The Application of the Crime against Humanity Category in Simon Ruling from Argentinean Supreme Court

En Argentine, la mise en place des lois internationales sur les droits humains dans les tribunaux locaux et son impact ne peuvent être séparés de l’histoire récente, qui a vu commettre des crimes massifs pendant la dictature de 1976 à 1983. En 1987, la Cour suprême a voté « la loi de l’Obéissance due » aussi appelée « loi de l’impunité ». Puis, en 2005, cette loi a été déclarée invalide par une nouvelle décision de la Cour suprême, car contraire à celles sur les droits humains. Les principes de la loi internationale ont prévalu pour permettre une justice efficace, ce changement soulignant le rôle de la société civile. Étant donné les réclamations grandissantes pour plus de justice dans la société argentine, le rôle de la société civile est essentiel pour comprendre la transformation et l’accroissement de la valeur normative des lois sur les droits humains dans les Cours suprêmes argentines. L’action de la société civile internationale est liée aux processus sud-américains de démocratisation, surtout dans le domaine des droits humains. La lutte contre l’impunité n’a été rendue publique que très récemment, soit seulement à partir de 2003. Elle se traduit aujourd’hui dans le rôle grandissant de l’expertise juridique et éthique dans la mise en place des politiques publiques. En fait, l’influence de la nouvelle stratégie dépend largement de la transparence des administrations bureaucratiques, des valeurs et de la volonté politique du gouvernement. Le changement légal peut être analysé selon l’acteur à l’origine du changement, le mécanisme par lequel le changement se fait et le contexte qui fournit l’opportunité pour ce changement. Dans le présent article, nous nous concentrons sur les stratégies argumentatives présentées par les juges dans la description des évènements entourant la décision de 2005. Le but de cet article est d’essayer de lier les stratégies des sociétés civiles avec l’argumentation légale dans la décision de 2005. Ces stratégies poussent à surmonter l’obstacle juridique : le fait que les crimes contre l’humanité n’étaient pas codifiés dans la loi nationale quand ils se sont déroulés (et ne le sont toujours pas.)In Argentina, International Human Rights Law (IHRL) implementation in local tribunals and its impact cannot be separated from recent history, which has been tainted with massive crimes committed during the dictatorship period 1976-1983. In 1987, the Supreme Court had voted valid the “Due Obedience Law” also called “Impunity Law”. In 2005, the so-called Impunity Law was declared invalid regarding IHRL by a new Supreme Court ruling. International Law principles prevailed on National Law allowing effective justice. And this change highlights the role of civil society. Since claims for justice kept arising from large sectors in the Argentinean society, civil society role is essential to understand the transformation and increase of IHRL's normative value in Argentinean Higher Courts. International civil society action is closely linked to South America democratization processes, in particular in the Human Rights area. Both the nature of the Human Rights agenda and the movement’s use of symbolic politics have shaped the transition to democracy. The fight against impunity has hit the public agenda only recently- as from 2003 on- and it is translated into today’s increasing role of juridical and ethical expertise in the implementation of public policies nowadays. As a matter of fact, new strategy’s influence largely depends on the openness of bureaucrat administration, on values and political will of the government. Legal change can be analyzed in terms of the actor in the source of change, the mechanism by which the change is done and the context that provides an opportunity for that change. In this presentation we are going to focus on some argumentative strategies presented by the judges in the fact’s description in the 2005 ruling. The aim of this article is trying to link civil society’s strategies with legal argumentation in the 2005 ruling. These strategies lead to overpass the juridical obstacle: the fact that crimes against humanity were not codified in the national law when they occurred (and still are not)

The Hydraulic Jump in Liquid Helium

We present the results of some experiments on the circular hydraulic jump in normal and superfluid liquid helium. The radius of the jump and the depth of the liquid outside the jump are measured through optical means. Although the scale of the apparatus is rather small, the location of the jump is found to be consistent with the assumption that the jump can be treated as a shock, if the surface tension is taken into account. The radius of the jump does not change when going down in temperature through the lambda point; we think that the flow is supercritical. A remarkable feature of the experiment is the observation of stationary ripples within the jump when the liquid is superfluid.Comment: Submitted to the proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Low Temperature Physics. 2 figure

Which Patients with Atrial Fibrillation Do Not Need Anticoagulation Therapy with Warfarin?

