Ending Impunity: How International Criminal Law Can Put Tyrants on Trial

In this keynote address to the Symposium on Milosevic & Hussein on Trial, the author argues that the two trials demonstrate that the historical immunity problem of tyrants has been solved, & have ushered in a period when international justice will have its own momentum. Historical analysis of the denial of impunity to tyrants relates the evolution of sovereign immunity in the Treaty of Westphalia, & the trials of Charles I, Louis XVI, & Napoleon. Head of state immunity was further removed in the Nuremberg Tribunals, & international accountability for international crimes was established with the trial of Prime Minister Kambanda & President Milosevic\u27s indictment. The scope of international penal jurisdiction is discussed in relation to the ICJ interpretation of E.R.C.v. Belgium, & the Pinochet Precedent. Discussion of Article 6(2) of the Special Court for Sierra Leone Statute defines the current position of rule in international criminal law to conclude with an analysis of the current issues in the Iraqi Special Tribunal regarding the application of international law. J. Harwel

Introduction

Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) é uma técnica de MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) que permite a quantificação de perfusão de forma não-invasiva, usando a água do sangue arterial marcada magneticamente como um traçador endógeno. Desde o seu desenvolvimento em 1992 por Williams et al. tem vindo a ser aperfeiçoada, sendo atualmente uma técnica muito promissora. No entanto, um dos seus problemas quando comparada com outras modalidades de imagem é o baixo rácio sinal-ruído aquando medições em matéria branca, maioritariamente devido à baixa perfusão intrínseca do tecido e também ao seu maior tempo de trânsito, quando comparado com a matéria cinzenta. Através da combinação de ASL pulsado com localização espectroscópica single-voxel – numa sequência denominada FAIRPRESS – já foram previamente obtidas medições de perfusão altamente sensíveis. O primeiro passo deste projeto foi otimizar esta sequência para quantificação de perfusão na matéria branca de voluntários saudáveis. A medição da ativação em matéria branca usando BOLD (Blood Oxygen Level Dependent) fMRI (MRI funcional) é bastante difícil e algo controversa, mas ainda assim o número de estudos que reportam ativação neste tecido aumentou recentemente, maioritariamente no corpo caloso e usando tarefas interhemisféricas. A nova abordagem proposta neste projeto foi utilizar fMRI de perfusão, que já demonstrou algumas vantagens relativamente a BOLD em estudos funcionais, mas focando-se na matéria branca. O sinal BOLD foi simultaneamente adquirido durante estas experiências. A reconstrução e os estímulos usados foram melhorados ao longo do projeto, e a força do campo magnético utilizado foi também aumentado dos 3T usados na prática clínica para o campo ultra-elevado de 9.4T, utilizado apenas em investigação. Os resultados demonstraram bons valores quantitativos de perfusão usando a sequência otimizada no cérebro em repouso, tanto na matéria branca como cinzenta. As experiências de ativação mostraram-se promissoras na medição de alterações na perfusão e em BOLD relacionadas com a ativação na matéria cinzenta. Contudo, não foi possível observar ativação significativa na matéria branca, o que poderá indicar que não existem diferenças entre os estados de repouso e ativação neste tecido, e que a ativação neuronal é puramente restrita à matéria cinzenta. Por outro lado, alguns dados mostraram uma tendência para terem maiores valores de perfusão aquando a ativação, o que poderá indicar que melhorando o posicionamento do voxel x na região ativa do corpo caloso, poderiam ser feitas medições de ativação significativas. No futuro, pretende-se combinar esta técnica com tractografia DTI (Diffusion Tensor Imaging), para auxiliar ao posicionamento do voxel nas áreas ativas do corpo caloso, para medições mais precisas de perfusão em matéria branca durante a ativação

Vitis riparia Michx.

https://thekeep.eiu.edu/herbarium_specimens_byname/19439/thumbnail.jp

Vegetation and Flora of the Sand Deposits of the Mississippi River Valley in Northwestern Illinois

This study was undertaken to determine vascular plant species composition, vegetation structure, and floristic quality of the major plant communities in the windblown sand deposits of northwestern Illinois during the growing seasons of 2002 through 2005. The major plant communities of the Ayers Sand Prairie Nature Preserve in Carroll County, Big River State Forest in Henderson County, Lost Mound Unit of the Upper Mississippi River Wildlife and Fish Refuge in Carroll and Jo Daviess counties, and the Thomson-Fulton Sand Prairie Nature Preserve located in Whiteside County were examined and the importance values determined for the plant species present. Located on broad terraces of the Mississippi River, these nature preserves and natural areas are remnants of a larger grassland/savanna/forest complex that contained extensive marsh; wet, mesic, and dry sand prairie; sand savanna; and sand forest communities. Most of the sand deposits are now cultivated and the original vegetation is found only in protected remnants, some of which are relatively large. The mature dry sand prairies were dominated by Schizachyrium scoparium; other important species were Opuntia macrorhiza, Dichanthelium villosissimum, Ambrosia psilostachya, and Tephrosia virginiana. Other assemblages of prairie and exotic species were encountered in successional sand prairie communities. Generally, the mature prairie communities in these preserves and natural areas had 35 or more species present in the study plots. Savanna and closed canopy forest communities were also examined. The dry sand savannas were dominated by Quercus velutina and Q. marilandica, dry sand forests were dominated by Q. velutina, and dry-mesic sand forests were dominated by Q. alba and Q. velutina.Illinois Department of Natural Resources; Illinois Nature Preserves Commissionpublished or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe

