Legal, Political And Social Environments Of The Non-Governmental Sector Of Armenia

This thesis explores the current situation of the non-governmental sector in Armenia, mainly concentrating on the legal (laws governing the sector), political (relations with the state structures) and social (relations with the public) environments of the operating non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The topic was not chosen randomly. The notion of non-governmental organisations is closely related to the notions of civil society and democracy. Moreover, a strong non-governmental sector is one of the attributes of a genuine democratic society. However, in Armenia the sector, is still weak and is developing quite slowly. The main obstacles hindering the future development of the sector are sufficient and incomplete legal regulations, unfavourable attitude of the state authorities, mistrust of the population, as well as numerous problems within the sector itself. Therefore, my thesis will concentrate mainly on the exploration of the above-mentioned problem areas. Taking into consideration the lack of in-depth studies in this extremely important area in Armenia, it can be concluded that the work will contribute to the support of the non-governmental sector as well as provide significant background for further investigation in this field. Though there was a great amount of secondary sources available on the topic of civil society and non-govemmental organisations in general, it was very difficult to obtain sources concerning particularly the NGOs in Armenia. The main problem is the lack of attention paid to the topic in the academic circles since the non-govemmental sector is a relatively new phenomenon in our reality. Therefore, chapters concerning the non- governmental sector in Armenia are mostly based on primary sources such as the laws governing the sector, interviews with NGO leaders as well as personal observations since I was working in the sector for 2 years. The situation became even more complicated due to the reluctance of some NGO leaders to cooperate. It was difficult to understand if this was due to overcrowded schedules or to willingness to speak on this topic. Nevertheless, most of the approached did grant interviews and were generally quite cooperative. Therefore, I would like to thank all of them for their support and collaboration. Also, I am grateful to the staff members of the NGO Training and Resource Center in Armenia where I was kindly provided with an opportunity to conduct my surveys and collect important materials. A special thanks goes also to my two supervisors, Pr. Jean Garland and Pr. Mathew Gibney for their great assistance and patience

Determinants of State Repression: A Multifaceted Examination of Domestic and International Factors

Significant scholarly work has emerged attempting to uncover the key determinants of state repressive behavior. Drawing on the most spatially and temporally comprehensive dataset utilized to date in the literature, and utilizing the statistical methods most appropriate for this time series cross-sectional data, the present dissertation contributes to this vibrant literature by advancing theoretical arguments and conducting empirical tests regarding both the interplay of domestic and international factors as well as focusing solely on the domestic determinants of state repression. Paper 1 explores whether inward foreign direct investment (FDI) affects a government’s respect of physical integrity rights and ultimately argues that political institutions moderate the relationship. It further differentiates between primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors. The empirical findings support the argument regarding the moderating role of democratic institutions, while sectoral analyses indicate a negative and statistically significant relationship between primary FDI and state repression in autocratic settings. Paper 2 examines whether a “resource curse” exists for state repressive behavior and examines the role that regime type and level of democratization play in moderating this relationship. The paper offers a potential mechanism emphasizing the importance of citizen engagement in contentious political behavior. The results indicate that: resource wealth negatively affects a state’s respect of physical integrity rights; improvements in political rights, short of achieving the levels observed in liberal democracies, do not ameliorate this deleterious effect; resource wealth leads to increased protest activities, which in turn may engender a coercive governmental response; and the resource curse is most prevalent in personalist and military regimes, while dominant-party regimes tend to avoid the damaging effects of resource wealth. Paper 3 extends this investigation by exploring the interplay between domestic and international determinants of state repression and examines whether state repressive capacity, proxied by military spending, and state redistributive capacity, operationalized as welfare spending on health, education, and social security, moderate the relationship between FDI and state repression. The empirical findings support the preventive role of military spending, particularly in autocratic regimes, but do not lend support for the conditional effect of welfare spending

Распознавание жестов ручной азбуки ASL

A method is proposed and software is developed for automatic recognition of gestures usedin ASL fingerspelling. Static gestures are captured using the new generation 3D sensor AsusXtion Pro Live. Gesture recognition is achieved by extracting and further comparing thenormalized geometric skeletons of the hand. Hand skeletons are compared using DynamicTime Warping algorithm, which has polynomial complexity.Предложен метод и разработана программная система автоматического распознавания жестов ручной азбуки глухонемых ASL (American Sign Language). В качестве устройства ввода информации о статических жестах, отображающих цифры и латинские буквы, выступает трёхмерный сенсор нового поколения Asus Xtion Pro Live. Распознавание жестов осуществляется посредством извлечения, предварительной обработки и последующего сравнения нормализованных геометрических скелетов руки на основе анализа дальностных изображений, формируемых сенсором. Сравнение скелетов осуществляется на основе алгоритма динамической трансформации шкалы времени (Dynamic Time Warping, DTW), имеющего полиномиальную сложность

