Balancing Security and Human Rights: Post 9/11 Reactions in United States and Europe

The acts of 11 September 2001 demonstrated how vulnerable civilians are; in any part of the world, to terrorist attacks. This awareness led to a determined response by the international community to fight international terrorism iri all its forms. As governments and international organizations alike reevaluated the effectiveness and appropriateness of their counter-terrorist measures, the challenge emerged of conducting the fight against terrorism while respecting human rights and civil liberties. In fact, the wide consensus that actions are necessary to confront terrorism does not undermine the necessity to balance human rights considerations and preserve the democratic process. As portrayed throughout this book, measures to confront terrorism are multifaceted and complex. This chapter examines policies adopted to confront international terrorism, with special attention paid to their implications for:, human rights and personal freedoms, comparing the United States, the European Union and specific EU member states

Cistus ladanifer as a source of phenolic compounds with antifungal activity

A screening of the antifungal potential of phenolic extract of Cistus ladanifer from Northeast Portugal, against Candida species was performed. The extract was characterized by HPLC-DAD-ESI/MS. Phenolic acids and derivatives, ellagic acid derivatives and flavonoids, such as catechins, flavonols and flavones, were found in the sample, The most abudant group was ellagic acid derivatives in which punicalagin gallate, a derivative of punicalagin attached to gallic acid, was found in highest amount. These compounds could be related to the strong inhibition of C. albicans, C. glabrata and C. parapsilosis growth. Moreover, the best antifungal activity was against C. glabrata, where the studied extract was able to cause at least 3 Log of reduction at concentrations below 50μg/mL and a total growth inhibition at concentrations above 625 μg/mL

The promoter and the enhancer region of the KLK 3 (prostate specific antigen) gene is frequently mutated in breast tumours and in breast carcinoma cell lines

KLK3 or prostate specific antigen (PSA) is a serine protease, which is an established tumour marker of prostatic adenocarcinoma. PSA is now used widely for the diagnosis and monitoring of patients with prostate cancer. Recent studies have demonstrated that about 70% of breast cancers produce PSA. In this study, we examined the molecular mechanism underlying the expression of the PSA gene in breast cancer and breast cancer cell lines. We analysed nine breast tumours categorized on the basis of high- or low-PSA expression in tumour cytosols and four breast cancer cell lines. To determine abnormalities associated with PSA expression in breast tumours, genomic DNA was extracted and all five exons of the PSA gene were polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplified and sequenced on both strands. PCR amplification was also performed for the promoter and enhancer elements of the PSA gene. No mutations were observed in the coding portion of the gene. A polymorphism was observed in exon 2 from three breast tumours. However, sequencing of the promoter and the enhancer elements of the PSA gene reveals several point mutations. Within a 5.8-kb promoter/enhancer region of the PSA gene, we detected 16 different mutational hotspots (appearing more than once in the nine tumours). Among these hotspots, two appeared in seven out of nine tumours. Most importantly, the androgen response element (ARE I) in the proximal promoter was found mutated in four tumours and in the breast carcinoma cell line MCF-7. Mutations associated with the ARE I have been shown previously to result in an 80% decrease in PSA gene expression. The mutations in the core enhancer and promoter region probably contribute to the aberrant expression of the PSA gene in breast tumours, possibly by altering the regulation of the gene by steroid hormones. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

Playing at politics First-time voting in the 1997 UK General Election

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:8318.1742(1) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo