d’échange », prend toutefois une dimension particulière à Toronto avec le retour d’un régime de centre-gauche caractérisé par la synthèse de ces deux pôles qui s’expliquerait par une dynamique de normalisation du néolibéralisme.Based on the example of Toronto, this article seeks to understand why many activists use the language of local democracy in their struggle against neoliberalism. Recent urban reforms have often been legitimated as “necessary” for global competitiveness. Yet, these reforms have been perceived by residents as a direct threat to their quality of life. While this antagonism has long been analysed as the opposition between “use value” and “exchange value”, the return to power of a centre-left regime in Toronto is better characterized by a synthesis between these two poles, which exemplifies the process of normalizing neoliberalism

Light as a chronobiologic countermeasure for long-duration space operations

Long-duration space missions require adaptation to work-rest schedules which are substantially shifted with respect to earth. Astronauts are expected to work in two-shift operations and the environmental synchronizers (zeitgebers) in a spacecraft differ significantly from those on earth. A study on circadian rhythms, sleep, and performance was conducted by exposing four subjects to 6 deg head-down tilt bedrest (to simulate the effects of the weightless condition) and imposing a 12-h shift (6 h delay per day for two days). Bright light was tested in a cross-over design as a countermeasure for achieving faster resynchronization and regaining stable conditions for sleep and circadian rhythmicity. Data collection included objective sleep recording, temperature, heart rate, and excretion of hormones and electrolytes as well as performance and responses to questionnaires. Even without a shift in the sleep-wake cycle, the sleep quantity, circadian amplitudes and 24 h means decreased in many functions under bedrest conditions. During the shift days, sleepiness and fatigue increased, and alertness decreased. However, sleep quantity was regained, and resynchronization was completed within seven days after the shift for almost all functions, irrespective of whether light was administered during day-time or night-time hours. The time of day of light exposure surprisingly appeared not to have a discriminatory effect on the resynchronization speed under shift and bedrest conditions. The results indicate that simulated weightlessness alters circadian rhythms and sleep, and that schedule changes induce additional physiological disruption with decreased subjective alertness and increased fatigue. Because of their operational implications, these phenomena deserve additional investigation

\u3cem\u3emPeriod2\u3csup\u3eBrdm1\u3c/sup\u3e\u3c/em\u3e and Other Single \u3cem\u3ePeriod\u3c/em\u3e Mutant Mice Have Normal Food Anticipatory Activity

Animals anticipate the timing of food availability via the food-entrainable oscillator (FEO). The anatomical location and timekeeping mechanism of the FEO are unknown. Several studies showed the circadian gene, Period 2, is critical for FEO timekeeping. However, other studies concluded that canonical circadian genes are not essential for FEO timekeeping. In this study, we re-examined the effects of the Per2Brdm1 mutation on food entrainment using methods that have revealed robust food anticipatory activity in other mutant lines. We examined food anticipatory activity, which is the output of the FEO, in single Period mutant mice. Single Per1, Per2, and Per3 mutant mice had robust food anticipatory activity during restricted feeding. In addition, we found that two different lines of Per2 mutant mice (ldc and Brdm1) anticipated restricted food availability. To determine if FEO timekeeping persisted in the absence of the food cue, we assessed activity during fasting. Food anticipatory (wheel-running) activity in all Period mutant mice was also robust during food deprivation. Together, our studies demonstrate that the Period genes are not necessary for the expression of food anticipatory activity

Autism spectrum disorder, flea and tick medication, and adjustments for exposure misclassification: the CHARGE (CHildhood Autism Risks from Genetics and Environment) case–control study

BackgroundThe environmental contribution to autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is largely unknown, but household pesticides are receiving increased attention. We examined associations between ASD and maternally-reported use of imidacloprid, a common flea and tick treatment for pets.MethodsBayesian logistic models were used to estimate the association between ASD and imidacloprid and to correct for potential differential exposure misclassification due to recall in a case control study of ASD.ResultsOur analytic dataset included complete information for 262 typically developing controls and 407 children with ASD. Compared with exposure among controls, the odds of prenatal imidacloprid exposure among children with ASD were slightly higher, with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.3 (95% Credible Interval [CrI] 0.78, 2.2). A susceptibility window analysis yielded higher ORs for exposures during pregnancy than for early life exposures, whereas limiting to frequent users of imidacloprid, the OR increased to 2.0 (95% CI 1.0, 3.9).ConclusionsWithin plausible estimates of sensitivity and specificity, the association could result from exposure misclassification alone. The association between imidacloprid exposure and ASD warrants further investigation, and this work highlights the need for validation studies regarding prenatal exposures in ASD

