Regional approaches to international humanitarian law

Violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) are a global concern. The enforcement of IHLhas traditionally focused on the State level. As States have shown an unwillingness or inability to address violations, attention has moved to the international level primarily through universal approaches such as the International Criminal Court. However, experience has demonstrated that universal approaches also have their limitations. This article argues that regional arrangements offer the possibility of strengthening the enforcement of IHL. As regional arrangements occupy a distinct space between particular local conditions and the universalising tendencies of the global system, they are well placed to handle the various concerns and considerations surrounding the enforcement of IHL

Stress and fracture analysis of circular arc blends for repair of cracked metallic components

This paper presents compact functions for peak stresses and stress decay distributions due to circular arc blend repairs, on circular holes in uniaxially loaded plates. Key geometric parameters are varied, focusing on relatively shallow blends, consistent with the in-service repair of fatigue cracking in ageing airframes. The highly accurate stress results are obtained using adaptive p–version finite element analyses. In the 2D cases, both single and double sided repairs are considered, where the blend consists of either a single or multi-arcs. For the 3D analyses, the focus is on blends to repair corner cracks at the hole edge. It is found that in all cases, the peak stress can be significantly reduced by maximising the ratio of blend radius to hole radius, thereby lowering the possibility of recracking. The multi-arc case offers the greatest stress reduction. The stress decay functions presented can be used to obtain stress intensity factors for the fatigue analysis of cracks which may re-initiate at the blends

Controlling fatigue crack paths for crack surface marking and growth investigations

While it is well known that fatigue crack growth in metals that display confined slip, such as high strength aluminium alloys, develop crack paths that are responsive to the loading direction and the local microstructural orientation, it is less well known that such paths are also responsive to the loading history. In these materials, certain loading sequences can produce highly directional slip bands ahead of the crack tip and by adjusting the sequence of loads, distinct fracture surface features or progression marks, even at very small crack depths can result. Investigating the path a crack selects in fatigue testing when particular combinations of constant and variable amplitude load sequences are applied is providing insight into crack growth. Further, it is possible to design load sequences that allow very small amounts of crack growth to be measured, at very small crack sizes, well below the conventional crack growth threshold in the aluminium alloy discussed here. This paper reports on observations of the crack path phenomenon and a novel test loading method for measuring crack growth rates for very small crack depths in aluminium alloy 7050-T7451 (an important aircraft primary structural material). The aim of this work was to firstly generate short- crack constant amplitude growth data and secondly, through the careful manipulation of the applied loading, to achieve a greater understanding of the mechanisms of fatigue crack growth in the material being investigated. A particular focus of this work is the identification of the possible sources of crack growth retardation and closure in these small cracks. Interpreting these results suggests a possible mechanism for why small fatigue crack growth through this material under variable amplitude loading is faster than predicted from models based on constant amplitude data alone

Detection of epithelial cancer cells in peripheral blood by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction.

Circulating cancer cells in the blood play a central role in the metastatic process. Their number can be very small and techniques for their detection need to be both sensitive and specific. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been successfully used to detect small numbers of tumour cells in haematological cancer in which abnormalities in DNA are sufficiently consistent to make this possible. For most solid tumours this not yet feasible. However, we have found that reverse transcriptase (RT)-PRC for tissue-specific gene expression is a useful technique for identifying small numbers of circulating cells in melanoma and neuroblastoma patients. In this report we describe detection of colon carcinoma cells by RT-PCR using CK 20 mRNA as a marker. Unlike other cytokeratin genes examined (CK 8 and CK 19), CK 20 was not transcribed in normal haematopoietic cells. This suggests a role for RT-PCR in the detection of colon carcinoma metastasis in blood and bone marrow, using CK 20 as the target gene. Future analysis of clinical material will determine the clinical significance of this technique

Microtubule dynamics and glutathione metabolism in phagocytizing human polymorphonuclear leukocytes

