15 research outputs found
Religion and Pluralism before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights: From Individualizing Religious Freedom to Deregulating the Religious Market
No full textWith the rise of religious diversity within domestic societies, religion and religious pluralism have become increasingly important issues around the world. Therefore, it is important to examine the legal regulations governing religion and religious freedom, particularly in light of international human rights—the ultimate guarantee of individual rights. This article examines the regulation of religion, religious freedom, and religious pluralism by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (the Court). Despite the central role religion plays in the social dynamics of the Americas, it has been largely absent from the Court’s jurisprudence. The latter discussed religion in a few cases only, thus making sporadic—but nevertheless key—findings regarding the regulation of religious freedom within its jurisdiction. Analysing these findings, as exposed in the corresponding judgments and advisory opinions, reveals the creative and progressive approach that the Court takes on religion, religious freedom, and religious pluralism
Religious Pluralism in International Human Rights Law
No full textIn the early decades of the XX century, religion, as a social fact, was considered a dying agent. Social scientists had settled for the upcoming death of religion and the gradual secularization of society and individual minds. In the late decades of the same century, though, a radical shift shook that paradigm: field observation showed religion was still present within society and individual minds, it was only hiding behind new patterns and new dynamics. It was becoming more individual an experience, less rigid, more spiritual, and relegating religious institutions and prominent religious figures to a very limited and narrow dimension of social life. As a result of this individualization process, religious diversity, within domestic societies, also augmented. Thus, it drove diversity and Pluralism to the forefront of social issues. Therefore, this research intends to explore the issue of Pluralism from the international human right to freedom of religion and belief. More precisely, it will part from the international legal regulation of religious diversity, as enacted by human rights courts and treaty bodies, and will confront it to the sociological findings regarding the dynamics of religiosity in society. In other words, using the pragmatic methodology of the sociological school of jurisprudence, the research will confront the existing law, as it emanates from international courts and treaty bodies, to its context of application as materialized by sociology and its empirical methodologies. Then it will conclude on the pluralistic system that the right to freedom of religion and belief entails, thus proposing the religious Pluralism that animates the heart of international human rights law
State and Church Relationships under the European Convention on Human Rights: A Value Framework for State Action
No full textAs they impact the condition of religious groups, and in fine that of the very individuals composing them, state-church relationships are an important dimension of religious freedom. The way states interact with religious groups, communities, and associations has a decisive impact on the religious condition of their members, in their effort to develop their religious beliefs or practices. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to explore the European Court of Human Rights’ regulation of state-church relationships. The research focuses on ECtHR’s judgments issued on article 9, either autonomously or in connection with article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. It also considers cases adjudicated upon article 2 of Protocol I to the Convention. For optimal consistency with Europe’s social evolution, however, special attention was given to those cases issued from early 2011. The article argues that behind the margin of appreciation granted for states to enact any system they see fit, the Court puts forward limits they cannot trespass. Indeed, the systems adopted have to abide by the values underlying the Convention as a whole. The article argues said values materialize a global framework that unifies states into one European global approach, thus giving a further illustration of the oligopolistic Pluralism that the Court develops in its regulation of individual religious freedom
Trophoniella radesiensis Chaibi & Antit & Bouhedi & Meca & Gillet & Azzouna & Martin 2019, n. sp.
