The World After Teitiota: What the HRC Decision Means for the Future of Climate Migration

The effects of global climate change is forecasted to cause millions of people to leave their homes and home countries over the next century. Until this point, the current legal framework for determining the fate and protection of people feeling their homes due to emergency was rooted in the United Nations (“UN”) Refugee Convention of 1951 and has been read to exclude those whose primary reason for migration is the effects or threat of climate change. However, the UN Human Rights Committee’s (HRC) January 2020 decision regarding Ioane Teitiota’s deportation to his home nation of the Republic of Kiribati suggests the current framework is amenable to expansion to address this impending global crisis. The Teitiota decision indicates that there are two possible legal pathways through which climate migrants may find legal standing and protection: (1) an expanded reading of the definition of “refugee” under the 1951 Convention, and (2) an application of article 6 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights protections to climate migrants. This paper will examine the suggestions offered by the HRC in Teitiota and their potential requirements, revealing the remaining legal questions and outlining a series of scenarios that will need to be addressed for either pathway to become a viable strategy for migrants. Teitiota offered two pathways to establishing refugee status under the HRC definition. Neither pathway is well-defined, though both provide a useful framework for future claims. First, the HRC suggested five benchmarks by which a person displaced due to climate change or its effects might qualify as a “refugee” under the 1951 Convention. Teitiota offers exclusions from which to build. Second, Teitiota also detailed three requirements of article 6 to be met in order for an author (a claimant in UN proceedings) must meet to successfully make a “right to life” violation claim. The Tribunal did not, however, define quantitative standards to evaluate governmental violations of a resident’s “right to life” stemming from climate change. Accordingly, although Teitiota offers a useful starting point, the Tribunal will likely need to decide a variety of “stepping-stone” cases to clarify the framework set forth in Teitiota

Student Perspectives of an Off-Reservation Residential Program

Navajo students who attend residential schools that are located off the reservation and hours away from their homes, communities, and tribes may experience issues with development of a meaningful cultural identity. The purpose of this study was to better understand and identify key themes related to how Navajo students\u27 cultural identity may be affected while living in an off-reservation residential hall. Phinney\u27s ethnic identity development theory was used to explain the psychosocial process of developing industry and identity in adolescents. The primary research question addressed how former students\u27 experiences of living in an off-reservation residence hall affected their development of cultural identity. A qualitative case study design was used. A purposeful sample of 12 Navajo former students who lived in a Bureau of Indian Education off-reservation residential hall between 2010-2014 was interviewed. The interviews were coded, and 7 themes related to loss of native language ability, yearning for native language and culture, tutoring, supportive teachers, responsibility and independence, generational legacy, and culture were identified. Based on the findings, a professional development plan was developed to train board members, administrators, and staff at the study site about how to promote students\u27 development of positive cultural identity while living in a residential hall. With this knowledge, residential hall leaders and staff may be better able to ensure that Navajo students in their charge achieve successful educational outcomes and retain their tribal culture, practices, and language, to ensure that Navajo students can achieve successful educational outcomes and a positive cultural identity

Suspended Nanoscale Field Emitter Devices for High-Temperature Operation

In this work, we demonstrate suspended two- and four-terminal field emission devices for high-temperature operation. The planar structures were fabricated with tungsten on a 200-nm silicon nitride membrane. The insulator in the vicinity of the terminals was removed to minimize undesirable Frenkel–Poole emission and increase the resistance of leakage current pathways. The effects of temperatures up to 450 °C on Fowler–Nordheim emission characteristics and parasitic leakage resistance were studied. Turn-on voltages with magnitudes under 15 V that further decreased as a function of increasing temperature for the two-terminal device were reported. Gating at temperatures of 150 °C and 300 °C was shown for the four-terminal device, and corresponding transconductance and cutoff frequency values were computed

Suspended Nanoscale Field Emitter Devices for High-Temperature Operation

In this work, we demonstrate suspended two- and four-terminal field emission devices for high-temperature operation. The planar structures were fabricated with tungsten on a 200-nm silicon nitride membrane. The insulator in the vicinity of the terminals was removed to minimize undesirable Frenkel–Poole emission and increase the resistance of leakage current pathways. The effects of temperatures up to 450 °C on Fowler–Nordheim emission characteristics and parasitic leakage resistance were studied. Turn-on voltages with magnitudes under 15 V that further decreased as a function of increasing temperature for the two-terminal device were reported. Gating at temperatures of 150 °C and 300 °C was shown for the four-terminal device, and corresponding transconductance and cutoff frequency values were computed

