18,159 research outputs found
Further studies of the efficacy of military, commercial and novel skin decontaminants against the chemical warfare agents sulphur mustard, soman and VX
Background/Aims: Following an incident involving toxic chemicals, deployment of countermeasures before the arrival of specialised services at the scene may provide a “therapeutic” window in which to mitigate skin absorption. Methods: Five potential candidates (itaconic acid, N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide, 2-trifluoromethylacrylic acid, fuller's earth and Fast-Act®) previously found effective against a simulant (methyl salicylate) were evaluated against a 10 μL droplet of 14C-sulphur mustard (HD), soman (GD) or VX applied to the surface of porcine skin mounted on static skin diffusion cells. Results: All the decontaminants applied to the skin 5 min post exposure achieved a marked reduction in the amount of 14C contaminant remaining within the skin at 24 h. Itaconic acid significantly (p <.05) reduced the amount of 14C-HD, GD and VX remaining in the skin at 24 h. Additionally, 2-trifluoromethylacrylic acid significantly reduced the amount of 14C-HD, whilst fuller's earth significantly reduced the amounts of 14C-HD and VX recovered within the skin at 24 h. Conclusion: All of the products evaluated in this study performed well in reducing the dermal absorption of all the chemical warfare agents tested.Peer reviewe
Future of government support in Syria: three debated scenarios
As the economic and living conditions in Syria continue to deteriorate, many families increasingly depend on government subsidies for basic goods and services. However, this is being threatened by recent government decisions to increase the price of subsidised goods, as well talks about revising these subsidies. This article examines current government subsidies in Syria and presents three scenarios that are currently being debated
Food and Energy Prices, Government Subsidies and Fiscal Balances in South Mediterranean Countries
Working paper, focusing on the impact of soaring commodity prices, notably for food and energy on the economy and public finances of Mediterranean neighbour countries of the EU. Just before the global crisis soaring commodity prices pushed up inflation significantly, not least in EU neighbour countries at the Mediterranean. These price shocks affected public finances in the southern Mediterranean region, notably via government subsidies. Partly due to lags in the transmission of commodity prices into prices for final users the subsidies burden continued to be felt, despite the price falls registered in the wake of the credit crisis. We show that downward price rigidities play a role. Recently, commodity price pressures have re-emerged. We focus on food prices and analyse recent developments in food inflation in Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the occupied Palestinian territories, Syria and Tunisia in comparison with other middle income economies. Subsidies on food and fuel are quantified per country for the period 2002-2010. The incremental government subsidies entail an estimated deterioration of the government balances of up to more than 2% of GDP in 2008 and, for most countries only slight improvements in the global recession year 2009. Ensuing longer-term challenges for public finances remain as inflation rises on the back of higher global economic growth. As recent events in Tunisia illustrate, these can have important political implications. Finally, the paper discusses some options that can lead to more efficient government spending, even in the event of sharp swings in prices of basic necessities.
The Missing Link of Jewish European Ancestry: Contrasting the Rhineland and the Khazarian Hypotheses
The question of Jewish ancestry has been the subject of controversy for over
two centuries and has yet to be resolved. The "Rhineland Hypothesis" proposes
that Eastern European Jews emerged from a small group of German Jews who
migrated eastward and expanded rapidly. Alternatively, the "Khazarian
Hypothesis" suggests that Eastern European descended from Judean tribes who
joined the Khazars, an amalgam of Turkic clans that settled the Caucasus in the
early centuries CE and converted to Judaism in the 8th century. The Judaized
Empire was continuously reinforced with Mesopotamian and Greco-Roman Jews until
the 13th century. Following the collapse of their empire, the Judeo-Khazars
fled to Eastern Europe. The rise of European Jewry is therefore explained by
the contribution of the Judeo-Khazars. Thus far, however, their contribution
has been estimated only empirically; the absence of genome-wide data from
Caucasus populations precluded testing the Khazarian Hypothesis. Recent
sequencing of modern Caucasus populations prompted us to revisit the Khazarian
Hypothesis and compare it with the Rhineland Hypothesis. We applied a wide
range of population genetic analyses - including principal component,
biogeographical origin, admixture, identity by descent, allele sharing
distance, and uniparental analyses - to compare these two hypotheses. Our
findings support the Khazarian Hypothesis and portray the European Jewish
genome as a mosaic of Caucasus, European, and Semitic ancestries, thereby
consolidating previous contradictory reports of Jewish ancestry.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures, 1 table, 7 supplementary figures, 7
supplementary table
Benefit-cost analysis of participatory breeding program in Syria
Participatory plant breeding is seen by several scientists as a way to overcome the
limitations of conventional breeding by offering farmers the possibility of deciding
which varieties better suit their needs and conditions without exposing them to any risk.
It exploits the potential gains of breeding for specific adaptation through the selection in
the marginal environment. The participation of farmers increases the probability and
speed of adoption as well as the breeding efficiency and the effectiveness of the breeding
program.
The objective of this study is to estimate and compare the benefits and costs of
participatory and conventional barley breeding programs. Benefit-cost analysis was used
to analyze the costs and benefits of the PPB program at ICARDA and the conventional
program at ICARDA and NARS
Syria and the Responsibility to Protect
The civilian protection agenda has tried to fill critical gaps in the existing normative architecture through the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and protection of civilians (POC) as sibling norms.1 Despite these two valuable additions to the repertoire of the international community in dealing with civilian victims of armed conflicts, many gaps remain in the protection agenda, as shown in several cases—from Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar to Darfur and, most prominently this year, Syria
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