How Robust Must International Law Be?

There is an examination of the political, economic, social, and humanitarian status of the globe. The intent is to determine the extent to which extraordinary degrading conditions in the world that can be ameliorated by the application and enforcement of international law. Substantial literature will be cited that support the exposed conditions which have a deleterious effect on humans. As a final note and conclusion, the study shows there is an imperative demand that subjects of international law, particularly states, and international organizations, comply with principles of international law and ensure its enforcement for the benefit of the international community.

The Low Countries

Notwithstanding certain similarities, Belgium and the Netherlands have different national histories. Keeping this in mind, this chapter is divided into four sections: early history, pillarization, secularization, and Islam and new developments. From its foundation in 1830, Belgium has been predominantly Catholic, whereas the Netherlands claimed to be a Protestant nation, despite a large minority of Catholics. In the late nineteenth century, self-contained worlds (‘pillars’) emerged in both countries. Catholics, and in the Netherlands orthodox Protestants as well, used their many-branched pillars of societal organizations to emancipate and mobilize their constituencies. In the 1960s, the pillars started to crumble and the number of non-affiliated rose to 42 per cent in Belgium, and 68 per cent in the Netherlands. Notwithstanding the immigration of significant groups of Christians and Muslims and a flourishing market in spirituality, both countries have become very secularized. A final note summarizes the situation in Luxembourg.

Face the music: Children’s facial affect in musical imitation and improvisation tasks

The purpose of this study was to examine facial affect of young children who completed a singing task that included imitation and improvisation. Eighty-nine children (4–6 years: 45 male and 44 female participants) completed three singing conditions from a standard singing test battery (i.e., Advancing Interdisciplinary Research in Singing-Test Battery of Singing Skills [AIRS-TBSS]). These included singing a favorite song, imitating a song, and improvising a song ending. Facial affect was analyzed with Noldus FaceReader software, and subjective responses also were collected. Results revealed children exhibited a happy emotion most prominently during the improvisation and favorite song conditions compared with the imitation condition. However, a higher percentage of surprised emotions were found during the imitation condition. Frequency analysis revealed a significantly different range and final note for the improvisation condition compared with imitation. Children’s self-reported ratings of happiness were related to their displayed facial affect (i.e., happiness) scores in FaceReader ( p < .05). Qualitative data analysis revealed three emerging themes of song familiarity, object association, and song preference. Children exhibited more positive affect when singing a favorite song or improvising. Based on the type of vocal performance task, it is necessary to consider how young children respond to vocal tasks.

Changes in the large carnivore community structure of the Judean Desert in connection to Holocene human settlement dynamics

Investigating historical anthropogenic impacts on faunal communities is key to understanding present patterns of biodiversity and holds important implications for conservation biology. While several studies have demonstrated the human role in the extinction of large herbivores, effective methods to study human interference on large carnivores in the past are limited by the small number of carnivoran remains in the paleozoological record. Here, we integrate a systematic paleozoological survey of biogenic cave assemblages with the archaeological and paleoenvironmental records of the Judean Desert, to reveal historical changes in the large carnivore community. Our results show a late Holocene (~ 3400 years ago) faunal reassembly characterized by the diminishment of the dominant large carnivoran, the Arabian leopard (Panthera pardus sbsp. nimr), and the spread of the Syrian striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena sbsp. syriaca). We suggest that increased hunting pressure in combination with regional aridification were responsible for the decrease in the number of leopards, while the introduction of domestic animals and settlement refuse brought new scavenging opportunities for hyenas. The recent extirpation of leopards from the region has been a final note to the Holocene human impact on the ecosystem.

Problems of obtaining technical and professional education for people with cerebral palsy

The article deals with the problems faced by students with cerebral palsy in primary vocational education. The article focuses on three aspects of inclusion of students with cerebral palsy: physical, academic, and socio-emotional. Suggests ways to eliminate these barriers. As a final note, the article highlights the need for further research.

