Toward a Rights-based Model of Economic Sanctions

This Paper examines the rights-based boundaries of the United Nations (“UN”) sanctions as well as unilateral sanctions by classifying them as embargoes against States, major sectors and entities, and targeted sanctions against individuals and micro entities. For the UN embargoes, its Charter’s Preamble and Articles, the proportionality principle, and the preemptive norms of jus cogens are all investigated. It also analyzes some recorded rights-based challenges in the International Court of Justice (“ICJ”) and the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) for the UN targeted sanctions, highlighting that the Security Council’s (“SC”) targeted sanctions require reconsideration and independent judicial review. Sanctions imposed unilaterally or without the approval of SC must adhere to the rules specified in international law sources such as the UN Charter, as well as the boundaries of other rights-based treaties for their member States. These measures should also be consistent with CIL as established by opinio juris and State practices. By assessing embargoes against Russia and China, as well as the Magnitsky Act for targeted sanctions, the Paper analyzes how sender States justify their sanctions based on the CIL’s framework and erga omnes obligations. Despite the fact that since the 1990s, embargoes have become less harmful in terms of collateral humanitarian effects to people who are not the subjective wrongdoers, yet they have been widely criticized for having some of the similar negative effects on human rights. In this regard, the Paper proposes a three-step rights-based model with a specific policy 3 objective imposed by a sanctions coalition while taking into account all vulnerable rights during designation and implementation. These rights are highlighted to demonstrate how sanctions can proximately contribute to their violations. Finally, the Paper encourages international lawyers to consider a new shifting era, akin to the 1990s, in which a more realistic, rights-based economic sanctions model is devised and implemented

Rights-Based Boundaries of Unilateral Sanctions

This Article serves as a model for sender states to consider when designing and implementing unilateral sanctions and also provides a framework for targeted states to challenge the legality of sanctions. In this context, the Article investigates several multilateral treaties, including the United Nations (“UN”) Charter and its principles of nonintervention and sovereignty and its rights-based boundaries. The Article also investigates other rights-based treaties to determine if their member states may have any extraterritorial obligations to promote human rights beyond their borders. In addition, the Article analyses International Court of Justice (“ICJ”) rulings in cases where one party claims that the opponent is responsible for the rights infringements caused by its unilateral sanctions. It endeavors to determine whether a sender state may be held contributory liable as a proximate cause for the collateral damages that result from its measures on the people of the targeted state

Landscape-wide changes in land use and land cover correlate with, but rarely explain local biodiversity change

Context There is an ongoing debate whether local biodiversity is declining and what might drive this change. Changes in land use and land cover (LULC) are suspected to impact local biodiversity. However, there is little evidence for LULC changes beyond the local scale to affect biodiversity across multiple functional groups of species, thus limiting our understanding of the causes of biodiversity change. Objectives Here we investigate whether landscape-wide changes in LULC, defined as either trends in or abrupt changes in magnitude of photosynthetic activity, are driving bird diversity change. Methods Linking 34 year (1984–2017) time series at 2745 breeding bird survey (BBS) routes across the conterminous United States of America with remotely-sensed Landsat imagery, we assessed for each year what proportion of the landscape surrounding each BBS route changed in photosynthetic activity and tested whether such concomitant or preceding landscape-wide changes explained changes in bird diversity, quantified as relative abundance (geometric mean) and assemblage composition (Bray–Curtis index). Results We found that changes in relative abundance was negatively, and assemblage composition positively, correlated with changes in photosynthetic activity within the wider landscape. Furthermore, landscape-wide changes in LULC in preceding years explained on average more variation in bird diversity change than concomitant change. Overall, landscape-wide changes in LULC failed to explain most of the variation in bird diversity change for most BBS routes regardless whether differentiated by functional groups or ecoregions. Conclusions Our analyses highlight the influence of preceding and concomitant landscape-wide changes in LULC on biodiversity

One Year Post-\u3cem\u3eBruen\u3c/em\u3e: An Empirical Assessment

In the year after New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, a steady stream of highly publicized opinions struck down a wide range of previously upheld gun restrictions. Courts declared unconstitutional policies ranging from assault weapon bans to domestic abuser prohibitions to various limits on publicly carrying handguns. Those opinions can frequently be paired with others reaching the opposite conclusion. The extent to which Bruen shook up the Second Amendment landscape and has caused widespread confusion in the courts is starting to come into focus. This Essay measures Bruen’s aftereffects by statistically analyzing a year’s worth of Second Amendment opinions. We coded more than 450 challenges for dozens of variables including both case and judge characteristics, resulting in a comprehensive post-Bruen Second Amendment dataset. The findings of our analysis provide an objective basis for assessing the upheaval wrought by Bruen and highlight both unanswered questions and immense challenges for Second Amendment doctrine in the coming years

