Security and personal data protection in the European Union: challenging trends from a human rights’ perspective

The protection of personal data was first addressed in the EuropeanCommunity by Directive 95/46/CE. This Directive sought to reconcile personal data protection with the free movement of information in the Internal Market. The processing of personal data in the areas of security policy and police and judicial cooperation was excluded from the Directive‟s scope of application. However, in recent times, furthered by the “war on terror”, security policies have been reinforced in the European Union (EU), a key feature of these policies being the increased collection, use and exchange of information about individuals. Major electronic databases were set up. Additional measures such as the Data Retention Directive and agreements with the USA on Passenger Name Records (PNR) have also raised concerns about their bearing on fundamental rights and liberties. Remarkably though, the legal framework for the protection of personal data in the field of security is still recognisably unsatisfactory. This gap is currently in the process of being filled by way of legislative initiatives of the European Commission, submitted in January 2012. Nevertheless the question remains, how the balancing between security and the right to personal data protection is being construed by the EU. This issue was rendered more acute following the upgrading of personal data protection to the status of a fundamental right by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. In this paper, we will seek to address this topic based on a critical consideration of the evolution and current state of legal protection of personal data in the EU

A transcriptomic investigation of handicap models in sexual selection

We are grateful to D. Calder and T. Helps for access to study sites, and G. Murray-Dickson and M. Oliver for help with fieldwork and comments on manuscript drafts. This work was funded by NERC grant NE/D000602/1 (SBP), a NERC advanced fellowship (FM) and a BBSRC studentship (MAW)Peer reviewedPostprin

A Conserved Vector Current test using low energy beta-beams

We discuss the possibility of testing the weak currents and, in particular, the weak magnetism term through the measurement of the electron anti-neutrinos capture by protons at a low energy beta-beam facility. We analyze the sensitivity using both the total number of events and the angular distribution of the positrons emitted in a water Cerenkov detector. We show that the weak magnetism form factor might be determined with better than several percent accuracy using the angular distribution. This offers a new way of testing the Conserved Vector Current hypothesis.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

The importance of the multidisciplinary approach to deal with the new epidemiological scenario of Chagas disease (global health)

There are currently two major factors that have modified the epidemiology of Chagas disease in the last decades: climate change and migration flows. In this new scenario, there are new challenges to control and prevent Trypanosoma cruzi infection in endemic countries, such as the control of a wider distribution of triatomine vectors or the reinforcement of vertical transmission programs. In non-endemic areas, few countries are aware of the emergence of this new disease and have established changes in their health systems. To address this new public health challenge, the priorities should be control programs to avoid new cases of T. cruzi infection acquired through vertical transmission, blood transfusion or organ transplant. In both, endemic and non-endemic areas, the international community and all the actors involved in Chagas disease must join efforts mainly in two directions: better management of the infection in affected individuals and more research to cover the knowledge gap mainly in physiopathology, diagnosis and treatment

On the multiplicity of the zero-age main-sequence O star Herschel 36

We present the analysis of high-resolution optical spectroscopic observations of the zero-age main-sequence O star Herschel 36 spanning six years. This star is definitely a multiple system, with at least three components detected in its spectrum. Based on our radial-velocity (RV) study, we propose a picture of a close massive binary and a more distant companion, most probably in wide orbit about each other. The orbital solution for the binary, whose components we identify as O9 V and B0.5 V, is characterized by a period of 1.5415 +/- 0.0006 days. With a spectral type O7.5 V, the third body is the most luminous component of the system and also presents RV variations with a period close to 498 days. Some possible hypotheses to explain the variability are briefly addressed and further observations are suggested.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure