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This article focuses on the Royal Manuscript 18 B II which is the earliest and most complete surviving witness to the Middle English prose "Melusine." The article discusses the single-text codex and its features including the number and placement of capitula and explores the hypothesis that the manuscript was translated from the first edition of writer Jean d'Arras's "Mélusine" printed by Adam Steinschaber in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1478.

We present a spectral analysis of four Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) WC-type Wolfâ€"Rayet (WR) stars (BAT99-8, BAT99-9, BAT99-11, and BAT99-52) to shed light on two evolutionary questions surrounding massive stars. The first is: are WO-type WR stars more oxygen enriched than WC-type stars, indicating further chemical evolution, or are the strong high-excitation oxygen lines in WO-type stars an indication of higher temperatures. This study will act as a baseline for answering the question of where WO-type stars fall in WR evolution. Each star’s spectrum, extending from 1100 to 25000 Ă..., was modeled using cmfgen to determine the star’s physical properties such as luminosity, mass-loss rate, and chemical abundances. The oxygen abundance is a key evolutionary diagnostic, and with higher resolution data and an improved stellar atmosphere code, we found the oxygen abundance to be up to a factor of 5 lower than that of previous studies. The second evolutionary question revolves around the formation of WR stars: do they evolve by themselves or is a close companion star necessary for their formation? Using our derived physical parameters, we compared our results to the Geneva single-star evolutionary models and the Binary Population and Spectral Synthesis (BPASS) binary evolutionary models. We found that both the Geneva solar-metallicity models and BPASS LMC-metallicity models are in agreement with the four WC-type stars, while the Geneva LMC-metallicity models are not. Therefore, these four WC4 stars could have been formed either via binary or single-star evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cotton explains the position of the Commonwealth nations in the League, Australia's membership, the mandates system, and the League's social, economic, and security interventions. Cotton seeks to forge this path by following the lives "of a diverse but at the same time untypical group of Australians" who worked at Geneva with the League or the International Labour Organisation (ILO). These interwar transformations are the focus of Cotton's book, which aims 'to carry the revolution in League studies further into Australian historical inquiry' (3). [Extracted from the article]

Scholarship demonstrated the major role of inheritance and kinship for elite's power reproduction, particularly among noble families. In the absence of monarchic and court structures, ruling classes that enjoyed privileges and engaged in social closure could become the functional equivalent of a nobility. In this paper, we examine the evolution of the power of Swiss patrician families in the three major Swiss cities (Basel, Geneva, and Zurich) since the end of the nineteenth century and assess whether urban oligarchies endure in the twentieth century and what role kinship ties play in the reproduction of power structures. Building on a systematic database of 5,199 urban elites who hold power positions in the main economic, political, academic, and cultural institutions, we describe the evolution of Swiss patrician families between 1890 and 1957. Using social network, kinship, and sequence analysis, we provide a comprehensive investigation of the Swiss patrician elite's evolution at both the individual and the family level. Our analyses show a general decline of patrician families' presence in urban positions of power, however with significant variations according to both the cities and the spheres of activity. Furthermore, we identify distinct trajectories of families who have either lost their access to power positions, managed to access again or have remained in urban power positions according to different survival strategies. Beyond the Swiss case, we contribute to the literature on power and kinship through an interdisciplinary approach combining historical and sociological perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the significance of incorporating diverse lived experiences and identities through culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) in promoting sustainability, cultural diversity and the integration of various perspectives and worldviews rooted in identity and lived experience in sustainability education at Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC). Design/methodology/approach: A case study approach using Geneva Gay's (2002) CRP framework was used to investigate the role of CRP in sustainability education at CCAC. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data collected from eight interviews and 67 survey respondents, who participated in a larger exploratory study focusing on education-related sustainable development goals objectives in technical and vocational education and trainings. Findings: The findings indicate that implementing CRP in sustainability education fosters a culturally diverse learning environment, leading to enhanced cultural competence, critical thinking, global citizenship and academic achievement. Best practices and potential benefits of integrating diverse lived experiences and identities using CRP are also identified. Research limitations/implications: The small sample size may limit the generalizability of the findings. To address this limitation, future studies could use larger and more diverse samples to confirm the findings of this study. Additionally, the study was conducted at a single institution, which may limit the transferability of the findings to other institutions. Future studies could replicate this study at different institutions to determine the generalizability of the findings. Another limitation is the reliance on self-reported data, which may be subject to social desirability bias. To address this limitation, future studies could use a mixed-methods approach that includes both qualitative and quantitative data sources. Practical implications: This study highlights the need for community colleges to prioritize diverse faculty and staff recruitment, provide CRP and diversity training and establish partnerships with community organizations. By implementing these recommendations, institutions can enhance sustainability education, promote cultural competence and foster critical thinking among students, ultimately contributing to a more inclusive and equitable learning environment. Social implications: The integration of diverse lived experiences and identities using CRP in sustainability education can lead to a more culturally diverse and socially inclusive society. By fostering cultural competence, global citizenship and critical thinking in students, community colleges can empower them to address global challenges and contribute to achieving a sustainable and equitable future for all. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the understanding of the role of CRP in promoting sustainability and cultural diversity in CCAC and education. It highlights the significance of including diverse perspectives and worldviews rooted in identity and lived experience in sustainability education, offering practical recommendations for integrating CRP in educational institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategic environmental assessment is often referred to as a tool for predicting the consequences of planned development. The assumption of predictability of outcomes is inconsistent with reality which is characterised by uncertainty and complexity. Furthermore, the capacity of our life support systems to absorb disturbance and re-organise without changing into undesirable states appears to be of critical importance. Resilience thinking provides a structured way of looking at complexity, uncertainty and interrelatedness of systems and processes, and above all, provides us with new ways of dealing with planning and more effective use of SEA. Resilience thinking provides inspiration for those who want to extend their thinking about sustainability, but it also challenges some ideas underpinning the impact assessment profession (the future is unpredictable; change is inevitable; increasing stability leads to vulnerability). This paper is the result of a lively and well-visited workshop on resilience thinking and SEA at the 2010 IAIA conference in Geneva. It introduces the basic concepts of resilience thinking, and develops ideas for its integration within SEA practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses Australia as a case study to analyse restrictions on international movement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Restrictions