Sampling strategies for the detection of grapevine fanleaf virus and the grapevine strain of tomato ringspot virus

This study was conducted to determine the influence of season, host genotype virus isolate and sample tissue on ELISA detection of the two nepoviruses. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) readily detects grapevine fanleaf virus (GFLV) and the causal agent of grapevine yellow vein, tomato ringspot virus (TomRSV) in infected grapevines. Three serologically identical isolates of GFLV (fanleaf deformation, vein-banding and yellow mosaic) were examined in one cultivar of Vitis rupestris SCHEELE and in three cultivars of V.. vinifera L. TomRSV was examined in V. vinifera cv. Carignane. The tissues tested included: shoot tips, mature leaves and cambial scrapings. The following tissues taken from GFLV-infected dormant canes were also tested: sawdust, cambial scrapings, dormant buds, and induced shoots, roots and callus. There were no differences in GFLV ELISA results when different cultivars and virus isolates were compared. However, seasonal differences in ELISA detection of GFLV were observed. Shoot tip values went from a high of > 4.00 OD450nm in May to a low of 0.05 OD450nm in September. 'Mature leaves also gave the highest values in May and rapidly decreased to relatively low and constant levels throughout the rest of the season. ELISA values from cambial scrapings were moderately high and relatively constant throughout the season. When GFLV-infected dormant canes were tested, induced actively growing tissues gave the highest ELISA values. TomRSV ELISA values were relatively constant over the season and shoot tips, mature leaves and cambial scrapings produced similar ELISA values.Strategien der Probenahme zur Feststellung des Grapevine fanleaf-Virus und des Tomato ringspot-Virus der RebeDas Ziel der vorliegenden Untersuchung war es, den Einfluß der Jahreszeit, des Wirtsgenotyps, des Virusisolates und des Pflanzengewebes auf den Nachweis zweier Nepoviren durch ELISA zu bestimmen. Das Virus der Reisigkrankheit (GFLV} und der Erreger der Adernvergilbung bei Reben, das Tomatenringfleckenvirus (TomRSV}, können durch Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) leicht nachgewiesen werden. Drei serologisch identische Isolate von GFLV (verantwortlich für Fächerblättrigkeit, Adernaufhellung und Panaschüre) wurden an einer Sorte von Vitis rupestris SCHEELE und drei Sorten von V. vinifera L., TomRSV wurde an V. vinifera cv. Carignane getestet. Hierbei wurden Triebspitzen, ausgewachsene Blätter und Kambiumschabsel geprüft. Von dormantem GFLV-infiziertem Rebholz wurden untersucht: Sägemehl, Kambiumschabsel, Ruheknospen, sowie aus dem Holz entstandene Triebe, Wurzeln und Kallusgewebe. Die Ergebnisse des ELISA-Tests wurden weder durch die Testrebensorte noch durch das Virusisolat beeinflußt. Mittels ELISA konnten jedoch jahreszeitlich bedingte Unterschiede im GFLV-Titer nachgewiesen werden. Bei den Triebspitzen sanken die Werte von einem Maximum > 4.00 OD450nm im Mai auf ein Minimum von 0.05 OD450nm im September. Auch ausgewachsene Blätter zeigten im Mai die höchsten Werte, die dann rasch auf ein relativ niedriges und gleichbleibendes Niveau zurückgingen. Die ELISA-Werte des Kambiumschabsels blieben während der ganzen Vegetationsperiode relativ hoch und stabil. Beim Test von GFLV-infiziertem dormantem Schnittholz zeigten die induzierten, wachsenden Gewebe die höchsten ELISA-Werte. Die ELISA-Werte für TomRSV blieben während der Vegetationsperiode relativ konstant, und es gab kaum Unterschiede zwischen Triebspitzen, ausgewachsenen Blättern und Kambiumschabsel

Rights‐Based Boundaries Of The United Nations’ Sanctions

The article examines sanctions imposed by the United Nations (U.N.), the most critical sender of multilateral sanctions, by categorising them as embargoes against states and their main sectors, as well as targeted sanctions against individuals and micro entities. The U.N. Charter serves as the foundation for determining the boundaries of U.N. embargoes. Accordingly, the Security Council is bound by the U.N. Charter’s Preamble and Articles as the only international treaty that can control its actions. Furthermore, based on the Charter’s proportionality principle, the Security Council must balance subjective wrongdoings and the consequences of sanctions. The article then evaluates flaws in the designation, implementation, judicial reviews, and targets substantive and procedural human rights in order to determine how U.N. targeted sanctions should be formed to become rights-based. The central issue of due process is addressed by examining certain recorded rights-based challenges in the process of domestic implementation of sanctions that are reviewed by international courts in order to demonstrate that the Security Council’s targeted sanctions require reconsideration as well as their own independent judicial review

