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Although new policy frameworks such as the humanitarian-development-peace (HDP) nexus are emerging to better respond to increasingly complex and protracted conflicts and humanitarian crises, analysis of their impact remains limited. We analyse the case of Iraq in the aftermath of the ISIL conflict with data that measures the impact of interventions from across the nexus domains. Results show that humanitarian and development outcomes improved steadily over time, while peace outcomes remained poor and relatively unchanged. Improvement in the 'soft' security elements of peace related to social cohesion and coexistence were superseded by a deterioration in 'hard' security elements linked to protection of civilians and security configurations over time. These findings are explained by the lack of integration of hard security elements into an otherwise comprehensive international response along HDP Triple Nexus components. Separate hard security interventions rather had a critically different scope focused primarily on counterterrorism without further encompassing the wider range of security issues facing conflict-affected populations, including those internally displaced seeking to return, nor did they consider the diffusion of local powers and actors in this regard. This has left particularly vulnerable displaced and conflict-affected communities without remedy as priorities in the country shift. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protracted refugee situations in territories of war or natural hazards challenge the logic of the humanitarian-development-peace (HDP) nexus that inspires liberal humanitarianism. The organised expression of that nexus is the so-called 'integrated approach' in which humanitarian aid, development aid and peacebuilding are intertwined in missions aimed at promoting a durable peace. The experiences of camps for Palestinian and Syrian refugees in Jordan and of South Sudanese and Congolese refugees in Uganda question some basic assumptions of the HDP programmes. In the last two decades, the policies adopted in these locations show a two-fold reconfiguration of the HDP liberal programme: first, the aim of containing humanitarian crises locally, in the peripheries, thereby preventing their adverse effects spreading to the core of the international system; second, a focus on refugees' capacity to become more resilient and entrepreneurial in order to overcome their vulnerable condition. Overall, this so-called neoliberal approach to humanitarianism with its focus on containment and individual entrepreneurship-inspired resilience has moved away from its liberal configuration as part of a systemic reconfiguration of local social fabric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale: Maternal obstructive sleep apnea–hypopnea (OSAH) is associated with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP). OSAH treatment with positive airway pressure (PAP) in the general population lowers blood pressure (BP). However, there are limited data on the effects of PAP therapy in maternal OSAH. Objectives: Our primary objective was to assess the feasibility of recruitment to a pilot randomized trial and adherence to PAP therapy for OSAH in women with HDP. Secondary objectives included assessment of PAP effects on 24-h BP, arterial stiffness, and maternal and fetal outcomes. Methods: Women with singleton pregnancies at ⩾12 weeks' gestation and hypertension underwent home level 2 polysomnography; those with mild to moderate OSAH (apnea–hypopnea index ⩾ 5 events/h; women with severe OSAH with apnea–hypopnea index > 30 events/h and oxygen desaturation index > 30 were excluded) were randomized to either PAP or nasal dilator strip (NDS; control) therapy. After PAP education, adherence was monitored online with episodic phone or in-person support by research personnel. Twenty-four-hour BP and arterial stiffness were assessed at baseline and before delivery. Maternal and fetal outcomes were also recorded. Results: Of 105 potentially eligible participants, 67 agreed to undergo screening for OSAH over 38 months; 48 women meeting OSAH inclusion criteria were randomized to PAP (n = 27) or NDS (n = 21) therapy. Of these, 14 PAP (52%) and 13 NDS (62%) participants completed all predelivery measurements, with lack of completion due to urgent delivery (19% in the PAP group, 14% in the NDS group), PAP intolerance at initiation (19%), or other factors. Mean PAP use was 3.1 ± 2.5 h/night, with use ⩾4 h/night on 38.4 ± 33.7% of nights during 9.6 ± 4.0 weeks of treatment. BP was controlled within the target range in most participants. There were no differences in mean change in 24-hour BP or arterial stiffness measurements or in adverse maternal and fetal outcomes between the PAP and NDS groups in either intention-to-treat or per-protocol analyses. Conclusions: PAP adherence was suboptimal in this HDP cohort despite education and troubleshooting. Further work is required to identify optimal OSAH treatment strategies during pregnancy. Clinical trial registered with (NCT 03309826). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To our knowledge, no studies have explicitly studied the role of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) in racial disparities in severe maternal morbidity (SMM). Methods: Using causal mediation models, we estimated the proportion of the non-Hispanic (NH) Black–White racial disparity in risk of SMM that is explained through the pathway of HDP. We linked 2006–2019 Georgia hospital discharge records with vital statistics birth and fetal death records for NH Black and NH White birthing persons. We used G-estimation of a structural nested mean model to decompose the absolute racial disparity in the incidence of SMM into pathways operating through HDP. Results: NH Black birthing people experienced an excess 56 SMM events (95% confidence interval [CI] = 52, 59) per 10,000 delivery hospitalizations compared with NH White birthing people. If counterfactual disparity measure estimation assumptions hold, the estimated absolute disparity remaining after blocking the causal pathways through HDP was 41 SMM events per 10,000 deliveries (95% CI = 38, 44), suggesting that 26% (95% CI = 12, 40) of the absolute racial disparity would be eliminated if there was no contribution of HDP to SMM risk. Conclusion: Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that intervening to prevent HDP is an important (yet incomplete) pathway for reducing the excess risk among NH Black pregnancies compared with NH White pregnancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HELLP syndrome is characterized by hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and a low platelet count and poses an increased risk to the pregnant woman and the unborn child. Individual risk factors such as obesity may alter immunocompetence and influence the course of preeclampsia (PE) or HELLP syndrome. Blood samples were collected from 21 pregnant women (7 healthy, 6 with PE, and 8 with HELLP syndrome) and polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) were subsequently isolated. Production of radical oxygen species (ROS), cell movement, and NETosis were assessed by live-cell imaging. Surface protein expression and oxidative burst were analyzed by flow cytometry. PE and HELLP patients had significantly higher BMI compared to the healthy control