The Burqa Ban: Legal Precursors for Denmark, American Experiences and Experiments, and Philosophical and Critical Examinations

As the title of the article suggests, “The Burqa Ban”: Legal Precursors for Denmark, American Experiences and Experiments, and Philosophical and Critical Examinations, the authors embark on a factually investigative as well as a reflective response. More precisely, they use The 2018 Danish “Burqa Ban”: Joining a European Trend and Sending a National Message (published as a concurrent but separate article in this issue of INTERNATIONAL STUDIES JOURNAL) as a platform for further analysis and discussion of different perspectives. These include case-law at the international level while focusing attention on recent rulings and judicial reasoning by the ECtHR and the ECJ; critical thought-experiments in religion, morality, human rights, and the democratic public space; a contextualized account of burqa-wearing interventions by federal and state governments and, moreover, various courts in the United States; and philosophical commentary and, in some instances, criticism of the Danish and/or European (French, etc.) approach. The different contributions have different aims. The section on case-law at the international level reports on those central judgments that, in effect, helped to pave the path for the Kingdom of Denmark’s burqa ban. Concerning the concurring judges at the ECtHR, the opinions served to uphold a preexisting ban and to grant a wide margin of appreciation to the national authorities, thereby limiting the Court’s own review. As regards to the ECJ, the legality of company rules that contain a policy of neutrality for the workplace was examined, with a similar outcome. The authors who discuss religion, morality, human rights and the democratic public space are endeavoring to, respectively, appeal to ethics as a testing stone for law and to both challenge and address several forms of “expressivist worry” in connection with face veils. In doing so, the authors ask a number of thought-provoking questions that hopefully will inspire public policymakers to careful analysis. While the section that is devoted to American perspectives highlights a comprehensive survey of political and legal responses to, in particular, full-face veils like the burqa, the relevant author also incorporates public perceptions and, in the course of examining these, draws a parallel to “the fate” of the hoodie. The constitutionality of burqa-wearing in America, so it also appears, is partially an open question, but differentiating between religious, political, or personal reasons is a de jure premise. Given that the Danish legislators who drafted law L 219 to ban burqa-wearing in public places rely on a reference to political Islam, they relegate religious and personal reasons to the private domain, thereby also adopting secularism as a premise. This is explored in the last author response of the article, more precisely, in an account of the underlying materialism that, in turn, is applied to Muslim women. If policymakers and legislators engaged in Thinking Things Through exercises, they could, as a minimum, avoid law-making strategies that are not in the spirit of the theory they themselves invoke, albeit tacitly. While the aim of, as it were, arresting culturally self-contradicting legislators is unique for the section in question, all the authors who contribute to the joint research project have one end-goal in common, namely to inform about important perspectives while at the same time opening up for parameters for (more) fruitful, constructive and (if need be) critical debate in the future. With this in mind, four recommendations are presented by the research director for the project. Legally, politically, socially and culturally, conflict-resolution should not translate the relationship between rulers and the ruled into a separation ideology, an instance of controllers versus the controlled. All things being equal, that is the objective limit for a democratic society

Why Counting Votes Doesn\u27t Add Up: A Response to Cox and Miles\u27 \u3cem\u3eJudging the Voting Rights Act\u3c/em\u3e

In Judging the Voting Rights Act, Professors Adam B. Cox and Thomas J. Miles report that judges are more likely to find liability under section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) when they are African American, appointed by a Democratic president, or sit on an appellate panel with a judge who is African American or a Democratic appointee. Cox and Miles posit that their findings “contrast” and “cast doubt” on much of the “conventional wisdom” about the Voting Rights Act, by which they mean the core findings we reported in Documenting Discrimination in Voting: Judicial Findings Under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act Since 1982, and a related study by one of us, Not Like the South?: Regional Variation and Political Participation Through the Lens of Section 2

Achieving Thoracic Oncology data collection in Europe: a precursor study in 35 Countries

Background: A minority of European countries have participated in international comparisons with high level data on lung cancer. However, the nature and extent of data collection across the continent is simply unknown, and without accurate data collection it is not possible to compare practice and set benchmarks to which lung cancer services can aspire. Methods: Using an established network of lung cancer specialists in 37 European countries, a survey was distributed in December 2014. The results relate to current practice in each country at the time, early 2015. The results were compiled and then verified with co-authors over the following months. Results: Thirty-five completed surveys were received which describe a range of current practice for lung cancer data collection. Thirty countries have data collection at the national level, but this is not so in Albania, BosniaHerzegovina, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. Data collection varied from paper records with no survival analysis, to well-established electronic databases with links to census data and survival analyses. Conclusion: Using a network of committed clinicians, we have gathered validated comparative data reporting an observed difference in data collection mechanisms across Europe. We have identified the need to develop a welldesigned dataset, whilst acknowledging what is feasible within each country, and aspiring to collect high quality data for clinical research

Documenting Discrimination in Voting: Judicial Findings Under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act Since 1982

The Voting Rights Initiative ( VRI ) at the University of Michigan Law School was created during the winter of 2005 to help inform [...] the debates that led to this latest congressional reauthorization and the legal challenge to it that is certain to follow. A cooperative research venture involving 100 students working under faculty direction set out to produce a detailed portrait of litigation brought since 1982 under Section 2. This Report evaluates the results of that survey. The comprehensive data set may be found in a searchable form at http://www.votingreport.org or http://www.sitemaker.umich.edu/votingrights. The aim of this report and the accompanying website is to contribute to a critical understanding of current opportunities for effective political participation on the part of those minorities the Voting Rights Act seeks to protect

Changes in initial COPD treatment choice over time and factors influencing prescribing decisions in UK primary care : a real-world study

Acknowledgements Samantha Holmes (CircleScience, an Ashfield Company, part of UDG Healthcare plc) and Paul Hutchin (contracted to CircleScience, an Ashfield Company, part of UDG Healthcare plc) provided medical writing assistance. Funding The study was funded by Novartis Pharma AG (Basel, Switzerland).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Impact of Cage Size and Enrichment (Tube and Shelf) on Heart Rate Variability in Rats

Rats respond physiologically and behaviorally to environmental stressors. As cage conditions can be a stressor, it is important that experimental results acquired from caged rats are not confounded by these responses. This study determined the effects of cage size and cage enrichment (tube and shelf) on heart rate variability (HRV) in rats as a measure of stress. Electrocardiogram data were collected from 5 male Sprague-Dawley rats, each implanted with a radio-telemetric transducer to assess the ratio of the low to high frequency components of the HRV power spectrum (LF/HF). This ratio reflects the degree of sympathetic versus parasympathetic nervous activity and increases with decreasing HRV. Rats were housed for 3 weeks in each of the following cage conditions: small un-enriched, small enriched, large un-enriched and large enriched. Cage enrichment and/or larger cages did not significantly alter LF/HF values compared to the small, un-enriched cage condition, when considered independent of the sleep/wake cycle. However, when results were pooled for all cage conditions, LF/HF significantly increased during the wake cycle compared to the sleep cycle. Further analysis showed that this difference was only statistically significant for the un-enriched cage condition. Thus the presence of a tube and a shelf in a rodent cage can alter the diurnal rhythm of HRV in rats and this should be taken into account when designing experiments in which HRV is an outcome

Phenotypic Evaluation of Energycane Varieties for Bioenergy

The need for renewable and carbon-neutral energy is growing as fossil fuel supplies decrease and concerns of climate change increase. C4 grasses are among the most efficient carbon accumulators. Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) is a renewable bioenergy crop with low inputs and high yields, but it is limited to tropical and sub-tropical climates. A close relative, Saccharum spontaneum, readily hybridizes with S. officinarum. S. spontaneum lends cold tolerance and higher yields to the hybrid progeny, called energycane. The Sugarcane Breeding Unit (USDA, Houma, Louisiana, USA) selected twenty-six genotypes for testing at Mississippi State University to determine production and cold tolerance at latitude 33.4552° N. Twenty of these genotypes were chosen after the first year for further testing against an energycane check (Ho02-113) and a sugarcane check (L01-299). Seed cane were harvested and planted in the fall of 2019 and 2020 in randomized complete block design with four replications. Plots were 6.1 x 1.8 m, fertilized once at a rate of 168 kg N ha-1. Cane heights and stand counts were collected to monitor genotype growth. At the end of the season, canes were taken for fresh weight, dry weight, °Brix, and sap volume. End of season characteristics of first year growth were: Mean height ranged from 73 to 204 cm; cane number ranged from 9,530 to 68,171 canes ha-1. Plot fresh weights ranged from: 19.9 to 61 Mg ha-1. Mean value of °Brix ranged from 8.9 to 13.7. Mean extractable sap volume ranged from: 2311 to 16,821 L ha-1. Theoretical ethanol yield was calculated for sap and from dry matter. Total theoretical ethanol yield ranged from 939.8 to 3261.2 L ha-1

Polydopamine-lysophosphatidate-functionalised titanium: A novel hybrid surface finish for bone regenerative applications

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Aseptic loosening of total joint replacements (TJRs) continues to be the main cause of implant failures. The socioeconomic impact of surgical revisions is hugely significant; in the United Kingdom alone, it is estimated that £135m is spent annually on revision arthroplasties. Enhancing the longevity of titanium implants will help reduce the incidence and overall cost of failed devices. In realising the development of a superior titanium (Ti) technology, we took inspiration from the growing interest in reactive polydopamine thin films for biomaterial surface functionalisations. Adopting a “one-pot” approach, we exposed medical-grade titanium to a mildly alkaline solution of dopamine hydrochloride (DHC) supplemented with (3S)1-fluoro-3-hydroxy-4-(oleoyloxy)butyl-1-phosphonate (FHBP), a phosphatase-resistant analogue of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA). Importantly, LPA and selected LPA analogues like FHBP synergistically cooperate with calcitriol to promote human osteoblast formation and maturation. Herein, we provide evidence that simply immersing Ti in aqueous solutions of DHC-FHBP afforded a surface that was superior to FHBP-Ti at enhancing osteoblast maturation. The facile step we have taken to modify Ti and the biological performance of the final surface finish are appealing properties that may attract the attention of implant manufacturers in the future

Microbial community dynamics during lake ice freezing

Many freshwater environments experience dramatic seasonal changes with some systems remaining ice-covered for most of the winter. Freshwater systems are also highly sensitive to environmental change. However, little is known about changes in microbial abundance and community composition during lake ice formation and times of persistent ice cover. The goal of this study is to characterize temporal dynamics of microbial communities during ice formation and persistent ice cover. Samples were collected in triplicate, five days per week from surface water in the Keweenaw Waterway between November and April. Environmental conditions along with microbial abundance and microbial community composition was determined. Distinct community composition was found between ice-free and ice-covered time periods with significantly different community composition between months. The microbial community underwent dramatic shifts in microbial abundance and diversity during the transitions into and out of ice cover. The richness of the microbial community increased during times of ice cover. Relatives of microbes involved in nitrogen cycling bloomed during times of ice cover as sequences related to known nitrifying taxa were significantly enriched during ice cover. These results help to elucidate how microbial abundance and diversity change over drastic seasonal transitions and how ice cover may affect microbial abundance and diversity