Waste in Space: Remediating Space Debris Through the Doctrine of Abandonment and the Law of Capture

With the growing commercialization of outer space, the threat of damage to satellites from detritus hurtling through space could prevent the continued installation of satellites. The cure for this issue cannot simply come from mitigation efforts; governments and organizations involved in spacefaring activities must participate in active remediation measures. International space agency guidelines and U.S. statutes and regulations are productive preventative measures against further accumulation of debris. In addition, a number of organizations are working on new technology to actively reduce orbital debris. These active processes for culling debris from orbit are essential for the reduction of debris buildup. One possible barrier to the organizations looking to clean up outer space is property ownership rights. Enforcement of ownership rights rests with domestic law, which would accordingly need to be applied extraterritorially to satellites in space to uphold ownership interests. Though the U.S. Supreme Court has set forth a presumption against extraterritorial application of domestic laws, U.S. domestic laws apply in the narrow instance of suits arising when actions in international areas do not invoke international law or create a conflict of laws problem. With this the case, remediators should look to the doctrine of abandonment as a way to easily facilitate the capture of debris and defunct satellites. Under this doctrine, an owner has abandoned the property if he unilaterally relinquished all title, possession, or claim to or of [the property]. Applying the abandonment doctrine to post-mission satellites can help determine the legal ramifications of trying to clean up post-mission satellites and how those actions might impact ownership rights. Owners generally take one of two actions as regards post-mission satellites: (1) leaving the satellite in its mission orbit or (2) moving the satellite from its mission orbit to its disposal orbit. When owners fail to move post-mission satellites into a disposal orbit, the satellites qualify as abandoned property and can therefore be captured. A more nuanced, case-by-case analysis must apply when owners take the prescribed steps to move post-mission satellites to a disposal orbit. While post-mission satellites can be analyzed through the doctrine of abandonment, orbital debris does not easily fit into the analysis and cannot be reduced through the avenue of abandonment and capture

”Kaikki perhemuodot toimii, jos siellon vaan rakkautta tarpeeksi.”:luokanopettajien kokemuksia erolapsista koulussa

Tiivistelmä. Tässä pro gradu -tutkielmassa käsitellään luokanopettajien kokemuksia erolapsista koulussa ja heidän erilaisista perhemuodoista. Tutkielman viitekehyksessä kuvataan perhemuotojen moninaistumista, erilaisia perhemuotoja, joita erosta seuraa sekä eron vaikutuksia lapseen. Lisäksi teoriaosuudessa avataan eron mahdollisia vaikutuksia koulun suhteen. Tutkielman empiirisessä osiossa selvitetään opettajien kokemuksia erolapsista koulussa. Tässä osiossa avaamme myös kokemuksen käsitettä, koska se on olennainen osa tutkimuskysymyksiä. Tutkielman empiirinen osuus on toteutettu kvalitatiivisella otteella ja aineistonkeruumenetelmänä on käytetty puolistrukturoitua teemahaastattelua. Haastattelulla haimme vastauksia siihen, millaisia kokemuksia luokanopettajilla on erilaisista perhemuodoista ja miten he ovat kokeneet erolapset omassa luokassaan. Lisäksi selvitimme sitä, miten opettajat suhtautuvat erolapsiin ja -perheisiin sekä heidän omiin mahdollisiin keinoihin tukea erolasta. Aineisto koostuu kuuden (6) luokanopettajan haastattelusta, jotka toteutettiin helmikuussa 2015. Aineiston analyysimenetelmänä on käytetty sisällönanalyysiä. Analyysivaiheessa aineistosta etsimme oleellisimmat ilmaukset ja nämä jaoimme moniin ala-, ylä- ja pääluokkiin, joiden pohjalta analyysi oli helpompi tehdä. Tutkielman keskeinen tulos on, että ero näkyy koulussa usein jollakin tavalla, joko positiivisesti tai negatiivisesti. Tilanteeseen vaikuttaa paljon lapsen persoonallisuus, temperamentti ja se, millä tavalla ero on hoidettu vanhempien toimesta. Vastauksista ilmenee myös se, ettei erityiselle erolasten tuelle ole yleisesti tarvetta, mutta koulussa opettajan on hyvä aistia keskustelun tarve ja olla lapselle turvallinen aikuinen. Yhteistyö ja toiminta vanhempien kanssa pysyy usein eron jälkeen samanlaisena, mutta senkin suhteen voi tapahtua muutoksia huonompaan tai parempaan suuntaan. Opettajien näkemys yleisesti aiheeseen suhtautumisesta oli se, ettei asia herätä kiinnostusta suuntaan tai toiseen, mutta kuitenkin haastateltavien oma perhetausta vaikutti heidän oman suhtautumisensa taustalla. Tutkielman kohdejoukko on pieni, joten tuloksia ei voi sellaisenaan yleistää. Pieni kohdejoukko vaikuttaa myös työn luotettavuuteen, mutta tästä huolimatta saimme kuitenkin monipuolisia ja osittain yhteneväisiä vastauksia. Tulokset antavat aihetta pohtia vanhempien eron merkitystä sekä lapsen että opettajan kannalta, erityisesti myös siksi, että asia on nykyisin hyvin yleinen. Tämän perusteella olemme pohtineet jatkotutkimusaiheita, jotka liittyvät edelleen eron vaikutuksiin, mutta tutkimuskohteena toimisi erolapset ja -vanhemmat