Soot Evolution in Turbulent Non-premixed Bluff-body Flames

Most practical combustion systems, including; boilers, furnaces and jet engines work under turbulent flow conditions, where recirculating flows play a significant role in flame stabilisation, pollutants’ emission mitigation and enhanced mixing. Our current understanding of soot evolution in turbulent circulating reacting flows is still limited, due to the complex flow dynamics, mixing characteristics and wide range of strain rates. Axi-symmetric bluff-body turbulent non-premixed flames have been used to study such flows in the past, because they feature a strong recirculation zone at the base of the flames. They are also relevant to practical applications, simple in design, have well defined boundary and initial conditions and are optically accessible. Their use has contributed to our understanding of the impact of mixing, strain rate and kinetics on soot evolution, transport and oxidation. The current thesis reports an investigation of soot evolution in a series of turbulent non-premixed bluff-body flames, with a focus on the nexus between soot and flow field features in these flames. Two different fuels were utilised in this study: ethylene blended with nitrogen (4:1, by volume), and pure methane. Three bluff-body burners were used in the experiments, comprising the same 4.6 mm diameter central tube (DJ), but with a different outer bluff-body diameter; 38, 50, and 64 mm. All burners were mounted centrally in a contraction delivering the co-flow air. All other specifications and features of the burners were identical. The mean residence time within the recirculation zone of each flame were estimated computationally using a validated CFD model, whilst the soot volume fraction (fv) and flow field features were simultaneously measured employing planar laser-induced incandescence (P-LII) and 2D polarised particle image velocimetry (2D-P-PIV), respectively. For all studied cases, the time-averaged and instantaneous scalars including soot volume fraction, axial and radial velocity components, strain rate, and turbulence intensity are presented. The impact of the bluff body diameter on the structure of the ethylene/nitrogen flames (ENB series) with a constant Reynold number of 15,000, was investigated experimentally and computationally. It was found that, the temperature and the mixture fraction non-dimensional distribution, within the flames, particularly in the recirculation zone, remains the same irrespective of the bluff body diameter. However, as the bluff-body dimeter increases from 38mm to 64mm, the residence time within the recirculation zone increases by a factor of two to three, and the length of the flame decreases accordingly, by ~20%. The effect on soot, however, was pronounced with the total integrated soot in the flame increasing by 35% when using a larger-diameter burner, and by a factor of four within the recirculation zone. Also, low local strain rates, below 1000 s-1, were measured at different regions within the recirculation zone which favours the inception of soot in all three flames. Analyses of the mean and instantaneous soot volume fraction and strain rate images, within the recirculation zone, reveal that soot is formed in the low-strain high residence time inner vortex and transported to the outer vortex where it peaks closer to the outer shear layer. In the neck zone, relatively small amount of soot, less than 30 ppb, was observed which is deduced from the instantaneous images as having been transported from the recirculation zone, mostly from the inner vortex, closest to the fuel jet. In the recirculation zone, the most probable soot is found in the high-strain region (up to 6000 s-1), and believed to have been transported to this zone from the low strain rate region. The strain rate associated with the most probable soot in the neck zone and jet-propagation region is found to be around 1000 s-1 and 500 s-1, respectively. The strain rate in the jet region is not found to be significantly correlated with the axial or radial location. However, the strain rate of 500 s-1 in the jet region of the bluff-body flames is found to be consistent with those reported previously for turbulent simple jet flames (600 s-1 to 700 s-1). Joint statistical analysis of the local instantaneous soot and strain rate reveals that there is no clear trend to link these two parameters since the instantaneous results of local soot volume fraction and strain rate are not well-correlated. Quantitatively, the correlation of coefficient, R2, between the local instantaneous SVF and the inverse of the strain rate (1/S) in the recirculation zone and the jet region, indicates a low to weak correlation, where 0.3 < R2 < 0.6, which is consistent with the calculated joint PDFs. This provides further evidence that the time scales for SVF are much longer than those for local strain rate. In other word, the variations induced by previous times or locations, dominate over the influence of the values of the local strain rate. The effect of fuel type was investigated by contrasting the ethylene/nitrogen flames with those burning pure methane as the fuel. Three flames (MB-1, MB-2 and MB-3) with different operating conditions have been investigated. Flames MB-1 and MB-2 have a coflow velocity of 14.1 m/s and Reynolds numbers of 8000 and 15000, respectively. Flame MB-3 has a Reynolds number of 15000 and a coflow velocity of 20 m/s. A strong dependence between the SVF and the momentum flux ratio (fuel to coflow air) in the recirculation zone of these flames was observed. Increasing the momentum flux ratio shifts the location of the mean stoichiometric mixture fraction to the rich inner vortex which substantially increases the SVF in the recirculation zone. The impact of the momentum flux ratio is evident on soot formation, transport and oxidation within the RZ, and that also impacts on soot in the rest of the flame. Furthermore, the calculated mean mixture fraction profiles show a clear intersection with the mean stoichiometric mixture value, in the vicinity of the jet in MB-2 flames, resulting in a narrower reaction zone. Conversely, in the other two flames, MB-1 and MB-3, the mixture fraction profiles are broadly distributed in the outer vortex, and close to the coflowing air side. As a result, less soot is found in the recirculation zones of the MB-1 and MB-3 flames in comparison to MB-2 flame, mostly due to more favourable oxidation conditions. The interdependency of the soot, strain rate and turbulence intensity exhibit similarities between methane and ethylene/nitrogen flames. Nonetheless, an almost one order of magnitude lower soot concentration is found in methane flames, when compared with the ethylene/nitrogen flame operated under the same conditions. This reduction is primarily attributed to the differences in molecular structure between methane and the ethylene fuels and its propensity to generate the precursors for soot formation. The improved understandings and key findings of the current thesis have been configured in the format of four journal articles, presenting results from a combination of experimental and computational studies. The experimental dataset is available on the International Sooting Flame Workshop (ISF) website for model validation purposes.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Mechanical Engineering, 202

