Defamation of Religions: A Vague and Overbroad Theory that Threatens Basic Human Rights

Il contributo è pubblicato con il permesso della Brigham Young University Law Review - dove è apparso nel vol. n. 2 del 2010 (Tribute to Professor Michael Goldsmith), alle pp. 101-148) - e dell‖Autrice, che ringraziamo sentitamente. SUMMARY: 1. Introduction - 2. History of and Motivations for the OIC Defamation of Religions Resolutions - 2.a - The OIC Exerts a Concerted Effort to Protect Islam - 2.b - Terrorist Attacks and Danish Cartoons Raise the Stakes - 3. Defamation of Religions: A Permissible Restraint on Freedom of Speech and Expression? - 3.a - History, Basic Elements, and Contemporary Usage of Defamation - 3.b - Interaction Between Defamation of Religions and the Basic Human Rights Enumerated in Major International Instruments - 4. The Evolution of a Resolution - 4.a. 1999-2000: Beginnings - 4.b. 2001: A Pre-9/11 World - 4.c. 2002: Reactions to the Violent Backlash Against Muslims - 4.d. 2003-2004: Fluctuations in Support - 4.e. 2005: Intensification of a Campaign - 4.f. 2006-2007: The Move to the General Assembly - 4.g. 2008: Decreasing Margins of Support - 4.h. 2009: Current Resolution and Recommendations for Application - 5. Consequences of Accepting the Resolutions and Subsequent Enactment of Statutes Designed to Prevent Defamation of Religions - 5.a. Human Rights Committee - 5.b. The European Court of Human Rights - 5.c. Blasphemy, Incitement, and Hate Speech Laws and Their Enforcement - 5.d. Possible Future Statutes and Enforcement Under Defamation of Religions Theory - 6. Alternatives to Defamation of Religions in the U.N. Resolutions - 7. Conclusion

Preference fusion and Condorcet's Paradox under uncertainty

Facing an unknown situation, a person may not be able to firmly elicit his/her preferences over different alternatives, so he/she tends to express uncertain preferences. Given a community of different persons expressing their preferences over certain alternatives under uncertainty, to get a collective representative opinion of the whole community, a preference fusion process is required. The aim of this work is to propose a preference fusion method that copes with uncertainty and escape from the Condorcet paradox. To model preferences under uncertainty, we propose to develop a model of preferences based on belief function theory that accurately describes and captures the uncertainty associated with individual or collective preferences. This work improves and extends the previous results. This work improves and extends the contribution presented in a previous work. The benefits of our contribution are twofold. On the one hand, we propose a qualitative and expressive preference modeling strategy based on belief-function theory which scales better with the number of sources. On the other hand, we propose an incremental distance-based algorithm (using Jousselme distance) for the construction of the collective preference order to avoid the Condorcet Paradox.Comment: International Conference on Information Fusion, Jul 2017, Xi'an, Chin

Geršgorin and Beyond•••

Eigenvalues are useful in various areas of mathematics, such as in testing the critical values of a multi variable function to see if it is a local extrema. One of the more common ways to define eigenvalues is: Definition (1): Given that A is an n by n matrix, λ is an eigenvalue of A if and only if det(A - λIn) = 0. Any nonzero vector in Null(A - λI) is called an eigenvector associated with λ

The Influence of Maternally Regulated Prenatal Sensory Experience on Postnatal Motor Coordination in Neonatal Bobwhite Quail

Comparative animal studies aid in understanding how prenatal sensory experiences regulated by maternal activity facilitate or interfere with growth and phenotype development. However, there is a paucity of information on how prenatal sensory experience influence postnatal motor performance. In this series of studies, we used an avian model, the bobwhite quail, to evaluate the effects of prenatal temperature (study 1), prenatal movement (study 2), prenatal light duration (study 3), and prenatal light presentation pattern (study 4) on hatchability, growth and postnatal motor performance in 24hr quail neonates. In study 1, quail embryos were exposed to naturally occurring cool (36.9°C) or warm (38.1°C) temperatures for a brief 4-day period during early incubation. In study 2, quail embryos were exposed to increased or decreased egg turning experience during the second week of incubation. In study 3, quail embryos were exposed to 6hrs or 2hrs of crepuscular light stimulation during the final days of incubation. In study 4, quail embryos were exposed to either sporadic or crepuscular light patterns for either 2hrs or 6hrs durations during the final days of incubation. All studies, except for Study 4, were compared to control chicks who had received industry standard care throughout incubation, which included optimal temperature exposure of 37.5°C, movement every 2 hours, and light exposure for a 12hr on/off cycle. Motor performance, body mass and tarsometatarsus length (indicators of growth) were evaluated 24hrs after hatching. Cool thermal exposure delayed hatching, reduced body mass, and decreased motor performance. Warm thermal exposure delayed bone growth and increased fall frequency. Decreased movement exposure delayed hatching, reduced body mass, and delayed motor performance. Increased movement exposure delayed motor performance and reduced body mass, but did not delay hatching. Crepuscular light exposure negatively influenced growth and decreased motor performance, but only delayed hatching in the 2hr crepuscular treatment. Lastly, results from study 4 demonstrated sporadic light presentation improved gait performance in 2hr exposed chicks and improved growth indicators in 6hr exposed chicks. This series of studies provide evidence that maternally regulated prenatal experience contributes to postnatal motor performance and highlights the importance of non-obvious stimulation for typical motor development

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThrough providing support with training, coaching, and funding, Utah‘s Academic, Behavior & Coaching Initiative (ABC-UBI) program strives to assist schools with the implementation of evidence-based practices for both positive behavior support as well as academic instruction. As an increasing number of schools participate in the ABC-UBI program, the goal of this study was to determine what kind of a difference ABC-UBI participation makes for student and staff outcomes. Specifically, this study tested for differences in staff perceptions of the Response to Intervention (RTI) model, the degree of school-wide Positive Behavior Support implementation, school climate, and academic outcomes on the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) and end-of-year Criterion-referenced tests. Of the 17 areas measured, ABC-UBI schools performed better than non-ABC-UBI schools in 16 areas. With sample sizes of only 2 in each group, statistical significance was nearly impossible to attain, but in spite of limited statistical significance, ABC-UBI participation resulted in large effect sizes. Future directions for research and practice are discussed herein