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Towards a comprehensive characterisation of the human internal chemical exposome: Challenges and perspectives
Get PDFThe holistic characterisation of the human internal chemical exposome using high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) would be a step forward to investigate the environmental AE tiology of chronic diseases with an unprecedented precision. HRMS-based methods are currently operational to reproducibly profile thousands of endogenous metabolites as well as externally-derived chemicals and their biotransformation products in a large number of biological samples from human cohorts. These approaches provide a solid ground for the discovery of unrecognised biomarkers of exposure and metabolic effects associated with many chronic diseases. Nevertheless, some limitations remain and have to be overcome so that chemical exposomics can provide unbiased detection of chemical exposures affecting disease susceptibility in epidemiological studies. Some of these limitations include (i) the lack of versatility of analytical techniques to capture the wide diversity of chemicals; (ii) the lack of analytical sensitivity that prevents the detection of exogenous (and endogenous) chemicals occurring at (ultra) trace levels from restricted sample amounts, and (iii) the lack of automation of the annotation/identification process. In this article, we discuss a number of technological and methodological limitations hindering applications of HRMS-based methods and propose initial steps to push towards a more comprehensive characterisation of the internal chemical exposome. We also discuss other challenges including the need for harmonisation and the difficulty inherent in assessing the dynamic nature of the internal chemical exposome, as well as the need for establishing a strong international collaboration, high level networking, and sustainable research infrastructure. A great amount of research, technological development and innovative bio-informatics tools are still needed to profile and characterise the "invisible" (not profiled), "hidden" (not detected) and "dark" (not annotated) components of the internal chemical exposome and concerted efforts across numerous research fields are paramount
O někotorych predposylkach načala Pervoj čeremisskoj vojny na Arskoj zemlje
No full textPerelomnyye momenty XVI v., menyayushchiye sud'bu i istoriyu Povolzh'ya, ne zakonchilis' vzyatiyem Kazani v pervykh dnyakh oktyabrya 1552 g. Nasha stat'ya posvyashchena cherede sobytiy, kotoryye proizoshli mezhdu torzhestvennym tsarskim v"yezdom v stolitsu khanstva i nachalom Pervoy cheremisskoy voyny. V etom periode, svoyeobraznom istoricheskom intermetstso, arskiye lyudi nachali peregovory s Ivanom Groznym, obe storony pred"yavlyali svoi usloviya mirnogo dogovora. Imenno v etom promezhutke vremeni mozhno iskat' klyuchevyye predposylki budushchego konflikta: 1. prodolzhitel'noye nakhozhdeniye tsarskikh voysk na Arskoy zemle; 2. rol' voyevody Aleksandra Gorbatogo-Shuyskogo, kotoryy v sentyabre 1552 g. vel karatel'nuyu rat' na Arskuyu storonu, opustoshil yeye i posle togo stal pervym namestnikom v Kazani, sobirayushchim yasak s arskikh lyudey i upravlyayushchiy imi; 3. pospeshnyy vyvod tsarskogo voyska. Dannaya stat'ya obrashchayet vnimaniye na vazhnuyu prelyudiyu k Pervoy cheremisskoy voyne i issleduyet sobytiya, proiskhodivshiye na Arskoy storone, izuchennost' kotorykh ustupayet sobytiyam Lugovoy i Gornoy storon.The turning moments of the 16th century, changing the fate and history of the Volga region did not end with the capture of Kazan in the first days of October 1552. Our article is devoted to the trail of events that took place between the solemn tsarist entry into the capital of the Khanate and the beginning of the First Cheremis War. In this period, a kind of historical intermezzo, the people of Arsk struck up a conversation with Ivan the Terrible, both sides presented their terms of the peace treaty. It is in this period where we can look for the key prerequisites for the future conflict: 1) the prolonged presence of the tsarist troops on the Arsk land; 2) the role of the governor Alexander Gorbaty-Shuisky, who in September 1552 led the punitive army to the Arsk lands, devastated it and after that became the first governor in Kazan collecting yasak from the people of Arsk and 3) the hasty withdrawal of the tsarist army. This article draws attention to a significant prelude to the First Cheremis War and explores the role of the Arsk side, which is inferior to the Meadow and Hill side in terms of study
Více než aktuální reminiscence... Španělská chřipka 1918—1920
Get PDFČlánek se zabývá pandemií španělské chřipky ve Strážnici v letech 1918 až 1920. Zasazuje problém do širšího kontextu a doplňuje jej o dobová svědectví.The paper deals with pandemic of the Spanish flu in town Strážnice during years from 1918 to 1920. It sets the problem into the broader context and supplements with contemporary quotes
Exclusion from Social Relations in Later Life : Micro- and Macro-Level Patterns and Correlations in a European Perspective
