Responsibility to Protect in the Age of Global Terror: A Methodological Reassessment

Abstract

Ten years after its formal adoption, the R2P doctrine remains an incomplete project in a world of continuing conflicts now aggravated by the existential threat of global terrorism. The debate on the permissibility of military action to stop mass atrocities when authorisation to use force is not forthcoming from the Security Council has produced only a plurality of conflicting theories but hardly any progress at the normative level. A two-pronged approach could be used to consolidate R2P as a doctrine fully integrated into the corpus of international law. The first prong requires the revamping of the largely neglected Article 48 of the ILC Draft on State Responsibility; the second involves using R2P as a platform to initiate a reform of customary international law to make it more consistent with elementary principles of justice and universal human rights.     

Time‐dependent Expression of MMP‐2 and TIMP‐2 after Rats Skeletal Muscle Contusion and Their Application to Determine Wound Age

The ability to determine vitality and estimate the survival period after a wound is critical in routine forensic practice. The mRNA levels of MMP‐2 and TIMP‐2 were examined using quantitative real‐time RT‐PCR to determine the age of a wound. Furthermore, the colocalization of them with Macrophage Marker, respectively, was detected by double immunofluorescence, and a standardized rat model of skeletal muscle contusion was established. In the antemortem contused groups, a large number of macrophages showed positive staining for MMP‐2 and TIMP‐2, and the expression of MMP‐2 and TIMP‐2 mRNA increased sharply at 3 days postinjury, with relative quantities of 5.75 and 2.98. No samples in the other groups showed relative quantities of >5.75 and 2.98; therefore, relative quantities exceeding 5.75 and 2.98 were strongly indicated 3 days after contusion. In addition, there was a significant decrease in the relative quantity in the postmortem contused groups, indicating that they were useful for diagnosing vitality.     

乙醇与乌头碱联合染毒对大鼠心肌细胞RYR2的影响

目的研究不同浓度乙醇与乌头碱联合染毒对大鼠心室肌细胞RYR~2蛋白表达的影响。方法用优化的方法进行新生大鼠心室肌细胞原代培养,设置4组实验组,分别为A、B、C、D组,即分别用1μmol/L乌头碱、5mmol/L乙醇+1μmol/L乌头碱、50mmol/L乙醇+1μmol/L乌头碱以及100mmol/L乙醇+1μmol/L乌头碱进行染毒,同时设立对照组(E组)。染毒1h后,用Western blot技术检测RYR~2蛋白含量,重复实验,将对所得数据进行统计分析。结果 1μmol/L乌头碱作用1h,使培养的大鼠心肌细胞RYR~2蛋白量增加;5mmol/L乙醇、50mmol/L乙醇分别与乌头碱联合染毒组中RYR~2蛋白表达量均较单独乌头碱染毒组低;100mmol/L乙醇-乌头碱联合染毒组RYR~2蛋白量与单独乌头碱染毒组相较未见明显差异。结论乙醇-乌头碱联合染毒对RYR~2的蛋白量有明显影响,不同浓度乙醇与乌头碱联合染毒对RYR~2的影响效果不一致,低浓度乙醇能拮抗乌头碱引起的RYR~2含量增加,随着乙醇浓度逐渐升高,拮抗作用逐渐减弱,且有向协同作用转化的趋势。     

CCR2和CCL2与缺氧缺血性脑损伤的相关性研究进展

缺氧缺血性脑损伤(hypoxic-ischemic brain damage,HIBD)是指由于外力作用造成的脑皮质浅层出血而软脑膜完整的一种脑部损伤。近年来的研究表明,多种免疫细胞及细胞因子参与了HIBD的发生。CC趋化因子受体2(CC chemokine receptor 2,CCR2)是CC型趋化因子的代表受体,广泛分布于脑组织内神经元、星形胶质细胞及小胶质细胞,是脑组织中主要的趋化因子受体。CC趋化因子配体2(CC chemokine ligand 2,CCL2)为碱性蛋白,是CCR2的配体,在炎症反应中发挥重要的作用。本文对CCR2和CCL2的生物学特性进行介绍,并对CCR2和CCL2与HIBD的关系进行阐述,以期为HIBD的相关研究提供线索。     

