Molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 infection in Europe: An overview.

PubMed

Beloukas, Apostolos; Psarris, Alexandros; Giannelou, Polina; Kostaki, Evangelia; Hatzakis, Angelos; Paraskevis, Dimitrios

2016-12-01

Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 (HIV-1) is characterised by vast genetic diversity. Globally circulating HIV-1 viruses are classified into distinct phylogenetic strains (subtypes, sub-subtypes) and several recombinant forms. Here we describe the characteristics and evolution of European HIV-1 epidemic over time through a review of published literature and updated queries of existing HIV-1 sequence databases. HIV-1 in Western and Central Europe was introduced in the early-1980s in the form of subtype B, which is still the predominant clade. However, in Eastern Europe (Former Soviet Union (FSU) countries and Russia) the predominant strain, introduced into Ukraine in the mid-1990s, is subtype A (A FSU ) with transmission mostly occurring in People Who Inject Drugs (PWID). In recent years, the epidemic is evolving towards a complex tapestry with an increase in the prevalence of non-B subtypes and recombinants in Western and Central Europe. Non-B epidemics are mainly associated with immigrants, heterosexuals and females but more recently, non-B clades have also spread amongst groups where non-B strains were previously absent - non-immigrant European populations and amongst men having sex with men (MSM). In some countries, non-B clades have spread amongst the native population, for example subtype G in Portugal and subtype A in Greece, Albania and Cyprus. Romania provides a unique case where sub-subtype F1 has predominated throughout the epidemic. In contrast, HIV-1 epidemic in FSU countries remains more homogeneous with A FSU clade predominating in all countries. The differences between the evolution of the Western epidemic and the Eastern epidemic may be attributable to differences in transmission risk behaviours, lifestyle and the patterns of human mobility. The study of HIV-1 epidemic diversity provides a useful tool by which we can understand the history of the pandemic in addition to allowing us to monitor the spread and growth of the epidemic over time. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Migrant Selection and the Health of U.S. Immigrants From the Former Soviet Union

PubMed Central

Elo, Irma T.

2012-01-01

Few prior studies have investigated the health of U.S. immigrants from the former Soviet Union (FSU). Utilizing data from the 2000 U.S. census and the 2000–2007 National Health Interview Survey (NIHS), we compare levels of disability of FSU immigrants with U.S.-born whites (ages 50–84). Our findings suggest an “epidemiologic paradox” in that FSU immigrants possess higher levels of education compared with U.S.-born whites, but report considerably higher disability with and without adjustment for education. Nonetheless, FSU immigrants report lower levels of smoking and heavy alcohol use compared with U.S.-born whites. We further investigate disability by period of arrival among FSU immigrants. Changes in Soviet emigration policies conceivably altered the level of health selectivity among émigrés. We find evidence that FSU immigrants who emigrated during a period when a permission to emigrate was hard to obtain (1970–1986) displayed less disability compared with those who emigrated when these restrictions were less stringent (1987–2000). Finally, we compare disability among Russian-born U.S. immigrants with that of those residing in Russia as a direct test of health selectivity. We find that Russian immigrants report lower levels of disability compared with Russians in Russia, suggesting that they are positively selected for health despite their poor health relative to U.S.-born whites. PMID:22421810

Job satisfaction among immigrant nurses in Israel and the United States of America.

PubMed

Itzhaki, M; Ea, E; Ehrenfeld, M; Fitzpatrick, J J

2013-03-01

The aim of this study is to examine perceptions of job satisfaction among immigrant registered nurses (RNs) in Israel and the USA. Former Soviet Union (FSU) RNs in Israel and Filipino RNs in the USA make up the majority of the immigrant nursing workforce in their host countries. However, little is known about their perception of job satisfaction. Data were gathered using the Index of Work Satisfaction Scale among 71 FSU RNs recruited from three different courses in baccalaureate and master's degree programmes at a central Israeli university, and 96 Filipino RNs attending a national convention hosted by the Philippine Nurses Association of America. The required sample size was obtained by means of the WINPEPI COMPARE2 program, used to determine power and sample size for comparisons of two groups in cross-sectional designs. The findings show that FSU RNs perceived pay and professional status as important, although they were least satisfied with pay. For Filipino RNs, organizational policies and interactions were most important and they were least satisfied by task requirements. Although the average length of residence in the host country was similar in the two samples, significant differences were found between FSU and Filipino RNs in selected demographic variables and components of job satisfaction. Different characteristics of immigrant RNs affect their distinct perceptions of job satisfaction. As successful adjustment of international immigrant RNs to their workplace could enhance perceptions of job satisfaction, nursing managers should support professional advancement of immigrant RNs through mentorship and educational programmes. There is a need to conduct longitudinal studies among international immigrant RNs in order to better understand changes in their job satisfaction over time and contributing factors. Generalization of the findings is limited, because a convenience sample was used to recruit FSU and Filipino immigrant RNs. © 2012 The Authors. International Nursing Review © 2012 International Council of Nurses.

Does the consumption of fruits and vegetables differ between Eastern and Western European populations? Systematic review of cross-national studies.

PubMed

Stefler, Denes; Bobak, Martin

2015-01-01

Difference in fruit and vegetable consumption has been suggested as a possible reason for the large gap in cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality rates between Eastern and Western European populations. However, individual-level dietary data which allow direct comparison across the two regions are rare. In this systematic review we aimed to answer the question whether cross-national studies with comparable individual-level dietary data reveal any systematic differences in fruit and vegetable consumption between populations in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Former Soviet Union (FSU) compared to Western Europe (WE). Studies were identified by electronic search of MEDLINE, EMBASE and Web of Science databases from inception to September 2014, and hand search. Studies which reported data on fruit, vegetable consumption or carotene and vitamin C intake or tissue concentrations of adult participants from both CEE/FSU and WE countries were considered for inclusion. Quality of the included studies was assessed by a modified STROBE statement. Power calculation was performed to determine the statistical significance of the comparison results. Twenty-two studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Fruit consumption was found to be consistently lower in CEE/FSU participants compared to Western Europeans. Results on vegetable intake were less unambiguous. Antioxidant studies indicated lower concentration of beta-carotene in CEE/FSU subjects, but the results for vitamin C were not consistent. This systematic review suggests that populations in CEE and FSU consume less fruit than Western Europeans. The difference in the consumption of fruit may contribute to the CVD gap between the two regions.

Smoking status, nicotine dependence and happiness in nine countries of the former Soviet Union.

PubMed

Stickley, Andrew; Koyanagi, Ai; Roberts, Bayard; Leinsalu, Mall; Goryakin, Yevgeniy; McKee, Martin

2015-03-01

The US Food and Drug Administration has established a policy of substantially discounting the health benefits of reduced smoking in its evaluation of proposed regulations because of the cost to smokers of the supposed lost pleasure they suffer by no longer smoking. This study used data from nine countries of the former Soviet Union (fSU) to explore this association in a setting characterised by high rates of (male) smoking and smoking-related mortality. Data came from a cross-sectional population-based study undertaken in 2010/2011 in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine. Information was collected from 18 000 respondents aged ≥18 on smoking status (never, ex-smoking and current smoking), cessation attempts and nicotine dependence. The association between these variables and self-reported happiness was examined using ordered probit regression analysis. In a pooled country analysis, never smokers and ex-smokers were both significantly happier than current smokers. Smokers with higher levels of nicotine dependence were significantly less happy than those with a low level of dependence. This study contradicts the idea that smoking is associated with greater happiness. Moreover, of relevance for policy in the fSU countries, given the lack of public knowledge about the detrimental effects of smoking on health but widespread desire to quit reported in recent research, the finding that smoking is associated with lower levels of happiness should be incorporated in future public health efforts to help encourage smokers to quit by highlighting that smoking cessation may result in better physical and emotional health. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Prevalence and psychosocial determinants of nicotine dependence in nine countries of the former Soviet Union.

PubMed

Roberts, Bayard; Gilmore, Anna; Stickley, Andrew; Kizilova, Kseniya; Prohoda, Vladimir; Rotman, David; Haerpfer, Christian; McKee, Martin

2013-01-01

Despite the high prevalence of smoking in the former Soviet Union (fSU), particularly among men, there is very little information on nicotine dependence in the region. The study aim was to describe the prevalence of nicotine dependence in 9 countries of the fSU and to examine the psychosocial factors associated with nicotine dependence. Cross-sectional, nationally representative surveys using multistage random sampling were conducted in 2010 with men and women aged 18 years and over in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine. The main outcome of interest was nicotine dependence using the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence. Multivariate regression analysis was then used to explore the influence of a range of psychosocial factors on higher nicotine dependence. Mean nicotine dependence among men in the region as a whole was 3.96, with high dependence ranging from 17% in Belarus to 40% in Georgia. Among women, mean dependence was 2.96, with a prevalence of high dependence of 11% for the region. Gender (men), younger age of first smoking, lower education level, not being a member of an organization, bad household economic situation, high alcohol dependence, and high psychological distress showed significant associations with higher nicotine dependence. High nicotine dependence among men was recorded in a number of study countries. Findings highlight the need for tobacco programmes to target early age smokers and less educated and poorer groups and suggest common ground for programmes seeking to reduce nicotine dependence, harmful alcohol use, and psychological distress.

Immigrants from Russia, Ukraine and the Caucasus Region: Differential Drug Use, Infectious Disease, and Related Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Isralowitz, Richard; Reznik, Alexander; Rawson, Richard A.; Hasson, Albert

2009-01-01

This study examined drug use patterns, HIV/AIDS, and related outcomes among former Soviet Union (FSU) immigrants from Russia, Ukraine and the Caucasus mountain region in Israel who reported heroin use. A total of 253 FSU heroin users were interviewed from 2002 to 2007 as part of a large drug use surveillance study in Israel. Individuals were…

Does inclusion of education and marital status improve SCORE performance in central and eastern europe and former soviet union? findings from MONICA and HAPIEE cohorts.

PubMed

Vikhireva, Olga; Broda, Grazyna; Kubinova, Ruzena; Malyutina, Sofia; Pająk, Andrzej; Tamosiunas, Abdonas; Skodova, Zdena; Simonova, Galina; Bobak, Martin; Pikhart, Hynek

2014-01-01

The SCORE scale predicts the 10-year risk of fatal atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD), based on conventional risk factors. The high-risk version of SCORE is recommended for Central and Eastern Europe and former Soviet Union (CEE/FSU), due to high CVD mortality rates in these countries. Given the pronounced social gradient in cardiovascular mortality in the region, it is important to consider social factors in the CVD risk prediction. We investigated whether adding education and marital status to SCORE benefits its prognostic performance in two sets of population-based CEE/FSU cohorts. The WHO MONICA (MONItoring of trends and determinants in CArdiovascular disease) cohorts from the Czech Republic, Poland (Warsaw and Tarnobrzeg), Lithuania (Kaunas), and Russia (Novosibirsk) were followed from the mid-1980s (577 atherosclerotic CVD deaths among 14,969 participants with non-missing data). The HAPIEE (Health, Alcohol, and Psychosocial factors In Eastern Europe) study follows Czech, Polish (Krakow), and Russian (Novosibirsk) cohorts from 2002-05 (395 atherosclerotic CVD deaths in 19,900 individuals with non-missing data). In MONICA and HAPIEE, the high-risk SCORE ≥5% at baseline strongly and significantly predicted fatal CVD both before and after adjustment for education and marital status. After controlling for SCORE, lower education and non-married status were significantly associated with CVD mortality in some samples. SCORE extension by these additional risk factors only slightly improved indices of calibration and discrimination (integrated discrimination improvement <5% in men and ≤1% in women). Extending SCORE by education and marital status failed to substantially improve its prognostic performance in population-based CEE/FSU cohorts.

The burden of culture? Health outcomes among immigrants from the former Soviet Union in the United States.

PubMed

Hofmann, Erin Trouth

2012-04-01

Immigrants in the U.S. often experience better health than the native-born, and many explanations for this phenomenon center around the positive health behaviors that immigrants bring from their home cultures. Immigrants from the former Soviet Union may be an exception; because they come from societies where unhealthy lifestyles and high mortality are common, they are often expected to experience worse health than the native population. Using data from the Integrated Health Interview Series, I compare FSU immigrants with U.S.-born, non-Hispanic whites on several health measures. FSU immigrants are twice as likely as native whites to report fair or poor health, but they are less likely to smoke or drink, and are less likely to report a functional limitation. FSU immigrants' advantage in functional limitation is largely explained by their very high levels of education and marriage, indicating that selectivity is important to understanding the health of this population.

Spatial distribution of arable and abandoned land across former Soviet Union countries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lesiv, Myroslava; Schepaschenko, Dmitry; Moltchanova, Elena; Bun, Rostyslav; Dürauer, Martina; Prishchepov, Alexander V.; Schierhorn, Florian; Estel, Stephan; Kuemmerle, Tobias; Alcántara, Camilo; Kussul, Natalia; Shchepashchenko, Maria; Kutovaya, Olga; Martynenko, Olga; Karminov, Viktor; Shvidenko, Anatoly; Havlik, Petr; Kraxner, Florian; See, Linda; Fritz, Steffen

2018-04-01

Knowledge of the spatial distribution of agricultural abandonment following the collapse of the Soviet Union is highly uncertain. To help improve this situation, we have developed a new map of arable and abandoned land for 2010 at a 10 arc-second resolution. We have fused together existing land cover and land use maps at different temporal and spatial scales for the former Soviet Union (fSU) using a training data set collected from visual interpretation of very high resolution (VHR) imagery. We have also collected an independent validation data set to assess the map accuracy. The overall accuracies of the map by region and country, i.e. Caucasus, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation and Ukraine, are 90±2%, 84±2%, 92±1%, 78±3%, 95±1%, 83±2%, respectively. This new product can be used for numerous applications including the modelling of biogeochemical cycles, land-use modelling, the assessment of trade-offs between ecosystem services and land-use potentials (e.g., agricultural production), among others.

Spatial distribution of arable and abandoned land across former Soviet Union countries.

PubMed

Lesiv, Myroslava; Schepaschenko, Dmitry; Moltchanova, Elena; Bun, Rostyslav; Dürauer, Martina; Prishchepov, Alexander V; Schierhorn, Florian; Estel, Stephan; Kuemmerle, Tobias; Alcántara, Camilo; Kussul, Natalia; Shchepashchenko, Maria; Kutovaya, Olga; Martynenko, Olga; Karminov, Viktor; Shvidenko, Anatoly; Havlik, Petr; Kraxner, Florian; See, Linda; Fritz, Steffen

2018-04-03

Knowledge of the spatial distribution of agricultural abandonment following the collapse of the Soviet Union is highly uncertain. To help improve this situation, we have developed a new map of arable and abandoned land for 2010 at a 10 arc-second resolution. We have fused together existing land cover and land use maps at different temporal and spatial scales for the former Soviet Union (fSU) using a training data set collected from visual interpretation of very high resolution (VHR) imagery. We have also collected an independent validation data set to assess the map accuracy. The overall accuracies of the map by region and country, i.e. Caucasus, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation and Ukraine, are 90±2%, 84±2%, 92±1%, 78±3%, 95±1%, 83±2%, respectively. This new product can be used for numerous applications including the modelling of biogeochemical cycles, land-use modelling, the assessment of trade-offs between ecosystem services and land-use potentials (e.g., agricultural production), among others.

Spatial distribution of arable and abandoned land across former Soviet Union countries

PubMed Central

Lesiv, Myroslava; Schepaschenko, Dmitry; Moltchanova, Elena; Bun, Rostyslav; Dürauer, Martina; Prishchepov, Alexander V.; Schierhorn, Florian; Estel, Stephan; Kuemmerle, Tobias; Alcántara, Camilo; Kussul, Natalia; Shchepashchenko, Maria; Kutovaya, Olga; Martynenko, Olga; Karminov, Viktor; Shvidenko, Anatoly; Havlik, Petr; Kraxner, Florian; See, Linda; Fritz, Steffen

2018-01-01

Knowledge of the spatial distribution of agricultural abandonment following the collapse of the Soviet Union is highly uncertain. To help improve this situation, we have developed a new map of arable and abandoned land for 2010 at a 10 arc-second resolution. We have fused together existing land cover and land use maps at different temporal and spatial scales for the former Soviet Union (fSU) using a training data set collected from visual interpretation of very high resolution (VHR) imagery. We have also collected an independent validation data set to assess the map accuracy. The overall accuracies of the map by region and country, i.e. Caucasus, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation and Ukraine, are 90±2%, 84±2%, 92±1%, 78±3%, 95±1%, 83±2%, respectively. This new product can be used for numerous applications including the modelling of biogeochemical cycles, land-use modelling, the assessment of trade-offs between ecosystem services and land-use potentials (e.g., agricultural production), among others. PMID:29611843

Parental, peer and school experiences as predictors of alcohol drinking among first and second generation immigrant adolescents in Israel.

PubMed

Walsh, Sophie D; Djalovski, Amir; Boniel-Nissim, Meyran; Harel-Fisch, Yossi

2014-05-01

Ecological perspectives stress the importance of environmental predictors of adolescent alcohol use, yet little research has examined such predictors among immigrant adolescents. This study examines parental, peer and school predictors of alcohol drinking (casual drinking, binge drinking and drunkenness) among Israeli-born adolescents and first and second generation adolescent immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) and Ethiopia in Israel. The study uses data from the 2010 to 2011 Israeli Health Behaviors of School age Children (HBSC) survey and includes a representative sample of 3059 adolescents, aged 11-17. Differences between the groups for drinking were examined using Pearson's chi square. Logistic regression models were used to examine group specific predictors of drinking. First generation FSU and both Ethiopian groups reported higher levels of binge drinking and drunkenness than Israeli-born adolescents. All immigrant groups reported lower levels of parental monitoring than native born adolescents; both first generation groups reported difficulties talking to parents; and first generation FSU and second generation Ethiopian adolescents reported greater time with friends. Group specific logistic regression models suggest that while parent, peer and school variables all predicted alcohol use among Israeli adolescents, only time spent with peers consistently predicted immigrant alcohol use. Findings highlight specific vulnerability of first generation FSU and second generation Ethiopian adolescents to high levels of drinking and the salience of time spent with peers as predicting immigrant adolescent drinking patterns. They suggest that drinking patterns must be understood in relation to country of origin and immigration experience of a particular group. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Socioeconomic inequalities in all-cause mortality in the Czech Republic, Russia, Poland and Lithuania in the 2000s: findings from the HAPIEE Study.

PubMed

Vandenheede, Hadewijch; Vikhireva, Olga; Pikhart, Hynek; Kubinova, Ruzena; Malyutina, Sofia; Pajak, Andrzej; Tamosiunas, Abdonas; Peasey, Anne; Simonova, Galina; Topor-Madry, Roman; Marmot, Michael; Bobak, Martin

2014-04-01

Relatively large socioeconomic inequalities in health and mortality have been observed in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the former Soviet Union (FSU). Yet comparative data are sparse and virtually all studies include only education. The aim of this study is to quantify and compare socioeconomic inequalities in all-cause mortality during the 2000s in urban population samples from four CEE/FSU countries, by three different measures of socioeconomic position (SEP) (education, difficulty buying food and household amenities), reflecting different aspects of SEP. Data from the prospective population-based HAPIEE (Health, Alcohol, and Psychosocial factors in Eastern Europe) study were used. The baseline survey (2002-2005) included 16 812 men and 19 180 women aged 45-69 years in Novosibirsk (Russia), Krakow (Poland), Kaunas (Lithuania) and seven Czech towns. Deaths in the cohorts were identified through mortality registers. Data were analysed by direct standardisation and Cox regression, quantifying absolute and relative SEP differences. Mortality inequalities by the three SEP indicators were observed in all samples. The magnitude of inequalities varied according to gender, country and SEP measure. As expected, given the high mortality rates in Russian men, largest absolute inequalities were found among Russian men (educational slope index of inequality was 19.4 per 1000 person-years). Largest relative inequalities were observed in Czech men and Lithuanian subjects. Disadvantage by all three SEP measures remained strongly associated with increased mortality after adjusting for the other SEP indicators. The results emphasise the importance of all SEP measures for understanding mortality inequalities in CEE/FSU.

“Not human, dead already”: Perceptions and experiences of drug-related stigma among opioid-using young adults from the former Soviet Union living in the U.S

PubMed Central

Gunn, Alana; Guarino, Honoria

2017-01-01

Background Young people from the former Soviet Union (FSU) in the U.S. are engaging in opioid and injection drug use (IDU) in substantial numbers, paralleling nationwide trends. Yet opioid-using FSU immigrants face distinctive acculturation challenges, including perceived stigmatisation as drug users within their immigrant communities, which may exacerbate the negative health and psychosocial consequences of such use. Methods This qualitative study draws on semi-structured interviews with 26 FSU immigrant young adults (ages 18–29) living in New York City who reported opioid use in the past month and/or were currently in treatment for opioid use disorder. Interviews probed youths’ drug use histories, immigration/acculturation experiences, family and peer relationships, and service utilisation. Interviews or focus groups were also conducted with 12 FSU mothers of opioid-using youth and 20 service providers familiar with the FSU population. In a content-based thematic analysis, verbatim transcripts were coded for salient themes. Results All three participant groups emphasized that stigma towards drug users within the FSU community is pervasive and acute, in contrast to the cultural acceptance of heavy drinking, and is rooted in punitive Soviet-era drug policies, fostering widespread ignorance about drugs and addiction. Young adults and service providers reported instances in which anticipation of community stigmatisation deterred youth from accessing drug treatment and harm reduction services. Similarly, stigma contributed to parents’ failure to recognize early signs of their children’s opioid problems and their reluctance to seek drug treatment for their children until opioid use had become severe. Young adults described how drug-use stigma is frequently internalized, leading to shame and loss of self-esteem. Conclusion Findings indicate an urgent need for community-wide education about drugs within FSU immigrant communities, and suggest specific service modalities that may be less stigmatizing for youth, such as peer-delivered syringe exchange and harm reduction education, and technology-based interventions that can be accessed privately and discreetly. PMID:27855325

Overview of HIV molecular epidemiology among people who inject drugs in Europe and Asia.

PubMed

Nikolopoulos, Georgios K; Kostaki, Evangelia-Georgia; Paraskevis, Dimitrios

2016-12-01

HIV strains continuously evolve, tend to recombine, and new circulating variants are being discovered. Novel strains complicate efforts to develop a vaccine against HIV and may exhibit higher transmission efficiency and virulence, and elevated resistance to antiretroviral agents. The United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) set an ambitious goal to end HIV as a public health threat by 2030 through comprehensive strategies that include epidemiological input as the first step of the process. In this context, molecular epidemiology becomes invaluable as it captures trends in HIV evolution rates that shape epidemiological pictures across several geographical areas. This review briefly summarizes the molecular epidemiology of HIV among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Europe and Asia. Following high transmission rates of subtype G and CRF14_BG among PWID in Portugal and Spain, two European countries, Greece and Romania, experienced recent HIV outbreaks in PWID that consisted of multiple transmission clusters including subtypes B, A, F1, and recombinants CRF14_BG and CRF35_AD. The latter was first identified in Afghanistan. Russia, Ukraine, and other Former Soviet Union (FSU) states are still facing the devastating effects of epidemics in PWID produced by A FSU (also known as IDU-A), B FSU (known as IDU-B), and CRF03_AB. In Asia, CRF01_AE and subtype B (Western B and Thai B) travelled from PWID in Thailand to neighboring countries. Recombination hotspots in South China, Northern Myanmar, and Malaysia have been generating several intersubtype and inter-CRF recombinants (e.g. CRF07_BC, CRF08_BC, CRF33_01B etc.), increasing the complexity of HIV molecular patterns. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Risky Sexual Behaviors in Immigrant Adolescent Girls from the Former Soviet Union: Role of Natal and Host Culture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jeltova, Ida; Fish, Marian C.; Revenson, Tracey A.

2005-01-01

In recent years, schools have been increasingly involved in youth's health-related behavior, particularly risky health behaviors (e.g., HIV/AIDS and pregnancy prevention programs). This study examined how acculturation processes among adolescent girls who are recent immigrants from the former Soviet Union (FSU) affect their practices of risky…

Bias Factors in Mathematics Achievement Tests among Israeli Students from the Former Soviet Union

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levi-Keren, Michal

2016-01-01

This study explains mathematical difficulties of students who immigrated from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) vis-à-vis Israeli students, by identifying the existing bias factors in achievement tests. These factors are irrelevant to the mathematical knowledge being measured, and therefore threaten the test results. The bias factors were identified…

Chernobyl disaster sequelae in recent immigrants to the United States from the former Soviet Union (FSU).

PubMed

Foster, RoseMarie Perez; Goldstein, Marjorie F

2007-04-01

Long-term mental health sequelae of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster have been documented for exposed populations who remained in the former Soviet Union (FSU) (Havenaar et al., 1997), and in a cohort migrated to Israel (Cwikel et al., 1997). This paper reports on Chernobyl disaster sequelae in émigrés (n = 321) to the United States. Demographic characteristics, migration factors, and self-reported physical health were considered. Both geographical proximity to the 1986 disaster, and perception of radiation risk stood as long-term indicators of current psychological distress. Proximity was related to poor self-perceived physical health, as well as current symptoms of depression (p<.05), anxiety (p<.01), and Chernobyl-related trauma distress (p<.001) on standardized measures. Environmental contamination as a reason for migration was also associated with greater mental health symptomatology.

Nuclear Accidents in the Former Soviet Union: Kyshtym, Chelyabinsk and Chernobyl

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-01-01

in the Former Soviet Union: Kyshtym, Chelyabinsk and Chernobyl DNA/AFRRI 4020 *. AUTHORIS) Daniel L. Collins, Ph.D. Lt Col, USAF lE L E T E 1...sJ Three nuclear accidents besides Chernobyl have occurred in the Former Soviet Union (FSU). The accidents occurred over the geographic area around...enviromental chemicals. 94,1 126 14. SUBJECT TERMS 16. NUMBER OF PAGES Kyshtym, Chelyabinsk, Chernobyl , REM, human, psychological 0 radiation 90Sr, Curies

Improving Large-scale Biomass Burning Carbon Consumption and Emissions Estimates in the Former Soviet Union based on Fire Weather

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Westberg, D. J.; Soja, A. J.; Tchebakova, N.; Parfenova, E. I.; Kukavskaya, E.; de Groot, B.; McRae, D.; Conard, S. G.; Stackhouse, P. W., Jr.

2012-12-01

Estimating the amount of biomass burned during fire events is challenging, particularly in remote and diverse regions, like those of the Former Soviet Union (FSU). Historically, we have typically assumed 25 tons of carbon per hectare (tC/ha) is emitted, however depending on the ecosystem and severity, biomass burning emissions can range from 2 to 75 tC/ha. Ecosystems in the FSU span from the tundra through the taiga to the forest-steppe, steppe and desserts and include the extensive West Siberian lowlands, permafrost-lain forests and agricultural lands. Excluding this landscape disparity results in inaccurate emissions estimates and incorrect assumptions in the transport of these emissions. In this work, we present emissions based on a hybrid ecosystem map and explicit estimates of fuel that consider the depth of burning based on the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System. Specifically, the ecosystem map is a fusion of satellite-based data, a detailed ecosystem map and Alexeyev and Birdsey carbon storage data, which is used to build carbon databases that include the forest overstory and understory, litter, peatlands and soil organic material for the FSU. We provide a range of potential carbon consumption estimates for low- to high-severity fires across the FSU that can be used with fire weather indices to more accurately estimate fire emissions. These data can be incorporated at ecoregion and administrative territory scales and are optimized for use in large-scale Chemical Transport Models. Additionally, paired with future climate scenarios and ecoregion cover, these carbon consumption data can be used to estimate potential emissions.

Interplay of identities: a narrative study of self-perceptions among immigrants with severe mental illness from the former Soviet Union.

PubMed

Knaifel, Evgeny; Mirsky, Julia

2015-02-01

This study explored the self-perceptions of individuals with mental illness who immigrated from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) to Israel. In particular, we examined the double stigma borne by these individuals as new immigrants and psychiatric patients, which may threaten their identity and render them at risk for social marginalization. We interviewed 12 FSU immigrants diagnosed with severe mental illness (SMI), who had been hospitalized in psychiatric facilities in the past and, at the time of the interview, were residing in community rehabilitation centers. Their narratives revealed that they constructed multiple identities for themselves: as bearers of Russian culture, as Soviet Jews, as normative immigrants, and only lastly as consumers of mental health services. In the case of FSU newcomers with mental illness immigration may serve as a normalizing and positive experience. Study findings suggest that stressing patients' identity as mentally ill may be counterproductive in their rehabilitation; instead, clinicians may consider working to mobilize patients' personal and cultural assets and helping them reinstate a more complex self-perception. Further research is needed to explore how immigration may affect self-perceptions of individuals with SMI from other cultural groups. © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

Assessment of Russian VSTOL technology evaluating the YAK-38 'FORGER' and YAK-141 'FREESTYLE'

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nalls, Art; Stortz, Michael

1993-01-01

The dissolution of the Former Soviet Union (FSU) created new relationships between the world superpowers. Overnight, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), formed from the remnants of the FSU, began the difficult transformation to a free market society. Military hardware that had once been highly classified and the basis for our own defense planning was now openly marketed at airshows around the world. 'Test' flights were available for potential customers and cooperative partnerships were explored between former adversaries. This environment permitted a visit to the Yakovlev Design Bureau, (YAK) for a vertical/short takeoff and landing (VSTOL) technology assessment. Yakovlev is the FSU's sole Design Bureau with experience in VSTOL aircraft and has developed two flying examples, the YAK-38 'FORGER' and YAK-141 'FREESTYLE'. This article reviews the performance of the YAK-38 'FORGER' and the YAK-141 'FREESTYLE'.

Estimates of phytomass and net primary productivity in terrestrial ecosystems of the former Soviet Union identified by classified Global Vegetation Index

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gaston, G.G.; Kolchugina, T.P.

1995-12-01

Forty-two regions with similar vegetation and landcover were identified in the former Soviet Union (FSU) by classifying Global Vegetation Index (GVI) images. Image classes were described in terms of vegetation and landcover. Image classes appear to provide more accurate and precise descriptions for most ecosystems when compared to general thematic maps. The area of forest lands were estimated at 1,330 Mha and the actual area of forest ecosystems at 875 Mha. Arable lands were estimated to be 211 Mha. The area of the tundra biome was estimated at 261 Mha. The areas of the forest-tundra/dwarf forest, taiga, mixed-deciduous forest andmore » forest-steppe biomes were estimated t 153, 882, 196, and 144 Mha, respectively. The areas of desert-semidesert biome and arable land with irrigated land and meadows, were estimated at 126 and 237 Mha, respectively. Vegetation and landcover types were associated with the Bazilevich database of phytomass and NPP for vegetation in the FSU. The phytomass in the FSU was estimated at 97.1 Gt C, with 86.8 in forest vegetation, 9.7 in natural non-forest and 0.6 Gt C in arable lands. The NPP was estimated at 8.6 Gt C/yr, with 3.2, 4.8, and 0.6 Gt C/yr of forest, natural non-forest, and arable ecosystems, respectively. The phytomass estimates for forests were greater than previous assessments which considered the age-class distribution of forest stands in the FSU. The NPP of natural ecosystems estimated in this study was 23% greater than previous estimates which used thematic maps to identify ecosystems. 47 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs.« less

CARBON BALANCE OF FOREST BIOMES IN THE FORMER USSR

EPA Science Inventory

Sources and sinks of carbon and the sequestration potential of forest biomes in the former Soviet Union (FSU) were assessed under non-equilibrium conditions by considering, 1) net ecosystem productivity (NEP) of different age forest stands and actual forest coverage, 2) carbon fl...