Real-world word learning: exploring children's developing semantic representations of a science term

Assessments of lexical acquisition are often limited to pre-school children on forced choice comprehension measures. This study assessed the understandings 30 school-age children (mean age = 6;7) acquired about the science term, eclipse following a naturalistic exposure to a solar eclipse. The knowledge children acquired about eclipses and a control term, comet was assessed at three points in time (baseline-test, two-week post-test and five-month post-test) using a range of assessment tasks (multiple-choice comprehension, picture-naming, drawing and a model of a solar system task). Children's knowledge was compared to 15 adult controls during the baseline-test and two-week post-test. Children acquired extensive knowledge about eclipses, but not comets; at the two-week post-test and five-month post-test, the majority of children named and drew eclipses and „made? an eclipse using models of the sun, moon and earth. Also, children's eclipse knowledge more closely approximated adult-level understandings at the two-week post-test than at the baseline-test. Implications for the study of lexical acquisition in later development are discussed

Parental Autoimmune Diseases Associated With Autism Spectrum Disorders in Offspring

Autism spectrum disorders are often idiopathic. Studies have suggested associations between immune response and these disorders. We explored associations between parental autoimmune disorders and children’s diagnosis of autism by linking Swedish registries

Multivariate Statistical Analyses Demonstrate Unique Host Immune Responses to Single and Dual Lentiviral Infection

Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are recently identified lentiviruses that cause progressive immune decline and ultimately death in infected cats and humans. It is of great interest to understand how to prevent immune system collapse caused by these lentiviruses. We recently described that disease caused by a virulent FIV strain in cats can be attenuated if animals are first infected with a feline immunodeficiency virus derived from a wild cougar. The detailed temporal tracking of cat immunological parameters in response to two viral infections resulted in high-dimensional datasets containing variables that exhibit strong co-variation. Initial analyses of these complex data using univariate statistical techniques did not account for interactions among immunological response variables and therefore potentially obscured significant effects between infection state and immunological parameters.Here, we apply a suite of multivariate statistical tools, including Principal Component Analysis, MANOVA and Linear Discriminant Analysis, to temporal immunological data resulting from FIV superinfection in domestic cats. We investigated the co-variation among immunological responses, the differences in immune parameters among four groups of five cats each (uninfected, single and dual infected animals), and the "immune profiles" that discriminate among them over the first four weeks following superinfection. Dual infected cats mount an immune response by 24 days post superinfection that is characterized by elevated levels of CD8 and CD25 cells and increased expression of IL4 and IFNgamma, and FAS. This profile discriminates dual infected cats from cats infected with FIV alone, which show high IL-10 and lower numbers of CD8 and CD25 cells.Multivariate statistical analyses demonstrate both the dynamic nature of the immune response to FIV single and dual infection and the development of a unique immunological profile in dual infected cats, which are protected from immune decline

Azimuthal anisotropy of charged jet production in root s(NN)=2.76 TeV Pb-Pb collisions

We present measurements of the azimuthal dependence of charged jet production in central and semi-central root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV Pb-Pb collisions with respect to the second harmonic event plane, quantified as nu(ch)(2) (jet). Jet finding is performed employing the anti-k(T) algorithm with a resolution parameter R = 0.2 using charged tracks from the ALICE tracking system. The contribution of the azimuthal anisotropy of the underlying event is taken into account event-by-event. The remaining (statistical) region-to-region fluctuations are removed on an ensemble basis by unfolding the jet spectra for different event plane orientations independently. Significant non-zero nu(ch)(2) (jet) is observed in semi-central collisions (30-50% centrality) for 20 <p(T)(ch) (jet) <90 GeV/c. The azimuthal dependence of the charged jet production is similar to the dependence observed for jets comprising both charged and neutral fragments, and compatible with measurements of the nu(2) of single charged particles at high p(T). Good agreement between the data and predictions from JEWEL, an event generator simulating parton shower evolution in the presence of a dense QCD medium, is found in semi-central collisions. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Peer reviewe