While divestments and decisions to exit commercial fossil fuel ventures are not new, the imperatives of the energy transition are catalysing such moves at a global industry-wide level, as oil companies position themselves for the future. The international normative framework for business and human rights provides clear guidance on how responsible divestment from fossil fuels should occur; however, in the absence of intergovernmental coordination and regulation, individual business divestment decisions create severe human rights risks. The case of Shell’s divestment from onshore Niger Delta oil production illustrates business and human rights issues relevant to the energy transition.

In many locations around the world, shell radiocarbon dates underpin archaeological research. The dating of shell brings the chronological relationship between the sample and target event (e.g., hunting and food preparation) into congruence, while shells are valuable geochemical proxies for understanding past climate dynamics and environments. However, this information can be lost as the shell, composites of biopolymers and carbonate minerals (mostly calcite and or aragonite), undergo diagenetic alteration. While studies into Pleistocene-age carbonates are common in the radiocarbon literature, there has been little research into the impact of alteration on Holocene-age shells used to interpret recent societal developments. The limits of our understanding of these diagenetic changes became evident when dating Placuna placenta (naturally calcitic) and Tegillarca granosa (naturally aragonitic) shells from the site of Thach Lac in Vietnam. These shells returned ages significantly younger than associated charcoal and terrestrial bone at the site, but standard tests for secondary recrystallization (XRD and staining techniques) did not indicate any alteration. Further investigation revealed that cryptic recrystallization (i.e., of the same crystal structure) had occurred in both the calcite and aragonite shells. This finding suggests recrystallization may have an undetected impact on some shell radiocarbon dates.

Many organisms living in the ocean create tests, shells, or related physical structures of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). As this is most often from dissolved inorganic carbon, using organisms that create calcium carbonate structures for climate research and dating purposes requires knowledge of the origin of carbon that is incorporated. Here, we give a short overview of research on marine carbonates over the last 60 years, especially that based on shell and coral samples. Both shells and corals exhibit annual growth patterns, like trees, and therefore offer possibilities for yearly resolution of past radiocarbon (14C) variations. We concentrate on their evolution in 14C dating including difficulties in determining reservoir ages as well as the possibilities they offer for archaeological dating, oceanography, calibration purposes as well as environmental research in general.

Foreign direct liability litigation against businesses is still a growing trend in European domestic courts, going on for over two decades.1 With absent effective remedies in host states, victims of human rights abuses committed by transnational corporations’ subsidiaries try to get access to remedy in the courts of the home states of the parent companies. A crucial factor for whether such cases can succeed, is the viability of the claims against the parent companies allegedly involved in the abuses. The principal legal route that victims have used to hold parent companies liable is through common law negligence claims.

Biogeochemical analyses of eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) are frequently included in environmental monitoring and paleoecological studies because their shells and soft tissues record environmental and dietary signals. Carbon isotopes in the mineral phase of the shell are derived from ambient bicarbonate and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), while organic carbon present in soft tissue is of dietary origin. Mineral-bound organic matter within the carbonate shell matrix (“conchiolin”) is studied less frequently. The purpose of this study was to compare carbon isotope composition (δ13C and Δ14C) of conchiolin to those of shell carbonates and soft tissues in eastern oysters and assess the extent to which conchiolin can provide insight into paleoecological records. Eleven oyster specimens were live-collected from Apalachicola Bay, USA, as well as a set of environmental samples (water, sediment, and terrestrial plants). Overall, the δ13C values in all studied oyster tissue types record environmental signals related to carbon sources, with conchiolin being enriched in 13C by an average of 2.3‰ relative to bulk soft tissues. Δ14C values in oyster shell carbonates generally reflect the marine versus riverine source of DIC, while conchiolin Δ14C values are impacted by variable relative contributions of young and old organic matter. Environmental samples indicate a significantly large difference in Δ14C among sources, from –127‰ in particulate organic matter to approximately +15‰ in DIC. Conchiolin is significantly depleted in 14C relative to other tissue types, by as much as 56.6‰, posing a major obstacle to the use of conchiolin as an alternative material for radiocarbon dating.

