Seeking deliberation on the unborn in international law

International human rights instruments and jurisprudence radiate an understanding of international law as also serving to protect fundamental rights and the interests of the individual. The idea that human rights provide a credible framework for constructing common norms among nations and across cultures is both powerful and attractive. If the protection of being human serves as the common denominator in human rights discussion, and if human rights are deeply inclusive, despite being culturally and historically diverse, then a failure to deliberate on the legal status and protection of the unborn may be seen as a failure to extend respect where it is due. Such deliberation is required, irrespective of the fact that jurisprudential debate on the unborn and on abortion is complex and controversial. The protection of human life, well-being, and dignity are essential aims of the United Nations Charter and the international system created to implement it. Although there have been collective efforts resulting in substantial development in international human rights law, the international community has not approached the legal status and protection of the unborn as a matter of urgency – this, while much has been accomplished regarding women, children, animals and cloning. This article therefore argues for the development of a deliberative framework so as to further the recognition (not necessarily in an absolute sense) of the unborn in international law, bearing in mind that opposition to abortion does not of itself constitute an attack on a woman\u27s right to respect for privacy in her life. The article also sets out what such deliberation on the legal status and protection of the unborn entails, against the background of a procedurally-rational approach

Multifractal nature of seismic sequences distributed along the Pacific Ring of Fire

A multifractal methodology was utilized to analyze a set of seismic sequences distributed along the Pacific Ring of Fire, sourced from the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) catalog. The analysis employed the Multifractal Detrended Moving Average Analysis (MFDMA) method to characterize the multi-scale behavior using various geometrical parameters of the multifractal spectrum. The findings of this study can be summarized as follows: firstly, our research suggests that seismic sequences along the Ring of Fire exhibit distinct dynamics; and secondly, it indicates that long-range correlations may influence larger magnitude earthquakes, as demonstrated by the correlation with the $b_{\rm GR}$ index. These results contribute to an enhanced understanding of the multifractal characteristics of seismic activity and their implications for earthquake dynamics.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures and 1 table (submitted to EPL

Does e-learning policy drive change in Higher Education?: A case study relating models of organisational change to e-learning implementation

Due to the heightened competition introduced by the potential global market and the need for structural changes within organisations delivering e-content, e-learning policy is beginning to take on a more significant role within the context of educational policy per se. For this reason, it is becoming increasingly important to establish what effect such policies have and how they are achieved. This paper addresses this question, illustrating five ways in which change is understood (Fordist, evolutionary, ecological, community of practice and discourse-oriented) and then using this range of perspectives to explore how e-learning policy drives change (both organisational and pedagogic) within a selected higher education institution. The implications of this case are then discussed, and both methodological and pragmatic conclusions are drawn, considering the relative insights offered by the models and ways in which change around e-learning might be supported or promoted

The Unborn and A, B, & C v Ireland

From text: A, B, and C v Ireland (ABC-case) arose from an application lodged on 15 July 2005 to the European Court of Human Rights, which was directly referred to the Grand Chambers (thus indicating the importance of the case) for a hearing which commenced on 9 December 2009

Quark core formation in spinning-down pulsars

Pulsars spin-down due to magnetic torque reducing its radius and increasing the central energy density. Some pulsar which are born with central densities close to the critical value of quark deconfinement may undergo a phase transition and structural re-arrengement. This process may excite oscillation modes and emmit gravitational waves. We determine the rate of quark core formation in neutron stars using a realistic population synthesis code.Comment: Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Astronomy and Relativistic Astrophysics, to appear in IJMP

AN ATTEMPT TO LINK THE BRAZILIAN HEIGHT SYSTEM TO A WORLD HEIGHT SYSTEM

This paper deals with the geopotential approach to investigate the present BrazilianHeight System (BHS). Geopotential numbers are derived from Global PositioningSystem (GPS) satellite surveying and disturbing potential on selected benchmarks.A model for the disturbing potential can be obtained by an existing set of sphericalharmonic coefficients such as the Earth Gravity Model 2008 (EGM08). Theapproach provides absolute evaluation of local normal geopotential numbers (akaspheropotential numbers) related to a so-called World Height System (WHS). Totest the validity of the proposed methodology, a numerical experiment was carriedout related to a test region in Southern Brazil. The accuracy of the derivedgeopotential numbers was tested versus local normal geopotential numbers based on262 GPS/leveling points. The root mean square error (RMSE) value for metricoffset of BHS derived from geopotential numbers and the disturbing potentialmodeling in the test area was estimated to be near 0.224 meters in the absolute view.Therefore, since these spheropotential numbers are referred to a local datum, theseresults of comparisons may be an indicator of the mean bias of local network due tothe effect of local Sea Surface Topography (SSTop) and possible offset between theunknown reference for the BHS and the quasigeoid model in the region