East Mediterr Health J

Background: The emergence and re-emergence of viral haemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) is a growing concern worldwide. They are associated with major epidemics with an estimated 51-101 million cases each year, of which around 67 000 are fatal. In 2007, 13 countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region reported VHF cases. Aims: The main purpose of the study was to review the epidemiological situation in the Region vis-a-vis VHFs to obtain baseline epidemiological information for the establishment of the Emerging Dangerous Pathogen Laboratory Network (EDPLN). Methods: A literature search was performed using PubMed, ProMED-Mail and GIDEON databases. Reported data included disease burden (reported cases and deaths), human prevalence (general population, high-risk groups), vectors and reservoirs. A scoring method was employed to divide countries into 4 groups (very highly, highly, medium and low affected countries). Results: Very highly affected countries were Afghanistan, Egypt, Islamic Republic of Iran, Saudi Arabia and Sudan. Highly affected countries were Djibouti, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Tunisia and Yemen. Medium affected countries were Iraq, Somalia and United Arab Emirates. Low affected countries were Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Qatar and Syrian Arab Republic. Conclusions: This study contributes in prioritizing countries to be part of EDPLN and in addressing specific needs related to outbreak investigations, surveillance and research

Milieux, processus, faciès et dynamiques morphosédimentaires des formations travertineuses quaternaires en relation avec les changements climatiques et les occupations humaines entre Méditerranée et Caucase

International audienceLes travertins L. s. répondent à des processus d'élaboration bien définis qui sont l'expression de contextes hydrogéologiques, géomorphologiques et climatiques particuliers. De manière non exhaustive, cet article dresse un bilan du potentiel analytique des études concernant l'évolution des formations travertineuses quaternaires pour une meilleure connaissance des relations climats / modes d'occupations / dynamiques morphogéniques. Plusieurs exemples sont issus de recherches effectuées entre méditerranée et Caucase dans le cadre de programmes internationaux en cours. Les formations et séquences travertineuses présentées constituent des témoins des phases de réchauffements climatiques et des archives paléoenvironnementales de bonne qualité démontrant notamment l'influence des occupations humaines sur l'évolution des paysages depuis le Néolithique

Barozh 12: formation processes of a late Middle Paleolithic open-air site in western Armenia

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd Barozh 12 is a Middle Paleolithic (MP) open-air site located near the Mt Arteni volcanic complex at the margins of the Ararat Depression, an intermontane basin that contains the Araxes River. Sedimentology, micromorphology, geochronology, biomarker evidence, together with an assessment of artifact taphonomy permits the modelling of site formation processes and paleoenvironment at a level of detail not previously achieved in this area. Obsidian MP artifacts were recovered in high densities at Barozh 12 from four stratigraphic units deposited during marine oxygen isotope stage 3 (MIS 3) (60.2 ± 5.7–31.3 ± 3 ka). The MIS 3 sequence commences with low energy alluvial deposits that have been altered by incipient soil formation, while artifact assemblages in these strata were only minimally reworked. After a depositional hiatus, further low energy alluvial sedimentation and weak soil formation occurred, followed by higher energy colluvial (re)deposition and then deflation. Artifacts in these last stratigraphic units were more significantly reworked than those below. Analysis of plant leaf wax (n-alkane) biomarkers shows fluctuating humidity throughout the sequence. Collectively the evidence suggests that hunter-gatherers equipped with MP lithic technology repeatedly occupied this site during variable aridity regimes, demonstrating their successful adaptation to the changing environments of MIS 3

Predicting Successful Aging in a Population-Based Sample of Georgia Centenarians

Used a population-based sample (Georgia Centenarian Study, GCS), to determine proportions of centenarians reaching 100 years as (1) survivors (43%) of chronic diseases first experienced between 0–80 years of age, (2) delayers (36%) with chronic diseases first experienced between 80–98 years of age, or (3) escapers (17%) with chronic diseases only at 98 years of age or older. Diseases fall into two morbidity profiles of 11 chronic diseases; one including cardiovascular disease, cancer, anemia, and osteoporosis, and another including dementia. Centenarians at risk for cancer in their lifetime tended to be escapers (73%), while those at risk for cardiovascular disease tended to be survivors (24%), delayers (39%), or escapers (32%). Approximately half (43%) of the centenarians did not experience dementia. Psychiatric disorders were positively associated with dementia, but prevalence of depression, anxiety, and psychoses did not differ significantly between centenarians and an octogenarian control group. However, centenarians were higher on the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) than octogenarians. Consistent with our model of developmental adaptation in aging, distal life events contribute to predicting survivorship outcome in which health status as survivor, delayer, or escaper appears as adaptation variables late in life

Influenza returns with a season dominated by clade 3C.2a1b.2a.2 A(H3N2) viruses, WHO European Region, 2021/22

In the WHO European Region, COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical interventions continued slowing influenza circulation in the 2021/22 season, with reduced characterisation data. A(H3) predominated and, in some countries, co-circulated with A(H1)pdm09 and B/Victoria viruses. No B/Yamagata virus detections were confirmed. Substantial proportions of characterised circulating virus subtypes or lineages differed antigenically from their respective northern hemisphere vaccine components. Appropriate levels of influenza virus characterisations should be maintained until the season end and in future seasons, when surveillance is adapted to integrate SARS-CoV-2.ECDC and WHO internal funds.S