Synthesis, Growth and Spectroscopic Studies of L-Alanine Hydrogen Chloride(Lahc) Crystals

L-alanine Hydrogen Chloride (LAHC) salt was synthesized by taking L-alanine and hydrochloric acid in 1:1 molar ratio and the solubility of the synthesized salt in deionized water was determined at different temperatures. Single crystals of  L-alanine  Hydrogen Chloride (LAHC) were grown by solution method with slow evaporation technique. The grown crystals were characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, FTIR studies and UV-visible transmittance studies and the NLO activity of the grown crystal has been checked by Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) test.ÂÂ

Principals’ Instructional Supervision Practices: Key to Kiswahili Academic Performance

This study evaluated the principals’ instructional supervision practices as key to Kiswahili academic performance in public day secondary schools in Nairobi County, Kenya. Secondary school principals’ instructional practices are paramount in enhancing academic performance among secondary school students. Quality and relevant instruction ensures excellent academic Kiswahili achievement of students. Through instructional supervision offered by the principals, teachers are stimulated, supported and motivated to instruct the students well. For instructional supervision to fully benefit schools, both the principals and the teachers need to play a meaningful and effective role. The improvement of school through instructional supervision has been a concern for education stakeholders in Kenya during colonial and after colonial periods. As a result, Education Commissions which were formed to evaluate the education system in Kenya addressed the status of Kiswahili. The education Commissions included Phelps Commission of 1924 which recommended the use of vernacular and Kiswahili for teaching practical subjects, and Presidential Working Party for the Establishment of Second University of 1981 which called for teaching of Kiswahili as a compulsory and examinable subject in both primary and secondary schools. The current study targeted 26 public day secondary schools, 26 principals, 26 heads of department of Kiswahili and 2664 students. Both probability and nonprobability sampling techniques were used in the study. The objectives of the study included: What instructional materials are used by Kiswahili teachers to ascertain performance in Kiswahili; what measures are put in place by secondary school principal to realize performance in Kiswahili; what are the strategies directed towards enhancing Kiswahili teachers’ skills in public day secondary schools in Nairobi County. Descriptive research design was adopted for the study. Data analysis techniques included stratified random sampling, proportional allocation, simple random sampling design and purposive sampling designs. Instruments for data collection included two sets of questionnaires and interview guide. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to calculate frequencies and percentages. The key findings of the study were that lack of the instructional materials may have contributed to poor performance in Kiswahili; school principals executed their duties properly as concerns Kiswahili teachers’ lesson attendance and that lack of concern of principals in what students learn in school may have led to poor performance in Kiswahili

Across the Great Divide: Findings and Possibilities for Action from the 2016 Summit Meeting of Academic Libraries and University Presses with Administrative Relationships (P2L)

The library-press relationship explored in P2L allows for transformative approaches in support and dissemination of scholarship. Effective exploitation of these partnerships is in the early stages and there is an opportunity to influence the outcomes to ensure they are as broadly applicable and scalable as possible. As Cliff Lynch (CNI) noted in his summary of the day’s conversation, we must do more exploration of both intra-institutional (library and press) and cross-institutional collaborations. He provided several compelling suggestions for partnerships, including new ways to promote and leverage library special collections as well as ideas for increasing discoverability of press content. (See Appendix 5 for the full text of his remarks.) Addressing the challenges around implementing the ideas and recommendations resulting from P2L and moving toward the library and press futures that participants and speakers envision requires broader and deeper investigation. Building on the success of P2L, a subsequent summit (P2L2) will continue the collaborative conversation, tackle the issues raised as well as others facing library-press partnerships, and delve deeply into the recommendations from this meeting as well as those proposed in other contexts. Open to a wider audience, P2L2 will be structured to allow more time for moderated discussion. Sessions focused on collaboration, both intra- and inter-institutional, would be paramount. Examples could include creating and leveraging shared skills, sharing support for data within the university and in the press author pool, and partnering on scalable scholarly communication and library publishing programs. P2L2 would focus on strategies to reinforce the library and press joint mission and advance the shared goal of promulgating scholarship

