2,905 research outputs found
Expansion of health insurance in Moldova and associated improvements in access and reductions in direct payments
Background Moldova is the poorest country in Europe. Economic constraints mean that Moldova faces challenges in protecting individuals from excessive costs, improving population health and securing health system sustainability. The Moldovan government has introduced a state benefit package and expanded health insurance coverage to reduce the burden of healthcare costs for citizens. This study examines the effects of expanded health insurance by examining factors associated with health insurance coverage, likelihood of incurring out-of-pocket (OOP) payments for medicines or services, and the likelihood of forgoing healthcare when unwell. Methods Using publically available databases and the annual Moldova Household Budgetary Survey, we examine trends in health system financing, healthcare utilisation, health insurance coverage, and costs incurred by individuals for the years 2006-2012. We perform logistic regression to assess the likelihood of having health insurance, incurring a cost for healthcare, and forgoing healthcare when ill, controlling for socio-economic and demographic covariates. Findings Private expenditure accounted for 55.5% of total health expenditures in 2012. 83.2% of private health expenditures is OOP payments – especially for medicines. Healthcare utilisation is inline with EU averages of 6.93 outpatient visits per person. Being uninsured is associated with groups of those aged 25-49 years, the self-employed, unpaid family workers, and the unemployed, although we find lower likelihood of being uninsured for some of these groups over time. Overtime, the likelihood of OOP for medicines increased (OR=1.422 in 2012 compared to 2006), but fell for healthcare services (OR=0.873 in 2012 compared to 2006). No insurance and being older and male, was associated with increased likelihood of forgoing healthcare when sick, but we found the likelihood of forgoing healthcare to be increasing over time (OR=1.295 in 2012 compared to 2009). Interpretation Moldova has achieved improvements in health insurance coverage with reductions in OOP for services, which are modest but are eroded by increasing likelihood of OOP for medicines. Insurance coverage was an important determinant for healthcare costs incurred by patients and patients forgoing healthcare. Improvements notwithstanding, there is an unfinished agenda of attaining universal health coverage in Moldova to protect individuals from healthcare costs
Spin-Wave Lifetimes Throughout the Brillouin Zone
We use a neutron spin-echo method with eV resolution to determine the
lifetimes of spin waves in the prototypical antiferromagnet MnF over the
entire Brillouin zone. A theory based on the interaction of magnons with
longitudinal spin fluctuations provides an excellent, parameter-free
description of the data, except at the lowest momenta and temperatures. This is
surprising, given the prominence of alternative theories based on magnon-magnon
interactions in the literature. The results and technique open up a new avenue
for the investigation of fundamental concepts in magnetism. The technique also
allows measurement of the lifetimes of other elementary excitations (such as
lattice vibrations) throughout the Brillouin zone.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure
Üleilmne majanduskriis seab tervisesüsteemidele uued väljakutsed
Viimane kord kajastati Eesti Arstis WHO tegevust Eestis 2005. aastal (1). Käesoleva artikli eesmärgiks on anda lühiülevaade WHO tegevusest viimastel aastatel nii maailmas, Euroopas kui ka Eestis.
Eesti Arst 2009; 88(2):79−8
Analysis of Interaction Between Philosophical Views and Animal Husbandry on Farms in The Culture Area of Today's Central European Ancient, Medieval, and Modern Times
Deckblatt \- Impressum
persönlicher Dank
Zitat
Inhaltsverzeichnis
1 Einleitung 1
2 Material und Methoden 2
3 Philosophische und agrargeschichtliche Auffassungen im Altertum 2
4 Philosophische und agrargeschichtliche Ansichten des mitteleuropäischen
Kulturkreises aus dem Mittelalter bis zur frühen Neuzeit 44
5 Philosophische und agrargeschichtliche Auffassungen des mitteleuropäischen
Kulturkreises von der frühen Neuzeit bis zur Moderne 97
6 Diskussion 157
7 Schlussfolgerungen 180
8 Zusammenfassung 182
9 Summary 184
10 Literaturverzeichnis 186
DanksagungIn der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden Wechselwirkungen zwischen philosophischen
Ansichten zur Mensch- Tier- Beziehung und praktischer Tierhaltung bzw.
