Uyghurs In Xinjiang. The malaise grows.

International audienceAfter September 11th 2001, the Chinese regime strove to include its repression of Uyghur opposition within the international dynamic of thestruggle against Islamic terrorist networks

Accountability of Algorithms in the GDPR and Beyond: A European Legal Framework on Automated Decision-Making

Automated decision systems appear to carry higher risks today than they ever have before. Digital technologies collect massive amounts of data and evaluate people in every aspect of their lives, such as housing and employment. This collected information is ranked through the use of algorithms. The use of such algorithms may be problematic. Because the results obtained through algorithms are created by machines, they are often assumed to be immune from human biases. However, algorithms are the product of human thinking and, as such, can perpetuate existing stereotypes and social segregation. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that algorithms are not accountable. This Article explores problems related to algorithmic bias, error, and discrimination which exists due to a lack of transparency and understanding behind a machine’s design or instruction. This Article deals with the European Union’s legal framework on decision-making on the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and some Member State implementation laws, with specific emphasis on French law. This Article argues that the European framework does not adequately address the algorithm’s problems of opacity and discrimination related to machine learning processing and the explanations of automated decision-making. The Article proceeds by evaluating limitations to the legal remedies provided by the GDPR. In particular, the GDPR’s lack of a right to individual explanation regarding these decisions poses a problem. Furthermore, the Article also argues that the GDPR allows for too many flexibilities for individual Member States, thus failing to create a “digital single market.” Finally, this Article proposes certain solutions to address the opacity and bias problems of automated decision-making

Magnetic Fields in Star-Forming Molecular Clouds I. The First Polarimetry of OMC-3 in Orion A

The first polarimetric images of the OMC-3 region of the Orion A filamentary molecular cloud are presented. Using the JCMT, we have detected polarized thermal emission at 850 microns from dust along a 6' length of the dense filament. The polarization pattern is highly ordered and is aligned with the filament throughout most of the region. The plane-of-sky magnetic field direction is perpendicular to the measured polarization. The mean percentage polarization is 4.2% with a 1 sigma dispersion of 1%. This region is part of the integral-shaped filament, and active star formation is ongoing along its length. The protostellar outflow directions do not appear to be consistently correlated with the direction of the plane-of-sky field or the filament structure itself. Depolarization toward the filament center, previously detected in many other star-forming cores and protostars, is also evident in our data. (abstract abridged)Comment: 9 pages plus 2 figures (1 colour); accepted for publication in the March 10, 2000 issue (vol. 531 #2) of The Astrophysical Journa

Deep Near-Infrared Observations and Identifications of Chandra Sources in the Orion Molecular Cloud 2 and 3

We conducted deep NIR imaging observations of the Orion molecular cloud 2 and 3 using QUIRC on the 88-inch telescope of the University of Hawaii. Our purposes are 1) to generate a comprehensive NIR source catalog of these star forming clouds, and 2) to identify the NIR counterpart of the Chandra X-ray sources that have no counterpart in the 2MASS catalog. Our J-, H-, and K-band observations are about 2 mag deeper than those of 2MASS, and well match the current Chandra observation. We detected 1448 NIR sources, for which we derived the position, the J-, H-, and K-band magnitude, and the 2MASS counterpart. Using this catalog, we identified the NIR counterpart for about 42% of the 2MASS-unIDed Chandra sources. The nature of these Chandra sources are discussed using their NIR colors and spatial distributions, and a dozen protostar and brown dwarf candidates are identified.Comment: 39 pages, 9 postscript figures, accepted for publication in A

Andrée Feillard ed., L’Islam en Asie, du Caucase à la Chine

This collection sets out to show that Asian Islam is not peripheral, as is often supposed. Relying on their own specialist knowledge, each author gives a general picture of the historical spread of Islam in their particular area: in Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia for Stéphane Dudoignon; the Indian subcontinent for Aminah Mohammad-Arif; South-East Asia for Andrée Feillard; and China for Elisabeth Allès. They then analyse the current situation, with particular reference to such topics a..

Jérôme Doyon, Négocier la place de l'islam chinois. Les associations islamiques de Nankin à l'ère des réformes,

Cet ouvrage est issu du travail de recherche mené par Jérôme Doyon dans le cadre de son mémoire de fin de master. Ce jeune chercheur menant aujourd’hui une thèse de doctorat en science politique a su conduire habilement une série de terrains durant le printemps 2011 au sein de la municipalité de Nankin. L’auteur a choisi de s’intéresser au rôle, au fonctionnement et aux interactions des branches locales de l’Association islamique de Chine (AIC) à Nankin (AIN) et au Jiangsu (AIJ). Il est part..