Relatively Absolute? The Undermining of Article 3 ECHR in Ahmad v UK

The recent decision of the European Court of Human Rights in Ahmad v UK dangerously undermines the well-established case law of the Court on counter-terrorism and non-refoulement towards torture, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment. Although ostensibly rejecting the ‘relativist’ approach to Article 3 ECHR adopted by the House of Lords in Wellington v Secretary of State for the Home Department, the Court appeared to accept that what is a breach of Article 3 in a domestic context may not be a breach in an extradition or expulsion context. This statement is difficult to reconcile with the jurisprudence constante of the Court in the last fifteen years, according to which Article 3 ECHR is an absolute right in all its applications, including non-refoulement, regardless of who the potential victim of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment is, what she may have done, or where the treatment at issue would occur.

The 1996 ‘Muslim holiday’ affair. Religious competition and state mediation in contemporary Mozambique

Political commentators often cast religious con? ict as the result of the numerical growth and political rise of a single faith. When Islam is involved, arguments about religious fundamentalism are quick to surface and often stand as an explanation in their own right. Yet, as useful as this type of explanation may be, it usually fails to address properly, if at all, two sets of important issues. It avoids, Ž rst, the question of the rise of other religions and their contribution to tensions and con? icts. Second, it reduces the role of the State to a reactive one. The State becomes an object of contest or conquest, or it is simply ignored. Adopting a different approach, this article investigates a controversy that took place in Mozambique in 1996 around the ‘ofŽ cialisation’ of two Islamic holidays. It looks at the role played by religious competition and state mediation. The article shows that the State’s abandonment of religious regulation – the establishment of a free ‘religious market’ – fostered religious competition that created tensions between faiths. It suggests that strife ensued because deregulation was almost absolute: the State did not take a clear stand in religious matters and faith organisations started to believe that the State was becoming, or could become, confessional. The conclusion discusses theoretical implications for the understanding of religious strife as well as Church and State relations. It also draws some implications for the case of Mozambique more speciŽ cally, implications which should have relevance for countries such as Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe where problems of a similar nature have arisen.

Determination of absolute configuration of conformationally flexible cis-dihydrodiol metabolites: Effect of diene substitution pattern on the circular dichroism spectra and optical rotations

Absolute configurations of a number of cis-dihydrodiols (cis-1,2-dihydroxy-3,5-cyclohexadienes), synthetically useful products of TDO-catalyzed dihydroxylations of 1,2- and 1,3-disubstituted benzene derivatives, have been determined by a comparison of calculated and experimental CD spectra and optical rotations and by methods involving X-ray crystallography, H-1 NMR spectra of diastereoisomeric derivatives, and by stereochemical correlations. The computations disclosed a significant effect of the substituents on conformational equilibria of cis-dihydrodiols and chiroptical properties of individual conformers. The assigned absolute configurations of cis-dihydrodiols have allowed the validity of a simple predictive model for TDO-catalyzed arene dihydroxylations to be extended.

Absolute configuration of conformationally flexible cis-dihydrodiol metabolites by the method of confrontation of experimental and calculated electronic CD spectra and optical rotations

We have determined the absolute configurations of conformationally flexible cis-dihydrodiol metabolites (cis-1,2-dihydroxy-3,5-cyclohexadienes), bearing different substituents (e.g., Br, F, CF3, CN, Me) in 3- and 5-positions, by the method of confrontation of experimental and calculated electronic CD spectra and optical rotations. Convergent results were obtained by both methods in eight out of ten cases. For the difficult cases, where either conformer population and/or chiroptical properties (calculated rotational strengths of the long-wavelength Cotton effect or optical rotations) of contributing conformers remain inconclusive, the absolute configuration could still be correctly assigned based on one of the biased properties (either ECD or optical rotation). This approach appears well-suited for a broad spectrum of conformationally flexible chiral molecules.

Is the flow tube reactor with NO2 titration a reliable absolute source for atomic hydrogen?