Phylogenetic Analysis of the Latvian HIV-1 Epidemic

PubMed Central

Balode, Dace; Skar, Helena; Mild, Mattias; Kolupajeva, Tatjana; Ferdats, Andris; Rozentale, Baiba; Leitner, Thomas

2012-01-01

Abstract The Latvian HIV-1 outbreak among intravenous drug users (IDUs) in 1997–1998 involved subtype A1. To obtain a more complete picture of the Latvian HIV-1 epidemic, 315 HIV-1-infected patients diagnosed in 1990–2005 representing different transmission groups and geographic regions were phylogenetically characterized using env V3 and gag p17 sequences. Subtypes A1 and B infections were found in 76% and 22% of the patients, respectively. The subtype A1 sequences formed one large cluster, which also included sequences from other parts of the former Soviet Union (FSU), whereas most subtype B sequences formed three distinct clusters. We estimated that subtype A1 was introduced from FSU around 1997 and initially spread explosively among IDUs in Riga. A recent increase of heterosexually infected persons did not form a separate subepidemic, but had multiple interactions with the IDU epidemic. Subtype B was introduced before the collapse of the Soviet Union and primarily has spread among men who have sex with men. PMID:22049908

Alcohol Use Disorders and Perceived Drinking Norms: Ethnic Differences in Israeli Adults

PubMed Central

Shmulewitz, Dvora; Wall, Melanie M.; Keyes, Katherine M.; Aharonovich, Efrat; Aivadyan, Christina; Greenstein, Eliana; Spivak, Baruch; Weizman, Abraham; Frisch, Amos; Hasin, Deborah

2012-01-01

Objective: Individuals’ perceptions of drinking acceptability in their society (perceived injunctive drinking norms) are widely assumed to explain ethnic group differences in drinking and alcohol use disorders (AUDs), but this has never been formally tested. Immigrants to Israel from the former Soviet Union (FSU) are more likely to drink and report AUD symptoms than other Israelis. We tested perceived drinking norms as a mediator of differences between FSU immigrants and other Israelis in drinking and AUDs. Method: Adult household residents (N = 1,349) selected from the Israeli population register were assessed with a structured interview measuring drinking, AUD symptoms, and perceived drinking norms. Regression analyses were used to produce odds ratios (OR) and risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) to test differences between FSU immigrants and other Israelis on binary and graded outcomes. Mediation of FSU effects by perceived drinking norms was tested with bootstrapping procedures. Results: FSU immigrants were more likely than other Israelis to be current drinkers (OR = 2.39, CI [1.61, 3.55]), have higher maximum number of drinks per day (RR = 1.88, CI [1.64, 2.16]), have any AUD (OR = 1.75, CI [1.16, 2.64]), score higher on a continuous measure of AUD (RR = 1.44, CI [1.12, 1.84]), and perceive more permissive drinking norms (p < .0001). For all four drinking variables, the FSU group effect was at least partially mediated by perceived drinking norms. Conclusions: This is the first demonstration that drinking norms mediate ethnic differences in AUDs. This work contributes to understanding ethnic group differences in drinking and AUDs, potentially informing etiologic research and public policy aimed at reducing alcohol-related harm. PMID:23036217

PILOT-SCALE INCINERATION OF BALLISTIC MISSILE LIQUID PROPELLANT COMPONENTS

EPA Science Inventory

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) recently concluded agreements with the Ukraine and the Russian Federation under which the DOD is committed to providing both former Soviet Union (FSU) states with equipment and other aid for use in eliminating their strategic offensive arms in...

GPS survey of the western Tien Shan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hager, Bradford H.; Molnar, Peter H.; Hamburger, Michael W.; Reilinger, Robert E.

1995-01-01

There were two major developments in 1994 in our collaborative GPS experiment in the Tien Shan of the Former Soviet Union (FSU). Both were motivated by our expectation that we will ultimately obtain better science at lower cost if we involve our colleagues in the FSU more deeply in (1) the collection and (2) the analysis of data. As an experimental test of the concept of having our local collaborators carry out the field work semi-autonomously, we sent 6 MIT receivers to the Tien Shan for a period of 3 months. To enable our collaborators to have the capability for data analysis, we provided computers for two data analysis centers and organized a two-week training session. This report emphasizes the rationale for deeper involvement of FSU scientists, describes the training sessions, discusses the data collection, and presents the results. We also discuss future plans. More detailed discussion of background, general scientific objectives, discussions with collaborators, and results for the campaigns in 1992 and 1993 have been given in previous reports.

Inter-group and intra-group assertiveness: adolescents' social skills following cultural transition.

PubMed

Korem, Anat; Horenczyk, Gabriel; Tatar, Moshe

2012-08-01

The goals of this study were to examine intra-group and inter-group assertiveness among adolescents, and to compare these two domains of assertiveness between cultural groups in Israel. Measures of intra-group and inter-group assertiveness were developed, and questionnaires were administrated to 441 immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU), 242 immigrants from Ethiopia and 333 non-immigrants. Compared to non-immigrants, FSU and Ethiopian immigrants' inter-group assertiveness was lower. Girls reported higher levels of inter-group assertiveness than boys. Each of the immigrant groups rates itself as equally assertive as the non-immigrant group and more assertive than the other immigrant group. Also, a difference between inter-group and intra-group assertiveness was found among the FSU immigrants. It is argued that adolescents' assertiveness following cultural transition is associated with socio-cultural context, and the implications of this conclusion are discussed. Copyright © 2011 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Problem Severity Profiles of Substance Abusing Women in Therapeutic Treatment Facilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Isralowitz, Richard; Reznik, Alexander

2009-01-01

This article aims to examine specific substance use profiles among former Soviet Union (FSU) immigrant and native-born women in Israeli therapeutic treatment facilities. Individuals were sampled at drug treatment facilities and assessed using the Addiction Severity Index. ASI scores suggest differences between the two groups. Among the findings…

Minor Delinquency and Immigration: A Longitudinal Study among Male Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Titzmann, Peter F.; Silbereisen, Rainer K.; Mesch, Gustavo

2014-01-01

On the basis of general theories of delinquency and the specific situation of immigrants, this longitudinal study investigated predictors of initial levels and rates of change in delinquency among 188 male ethnic German Diaspora immigrants from the former Soviet Union (FSU) in Germany, 237 male native German adolescents, and 182 male Jewish…

Inter-Group and Intra-Group Assertiveness: Adolescents' Social Skills Following Cultural Transition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Korem, Anat; Horenczyk, Gabriel; Tatar, Moshe

2012-01-01

The goals of this study were to examine intra-group and inter-group assertiveness among adolescents, and to compare these two domains of assertiveness between cultural groups in Israel. Measures of intra-group and inter-group assertiveness were developed, and questionnaires were administrated to 441 immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU),…

Weapons proliferation and organized crime: The Russian military and security force dimension

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Turbiville, G.H.

One dimension of international security of the post-Cold War era that has not received enough attention is how organized crime facilitates weapons proliferation worldwide. The former Soviet Union (FSU) has emerged as the world`s greatest counterproliferation challenge. It contains the best developed links among organized crime, military and security organizations, and weapons proliferation. Furthermore, Russian military and security forces are the principle source of arms becoming available to organized crime groups, participants in regional conflict, and corrupt state officials engaged in the black, gray, and legal arms markets in their various dimensions. The flourishing illegal trade in conventional weapons ismore » the clearest and most tangible manifestation of the close links between Russian power ministries and criminal organizations. The magnitude of the WMD proliferation problem from the FSU is less clear and less tangible. There have been many open reports of small-scale fissile material smuggling out of the FSU. The situation with regard to the proliferation of chemical weapon usually receives less attention but may be more serious. With an acknowledged stockpile of 40,000 metric tons of chemical agents, the potential for proliferation is enormous.« less

International energy outlook 1998

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1998-04-01

The International Energy Outlook 1998 (IEO98) presents an assessment by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the outlook for international energy markets through 2020. Projections in IEO98 are displaced according to six basic country groupings. The industrialized region includes projections for four individual countries -- the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Japan -- along with the subgroups Western Europe and Australasia (defined as Australia, New Zealand, and the US Territories). The developing countries are represented by four separate regional subgroups: developing Asia, Africa, Middle East, and Central and South America. China and India are represented in developing Asia. New tomore » this year`s report, country-level projections are provided for Brazil -- which is represented in Central and South America. Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (EE/FSU) are considered as a separate country grouping. The report begins with a review of world trends in energy demand. Regional consumption projections for oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear power, and renewable energy (hydroelectricity, geothermal, wind, solar, and other renewables) are presented in five fuel chapters, with a review of the current status of each fuel on a worldwide basis. Summary tables of the IEO98 projections for world energy consumption, carbon emissions, oil production, and nuclear power generating capacity are provided in Appendix A. 88 figs., 77 tabs.« less

Interannual Sea Level Variations in the Tropical Indian Ocean from Geosat and Shallow Water Simulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perigaud, Claire; Delecluse, Pascale

1993-01-01

Sea level variations of the Indian Ocean north of 20 deg S are analyzed from Geosat satellite altimeter data over April 1985-September 1989. These variations are compared and interpreted with numerical simulations derived from a reduced gravity model forced by FSU observed winds over the same period. After decomposition into complex empirical orthogonal functions, the low-frequency anomalies are described by the first two modes for observations as well as for simulations. The sums of the two modes contain 34% and 40% of the observed and simulated variances, respectively. Averaged over the basin, the observed and simulated sea level changes are correlated by 0.92 over 1985-1988. The strongest change happens during the El Ninio 1986-1987: between winter 1986 and summer 1987 the basin-averaged sea level rises by approx. 1 cm. These low-frequency variations can partly be explained by changes in the Sverdrup circulation. The southern tropical Indian Ocean between 1O deg and 20 deg S is the domain where those changes are strongest: the averaged sea level rises by approx. 4.5 cm between winter 1986 and winter 1987. There, the signal propagates southwestward across the basin at a speed similar to free Rossby waves. Sensitivity of observed anomalies is examined over 1987-1988, with different orbit ephemeris, tropospheric corrections, and error reduction processes. The uncertainty of the basin-averaged sea level estimates is mostly due to the way the orbit error is reduced and reaches approx. 1 cm. Nonetheless, spatial correlation is good between the various observations and better than between observations and simulations. Sensitivity of simulated anomalies to the wind uncertainty, examined with Former Soviet Union (FSU) and European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) forcings over 1985-1988, shows that the variance of the simulations driven by ECMWF is 52% smaller, as FSU winds are stronger than ECMWF. Results show that the wind strength also affects the dynamic response of the ocean: anomalies propagate westward across the basin more than twice as fast with FSU than with ECMWF. It is found that the discrepancy is larger between ECMWF and FSU simulations than between observations and FSU simulations.

Mediterranean Security Into the Coming Millennium

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-01-01

forgery was the widespread forgery of the Deutschmark, the reference currency in the area, in order to finance the costs of the wars of Yugoslavia’ s...Basque Land and Freedom) FAZ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung FT Financial Times FSU Former Soviet Union GIA Groupe Islamique Anne (Algeria, Armed...and inter-state conflict as well as terrorism start the vicious circles of drugs and displaced persons trafficking in order to finance arms transfers

Personal resources, appraisal, and coping in the adaptation process of immigrants from the Former Soviet Union.

PubMed

Yakhnich, Liat; Ben-Zur, Hasida

2008-04-01

Between 1989 and 2005, Israel absorbed over a million new immigrants, about 90% of whom were from the Former Soviet Union (FSU). The present study investigated the adaptation of these FSU new immigrants in a sample of 301 participants (67% women, ages 25-45 years), who completed inventories measuring personal resources (tolerance of ambiguity and cognitive flexibility), cognitive appraisals (of employment, language, and housing problems), coping strategies, well-being, distress, and willingness to remain in Israel. A structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis showed that tolerance for ambiguity and cognitive flexibility contributed positively to control appraisals, task-oriented coping, and level of participant well-being, and negatively to threat/loss appraisals, emotion/avoidance-oriented coping, and distress. Control appraisals contributed to task-oriented coping, whereas threat/loss appraisals contributed to both emotion/avoidance-oriented and task-oriented coping. Control and challenge appraisals, and task-oriented coping, contributed positively to participant willingness to remain in Israel, whereas emotion/avoidance-oriented coping contributed positively to distress levels, which in turn were negatively related to willingness to remain in Israel. The results of this study have significant implications for such aspects of immigrant adaptation as absorption policies and the provision of individual care by professionals and organizations. Copyright 2008 APA, all rights reserved.

Uranium: Prices, rise, then fall

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pool, T.C.

Uranium prices hit eight-year highs in both market tiers,more » $$16.60/lb U{sub 3}O{sub 8} for non-former Soviet Union (FSU) origin and $$15.50 for FSU origin during mid 1996. However, they declined to $14.70 and $13.90, respectively, by the end of the year. Increased uranium prices continue to encourage new production and restarts of production facilities presently on standby. Australia scrapped its {open_quotes}three-mine{close_quotes} policy following the ouster of the Labor party in a March election. The move opens the way for increasing competition with Canada`s low-cost producers. Other events in the industry during 1996 that have current or potential impacts on the market include: approval of legislation outlining the ground rules for privatization of the US Enrichment Corp. (USEC) and the subsequent sales of converted Russian highly enriched uranium (HEU) from its nuclear weapons program, announcement of sales plans for converted US HEU and other surplus material through either the Department of Energy or USEC, and continuation of quotas for uranium from the FSU in the United States and Europe. In Canada, permitting activities continued on the Cigar Lake and McArthur River projects; and construction commenced on the McClean Lake mill.« less

Minority population group status and QOL change: The case of older Israelis.

PubMed

Damri, Noam; Litwin, Howard

2016-12-01

This study explores minority group status in relation to change in Quality of Life (QOL) among three population groups in Israel-Veteran Jews, Arab-Israelis and immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU)-controlling for a set of known predictors. The study uses panel data from two waves (2009/10 and 2013) of the Israeli component of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, (N=1,590). A set of Ordinary Least Squares regressions is used to predict positive QOL change over the two waves. Interaction terms in a number of selected areas are considered. The results show that minority group status (Arab-Israelis and FSU immigrants) is negatively related to positive QOL change, compared to the majority group (Veteran Jews). Moreover, being employed was found to improve QOL for older FSU immigrants, underscoring the realm of work in the well-being of this population group. In comparison, it was exchange with family members that had a positive effect on QOL change among the Arab-Israelis, emphasizing the importance of that particular aspect of their lives in older age. In sum, the results highlight the risk of minority group status to well-being in late life and confirms the observation that positive QOL change correlates with characteristically different factors among different population groups.

Ethnic disparities in disability among middle-aged and older israeli adults: the role of socioeconomic disadvantage and traumatic life events.

PubMed

Osman, Amira; Walsemann, Katrina M

2013-04-01

We examined the contribution of socioeconomic disadvantage and traumatic life events to ethnic disparities in disability among Israeli adults. We used data from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE-Israel), a sample of Israeli adults aged 50 or older (N = 1,546). Disability measures included functional limitations, limitations in activities of daily living (ADL), and limitations in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). Arabs and immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) experienced higher rates of functional limitations and limitations in IADLs compared to veteran Jews. The rate of having limitations in ADLs was similar for Arabs and veteran Jews, but was higher for FSU immigrants compared to veteran Jews. Inclusion of education, income, and traumatic life events attenuated, but did not eliminate ethnic disparities in disability. Identifying factors driving ethnic health disparities in Israel is imperative if we hope to achieve health equity.

Diabetes among Ethiopian Immigrants to Israel: Exploring the Effects of Migration and Ethnicity on Diabetes Risk

PubMed Central

Giveon, Shmuel; Wulffhart, Liat; Oberman, Bernice; Freedman, Laurence; Ziv, Arnona; Kalter-Leibovici, Ofra

2016-01-01

Objective Diabetes prevalence among ethnic minorities and immigrants often differs from the majority indigenous population. We compared diabetes prevalence, incidence and risk among Ethiopian and non-Ethiopian Jews. Within these main groups, we controlled for the effect of migration on diabetes risk by comparing the subgroups of Ethiopian and former Soviet Union (FSU) immigrants, and compared both with Israeli-born non-Ethiopian Jews. Methods The study cohort included adult Ethiopian (n = 8,398) and age-matched non-Ethiopian Jews (n = 15,977) and subgroups: Ethiopian immigrants (n = 7,994), FSU immigrants (n = 1,541) and Israeli-born non-Ethiopian Jews (n = 10,828). Diabetes prevalence, annual incidence, and hazard ratios (HRs) adjusted for sex and metabolic syndrome (MetS)-components, were determined in three age groups (<50yrs, 50-59yrs, and ≥60yrs). Comparisons of body mass index (BMI) at diabetes incidence were made. Results Younger (<50yrs) Ethiopians had higher prevalence rates, 3.6% (95%CI: 3.1–4.1) and annual incidence, 0.9% (95%CI: 0.8–1.0) than non-Ethiopians, 2.7% (95%CI: 2.3–3.0) and 0.5% (95%CI: 0.4–0.6), respectively. These differences were particularly pronounced among Ethiopian women. Diabetes risk among Ethiopians was higher and adjustment for MetS-components was important only for BMI, which further increased hazard ratio (HR) estimates associated with Ethiopian ethnicity from 1.81 (95% CI:1.50–2.17) to 2.31 (95% CI:1.91–2.79). The same differences were seen when comparing Ethiopian to FSU immigrants. BMI before incident diabetes was lower among younger Ethiopian immigrants than younger FSU immigrants and Israeli-born. Conclusions Ethiopian ethnicity is associated with increased diabetes risk, which is age and BMI dependent. Young Ethiopians<50yrs, particularly women, had the greatest increase in risk. Lower BMI cut-offs should be defined to reflect diabetes risk among Ethiopians. PMID:27300299

Diabetes among Ethiopian Immigrants to Israel: Exploring the Effects of Migration and Ethnicity on Diabetes Risk.

PubMed

Jaffe, Anat; Giveon, Shmuel; Wulffhart, Liat; Oberman, Bernice; Freedman, Laurence; Ziv, Arnona; Kalter-Leibovici, Ofra

2016-01-01

Diabetes prevalence among ethnic minorities and immigrants often differs from the majority indigenous population. We compared diabetes prevalence, incidence and risk among Ethiopian and non-Ethiopian Jews. Within these main groups, we controlled for the effect of migration on diabetes risk by comparing the subgroups of Ethiopian and former Soviet Union (FSU) immigrants, and compared both with Israeli-born non-Ethiopian Jews. The study cohort included adult Ethiopian (n = 8,398) and age-matched non-Ethiopian Jews (n = 15,977) and subgroups: Ethiopian immigrants (n = 7,994), FSU immigrants (n = 1,541) and Israeli-born non-Ethiopian Jews (n = 10,828). Diabetes prevalence, annual incidence, and hazard ratios (HRs) adjusted for sex and metabolic syndrome (MetS)-components, were determined in three age groups (<50yrs, 50-59yrs, and ≥60yrs). Comparisons of body mass index (BMI) at diabetes incidence were made. Younger (<50yrs) Ethiopians had higher prevalence rates, 3.6% (95%CI: 3.1-4.1) and annual incidence, 0.9% (95%CI: 0.8-1.0) than non-Ethiopians, 2.7% (95%CI: 2.3-3.0) and 0.5% (95%CI: 0.4-0.6), respectively. These differences were particularly pronounced among Ethiopian women. Diabetes risk among Ethiopians was higher and adjustment for MetS-components was important only for BMI, which further increased hazard ratio (HR) estimates associated with Ethiopian ethnicity from 1.81 (95% CI:1.50-2.17) to 2.31 (95% CI:1.91-2.79). The same differences were seen when comparing Ethiopian to FSU immigrants. BMI before incident diabetes was lower among younger Ethiopian immigrants than younger FSU immigrants and Israeli-born. Ethiopian ethnicity is associated with increased diabetes risk, which is age and BMI dependent. Young Ethiopians<50yrs, particularly women, had the greatest increase in risk. Lower BMI cut-offs should be defined to reflect diabetes risk among Ethiopians.

Comparative analysis of premature mortality among urban immigrants in Bremen, Germany: a retrospective register-based linkage study.

PubMed

Makarova, Nataliya; Brand, Tilman; Brünings-Kuppe, Claudia; Pohlabeln, Hermann; Luttmann, Sabine

2016-03-21

The main objective of this study was to explore differences in mortality patterns among two large immigrant groups in Germany: one from Turkey and the other from the former Soviet Union (FSU). To this end, we investigated indicators of premature mortality. This study was conducted as a retrospective population-based study based on mortality register linkage. Using mortality data for the period 2004-2010, we calculated age-standardised death rates (SDR) and standardised mortality ratios (SMR) for premature deaths (

Comparative analysis of premature mortality among urban immigrants in Bremen, Germany: a retrospective register-based linkage study

PubMed Central

Makarova, Nataliya; Brand, Tilman; Brünings-Kuppe, Claudia; Pohlabeln, Hermann; Luttmann, Sabine

2016-01-01

Objectives The main objective of this study was to explore differences in mortality patterns among two large immigrant groups in Germany: one from Turkey and the other from the former Soviet Union (FSU). To this end, we investigated indicators of premature mortality. Design This study was conducted as a retrospective population-based study based on mortality register linkage. Using mortality data for the period 2004–2010, we calculated age-standardised death rates (SDR) and standardised mortality ratios (SMR) for premature deaths (

Cultural Impact on SAD: Social Anxiety Disorder among Ethiopian and Former Soviet Union Immigrants to Israel, in Comparison to Native-born Israelis.

PubMed

Hasenson-Atzmon, Kelly; Marom, Sofi; Sofer, Tamar; Lev-Ari, Lilac; Youngmann, Rafael; Hermesh, Haggai; Kushnir, Jonathan

2016-01-01

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is linked to social norms and role expectations which are culture dependent, such as the construal of one's self as independent or interdependent in relation to others. The current study is the first to examine SAD symptoms among Ethiopian and former Soviet Union immigrants to Israel compared to a sample of native Israelis. We investigated the relationship between SAD, ethnicity and independent/ interdependent self-construals. A total of 261 students (151 native-born Israelis, 60 Ethiopian immigrants and 50 students from the former USSR) were administrated the Liebowitz Scale (LSAS), the Self-construal Scale (SCS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and a socio-demographic questionnaire. Ethiopians exhibited highest SAD scores while no differences were found between the FSU immigrants and native-born Israelis. Additionally, Ethiopians and native-born Israeli students exhibited similar high interdependence scores. Finally, SAD scores were predicted by gender, origin, independent and interdependent self-construals. Immigration per se is not a universal risk factor of SAD and ethnological-cultural factors do contribute specifically to SAD. A possible psychological mediator between culture and the susceptibility to SAD are the interdependence and independent self-construals. When treating immigrants, clinicians and health care providers are advised to consider the effect of cultural influence on the mental well-being and integration process of immigrants in to their host country.

Astronomy and astronomical education in the FSU (Former Soviet Union)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bochkarev, Nikolai G.

The current situation in astronomy and astronomical education over the territory of the Former Soviet Union is traced. New facilities for radioastronomy are being put into work - the most important of them being the 2 coupled 32-m dishes, VLBI network "Quasar"; a number of observatories are acquiring an international status (in the frame of CIS); INTERNET is becoming available for an increasing number of astronomical institutions. Azerbaijan astronomers have overcome their isolation from the rest of the world and cooperate actively with the astronomical community. All-Russia and international olympics in astronomy for high school students are held and attract participants from increasing number of regions of Russia and other states. The outcome of the 9th JENAM in Moscow and of the events attached to the Meeting is presented.

Trials and tribulations of conducting bio-behavioral surveys in prisons: implementation science and lessons from Ukraine

PubMed Central

Azbel, Lyuba; Grishaev, Yevgeny; Wickersham, Jeffrey A.; Chernova, Olena; Dvoryak, Sergey; Polonsky, Maxim; Altice, Frederick L.

2017-01-01

Purpose Ukraine is home to Europe's worst HIV epidemic, overwhelmingly fueled by people who inject drugs who face harsh prison sentences. In Ukraine, HIV and other infectious diseases are concentrated in prisons, yet the magnitude of this problem had not been quantified. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the systematic health survey of prisoners in the former Soviet Union (FSU). Design/methodology/approach Qualitative interviews were carried out with research and prison administrative staff to assess the barriers and facilitators to conducting a bio-behavioral survey in Ukrainian prisons. Findings Crucial barriers at the institutional, staff, and participant level require addressing by: first, ensuring Prison Department involvement at every stage; second, tackling pre-conceived attitudes about drug addiction and treatment among staff; and third, guaranteeing confidentiality for participants. Originality/value The burden of many diseases is higher than expected and much higher than in the community. Notwithstanding the challenges, scientifically rigorous bio-behavioral surveys are attainable in criminal justice systems in the FSU with collaboration and careful consideration of this specific context. PMID:27219905

Trials and tribulations of conducting bio-behavioral surveys in prisons: implementation science and lessons from Ukraine.

PubMed

Azbel, Lyuba; Grishaev, Yevgeny; Wickersham, Jeffrey A; Chernova, Olena; Dvoryak, Sergey; Polonsky, Maxim; Altice, Frederick L

2016-06-13

Purpose - Ukraine is home to Europe's worst HIV epidemic, overwhelmingly fueled by people who inject drugs who face harsh prison sentences. In Ukraine, HIV and other infectious diseases are concentrated in prisons, yet the magnitude of this problem had not been quantified. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the systematic health survey of prisoners in the former Soviet Union (FSU). Design/methodology/approach - Qualitative interviews were carried out with research and prison administrative staff to assess the barriers and facilitators to conducting a bio-behavioral survey in Ukrainian prisons. Findings - Crucial barriers at the institutional, staff, and participant level require addressing by: first, ensuring Prison Department involvement at every stage; second, tackling pre-conceived attitudes about drug addiction and treatment among staff; and third, guaranteeing confidentiality for participants. Originality/value - The burden of many diseases is higher than expected and much higher than in the community. Notwithstanding the challenges, scientifically rigorous bio-behavioral surveys are attainable in criminal justice systems in the FSU with collaboration and careful consideration of this specific context.

20 Years Experience with using Low Cost Launch Opportunities for 20 Small Satellite Missions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meerman, Maarten; Sweeting, Martin, , Sir

To realise the full potential of modern low cost mini-micro-nano-satellite missions, regular and affordable launch opportunities are required. It is simply not economic to launch individual satellites of 5-300kg on single dedicated launchers costing typically 15-20M per launch. Whilst there have been periodic 'piggy-back' launches of small satellites on US launchers since the 1960's, these have been infrequent and often experienced significant delays due the vagaries of the main (paying!) payload. In 1989, Arianespace provided a critical catalyst to the microsatellite community when it imaginatively developed the ASAP platform on Ariane-4 providing, for the first time, a standard interface and affordable launch contracts for small payloads up to 50kg. During the 1990's, some 20 small satellites have been successfully launched on the Ariane-4 ASAP ring for international customers carrying out a range of operational, technology demonstration and training missions. However, most of these microsatellite missions seek low Earth orbit and especially sun-synchronous orbits, but the number of primary missions into these orbit has declined since 1996 and with it the availability of useful low cost launch opportunities for microsatellites. Whilst Ariane-5 has an enhanced capacity ASAP, it has yet to be widely used due both to the infrequent launches, higher costs, and the GTO orbit required by the majority of customers. China, Japan and India have also provided occasional secondary launches for small payloads, but not yet on a regular basis. Fortunately, the growing interest and demand for microsatellite missions coincided with the emergence of regular, low cost launch opportunities from the former Soviet Union (FSU) - both as secondary 'piggy-back' missions or as multiple microsatellite payloads on converted military ICBMs. Indeed, the FSU now supplies the only affordable means of launching minisatellites (200-500kg) into LEO as dedicated missions on converted missiles as these larger 'small satellites' are too big to be carried 'piggy-back'. The entrepreneurial efforts of leading FSU rocket &missile organisations in converting existing vehicles to meet the small satellite launch market at an appropriate cost has resulted in the FSU now holding the prime position for providing launches for the small satellite community - and with an excellent track record of successful launches. However, negotiating and completing a Launch Services Agreement (LSA) for a nano-micro-minisatellite with any launcher organisation is a complex matter and risky territory for the unwary or inexperienced who may easily fall prey to unexpected additional costs and delays. Whilst this warning should be heeded when dealing with European and US organisations, it is particularly relevant when negotiating launches from the FSU where there is a plethora of agencies and organisations offering a bewildering range of launch vehicles and options. Furthermore, the FSU has developed a very different technical and managerial philosophy towards launchers when compared with the west and this can be unnerving to 'first-time buyers'. Organisations experienced in dealing in the FSU will encounter a different but excellent service - once the launch service agreement has been thoroughly and fiercely negotiated in every detail. The inexperienced, however, have encountered frustrating delays, lost opportunities, unexpected taxes and costs for additional services or facilities not originally specified, and bewilderment at the different procedures used in the FSU. Fortunately, all this can be avoided with proper experience and the FSU is the current mainstay for launching small satellites quickly, affordably and reliably. Surrey has unique experience gathered over 20 years in handling launches for 20 small satellites, ranging from a 6kg nanosatellite, 50-100kg microsatellites, and a 325kg minisatellite, using 7 different launchers from the USA, Russia, Ukraine, and Europe. By working closely with organisations in the FSU, SSTL has been able to provide good value launches for its small satellite customers without delay and with a 100% launch success. The paper will describe the experience gained by Surrey, across the various launch providers, in successfully launching 20 small satellites - affordably, reliably and quickly. It will highlight the key factors that are necessary to ensure a 'good experience'.

Screening and Rapid Molecular Diagnosis of Tuberculosis in Prisons in Russia and Eastern Europe: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

PubMed Central

Winetsky, Daniel E.; Negoescu, Diana M.; DeMarchis, Emilia H.; Almukhamedova, Olga; Dooronbekova, Aizhan; Pulatov, Dilshod; Vezhnina, Natalia; Owens, Douglas K.; Goldhaber-Fiebert, Jeremy D.

