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What do oil and diamonds have in common (aside from the fact that one can never have enough)? They are the world's favorite carbon-based treasures and they also have sustained ferocious civil wars in parts of Africa. Coinciding with growing academic and political recognition that natural resources can play important roles in causing and sustaining conflict, human rights activists launched two campaigns in the late 1990s calling for targeted sanctions against oil and diamonds from several conflict regions in Africa. The coalitions involved in these two separate efforts overlapped very little in goals, methods and participant organizations. But a comparison of the two campaigns sheds light on a number of shared challenges, illuminating lessons for future activism promoting sanctions against \"conflict commodities.\"

Electrospinning is an effective method in preparing polymeric nanofibrous drug delivery systems (DDSs) for topical wound healing and skin burn therapy applications. The aim of the present study was to investigate a new synthetic graft copolymer (Soluplus) as a hydrophilic carrier polymer in electrospinning of nanofibrous DDSs. Soluplus (polyvinyl caprolactam-polyvinyl acetate-polyethylene glycol graft copolymer (PCL-PVAc-PEG)) was applied in the nonwoven nanomats loaded with piroxicam (PRX) as a poorly water-soluble drug. Raman spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used in the physical characterization of nanofibrous DDSs. According to the SEM results, the drug-loaded PCL-PVAc-PEG nanofibers were circular in cross-section with an average diameter ranging from 500 nm up to 2 µm. Electrospinning stabilized the amorphous state of PRX. In addition, consistent and sustained-release profile was achieved with the present nanofibrous DDSs at the physiologically relevant temperature and pH applicable in wound healing therapy. In conclusion, electrospinning can be used to prepare nanofibrous DDSs of PCL-PVAc-PEG graft copolymer (Soluplus) and to stabilize the amorphous state of a poorly water-soluble PRX. The use of this synthetic graft copolymer can open new options to formulate nanofibrous DDSs for wound healing.

We investigated human rights concerns related to migration, living and working conditions, and access to HIV/AIDS services and reproductive health services for Burmese women in Thailand. Vulnerability to HIV/AIDS for Burmese women stemmed from abuses they experienced: gender and ethnic discrimination, including violence; unsafe migration and trafficking; labor and sexual exploitation; and denial of health care. Despite having bound itself to human rights laws, the Thai government is failing to fulfill its obligations to Burmese women, with particularly devastating impacts for their well-being, including the risk of HIV/AIDS. Moreover, as our documentation shows, this failure to incorporate human rights concerns into its national response to the epidemic virtually guarantees that HIV/AIDS will continue to be a problem in Thailand. /// Nous avons examiné les problèmes des droits de l'homme en relation avec la migration, les conditions de vie et de travail et l'accès aux services de santé relatifs au VIH/SIDA et à ceux de la reproduction des femmes birmanes en Thaïlande. La vulnérabilité des femmes birmanes au VIH/SIDA provient des abus dont elles sont victimes: discrimination sexuelle et ethnique, y compris violence; migration à haut risque et trafic de personnes; exploitation sexuelle et au travail; refus de soins médicaux. Malgré son accord avec les lois sur les droits de l'homme, le gouvernement de la Thaïlande manque à ces obligations envers les femmes birmanes, avec des conséquences dévastatrices sur leur bien-être, y compris le risque du VIH/SIDA. De plus, notre documentation montre que cet échec d'incorporer les problèmes des droits de l'homme à sa réponse nationale à l'épidémie garantit que le VIH/SIDA continuera d'être un problème en Thaïlande. /// Investigamos temas en cuanto a derechos humanos relacionadas con migración, condiciones de vida y laborales así como acceso a servicios para personas con infección de VIH/SIDA y los servicios para la salud reproductiva para mujeres birmanas en Tailandia. La vulnerabilidad a infección por VIH/SIDA para mujeres birmanas se derivó de los abusos que experimentaron: discriminación de género y étnica, incluso violencia; migración y tráfico inseguros; explotación laboral y sexual, y negación de cuidado de la salud. A pesar de haberse sometido a las leyes de los derechos humanos, el gobierno tailandés no está cumpliendo con sus obligaciones con las mujeres birmanas, con repercusiones en particular devastadoras para su bienestar, incluso el riesgo de infección por VIH/SIDA. Más aún, como lo muestra nuestra documentación, este fracaso para incorporar temas respecto a derechos humanos en su respuesta nacional a la epidemia virtualmente asegura que la infección por VIH/SIDA seguirá siendo un problema en Tailandia.