The H+NO2 titration scheme for the determination of atomic hydrogen densities within a microwave excited flow tube reactor has been investigated by laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy in the vacuum UV. Absolute hydrogen densities are determined on the basis of calibration by Rayleigh scattering from argon. The measurement is performed at a gas mixture containing 0.5% of D2 added to the main gas H2. The ground state density of the hydrogen atoms generated in the flow tube reactor was inferred from the fluorescence radiation of the spectrally shifted optically thin D-Lyman-a transition.

Absolute Atomic Oxygen Density Distributions in the Effluent of a Micro Scale Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet

The coplanar microscale atmospheric pressure plasma jet (µ-APPJ) is a capacitively coupled radio frequency discharge (13.56 MHz, ~15W rf power) designed for optimized optical diagnostic access. It is operated in a homogeneous glow mode with a noble gas flow (1.4 slm He) containing a small admixture of molecular oxygen (~0.5%). Ground state atomic oxygen densities in the effluent up to 2 × 1014 cm-3 are measured by two-photon absorption laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy (TALIF) providing space resolved density maps. The quantitative calibration of the TALIF setup is performed by comparative measurements with xenon. A maximum of the atomic oxygen density is observed for 0.6% molecular oxygen admixture. Furthermore, an increase in the rf power up to about 15W (depending on gas flow and mixture) leads to an increase in the effluent’s atomic oxygen density, then reaching a constant level for higher powers.

Absolute atomic oxygen density profiles in the discharge core of a microscale atmospheric pressure plasma jet

The micro atmospheric pressure plasma jet is an rf driven (13.56 MHz, ~20 W) capacitively coupled discharge producing a homogeneous plasma at ambient pressure when fed with a gas flow of helium (1.4 slm) containing small admixtures of oxygen (~0.5%). The design provides excellent optical access to the plasma core. Ground state atomic oxygen densities up to 3x1016 cm-3 are measured spatially resolved in the discharge core by absolutely calibrated two-photon absorption laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy. The atomic oxygen density builds up over the first 8 mm of the discharge channel before saturating at a maximum level. The absolute value increases linearly with applied power.

What is an absolute right? Deciphering absoluteness in the context of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights

The answer to the question of what it means to say that a right is absolute is often taken for granted, yet still sparks doubt and scepticism. This article investigates absoluteness further, bringing rights theory and the judicial approach on an absolute right together. A theoretical framework is set up that addresses two distinct but potentially related parameters of investigation: the first is what I have labelled the ‘applicability’ criterion, which looks at whether and when the applicability of the standard referred to as absolute can be displaced, in other words whether other considerations can justify its infringement; the second parameter, which I have labelled the ‘specification’ criterion, explores the degree to which and bases on which the content of the standard characterised as absolute is specified. This theoretical framework is then used to assess key principles and issues that arise in the Strasbourg Court’s approach to Article 3. It is suggested that this analysis allows us to explore both the distinction and the interplay between the two parameters in the judicial interpretation of the right and that appreciating the significance of this is fundamental to the understanding of and discourse on the concept of an absolute right.

The Absolute Configuration for Inthomycin C: Revision of Previously Published Work with a Reinstatement of the (3R)-Configuration for (-)-Inthomycin C

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Stereochemical evidence is presented to demonstrate that (−)-inthomycin C has (3R)- and not (3S)-stereochemistry. Careful reappraisal of the previously published work2−5 now indicates that the Hatakeyama, Hale, Ryu, and Taylor teams all have synthesized (−)-(3R)-inthomycin C. The newly measured [α]D of pure (−)-(3R)-inthomycin C (98% ee) is −7.9 (c 0.33, CHCl3) and not −41.5 (c 0.1, CHCl3) as was previously reported in 2012.