2012-01-01

Background Prisons of the former Soviet Union (FSU) have high rates of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and are thought to drive general population tuberculosis (TB) epidemics. Effective prison case detection, though employing more expensive technologies, may reduce long-term treatment costs and slow MDR-TB transmission. Methods and Findings We developed a dynamic transmission model of TB and drug resistance matched to the epidemiology and costs in FSU prisons. We evaluated eight strategies for TB screening and diagnosis involving, alone or in combination, self-referral, symptom screening, mass miniature radiography (MMR), and sputum PCR with probes for rifampin resistance (Xpert MTB/RIF). Over a 10-y horizon, we projected costs, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), and TB and MDR-TB prevalence. Using sputum PCR as an annual primary screening tool among the general prison population most effectively reduced overall TB prevalence (from 2.78% to 2.31%) and MDR-TB prevalence (from 0.74% to 0.63%), and cost US$543/QALY for additional QALYs gained compared to MMR screening with sputum PCR reserved for rapid detection of MDR-TB. Adding sputum PCR to the currently used strategy of annual MMR screening was cost-saving over 10 y compared to MMR screening alone, but produced only a modest reduction in MDR-TB prevalence (from 0.74% to 0.69%) and had minimal effect on overall TB prevalence (from 2.78% to 2.74%). Strategies based on symptom screening alone were less effective and more expensive than MMR-based strategies. Study limitations included scarce primary TB time-series data in FSU prisons and uncertainties regarding screening test characteristics. Conclusions In prisons of the FSU, annual screening of the general inmate population with sputum PCR most effectively reduces TB and MDR-TB prevalence, doing so cost-effectively. If this approach is not feasible, the current strategy of annual MMR is both more effective and less expensive than strategies using self-referral or symptom screening alone, and the addition of sputum PCR for rapid MDR-TB detection may be cost-saving over time. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary PMID:23209384

Minor delinquency and immigration: a longitudinal study among male adolescents.

PubMed

Titzmann, Peter F; Silbereisen, Rainer K; Mesch, Gustavo

2014-01-01

On the basis of general theories of delinquency and the specific situation of immigrants, this longitudinal study investigated predictors of initial levels and rates of change in delinquency among 188 male ethnic German Diaspora immigrants from the former Soviet Union (FSU) in Germany, 237 male native German adolescents, and 182 male Jewish Diaspora adolescents from the FSU in Israel. The participants (15.2 years old) completed 3 annual assessments. Latent growth curve models showed that ethnic German adolescents reported higher initial levels of delinquency than native German adolescents and lower levels than the Russian Jewish adolescents. Groups did not differ in the rate of change, indicating a decrease in delinquency over time. Peer-oriented leisure related positively and parental knowledge negatively with levels and change rates in delinquency in all groups, but could not fully account for the ethnic differences in delinquency levels. School bonding was associated negatively with delinquency only among native German adolescents. Acculturation-related hassles were an additional predictor for higher levels and also associated with change rates in the immigrant groups. Thus, general theories of delinquency apply to immigrants, but may be complemented by adding acculturation-specific challenges. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Ethnicity versus migration: two hypotheses about the psychosocial adjustment of immigrant adolescents.

PubMed

Slonim-Nevo, Vered; Sharaga, Yana; Mirsky, Julia; Petrovsky, Vadim; Borodenko, Marina

2006-01-01

STUDY BACKGROUND AND AIMS: This study investigates the psychosocial adjustment of immigrant adolescents and examines two hypotheses: the ethnicity hypothesis, which suggests that ethnic background determines the psychosocial reactions of immigrant adolescents; and the migration hypothesis, which suggests that the migration experience determines such reactions. The study compared four groups of respondents: first-generation immigrants (N = 63) and second-generation immigrants (N = 64) from the former Soviet Union (FSU) in Israel; and Jewish (N = 212) and non-Jewish (N = 184) adolescents in the FSU. A self-report questionnaire administered to the respondents collected demographic, educational and psychological data using standardised scales. Immigrant adolescents reported higher psychological distress, lower self-esteem and higher alchohol consumption than non-immigrant adolescents. Second-generation immigrants generally showed a higher level of functioning than first-generation immigrants. These findings favor the migration hypothesis. Our findings support the widely accepted view of migration as a potentially distress-provoking experience. They suggest that psychological reactions of immigrant adolescents, and in fact all immigrants, are best interpreted as reactive and are related to the universal stressful qualities of the migration experience. Further multiethnic comparative studies, however, are needed to confirm and refine these findings.

Radionuclides in the Arctic seas from the former Soviet Union: Potential health and ecological risks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Layton, D W; Edson, R; Varela, M

1999-11-15

The primary goal of the assessment reported here is to evaluate the health and environmental threat to coastal Alaska posed by radioactive-waste dumping in the Arctic and Northwest Pacific Oceans by the FSU. In particular, the FSU discarded 16 nuclear reactors from submarines and an icebreaker in the Kara Sea near the island of Novaya Zemlya, of which 6 contained spent nuclear fuel (SNF); disposed of liquid and solid wastes in the Sea of Japan; lost a {sup 90}Sr-powered radioisotope thermoelectric generator at sea in the Sea of Okhotsk; and disposed of liquid wastes at several sites in the Pacificmore » Ocean, east of the Kamchatka Peninsula. In addition to these known sources in the oceans, the RAIG evaluated FSU waste-disposal practices at inland weapons-development sites that have contaminated major rivers flowing into the Arctic Ocean. The RAIG evaluated these sources for the potential for release to the environment, transport, and impact to Alaskan ecosystems and peoples through a variety of scenarios, including a worst-case total instantaneous and simultaneous release of the sources under investigation. The risk-assessment process described in this report is applicable to and can be used by other circumpolar countries, with the addition of information about specific ecosystems and human life-styles. They can use the ANWAP risk-assessment framework and approach used by ONR to establish potential doses for Alaska, but add their own specific data sets about human and ecological factors. The ANWAP risk assessment addresses the following Russian wastes, media, and receptors: dumped nuclear submarines and icebreaker in Kara Sea--marine pathways; solid reactor parts in Sea of Japan and Pacific Ocean--marine pathways; thermoelectric generator in Sea of Okhotsk--marine pathways; current known aqueous wastes in Mayak reservoirs and Asanov Marshes--riverine to marine pathways; and Alaska as receptor. For these waste and source terms addressed, other pathways, such as atmospheric transport, could be considered under future-funded research efforts for impacts to Alaska. The ANWAP risk assessment does not address the following wastes, media, and receptors: radioactive sources in Alaska (except to add perspective for Russian source term); radioactive wastes associated with Russian naval military operations and decommissioning; Russian production reactor and spent-fuel reprocessing facilities nonaqueous source terms; atmospheric, terrestrial and nonaqueous pathways; and dose calculations for any circumpolar locality other than Alaska. These other, potentially serious sources of radioactivity to the Arctic environment, while outside the scope of the current ANWAP mandate, should be considered for future funding research efforts.« less

Prostate cancer in Germany among migrants from the Former Soviet Union

PubMed Central

Winkler, Volker; Holleczek, Bernd; Stegmaier, Christa; Becher, Heiko

2012-01-01

Background In Germany, prostate cancer is the leading cause of cancer and the third leading cause of death from cancer in males. We investigate prostate cancer in Gernmany among migrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) and compare them to indigenous German population with regard to prostate cancer incidence, mortality and longitudinal effects. Methods Data were obtained from two migrant cohorts residing in the federal states of North Rhine Westphalia (n=34,393) and Saarland (n=18,619). Vital status was ascertained through local population registries. Causes of death were obtained from the federal statistical office or from local health authorities. Cancer incidence of the Saarland cohort was derived from the Saarland Cancer Registry using record linkage. Results From 1990 to 2005 we observed 3360 deaths of which 28 were due to prostate cancer. In the Saarland cohort 35 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer during the respective period. Migrants had lower prostate cancer incidence (SIR 0.74 (95% CI: 0.52–1.03)) and mortality (SMR 0.57 (95% CI: 0.38–0.83)) compared to the German population. Multivariate analysis showed a strong age effect on incidence meaning young migrants (below age 60) were diagnosed significantly more often with prostate cancer compared to Germans of the same age. However, mortality did not show any effects. Discussion Lower prostate cancer mortality and incidence among migrants may reflect an ongoing situation in the FSU. Additionally, longitudinal analysis did not reveal convergence of migrant prostate cancer to German rates as expected from lifestyle driven cancer sites. Therefore, our results support the hypothesis of a genetic effect on prostate cancer risk. PMID:22229025

Moving East: how the transnational tobacco industry gained entry to the emerging markets of the former Soviet Union-part II: an overview of priorities and tactics used to establish a manufacturing presence.

PubMed

Gilmore, A B; McKee, M

2004-06-01

To explore how British American Tobacco (BAT), having established cigarette imports, responded to the opportunities for investment in cigarette manufacturing in the former Soviet Union (FSU). Analysis of documents held at the BAT archive in Guildford, UK. Considerable priority was attached to investing in the FSU. This led BAT to undertake a major organisational change and to intense competition to acquire assets. BAT used flawed economic arguments to persuade cash starved governments that its investment would reap economic rewards. It offered excise advice that disadvantaged governments while benefiting BAT, confused issues over pricing, and avoided competitive tendering. BAT targeted agriculture ministries, using its expertise in leaf production to differentiate itself from other potential investors. It subverted the principles of corporate social responsibility to promote itself as a business partner. BAT's task was made easier by the naivety of post-Soviet governments and by the international financial organisations' support for rapid economic reform. The latter permitted tobacco transnationals to penetrate markets before effective competitive tendering processes had been established, giving them the opportunity to minimise prices and establish monopolies. Many of the arguments employed when penetrating post-Soviet markets were highly misleading but governments lacked expertise to realise this. There is a need to build tobacco control capacity in transition economies, within and outside government, to ensure that governments are better informed of the true economic and health impacts of tobacco. Rapid transition from socialist to market economies without establishing regulatory institutional structures may be dangerous when investing companies use business practices that fall short of international standards.

Climate change impacts on water availability: developing regional scenarios for agriculture of the Former Soviet Union countries of Central Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirilenko, A.; Dronin, N.

2010-12-01

Water is the major factor, limiting agriculture of the five Former Soviet Union (FSU) of Central Asia. Elevated topography prevents moist and warm air from the Atlantic and Indian Oceans from entering the region.With exception of Kazakhstan, agriculture is generally restricted to oases and irrigated lands along the major rivers and canals. Availability of water for irrigation is the major factor constraining agriculture in the region, and conflicts over water are not infrequent. The current water crisis in the region is largely due to human activity; however the region is also strongly impacted by the climate. In multiple locations, planned and autonomous adaptations to climate change have already resulted in changes in agriculture, such as a dramatic increase in irrigation, or shift in crops towards the ones better suited for warmer and dryer climate; however, it is hard to differentiate between the effects of overall management improvement and the avoidance of climate-related losses. Climate change will contribute to water problems, escalating irrigation demand during the drought period, and increasing water loss with evaporation. The future of the countries of the Aral Sea basin then depends on both the regional scenario of water management policy and a global scenario of climate change, and is integrated with global socioeconomic scenarios. We formulate a set of regional policy scenarios (“Business as Usual”, “Falling Behind” and “Closing the Gap”) and demonstrate how each of them corresponds to IPCC SRES scenarios, the latter used as an input to the General Circulation Models (GCMs). Then we discuss the relative effectiveness of the introduced scenarios for mitigating water problems in the region, taking into account the adaptation through changing water demand for agriculture. Finally, we introduce the results of multimodel analysis of GCM climate projections, especially in relation to the change in precipitation and frequency of droughts, and discuss the impact of climate change on future development of the region.

Numerical Simulations and Diagnostic Studies Relating Meteorology To Atmospheric Chemistry during TRACE-P

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fuelberg, Henry E.

2003-01-01

The Florida State University (FSU) team participated extensively in the pre-mission planning for TRACE-P through meetings, telephone calls, and e-mails. During Spring 2001, Prof. Fuelberg served as DC-8 Mission Meteorologist during the field campaign. He prepared meteorological guidance for each flight of the DC-8 and flew on each mission. After the field phase, FSU prepared various meteorological products, included backward air trajectories, for each flight of the DC-8 and P-3B. These were posted on the FSU and NASA-GTE web sites for use by all the Science Team. During the two-year post mission period, FSU conducted research relating meteorology to atmospheric chemistry during TRACE-P. This led to three journal articles in the Journal of Geophysical Research. FSU personnel were the lead authors on each of these articles. Abstracts of these articles are attached. In addition, the FSU team collaborated with other members of the TRACE-P Science Team to incorporate meteorological factors into their research. A list of publications resulting from these interactions is included.

Modeling and assessing international climate financing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Jing; Tang, Lichun; Mohamed, Rayman; Zhu, Qianting; Wang, Zheng

2016-06-01

Climate financing is a key issue in current negotiations on climate protection. This study establishes a climate financing model based on a mechanism in which donor countries set up funds for climate financing and recipient countries use the funds exclusively for carbon emission reduction. The burden-sharing principles are based on GDP, historical emissions, and consumptionbased emissions. Using this model, we develop and analyze a series of scenario simulations, including a financing program negotiated at the Cancun Climate Change Conference (2010) and several subsequent programs. Results show that sustained climate financing can help to combat global climate change. However, the Cancun Agreements are projected to result in a reduction of only 0.01°C in global warming by 2100 compared to the scenario without climate financing. Longer-term climate financing programs should be established to achieve more significant benefits. Our model and simulations also show that climate financing has economic benefits for developing countries. Developed countries will suffer a slight GDP loss in the early stages of climate financing, but the longterm economic growth and the eventual benefits of climate mitigation will compensate for this slight loss. Different burden-sharing principles have very similar effects on global temperature change and economic growth of recipient countries, but they do result in differences in GDP changes for Japan and the FSU. The GDP-based principle results in a larger share of financial burden for Japan, while the historical emissions-based principle results in a larger share of financial burden for the FSU. A larger burden share leads to a greater GDP loss.

Sagittal alignment after single cervical disc arthroplasty.

PubMed

Guérin, Patrick; Obeid, Ibrahim; Gille, Olivier; Bourghli, Anouar; Luc, Stéphane; Pointillart, Vincent; Vital, Jean-Marc

2012-02-01

Prospective study. To analyze the sagittal balance after single-level cervical disc replacement (CDR) and range of motion (ROM). To define clinical and radiologic parameters those have a significant correlation with segmental and overall cervical curvature after CDR. Clinical outcomes and ROM after CDR with Mobi-C (LDR, Troyes, France) prosthesis have been documented in few studies. No earlier report of this prosthesis has studied correlations between static and dynamic parameters or those between static parameters and clinical outcomes. Forty patients were evaluated. Clinical outcome was assessed using the Short Form-36 questionnaire, Neck Disability Index, and a Visual Analog Scale. Spineview software (Surgiview, Paris, France) was used to investigate sagittal balance parameters and ROM. The mean follow-up was 24.3 months (range: 12 to 36 mo). Clinical outcomes were satisfactory. There was a significant improvement of Short Form-36, Neck Disability Index, and Visual Analog Scale scores. Mean ROM was 8.3 degrees preoperatively and 11.0 degrees postoperatively (P=0.013). Mean preoperative C2C7 curvature was 12.8 and 16.0 degrees at last follow-up (P=0.001). Mean preoperative functional spinal unit (FSU) angle was 2.3 and 5.3 degrees postoperatively (P<0.0001). Mean postoperative shell angle was 5.5 degrees. There was a significant correlation between postoperative C2C7 alignment and preoperative C2C7 alignment, change of C2C7 alignment, preoperative and postoperative FSU angle, and prosthesis shell angle. There was also a significant correlation between postoperative FSU angle and preoperative C2C7 alignment, preoperative FSU angle, change of FSU angle, and prosthesis shell angle. Regression analysis showed that prosthesis shell angle and preoperative FSU angle contributed significantly to postoperative FSU angle. Moreover, preoperative C2C7 alignment, preoperative FSU angle, postoperative FSU angle, and prosthesis shell angle contributed significantly to postoperative C2C7 alignment. No significant correlation was observed between ROM and sagittal parameters. Few correlations were found between sagittal alignment and clinical results. CDR with this prosthesis provided favorable clinical outcomes and maintains ROM of the FSU, overall and segmental cervical alignment. Long-term follow-up will be needed to assess the effectiveness and advantages of this procedure.

Long-Term Climatic Variations in the Almati Oblast in Central Asian Kazakhstan: Correlations between National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Reanalysis II Results and Oblast Meteorological Station Data from 1949 to the Present. Volume 5

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Welker, Jean E.; Au, Andrew Y.

2003-01-01

As part of a larger analysis of country systems described elsewhere, named a Crop Country Inventory, CCI, large variations in annual crop yield for selected climate sensitive agricultural regions or sub-regions within a country have been studied over extended periods in decades. These climate sensitive regions, principally responsible for large annual variations in an entire country s crop production, generally are characterized by distinctive patterns of atmospheric circulation and synoptic processes that result in large seasonal fluctuations in temperature, precipitation and soil moisture as well as other climate properties. The immediate region of interest is drought prone Kazakhstan in Central Asia, part of the Former Soviet Union, FSU. As a partial validation test in a dry southern region of Kazakhstan, the Almati Oblast was chosen. The Almati Oblast, a sub-region of Kazakhstan located in its southeast corner, is one of 14 oblasts within the Republic of Kazahstan. The climate data set used to characterize this region was taken from the results of the current maturely developed Global Climate Model, GCM. In this paper, the GCM results have been compared to the meteorological station data at the station locations, over various periods. If the empirical correlation of the data sets from both the GCM and station data is sufficiently significant, this would validate the use of the superior GCM profile mapping and integration for the climatic characterization of a sub-region. Precipitation values interpolated from NCEP Reanalysis II data, a global climate database spanning over 5 decades since 1949, have been statistically correlated with monthly-averaged station data from 1949 through 1993, and with daily station data from April through August, 1990 for the Almati Oblast in Kazakhstan. The resultant correlation is significant, which implies that the methodology may be extended to different regions globally for Crop Country Inventory studies.

International energy outlook 1995, May 1995

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1995-06-01

The International Energy Outlook 1995 (IEO95) presents an assessment by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the international energy market outlook through 2010. The report is an extension of the EIA's Annual Energy Outlook 1995 (AEO95), which was prepared using the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS). US projections appearing in the IEO95 are consistent with those published in the AEO95. IEO95 is provided as a statistical service to energy managers and analysts, both in government and in the private sector. The projects are used by international agencies, Federal and State governments, trade associations, and other planners and decisionmakers. They are published pursuant to the Department of energy Organization Act of 1977 (Public Law 95-91), Section 295(c). The IEO95 projections are based on US and foreign government policies in effect on October 1, 1994. IEO95 displays projections according to six basic country groupings. The regionalization has changed since last year's report. Mexico has been added to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and a more detailed regionalization has been incorporated for the remainder of the world, including the following subgroups: non-OECD Asia, Africa, Middle East, and Central and South America. China is included in non-OECD Asia. Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union are combined in the EE/FSU subgroup.

Overview of holography in Russia and other FSU (former Soviet Union) states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reingand, Nadya

2005-04-01

Recently we have had our Class reunion (Physics Department of the renown St. Petersburg University, Russia). Amidst all the warm greetings, embraces, and gasps of surprise at the view of receding hair, bulging waistlines and other signs of relentlessly encroaching middle age we swapped the tales and had come to a rather unsurprising conclusion: if you are still in science, it means you are working abroad, if you are still in Russia, it means you are not in science. Indeed, in the wake of rapid changes that swept over the former Soviet Union following its disintegration in 1991 millions of people who formerly had positions in the vast scientific and technical establishment have found themselves adrift without any conceivable means of support. Many have been forced to abandon science for good and to seek opportunities in the burgeoning private sector and quite a few have achieved spectacular successes in their new business endeavors. Their names are well known and their future appears to be bright. This article though is not about them. It is about those stubborn individuals who despite overwhelming odds have kept their faith and commitment to science, who went on and persevered. It is a tribute to those who remained fully engaged in research and upheld the traditions of Russian school, who have faced and overcome all the innumerable obstacles such as delays in salary payment, aging physical plant, accident-prone electrical, water and heating systems, dearth of funding, etc. It now seems, that thanks to the selfless effort of these remarkable individuals Russian science is finally turning the corner and that things are indeed getting better. This article is homage to all the scientists in the FSU whose inquisitive minds and boundless thirst for knowledge have preserved and strengthened the glorious traditions of Russian science through all these years of troubles.

Leaching of radionuclides from furfural-based polymers used to solidify reactor compartments and components disposed of in the Arctic Kara Sea

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

HEISER,J.H.; SIVINTSEV,Y.; ALEXANDROV,V.P.

1999-09-01

Within the course of operating its nuclear navy, the former Soviet Union (FSU) disposed of reactor vessels and spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in three fjords on the east coast of Novaya Zemlya and in the open Kara Sea within the Novaya Zemlya Trough during the period 1965 to 1988. The dumping consisted of 16 reactors, six of which contained SNF and one special container that held ca. 60% of the damaged SNF and the screening assembly from the No. 2 reactor of the atomic icebreaker Lenin. At the time, the FSU considered dumping of decommissioned nuclear submarines with damaged coresmore » in the bays of and near by the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic Kara Sea to be acceptable. To provide an additional level of safety, a group of Russian scientists embarked upon a course of research to develop a solidification agent that would provide an ecologically safe barrier. The barrier material would prevent direct contact of seawater with the SNF and the resultant leaching and release of radionuclides. The solidification agent was to be introduced by flooding the reactors vessels and inner cavities. Once introduced the agent would harden and form an impermeable barrier. This report describes the sample preparation of several ``Furfurol'' compositions and their leach testing using cesium 137 as tracer.« less

Prevalence and correlates of intimate partner violence by type and severity: population-based studies in Azerbaijan, Moldova, and Ukraine.

PubMed

Ismayilova, Leyla; El-Bassel, Nabila

2013-08-01

The article estimates the prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of intimate partner violence (IPV) by type and severity in population-based samples from three countries of the former Soviet Union (fSU). The article utilized nationally representative data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) conducted in Azerbaijan (2006), Moldova (2005), and Ukraine (2007). Respondents were selected using stratified multistage cluster sampling. The sample included ever-married (or cohabitating) females of reproductive age (15-49 years old); weighted sample n = 3,847 in Azerbaijan, n = 4,321 in Moldova, and n = 2,355 in Ukraine. The analysis used multinomial survey logistic regression adjusting for the sampling design and sampling weights. Ten percent of ever-partnered women in Azerbaijan and Ukraine and 20% in Moldova ever experienced physical IPV (without sexual) from their most recent husband or cohabitating partner; 3% of women in Azerbaijan and Ukraine and 5% in Moldova experienced sexual IPV (with or without physical), and 2% of women in Azerbaijan, 3% in Ukraine, and 6% in Moldova experienced violence resulting in severe physical injuries from their most recent partner. In all three countries physical, sexual, and injurious IPV was higher among formerly married women. Compared to women with above secondary education, women with secondary education or below demonstrated higher risk for physical IPV (in Moldova and Ukraine), sexual IPV in Moldova, and injurious IPV in all three countries. Poor socioeconomic status-as indicated by low household wealth status in Azerbaijan and partner's unemployment in Moldova and Ukraine-was significantly associated with higher risk for physical and injurious IPV. In Moldova and Ukraine partners' low level of education was associated with higher risk for sexual IPV. The article demonstrates that experiences and factors associated with IPV are diverse and context specific. The findings may be helpful in targeting interventions to sociodemographic groups disproportionately affected by IPV in these three transitional countries.

Measurement and simulation of ionic current as a means of quantifying effects of therapeutic millimeter wave radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slovinsky, William Stanley

A "millimeter wave" (MMW) is an electromagnetic oscillation with a wavelength between 1 and 10 mm, and a corresponding frequency of 30 to 300 GHz. In the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation, this band falls above the frequencies of radio waves and microwaves, and below that of infrared radiation. Since the 1950s, frequencies in this regime have been used for short range communications and beginning in the 1970s, a form of therapy known as "millimeter wave therapy" (MWT) , or microwave resonance therapy, in some publications. This form of therapy has been widely used in the republics of the former Soviet Union (FSU). As of 1995, it is estimated that more than one thousand medical centers in the FSU have performed MWT and more than three million patients have received this method of treatment. Despite the abundant use of this form of medicine, very little is known about the mechanisms by which it works. Early accounts of use are limited to Soviet government documents, largely unavailable to the scientific public, and limited translations and oral accounts from FSU scientists and literature reviews . This anecdotal body of evidence lacks the scrutiny of peer-reviewed journal publications. In order to gain more widespread acceptance in Western medicine, the pathway through which this regime of the electromagnetic radiation spectrum affects the human body must be rigorously mapped and quantified. Despite the anecdotal nature of a large portion of the existing research on biological MMW effects, a common link is the idea of an interaction occurring at the skin level, which is transduced into a signal used at a remote location in the body. This study explores a possible mechanism for the generation of this signal. The effects of therapeutic frequency MMW on the ionic currents through two different types of ion transport channels were studied, and the results are discussed with emphasis on how they relate to possible changes in nerve signals used by the body for communication between tissues in remote locations.

Overview of HIV molecular epidemiology among People who Inject Drugs in Europe and Asia

PubMed Central

Nikolopoulos, Georgios K.; Kostaki, Evangelia-Georgia; Paraskevis, Dimitrios

2016-01-01

HIV strains continuously evolve, tend to recombine and new circulating variants are being discovered. Novel strains complicate efforts to develop a vaccine against HIV and may exhibit higher transmission efficiency and virulence, and elevated resistance to antiretroviral agents. The United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) set an ambitious goal to end HIV as a public health threat by 2030 through comprehensive strategies that include epidemiological input as the first step of the process. In this context, molecular epidemiology becomes invaluable as it captures trends in HIV evolution rates that shape epidemiological pictures across several geographical areas. This review briefly summarizes the molecular epidemiology of HIV among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Europe and Asia. Following high transmission rates of subtype G and CRF14_BG among PWID in Portugal and Spain, two European countries, Greece and Romania, experienced recent HIV outbreaks in PWID that consisted of multiple transmission clusters including subtypes B, A, F1 and recombinants CRF14_BG and CRF35_AD. The latter was first identified in Afghanistan. Russia, Ukraine and other Former Soviet Union (FSU) states are still facing the devastating effects of epidemics in PWID produced by AFSU (also known as IDU-A), BFSU (known as IDU-B), and CRF03_AB. In Asia, CRF01_AE and subtype B (Western B and Thai B) travelled from PWID in Thailand to neighboring countries. Recombination hotspots in South China, Northern Myanmar, and Malaysia have been generating several intersubtype and inter-CRF recombinants (e.g. CRF07_BC, CRF08_BC, CRF33_01B etc.) increasing the complexity of HIV molecular patterns. PMID:27287560

Playing to Win

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stuart, Reginald

2012-01-01

When academic leaders across the nation talk informally about institutions noted for innovative academic programs and securing choice internships and jobs for students and faculty, Fayetteville State University (FSU) in North Carolina isn't on the radar. With a new, evolving focus on cybersecurity and disaster management, FSU, a historically Black…

Does reimportation reduce price differences for prescription drugs? Lessons from the European Union.

PubMed

Kyle, Margaret K; Allsbrook, Jennifer S; Schulman, Kevin A

2008-08-01

To examine the effect of parallel trade on patterns of price dispersion for prescription drugs in the European Union. Longitudinal data from an IMS Midas database of prices and units sold for drugs in 36 categories in 30 countries from 1993 through 2004. The main outcome measures were mean price differentials and other measures of price dispersion within European Union countries compared with within non-European Union countries. We identified drugs subject to parallel trade using information provided by IMS and by checking membership lists of parallel import trade associations and lists of approved parallel imports. Parallel trade was not associated with substantial reductions in price dispersion in European Union countries. In descriptive and regression analyses, about half of the price differentials exceeded 50 percent in both European Union and non-European Union countries over time, and price distributions among European Union countries did not show a dramatic change concurrent with the adoption of parallel trade. In regression analysis, we found that although price differentials decreased after 1995 in most countries, they decreased less in the European Union than elsewhere. Parallel trade for prescription drugs does not automatically reduce international price differences. Future research should explore how other regulatory schemes might lead to different results elsewhere.

Fine Print, Restrictive Grants, and Academic Freedom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Kent S.; Bellamy, Ray

2012-01-01

When the representatives of the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation came to Tallahassee in 2007 with checkbook in hand, they had every reason to expect a warm reception from Florida State University (FSU). Florida, along with much of the nation, was busy transferring money from higher education to prisons, and FSU was hurting. The foundation…

Does Reimportation Reduce Price Differences for Prescription Drugs? Lessons from the European Union

PubMed Central

Kyle, Margaret K; Allsbrook, Jennifer S; Schulman, Kevin A

2008-01-01

Objective To examine the effect of parallel trade on patterns of price dispersion for prescription drugs in the European Union. Data Sources Longitudinal data from an IMS Midas database of prices and units sold for drugs in 36 categories in 30 countries from 1993 through 2004. Study Design The main outcome measures were mean price differentials and other measures of price dispersion within European Union countries compared with within non-European Union countries. Data Collection/Extraction Methods We identified drugs subject to parallel trade using information provided by IMS and by checking membership lists of parallel import trade associations and lists of approved parallel imports. Principal Findings Parallel trade was not associated with substantial reductions in price dispersion in European Union countries. In descriptive and regression analyses, about half of the price differentials exceeded 50 percent in both European Union and non-European Union countries over time, and price distributions among European Union countries did not show a dramatic change concurrent with the adoption of parallel trade. In regression analysis, we found that although price differentials decreased after 1995 in most countries, they decreased less in the European Union than elsewhere. Conclusions Parallel trade for prescription drugs does not automatically reduce international price differences. Future research should explore how other regulatory schemes might lead to different results elsewhere. PMID:18355258

Fighting Back: The Fate of the State in Florida

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jumonville, Neil

2009-01-01

Florida has been one of the states hit hardest by the recent financial crisis. Since 2007, Florida State University (FSU) administration says, the university's budget has been cut by over $38 million. The state budget approved by the legislature on May 8, 2009, requires FSU to make another cut of more than $43 million from the institution's…

Modeling the potential radionuclide transport by the Ob and Yenisey Rivers to the Kara Sea.

PubMed

Paluszkiewicz, T; Hibler, L F; Richmond, M C; Bradley, D J; Thomas, S A

2001-01-01

A major portion of the former Soviet Union (FSU) nuclear program is located in the West Siberian Basin. Among the many nuclear facilities are three production reactors and the spent nuclear fuel reprocessing sites, Mayak, Tomsk-7, and Krasnoyarsk-26, which together are probably responsible for the majority of the radioactive contamination found in the Ob and Yenisey River systems that feed into the Arctic Ocean through the Kara Sea. This manuscript describes ongoing research to estimate radionuclide fluxes to the Kara Sea from these river systems. Our approach is to apply a hierarchy of simple models that use existing and forthcoming data to quantify the transport and fate of radionuclide contaminants via various environmental pathways. We present an initial quantification of the contaminant inventory, hydrology, meteorology, and sedimentology of the Ob River system and preliminary conclusions from portions of the Ob River model.