Get PDFOlder adults face particular risks of exclusion from social relationships (ESR) and are especially vulnerable to its consequences. However, research so far has been limited to specific dimensions, countries, and time points. In this paper, we examine the prevalence and micro- and macro-level predictors of ESR among older adults (60+) using two waves of data obtained four years apart across 14 European countries in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). We consider four ESR indicators (household composition, social networks, social opportunities, and loneliness) and link them to micro-level (age, gender, socioeconomic factors, health, and family responsibilities) and national macro-level factors (social expenditures, unmet health needs, individualism, social trust, and institutional trust). Findings reveal a northwest to southeast gradient, with the lowest rates of ESR in the stronger welfare states of Northwest Europe. The high rates of ESR in the southeast are especially pronounced among women. Predictably, higher age and fewer personal resources (socioeconomic factors and health) increase the risk of all ESR dimensions for both genders. Macro-level factors show significant associations with ESR beyond the effect of micro-level factors, suggesting that national policies and cultural and structural characteristics may play a role in fostering sociability and connectivity and, thus, reduce the risk of ESR in later life
Lány – ein Produktionsort gegossenener Bronzen der Spätawarenzeit in der awarisch-slawischen Kontaktzone des unteren Thayatals
No full textInterdisziplinäre Forschungen der Masaryk-Universität Brünn und der Universität Wien an der Fundstelle von Lány (CZ) an der Grenze zwischen Österreich und Mähren haben eine große Siedlung (∼12ha) aus dem 6. bis 8./9. Jahrhundert in einer Kontaktzone zwischen slawischen und avarischen Einflüssen aufgedeckt. Neben Keramik, die von frühslawischen Funden des Prager Typs bis zu Exemplaren der mitteldanubischen Kulturtradition reicht, und anderen Funden wie Spinnwirteln etc. wurden mehrere Dutzend typisch avarische Gürtelgarnituren gefunden. Die meisten von ihnen stammen aus der späten Avar-III-Periode, sind brandneu und weisen keinerlei Gebrauchsspuren auf. Zusammen mit Halbfertigprodukten, Fehlgüssen und Resten des Bronzegusses interpretieren wir Lány als Produktionsstätte/Werkstatt für awarische Gürtel. Lány liegt an der nordwestlichen Peripherie des awarischen Khaganats. Die materielle Kultur, abgesehen vom Gürtelzubehör, entspricht jedoch eher dem, was wir aus Regionen kennen, in denen slawische Völker des 7./8. Jahrhunderts siedelten. Darüber hinaus diskutieren wir die Verwendung avarischer Gürtel unter den slawischen Eliten des 8. Jahrhunderts und mögliche Erklärungen für die dichte Verteilung avarischer Funde außerhalb des Khaganats.Interdisciplinary research, carried out by the Masaryk University Brno and the University of Vienna, at the site of Lány (CZ) at the border between Austria and Moravia has revealed a large settlement (∼12ha) from the 6th century until the 8th/9th century in a contact zone between Slavonic and Avarian influences. Aside from pottery that ranges from early slavic finds of the Prague type to specimens of the middle-danubian tradition („mitteldanubische Kulturtradition“) and other finds such as spindle whorls etc. several dozen typical Avar belt accessories have been found. Most of them date to the late Avar III period, are brand new and do not show any traces of usage. Together with semi-finished products, miscast objects and remains of the bronze casting process, we interpret Lány as a production site/workshop for Avar belts. Lány is at the very Northwestern periphery of the Avar Khaganate. However, material culture, aside from the belt accessories, is much more associated with what we know from regions where Slavonic populations of the 7th/8th century had settled. We furthermore discuss the usage of Avar belts amongst the Slavic elites of the 8th century and possible explanations for the dense distribution of Avar finds outside of the Khaganate
Literacy and literacy practices : Plurilingual connected migrants and emerging literacy
Get PDFRecent migration towards Europe is characterized by the massive presence of adults whose educational paths have been interrupted and who are thus developing literacy for the first time in a new language. A literacy test elaborated at the University of Palermo, Italy, showed that, on a sample of 774 migrants, about 30 percent could not read and/or write short words. This test assessed the learners’ abilities to read and write, whether in the Roman alphabet or in other writing systems, and whether in Italian or in other languages of learners’ repertoires. These learners with emergent literacy mostly came from sub-Saharan Africa, an area characterized by diverse forms of multilingualism, and are representatives of “connected migrants” due to the centrality of digital communication practices in their migration experience; hence, the importance of research on such communication practices. This study examined the multilingual writing on Facebook of 10 migrants in Italy with emergent literacy. Findings demonstrate that these learners engage in multilingual practices which enhance their literacy competence by adopting strategies reflecting the general process of acquisition in naturalistic contexts. However, emerging writing on Facebook does not reflect participants’ interlanguage and literacy levels elicited through the test
The Essence of Cross-Domain Deterrence