group. Depending on the expression of CD11b, CD62L, and CD66b on PMNs, a surface protein activation sum scale (SPASS) was calculated. PMNs from patients with high SPASS values showed prolonged and more targeted migration with delayed ROS production and NETosis. Obesity is associated with a chronic inflammatory state, which in combination with immunological triggers during pregnancy could modulate PMN functions. Pregnant women with higher BMI tend to have higher SPASS values, indicating activation of the innate immune system that could co-trigger PE or HELLP syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundPer- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) widely exist in the environment and human bodies. Contaminated drinking water is one of the major exposure pathways for humans. Previous studies found weak or moderate associations between PFAS and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP).MethodsWe obtained the number of births and counts of HDP cases for singleton births multiply stratified by county, maternal age, race, education, smoking status, and parity from CDC WONDER, and PFAS water concentrations from EPA UCMR3 data in the United States during 2013-2015. We used binomial regression on the multiply stratified HDP data to produce equal effect estimates and standard errors to those that would be derived from using individual-level data on binary HDP status and demographic covariates in logistic regression.ResultsAfter adjusting for demographic covariates, we found small but statistically significant positive associations between HDP and population-weighted average water concentrations (ng/L) of all four PFAS: Odds ratio (OR) = 1.009, 95% CI = (1.001, 1.016) per IQR increase in perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA); 1.030, 95% CI = (1.021, 1.040) per IQR increase in perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS); 1.008, 95% CI = (1.005, 1.011) per IQR increase in perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA); 1.007, 95% CI = (1.004, 1.010) per IQR increase in perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), and 1.032, 95% CI = (1.022, 1.042) per IQR increase in the sum of four PFAS. Further adjustment for coexposures reversed the effect of PFOA from positive to inverse, and attenuated the effects of PFOS and PFHxS toward the null. After drinking water to serum concentration conversions, our effect estimates for PFOA, PFOS, and PFHxS are similar to previous studies.ConclusionsWe found a weak positive association between the PFAS mixture and HDP, although the generalizability is subject to inherent limitations of the public-available datasets.

Copyright of Journal of Socioterapy / Journal Socioterapie is the property of Linguo-Cultural & Translation-Interpretation Centre of Excellence at the Faculty of Arts and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article provides a tour d’horizon of the recent emigration of the Kurdish political elite from Turkey and contextualizes it in its historical course. Specifically, the article discusses the similarities and differences of the exilic waves at the two ends of the chain of pro-Kurdish political parties in Turkey, i.e., the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and the Democracy Party (DEP). Based on semi-structured elite interviews, a comparison of the patterns of integration with and differentiation from the Kurdish diaspora organizations in Europe, in particular, reveals significant variation between these two exilic waves despite their common root cause. Such variation, coupled with tensions derived mainly from the hierarchal structure of the Kurdish diaspora organizations, fuels a rivalry that may alter the composition of Kurdish political elites in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevention of musculoskeletal injuries and their related welfare and economic impacts represent an immediate priority for the horse racing industry. This prospective pilot study aimed to evaluate a method to quantitatively analyze scintigraphic features of specific anatomical regions of the horse's appendicular skeleton in combination with secondary measures of musculoskeletal metabolism in blood. Twelve horses referred for scintigraphic assessment of lameness were enrolled. Blood samples were collected immediately prior to the administration of radiotracer. Serum concentrations associated with bone turnover were determined for the following biomarkers: C‐terminal telopeptides of type I collagen, proteoglycans and sulfated glycosaminoglycans, collagen type II, osteocalcin, and procollagen II C‐terminal propeptide. Scintigraphic images underwent radiomic analysis of discrete regions of the distal limbs and these data were correlated to bone turnover markers. Three lame horses demonstrated asymmetrical radiomic abnormalities. The concentration of osteocalcin in the lame horses was significantly higher when compared to the control group, while no significant changes were observed for the other screened serum biomarkers. Findings from the current study provided evidence that radiomic analysis of equine scintigraphy is feasible. This method has the potential to interrogate which serum markers are associated with musculoskeletal injuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rather than addressing the Kurdish conflict in Turkey directly, this study focuses on how the rising nationalist populism bears on Kurdish voters supporting the pro‐Kurdish party HDP. There are very few studies on how Kurds are affected by the nationalist populism often expressed in Turkey by the governing People's Alliance (Cumhur İttifakı) with its slogan "domestic and national," even though the literature offers a broad variety of studies on the Kurdish conflict. To fill this gap, this study is supported by focus group discussions with the Kurds in Turkey who support the HDP, based on a sample of the Kurds living in Istanbul, which is sometimes referred to as the "largest Kurdish city." This study claims that the populist slogan of the "domestic and national" not only marginalises the Kurdish interviewees but also weakens their sense of belonging to Turkey, thus encouraging them to establish their own national identities. An important result of the focus group meetings is that AKP's polarising policy not only causes polarisation among Turks but also among the Kurds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Qin-Yu Cai,1,2 Yin Yang,3 Yong-Heng Wang,1,2 Han-Lin Cui,1,2 Xue-Peng Wu,2 Kai-Mai Liao,1 Xin Luo,2,4 Tai-Hang Liu1,2 1Department of Bioinformatics, The School of Basic Medicine, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China; 2The Joint International Research Laboratory of Reproduction and Development, Ministry of Education, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Infection Controlling Section, Women and Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Obstetrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Tai-Hang Liu; Xin Luo, Chongqing Medical University, Box 197, No. 1 Yixueyuan Road, Chongqing, 400016, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 023 68485008, Fax +86 023 68485000, Email liuth@cqmu.edu.cn; lxcqmu@outlook.comObject: COVID-19 pandemic and worldwide quarantine seriously affected the physical and mental health of the general public. Our study aimed to investigate the effects of the COVID-19 quarantine on