Uncertain Path Rizman, Rudolf M; Ramet, Sabrina P
2006, 2000, 2006-06-07
eBook
In this case study of the politics of transition in Eastern Europe, Rudolf Martin Rizman provides a careful, detailed sociological explanation and narrative on the emergence of independent statehood ...and democracy in Slovenia, a small state whose experience is of interest to policy makers, scholars, and serious students of Eastern Europe. In his focus on the transition from an authoritarian to a democratic regime, Rizman analyzes social processes and political issues in the context of the Third Wave of democratization, identifying "zones of certainty and uncertainty." Challenging many generally accepted ideas about small states and their transitions to democracy, this book places Slovenia's pattern of democratization in the wider regional context of eastern and central European post-communist transitions. Rizman shows, for example, that a country's size is merely one factor out of many, and while Slovenes considered the influence of larger states, their choices were not particularly circumscribed by them.
Opening with a discussion of the relevant theoretical environment in sociology and political science, Rizman illuminates the complex processes of democratic transition and consolidation. From there, the book analyzes the internal and external processes and factors relevant for Slovenia's successful trajectory from existence as an ethnically defined sub-nation to an internationally recognized nation-state.After careful consideration of religious, political, military, intellectual, and other socio-political stakeholders in the region, including the somewhat disturbing evidence of the salience of a new "radical Right", Rizman concludes that Slovenia is irreversibly set on the course of democratization, with indications of having reached the early stages of consolidation.
The Post-Forum Study Tour following the 4th World Landslide Forum 2017 in Ljubljana (Slovenia) focuses on the variety of landslide forms in Slovenia and its immediate NW surroundings, and the ...best-known examples of devastating landslides induced by rainfall or earthquakes. They differ in complexity of the both surrounding area and of the particular geological, structural and geotechnical features. Many of the landslides of the Study Tour are characterized by huge volumes and high velocity at the time of activation or development in the debris flow. In addition, to the damage to buildings, the lives of hundreds of people are also endangered; human casualties occur. On the first day, we will observe complex Pleistocene to recent landslides related to the Mesozoic carbonates thrust over folded and tectonically fractured Tertiary siliciclastic flysch in the Vipava Valley (SW Slovenia), serving as the main passage between the Friulian lowland and central Slovenia, and thus also an important corridor connecting Northern Italy to Central Europe. A combination of unfavourable geological conditions and intense short or prolonged rainfall periods leads to the formation of different types of complex landslides, from large-scale deep-seated rotational and translational slides to shallow landslides, slumps and sediment gravity flows in the form of debris or mudflows. The second day of the study tour will be held in the Soča River Valley located in NW Slovenia close to the border with Italy, where the most catastrophic Stože landslide in Slovenia recently caused the deaths of seven people, and the nearby Strug landslide, which is a combination of rockfall, landslide and debris flow. The final day of the Post-Forum Study Tour will start in the Valcanale Valley located across the border between Slovenia and Italy, severely affected by a debris flow in August 2003. The flow caused the deaths of two people, damaged 260 buildings; large amounts of deposits blocked the A23 Highway, covering both lanes. In Carinthia (Austria), about 25 km west of Villach, the Dobrač/Dobratsch multiple scarps of prehistoric and historic rockslides will be observed. Dobratsch is a massive mountain ridge with a length of 17 km and a width of 6 km, characterized by steep rocky walls. The 3-day study tour will conclude with a presentation of the Potoška planina landslide, a slide whose lower part may eventually generate a debris flow and therefore represents a hazard for the inhabitants and for the infrastructure within or near the village of Koroška Bela.
- Foreword - Executive summary - Main findings - Setting the scene for tax reform in Slovenia - Labour market, social policy and tax policy related challenges in Slovenia - Tackling the challenges to ...finance the social security system - Strengthening the design of the personal income tax - Improving the design of indirect taxes - Strengthening the taxation of capital income at the individual level - Methodology.
