Since their publication in 1950s and 1980s, respectively, the Commentaries on the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 have become a major reference for the application and interpretation of these treaties. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), together with a team of renowned experts, is currently updating these Commentaries in order to document developments and provide up-to-date interpretations. The work on the first updated Commentary, the Commentary on the First Geneva Convention relating to the protection of the wounded and sick in the armed forces, has already been finalized. This article provides an overview of the methodology and process of the update and summarizes the main evolutions in the interpretation of the treaty norms reflected in the updated Commentary.

This article explores the cult of St Nicholas in later eleventh-century Bari, focusing on its importance to the new Norman rulers in the region as well as to their subjects. While acknowledging the influence of earlier expressions of the cult in Normandy and in Byzantine southern Italy, it argues that for numerous reasons Nicholas was, for Bari, an especially important – and appropriate – intercessor. During these years, which witnessed the translation of the saint from Myra, economic developments, church politics and the demands of the First Crusade merged to render Nicholas an ideal patron for the city.

Each year Australian fire and land management agencies deploy Incident Management Teams (IMTs) to manage bushfires. An important question is: what are the key competencies required for IMT personnel? Recent research in high reliability organisations suggests that teamwork-related competencies are likely to be most important because incident management depends critically upon interdependent team members, often operating in dynamic, uncertain, time pressured, and high stakes environments. This study used semi-structured interviews with experienced IMT personnel (N = 15) to identify 12 key competencies important for bushfire IMT roles. Analysis of 30 bushfire incidents described by interviewees confirmed that three competencies (a) interpersonal and communication skills, (b) leadership, and (c) IMT procedural knowledge were central. Potential implications for organisational decision making in emergency contexts in general are outlined.

We report the morphogenesis of a new mouse mutant, Doublefoot (Dbf). The major phenotypic features involve the limb and craniofacial regions. There is polydactyly of all 4 limbs, with typically 6–8 digits per limb. All of the digits are triphalangeal; some show bifurcations and some are not attached to the carpus/tarsus. The carpus and tarsus are broader than normal, and their elements are partially fused. There are also tibial defects. Mutant embryos show a diencephalic bulge on d 10.0, with older animals exhibiting broadened and bulbous skulls sometimes with an additional midline skeletal element, shortened snouts and bulging eyes. Homozygotes, which do not survive beyond d 15, show midline facial clefting. In this study of the embryonic and fetal development of Dbf animals, we focus on the morphogenesis of the limbs and head, and discuss the possible molecular developmental mechanisms.

‘I am very conscious of the difficulties confronting social workers and others in obtaining hard evidence, which will stand up when challenged in court, of the maltreatment meted out to children behind closed doors. Cruelty and physical abuse are notoriously difficult to prove.”

‘My Lords, I am anxious that the decision of the House in this case may establish the law in an unworkable form to the detriment of many children at risk.’

Infectious gastroenteritis is a common cause of hospitalization in the pediatric population. The most frequent cause of gastroenteritis is viral in origin. The purpose of this study was to compare a rapid modified negative-staining TEM method with the conventional pseudoreplica technique in detection of viral particles in fecal samples from children with viral gastroenteritis. The modified negative-staining method resulted in a significantly higher (2.5 ± 0.5, p = 0.02) viral rating score than that for the conventional pseudoreplica technique (1.7 ± 0.4). In addition, the preparation time for the negative-staining method was approximately one fifth that for the conventional pseudoreplica technique. Rapid diagnosis of viral gastroenteritis may be made by ultrastructural detection of viral particles in fecal samples using the negative staining technique.

A case of erotomania (de Clérambault's syndrome) in a female with Schneider-positive schizophrenia is presented. The factors in her environment which may have precipitated the illness are discussed. The secondary nature of the syndrome is further illustrated by a discussion of the literature. In erotomania, the deluded victim, usually a woman, believes that a man, unattainable because of his social status, is in love with her. The nosological purity of the syndrome, despite its relative rarity, remains a subject of considerable debate. We present a case of erotomania in a female with schneiderian first rank symptoms (FRS) of schizophrenia (Schneider, 1959).

Details of what occurs in the interval between the hatching of amœbulæ from the spores of the Proteus group of amœbæ to the attainment of the adult condition (4–6 months) not hitherto known are described. The method consists in removing mature adults to petri dishes 4 in. in diameter, containing a dilute inorganic fluid which causes sporulation. The subsequent development of the hatching amœbulaæ can be traced in situ by means of a 4·4 mm. water immersion lens, and is seen to consist of feeding and growth alternating with periods of encystment. The time spent in cysts greatly exceeds that of activity.

Some account of what takes place when cultures of the Proteus group, allowed to dry to a brownish dust, and then wetted, is given. Only in the case of A. proteus have the amœbulæ, which hatch out from the spores, been grown to maturity. It has been shown that the dried cultures used may comprise (1) spores, (2) cysts of varying size from which arise amœbulæ likewise varying in size.