on inbound and outbound travel have been a key tool deployed by governments across the globe to suppress the COVID-19 pandemic. We use 'COVID zero' Australia as a case study to assess an extreme response to restricting international movement. We look at the recent complaint launched before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. The action was raised with the support of a group of Australian citizens stranded abroad with the assistance of the expert in Australian constitutional law who is the second author of this paper. We argue that the measures implemented by Australian governments to effectively eliminate COVID-19 domestically have provided insufficient consideration of, and alternatives to, the current system's failure to facilitate essential international travel. For this reason, Australia's framework for restricting international movement lacks proportionality and necessity from the perspective of human rights and freedoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What decides naming and shaming behavior of states? In the present paper I examine state recommendations in the Universal Periodic Review and show that naming and shaming is inherently a social phenomenon and network analysis can contribute to the better understanding of this broader social context. Using original qualitative data collected from Geneva, Switzerland, I develop a theory of the interdependent nature of state shaming, mainly through the work of non-governmental organizations. I argue that states are more likely to name and shame other states if many other countries have also named and shamed the same states. As non-governmental organizations contribute to revealing information about reviewer states' interests to one another, states believe their costs are lower when states shame together than when they shame alone. The empirical analyses of Exponential Random Graph Models of the Universal Periodic Review shaming network from 2012 to 2016 find evidence of bandwagon effects even after controlling for the effects of other network structures, dyadic geopolitical relations, and state level attributes. This paper helps us better understand the decision of state-to-state shaming by incorporating social relations and networks. ¿Qué hace que un Estado decida usar el recurso de citar por el nombre a otros estados con el propósito de avergonzarlos? En el presente documento examinamos las recomendaciones estatales en el Examen Periódico Universal y mostramos que citar por el nombre a otros estados con el propósito de avergonzarlos es, intrínsecamente, un fenómeno social y que el análisis de redes puede contribuir a comprender mejor este contexto social más amplio. Utilizando datos cualitativos originales recogidos en Ginebra (Suiza), desarrollamos una teoría sobre la naturaleza interdependiente del avergonzamiento por parte del Estado, principalmente a través de la labor de las organizaciones no gubernamentales. Sostenemos que es más probable que los Estados citen por el nombre a otros Estados con propósito de avergonzarlos si algunos otros países también han citado y avergonzado a los mismos Estados. Como las organizaciones no gubernamentales contribuyen a revelar información sobre los intereses de los Estados revisores entre sí, los Estados creen que sus costes son más reducidos cuando los Estados se avergüenzan juntos que cuando se avergüenzan solos. Los análisis empíricos de los modelos gráficos aleatorios exponenciales de la red de avergonzamiento del Examen Periódico Universal de 2012 a 2016 encuentran pruebas de efectos de arrastre, incluso después de controlar los efectos de otras estructuras de red, de relaciones geopolíticas diádicas y de atributos a nivel estatal. Este artículo nos ayuda a comprender mejor la decisión de un Estado de avergonzar a otro incorporando las relaciones y redes sociales. Pourquoi les États en dénoncent-ils d'autres ? Dans cet article, j'analyse les recommandations des États dans l'Examen périodique universel, puis je montre que la dénonciation est un phénomène social par nature et que l'analyse des mécanismes peut permettre de mieux comprendre ce contexte social dans son ensemble. À l'aide de données qualitatives originales issues de Genève, je théorise l'interdépendance naturelle de la dénonciation des États, principalement grâce au travail des organisations non gouvernementales. Selon moi, les États en dénoncent plus facilement d'autres quand ils sont déjà nombreux à l'avoir fait. Comme les intérêts qui unissent les États examinateurs sont mis au jour par des ONG, les États sont convaincus qu'ils courent moins de risques si la dénonciation est collective. En analysant empiriquement des modèles de graphes aléatoires exponentiels des mécanismes de dénonciation de l'Examen périodique universel entre 2012 et 2016, on observe que les États prennent souvent « le train en marche », et ce, même après avoir neutralisé les effets d'autres structures de mécanisme, relations géopolitiques dyadiques et attributs nationaux. En intégrant les relations sociales et les mécanismes, cet article facilite notre compréhension des décisions de dénonciation interétatique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholarship demonstrated the major role of inheritance and kinship for elite's power reproduction, particularly among noble families. In the absence of monarchic and court structures, ruling classes that enjoyed privileges and engaged in social closure could become the functional equivalent of a nobility. In this paper, we examine the evolution of the power of Swiss patrician families in the three major Swiss cities (Basel, Geneva, and Zurich) since the end of the nineteenth century and assess whether urban oligarchies endure in the twentieth century and what role kinship ties play in the reproduction of power structures. Building on a systematic database of 5,199 urban elites who hold power positions in the main economic, political, academic, and cultural institutions, we describe the evolution of Swiss patrician families between 1890 and 1957. Using social network, kinship, and sequence analysis, we provide a comprehensive investigation of the Swiss patrician elite's evolution at both the individual and the family level. Our analyses show a general decline of patrician families' presence in urban positions of power, however with significant variations according to both the cities and the spheres of activity. Furthermore, we identify distinct trajectories of families who have either lost their access to power positions, managed to access again or have remained in urban power positions according to different survival strategies. Beyond the Swiss case, we contribute to the literature on power and kinship through an interdisciplinary approach combining historical and sociological perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Primary teachers play a vital role in fostering pupils' successful futures. Therefore, gaining knowledge of primary teacher students' learning processes, including the achievement of information-seeking skills, is crucial. The aim of this paper is to understand better the interplay between cognitive appraisals and emotions in the constructivist process of learning and achieving information-seeking skills. Design/methodology/approach: In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with six Swedish primary teacher students. The analysis of qualitative data was deductive and theory-driven, guided by Kuhlthau's information search process model, Scherer's semantic space of emotions and Pekrun's control-value theory of achievement emotions. Findings: Anger/frustration, enjoyment and boredom were identified as activity emotions and anxiety, hopelessness and hope as prospective outcome emotions. The retrospective outcome emotions found were pride, joy, gratitude, surprise and relief. The appraisals eliciting the achievement emotions were the control appraisals uncertainty/certainty (activity and prospective outcome) and oneself/other (retrospective), and value appraisals negative/positive intrinsic motivation (activity) and failure/success (prospective and retrospective). The interplay between appraisals and emotions was complex and dynamic. The processes were individually unique, non-linear and iterative, and the appraisals did not always elicit emotions. Originality/value: The study has theoretical and methodological implications for information behaviour research in its application of appraisal theories and the Geneva affect label coder. In addition, it has practical implications for academic librarians teaching information-seeking skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While scholars have long established that city dwellers choose with whom to develop relationships on the basis of social proximity, spatial proximity remains the basis for neighbour relations involving greetings, social conversation, and the exchange of services. Few studies have