La politique du « mimétisme » : les relations civilo-militaires en Europe de l'Est

Cet article analyse le transfert aux pays d'Europe de l'Est des normes libérales-démocratiques dans le domaine des relations civilo-militaires au cours de la dernière décennie. Les auteurs ont recours à une nouvelle approche - la « politique du mimétisme » - et explorent à ce titre la transformation des relations civilo-militaires comme étant un série d'interactions complexes entre, d'une part, les modèles traditionnels et tenaces d'activité institutionnelle, et, d'autre part, de nouvelles politiques et de nouvelles normes qui ont été introduites en fonction de politiques axées sur I'OTAN et VUE et adoptées par la plupart des États est-européens au début des années 1990, et d'un ensemble de conditions imposées par les organisations internationales. Les auteurs mettent en perspective les différences régionales dans le processus du transfert des normes en comparant les cas de l'Europe centrale et de la Russie. Cette approche permet ainsi d'exposer de nombreuses dimensions de la synthèse émergente entre les anciennes et les nouvelles normes. Une telle synthèse démontre que ces États (et cela est particulièrement évident dans le cas de la Russie) peuvent se protéger des défis externes. La principale conclusion de l'article suggère que les nouveaux systèmes émergents d'Europe de l'Est, grâce au mimétisme institutionnel et normatif, cherchent leur propre voie de transformation.This article analyzes the transfer of liberal-democratic norms in the area of civil-military relations during the last decade to Eastern Europe. The Authors are using a new approach - « the politics of mimicry » - to explore the transformation of civil-military relations as complex interactions between persistent traditional patterns of institutional behavior, and new policies and norms that were introduced as a result of NATO/EU oriented policies adopted by most East European countries in the early 1990s, and a set of conditionalities imposed by the international organizations. Authors are elaborating the regional differences in the norm transfer process by juxtaposing Central Europe and Russia. This approach results in presenting a whole range of the varieties of the emerging synthesis between old and the new norms. Such synthesis shows that these societies (that is particularly visible in the Russian case) can protect themselves from the external challenges. The main conclusion of this article is that through institutional and normative mimicry the newly emerging Systems in Eastern Europe search for an indigenous path of transformation

Capitalism as a Mode of Power: Shimshon Bichler and Jonathan Nitzan interviewed by Piotr Dutkiewicz

business and industry capital accumulation capitalization capitalism class data differential accumulation market system methodology neoclassical economics power systemic crisis value theoryPREAMBLE BY PIOTR DUTKIEWICZ: In a unique two-pronged dovetailing discussion, frequent collaborators and coauthors Jonathan Nitzan and Shimshon Bichler discuss the nature of contemporary capitalism. Their central argument is that the dominant approaches to studying the market – liberalism and Marxism – are as flawed as the market itself. Offering a historically rich and analytically incisive critique of the recent history of capitalism and crisis, they suggest that instead of studying the relations of capital to power we must conceptualize capital as power if we are to understand the dynamics of the market system. This approach allows us to examine the seemingly paradoxical workings of the capitalist mechanism, whereby profit and capitalization are divorced from productivity and machines in the so-called real economy. Indeed Nitzan and Bichler paint a picture of a strained system whose component parts exist in an antagonistic relationship. In their opinion, the current crisis is a systemic one afflicting a fatally flawed system. However, it is not one that seems to be giving birth to a unified opposition movement or to a new mode of thinking. The two political economists call for nothing short of a new mode of imagining the market, our political system, and our very world. [A shorter version of this interview is forthcoming in "22 Ideas to Fix the World: Conversations with the World’s Foremost Thinkers," edited by Piotr Dutkiewicz and Richard Sakwa (New York: New York University Press, WPF and the Social Science Research Council, 2013).