Across the Great Divide: Findings and Possibilities for Action from the 2016 Summit Meeting of Academic Libraries and University Presses with Administrative Relationships (P2L)

The library-press relationship explored in P2L allows for transformative approaches in support and dissemination of scholarship. Effective exploitation of these partnerships is in the early stages and there is an opportunity to influence the outcomes to ensure they are as broadly applicable and scalable as possible. As Cliff Lynch (CNI) noted in his summary of the day’s conversation, we must do more exploration of both intra-institutional (library and press) and cross-institutional collaborations. He provided several compelling suggestions for partnerships, including new ways to promote and leverage library special collections as well as ideas for increasing discoverability of press content. (See Appendix 5 for the full text of his remarks.) Addressing the challenges around implementing the ideas and recommendations resulting from P2L and moving toward the library and press futures that participants and speakers envision requires broader and deeper investigation. Building on the success of P2L, a subsequent summit (P2L2) will continue the collaborative conversation, tackle the issues raised as well as others facing library-press partnerships, and delve deeply into the recommendations from this meeting as well as those proposed in other contexts. Open to a wider audience, P2L2 will be structured to allow more time for moderated discussion. Sessions focused on collaboration, both intra- and inter-institutional, would be paramount. Examples could include creating and leveraging shared skills, sharing support for data within the university and in the press author pool, and partnering on scalable scholarly communication and library publishing programs. P2L2 would focus on strategies to reinforce the library and press joint mission and advance the shared goal of promulgating scholarship

Preprocessing Among the Infalling Galaxy Population of EDisCS Clusters

We present results from a low-resolution spectroscopic survey for 21 galaxy clusters at $0.4 < z < 0.8$ selected from the ESO Distant Cluster Survey. We measured spectra using the low-dispersion prism in IMACS on the Magellan Baade telescope and calculate redshifts with an accuracy of $\sigma_z = 0.007$. We find 1763 galaxies that are brighter than $R = 22.9$ in the large-scale cluster environs. We identify the galaxies expected to be accreted by the clusters as they evolve to $z = 0$ using spherical infall models and find that $\sim30\%$ to $\sim70\%$ of the $z = 0$ cluster population lies outside the virial radius at $z \sim 0.6$. For analogous clusters at $z = 0$, we calculate that the ratio of galaxies that have fallen into the clusters since $z \sim 0.6$ to those that were already in the core at that redshift is typically between $\sim0.3$ and $1.5$. This wide range of ratios is due to intrinsic scatter and is not a function of velocity dispersion, so a variety of infall histories is to be expected for clusters with current velocity dispersions of $300 \lesssim\sigma\lesssim 1200$ km s$^{-1}$. Within the infall regions of $z \sim 0.6$ clusters, we find a larger red fraction of galaxies than in the field and greater clustering among red galaxies than blue. We interpret these findings as evidence of "preprocessing", where galaxies in denser local environments have their star formation rates affected prior to their aggregation into massive clusters, although the possibility of backsplash galaxies complicates the interpretation.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

Dietary methionine source alters the lipidome in the small intestinal epithelium of pigs

Methionine (Met) as an essential amino acid has key importance in a variety of metabolic pathways. This study investigated the influence of three dietary Met supplements (0.21% L-Met, 0.21% DL-Met and 0.31% DL-2-hydroxy-4-(methylthio)butanoic acid (DL-HMTBA)) on the metabolome and inflammatory status in the small intestine of pigs. Epithelia from duodenum, proximal jejunum, middle jejunum and ileum were subjected to metabolomics analysis and qRT-PCR of caspase 1, NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3), interleukins IL1β, IL8, IL18, and transforming growth factor TGFβ. Principal component analysis of the intraepithelial metabolome revealed strong clustering of samples by intestinal segment but not by dietary treatment. However, pathway enrichment analysis revealed that after L-Met supplementation polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and tocopherol metabolites were lower across small intestinal segments, whereas monohydroxy fatty acids were increased in distal small intestine. Pigs supplemented with DL-HMTBA showed a pronounced shift of secondary bile acids (BA) and sphingosine metabolites from middle jejunum to ileum. In the amino acid super pathway, only histidine metabolism tended to be altered in DL-Met-supplemented pigs. Diet did not affect the expression of inflammation-related genes. These findings suggest that dietary supplementation of young pigs with different Met sources selectively alters lipid metabolism without consequences for inflammatory status