No full textTrophoniella radesiensis n. sp. Chaibi and Gillet Figures 3–6 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: D7C85C70-87FF-4AF4-8599-A8462B3FB8B1 Material examined. Holotype: MNCN16.01 /18453, collected on 25 Nov 2015 in Radés Station, Gulf of Tunis (15°55′ N, 97°41′ W) by the first author. Paratypes: MNCN 16.01 /18454. 6 specimens, same data as for holotype; UCO T FLA 025.1specimen, same data as for holotype. Diagnosis. Body covered by sediments of different grain size (50–1000 µm of long axe) embedded on tunic, completely concealed except in posterior region. Tunic pale, dorsally smooth, ventrally rough, with large papillae, carrying sediment grains and particles. Body papillae arranged in two dorsal and four ventral rows. Branchial plate tongue-shaped. Unidentate anchylosed neurohooks from chaetiger 20. Description. Holotype with some chaetae broken, non-reproductive adult, unknown sex. 35 mm long, 4 mm wide, with 60 chaetigers; paratypes varying from 30–43 mm long and 1–4 mm wide for 43–74 chaetigers (Fig. 3 A– E). Anterior body sub-cylindrical in cross-section, tapering towards pygidium. Tunic transparent, dorsally smooth, ventrally rough with large papillae, carrying sediment grains and particles with long axes ranging from 50 to 1000 µm, totally embedded in tunic, completely concealing it dorsally and ventrally, absent in posterior region. Pale brown, slightly reddish anteriorly. Cephalic cage 12 mm long, with chaetae ca. 1.5 times longer than body width, formed by chaetigers 1–5; chaetiger 2 dorsolateral, chaetiger 3–4 lateral. Chaetal transition from cephalic cage to body chaetae gradual (Fig. 3A, 3 C–E). Body papillae similar in colour to body wall, mostly eroded, arising in two dorsal and four ventral longitudinal rows from first chaetiger to posterior end, better preserved anterior-most body region (Fig. 3A, 3 C–E). Parapodia well developed. Noto and neuropodia have four prechaetal papillae and five postchaetal papillae (Fig. 3C). Especially long papillae absent from anterior chaetigers. Gonopodial papillae not seen. Chaetiger 1 with about six notochaetae and eight neurochaetae; anterior dorsal margin with dorsal papillae, arising as a multifid cephalic veil (Fig. 4A). Chaetiger 5 widening posteriorly. Cephalic hood not exposed. Caruncle short and triangular (Fig. 4C, 4D). Branchiae cirriform, arising from tongue-shaped branchial plate, arranged in two lateral lobes (Fig. 4A, 4D), thin, long (0.5–3mm), whitish once preserved in ethanol, with ca. 60 filaments. Palp, long, corrugated, pale, as long as largest branchiae, 6 mm long (Fig. 4B, 4C). Prostomium lowcone, with two large and two small black eyes (Fig. 3D, 3E). Lateral lip expanded; dorsal and ventral lips not well developed (Fig. 3D, 3E). Notochaetae all multiarticulated capillaries; articles progressively longer towards falcate tips; medial ones in short longitudinal series, 4–7 per bundle; some yellowish some dark brown; unidentate tips (Fig. 5 A–5D). Multiarticulated capillary neurochaeta from chaetiger 2 to 5, then short unidentate neurohooks from chaetiger 6 to 19 (Fig. 6A) and anchylosed hooks from chaetiger 20 to body end (Fig. 6B), darker than preceding ones, arranged in transverse series of 4–6 units per bundle, similarly wide along their length, subdistally not or slightly expanded, with short rings continued up to a subdistal, non-annulated hyaline region, hooked, tapering to roughly pointed, unidentate tips (Fig. 5A, 6B). Pygidium simple, with single anal cirrus. No intra-specific variability in morphological characters was observed, except for lacking sediment gains in some specimens. Distribution. Known only from the type locality, Radés Station (Gulf of Tunisia, Mediterranean Sea). Collected from both soft and rocky bottoms, from 3–4 m to 10 m depth. Etymology. The species name radesiensis refers to the type locality, Radés Station.Published as part of Chaibi, Marwa, Antit, Mouna, Bouhedi, Marwa, Meca, Miguel A., Gillet, Patrick, Azzouna, Atf & Martin, Daniel, 2019, A new species of Flabelligeridae (Annelida), Trophoniella radesiensis n. sp., from Tunisia, pp. 551-561 in Zootaxa 4571 (4) on pages 554-556, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4571.4.7, http://zenodo.org/record/261426
Manual therapies for cervicogenic headache: a systematic review
No full textThis paper systematically reviewed randomized clinical trials (RCT) assessing the efficacy of manual therapies for cervicogenic headache (CEH). A total of seven RCTs were identified, i.e. one study applied physiotherapy ± temporomadibular mobilization techniques and six studies applied cervical spinal manipulative therapy (SMT). The RCTs suggest that physiotherapy and SMT might be an effective treatment in the management of CEH, but the results are difficult to evaluate, since only one study included a control group that did not receive treatment. Furthermore, the RCTs mostly included participant with infrequent CEH. Future challenges regarding CEH are substantial both from a diagnostic and management point of view.