SPECIES COMPOSITION, FOOD HABITS, AND THE ECONOMIC AND ECOLOGIC IMPACT OF WINTER BLACKBIRD FLOCKS

Crop depredation by blackbirds (Icteridae) and Starlings (sturnus vulgaris) in North America has long prompted experimentation with control techniques. These efforts have been centered in the northeast and northcentral United States where concentrated cultivation of vulnerable crops coincides with the location where flocks of blackbirds congregate in the fall prior to their migration south (Stone, et al., 1972; Wiens and Dyer, 1975). In these areas the high cost and logistic impracticality of implementing widespread controls has suggested the need for modifying agricultural practices instead (Wiens and Dyer, 1975). More recently, attention has been focused farther south, particularly in Kentucky and Tennessee where winter roosts of mixed flocks of blackbirds and Starlings commonly number over several million birds. These highly localized concentrations have prompted concern for both agricultural damage and danger to human health (Department of Army, 1975). A major difference between the problem in the South and that farther north is that in the South the birds present themselves as much more accessible targets for control measures. By virtue of their tremendous concentrations they make the potential for large scale extermination very real. It is quite conceivable that a significant proportion of the entire North American populations of these birds could be eliminated if extermination efforts were maintained for several years at the major winter roosts. Before such extermination is allowed to proceed, a number of questions must be answered. These can be divided into two areas. The first area deals with whether or not the control measures are actually justified--how much agricultural damage is done by the birds and how real is their threat to human health? The second area of questioning concerns the environmental impact of both the control measures themselves as well as the effect of suddenly removing such large numbers of birds from the ecosystem. This paper presents the results of a preliminary study aimed not at answering these questions so much as providing some insight into the factors which must be considered if accurate answers are to be obtained

SPECIES COMPOSITION, FOOD HABITS, AND THE ECONOMIC AND ECOLOGIC IMPACT OF WINTER BLACKBIRD FLOCKS

Crop depredation by blackbirds (Icteridae) and Starlings (sturnus vulgaris) in North America has long prompted experimentation with control techniques. These efforts have been centered in the northeast and northcentral United States where concentrated cultivation of vulnerable crops coincides with the location where flocks of blackbirds congregate in the fall prior to their migration south (Stone, et al., 1972; Wiens and Dyer, 1975). In these areas the high cost and logistic impracticality of implementing widespread controls has suggested the need for modifying agricultural practices instead (Wiens and Dyer, 1975). More recently, attention has been focused farther south, particularly in Kentucky and Tennessee where winter roosts of mixed flocks of blackbirds and Starlings commonly number over several million birds. These highly localized concentrations have prompted concern for both agricultural damage and danger to human health (Department of Army, 1975). A major difference between the problem in the South and that farther north is that in the South the birds present themselves as much more accessible targets for control measures. By virtue of their tremendous concentrations they make the potential for large scale extermination very real. It is quite conceivable that a significant proportion of the entire North American populations of these birds could be eliminated if extermination efforts were maintained for several years at the major winter roosts. Before such extermination is allowed to proceed, a number of questions must be answered. These can be divided into two areas. The first area deals with whether or not the control measures are actually justified--how much agricultural damage is done by the birds and how real is their threat to human health? The second area of questioning concerns the environmental impact of both the control measures themselves as well as the effect of suddenly removing such large numbers of birds from the ecosystem. This paper presents the results of a preliminary study aimed not at answering these questions so much as providing some insight into the factors which must be considered if accurate answers are to be obtained

The life history and ecology of the Pink-tailed Worm-lizard Aprasia parapulchella Kluge a review

This review synthesises research on the Pink-tailed Worm-lizard Aprasia parapukhella - a threatened species with life-history traits and habitat and dietary preferences that make it particularly vulnerable to decline. Further information on the ecology of A. parapukhella is required in order to develop effective approaches to conservation and management, particularly given the conservation status of the species. Aprasia parapukhella is a dietary specialist living in the burrows of small ants, the eggs and larvae of which it preys upon. It is late maturing (adult size probably attained in the third or fourth year of life), has a small clutch, is thought to be longlived and has specific habitat preferences. It has a strong association with landscapes that are characterised by outcroppings of lightly-embedded surface rocks.The lizard is associated with a particular suite of ant species and ground cover tending towards open native vegetation (grasses and shrubs) at most sites, but with regional differences. Although the highest densities have been recorded in areas without tree cover, the species has also been found in open-forest and woodland.The relative density of populations and the snout-vent length and weight of specimens reveal regional differences, suggesting that further analysis of the genetic status of the population across its range is warranted. There is still much to learn about the ecology of the species, in particular with respect to movement, breeding, dispersal and the relationship between lizards and ants. Further survey for new populations remains a key priority

Cool temperate rainforest in the Pilot Wilderness area, Kosciuszko National Park, New South Wales: Distribution, composition and impact of the 2003 fires

Although the distribution and composition of cool temperate rainforest in eastern Australia may be regarded as well documented, the recent discovery of cool temperate rainforest stands dominated by Atherosperma moschatum in the Pilot Wilderness area of Kosciuszko National Park shows that our knowledge is still incomplete. The additional discovery of 10 plant species previously unrecorded for the park including large specimens of Elaeocarpus holopetalus highlights the fact that although the flora and vegetation of the alpine and subalpine tracts of Kosciuszko National Park are relatively well studied, the remainder of the park is by comparison understudied and under sampled. Although not actively protected or managed, these cool temperate rainforest stands appear to have been little affected by the 2003 fires in the Australian Alps, with only 2 stands out of 25 showing any fire incursion. However, whether the direct effects of climate change or the indirect effects of human reaction to climate change poses the greatest threat to the continued existence of these stands is an open question. The aim of this short communication is to: a) examine the distribution and composition of these newly discovered stands of cool temperate rainforest and b) to briefly describe the impact of the 2003 fires on this restricted vegetation type