Globalization is a process. It is sweeping away old cultural norms and social orders and is bringing death to traditional beliefs and customs. This is a process of change, and many aspects of culture are changed forever. It is possible for this kind of transition to happen in many different ways and in many situations "the clash of civilizations" does not necessarily result in conflict. Cultural norms are voluntarily exchanged between various groups, but the differences in social standards are too difficult to accept, one culture begins to change the other. In such cases, one important question emerges . "Who has the right to decide which cultural norms and traditions are better?" This is a question about "cultural borders" and the universality of human rights and social norms. In this discussion, the issue of ritual slavery finds a place. Triokosi, and similar practices that can be found in some West African countries, are clear examples of the traditional bastions in the "war" against globalization. Those are the practices cosidered as being harmful by international society bud defended by traditional believers. The exploration of ritual bondage from both modern and historical perspectives is he main purpose of this article;; it also aims to shed some light on the discussion about the legitimization or suppression of cultural norms that are considered as being harmful.
Cardiovascular diseases are the most common cause of mortality and morbidity in most populations. As the traditional modifiable risk factors (smoking, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, and obesity) were defined decades ago, we decided to analyze recent data in patients who survived acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The Czech part of the study included data from 999 males, and compared them with the post-MONICA study (1,259 males, representing general population). The Lithuanian study included 479 male patients and 456 age-matched controls. The Kazakhstan part included 232 patients and 413 controls. In two countries, the most robust ACS risk factor was smoking (OR 3.85 in the Czech study and 5.76 in the Lithuanian study), followed by diabetes (OR 2.26 and 2.07) and hypertension (moderate risk elevation with OR 1.43 and 1.49). These factors did not influence the ACS risk in Kazakhstan. BMI had no significant effect on ACS and plasma cholesterol was surprisingly significantly lower (P<0.001) in patients than in controls in all countries (4.80 ±1.11 vs. 5.76 ±1.06 mmol /l in Czechs; 5.32 ±1.32 vs. 5.71 ±1.08 mmol /l in Lithuanians; 4.88 ±1.05 vs. 5.38±1.13 mmol /l in Kazakhs/Russians). Results from our study indicate substantial heterogeneity regarding major CVD risk factors in different populations with the exception of plasma total cholesterol which was inversely associated with ACS risk in all involved groups. These data reflect ethnical and geographical differences as well as changing pattern of cardiovascular risk profiles., J. A. Hubacek, V. Stanek, M. Gebauerova, V. Adamkova, V. Lesauskaite, D. Zaliaduonyte-Peksiene, A. Tamosiunas, A. Supiyev, A. Kossumov, A. Zhumadilova, J. Pitha., and Obsahuje bibliografii