The Roma in Macedonia: Ethnic politics and the marginal condition in a Balkan state

Most of Eastern Europe's five‐to‐seven‐million Roma (Gypsies) welcomed the revolutions of 1989 only to realize that the post‐communist era brought mixed blessing to them. Although since then their political and cultural marginalization had diminished, their social and economic circumstances had clearly deteriorated in East Central Europe and the Balkans alike. The only exception to this rule appears to be the newly independent Republic of Macedonia, where the Roma's conditions in many respects are far superior to those of their counterparts elsewhere in the region. There are several reasons for this phenomenon. In the economic realm the Macedonian Roma's situation has also worsened (although still much better than that of the Roma in other Balkan states) but not as a result of ethnic discrimination but owing to the economic hardships accompanying the post‐communist transitions. In the political sphere, the Roma in Macedonia have benefited from a state whose representatives are willing to rise above sympathetic rhetoric and take concrete steps to alleviate their problems as well as from relatively well organized Romani political parties. Most important, however, are the differences between societal attitudes towards the Roma in Macedonia and elsewhere in Eastern Europe. In Macedonia the Roma's relations with the dominant ethnic group (Macedonians) are primarily characterized by ‘peaceful coexistence’ rather than tension and animosity. Moreover, Romani communities in Macedonia are less isolated from non‐Roma both culturally and socio‐economically. This state of affairs is the result of a number of related factors, most important of which are that the Romani community does not represent a threat to Macedonians given their numerical weakness and lack of political clout in contradistinction to the very real threat posed by the ethnic Albanian community in the country. In turn, the Roma's relations to ethnic Albanians and Turks remain relatively agreeable as well.     

Regional isolation in the Balkan region: an analysis of craniofacial variation

Biological variation is investigated among contemporary Croatians, Bosnians, American whites, and other multitemporal Balkan populations (World War II Croatians, Macedonians, and Greeks) via multivariate statistics and distance measures of the craniofacial complex. This study demonstrates that there is considerable variation among groups of European ancestry. Bosnians and Croatians who are thought to be relatively homogenous and historically to originate from the same Slav ancestry show local variations. While environmental plasticity has been used to explain cranial changes among human groups, it does not adequately explain the variation observed between Bosnians and Croatians. It is an oversimplification to exclusively attribute the vast range of variability observed among local as well as geographic populations to environmental adaptations.     

Anthelmintic resistance: the state of play revisited

Helminthosis is one of the major constraints in the successful wool and mutton industry throughout the world. Anthelmintic Resistance (AR) is said to have been established when previously effective drug ceases to kill exposed parasitic population at the therapeutically recommended dosages. Anthelmintic resistance is almost cosmopolitan in distribution and it has been reported in almost all species of domestic animals and even in some parasites of human beings. Some of the most important species of parasites of small ruminants in which AR has been reported include: Haemonchus spp., Trichostrongylus spp. Teladorsagia spp., Cooperia spp. Nematodirus spp., and Oesophagostomum spp. All the major groups of anthelmintics have been reported for development of variable degrees of resistance in different species of gastrointestinal nematodes. This paper describes the global scenario of prevalence and methods used for detection of AR in small ruminants. Different mechanisms and contributory factors for the development of AR are discussed. Various options and alternate strategies for the control and/or delay in the onset of AR are suggested in the light of available information.     

Population genetic structure of wild boars in the West Balkan region

We investigated the population genetic structure of wild boars from Vojvodina (Serbia), Slavonija (Croatia) and Bosnia using four microsatellite markers. All loci presented a high degree of polymorphism and a total of 76 alleles (mean 19 alleles per locus) were detected. Average observed heterozygosity (H _o) value was 0.60. Deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was found due to significant heterozygote deficiency detected for three of the four analyzed loci and for all populations. F _IS value over all loci and all populations was 0.29, and the effective number of migrants based on private alleles was 1.64. Sufficient levels of gene flow were found between all populations and the spatial structure showed slightly closer nuclear gene pool affinity of Vojvodina and Slavonija populations in relation of Bosnia population.     