Fruit and vegetable consumption and mortality in Eastern Europe: Longitudinal results from the Health, Alcohol and Psychosocial Factors in Eastern Europe study.

PubMed

Stefler, Denes; Pikhart, Hynek; Kubinova, Ruzena; Pajak, Andrzej; Stepaniak, Urszula; Malyutina, Sofia; Simonova, Galina; Peasey, Anne; Marmot, Michael G; Bobak, Martin

2016-03-01

It is estimated that disease burden due to low fruit and vegetable consumption is higher in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the former Soviet Union (FSU) than any other parts of the world. However, no large scale studies have investigated the association between fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake and mortality in these regions yet. The Health, Alcohol and Psychosocial Factors in Eastern Europe (HAPIEE) study is a prospective cohort study with participants recruited from the Czech Republic, Poland and Russia. Dietary data was collected using food frequency questionnaire. Mortality data was ascertained through linkage with death registers. Multivariable adjusted hazard ratios were calculated by Cox regression models. Among 19,333 disease-free participants at baseline, 1314 died over the mean follow-up of 7.1 years. After multivariable adjustment, we found statistically significant inverse association between cohort-specific quartiles of F&V intake and stroke mortality: the highest vs lowest quartile hazard ratio (HR) was 0.52 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.28-0.98). For total mortality, significant interaction (p = 0.008) between F&V intake and smoking was found. The associations were statistically significant in smokers, with HR 0.70 (0.53-0.91, p for trend: 0.011) for total mortality, and 0.62 (0.40-0.97, p for trend: 0.037) for cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. The association was appeared to be mediated by blood pressure, and F&V intake explained a considerable proportion of the mortality differences between the Czech and Russian cohorts. Our results suggest that increasing F&V intake may reduce CVD mortality in CEE and FSU, particularly among smokers and hypertensive individuals. © The European Society of Cardiology 2015.

[WELL-CHILD VISITS REGARDING GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF INFANTS: A CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON].

PubMed

Shraga, Yana; Sarid, Orly; Cwikel, Julie; Reuveni, Haim

2016-07-01

1. To examine the rate of WCV among mothers in four ethno-cultural groups: native-born Jewish, Bedouin and immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) and Ethiopia; 2. to test the relationship between WCV in the first and second year of the infant's life; 3. to assess the effect of sociodemographic variables on WCV. Consistent infant well-child visits (WCV) have been found to be related to better health status and a decrease in visits to the emergency room and hospitalizations. The data were collected in the Beer Sheva district among community-dwelling women in the years 2010-2012. The quota sample comprised of 400 mothers: 100 from each group. The inclusion criteria were: age (18-35 years old), either first or second child, or age of the youngest child between 18- 24 months. Immigrant mothers lived in Israel for at least 10 years. The monitoring of WCV was evaluated according to the registered number of visits in the well-baby clinic registration card. Mothers from all groups completed fewer WCV than the recommended number. The highest rate of visits was observed among the immigrants from the FSU, and the lowest rate among the Bedouin mothers (p<.001). Mothers of higher economic status had a higher rate of WCV (b = 0.38, p < 0.001). The rate of WCV in the second year was a function of the rate of WCV in the first year (b = 0.51, p < 0.001). Medical personnel treating infants should address the ethno-cultural and economic background of mothers. It is important to give mothers information about preventive medicine at an early stage in the infant's life and to encourage mothers in general and Bedouin mothers in particular to comply with recommendations regarding WCV.

The invisible hand: how British American Tobacco precluded competition in Uzbekistan

PubMed Central

Gilmore, Anna B; McKee, Martin; Collin, Jeff

2007-01-01

Background Tobacco industry documents provide a unique opportunity to explore the role transnational corporations (TNCs) played in shaping the poor outcomes of privatisation in the former Soviet Union (FSU). This paper examines British American Tobacco's (BAT's) business conduct in Uzbekistan where large‐scale smuggling of BAT's cigarettes, BAT's reversal of tobacco control legislation and its human rights abuses of tobacco farmers have been documented previously. This paper focuses, instead, on BAT's attitude to competition, compares BAT's conduct with international standards and assesses its influence on the privatisation process. Methods Analysis of BAT documents released through litigation. Results BAT secured sole negotiator status precluding the Uzbekistan government from initiating discussions with other parties. Recognising that a competitive tender would greatly increase the cost of investment, BAT went to great lengths to avoid one, ultimately securing President Karimov's support and negotiating a monopoly position in a closed deal. It simultaneously secured exclusion from the monopolies committee, ensuring freedom to set prices, on the basis of a spurious argument that competition would exist from imports. Other anticompetitive moves comprised including all three plants in the deal despite intending to close down two, exclusive dealing and implementing measures designed to prevent market entry by competitors. BAT also secured a large number of exemptions and privileges that further reduced the government's revenue both on a one‐off and ongoing basis. Conclusions BAT's corporate misbehaviour included a wide number of anticompetitive practices, contravened Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development's and BAT's own business standards on competition and restricted revenue arising from privatisation. This suggests that TNCs have contributed to the failure of privatisation in the FSU. Conducting open tenders and using enforceable codes to regulate corporate conduct would help deal with some of the problems identified. PMID:17652239

Risk of sexually transmitted infections and violence among indoor-working female sex workers in London: the effect of migration from Eastern Europe.

PubMed

Platt, Lucy; Grenfell, Pippa; Bonell, Chris; Creighton, Sarah; Wellings, Kaye; Parry, John; Rhodes, Tim

2011-08-01

To examine risk factors associated with HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and experience of physical and sexual violence among sex workers in London, with a particular focus on differences in risk between migrants from Eastern Europe (EE) or the Former Soviet Union (FSU) and UK-born sex workers. The authors conducted a cross-sectional survey of sex workers born in the UK, EE or FSU (n = 268), collecting behavioural data, testing for antibodies to HIV and Treponema pallidum, and testing for infection with Chlamydia trachomatis or Neisseria gonorrhoea. Migrants were younger, saw more clients, and were less likely to use contraception; few reported being coerced into sex work. Overall, prevalence of HIV was 1.1% (95% CI -0.1% to 2.4%), prevalence of syphilis was 2.2% (95% CI 0.4 to 4.0%), and prevalence of infection with chlamydia or gonorrhoea was 6.4% (95% CI 3.2% to 9.6%). Risk factors associated with any infection included having no contact with an outreach worker, age, and having a non-paying sex partner. Increased risk of physical violence from clients was associated with a history of imprisonment or arrest and having a non-paying sex partner. Findings suggest an association between outreach services and reduced risk of STIs and between having non-paying partners and increased risk of STIs. Findings also suggest an association between enforcement policies, such as arrest or imprisonment, and drug use and increased risk of physical violence. Interventions are needed to expand outreach, improve uptake of contraceptives for migrants, and reduce levels of violence for all women.

Moving East: how the transnational tobacco industry gained entry to the emerging markets of the former Soviet Union—part II: an overview of priorities and tactics used to establish a manufacturing presence

PubMed Central

Gilmore, A; McKee, M

2004-01-01

Objectives: To explore how British American Tobacco (BAT), having established cigarette imports, responded to the opportunities for investment in cigarette manufacturing in the former Soviet Union (FSU). Design: Analysis of documents held at the BAT archive in Guildford, UK. Results: Considerable priority was attached to investing in the FSU. This led BAT to undertake a major organisational change and to intense competition to acquire assets. BAT used flawed economic arguments to persuade cash starved governments that its investment would reap economic rewards. It offered excise advice that disadvantaged governments while benefiting BAT, confused issues over pricing, and avoided competitive tendering. BAT targeted agriculture ministries, using its expertise in leaf production to differentiate itself from other potential investors. It subverted the principles of corporate social responsibility to promote itself as a business partner. BAT's task was made easier by the naivety of post-Soviet governments and by the international financial organisations' support for rapid economic reform. The latter permitted tobacco transnationals to penetrate markets before effective competitive tendering processes had been established, giving them the opportunity to minimise prices and establish monopolies. Conclusions: Many of the arguments employed when penetrating post-Soviet markets were highly misleading but governments lacked expertise to realise this. There is a need to build tobacco control capacity in transition economies, within and outside government, to ensure that governments are better informed of the true economic and health impacts of tobacco. Rapid transition from socialist to market economies without establishing regulatory institutional structures may be dangerous when investing companies use business practices that fall short of international standards. PMID:15175532

A Population-Structured HIV Epidemic in Israel: Roles of Risk and Ethnicity

PubMed Central

Grossman, Zehava; Avidor, Boaz; Mor, Zohar; Chowers, Michal; Levy, Itzchak; Shahar, Eduardo; Riesenberg, Klaris; Sthoeger, Zev; Maayan, Shlomo; Shao, Wei; Lorber, Margalit; Olstein-Pops, Karen; Elbirt, Daniel; Elinav, Hila; Asher, Ilan; Averbuch, Diana; Istomin, Valery; Gottesman, Bat Sheva; Kedem, Eynat; Girshengorn, Shirley; Kra-Oz, Zipi; Shemer Avni, Yonat; Radian Sade, Sara; Turner, Dan; Maldarelli, Frank

2015-01-01

Background HIV in Israel started with a subtype-B epidemic among men who have sex with men, followed in the 1980s and 1990s by introductions of subtype C from Ethiopia (predominantly acquired by heterosexual transmission) and subtype A from the former Soviet Union (FSU, most often acquired by intravenous drug use). The epidemic matured over the last 15 years without additional large influx of exogenous infections. Between 2005 and 2013 the number of infected men who have sex with men (MSM) increased 2.9-fold, compared to 1.6-fold and 1.3-fold for intravenous drug users (IVDU) and Ethiopian-origin residents. Understanding contemporary spread is essential for effective public health planning. Methods We analyzed demographic and virologic data from 1,427 HIV-infected individuals diagnosed with HIV-I during 1998–2012. HIV phylogenies were reconstructed with maximum-likelihood and Bayesian methods. Results Subtype-B viruses, but not A or C, demonstrated a striking number of large clusters with common ancestors having posterior probability ≥0.95, including some suggesting presence of transmission networks. Transmitted drug resistance was highest in subtype B (13%). MSM represented a frequent risk factor in cross-ethnic transmission, demonstrated by the presence of Israeli-born with non-B virus infections and FSU immigrants with non-A subtypes. Conclusions Reconstructed phylogenetic trees demonstrated substantial grouping in subtype B, but not in non-MSM subtype-A or in subtype-C, reflecting differences in transmission dynamics linked to HIV transmission categories. Cross-ethnic spread occurred through multiple independent introductions, with MSM playing a prevalent role in the transmission of the virus. Such data provide a baseline to track epidemic trends and will be useful in informing and quantifying efforts to reduce HIV transmission. PMID:26302493

Content Analysis of the Practicum Course in the Master of Science in Educational Leadership/Administration Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Norman, Scott W.

2013-01-01

In this study, I explored the overall efficacy of the Master of Science in Educational Leadership/ Administration (MSEL/A) program at Florida State University (FSU), by taking a closer look at the introductory course, Practicum in Educational Leadership (the Practicum), as well as the final assessment, the student e-portfolio. The MSEL/A at FSU is…

Do Postoperative Biomechanical Changes Induce Heterotopic Ossification After Cervical Arthroplasty?: A 5-Year Follow-up Study.

PubMed

Kim, Keun Su; Heo, Dong Hwa

2016-07-01

Prospective clinical study. To evaluate the factors that would predispose a patient to heterotopic ossification (HO) formation after cervical arthroplasty. HO after arthroplasty is one of the complications of cervical total disk replacement (TDR). However, the predisposing factors and pathophysiology of HO have not been precisely described. We prospectively enrolled and followed up 23 patients, who received single-level arthroplasty with ProDisc-C, for 5 years after the operation. The patients who developed grade 3 or 4 HO were classified into the "high-grade HO group," whereas the patients with grade 0, 1, or 2 HO were classified into the "low-grade HO group." We compared the postoperative changes in the range of motion (ROM) and height of the functional segmental unit (FSU) of the implantation segments between the 2 groups. The mean differences in height and ROM of the FSU were 2.59±1.42 mm and 6.7±3.2 degrees in the high-grade HO group, and 0.87±0.72 mm and 3.1±2.8 degrees in the low-grade HO group. The mean differences in height and ROM of the FSU were significantly higher in the high-grade HO group than in the low-grade HO group (P<0.05). After cervical arthroplasty, the height of the FSU and ROM of the implantation segments were significantly increased in the high-grade HO group compared with the low-grade HO group. Overcorrection of the height of the FSU and increase in the ROM of the implantation segment may influence the formation of HOs after cervical arthroplasty.

Suicide and external mortality pattern in a cohort of migrants from the former Soviet Union to Germany.

PubMed

Deckert, Andreas; Winkler, Volker; Meisinger, Christa; Heier, Margit; Becher, Heiko

2015-04-01

Mental health consequences of migration are manifold. Where some migrants experience migration as liberation from life threatening conditions, others suffer from hostility and social descent in the target country. This study investigates deaths due to external causes, suicides, and events of undetermined intent in German repatriates from the Former Soviet Union. The relation between age at migration and suicide mortality is also explored. A cohort of German repatriates who migrated between 1990 and 1999 was followed-up until 2010. Each individual accumulated time at risk, expressed in person years (PY). Standardized mortality ratios (SMR) were calculated, supplemented by subgroup analyses for age and calendar year strata, and immigration period. Multivariate Poisson models were used to investigate the influence of age, sex, calendar year, number of moves, and final move distance. A total of 6378 German repatriates (3031 men, 3347 women) accumulated 92,149 PY. Median age at immigration was 30 years in women and 27 years in men. Women's all-cause mortality was significantly lower (SMR = 0.85 [0.75; 0.97]). Men more often died from external causes (SMR = 1.58 [1.09; 2.23]), intentional self-harm (SMR = 1.68 [0.90; 2.88]), and events of undetermined intent such as poisoning by drugs (SMR = 8.07 [4.02; 14.44]). External cause mortality was significantly increased after 1995 (SMR = 1.87). In particular, men who migrated when they were 11-20 years old were at strongly increased risk of committing suicide (SMR = 3.84) or dying due to events of undetermined intent (SMR = 14.75). The most endangered subgroup is men who migrated at teenage age. Protective factors such as strong family bounds formerly present in the FSU failed in Germany, the higher population density caused intense friction. The changes in the families' ethnical composition from mostly ethnic German members in the early 90s' towards predominantly Russian members around the turn of the millennium complicated integration. Setting-oriented prevention measures should consider the families' migration history, their link to culture and religion, and the different concepts of mental health. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of a new academic digital library: a study of usage data of a core medical electronic journal collection

PubMed Central

Shearer, Barbara S.; Klatt, Carolyn; Nagy, Suzanne P.

2009-01-01

Objectives: The current study evaluates the results of a previously reported method for creating a core medical electronic journal collection for a new medical school library, validates the core collection created specifically to meet the needs of the new school, and identifies strategies for making cost-effective e-journal selection decisions. Methods: Usage data were extracted for four e-journal packages (Blackwell-Synergy, Cell Press, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, and ScienceDirect). Usage was correlated with weighted point values assigned to a core list of journal titles, and each package was evaluated for relevancy and cost-effectiveness to the Florida State University College of Medicine (FSU COM) population. Results: The results indicated that the development of the core list was a valid method for creating a new twenty-first century, community-based medical school library. Thirty-seven journals are identified for addition to the FSU COM core list based on use by the COM, and areas of overlapping research interests between the university and the COM are identified based on use of specific journals by each population. Conclusions: The collection development approach that evolved at the FSU COM library was useful during the initial stages of identifying and evaluating journal selections and in assessing the relative value of a particular journal package for the FSU COM after the school was established. PMID:19404499

Development of a new academic digital library: a study of usage data of a core medical electronic journal collection.

PubMed

Shearer, Barbara S; Klatt, Carolyn; Nagy, Suzanne P

2009-04-01

The current study evaluates the results of a previously reported method for creating a core medical electronic journal collection for a new medical school library, validates the core collection created specifically to meet the needs of the new school, and identifies strategies for making cost-effective e-journal selection decisions. Usage data were extracted for four e-journal packages (Blackwell-Synergy, Cell Press, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, and ScienceDirect). Usage was correlated with weighted point values assigned to a core list of journal titles, and each package was evaluated for relevancy and cost-effectiveness to the Florida State University College of Medicine (FSU COM) population. The results indicated that the development of the core list was a valid method for creating a new twenty-first century, community-based medical school library. Thirty-seven journals are identified for addition to the FSU COM core list based on use by the COM, and areas of overlapping research interests between the university and the COM are identified based on use of specific journals by each population. The collection development approach that evolved at the FSU COM library was useful during the initial stages of identifying and evaluating journal selections and in assessing the relative value of a particular journal package for the FSU COM after the school was established.

Spiraling between qualitative and quantitative data on women's health behaviors: a double helix model for mixed methods.

PubMed

Mendlinger, Sheryl; Cwikel, Julie

2008-02-01

A double helix spiral model is presented which demonstrates how to combine qualitative and quantitative methods of inquiry in an interactive fashion over time. Using findings on women's health behaviors (e.g., menstruation, breast-feeding, coping strategies), we show how qualitative and quantitative methods highlight the theory of knowledge acquisition in women's health decisions. A rich data set of 48 semistructured, in-depth ethnographic interviews with mother-daughter dyads from six ethnic groups (Israeli, European, North African, Former Soviet Union [FSU], American/Canadian, and Ethiopian), plus seven focus groups, provided the qualitative sources for analysis. This data set formed the basis of research questions used in a quantitative telephone survey of 302 Israeli women from the ages of 25 to 42 from four ethnic groups. We employed multiple cycles of data analysis from both data sets to produce a more detailed and multidimensional picture of women's health behavior decisions through a spiraling process.

Industry Perspective of Pediatric Drug Development in the United States: Involvement of the European Union Countries.

PubMed

Onishi, Taku; Tsukamoto, Katsura; Matsumaru, Naoki; Waki, Takashi

2018-01-01

Efforts to promote the development of pediatric pharmacotherapy include regulatory frameworks and close collaboration between the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency. We characterized the current status of pediatric clinical trials conducted in the United States by the pharmaceutical industry, focusing on the involvement of the European Union member countries, to clarify the industry perspective. Data on US pediatric clinical trials were obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov . Binary regression analysis was performed to identify what factors influence the likelihood of involvement of European Union countries. A total of 633 US pediatric clinical trials that met inclusion criteria were extracted and surveyed. Of these, 206 (32.5%) involved a European Union country site(s). The results of binary regression analysis indicated that attribution of industry, phase, disease area, and age of pediatric participants influenced the likelihood of the involvement of European Union countries in US pediatric clinical trials. Relatively complicated or large pediatric clinical trials, such as phase II and III trials and those that included a broad age range of participants, had a significantly greater likelihood of the involvement of European Union countries ( P < .05). Our results suggest that (1) the pharmaceutical industry utilizes regulatory frameworks in making business decisions regarding pediatric clinical trials, (2) disease area affects the involvement of European Union countries, and (3) feasibility of clinical trials is mainly concerned by pharmaceutical industry for pediatric drug development. Additional incentives for high marketability may further motivate pharmaceutical industry to develop pediatric drugs.

Comparative Analysis between Total Disc Replacement and Posterior Foraminotomy for Posterolateral Soft Disc Herniation with Unilateral Radiculopathy : Clinical and Biomechanical Results of a Minimum 5 Years Follow-up

PubMed Central

Kim, Kyoung-Tae; Cho, Dae-Chul; Sung, Joo-Kyung; Kim, Young-Baeg; Kim, Du Hwan

2017-01-01

Objective To compare the clinical outcomes and biomechanical effects of total disc replacement (TDR) and posterior cervical foraminotomy (PCF) and to propose relative inclusion criteria. Methods Thirty-five patients who underwent surgery between 2006 and 2008 were included. All patients had single-level disease and only radiculopathy. The overall sagittal balance and angle and height of a functional segmental unit (FSU; upper and lower vertebral body of the operative lesion) were assessed by preoperative and follow-up radiographs. C2–7 range of motion (ROM), FSU, and the adjacent segment were also checked. Results The clinical outcome of TDR (group A) was tended to be superior to that of PCF (group B) without statistical significance. In the group A, preoperative and postoperative upper adjacent segment level motion values were 8.6±2.3 and 8.4±2.0, and lower level motion values were 8.4±2.2 and 8.3±1.9. Preoperative and postoperative FSU heights were 37.0±2.1 and 37.1±1.8. In the group B, upper level adjacent segment motion values were 8.1±2.6 and 8.2±2.8, and lower level motion values were 6.5±3.3 and 6.3±3.1. FSU heights were 37.1±2.0 and 36.2±1.8. The postoperative FSU motion and height changes were significant (p<0.05). The patient’s satisfaction rates for surgery were 88.2% in group A and 88.8% in group B. Conclusion TDR and PCF have favorable outcomes in patients with unilateral soft disc herniation. However, patients have different biomechanical backgrounds, so the patient’s biomechanical characteristics and economic status should be understood and treated using the optimal procedure. PMID:28061490

Comparison of Tarim and central Asian FSU basins, I: Phanerozoic paleogeography

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Heubeck, C.; Shangyou N.

1996-01-01

Large amounts of previously unpublished data on the petroleum geology of the FSU's Central Asian Republics and of China's Tarim region have found their way into the western public domain in the past few years. These data provide for the first time the opportunity to merge detailed stratigraphic, tectonic, and paleogeographic studies done during the past decades on both sides of the FSU-Chinese border and to place the results in a plate-tectonic and palinspastically restored reference frame. Major tectonic events affecting the active post-Silurian south-facing margin of Asia between the Caspian Sea and Tarim include (1) the collapse of themore » Kazakhstan arc fragments (ca. 400-300 Ma); (2) collision of YiIi with Tarim (ca. 375 Ma); (3) consolidation of the Turan Platform from pre-existing basement blocks (ca. 280-220 Ma), (4) collision of Tarim/Yili with the Kazakhstan arcs (ca. 260 Ma); (5) stabilization of a south-facing Triassic active margin (ca. 250 - 200 Ma); (6) accretion of Cimmeria (ca. 200 Ma) and associated reactivation events in Turan, Syr-Darja, and Tarim; (7) reactivation and modification of intracontinental structures during the collision of central Asia with India (ca. 55 Ma to present) and with the Arabian platform (ca. 25 Ma). Periodic large-scale flooding of denuded continental platforms (Turan, Tadjik) during sea-level highstands is recorded in the Jurassic, Mid-Late Cretaceous, and the Early Tertiary, resulting in extensive tracts of restricted marine sedimentary systems and marine incursions deep into central Asia (SW Tarim, Kuche Depression, Fergana, Turgay). Mesozoic-Cenozoic source rocks are sensitive to rapid lateral facies changes, and understanding their distribution requires detailed stratigraphic analysis. The attempted synthesis of data from China and the FSU with plate-tectonic concepts allows the transfer and testing of play concepts and hydrocarbons systems across the FSU-Chinese border.« less

Comparison of Tarim and central Asian FSU basins, I: Phanerozoic paleogeography

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Heubeck, C.; Shangyou N.

1996-12-31

Large amounts of previously unpublished data on the petroleum geology of the FSU`s Central Asian Republics and of China`s Tarim region have found their way into the western public domain in the past few years. These data provide for the first time the opportunity to merge detailed stratigraphic, tectonic, and paleogeographic studies done during the past decades on both sides of the FSU-Chinese border and to place the results in a plate-tectonic and palinspastically restored reference frame. Major tectonic events affecting the active post-Silurian south-facing margin of Asia between the Caspian Sea and Tarim include (1) the collapse of themore » Kazakhstan arc fragments (ca. 400-300 Ma); (2) collision of YiIi with Tarim (ca. 375 Ma); (3) consolidation of the Turan Platform from pre-existing basement blocks (ca. 280-220 Ma), (4) collision of Tarim/Yili with the Kazakhstan arcs (ca. 260 Ma); (5) stabilization of a south-facing Triassic active margin (ca. 250 - 200 Ma); (6) accretion of Cimmeria (ca. 200 Ma) and associated reactivation events in Turan, Syr-Darja, and Tarim; (7) reactivation and modification of intracontinental structures during the collision of central Asia with India (ca. 55 Ma to present) and with the Arabian platform (ca. 25 Ma). Periodic large-scale flooding of denuded continental platforms (Turan, Tadjik) during sea-level highstands is recorded in the Jurassic, Mid-Late Cretaceous, and the Early Tertiary, resulting in extensive tracts of restricted marine sedimentary systems and marine incursions deep into central Asia (SW Tarim, Kuche Depression, Fergana, Turgay). Mesozoic-Cenozoic source rocks are sensitive to rapid lateral facies changes, and understanding their distribution requires detailed stratigraphic analysis. The attempted synthesis of data from China and the FSU with plate-tectonic concepts allows the transfer and testing of play concepts and hydrocarbons systems across the FSU-Chinese border.« less

Dissolution of first unions in Colombia, Panama, and Peru.

PubMed

Goldman, N

1981-11-01

An analysis of marital histories from World Fertility Survey data in Colombia, Panama, and Peru indicates a high level of union dissolution: the probabilities of a first union ending by separation within twenty years of the onset of union equal .27, .40, and .18 in the three countries respectively. Dissolution probabilities are especially high among women with young ages at first union and among women residing in urban areas. For all subgroups studied, consensual unions are characterized by several times the risk of separation of legal marriages. Consensual unions are especially frequent among women in rural areas, women with little education and women who enter unions at young ages. The different prevalence of consensual unions among the different subgroups affects the associations between union stability and various correlates so that it becomes essential to investigate the factors affecting union stability for both consensual unions and legal marriages. In spite of high dissolution rates, remarriage rates in all three countries are also high, as are the percentages of time spent in a union. Hence, the potential effects of voluntary disruption of unions on fertility appear to be modest.

The Effect of Union Type on Work-Life Conflict in Five European Countries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kasearu, Kairi

2009-01-01

This paper explores the strategies for reconciling family and work in different union types. The focus here is on investigating how cohabiting and married individuals perceive the work-life conflict in different European countries. To test the union type impact on work-life balance in the context of different societal conditions, this paper draws…

Safety system augmentation at Russian nuclear power plants

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Scerbo, J.A.; Satpute, S.N.; Donkin, J.Y.

1996-12-31

This paper describes the design and procurement of a Class IE DC power supply system to upgrade plant safety at the Kola Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). Kola NPP is located above the Arctic circle at Polyarnie Zorie, Murmansk, Russia. Kola NPP consists of four units. Units 1 and 2 have VVER-440/230 type reactors: Units 3 and 4 have VVER-440/213 type reactors. The VVER-440 reactor design is similar to the pressurized water reactor design used in the US. This project provided redundant, Class 1E DC station batteries and DC switchboards for Kola NPP, Units 1 and 2. The new DC powermore » supply system was designed and procured in compliance with current nuclear design practices and requirements. Technical issues that needed to be addressed included reconciling the requirements in both US and Russian codes and satisfying the requirements of the Russian nuclear regulatory authority. Close interface with ATOMENERGOPROEKT (AEP), the Russian design organization, KOLA NPP plant personnel, and GOSATOMNADZOR (GAN), the Russian version of US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, was necessary to develop a design that would assure compliance with current Russian design requirements. Hence, this project was expected to serve as an example for plant upgrades at other similar VVER-440 nuclear plants. In addition to technical issues, the project needed to address language barriers and the logistics of shipping equipment to a remote section of the Former Soviet Union (FSU). This project was executed by Burns and Roe under the sponsorship of the US DOE as part of the International Safety Program (INSP). The INSP is a comprehensive effort, in cooperation with partners in other countries, to improve nuclear safety worldwide. A major element within the INSP is the improvement of the safety of Soviet-designed nuclear reactors.« less

Insertion, Validation, and Application of Barotropic and Baroclinic Tides in 1/12 and 1/25 Degree Global HYCOM

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-30

since 2006 with Florida State University (FSU) and the Stennis Space Center branch of the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) . NRL and FSU have a long...begun with Naval Research Laboratory contract N000173-06-2-C003, and reported on in Arbic et al. (2010). OBJECTIVES The partnership is utilizing...of Naval Research (ONR) grant (John Goff and Brian Arbic, N00014- 07-1-0792 and N00014-09-1-1003, “Effects of small-scale bathymetric roughness on the

Municipal solid waste development phases: Evidence from EU27.

PubMed

Vujić, Goran; Gonzalez-Roof, Alvaro; Stanisavljević, Nemanja; Ragossnig, Arne M

2015-12-01

Many countries in the European Union (EU) have very developed waste management systems. Some of its members have managed to reduce their landfilled waste to values close to zero during the last decade. Thus, European Union legislation is very stringent regarding waste management for their members and candidate countries, too. This raises the following questions: Is it possible for developing and developed countries to comply with the European Union waste legislation, and under what conditions? How did waste management develop in relation to the economic development in the countries of the European Union? The correlation between waste management practices and economic development was analysed for 27 of the European Union Member States for the time period between 1995 and 2007. In addition, a regression analysis was performed to estimate landfilling of waste in relation to gross domestic product for every country. The results showed a strong correlation between the waste management variables and the gross domestic product of the EU27 members. The definition of the municipal solid waste management development phases followed a closer analysis of the relation between gross domestic product and landfilled waste. The municipal solid waste management phases are characterised by high landfilling rates at low gross domestic product levels, and landfilling rates near zero at high gross domestic product levels. Hence the results emphasize the importance of wider understanding of what is required for developing countries to comply with the European Union initiatives, and highlight the importance of allowing developing countries to make their own paths of waste management development. © The Author(s) 2015.

Testing no-scale supergravity with the Fermi Space Telescope LAT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Tianjun; Maxin, James A.; Nanopoulos, Dimitri V.; Walker, Joel W.

2014-05-01

We describe a methodology for testing no-scale supergravity by the LAT instrument onboard the Fermi Space Telescope via observation of gamma ray emissions from lightest supersymmetric (SUSY) neutralino annihilations. For our test vehicle we engage the framework of the SUSY grand unified model no-scale flipped SU(5) with extra vector-like flippon multiplets derived from F-theory, known as { F}-SU(5). We show that through compression of the light stau and light bino neutralino mass difference, where internal bremsstrahlung photons give a dominant contribution, the photon yield from annihilation of SUSY dark matter can be elevated to a number of events potentially observable by the Fermi-LAT in the coming years. Likewise, the increased yield in no-scale { F}-SU(5) may also have rendered the existing observation of a 133 GeV monochromatic gamma ray line visible, if additional data should exclude systematic or statistical explanations. The question of intensity aside, no-scale { F}-SU(5) can indeed provide a natural weakly interacting massive particle candidate with a mass in the correct range to yield γγ and γZ emission lines at mχ ˜ 133 GeV and mχ ˜ 145 GeV, respectively. Additionally, we elucidate the emerging empirical connection between recent Planck satellite data and no-scale supergravity cosmological models which mimic the Starobinsky model of inflation. Together, these experiments furnish rich alternate avenues for testing no-scale { F}-SU(5), and similarly structured models, the results of which may lend independent credence to observations made at the Large Hadron Collider.

