Contemporary transformations seen in the use of human rights

Human rights are increasingly described as in crisis. The rising populist tide that puts nation, religion, and race first poses new kinds of threats to human rights. But are human rights, underpinning the universal order of justice, really on the verge of disappearing

Layering, freezing and re-entrant melting of hard spheres in soft confinement

Confinement can have a dramatic effect on the behavior of all sorts of particulate systems and it therefore is an important phenomenon in many different areas of physics and technology. Here, we investigate the role played by the softness of the confining potential. Using grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations, we determine the phase diagram of three-dimensional hard spheres that in one dimension are constrained to a plane by a harmonic potential. The phase behavior depends strongly on the density and on the stiffness of the harmonic confinement. Whilst we find the familiar sequence of confined hexagonal and square-symmetric packings, we do not observe any of the usual intervening ordered phases. Instead, the system phase separates under strong confinement, or forms a layered re-entrant liquid phase under weaker confinement. It is plausible that this behavior is due to the larger positional freedom in a soft confining potential and to the contribution that the confinement energy makes to the total free energy. The fact that specific structures can be induced or suppressed by simply changing the confinement conditions (e.g. in a dielectrophoretic trap) is important for applications that involve self-assembled structures of colloidal particles.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Federica Mogherini’s first seven months in office: a balancing act between supranational and intergovernmental decision-making

Federica Mogherini took over as the EU’s new High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on 1 November 2014. Tine E. J. Brøgger and Johanne Døhlie Saltnes assess her first seven months in office, noting that while the period has been characterised by instability both within and outside Europe, she has managed to successfully balance a desire for the EU institutions to have greater involvement in foreign affairs with respect for the Member States’ leading role in specific areas such as the on-going standoff with Russia

Les produits de la mer au Sénégal et le potentiel des bactéries lactiques et des bactériocines pour la conservation

Fish preservation in Senegal: potential use of lactic acid bacteria and their antibacterial metabolites. In Senegal, fish are first as staple animal protein foods for populations. Socioeconomic constraints hamper the development of industrial preservations. Traditional fish production has some inherent food safety concerns considering the high susceptibility of seafood to bacterial spoilage. Some strategies of seafood products preservation using lactic acid bacteria producing bacteriocin are not very expensive and do not consume energy very much. They can be adapted in the preservation of fish in Senegal particularly in the fermentation in which the catches, generally handled for many hours at ambient temperature, are only added salt (NaCl) and sun dried. Lactic acid bacteria producing bacteriocins could be used as starters (with addition of carbohydrates) during the preparation of fish for rendering them more resistant to the growth of spoilage and pathogenic bacteria by in situ production of organic acids and bacteriocins. A second alternative of application of these bacteria is to use bactericidal solutions obtained from their cultures as additional barrier to sodium chloride to prevent growth of the flora during fish storage for maturation. These new strategies of preparation combined with drying can be used to enhance microbiological and dietetic qualities of local seafood commodities

A farm transmission model for Salmonella in pigs for individual EU Member States

The burden of Salmonella entering pig slaughterhouses across the European Union (EU) is considered to be of public health significance. Therefore, targets will be set for each EU Member State (MS) to reduce the prevalence of Salmonella in pigs at slaughter. As part of the evidence base for the development of National Control Plans (NCPs), a Quantitative Microbiological Risk Assessment (QMRA) was funded to support the scientific opinion required by the EC from the European Food Safety Authority, and subsequently adopted by the BIOHAZ panel

Complications 15 years after breast augmentation with polyacrylamide

AbstractPolyacrylamide hydrogel (PAAG) has been used as an injectable, permanent filler for soft-tissue augmentation for more than two decades. Several complications have been reported worldwide. In this case report, we present a woman with long-term complications 15 years after bilateral breast augmentation with PAAG injections

Systemic antibiotic therapy as an adjunct to non-surgical peri-implantitis treatment:A single-blind RCT

Aim The aim of this single-blind RCT was to evaluate the adjunctive clinical and microbiological effect of systemic amoxicillin (AMX) plus metronidazole (MTZ) to non-surgical treatment of peri-implantitis. Material and methods Patients (N = 62) with peri-implantitis were randomly assigned to receive full-mouth mechanical debridement and decontamination and use of chlorhexidine (control group) or combined with antibiotic therapy of AMX/MTZ (test group). Primary outcome was change in bleeding score from baseline (T-0) to 3-month follow-up (T-3). Secondary parameters were plaque, suppuration, PPD, CAL, bone level, microbiology, adverse events and need for additional surgery. Data were analysed with linear multiple regression analysis. Results 57 patients with 122 implants completed 3-month follow-up. Both groups showed major clinical improvements at T-3 in both peri-implant and periodontal parameters. However, no significant differences were observed between both groups for any of the primary or secondary parameters. Conclusions Systemic antibiotic therapy of AMX/MTZ does not improve clinical and microbiological outcomes of non-surgical peri-implantitis treatment and should not be routinely recommended. Although complete disease resolution may be difficult to achieve, meticulously performed full-mouth non-surgical treatment, achieving a high level of daily oral hygiene and healthy periodontal tissues, can significantly improve the starting position of the subsequent (surgical) peri-implantitis treatment phase

Not every edible orange milkcap is Lactarius deliciosus: first record of Lactarius quieticolor (sect. Deliciosi) from Brazil

The natural distribution of species of Lactarius sect. Deliciosi is mainly in the northern hemisphere, where they grow in ectomycor-rhizal symbiosis mainly with conifers. Several species in this sec-tion are regionally well known and appreciated due to their culinary use. In South America, there is limited knowledge of their presence and harvesting, while their culinary value remains underexploited. Recently, field campaigns in pine plantations in southern Brazil revealed wide presence of Lactarius sect. Deliciosi species. Morpho-logical and molecular identification approaches confirmed that all Brazilian collections correspond to one European species, Lactarius quieticolor. Fruiting bodies occurred in plantations of Pinus taeda and/or P. elliottii, on acidic soils, and under humid climate with mild to hot summers. A review of edibility and organoleptic properties confirmed both L. quieticolor and its commonly misapplied name, L. deliciosus, in South America as edible and of high quality. Several other L. sect. Deliciosi species are less appreciated or with unknown palatability. Due to low potential for long-distance dispersal, an ecto-mycorrhizal partner switch from European to North American pine species is proposed, which may have happened in South America for both allochthonous symbiotic partners. There is still a possibility that other combinations were established, including combinations with less valuable species from L. sect. Deliciosi