The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) has closed hundreds of investigations into alleged ill-treatment of detainees by British troops in Iraq. This article probes one reason given for the closure of these investigations: the assertion (without further evidence) that the allegations were ‘less serious’, ‘lower-level’ or in the ‘middle’ range of severity. These terms usually appear without reference to international law, and are once defined with reference to the English criminal law of assault, so that investigations were closed if the alleged treatment resulted in less than grievous bodily harm. The MOD's terminology is wrong-headed and conceptually underinclusive: it fails to grasp the threshold of inhuman or degrading treatment in international human rights law (IHRL), and largely neglects the investigatory obligations in IHRL, international humanitarian law (IHL) and international criminal law (ICL).

On September 16, 2014, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) gave its judgment in the case of Hassan v. United Kingdom.This is the Court’s first explicit engagement with the co-applicability of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in relation to detention in international armed conflicts. The judgment is significant for its rejection of the government’s argument that international humanitarian law operates as lex specialis to displace international human rights law entirely during the “active hostilities phase of an international armed conflict.” It is also noteworthy for the majority’s ruling that provisions on detention of prisoners of war and the internment of protected persons in the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions of 1949 could be read into Article 5 (right to liberty and security) of the European Convention on Human Rights (the European Convention), creating a new ground for detention under Article 5(1) in international armed conflicts and modifying the procedural guarantees in Article 5(4).

The obligation to train troops in international humanitarian law (IHL) is simply stated and its implementation delegated to State discretion. This reflects a past assumption that mere dissemination of IHL would be an effective contribution to the prevention of violations. Academic literature has evolved so that dissemination alone is now known to be insufficient for compliance, while the ICRC's integration model emphasizes the relevance of IHL to all aspects of military decision-making. A separate process, the ICRC/Government of Switzerland Initiative on Strengthening Compliance with IHL, is still in its consultative stages at the time of writing, but may result in voluntary State reporting and/or thematic discussions at meetings of States. This article synthesizes academic and practitioner insights on effective IHL training, and suggests a collaborative rubric for informative, standardized reporting on IHL training. Such a rubric could enable States and researchers to share best practice and future innovations on IHL training, using a streamlined, cost-effective tool.

On May 27, 2014, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights rendered its judgment in the case of Marguš v. Croatia. The applicant, who had served in the Croatian Army, was convicted of war crimes in 2007, following an earlier decision in 1997 to grant him amnesty for these crimes. A majority of the Grand Chamber drew on Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights (the Convention) and general international law to argue that Article 4 of Protocol No. 7 of the Convention (the right not to be tried or punished twice) was inapplicable in these circumstances and that the applicant’s claim on this point was inadmissible. The Grand Chamber also ruled that there had been no violation of Article 6 of the Convention (the right to a fair trial).

On August 30, 2011, a majority of the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (‘‘ICC’’) rejected the appeal of the Government of Kenya to the earlier admissibility decision of Pre-Trial Chamber II in the case of Prosecutor v. Francis Kirimi Muthaura, Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta and Mohammed Hussein Ali, one of two cases arising from the ICC’s investigations into crimes against humanity committed during the 2007 post-election violence in Kenya.

We know little about first-episode psychosis epidemiology beyond cities or when measured through early intervention in psychosis services. We present results from 18 months of the 3-year Social Epidemiology of Psychoses in East Anglia (SEPEA) study of incepted incidence observed through five early intervention services. We identified 378 eligible individuals (incidence: 45.1/100 000 person-years, 95% CI 40.8–49.9). Rates varied across these services, but were 2–3 times higher than those on which services were commissioned. Risk decreased with age, was nearly doubled among men and differed by ethnic group; doubled in people of mixed ethnicity but lower for those of Asian origin, compared with White British people. Psychosis risk among ethnic minorities was lower than reported in urban settings, which has potential implications for aetiology. Our data suggest considerable psychosis morbidity in diverse, rural communities.

Background: Social phobia frequently occurs as a comorbid condition, with high rates reported among people with psychosis. Little is known about the nature of social anxiety in this population or whether current psychological theories apply. Aims: This paper aims to develop and pilot a suitable measure to explore imagery experienced by participants with comorbid psychosis and social anxiety and to provide preliminary indications as to its nature. Method: A semi-structured interview exploring imagery was used with seven participants (adapted from Hackmann, Surawy and Clark, 1998) and the results were analysed using qualitative template analysis. Results: Initial indications from this sample suggest that some participants experience typical social anxiety images, as identified by Hackmann et al. (1998). However, some experience images that appear more threatening, and may be related to residual psychotic paranoia. Image perspective was also explored: typical social anxiety images tended to be seen from an observer perspective, while those that may have been more related to psychosis tended to be seen from a field perspective. Conclusions: This exploratory study has facilitated the careful adaptation and development of an imagery interview for use in this population and has suggested areas for further research and raised questions around clinical implications.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2007 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA, August 5 – August 9, 2007

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2006 in Chicago, Illinois, USA, July 30 – August 3, 2005

Microstructural defects are introduced in materials upon irradiation with energetic particles. These defects can cause degradation of mechanical properties and contribute to material failure. Transmuted helium in irradiated stainless steels exerts deleterious effects on material properties. We have performed kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) simulations of point defect diffusion and clustering in bcc alpha iron. The model includes helium and vacancy diffusion and spontaneous clustering and dissociation of the point defects from the clusters. We employ the kMC simulations to investigate the time evolution of the point defect configuration leading to defect clustering and bubble formation. The concentration of embryonic point defect clusters is determined as a function of the simulation time.

