The Politics and Diplomacy of Neutrality

This article discusses the diplomacy and foreign policy of neutral actors in international relations. It introduces popular research themes of neutrality studies and presents some of the relevant literature. Neutrality has been most profoundly developed, studied, and defined under international law. However, there are other dimensions to it like politics, ethics, norms, identity, and security under which it remains a relatively fuzzy concept. The Finnish president, Urho Kekkonen, once explained it best: “There are as many kinds of neutrality as there are neutral states.” That is because the concept has diplomatic implications that do not stem directly from a country’s abstention from conflicts, but rather from strategic or ideational factors like the normative self-conceptualizations of peoples living in neutral countries and the political choices they make. In this respect, much research on the motivations and development of individual neutralities has been conducted over the years, including case studies, comparative works, theoretical treaties, and general histories. The focus of this article lies on the development of the concept since the maritime and Great Power neutralities of the 18th century. In particular, it covers the major literature of the past one hundred years, during which neutrality in the classic sense of international law underwent several changes and new forms of the neutral idea emerged in the form of nonalignment and neutralism. Furthermore, neutrality also has a place in the history of international organizations like the United Nations or the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and humanitarian institutions like the International Committee of the Red Cross. Therefore, this article understands “diplomacy” in a loose sense, including the foreign policies of states and the international political approaches of non-state actors alike. It defines “neutrality” as an actor’s military noninvolvement in third-party conflicts, especially in interstate wars. Hence, neutral diplomacy refers to the coordinated activities of international actors who remain—or try to remain—at a distance from third-party conflicts. The article does not cover technical understandings of neutrality that do not refer to a subject’s exclusion from conflicts but to different principles. For instance, “net-neutrality,” refers to the non-discrimination of Internet access speeds, not to the Internet’s exclusion from conflicts, and will not be covered in this analysis.

Corneal Dystrophies

Corneal dystrophies have classically referred to inherited, bilateral disease without systemic findings, although there are several exceptions to this definition. Hereditary pattern is not present in most patients with epithelial basement membrane dystrophy (EBMD). Unilateral corneal changes may be found in some patients with posterior polymorphous corneal dystrophy (PPCD). TGFBI gene mutation (p.His572del) is associated with a unilateral, late-onset variant of lattice corneal dystrophy. Among all dystrophies, macular corneal dystrophy and posterior amorphous corneal dystrophy are associated with decreased corneal thickness. The International Committee for Classification of Corneal Dystrophies (IC3D) was created in 2005 to revise the corneal dystrophy nomenclature and create a current and accurate corneal dystrophy classification system. Evidential categories were created in the IC3D classification for reflecting the natural evolution of a corneal dystrophy and indicate the level of evidence supporting the existence of a given dystrophy.

Eighth International Meeting of Technological Innovation

The eighth International Meeting of Technological Innovation (8th IMTI) is the result of the effort and dedication of researchers, research groups, research and extension division, and academic programs from the engineering faculty of the Universidad Francisco de Paula Santander, Ocaña, Colombia, The 8th IMTI was held on October 6-8, 2021, in Ocaña, Colombia, and has been creatively designed with the purpose of allowing the best possible experience of knowledge exchange for all speakers and participants; besides, from the interaction by means of a discussion forum for the academic and scientific community to contribute with the effective knowledge transfer The 8th IMTI has been highlighted and consolidated as a space where students, teachers, and professionals develop a permanent reflection on research trends and occupations in engineering. This annual meeting allows academic programs in engineering, architecture, urban planning, and related, to find new elements to incorporate into the academy life and thus be updated with the recent advances and last technologies. Therefore, the organizing committee to thank the Universidad Francisco de Paula Santander (UFPS), and the Foundation of Researchers in Materials Science and Technology (FORISTOM), for all the support academic and scientific received. In the same way, are extremely thankful to all authors and participants for providing their valuable contributions for this proceeding as well as the reviewers for their constructive recommendations and criticism aiding to improve the presented articles in this volume of proceedings. Likewise, we hope you enjoy the reading of this volume of the Journal of Physics Conference Series (JPCS), IOP Publishing, and that these manuscripts contribute to the generation and transfer of knowledge, as well as to the strengthening of research in Colombia. Consequently, the articles of this volume refer to general topics of physical and mathematical applied to sciences, engineering, technology, and innovation that were addressed in the 8th IMTI; for this reason, the editor hopes that those interested in the area of research, technology, and innovation in sciences and engineering can enjoy this reading, of the volume of the Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS), which reflects a wide variety of current issues, that contributes to the generation and transfer of knowledge, as well as to the strengthening of research in science and engineering in Colombia. “Education and expression freedom for anyone”. List of Organizing Committee,National Committees,International Committee,Sponsor,Partners are available in this pdf.