pregnancy outcomes among pregnant women with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP).Methods: This single-center retrospective cohort study collected complete clinical data of HDP patients with a history of home quarantine in The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University (Chongqing, China) in 2020 as well as the patients without home quarantine in 2018 and 2019. Then, the maternal and neonatal outcomes of two subtypes of HDP, gestational hypertension (GH) and preeclampsia/eclampsia (PE/E), were analyzed over the three years.Results: The incidence of HDP increased from 0.84% in 2018 and 0.51% in 2019 to 2.30% in 2020. The data suggested that home quarantine was associated with higher gestational weight gain, obesity rates, blood pressure, and uric acid among the patients with HDP in 2020. Furthermore, HDP patients with a history of home quarantine may have worse neonatal outcomes, including lower newborn weight, shorter body length, lower Apgar score, and higher risk of fetal growth restriction.Conclusion: Our results suggested that COVID-19 quarantine may be a risk factor for poor pregnancy outcomes in HDP patients. Lifestyle guidance and antenatal care may be necessary for HDP patients with home quarantine in an epidemic outbreak.Keywords: COVID-19, home quarantine, pregnancy outcomes, HDP, obesity

HELLP syndrome is characterized by hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and a low platelet count and poses an increased risk to the pregnant woman and the unborn child. Individual risk factors such as obesity may alter immunocompetence and influence the course of preeclampsia (PE) or HELLP syndrome. Blood samples were collected from 21 pregnant women (7 healthy, 6 with PE, and 8 with HELLP syndrome) and polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) were subsequently isolated. Production of radical oxygen species (ROS), cell movement, and NETosis were assessed by live-cell imaging. Surface protein expression and oxidative burst were analyzed by flow cytometry. PE and HELLP patients had significantly higher BMI compared to the healthy control group. Depending on the expression of CD11b, CD62L, and CD66b on PMNs, a surface protein activation sum scale (SPASS) was calculated. PMNs from patients with high SPASS values showed prolonged and more targeted migration with delayed ROS production and NETosis. Obesity is associated with a chronic inflammatory state, which in combination with immunological triggers during pregnancy could modulate PMN functions. Pregnant women with higher BMI tend to have higher SPASS values, indicating activation of the innate immune system that could co-trigger PE or HELLP syndrome.

Keywords: Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome; polycystic ovarian syndrome; preeclampsia; OHSS; HDP; mechanism of pathogenesis EN Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome polycystic ovarian syndrome preeclampsia OHSS HDP mechanism of pathogenesis 3737 3740 4 04/11/23 20221101 NES 221101 Introduction Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is a type of clinical syndrome including enlargement of ovaries, increased capillary permeability, a shift of protein-rich fluid from the intravascular system to the third space and blood concentration (Gomez I et al. i [8], Fiedler and Ezcurra [7], Balint I et al. i [2]). In this case, the patient presented with preeclampsia at the onset of OHSS and the diagnosis of OHSS was delayed, but hypertension and proteinuria recovered quickly after delivery. Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, polycystic ovarian syndrome, preeclampsia, OHSS, HDP, mechanism of pathogenesis. [Extracted from the article]

An experiment was conducted under the ICAR-All India Coordinated Research Project on Fruits to study the high-density planting (HDP) and nutrient requirement of banana at six research centres across the country, including Bhubaneswar (Orissa), Gandevi (Gujarat), Jalgaon (Maharashtra), Jorhat (Assam), Kannara (Kerala) and Mohanpur (West Bengal) to enable higher productivity of banana and profit to farmers. The objective of this study was to explore the possibility of increasing productivity through the intervention of only per unit plant population (through planting system) and level of nutrition, but without any interference to the regional choices of variety (eg., choice variety Nendran for Kerala or Martaman for West Bengal), production system (mono/poly- clone, single/multi-year plantation, and POP of respective states), for which national productivity ranges are much skewed also. Results indicated that intervention of only plant density could increase the productivity of banana within the existing system of production and choice of a variety of different regions or states. The experiment was laid out in RBD with four planting densities (S1P2, S1P3, S2P2 and S2P3, where S1=2m x 3m, S2=1.8m x 3.6m, P2=2 suckers/hill, P3=3 suckers/hill), three nutrition levels (F1, F2 and F3 , which is 100%, 75% and 50% of RDF) and one with region-specific conventional planting density and nutrition (100% of RDF) practices as control. The results of this experiment showed that HDP (S1P3, 5000 plants /ha) in banana, accommodating three suckers per hill at 2m x 3m spacing increased productivity over the conventional system at the Bhubaneswar, Gandevi, Jorhat, Kannara and Mohanpur centres. The increase in productivity due to HDP (5,000/ha) over control was 28.9% (RDF 25%) to 50.6% (RDF 100%) at Bhubaneswar, 15.2% (RDF 25%) to 21.9% (RDF 100%) at Gandevi, 4.0% (RDF 25%) to 7.4% (RDF 100%) at Jorhat, 33.5% (RDF 25%) to 43.5% (RDF 100%) at Kannara and 46.5% (RDF 25%) to 79.0% (RDF 100%) at Mohanpur centre. The nutrient requirement under HDP was 100% RDF at Kannara, 75% RDF at Bhubaneswar and Mohanpur and 50% RDF at Gandevi and Jorhat centres, which indicates a saving in cost of fertilizer input by 25% -50%. It is, therefore, recommended for HDP (5000 plants/ha) in banana, accommodating three suckers per hill at 2m x 3m (6.6 ft x 3.8 ft) spacing with 50% RDF in the agro-climatic regions of Gandevi and Jorhat, with 75% RDF in the agro-climatic regions of Bhubaneswar and Mohanpur and with 100% RDF in the agro-climatic region of Kannara in order to ensure higher productivity and profit to farmers.

This work deals with the preparation and characterization of antimicrobial polymeric composite materials based on polylactide, which is currently widely investigated to produce temporary implants. Polylactide was blended with antimicrobial fillers: silver, hexadecylpyridinium or hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromides anchored on vermiculite or graphene oxide matrices in an amount of 1% wt. The prepared samples were characterized by conventional methods, further they were exposed to degradation tests in physiological saline conditions and characterized for their antimicrobial properties using common pathogen microorganisms. It has been proven that the prepared polylactide composites change their antimicrobial effects after being in physiological saline of pH 7 and 9 for 0–6 months. The weight of the composites changed by about 10%, and antimicrobial properties were growing over time. The effectiveness of the composites was confirmed for 6 months at minimum. Therefore, they are suitable for the preparation of temporary stents, catheters or implants suitable for fracture fixation.