Latvia Country Analysis Brief

EIA Publications

2014-01-01

Latvia, which regained its independence from Soviet Union in 1991 and joined the European Union (EU) in 2004, is not a notable energy producer or consumer. The country produced 30 trillion British thermal units (Btus) and consumed 163 trillion Btus of total energy in 2011, which places it in the bottom five among the EU countries on both measures.

The dose response relation for rat spinal cord paralysis analyzed in terms of the effective size of the functional subunit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adamus-Górka, Magdalena; Mavroidis, Panayiotis; Brahme, Anders; Lind, Bengt K.

2008-11-01

Radiobiological models for estimating normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) are increasingly used in order to quantify or optimize the clinical outcome of radiation therapy. A good NTCP model should fulfill at least the following two requirements: (a) it should predict the sigmoid shape of the corresponding dose-response curve and (b) it should accurately describe the probability of a specified response for arbitrary non-uniform dose delivery for a given endpoint as accurately as possible, i.e. predict the volume dependence. In recent studies of the volume effect of a rat spinal cord after irradiation with narrow and broad proton beams the authors claim that none of the existing NTCP models is able to describe their results. Published experimental data have been used here to try to quantify the change in the effective dose (D50) causing 50% response for different field sizes. The present study was initiated to describe the induction of white matter necrosis in a rat spinal cord after irradiation with narrow proton beams in terms of the mean dose to the effective volume of the functional subunit (FSU). The physically delivered dose distribution was convolved with a function describing the effective size or, more accurately, the sensitivity distribution of the FSU to obtain the effective mean dose deposited in it. This procedure allows the determination of the mean D50 value of the FSUs of a certain size which is of interest for example if the cell nucleus of the oligodendrocyte is the sensitive target. Using the least-squares method to compare the effective doses for different sizes of the functional subunits with the experimental data the best fit was obtained with a length of about 9 mm. For the non-uniform dose distributions an effective FSU length of 8 mm gave the optimal fit with the probit dose-response model. The method could also be used to interpret the so-called bath and shower experiments where the heterogeneous dose delivery was used in the convolution process. The assumption of an effective FSU size is consistent with most of the effects seen when different portions of the rat spinal cord are irradiated to different doses. The effective FSU length from these experiments is about 8.5 ± 0.5 mm. This length could be interpreted as an effective size of the functional subunits in a rat spinal cord, where multiple myelin sheaths are connected by a single oligodendrocyte and repair is limited by the range of oligodendrocyte progenitor cell diffusion. It was even possible to suggest a more likely than uniform effective FSU sensitivity distribution from the experimental data.

Measurement equivalence of four psychological questionnaires in native-born Germans, Russian-speaking immigrants, and native-born Russians.

PubMed

Hirsch, Oliver; Donner-Banzhoff, Norbert; Bachmann, Viktoria

2013-07-01

Psychological constructs depend on cultural context. It is therefore important to show the equivalence of measurement instruments in cross-cultural research. There is evidence that in Russian-speaking immigrants, cultural and language issues are important in health care. We examined measurement equivalence of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15), the Hamburg Self-Care Questionnaire (HamSCQ), and the questionnaire on communication preferences of patients with chronic illness (KOPRA) in native-born Germans, Russian-speaking immigrants living in Germany, and native-born Russians living in the former Soviet Union (FSU). All four questionnaires fulfilled requirements of measurement equivalence in confirmatory factor analyses and analyses of differential item functioning. The Russian translations can be used in Russian-speaking immigrants and native-born Russians. This offers further possibilities for cross-cultural research and for an improvement in health care research in Russian-speaking immigrants in Germany. The most pronounced differences occurred in the KOPRA, which point to differences in German and Russian health care systems.

Review of Progress in Vocational Education and Training Reform of the Candidate Countries for Accession to the European Union in the Light of Developments in European Policy on Vocational Training.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

European Training Foundation, Turin (Italy).

This document reviews progress in vocational education and training (VET) reform in the candidate countries for accession to the European Union in light of developments in European policy on vocational training. The document consists of a cross-country overview and individual overviews of VET in 12 candidate countries: Bulgaria, the Czech…

Second relativistic mean field and virial equation of state for astrophysical simulations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shen, G.; Horowitz, C. J.; O'Connor, E.

2011-06-15

We generate a second equation of state (EOS) of nuclear matter for a wide range of temperatures, densities, and proton fractions for use in supernovae, neutron star mergers, and black hole formation simulations. We employ full relativistic mean field (RMF) calculations for matter at intermediate density and high density, and the virial expansion of a nonideal gas for matter at low density. For this EOS we use the RMF effective interaction FSUGold, whereas our earlier EOS was based on the RMF effective interaction NL3. The FSUGold interaction has a lower pressure at high densities compared to the NL3 interaction. Wemore » calculate the resulting EOS at over 100 000 grid points in the temperature range T=0 to 80 MeV, the density range n{sub B}=10{sup -8} to 1.6 fm{sup -3}, and the proton fraction range Y{sub p}=0 to 0.56. We then interpolate these data points using a suitable scheme to generate a thermodynamically consistent equation of state table on a finer grid. We discuss differences between this EOS, our NL3-based EOS, and previous EOSs by Lattimer-Swesty and H. Shen et al. for the thermodynamic properties, composition, and neutron star structure. The original FSUGold interaction produces an EOS, which we call FSU1.7, that has a maximum neutron star mass of 1.7 solar masses. A modification in the high-density EOS is introduced to increase the maximum neutron star mass to 2.1 solar masses and results in a slightly different EOS that we call FSU2.1. The EOS tables for FSU1.7 and FSU2.1 are available for download.« less

Sub-Saharan Africa Report

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-12-29

Security Panel (Franz Kruger; THE WEEKLY MAIL, 21-27 Nov 86) 84 Cosatu Meeting Commemorates Union Dead (SAPA, 1 Dec 86) ..... 86 Textile...Workers Unions Form National Federation (SAPA, 28 Nov 86) 88 Language Blamed for Country’s Bad Image Abroad (BUSINESS DAY, 20 Nov 86) 89...Eduardo dos Santos said in Luanda on Monday that his country’s admission as a member of the African Parliamentary Union and the IPU gives Angola the

Dark matter, proton decay and other phenomenological constraints in F-SU(5)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Tianjun; Maxin, James A.; Nanopoulos, Dimitri V.; Walker, Joel W.

2011-07-01

We study gravity mediated supersymmetry breaking in F-SU(5) and its low-energy supersymmetric phenomenology. The gaugino masses are not unified at the traditional grand unification scale, but we nonetheless have the same one-loop gaugino mass relation at the electroweak scale as minimal supergravity (mSUGRA). We introduce parameters testable at the colliders to measure the small second loop deviation from the mSUGRA gaugino mass relation at the electroweak scale. In the minimal SU(5) model with gravity mediated supersymmetry breaking, we show that the deviations from the mSUGRA gaugino mass relations are within 5%. However, in F-SU(5), we predict the deviations from the mSUGRA gaugino mass relations to be larger due to the presence of vector-like particles, which can be tested at the colliders. We determine the viable parameter space that satisfies all the latest experimental constraints and find it is consistent with the CDMS II experiment. Further, we compute the cross-sections of neutralino annihilations into gamma-rays and compare to the first published Fermi-LAT measurement. Finally, the corresponding range of proton lifetime predictions is calculated and found to be within reach of the future Hyper-Kamiokande and DUSEL experiments.

Union Type and Depressive Symptoms among Mexican Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmeer, Kammi K.; Kroeger, Rhiannon A.

2011-01-01

Diversity in union type is increasing around the world as cohabitation and higher order unions become more prevalent in developing and developed countries. This necessitates a more nuanced understanding of how different union types relate to individual well-being across social settings. In this study, the authors analyze nationally-representative…

Cultural Influences on the Professions in European Union Countries and Their Implications for Continuing Professional Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hughes, Anna; Thomas, Edward

1996-01-01

Although the European Union encourages professional mobility, the practice of continuing professional development (CPD) in pharmacy and law in various countries shows that cultural differences may hinder cross-border mobility. It is also surprising that universities are relatively little involved in CPD. (SK)

The Foundation of the Turkish National Student Union and the Attendance of the International Student Union at the Second Warsaw Congress

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Batir, Betül

2017-01-01

In the early twentieth century many countries across the world established national student unions and sent representatives to the International Student Union. Believing this to be a fundamental need in a globalising world, the new Turkish state did not wait long before joining this union. In fact, several student associations in Turkey attended…

International Migration, Deindustrialization and Union Decline in 16 Affluent OECD Countries, 1962-1997

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Cheol-Sung

2005-01-01

This article, using unbalanced panel data on 16 affluent OECD countries, tests the effects of diverse aspects of globalization and deindustrialization on unionization trends. In contrast to the recent studies focusing on the conditional role of labor market institutions, this study underlines the role of two structural factors in transforming…

Monetary union and forest products trade- The case of the euro

Treesearch

Joseph Buongiorno

2015-01-01

The objective of this study was to determine if the establishment of a monetary union in European countries had affected the international trade of forest products between the euro-using countries. A differential gravity model of bilateral trade flows was developed and estimated with panel data for the bilateral trade between 12 euro countries from 1988 to 2013, for...

Determinants of cardiovascular disease and other non-communicable diseases in Central and Eastern Europe: Rationale and design of the HAPIEE study

PubMed Central

Peasey, Anne; Bobak, Martin; Kubinova, Ruzena; Malyutina, Sofia; Pajak, Andrzej; Tamosiunas, Abdonas; Pikhart, Hynek; Nicholson, Amanda; Marmot, Michael

2006-01-01

Background Over the last five decades, a wide gap in mortality opened between western and eastern Europe; this gap increased further after the dramatic fluctuations in mortality in the former Soviet Union (FSU) in the 1990s. Recent rapid increases in mortality among lower socioeconomic groups in eastern Europe suggests that socioeconomic factors are powerful determinants of mortality in these populations but the more proximal factors linking the social conditions with health remain unclear. The HAPIEE (Health, Alcohol and Psychosocial factors In Eastern Europe) study is a prospective cohort study designed to investigate the effect of classical and non-conventional risk factors and social and psychosocial factors on cardiovascular and other non-communicable diseases in eastern Europe and the FSU. The main hypotheses of the HAPIEE study relate to the role of alcohol, nutrition and psychosocial factors. Methods and design The HAPIEE study comprises four cohorts in Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Lithuania; each consists of a random sample of men and women aged 45–69 years old at baseline, stratified by gender and 5 year age groups, and selected from population registers. The total planned sample size is 36,500 individuals. Baseline information from the Czech Republic, Russia and Poland was collected in 2002–2005 and includes data on health, lifestyle, diet (food frequency), socioeconomic circumstances and psychosocial factors. A short examination included measurement of anthropometric parameters, blood pressure, lung function and cognitive function, and a fasting venous blood sample. Re-examination of the cohorts in 2006–2008 focuses on healthy ageing and economic well-being using face-to-face computer assisted personal interviews. Recruitment of the Lithuanian cohort is ongoing, with baseline and re-examination data being collected simultaneously. All cohorts are being followed up for mortality and non-fatal cardiovascular events. Discussion The HAPIEE study will provide important new insights into social, behavioural and biological factors influencing mortality and cardiovascular risk in the region. PMID:17049075

Mortality trends for tuberculosis in European Union countries, 2000-2010.

PubMed

Al-Rahamneh, Moad J; Al-Rahamneh, Anas; Guillén-Grima, Francisco; Arnedo-Pena, Alberto; Aguinaga-Ontoso, Inés

The objective of this study was to update and analyze tuberculosis (TB) mortality data in the European Union between 2000 and 2010 separately for men and women and try to detect if there have been any changes in trends in each country and the association with the economic situation and inequalities. Data were extracted for tuberculosis deaths in 2000-2010 for 29 European Union countries and for Switzerland, via the World Health Organization (WHO) European detailed mortality database (DMDB), using the Mortality tabulation list 1 (MTL1) codes for men and women separately for one age group (20-85+). We estimated age-standardised mortality rates, and analyzed data using the Joinpoint Regression Program for men and women separately in the European Union overall and by individual country for each year. Between 2000 and 2010, there were 68,771 recorded tuberculosis deaths in the European Union and the mortality rates were higher for men than women in the entire study zone. Overall, TB mortality rates declined linearly for both genders, but more in women than in men (from 5.43/100,000 in 2000 to 2.59/100,000 in 2010 in men and from 1.37/100,000 in 2000 to 0.51/100,000 in 2010 in women). There was decline in both genders for the entire study period, with a significant Estimated Annual Percentage Change (EAPC) of -8.1 for women and -7 for men when alpha<0.05 and with a 95% confidence interval (CI). A higher tuberculosis mortality was associated with lower economic resources and greater inequalities. TB mortality rates in the European Union decreased overall in 2000-2010 for both genders. Men have higher TB mortality rates than women in all countries. Our findings were consistent with the downward TB mortality trend in many other countries worldwide. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and Sociedad Española de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología Clínica. All rights reserved.

Regional Utilization of the Union Catalog of Medical Periodicals System

PubMed Central

Sprinkle, Michael D.

1969-01-01

This paper describes regional utilization of the Union Catalog of Medical Periodicals system and data base in producing union lists outside Metropolitan New York, the area served by the Union Catalog. A basic introduction to the Medical Library Center of New York's UCMP system is set forth, demonstrating the system's value in the production of such medical and paramedical union lists throughout the country. Several applications are then described, showing how these union lists were produced. PMID:5789816

Dynamic biomechanical examination of the lumbar spine with implanted total disc replacement using a pendulum testing system.

PubMed

Daniels, Alan H; Paller, David J; Koruprolu, Sarath; McDonnell, Matthew; Palumbo, Mark A; Crisco, Joseph J

2012-11-01

Biomechanical cadaver investigation. To examine dynamic bending stiffness and energy absorption of the lumbar spine with and without implanted total disc replacement (TDR) under simulated physiological motion. The pendulum testing system is capable of applying physiological compressive loads without constraining motion of functional spinal units (FSUs). The number of cycles to equilibrium observed under pendulum testing is a measure of the energy absorbed by the FSU. Five unembalmed, frozen human lumbar FSUs were tested on the pendulum system with axial compressive loads of 181 N, 282 N, 385 N, and 488 N before and after Synthes ProDisc-L TDR implantation. Testing in flexion, extension, and lateral bending began by rotating the pendulum to 5º resulting in unconstrained oscillatory motion. The number of rotations to equilibrium was recorded and bending stiffness (N·m/º) was calculated and compared for each testing mode. In flexion/extension, the TDR constructs reached equilibrium with significantly (P < 0.05) fewer cycles than the intact FSU with compressive loads of 282 N, 385 N, and 488 N. Mean dynamic bending stiffness in flexion, extension, and lateral bending increased significantly with increasing load for both the intact FSU and TDR constructs (P < 0.001). In flexion, with increasing compressive loading from 181 N to 488 N, the bending stiffness of the intact FSUs increased from 4.0 N·m/º to 5.5 N·m/º, compared with 2.1 N·m/º to 3.6 N·m/º after TDR implantation. At each compressive load, the intact FSU was significantly stiffer than the TDR (P < 0.05). Lumbar FSUs with implanted TDR were found to be less stiff, but absorbed more energy during cyclic loading with an unconstrained pendulum system. Although the effects on clinical performance of motion-preserving devices are not fully known, these results provide further insight into the biomechanical behavior of these devices under approximated physiological loading conditions.

Design limitations of Bryan disc arthroplasty.

PubMed

Fong, Shee Yan; DuPlessis, Stephan J; Casha, Steven; Hurlbert, R John

2006-01-01

Disc arthroplasty is gaining momentum as a surgical procedure in the treatment of spinal degenerative disease. Results must be carefully scrutinized to recognize benefits as well as limitations. The aim of this study was to investigate factors associated with segmental kyphosis after Bryan disc replacement. Prospective study of a consecutively enrolled cohort of 10 patients treated in a single center using the Bryan cervical disc prosthesis for single-level segmental reconstruction in the surgical treatment of cervical radiculopathy and/or myelopathy. Radiographic and quality of life outcome measures. Static and dynamic lateral radiographs were digitally analyzed in patients undergoing Bryan disc arthroplasty throughout a minimum 3-month follow-up period. Observations were compared with preoperative studies looking for predictive factors of postoperative spinal alignment. Postoperative end plate angles through the Bryan disc in the neutral position were kyphotic in 9 of 10 patients. Compared with preoperative end plate angulation there was a mean change of -7 degrees (towards kyphosis) in postoperative end plate alignment (p=.007, 95% confidence interval [CI] -6 degrees to -13 degrees). This correlated significantly with postoperative reduction in posterior vertebral body height of the caudal segment (p=.011, r2=.575) and postoperative functional spine unit (FSU) kyphosis (p=.032, r2=.46). Despite intraoperative distraction, postoperative FSU height was significantly reduced, on average by 1.7 mm (p=.040, 95% CI 0.5-2.8 mm). Asymmetrical end plate preparation occurs because of suboptimal coordinates to which the milling jig is referenced. Although segmental motion is preserved, Bryan disc arthroplasty demonstrates a propensity towards kyphotic orientation through the prosthesis likely as a result of intraoperative lordotic distraction. FSU angulation tends towards kyphosis and FSU height is decreased in the postoperative state from lack of anterior column support. Limitations of Bryan cervical disc arthroplasty should be carefully considered when reconstruction or maintenance of cervical lordosis is desirable.

Structure and Financing of Higher Education in Russia, Ukraine and the EU. Higher Education Policy Series 41.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hare, Paul G., Ed.

The papers in this book discuss the goals and constraints facing institutions of higher education in Russia, Ukraine, and the European Union countries. In the European Union countries budgetary pressures and the increasing number of students attending institutions of higher education have resulted in serious financial difficulties for many…

Informal Food Production in the Enlarged European Union

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alber, Jens; Kohler, Ulrich

2008-01-01

How widespread is the production of food in old and new member states of the European Union and what is the social meaning or logic of such activities? We show that growing food is (a) more widespread in former communist countries than in traditional market economies and (b) is predominantly a hobby or recreational activity in affluent countries,…

When Things Fall Apart: Qualitative Studies of Poverty in the Former Soviet Union.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dudwick, Nora, Ed.; Gomart, Elizabeth, Ed.; Marc, Alexandre, Ed.; Kuehnast, Kathleen, Ed.

Using qualitative methods, the studies in this volume highlight certain aspects of the dynamics of poverty in eight countries of the former Soviet Union and the interactions of poverty with gender, age, and ethnicity. They deepen understanding of how poor people in these countries experience and cope with the shock of sudden poverty, worsening…

Strategies for public health research in European Union countries.

PubMed

Grimaud, Olivier; McCarthy, Mark; Conceição, Claudia

2013-11-01

'Health' is an identifiable theme within the European Union multi-annual research programmes. Public Health Innovation and Research in Europe (PHIRE), led by the European Public Health Association, sought to identify public health research strategies in EU member states. Within PHIRE, national public health associations reviewed structures for health research, held stakeholder workshops and produced reports. This information, supplemented by further web searches, including using assisted translation, was analysed for national research strategies and health research strategies. All countries described general research strategies, outlining organizational and capacity objectives. Thematic fields, including health, are mentioned in some strategies. A health research strategy was identified for 15 EU countries and not for 12. Ministries of health led research strategies for nine countries. Public health research was identified in only three strategies. National research strategies did not refer to the European Union's health research programme. Public health research strategies of European countries need to be developed by ministries of health, working with the research community to achieve the European Research Area.

The 2011 PHARMINE report on pharmacy and pharmacy education in the European Union

PubMed Central

Atkinson, Jeffrey; Rombaut, Bart

The PHARMINE consortium consists of 50 universities from European Union member states or other European countries that are members of the European Association of Faculties of Pharmacy (EAFP). EU partner associations representing community (PGEU), hospital (EAHP) and industrial pharmacy (EIPG), together with the European Pharmacy Students’ Association (EPSA) are also part of the consortium. The consortium surveyed pharmacies and pharmacists in different settings: community, hospital, industry and other sectors. The consortium also looked at how European Union higher education institutions and courses are organised. The PHARMINE survey of pharmacy and pharmacy education in Europe produced country profiles with extensive information for EU member states and several other European countries. These data are available at: http://www.pharmine.org/losse_paginas/Country_Profiles/. This 2011 PHARMINE report presents the project and data, and some preliminary analysis on the basic question of how pharmacy education is adapted to pharmacy practice in the EU. PMID:24198854

[Research of joint-robotics-based design of biomechanics testing device on human spine].

PubMed

Deng, Guoyong; Tian, Lianfang; Mao, Zongyuan

2009-12-01

This paper introduces the hardware and software of a biomechanical robot-based testing device. The bottom control orders, posture and torque data transmission, and the control algorithms are integrated in a unified visual control platform by Visual C+ +, with easy control and management. By using hybrid force-displacement control method to load the human spine, we can test the organizational structure and the force state of the FSU (Functional spinal unit) well, which overcomes the shortcomings due to the separation of the force and displacement measurement, thus greatly improves the measurement accuracy. Also it is esay to identify the spinal degeneration and the load-bearing impact on the organizational structure of the FSU after various types of surgery.

Disparities in diabetes care: role of the patient's socio-demographic characteristics.

PubMed

Wilf-Miron, Rachel; Peled, Ronit; Yaari, Einat; Shem-Tov, Orna; Weinner, Vainer Anna; Porath, Avi; Kokia, Ehud

2010-11-25

The commitment to promoting equity in health is derived from the notion that all human beings have the right to the best attainable health. However, disparities in health care are well-documented. The objectives were to explore disparities in diabetes prevalence, care and control among diabetic patients. The study was conducted by Maccabi Healthcare Services (MHS), an Israeli HMO (health care plan). Retrospective study. The dependent variables were diabetes prevalence, uptake of follow-up examinations, and disease control. The independent variables were socio-economic rank (SER), ethnicity (Arab vs non Arab), supplementary voluntary health insurance (SVHI), and immigration from Former Soviet Union (FSU) countries. Chi Square and Logistic Regression Models were estimated. We analyzed 74,953 diabetes patients. Diabetes was more prevalent in males, lower SER patients, Arabs, immigrants and owners of SVHI. Optimal follow up was more frequent among females, lower SERs patients, non Arabs, immigrants and SVHI owners. Patients who were female, had higher SERs, non Arabs, immigrants and SVHI owners achieved better control of the disease. The multivariate analysis revealed significant associations between optimal follow up and age, gender (males), SER (Ranks 1-10), Arabs and SVHI (OR 1.02, 0.95, 1.15, 0.85 and 1.31, respectively); poor diabetes control (HbA1C > 9 gr%) was significantly associated with age, gender (males), Arabs, immigrants, SER (Ranks1-10) and SVHI (OR 0.96, 1.26, 1.38, 0.72, 1.37 and 0.57, respectively); significant associations with LDL control (< 100 gr%) were revealed for age, gender (males) and SVHI (OR 1.02, 1.30 and 1.44, respectively). Disparities in diabetes prevalence, care and control were revealed according to population sub-group. MHS has recently established a comprehensive strategy and action plan, aimed to reduce disparities among members of low socioeconomic rank and Arab ethnicity, sub-groups identified in our study as being at risk for less favorable health outcomes.

Disparities in diabetes care: role of the patient's socio-demographic characteristics

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background The commitment to promoting equity in health is derived from the notion that all human beings have the right to the best attainable health. However, disparities in health care are well-documented. The objectives were to explore disparities in diabetes prevalence, care and control among diabetic patients. The study was conducted by Maccabi Healthcare Services (MHS), an Israeli HMO (health care plan). Methods Retrospective study. The dependent variables were diabetes prevalence, uptake of follow-up examinations, and disease control. The independent variables were socio-economic rank (SER), ethnicity (Arab vs non Arab), supplementary voluntary health insurance (SVHI), and immigration from Former Soviet Union (FSU) countries. Chi Square and Logistic Regression Models were estimated. Results We analyzed 74,953 diabetes patients. Diabetes was more prevalent in males, lower SER patients, Arabs, immigrants and owners of SVHI. Optimal follow up was more frequent among females, lower SERs patients, non Arabs, immigrants and SVHI owners. Patients who were female, had higher SERs, non Arabs, immigrants and SVHI owners achieved better control of the disease. The multivariate analysis revealed significant associations between optimal follow up and age, gender (males), SER (Ranks 1-10), Arabs and SVHI (OR 1.02, 0.95, 1.15, 0.85 and 1.31, respectively); poor diabetes control (HbA1C > 9 gr%) was significantly associated with age, gender (males), Arabs, immigrants, SER (Ranks1-10) and SVHI (OR 0.96, 1.26, 1.38, 0.72, 1.37 and 0.57, respectively); significant associations with LDL control (< 100 gr%) were revealed for age, gender (males) and SVHI (OR 1.02, 1.30 and 1.44, respectively). Conclusion Disparities in diabetes prevalence, care and control were revealed according to population sub-group. MHS has recently established a comprehensive strategy and action plan, aimed to reduce disparities among members of low socioeconomic rank and Arab ethnicity, sub-groups identified in our study as being at risk for less favorable health outcomes. PMID:21108780

78 FR 70480 - Federal Acquisition Regulation; New Designated Country-Croatia

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-25

... Organization Government Procurement Agreement (WTO GPA). On July 1, 2013, Croatia joined the European Union.... Please cite FAC 2005-71, FAR Case 2013- 019. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Background The European Union... member states. On July 1, 2013, Croatia became a member of the European Union. Therefore, the European...

Marine radioactivity in the Arctic: a retrospect of environmental studies in Greenland waters with emphasis on transport of 90Sr and 137Cs with the East Greenland Current.

PubMed

Aarkrog, A; Dahlgaard, H; Nielsen, S P

1999-09-30

The waters around Greenland have received radioactive contamination from three major sources: Global fallout, discharges from the nuclear fuel reprocessing plant Sellafield in the UK, and the Chernobyl accident in the Former Soviet Union (FSU). The global fallout peaked in the early 1960s. The radiologically most important radionuclides from this source are 90Sr and 137Cs. The input of global fallout to arctic waters was direct deposition from the atmosphere and indirect delivery through river run off and advection from the Atlantic Ocean via the north-east Atlantic current system. The waterborne discharges from Sellafield which were at their peak between 1974 and 1981 contributed primarily 137Cs, although some 90Sr was also discharged. The Chernobyl accident in 1986 was characterised by its substantial atmospheric release of radiocaesium (134Cs and 137Cs). Other sources may, however, also have contributed to the radioactivity in the Greenland waters. Examples include La Hague, France, and radioactive discharges to the great Siberian rivers (Ob, Yenisey and Lena) from nuclear activities in the Former Soviet Union or the local fallout from the Novaya Zemlya nuclear weapons test site. Dumping of nuclear waste in the Kara and Barents Seas may be another, although minor source. From measurements in Greenland waters carried out since 1962 the transport of radionuclides with the East Greenland Current is calculated and compared with the estimated inputs of 90Sr and 137Cs to the Arctic Ocean. This study focus on 90Sr and 137Cs because the longest time series are available for these two radionuclides.

Bringing Health Care to the Under-Served: The Mid-Level Health Practitioner in Three Countries--China, the Soviet Union, and the United States.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kupferberg, Natalie

A comparison was made of the role of midlevel health practitioners and how they came into being and flourished in three countries: the "feldsher" of the Soviet Union, the barefoot doctor of China, and the physician assistant of the United States. Information was gathered from books, journals, periodicals, governments, and newspapers as…

Model of the songbird nucleus HVC as a network of central pattern generators

PubMed Central

Abarbanel, Henry D. I.

2016-01-01

We propose a functional architecture of the adult songbird nucleus HVC in which the core element is a “functional syllable unit” (FSU). In this model, HVC is organized into FSUs, each of which provides the basis for the production of one syllable in vocalization. Within each FSU, the inhibitory neuron population takes one of two operational states: 1) simultaneous firing wherein all inhibitory neurons fire simultaneously, and 2) competitive firing of the inhibitory neurons. Switching between these basic modes of activity is accomplished via changes in the synaptic strengths among the inhibitory neurons. The inhibitory neurons connect to excitatory projection neurons such that during state 1 the activity of projection neurons is suppressed, while during state 2 patterns of sequential firing of projection neurons can occur. The latter state is stabilized by feedback from the projection to the inhibitory neurons. Song composition for specific species is distinguished by the manner in which different FSUs are functionally connected to each other. Ours is a computational model built with biophysically based neurons. We illustrate that many observations of HVC activity are explained by the dynamics of the proposed population of FSUs, and we identify aspects of the model that are currently testable experimentally. In addition, and standing apart from the core features of an FSU, we propose that the transition between modes may be governed by the biophysical mechanism of neuromodulation. PMID:27535375

Developing an academic medical library core journal collection in the (almost) post-print era: the Florida State University College of Medicine Medical Library experience

PubMed Central

Shearer, Barbara S.; Nagy, Suzanne P.

2003-01-01

The Florida State University (FSU) College of Medicine Medical Library is the first academic medical library to be established since the Web's dramatic appearance during the 1990s. A large customer base for electronic medical information resources is both comfortable with and eager to migrate to the electronic format completely, and vendors are designing radical pricing models that make print journal cancellations economically advantageous. In this (almost) post-print environment, the new FSU Medical Library is being created and will continue to evolve. By analyzing print journal subscription lists of eighteen academic medical libraries with similar missions to the community-based FSU College of Medicine and by entering these and selected quality indicators into a Microsoft Access database, a core list was created. This list serves as a selection guide, as a point for discussion with faculty and curriculum leaders when creating budgets, and for financial negotiations in a broader university environment. After journal titles specific to allied health sciences, veterinary medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, library science, and nursing were eliminated from the list, 4,225 unique journal titles emerged. Based on a ten-point scale including SERHOLD holdings and DOCLINE borrowing activity, a list of 449 core titles is identified. The core list has been saved in spreadsheet format for easy sorting by a number of parameters. PMID:12883565

Developing an academic medical library core journal collection in the (almost) post-print era: the Florida State University College of Medicine Medical Library experience.