The dual rod system of amphibians supports colour discrimination at the absolute visual threshold

The presence of two spectrally different kinds of rod photoreceptors in amphibians has been hypothesized to enable purely rod-based colour vision at very low light levels. The hypothesis has never been properly tested, so we performed three behavioural experiments at different light intensities with toads (Bufo) and frogs (Rana) to determine the thresholds for colour discrimination. The thresholds of toads were different in mate choice and prey-catching tasks, suggesting that the differential sensitivities of different spectral cone types as well as task-specific factors set limits for the use of colour in these behavioural contexts. In neither task was there any indication of rod-based colour discrimination. By contrast, frogs performing phototactic jumping were able to distinguish blue from green light down to the absolute visual threshold, where vision relies only on rod signals. The remarkable sensitivity of this mechanism comparing signals from the two spectrally different rod types approaches theoretical limits set by photon fluctuations and intrinsic noise. Together, the results indicate that different pathways are involved in processing colour cues depending on the ecological relevance of this information for each task. This article is part of the themed issue 'Vision in dim light'.Peer reviewe

Reliability of prehospital patient classification in helicopter emergency medical service missions

Background Several scores and codes are used in prehospital clinical quality registries but little is known of their reliability. The aim of this study is to evaluate the inter-rater reliability of the American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status (ASA-PS) classification system, HEMS benefit score (HBS), International Classification of Primary Care, second edition (ICPC-2) and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status in a helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) clinical quality registry (CQR). Methods All physicians and paramedics working in HEMS in Finland and responsible for patient registration were asked to participate in this study. The participants entered data of six written fictional missions in the national CQR. The inter-rater reliability of the ASA-PS, HBS, ICPC-2 and ECOG were evaluated using an overall agreement and free-marginal multi-rater kappa (Kappa(free)). Results All 59 Finnish HEMS physicians and paramedics were invited to participate in this study, of which 43 responded and 16 did not answer. One participant was excluded due to unfinished data entering. ASA-PS had an overall agreement of 40.2% and Kappa(free) of 0.28 in this study. HBS had an overall agreement of 44.7% and Kappa(free) of 0.39. ICPC-2 coding had an overall agreement of 51.5% and Kappa(free) of 0.47. ECOG had an overall agreement of 49.6% and Kappa(free) of 0.40. Conclusion This study suggests a marked inter-rater unreliability in prehospital patient scoring and coding even in a relatively uniform group of practitioners working in a highly focused environment. This indicates that the scores and codes should be specifically designed or adapted for prehospital use, and the users should be provided with clear and thorough instructions on how to use them.Peer reviewe

Reentrant stability of superconducting films and the vanishing of dendritic flux instability

We propose a mechanism responsible for the abrupt vanishing of the dendritic flux instability found in many superconducting films when an increasing magnetic field is applied. The onset of flux avalanches and the subsequent reentrance of stability in NbN films were investigated using magneto-optical imaging, and the threshold fields were measured as functions of critical current density jc. The results are explained with excellent quantitative agreement by a thermomagnetic model published recently [D. V. Denisov et al., Phys. Rev. B 73, 014512 (2006)], showing that the reentrant stability is a direct consequence of a monotonously decreasing jc versus fiel

'Return to Work' Coordinator Model and Work Participation of Employees: A Natural Intervention Study in Finland