systematically compared the respective roles of spatial and social proximity in neighbour relations. In this paper, we investigate these two factors through statistical analysis of four social network datasets representing relationships within four rented apartment buildings in Geneva, Switzerland. Using a measure of distance that takes into account how the layout and materiality of buildings shape relationships through accessibility, visibility and audibility, we compare the effects of spatial proximity with the effects of individual determinants and similarity. Our study also breaks new ground by comparing weak ties – between people who interact regularly – and "invisible ties", or ties to familiar strangers. Our study confirms that spatial proximity increases the likelihood of weak ties and questions the underlying mechanisms. It also shows that in addition to sociability, familiarity and anonymity are constitutive dimensions of neighbouring, even at the scale of buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Convictions of political corruption depend on public communication, since for citizens, to perceive deviant behaviours, these must receive attention. In Spain, this type of behaviour is part of the agendas of citizens, media, and politicians and, to fight against it, accountability is essential. In addition to the judiciary and legislature (in their oversight role), the media and social media help voters, MPs and others to make informed decisions and press for action. However, the interrelationships between different agents, types, and forms of control for accountability are a rather unexplored research topic, especially when considering non-accountable institutions (those that have power, but are not directly accountable to the electorate, such as the monarchy). The debate on the inviolability of the emeritus presents a perfect scenario to describe what formulas and what kind of sanctions (legal, labour, reputational or personal) for accountability have occurred in Spain in the case of a non-accountable institution. This study explores the agendas of media, Parliament, and Twitter (and their inter-influences) during the Geneva papers scandal. We analyzed 189,037 tweets, 1,220 journalistic pieces and 78 parliamentary initiatives related to the former monarch. The main results show that the media, social networks, and Parliament have acted as agents of accountability with Juan Carlos I, as if it were an accountable institution. Online newspapers and Twitter have led the oversight, while the parliamentary initiative has been ineffective and has essentially served as an instrument of partisan communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate interlocking at the national and transnational scale has received substantive scholarly attention. Less is known about companies' ties to the cities and regions in which they have their seats. In this paper, we conduct a long‐term analysis of the multilevel ties that companies maintain with the local and the national context they are embedded in. To do so, we adopt a positional approach and identify the directors of the major companies in the three largest Swiss cities (Basel, Geneva, and Zurich) and study company directors' ties to local and national organizations in seven benchmark years between 1890 and 2020. Our analysis documents the rise and fall of company directors' ties to national organizations over the course of the 20th century, and it highlights the continued persistence of companies' ties to the local level and their region until the new millennium, when companies' ties with national and local organizations vanish, coinciding with the transnationalization of company boards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Westerlund 1 (Wd 1) is one of the most relevant star clusters in the Milky Way to study massive star formation, although it is still poorly known. Here, we used photometric and spectroscopic data to model the eclipsing binary W36, showing that its spectral type is O6.5 III  +  O9.5 IV, hotter and more luminous than thought before. Its distance d W36 = 4.03 ± 0.25 kpc agrees, within the errors, with three recent Gaia-EDR3-based distances reported in Paper I, Beasor & Davies, and by Negueruela's group. However, they follow different approaches to fix the zero-points for red sources such as those in Wd 1, and to select the best approach, we used an accurate modelling of W36. The weighted mean distance of our parallax (Paper I) and binary distances results in d wd1 = 4.05 ± 0.20 kpc, with an unprecedented accuracy of 5 per cent. We adopted isochrones based on the Geneva code with supersolar abundances to infer the age of W36B as 6.4 ± 0.7 Myr. This object seems to be part of the prolific star formation burst represented by OB giants and supergiants that occurred at 7.1 ± 0.5 Myr ago, which coincides with the recently published PMS isochrone with age 7.2 Myr. Other BA-type luminous evolved stars and yellow hypergiants spread in the age range of 8–11 Myr. The four red supergiants discussed in paper I represent the oldest population of the cluster with an age of 10.7 ± 1 Myr. The multiple episodes of star formation in Wd 1 are reminiscent of that reported for the R136/30 Dor LMC cluster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How and why states legislate against hate crime and what role various actors – including human rights movements and international bodies – play in enacting change is attracting increased scholarly interest. Drawing upon primary, mixed-methods research, with Poland as our case study, this paper seeks to understand how new transnational advocacy opportunities change the way local activists push for improved legal protection from anti-LGBT violence. Using Keck and Sikkink's (1998) 'boomerang' model as our interpretative frame, we observe how Polish LGBT groups systematically work with intersectional and transnational networks to feed their grievances to international human rights institutions, which, in turn, apply pressure on the government to amend hate crime laws. We argue that such externalisation of hate crime as a policy issue is a result of the closing of political opportunity structures at home and the simultaneous appearance of advocacy opportunities abroad along with increased resources being made available to the LGBT movement. While the state still hesitates to change the law, there are signs that calls for a new approach to addressing hate crime, promoted by activists and international organisations, are increasingly being heard by bureaucrats in Warsaw, even if there is currently no political will to make any changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents reference equivalent threshold sound pressure levels (RETSPLs) for the Wireless Automated Hearing Test System (WAHTS), a recently commercialized device developed for use as a boothless audiometer. Two initial studies were conducted following the ISO 389-9 standard [ISO 389-9 (2009). "Acoustics—Reference zero for the calibration of audiometric equipment. Part 9: Preferred test conditions for the determinations of reference hearing threshold levels" (International Organization for Standardization, Geneva)]. Although the standard recruitment criteria are intended to yield otologically normal test subjects, the recruited populations appeared to have slightly elevated thresholds [5–10 dB hearing level (HL)]. Comparison of WAHTS thresholds to other clinical audiometric equipment revealed bias errors that were consistent with the elevated thresholds of the RETSPL populations. As the objective of RETSPLs is to ensure consistent thresholds regardless of the equipment, this paper presents the RETSPLs initially obtained following ISO 389-9:2009 and suggested correction to account for the elevated HLs of the originally recruited populations. Two additional independent studies demonstrate the validity of these corrected thresholds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International humanitarian law provides for fundamental guarantees, the content of which is similar irrespective of the nature of the armed conflict, and which are applicable to individuals even if they do not fall into the categories of specifically protected persons under the 1949 Geneva Conventions. Those guarantees, all of which derive from the general requirement of human treatment, include prohibitions of specific types of conduct against persons, such as murder, cruel treatment, torture and sexual violence, or against property, such as pillaging. However, it is traditionally held that entitlement to those guarantees depends upon two requirements: the 'status requirement', which basically means that the concerned persons must not or must no longer take a direct part in hostilities, and the 'control requirement', which basically means that the concerned persons or properties must be under the control of a party to the armed conflict. This study argues in favour of breaking with these