What are the consequences of globalization for the structure of political conflicts in Western Europe? How are political conflicts organized and articulated in the twenty-first century? And how does ...the transformation of territorial boundaries affect the scope and content of political conflicts? This book sets out to answer these questions by analyzing the results of a study of national and European electoral campaigns, protest events and public debates in six West European countries. While the mobilization of the losers in the processes of globalization by new right populist parties is seen to be the driving force of the restructuring of West European politics, the book goes beyond party politics. It attempts to show how the cleavage coalitions that are shaping up under the impact of globalization extend to state actors, interest groups and social movement organizations, and how the new conflicts are framed by the various actors involved.
. This article starts from the assumption that the current process of globalization or denationalization leads to the formation of a new structural conflict in Western European countries, opposing ...those who benefit from this process against those who tend to lose in the course of the events. The structural opposition between globalization ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ is expected to constitute potentials for political mobilization within national political contexts, the mobilization of which is expected to give rise to two intimately related dynamics: the transformation of the basic structure of the national political space and the strategic repositioning of the political parties within the transforming space. The article presents several hypotheses with regard to these two dynamics and tests them empirically on the basis of new data concerning the supply side of electoral politics from six Western European countries (Austria, Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland). The results indicate that in all the countries, the new cleavage has become embedded into existing two‐dimensional national political spaces, that the meaning of the original dimensions has been transformed, and that the configuration of the main parties has become triangular even in a country like France.
Abstract
This article takes up the scholarly debate on the relationship between populism and democracy and analyses the effect populist radical right parties (PRRPs) in government have had on the ...representative function of the Austrian parliament. Building on insights from theories of newsworthiness, we expect these parties to positively affect the visibility of parliament due to the increased conflict between governing and mainstream opposition parties, thereby increasing parliamentary accountability. Our analysis covers the period from 1994 to 2020, with PRRPs in government from 2000 to 2007 and again from 2017 to 2019. Empirical inference is based on the weekly coverage of the Austrian parliament’s first chamber (Nationalrat) in a sample of four daily newspapers. The findings show that the first term in government did indeed have a positive and significant effect on media coverage. However, that this effect is not found for the second term suggests that its existence and size depend on the concrete political circumstances under which governments and media outlets operate.
Over the past three decades the effects of globalization and denationalization have created a division between 'winners' and 'losers' in Western Europe. This study examines the transformation of ...party political systems in six countries (Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK) using opinion surveys, as well as newly collected data on election campaigns. The authors argue that, as a result of structural transformations and the strategic repositioning of political parties, Europe has observed the emergence of a tripolar configuration of political power, comprising the left, the moderate right, and the new populist right. They suggest that, through an emphasis on cultural issues such as mass immigration and resistance to European integration, the traditional focus of political debate - the economy - has been downplayed or reinterpreted in terms of this new political cleavage. This new analysis of Western European politics will interest all students of European politics and political sociology.
A set of new quaternary ammonium compounds based on pyridine-4-aldoxime was synthesized, characterized with analytical data (NMR, EA, HPLC, MS) and tested for in vitro antimicrobial activity ...(antibacterial, antifungal) and cytotoxicity. Quaternary pyridinium-4-aldoxime salts with length of alkyl side chain from C8 to C20 and belonging to the group of cationic surfactants were investigated in this work. An HPLC experimental protocol for characterization of mixtures of all homologues has been found. Antimicrobial evaluation found that yeast-type fungi were most sensitive towards C14 and C16 analogues, whereas the C16 analogue was completely ineffective against filamentous fungi. Antibacterial assessment showed versatility of C14 and relatively high efficacy of C16 against G+ strains and C14 against G- strains. Notably, none of the studied compounds exceeded the efficacy and versatility of the benzalkonium C12 analogue, and benzalkonium analogues also exhibited lower cytotoxicity in the cell viability assay.
The utility of clinically available antifungals is limited by their narrow spectrum of activity, high toxicity, and emerging resistance. Antifungal drug discovery has always been a challenging area, ...since fungi and their human host are eukaryotes, making it difficult to identify unique targets for antifungals. Novel antifungals in clinical development include first-in-class agents, new structures for an established target, and formulation modifications to marketed antifungals, in addition to repurposed agents. Membrane interacting peptides and aromatherapy are gaining increased attention in the field. Immunotherapy is another promising treatment option, with antifungal antibodies advancing into clinical trials. Novel targets for antifungal therapy are also being discovered, allowing the design of new promising agents that may overcome the resistance issue. In this mini review, we will summarize the current status of antifungal drug pipelines in clinical stages, and the most recent advancements in preclinical antifungal drug development, with special focus on their chemistry.
We show that s‐convergence of graph sequences is equivalent to the convergence of certain compact sets, called shapes, of Borel probability measures. This result is analogous to the characterization ...of graphon convergence (with respect to the cut distance) by the convergence of envelopes, due to Doležal, Grebík, Hladký, Rocha, and Rozhoň.
Benzothiazole compounds represent heterocyclic systems comprising a benzene ring fused with a thiazole ring containing nitrogen and sulphur in its structure. Besides the presence of a benzothiazole ...core in naturally occurring molecules, synthesized compounds containing a benzothiazole moiety in their structure proved to be a significant class of potential therapeutics, as they exhibit biological effects such as antitumor, antibacterial, antitubercular, antiviral, anthelmintic, antidiabetic and many others. Apart from the aforementioned peripheral or microbial active sites, benzothiazole analogues are also biologically active compounds in the central nervous system, where some approved drugs containing a benzothiazole moiety have already been identified and are used in the treatment of various neurological disorders. New benzothiazole molecules are currently under development and are being evaluated for several uses including diagnostics and as therapeutic drug candidates for the treatment of epilepsy and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis amongst others.
Leukotrienes play an important role in the inflammatory process accompanying allergic diseases of respiratory, gastrointestinal and dermatological systems. Leukotrienes are generated from arachidonic ...acid as a result of the 5-lipoxygenase action. This paper deals with 5-lipoxygenase action mechanism and the following biosynthesis of all leukotrienes. In this article, potential antileukotrienic agents are classified according to their mechanism of action. The original antileukotrienic compounds of the Research Institute for Pharmacy and Biochemistry in Prague (VUFB), Czech Republic are presented in a separate chapter of the paper.
This article explores public debates regarding Islam and Muslim immigration in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. The authors are interested in which issues dominate the debates, which actors ...participate, which positions are taken, and which arguments are mobilised. Exploring three countries with an ethnic model of citizenship allows them to control for important cultural factors and to focus on three other explanatory variables: the dominant model of political participation, the relationship between the state and church/Islam, and the strength of right-wing populism. To test their arguments, they rely on a new dataset based on content analyses of quality newspapers from 1998 to 2007 that enables them to go beyond existing studies, which concentrate on state activities or on mass-level attitudes. The authors demonstrate that above all the relationship between the state and church/Islam, i.e. issue-specific opportunity structures, influences the debates to a great extent.
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