Syrah decline: viral or non-viral?

Declining young grapevine plants of V. vinifera variety Syrah suggesting a unique problem for this popular variety. Generally the affected vines show red canopy symptoms starting from early to late summer due to the stress caused by affecting factors

Evaluation of multiple interventions using a stepped wedge design

Background: Stepped wedge cluster randomized trials are a class of unidirectional crossover studies that have historically been limited to evaluating a single intervention. This design is especially suitable for pragmatic trials where the study feasibility can be improved with a phased introduction of the intervention. We examined variations of stepped wedge designs that would support evaluation of multiple interventions. Methods: We propose four different design variants for implementing a stepped wedge trial with two interventions: concurrent design, supplementation, replacement, and factorial designs. Analyses were conducted comparing the precision of the estimated intervention effects for the different designs. Results: Concurrent, supplementation, and factorial variants provide equal precision for estimating the treatment effect within a design for each of the interventions. However, in the replacement design, the effect of the first introduced intervention is generally estimated more precisely than the second intervention. Surprising and nonintuitive changes in the precision of the intervention effect estimates are observed when additional observation time intervals are included in multiple intervention designs. Conclusion: These stepped wedge design variations offer alternative methods for studying two interventions using a cluster-randomized trial. The selection of the appropriate variants should be driven by the research question with consideration given to the trade-off in number of steps, number of clusters, restrictions for concurrent implementation based on intervention characteristics, lingering effects of each intervention, and desired ability to compare interventions within clusters or within the same steps

Life experiences associated with change in perpetration of domestic violence.

BACKGROUND: This study assessed whether several adult life experiences, including loss of support, loss of food security, loss of housing, and substance use cessation, are associated with change in domestic violence (DV) perpetration from early to later adulthood. Using 2015 to 2016 cross-sectional, self-report survey data from Medicaid enrollees in Oregon (N = 1620), we assessed change in DV perpetration from early adulthood (19-30 years) to later adulthood (≥ 31 years of age), cut points determined by existing survey questions. Multinomial logistic regression models were constructed to estimate the association between life experiences and physical DV perpetration using odds ratios (OR), adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, DV victimization, and childhood abuse, bullying, and social support. FINDINGS: Of the 20% of participants who perpetrated DV, 36% perpetrated DV in both early and later adulthood (persisters), 42% discontinued (desisters) and 22% began (late-onsetters) perpetration in later adulthood. Loss of support and loss of food security were both associated with change in DV perpetration (i.e., desistance or late onset of perpetration or both). Loss of support was associated with 9.5 times higher odds of being a desister (OR = 9.5, 95% CI = 1.1, 84.1) and 54.2 times higher odds of being a late-onsetter (OR = 54.2, 95% CI = 6.5, 450.8) of DV perpetration compared to persisters. Loss of food security was associated with 10.3 times higher odds of being a late-onsetter (OR = 10.3, 95% CI = 1.9, 55.4) of DV perpetration compared to persisters. In addition, substance use cessation was associated with 10.3 times higher odds of being a desister (OR = 10.3, 95% CI = 1.9, 56.2) compared to persisters. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that specific life experiences in adulthood, including loss of support, loss of food security, and substance use cessation, are associated with changes in DV perpetration