two requirements, in light of the existing ICC case law. The study is divided into two parts, with each part devoted to one requirement and made the object of a specific paper. The two papers follow the same structure. They start with general observations on the requirement concerned, examine the relevant ICC case law and put forward several arguments in favour of an extensive approach to the personal scope of the fundamental guarantees. The first paper, which is published in this issue, deals with the status requirement. It especially delves into the ICC decisions in the Ntaganda case with respect to the issue of protection against intra-party violence. It advocates for the applicability of the fundamental guarantees in such a context by rejecting the requirement of a legal status, on the basis of several arguments. Those arguments rely on IHL provisions protecting specific persons, on the potential for humanizing IHL on the matter and on the approach making the status requirement relevant only when the fundamental guarantees apply in the conduct of hostilities. The second paper, which will be published in a coming issue, deals with the control requirement. It examines several ICC cases in detail, including the Katanga and Ntaganda cases, in relation to the issue of the applicability of the fundamental guarantees in the conduct of hostilities. It is argued that the entitlement to those guarantees is not dependent upon any general control requirement, and that, as a result, some of these guarantees (mainly those whose application or constitutive elements do not imply any physical control over the concerned persons or properties) may apply in the conduct of hostilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of post‐war Sri Lanka has seen an escalation of nationalisms that constantly collide. Post‐2009, with the end of the war, the reproduction of narratives around nationalisms has become intense, with home‐grown protests for accountability of minority injustices continuing to sustain its fervour over time. Within the context of Switzerland these events in Sri Lanka are invariably aligned with diasporic engagement. Dominant spaces such as the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, Switzerland become transnational sites for the performance of long‐distance nationalism by Tamil diaspora groups, raising questions around legitimacy and claims‐making. This paper presents empirical insights as to how long‐distance Tamil nationalism is manifested as political engagement, by groups, and/ or individuals, in formal and informal transnational sites within the socio‐political landscape of Switzerland. It argues that modes of political engagement are manifested through rituals of performance and performativity such as scripting and iteration of claims‐making processes that enable legitimacy in transnational sites of lobby and protest within the UN arena in Geneva during the Human Rights Council (HRC) sessions. The paper situates its analysis within a shift in post‐war Tamil diaspora claims‐making narratives from a separatist stance to that of victimhood and human rights producing narratives that present the Tamil diaspora as a singular actor albeit with complex heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reassesses the claim that electronic voting systems help voters to avoid common mistakes that lead to their votes remaining uncounted. While prior studies have come to mixed conclusions, I provide new, more robust evidence based on a case study of extended Internet voting trials in Geneva canton, Switzerland. The trials almost exclusively involved referendum votes. For causal identification I exploit the unique circumstance that federal safety legislation created a near-natural experiment, with some of the canton's municipalities participating in the trials and others not. Using difference-in-differences estimation, I find that the residual vote rate decreased by an average of 0.3 percentage points if municipalities offered the possibility to vote online in addition to (mostly optically scanned) paper ballots. For cantonal measures, which are located towards the bottom of ballot papers in Geneva, the reduction increases to 0.5 percentage points. These remain relatively modest effects, and I find no evidence for a knock-on effect on electoral outcomes. However, on average only around 20% of votes were cast online where the opportunity existed, and online voting was most popular among voters with high levels of education. Despite the small effect sizes, the results of this study therefore point to the potential of Internet and, more generally, electronic voting technology to reduce avoidable voter mistakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 21st century has witnessed a backlash against many international courts (ICs). Studies of IC backlash have generally taken an optimistic tack, noting that most courts have survived backlash intact or—in the case of the paralyzed Appellate Body (AB) of the World Trade Organization (WTO)—are likely to do so after a temporary period of slumber. In this context, this paper analyzes the United States' successful effort to paralyze the AB, deriving lessons from this deviant case of backlash against one of the world's most active and independent ICs. Undertaken in the context of the "Reversing Delegation" research project, this account is organized in five parts. First, I demonstrate that the creation of the AB was a classic instance of delegation of dispute‐settlement power, and that the AB quickly emerged as an active agent of trade liberalization. Second, I explore the roots of politicization, noting that dissatisfaction with AB jurisprudence preceded the Trump administration, although Trump's delegitimation of the AB was more far‐reaching than that of his predecessors. Third, I examine the administration's use of the veto power to paralyze the AB, an act of de facto de‐delegation. Fourth, I assess the pushback from the many other WTO members that sought to defend the AB, showing how they failed to blunt the US campaign. Fifth, I analyze the remarkably successful outcome of the US attack, and draw lessons for judicial independence and the rule of law in international politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some 35 years after the United Nations published its Brundtland report [Brundtland Commission. (1987). Our common future: Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, Geneva, UN-Dokument A/42/427. Retrieved December 24, 2022, from ] on the many threats our planet is under due to over- and underdevelopment, we are still struggling with how to make our world sustainable. Today we have the Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) to guide us, but they have been largely criticized just like their predecessors. The debate in Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) mainly concerns to which extent Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) may contribute to the SDGs. This editorial offers a historic overview of the different development goals that the UN has offered and eight papers that offer a view into the discussion of the challenges facing the SDGs, but also examples of experimental strategies on how ICTs can be used in realizing, or undermining, these goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The position I take in this paper is that investigation of the construction and development of executive function (EF) and cognitive self-regulation must give children the opportunity to behave with initiative, as the agents they are. It must be based on children's goal-directed behaviours and the challenges they face to achieve their own goals from the last third of the first year of life. It must consider children's interests, the ecological validity of the situations, and the social context. Investigation into the origin and early development of cognitive self-regulation must be firmly anchored within a developmental framework. I will suggest that such a developmental framework is provided by the functional turn developed in the School of Geneva in the 1970s and its influence on the Pragmatics of the Object perspective. According to this pragmatic approach, actions and (private) gestures are central in the emergence and construction of EF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some cities have clear connotations: The Hague is regarded as the global capital of justice the Hague is regarded as the global capital of justice (sometimes of justice and peace), Brussels as the centre of the European Union (EU), transatlantic relations (NATO) and European diplomacy, and Geneva is closely associated with human rights (Human Rights Council), International Labor Organization (ILO) and humanitarian protection (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent). The aim of this paper is to examine the correlation between the cities' image/connotations and their position in international relations. Do