Post-Communist Transitional Justice at 25: Unresolved Dilemmas

The main purpose of this article is to assess the relationship between transitional justice and democratization in post-communist Eastern Europe since the fall of communism in 1989. The analysis is focused on the role of lustration and the opening of communist secret police files in encouraging accountability and promoting the rule of law. An overview of these developments in the countries of the region – including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia – emphasizes the different approaches undertaken in dealing with the abuses and crimes committed by previous non-democratic governments. These differences are examined in relationship to three interrelated variables: (1) the exit mode from communism; (2) the nature of the communist regime; and (3) the politics of the present. The second part of the article provides an extensive analysis of the Romanian case, whose specificity lies in its violent and abrupt exit from communism. The unfinished reckoning with the past in Romania leads us to two main conclusions. First, the nature of communist elites and the opposition to them are of equal importance in understanding how the politics of the present shapes the way in which the past is addressed. Second, in the absence of any real possible reconciliation through public exposure – at least symbolically – of those involved in repression, delayed transitional justice is ineffective

Similitude between the Earth’s nucleus and the Earth–Moon barycenter

Being interested in problems which regard the Earth’s rotation around its axis, we made some attempts to find the limits of the Earth–Moon barycenter inside the Earth. We found that the Earth–Moon barycenter surrounds the Earth nucleus. We also noticed that when the angle between the Earth equator and the Moon’s orbit reaches its minimum value at 18.3°, the barycenter spiral with around 27 whirls surround only the inner core

The Influence of Storage Conditions on the Biochemical Composition and Morphology of Dahlia Tubers

The aim of this study was to assess by means of biometric measurements and FT-IR and FT-Raman spectroscopic techniques the influence of storage conditions on the morphology and biochemical composition of Dahlia tubers. Investigated samples belong to ‘Kennemerland’ and ‘Red Pygmy’ cultivars of the Dahlia hybrida species, which were preserved over winter at 5-8 °C, 30-40% air humidity in different substrates: sand, sand and sawdust, peat and sawdust. The biometric parameters revealed that the peat and sawdust substrate is the most appropriate one for tubers storage, whereas the sand substrate is the least suitable one. The inulin signature was evidenced in all tuber samples as well as the changes of biochemical composition induced by different storage conditions. The analysis of the FT-IR and FT-Raman spectra demonstrated that the inulin accumulation inside the tubers is favourably influenced by the sand storage, and depends on the cultivar type. Moreover, it was established that the peat and sawdust substrate favours the polyacetylene formation inside the tubers probably because it facilitates the occurrence and development of pathogens inside the tuber. It was also found that the polyacetylene concentration increased, which is associated with the plant response to the pathogen invasion, depends on the cultivar type

Rezultate privind corelaţiile fenotipice între caracterele morfo-decorative la unele soiuri de Dahlia Variabilis tip cactus

The aim of the present study was to determine the influence of planting material (forced and unforced tuberous roots) on some morpho-decorative characteristics of seven Dahlia variabilis cactus type cultivars: 'Kennemerland', 'Tsuki Yori No Sisha', 'Hayley Jane', 'Purple Gem', 'Star Favourite', 'Park Princess', and 'Friqoulet'. The biometrical observations regarding the morpho-decorative characteristics consisted in assessing: the average number of shoots per plant, the average height of flower stems, the average diameter of inflorescence, the average number of inflorescence per plant and the average number of ligulate florets per inflorescence. Between these characteristics there were made some phenotypic correlations. Following the interpretation of the results regarding the biometrical determinations using Duncan test, it is evident that by forcing the tuberous roots the results obtained are superior for the analyzed characteristics compared to plants with unforced tuberous roots. The most positive results for the correlation coefficient, respectively significant and significantly distinct were registered for the variants of unforced tuberous roots

Abdominal Tumor Characterization and Recognition Using Superior-Order Cooccurrence Matrices, Based on Ultrasound Images

The noninvasive diagnosis of the malignant tumors is an important issue in research nowadays. Our purpose is to elaborate computerized, texture-based methods for performing computer-aided characterization and automatic diagnosis of these tumors, using only the information from ultrasound images. In this paper, we considered some of the most frequent abdominal malignant tumors: the hepatocellular carcinoma and the colonic tumors. We compared these structures with the benign tumors and with other visually similar diseases. Besides the textural features that proved in our previous research to be useful in the characterization and recognition of the malignant tumors, we improved our method by using the grey level cooccurrence matrix and the edge orientation cooccurrence matrix of superior order. As resulted from our experiments, the new textural features increased the malignant tumor classification performance, also revealing visual and physical properties of these structures that emphasized the complex, chaotic structure of the corresponding tissue

Correction to: Being active with a total hip or knee prosthesis: a systematic review into physical activity and sports recommendations and interventions to improve physical activity behavior

