Formalizing the Informal: Development and its Impacts on Traditional Dispute Resolution in Bhutan

Bhutan, a small landlocked country, with less than a million residents lies between two of the most populous nations on earth, India and China. Beyond its beautiful scenery and national development philosophy of pursuing “Gross National Happiness,” this Article argues that it should also be known for its heritage of traditional dispute resolution. This system kept peace in villages for centuries; however, now such tradition face extinction. As argued below, such extinction stems from modernization. This Article explores the interplay between reforms to the formal justice system and the informal dispute resolution practices that operate at the local level, as well as the way these changes impact rural communities. Further, it raises important ethical questions about development initiatives that are aimed at promoting the rule of law, especially when it comes to informal, or so-called “alternative” dispute resolution processes in pluralistic legal systems

Name, Shame, and Then Build Consensus? Bringing Conflic Resolution Skills to Human Rights

This Article examines the reasons behind the tensions that continue to make integration of human rights theory and dispute resolution so difficult. It seeks to interrogate the status quo, with a focus on law school clinics. We believe that many complex human rights problems that would traditionally be addressed separately by human rights and dispute resolution practitioners would benefit from a more integrated approach. As a consequence, the training of practitioners would also benefit from a pedagogy that incorporates elements of both disciplines. By taking a step back from the existing structure of clinics and turning to the goals that they seek to achieve, we argue for a new model that brings together skills and approaches from traditional human rights and conflict resolution approaches to develop a hybridized model of practice.12 This Article recognizes the inroads that human rights discourse and practice have already made in conflict resolution. It thus focuses primarily on the contributions that conflict resolution can make to human rights approaches. This year, at Stanford Law School, the authors of this Article have begun the process of launching just such a human rights and conflict resolution clinic. This Article seeks to explain the background, objectives, and future prospects for this and similar clinics. The Article considers three representative case studies. These cases come from the authors‘ personal experience working in Non- Governmental Organizations (NGOs) or clinics devoted to either human rights or conflict resolution. We chose the examples not only to illustrate typical scenarios in which a hybridized practice of human rights and conflict resolution proved to be either absent or effective, but also to highlight three prominent tensions that we believe any human rights project incorporating conflict resolution skills will face: (1) the tension between skepticism vs. optimism; (2) the tension between signaling strength vs. inviting collaboration; and (3) the tension between maintaining relationships vs. demanding critical selfanalysis. Our analysis of the three case studies provides a description of how we managed these tensions in our projects and proposes several benefits from the perspective of a human rights practitioner on an integrated approach. The Article concludes by outlining the structure and pedagogy of our clinic, the type of projects we select, and the ways we hope to document our success (and shortcomings) as the years progress

Loss or gain of function? Effects of ion channel mutations on neuronal firing depend on the neuron type

IntroductionClinically relevant mutations to voltage-gated ion channels, called channelopathies, alter ion channel function, properties of ionic currents, and neuronal firing. The effects of ion channel mutations are routinely assessed and characterized as loss of function (LOF) or gain of function (GOF) at the level of ionic currents. However, emerging personalized medicine approaches based on LOF/GOF characterization have limited therapeutic success. Potential reasons are among others that the translation from this binary characterization to neuronal firing is currently not well-understood—especially when considering different neuronal cell types. In this study, we investigate the impact of neuronal cell type on the firing outcome of ion channel mutations.MethodsTo this end, we simulated a diverse collection of single-compartment, conductance-based neuron models that differed in their composition of ionic currents. We systematically analyzed the effects of changes in ion current properties on firing in different neuronal types. Additionally, we simulated the effects of known mutations in KCNA1 gene encoding the KV1.1 potassium channel subtype associated with episodic ataxia type 1 (EA1).ResultsThese simulations revealed that the outcome of a given change in ion channel properties on neuronal excitability depends on neuron type, i.e., the properties and expression levels of the unaffected ionic currents.DiscussionConsequently, neuron-type specific effects are vital to a full understanding of the effects of channelopathies on neuronal excitability and are an important step toward improving the efficacy and precision of personalized medicine approaches

A survey on computational intelligence approaches for predictive modeling in prostate cancer

Predictive modeling in medicine involves the development of computational models which are capable of analysing large amounts of data in order to predict healthcare outcomes for individual patients. Computational intelligence approaches are suitable when the data to be modelled are too complex forconventional statistical techniques to process quickly and eciently. These advanced approaches are based on mathematical models that have been especially developed for dealing with the uncertainty and imprecision which is typically found in clinical and biological datasets. This paper provides a survey of recent work on computational intelligence approaches that have been applied to prostate cancer predictive modeling, and considers the challenges which need to be addressed. In particular, the paper considers a broad definition of computational intelligence which includes evolutionary algorithms (also known asmetaheuristic optimisation, nature inspired optimisation algorithms), Artificial Neural Networks, Deep Learning, Fuzzy based approaches, and hybrids of these,as well as Bayesian based approaches, and Markov models. Metaheuristic optimisation approaches, such as the Ant Colony Optimisation, Particle Swarm Optimisation, and Artificial Immune Network have been utilised for optimising the performance of prostate cancer predictive models, and the suitability of these approaches are discussed

Controlling the Spontaneous Emission Rate of Quantum Wells in Rolled-Up Hyperbolic Metamaterials

We experimentally demonstrate the enhancement of the spontaneous emission rate of GaAs quantum wells embedded in rolled-up metamaterials. We fabricate microtubes whose walls consist of alternating Ag and (In)(Al) GaAs layers with incorporated active GaAs quantum-well structures. By variation of the layer thickness ratio of the Ag and (In)(Al) GaAs layers we control the effective permittivity tensor of the metamaterial according to an effective medium approach. Thereby, we can design samples with elliptic or hyperbolic dispersion. Time-resolved low temperature photoluminescence spectroscopy supported by finite-difference time-domain simulations reveal a decrease of the quantum well's spontaneous emission lifetime in our metamaterials as a signature of the crossover from elliptic to hyperbolic dispersion