such connotations increase cities' influence? Has this image been planned and shaped by cities themselves or was it rather a coincidence? Or have other actors – i.e. foreign States cooperating with the host State (the latter means the nation-State of the city) – contributed to it? This research objective will be achieved through an analysis of municipal legislation and strategies exploiting these connotations and associations, and content analysis of the most representative literature. The authors will also take into account the relevant cities' participation in cities' networks (including the profiles of such networks) and the placement of headquarters of international organizations (governmental and non-governmental) in the cities in question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hypothesis that the velocity of light depends on the motion of the light source was rejected by astronomers' observations of binary stars and by the result of the experiment performed at CERN, Geneva, in 1964. Opposingly, the study of the emission, propagation, and reflection of light as mechanical phenomena concludes that the velocity of light depends on the velocity of the light source. According to this study, the human eye sees the orbit of a star larger than its actual size, and the light from the star on the observed orbit travels to the observer's eyes at the emitted velocity c; therefore, there are no time irregularities. This paper exposes visual irregularities predicted by the hypothesis that the velocity of light is independent of the velocity of the light source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While book-piracy is often thought of as an Elizabethan problem, the organized infringement of lucrative copyrights in fact began a few decades earlier, in the reign of Mary Tudor. In this paper the known details are presented of what are probably the two best documented cases from that reign. The first was the repeated commissioning and importation of editions of Lily's Grammar from Geneva (some of them falsely dated). The second was the reprinting of a collection of sermons whose authorized printer had secured a patent to protect it. In the first case the patentee's attempts to obtain satisfaction in Chancery were unsuccessful; in the second the author's interests fared rather better in Star Chamber, and may thus have established a precedent for the prosecution of Elizabethan pirates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the WHO-GloPID COVID-19 Global Research and Innovation Forum meeting held in Geneva on the 11th and 12th of February 2020 a number of different ethical concepts were used. This paper briefly states what a number of these concepts mean and how they might be applied to discussions about research during the COVID-19 pandemic and related outbreaks. This paper does not seek to be exhaustive and other ethical concepts are, of course, relevant and important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the centuries, collaborative research between artists/designers and scientists/engineers has been an ambition. Yet, precisely how to make this successful still remains an enduring question. A creative approach that can unite art, design, science, and engineering is needed as a framework for effective collaborations. Assuming that the notion of 'the universe' in which we live is a concept that all humans can share, this paper considers how the idea of 'the universe' can connect the experts between and across different disciplines. This notion was developed through collaborative dialogue between an engineer at CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire) and a designer at HEAD – Genève (Haute école d'art et de design – Genève), with the author acting as a mediator – forming bridges between these two main collaborators. This mediated dialogue began with fundamental questions about the universe: "what are the core principles of the universe?"; "how do we perceive the universe?"; or, even "what is a meaning of life in this universe?". This dialogue created a transformation of our usual perspectives, and it opened up our usual, narrow ways of viewing the world – in other words, collaborators developed ways of looking at the world from a cosmic perspective. The first, three-month-long, stage of the project was intended as a precursor to future collaborations. The project took place at the R&D platform at CERN called IdeaSquare. During the period of the project, the engineer and the designer together created a proposal for a new artistic practice in public, from scratch, with mediated dialogue as the basic means of a project evolution. The developed proposal was for the creation of a Cosmic Table – a public installation in which visitors could feel a connection between the universe and other living beings. A working prototype was experimentally presented at CERN to test its design and functions. Followed by this prototype, it was developed to install in a public space at CineGlobe, a film festival at CERN. Through the mediated dialogue, this paper explores the possibility of 'the universe' as a mutually acceptable idea established through mediation among experts, and examines how this might provoke diverse forms of public installation that touch on the essence of the universe. • The mediated dialogue began with fundamental questions about the universe was explored at CERN. • The idea of 'the universe' works to connect the experts between and across different disciplines. • Diverse forms of public installation can be realized through a 'Cosmic Co-generative Model'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The land snail taxon Helix straminea Briganti, 1825 has been reintroduced as a valid species in 2014. We provide here a comprehensive account of its taxonomy, distribution, anatomy, phylogeny and karyology in Italy. An overview of the historical views on the validity of the species is presented and faunistic data are reviewed and implemented with new records from Campania and Basilicata. A lectotype is fixed for H. straminea from the syntypes stored in the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle of Genève, as well as for three other taxa (Helix straminiformis Bourguignat, 1876, Helix yleobia Bourguignat, 1883 and Helix straminea ssp. elongata Bourguignat, 1860). Genital system, radula and karyotype are described for the first time. Molecular analysis of two mitochondrial genes combining GenBank data and the new sequences presented in this paper showed no differentiation between the northern and southern Italian populations. The conservation status of the species and its possible threats are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Europe, knowledge about the social determinants of health among undocumented migrants is scarce. The canton of Geneva, Switzerland, implemented in 2017-2018 a pilot public policy aiming at regularizing undocumented migrants. We sought to test for associations between self-rated health, proven eligibility for residence status regularization and social and economic integration.Methods: This paper reports data from the first wave of the Parchemins Study, a prospective study whose aim is to investigate the effect of residence status regularization on undocumented migrants' living conditions and health. The convenience sample included undocumented migrants living in Geneva for at least 3 years. We categorized them into those who were in the process of receiving or had just been granted a residence permit (eligible or newly regularized) and those who had not applied or were ineligible for regularization (undocumented). We conducted multivariate regression analyses to determine factors associated with better self-rated health, i.e., with excellent/very good vs. good/fair/poor self-rated health. Among these factors, measures of integration, social support and economic resources were included.Results: Of the 437 participants, 202 (46%) belonged to the eligible or newly regularized group. This group reported better health more frequently than the undocumented group (44.6% versus 28.9%, p-value < .001), but the association was no longer significant after adjustment for social support and economic factors (odds ratio (OR): 1.12; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.67-1.87). Overall, better health was associated with larger social networks (OR: 1.66; 95% CI: 1.04-2.64). This association remained significant even after adjusting for health-related variables.Conclusion: At the onset of the regularization program, access to regularization was not associated with better self-rated health. Policies aiming at favouring undocumented migrants' inclusion and engagement in social networks may promote better health. Future research should investigate long-term effects of residence status regularization on self-rated health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Attacks on health care in armed conflict, including those on health