ethicalabs/Research-Intent-Collab huggingface dataset:
International Monitoring and Domestic Accountability: Evidence from the United Nations Human Rights Council

This article examines how international monitoring affects legal accountability for human rights violations. International organizations often publicize human rights violations to pressure non-compliant states to change their behavior; however, recent research suggests that publicity can prompt intransigence or backlash, undercutting the advancement of human rights. Drawing on the sociological concept of reactivity, I argue that states respond to monitoring strategically: they adopt some visible accountability measures to signal their intention to comply, while also attempting to reduce the risk that future violations will be uncovered. To test this argument, I leverage a lottery used to determine the schedule of Universal Periodic Review, a human rights monitoring mechanism implemented by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Consistent with my argument, I find that monitoring increases the likelihood that political prisoners are released and that government officials are prosecuted for past violations, but decreases the likelihood that truth commissions are created.
Connect Sensor Networks to the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) provides unparalleled means to connect the physical world with the digital world, enabling important applications such as Smart Infrastructures, Smart Parking, and Smart Toys. But existing systems are typically proprietary and tailored to one specific application and sacrifice interoperability for low power consumption. This hinders widespread adoption. This PhD thesis presents the scientific outcomes of a three-year research activity on low power IP-based wireless sensor networks. Within the scope of the FP7 CALIPSO (“Connect All IP-based Smart Objects!”) project, this thesis studies limitations and enhancements of the standard IETF/IPv6 framework, which includes the recent RPL (“Routing Protocol for Low Power and Lossy Networks”), 6LowPAN (“IPv6 over Low power Wireless Personal Area Networks”), and CoAP (“Constrained Application Protocol”) protocols, with a deep focus on radio duty cycling. In particular, the thesis contributes to three layers of the low power IP stack: MAC, network, and application. It also investigates cross-layer research challenges related to security in IoT. Each contribution has been implemented as open source software for Contiki OS, Europe’s leading smart object operating system, and evaluated through simulations as well as experiments on target IoT-based applications and testbeds.
Goku: A Schemaless Time Series Database for Large Scale Monitoring at Pinterest

Engineers rely heavily on observability tools to monitor their business and system metrics and set up alerting on it. A reliable and efficient monitoring system is very important for development velocity. In this paper, we introduce Goku, a time series database (TSDB) we built from the ground up at Pinterest. Over the years, we have studied user patterns and common requests to constantly evolve Goku to store and serve the use cases at Pinterest with high efficiency and reduced costs. At its core, Goku uses tiered storage to store new and frequently queried metrics data in memory while leveraging solid state drive (SSD) and hard disks (HDD) for older data. Goku aggregates metrics data at write time while also rolling up datapoints with lower time granularity to low latency to certain use cases. Goku also supports modifying configurations on metrics data like time to live (TTL), rollup granularity, backfilling capability, etc. Using multiple replicas and AWS S3 as backup, Goku is highly available and fault tolerant.
Epigenetic Regulation of the H19 Chromatin Insulator in Development and Disease

The coordinated regulation of gene expression must be tightly controlled for normal development to occur. In mammals, this issue is further complicated by the requirement of both the maternal and paternal genomes for normal development, reflecting the fact that a subset of genes are monoallelically expressed depending on parental inheritance, a phenomenon known as genomic imprinting. The imprinted H19 and Igf2 genes are often considered as paradigms of genomic imprinting, since their monoallelic expression patterns are coordinated via a short stretch of sequence upstream of H19, known as the imprinting control region (ICR). This region is differentially methylated, with specific CpG methylation on the paternal allele. It is shown here that the ICR harbours several maternal-specific hypersensitive sites, located in linker regions between positioned nucleosomes. Furthermore, this region functions as an orientation-dependent insulator, that binds the chromatin insulator factor CTCF. The hypothesis that the methylation status of the ICR dictates the activity of the Igf2 gene 90 kb further upstream was confirmed by the demonstration that the insulator function is lost when the ICR is CpG methylated. The ICR has previously been shown to act as a silencer when positioned in a promotor-proximal position. The cause of this silencing was shown to be distance-dependent, suggesting that the silencing features of the ICR depend on a chromatin conformation that renders adjacent sequences inaccessible to the RNA polymerase. These data issue a cautionary note with respect to the interpretation of silencer functions. In several forms of cancer, the normally silent maternal IGF2 gene is expressed, possibly as a result of loss of insulator function at the ICR. The utilisation of CTCF target-sites was analysed in different tumours, and was shown to be highly variable. Methylation analysis showed that potential loss of insulator function and gain of methylation at the maternal ICR did not always correlate with biallelic expression of IGF2. Further investigations uncovered a novel mechanism, in which the activation of the IGF2 promoter was independent of insulator function in some cancers. This thesis shows that the regulation of the imprinted state of Igf2 depends on the formation of an epigenetically regulated chromatin insulator, and that the loss of IGF2 imprinting in human cancer can be attributed to several mechanisms, including a novel mechanism that neutralises chromatin insulator function.
On the Ionisation Fraction in Protoplanetary Disks I: Comparing Different Reaction Networks