\"In Our Own Best Interest: How Defending Human Rights Benefits Us All\" by William F. Schulz is reviewed.

This study offers a comparison between two German intellectual discourses on colonization, and concludes that these discourses are linked and are signposts of German ethnic nationalism based on their assumptions about non-assimilation. The first discourse encompasses the late eighteenth-century debate over the colonization of the Prussian East. The second discourse includes the German plans to establish a German colony in North America in the nineteenth century, a New Germany. The effort to transplant some quality of Germanness (Deutschtum) to the New World and thus the use of the word \"colonization\" to describe this process is related to the previous attempt to do the same in Prussian Poland. After the first of the Polish Partitions, the language of the Prussian administration in Prussian Poland reflected the state policy whereby ethnic Germans were brought in through economic benefits and special legal status and were to settle by themselves as Kolonisten. Frederick II and his civil servants spoke of colonies as ethnic enclaves with a mission to spread Enlightenment. Likewise, the German publicists and promoters of a Germania in North America wrote of German \"colonies\" and \"colonists\" in America who were supposed to preserve a \"Germany\" far from the politically fragmented cluster of German territories in the Old World. But because German civil servants lacked political control over the emigrants to America, they voiced concern over potential Americanization of these migrants. The tension of preserving this \"Germanness\" while living amongst non-Germans was at the heart of both of these discourses. The means of achieving this was through colonies.

Advances in computer-assisted linguistic research have been greatly influential in reshaping linguistic research. With the increasing availability of interconnected datasets created and curated by researchers, more and more interwoven questions can now be investigated. Such advances, however, are bringing high requirements in terms of rigorousness for preparing and curating datasets. Here we present CLICS, a Database of Cross-Linguistic Colexifications (CLICS). CLICS tackles interconnected interdisciplinary research questions about the colexification of words across semantic categories in the world’s languages, and show-cases best practices for preparing data for cross-linguistic research. This is done by addressing shortcomings of an earlier version of the database, CLICS2, and by supplying an updated version with CLICS3, which massively increases the size and scope of the project. We provide tools and guidelines for this purpose and discuss insights resulting from organizing student tasks for database updates.Measurement(s)Meaning • wordTechnology Type(s)digital curation • computational modeling technique • SemanticsFactor Type(s)source data • languageMachine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data: 10.6084/m9.figshare.11317625

Silicone is often used in environments where water repellency is an advantage. Contact with water promotes the adhesion of microorganisms and biofilm formation. Depending on the application, this may increase the possibility of food poisoning and infections, the material's degrading appearance, and the likelihood of manufacturing defects. The prevention of microbial adhesion and biofilm formation is also essential for silicone-based elastomeric foams, which are used in direct contact with human bodies but are often difficult to clean. In this study, the microbial attachment in and the retention from the pores of silicone foams of different compositions is described and compared to those of commonly used polyurethane foams. The growth of the gram-negative Escherichia coli in the pores and their leaching during wash cycles is characterised by bacterial growth/inhibition, adhesion assay, and SEM imaging. The structural and surface properties of the materials are compared. Despite using common antibacterial additives, we have found that non-soluble particles stay isolated in the silicone elastomer layer, thus affecting surface microroughness. Water-soluble tannic acid dissolves into the medium and seems to aid in inhibiting planktonic bacterial growth, with a clear indication of the availability of tannic acid on the surfaces of SIFs.