PubMed

Shearer, Barbara S; Nagy, Suzanne P

2003-07-01

The Florida State University (FSU) College of Medicine Medical Library is the first academic medical library to be established since the Web's dramatic appearance during the 1990s. A large customer base for electronic medical information resources is both comfortable with and eager to migrate to the electronic format completely, and vendors are designing radical pricing models that make print journal cancellations economically advantageous. In this (almost) post-print environment, the new FSU Medical Library is being created and will continue to evolve. By analyzing print journal subscription lists of eighteen academic medical libraries with similar missions to the community-based FSU College of Medicine and by entering these and selected quality indicators into a Microsoft Access database, a core list was created. This list serves as a selection guide, as a point for discussion with faculty and curriculum leaders when creating budgets, and for financial negotiations in a broader university environment. After journal titles specific to allied health sciences, veterinary medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, library science, and nursing were eliminated from the list, 4,225 unique journal titles emerged. Based on a ten-point scale including SERHOLD holdings and DOCLINE borrowing activity, a list of 449 core titles is identified. The core list has been saved in spreadsheet format for easy sorting by a number of parameters.

From "Bildung" to Entrepreneurship: Trends in Education Policy in Sweden

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ringarp, Johanna

2013-01-01

The European Union would like to improve its efforts to promote entrepreneurship within the Union. More new companies and more entrepreneurs are needed to increase the Union's competitiveness. In order to achieve this goal, the education sectors of the member countries must be reformulated to include entrepreneurship in their education programmes.…

76 FR 2346 - Quarterly Update to Annual Listing of Foreign Government Subsidies on Articles of Cheese Subject...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-01-13

... DUTY Gross \\1\\ Subsidy Net \\2\\ Subsidy Country Program(s) ($/lb) ($/lb) 27 European Union Member States \\3\\........ European Union Restitution... $0.00 $0.00 Payments Canada Export Assistance on......... 0... states of the European Union are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia...

JPRS Report. Soviet Union: World Economy & International Relations, No. 4, April 1989

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-08-23

use of various forms and directions of world economic relations. The division of the WCE into two groups of countries reflects the actual existence... group of the most highly developed countries, using the advantages stemming from the closer intertwining of their economies, could probably increase...the Bush Administra- tion? What are the economic, domestic and foreign political factors which determine US policies toward the Soviet Union? What

78 FR 65220 - Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement: New Designated Country-Croatia (DFARS Case...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-10-31

... GPA). Croatia joined the European Union, which is a party to the WTO GPA, on July 1, 2013. DATES.... Telephone 571-372-6093; facsimile 571-372-6101. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Background The European Union... member states. On July 1, 2013, Croatia became a member of the European Union. Therefore, the European...

Teaching about the Soviet Union. ERIC Digest No. 42.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Citti, Lori A.

Given the global significance of Soviet-U.S. relations, elementary and secondary school students should learn about the Soviet Union, but most students graduate from high school with little knowledge and many misconceptions about this country. It is important to teach about the Soviet Union because of: (1) its emphasis in the U.S. media; (2) its…

Dynamic Biomechanical Examination of the Lumbar Spine with Implanted Total Disc Replacement (TDR) Utilizing a Pendulum Testing System

PubMed Central

Daniels, Alan H; Paller, David J; Koruprolu, Sarath; McDonnell, Matthew; Palumbo, Mark A; Crisco, Joseph J

2013-01-01

Study Design Biomechanical cadaver investigation Objective To examine dynamic bending stiffness and energy absorption of the lumbar spine with and without implanted Total Disc Replacement (TDR) under simulated physiologic motion. Summary of background data The pendulum testing system is capable of applying physiologic compressive loads without constraining motion of functional spinal units (FSUs). The number of cycles to equilibrium observed under pendulum testing is a measure of the energy absorbed by the FSU. Methods Five unembalmed, frozen human lumbar FSUs were tested on the pendulum system with axial compressive loads of 181N, 282N, 385N, and 488N before and after Synthes ProDisc-L TDR implantation. Testing in flexion, extension, and lateral bending began by rotating the pendulum to 5° resulting in unconstrained oscillatory motion. The number of rotations to equilibrium was recorded and bending stiffness (N-m/°) was calculated and compared for each testing mode. Results In flexion/extension, the TDR constructs reached equilibrium with significantly (p<0.05) fewer cycles than the intact FSU with compressive loads of 282N, 385N and 488N. Mean dynamic bending stiffness in flexion, extension, and lateral bending increased significantly with increasing load for both the intact FSU and TDR constructs (p<0.001). In flexion, with increasing compressive loading from 181N to 488N, the bending stiffness of the intact FSUs increased from 4.0N-m/° to 5.5N-m/°, compared to 2.1N-m/° to 3.6N-m/° after TDR implantation. At each compressive load, the intact FSU was significantly more stiff than the TDR (p<0.05). Conclusion Lumbar FSUs with implanted TDR were found to be less stiff, but also absorbed more energy during cyclic loading with an unconstrained pendulum system. Although the effects on clinical performance of motion preserving devices are not fully known, these results provide further insight into the biomechanical behavior of this device under approximated physiologic loading conditions. PMID:22869057

Incorporating Climate Change Effects into Next-Generation Coastal Inundation Decision Support Systems: An Integrated and Community-Based Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheng, Y.; Davis, J. R.; Paramygin, V. A.; LaRow, T.; Chassignet, E.; Stefanova, L. B.; Lu, J.; Xie, L.; Montalvo, S.; Liu, J.; Liu, B.

2012-12-01

75% of the world population lives within 100 km from the coastline. Coastal communities are subject to increasing coastal inundation risk due to the combined effects of hurricane-induced storm surge, tsunami, climate change, and sea level rise. This study is developing the next generation decision support systems (DSS) for storm surge and coastal inundation by incorporating the climate change impacts on hurricanes and sea level rise (SLR) along the Florida and North Carolina coast. Using a new methodology (instead of the "bath tub" approach) enhanced by the Institute for Sustainable Coastal Environment and Infrastructure (InSCEI) at University of Florida (UF), highly accurate and efficient coastal inundation maps (Base Flood Elevations and Surge Atlas) are being produced for current climate conditions. Atmospheric and climate scientists at Florida State University (FSU) and North Carolina State University (NCSU) are using global (FSU/COAPS) and regional (WRF) atmospheric models to estimate the range in hurricane activities during 2020-2040 and 2080-2100, using projected SSTs from the IPCC CMIP5 climate scenarios as lower boundary conditions. SLR experts at NCSU and FSU are analyzing historical sea level data and conducting numerical modeling to estimate the SLR at the coastal boundaries for the same IPCC scenarios. UF and NCSU are using the hurricane ensembles and the SLR scenarios provided by FSU and NCSU as input to storm surge and inundation models (CH3D-SSMS and CMAEPS, respectively) to produce high resolution inundation maps which include climate change effects. These future-climate coastal inundation maps will be much more accurate than the current ones and greatly improve the stakeholders' ability to mitigate coastal inundation risk throughout the U.S. and the world. These inundation maps for current and future climates will be communicated to a wide spectrum of stakeholders for feedback and further improvement. A national workshop will be held in January 2013 to engage stakeholders, researchers, and managers (federal, state, and local) of coastal inundation to develop strategies to improve communications among the various entities and to gather inputs on the development of the next -generation coastal inundation decision support system.

Introduction of African swine fever into the European Union through illegal importation of pork and pork products.

PubMed

Costard, Solenne; Jones, Bryony Anne; Martínez-López, Beatriz; Mur, Lina; de la Torre, Ana; Martínez, Marta; Sánchez-Vizcaíno, Fernando; Sánchez-Vizcaíno, Jose-Manuel; Pfeiffer, Dirk Udo; Wieland, Barbara

2013-01-01

Transboundary animal diseases can have very severe socio-economic impacts when introduced into new regions. The history of disease incursions into the European Union suggests that initial outbreaks were often initiated by illegal importation of meat and derived products. The European Union would benefit from decision-support tools to evaluate the risk of disease introduction caused by illegal imports in order to inform its surveillance strategy. However, due to the difficulty in quantifying illegal movements of animal products, very few studies of this type have been conducted. Using African swine fever as an example, this work presents a novel risk assessment framework for disease introduction into the European Union through illegal importation of meat and products. It uses a semi-quantitative approach based on factors that likely influence the likelihood of release of contaminated smuggled meat and products, and subsequent exposure of the susceptible population. The results suggest that the European Union is at non-negligible risk of African swine fever introduction through illegal importation of pork and products. On a relative risk scale with six categories from negligible to very high, five European Union countries were estimated at high (France, Germany, Italy and United Kingdom) or moderate (Spain) risk of African swine fever release, five countries were at high risk of exposure if African swine fever were released (France, Italy, Poland, Romania and Spain) and ten countries had a moderate exposure risk (Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Sweden and United Kingdom). The approach presented here and results obtained for African swine fever provide a basis for the enhancement of risk-based surveillance systems and disease prevention programmes in the European Union.

Psychobiology and Neuroscience at the Florida State University: a history.

PubMed

Rashotte, Michael E; Smith, James C

2005-10-15

In the 1950s, young faculty in Psychology and Physiology/Biology at the newly established Florida State University recognized common interests in the study of sensory systems. They spontaneously formed one of this country's earliest interdisciplinary research cohorts in the emerging field of "psychobiology". In the 1960s, this group established a formal graduate program in Psychobiology, acquired resources for building a new laboratory and for supporting pre- and post-doctoral students, and began the expansion of faculty and research focuses that continues to this day. In 1991, FSU's Psychobiology Program was re-branded as a Program in Neuroscience that awards a doctoral degree. It now encompasses faculty and students from four academic departments in the Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Human Sciences, and Medicine. This paper traces some main developments in our 50-year history of these research and training efforts.

VLTI-PRIMA fringe tracking testbed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abuter, Roberto; Rabien, Sebastian; Eisenhauer, Frank; Sahlmann, Johannes; Di Lieto, Nicola; Haug, Marcus; Wallander, Anders; Lévêque, Samuel; Ménardi, Serge; Delplancke, Françoise; Schuhler, Nicolas; Kellner, Stefan; Frahm, Robert

2006-06-01

One of the key components of the planned VLTI dual feed facility PRIMA is the Fringe Sensor Unit (FSU). Its basic function is the instantaneous measurement of the Optical Path Difference (OPD) between two beams. The FSU acts as the sensor for a complex control system involving optical delay lines and laser metrology with the aim of removing any OPD introduced by the atmosphere and the beam relay. We have initiated a cooperation between ESO and MPE with the purpose of systematically testing this Fringe Tracking Control System in a laboratory environment. This testbed facility is being built at MPE laboratories with the aim to simulate the VLTI and includes FSUs, OPD controller, metrology and in-house built delay lines. In this article we describe this testbed in detail, including the environmental conditions in the laboratory, and present the results of the testbed subsystem characterisation.

Improving the trajectory of transpedicular transdiscal lumbar screw fixation with a computer-assisted 3D-printed custom drill guide

PubMed Central

Shao, Zhen-Xuan; Wang, Jian-Shun; Lin, Zhong-Ke; Ni, Wen-Fei; Wang, Xiang-Yang

2017-01-01

Transpedicular transdiscal screw fixation is an alternative technique used in lumbar spine fixation; however, it requires an accurate screw trajectory. The aim of this study is to design a novel 3D-printed custom drill guide and investigate its accuracy to guide the trajectory of transpedicular transdiscal (TPTD) lumbar screw fixation. Dicom images of thirty lumbar functional segment units (FSU, two segments) of L1–L4 were acquired from the PACS system in our hospital (patients who underwent a CT scan for other abdomen diseases and had normal spine anatomy) and imported into reverse design software for three-dimensional reconstructions. Images were used to print the 3D lumbar models and were imported into CAD software to design an optimal TPTD screw trajectory and a matched custom drill guide. After both the 3D printed FSU models and 3D-printed custom drill guide were prepared, the TPTD screws will be guided with a 3D-printed custom drill guide and introduced into the 3D printed FSU models. No significant statistical difference in screw trajectory angles was observed between the digital model and the 3D-printed model (P > 0.05). Our present study found that, with the help of CAD software, it is feasible to design a TPTD screw custom drill guide that could guide the accurate TPTD screw trajectory on 3D-printed lumbar models. PMID:28717599

Renewable energy and greenhouse gas emissions from the waste sectors of European Union member states: a panel data analysis.

PubMed

Domingos, Hélde Araujo; De Melo Faria, Alexandre Magno; Fuinhas, José Alberto; Marques, António Cardoso

2017-08-01

In the last two decades, there has been a rich debate about the environmental degradation that results from exposure to solid urban waste. Growing public concern with environmental issues has led to the implementation of various strategic plans for waste management in several developed countries, especially in the European Union. In this paper, the relationships were assessed between economic growth, renewable energy extraction and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the waste sector. The Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis was analysed for the member states of the European Union, in the presence of electricity generation, landfill and GHG emissions for the period 1995 to 2012. The results revealed that there is no inverted-U-shaped relationship between income and GHG emissions in European Union countries. The renewable fuel extracted from waste contributes to a reduction in GHG, and although the electricity produced also increases emissions somewhat, they would be far greater if the waste-based generation of renewable energy did not take place. The waste sector needs to strengthen its political, economic, institutional and social communication instruments to meet its aims for mitigating the levels of pollutants generated by European economies. To achieve the objectives of the Horizon 2020 programme, currently in force in the countries of the European Union, it will be necessary to increase the share of renewable energy in the energy mix.

Mortality Amenable to Health Care in European Union Countries and Its Limitations.

PubMed

Jarčuška, Peter; Janičko, Martin; Barták, Miroslav; Gavurová, Beáta; Vagašová, Tatiana

2017-12-01

The concept of amenable mortality is intended to assess health care system performance. It is defined as "premature deaths that should not occur in the presence of timely and effective health care". The purpose of paper is to analyse differences in amenable mortality across European Union countries and to determine the associations between amenable mortality and life expectancy at birth. This is a cross-country and time trend analysis. Data on deaths by cause, and five-year age groups were obtained from the World Health Organization database for the 20 European Union countries, throughout the period from 2002 to 2013. The rates of amenable mortality were expressed by the age-standardised death rates per 100,000 inhabitants. We applied the method of direct standardisation using the European Standard Population. Throughout the explored period, the statistically significant variations of the age-standardised death rates in a relation to the European Union average fluctuated from 78.7 per 100,000 inhabitants (95% CI 72.4-84.9) in France to 374.3 per 100,000 inhabitants (95% CI 350.8-397.7) in Latvia. The leading causes of amenable mortality were ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular diseases, and colorectal cancer that accounted for, respectively, 42.2%, 19.5%, and 11.3% of overall amenable mortality. As expected, statistically significant strong negative relationship (R 2 =0.95; ρ=-0.98) between amenable mortality and life expectancy at birth was proved by linear regression. The concept has several limitations relating to the selection of causes of death and setting age threshold over time, not consideration actually available health care resources in each country, as well as differences in the prevalence of diseases among countries. We found an explicit divide in amenable mortality rates between more developed countries of Western, Northern and Southern Europe, and less developed countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Increasing of amenable mortality may suggest deterioration in health care system performance. Copyright© by the National Institute of Public Health, Prague 2017.

Definitions of healthy eating in Spain as compared to other European Member States.

PubMed

Martínez-González, M A; Holgado, B; Gibney, M; Kearney, J; Martínez, J A

2000-06-01

To assess what healthy eating means for the European population and whether this concept differs between Spain and other European Countries. A Pan-European survey was developed between October 1995 and February 1996 by the Institute of European Food Studies (Dublin). Each subject was asked to describe in his or her own words what he/she understood by 'healthy eating'. Comparisons were made among four groups of European countries (Northern, Central, Spain, and other Mediterranean countries). The survey included participants from the 15 member states of the European Union, selecting quota-controlled samples to make them nationally representative. The questionnaire was completed by 14,331 persons, approximately 1000 from each country. The responses were grouped into 89 broad categories of similar answers concerning nutritional value and afterwards these responses were collapsed to simplify the presentation. The definition of healthy eating such as 'more fiber' and 'less fat' was more prevalent in other States, members of the European Union than in Mediterranean Countries, although the definition of 'balanced diet' was more frequently mentioned in Spain than in the rest of the European Union. Our results show that the concept of 'balance and variety' is more prevalent in Spaniards than in other traditional Mediterranean countries. Differences in the definitions of healthy eating among European countries could be explained, at least partially by differences in consumption patterns and in the nutrition education.

Forging Partnership: CRDF in the FSU and the World

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Owens, Tom

2006-04-01

The founding legislation to facilitate non-proliferation, and to advance U.S. scientific, technical and human health objectives as well as U.S. foreign policy generally -- but also from private sources, to advance primarily humanitarian and educational goals. CRDF's experience melding public and private support for international scientific cooperation has yielded a unique set of procedures and programs that it seeks now to apply in new geographic arenas. Public Law 102-511 ``Freedom Support Act,'' Section 511, October 24, 1992 for CRDF clearly intended the organization to combine public and private purposes, and that it could and should receive funding from both public and private sources. It also gave CRDF specific formal Purposes that included building international partnerships for supporting high-quality research, helping weapons scientists find another line of work, and helping American industry and foreign scientists to work together for mutual benefit and economic progress. CRDF was expected to ``promote and support joint research and development projects for peaceful purposes between scientists and engineers in the United States and independent states of the former Soviet Union on subjects of mutual interest.'' CRDF has operated as a private foundation funding international research collaborations through peer-reviewed competitions, making more than 2,000 awards in ten years. It has carried out this work with resources provided largely by the U.S. government.

Communist coalmining union activists and postwar reconstruction, 1945-52: Germany, Poland, and Britain

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fishman, N.; Prazmowska, A.J.; Heith, H.

2006-01-15

The demand for coal in war-torn Europe after VE Day gave coalmining trade unions unprecedented bargaining leverage. Miners' incomes had been depressed throughout the interwar period, and they were now anxious to recover their past high wages and improve their conditions. In several key European countries, Communists were prominent among the leadership of mining trade unions. Communist miners' leaders Willi Agatz, Edward Gierek and Arthur Horner each faced unprecedented opportunities and challenges at the onset of the Cold War in 1948, as they sought to fuse their parallel identities as committed and influential Communists and as conscientious trade union negotiatorsmore » in these newly advantageous circumstances. Each of these three 'revolutionary' trade unionists pursued strategies that revived the position of miners, without undermining the potential for economic recovery in their respective countries - for which an uninterrupted supply of coal remained critical. A comparative study of the personal and political experiences of the three Communist miners' leaders enhances our understanding of the evolution of Communist trade unionism in the early postwar period.« less

Sub-Saharan Africa Report No. 2843.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-09-14

Quota System Lifted 33 University Students Boycott Classes 33 Higher University Fees Protested 33 Labor Unions Decline UDF Membership 33 Progress...Friday that Mr Biya might shortly summon a special congress of the country’s only political party, the Cameroon National Union (UNC). Its...understanding of the Soviet Union in its struggle against colonialism, Neocolonialism and apartheid. The OAU secretary general expressed gratitude for the

The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe: A Bibliographic Guide to Recommended Books for Small and Medium-Sized Libraries and School Media Centers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Horak, Stephan M.

Intended to aid librarians in small- and medium-sized libraries and media centers, this annotated bibliography lists 1,555 books focusing on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. The book is divided into four parts: (1) "General and Interrelated Themes--Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics and Eastern European Countries"; (2)…

Sovereign debt crisis in the European Union: A minimum spanning tree approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dias, João

2012-03-01

In the wake of the financial crisis, sovereign debt crisis has emerged and is severely affecting some countries in the European Union, threatening the viability of the euro and even the EU itself. This paper applies recent developments in econophysics, in particular the minimum spanning tree approach and the associate hierarchical tree, to analyze the asynchronization between the four most affected countries and other resilient countries in the euro area. For this purpose, daily government bond yield rates are used, covering the period from April 2007 to October 2010, thus including yield rates before, during and after the financial crises. The results show an increasing separation of the two groups of euro countries with the deepening of the government bond crisis.

Worker health is good for the economy: union density and psychosocial safety climate as determinants of country differences in worker health and productivity in 31 European countries.

PubMed

Dollard, Maureen F; Neser, Daniel Y

2013-09-01

Work stress is recognized globally as a social determinant of worker health. Therefore we explored whether work stress related factors explained national differences in health and productivity (gross domestic product (GDP)). We proposed a national worker health productivity model whereby macro market power factors (i.e. union density), influence national worker health and GDP via work psychosocial factors and income inequality. We combined five different data sets canvasing 31 wealthy European countries. Aggregated worker self-reported health accounted for 13 per cent of the variance in national life expectancy and in national gross domestic product (GDP). The most important factors explaining worker self-reported health and GDP between nations were two levels of labor protection, macro-level (union density), and organizational-level (psychosocial safety climate, PSC, i.e. the extent of management concern for worker psychological health). The majority of countries with the highest levels of union density and PSC (i.e., workplace protections) were Social Democratic in nature (i.e., Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway). Results support a type of society explanation that social and economic factors (e.g., welfare regimes, work related policies) in concert with political power agents at a national level explain in part national differences in workplace protection (PSC) that are important for worker health and productivity. Attention should be given across all countries, to national policies to improve worker health, by bolstering national and local democratic processes and representation to address and implement policies for psychosocial risk factors for work stress, bullying and violence. Results suggest worker health is good for the economy, and should be considered in national health and productivity accounting. Eroding unionism may not be good for worker health or the economy either. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

78 FR 22593 - Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Initiation of a Review of the Union of Burma and the Lao...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-16

...) as beneficiary developing countries under the GSP program, and, if designated, whether either country...-preference-gsp/gsp-program-inf . Burma was previously designated a beneficiary developing country under GSP...-developed country beneficiary developing country for purposes of the GSP program. Submissions should not...

Development of Automated Testing Tools for Traffic Control Signals and Devices

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-01-30

Through a coordinated effort among the electrical engineering research team of the Florida State University (FSU) and key Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) personnel, an automated testing system for National Electrical Manufacturers Associa...

Union County Public Schools Action Research: Comparing Early Literacy Interventions Used in Union County Public Schools; Reading Recovery vs. Leveled Literacy Intervention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harvey, Michael W.

2011-01-01

School systems across the country continuously seek to find ways to increase academic achievement at all grades. Possessing the ability to read is one of the keys to academic success; not being able to presents many challenges. Union County Public Schools and the state of North Carolina expect students leaving their kindergarten year to be able to…

IFLA General Conference, 1985. Collection and Services Division. Section: Interlending and Document Delivery. The Online System of Union Catalogues and Interlibrary Loan ('NCC/IBL') in the Netherlands.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Willemsen, Arie W.

This paper describes the interlending system in the Netherlands and examines the country's union catalogs, the main instrument in the interlending procedure. An overview of the integrated interlending system is provided; the union catalogs of the Royal Library in The Hague, the Technical University Library at Delft, and the library of the…

Attributing foodborne salmonellosis in humans to animal reservoirs in the European Union using a multi-country stochastic model.

PubMed

DE Knegt, L V; Pires, S M; Hald, T

2015-04-01

A Bayesian modelling approach comparing the occurrence of Salmonella serovars in animals and humans was used to attribute salmonellosis cases to broilers, turkeys, pigs, laying hens, travel and outbreaks in 24 European Union countries. Salmonella data for animals and humans, covering the period from 2007 to 2009, were mainly obtained from studies and reports published by the European Food Safety Authority. Availability of food sources for consumption was derived from trade and production data from the European Statistical Office. Results showed layers as the most important reservoir of human salmonellosis in Europe, with 42·4% (7 903 000 cases, 95% credibility interval 4 181 000-14 510 000) of cases, 95·9% of which was caused by S. Enteritidis. In Finland and Sweden, most cases were travel-related, while in most other countries the main sources were related to the laying hen or pig reservoir, highlighting differences in the epidemiology of Salmonella, surveillance focus and eating habits across the European Union.

[Active euthanasia in Colombia and assisted suicide in California].

PubMed

Julesz, Máté

2016-01-31

The institution of active euthanasia has been legal in Colombia since 2015. In California, the regulation on physician-assisted suicide will come into effect on January 1, 2016. The legal institution of active euthanasia is not accepted under the law of the United States of America, however, physician-assisted suicide is accepted in an increasing number of member states. The related regulation in Oregon is imitated in other member states. In South America, Colombia is not the first country to legalize active euthanasia: active euthanasia has been legal in Uruguay since 1932. The North American legal tradition markedly differs from the South American one and both are incompatible with the Central European rule of law. In Hungary and in most European Union countries, solely the passive form of euthanasia is legal. In the Benelux countries, the active form of euthanasia is legal because the supranational law of the European Union does not prohibit it. Notwithstanding, European Union law does not prescribe legalization of either the active form of euthanasia, or the physician-assisted suicide.

Teaching of Psychology in Countries with Advanced versus Developing Economies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pinquart, Martin; Bernardo, Allan B. I.

2014-01-01

We compare structures and contents of psychology programmes from countries with developing and advanced economies. Respondents from 49 countries completed a survey of the International Union of Psychological Science on psychology education and training. In general, there are more similarities than differences between countries with developing and…

Art of disaster preparedness in European union: a survey on the health systems.

PubMed

Djalali, Ahmadreza; Della Corte, Francesco; Foletti, Marco; Ragazzoni, Luca; Ripoll Gallardo, Alba; Lupescu, Olivera; Arculeo, Chris; von Arnim, Götz; Friedl, Tom; Ashkenazi, Michael; Fischer, Philipp; Hreckovski, Boris; Khorram-Manesh, Amir; Komadina, Radko; Lechner, Konstanze; Patru, Cristina; Burkle, Frederick M; Ingrassia, Pier Luigi

2014-12-17

Naturally occurring and man-made disasters have been increasing in the world, including Europe, over the past several decades. Health systems are a key part of any community disaster management system. The success of preparedness and prevention depends on the success of activities such as disaster planning, organization and training. The aim of this study is to evaluate health system preparedness for disasters in the 27 European Union member countries. A cross-sectional analysis study was completed between June-September 2012. The checklist used for this survey was a modified from the World Health Organization toolkit for assessing health-system capacity for crisis management. Three specialists from each of the 27 European Union countries were included in the survey. Responses to each survey question were scored and the range of preparedness level was defined as 0-100%, categorized in three levels as follows: Acceptable; Transitional; or Insufficient. Response rate was 79.1%. The average level of disaster management preparedness in the health systems of 27 European Union member states was 68% (Acceptable). The highest level of preparedness was seen in the United Kingdom, Luxemburg, and Lithuania. Considering the elements of disaster management system, the highest level of preparedness score was at health information elements (86%), and the lowest level was for hospitals, and educational elements (54%). This survey study suggests that preparedness level of European Union countries in 2012 is at an acceptable level but could be improved. Elements such as hospitals and education and training suffer from insufficient levels of preparedness. The European Union health systems need a collective strategic plan, as well as enough resources, to establish a comprehensive and standardized disaster management strategy plan. A competency based training curriculum for managers and first responders is basic to accomplishing this goal. Disaster medicine; Disaster preparedness; Disaster epidemiology; Health systems; European Union.

Art of Disaster Preparedness in European Union: a Survey on the Health Systems

PubMed Central

Djalali, Ahmadreza; Della Corte, Francesco; Foletti, Marco; Ragazzoni, Luca; Ripoll Gallardo, Alba; Lupescu, Olivera; Arculeo, Chris; von Arnim, Götz; Friedl, Tom; Ashkenazi, Michael; Fischer, Philipp; Hreckovski, Boris; Khorram-Manesh, Amir; Komadina, Radko; Lechner, Konstanze; Patru, Cristina; Burkle, Frederick M.; Ingrassia, Pier Luigi

2014-01-01

Introduction: Naturally occurring and man-made disasters have been increasing in the world, including Europe, over the past several decades. Health systems are a key part of any community disaster management system. The success of preparedness and prevention depends on the success of activities such as disaster planning, organization and training. The aim of this study is to evaluate health system preparedness for disasters in the 27 European Union member countries. Method: A cross-sectional analysis study was completed between June-September 2012. The checklist used for this survey was a modified from the World Health Organization toolkit for assessing health-system capacity for crisis management. Three specialists from each of the 27 European Union countries were included in the survey. Responses to each survey question were scored and the range of preparedness level was defined as 0-100%, categorized in three levels as follows: Acceptable; Transitional; or Insufficient. Results: Response rate was 79.1%. The average level of disaster management preparedness in the health systems of 27 European Union member states was 68% (Acceptable). The highest level of preparedness was seen in the United Kingdom, Luxemburg, and Lithuania. Considering the elements of disaster management system, the highest level of preparedness score was at health information elements (86%), and the lowest level was for hospitals, and educational elements (54%). Conclusion: This survey study suggests that preparedness level of European Union countries in 2012 is at an acceptable level but could be improved. Elements such as hospitals and education and training suffer from insufficient levels of preparedness. The European Union health systems need a collective strategic plan, as well as enough resources, to establish a comprehensive and standardized disaster management strategy plan. A competency based training curriculum for managers and first responders is basic to accomplishing this goal. Keywords: Disaster medicine; Disaster preparedness; Disaster epidemiology; Health systems; European Union PMID:25685628

Energy from waste in Europe: an analysis and comparison of the EU 27.

PubMed

Sommer, Manuel; Ragossnig, Arne

2011-10-01

This article focuses on analysing the development of waste-generated energy in the countries of the European Union (EU 27). Besides elaborating the relevant legal and political framework in the waste and energy sector as well as climate protection, the results from correlation analyses based on the databases of the energy statistics from Eurostat are discussed. The share of energy from waste is correlated with macro-economic, waste- and energy-sector-related data, which have been defined as potentially relevant for energy recovery from waste in the countries of the European Union. The results show that a single factor influencing the extent of waste-generated energy could not be isolated as it is being influenced not only by the state of economic development and the state of development of waste management systems in the respective countries but also by energy-sector-related factors and the individual priority settings in those countries. Nevertheless the main driving force for an increase in the utilization of waste for energy generation can be seen in the legal and political framework of the European Union leading to the consequence that market conditions influence the realization of waste management infrastructure for waste-generated energy.

Polish Martial Law: The Crisis of Communism

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-12-01

unprepared to deal with the crisis and eager for the workers to stop the strikes, agreed to all the demands. This act was a great success for the new union ...authority as the legitimate decision making body. Striking workers throughout the country created the Solidarity Union . They demanded personal freedom...citizens or preserving its Marxist-Leninist ideology. With the aid and coercion of the Soviet Union , as well as other fraternal states, the government

JPRS Report, East Asia, Southeast Asia.

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-12-09

HCM City Fatherland Front Committee Plans Last-Quarter Work [SAIGON GIAI PHONG 23 Oct] „"ITX"’, II Trade Union Congress Reflects Renovation and... Union , Japan, West Ger- many, and China. Malaysia envisions this eye hospital to be the biggest and most up to date in Asia, and expects 80% of its...relations with socialist countries, Sen. Shahani said allegations that the Soviet Union is supporting the local insurgency movement contribute to

Marketing the College Union.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoef, Ted; Howe, Nanci

Theory underlying marketing in the public sector is presented in combination with specific examples of marketing strategies and techniques used in college unions and student activities programs across the country. The subject of marketing is discussed under six major subject headings: (1) why marketing? (2) analyzing marketing opportunities; (3)…

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: IN SITU MITIGATION OF MERCURY CONTAMINATED GROUNDWATER IN KAZAKHSTAN

EPA Science Inventory

Abstract for EPA Science Forum.