Persistent scatterer interferometry (PSI) is capable of millimetric measurements of ground deformation phenomena occurring at radar signal reflectors (persistent scatterers, PS) that are phase ...coherent over a period of time. However, there are also limitations to PSI; significant phase decorrelation can occur between subsequent interferometric radar (InSAR) acquisitions in vegetated and low-density PS areas. Here, artificial amplitude- and phase-stable radar scatterers may have to be introduced. I2GPS was a Galileo project (02/2010–09/2011) that aimed to develop a novel device consisting of a compact active transponder (CAT) with an integrated global positioning system (GPS) antenna to ensure millimetric co-registration and a coherent cross-reference. The advantages are: (1) all advantages of CATs such as small size, light weight, unobtrusiveness and usability with multiple satellites and tracks; (2) absolute calibration for PSI data; (3) high sampling rate of GPS enables detection of abrupt ground motion in 3D; and (4) vertical components of the local velocity field can be derived from single-track InSAR line-of-sight displacements. A field trial was set to test the approach at a potential landslide site in Potoška planina, Slovenia to evaluate the applicability for operational monitoring of natural hazards. Preliminary results from the trial highlight some of the key considerations for operational deployments in the field. Ground motion measurements also allowed an assessment of landslide hazard at the site and demonstrated the synergies between InSAR and GPS measurements for landslide applications. InSAR and GPS measurements were compared to assess the consistency between the methods from the slope mass movement detection aspect.
In the Karst region near Divača, Slovenia, soils are developed on the limestone of three geological formations: Sežana, Lipica, and Liburnian. In each formation, six soil profiles were dug, limestone ...insoluble residua was obtained, and in Liburnian Formation interbedded material and material filling fractures and cavities was sampled. All soils have silty clay and silty-clayey loam texture, pH levels in the range 4.5–7.0, high organic matter content and saturation with basic cations over 50%. However, soils on the Sežana Formation are deeper and more evolved, and besides as Rendzic Phaeozem classify also as Eutric Cambisol. Their insoluble residuum is richest in mineral part. The profiles on the Lipica Formation are a Rendzic Phaeozem, and the shallowest soils on the Liburnian Formation are either a Rendzic Phaeozem or a Rendzic Leptosol. Additionally, the soils formed over the Lipica Formation are characterised by a greater portion of the small rock fragments (<200 g), due to its paleo-karstification. The insoluble residuum of all three formations is rich in organic matter and fine grained. The general soil chemistry is in accordance with highly weathered upper crustal material and, compared to insoluble residua indicates the contribution of material from an additional source. The analysis of variance demonstrated differences in redox-sensitive elements (Cr, Mo, Ni, U, V, and Y) between formations, which are inherited by the insoluble residua. The insoluble residua contributed material and left a specific geochemical fingerprint in the observed soils, but regarding texture and general geochemistry, non-carbonate material must have been added. The material that fills karst forms inside the limestone profile is similar to the soils, but not identical. Other interbedded and probably also eolian material contributed to the final mass.
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•Soils are classified as Rendzic Leptosol, Rendzic Phaeozem and Eutric Cambisol.•Soils are homogeneous in pedological properties and mineral composition.•The limestone of all three formations is pure and insoluble residuum organic matter rich.•Limestone formations influence soil depth and leave geochemical fingerprint.•The contribution of different interbedded and eolian material is probable.
Dementia has been the subject of numerous medical and anthropological studies for more than two decades. This serious neurodegenerative disease that mainly affects the elderly can occur also in ...people who are still employed which is associated with the impairment of their ability to work and consequently with costs. The aim of our study was to display the economic consequences due to health absenteeism related to dementia in Slovenia in the period from 2015 to 2019. The methodology of direct and indirect costs was used. We limited ourselves to show the indirect cost-health absenteeism due to dementia, which includes loss of goods, services, early retirement, and premature death. The Database on temporary absence from work was used as data source and International Classification of Diseases as the source of the diagnoses. The cost of absenteeism due to dementia amounted to 11% of all calculated indirect costs in the period 2015–2019. All indirect costs amounted to 0.025% of health expenditures. These costs are greatly underestimated due to various data limitations which we faced and due to many cases of undetected disease. The findings are in line with those from some other countries. The rapid diagnosis and treatment of dementia, changes in lifestyle, as well as the encouragement of employers of affected persons to keep them as long as possible active proved to be absolutely necessary in the light of maintenance of quality of life of patients and the reduction of costs.