workers, facilities, patients and transports, represent serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. Information about these incidents and their characteristics are available in myriad forms: as published research or commentary, investigative reports, and within online data collection initiatives. We review the research on attacks on health to understand what data they rely on, what subjects they cover and what gaps exist in order to develop a research agenda going forward. Methods and findings: This study utilizes a systematic review of peer-reviewed to identify and understand relevant data about attacks on health in situations of conflict. We identified 1479 papers published before January 1, 2020 using systematic and hand-searching and chose 45 articles for review that matched our inclusion criteria. We extracted data on geographical and conflict foci, methodology, objectives and major themes. Among the included articles, 26 focused on assessment of evidence of attacks, 15 on analyzing their impacts, three on the legal and human rights principles and one on the methods of documentation. We analyzed article data to answer questions about where and when attacks occur and are investigated, what types of attacks occur, who is perpetrating them, and how and why they are studied. We synthesized cross-cutting themes on the impacts of these attacks, mitigation efforts, and gaps in existing data. Conclusion: Recognizing limitations in the review, we find there have been comparatively few studies over the past four decades but the literature is growing. To deepen the discussions of the scope of attacks and to enable cross-context comparisons, documentation of attacks on health must be enhanced to make the data more consistent, more thorough, more accessible, include diverse perspectives, and clarify taxonomy. As the research on attacks on health expands, practical questions on how the data is utilized for advocacy, protection and accountability must be prioritized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of international humanitarian law appeared in the 1970s, hence it is a relatively new scientific field of law. The author of this paper points to the fact that the idea of the modern international humanitarian law, as it is today, was first conceived in the distant past. The analysis of the historical sources from which knowledge of the oldest civilizations is drawn enables us to find elements that can be considered precursors of the norms of international humanitarian law. This paper deals with the gradual transformation of the unwritten customs and the rules of warfare into the legal rules of written law, with a special emphasis on the international aspect and the universal character of this area of law. Bearing in mind the fact that armed conflicts and their consequences have greatly accelerated and determined the course of development of international humanitarian law, the author provides a brief overview of the dilemma whether the challenges of the modern age or new forms of armed conflict will influence further development of this branch of law, and in what way. It is an indisputable fact that this is a legal field developing at its own special pace that is susceptible to transformation, while also being able to adjust to the challenges of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The civil authorities and poor relief institution (hôpital général) exerted a tight control over extramarital sexuality in early modern Geneva. All unwed pregnant women were supposed to self-denounce and those who did not were actively sought for. From this resulted 3420 criminal trials between 1670 and 1794. This phenomenon has been interpreted has a form of strict repression against single mothers. However, shedding light on the attitude towards illegitimacy, this paper claims that repression was not the only aim at which the authorities and the hôpital général were striving; rather, they endeavoured to ensure that someone, usually the father, would provide for the child. Furthermore, it aspires to underline pauper's agency by studying the unwed mothers' resistance strategies before the City Council and the hospital: it argues that some women, in the particular context of the Protestant city, not only managed to cope with the precarious situation of rearing an illegitimate child but actually chose it over enforcing a marriage with the alleged father legally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A year after the establishment of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (SFDRR), the science and technology community (STC) endorsed in Geneva the UNISDR Science and Technology Roadmap to Support the Implementation of the SFDRR 2015–2030 (STR-SFDRR). Conducted actions by the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) reflect priorities and challenges at different scales with regard to the progress of multi-sectoral partnerships, recognising the key role of the STC for the implementation of the SFDRR. Central to such endeavour are the Sendai Landslide Partnerships 2015–2025 and the new-fangled Kyoto Landslide Commitment 2020. While the former was conceived as a strategy for global promotion of understanding and reducing landslide disaster risk, the latter is directed to advocate for harmonic cohesiveness between the Sendai Landslide Partnerships 2015–2025, and the SFDRR, the 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals, the New Urban Agenda and the Paris Climate Agreement. By encompassing the linkages of the contributions of the ICL community to the expected outcomes of the STR-SFDRR, this paper provides valuable input to foster the SFDRR, and provides concrete information on the ongoing ICL initiatives, actions and deliverables for strengthening partnerships and science-informed public policies to reduce landslide disaster risk and to advance Integrated Landslide Disaster Risk Management at different scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today the issue of climate change-induced mobility—whether displacement, migration, or relocation—is receiving increased interest from policy-makers, academics, and the general public. Many are turning to the academic community for answers to basic questions (how many people are expected to move? when? where?) and for directions for future policies (what measures can support people to remain in their communities? If people have to move, how can the disruption be minimized—for those moving and for the affected communities?). While there is a growing body of literature on the issue, the academic community writ large is presently unable to provide consistent comprehensive evidence or guidance on these issues. Most obviously, there is no consensus about what terminology to use—climate change refugee? Environmental migrant? [e.g. Dun and Gemenne 2008. 'Defining Environmental Migration', Forced Migration Review , 31: 10–11]. Nor is there consensus on how many people are expected to move; different research projects use different time frames (2030, 2050, 2100, etc.), are based on different assumptions, and (not surprisingly) come up with different estimates, ranging from 50 million to 1 billion migrants associated with the effects of climate change during this century [e.g. Stern, N. (2006) 'Stern review on the economics of climate change. Executive Summary'. London: HM Treasury. Baird 2007. Human Tide: The Real Migration Crisis: A Christian Aid Report. London: Christian Aid; UN Development Programme (UNDP) (2007/2008). Human Development Report: Fighting Climate Change, Human Solidarity in a Divided World ; Kolmannskog 2009 , Climate Change, Disaster, Displacement and Migration: Initial Evidence from Africa. New Issues in Refuge Research (Research Paper No. 180). Geneva: UNHCR; Warner 2009. Global Environmental Change and Migration: Governance Challenges. Global Environmental Change ]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An accurate prediction of hydro-abrasive erosion helps in design, planning and operation strategies of a hydropower plant. In the empirical erosion model from the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 62364 standard, various terms such as flow co-efficient (K f), material factor (K m) and exponent (p) were not provided for Pelton turbines components. The present paper aims to find the values of these terms and to interpret inadequately defined terms like erosion depth (S) and shape factor (K shape) for application of IEC 62364 (2013)# model. From some field and laboratory data, the values of K f and p were obtained for Pelton turbine components using multivariate regression analysis. The obtained values of K f are in the order of 10−6 and 10−12 for various zones of buckets and nozzle assembly respectively whereas p values are in range 1–5. The K m values for 6 different materials, i.e. three types of chrome nickel steels, plasma and high velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) sprayed coatings