Purpose Employers increasingly use 'return to work' (RTW) coordinators to support work ability and extend working careers, particularly among employees with reduced work ability. We examined whether applying this model was associated with changes in employee sickness absence and disability retirements. Methods We used data from the Finnish Public Sector study from 2009 until 2015. Employees where the model was introduced in 2012 constituted the cases (n = 4120, one municipality) and employees where the model was not in use during the follow-up, represented the controls (n = 5600, two municipalities). We analysed risk of disability retirement in 2013-2015 and risk of sickness absence after (2013-2015) vs. before (2009-2011) intervention by case-control status. Results The incidence of disability retirement after the intervention was lower in cases compared to controls both in the total population (hazard ratio HR = 0.49, 95% CI 0.30-0.79) and in the subgroup of participants with reduced work ability (HR = 0.34, 95% CI 0.12-0.99). The risk of sickness absence increased from pre-intervention to post-intervention period both among cases and controls although the relative increase was greater among cases (RRpost- vs. pre-intervention = 1.26, 95% CI 1.14-1.40) than controls (RRpost- vs. pre-intervention = 1.03, 95% CI 0.97-1.08). In the group of employees with reduced work ability, no difference in sickness absence trends between cases and controls was observed. Conclusions These findings suggest that RTW-coordinator model may increase employee sickness absence, but decrease the risk of disability retirement, i.e., permanent exclusion from the labour market

Subsequent malignant neoplasms after primary hematological malignancy in adult patients

Patients with primary hematological malignancy (HM) are at an elevated risk of subsequent malignant neoplasms (SMNs), which is a common concern after treatment of primary cancer. We identified 45,533 patients aged ≥20 years and diagnosed with primary HM in Finland from 1992 to 2019 from the Finnish Cancer Registry and estimated standardized incidence ratios (SIR) and excess absolute risks per 1000 person-years (EAR) for SMNs. A total of 6076 SMNs were found (4604 solid and 1472 hematological SMNs). The SIRs were higher for hematological SMNs (SIR 4.9, 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.7–5.2) compared to solid SMNs (SIR 1.5, 95% CI 1.4–1.5). The SIRs for hematological SMNs were highest in the young HM patients aged 20–39 years (SIR 9.2, 95% CI 6.8–12.2 in males and SIR 10.5, 95% CI 7.2–14.7 in females) and decreased by age of first primary HM. However, EARs for hematological SMNs were highest in the older patients, aged 60–79 years at their first primary HM (EAR 5.7/1000 and 4.7/1000 in male and female patients, respectively). In conclusion, the incidence of both hematological and solid SMNs were increased in hematological cancer patients. The relative risk (SIR) was highest among younger HM patients with hematological SMNs. The absolute second cancer burden reflected by high EAR arises from solid malignancies in older patients. Our results accentuate the need for vigilance in the surveillance of HM patients.Peer reviewe

The reliability and accuracy of operational system data in a nationwide helicopter emergency medical services mission database

Aim The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and accuracy of documentation in FinnHEMS database, which is a nationwide helicopter emergency service (HEMS) clinical quality registry. Methods This is a nationwide study based on written fictional clinical scenarios. Study subjects were HEMS physicians and paramedics, who filled in the clinical quality registry based on the clinical scenarios. The inter-rater -reliability of the collected data was analyzed with percent agreement and free-marginal multi-rater kappa. Results Dispatch coding had a percent agreement of 91% and free-marginal multi-rater kappa value of 0.83. Coding for transportation or mission cancellation resulted in an agreement of 84% and free-marginal kappa value of 0.68. An agreement of 82% and a kappa value of 0.73 for dispatcher coding was found. Mission end, arrival at hospital and HEMS unit dispatch -times had agreements from 80 to 85% and kappa values from 0.61 to 0.73. The emergency call to dispatch centre time had an agreement of 71% and kappa value of 0.56. The documentation of pain had an agreement of 73% on both the first and second measurements. All other vital parameters had less than 70% agreement and 0.40 kappa value in the first measurement. The documentation of secondary vital parameter measurements resulted in agreements from 72 to 91% and kappa values from 0.43 to 0.64. Conclusion Data from HEMS operations can be gathered reliably in a national clinical quality registry. This study revealed some inaccuracies in data registration and data quality, which are important to detect to improve the overall reliability and validity of the HEMS clinical quality register