Glutathione oxidants such as tertiary butyl hydroperoxide were shown previously to prevent microtubule assembly and cause breakdown of preassembled cytoplasmic microtubules in human polymorphonuclear leukocytes. The objectives of the present study were to determine the temporal relationship between the attachment and ingestion of phagocytic particles and the assembly of microtubules, and simultaneously to quantify the levels of reduced glutathione and products of its oxidation as potential physiological regulators of assembly. Polymorphonuclear leukocytes from human peripheral blood were induced to phagocytize opsonized zymosan at 30 degrees C. Microtubule assembly was assessed in the electron microscope by direct counts of microtubules in thin sections through centrioles. Acid extracts were assayed for reduced glutathione (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG), by the sensitive enzymatic procedure of Tietze. Washed protein pellets were assayed for free sulfhydryl groups and for mixed protein disulfides with glutathione (protein-SSG) after borohydride splitting of the disulfide bond. Resting cells have few assembled microtubules. Phagocytosis induces a cycle of rapid assembly followed by disassembly. Assembly is initiated by particle contact and is maximal by 3 min of phagocytosis. Disassembly after 5-9 min of phagocytosis is preceded by a slow rise in GSSG and coincides with a rapid rise in protein-SSG. Protein-SSG also increases under conditions in which butyl hydroperoxide inhibits the assembly of microtubules that normally follows binding of concanavalin A to leukocyte cell surface receptors. No evidence for direct involvement of GSH in the induction of assembly was obtained. The formation of protein-SSG, however, emerges as a possible regulatory mechanism for the inhibition of microtubule assembly and induction of their disassembly

On the shopfloor: exploring the impact of teacher trade unions on school-based industrial relations

Teachers are highly unionised workers and their trade unions exert an important influence on the shaping and implementation of educational policy. Despite this importance there is relatively little analysis of the impact of teacher trade unions in educational management literature. Very little empirical research has sought to establish the impact of teacher unions at school level. In an era of devolved management and quasi-markets this omission is significant. New personnel issues continue to emerge at school level and this may well generate increased trade union activity at the workplace. This article explores the extent to which devolved management is drawing school-based union representation into a more prominent role. It argues that whilst there can be significant differences between individual schools, increased school autonomy is raising the profile of trade union activity in the workplace, and this needs to be better reflected in educational management research

Globalisation, neo-liberalism and vocational learning: the case of English further education colleges

Further education (FE) has traditionally been a rather unspectacular activity. Lacking the visibility of schools or the prestige of universities, for the vast majority of its existence FE has had a relatively low profile on the margins of English education. Over recent years this situation has altered significantly and further education has undergone profound change. This paper argues that a combination of related factors – neo-liberalism, globalisation, and dominant discourses of the knowledge economy – has acted in synergy to transform FE into a highly performative and marketised sector. Against this backdrop, further education has been assigned a particular role based upon certain narrow and instrumental understandings of skill, employment and economic competitiveness. The paper argues that, although it has always been predominantly working class in nature, FE is now, more than ever, positioned firmly at the lower end of the institutional hierarchy in the highly class-stratified terrain of English education

High-latitude E Region Ionosphere-thermosphere Coupling: A Comparative Study Using in Situ and Incoherent Scatter Radar Observations

We present in situ and ground-based measurements of the ratio k of ion cyclotronangular frequency to ion-neutral momentum transfer collision frequency to investigateionosphere-thermosphere (IT) coupling in the auroral E region. In situ observations were obtained by NASA sounding rocket 36.234, which was launched into the nightsideE region ionosphere at 1229 UT on 19 January 2007 from Poker Flat, AK. The payload carried instrumentation to determine ion drift angle and electric field vectors. Neutral winds were measured by triangulating a chemical tracer released from rocket 41.064 launched two minutes later. k is calculated from the rotation of the ion drift angle relative to the E-cross-B drift direction in a frame co-rotating with the payload. Between the altitudes of 118 km and 130 km k increases exponentially with a scale height of 9.3 +/- 0.7 km, deviating from an exponential above 130 km. k = 1 at an altitude z(sub0) of 119.9 +/- 0.5 km. The ratio was also estimated from Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar (PFISR) measurements using the rotation of ion velocity with altitude. Exponential fits to the PFISR measurements made during the flight of 41.064 yield z(sub0) 115.9 +/- 1.2 km and a scale height of 9.1 +/- 1.0 km. Differences between in situ and ground-based measurements show that the E region atmospheric densities were structured vertically and/or horizontally on scales of 1 km to 10 km. There were no signs of ionospheric structure in ion density or ion temperature below scales of 1 km. The observations demonstrate the accuracy with which the in situ and PFISR data may be used as probes of IT coupling