Democracy and Digital Authoritarianism: An Assessment of the EU’s External Engagement in the Promotion and Protection of Internet Freedom. College of Europe EU Diplomacy Paper 01/2020

The past decade has seen a gradual global increase in digital authoritarianism. Internet shutdowns, online censorship, mass surveillance and violations of privacy rights have all become more frequent in parts of the world where citizens are not guaranteed sufficient digital rights. The task of defending, promoting and protecting internet freedom is becoming increasingly relevant for the European Union (EU) − for internal digital and cybersecurity policies as well as for the EU’s external promotion of democracy and human rights. Whilst much has been written about the various internal policies which establish and protect internet freedom within the European Union and its member states, the EU’s external engagement in this field remains critically under-researched. To what extent does the EU engage externally in the promotion and protection of internet freedom? This paper answers this question by covering a wide variety of policy fields including human rights and democracy promotion, digital policy, enlargement and neighbourhood policy, development cooperation and trade policy. Whereas the EU faces a limited opportunity to shape global norms with regard to internet freedom or to change the course of digitally authoritarian states, it has demonstrated several strengths which deserve not to be overlooked. These include, for example, the externalisation of internal data protection and policies and the provision of direct support and protection for civil society. Despite facing significant obstacles, the promotion and protection of internet freedom has become an important area of the EU’s external action which is only set to become more relevant in the coming years

The real plane Cremona group is a non-trivial amalgam

We show that the real Cremona group of the plane is a non-trivial amalgam of two groups amalgamated along their intersection and give an alternative proof of its abelianisation

Focus on Our Faculty

Latin American Studie

Difficulties of Estimating the Cost of Achieving Education Standards

Outlines the limitations of four approaches to estimating the resources needed to improve educational outcomes, including higher state standards, varied student needs, different capacities and prices for education inputs across districts, and poor data

From value to desirability: the allure of worldly things

In this paper, the author takes the approach that value is a judgment that people make about things based on desire, and the potential of the effects those things engender. On this basis, she argues that there are five principle ways that people desire objects: through material properties; in expense and exclusivity; as materials with conspicuous, sensory appeal; through object biography; and where objects can be substituted one for another, an attribute known as fungibility. These principles provide a multiple perspective through which to investigate why and how people desire things. This approach to value is explored through a case study of the desirability of textiles during the emergence of the early urban centres in central and northern Italy (900–500 BC) within its wider geographical setting. Addressing desirability, rather than fixed concepts of luxury, wealth or prestige, opens up questions as to how and why materials and objects are valued across social matrices and according to changing ambitions during the life course

Bovine colostral antibodies and selected lactobacilli as means to control gastrointestinal infections

The aims of this study were to investigate the effects of bovine colostrum and specific colostral antibodies, and some lactic acid bacteria on gastrointestinal infections, especially Helicobacter pylori induced gastritis and dental caries caused by Streptococcus mutans. The effect of colostrum on the activity of the complement system in neonatal calves was also studied. It was possible to increase substantially complement and opsonization activities of serum by feeding colostral whey concentrate to neonatal calves. A colostral immune preparation (IP) containing specific antibodies against Helicobacter felis prevented but did not eradicate an experimental Helicobacter felis infection in mice. However, the IP combined with amoxicillin lowered the level of inflammation and colonization more than amoxicillin alone. The specific anti-cariogenic antibodies of IP remained active and functional when added to UHT milk or fermented with LGG and stored for an extended time. Further, the combination of IP and LGG prevented the adherence of Streptococcus mutans effectively. Lactobacillus plantarum MLBPL1 isolated from sauerkraut showed anti-Helicobacter activity mainly associated with cell wall, from where it can be extracted into the culture supernatant. Colostral preparations, and acidifying microbes (L. plantarum MLBPL1 and LGG) reduced the adhesion of Helicobacter pylori on human gastric adenocarcinoma cells. They also reduced the IL-8 production of the infected cells. IL-8 secretion is a primary response to Helicobacter pylori infection. Supplementation of an antibiotic treatment with a food product containing probiotic lactobacilli and/or IP could offer a potential complementary means to suppress gastrointestinal infections

Letter From the Editor

It is a pleasure to compose a letter to you at the outset of the 2016-2017 academic year. In composing this, my first letter as Managing Editor of ICCTE-J, I envision each of you sitting in front of a screen, scrolling through the latest journal offerings in search of new information or insight. I wonder what brief words I might offer to encourage you in the face of all we undertake to launch a new academic year and deal profitably with life’s many challenges. And I think it is this: we serve a marvelous and sovereign God who loves each one with abandon. This is what grounds us in the educational work of our hands, and is our sustaining grace despite political tumult, racial tensions, social inequities, and all the needs our students carry into our classrooms