Rethinking the problem of third-state injuries in the situation of self-defence : justifications against the host state as focus

When responding to armed attacks by an aggressor state operating within a third state in self-defence, a victim state may inadvertently violate the rights of that host state, including but not limited to their rights to territorial integrity or to freedom of navigation. How can the victim state justify such infringements under current international law? As a legal concept, self-defence has traditionally been perceived as producing legal effects bilaterally, between the aggressor state and the victim state. To justify the victim state’s conduct against the host state within this traditional framework of self-defence, solutions have been put forward in contemporary scholarship, relying either on the host state’s involvement with the aggressor state or on its violation of the law of neutrality. An alternative method attempts to revamp self-defence under the law of state responsibility into a multilateral concept, expanding its preclusive effects to cover the host state. However, neither this revised approach nor those devised with the traditional perception of self-defence’s legal effects surmount the conceptual and pragmatic challenges. This article suggests yet another way of the resort to countermeasures as a circumstance precluding wrongfulness to justify third-state injuries caused by the victim state, which can better resolve the problem in the situation of self-defence

Magnetic Field Control of the Quantum Chaotic Dynamics of Hydrogen Analogues in an Anisotropic Crystal Field

We report magnetic field control of the quantum chaotic dynamics of hydrogen analogues in an anisotropic solid state environment. The chaoticity of the system dynamics was quantified by means of energy level statistics. We analyzed the magnetic field dependence of the statistical distribution of the impurity energy levels and found a smooth transition between the Poisson limit and the Wigner limit, i.e. transition between regular Poisson and fully chaotic Wigner dynamics. Effect of the crystal field anisotropy on the quantum chaotic dynamics, which manifests itself in characteristic transitions between regularity and chaos for different field orientations, was demonstrated.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition

ABSTRACT This paper presents our recent investigation on the impact of 3D haptic-augmented learning tools on Dynamics, which is a basic course in most of the engineering education program. Dynamics is considered to be one of the most difficult and nonintuitive courses that engineering students encounter during their undergraduate study because the course combines basic Newtonian physics and various mathematical concepts such as vector algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus and these were applied to dynamical systems. Recent advances in Virtual Reality and robotics enable the human tactual system to be stimulated in a controlled manner through 3-dimensional (3D) force feedback devices, a.k.a. haptic interfaces. In this study, 3D haptic-augmented learning tools are created and used to complement the course materials in Dynamics course. Experiments are conducted with a group of Mechanical Engineering students in the Dynamics class. The assessment result shows that the innovative learning tools: 1) allow the students to interact with virtual objects with force feedback and better understand the abstract concepts by investigating the dynamics responses; 2) stimulate the students' learning interests in understanding the fundamental physics theories

Mammalian DNA2 helicase/nuclease cleaves G-quadruplex DNA and is required for telomere integrity

Efficient and faithful replication of telomeric DNA is critical for maintaining genome integrity. The G-quadruplex (G4) structure arising in the repetitive TTAGGG sequence is thought to stall replication forks, impairing efficient telomere replication and leading to telomere instabilities. However, pathways modulating telomeric G4 are poorly understood, and it is unclear whether defects in these pathways contribute to genome instabilities in vivo. Here, we report that mammalian DNA2 helicase/nuclease recognizes and cleaves telomeric G4 in vitro. Consistent with DNA2’s role in removing G4, DNA2 deficiency in mouse cells leads to telomere replication defects, elevating the levels of fragile telomeres (FTs) and sister telomere associations (STAs). Such telomere defects are enhanced by stabilizers of G4. Moreover, DNA2 deficiency induces telomere DNA damage and chromosome segregation errors, resulting in tetraploidy and aneuploidy. Consequently, DNA2-deficient mice develop aneuploidy-associated cancers containing dysfunctional telomeres. Collectively, our genetic, cytological, and biochemical results suggest that mammalian DNA2 reduces replication stress at telomeres, thereby preserving genome stability and suppressing cancer development, and that this may involve, at least in part, nucleolytic processing of telomeric G4

Utility of chest CT in diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia

PURPOSEWe aimed to explore the imaging findings of computed tomography (CT) in diagnosing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its clinical value for further evaluation of suspected cases.METHODSFiles of 155 patients visiting the fever clinics at our hospital and affiliated hospitals from January 20th to February 9th, 2020 were searched. Among them, 140 cases (including 82 males and 58 females) were included as suspected COVID-19 cases based on clinical and epidemiological history; the CT image features of 70 cases with suggestive findings on CT, confirmed by positive nucleic acid test were analyzed and evaluated. The sensitivity and specificity of CT in diagnosing COVID-19 were evaluated in patients with epidemiological history.RESULTSOf the 70 patients, 84.3% showed bilateral lung involvement on CT; 27 cases (38.6%) showed ground-glass opacity (GGO), which was mostly distributed in the subpleural area (55.7%), and this sign was mainly observed in early COVID-19 patients. In addition, 41 cases (58.6%) manifested GGO combined with focal consolidation opacity, 2 (2.8%) had flake-like consolidation opacity, with involvements of the periphery of lung field and the central zone (44.3%), and this sign was mostly observed in severe or critical patients. Concomitant signs such as pleural effusion and mediastinal lymph node enlargement were rare. Among patients with epidemiological history, the sensitivity of CT in diagnosing COVID-19 was 89.7% (70/78), and the specificity was 88.7% (55/62).CONCLUSIONCT shows high sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing COVID-19. CT is an important examination method in evaluation of suspected cases and assessment of disease severity