Human dignity - source and foundation of human rights and freedoms in the 21st century

Human dignity is a criterion of appreciation among people, because each of us wants dignity, it comes from our own nature, but it can be achieved in the community of which we are part. Throughout the existence and development of mankind, there have been various situations in which, however, human dignity has been violated. These situations, in turn, in addition to making the problem visible, served as a pillar for inventing new areas of protection of human dignity, such as: from the perspective of unbearable social conditions and the marginalization of poor social classes; unequal treatment of women and men at work; discrimination against foreigners and cultural, linguistic, religious and racial minorities; brutal expulsion of illegal immigrants and applicants today, disability, medicine, etc. In light of such specific challenges, various aspects of the significance of human dignity arise from the multitude of experiences of what it means to be humiliated and deeply hurt. All these have taken to a new level the perception of human dignity and have generated, depending on the stated problem, different legal, international instruments meant to protect the dignity of human being.

Baseline Assessments of Wildlife Biodiversity Within Selected Areas of Central Visayas, Philippines

A comprehensive inventory of faunal biodiversity was conducted within three Key Biodiversity Areas of Central Visayas. Mt. Bandilaan Natural Park (MBNP), Balinsasayao Twin Lakes Natural Park (BTLNP), and Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape (RSPL). Three primary wildlife groups were surveyed: bats, birds and amphibians. Species diversity and population trends were then analyzed to assess areas of biodiversity importance. RSPL generally had the highest species richness and diversity index while MBNP consistently had the lowest. When pooled. The surveyed areas resulted in a high diversity index and rate of endemicity showing the importance of multiple areas of protection. These findings can be utilized to prioritize habitat protection as well as to serve as a baseline information for future biodiversity inventories. J. Biodivers. Conserv. Bioresour. Manag. 2020, 6(2): 27-34

Land Concentration and Land Grabbing Processes—Evidence from Slovakia

In Slovakia, the large-scale acquisition of agricultural land in combination with land concentration represents a legitimate threat that can lead to land grabbing. Based on the research, two interrelated areas of protection need to be effectively regulated to limit land grabbing: the protection of access to land and the protection of agricultural land. Due to the absence of relevant data analysis regarding this issue, the main aim of the study was to analyse the emergence of land concentration in Slovakia based on historical and cultural factors and to evaluate the current legislative and institutional framework of both aspects of land protection with a possible impact on the successively graduating threat of land grabbing. In particular, analytical methods were used, presenting the data from secondary literature sources, a questionnaire survey, and representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Slovakia. The research shows that although the state has adopted the necessary legal framework for the protection of property rights to agricultural land, it is not possible to enforce it, as the institutional framework for its implementation is absent. It is also the state’s malfunctioning land protection regulatory mechanism and the absence of indirect action instruments that may be key indicators leading to the processes of industrial agriculture. Therefore, the adoption of legislation limiting agricultural land acquisition is important, but the processes of land grabbing presume the state’s complex provision of a regulatory mechanism and adoption of strategic measures aimed at sustainable land quality and food security.

Financial policy regarding the categorization of individual investors in Russia and the area of protecting their interests

Development of modern economy and financial market is impossible without involving the mass investor in investment processes. This is the goal of the state's financial market policy. The need to preserve savings in the face of a reduction in the key rate, and therefore a decrease in interest, encourages individuals to invest more actively in securities. New investors come to the securities market, but they are not always able to adequately assess the risk of investing in securities. To reduce the risks of individual investors, there is used a categorization mechanism, which divides them into qualified and unqualified investors, but requires improvement. Based on the analysis, it is proved that the categorization of investors cannot be limited by the regulation of the criteria for their differentiation and requires specifying the areas of protection of the interests and rights of investors. The study is based on the pragmatic Solow-Williamson methodology and a systematic approach. The indicators of investor activity and indicators characterizing the degree of investor protection in the Russian securities market are analyzed. As a result, the problems of modern categorization of individual investors in the Russian Federation are identified and analyzed. The main areas of protection of investors' interests and rights are identified, including: the choice of a financial instrument; ensuring ownership of financial instruments; transactions with financial instruments; protection from misseling; disclosure of information by issuers and professional subjects of financial markets; illegal actions of professional subjects of financial markets in relation to financial risks and protection tools. Areas of protection of investors' interests and rights are correlated with risks and protection tools. There were defined basic principles of categorization of investors-individuals.