Emerging nanomaterial governance systems: the state of play

Domestic laws, their implementing regulations and policies, and government and private-party governance programs are now being carefully reviewed and revised to enhance their utility to manage the potential risks posed by nanoscale materials. Whether existing laws and their implementing programs are adequate to address such risks will continue to inspire debate and legislative and regulatory initiatives for years to come. This article reviews existing legal and governance oversight systems and analyzes their strengths and deficiencies in addressing the potential risks posed by nanoscale materials and in fostering nanotechnology's promise. Particular attention is devoted to emerging regulatory approaches the US Environmental Protection Agency is taking under the Toxic Substances Control Act and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, the two domestic chemical product laws primarily responsible for ensuring the safety of chemical substances and mixtures.     

Synthetic biology - the state of play

Just over two years ago there was an article in Nature entitled "Five Hard Truths for Synthetic Biology". Since then, the field has moved on considerably. A number of economic commentators have shown that synthetic biology very significant industrial potential. This paper addresses key issues in relation to the state of play regarding synthetic biology. It first considers the current background to synthetic biology, whether it is a legitimate field and how it relates to foundational biological sciences. The fact that synthetic biology is a translational field is discussed and placed in the context of the industrial translation process. An important aspect of synthetic biology is platform technology, this topic is also discussed in some detail. Finally, examples of application areas are described.     

Molecular evidence for historic long-distance translocations of brown bears in the Balkan region

We tested the hypothesis that brown bears were translocated from the Romanian Carpathians to Bulgaria via air transportation during the communist regime in the 1970s and 1980s. Microsatellite analysis was performed on 199 bear samples from Bulgaria and Romania. Assignment and admixture tests revealed the existence of seven genotypes (=2.8 %) in Bulgaria that were assigned with high probabilities to the Romanian population, supporting the translocation and successful establishment of Carpathian bears in Bulgaria. While we cannot rule out the possibility that active long-distance dispersal contributed to the observed pattern, the spatial distribution and sex ratio of the detected Romanian genotypes strongly favor the translocation hypothesis.     

Approval of trainers and training practices in the Oxford region: criteria.

New criteria for approving practices for training general practitioners have been accepted by the Oxford regional postgraduate subcommittee for general practice. These criteria cover the trainer, the practice, and the training. Two further papers will discuss new methods of assessment and their evaluation.     

Approval of trainers and training practices in the Oxford region: assessment.

This is the second paper of three on criteria for approval of trainers of general practitioners drawn up for the Oxford region. This paper describes assessment of trainers and training practices by a team of general practitioners who visit for one day.     

Approval of trainers and training practices in the Oxford region: evaluation.

This is the third paper on criteria and methods for approving trainers and training practices drawn up in the Oxford region. In this paper we discuss how they were evaluated.     

Adequacy of rehabilitation monitoring practices in the Western Australian mining industry

Summary Currently in Western Australia (WA) there are no mandated standards for assessing rehabilitation success for the mining industry. We argue a case for focusing on the creation of near‐natural, self‐sustaining, functional ecosystems as the primary objective for rehabilitation programs and where this is not achievable, mines should plan to be ‘environmentally neutral’ by undertaking some improvements to degraded landscapes. We suggest that flora and fauna monitoring are appropriate tools for managers and regulators to obtain information on the extent to which a rehabilitated area has achieved a near natural, self‐sustaining, functional ecosystem similar to that in the adjacent undisturbed area. This monitoring can also be used for completion criteria and closure plans. We report results from a short questionnaire sent to mine site environmental managers to assess the extent of flora and fauna monitoring in rehabilitation areas. Survey results highlighted the need for a more systematic and consistent approach to the monitoring of flora and fauna in rehabilitated mining areas in WA. Of 36 respondents, 23 mines monitored flora, three monitored fauna and two monitored both.     

For an anthropology of the demoralized: state pay,mock‐labour,and unfreedom in a Serbian firm

Recently, the leitmotif of much anthropological writing became that of the virtue of precarity: the belief that people continue to exercise their ethical imagination in the most trying circumstances. While refreshingly non‐deterministic, the Foucauldian approach to freedom that guides this vision neglects those situations in which people see their ability to be moral as irreparable, and structurally compromised. Such is the case of a Serbian firm selling spare car parts, where policies of financing unprofitable employment gradually involved workers in everyday, ritualized performances of productivity for the state – what I call mock‐labour. Unable either to meaningfully fulfil or to renounce the ethos of work, workers remain in an affective blend of nonchalance and failure, experiencing mock‐labour as both a source of material security and an abandonment of their creative capacities – a mocking of moral self. I call for a reconciliation of the anthropologies of ethics and precarity through the notion of demoralization, as a state in which the deficits of structural agency and the limits of reflective freedom overlap.     