Nowo odnaleziony autograf Tomasza Tretera. Notatnik z projektem księgi emblematów

A Newly Discovered Autograph by Tomasz Treter: A Notebook with a Design of a Book of Emblems The goal of the paper is to present the attribution and codicological analysis of a manu- script currently stored at Biblioteca civica Angelo Mai in Bergamo (sign. MM 378). The paper describes the manuscript codicologically, also hypothesizing as to its presence in the Bergamo library. Based on a manuscript annotation on the codex’s upper pastedown, I argue that it was intended as a gift for one of the Załuski family. On the basis of the printed correspondence between Józef Andrzej Załuski and Angelo Maria Querini, it may be assumed that Codex MM 378 was among the parcels containing manuscripts from the circle of Stanisław Hosius that the Italian librarian intended to send to Załuski. The boxes with the codices never reached the Polish librarian due to the tardiness of the messenger, Jacques David Frédéric Perard. It is claimed here that both the inscriptions and images in the code are authored by Tomasz Treter. The manuscript’s attribution was based on palaeographic analysis (comparing the handwriting with Treter’s epistolography stored in the archives in Kraków and Olsztyn). According to the dates included in the code, the inscriptions were made between 20 June 1569 and 2 March 1575. The manu- script thus represents the earliest known evidence of Treter’s artistic activity. The auto- graph contains some previously unknown emblems by Treter, and a preliminary design of the emblem work Symbolica vitae Christi meditatio (published 1612). As many as 51 sketches in the manuscript overlap with the emblematic icons of the 1612 printing, all of which are more symbolic (hieroglyphic) representations of Christian virtues known from Treter’s printing, while there are no sketches of icons in the printed book refer- ring to specific biblical scenes. Therefore, there is still uncertainty about the authorship of these compositions, which also differ in the quality of rendition from the previously mentioned ones. Comparing the autograph with the artist’s later published work offers insight into his technique. The drawings in the manuscript show very clear inspiration of Claude Paradin, Gabriel Syméon, Aneau Barthélemy and Andrea Alciato, which is not always conspicuous in the printed version. The analysis includes the final note, mention- ing imprese with the painter Lorenzo Lotto, which explains correspondences between this artist’s work and the emblems from Symbolica vitae Christi meditatio.

Auditory but Not Audiovisual Cues Lead to Higher Neural Sensitivity to the Statistical Regularities of an Unfamiliar Musical Style

It is still a matter of debate whether visual aids improve learning of music. In a multisession study, we investigated the neural signatures of novel music sequence learning with or without aids (auditory-only: AO, audiovisual: AV). During three training sessions on three separate days, participants (nonmusicians) reproduced (note by note on a keyboard) melodic sequences generated by an artificial musical grammar. The AV group ( n = 20) had each note color-coded on screen, whereas the AO group ( n = 20) had no color indication. We evaluated learning of the statistical regularities of the novel music grammar before and after training by presenting melodies ending on correct or incorrect notes and by asking participants to judge the correctness and surprisal of the final note, while EEG was recorded. We found that participants successfully learned the new grammar. Although the AV group, as compared to the AO group, reproduced longer sequences during training, there was no significant difference in learning between groups. At the neural level, after training, the AO group showed a larger N100 response to low-probability compared with high-probability notes, suggesting an increased neural sensitivity to statistical properties of the grammar; this effect was not observed in the AV group. Our findings indicate that visual aids might improve sequence reproduction while not necessarily promoting better learning, indicating a potential dissociation between sequence reproduction and learning. We suggest that the difficulty induced by auditory-only input during music training might enhance cognitive engagement, thereby improving neural sensitivity to the underlying statistical properties of the learned material.

Infants’ overlapping vocalizations during maternal humming: Contributions to the synchronization of preterm dyads

Despite the neurological vulnerability of premature newborns, there is evidence that they are able to process temporal aspects of the maternal voice, as a previous study observed more overlapping vocalizations during maternal humming versus speech. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the markers of the infants’ overlapping vocalizations. Our aim was to identify the location of overlapping vocalizations during the humming and the impacts of maternal antenatal and postnatal engagement of infant-directed singing on: (1) the features of humming and (2) the infants’ overlapping vocalizations during humming. Preterm dyads ( N = 36) were observed in silent, speech, and humming conditions. Microanalysis was performed using the Elan Program to identify the location of the overlapping vocalizations during the humming phrase. Infants’ overlapping vocalizations were found predominantly at the ends of each humming phrase; almost half of the overlaps occurred on the final note. More overlapping vocalizations in the final notes were observed in female infants. Antenatal and postnatal experiences of ID singing are influenced by the mothers’ nationality and contribute to maternal humming style. Preterm newborns synchronize with maternal humming, anticipating the end of musical phrases. The ability to synchronize seems to be phylogenetically associated with gender differences.

One Final Note

This final chapter discusses the merits of the project, showing how examining George Balanchine’s earliest ballets allows us a better understanding of his mature works. Comparisons are drawn between his lost ballets and those that are in the repertory: Prodigal Son, Apollo, Serenade, Jewels, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, and others. This conclusion shows the merits of a dance reconstruction project like Funeral March and demonstrates how it enables historians, dance artists, and audiences to gain greater depth in their understanding of ballet as an art form.