Antibiotics Used in Covid-19 And Mucormycosis (Black Fungus)

Background: In late December 2019, Chinese health authorities reported an outbreak of pneumonia of unknown origin in Wuhan, Hubei Province. Summary: A few days later, the genome of a novel coronavirus was released. org/t/novel2019-coronavirus-genome/319; Wuhan- Hu-1, GenBank accession No. MN908947) and made publicly available to the scientific community. This novel coronavirus was provisionally named 2019-nCoV, now SARS-CoV-2 according to the Coronavirus Study Group of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the Coronaviridae family, Betacoronavirus genus, subgenus Sarbecovirus. Since its discovery, the virus has spread globally, causing thousands of deaths and having an enormous impact on our health systems and economies. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge about the epidemiology, phylogenesis, homology modeling, and molecular diagnostics of SARS-CoV-2. Phylogenetic analysis is essential to understand viral evolution, whereas homology modeling is important for vaccine strategies and therapies. Highly sensitive and specific diagnostic assays are key to case identification, contact tracing, identification of the animal source, and implementation of control measures. Keywords: COVID-19 · SARS-CoV-2 · Pandemic · Phylogenesis · Protein modeling · Real-time polymerase chain reaction

Deciphering dimensions of overlapping publications

Proving research efficiency and academic growth by the number of publications flag the researchers to publish more articles from a single dataset. They are crossing into unethical practices such as self-plagiarism, duplicate publication, and other research misconducts, which warrant disciplinary action against them. The thrust of this review is to draw the attention of the authors, reviewers, editors, and readers toward different dimensions of overlapping publications in research. Various guidelines and ethical bodies such as Committee on Publication Ethics and International Committee of Medical Journal Editors were considered for the review. The present review provides an expansive outline of publication overlap available in the literature. The reasons for conducting and problems associated with different types of overlapping publications are identified. Preventive and remedial measures as well as recommendations for authors, editors, and reviewers have been highlighted. Because of the strain to “publish or perish” from the researchers’ end, journals are ending up being flooded with overlapping publications.

Methodology of regulation of new types of weapons by means of international humanitarian law: emergence and development

The purpose of the article is to identify the methodology, used in international humanitarian law for the regulation of new types of weapons. Under the settlement of the objectives of the article, regulation is understood as the establishment of permits, prohibitions and restrictions on the use of this type of weapon in accordance with the basic principles of international humanitarian law. The article is methodologically based on the works of foreign and Ukrainian researchers, devoted to the problems of the settlement of new weapons systems in international humanitarian law. The empirical basis of the article was formed by international treaties in the field of international humanitarian law and codified customs of this industry, as reflected in the codifications, developed by the International Committee of the Red Cross. The article establishes that in international humanitarian law there is an obligation for states to assess the compliance of new weapons systems with international humanitarian law. At the same time, this norm has two disadvantages. First, it is too abstract, which allows states to avoid the obligation to assess each time with reference to the fact that a certain type of weapon does not fall under the definition of a new type of weapon. Secondly, international humanitarian law does not contain specific mechanisms to hold violating states accountable. It is concluded, that it is necessary to revise the current international legal regulation of the obligation to assess new weapons systems in the direction of its concretization and strengthening of responsibility for non-compliance. Corresponding changes can be made to the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of 1977, or introduced by adopting a separate protocol.

ICTV Virus Taxonomy Profile: Solemoviridae 2021

The family Solemoviridae includes viruses with icosahedral particles (26–34 nm in diameter) assembled on T=3 symmetry with a 4–6 kb positive-sense, monopartite, polycistronic RNA genome. Transmission of members of the genera Sobemovirus and Polemovirus occurs via mechanical wounding, vegetative propagation, insect vectors or abiotically through soil; members of the genera Polerovirus and Enamovirus are transmitted by specific aphids. Most solemoviruses have a narrow host range. This is a summary of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) Report on the family Solemoviridae, which is available at ictv.global/report/solemoviridae.

ICTV Virus Taxonomy Profile: Retroviridae 2021

Viruses in the family Retroviridae are found in a wide variety of vertebrate hosts. Enveloped virions are 80–100 nm in diameter with an inner core containing the viral genome and replicative enzymes. Core morphology is often characteristic for viruses within the same genus. Replication involves reverse transcription and integration into host cell DNA, resulting in a provirus. Integration into germline cells can result in a heritable provirus known as an endogenous retrovirus. This is a summary of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) Report on the family Retroviridae, which is available at ictv.global/report/retroviridae.

ICTV Virus Taxonomy Profile: Geminiviridae 2021

The family Geminiviridae includes viruses with mono- or bipartite single-stranded, circular DNA genomes of 2.5–5.2 kb. They cause economically important diseases in most tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Geminiviruses infect dicot and monocot plants and are transmitted by insect vectors. DNA satellites are associated with some geminiviruses. This is a summary of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) Report on the family Geminiviridae which is available at ictv.global/report/geminiviridae.

Night on Earth

Night on Earth is a broad-ranging account of international humanitarian programs in Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Near East from 1918 to 1930. Davide Rodogno shows that international 'relief' and 'development' were intertwined long before the birth of the United Nations with humanitarians operating in a region devastated by war and famine and in which state sovereignty was deficient. Influenced by colonial motivations and ideologies these humanitarians attempted to reshape entire communities and nations through reconstruction and rehabilitation programmes. The book draws on the activities of a wide range of secular and religious organisations and philanthropic foundations in the US and Europe including the American Relief Administration, the American Red Cross, the Quakers, Save the Children, the Near East Relief, the American Women's Hospitals, the League of Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross.