60 research outputs found
Human rights referendum: Dissonance between 'the will of the people' and fundamental rights?
No full textReferendums and popular initiatives have proliferated in many parts of the world as part of the effort to improve the quality of democracy and enhance citizen participation in policy making. However, even before the surge of populist nationalism in the 2010s, referendums have become a sort of weapon to restrict various rights. Furthermore, the juxtaposition between ‘the will of the people’ and human rights has once again brought back the classical criticism against direct democracy that it constitutes ‘a tyranny of the majority’ that could erode minority rights. With these concerns in mind, this paper is written to analyse the dissonance between human rights referendums and international human rights law through a positivist lens. The overall goal is to determine whether States have an ex ante obligation to prevent a referendum on a subject matter that is contrary to human rights.The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Acknowledgements
The research for this article was conducted at the Human Rights Centre of Ghent University. The author
would like to thank Professor Eva Brems for her extensive insight and comments on the drafts of this paper
Current methods for microbiological diagnosis of acute central nervous system infections
Get PDFThe incidence of infections affecting the central nervous system has increased in recent years, making neuroinfections a current global health problem. The central nervous system is quite well protected from the external and internal environments, although it is susceptible to infection by a wide variety of pathogens. The etiological diversity further complicates the management of such infections because it is important to identify correctly the specific cause in order to choose the most appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Diagnosis is made not only based on clinical and epidemiological data but also on the results of clinical laboratory and microbiological examination of cerebrospinal fluid. This article aims to review current microbiological methods in the diagnosis of acute central nervous system infections and help healthcare providers to recognize their advantages and limitations in order to manage their patients appropriately
Einfluss der chemischen Komplexität auf die Mikrostruktur, mechanischen und physikalischen Eigenschaften von einphasigen, topologisch dichtest gepackten Sigma-Phasen
No full textIn der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde eine quinäre, einphasige -Phase mit der Zusammensetzung (in At.-%) hergestellt, ihre Phasenstabilität sowie ihre elastischen und mechanischen Eigenschaften charakterisiert und mit denen einer binären (in At.- %) verglichen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die quinäre -Phase oberhalb von 1170 °C in eine kubisch-raumzentrierte (krz)-Phase umwandelt. Im Gegensatz dazu, wandelt die binäre -Phase bereits ab ~800 °C in krz um. Interessanterweise zeigen die quinäre und binäre
-Phasen ähnliche Elastizitätsmodule, Härte und Bruchzähigkeiten auf, d.h. sie sind beide steif, hart und spröde. Im Gegensatz dazu ist die quinäre krz-Legierung doppelt so hart wie die binäre, was darauf hindeutet, dass die Mischkristallverfestigung in ungeordneten Mischkristallen effektiver als in intermetallischen Verbindungen ist
Economic Valuation Relationship in Ecological Discourses
Get PDFEconomic valuation that is constellation into AMDAL (as a EIAs) must contain three principles including: considering dialectical economic, environmental and social interests. This study was carried out utilizing a normative juridical research technique, the author use document study approaches to collect the data required for the study. The result is that human behavior that does not respect life and life presents the view that nature exists to be exploited for the greatest possible prosperity of humans. Sen's criticism of (i) respect for money as an episteme, (ii) justifies the means to achieve goals, (iii) loss of respect for the natural environment, (iv) has the opportunity to open a permissive attitude towards corruption. Sen's criticism provides a clear picture of economic valuation must be based on ethics
The Danube River as an invasive alien species corridor: The Lower Danube case study
No full textAmong the four principal aquatic invasion corridors in Europe, the Southern corridor links the Black Sea basin with the North Sea basin via the Danube–Main–Rhine Canal. This complex waterway facilitates an intensive dispersal of previously geographically isolated taxa in both northwest and southeast directions throughout the Danube River basin. In most of the cases of introduction and establishment of aquatic alien species through the Danube River, negative impact was reported, such as changes in biodiversity and communities, alterations of the food webs and ecosystem services. The first records of alien taxa in the Lower Danube date back to the beginning of 20th century. Considering the modes of arrival, intentional and unintentional introduction are assessed as of equal importance. The dominant pathways of introduction include stocking, range expansion, aquaculture, shipping and ornamental. In this study, we present a review of aquatic alien species, including species lists, data on recent introductions, pathways, population status, habitat requirements, invasiveness and potential impact, based on a case study of the Lower Danube River (Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania).
In the Serbian-Romanian stretch of the Danube River, we found 17 macroinvertebrate, 16 fish and 10 vascular plant alien species. Among the alien macroinvertebrate taxa recorded, molluscs and crustaceans were found to be the most prospective invaders. Five alien species of Bivalvia, one Gastropoda, six Amphipoda, two Mysida and two Decapoda were reported up to now. All of them can be considered as invasive. Among the 16 fish species recorded, eight are considered as invasive and two species as potentially invasive. In the Bulgarian-Romanian and Romanian stretch of the Danube River, including the Danube Delta, three alien species of Bivalvia, one Decapoda, one Kamptozoa, one Bryozoa, one Oligochaeta, and 12 alien fish species were recorded. Among the alien macroinvertebrates, the most successful invaders were the bivalve molluscs, of which Corbicula fluminea was the most frequently found and most abundant during our study. In the littoral area of the Bulgarian stretch, the most frequently found alien fish species were Pseudorasbora parva, Syngnathus abaster and Lepomis gibbosus, and the most abundant was C. gibelio, followed by S. abaster. The results were analyzed and discussed in terms of alien species population dynamics, habitat requirements and potential impact on native aquatic communities.Kalchev R, Tyufekchieva V, Trichkova T, Evtimova V, Naumova S, Uzunov Y, Pehlivanov L, editors. Book of abstracts: IAD 40th Anniversary Conference: The Danube and Black Sea Region: Unique Environment and Human Well-Being Under Conditions of Global Changes; 2014 Jun 17-20; Sofia, Bulgaria. Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research; 2014. p. 37
Horizons of Bulgarian Onomastics. Review of the book: Choleva-Dimitrova, A. (Ed.) (2014). Izsledovatelski khorizonti na balgarskata lingvistika: Materiali ot Natsionalna nauchna konferentsiia, posvetena na 90-godishninata ot rozhdenieto na prof. dfn Iordan Zaimov [Horizons of Bulgarian Linguistics: Proceedings of the National Conference Dedicated to Prof. Yordan Zaimov’s 90th Anniversary]. Sofia: Institut za balgarski ezik
No full textThe author reviews the works on onomastics published in the proceedings of the conference Horizons of Bulgarian Linguistics dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the noted Bulgarian linguist Prof. Yordan Zaimov. The reviewed articles focus on the study of toponymy (including microtoponymy and urbanonymy) and anthroponymy and present the main directions of contemporary Bulgarian onomastics: “traditional” toponymic research based on the collection, classification and etymologization of names of a specific linguistic area; creation of electronic data bases and corpora and description of their applicability to onomastic research; comparative onomastics; socio-onomastics, etc. A number of papers presented in the reviewed collection of articles is based on Prof. Zaimov’s works or continue his research
Bulgarian Emigration in the Beginning of ÕÕI Century: an Assessment of Attitudes and the Profile of Potential Emigrants
No full textThe emigration potential is estimated, as well as the profile of settlers and the temporary long-term and short-term Bulgarian emigrants. The difference between the actual emigration and the generally declared intention to travel abroad is discussed. The data from two surveys carried out using the same questionnaire in 2001 and 2003 is used. When identifying the profile of emigrants there have been established two types of variables: demographics; employment, education and previous stay abroad. There are used standard cross-tabulations and binary logit-models. Three individual logit-models for each type of emigrant are estimated. It is emphasized that: the immediate emigration potential from Bulgaria (within the current year) does not differ dramatically from that of the countries of Central Europe; age and previous stay abroad are among the most important determinants of emigration attitudes of Bulgarian citizens; employment, education and incomes do not have the expected influence. It is argumented that migratory policies, based on restrictions and bilateral agreements (in their European version), could hardly be effective under the conditions of the newly created migration networks and the business which has found a niche in the provision of emigration services.
Fatal Chemotherapy-induced Combined Infection in a Hodgkin’s Disease Patient: a Case Report
No full textMultimodal therapy, used for the treatment of patients with Hodgkin’s disease (HD), makes them prone to life-threatening infections, attributed mainly to febrile neutropenia. Herein, we present a case report of fatal combined bacterial and viral infection in a 49-year-old female patient, subject to polychemotherapy for HD. Rapid microbiological diagnosis performed by multiplex polymerase chain reaction elucidated the causes of the infection within hours. Listeria monocytogenes was detected in both the cerebrospinal fluid and blood samples. Nasopharyngeal swabs returned positive for two swine-derived strains of influenza A virus. We aimed to emphasize the importance of these pathogens and draw attention to their association in the aetiology of infections among patients receiving chemotherapy. In conclusion, better surveillance is needed to improve the early diagnosis of infectious complications in these patients
Streptococcus zooepidemicus Meningitis in an HIV-Positive Horse Breeder Patient: A Case Study and Literature Review
No full textStreptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus is a rare etiologic agent of bacterial meningitis in humans. The disease is a zoonotic infection and is transmitted through close contact with domestic animals, mainly horses. Only 37 cases of Streptococcus zooepidemicus meningitis have been reported in the literature until July 2023. The aim of this study is to present a rare clinical case of S. zooepidemicus-related meningitis in a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patient and analyze the literature. We present a 23-year-old horse breeder patient with advanced immunosuppression due to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and S. zooepidemicus meningitis, admitted at the Clinic of Infectious Diseases, St. George University Hospital, Plovdiv. The course of meningitis was severe since the beginning, with significant cerebral edema, disturbances in consciousness, persistent fever, and the development of complications against the background of AIDS-related conditions. S. zooepidemicus was microbiologically detected from cerebrospinal fluid culture. After prolonged treatment and a long hospital stay, the patient’s condition improved, and eventually he was discharged and recovered from the acute neuroinfection. Although extremely rare, S. zooepidemicus should be considered in patients with clinical and laboratory evidence of bacterial meningitis who have contact with animals, especially horses, other domestic animals, and their dairy products, as well as in immunocompromised patients. To the best of our knowledge, the current clinical case is the first report of S. zooepidemicus-related meningitis in a patient with HIV/AIDS
YKL-40 and LAMPs as possible markers in neuroinflammation and autophagy during central nervous system infections
No full textCentral nervous system infections continue to be a public health concern owing to the high mortality and the significant neurological sequelae among survivors. The diverse etiology with overlapping clinical and laboratory abnormalities makes the management of such patients challenging. Neuroinflammation plays an essential role in triggering oxidative stress and autophagy dysregulation. Impaired autophagy may lead to abnormal protein aggregation resulting in neurodegeneration. YKL-40 is a secreted glycoprotein, involved in several diseases accompanied by inflammation. The lysosome-associated membrane proteins (LAMPs) 1 and 2 exhibit diverse expression levels in a range of cell processes (including autophagy) and clinical conditions but the complete picture of their biological function is still unknown. This review highlights the role of YKL-40 and LAMPs in central nervous system infections. We suggest that these biomolecules might have a promising value as biomarkers or targets for therapy and could provide additional evidence for inflammatory activity in different neurological diseases
- …