Credible Empowerment and Deliberative Participation: A Comparative Study of Two Nuclear Energy Policy Deliberation Cases in Korea

What factors make deliberative participation of public policy effective? Why, in some cases, are participants in deliberation more motivated than others, and reach their final judgment in a timely manner, based on systematic processes of opinion gathering and consensus building? By comparing and investigating two recent cases of public participation in energy policy deliberation in Korea, we argue that deliberative participation is more effective when the prospect that the outcome of their activities might be accepted by decision makers is high. The two cases, the public deliberation committee (PDC) on the nuclear waste issue which operated from 2013 to 2015, and the PDC on the nuclear power plant construction issue which operated in 2017, show that they went through similar courses of action, and used similar methods for deliberation. However, while the 2017 PDC has produced clear‐cut policy recommendations, and the government have accepted these, the 2013 PDC failed to reach conclusions on the given critical issues. We argue that the difference in the results is caused by credible empowerment along with two other factors––the sensitivity of issues and the learning effect. Participants of deliberation tend to judge the possibility of the government’s acceptance of their opinions based on either the government’s direct announcement or its inclusiveness in the past policy history. If governments are willing to consult the public to increase legitimacy and transparency, they should send explicit signals to the public on its inclusiveness in the short term, and also should increase credibility in the long term.     

The single most polymorphic STR Locus: SE33 performance in U.S. populations

The STR locus SE33 (ACTBP2) located on chromosome 6 (6q14) is arguably the most polymorphic marker examined thus far by the forensic community with a heterozygosity of >0.95 in some populations. Three different primer sets were utilized in this study in order to assess the possibilities of primer binding site mutations. Population variation was measured in 460 U.S. Caucasian, 445 African American, 336 Hispanic, and 202 Asian samples along with mutation rates from almost 400 father–son pairs. In addition, the 10 genomic DNA components in NIST Standard Reference Material SRM 2391b were sequenced and found to exhibit a variety of additional base changes, insertions, and deletions outside of the SE33 repeat region.     

Soils of Contrasting pH Affect the Decomposition of Buried Mammalian (Ovis aries) Skeletal Muscle Tissue

Abstract:  Little is known about the effect of edaphic conditions on the decomposition of buried mammalian tissues. To address this, we set up a replicated incubation study with three fresh soils of contrasting pH: a Podsol (acidic), a Cambisol (neutral), and a Rendzina (alkaline), in which skeletal muscle tissue (SMT) of known mass was allowed to decompose. Our results clearly demonstrated that soil type had a considerable effect on the decomposition of SMT buried in soil. Differences in the rate of decomposition were up to three times greater in the Podsol compared with the Rendzina. The rate of microbial respiration was correlated to the rate of soft tissue loss, which suggests that the decomposition of SMT is dependent on the microbial community present in the soil. Decompositional by-products caused the pH of the immediate soil environment to change, becoming more alkaline at first, before acidifying. Our results demonstrate the need for greater consideration of soil type in future taphonomic studies.     

Study of Short- and Long-Term Storage of Teeth and Its Influence on DNA

Abstract:  DNA degradation can interfere with the resolution of forensic cases. Allelic dropout often reduces the opportunity for adequate comparisons between degraded and reference samples. This study analyzed DNA degradation in 24 extracted teeth after storage at room temperature for 0, 2, 5, and 10 years. DNA concentration, quantified by dot-blot hybridization, declined significantly for the first 2 years, but there was no significant further degradation from the second to the tenth year of storage. COfiler™ analysis was used and the allelic dropout ratio for the amelogenin locus relative to CSF1PO locus was also estimated. Statistically significant differences were found between fresh teeth and teeth from the 2- and 5-year groups but not from the 10-year group. Under our storage conditions most of the DNA degradation occurred during the first 2 years. Further research is needed to control for individual and external factors that could affect DNA.