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Author Correction: A novel MPPT design based on the seagull optimization algοrithm for phοtovοltaic systems operating under partial shading
No full textNew and renewable energy and environmental engineering
No full textThere is an acute scarcity of potable water in many parts of the world, and especially in most of the Middle East region. Important advances have been made in desalination technology but its wide application is restricted by relatively high capital and input energy costs, even when solar energy is used. Until recently, flat-plate solar collectors have usually been employed to distill water in compact desalination systems. Currently, it is possible to replace these collectors by the more advanced evacuated tube collectors, which are now available on the market at a similar price. The research which is concerned with the development of a novel small scale solar water desalination technology, consists of experimental and theoretical investigations of the operation of a multi stage solar still desalination system coupled with a heat pipe evacuated tube solar collector with an aperture area of about 1.7 m(^2). The multi stage still was tested to recover latent heat from the evaporation and condensation processes in each of its four stages. A number of experimental tests were carried out using a laboratory rig to investigate its water production capacity. Solar radiation (insolation) during a mid-summer day in the Middle East region was simulated by an array of 110 halogen flood lights. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling of the evaporation and condensation processes in one of the still's stages was conducted using FLUENT 6.2 software. The simulation results demonstrate the importance of the various parameters affecting the total production rate of the solar still and provide detailed information on the temperature distribution and condensate formation inside the solar still. However, it was found that the CFD technique at this stage does not provide accurate quantitative predictions and results obtained can be used only for qualitative analysis. Hence, the use of a lumped parameter mathematical model was preferred for analysis and design purpose. A lumped parameter model has been developed to describe the system's operation. It consists of a system of ordinary differential equations of energy and mass conservation written for each stage of the still. A MATLAB computer program was written to solve the system of governing equations to simulate the evaporation and condensation processes and the experimental results were used to validate numerical predictions. The experimental and theoretical values for the total daily distillate output were found to be closely correlated. The test results demonstrate that the system produces about 9 kg of clean water per day and has a distillation efficiency of 90%. The overall efficiency is 33% due to the presence of heat losses in the system. However, this level of efficiency is greater of that for conventional solar stills. Following the experimental calibration of the lumped parameter model, this was used for determination of rational design parameters of the still and it was demonstrated that the performance of the system could be considerably improved to produce 11 kg/m(^2) of water per day if the number of stages and evaporation area were 4 and 1 m(^2), respectively. A water quality analysis was performed for the distilled water and the levels of total dissolved solids, electrical conductivity and pH were well within the range defined by the World Health Organization guidelines for drinking water. An economic study was also conducted for the system and it was shown that the distilled water costs of 0.016 US$/litre with a payback period of 6 months in the Middle East region conditions. This research demonstrates, empirically and theoretically, the potential role in the field of solar desalination of the multistage solar still coupled to the evacuated tube solar collector. Not only is this system a promising new technology but it could prove to be particularly appropriate in remote and rural areas. Simultaneously this system also uses a completely clean energy source and contributes to tackling environmental pollution, global carbon emissions and climate change problems
German crowd-investing platforms: Literature review and survey