The uptake of silica during the spring bloom in the North East Atlantic Ocean

A full understanding of the biogeochemical cycling of silica in the North Atlantic is hampered by a lack of estimates of silica uptake by phytoplankton. We applied the ${}^{32}\text{Si}$ radiotracer incubation technique to determine silica uptake rates at 10 sites during the UK-(Natural Environment Research Council) Faroes-Iceland-Scotland hydrographic and environmental survey (FISHES) cruise in the Northeast Atlantic, May 2001. Column silica uptake rates ranged between 6 and 166 mmol Si $\text{m}^{-2}\ \text{d}^{-1}$; this data set was integrated with concurrent hydrographic, chemical, and primary productivity data to explain these changes in silica uptake in terms of the progress of the spring bloom. In order to interpret data covering a relatively large spatial and temporal scale, we used mean photic zone silica concentration as a proxy time-series measure of diatom bloom progression. Both absolute and specific silica uptake rates were highest at dissolved silica concentrations >2 mmol $\text{L}^{-1}$. Si and C uptake were vertically decoupled at those stations where surface silica was strongly depleted. Absolute primary productivity was not strongly correlated with dissolved silica concentrations, owing to either exhaustion of silica at diatom-dominated stations or to dominance of the community by other phytoplankton. Silica uptake as a function of increased substrate concentration was linear up to 25 $\mu \text{mol}\ \text{L}^{-1}$; we consider some possible reasons for the nonhyperbolic response.

Dioxygenase-catalysed Oxidation of Disubstituted Benzene Substrates: Benzylic Monohydroxylation versus Aryl cis-Dihydroxylation and the Meta Effect

Biotransformations of a series of ortho-, meta- and para-substituted ethylbenzene and propylbenzene substrates have been carried out, using Pseudomonas putida UV4, a source of toluene dioxygenase (TDO). The ortho- and para-substituted alkylbenzene substrates yielded, exclusively, the corresponding enantiopure cis-dihydrodiols of the same absolute configuration. However, the meta isomers, generally, gave benzylic alcohol bioproducts, in addition to the cis-dihydrodiols (the meta effect). The benzylic alcohols were of identical (R) absolute configuration but enantiomeric excess values were variable. The similar (2R) absolute configurations of the cis-dihydrodiols are consistent with both the ethyl and propyl groups having dominant stereodirecting effects over the other substituents. The model used earlier, to predict the regio- and stereo-chemistry of cis-dihydrodiol bioproducts derived from substituted benzene substrates has been refined, to take account of non-symmetric subsituents like ethyl or propyl groups. The formation of benzylic hydroxylation products, from meta-substituted benzene substrates, without further cis-dihydroxylation to yield triols provides a further example of the meta effect during toluene dioxygenase-catalysed oxidations.

Chemical abundances in the inner 5 kpc of the Galactic disk

High-resolution, high signal-to-noise spectral data are presented for four young B-type stars lying towards the Galactic Centre. Determination of their atmospheric parameters from their absorption line profiles, and uvby photometric measurement of the continua indicate that they are massive objects lying slightly out of the plane, and were probably born in the disk between 2.5-5 kpc from the Centre. We have carried out a detailed absolute and differential line-by-line abundance analyses of the four stars compared to two stars with very similar atmospheric parameters in the solar neighbourhood. The stars appear to be rich in all the well sampled chemical elements (C, N, Si, Mg, S, Al), except for oxygen. Oxygen abundances derived in the atmospheres of these four stars are very similar to that in the solar neighbourhood. If the photospheric composition of these young stars is reflective of the gaseous ISM in the inner Galaxy, then the values derived for the enhanced metals are in excellent agreement with the extrapolation of the Galactic abundance gradients previously derived by Rolleston et al. (2000) and others. However, the data for oxygen suggests that the inner Galaxy may not be richer than normal in this element, and the physical reasons for such a scenario are unclear.

Semiclassical-quantal approach to the near-threshold ionization of hydrogen

A recent improved version of the semiclassical-quantal approach has been applied to the e(-)-H near-threshold ionization for theta (12) = 180 degrees geometry. It is found, that unlike other sophisticated theoretical methods such as distorted wave theory or convergent close-coupling calculation, the present relatively simpler approach produces correct behavior and numerical values for the triple-differential cross sections. We compare our results with recent absolute measurements and accurate numerical calculations at 2 eV and 4 eV above the threshold at constant theta (12) geometry.