Objective: Women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and/or hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are at increased long-term cardiovascular risk. Mild cardiac functional alterations have been detected in women with GDM or HDP in midgestation, prior to clinical onset of the disease, but these functional alterations have not been found to be useful as screening tools. In contrast, increased impedance to peripheral blood flow, measured by echocardiography or ophthalmic artery Doppler, has been shown to provide incremental value to maternal characteristics for the prediction of pre-eclampsia. However, it is unknown whether similar changes can be detected in women at risk of GDM. In this study, we performed detailed cardiovascular phenotyping in a large, unselected population of women in midgestation to identify similarities and differences in cardiovascular adaptation in women who are at risk of GDM and/or HDP.Methods: This was a prospective observational study in women attending for a routine hospital visit at 19 + 1 to 23 + 3 weeks' gestation. This visit included assessment of flow velocity waveforms from the maternal ophthalmic arteries, echocardiography for assessment of maternal cardiovascular function and measurement of uterine artery pulsatility index and serum placental growth factor (PlGF) for assessment of placental perfusion and function. The measured indices were converted to either multiples of the median (MoM) values or deviation from the median (delta) after adjusting for maternal characteristics and elements of medical history. Biomarker delta or MoM values in the GDM and HDP groups were compared with those in the unaffected group using 95% CI and t-tests.Results: The study population of 5214 pregnancies contained 4429 (84.9%) that were unaffected by GDM or HDP, 509 (9.8%) complicated by GDM without HDP, 41 (0.8%) with GDM and HDP, and 235 (4.5%) with HDP without GDM. In HDP cases, with or without GDM, there was evidence of impaired placentation, with a decrease in PlGF, and increased impedance to flow in the peripheral circulation, suggested by an increase in ophthalmic artery peak systolic velocity (PSV) ratio, peripheral vascular resistance assessed on echocardiography and mean arterial pressure. In the GDM group without HDP, there was no evidence of altered placental perfusion or function and ophthalmic artery PSV ratio was not significantly different from that in the unaffected group; peripheral vascular resistance and mean arterial pressure were increased but to a lesser degree than in the HDP group. In the HDP group, there was an increase in global longitudinal systolic strain and slight increase in isovolumic relaxation time, while in the GDM group, there was an increase in mitral valve E/e', myocardial performance index and global longitudinal systolic strain.Conclusions: In midgestation, women who subsequently develop HDP or GDM have a mild subclinical reduction in left ventricular function. In HDP cases, with or without GDM, there is evidence of impaired placentation and all biomarkers of impedance to peripheral blood flow are consistently increased. In contrast, in the GDM group without HDP, biomarkers of placental function are normal and those of impedance to peripheral blood flow are either marginally increased or not significantly different from those in normal pregnancies. © 2022 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feature representations with rich topic information can greatly improve the performance of story segmentation tasks. VAEGAN offers distinct advantages in feature learning by combining variational autoencoder (VAE) and generative adversarial network (GAN), which not only captures intricate data representations through VAE's probabilistic encoding and decoding mechanism but also enhances feature diversity and quality via GAN's adversarial training. To better learn topical domain representation, we used a topical classifier to supervise the training process of VAEGAN. Based on the learned feature, a segmentor splits the document into shorter ones with different topics. Hidden Markov model (HMM) is a popular approach for story segmentation, in which stories are viewed as instances of topics (hidden states). The number of states has to be set manually but it is often unknown in real scenarios. To solve this problem, we proposed an infinite HMM (IHMM) approach which utilized an HDP prior on transition matrices over countably infinite state spaces to automatically infer the state's number from the data. Given a running text, a Blocked Gibbis sampler labeled the states with topic classes. The position where the topic changes was a story boundary. Experimental results on the TDT2 corpus demonstrated that the proposed topical VAEGAN-IHMM approach was significantly better than the traditional HMM method in story segmentation tasks and achieved state-of-the-art performance.

In 3D NAND, as the stack number increases, the process cost becomes higher and higher, and the stress problem becomes more and more serious. Therefore, the low cost and low stress plasma enhanced tetraethyl orthosilicate (PE TEOS), compared to high density plasma (HDP) oxide, shows its superiority as pre-metal dielectric (PMD) oxide layer in 3D NAND. This paper explores the challenges in the application of PE TEOS in 3D NAND PMD oxide layer. In our experiment both PE TEOS and HDP are employed as the PMD oxide for 3D NAND staircase protection. There is not any void found in the two oxide structures. However, oxide pitting is spotted in the subsequent diluted hydrofluoric acid wet etching in the PE TEOS split. Moreover, we observe that the top silicon nitride corrodes in hot phosphoric acid. We study the mechanism of PE TEOS oxide pitting and silicon nitride corroding, propose two solutions: (1) HDP oxide + PE TEOS, and (2) PE TEOS + dry etching. Experimental results demonstrate that our solutions can well address the issue of PE TEOS oxide pitting and effectively protect the staircase structure. This work extends the application of PE TEOS oxide of which the cost and the stress are both low in 3D NAND. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanistic modeling of chalcopyrite separation from talc by HDP. [Display omitted] • Using a new reagent HDP as an inhibitor for flotation of chalcopyrite and talc. • Analyzed the selective adsorption mechanism of HDP. • The phase diagram of HDP adsorption on talc surface was analyzed through AFM. • The adsorption energy of HDP with different minerals was calculated through DFT. • The interaction form between HDP and talc was simulated through DFT calculations. Chalcopyrite and talc exhibit strong natural hydrophobicity, making it challenging for conventional inhibitors to effectively separate the two through flotation. This paper proposes a novel starch-modified reagent, Hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate (HDP), for the separation of chalcopyrite and talc. Micro-flotation test results indicate that HDP has a significant inhibitory effect on talc, while the flotation recovery of chalcopyrite is almost unaffected. Effective separation of chalcopyrite and talc can be achieved with the addition of only 5 mg/L of HDP. Zeta potential, adsorption amount, and FTIR tests reveal that HDP can selectively adsorb onto the surface of talc, with minimal adsorption on chalcopyrite. Further analysis through XPS and AFM indicates that HDP acts on the talc surface through physical adsorption, generating a larger phase angle to inhibit talc flotation. Concurrently, Density functional theory (DFT) simulation calculations suggest the presence of hydrogen bonding during the adsorption process between HDP and talc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Following a request from the European Commission, the Panel on Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP) was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the coccidiostat Nilablend™ 200G containing lasalocid A sodium and nicarbazin. Nilablend™ 200G is not safe for chickens for fattening at the proposed maximum use level of 50 mg lasalocid A sodium + 50 mg nicarbazin/kg complete feed. Concurrent administration of Nilablend™ 200G (containing lasalocid A sodium) with tiamulin and certain other medicinal substances should be avoided. Lasalocid A sodium has antimicrobial activity against Gram‐positive bacterial species while many Enterobacteriaceae are naturally resistant. Induction of resistance and/or cross‐resistance was not observed in experimental conditions. No information on the interactions of nicarbazin with feed materials, other approved additives or medicinal products have been provided. No data were submitted on the microbiological safety of nicarbazin. The toxicological package for lasalocid A sodium and nicarbazin identified no observed adverse effect levels (NOAELs) that could be the basis for setting health‐based guidance values (e.g. an acceptable daily intake (ADI)). The Panel concluded that a concern for the genotoxicity of nicarbazin in Nilablend™ 200G cannot be excluded and that clarification on the mechanism of action of the test items would be needed. Therefore, the FEEDAP Panel is not in the position to establish an ADI for DNC on which to base the assessment of consumer safety. Nilablend™ 200G is considered toxic by inhalation, corrosive and irritant to eyes, slightly irritant to the skin but not a skin sensitiser. Inhalation exposure is considered a risk to persons handling the additive. The FEEDAP Panel cannot conclude on the safety of Nilablend™ 200G for the environment due to a possible risk for aquatic compartment (freshwater) for DNC. The efficacy of Nilablend® 200G was demonstrated.