landwirtschaftlicher Literatur untersucht. Die Untersuchung bezog sich auf den
(heutigen) mitteleuropäischen Raum in den Epochen Altertum, Mittelalter und
Neuzeit. Im Rahmen der Literaturrecherche wurden zahlreiche Werke bekannter
Philosophen gesichtet, ihre jeweilige Ansicht zum Verhältnis zwischen Mensch
und Tier herausgearbeitet und in chronologischer Folge dargestellt. Die in den
Büchern landwirtschaftlicher Autoren befindlichen Anleitungen zur Tierhaltung
und - nutzung wurden den philosophischen Texten ebenso chronologisch zur Seite
gestellt. Um einen möglichst umfassenden Einblick in die Praktiken der
landwirtschaftlichen Tierhaltung zu gewährleisten, wurde jede Tierart einzeln
dargestellt. Die Schriften aus dem Altertum und teilweise auch dem Mittelalter
entstammen dem südeuropäischen Kulturraum, also von den Griechen und den
Römern. Der Grund dafür lag sowohl in Ermangelung schriftlicher Nachlässe der
Germanen als auch in der Tatsache, dass die römische und griechische Kultur
infolge sich verändernder Herrschaftsgebiete zu den germanischen Stämmen ins
Gebiet des heutigen Mitteleuropa vordrang und diese nachhaltig beeinflusste.
Ergänzend wurden auch Bücher aus der heutigen Zeit berücksichtigt, welche sich
mit der Geschichte der Landwirtschaft oder der Philosophie beschäftigen. Für
die Epoche des Altertums konnten keine direkten Wechselwirkungen zwischen
philosophischen Ansichten und praktischer Tierhaltung festgestellt werden. Die
Philosophen befassten sich vorwiegend mit der Frage nach den geistig-
seelischen Eigenschaften wie Vernunft, Verstand, dem Vorhandensein einer Seele
beim Tier sowie der Vorstellung einer Stufenfolge unter den Geschöpfen.
Mehrheitlich teilten die Philosophen die Auffassung, der Mensch stehe aufgrund
seiner Eigenschaften über dem Tier und nahe den Göttern. Bei den
landwirtschaftlichen Schriften handelte es sich vorwiegend um Anleitungen zur
praktischen Tierhaltung und - nutzung. Einzelne Aspekte der Philosophen wurden
hier nicht thematisiert. Die Anleitungen zur Tierhaltung erweckten den
Eindruck einer fürsorglichen Pflege, bei der das tierische Wohlbefinden
vordergründig schien. Im Gegensatz dazu war das Empfinden der Tiere bei der
Nutzung zum Arbeiten oder zur Mast offensichtlich zweitrangig. Den Schriften
der meisten Philosophen und der Agrarschriftsteller war zu entnehmen, dass die
Autoren die Auffassung teilten, Tiere seien zum Nutzen für den Menschen
geschaffen. Ebenso schienen die Autoren den Tieren Empfindungen und
Wahrnehmungen zuzugestehen. Weder die Philosophen noch die Agrarschriftsteller
thematisierten die Rituale der Tieropferungen, Tierspiele und Tierhatzen. Die
Untersuchung auf Wechselwirkungen zwischen philosophischen Ansichten zum
Mensch-Tier-Verhältnis und der praktischen Tierhaltung und - nutzung ergab für
das Mittelalter nur sehr unbefriedigende Ergebnisse. Zum einen gab es kaum
landwirtschaftliche Schriften in deutscher Sprache. Diese Schriften stellten
zudem meist Kompilationen der altertümlichen Agrarschriftsteller dar.