Recent studies have shown that high stress concentrations at moving crack tips in the intermetallic compound NiTi can induce a crystalline-to-amorphous (C-A) transformation of the crack tip region. This stress-induced C-A transformation has a temperature dependence and crystallization behavior similar to those of ion irradiation-induced C-A transformation of NiTi. The present study examines if these similarities between stress- and irradiation-induced amorphization hold true for two other intermetallic compounds, CuTi and Ni3Ti. In situ straining was performed in an intermediate-voltage transmission electron microscope. The presence or absence of an amorphous phase was determined by dark field imaging and selected area diffraction of crack tip regions. Crack tips in both CuTi and Ni3Ti were found to remain crystalline upon fracture. The observed absence of stress-induced amorphization in Ni3Ti is consistent with its known absence during irradiation, but the absence in CuTi differs from its known irradiation-induced amorphization behavior. Reasons for the similarity and difference are discussed.

The interactions of cascade remnants with freely migrating defects (FMDs) during dual light and heavy-ion irradiations in Cu-lat.%Au at 400°C were investigated using Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. Near-surface Au depletion driven by 1.5-MeV He ion irradiation was suppressed by concurrent bombardment with 1.2-MeV Ag ions. The dual irradiation effect suggests that shortlived cascade remnants created by heavy ions act as recombination centers for FMDs, reducing radiation-induced segregation (RIS). The effects of the total cascade volume generated by heavyion beams on the suppression of RIS were examined. The investigation revealed when 800-keV Cu and 1.2-MeV Ag ion beams produce nearly the same total cascade volume per second, their suppression effects on 1.5-MeV He-induced Au transport are also nearly equal even though the total cascade volume produced per ion for each are different. This result indicates that the suppression effect of cascade remnants produced by heavy ions depends on the total cascade volume induced per unit time and not on the total cascade volume per ion generated by individual ions of different mass and energy.

The effects of Ne and Sc implantation on radiation-induced segregation (RIS) in Ni- 9at.%Al were studied in-situ utilizing the high-voltage electron microscopeffandem accelerator facility at Argonne National Laboratory. A highly-focused 900-keV electron beam generated radial defect fluxes which, in turn, induced the transport of Al atoms toward the center of the electronirradiated area via the inverse-Kirkendall effect. The radial segregation rate of Al atoms was monitored by measuring the diameter of the γ′-Ni3Al zone which formed in the Al-enriched area during irradiation. Ne and Sc implantation effects on RIS were investigated at 550°C, while Ne effects were also examined at 625°C to determine the influence of temperature on the ability of Ne to act as defect trapping sites, causing RIS suppression. It was found that the RIS suppression effect of Ne increased with increasing irradiation temperature, and that Sc had a small RIS suppression effect which increased with increasing Sc implantation dose. Ne bubbles which formed during implantation are believed to be responsible for its strong suppression effect.

The effects of 75-keV Ne+ and 300-keV Ni+ bombardment on electron radiation-induced segregation (RIS) in a Ni-9at%Al alloy were investigated in-situ using the HVEM (high voltage electron microscope)/Tandem accelerator facility at Argonne National Laboratory. The radial component of defect fluxes generated by a highly-focused 900-keV electron beam was used to induce segregation of Al atoms towards the center of the electron irradiated area via the inverse-Kirkendall effect. The radial segregation rate was monitored by measuring the increase in the diameter of the Al enriched zone within which γ'-νi3αl precipitates form during irradiation. Both dual electron-ion and pre-implanted ion-electron irradiations were performed in an attempt to separate the contributions of energetic displacement cascades and implanted ions acting as defect trapping sites to RIS suppression. It was found that 75-keV Ne implantation has a retarding effect on RIS.

The effects of implantation temperature and target composition on the depth distribution of the implanted species were systematically investigated in the present work. Au+ ions were implanted at 300 keV into polycrystalline Ni-Be and Ni-Si alloys at temperatures between 25 and 700 °C to a dose of 1016 cm−2. The depth distributions of Au were analyzed with RBS using He+ at both 1.7 and 3.0 MeV, and those of the other alloying elements by SIMS. Theoretical modeling of compositional redistribution during implantation at elevated temperatures was also carried out with the aid of a comprehensive kinetic model. The analysis indicated that below ∼250 °C, the primary controlling processes were preferential sputtering and displacement mixing, while between 250 and 600 °C radiation-induced segregation was dominant. Above 600 °C, thermal-diffusion effects were most important. A systematic fitting of model calculations to experimental measurements provided values for various defect migration and formation parameters.