Oil and Gas Exploitation on Arctic Indigenous Peoples’ Territories Human Rights, International Law and Corporate Social Responsibility

The Resource Centre for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples’ Gáldu Čála nr 4/2006 con- tains two articles addressing certain core social, legal and economic questions related to oil and gas operations in indigenous areas, written by Mr. Rune Sverre Fjellheim and Mr. John B. Henriksen respectively. Around the world, including in the Arctic, there are disputes about ownership, utiliza- tion, management and conservation of traditional indigenous lands and resources - often caused by decisions or attempts to use traditional indigenous lands and resources for industrial purposes, including oil and gas exploration. This situation represents an enor- mous challenge, and in some cases threatens indigenous societies and their economies, cultures and ways of life. Indigenous peoples have been, and in many cases still are, deprived of their human rights and fundamental freedoms as distinct peoples. This has resulted in the dispos- session of their lands, territories and resources, and prevented them from exercising their right to development in accordance with their needs and interests. The interests of commercial development normally prevail over indigenous peoples’ rights and interests, despite the fact that the survival of indigenous peoples − as distinct peoples – depends on their possibility to manage their own traditional lands and resources in a manner and mode appropriate to their specific circumstances. The article “Arctic Oil and Gas – Corporate Social Responsibility” discusses the re- sponsibilities of the industrial operators in the Arctic. The Arctic holds 25% of the known remaining global Oil and Gas resources. Industrial development in the Arctic poses seri- ous environmental and Human Rights challenges. It is one of the most pristine and vul- nerable ecosystems in the world and the home of 40-50 distinct Indigenous Peoples. The author shows examples of Corporate Policies designed to address their responsibilities relating to Indigenous Peoples, and discusses the difficulties in turning corporate policies into practice. The article entitled “Oil and Gas Operations in Indigenous Peoples’ Lands and Ter- ritories in the Arctic: A Human Rights Perspective” – written by Mr. John B. Henriksen – elaborates on the international human rights protection accorded to indigenous lands and resource rights, with particular reference to oil and gas exploration

Comparison of Dynamic Characteristics of Two Instrumented Tall Buildings

Comparison of recorded structural earthquake response and predicted response by dynamic analysis provides vital information to structural designers on the effectiveness of current methods of dynamic analysis. There have been a number of previous studies of this nature, but only a few have paid attention to the three-dimensional nonlinear dynamic behaviour of tall buildings, so there is a need for these types of studies. The purpose of this paper is to study the dynamic properties of two well-instrumented tall steel frame buildings in Los Angeles, California. These building are within a few blocks of each other and have been subjected to ground motions from several earthquakes, among which the most significant are those from the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The results of this study showed that although the buildings were subjected to similar level of ground shaking their different structural systems resulted in remarkably different building response. The differences and similarities of these responses are presented and discussed in this paper. Analyses of the recorded motions from these two buildings were conducted to determine the dynamic characteristics of each structure. Through the different analyses of the recorded a meaningful comparison of building behaviour could be made. The results of this study showed that very meaningful information can be extracted from recorded earthquake data, and that structural engineers can use this information to better understand the dynamic behaviour of very tall buildings. This information can also be used to gain confidence on finite element models used to predict the nonlinear response of buildings due to strong ground shaking.

Ultrasound-induced acoustophoretic motion of microparticles in three dimensions

We derive analytical expressions for the three-dimensional (3D) acoustophoretic motion of spherical microparticles in rectangular microchannels. The motion is generated by the acoustic radiation force and the acoustic streaming-induced drag force. In contrast to the classical theory of Rayleigh streaming in shallow, infinite, parallel-plate channels, our theory does include the effect of the microchannel side walls. The resulting predictions agree well with numerics and experimental measurements of the acoustophoretic motion of polystyrene spheres with nominal diameters of 0.537 um and 5.33 um. The 3D particle motion was recorded using astigmatism particle tracking velocimetry under controlled thermal and acoustic conditions in a long, straight, rectangular microchannel actuated in one of its transverse standing ultrasound-wave resonance modes with one or two half-wavelengths. The acoustic energy density is calibrated in situ based on measurements of the radiation dominated motion of large 5-um-diam particles, allowing for quantitative comparison between theoretical predictions and measurements of the streaming induced motion of small 0.5-um-diam particles.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, Revtex 4.