Cheaper, Better, Longer-Lasting: A Rights-Based Approach to Disaster Response in Haiti

This Article explores how the failure of the earthquake response is the result of past and current policies that, however well intentioned, fail to adequately respect the human rights of Haitians, especially Haiti\u27s poor. It demonstrates that while the earthquake created new acute human rights challenges for Haiti, it also exposed the disastrous effects of decades-old policies that systematically undermine the Haitian government\u27s ability to provide basic governmental services and meet the needs of the majority of its people. A legacy of debt and international trade policies has incapacitated the Haitian government, and lack of enforcement of the rule of law has made Haiti\u27s poor disproportionately vulnerable to natural disasters. Haiti\u27s earthquake illustrates that the most severe humanitarian emergencies are most often symptomatic of and contributory to a larger human rights emergency

Cholera as a Grave Violation of the Right to Water in Haiti (2014)

This report is submitted to the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation concerning the United Nation’s responsibility in spreading cholera in Haiti as a violation of the right to water and sanitation. The submission discusses violations of the right to water, including the role of United Nations peacekeepers in introducing the virus to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake. The report addresses the United Nations’ unwillingness to accept responsibility for its role in the outbreak and its failure to establish redress mechanisms for victims affected by the cholera epidemic. It further discusses the current efforts of victims to enforce the right to water, and the need to implement accountability mechanisms to secure remedies for such violations

Cholera as a Grave Violation of the Right to Water in Haiti (2014)

This report is submitted to the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation concerning the United Nation’s responsibility in spreading cholera in Haiti as a violation of the right to water and sanitation. The submission discusses violations of the right to water, including the role of United Nations peacekeepers in introducing the virus to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake. The report addresses the United Nations’ unwillingness to accept responsibility for its role in the outbreak and its failure to establish redress mechanisms for victims affected by the cholera epidemic. It further discusses the current efforts of victims to enforce the right to water, and the need to implement accountability mechanisms to secure remedies for such violations

Long-term neurodevelopmental outcome with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy

OBJECTIVES: To determine the long-term neurodevelopmental outcome for children after hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) without major disability, and to examine neonatal injury patterns detected on cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in relation to later deficits. STUDY DESIGN: Prospectively enrolled children with HIE and neonatal cerebral MRI data (n = 68) were examined at a mean age of 11.2 years (range, 8.2-15.7 years). Eleven children had a major disability (ie, cerebral palsy or mental retardation). Brain injury was scored according to the region and extent of injury. RESULTS: Children without major disability (n = 57) had lower full-scale and performance IQ scores compared with norms (P = .02 and .01, respectively), and the proportion of children with an IQ <85 was higher than expected (P = .04). Motor performance on the Zurich Neuromotor Assessment was affected in the pure motor, adaptive fine motor, and gross motor domains, as well as in the movement quality domain (all P < .001). Watershed injury pattern on neonatal MRI correlated with full-scale and verbal IQ scores (P = .006 and <.001, respectively), but neonatal MRI pattern did not correlate with motor performance in children without major disability. CONCLUSION: Children who sustained neonatal HIE without major disability are at increased risk for long-term intellectual, verbal, and motor deficits. The severity of watershed injury is correlated with later intellectual performance. Long-term follow-up examinations are necessary for early detection of neurodevelopmental impairment and early initiation of adequate therapies

Considerations and consequences of allowing DNA sequence data as types of fungal taxa

Nomenclatural type definitions are one of the most important concepts in biological nomenclature. Being physical objects that can be re-studied by other researchers, types permanently link taxonomy (an artificial agreement to classify biological diversity) with nomenclature (an artificial agreement to name biological diversity). Two proposals to amend the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN), allowing DNA sequences alone (of any region and extent) to serve as types of taxon names for voucherless fungi (mainly putative taxa from environmental DNA sequences), have been submitted to be voted on at the 11th International Mycological Congress (Puerto Rico, July 2018). We consider various genetic processes affecting the distribution of alleles among taxa and find that alleles may not consistently and uniquely represent the species within which they are contained. Should the proposals be accepted, the meaning of nomenclatural types would change in a fundamental way from physical objects as sources of data to the data themselves. Such changes are conducive to irreproducible science, the potential typification on artefactual data, and massive creation of names with low information content, ultimately causing nomenclatural instability and unnecessary work for future researchers that would stall future explorations of fungal diversity. We conclude that the acceptance of DNA sequences alone as types of names of taxa, under the terms used in the current proposals, is unnecessary and would not solve the problem of naming putative taxa known only from DNA sequences in a scientifically defensible way. As an alternative, we highlight the use of formulas for naming putative taxa (candidate taxa) that do not require any modification of the ICN.Peer reviewe

Antigenic and Genetic Characteristics of Swine-Origin 2009 A(H1N1) Influenza Viruses Circulating in Humans

Since its identification in April 2009, an A(H1N1) virus containing a unique combination of gene segments from both North American and Eurasian swine lineages has continued to circulate in humans. The lack of similarity between the 2009 A(H1N1) virus and its nearest relatives indicates that its gene segments have been circulating undetected for an extended period. Its low genetic diversity suggests that the introduction into humans was a single event or multiple events of similar viruses. Molecular markers predictive of adaptation to humans are not currently present in 2009 A(H1N1) viruses, suggesting that previously unrecognized molecular determinants could be responsible for the transmission among humans. Antigenically the viruses are homogeneous and similar to North American swine A(H1N1) viruses but distinct from seasonal human A(H1N1)