Which is the Only Game in Town? Minority Rights Issues in Estonia and Slovakia During and after EU Accession:Perspectives on European Politics and Society

Post-communist transition went hand in hand with the European integration process. Much of the literature on EU accession focuses on the rational decision to implement a set of European norms into domestic legislation pre-accession. It is often concluded that once EU membership is achieved, states succumb their rationality and act on the basis of internalised norms. The paper claims that the past literature overlooks the wider framework within which policy-makers operate before and after the accession, namely domestic sovereignty over policy-making and implementation. Tracing the policy dynamics in the area of minority rights in Estonia and Slovakia, we demonstrate that the European integration ushered greater domestic control over policy implementation on minority issues in two states exposed to a heavy dose of conditionality. As we observe, both states have consolidated their state- and nation-building policies referencing EU conditionality in the course of accession and later EU membership to assert centrality of domestic objectives for policy-making and implementation.

Is the phenotypic combination A1B8Cw7DR3 a marker for male longevity?

To study whether individual Human Leucocyte Antigens (HLA) at the HLA 1 or 11 loci or the phenotypic combination A1B8Cw7DR3 were associated with longevity.

What is the energy balance of grass biomethane in Ireland and other temperate northern European climates?

Biofuels have had bad press in recent years. There are primarily two distinct issues. The biofuel crops with the best yields (such as sugarcane or oil palm) grow in tropical countries where habitat destruction has occurred in association with the biofuel system. First generation indigenous energy crops commonly used for transport fuel in Europe (such as rapeseed and wheat) have low yields and/or the energy balance of the associated biofuel system is poor. This paper shows that grass is a crop with significant yields and grass biomethane (a gaseous renewable transport biofuel) has a very good energy balance and does not involve habitat destruction, land use change, new farming practices or annual tilling. The gross and net energy production per hectare are almost identical to palm oil biodiesel; the net energy of the grass system is at least 50% better than the next best indigenous European biofuel system investigated. Ten percent of Irish grasslands could fuel over 55% of the Irish private car fleet. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

What is the best method for diagnosing glaucoma?

Glaucoma is characterized by a typical appearance of the optic disc and peripheral visual field loss. However, diagnosis may be challenging even for an experienced clinician due to wide variability among normal and glaucomatous eyes. Standard automated perimetry is routinely used to establish the diagnosis of glaucoma. However, there is evidence that substantial retinal ganglion cell damage may occur in glaucoma before visual field defects are seen. The introduction of newer imaging devices such as confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy, scanning laser polarimetry and optical coherence tomography for measuring structural changes in the optic nerve head and retinal nerve fiber layer seems promising for early detection of glaucoma. New functional tests may also help in the diagnosis. However, there is no evidence that a single measurement is superior to the others and a combination of tests may be needed for detecting early damage in glaucoma. © 2010 Expert Reviews Ltd.

Is the number of species on earth increasing or decreasing? Time, chaos and the origin of species

Darwin's On the Origin of Species has led to a theory of evolution with a mass of empirical detail on population genetics below species level, together with heated debate on the details of macroevolutionary patterns above species level. Most of the main principles are clear and generally accepted, notably that life originated once and has evolved over time by descent with modification. Here, I review the fossil and molecular phylogenetic records of the response of life on Earth to Quaternary climatic changes. I suggest that the record can be best understood in terms of the nonlinear dynamics of the relationship between genotype and phenotype, and between climate and environments. 'The origin of species' is essentially unpredictable, but is nevertheless an inevitable consequence of the way that organisms reproduce through time. The process is 'chaotic', but not 'random'. I suggest that biodiversity is best considered as continuously branching systems of lineages, where 'species' are the branch tips. The Earth's biodiversity should thus (1) be in a state of continuous increase and (2) show continuous discrepancies between genetic and morphological data in time and space. © The Palaeontological Association.