English common law and United Kingdom legislation provide various – overall liberal – jurisdictional grounds for hearing foreign tort claims. The article examines these grounds with reference to recent and ongoing oil pollution nuisance litigation involving Royal Dutch Shell Plc and its Nigerian subsidiary operating in the Niger Delta. Particular attention is given to the factors taken into account by the court in exercising its discretion to allow service out of the jurisdiction in cases of pollution taking place abroad under the principle of forum non conveniens. Following the widely commented decision of the United States Supreme Court in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Corporation, which ruled against the extraterritorial application of the Alien Tort Statute, it is easy to forget that the rules of jurisdiction vary from country to country and that different legal systems apply similar concepts in often radically different ways. Attention is also given to the future development of English jurisdictional law and practice in the context of environmental nuisance.

The generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) method is used to investigate the transient response of magnetostrictive functionally graded material (FGM) circular cylindrical shells. The effects of control gain value, thermal load temperature and power-law index on transient responses of dominant normal displacement and thermal stress are analyzed. With velocity feedback and suitable product values of coil constant by control gain in the magnetostrictive FGM shells can reduce the transient amplitude of displacement into a smaller value.

The hen's egg, in the form of table eggs and egg products, forms a staple part of the world's total protein consumption. In the last century, there has been considerable research effort focusing on ways of improving egg production and enhancing the quality of eggs. More recently, and with the development and application of new molecular technologies, our understanding and knowledge of how an egg is formed, what it actually consists of, in terms of its major versus minor components, and what the functional roles of each of these components might be, have been greatly enhanced. For example, new previously unknown molecules with specific activity or functional properties have been discovered in the egg albumen and yolk, some of which have potential uses in pharmaceutical and other food related applications. This review paper, which is the collaborative effort of members of Working Group 4 - Quality of Eggs and Egg Products - of the European Federation of WPSA, describes the scientific research behind a number of these major advances and provides some insight to the focus of current research in this area.

The overall legal framework for transnational petroleum development projects is arguably a conjunction between international investment law and several other fields of international law, notably environmental law and human rights. However, the relationship between these applicable fields of international law is uncertain. In particular, prospects for the application of environmental law within such projects appear to depend on the balance in political and economic power between the host State and any multinational/transnational oil companies involved in the project. This balance is usually in favour of investment protection for the economic actors involved but the enduring role of the host State as the sovereign regulatory power within the relevant jurisdiction cannot be denied. The general issues raised in this debate will be examined within the specific context of the Sakhalin II project in the Russian Far East, where the host government has intervened on the ostensible basis of ensuring environmental protection but arguably at the expense of investment protection.

‘Phalanx’ and ‘guerrilla’ phenotypes have been characterized as distinct, adaptive growth strategies exhibited by marine encrusting taxa, as well as a variety of other colonial taxa, that differ in patterns of colonial growth and areal expansion. Phalanx morphs exhibit compact growth, expanding outward concentrically and generating radially symmetric colony shapes, whereas guerrillas exhibit diffuse growth and typically elongate, asymmetric colony shapes. Several species in the colonial hydroid genus Hydractinia display inter-genotypic morphological variation in early developmental growth, although it is unclear if and how this growth form variation is tied to colony symmetry. Here I show that the phalanx versus guerrilla distinction does not adequately characterize genetic variation in Hydractinia growth form. Genotypes characterized by extreme mat and stoloniferous growth exhibited high levels of symmetry while genotypes generating growth forms intermediate between these two extremes were more asymmetric. Asymmetric growth is tied to reduced field fitness as a result of slower growth, reduced investment in future reproduction, and increased susceptibility to abiotic environmental stress. Asymmetric, guerrilla-like growth may be the morphological symptom of maladaptive growth early in colony development. This notion contrasts greatly with the traditional view of guerrilla growth as an adaptive strategy. Several hypotheses are proposed to address why asymmetric, guerrilla-like growth may be maladaptive in this and similar systems.