Following a request from the European Commission, the Panel on Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP) was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the coccidiostat NilablendTM 200G containing lasalocid A sodium and nicarbazin. NilablendTM 200G is not safe for chickens for fattening at the proposed maximum use level of 50 mg lasalocid A sodium + 50 mg nicarbazin/kg complete feed. Concurrent administration of NilablendTM 200G (containing lasalocid A sodium) with tiamulin and certain other medicinal substances should be avoided. Lasalocid A sodium has antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacterial species while many Enterobacteriaceae are naturally resistant. Induction of resistance and/or cross-resistance was not observed in experimental conditions. No information on the interactions of nicarbazin with feed materials, other approved additives or medicinal products have been provided. No data were submitted on the microbiological safety of nicarbazin. The toxicological package for lasalocid A sodium and nicarbazin identified no observed adverse effect levels (NOAELs) that could be the basis for setting health-based guidance values (e.g. an acceptable daily intake (ADI)). The Panel concluded that a concern for the genotoxicity of nicarbazin in NilablendTM 200G cannot be excluded and that clarification on the mechanism of action of the test items would be needed. Therefore, the FEEDAP Panel is not in the position to establish an ADI for DNC on which to base the assessment of consumer safety. NilablendTM 200G is considered toxic by inhalation, corrosive and irritant to eyes, slightly irritant to the skin but not a skin sensitiser. Inhalation exposure is considered a risk to persons handling the additive. The FEEDAP Panel cannot conclude on the safety of NilablendTM 200G for the environment due to a possible risk for aquatic compartment (freshwater) for DNC. The efficacy of Nilablend® 200G was demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cationic, amphipathic, α‐helical host‐defense peptides (HDPs) that are naturally secreted by certain species of frogs (Anura) possess potent broad‐spectrum antimicrobial activity and show therapeutic potential as alternatives to treat infections by multidrug‐resistant pathogens. Fourteen amphibian skin peptides and twelve analogues of temporin‐1DRa were studied for their antimicrobial activities against clinically relevant human or animal skin infection‐associated pathogens. For comparison, antimicrobial potencies of frog skin peptides against a range of probiotic lactobacilli were determined. We used the VITEK 2 system to define a profile of antibiotic susceptibility for the bacterial panel. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of the naturally occurring temporin‐1DRa, CPF‐AM1, alyteserin‐1c, hymenochirin‐2B, and hymenochirin‐4B for pathogenic bacteria were threefold to ninefold lower than the values for the tested probiotic strains. Similarly, temporin‐1DRa and its [Lys4], [Lys5], and [Aib8] analogues showed fivefold to 6.5‐fold greater potency against the pathogens. In the case of PGLa‐AM1, XT‐7, temporin‐1DRa and its [D‐Lys8] and [Aib13] analogues, no apoptosis or necrosis was detected in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells at concentrations below or above the MIC. Given the differential activity against commensal bacteria and pathogens, some of these peptides are promising candidates for further development into therapeutics for topical treatment of skin infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of International Relations / Medzinarodne Vztahy is the property of University of Economics in Bratislava, Faculty of International Relations and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: To identify the 24-h proteinuria value with quantitative analysis and how it correlates with the severity of preeclampsia and subsequent adverse maternal outcomes in the Chinese population. Study design: Eleven hospitals in 10 provinces across China were chosen, in which 1,738 pregnant women complicated by hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) with the records of 24 h proteinuria were enrolled. They were allocated into four groups: patients with maximal quantified proteinuria

Looking at the results of the general and local elections held in the last fifteen years, it is seen that the majority of Kurdish voters have been consolidated around two parties (AK Party/Justice and Development Party and HDP/People’s Democratic Party). There was no significant change in the total political preferences of Kurdish voters in the elections held on March 31, 2019, as well. However, there was a regional differentiation in the preference for both parties. AK Party, while increasing its votes in the Kurdish region, incurred the loss of vote in the west of Turkey. HDP, on the contrary, while losing votes in the Kurdish region, caused a heavy defeat to Cumhur Alliance through persuading Kurdish voters living in big cities in the west of Turkey to vote for CHP (Republican People’s Party) candidates. The main reason for the regional shifts in Kurdish voters’ preferences is the resentment and indignation accrued against both parties in Kurdish voters. Kurdish voters discomforted by security, repressive, statist and nationalist policies followed by AK Party for a long time resorted to the punishment of AK Party in the west of Turkey. AK party, deprived of a substantial part of Kurdish voters’ support, lost many of the most important metropolitan municipalities in Turkey. Kurdish voters declined to offer the expected support to the HDP in the region, mainly due to the incidents in the ditches-barricades process, the lack of service provided by the HDP municipalities, and the lack of attention given to the profile of the candidates. Consequently, HDP lost nearly one third of the municipalities it had held before. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peach production in the USA has been in decline in recent decades due to poor fruit quality, reduced consumption and increased cost of production. Productivity and fruit quality can only be enhanced in the orchard through optimizing preharvest factors such as orchard design and training systems. Transition from low-density plantings (LDP) to high-density plantings (HDP) in peach is associated with the availability of reliable size controlling rootstocks. Increased densities must be combined with modern training systems to diffuse vigor and further increase light interception and yields, while optimizing light distribution, fruit quality and cost of production. Several training systems have been tested in peach with various objectives and goals, such as increasing light, water use and labor efficiencies, along with designing canopy architectures to facilitate mechanization and robotics. In general, increased planting densities increase yields, but excessive densities can promote shade, while excessive crop load can deteriorate quality. An ideal peach cropping system should optimize light interception and light distribution to balance maximum yield potential with maximum fruit quality potential. Successful management of high-density peach fruiting wall systems can lead to enhanced and uniform fruit quality, and ensure a sustainable industry.