Comparison of Different Monetization Methods in LCA: A Review

Different LCA methods based on monetization of environmental impacts are available. Therefore, relevant monetization methods, namely Ecovalue12, Stepwise2006, LIME3, Ecotax, EVR, EPS, the Environmental Prices Handbook, Trucost and the MMG-Method were compared quantitatively and qualitatively, yielding results for 18 impact categories. Monetary factors for the same impact category range mostly between two orders of magnitude for the assessed methods, with some exceptions (e.g., mineral resources with five orders of magnitude). Among the qualitative criteria, per capita income, and thus the geographical reference, has the biggest influence on the obtained monetary factors. When the monetization methods were applied to the domestic yearly environmental damages of an average EU citizen, their monetary values ranged between 7941.13 €/capita (Ecotax) and 224.06 €/capita (LIME3). The prioritization of impact categories varies: Stepwise and Ecovalue assign over 50% of the per capita damages to climate change, while EPS and LIME3 assign around 50% to mineral and fossil resource use. Choices regarding the geographical reference, the Areas of Protection included, cost perspectives and the approach to discounting strongly affect the magnitude of the monetary factors. Therefore, practitioners should choose monetization methods with care and potentially apply varying methods to assess the robustness of their results.

The protection of human rights in connection with working possibilities of special group of employees

The author intends to analyse the special protection of disadvantage people – in particular to disabled people and people with changed working ability. These people are often cut off from the labour market, therefore, they can not participate there and even in the society. However, human rights, regulated in the Fundamental Law of Hungary, provide the opportunity for these people as well to work. Thus, these rights are essential for these people in order to ensure their employment. Labour law and social law protection confirms this constitutional protection. The study examines these three areas of protection.

The Technique of Forecasting the Structure of Targeted Cyber Attack on Information Telecommunication Networks

The main trend in recent years is the shift of emphasis from mass attacks to targeted (target) attacks, which are the actions of the enemy of a particular state or non-state structure in advance. The target attack is always built under the object of influence, being a thoughtful operation, not a simple technical action. Target cyber attack on the element of information and telecommunication network is implemented in the form of a set of activities aimed at studying the information system and software. This allows for revealing weaknesses in the structure of the information and telecommunication network. The authors develop the technique of hidden introduction and bypass of standard means of information protection, fix the infrastructure, distribute the harmful action. Under the impact of a targeted cyber attack, it is difficult to choose the methods and means of protecting the information and telecommunication network, as their resource is limited. One of the ways to resolve this contradiction is a differentiated approach to the protection of information and telecommunication network, which is to choose the most relevant for the current situation areas of protection. The article deals with the problem of targeted attacks proliferation and describes the principle of their realization. The authors also substantiate the need of working out the methodology for estimating the impact of targeted cyber attacks by the enemy on information and telecommunications networks as well as their key elements. The special attention is paid to the purpose and structure of this methodology. The authors describe the stages of targeted cyber attack and its application areas.

Karst Caves

Karst refers to the processes of chemical dissolution and mechanical erosion acting on soluble rocks (mainly carbonates and evaporites), and to the surface and subsurface landforms thus produced. In their book Karst Hydrogeology and Geomorphology, Derek Ford and Paul Williams state that about 20 percent of the emerged Earth’s surface is karst, with caves representing a typical and well-known expression (see Ford and Williams 2007, cited under Karst Hydrogeology: The Importance of Karst Aquifers). Together with caves, karst lands are characterized by underground drainages and by scarce presence of water running at the surface. Water, rather than flowing on the ground as watercourses and rivers, rapidly infiltrates underground through networks of fissures and conduits, which combine to the diffuse flow in recent carbonates, giving origin to the complex systems of karst caves. Karst environments and caves have been of interest to humans since the earliest civilizations—for water supply, as settlements or areas of protection, or to bury the dead. Some of the more ancient testimonies of art are within caves, such as those in several caverns of the Mediterranean area (including, to mention the most remarkable, Lascaux and Chauvet in France, Altamira in Spain, and Porto Badisco in Italy). Karst research, which is linked to caving exploration, had a great impulse in the second half of the 20th century. Caves have been recognized as a very precious and peculiar environment, where traces of the past, in terms of sediments (see Sasowsky and Mylroie 2004, cited under Cave Deposits) or evidence of paleoclimate (see Fairchild and Baker 2012, cited under Contribution to Paleoclimatic Studies), have been preserved, often in great detail, in contrast to what occurs at Earth’s surface, where most of it is being destroyed, canceled, or covered by later processes. As a consequence, the classical studies about speleogenesis (that is, the origin of caves) and on geomorphology of the underground settings have developed in integration with those by researches in other disciplines, covering, among others, cave sediments, biospeleology and microbiology, and dating of speleothems for paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental studies. Further, the expansion of built-up environments and construction in karst lands resulted in the interaction among natural hazards in karst and society, as pointed out in Parise and Gunn 2007 (under Karst Hazards), and Gutiérrez, et al. 2014 (under Human Impacts and Land Management in Karst), bringing to general attention the issue of fragility of karst, due to its peculiar hydrologic and hydrogeological features. As a matter of fact, Goldscheider and Drew 2007 (under Karst Hydrogeology: The Importance of Karst Aquifers) documents that karst aquifers are of high quality and represent between 20 and 25 percent of the world’s drinking resources, but that they are also extremely vulnerable and potentially threatened by a variety of forms of pollution.