Objectives: Regular physical activity (PA) is considered important after total hip and knee arthroplasty (THA/TKA). Objective was to systematically assess literature on recommendations given by healthcare professionals to persons after THA and TKA and to provide an overview of existing interventions to stimulate PA and sports participation. Methods: A systematic review with a narrative synthesis including articles published between January 1995 and January 2021 reporting on recommendations and interventions. The PubMed, Embase, CINAHL and PsycInfo databases were systematically searched for original articles reporting on physical activity and sports recommendations given by healthcare professionals to persons after THA and TKA, and articles reporting on interventions/programs to stimulate a physically active lifestyle after rehabilitation or explicitly defined as part of the rehabilitation. Methodological quality was assessed with the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT). The review was registered in Prospero (PROSPERO:CRD42020178556). Results: Twenty-one articles reported on recommendations. Low-impact activities were allowed. Contact sports, most ball sports, and martial arts were not recommended. One study informed on whether health-enhancing PA recommendations were used to stimulate persons to become physically active. No studies included recommendations on sedentary behavior. Eleven studies reported on interventions. Interventions used guidance from a coach/physiotherapist; feedback on PA behavior from technology; and face-to-face, education, goal-setting, financial incentives and coaching/financial incentives combined, of which feedback and education seem to be most effective. For methodological quality, 18 out of 21 (86%) articles about recommendations and 7 out of 11 (64%) articles about interventions scored yes on more than half of the MMAT questions (0–5 score). Conclusion: There is general agreement on what kind of sports activities can be recommended by healthcare professionals like orthopedic surgeons and physiotherapists. No attention is given to amount of PA. The same is true for limiting sedentary behavior. The number of interventions is limited and diverse, so no conclusions can be drawn. Interventions including provision of feedback about PA, seem to be effective and feasible

Amount and type of physical activity and sports from one year forward after hip or knee arthroplasty—A systematic review

Introduction After rehabilitation following total hip or knee arthroplasty (THA/TKA), patients are advised to participate in physical activity (PA) and sports. However, profound insight into whether people adopt a physically active lifestyle is lacking. Aim is to gain insight into the performed amount and type of PA (including sports) and time spent sedentarily by persons after THA/ TKA. Methods A systematic review (PROSPERO: CRD42020178556). Pubmed, Cinahl, EMBASE and PsycInfo were systematically searched for articles reporting on amount of PA, and on the kind of activities performed between January 1995-January 2021. Quality of the articles was assessed with the adapted tool from Borghouts et al. Results The search retrieved 5029 articles, leading to inclusion of 125 articles reporting data of 123 groups; 53 articles reported on subjects post-THA, 16 on post-hip-resurfacing arthroplasty, 40 on post-TKA, 15 on post-unicompartimental knee arthroplasty and 12 on a mix of arthroplasty types. With respect to quality assessment, 14 articles (11%) met three or fewer criteria, 29 (24%) met four, 32 (26%) met five, 42 (34%) met six, and 6 (5%) met seven out of the eight criteria. PA levels were comparable for THA and TKA, showing a low to moderately active population. Time spent was mostly of low intensity. Roughly 50% of -subjects met health-enhancing PA guidelines. They spent the largest part of their day sedentarily. Sports participation was relatively high (rates above 70%). Most participation was in low-impact sports at a recreational level. Roughly speaking, participants were engaged in sports 3 hours/week, consisting of about three 1-hour sessions. Conclusion Activity levels seem to be low; less than half of them seemed to perform the advised amount of PA following health-enhancing guidelines Sports participation levels were high. However, many articles were unclear about the definition of sports participation, which could have led to overestimation

Being active with a total hip or knee prosthesis: a systematic review into physical activity and sports recommendations and interventions to improve physical activity behavior

Objectives Regular physical activity (PA) is considered important after total hip and knee arthroplasty (THA/TKA). Objective was to systematically assess literature on recommendations given by healthcare professionals to persons after THA and TKA and to provide an overview of existing interventions to stimulate PA and sports participation. Methods A systematic review with a narrative synthesis including articles published between January 1995 and January 2021 reporting on recommendations and interventions. The PubMed, Embase, CINAHL and PsycInfo databases were systematically searched for original articles reporting on physical activity and sports recommendations given by healthcare professionals to persons after THA and TKA, and articles reporting on interventions/programs to stimulate a physically active lifestyle after rehabilitation or explicitly defined as part of the rehabilitation. Methodological quality was assessed with the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT). The review was registered in Prospero (PROSPERO:CRD42020178556). Results Twenty-one articles reported on recommendations. Low-impact activities were allowed. Contact sports, most ball sports, and martial arts were not recommended. One study informed on whether health-enhancing PA recommendations were used to stimulate persons to become physically active. No studies included recommendations on sedentary behavior. Eleven studies reported on interventions. Interventions used guidance from a coach/physiotherapist; feedback on PA behavior from technology; and face-to-face, education, goal-setting, financial incentives and coaching/financial incentives combined, of which feedback and education seem to be most effective. For methodological quality, 18 out of 21 (86%) articles about recommendations and 7 out of 11 (64%) articles about interventions scored yes on more than half of the MMAT questions (0-5 score). Conclusion There is general agreement on what kind of sports activities can be recommended by healthcare professionals like orthopedic surgeons and physiotherapists. No attention is given to amount of PA. The same is true for limiting sedentary behavior. The number of interventions is limited and diverse, so no conclusions can be drawn. Interventions including provision of feedback about PA, seem to be effective and feasible

Measurement of the Lifetime Difference Between B_s Mass Eigenstates

We present measurements of the lifetimes and polarization amplitudes for B_s --> J/psi phi and B_d --> J/psi K*0 decays. Lifetimes of the heavy (H) and light (L) mass eigenstates in the B_s system are separately measured for the first time by determining the relative contributions of amplitudes with definite CP as a function of the decay time. Using 203 +/- 15 B_s decays, we obtain tau_L = (1.05 +{0.16}/-{0.13} +/- 0.02) ps and tau_H = (2.07 +{0.58}/-{0.46} +/- 0.03) ps. Expressed in terms of the difference DeltaGamma_s and average Gamma_s, of the decay rates of the two eigenstates, the results are DeltaGamma_s/Gamma_s = (65 +{25}/-{33} +/- 1)%, and DeltaGamma_s = (0.47 +{0.19}/-{0.24} +/- 0.01) inverse ps.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables; as published in Physical Review Letters on 16 March 2005; revisions are for length and typesetting only, no changes in results or conclusion