Serum interleukin 15 levels in patients with seropositive myasthenia gravis do not correlate with disease severity

Aim To assess interleukin 15 (IL-15) serum levels in patients with seropositive myasthenia gravis (MG); searching for potential relationship between IL-15 levels and clinical features such as gender, age at onset, clinical presentation or treatment received. Background IL-15 plays pivotal role in T-cell dependent autoimmunity. Increased IL-15 serum levels have been reported in several autoimmune diseases including MG patients from Japan. Patients and methods Sera of 42 seropositive MG patients (66.7% women), mean age 50.6±23.7 years) have been tested by ELISA for IL-15 levels. Results There were no statistically significant differences between IL-15 serum levels in MG patients in comparison with controls as well as between subgroups of MG patients (early vs. late onset and thymoma MG). Mean/median IL-15 serum levels were similar in MG patients treated with corticosteroids (CS) and CS naïve. Outliers (very high values) were seen only in untreated generalized MG patients. Conclusions Serum interleukin 15 levels in patients with seropositive myasthenia gravis do not correlate with disease severity

Influence of uniaxial pressure on dielectric properties of (1-x)Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3–xSrTiO3 for x = 0.01, 0.04, and 0.1 ceramics

The publication costs of this article were covered by the Estonian Academy of Sciences and the University of Tartu.The conventional solid-state sintering was applied to synthesized (1-x)Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3-xSrTiO3 (x = 0.01, 0.04, and 0.1) ceramics. Dielectric measurements of these ceramics were taken in the temperature range from 20 to 600 °C, in the frequency range from 1 kHz to 2 MHz and under uniaxial pressure ranging from 10 to 1100 bar. The study of the dielectric behaviour showed that the influence of uniaxial pressure on the investigated properties was considerable. The peaks εm gradually decreased and shifted towards lower temperatures with an increase of uniaxial pressure for all samples. The first effect developed with an increase of the strontium ion concentration. Experimental results revealed most interesting properties of the material in the context of its potential applications.Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART

Enantioseparation of (RS)-atenolol with the use of lipases immobilized onto new-synthesized magnetic nanoparticles

The enzymatic method was used for the direct resolution of racemic atenolol. The catalytic activities of commercially available lipases from Candida rugosa (MY and OF) immobilized onto new-synthesized chitosan magnetic nanoparticles [Fe3O4-CS-Et(NH2)2, Fe3O4-CS-Et(NH2)3] in the kinetic resolution of racemic atenolol were compared. The best results were obtained by using Candida rugosa lipase OF immobilized onto Fe3O4-CS-Et(NH2)3. Additionally, the enzyme reusability was investigated. It was established that even after 5 reaction cycles, both lipases from Candida rugosa maintained their high catalytic activities and operational stabilities. This approach is extremely important from an economical point of view, because it allows for a direct cost reduction of the biotransformation

Evaluating reflexive saccades and UDPRS as markers of Deep Brain Stimulation and Best Medical Treatment improvements in Parkinson’s disease patients: a prospective controlled study

Introduction. To date, there has been no clear evidence regarding the evaluation of saccades as a monitoring tool of motor impairment in Parkinson’s disease (PD) Subthalamic Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation (STN-DBS) patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term impact of STN-DBS and pharmacological treatment on reflexive saccades’ (RS) parameters and UPDRS alterations. Material and methods. The DBS group consisted of 20 PD patients who underwent bilateral STN-DBS. The Postoperative (POP) group consisted of 14 post-DBS patients. The Best Medical Therapy (BMT) group consisted of 20 patients on pharmacotherapy only. RS parameters and the UPDRS scale were measured during three visits in four phases of treatment (i.e. BMT-ON/OFF, DBS-ON/OFF). Results. The significant UPDRS III and UPDRS. Total improvements were observed in all three study groups (p < 0.05), but RS latency improvement was stated only in the DBS group in the DBS-ON phase (p < 0.05). A significant correlation between RS latency increase and UPDRS III score worsening was found in all study groups, with the most evident effect in the UPDRS III ON phase (p < 0.05). Conclusion. RS parameters correlated with UPDRS III outcomes during the postoperative period in DBS-STN patients. Therefore, saccadic evaluation may be a good biomarker of the patient’s response to surgical and/or pharmacological treatment

Wyniki czynnościowe usprawniania chorych po aloplastykach całkowitych stawu biodrowego endoprotezami krótkotrzpieniowymi i przynasadowymi