Andererseits gab es Tierlexika, die aber durch mystische Elemente beeinflusst
waren. Die Aussagekraft dieser Werke war insgesamt mangelhaft. Auch
agrargeschichtliche Werke aus der heutigen Zeit können die praktischen
Bedingungen der Tierhaltung und � nutzung nicht vollständig darstellen,
vermittelten aber einen etwas anderen Eindruck von der landwirtschaftlichen
Tierhaltung als die Chronisten. In der mittelalterlichen Philosophie erhielten
christliche Dogmen und mystische Elemente eine wesentliche Bedeutung. Die
Mehrheit der Philosophen beschäftigte sich mit dem Menschen und seiner
Stellung in der Welt. Viele Philosophen betrachteten den Menschen in einer
Position zwischen Tier und Gott. Meist wurde der Mensch weit vom Tier entfernt
gesehen, da er von aufrechter Gestalt ist und seine geistigen Eigenschaften
die der Tiere überragen. In den landwirtschaftlichen Schriften bzw. Tierlexika
werden christliche Dogmen nicht thematisiert, die Schriften beschäftigten sich
vornehmlich mit der Anleitung zur Haltung und Nutzung von Tieren. Anhand
dieser Ausführungen ist festzustellen, dass Tiere selbstredend dem Menschen
untergeordnet wurden. Sowohl in der philosophischen als auch in der
landwirtschaftlichen Literatur wurden Tiere bzw. einzelne Tierarten mit
negativen Attributen wie beispielsweise Neid, Geiz oder Boshaftigkeit
verbunden. Diesbezüglich waren Wechselwirkungen zwischen dem philosophischen
Denken und der landwirtschaftlichen Praxis bzw. den Tierlexika zu erkennen.
Darüber hinaus konnte festgestellt werden, dass keiner der Autoren beider
Themen die schwierigen Lebensumstände von Tier und Mensch im Mittelalter
thematisiert. Ein Motiv dafür könnte der fehlende praktische Bezug der Autoren
sowie die unreflektierte Kopie altertümlicher Werke sein. In der Neuzeit waren
in mancher Hinsicht Wechselwirkungen zwischen philosophischen Ansichten zur
Mensch- Tier- Beziehung und den praktischen Bedingungen in der Landwirtschaft
festzustellen. Mehrheitlich teilten die Philosophen die Ansicht, der Mensch
unterscheide sich durch seine geistigen Fähigkeiten vom Tier und stehe über
ihm. Ihre Ansichten fußten häufig auf althergebrachten Argumenten, welche neu
formuliert wurden. Dennoch nahmen viele Philosophen wie auch Autoren
landwirtschaftlicher Bücher Missstände in der Tierhaltung und - nutzung wahr
und bemängelten diese. Kritisiert wurden ferner die allmähliche Einführung
eines eigenen Vokabulars für Tiere wie �fressen�, �saufen� oder �werfen� und
die Assoziation von Tieren mit einer Maschine. Sowohl bei den philosophischen
als auch den landwirtschaftlichen Autoren wurden Rechte für Tiere gefordert.
Tatsächlich entstanden im Verlauf des 19.Jh. rechtliche Bestimmungen zum
Schutz der Tiere. Keiner der Autoren reflektierte die abergläubischen Rituale,
durch die Tiere oftmals grausam zu Tode kamen. Motiv dafür könnte sein, dass
die Autoren solche Praktiken nicht als Missstand empfanden oder sich in ihren
Schriften nicht mit den Volksglauben beschäftigen wollten, um möglichst
sachliche Inhalte zu vermitteln. Insgesamt spiegelten die Reaktionen der
Autoren den vorherrschenden Zeitgeist wieder. Ob der vorherrschende Zeitgeist
jedoch von der Philosophie vorgegeben wurde, kann in der vorliegenden Arbeit
nicht nachgewiesen werden. Zusammenfassend kann festgehalten werden, dass die
Frage nach Wechselwirkungen zwischen philosophischen Ansichten und den
praktischen Lebensumständen von Tieren in der Landwirtschaft bzw.