and bronze buckets were obtained as 1, 1, 1, 0.6, 0.1 and 2.2, respectively. #IEC 62364 (2013). Hydraulic machines - Guide for dealing with hydro-abrasive erosion in Kaplan, Francis and Pelton turbines. Edition 1.0 (June 2013), International Electro technical Commission, Geneva, Switzerland. Image 1 • Unknown terms of IEC 62364 (2013) standard are found for Pelton turbine components. • Interpretation for inadequately defined terms of IEC 62364 (2013) is provided. • Material factor is found for 6 types of materials including two types of coating. • A sensitivity analysis revealed the effects of various parameters on IEC model. • Practical aspect of measurement with respect to IEC 62364 (2013) is also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva has extensive underground facilities, which were built over the past 70 years in a weak layered sedimentary rock called the red molasse . CERN has thus been continuously exploring its underground space and has gathered extensive geotechnical data from both laboratory and field tests. The data shows that the red molasse is composed of marls and sandstones forming 6 different geotechnical units with different geotechnical characteristics. The strength-stiffness relationship of the red molasse is lower than other molasses from other regions, and that the marls are significantly more ductile than the sandstones. Moreover, the intermediate rock units (sandy marls and marly sandstones) have similar strength but a different stiffness, a distinction which is not represented in the standard strength classification system. Although all rock units were subjected to the same diagenesis, one rock unit is found to be very weak with soil-like properties. A mineralogy analysis shows that this unit is composed of high plasticity clay, whilst the other marls units are composed of medium-high and low plasticity clay. The field tests show rapid and progressive transitions between the different rock units, which makes field prediction difficult. This paper presents an overview of the geotechnical data gathered by CERN as well as the geotechnical characterisation of the site The geotechnical characterisation presented in this paper also compares laboratory tests with field tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

H ow can airports today find the right balance between accommodating the demand for air travel and the needs of airlines, while also addressing a frame work that imposes more and more constraints on the environmental impact of the airport's activities? This paper presents Geneva Airport's strategy to address this. The paper also discusses the concrete actions Geneva Airport has taken to implement this strategy, and the first outcomes of these actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the relationship between selected percentiles, return periods and the concepts of rare and extreme events in climate and hydrological series, considering both regular and irregular datasets, and discusses the IPCC and WMO indications. IPCC (Annex II: Glossary. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. IPCC, Geneva, 2014) establishes that an extreme event should be rare and exceed selected upper and lower thresholds (10th and 90th percentiles); WMO (Guidelines on the definition and monitoring of extreme weather and climate events—TT-DEWCE WMO 4/14/2016. World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, 2016) suggests thresholds near the ends of the range, but leaves them undetermined. The concept of "rare" relates the extreme events to the time domain and is typically expressed in terms of return period (RP). The key is to find the combination between "rare", percentile and return period. In particular, two crucial items are analysed: (1) how the return period may vary in response to the choice of the threshold, in particular when it is expressed in terms of percentiles; (2) how the choice of producing a regular or irregular dataset may affect the yearly frequency and the related return periods. Some weather variables (e.g. temperature) are regular and recorded at fixed time intervals, while other phenomena (e.g. tornadoes) occur at times. Precipitation may be considered either regular, all-days being characterized by a precipitation amount from 0 (no precipitation) to the top of the range, or irregular (rainy-days only) considering a precipitation day over a selected instrumental or percentile threshold. These two modes of interpreting precipitation include a different number of events per year (365 or less) and generate different return periods. Every climatic information may be affected by this definition. The 90th percentile applied to observations with daily frequency produces 10-day return period and the percentiles necessary to get 1 year, 10 years or other return periods are calculated. The general case of events with selected or variable frequencies, and selected percentiles, is also considered with an example of a precipitation series, two-century long. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A performance art that focuses on physiological processes rather than on physical movements can be aptly described through the lens of micro-performativity combined with the analytical grid of emersiology, which aims to explain how unconscious and uncontrolled activities of the living human body surface. This paper demonstrates both the epistemological and aesthetic potential of these concepts by scrutinizing how French, Geneva-based performer Yann Marussich's 'immobile' performance art challenges the very concept of a mesoscopic 'body' as a whole, delimited by the borders of its skin. His work dramatizes hardly perceptible micro-movements and physiological flows and offers a projection space where the internal work of the 'body' emerges, while stretching the usual perceptive parameters and increasing awareness for spatial micro-phenomena and temporal macro-phenomena—for the performer and the audience alike. Such art that can be qualified as emersive is the result of what the living body of the artist produces by micro-performative physiological phenomena, such as pain, breathing, blood flow or body posture. Emersion is a movement during which forms appear to spectators on the body's surface, which externalize the artist's internal sensations. In order to be activated, and to emerge up to consciousness by producing an aesthetic form, these micro-performative phenomena occur first and foremost by the immersion of the artist's body in constraining displays or devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A performance art that focuses on physiological processes rather than on physical movements can be aptly described through the lens of micro-performativity combined with the analytical grid of emersiology, which aims to explain how unconscious and uncontrolled activities of the living human body surface. This paper demonstrates both the epistemological and aesthetic potential of these concepts by scrutinizing how French, Geneva-based performer Yann Marussich's 'immobile' performance art challenges the very concept of a mesoscopic 'body' as a whole, delimited by the borders of its skin. His work dramatizes hardly perceptible micro-movements and physiological flows and offers a projection space where the internal work of the 'body' emerges, while stretching the usual perceptive parameters and increasing awareness for spatial micro-phenomena and temporal macro-phenomena—for the performer and the audience alike. Such art that can be qualified as emersive is the result of what the living body of the artist produces by micro-performative physiological phenomena, such as pain, breathing, blood flow or body posture. Emersion is a movement during which forms appear to spectators on the body's surface, which externalize the artist's internal sensations. In order to be activated, and to emerge up to consciousness by producing an aesthetic form, these micro-performative phenomena occur first and foremost by the immersion of the artist's body in constraining displays or devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the design, acquisition and processing of vertical seismic profiling data collected in 2016 at the directional Thônex‐01 geothermal well, drilled in 1993 in the Geneva Canton (Switzerland). The aim of the study was to obtain additional information from existing‐abandoned well for downhole geophysical characterization of potential geothermal reservoirs in the Geneva area. The main results obtained by this study allowed an improved subsurface image by multi‐offset acquisitions near and around the deviated well. Specifically we were able to (1) improve the velocity model of the Geneva Basin, which, at present, is only constrained by one unique deep exploration well, located at the south‐west of the basin, far away from the study area; (2) image the transition between the Tertiary Molasse siliciclastic sediments and the Mesozoic carbonates; (3) define an