We calculate the ionisation fraction in protostellar disk models using a number of different chemical reaction networks, including gas-phase and gas-grain reaction schemes. The disk models we consider are conventional alpha-disks, which include viscous heating and radiative cooling. The primary source of ionisation is assumed to be X-ray irradiation from the central star. We consider a number of gas-phase chemical networks. In general we find that the simple models predict higher fractional ionisation levels and more extensive active zones than the more complex models. When heavy metal atoms are included the simple models predict that the disk is magnetically active throughout. The complex models predict that extensive regions of the disk remain magnetically uncoupled even with a fractional abundance of magnesium of 10(-8). The addition of submicron sized grains with a concentration of 10(-12) causes the size of the dead zone to increase dramatically for all kinetic models considered. We find that the simple and complex gas-grain reaction schemes agree on the size and structure of the resulting dead zone. We examine the effects of depleting the concentration of small grains as a crude means of modeling the growth of grains during planet formation. We find that a depletion factor of 10(-4) causes the gas-grain chemistry to converge to the gas-phase chemistry when heavy metals are absent. 10(-8) is required when magnesium is included. This suggests that efficient grain growth and settling will be required in protoplanetary disks, before a substantial fraction of the disk mass in the planet forming zone between 1 - 10 AU becomes magnetically active and turbulent.
The Role Of Grenelle II In Corporate Social Responsibility Integrated Reporting

There is in the paper, the analysis of the Grenelle II act from Corporate Social Responsibility reporting point of view. France has long been an important global champion of corporate sustainability reporting. While this trend has advanced the integration of CSR into business practices, the increasing number of regulations has also made it more complicated and costly for international companies to create reports that fulfill the differing requirements of each foreign law. The Grenelle 2 law adopted in July 2010, implements the Grenelle 1 goals. It sets specific objectives, strategic, incentives and regulations. This Act aims at forcing companies to progress in reporting their environmental and social information: there is no sanction (such as fines), requirements are on a “comply or explain” basis and the implementation is progressive. The main advantage of such an Grenelle II Act is a beginning and will have to be rewritten and improved, taking into account the international movement – is to shift minds regarding CSR. CSR and extra-financial information has nothing to do with communication anymore: it is clearly a strategic and management process, facilitated by the reporting process.
Improving AlphaFold predicted contacts inalpha-helical transmembrane proteins structuresusing structural features

Abstract         Background: Residue contacts maps offer a 2-d reduced representation of 3-dprotein structures and constitute a structural constraint and scaffold in structuralmodeling. In addition, contact maps are also an effective tool in identifying interhelicalbinding sites and drawing insights about protein function. While mostworks predict contact maps using features derived from sequences, we believeinformation from known structures can be leveraged for a prediction improvementin unknown structures where decent approximate structures such as onespredicted by AlphaFold2 are available. Results: Alphafold2’s predicted structures are found to be quite accurate atinter-helical residue contact prediction task, achieving 83% average precision. Weadopt an unconventional approach, using features extracted from atomic structuresin the neighborhood of a residue pair and use them to predicting residuecontact. We trained on features derived from experimentally determined structuresand predicted on features derived from AlphaFold2’s predicted structures.Our results demonstrate a remarkable improvement over AlphaFold2 achievingover 91.9% average precision for held-out and over 89.5% average precision incross validation experiments. Conclusion: Training on features generated from experimentally determinedstructures, we were able to leverage knowledge from known structures to significantlyimprove the contacts predicted using AlphaFold2 structures. Wedemonstrated that using coordinates directly (instead of the proposed features)does not lead to an improvement in contact prediction performance.
Empowering Water and Sanitation Rights Through Digital Justice, Legal Reform, and Inclusive Governance