Get PDFBoth deterrence theory and deterrence practice are evolving to address contemporary strategic challenges. In the military domain, states progressively integrate and synchronise military operations. Outside of it, they exploit grey zone strategies that combine different instruments of influence across multiple domains. These developments are now giving birth to a new wave of thinking about cross domain deterrence (CDD), what it precisely entails, and what favouring conditions are necessary for it to be effective. This chapter situates CDD in the context of today’s challenges, and identifies the prerequisites for these favouring conditions based on a review of a rather diverse body of literature. It finds that one strand of that literature predominantly focuses on practical and technical prerequisites in order for CDD to be effective, leaving the framework of traditional deterrence theory intact. It also finds a second strand that holds that the nature of today’s challenges requires more than mere innovation in application. The ideas about deterrence proposed by this second strand are expanding on common understandings of deterrence to the extent that deterrence is no longer only about fear nor about convincing opponents to refrain from certain behaviour. The conclusion summarises the findings and elaborates their implications for theory and practice
Intimacy, home, and emotions in the era of the pandemic
Get PDFWhile much of the sociological scholarship on intimacy has been understood in the normative sense of foregrounding and supporting human closeness, this article points to the role intimacy has as a sociological concept to better understand regulatory ties between the subject and the institution. While subject and institution are treated by modernity as distinct entities, separated by the boundary between private and the public, the article elucidates their mutual engagements by reviewing the work on intimacy in the sociology of emotions. Discussing the scholarship on intimacy from this perspective enables us to understand private suffering as a social problem linked to the collective recognition of subjective feelings. To illustrate the point, the article briefly reflects the public discourse on home upended by world-wide stay-at-home orders to contain the spread of coronavirus disease 2019. While this article neither analyzes these orders, nor judges their legitimacy, it takes the particular situation as a chance to review the sociological discussion on the emotional boundaries of home, foregrounding the concept of intimacy. Intimacy is presented as a key sociological category for understanding collective recognition of people's emotions, which impacts the way emotions are seen as relevant and legitimate in public discussions of social problems
Problematika měření socio-emočních schopností u dětí : srovnatelnost faktorové struktury posuzovací škály mezi otci, matkami a pedagogy
Get PDFCílem studie je s použitím české adaptace metody Škály emoční inteligence (Emotional Intelligence Scale) amerických autorů Vallerové a Pfeiffera z roku 2015 ověřit faktorovou strukturu přeložené verze dotazníku a její srovnatelnost napříč různými skupinami hodnotitelů. Sběru výzkumných dat se zúčastnilo celkem 87 učitelů, 251 matek a 117 otců, kteří s pomocí uvedené metody hodnotili socio-emoční schopnosti 315 dětí z 51 škol. Výsledkem byla identifikace dvoufaktorového modelu české verze dotazníku s faktory Prosociální chování a Emoční sebeuvědomění a seberegulace. Zároveň jsme z jistili, že daný model vykazuje dobrou shodu s daty matek a otců, v případě pedagogů však není akceptovatelný. Výsledky a implikace z jištění jsou diskutovány v kontextu dalšího využití metody a dopadu na budoucí výzkumy socio-emočních dovedností pomocí dotazníkových metod.The aim of this study was to assess the factor structure of the Czech adaptation of the Emotional Intelligence Scale by U.S. researchers Valler and Pfeiffer (2015) and its equivalence across different groups of raters. Altogether, 87 teachers, 251 mothers, and 117 fathers participated in the data collection, rating the socio-emotional competencies of 315 children from 51 schools. A two-factor model, consisting of prosocial behavior and emotional conscientiousness and self-regulation, proved to be most likely, showing an acceptable fit in both mothers and fathers; however, the fit was unsatisfactory in teachers. The results and possible implications are further discussed
Assessing Short-Term Fertility Intentions and Their Realisation Using the Generations and Gender Survey : Pitfalls and Challenges
Get PDFThe use of fertility intention questions to study individual childbearing behaviour has developed rapidly in recent decades. In Europe, the Generations and Gender Surveys are the main sources of cross-national data on fertility intentions and their realisation. This study investigates how an inconsistent implementation of a question about wanting a child now affects the cross-country comparability of intentions to have a child within the next three years and their realisation. We conduct our analysis separately for women and men at prime and late reproductive ages in Austria, France, Italy and Poland. The results show that the overall share of respondents intending to have a child at some point in their life is similar in all four analysed countries. However, once the time horizon and the degree of certainty of fertility intentions are included, substantial cross-country differences appear, particularly in terms of proceptive behaviour and, consequently, the realisation of fertility intentions. We conclude that the inconsistent questionnaire adaptation makes it very difficult to assess the role of country context in the realisation of childbearing intentions