The state of play of farmland birds: population trends and conservation status of lowland farmland birds in the United Kingdom

Many bird species of lowland farmland have declined substantially in the United Kingdom over the past 30 years. Declines among farmland specialists are steeper than for generalists and were most rapid for these specialists in the 1970s and 1980s. These changes have been linked to increased agricultural intensification and are reflected in Red or Amber conservation concern status for many common farmland species, as well as for rarer ones. We review long- and short-term population trends and the conservation status of lowland farmland birds in the UK using the latest available information from bird surveys, and examine patterns among species. Analyses of demographic parameters suggest broadly that the key factor driving population changes of seed-eating and migrant birds is overwinter survival, whereas for many non-passerine species population growth appears to be limited by productivity. Population trends for a suite of lowland farmland species were first combined in the UK Government's headline wild bird indicator published in 1998. This 'Skylark index' as it is sometimes known was intended to reflect the health of the wider countryside and struck a chord with the public and decision-makers. We look at the behaviour of the composite indicator and explore the population dynamics of the increasing and declining species separately. Simple models of population growth in these groups are then used to explore plausible scenarios for delivering the Government's Public Service Agreement target to reverse the long-term decline in the number of farmland birds by 2020.     

Standing at the Gateway to Europe - The Genetic Structure of Western Balkan Populations Based on Autosomal and Haploid Markers

Contemporary inhabitants of the Balkan Peninsula belong to several ethnic groups of diverse cultural background. In this study, three ethnic groups from Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bosniacs, Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Serbs - as well as the populations of Serbians, Croatians, Macedonians from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegrins and Kosovars have been characterized for the genetic variation of 660 000 genome-wide autosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms and for haploid markers. New autosomal data of the 70 individuals together with previously published data of 20 individuals from the populations of the Western Balkan region in a context of 695 samples of global range have been analysed. Comparison of the variation data of autosomal and haploid lineages of the studied Western Balkan populations reveals a concordance of the data in both sets and the genetic uniformity of the studied populations, especially of Western South-Slavic speakers. The genetic variation of Western Balkan populations reveals the continuity between the Middle East and Europe via the Balkan region and supports the scenario that one of the major routes of ancient gene flows and admixture went through the Balkan Peninsula.     

The association of genetic markers and malaria infection in the Brazilian Western Amazonian region

Almost all individuals (182) belonging to an Amazonian riverine population (Portuchuelo, RO, Brazil) were investigated for ascertaining data on epidemiological aspects of malaria. Thirteen genetic blood polymorphisms were investigated (ABO, MNSs, Rh, Kell, and Duffy systems, haptoglobins, hemoglobins, and the enzymes glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, glyoxalase, phosphoglucomutase, carbonic anhydrase, red cell acid phosphatase, and esterase D). The results indicated that the Duffy system is associated with susceptibility to malaria, as observed in other endemic areas. Moreover, suggestions also arose indicating that the EsD and Rh loci may be significantly associated with resistance to malaria. If statistical type II errors and sample stratification could be ruled out, hypotheses on the existence of a causal mechanism or an unknown closely linked locus involved in susceptibility to malaria infection may explain the present findings.     

CFTR haplotype distribution in the Brazilian Western Amazonian region

Two hundred twenty-one individuals from four groups located around the Brazilian town of Porto Velho, Rond?nia, were studied in relation to four sites located within or near the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. The allele frequencies, when considered individually, do not depart markedly from frequencies obtained from other populations of mainly European descent. However, when haplotypes were estimated, two of the groups departed markedly from other Brazilian and non-Brazilian samples. This finding is probably related to the complex multiethnic origin of these groups.     

Plant species richness in the mallee region of Western Australia

Sixteen sites (area 1000 m²) within the mallee region of southern Western Australia were sampled for vascular plant species richness. Species richness ranged from 17 species per 1000m² in a Halosarcia syncarpa salt-complex site and a Eucalyptus occidentalis tree mallee site, up to 48 species per 1000 m² in a Eucalyptus angulosa-Eucalyptus tetragona shrub mallee site. Woodland, woodland/mallee and mallee sites consisted mainly of perennial species while shrubland sites and salt-complex sites had a higher percentage of ephemeral species. Sites with the highest species richness occurred on soils with the lowest nutrient content. Sites with lowest species numbers were those with severe habitat conditions or where better nutrient conditions may have provided the dominants with a competitive advantage to suppress associated species.