Organic production is one of the fastest growing food sectors globally. However, average yield in organic vegetable production is up to 33% lower than in conventional production. This difference could be due to higher fertilization rates in conventional, compared to organic, farming. We aimed to compare yield and quality characteristics of carrots produced under equal nitrogen fertilization rates over four years in organic and conventional conditions. We found a 14.5% higher marketable, and 10.0% lower discarded, yield in the organic compared to the average conventional treatments. In addition, carrots managed organically had 14.1% lower nitrate and 10.0% higher vitamin C content than carrots managed conventionally. There were no convincing effects of cultivation system on the nitrogen, total sugar, or dry matter content of carrots. Organically managed carrots were free of pesticide residues, while several residues were found in carrots managed conventionally. Our study reveals that organic management of carrots may exceed that of conventional methods in yield and several quality characteristics, while being free of pesticide residues. Organic fertilizer gave an advantage over mineral fertilizer, when equal rates of nitrogen were used in both production systems.

Water, alcohols, diols, and glycerol are low-cost blowing agents that can be used to create the desired silicone foam structures. Although their combined use can be beneficial, it remains unclear how it affects the physical properties of the resulting materials. We conducted a comparative study of these hydroxyl-bearing blowing agents in fumed silica- and mica-filled polymer composite systems for simultaneous blowing and crosslinking to obtain a low-density, uniform porosity and superior mechanical properties. The foams were optimized for a uniform open-pore structure with densities ranging from 75 to 150 kg‧m−3. Varying the diol chain length (Cn) from one to seven carbons can alter the foam density and structure, thereby enhancing the foam tensile strength while maintaining a low density. Replacing 10 mol% of water with 1,4-butanediol decreased the density by 26%, while increasing the specific strength by 5%. By combining glycerol and water blowing, the resulting foams exhibited a 30% lower apparent density than their water-blown analogs. The results further showed that Cn > 4 alkane chain diols had an odd–even effect on the apparent density and cell wall thickness. All foamable compositions had viscosities of approximately 7000 cSt and curing times below 2 min, allowing for quick dispensing and sufficient time for the foam to cure in semi-industrial volumes.

Background Chlamydia trachomatis (chlamydia) is a common, frequently asymptomatic, sexually transmitted infection. It can result in severe sequelae, such as ectopic pregnancy and infertility. In Germany, chlamydia is not notifiable. An opportunistic screening program for women < 25 years was introduced in 2008. The aim of this research was to triangulate different data sources to describe the epidemiological situation of chlamydia in Germany and to investigate whether the current target group of the chlamydia screening program aligns with these findings. Methods Urine specimens from participants from population-based health examination surveys of children (2014–17) and adults (2008–11) were tested for chlamydia, using nucleic acid amplification testing. These data were used to generate weighted chlamydia prevalence estimates by age group and sex. Data from a nationwide chlamydia laboratory sentinel system (2014–16) were used to calculate the positive proportion among individuals tested for chlamydia by age, sex and test reason. Results Using data from the population-based surveys, we found a chlamydia prevalence estimate of 2.8% (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.0–7.5%) among all 15- to 17-year-old girls and of 9.6% (95% CI 0.0–23) among those reporting to be sexually active. In adult women, we found the highest prevalence among 18- to 24-year-olds (all: 2.3%; 95% CI 1.0–5.3%; sexually active: 3.1%; 95% CI 1.3–7.0%). In adult men, we found the highest prevalence among 25- to 29-year-olds (all: 3.5%; 95% CI 1.6–7.7%; sexually active: 3.3%; 95% CI 1.3–7.8%). Data from the chlamydia laboratory sentinel showed the highest positive proportion among those opportunistically screened in 19-year-old women (6.1%; 95%- CI 5.9–6.4%), among those screened due to pregnancy in 15-year-old girls (10%; 95% CI 8.5–12%), and among those tested due to symptoms or a positive partner in 19-year-old women (10%; 95% CI 9.8–11%) and 19-year-old men (24%; 95% CI 22–26%). Conclusions Chlamydia seems to mainly affect adolescents and young adults in Germany, with similar overall prevalence in men and women, but with slightly different age distributions. Women at highest risk of chlamydia are covered by the current screening program but given the on-going discussions in high-income countries on cost-effectiveness and benefit-to-harm ratio of these programs, the program-aim needs reconsideration.