Wstęp: Aloplastyki całkowite stawu biodrowego z pewnością zajmują już trwałe miejsce w praktyce operacyjnej choroby zwyrodnieniowej, a także uszkodzeń urazowych szyjki kości udowej. Na przestrzeni ostatnich kilkunastu lat coraz większą uwagę skupiają na sobie tzw. endoprotezy przynasadowe i krótkotrzpieniowe, które niosą ze sobą nowe wyzwania operacyjne i rehabilitacyjne. Celem pracy była ocena wyników czynnościowych aloplastyki całkowitej stawów biodrowych z wykorzystaniem endoprotez krótkotrzpieniowych, przynasadowych oraz niecementowanych z trzpieniem standardowym. Projekt badań: Badanie retrospektywne. Materiał badań: Materiał badań pochodzi z lat 1993-2014 i obejmuje 180 operowanych z powodu zwyrodnienia stawów biodrowych metodą aloplastyki całkowitej, w tym 96 endoprotezą niecementowaną z trzpieniem standardowym typu ABG-1, co stanowi 53,4%, 62 endoprotezą przynasadową typu Proxima, co daje 34,4%, 14 endoprotezą krótkotrzpieniową typu BTS, czyli 7,7% oraz 8 endoprotezą z krótkim trzpieniem typu TL, co stanowi 4,4%. Metoda badań: Kilkukrotnie wykonywany test czynnościowy Harrisa. Wyniki badań: Uzyskane wyniki czynnościowe w poszczególnych grupach operowanych są porównywalne i zbieżne, bez wyraźnych różnic. Wnioski: Analizowane aloplastyki całkowite stawów biodrowych u większości operowanych, zarówno w obserwacji wczesnej, jak i odległej, skutkują bardzo dobrymi i dobrymi wynikami czynnościowymi oraz są porównywalne z wynikami aloplastyk całkowitych endoprotezami z trzpieniem standardowym. Operowani analizowanymi metodami nie wymagają odmiennych programu rehabilitacji o odrębnej charakterystyce biomechanicznej i klinicznej.Introduction: Total hip arthroplasty already has a permanent place among surgical procedures dealing with osteoarthritis, as well as traumatic injuries of the femoral neck. In recent years, there has been an increased interest in metaphyseal-fitting and short-stem endoprostheses, which bring new challenges regarding operating technique and rehabilitation care. The aim of this study was to evaluate functional results of total hip arthroplasty using the following endoprostheses: short-stem, metaphyseal-fitting, and cementless with a standard stem. Research Project: Retrospective study. Materials and methods: The research material covers the period between 1993 and 2014 and includes 180 patients operated on due to hip osteoarthritis using total hip arthroplasty. In 96 patients (53.4%) cementless endoprosthesis with a standard ABG-1 stem was used, in 62 patients (34.4%) the Proxima metaphyseal prosthesis was implanted, in 14 patients (7.7%) the BTS short-stem endoprosthesis was used, and in 8 patients (4.4%) TL short-stem endoprosthesis was used. Each patient was evaluated several times using the Harris Hip Score. Results: Functional results obtained in individual groups of patients who underwent surgery are comparable and consistent, without pronounced differences. Conclusions: Functional results obtained in analysed total hip arthroplasties were excellent and good in the majority of patients, both in the early and late observation periods. They are comparable with results of total hip arthroplasties with standard stem endoprosthesis. Patients operated on using the described methods do not require a different rehabilitation programme with different biomechanical or clinical characteristics when compared to patients with standard stem endoprostheses

The Neuromodulatory Impact of Subthalamic Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation on Gait and Postural Instability in Parkinson's Disease Patients: A Prospective Case Controlled Study

