Regular Traits Research Articles

The Accountability Turn in Third Wave Human Rights Fact-Finding

Whereas the characteristics of human rights fact-finding largely vary depending on the typology and scope of the entity that carries it out, consensus seems to be developing that a common set of challenges to human rights fact-finding exists. This is especially so when carried out under United Nations auspices. For example, it has long been acknowledged that the very nature of the institution, sitting as it does at the crossroads of international politics, as well as the seemingly irresolvable tension between calls for human rights protection on the one hand, and State sovereignty on the other, present some structural challenges to human rights fact-finding. Furthermore, issues of coordination between the United Nations and other institutions (such as international governmental and non-governmental organisations, or international tribunals), as well as what some have called a ‘lack of institutional memory’ arguably often feature as regular traits among fact-finding mechanisms. In recent years, a further set of challenges has been added to the mix by additional requirements, featuring increasingly often in mandates, that instruct fact-finding mechanisms to make further determinations of facts (concerning, e.g. , the identity of those most responsible for the violations being documented, or the existence of an armed conflict) and even consider questions of law ( e.g. the qualification of the violations as crimes under international law). Building on an expanding body of scholarship on the subject, as well as the author’s own experience with fact-finding efforts sitting at the intersection between traditional international human rights law and international criminal justice, this article argues: (i) that human rights fact-finding has evolved in three waves; (ii) that the third wave of human rights fact-finding is characterised by an “accountability turn”; and that (iii) this turn has brought about an additional set of challenges to the already thin-stretched capacity of UN human rights inquiries. By virtue of the arguments advanced in this article, the author posits that updating and solidifying the human rights fact-finding methodology can assist United Nations inquiries and other human rights fact-finders in strengthening the credibility of their findings.

A comparison between conventional liposome and drug-cyclodextrin complex in liposome system

A drug-cyclodextrin complex in liposome system was prepared in order to make a comparison with conventional risperidone-loaded liposome. Thin film hydration, reverse phase evaporation and ethanol injection methods were taken as preparation means to obtain the two types of liposome. Differential thermal analysis (DTA) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to investigate the thermal characters of inclusion complexes and morphology of liposome, respectively. Particle size, zeta potential and encapsulation efficiency were studied by light scattering analysis and ultrafiltration. In vitro release was carried out in the pH 7.4 phosphate buffer solution and samples were collected at the certain time. As a result, drug-cyclodextrin complex in liposome prepared by various methods displayed lower encapsulation efficiency than conventional liposome. However, size was larger and its stability was better than the latter. The second release phase of novel delivery system was slightly slower after initial burst release at the first phase, while the conventional liposome displayed a more regular trait. Thus, the novel liposome have potential to be developed as co-administration formulation with long-acting injection.

The Informational Patterns of Laughter

Laughter is one of the most characteristic -and enigmatic- communicational traits of human individuals. Its analysis has to take into account a variety of emotional, social, cognitive, and communicational factors densely interconnected. In this article we study laughter just as an auditive signal (as a 'neutral' information carrier), and we compare its structure with the regular traits of linguistic signals. In the experimental records of human laughter that we have performed, the most noticeable trait is the disorder content of frequencies. In comparison with the sonograms of vowels, the information content of which appears as a characteristic, regular function of the first vibration modes of the dynamic system formed, for each vowel, by the vocal cords and the accompanying resonance of the vocalization apparatus, the sonograms of laughter are highly irregular. In the episodes of laughter, a highly random content in frequencies appears, reason why it cannot be considered as a genuine codification of patterned information like in linguistic signals. In order to numerically gauge the disorder content of laughter frequencies, we have performed several "entropy" measures of the spectra -trying to unambiguously identify spontaneous laughter from "faked", articulated laughter. Interestingly, Shannon's entropy (the most natural candidate) performs rather poorly.

The Terracotta Protomai from Gela: A Discussion of Local Style in Archaic Sicily. By Jaimée P. Uhlenbrock.

The Archaic sculpture of western Greeks challenges stylistic categorization. Identification of distinctive local schools in southern Italy and Sicily is hindered by relative paucity and scattered occurrence of monumental sculpture. Moreover, statues and reliefs in baked clay (often quite fragmentary) comprise a sizable portion of corpus of large-scale works. Discussions of Archaic sculpture in West tend consequently to include examples even of small, molded, terracotta figurines-accompanied, of course, by customary caveats about comparing different scales and materials as well as cautionary reminders about problems inherent in assessing value of mass-produced, moldmade objects of minor art for stylistic analysis of monumental sculpture. Uhlenbrock attempts to demonstrate how by focusing on a single class of such moldmade terracottas-female protomes or masks-local sculptural style can indeed be successfully characterized. She bases her study on a corpus of some 1,000 female protomes from Gela and its hinterland in southeastern Sicily. The protomes come from excavations primarily of sanctuaries at Bitalemi, Predio Sola, Feudo Nobile, and on acropolis at Others come from sites further afield, such as Grammichele and Monte Bubbonia. The protomes from Gela lend themselves well to stylistic analysis due to their abundant number, near life-size scale, excellent state of preservation, high quality of workmanship, and their presence in stratigraphic contexts that provide well-defined chronological limits. By tapping this distinctive form of coroplastic sculpture for a discussion of Archaic style, Uhlenbrock's work joins studies by F. Croissant (Les protomes fiminines archaiques, Paris 1983) on protomes of mainland and eastern Greece and by M. Barra Bagnasco (Protomi in terracotta da Locri Epizefiri, Turin 1986) on those of Locri Epizephyrii in southern Italy. In introduction, Uhlenbrock deftly points out strengths, weaknesses, and inconsistencies of previous attempts to define local Siceliot sculptural styles and asserts that trends and traditions can only be illustrated by a plurality of works, sufficiently well preserved that demonstrate consistent and regular traits over a period of time. She holds that protomes from Gela provide just such a body of material; she sets out to show how this rich group of terracottas illustrates existence of a homogeneous local school of coroplastic sculpture, which, in her view, reflects the taste and traditions of monumental aesthetic of artisans at Gela.