'Margins of Appreciation: Cultural Relativity and the European Court of Human Rights in the Post-Cold War Era'

The number of states participating in the Council of Europe's system for the protection of human rights has grown rapidly over recent years. Established in 1949 with an initial membership of 10 states, the Council has now grown to a membership of 46,2 dwarfing the EU in its geographical reach. The most significant period of enlargement has been since the end of the Cold War as the formerly Communist states from central and eastern Europe flocked to the Council of Europe seeking assistance with the process of democratisation. The Council's most prominent human rights treaty, the European Convention on Human Rights, has entered into force for all but one of the 46 member states.3 This paper questions whether the European Court of Human Rights' recognition of a national ‘margin of appreciation’ has allowed these new Contracting Parties too much leeway in the way they choose to protect, or more specifically, to limit, the exercise of human rights

'Domestic Judicial Deference and the ECHR in the UK and Netherlands'

This comparative article explores the interrelationship of domestic and international human rights law in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, with reference to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The two jurisdictions offer a valuable comparison, in that the UK’s dualist approach to international law has meant that it is only very recently that the ECHR has been directly enforceable in UK domestic law. The Netherlands, meanwhile, appears to the English lawyer to present a completely different approach to international law, being based as it is upon a form of monism. Whilst the two systems appear opposed in logic because of their dualist and monist bases, they in fact have much to learn from each other

Performance of an environmental test to detect Mycobacterium bovis infection in badger social groups

A study by Courtenay and others (2006) demonstrated that the probability of detecting Mycobacterium bovis by PCR in soil samples from the spoil heaps of main badger setts correlated with the prevalence of excretion (infectiousness) of captured badgers belonging to the social group. It has been proposed that such a test could be used to target badger culling to setts containing infectious animals (Anon 2007). This short communication discusses the issues surrounding this concept, with the intention of dispelling any misconceptions among relevant stakeholders (farmers, policy makers and conservationists)

Evaluating geostatistical modeling of exceedance probability as the first step in disease cluster investigations: very low birth weights near toxic Texas sites

Background The first step in evaluating potential geographic clusters of disease calls for an evaluation of the disease risk comparing the risk in a defined location to the risk in neighboring locations. Environmental exposures, however, represent continuous exposure levels across space not an exposure with a distinct boundary. The objectives of the current study were to adapt, apply and evaluate a geostatistical approach for identifying disease clusters. Methods The exceedance probability for very low birth weight (VLBW; < 1.5 kg) infants was mapped using an Intrinsic Conditional Autoregressive model. The data were applied to a 20 by 20 grid of 1 km2 pixels centered on each of the 13 National Priority List Superfund Sites in Harris County, Texas. Results Large clusters of VLBW were identified in close proximity to four of the 13 Superfund Sites. Three of the Superfund Sites, associated with disease clusters, were located close together in central Houston and these sites may have been surrounded by a single, confluent disease cluster. Conclusions Geostatistical modeling of the exceedance probability for very low birth weights identified disease clusters of varying size, shape and statistical certainty near Superfund Sites in Harris County, Texas. The approach offers considerable potential as the first step for investigating potential disease clusters.The open access fee for this work was funded through the Texas A&M University Open Access to Knowledge (OAK) Fund

Substituting carbohydrate at lunch for added protein increases fat oxidation during subsequent exercise in healthy males

Context How pre-exercise meal composition influences metabolic and health responses to exercise later in the day is currently unclear. Objective Examine the effects of substituting carbohydrate for protein at lunch on subsequent exercise metabolism, appetite, and energy intake. Methods Twelve healthy males completed three trials in randomized, counterbalanced order. Following a standardized breakfast (779 ± 66 kcal; ∼08:15), participants consumed a lunch (1186 ± 140 kcal; ∼13:15) containing either 0.2 g·kg-1 carbohydrate and ∼2 g·kg-1 protein (LO-CARB), 2 g·kg-1 carbohydrate and ∼0.4 g·kg-1 protein (HI-CARB), or fasted (FAST). Participants later cycled at ∼60% V̇O2peak for 1 h (∼16:15) and post-exercise ad-libitum energy intake was measured (∼18:30). Substrate oxidation, subjective appetite, and plasma concentrations of glucose, insulin, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), peptide YY (PYY), glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), and acylated ghrelin (AG) were measured for 5 h post-lunch. Results Fat oxidation was greater during FAST (+11.66 ± 6.63 g) and LO-CARB (+8.00 ± 3.83 g) than HI-CARB (p < 0.001), with FAST greater than LO-CARB (+3.67 ± 5.07 g; p < 0.05). NEFA were lowest in HI-CARB and highest in FAST, with insulin demonstrating the inverse response (all p < 0.01). PYY and GLP-1 demonstrated a stepwise pattern, with LO-CARB greatest and FAST lowest (all p < 0.01). AG was lower during HI-CARB and LO-CARB versus FAST (p < 0.01). Energy intake in LO-CARB was lower than FAST (-383 ± 233 kcal; p < 0.001) and HI-CARB (-313 ± 284 kcal; p < 0.001). Conclusion Substituting carbohydrate for protein in a pre-exercise lunch increased fat oxidation, suppressed subjective and hormonal appetite, and reduced post-exercise energy intake

A multi-mRNA host-response molecular blood test for the diagnosis and prognosis of acute infections and sepsis: Proceedings from a clinical advisory panel

Current diagnostics are insufficient for diagnosis and prognosis of acute infections and sepsis. Clinical decisions including prescription and timing of antibiotics, ordering of additional diagnostics and level-of-care decisions rely on understanding etiology and implications of a clinical presentation. Host mRNA signatures can differentiate infectious from noninfectious etiologies, bacterial from viral infections, and predict 30-day mortality. The 29-host-mRNA blood-based InSe

Morphine-Morphine Glucuronide Pools In the Rat Liver: Effects of Triton X-1 001

ABSTRACT ABBREVIATiONS: MG, morphine glucuronide; SAIl, segmented retrograde intrabiliary injection. 1

Population Dynamics Of A Diverse Rodent Assemblage In Mixed Grass-Shrub Habitat, Southeastern Colorado, 1995–2000

We followed seasonal and year-to-year population dynamics for a diverse rodent assemblage in a short-grass prairie ecosystem in southeastern Colorado (USA) for 6 yr. We captured 2,798 individual rodents (range, one to 812 individuals per species) belonging to 19 species. The two most common species, deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) and western harvest mice (Reithrodontomys megalotis), generally had population peaks in winter and nadirs in summer; several other murid species demonstrated autumn peaks and spring nadirs; heteromyids were infrequently captured in winter, and populations generally peaked in summer or autumn. Interannual trends indicated an interactive effect between temperature and precipitation. Conditions associated with low rodent populations or population declines were high precipitation during cold periods (autumn and winter) and low precipitation during warm periods (spring and summer). Severity of adverse effects varied by species. Heteromyids, for example, were apparently not negatively affected by the hot, dry spring and summer of 2000. Cross-correlations for the temporal series of relative population abundances between species pairs (which are affected by both seasonal and interannual population dynamics) revealed positive associations among most murids and among most heteromyids, but there were negative associations between murids and heteromyids. These results have important implications for those attempting to model population dynamics of rodent populations for purposes of predicting disease risk