Background: Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) has been an established method in improvement of motor disabilities in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. It has been also claimed to have an impact on balance and gait disorders in PD patients, but the previous results are conflicting.Objective: The aim of this prospective controlled study was to evaluate the impact of STN-DBS on balance disorders in PD patients in comparison with Best-Medical-Therapy (BMT) and Long-term-Post-Operative (POP) group.Methods: DBS-group consisted of 20 PD patients (8F, 12M) who underwent bilateral STN DBS. POP-group consisted of 14 post-DBS patients (6F, 8M) in median 30 months-time after surgery. Control group (BMT-group) consisted of 20 patients (11F, 9M) who did not undergo surgical intervention. UPDRS III scale and balance tests (Up And Go Test, Dual Task- Timed Up And Go Test, Tandem Walk Test) and posturography parameters were measured during 3 visits in 9 ± 2months periods (V1, V2, V3) 4 phases of treatment (BMT-ON/OFF, DBS-ON/OFF).Results: We have observed the slowdown of gait and postural instability progression in first 9 post-operative months followed by co-existent enhancement of balance disorders in next 9-months evaluation (p < 0.05) in balance tests (Up and Go, TWT) and in posturography examination parameters (p < 0.05). The effect was not observed neither in BMT-group nor POP-group (p > 0.05): these groups revealed constant progression of static and dynamic instability (p > 0.05).Conclusions: STN-DBS can have modulatory effect on static and dynamic instability in PD patients: it can temporarily improve balance disorders. mainly during first 9 post-operative months, but with possible following deterioration of the symptoms in next post-operative months

Efficacy and safety of dapagliflozin in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction according to age: insights from DAPA-HF

Background: The DAPA-HF trial (Dapagliflozin and Prevention of Adverse-Outcomes in Heart Failure) showed that dapagliflozin added to other guideline-recommended therapies reduced the risk of mortality and heart failure hospitalization and improved symptoms in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction. We examined the effects of dapagliflozin according to age, given potential concerns about the efficacy and safety of therapies in the elderly. Methods: Patients in New York Heart Association functional class II or greater with a left ventricular ejection fraction ≤40% and a modest elevation of NT-proBNP (N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide) were eligible. Key exclusion criteria included systolic blood pressure <95 mm Hg and estimated glomerular filtration rate <30 mL·min−1·1.73 m−2. The primary outcome was the composite of an episode of worsening heart failure (heart failure hospitalization or urgent heart failure visit) or cardiovascular death, whichever occurred first. Results: A total of 4744 patients 22 to 94 years of age (mean age, 66.3 [SD 10.9] years) were randomized: 636 patients (13.4%) were <55 years of age, 1242 (26.2%) were 55 to 64 years of age, 1717 (36.2%) were 65 to 74 years of age, and 1149 (24.2%) were ≥75 years of age. The rate of the primary outcome (per 100 person-years, placebo arm) in each age group was 13.6 (95% CI, 10.4–17.9), 15.7 (95% CI, 13.2–18.7), 15.1 (95% CI, 13.1–17.5), and 18.0 (95% CI, 15.2–21.4) with corresponding dapagliflozin/placebo hazard ratios of 0.87 (95% CI, 0.60–1.28), 0.71 (95% CI, 0.55–0.93), 0.76 (95% CI, 0.61–0.95), and 0.68 (95% CI, 0.53–0.88; P for interaction=0.76). Consistent benefits were observed for the components of the primary outcome, all-cause mortality, and symptoms. Although adverse events and study drug discontinuation increased with age, neither was significantly more common with dapagliflozin in any age group. Conclusions: Dapagliflozin reduced the risk of death and worsening heart failure and improved symptoms across the broad spectrum of age studied in DAPA-HF. There was no significant imbalance in tolerability or safety events between dapagliflozin and placebo, even in elderly individuals

The Vicious Circle of Post-Soviet Neopatrimonialism in Russia

Published online: 10 Aug 2015, journal issue (vol.32, N5) appeared in 2016Since the collapse of Communism, Russia and some other post-Soviet states have attempted to pursue socio-economic reforms while relying upon the political institutions of neopatrimonialism. This politico-economic order was established to serve the interests of ruling groups and establish the major features of states, political regimes, and market economies. It provided numerous negative incentives for governing the economy and the state due to the unconstrained rent seeking behavior of major actors. Policy reform programs discovered these institutions to be incompatible with the priorities of modernization, and efforts to resolve these contradictions through a number of partial and compromise solutions often worsened the situation vis-à-vis preservation of the status quo. The ruling groups lack incentives for institutional changes, which could undermine their political and economic dominance, and are caught in a vicious circle: reforms often result in minor returns or cause unintended and undesired consequences. What are the possible domestic and international incentives to reject the political institutions of neopatrimonialism in post-Soviet states and replace them with inclusive economic and political ones?Peer reviewe