The EPA Office of International Affairs is managing a U.S. State Department -funded project to redirect former Soviet Union biological weapons scientists. Scientists in countries of the former Soviet Union receive funding through the Interna...

Clinical guidelines in the European Union: mapping the regulatory basis, development, quality control, implementation and evaluation across member states.

PubMed

Legido-Quigley, Helena; Panteli, Dimitra; Brusamento, Serena; Knai, Cécile; Saliba, Vanessa; Turk, Eva; Solé, Meritxell; Augustin, Uta; Car, Josip; McKee, Martin; Busse, Reinhard

2012-10-01

Clinical guidelines are advocated to improve the quality of care, especially for chronic diseases. However, the regulatory basis of clinical guidelines, their development, quality control, implementation and use as well as evaluation within countries across the European Union is not systematically known. Using information collected from key informants in each country by means of a structured questionnaire, this mapping exercise illustrates the varied status of guideline production in European Union countries. Most European Union countries have an established national, regional or local clinical guideline programme, and a substantial proportion have developed guidelines on the prevention and management of chronic diseases. Several countries have mechanisms in place to ensure the quality of scientific evidence used for the development of guidelines is high and that the process is consistent and transparent. Others are only now taking an interest in guideline development and are taking the first steps towards establishing ways of implementing them. The majority of countries have no legal basis for the development of guidelines and those that have well established systems mostly implement them on a voluntary basis. The process of guideline development varies in its degrees of decentralisation across countries with many different types of organisations taking on this responsibility. There is general acceptance of the value of the instrument developed by the AGREE collaboration for evaluating the methodological robustness of guidelines. However, the extent to which guidelines are implemented in Europe is unknown, as there is no systematic data collection and, in most countries, no structure to enable it. There are few examples of formal evaluations of the development, quality, implementation and use of guidelines. Our findings call for renewed efforts to respond to the severe lack of standardized guideline terminology and accessibility as well as rigorous studies to evaluate the relationship between different ways to develop guidelines and their methodological quality, between their quality and the actual implementation and usage, and finally between implementation and health outcomes. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modern contraceptive use, unmet need, and demand satisfied among women of reproductive age who are married or in a union in the focus countries of the Family Planning 2020 initiative: a systematic analysis using the Family Planning Estimation Tool.

PubMed

Cahill, Niamh; Sonneveldt, Emily; Stover, John; Weinberger, Michelle; Williamson, Jessica; Wei, Chuchu; Brown, Win; Alkema, Leontine

2018-03-03

The London Summit on Family Planning in 2012 inspired the Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) initiative and the 120×20 goal of having an additional 120 million women and adolescent girls become users of modern contraceptives in 69 of the world's poorest countries by the year 2020. Working towards achieving 120 × 20 is crucial for ultimately achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of universal access and satisfying demand for reproductive health. Thus, a performance assessment is required to determine countries' progress. An updated version of the Family Planning Estimation Tool (FPET) was used to construct estimates and projections of the modern contraceptive prevalence rate (mCPR), unmet need for, and demand satisfied with modern methods of contraception among women of reproductive age who are married or in a union in the focus countries of the FP2020 initiative. We assessed current levels of family planning indicators and changes between 2012 and 2017. A counterfactual analysis was used to assess if recent levels of mCPR exceeded pre-FP2020 expectations. In 2017, the mCPR among women of reproductive age who are married or in a union in the FP2020 focus countries was 45·7% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 42·4-49·1), unmet need for modern methods was 21·6% (19·7-23·9), and the demand satisfied with modern methods was 67·9% (64·4-71·1). Between 2012 and 2017 the number of women of reproductive age who are married or in a union who use modern methods increased by 28·8 million (95% UI 5·8-52·5). At the regional level, Asia has seen the mCPR among women of reproductive age who are married or in a union grow from 51·0% (95% UI 48·5-53·4) to 51·8% (47·3-56·5) between 2012 and 2017, which is slow growth, particularly when compared with a change from 23·9% (22·9-25·0) to 28·5% (26·8-30·2) across Africa. At the country level, based on a counterfactual analysis, we found that 61% of the countries that have made a commitment to FP2020 exceeded pre-FP2020 expectations for modern contraceptive use. Country success stories include rapid increases in Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Chad relative to what was expected in 2012. Whereas the estimate of additional users up to 2017 for women of reproductive age who are married or in a union would suggest that the 120 × 20 goal for all women is overly ambitious, the aggregate outcomes mask the diversity in progress at the country level. We identified countries with accelerated progress, that provide inspiration and guidance on how to increase the use of family planning and inform future efforts, especially in countries where progress has been poor. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, through grant support to the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Avenir Health. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Risk for Travel-associated Legionnaires’ Disease, Europe, 2009

PubMed Central

Zucs, Phillip; de Jong, Birgitta

2012-01-01

Legionnaires’ disease is underreported in Europe; notification rates differ substantially among countries. Approximately 20% of reported cases are travel-associated. To assess the risk for travel-associated Legionnaires’ disease (TALD) associated with travel patterns in European countries, we retrieved TALD surveillance data for 2009 from the European Surveillance System, and tourism denominator data from the Statistical Office of the European Union. Risk (number cases reported/number nights spent) was calculated by travel country. In 2009, the network reported 607 cases among European travelers, possibly associated with 825 accommodation sites in European Union countries. The overall risk associated with travel abroad was 0.3 cases/million nights. We observed an increasing trend in risk from northwestern to southeastern Europe; Greece had the highest risk (1.7). Our findings underscore the need for countries with high TALD risks to improve prevention and control of legionellosis; and for countries with high TALD risks, but low notification rates of Legionnaires’ disease to improve diagnostics and reporting. PMID:23092591

The Baltic Republics and Language Ideological Debates Surrounding European Union Accession

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hogan-Brun, Gabrielle

2005-01-01

This paper describes the impact of European Union accession negotiations on language ideological debates regarding minority (language) and citizenship rights in the Baltic Republics. It explores issues pertaining to the transferability of standards developed for established democracies in the West to the situation of democratising countries in…

ILGWU Students on the Move.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nunez, Ignacio, Ed.

This magazine, created by local units of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) through its Worker-Family Education Program, is a collection of personal opinions, reports, and creative writing with illustrations. Articles include: an interview with a fellow union member; statements on aspects of the culture of native countries;…

Adult Education in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wells, Rita L.; Goetz, Douglas N.

The Soviet government has consistently relied upon the country's educational system, including adult education, to advance its ideological, social, and economic goals. In the Soviet Union, education has been used to promote Soviet identity, minimize the impact of religion, advance the status of women, and help increase worker productivity. Adult…

Distance Training in the European Union. ZIFF Papiere 96.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keegan, Desmond

A study examined distance training in the European Union (EU) countries. First, recent literature on the following topics was reviewed: technology-supported learning, flexible and distance learning, development of open distance learning, and teleconferencing and distance learning. Next, enrollments and trends in distance learning in the EU as a…

Educational Reform in Turkey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindquist, Cynthia

2017-01-01

As a country seeking admission to the European Union, this paper explores educational reforms in Turkey that enhance its possible entry into the European Union and changes still needed for it to be an equal partner. An overview of the school system in Turkey is provided including information on teacher training and preparation, special education…

A Visit to Kindergarten No. 490 in Minsk, Belarus.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Good, Linda A.

Although opportunities for sharing information about early childhood education increased with the disbanding of the Soviet Union in 1991, knowledge about how young children are cared for and educated in countries of the former Soviet Union remains limited. This report presents observations of a kindergarten class in Minsk, Belarus conducted…

Cancer research performance in the European Union: a study of published output from 2000 to 2008.

PubMed

Micheli, Andrea; Di Salvo, Francesca; Lombardo, Claudio; Ugolini, Donatella; Baili, Paolo; A Pierotti, Marco

2011-01-01

Although several studies have assessed cancer research performance in individual European countries, comparisons of European Union (EU27) performance with countries of similar population size are not available. We compared cancer research performance in 2000-2008 between EU27 and 11 countries with over 100 million inhabitants. Performance should not have been affected by the 2007-2009 recession. We examined 143 journals considered oncology journals by Journal Citation Reports, accessing them via Scopus. Publications were attributed to countries using a published counting procedure. For number of publications, the USA held a clear lead in 2006-2008 (yearly averages: 10,293 USA vs 9,962 EU27), whereas the EU27 held the lead previously. EU27 was also second to the USA for total impact factor. China markedly improved its cancer publications record over the period. Compared to the USA, EU27 and Japan, the other countries (all developing) had a poor publications record. Comparative cancer research spending data are not available. However from 2002 to 2007, gross domestic expenditure on research and development (UNESCO data) increased by 34% in North America, 161% in China and only 28% in EU27. Thus the European Union is lagging behind North America and may well be eclipsed by China in research and development spending in the near future. We suggest that these new findings should be considered by policymakers in Europe and other countries when developing policies for cancer control.

Gonorrhoea and gonococcal antimicrobial resistance surveillance networks in the WHO European Region, including the independent countries of the former Soviet Union.

PubMed

Unemo, Magnus; Ison, Catherine A; Cole, Michelle; Spiteri, Gianfranco; van de Laar, Marita; Khotenashvili, Lali

2013-12-01

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Neisseria gonorrhoeae has emerged for essentially all antimicrobials following their introduction into clinical practice. During the latest decade, susceptibility to the last remaining options for antimicrobial monotherapy, the extended-spectrum cephalosporins (ESC), has markedly decreased internationally and treatment failures with these ESCs have been verified. In response to this developing situation, WHO and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) have published global and region-specific response plans, respectively. One main component of these action/response plans is to enhance the surveillance of AMR and treatment failures. This paper describes the perspectives from the diverse WHO European Region (53 countries), including the independent countries of the former Soviet Union, regarding gonococcal AMR surveillance networks. The WHO European Region has a high prevalence of resistance to all previously recommended antimicrobials, and most of the first strictly verified treatment failures with cefixime and ceftriaxone were also reported from Europe. In the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA), the European gonococcal antimicrobial surveillance programme (Euro-GASP) funded by the ECDC is running. In 2011, the Euro-GASP included 21/31 (68%) EU/EEA countries, and the programme is further strengthened annually. However, in the non-EU/EEA countries, internationally reported and quality assured gonococcal AMR data are lacking in 87% of the countries and, worryingly, appropriate support for establishment of a GASP is still lacking. Accordingly, national and international support, including political and financial commitment, for gonococcal AMR surveillance in the non-EU/EEA countries of the WHO European Region is essential.

Indicators of alcohol consumption and attributable harm for monitoring and surveillance in European Union countries.

PubMed

Rehm, Jürgen; Scafato, Emanuele

2011-03-01

Alcohol is a major risk factor for burden of disease and injury in Europe, and contributes markedly to between region differences in life expectancy. Monitoring and surveillance systems have shown to be a key factor in implementing effective policies. The aim of this paper is to propose a system of indicators for alcohol consumption and attributable harm which can be used as an over-time monitoring tool at the country level as well as for comparisons between countries. A systematic research in electronic data bases was conducted but most of the information was derived from ongoing international efforts to establish alcohol monitoring and surveillance systems. European Union. Countries. Exposure to alcohol, mortality, burden of disease. Adult per capita alcohol consumption, prevalence of abstention, and frequency of drinking more than 60 g pure alcohol in one occasion are proposed as a minimal set of alcohol exposure indicators, which can quickly be implemented in all EU countries. With respect to health harm indicators, the best minimal choice which can be implemented quickly in all countries of the EU would be alcohol-attributable years of life lost due to premature death. In addition, country specific indicators could be added, when alcohol places specific burden on specific diseases. National and European Union-wide monitoring systems for alcohol exposure and attributable harm to inform public health-related policy decisions could be implemented easily. The establishement of such monitoring systems would follow the recent World Assembly resolution for a global strategy to reduce alcohol-related harm. © 2011 The Authors, Addiction © 2011 Society for the Study of Addiction.

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus Continuum of Care in European Union Countries in 2013: Data and Challenges.

PubMed

Gourlay, Annabelle; Noori, Teymur; Pharris, Anastasia; Axelsson, Maria; Costagliola, Dominique; Cowan, Susan; Croxford, Sara; d'Arminio Monforte, Antonella; Del Amo, Julia; Delpech, Valerie; Díaz, Asunción; Girardi, Enrico; Gunsenheimer-Bartmeyer, Barbara; Hernando, Victoria; Jose, Sophie; Leierer, Gisela; Nikolopoulos, Georgios; Obel, Niels; Op de Coul, Eline; Paraskeva, Dimitra; Reiss, Peter; Sabin, Caroline; Sasse, André; Schmid, Daniela; Sonnerborg, Anders; Spina, Alexander; Suligoi, Barbara; Supervie, Virginie; Touloumi, Giota; Van Beckhoven, Dominique; van Sighem, Ard; Vourli, Georgia; Zangerle, Robert; Porter, Kholoud

2017-06-15

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has set a "90-90-90" target to curb the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic by 2020, but methods used to assess whether countries have reached this target are not standardized, hindering comparisons. Through a collaboration formed by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) with European HIV cohorts and surveillance agencies, we constructed a standardized, 4-stage continuum of HIV care for 11 European Union countries for 2013. Stages were defined as (1) number of people living with HIV in the country by end of 2013; (2) proportion of stage 1 ever diagnosed; (3) proportion of stage 2 that ever initiated ART; and (4) proportion of stage 3 who became virally suppressed (≤200 copies/mL). Case surveillance data were used primarily to derive stages 1 (using back-calculation models) and 2, and cohort data for stages 3 and 4. In 2013, 674500 people in the 11 countries were estimated to be living with HIV, ranging from 5500 to 153400 in each country. Overall HIV prevalence was 0.22% (range, 0.09%-0.36%). Overall proportions of each previous stage were 84% diagnosed, 84% on ART, and 85% virally suppressed (60% of people living with HIV). Two countries achieved ≥90% for all stages, and more than half had reached ≥90% for at least 1 stage. European Union countries are nearing the 90-90-90 target. Reducing the proportion undiagnosed remains the greatest barrier to achieving this target, suggesting that further efforts are needed to improve HIV testing rates. Standardizing methods to derive comparable continuums of care remains a challenge. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus Continuum of Care in European Union Countries in 2013: Data and Challenges

PubMed Central

Noori, Teymur; Pharris, Anastasia; Axelsson, Maria; Costagliola, Dominique; Cowan, Susan; Croxford, Sara; d’Arminio Monforte, Antonella; del Amo, Julia; Delpech, Valerie; Díaz, Asunción; Girardi, Enrico; Gunsenheimer-Bartmeyer, Barbara; Hernando, Victoria; Jose, Sophie; Leierer, Gisela; Nikolopoulos, Georgios; Obel, Niels; Op de Coul, Eline; Paraskeva, Dimitra; Reiss, Peter; Sabin, Caroline; Sasse, André; Schmid, Daniela; Sonnerborg, Anders; Spina, Alexander; Suligoi, Barbara; Supervie, Virginie; Touloumi, Giota; Van Beckhoven, Dominique; van Sighem, Ard; Vourli, Georgia; Zangerle, Robert; Porter, Kholoud

2017-01-01

Abstract Background. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has set a “90-90-90” target to curb the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic by 2020, but methods used to assess whether countries have reached this target are not standardized, hindering comparisons. Methods. Through a collaboration formed by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) with European HIV cohorts and surveillance agencies, we constructed a standardized, 4-stage continuum of HIV care for 11 European Union countries for 2013. Stages were defined as (1) number of people living with HIV in the country by end of 2013; (2) proportion of stage 1 ever diagnosed; (3) proportion of stage 2 that ever initiated ART; and (4) proportion of stage 3 who became virally suppressed (≤200 copies/mL). Case surveillance data were used primarily to derive stages 1 (using back-calculation models) and 2, and cohort data for stages 3 and 4. Results. In 2013, 674500 people in the 11 countries were estimated to be living with HIV, ranging from 5500 to 153400 in each country. Overall HIV prevalence was 0.22% (range, 0.09%–0.36%). Overall proportions of each previous stage were 84% diagnosed, 84% on ART, and 85% virally suppressed (60% of people living with HIV). Two countries achieved ≥90% for all stages, and more than half had reached ≥90% for at least 1 stage. Conclusions. European Union countries are nearing the 90-90-90 target. Reducing the proportion undiagnosed remains the greatest barrier to achieving this target, suggesting that further efforts are needed to improve HIV testing rates. Standardizing methods to derive comparable continuums of care remains a challenge. PMID:28369283

Chronic disease mortality associated with infectious agents: A comparative cohort study of migrants from the Former Soviet Union in Israel and Germany

PubMed Central

Ott, Jördis J; Paltiel, Ari M; Winkler, Volker; Becher, Heiko

2008-01-01

Background Prevalence of infectious diseases in migrant populations has been addressed in numerous studies. However, information is sparse on their mortality due to chronic diseases that are aetiologically associated with an infectious agent. This study investigates mortality related to infectious diseases with a specific focus on cancers of possibly infectious origin in voluntary migrants from the Former Soviet Union residing in Israel and in Germany. Methods Both groups of migrants arrived from the Former Soviet Union in their destination countries between 1990 and 2001. Population-based data on migrants in Israel were obtained from the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Data for migrants in Germany were obtained from a representative sample of all migrants from the Former Soviet Union in Germany. Cause of death information was available until 2003 for the Israeli cohort and until 2005 for the German cohort. Standardized mortality ratios were calculated relative to the destination country for selected causes of death for which infectious agents may be causally involved. Multivariate Poisson regression was applied to assess differences in mortality by length of residence in the host country. Results Both in Israel and in Germany these migrants have lower overall mortality than the population in their destination countries. However, they have significantly elevated mortality from viral hepatitis and from stomach and liver cancer when compared to the destination populations. Regression analysis shows that in Israel stomach cancer mortality is significantly higher among migrants at shorter durations of residence when compared to durations of more than nine years. Conclusion Higher mortality from cancers associated with infection and from viral hepatitis among migrants from the Former Soviet Union might result from higher prevalence of infections which were acquired in earlier years of life. The results highlight new challenges posed by diseases of infectious origin in migrants and call attention to the link between communicable and non-communicable diseases. PMID:18400085

High Frontier, The Journal for Space & Missile Professionals. Volume 5, Number 4

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-08-01

MoD Senior Responsible Owner for both Space and UAVs. He is president of RAF Rugby Union , president of the Northern Ireland Wing of the Air Training...President Bill Clinton claimed a ‘peace dividend’ after the fall of the Soviet Union . Vice President Al Gore promoted greater use by Department of...countries of the former Soviet Union . His final assignment was as the US de- fense and air attaché to Turkey where he also flew the C-12. He is a

Socialism and Education in Cuba and Soviet Uzbekistan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Charon-Cardona, Euridice

2013-01-01

During the Cold War over half a million Asians, Africans and Latin Americans studied and graduated in the Soviet Union's universities and technical schools as part of this country's educational aid policies. Cuba was an intermediary player in the Cold War geopolitical contest between the United States and the Soviet Union, fuelled by the…

The Professional Educator: Union Strong before and after the Storm

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Capo, Zeph

2018-01-01

It's no secret that organized labor and public education face a time of great uncertainty. Our country's current president and secretary of education, according to this author, have made clear their intent to support corporate greed at the expense of working people and their unions and to champion privatization schemes that undermine public…

Europe in the Feminine: The Union of Contrasts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bouder, Annie

1997-01-01

The relationship between training and the employment of women in the 12 countries of the European Union (EU) was examined. An analysis of the distribution of the female population by training levels revealed that women in the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark generally had the highest overall levels of training, whereas women in Spain and Portugal…

North Korea Country Analysis Brief

EIA Publications

2015-01-01

North Korea was once the industrial heartland of the Korean peninsula. Following the dissolution of the former Soviet Union in 1992, North Korea lost its major trading partner. North Korea's economy was unable to adapt, and its economy soon deteriorated. Without subsidized oil from the Soviet Union and China, North Korea was unable to meet its energy demand.

Library Education and Research in the Soviet Union Compared with Scandinavia.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olaisen, Johan L.

1987-01-01

Compares the philosophy of librarianship in the Soviet Union, where libraries are subordinate to the goals of the Communist party, and Scandinavia, where libraries maintain political neutrality. A brief history of library education in both countries is given and the current state of library education and research is described. (CLB)

Development of automated testing tools for traffic control signals and devices (NTCIP and Security) phase 2.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-02-01

Through a coordinated effort among the electrical engineering research team of the Florida State : University (FSU) and key Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) personnel, an NTCIP-based : automated testing system for NTCIP-compliant ASC has b...

Accidents in Building Engineering in the European Union Countries in the Years 2008 - 2014

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harasymiuk, Jolanta; Tadeusz Barski, Janusz

2017-10-01

According to the ESAW1, an accident at work is an event that results in physical or mental harm to the person doing the work. As a result of this incident, fatal accidents may occur (which in the course of one year lead to death of the victim) or non-fatal accidents (that imply at least four full calendar days of absence from work). In the paper the authors present the number and the analysis of the causes of accidents at work in the construction industry in years 2008 - 2014 in 28 countries of the European Union. The descriptive statistics method was used to achieve the intended goal. The accident rate indicator for individual European Union countries has been shown in the analyzed period. The structure and trends of accidents during the period under investigation, divided into two groups: fatal accidents and non-fatal accidents, were presented. Both groups were analyzed for what caused them and what factors affected the quantity (Age of the victim, work experience, month of occurrence). On the basis of the analyzed causes and factors causing accidents in the construction industry in years 2008 - 2014, the classification of EU countries has been shown in terms of accidents. The paper was concluded with a summary.

Synchrotron light sources in developing countries

DOE PAGES

Mtingwa, Sekazi K.; Winick, Herman

2018-03-21

Here, we discuss the role that synchrotron light sources, such as SESAME, could play in improving the socioeconomic conditions in developing countries. After providing a brief description of a synchrotron light source, we discuss the important role that they played in the development of several economically emerging countries. Then we describe the state of synchrotron science in South Africa and that country’s leadership role in founding the African Light Source initiative. Next, we highlight a new initiative called Lightsources for Africa, the Americas & Middle East Project, which is a global initiative led by the International Union of Pure andmore » Applied Physics and the International Union of Crystallography, with initial funding provided by the International Council for Science. Finally, we comment on a new technology called the multibend achromat that has launched a new paradigm for the design of synchrotron light sources that should be attractive for construction in developing countries.« less

Synchrotron light sources in developing countries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mtingwa, Sekazi K.; Winick, Herman

2018-03-01

We discuss the role that synchrotron light sources, such as SESAME, could play in improving the socioeconomic conditions in developing countries. After providing a brief description of a synchrotron light source, we discuss the important role that they played in the development of several economically emerging countries. Then we describe the state of synchrotron science in South Africa and that country’s leadership role in founding the African Light Source initiative. Next, we highlight a new initiative called Lightsources for Africa, the Americas & Middle East Project, which is a global initiative led by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics and the International Union of Crystallography, with initial funding provided by the International Council for Science. Finally, we comment on a new technology called the multibend achromat that has launched a new paradigm for the design of synchrotron light sources that should be attractive for construction in developing countries.

Synchrotron light sources in developing countries

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mtingwa, Sekazi K.; Winick, Herman

Here, we discuss the role that synchrotron light sources, such as SESAME, could play in improving the socioeconomic conditions in developing countries. After providing a brief description of a synchrotron light source, we discuss the important role that they played in the development of several economically emerging countries. Then we describe the state of synchrotron science in South Africa and that country’s leadership role in founding the African Light Source initiative. Next, we highlight a new initiative called Lightsources for Africa, the Americas & Middle East Project, which is a global initiative led by the International Union of Pure andmore » Applied Physics and the International Union of Crystallography, with initial funding provided by the International Council for Science. Finally, we comment on a new technology called the multibend achromat that has launched a new paradigm for the design of synchrotron light sources that should be attractive for construction in developing countries.« less

The dynamic relationships between union dissolution and women's employment: a life-history analysis of 16 countries.

PubMed

van Damme, Maike; Kalmijn, Matthijs

2014-11-01

The specialization theory from Gary Becker is often used to explain the effect of women's work on the risk of divorce. The main argument is that women with little work experience have higher economic costs to exit marriage. Using the Fertility and Family Surveys, we test for 16 countries to what extent women's employment increases the risk of separation. We also more directly examine the role of economic exit costs in separation by investigating the effect of separated women's work history during the union on women's post-separation employment. The results imply that Becker was right to some extent, especially in contexts with little female employment support. However, in settings where women's employment opportunities are more ample, sociological or psychological theories have probably more explanatory power to explain the causes and consequences of union dissolution. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The epidemiological transition in Eastern and Western Europe: a historic natural experiment.

PubMed

Karanikolos, Marina; Adany, Roza; McKee, Martin

2017-10-01

The continent of Europe has experienced remarkable changes in the past 25 years, providing scope for natural experiments that offer insight into the complex determinants of health. We analysed trends in life expectancy at birth in three parts of Europe, those countries that were members of the European Union (EU) prior to 2004, countries that joined the European Union since then, and the twelve countries that emerged from the Soviet Union to form the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The contribution of deaths at different ages to these changes was assessed using Arriaga's method of decomposing changes in life expectancy. Europe remains divided geographically, with an East-West gradient. The former Soviet countries experienced a marked initial decline in life expectancy and have only recovered after 2005. However, the situation for those of working ages is little better than in 1990. The pre-2004 EU has seen substantial gains throughout the past 25 years, although there is some evidence that this may be slowing, or even reversing, at older ages. The countries joining the EU in 2004 subsequently began to see some improvements in the early 1990s, but have experienced larger gains since 2000. Europe offers a valuable natural laboratory for understanding the impact of political, economic, and social changes on health. While the historic divisions of Europe are still visible, there is also evidence that individual countries are doing better or worse than their neighbours, providing many lessons that can be learned from. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

A European Approach to Lifelong Learning: Goals and Realities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thery, Michel; Roussel, Patrick; Zygmunt, Christian

2003-01-01

Comparison of company practices regarding continuing training of employees shows great diversity among the 15 European Union member states. In 11 countries, over 70 percent of companies are "training involved" (TICs). South European countries have a low percentage of TICs; the proportion of TICs in north European countries is over 80…

Education, Training, Innovation: Evidence from Transition Economies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akhmedjonov, Alisher R.

2010-01-01

Innovation is the key to productivity growth and prosperity. Most empirical cross-country analysis of the determinants of innovation focus mainly on developed countries. The objective of this study is to fill this gap in the research and analyze the determinants of innovation in transition countries of Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union.…

Education, Training, Innovation--Evidence from Transition Economies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akhmedjonov, Alisher

2010-01-01

Innovation is the key to productivity growth and prosperity. Most empirical cross-country analysis of the determinants of innovation focus mainly on developed countries. The objective of this study is to fill this gap in the research and analyze the determinants of innovation in transition countries of Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union.…

Day Care: Other Countries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hjartarson, Freida; And Others

This collection of 5 bilingual papers on day care programs in foreign countries (China, the Soviet Union, and 3 Scandinavian countries) is part of a series of papers on various aspects of day care published by the Canadian Department of Health and Welfare. Each paper is presented in both English and French. Paper I considers day care services in…

Globalization, EU-ification, and the New Mode of Educational Governance in Europe

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daun, Holger

2011-01-01

The nature of European education systems and their respective modes of governing education were principally determined by factors internal to individual countries until the early 1980s. After the extension of the European Union and the acceleration of globalization, European countries have adopted some features that exist in many countries around…

The News Media and Audience Images of Foreign Countries: Optimism and Pessimism.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perry, David K.; McNelly, John T.

Examining the impact of news on people's knowledge about and favorableness of opinion toward six foreign countries, a study conducted telephone interviews with 374 adult residents in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, during November 1984. The nations selected for study included three developed countries (Britain, the Soviet Union, and Japan) and three…

[Recent initiatives of the European Union on the field of drug use and trafficking].

PubMed

Salazar, Lorenzo

2002-01-01

Moving from the general framework offered by the Treaties of the European Union and European Community, the paper presents the more recent specific initiatives of the Union in the field of fight against drugs and in particular on the European Union Plan of Action, adopted by the European Council in June 2000, and on the need for a global and balanced approach which it proposes as the main focus of the action of the European institutions. The paper then examines separately the initiatives taken both at the level of the reduction of the demand, mainly at the preventive and sanitary level, and of the supply reduction, of a mainly repressive character. Conclusively, the main initiatives in the field of international co-operation among the European Union and third Countries.

Burnout syndrome as an occupational disease in the European Union: an exploratory study.

PubMed

Lastovkova, Andrea; Carder, Melanie; Rasmussen, Hans Martin; Sjoberg, Lars; Groene, Gerda J de; Sauni, Riitta; Vevoda, Jiri; Vevodova, Sarka; Lasfargues, Gerard; Svartengren, Magnus; Varga, Marek; Colosio, Claudio; Pelclova, Daniela

2018-04-07

The risk of psychological disorders influencing the health of workers increases in accordance with growing requirements on employees across various professions. This study aimed to compare approaches to the burnout syndrome in European countries. A questionnaire focusing on stress-related occupational diseases was distributed to national experts of 28 European Union countries. A total of 23 countries responded. In 9 countries (Denmark, Estonia, France, Hungary, Latvia, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia and Sweden) burnout syndrome may be acknowledged as an occupational disease. Latvia has burnout syndrome explicitly included on the List of ODs. Compensation for burnout syndrome has been awarded in Denmark, France, Latvia, Portugal and Sweden. Only in 39% of the countries a possibility to acknowledge burnout syndrome as an occupational disease exists, with most of compensated cases only occurring in recent years. New systems to collect data on suspected cases have been developed reflecting the growing recognition of the impact of the psychosocial work environment. In agreement with the EU legislation, all EU countries in the study have an action plan to prevent stress at the workplace.

Revisiting informal payments in 29 transitional countries: The scale and socio-economic correlates.