landwirtschaftlicher Literatur nur partiell zu beantworten war.The present thesis examines the interaction between philosophical views on
man- animal relations and animal husbandry in practice or agricultural
literature, respectively. The analysis refers to the area of Central Europe
(of today) and the periods of antiquity, middle ages, and modern times. Within
the scope of doing research into literature, numerous works of noted
philosophers were looked through, their different views on the relation
between man and animal were extracted and listed in chronological order. In
the same chronological order, a comparison was drawn between these
philosophical texts and the guides to animal husbandry and economical use of
animals found in the books on subjects of agriculture. To give a detailed
insight into the practices of animal husbandry on farms each species concerned
was depicted separately. The ancient and some of the medieval documents
originate from the culture area of Southern Europe, that is by Greek and Roman
authors. Reasons for this are the absence of written Teutonic estate as well
as the fact that Roman and Greek culture as a result of changing territorial
powers reached the Teutonic tribes in today�s area of Central Europe and had a
lasting effect on them. Additionally, contemporary literature dealing with the
history of agriculture or philosophy was considered. As for the age of
antiquity, it was not possible to establish a direct interaction between
philosophical views and animal husbandry in practice. The philosophers of that
time focussed primarily on the issue of spiritual and mental abilities like
rationality, intelligence, the animals� having a soul and the idea of a
hierarchy among creatures. The majority of these philosophers shared the
opinion that man, owing to his qualities, is higher than animals and close to
the gods. The agrarian documents mainly were guides to the practice of animal
husbandry and economical use of animals. Single aspects given by the
philosophers were not made a subject of discussion in this thesis. The
instructions for the keeping of animals raised the impression of careful
nursing that seemed to place special emphasis on the animal�s well-being. By
way of contrast, the feelings animals had while being used for working or
fattening apparently were of secondary importance. Most of the documents by
philosophers and authors on agricultural issues clearly showed that they
commonly perceived animals as being created for the benefit of man. Just as
much, however, the authors seemed to acknowledge that animals do feel and
perceive. Neither the philosophers nor the authors on agricultural matters
made the rituals of immolation, animal games or hunt subject of their works.
The examination of interaction between philosophical views on the man- animal
relation and practical husbandry and economical use of animals in the medieval
period produced very dissatisfactory results. One problem was that there
hardly is any literature on agrarian matters written in German. Moreover, most
of the available documents appeared to be mere compilations by the ancient
authors. On the other hand, there were lexicons of animals, which were,
however, influenced by mystical elements, too. So, on the whole these books
were of only insufficient informative value. Even contemporary works on
agricultural history fail to provide a complete description of the practical
conditions in the husbandry and economical use of animals. They do, however,
convey an impression of animal husbandry on farms that slightly differs from
the one given by the chroniclers. Philosophy in the Middle Ages attached
fundamental importance to Christian dogmas and mystical elements. The majority
of philosophers was preoccupied with contemplation on man and his position in
the world. Many of them regarded man as ranking in a position somewhere
between animals and God. Mostly, his position was far away from the animal�s
position as he is of upright build and outclasses the intellectual qualities
of animals. Dealing primarily with instructions for the keeping and use of
animals the documents on agricultural issues or lexicons of animals did not
discuss Christian dogmas. The expositions of these authors led to the
conclusion that animals were naturally subordinate to man. In philosophical as
well as in agricultural literature negative attributes were allocated to
animals, such as envy, miserliness, or malice. In this respect, certain
interactions between philosophical thinking and farming practice or lexicons
of animals could be found. Moreover, it was found that none of the authors
dealing with these issues made the difficult living conditions of animals or
man in the Middle Ages a subject of discussion. A motive could be the authors�
lack of practical relation or their way of copying ancient works without
reflecting on them. In modern times, interactions between philosophical views
on the man- animal relation and the practical conditions in agriculture could
be found in some respects. The majority of philosophers shared the opinion
that it was his intellectual ability that distinguished man from animals and
that man was higher in hierarchy. Frequently, their views were based on old-
established arguments, which were just rephrased. Yet, many philosophers and
authors of agrarian literature were aware of the deplorable states in
husbandry and economical use of animals and complained about it. They also
criticised the gradual introduction of a specific animal vocabulary into the
German language, including terms like �fressen� (to eat), �saufen� (to drink),
or �werfen� (to throw), and the association of animals with machines. The
philosophical as well as the agrarian authors demanded certain rights for
animals. In fact, legal stipulations for animal protection were established in
the 19th century. None of the authors, however, reflected on the superstitious
rituals in which animals often died a horrible death. A possible motive is
that the authors did not perceive such practices as being cruel or they
refrained from dealing with folk belief in their writings to keep the contents
as factual as possible. On the whole, the authors� reactions did reflect the
prevailing spirit of the times. The present thesis, however, is not suited to
verify whether the respective spirit of the times was dictated by philosophy.