The general objective of this study was to assess the implementation and opportunities of HDP program for class room instruction. To realize the study, a descriptive survey research design was used in this study. About 35 HDP Candidates from Dire Dawa University were participated on the study. Questionnaire, classroom observation and interview were used to gather the data. Statistical techniques like percentage, frequency count, mean and one sample t-test was used to analyze the quantitative data. The data gathered through qualitative methods was categorized and analyzed on thematic basis as raised in the objectives and the research questions. The results show that, however HDP program has a great value for the instructors; in improving their professional development, HDP module, mode of delivery and the program by itself need some amendment.

The quality of composite–composite bonded joints is a very important issue for industries, especially for the aerospace sector. A deficient joint may stop the manufacturing process and its repairing may include very high costs. Nowadays, the quality of the joint is obtained by means of interlaminar fracture toughness tests, estimating the G c value (Energy Release Rate used to produce crack propagation) over coupons with (theoretically) the same conditions as those included in an actual part. Usually, G c is obtained by means of a Double Cantilever Beam (DCB) test. Although DCB is the reference test, it may present some drawbacks when a non-symmetrical coupon is used and when the adherents stiffness is low. An alternative to DCB is the Climbing Drum Peel (CDP) test which is able to address some of the DCB drawbacks. Nevertheless, both tests need the use of a universal testing machine, then they cannot be done in situ. In the present investigation, DCB and CDP main characteristics are analyzed and a new device, called Horizontal Drum Peel (HDP), which includes the advantages of previous tests and the possibility to perform the test over an actual part is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, advanced maternal age (AMA) has been increasing due to late marriage and assisted reproductive technology. AMA is high-risk pregnancy associated with the life-threatening diseases such as hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP). Recently we have reported novel AMA model mice using aged spontaneous pregnant mice, and found that the phenotypes of AMA model mice reflect the same characteristics as human AMA. We have also demonstrated that atypical angiogenic factors profiles including soluble VEGF-R1 (sFlt-1) and placental growth factor in both AMA pregnant women and AMA model mice. VEGF-endothelin-1 system have been also known as one of HDP-associated factors, however, there has been few reports on the relation between VEGF-endothelin-1 system and AMA. In this study, we investigated the profiles of VEGF-endothelin-1 system using our model mice's samples. As a result, VEGF and endothelin-1 levels were not significantly different between AMA and young individuals. Our results indicated that the mechanisms of hypertension in AMA may differ from those in young individuals from the point of VEGF-endothelin-1 system. • Recently, advanced maternal age (AMA) is high-risk pregnancy associated with the life-threatening diseases such as hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP). • VEGF-endothelin-1 system have been known as one of HDP-associated factors, however, there has been few reports on the relation between VEGF-endothelin-1 system and AMA. • In this study, we investigated the profiles of VEGF-endothelin-1 system using our model mice's samples. • As a result, VEGF and endothelin-1 levels were not significantly different between AMA and young individuals. • Our results indicated that the mechanisms of hypertension in AMA may differ from those in young individuals from the point of VEGF-endothelin-1 system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of International Relations / Medzinarodne Vztahy is the property of University of Economics in Bratislava, Faculty of International Relations and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Kurdish politics which go on political scene coincided with the 1990s and predominantly address Kurdish problems, ethnic politics and identity problem; its main backbone is formed with left-handed parties such as The Peoples' Labor Party (HEP), Freedom and Democracy Party (ÖZDEP), Democracy Party (DEP), The People's Democracy Party (HADEP), Democratic Peoples Party (DEHAP), The Democratic Society Party (DTP), the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and the People's Democratic Party (HDP). This movement which embraces the left-wing discourse and alliances with social democratic parties takes votes in the eastern and southeastern Anatolia region where the population is especially consist of mostly by the Kurds. In this article, The Kurdish political movement will be analyzed by referring religion, secularism, religious education, the Presidency of Religious Affairs, the Imam Hatip Schools, view to Alevism, party's official publications, party spokespersons and co-chairs' speeches. HDP's methodology for determining religious discourse from a holistic perspective is the descriptive method and partly discourse analysis. Therefore, the short history of the Kurdish political movement and ideological baggage will be given and the discourse of HDP will be examined in line with certain parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Na území dnešního Bulharska se v průběhu let vystřídalo několik etnik a některá z nich zde zůstala až do současnosti. Mnohá z nich si udržela své původní tradice, zvyky či náboženství, což vedlo ke kulturním odlišnostem v rámci Bulharska. Z těchto etnik se práce věnuje zejména Turkům a Romům. Naopak zde vznikala i etnika nová, jako jsou například Pomáci, které tato práce rovněž představí.