No full textThis article presents a comprehensive overview of the current German crowd-investing market drawing on a data-set of 31 crowd-investing platforms including the analysis of 265 completed projects. While crowd-investing market still only represents a niche in the German venture capital market, there is potential for an increase in both market volume and in average project investment. The market share is distributed among a few crowd-investing platforms with high entry barriers for new platforms although platforms that specialise in certain sectors have managed to successfully enter the market. German crowd-investing platforms are found to promote mainly internet-based enterprises (36%) followed by projects in real estate (24%) and green projects (19%), with the median money raised 100,000 euro
Publisher's Note: Search for gravitational waves from binary black hole inspiral, merger, and ringdown
No full textThis paper was published online on 6 June 2011 with an omission in the Collaboration author list. S. Dwyer has been
added as of 12 April 2012. The Collaboration author list is incorrect in the printed version of the journal
Vapor-induced transfer of bacteria in the absence of mechanical disturbances
No full textTransfer of bacteria through water vapor generated at moderate temperatures (30-50. °C) in passive solar stills, has scarcely been reported. The objective of this research was to investigate whether bacteria in highly humid atmospheres can get transferred through water vapor in the absence of other transfer media to find their way to the distillate. To achieve this objective, passive solar reactors were chosen as the medium for experimentation, and distillation experiments were conducted by spiking a pure bacterial culture (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia or Enterococcus faecalis) in low mineralized water vs. highly mineralized water in the dark under moderate temperatures ranges (30-35. °C, 40-45. °C and 50-55. °C). Results showed that bacteria indeed get transferred with the vapor in stills when not exposed to solar U.V. radiation. The trends observed were adequately explained by a zero-modified Hurdle-Poisson model. The numbers of cultivable bacterial colonies transferred were bacterial size, water type and temperature dependent with highest transfers occurring in E. faecalis. E. coli. K. pneumonia at the 40. °C range in low mineralized water. Proper management strategies are recommended to achieve complete disinfection in solar stills. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.Abdallah S, 2009, DESALINATION, V242, P128, DOI 10.1016-j.desal.2008.03.036; Abdallah S, 2008, DESALINATION, V220, P669, DOI 10.1016-j.desal.2007.02.047; Aboabboud M., 2009, P WORLD C ENG LOND U, VII; Ahsan A, 2010, DESALINATION, V260, P172, DOI 10.1016-j.desal.2010.04.044; American Public Health Association (APHA) American Water Works Association (AWWA) and Water Environment Federation (WEF), 2012, STANDARD METHODS EXA; Ayoub GM, 2012, CRIT REV ENV SCI TEC, V42, P2078, DOI 10.1080-10643389.2011.574104; Balladin DA, 1999, RENEW ENERG, V17, P191, DOI 10.1016-S0960-1481(98)00026-3; Bonheyo G.T., 2005, GEOTHERMAL BIOL GEOC, P327; Chaibi M., 2009, SEAWATER DESALINATIO, DOI 10.117-978-3-642-01150-4_6; Eze J.I., 2011, GLOBAL J SCI FRONTIE, V11, P53; Flendrig LM, 2009, PHYS CHEM EARTH, V34, P50, DOI 10.1016-j.pce.2008.03.007; Green Line Association, 2007, STAT POT REN EN TECH; Gude VG, 2010, DESALIN WATER TREAT, V20, P281, DOI 10.5004-dwt.2010.1613; Hanson A, 2004, SOL ENERGY, V76, P635, DOI 10.1016-j.solener.2003.11.010; Ihaka R., 1996, J COMPUTATIONAL GRAP, V5, P299, DOI DOI 10.2307-1390807; Ismail BI, 2009, RENEW ENERG, V34, P145, DOI 10.1016-j.renene.2008.03.013; Jackman S., 2012, PSCL CLASSES METHODS; Kikuchi S., 2012, J ARID LAND STUDIES, V22, P207; KING G, 1989, AM J POLIT SCI, V33, P762, DOI 10.2307-2111071; Malaeb L., 2011, THESIS AM U BEIRUT B; McGuigan KG, 1998, J APPL MICROBIOL, V84, P1138, DOI 10.1046-j.1365-2672.1998.00455.x; Medugu D.W., 2006, NIGER J PHYS, V18, P203; Miles AA, 1938, J HYG-CAMBRIDGE, V38, P732; MULLAHY J, 1986, J ECONOMETRICS, V33, P341, DOI 10.1016-0304-4076(86)90002-3; Mushtaq A., 2002, INT J AGRIC BIOL, V4, P1560; Padia R., 2012, J NAT ENV SCI, V3, P9; Pope ML, 2003, APPL ENVIRON MICROB, V69, P6201, DOI [10.1128-AEM.69.10.6201-6207.2003, 10.1128-AEM.69.106201-6207.2003]; QASIM SR, 1978, J ENVIRON SCI HEAL A, V13, P615; R Core Team, 2013, R LANG ENV STAT COMP; Reali M, 2008, DESALINATION, V220, P626, DOI 10.1016-j.desal.2007.02.061; Rojko C., 2003, THESIS WORCESTER POL; Sakthivel M, 2008, INT J ENERG RES, V32, P68, DOI 10.1002-er.1335; Velmurugan V, 2007, DESALINATION, V216, P232, DOI 10.1016-j.desal.2006.12.012; Yadav Y. P., 1989, Solar and Wind Technology, V6, DOI 10.1016-0741-983X(89)90002-7; Zeileis A, 2008, J STAT SOFTW, V27, P10
