Ethics of Facial Recognition Technology in Law Enforcement: A Case Study

Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) has promising applications in law enforcement due to its efficiency and cost-effectiveness. However, this technology poses significant ethical concerns that overshadow its benefits. Responsible use of FRT requires consideration of these ethical concerns that legislation fails to cover. This study investigates the ethical issues of FRT use and relevant ethical frameworks and principles designed to combat these issues. Drawing on this, we propose and discuss a code of ethics for FRT to ensure its ethical use in the context of New Zealand law enforcement

DSV Technology (installed at Liverpool Biennalle 2014)

PDF detail of Installation "The DSV Technology" shown at Liverpool Biennial 201

Rediscovering the arcane science of ground handling large airships : an investigation into ways of reducing the risks inherent in the development of a new generation of very large airships and of establishing guidelines for their ground handling procedure

This research, which was begun as part of the now defunct CargoLifter project, concerns the ground handling and support systems of the large rigid airships (commonly known as "Zeppelins") that were built between 1900 and 1940. The intention was to assess the value of such historical information as has survived from the previous generation of very large airships in order to minimise the physical and financial risks inherent in the development of any future generations of such aircraft. The idea was to isolate and understand the fundamental issues that were actually encountered by the ground based personnel responsible for looking after the various British, German, American and Italian airships of the previous generation, and to gather as much information as possible about the techniques and operational procedures that were devised, tried and tested in the field. This information would then be used to establish guidelines for future projects that are based on real experience rather than on prediction, assumption or theory. Sadly, the CargoLifter project foundered in 2002; however the author had by then amassed sufficient research material for him to complete the study independently and to present it as a guide for the ground handling of hitherto unrealised concepts such as the proposed new "Transport category" or "CargoLifter" type large airships. Such practical skills as those required by airship ground crew personnel are normally passed on by firsthand instruction from one experienced practitioner to the trainee. This option is not available for the next generation of very large airships because there are no personnel alive today with any operational experience of the previous generation of really large airships. The problem therefore is to examine the historical records and to evaluate the written information in order to interpret it and pass on knowledge that will reduce the risk of future generations wasting their time in "re-inventing the wheel. " In the course of the study it was found that historical research (HR) enabled the results of the pre-war prototype projects to be usefully assessed despite the fact that very little of the material was written with that end in view. More specifically the analysis of historical airship activities (AHAA) revealed that it was possible to retrieve a considerable amount of lost or forgotten knowledge concerning the ground handling of very large airships, also to unearth ideas that were ahead of their time, which might be applicable today or in the future; and in addition to identify several areas worthy of further investigation (e. g. ideas that were rejected at the time but which may now be feasible due to technological progress). The research and analysis also uncovered some ideas and suggested solutions which are fundamentally flawed and that should be avoided by designers of large airships and their support systems. The work includes a detailed analysis of the tasks involved in the ground handling of very large airships and concludes with a suggested strategy for all those intent upon the design and planning of ground support infrastructures for any further large airship development projects either today or in the future

Antimicrobial activity of Manuka honey against antibiotic resistant strains of the cell wall free bacteria Ureaplasma parvum and Ureaplasma urealyticum

The susceptibility of the cell-wall free bacterial pathogens Ureaplasma spp. to Manuka honey was examined. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of Manuka honey for four Ureaplasma urealyticum and four Ureaplasma parvum isolates was determined. Sensitivity to honey was also compared to clinical isolates with resistance to tetracycline, macrolide and fluoroquinolone antibiotics. Finally step-wise resistance training was utilised in an attempt to induce increased tolerance to honey. The MIC was dependent on the initial bacterial load with 7.5% and 18.0% w/v honey required to inhibit U. urealyticum at 1 and 106 colour changing units (CCU), respectively, and 4.8% and 15.3% w/v required to inhibit U. parvum at 1 and 106 CCU, respectively. MIC values were consistently lower for U. parvum compared with U. urealyticum. Antimicrobial activity was seen against tetracycline resistant, erythromycin resistant and ciprofloxacin resistant isolates at 105 CCU. No resistance to honey was observed with fifty consecutive challenges at increasing concentrations of honey. This is the first report of the antimicrobial activity of Manuka honey against a cell-wall free bacterial pathogen. The antimicrobial activity was retained against antibiotic resistant strains and it was not possible to generate resistant mutants

