The Right to a Fair Trial before The European Court of Human Rights

Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) guarantees the right to a fair trial, applies to disputes relating to civil rights and obligations as well as to criminal charges. The right to a fair trial includes, inter alia, the right of access to a court, the right to be heard and the equality of arms between the parties. This challenging new work elucidates the meaning of the fair trial and looks at the fair trials jurisprudence of the ECHR.Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights has become the defining standard within Europe for determining the fairness of criminal proceedings. Its success has been attributed to the fact that it is not based on a particular model of criminal procedure

Adaptation to the impacts of sea level rise in the Nile Delta coastal zone, Egypt : final project report

The Nile Delta coastal zone is low lying and potentially exposed to inundation from the sea. A relatively small rise in sea level could cause serious adverse effects on the delta coast and its growing population. However, the institutional context of decision making and planning for coastal defenses and development in Egypt is weak and there is no policy process for integrated coastal zone management. To help inform decision-making and raise awareness, the monetary value of impacts on agricultural activities as well as real estate in the project area, were estimated. Project activities identified the most vulnerable areas and developed adaptation options

Risks and opportunities : understanding climate change in the Nile Delta

The Alexandria Research Center for Adaptation to Climate Change (ARCA) is a policy-oriented centre for research. ARCA’s work focuses on socioeconomic aspects of adaptation in the Nile Delta, which up to this point (2011) has been under researched: only 15 research papers on climate change issues have been produced during the last 25 years. However, current ARCA studies show for instance, that large areas exposed to flooding can be protected through small-scale engineering works along the coastline; 23-26% of the Alexandria area is susceptible to flooding by sea level rise and would be protected with a 4 km long sea wall

Proceedings of the Resilient Cities 2014 congress / session F2 - filling data gaps to address flooding in coastal cities

Meeting: 5th Global Forum on Urban Resilience & Adaptation, Bonn, Germany, 29-31 May 2014This paper assesses the resilience of cities in the Nile Delta coastal area with regard to sea level rise, focusing on inundation. By integrating multiple physical and socioeconomic factors that determine urban resilience, this index highlights variations in resilience between urban centers. Levels of resilience are related to levels of physical vulnerability and varied socioeconomic conditions: cities are not single entities, they form a “system of cities.” A resilient system has key assets distributed so they are not all affected by an event at any one time (locational diversity), and have different ways to meet given needs (functional diversity)

Adaptation to climate change in African coastal cities

French version available in IDRC Digital Library: Adaptation aux changements climatiques dans les villes côtières africainesWith climatic changes and growing populations, coastal cities are increasingly facing environmental issues such as flooding (storm surges and rainstorms), sea level rise, and ground water salinization. These challenges are magnified by lack of effective planning and provision of basic services, worsening the vulnerability of poor urban people. In response, IDRC research is supporting better urban planning, capacity enhancement for climate change adaptation, and developing coping strategies for flood victims and hard-pressed fishing communities in Africa

Evaluation of LL 37 Lipoprotein as Innate Immunity Marker among Sudanese Patients Cutaneous Leishmania

Background: The leishmaniasis is a group of diseases with a broad range of clinical manifestations caused by several species of parasites belonging to the genus Leishmania. LL-37/hCAP18, the only cathelicidin in human, is expressed as an 18-kDa preproprotein. The most prominent function of cathelicidins is their ability to inhibit propagation of a diverse range of microorganisms, which occurs at a micromolar range. Aim: The study was aimed to evaluate the LL37 plasma level in Leishmania Sudanese patients. Materials and Methods: In a case-control study, three hundred subjects were enrolled (200 as case and 100 controls). Five ml. of venous blood was collected in EDTA container, then plasma was obtained and stored frozen at -80ºC. LL 37 was estimated using competitive ELISA. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 21. Results: The results revealed that 115 (57%) of Leishimania patients were male and 85 (43%) were female. Plasma LL 37 level was significantly increased in Leishmania patients (1.30±0.71) compared to the control (0.21±0.20) with (p-value 0.000). Conclusion: Leishmania patients had higher levels of plasma LL37, suggesting effective anti-microbial immunity process enhancing healing of cutaneous leishmaniasis. Keywords:  Cathelicidins; LL37, Innate Immunity, Leishmania , Sudan

Factors Affecting Outcomes of COVID-19 Infection among Older Adults with Type 2 Diabetes: A Single Center, Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: COVID-19 infection and the factors affecting it are major concerns worldwide. This retrospective study aimed to investigate clinical, laboratory and radiological characteristics associated with disease severity and hospitalization among older adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) with COVID-19. Materials and methods: A retrospective case series study was conducted to review the records of older adults with T2D infected with COVID-19. Sociodemographic, COVID-19-related data, laboratory tests at the time of COVID-19 diagnosis and CT findings were collected. Bivariate and multivariate regression analysis were done to determine the predictors of the studied outcome, either hospitalization or complete recovery. Results: A total of 343 patients’ records were reviewed, with a mean age of 73.6 ± 6.4 years. Most of patients had fever and cough at the time of diagnosis and ground glass opacities was found on CT in 62.1% of patients. Hospitalized patients had higher duration of diabetes, suffered more from dyspnea, body aches and chest pain, had higher HbA1c, CRP and ferritin and lower lymphocytes and hemoglobin. Fasting plasma glucose and HbA1c positively affected the duration from onset of symptoms till resolution, while hemoglobin level negatively affected it. Logistic regression analysis revealed that duration of diabetes, HbA1c, ferritin and dyspnea were significant predictors of hospitalization. Conclusions: Among older adults with T2D infected with COVID-19, poor glycemic control is associated with higher risk of hospitalization and longer duration till recovery of symptoms. Longer duration of diabetes, high serum ferritin and the presence of dyspnea are associated with higher risk for hospitalization among these patients

Voluntary Local Review Framework to Monitor and Evaluate the Progress towards Achieving Sustainable Development Goals at a City Level: Buraidah City, KSA and SDG11 as A Case Study

Around the world, cities are on the front lines of sustainable development. They are responsible for more than 70% of global carbon emissions. Many of these cities are experiencing dangerous levels of pollution, underemployment, and health disparities. Since 2015, 193 countries have endorsed the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), intended to help address a wide range of challenges affecting cities and ultimately secure the resources for their next generations. All states are expected to present the national progress towards the SDGs through a Voluntary National Review (VNR). Despite the importance of the cities within this framework, only a handful of them worldwide have actively begun to review and assess progress towards these SDGs on a city scale. This paper seeks to develop a Voluntary Local Review (VLR) framework to assess and evaluate the progress of cities towards contributing to the SDGs. This framework has been developed by localizing the international and national frameworks to measure the performance of cities as they advance towards achieving the SDGs. Such a framework can serve as a tool for benchmarking progress on different aspects of sustainable development and help urban planners and policymakers prioritize policies and actions to improve urban quality of life. This framework is applied to monitor and evaluate the progress of the city of Buraidah in Saudi Arabia, as it strives towards achieving the targets of SDG11 (“Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”).</jats:p