Anticoagulation therapy with warfarin is not indicated for use in patients with non- valvular atrial fibrillation who are at low risk for embolic cerebral vascular events. The classification of "low risk for embolic stroke" is defined as a 1 percent annual risk for stroke or lone atrial fibrillation (i.e., age younger than 65 years without history of hypertension, transient ischemic attack, stroke, coronary heart disease, recent congestive heart failure, or diabetes). Anticoagulation therapy with warfarin is beneficial in patients with atrial fibrillation who are at moderate or high risk for stroke. Patients with absolute contraindications to anticoagulation therapy (e.g., thrombocytopenia, recent trauma or surgery, hemorrhagic stroke, alcoholism) should not take warfarin. [Strength of recommendation: A, based on meta-analyses of large randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

Particle Acceleration at Ultra-Relativistic Shocks and the Spectra of Relativistic Fireballs

We examine Fermi-type acceleration at relativistic shocks, and distinguish between the initial boost of the first shock crossing cycle, where the energy gain per particle can be very large, and the Fermi process proper with repeated shock crossings, in which the typical energy gain is of order unity. We calculate by means of numerical simulations the spectrum and angular distribution of particles accelerated by this Fermi process, in particular in the case where particle dynamics can be approximated as small-angle scattering. We show that synchrotron emission from electrons or positrons accelerated by this process can account remarkably well for the observed power-law spectra of GRB afterglows and Crab-like supernova remnants. In the context of a decelerating relativistic fireball, we calculate the maximum particle energy attainable by acceleration at the external blast wave, and discuss the minimum energy for this acceleration process and its consequences for the observed spectrum.Comment: To appear in Proceedings of the 5th Huntsville Gamma-Ray Burst Symposium. LaTeX, 6 pages, 2 figures, uses aipproc.sty and epsfi

An eigenfunction method for particle acceleration at ultra-relativistic shocks

We adapt and modify the eigenfunction method of computing the power-law spectrum of particles accelerated at a relativistic shock front via the first-order Fermi process (Kirk, J.G., Schneider, P., Astrophysical Journal 315, 425 (1987)) to apply to shocks of arbitrarily high Lorentz factor. The power-law index of accelerated particles undergoing isotropic small-angle scattering at an ultrarelativistic, unmagnetized shock is found to be s=4.23 +/- 0.2 (where s=d\ln f/ d\ln p, with f the Lorentz-invariant phase-space density and p the momentum), in agreement with the results of Monte-Carlo simulations. We present results for shocks in plasmas with different equations of state and for Lorentz factors ranging from 5 to infinity.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, contribution to the Proceedings of the 5th Huntsville GRB Symposiu

Eine Bemerkung über Primzahlen der Form 23na+22nb+2nc+12^{3n}a + 2^{2n}b+2^nc+1

A Remark on Primes of the Form $2^{3n}a + 2^{2n}b+2^nc+1$. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the numbers in the title to be prime are given. The tests are well suited for practical purposes

Determination of the interactions in confined macroscopic Wigner islands: theory and experiments

Macroscopic Wigner islands present an interesting complementary approach to explore the properties of two-dimensional confined particles systems. In this work, we characterize theoretically and experimentally the interaction between their basic components, viz., conducting spheres lying on the bottom electrode of a plane condenser. We show that the interaction energy can be approximately described by a decaying exponential as well as by a modified Bessel function of the second kind. In particular, this implies that the interactions in this system, whose characteristics are easily controllable, are the same as those between vortices in type-II superconductors.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure

Adherence to the combination of sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine and artesunate in the Maheba refugee settlement, Zambia.

Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) is one strategy recommended to increase cure rates in malaria and to contain resistance to Plasmodium falciparum. In the Maheba refugee settlement, children aged 5 years or younger with a confirmed diagnosis of uncomplicated falciparum malaria are treated with the combination of sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (1 day) and artesunate (3 days). To measure treatment adherence, home visits were carried out the day after the last treatment dose. Patients who had any treatment dose left were considered certainly non-adherent. Other patients' classification was based on the answers to the questionnaire: patients whose caretakers stated the child had received the treatment regimen exactly as prescribed were considered probably adherent; all other patients were considered probably non-adherent. Reasons for non-adherence were assessed. We found 21.2% (95% CI [15.0-28.4]) of the patients to be certainly non-adherent, 39.4% (95% CI [31.6-47.6]) probably non-adherent, and 39.4% (95% CI [31.6-47.6]) probably adherent. Insufficient explanation by the dispenser was identified as an important reason for non-adherence. When considering the use of ACT, the issue of patient adherence remains challenging. However, it should not be used as an argument against the introduction of ACT. For these treatment regimens to remain efficacious on a long-term basis, specific and locally adapted strategies need to be implemented to ensure completion of the treatment