The larval shell morphology of 10 bivalve species of the family Mytilidae (Adula falcatoides, Crenella decussata, Crenomytilus grayanus, Modiolus kurilensis, Musculista senhousia, Mytilus coruscus, Mytilus galloprovincialis, Mytilus trossulus and Septifer keenae, and an unidentified species Mytilidae indeterminate) from the Sea of Japan is described. The following morphological features were comparatively examined: larval shell outlines including shape and size of umbones, and anterior, posterior and ventral margins, hinge morphology, ligament location, sculpture, colour, and eye-spot outlines. Some dimensional parameters of larval shells are given. The time interval of occurrence of larvae in the plankton, water temperature in this period, and shell length of competent larvae are presented. It is demonstrated that, in spite of sometimes similar external morphological characters, identification of mytilid larvae creates no difficulties if all distinguishing characters are used.

During operation, a superconducting radio frequency cavity is cooled down to below critical superconducting temperature by liquid helium. Thus it is under external pressure by liquid helium while an ultrahigh vacuum inside. Being a niobium-made shell structure, the SRF cavity's shape and consequently the electromagnetic resonance frequency are sensitive to external load variations. A CESR-III 500MHz superconducting radio frequency cavity is illustrated to investigate this relationship. A simulation that links the calculations on mechanical structure and radio frequency electromagnetic field with the finite element code ANSYS® is demonstrated herein. The changes of electromagnetic resonance frequency associated with external loads and mechanical properties of niobium are studied systematically. A complete understanding on the mechanism is thus achieved. The computed results also indicate that the electromagnetic resonance frequency increases as the cavity is either cooled to cryogenic temperature or stretched longitudinally, while the reduction of the helium vessel pressure also raises the resonance frequency. Besides, the electromagnetic resonance frequency shift is ruled by the coefficient of thermal expansion when the cavity is cooled from room temperature to liquid helium temperature. Young's modulus and thickness of the cavity wall dominate the structure stiffness and thus also affect the frequency shift.

The performance of the Bombyx mori Linnaeus bivoltine hybrid, Shaanshi BV-333, was evaluated on six mulberry cultivars of Morus spp. based on economic characters in rearing and mulberry leaf quality. The growth rate and morphological characteristics for all the cultivars were studied using several parameters. Specific characters such as disease resistance, survival percentage, cocoon weight, cocoon shell weight and single cocoon filament length were recorded during the rearing of silkworm larvae. Tested cultivars significantly differed in all parameters. Cultivars Kanva-2/M5, Thailand, Thika and S-36 exhibited superiority in rearing performance over other tested cultivars. Silkworms fed with cv. Thailand had the highest survival percentage of larvae in the short (S1) and long (S2) rainy seasons as compared with other cultivars. However, cv. Embu produced the lowest mortality during the dry season (S3), while S-41 produced the lowest survival rate in all seasons. Embu had significantly higher filament length and cocoon yield compared with the other cultivars during S3. However, S-41 performed poorly in survival percentage, cocoon yield, silk reeling and cocoon shell weight.

The accuracy of a range of immobilisation systems for head and neck radiotherapy has been measured. Two types of vacuum-formed shells, and eight thermoplastic systems have been evaluated. For each system, a mask was made for the same volunteer. A non-invasive optical system, using a scanning laser digitiser, was used to measure the displacement of a fiducial marker. The volunteer was asked to move a maximum comfortable distance in each of the superior, inferior, left and right directions, and a scan was taken at each location. Standard deviations, calculated from the maximum range of movements, were in the range of 1.7–2.9mm in the right–left direction, and 0.9–3.0mm in the superior–inferior direction. The smallest movements were measured for the Medtec S-frame, with nine-point fixation. A laser-scanning camera can assess the movement potential for a subject inside an immobilisation device with good accuracy and precision. Because ionising radiation is not used as part of the imaging process, the same subject can be used for several mask systems to assess which is the best one.