Bonnie Camplin (Camden Arts Centre: September 2016 - January 2017)

Exhibition catalogue published on the occasion of the exhibition held at the Camden Arts Centre, London, 30 September 2016 - 8 January 2017. Includes an essay by Paul Pieroni

Orientational Defects in Ice Ih: An Interpretation of Electrical Conductivity Measurements

We present a first-principles study of the structure and energetics of Bjerrum defects in ice Ih and compare the results to experimental electrical conductivity data. While the DFT result for the activation energy is in good agreement with experiment, we find that its two components have quite different values. Aside from providing new insight into the fundamental parameters of the microscopic electrical theory of ice, our results suggest the activity of traps in doped ice in the temperature regime typically assumed to be controlled by the free migration of L defects.Comment: 4 pages, 4 Figures, 1 Tabl

The age of undeformed dacite intrusions within the Kolaka Fault zone, SE Sulawesi, Indonesia

We present petrologic, geochemical and U-Pb sensitive high resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) data from previously undocumented dacite intrusions from the SE Arm of Sulawesi. The dacites occur in a strand of a major fault (the Kolaka Fault) that crosses the SE Arm of Sulawesi and northern Bone Bay. U-Pb SHRIMP dating shows the Kolaka Dacite yields zircon grains and overgrowths that range between ca. 4 and 7. Ma, indicating active magmatism in SE Sulawesi at this time. The youngest age population (4.4. ±. 0.2. Ma) from this range is interpreted to be the maximum crystallization age for the dacite. The Kolaka Dacite is undeformed, and so potentially intruded during or after movement within a strand of the Kolaka Fault. The dacites may have otherwise been emplaced passively along existing foliation planes in the country rock schist. Additional U-Pb data were collected from inherited zircons, yielding ages between 8. Ma and 1854. Ma. We consider that these inherited zircons are xenocrysts, derived from either (1) a partially melted protolith and/or (2) xenocrysts assimilated during ascent of the magma. In either case, the inherited zircons record the age of the basement rocks beneath this part of SE Sulawesi. These inherited zircon cores show that the SE arm of Sulawesi is underlain by Proterozoic or younger material, validating earlier ideas that the crust here was derived from Gondwana

Desorption and crystallisation of binary 2-propanol and water ices adsorbed on graphite

Alcohols, including 2-propanol, are important in a range of industrial applications, and are also found in cold astrophysical environments such as comets and interstellar space, where they are often frozen out on carbonaceous grain surfaces. In these regions, the interaction between alcohols and water ice plays a crucial role in the surface chemistry. We have therefore undertaken a detailed temperature programmed desorption (TPD) and reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS) investigation to elucidate the physical chemistry of the adsorption, desorption and crystallisation of 2-propanol and water ices adsorbed on graphite at 26 K. Hydrogen bonding plays a critical role in the physical chemistry of both pure 2-propanol and of binary ices containing 2-propanol and water ice. Monolayer 2-propanol physisorbs strongly on the graphite surface, and with increasing coverage, annealing leads to the desorption of first amorphous, and then crystalline, 2-propanol multilayers. Crystallisation is also evident in RAIR spectra, which show marked changes on annealing of the adsorbed 2-propanol layer. In binary ice systems containing amorphous solid water and 2-propanol, the desorption and crystallisation of the alcohol is modified. The water ice inhibits the 2-propanol crystallisation and gives rise to co-desorption in TPD. In addition, the 2-propanol also strongly influences the behaviour of the water, with even small amounts of the alcohol changing the crystallisation kinetics of water ice, leading to the desorption of water solely in its amorphous form