Malaria parasites generate toxic heme during hemoglobin digestion, which is neutralized by crystallizing into inert hemozoin (β-hematin). Chloroquine blocks this detoxification process, resulting in heme-mediated toxicity in malaria parasites. However, the exact mechanism of chloroquine's action remains unknown. This study investigates the impact of chloroquine on the transformation of heme into β-hematin. The results show that chloroquine does not completely halt the transformation process but rather slows it down. Additionally, chloroquine complexation with free heme does not affect substrate availability or inhibit β-hematin formation. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) studies indicate that the size of β-hematin crystal particles and crystallites increases in the presence of chloroquine, suggesting that chloroquine does not impede crystal growth. These findings suggest that chloroquine delays hemozoin production by perturbing the nucleation events of crystals and/or the stability of crystal nuclei. Thus, contrary to prevailing beliefs, this study provides a new perspective on the working mechanism of chloroquine.

Background: To identify the 24-h proteinuria value with quantitative analysis and how it correlates with the severity of preeclampsia and subsequent adverse maternal outcomes in the Chinese population.Study Design: Eleven hospitals in 10 provinces across China were chosen, in which 1,738 pregnant women complicated by hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) with the records of 24 h proteinuria were enrolled. They were allocated into four groups: patients with maximal quantified proteinuria < 0.3 g/24 h (Group 1, n = 328); patients with maximal quantified proteinuria ≥ 0.3 g/24 h and < 2.0 g/24 h (Group 2, n = 638); patients with maximal quantified proteinuria ≥ 2.0 g/24 h and < 5.0 g/24 h (Group 3, n = 353); and patients with maximal quantified proteinuria ≥ 5.0 g/24 h (Group 4, n = 419). Logistic regression analysis were conducted to assess the differences in maternal outcomes between different subgroups of 24-h proteinuria and to identify independent risk factors of adverse maternal outcomes in preeclampsia. The multivariable risk prediction model of adverse maternal outcome for HDP was established with receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) curve and its predicted value was assessed.Results: Thrombocytopenia and cerebral or visual symptoms were more frequent in Groups 3 and 4 than Groups 1 and 2 but no differences were found between Groups 3 and 4 or Groups 1 and 2. Maternal complications were more frequent in Groups 3 and 4 than in Groups 1 and 2 [Group 3 vs. Group 1, odds ratios (ORs) = 3.359 (1.067-10.571); Group 4 vs. Group 1, OR = 3.628 (1.189-11.086); Group 3 vs. Group 2, OR = 2.845 (1.155-7.003); Group 4 vs. Group 2, OR = 3.082 (1.304-7.288)]. However, no significant difference was found between Groups 4 and 3 or between Groups 2 and 1. The proteinuria ≥ 2 g/24 h had an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC ROC) of 0.668 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.632-0.705) for predicting adverse maternal outcome. After adjusting for the effects of other symptoms, signs, and laboratory tests, it was the independent risk factor and predictor factor of the adverse maternal outcome (OR = 3.683, 95% CI 2.439-5.562, P<0.001). The final risk prediction model had an AUC ROC of 0.800 (95% CI 0.769-0.830, P<0.001).Conclusion: The proteinuria ≥ 2 g/24 h is an independent predictive factor of adverse maternal outcomes in preeclampsia, but its individual predictive value is limited. The risk prediction model is effective in assessing the risk of adverse maternal outcomes in patients with HDP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experimental and computational study of molecular structure, vibrational and UV-spectral analysis of Hydrazine (1, 3- Dinitrophenyl) (HDP) derivatives. The crystal was grown by slow cooling method and the crystalline perfection of single crystals was evaluated by high resolution X-ray diffractometry (HRXRD) using a multicrystal X–ray diffractometer. Fluorescence, FT-IR and FT-Raman spectra of HDP crystal were recorded. The assignments of the vibrational spectra have been carried out with the help of normal co-ordinate analysis (NCA) followed by scaled quantum force field methodology (SQMFF). NMR studies have confirmed respectively the crystal structure and functional groups of the grown crystal. The energy and oscillator strength calculated by Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory (TD-DFT) result complements the experimental findings. The calculated MESP, UV, HOMO-LUMO energies show that charge transfer done within the molecule. And various thermodynamic parameters are studied. Fukui determines the local reactive site of electrophilic, nucleophilic, descriptor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The purpose of this study is to compare the fetal fractions during non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) in singleton pregnancies according to gestational age and maternal characteristics to evaluate the utility of this parameter for the prediction of pregnancy complications including gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP).Study Design: This study was a multicenter prospective cohort study. The present data were collected from women whose NIPT results were negative. The relationships between the fetal fractions and the gestational age, maternal weight and height, and incidences of miscarriage, preterm delivery, and pregnancy complications including GDM, HDP and placental abruption were assessed.Results: A total of 5582 pregnant women with verified NIPT negative results were registered in the study. The demographic characteristics of the study populations were statistically analyzed, and the women with HDP tended to have a low fetal fraction in samples taken during early gestation. The area under the curve (AUC) in a receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis was 0.608 for women with HDP.Conclusion: A low fetal fraction on NIPT might be correlated with future HDP. However, predicting HDP during early pregnancy in women with a low fetal fraction might be difficult. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Conservative Thought / Muhafazakar Düşünce is the property of Muhafazakar Dusunce Dergisi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Given its duration and intensity, the decades-old civil war in Turkey between the Turkish state and the PKK has resulted in relatively low levels of lethal inter-communal conflict between Kurdish and Turkish populations. However, around the June 2015 elections an unprecedented wave of systematic anti-Kurdish violence swept across western Turkey. The paper will assess these events in relation to literature on communal riots and electoral violence. It will consider the impact of state led anti-Kurdish discourse and the growth of the HDP, as potential factors that aggravated the dormant tensions and laid the groundwork for widespread inter-communal violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In oral English learning, HDPs (phonemes that are hard to be distinguished) are areas where Chinese students frequently make mistakes in pronunciation. This paper studies a speech phoneme evaluation method for HDPs, hoping to improve the ability of individualized evaluation on HDPs and help provide a personalized learning platform for English learners. First of all, this paper briefly introduces relevant phonetic recognition technologies and pronunciation evaluation algorithms and also describes the phonetic retrieving, phonetic decoding and phonetic knowledge base in the Sphinx-4 computer system, which constitute the technological foundation for phoneme evaluation. Then it proposes an HDP evaluation model, which integrates the reliability of the speech processing system and the individualization of spoken English learners into the evaluation system. After collecting HDPs of spoken English learners and sorting them into different sets, it uses the evaluation system to recognize these HDP sets and at last analyzes the experimental results of HDP evaluation, which proves the effectiveness of the HDP evaluation model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates and characterizes the technical performance of medicalwireless personal area networks (WPANs) that are based on smartphones. For this purpose,a prototype of a health telemonitoring system is presented. The prototype incorporates acommercial Android smartphone, which acts as a relay point, or “gateway”, between a setof wireless medical sensors and a data server. Additionally, the paper investigates if theconventional capabilities of current commercial smartphones can be affected by their useas gateways or “Holters” in health monitoring applications. Specifically, the profiling hasfocused on the CPU and power consumption of the mobile devices. These metrics havebeen measured under several test conditions modifying the smartphone model, the type ofsensors connected to the WPAN, the employed Bluetooth profile (SPP (serial port profile) orHDP (health device profile)), the use of other peripherals, such as a GPS receiver, the impactof the use of theWi-Fi interface or the employed method to encode and forward the data thatare collected from the sensors.

Detoxification of harmful dyes through nonconventional catalytic processes is getting thrust in light of environmental remediation. Current work reveals synthesis of gold-titania (Au/TiO) mesoporous nanostructure and its enhanced photocatalytic performance for degradation of alizarin dye. Optically, Au/TiO shows a characteristic surface plasmonic absorption band at 520 nm, whereas X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern reveals the anatase phase of TiO with fcc unit cell structure and tetragonal geometry. X-ray photon spectroscopy depicts (Au 4 f at 84.0 and Au 4 f at 87.7 eV) the elemental state of gold (Au). Specific surface area was witnessed to decrease with increase of Au content (169, 141, 130, and 119 m/g for 1, 2, 3, and 4 wt%, respectively). The mesoporous Au/TiO nanocomposite showed higher catalytic performance in comparison to commercial nano-TiO (P25), which is credited to better charge delocalization at metal semiconductor interface. The reusability studies of the photocatalyst exhibited more than 98% degradation of the dye even after 10 consecutive cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Application of soft computing hybrid models have been concentrated to cope with uncertainty in the medical expert systems, recently. Heart disease is one of the mortal diseases that can be controlled in early stages. In this paper a hybrid Fuzzy-GA model for the Heart Disease Prediction (HDP) problem has been proposed. For this, first a Fuzzy Expert System (FES) using Mamdani model was presented. Then the membership functions parameters of the FES were optimized using the hybrid Fuzzy-Genetic Algorithm (Fuzzy-GA). The reason of selecting fuzzy method was its high potential to address the uncertainty sources in the knowledge of medical experts. Performance of the FES and Fuzzy-GA model were evaluated using a real dataset of 380 patients collected from Parsian Hospital in Karaj, Iran. Accuracy of the designed FES before optimization was 85.52%. After optimization using the hybrid Fuzzy-GA, the accuracy of this system was increased to 92.37%. The proposed hybrid model competes with its counterparts in terms of interpretability and accuracy in prognosis process of the heart disease. This model is promising for early diagnosis of the heart disease and saving more people lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an alternative form of conflict resolution to analyze ethnic conflict and Kurdish dissent in the polarized and divided society of Turkey. It does so by employing Mouffe’s concept of agonism and radical democracy, in conjunction with Laclau’s model of populism. Through an analysis of the role of the Kurdish-led, left-leaning populist party, the People’s Democratic Party (HDP), and its approach to Turkish-Kurdish reconciliation, the paper makes the case for the political and theoretical effectiveness of an agonistic approach, illustrating the possibility of dispute resolution by taking conflict into the centre of the peace building process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Mission of the health care institutions is very different from the other organizations – healing illnesses and restore health of patients. The basic aim of this paper is to identify and describe selected factors of external environment based on the analysis and extrapolation of public economic and demographical data from the database of Czech statistical office, Institute for health information and statistic in the Czech Republic, OECD and database of European Commission which will have very significant influence for function of Czech health care system up to the 2050. People in the Czech Republic will be one of the oldest in the second part of the 21st century. This fact will be connected with higher expenses for health care with the consequences of numerous groups of older people. With the middle length of life is 74 years old by man and 80 years old by woman. There were 20 % of people over 60 years old in Czech population in 2005 and we can expect 37 % of these people in 2050. Future estimation assume grow of healthcare expenses from the present 6.0 % HDP in the 2007 to 7.6 % in the 2037 and 8.4 % in the 2060. The ratio of private expenses in the Czech healthcare system isn’t big; it oscillates around 10 % of total expenses. The ratio of public expenses is still running down in the long time and doesn’t reach the level of the other neighbouring states in the EU. Ageing of the population is connected with the total healthcare expenses per person growth as well; the expenses are very different according to the age of a person and are growing up with the age. The most significant growth can be seen from the age of fifty years. It was higher by 3.8 years of life for women and by 5.17 years for men if we compare years 1992 and 2007. The birth rate isn’t sufficient for reproduction of population; Czech population will decrease. There will be lower total number of economically active people according to the assumptions of European commission. Therefore it will be very necessary to reform the heath care system which is based on the obligatory health insurance. The solution can be a higher participation of private sector and subsequent political direct and indirect measures, as well.