acquisition strategy for future vertical seismic profiling surveys in support of the geothermal exploration campaigns in the area. This study has demonstrated the value of vertical seismic profiling method for the refinement of the subsurface geology at local scale, and its usefulness to assist the planning of second well associated with geothermal doublets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An architecture for automatic lung tissue classification method based on the Deep Learning techniques is designed in this paper. Recent works on Deep Learning techniques achieved impressive results in the field of medical image classification. So, we designed a Convolution Neural Network (CNN) for the classification of five categories of Interstitial Lung Diseases (ILD) patterns in High-Resolution Computed Tomography (HRCT) images. The CNN consists of 3 Convolution layers, Leaky ReLU activation followed by Maximum pooling layer and dense layer. The last Fully Connected (FC) layer has 5 outputs equivalent to the classes considered such as Normal, Ground Glass (GG), Emphysema, Micro Nodules, and Fibrosis. The proposed CNN is trained and evaluated on the publicly available ILD database provided by the University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG). Experimental results are compared with the state-of-art, which shows an outstanding performance of the proposed CNN model giving 94.67% accuracy and 94.65% Favg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Body-packing means concealing packets of illicit psychoactive substances in the digestive or genital system. The purpose of this paper is to investigate profiles of body-packers and comorbidities associated with body-packing.Design/methodology/approach: A retrospective study (2005-2016) was conducted among all patients hospitalized for suspicion of body-packing in the Geneva hospital prison unit (n=287). Data were extracted from medical records and included demographics, somatic/psychiatric diseases, suicidal ideation and psychological distress.Findings: Body-packers were mostly young men (mean age=33.4). A total of 42.2 percent of the participants had at least one psychiatric or somatic comorbidity reported during incarceration (somatic: 28.2 percent, psychiatric: 18.8 percent). The most frequent somatic diseases were infectious (10.5 percent), cardiovascular (10.1 percent), and endocrinological (4.2 percent) diseases, and more precisely HIV (4.5 percent), hepatitis B (3.5 percent), hepatitis C (1.4 percent), high blood pressure (8.0 percent) and diabetes (4.2 percent). The most frequent psychiatric conditions were substance use disorders (10.5 percent) and mood disorders (8.0 percent). Depressed mood/psychological distress and suicidal ideation were frequently reported during hospitalization (27.2/6.6 percent). Comorbidities were associated with demographics: Females were more likely to have somatic and psychiatric diseases detected during hospitalization in detention and participants from Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic countries were more likely to report diseases known before detention.Originality/value: Body-packers bear a heavy burden of disease and psychological distress. This vulnerable subgroup of incarcerated people has been overlooked in previous research and their health needs are not correctly understood. This study was a first step to improve their health care and reintegration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pre-colonial African communities had a well-established system of human rights protection applicable to armed conflicts, which became lost as a result of the break-up of traditional societies. This paper will show that traditional rules can be revived and integrated into future conflict management efforts. The ancient authentically African roots of international humanitarian law (IHL) could serve as receptors forming the basis for IHL and human rights law dissemination. Listening to local communities and learning about their aspirations and cultural practices should inform the peacebuilding programmes which need to be introduced before the cessation of hostilities. In the long run, engaging the armed non-state actors in the development of norms, could help improve certainty and predictability of IHL. Recent efforts by Geneva Call comprising a study of indigenous cultural norms relating to civilians' protection in Mali underline the growing importance of integrating local approaches in IHL dissemination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines patriarchal perception in Henry James' novella Daisy Miller. The novella does not provide objective presentations of the characters; instead, the narrative presents a subjective depiction, mostly of Daisy Miller, according to the inner thoughts of only one character, Frederick Winterbourne. Yet Winterbourne is not technically the narrator; his thoughts are disclosed by an unknown character in the story some time after the story occurs. Winterbourne's subjectivity being relayed through another character-narrator portrays Winterbourne's perceptions without explicitly analyzing his behavior. I argue that this complex narrative structure transparently divulges pre-established patriarchal notions that affect Winterbourne's perceptions of Daisy, thus executing a social critique. For example, Winterbourne's familial, social, and geographical circumstances construct a patriarchal distribution of information. Geneva, where Winterbourne develops his beliefs of male-female relations, has its own standards for women's behaviors that include abiding by propriety and submissiveness. Winterbourne's relatives, such as his aunt, attempt to prohibit interaction with Daisy because her behavior deviates from this template. Winterbourne subjects Daisy to oppressive classifications, and his observations of her reflect his proclivity to establish a "formula that applied to Miss Daisy Miller" (James 12). He holds various notions of Daisy from "American flirt" (James 12) to "young lady whom a gentleman need no longer be at pains to respect" (James 60). All of these notions and formulas result from a pre-established patriarchal metric that Winterbourne adopts and inherits via the patriarchal distribution of information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PhD. Anastas Kocarev (Kotzareff in French) is one of the most prominent Macedonian doctors and experts, prolific contributor to the cancer research in Switzerland and France in the first decades of the 20th century. He was born in Ohrid on May 5th, 1889. He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine in Geneva where he defended a doctorate in medicine in 1915. In 1916 he was elected Assistant Professor (Private Docent) at that Faculty. He was a prominent scientist and professor of experimental medicine at the Faculty of Medicine in Geneva and the Sorbonne University in Paris, with a wide reputation in Europe and the United States. PhD. A. Kocarev is one of the pioneers of oncology and radiology in the world, a forerunner of modern nuclear medicine and positron emission tomography. He was a close associate of Nobel laureate in chemistry and physics Maria Sklodovska-Curie and at her invitation moved to Paris in 1925 to continue the research on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer using radium. He was fully devoted to science and published numerous scientific papers and books with high citations and dissemination in many medical libraries in Europe and beyond. In addition to his professional teaching and scientific work as a top oncologist- radiologist, he was a great patriot with advanced political ideas. He founded the Academic Society "Macedonia" in Geneva, in 1915, and united it with other Macedonian political associations from Zurich and Lausanne, in 1918, into a joint "Alliance of Macedonian Societies for Independent Macedonia", with commitments, activities and initiatives to the Society of Nations, based in Geneva, Switzerland, for the proper resolution of the Macedonian national issue by creating a united and independent state "Macedonia" or the formation of a "Balkan Federation". He died suddenly in Paris on March 29, 1931. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on an unknown (and, unfortunedy, not commented) Emil Cioran's conference of 1931 about the federative european project and the principle of sovereingnty of the states. In this texte, thanks to which he obtained his first scholarship in the West (at Geneve), Cioran is an follower of the pacifism, federalism, and universalism; few years after, in Berlin, he became a supporter of the radical nationalism. But even in this case he remained a refocused thinker of the mesianic. Viewed from the perspective of this conference, his radical nationalisme appears as a disappointement, or, at least, a stratagem. Anyway, his diagnoses on the European project remains very actual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]