Demencija je više od dva desetljeća predmet brojnih medicinskih i antropoloških istraživanja. Ova ozbiljna neurodegenerativna bolest koja uglavnom pogađa starije osobe može se pojaviti i kod osoba koje su još uvijek zaposlene, što je povezano s oštećenjem njihove radne sposobnosti, a time i troškovima. Cilj našeg istraživanja bio je prikazati ekonomske posljedice zdravstvenih izostanaka vezanih uz demenciju u Sloveniji u razdoblju od 2015. do 2019. godine. Korištena je metodologija izravnih i neizravnih troškova. Ograničili smo se na prikaz neizravnih troškova, zdravstvenih izostanaka s posla zbog demencije koja uključuje gubitak dobara, usluga, prijevremeno umirovljenje i preranu smrt. Kao izvor podataka korištena je Baza podataka o privremenoj odsutnosti s posla, a kao izvor dijagnoza Međunarodna klasifikacija bolesti. Trošak izostanaka zbog demencije iznosio je 11% svih obračunatih neizravnih troškova u razdoblju 2015.-2019. Svi neizravni troškovi iznosili su 0,025% zdravstvenih izdataka. Ovi troškovi su uvelike podcijenjeni zbog raznih ograničenja podataka s kojima smo se susreli i zbog mnogih slučajeva neotkrivenih bolesti. Nalazi su u skladu s onima iz nekih drugih zemalja. Brza dijagnoza i liječenje demencije, promjena načina života, kao i poticanje poslodavaca oboljelih osoba da ih što duže zadrže aktivnima, pokazali su se prijeko potrebnim u svjetlu održavanja kvalitete života pacijenata i smanjenja troškova.
The rehabilitation and restoration of land is a key strategy to recover services -goods and resources- ecosystems offer to the humankind. This paper reviews key examples to understand the superior ...effect of nature based solutions to enhance the sustainability of catchment systems by promoting desirable soil and landscape functions. The use of concepts such as connectivity and the theory of system thinking framework allowed to review coastal and river management as a guide to evaluate other strategies to achieve sustainability. In land management NBSs are not mainstream management. Through a set of case studies: organic farming in Spain; rewilding in Slovenia; land restoration in Iceland, sediment trapping in Ethiopia and wetland construction in Sweden, we show the potential of Nature based solutions (NBSs) as a cost-effective long term solution for hydrological risks and land degradation. NBSs can be divided into two main groups of strategies: soil solutions and landscape solutions. Soil solutions aim to enhance the soil health and soil functions through which local eco-system services will be maintained or restored. Landscape solutions mainly focus on the concept of connectivity. Making the landscape less connected, facilitating less rainfall to be transformed into runoff and therefore reducing flood risk, increasing soil moisture and reducing droughts and soil erosion we can achieve the sustainability. The enhanced eco-system services directly feed into the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
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•Nature based solutions (NBSs) should become mainstream land management strategies.•NBSs are divided in soil-vegetation and landscape solutions.•Soil-vegetation solutions are based on the concept of soil health.•Landscape solutions are based on the concept of connectivity.•NBSs can provide solutions for restoring ecosystem services.
Anthropologist Jasmina Praprotnik met Helena Zigon while running. Over the course of an icy Slovenian winter, the two marathon runners got together frequently, and Zigon told Praprotnik about her ...life. Here, Praprotnik tells Zigon’s captivating story in Zigon’s own voice. Each chapter is marked by a kilometer of the half-marathon Zigon ran along the Adriatic Sea on her eighty-sixth birthday, shortly after losing her husband of sixty years, Stane.
Zigon’s life spanned most of the twentieth century. She witnessed the Second World War, the rise and fall of Yugoslavia, and the founding of the new state of Slovenia. Abandoned by her parents and having grown up poor and mistreated by her stepmother, Zigon demonstrates the stoic resilience of a long-suffering Slavic woman. Though beset with challenges, she found a source of strength in the act of running. From a young girl running errands to an old woman running in the face of new grief, running has been a bright thread braided throughout her life. It has served her as a balm and a joy—one that she is grateful to still be able to savor. This inspirational memoir will appeal to general readers, especially those interested in history and running.
A prototype of a low-cost GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) monitoring system was installed on a deep-seated landslide in north-western Slovenia to test its performance under field ...conditions. The system consists of newly developed GNSS stations based on low-cost, dual-frequency receivers and open-source GNSS processing software. It automatically receives GNSS data and transmits them over the Internet. The system processes the data server-side and makes them available to the end user via a web portal. The detected surface displacements were evaluated through a comparison with the network of classic geodetic measurements. The results of a nine-month monitoring period using seven GNSS stations provided a detailed insight into the spatial and temporal pattern of deep-seated landslide surface movements. The displacement data were correlated with precipitation measurements at the site to reveal how different parts of the landslide react to rainfall. These data form the basis for the further development of an early-warning system which will help to manage the risk the landslide poses to the local population and infrastructure.
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