Democratisation and the prevention of violent conflict in south eastern Europe: The cases of Bulgaria and Republic of Macedonia.

This thesis critically examines the common notion that the process of democratisation in multiethnic societies is directly linked with the emergence of ethnic nationalism and violent inter-communal conflict. Whereas generally assuming a positive relationship between democracy and the absence of violent conflict on the national as well as international level, academic studies maintain that this positive correlation does not apply to the actual process of democratisation, which, it is thought, may heighten interethnic tension and increase the risk of armed conflict in divided societies. Exposing the flaws in this argument, this thesis offers an alternative account of the relationship between democratisation and interethnic relations, suggesting that the former can in fact help to prevent violent conflict in societies divided along ethnic lines. Drawing on literature from democratisation theory and peace and conflict studies, and applying it to two case studies, Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia, this thesis shows that the development of democracy - albeit flawed - helped to moderate inter-communal tension between the ethnic Bulgarian majority and the Turkish minority in Bulgaria, and the ethnic Macedonian and Albanian communities in Macedonia. Comparing the experiences of Bulgaria and Macedonia in the 1990s, this thesis further suggests that the existence of unresolved issues over the gratification of certain fundamental human needs such as identity, security and recognition, amongst ethnic communities in heterogeneous societies must be resolved outside of the liberal democratic process, since needs are non-negotiable and as such cannot be bargained over through the democratic process. Furthermore, without some measure of national/political unity that is inclusive of ethnic communities, peaceful democratisation will be seriously undermined. Additionally, an aspect that has not been adequately accounted for in studies on democratisation in ethnically plural societies is the way in which the external security environment influences the domestic process of democratisation

Relation between dietary cadmium intake and biomarkers of cadmium exposure in premenopausal women accounting for body iron stores

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cadmium is a widespread environmental pollutant with adverse effects on kidneys and bone, but with insufficiently elucidated public health consequences such as risk of end-stage renal diseases, fractures and cancer. Urinary cadmium is considered a valid biomarker of lifetime kidney accumulation from overall cadmium exposure and thus used in the assessment of cadmium-induced health effects. We aimed to assess the relationship between dietary cadmium intake assessed by analyses of duplicate food portions and cadmium concentrations in urine and blood, taking the toxicokinetics of cadmium into consideration.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a sample of 57 non-smoking Swedish women aged 20-50 years, we assessed Pearson's correlation coefficients between: 1) Dietary intake of cadmium assessed by analyses of cadmium in duplicate food portions collected during four consecutive days and cadmium concentrations in urine, 2) Partial correlations between the duplicate food portions and urinary and blood cadmium concentrations, respectively, and 3) Model-predicted urinary cadmium concentration predicted from the dietary intake using a one-compartment toxicokinetic model (with individual data on age, weight and gastrointestinal cadmium absorption) and urinary cadmium concentration.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean concentration of cadmium in urine was 0.18 (+/- s.d.0.12) μg/g creatinine and the model-predicted urinary cadmium concentration was 0.19 (+/- s.d.0.15) μg/g creatinine. The partial Pearson correlations between analyzed dietary cadmium intake and urinary cadmium or blood concentrations were r = 0.43 and 0.42, respectively. The correlation between diet and urinary cadmium increased to r = 0.54 when using a one-compartment model with individual gastrointestinal cadmium absorption coefficients based on the women's iron status.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results indicate that measured dietary cadmium intake can reasonably well predict biomarkers of both long-term kidney accumulation (urine) and short-term exposure (blood). The predictions are improved when taking data on the iron status into account.</p

Use of agro-industrial by-products containing tannins for the integrated control of gastrointestinal nematodes in ruminants

Previous studies have illustrated that different bioactive legume fodders containing condensed tannins might represent one of the options for integrated sustainable control of gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) in ruminants, which may help address the worldwide development of resistance to synthetic anthelmintics. More recently, impetus has been given to assess the potential antiparasitic activity of less conventional resources, represented by different agro-industrial by-products (AIBPs). This review presents in vitro and in vivo results obtained with a range of tannin-containing AIBPs of various geographical and botanical origins, namely AIBP of nuts, temperate and tropical barks, carob, coffee and cocoa. They tend to confirm the "proof of concept" for their antiparasitic effects and also for other aspects of ruminant production in an agro-ecological context. Socio-economic aspects of the exploitation of such non-conventional resources are also discussed as potential models of the circular economy, by using waste. The different modes of use of these resources are presented in this review, as well as strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analyses to illustrate the advantages and limitations of on-farm use

Post mTBI fatigue is associated with abnormal brain functional connectivity

This study set out to investigate the behavioral correlates of changes in resting-state functional connectivity before and after performing a 20 minute continuous psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) for patients with chronic post-concussion syndrome. Ten patients in chronic phase after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) with persisting symptoms of fatigue and ten matched healthy controls participated in the study. We assessed the participants' fatigue levels and conducted resting-state fMRI before and after a sustained PVT. We evaluated the changes in brain functional connectivity indices in relation to the subject's fatigue behavior using a quantitative data-driven analysis approach. We found that the PVT invoked significant mental fatigue and specific functional connectivity changes in mTBI patients. Furthermore, we found a significant linear correlation between self-reported fatigue and functional connectivity in the thalamus and middle frontal cortex. Our findings indicate that resting-state fMRI measurements may be a useful indicator of performance potential and a marker of fatigue level in the neural attentional system.De 2 första författarna delar förstaförfattarskapet.</p

Учебная программа по учебной дисциплине "Промышленный маркетинг"

Учебная программа "Промышленный маркетинг" кафедры "Маркетинг и отраслевая экономика" для дневной и заочной форм получения образования: общее количество часов - 152, трудоемкость учебной дисциплины - 3,5 з.е., форма контроля знаний - экзамен, курсовая работа

Use of agro-industrial by-products containing tannins for the integrated control of gastrointestinal nematodes in ruminants

Previous studies have illustrated that different bioactive legume fodders containing condensed tannins might represent one of the options for integrated sustainable control of gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) in ruminants, which may help address the worldwide development of resistance to synthetic anthelmintics. More recently, impetus has been given to assess the potential antiparasitic activity of less conventional resources, represented by different agro-industrial by-products (AIBPs). This review presents in vitro and in vivo results obtained with a range of tannin-containing AIBPs of various geographical and botanical origins, namely AIBP of nuts, temperate and tropical barks, carob, coffee and cocoa. They tend to confirm the “proof of concept” for their antiparasitic effects and also for other aspects of ruminant production in an agro-ecological context. Socio-economic aspects of the exploitation of such non-conventional resources are also discussed as potential models of the circular economy, by using waste. The different modes of use of these resources are presented in this review, as well as strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analyses to illustrate the advantages and limitations of on-farm use