In summary it must be said that this thesis can give no more than a partial
answer to the question for interaction between philosophical views and actual
conditions of animal life on farms or in agrarian literature, respectively
Recommended from our members
Middle to Late Pleistocene Paleoenvironmental Reconstructions from Lake El\u27gygytgyn, Arctic Russia
Climate change is a major issue challenging the world today. Our global society faces rising temperatures, variable weather patterns, and rising sea level among other associated issues. Our action (or inaction) to address current changes will have serious ramifications for life on our planet in the coming centuries and millennia. In order to provide context for these present and future changes, we can utilize the paleo record to understand the natural variability of Earth’s climate system.
One region of the world is changing more rapidly than the global average. Over recent decades, the Arctic has experienced warmer temperatures, reduced sea ice, melting permafrost, and shifts in the amount and seasonality of precipitation. Unfortunately, paleoclimate and environmental records from the terrestrial Arctic, particularly beyond the last 120 ka, are few. This is due to the repeated extensive glaciation of the northern hemisphere high latitudes during the ice ages of the Quaternary.
One area of the Arctic, in the Anadyr mountains of Chukotka, has remained unglaciated through the Pleistocene. Lake El’gygytgyn, a meteorite impact crater lake formed 3.6 million years ago lies in this area and so provides a continuous sedimentary sequence from the Mid-Pliocene to present. This dissertation includes four studies of Lake El’gygytgyn sediments over the last 800 thousand years. A variety of biogeochemical and stable isotope proxies are used to reconstruct climate and environmental variability throughout the study interval. These studies provide novel information about the natural variations of terrestrial Arctic climate on glacial-interglacial timescales.
Chapter 2 of this dissertation involves the analysis of bacterial membrane lipids called branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) and plant leaf wax n-alkanes to provide records of relative temperature change and terrestrial vegetation turnover in response to aridity during the glacial-intergacial cycles of the Mid-Pleistocene. Our data suggests that regional temperature is strongly influenced by local summer insolation while aridity changes derive from sea level driven changes in continentality. Comparison of our data with previously published paleoclimate records from Lake El’gygytgyn highlights the difference in proxy response to climatic variables and the utility of a multi-proxy approach. Additionally, we use our extensive records to identify the presence of a global climatic transition, the Mid-Brunhes Event (MBE), for the first time in the terrestrial Arctic.
In Chapter 3, we analyze algal lipid biomarkers from the same samples used in Chapter 2. We also incorporate stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes to determine changes in primary production and organic matter preservation in Lake El’gygytgyn across multiple glacial-interglacial cycles.
Chapter 4 spans the Holocene and Late Pleistocene (280 ka to present). We use the hydrogen isotopic composition of long chain plant leaf wax n-alkanes to reconstruct temperature and hydroclimate changes. We find that MIS 7 was a stronger interglacial period than MIS 5e in the terrestrial Arctic and attribute the variability in hydrogen isotopes predominantly to temperature and moisture source changes.
In Chapter 5, we compare the hydrogen isotope composition of n-alkanes measured in Chapter 4 to the isotopic composition of n-alkanoic acids in the same samples previously analyzed by Wilkie (2012). This is a novel approach for paleoclimate records. Our results indicate that the type of compound selected for analysis can have a significant impact on the paleoclimatic interpretations of a study.
Finally in Chapter 6, a summary and avenues for future research are provided. Overall, this dissertation is a testament to the utility of biomarkers and stable isotopes in Arctic lake sediments. Each study provides unique information about the terrestrial Arctic climate during the Quaternary and contributes to our understanding of climatic variability and the dynamics of this sensitive region
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