This chapter examines how digital justice, legal reform, and inclusive governance can be harnessed to advance equitable access to water and sanitation as essential human rights. It draws upon international legal instruments such as the ICESCR and the UN Watercourses Convention to explore how digital technologies, regulatory innovation, and smart infrastructure can support rights-based water and sanitation systems. Emphasis is placed on the intersection of environmental justice, digital inclusion, and legal empowerment in addressing systemic inequalities that affect marginalized populations. The chapter highlights how data-driven governance and public-private collaboration can improve transparency, accountability, and accessibility in service delivery. By framing water and sanitation access within the evolving discourse on civil rights in the digital era, the chapter advocates for forward-looking, interdisciplinary strategies that integrate law, technology, and sustainable development to build inclusive and resilient infrastructure.
By Insurers, For Insurers: The UK’s Liability Regime for Autonomous Vehicles

Abstract                The United Kingdom has enacted legislation to govern the liability of highly autonomous vehicles. The chosen method is peculiar, with liability placed on motor (auto) insurers despite the lack of a corresponding liability on road users. This article seeks to explain why the UK government was so invested in maintaining mass market motor insurance policies (instead of a system based on motor manufacturer liability) and suggests that the answer lies in insurers’ desire to harvest customer data. We are the product.
EfficientUNetViT: Efficient Breast Tumor Segmentation Utilizing UNet Architecture and Pretrained Vision Transformer

This study introduces a sophisticated neural network structure for segmenting breast tumors. It achieves this by combining a pretrained Vision Transformer (ViT) model with a UNet framework. The UNet architecture, commonly employed for biomedical image segmentation, is further enhanced with depthwise separable convolutional blocks to decrease computational complexity and parameter count, resulting in better efficiency and less overfitting. The ViT, renowned for its robust feature extraction capabilities utilizing self-attention processes, efficiently captures the overall context within images, surpassing the performance of conventional convolutional networks. By using a pretrained ViT as the encoder in our UNet model, we take advantage of its extensive feature representations acquired from extensive datasets, resulting in a major enhancement in the model’s ability to generalize and train efficiently. The suggested model has exceptional performance in segmenting breast cancers from medical images, highlighting the advantages of integrating transformer-based encoders with efficient UNet topologies. This hybrid methodology emphasizes the capabilities of transformers in the field of medical image processing and establishes a new standard for accuracy and efficiency in activities related to tumor segmentation.
X-ray Spectroscopy of Disk Winds in Black Hole X-ray Binaries

Powerful outflows along the accretion disk, known as disk winds, are sometimes launched in black hole X-ray binaries. These winds often manifest themselves in X-ray spectra as blueshifted, highly ionized absorption lines. Previous observations suggest that the mass loss rate from the disk due to disk winds can be comparable to or even more than the mass accretion rate onto the black hole, indicating that disk winds likely play crucial roles in shaping the accretion disk structure and affecting the surrounding environment. However, the mechanisms driving these winds, as well as how their structure changes in response to variations in the mass accretion rate, remain poorly understood. The X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), launched in September 2023, is equipped with Resolve, a cutting-edge X-ray micro-calorimeter that delivers unprecedented spectral resolution. Resolve is expected to significantly advance our understanding of wind launching mechanisms and their impact on accretion processes and environments. In this article, we review the progress made in the pre-XRISM era, highlight key results obtained from XRISM observations to date, and outline future prospects.
Reassessing judicial independence and impartiality against the backdrop of judicial appointments in South Africa

The South African Judicial Service Commission (JSC), considered to be exemplary for its independence, plays a pivotal part in judicial appointments. Yet the Commission has long been marred by tensions that have lately erupted into a full-blown conflict between those who could here be referred to as the transformationists, on the one hand, and the liberals, on the other. The transformationists, who may generally be regarded as falling within the sphere of influence of the ruling elite under the African National Congress (ANC), are bent on pursuing the policy of transformation. Hence they insist that the composition of the bench must reflect the national population profile and on individual judges' pursuing the ruling party's ideological goals. The liberals reject this as a threat to judicial independence and the professional competence of the judiciary. On close analysis the clash is based on incompatible interpretations of judicial independence and impartiality. This article is a critique of these interpretations against the backdrop of an assessment of what these notions can reasonably be expected to achieve.&#x0D; It is argued that the liberals are harbouring unrealistic views about judiciaries, believing them to wield power which may even extend over matters of political significance, powers on a par with or even outweighing those of the political branches. However, on proper analysis it is clear that the judiciary is in fact, firstly, inherently weak and dependent on the support of the political branches; and, secondly, it is integrated into the ruling elite with whom they share the same ideological assumptions without any inclination to oppose them. Hence, the impartiality of the courts, when it comes to politically sensitive issues, is distinctively politically (regime) relative and ideologically conditioned.&#x0D; Ironically the transformationists have bought into the liberals' erroneous belief in the potency of the courts (in the above-mentioned sense) and they fear, without foundation, for the political risks the courts might be posing to the ruling elite. This fear is based on an exaggerated vision of the far-reaching consequences that they ascribe to judicial independence and impartiality, believing it to render the judiciary a formidable political force on a par with the political branches. The transformationists would therefore go to extreme lengths to secure an amenable judiciary. This is exemplified by their rather improper insistence that the best candidates need not be appointed, thus compromising even the (limited) independence and impartiality which courts, on a realistic assessment, should have. In doing this the transformationists show a serious lack of appreciation of the distinctive professional nature of the judiciary, whose independence, impartiality and effectiveness are rooted not in political might but in the exceptional professional competence of the incumbents on the bench, who should be drawn from the best candidates the legal professional can produce.&#x0D;
Automated Deployment of Full-Stack Applications Using a CI/CD Pipeline in a DevOps Environment

Modern software development requires rapid and reliable deployment mechanisms to maintain system stability and ensure faster delivery of new features. Traditional deployment methods often rely on manual configuration processes that are time-consuming and prone to human error. DevOps practices address these challenges by introducing automation across the software development lifecycle using Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines.  This paper presents the design and implementation of an automated CI/CD pipeline for deploying a Full-Stack application using modern DevOps tools and cloud infrastructure. The proposed framework integrates GitHub for source code management, Jenkins for automated pipeline execution, Maven for build automation, SonarQube for code quality analysis, and Trivy for vulnerability scanning. Docker is used for containerization, while Kubernetes orchestrates container deployment within a cloud infrastructure hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS).  The automated pipeline streamlines the software delivery workflow by integrating code validation, containerization, and cloud deployment within a unified system. By reducing manual intervention and ensuring consistent deployment environments, the proposed system improves reliability, efficiency, and scalability in modern application deployment.
From the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights to the African Court of Justice and Human Rights

The establishment of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights was need based. The frequent human atrocities in Africa are a clear testimony of the inefficiency of the African Commission and impunity of African Governments. Extra-judicial executions, massacres, torture, disappearances, arbitrary detention and political surveillance and harassment are a common place in the entire continent This chapter traces the origin of the African Commission, its architecture and design and the rationale for setting up the Court. It then examines the functioning of the Court and its complimentary role to the Commission. The chapter further analyses the proposed merger of the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights with the African Court of Justice to form the 'African Court of Justice and Human Rights' (the merged Court). Lastly, the mandate of the merged Court is considered and its future implications to the eff ective protection of human rights in Africa.  Keywords:African Commission; African Court; Human rights; Peoples rights
Computer-Enhanced Knowledge Discovery in Environmental Science

Encouraging the use of computer algorithms by developing new algorithms and introducing uncommonly known algorithms for use on environmental science problems is a significant contribution, as it provides knowledge discovery tools to extract new aspects of results and draw new insights, additional to those from general statistical methods. Conducting analysis with appropriately chosen methods, in terms of quality of performance and results, computation time, flexibility and applicability to data of various natures, will help decision making in the policy development and management process for environmental studies. This thesis has three fundamental aims and motivations. Firstly, to develop a flexibly applicable attribute selection method, Tree Node Selection (TNS), and a decision tree assessment tool, Tree Node Selection for assessing decision tree structure (TNS-A), both of which use decision trees pre-generated by the widely used C4.5 decision tree algorithm as their information source, to identify important attributes from data. TNS helps the cost effective and efficient data collection and policy making process by selecting fewer, but important, attributes, and TNS-A provides a tool to assess the decision tree structure to extract information on the relationship of attributes and decisions. Secondly, to introduce the use of new, theoretical or unknown computer algorithms, such as the K-Maximum Subarray Algorithm (K-MSA) and Ant-Miner, by adjusting and maximizing their applicability and practicality to assess environmental science problems to bring new insights. Additionally, the unique advanced statistical and mathematical method, Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA), is demonstrated as a data pre-processing method to help improve C4.5 results on noisy measurements. Thirdly, to promote, encourage and motivate environmental scientists to use ideas and methods developed in this thesis. The methods were tested with benchmark data and various real environmental science problems: sea container contamination, the Weed Risk Assessment model and weed spatial analysis for New Zealand Biosecurity, air pollution, climate and health, and defoliation imagery. The outcome of this thesis will be to introduce the concept and technique of data mining, a process of knowledge discovery from databases, to environmental science researchers in New Zealand and overseas by collaborating on future research to achieve, together with future policy and management, to maintain and sustain a healthy environment to live in.