PubMed

Habibov, Nazim; Cheung, Alex

2017-04-01

This study assesses informal payments (IPs) in 29 transitional countries using a fully comparable household survey. The countries of the former Soviet Union, especially those in the Caucasus and Central Asia, exhibit the highest scale of IPs, followed by Southern Europe, and then Eastern Europe. The lowest and the highest scale of IPs were in Slovenia (2.7%) and Azerbaijan (73.9%) respectively. We found that being from a wealthier household, experiencing lower quality of healthcare in the form of long waiting times, lack of medicines, absence of personnel, and disrespectful treatment, and having relatives to help when needed, are associated with a higher odds ratio of IPs. Conversely, working for the government is associated with a lower odds ratio of IPs. Living in the countries of the former Soviet Union and in Mongolia is associated with the highest likelihood of IPs, and this is followed by the countries of the Southern Europe. In contrast, living in the countries of Eastern Europe is associated with the lowest likelihood of IPs. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Institutionalization of Migration Policy Frameworks in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia

PubMed Central

Makaryan, Shushanik; Chobanyan, Haykanush

2015-01-01

This article is a comparative study of the institutionalization of the migration policy frameworks of post-Soviet states Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. All three countries share common historical legacies: a Soviet past, wars and conflicts, unemployment, high emigration, and commitment to integration into European bodies. To what extent do the migration policies of these three countries (driven by contextual forces, i.e. domestic challenges) address country-specific migration dynamics? Or are they imposed by the European Union? In which dimensions have the national policies on migration of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia evolved, and around which issues have they converged or diverged? Have these trends led to an integration of migration policymaking at the regional level in the South Caucasus? PMID:26435548

Country Profile: International Education in Schools in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kovalenko, Yury I.

1982-01-01

International education is central to Soviet education because of the many different nationalities in the USSR. Students learn about the history and cultures of the Soviet Union, as well as about the history of other nations. Special attention is paid to understanding the causes of war and conditions for peace. (IS)

22 CFR 124.16 - Special retransfer authorizations for unclassified technical data and defense services to member...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

..., Japan, New Zealand, and Switzerland. 124.16 Section 124.16 Foreign Relations DEPARTMENT OF STATE... NATO and the European Union, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and Switzerland. The provisions of § 124.8... countries that are members of NATO the European Union, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and Switzerland and...

22 CFR 124.16 - Special retransfer authorizations for unclassified technical data and defense services to member...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

..., Japan, New Zealand, and Switzerland. 124.16 Section 124.16 Foreign Relations DEPARTMENT OF STATE... NATO and the European Union, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and Switzerland. The provisions of § 124.8... countries that are members of NATO the European Union, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and Switzerland and...

Safeguarding and Creating Jobs Is a Sign of Social Responsibility. Changing Trade Unions and Management in Germany.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Horstkotte, Hermann

1998-01-01

As in many other industrialized countries, advances in computer technology are transforming Germany's industrial society into an information and services society. Increasingly fewer jobs are available in traditional industries and in the public sector. In the 1990s, Germany's trade unions and employers' associations have experienced steady…

CHILDREN’S UNION STATUS AND CONTACT WITH MOTHERS: A CROSS-NATIONAL STUDY

PubMed Central

Yahirun, Jenjira J.; Hamplová, Dana

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND In North America and Europe, population aging challenges the institutions responsible for elder care. In these environments, older individuals rely on offspring to provide social, instrumental and financial support. However, reliance on offspring, and offspring’s provision of support, depend on several factors. OBJECTIVE In this paper, we examine how offspring’s union status is associated with maternal contact and distinguish between offspring who are married, cohabiting or single. METHODS We use data from the U.S. Health and Retirement Survey and the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe to compare the association between adult children’s union status and contact with mothers. Our sample consists of 9,779 mothers and 20,795 of their adult children across 15 countries. We employ multi-level analyses to account for variation in contact across and within family units and country contexts. RESULTS We find that across all countries, cohabiting offspring have the least contact with mothers compared to married or single offspring. However, the effects of marriage are not universal and vary greatly across countries. In some countries, marriage is associated with less contact with mothers; in others, marriage binds generations together and intergenerational contact is greater than when offspring are single. Differences between married and cohabiting offspring also vary across contexts. We interpret these findings in light of cross-national variation in norms of parental obligations, public support for the elderly and kin relationships in weak versus strong family systems. PMID:26664290

Oral surgery in the European Union: challenges of diversity in training and practice.

PubMed

Nasseripour, M N; Hervé, C; Meningaud, J-P

2017-02-01

At the crossroads of medicine and dentistry, oral surgery with orthodontics are the only recognised dental specialties by the European Union. The goal of our study is to evaluate the current state of oral surgery in Europe from its teaching to its practice, the hypothesis being that a notable diversity persists despite European Union harmonisation process. To understand the impact of this diversity applied to European Union freedom of movement and its ethical implications for the practice of oral surgery, English and French questionnaires were sent by email to universities and organisations delivering authorisation to practise in France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom chosen based upon inclusion and exclusion criteria. An analysis of documents on these organisations' official websites was also conducted. Demographic information was obtained from the aforementioned organisations. The profile of practising oral surgeons is different dependent on the country. The university and hospital trainings conform to European recommendations and span 3-4 years. European Board certification is not required. Continuing education is mandatory only in France, Germany and United Kingdom. As for curricula and scope of practice, no consensus can be derived. There is potential conflict of interest between European Union principles of freedom of movement and protection of all citizens, as member countries do not uniformly apply Directives and recommendations. A new survey of all European Union oral surgery programmes as well as organisations delivering authorisation to practise is necessary to implement across the board harmonisation of training and practice to insure patient safety in light of the migration of European Union practitioners. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

ScienceVision: An Inquiry-Based Videodisc Science Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dawson, George

As a result of declining scores, the National Science Foundation has funded numerous materials-development grants. Largest among these is the Interactive Media Science (IMS) Project at Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee. This project's mandate is to design, develop, and produce six level III interactive videodisc programs for middle…

[Regulation of food supplements in the European Union and its member states. Part I].

PubMed

Petrenko, A S; Ponomareva, M N; Sukhanov, B P

2014-01-01

The article discusses aspects of the regional (the European Union) and national (European countries) regulation of food supplements. The definition of the supplement category is given. The contemporary issues of nutrition in developed countries are discussed, and the essential role of food supplements in the diet is emphasized. In particular, the use of vitamins, minerals, botanicals and their chemical constituents in food supplements as well as the issue of setting maximum daily limits are discussed. The positive lists of vitamins, minerals and their chemical modifications are presented. The paper also outlines aspects of supplement safety, requirements for their labelling and pre-market notification procedure.

Sewage Management Changes in the North-eastern Poland After Accession to the European Union

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skarżyński, Szymon; Bartkowska, Izabela

2018-02-01

Poland's accession to the European Union contributed to the infrastructure development of the whole country. One of the elements of the modernized infrastructure is the sewage network and facilities on this network, as well as facilities for waste water treatment and disposal of sludge. A wide stream of funds flowing to the country, and consequently also to the north-eastern polish voivodeships (Podlaskie, Warmian-Masurian, Lublin), allowed modernization, organize, and sometimes to build a new sewage management of this part of the country. The main factors and parameters that allow us to evaluate the development of the sewage management in north-eastern Poland are included: percentage of population using sewage treatment plants, number of municipal sewage plants with the division of their type, number of industrial plants, number of septic tanks, amount of sewage purified in a year, amount of sludge produced in the year, design capacity of sewage treatment plant, size of plant in population equivalent (PE). From a number of investments in the field of wastewater management carried out in the discussed area in the period after Poland's accession to the European Union, 9 investments were considered the most important, 3 from each of the voivodeships.

Financial implications of compliance with EU waste management goals: Feasibility and consequences in a transition country.

PubMed

Mihajlović, Višnja; Vujić, Goran; Stanisavljević, Nemanja; Batinić, Bojan

2016-09-01

This paper outlines the approach that can assist decision makers to have first preliminary insights regarding costs of complying with requested European Union municipal waste management goals in transition and developing countries. Serbia, as a joining member of European Union, must confront itself with the challenges resulting from European Union waste management directives. Implementation of waste separation units and the construction of sanitary landfills is already in place in Serbia. However, new waste management practice will need additional transformation and will require implementation of waste treatment technologies for additional management of generated waste. Implementation of analyzed best available technology/techniques for waste treatment can support the country's effort in reaching the policy goals. However, the question here is how much will the implementation of additional waste treatments influence the overall waste management costs? Results of the scenario's financial viability show that composting and sanitary landfill are the most viable solutions regarding the costs, even under increasing discount rates. Although different discount rates influence the overall gate fees and net present values, the level of affordability for different scenarios remains the same. © The Author(s) 2016.

Labor Markets and Economic Incorporation among Recent Immigrants in Europe

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kogan, Irena

2006-01-01

The questions asked in the paper are whether and to what extent the employment situation among recent third-country immigrants differs across European Union countries and how it is related to these countries' labor market characteristics. The European Labor Force Survey data for the 1990s are used to disentangle the roles that the individual…

Nutrition transition and dietary energy availability in Eastern Europe after the collapse of communism.

PubMed

Ulijaszek, Stanley J; Koziel, Slawomir

2007-12-01

After the economic transition of the late 1980s and early 1990s there was a rapid increase in overweight and obesity in many countries of Eastern Europe. This article describes changing availability of dietary energy from major dietary components since the transition to free-market economic systems among Eastern European nations, using food balance data obtained at national level for the years 1990-92 and 2005 from the FAOSTAT-Nutrition database. Dietary energy available to the East European nations satellite to the former Soviet Union (henceforth, Eastern Europe) was greater than in the nations of the former Soviet Union. Among the latter, the Western nations of the former Soviet Union had greater dietary energy availability than the Eastern and Southern nations of the former Soviet Union. The higher energy availability in Eastern Europe relative to the nations of the former Soviet Union consists mostly of high-protein foods. There has been no significant change in overall dietary energy availability to any category of East European nation between 1990-1992 and 2005, indicating that, at the macro-level, increasing rates of obesity in Eastern European countries cannot be attributed to increased dietary energy availability. The most plausible macro-level explanations for the obesity patterns observed in East European nations are declines in physical activity, increased real income, and increased consumption of goods that contribute to physical activity decline: cars, televisions and computers.

Injury trends and prevention in rugby union football.

PubMed

MacQueen, Amy E; Dexter, William W

2010-01-01

Rugby union football has long been one of the most popular sports in the world. Its popularity and number of participants continue to increase in the United States. Until 1995, rugby union primarily was an amateur sport. Worldwide there are now flourishing professional leagues in many countries, and after a long absence, rugby union will be returning to the Olympic games in 2016. In the United States, rugby participation continues to increase, particularly at the collegiate and high school levels. With the increase in rugby professional athletes and the reported increase in aggressive play, there have been changes to the injury patterns in the sport. There is still significant need for further epidemiologic data as there is evidence that injury prevention programs and rule changes have been successful in decreasing the number of catastrophic injuries in rugby union.

Supporting Reform in Science Education in Central and Eastern Europe--Reflections and Perspectives from the Project TEMPUS-SALiS

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kapanadze, Marika; Eilks, Ingo

2014-01-01

After the collapse of the former Soviet Union, many Central and Eastern European countries underwent significant change in their political and educational systems, among them Georgia and Moldova. Reforms in education sought to overcome the highly centralized educational system of the former Soviet Union as well as to conquer the teacher-centred…

An Assessment of the Quality of Life in the European Union Based on the Social Indicators Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grasso, Marco; Canova, Luciano

2008-01-01

This article carries out a multidimensional analysis of welfare based on the social indicators approach aimed at assessing the quality of life in the 25 member countries of the European Union. It begins with description of the social indicators approach and provides some specifications on its most controversial points. It then specifies the…

Harmonization of European neurology education: the junior doctor's perspective.

PubMed

Macerollo, Antonella; Struhal, Walter; Sellner, Johann

2013-10-29

The objective of this article, written by executives of the European Association of Young Neurologists and Trainees (EAYNT), is to illustrate the status quo of neurology training in Europe and give an outlook on ongoing efforts and prospects for junior neurologists. The European Union is an economic and political union that currently encompasses 27 member states with more than 500 million inhabitants (or 7.3% of the world population) (interested readers are referred to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union). Countries of the European Union act as a single market with free movement of citizens, goods, services, and finances. As a consequence, a diploma and postgraduate training obtained in one EU country will be automatically recognized by all other EU member states. At the Lisbon European Council in March 2000, the Heads of State or Government signed a treaty that expresses their ambition of making Europe "the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion" (www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisbon_Strategy). More than 1.6 million physicians in all the different medical specialties are represented by the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS). The UEMS was founded in 1958 and the objectives include the study, promotion, and harmonization of the highest level of training of medical specialists, medical practice, and health care within the European Union. The European Board of Neurology (UEMS-EBN; www.uems-neuroboard.org) is in charge of the implementation of the UEMS policy regarding neurology.

The international union of psychological science and the politics of membership: psychological associations in South Africa and the German Democratic Republic.

PubMed

Dumont, K; Louw, J

2001-11-01

This article examines the origins and the development of psychological associations in the German Democratic Republic and the Republic of South Africa and the ways membership in the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS)--founded in 1951--figured in the process. The political regimes in these 2 countries had difficulties of their own in achieving a standing in the international community and, as a result, psychologists faced significant dilemmas in gaining legitimacy for the discipline. Membership in the IUPsyS served an important function in gaining legitimacy for the discipline in both countries, but it also contradicted legitimizing strategies that involved the countries' distinctive political and social structures. Membership in the IUPsyS was sufficiently important for psychologists to try to strike a compromise between different legitimation strategies.

Exploring the impact of foreign direct investment on tobacco consumption in the former Soviet Union

PubMed Central

Gilmore, A; McKee, M

2005-01-01

Background: Tobacco is the single largest cause of morbidity and mortality in the developed world; in the former socialist bloc tobacco kills twice as many men as in the west. Although evidence shows that liberalisation of the cigarette trade through the elimination of import barriers leads to significant increases in consumption, far less is known about the impact of foreign direct investment on cigarette consumption. This paper seeks to explore the impact that the substantial transnational tobacco company investments have had on patterns of tobacco trade and consumption in the former Soviet Union. Design: Routine data were used to explore trends in cigarette trade and consumption in the 15 countries of the former Soviet Union from the 1960s to the present day. Comparisons were made between trends in countries that have received substantial investment from the tobacco transnationals and countries that have not. Results: Between 1991 and 2000 cigarette production increased by 96% in countries receiving industry investment and by 11% in countries that did not. Over the same period cigarette consumption increased by 40%; the increase was concentrated in countries receiving investments. Despite these investments, cigarette imports still outweigh exports and no trade surplus has yet to result. Conclusions: The findings suggest that liberalisation of inward investment has a significant and positive impact on cigarette consumption and that without appropriate safeguards, market liberalisation may have long term negative impacts on health. Specific trade rules are needed to govern trade and investment in this uniquely harmful product. Implementation of effective tobacco control policies should precede tobacco industry privatisation. International financial organisations pressing for privatisation should ensure this occurs. PMID:15735295

Exploring the impact of foreign direct investment on tobacco consumption in the former Soviet Union.

PubMed

Gilmore, A B; McKee, M

2005-02-01

Tobacco is the single largest cause of morbidity and mortality in the developed world; in the former socialist bloc tobacco kills twice as many men as in the west. Although evidence shows that liberalisation of the cigarette trade through the elimination of import barriers leads to significant increases in consumption, far less is known about the impact of foreign direct investment on cigarette consumption. This paper seeks to explore the impact that the substantial transnational tobacco company investments have had on patterns of tobacco trade and consumption in the former Soviet Union. Routine data were used to explore trends in cigarette trade and consumption in the 15 countries of the former Soviet Union from the 1960s to the present day. Comparisons were made between trends in countries that have received substantial investment from the tobacco transnationals and countries that have not. Between 1991 and 2000 cigarette production increased by 96% in countries receiving industry investment and by 11% in countries that did not. Over the same period cigarette consumption increased by 40%; the increase was concentrated in countries receiving investments. Despite these investments, cigarette imports still outweigh exports and no trade surplus has yet to result. The findings suggest that liberalisation of inward investment has a significant and positive impact on cigarette consumption and that without appropriate safeguards, market liberalisation may have long term negative impacts on health. Specific trade rules are needed to govern trade and investment in this uniquely harmful product. Implementation of effective tobacco control policies should precede tobacco industry privatisation. International financial organisations pressing for privatisation should ensure this occurs.

Trade Integration and Trade Imbalances in the European Union: A Network Perspective

PubMed Central

Krings, Gautier M.; Carpantier, Jean-François; Delvenne, Jean-Charles

2014-01-01

We study the ever more integrated and ever more unbalanced trade relationships between European countries. To better capture the complexity of economic networks, we propose two global measures that assess the trade integration and the trade imbalances of the European countries. These measures are the network (or indirect) counterparts to traditional (or direct) measures such as the trade-to-GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and trade deficit-to-GDP ratios. Our indirect tools account for the European inter-country trade structure and follow (i) a decomposition of the global trade flow into elementary flows that highlight the long-range dependencies between exporting and importing economies and (ii) the commute-time distance for trade integration, which measures the impact of a perturbation in the economy of a country on another country, possibly through intermediate partners by domino effect. Our application addresses the impact of the launch of the Euro. We find that the indirect imbalance measures better identify the countries ultimately bearing deficits and surpluses, by neutralizing the impact of trade transit countries, such as the Netherlands. Among others, we find that ultimate surpluses of Germany are quite concentrated in only three partners. We also show that for some countries, the direct and indirect measures of trade integration diverge, thereby revealing that these countries (e.g. Greece and Portugal) trade to a smaller extent with countries considered as central in the European Union network. PMID:24465381

Trade integration and trade imbalances in the European Union: a network perspective.

PubMed

Krings, Gautier M; Carpantier, Jean-François; Delvenne, Jean-Charles

2014-01-01

We study the ever more integrated and ever more unbalanced trade relationships between European countries. To better capture the complexity of economic networks, we propose two global measures that assess the trade integration and the trade imbalances of the European countries. These measures are the network (or indirect) counterparts to traditional (or direct) measures such as the trade-to-GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and trade deficit-to-GDP ratios. Our indirect tools account for the European inter-country trade structure and follow (i) a decomposition of the global trade flow into elementary flows that highlight the long-range dependencies between exporting and importing economies and (ii) the commute-time distance for trade integration, which measures the impact of a perturbation in the economy of a country on another country, possibly through intermediate partners by domino effect. Our application addresses the impact of the launch of the Euro. We find that the indirect imbalance measures better identify the countries ultimately bearing deficits and surpluses, by neutralizing the impact of trade transit countries, such as the Netherlands. Among others, we find that ultimate surpluses of Germany are quite concentrated in only three partners. We also show that for some countries, the direct and indirect measures of trade integration diverge, thereby revealing that these countries (e.g. Greece and Portugal) trade to a smaller extent with countries considered as central in the European Union network.

Learning Mathematics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lapointe, Archie E.; And Others

In 1990-91, 20 countries (Brazil, Canada, China, England, France, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Korea, Mozambique, Portugal, Scotland, Slovenia, Soviet Union, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United States) surveyed the mathematics and science performance of 13-year-old students (and 14 countries also assessed 9-year-olds in the same…

Developing Humanities Collections in the Digital Age: Exploring Humanities Faculty Engagement with Electronic and Print Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kachaluba, Sarah Buck; Brady, Jessica Evans; Critten, Jessica

2014-01-01

This article is based on quantitative and qualitative research examining humanities scholars' understandings of the advantages and disadvantages of print versus electronic information resources. It explores how humanities' faculty members at Florida State University (FSU) use print and electronic resources, as well as how they perceive these…

A Study of Instructional Faculty Salaries at USF, SUS and National Peers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Micceri, Theodore

2010-01-01

This study investigates 10-year trends in instructional faculty salaries by sex and rank for USF, five SUS Peers (UF, FSU, FIU, UCF, FAU) and eight National Peers (North Carolina State, Alabama-Birmingham, Illinois-Chicago, California-Irvine, SUNY-Stony Brook, SUNY-Buffalo, Cincinnati, Rutgers). Methods: Historical instructional faculty salary…

A "Service-Learning Approach" to Teaching Computer Graphics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hutzel, Karen

2007-01-01

The author taught a computer graphics course through a service-learning framework to undergraduate and graduate students in the spring of 2003 at Florida State University (FSU). The students in this course participated in learning a software program along with youths from a neighboring, low-income, primarily African-American community. Together,…

Second International Workshop on Grid Simulator Testing of Wind Turbine

Science.gov Websites

, Clemson University, USA Update on the FSU-CAPS Megawatt Scale Power Hardware in the Loop Laboratory Loop Based Anti-Islanding Testing of PV Converters-Michael Steurer, Florida State University, USA Closed-Loop Control of Modern Test Benches Advanced Control Techniques for Dynamic Testing of Wind

Stories from the Stacks: Students Lost in the Labyrinth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schoonover, Dan; Kinsley, Kirsten M.

2014-01-01

Research shows that academic libraries can be difficult to navigate and that students are often frustrated with not being able to find the right materials. This current study attempts to identify access barriers in FSU's Strozier Library by assessing the effectiveness of signs and directories, as well as wayfinding patterns of both undergraduate…

Elements of Leading Collegiate Choral Programs in the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garrett, Jennifer M.

2010-01-01

This study explored the attributes of three leading choral programs in the United States using interview and observation data. It extrapolated attributes from case studies of highly respected programs located at St. Olaf College, the University of Southern California (USC), and Florida State University (FSU). The first attribute identified at each…

FSU/Eastern Europe: Russia spearheads small upturn

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1996-08-01

The paper discusses the political and legal scene in Russia, domestic restructuring, exploration, drilling, development by Western companies and by Russian companies, and production. Exploration and development in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Serbia are also discussed.

Public-Private Partnership in the Countries of the Eurasian Economic Union

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matayev, Talgat

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine a concept and content of a public-private partnership as a perspective tool for development of cooperation among the EEU countries. The standard and legal base and institutes of PPP development in the EEU countries are studied herein. Main problems of PPP development are determined on the basis of the…

Financing Vocational Education and Training. Report of Subgroup A Presented at the Advisory Forum Meeting (Turin, Italy, June 10-12, 1996).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gasskov, Vladimir

For the countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, financing schemes of vocational education and training (VET) of other industrialized countries are possible prototypes. These "Partner Countries of the European Training Foundation (ETF)" should focus on the balance of responsibilities between central and local bodies and…

Overview of the Higher Education Systems in the Tempus Partner Countries: Central Asia. A Tempus Study. Issue 05

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruffio, Philippe; Heinamaki, Piia; Tchoukaline, Claire Chastang; Manthey, Anja; Reichboth, Veronika

2011-01-01

The main aim of the Tempus programme is to support the modernisation of higher education in Partner Countries outside the European Union. The targeted regions include Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Western Balkans and the Southern Mediterranean, with a total of 29 Partner Countries participating in the programme. In the field of cooperation in…

Pharmaceutical policies in European countries.

PubMed

Barros, Pedro Pita

2010-01-01

Pharmaceutical expenditures have an important role in Europe. The attempts to control expenditure have used a wide range of policy measures. We reviewed the main measures adopted by the European Union countries, especially in countries where governments are the largest third-party payers. To complement a literature review on the topic, data was gathered from national reviews of health systems and direct inquiries to several government bodies. Almost all countries regulate prices of pharmaceutical products. Popular policy measures include international referencing to set prices (using as benchmark countries that have set lower prices), internal reference pricing systems to promote price competition in domestic markets, and positive lists for reimbursement to promote consumption of generics (including in some cases substitution by pharmacists of drugs prescribed by physicians). Despite the wide range of policy measures, it is not possible to identify a "silver bullet" to control pharmaceutical expenditures. We also identified two main policy challenges: policy coordination among countries within the European Union to maintain incentives for R&D at the global level, and the development of new relationships with the pharmaceutical industry; namely, the so-called risk-sharing agreements between the pharmaceutical industry and governments/regulators (or large third-party payers).

Latin American astronomers and the International Astronomical Union

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torres-Peimbert, S.

2017-07-01

Selected aspects of the participation of the Latin American astronomers in the International Astronomical Union are presented: Membership, Governing bodies, IAU meetings, and other activities. The Union was founded in 1919 with 7 initial member states, soon to be followed by Brazil. In 1921 Mexico joined, and in 1928 Argentina also formed part of the Union, while Chile joined in 1947. In 1961 Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Venezuela were already member countries. At present (October 2016) 72 countries contribute financially to the Union. The Union lists 12,391 professional astronomers as individual members; of those, 692 astronomers work in Latin America and the Caribbean, from 13 member states (Argentina, Bolivia , Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Honduras, Mexico, Panamá, Perú, Uruguay and Venezuela) as well as from Ecuador and Puerto Rico. This group comprises 5.58% of the total membership, a figure somewhat lower than the fraction of the population in the region, which is 8.6% of the world population. Of the Latin American members, 23.4% are women and 76.6% are men; slightly higher than the whole membership of Union, which is of 16.9%. In the governing bodies it can be mentioned that there have been 2 Presidents of the Union (Jorge Sahade and Silvia Torres-Peimbert), 7 VicePresidents (Guillermo Haro, Jorge Sahade, Manuel Peimbert Claudio Anguita, Silvia Torres-Peimbert, Beatriz Barbuy, and Marta G. Rovira). The IAU meetings held in the region, include 2 General Assemblies (the 1991 XXI GA took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina and the 2009 XXVIII GA, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), 15 Regional Meetings (in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela and Uruguay), 29 Symposia (in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru and Mexico), 5 Colloquia (in Argentina and Mexico), 8 International Schools for Young Astronomers (in Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Honduras and Mexico), and 11 projects sponsored by the Office of Astronomy for Development. In conclusion, the engagement of the Latin American astronomers with the Union has been fruitful and significant.

The Road to the European Union: Macroeconomic Policy Challenges for Hungary and Poland. Fulbright-Hayes Summer Seminars Abroad Program, 2002 (Hungary and Poland).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramirez, Teresita R.

Prospects for the enlargement of the European Union (EU) became imminent when the EU Commission agreed in 1997 to open formal negotiations with five of the Central and Eastern European countries: (1) the Czech Republic; (2) Hungary; (3) Poland; (4) Slovenia; and (5) Estonia. This research project discusses macroeconomic policy challenges that…

The Potential of Transnational Language Policy to Promote Social Inclusion of Immigrants: An Analysis and Evaluation of the European Union's INCLUDE Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bian, Cui

2017-01-01

Language issues and social inclusion consistently remain two major concerns for member countries of the European Union (EU). Despite an increasing awareness of the importance of language learning in migrants' social inclusion, and the promotion of language policies at European and national levels, there is still a lack of common actions at the…

Minorities and Women in Apprenticeship Programs and Referral Unions. Equal Employment Opportunity Report--1978.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Washington, DC.

In 1978, there were almost 150,000 apprentices in the United States; 4 percent were women and 19 percent were members of minority groups. At the same time, there were more than two million union members in this country; 11 percent were women and 24 percent were members of minorities, according to the 1978 Equal Employment Opportunities Commission…

Africa Adult Education. Chronologies in Commonwealth Countries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Draper, James A., Ed.

In this document, leading educators from 12 African Commonwealth countries trace the development of adult education in Africa and show how providers of adult education outside the formal education system (including government and nongovernment organizations, trade unions, women's groups, and religious organizations) have met the needs of their…

ILGWU Student Magazine, 1987/88.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gross, Tracy, Ed.

The student magazine of the educational program sponsored by the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) is a collection of student writings. The writings are divided into the following topics: life journeys (Our Countries, Coming to the United States, and Our New Country); Our Lives (autobiographies, parents, family, remembering…

ETF Work Programme, 2003.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

European Training Foundation, Turin (Italy).

This document describes the proposed 2003 activities of the European Training Foundation (ETF) to support vocational education and training reform in non-European Union (EU) countries in the context of the EU's external relations program. The activities listed cover these four main groups of countries across three continents: the Mediterranean…

The impact of posture and prolonged cyclic compressive loading on vertebral joint mechanics.

PubMed

Gooyers, Chad E; McMillan, Robert D; Howarth, Samuel J; Callaghan, Jack P

2012-08-01

An in vitro biomechanics investigation exposing porcine functional spinal units (FSUs) to submaximal cyclic or static compressive forces while in a flexed, neutral, or extended posture. To investigate the combined effect of cyclically applied compressive force (e.g., vibration) and postural deviation on intervertebral joint mechanics. Independently, prolonged vibration exposure and non-neutral postures are known risk factors for development of low back pain and injury. However, there is limited basic scientific evidence to explain how the risk of low back injury from vibration exposure is modified by other mechanical factors. This work examined the influence of static postural deviation on vertebral joint height loss and compressive stiffness under cyclically applied compressive force. Forty-eight FSUs, consisting of 2 adjacent vertebrae, ligaments, and the intervening intervertebral disc were included in the study. Each specimen was randomized to 1 of 3 experimental posture conditions (neutral, flexed, or extended) and assigned to 1 of 2 loading protocols, consisting of (1) cyclic (1500 ± 1200 N applied at 5 Hz using a sinusoidal waveform, resulting in 0.2 g rms acceleration) or (2) 1500 N of static compressive force. RESULTS.: As expected, FSU height loss followed a typical first-order response in both the static and cyclic loading protocols, with the majority (~50%) of the loss occurring in the first 20 minutes of testing. A significant interaction between posture and loading protocol (P < 0.001) was noted in the magnitude of FSU height loss. Subsequent analysis of simple effects revealed significant differences between cyclic and static loading protocols in both a neutral (P = 0.016) and a flexed posture (P < 0.0001). No significant differences (P = 0.320) were noted between pre/postmeasurements of FSU compressive stiffness. Posture is an important mechanical factor to consider when assessing the risk of injury from cyclic loading to the lumbar spine.

Chronic airflow limitation in developing countries: burden and priorities

PubMed Central

Aït-Khaled, Nadia; Enarson, Donald A; Ottmani, Salah; Sony, Asma El; Eltigani, Mai; Sepulveda, Ricardo

2007-01-01

Respiratory disease has never received priority in relation to its impact on health. Estimated DALYs lost in 2002 were 12% globally (similar for industrialized and developing countries). Chronic airflow limitation (due mainly to asthma and COPD) alone affects more than 100 million persons in the world and the majority of them live in developing countries. International guidelines for management of asthma (GINA) and COPD (GOLD) have been adopted and their cost-effectiveness demonstrated in industrialized countries. As resources are scarce in developing countries, adaptation of these guidelines using only essential drugs is required. It remains for governments to set priorities. To make these choices, a set of criteria have been proposed. It is vital that the results of scientific investigations are presented in these terms to facilitate their use by decision-makers. To respond to this emerging public health problem in developing countries, WHO has developed 2 initiatives: “Practical Approach to Lung Health (PAL)” and the Global Alliance Against Chronic Respiratory Diseases (GARD)”, and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (The Union) has launched a new initiative to increase affordability of essential asthma drugs for patients in developing countries termed the “Asthma Drug Facility” (ADF), which could facilitate the care of patients living in these parts of the world. PMID:18044686

Chronic airflow limitation in developing countries: burden and priorities.

PubMed

Aït-Khaled, Nadia; Enarson, Donald A; Ottmani, Salah; El Sony, Asma; Eltigani, Mai; Sepulveda, Ricardo

2007-01-01

Respiratory disease has never received priority in relation to its impact on health. Estimated DALYs lost in 2002 were 12% globally (similar for industrialized and developing countries). Chronic airflow limitation (due mainly to asthma and COPD) alone affects more than 100 million persons in the world and the majority of them live in developing countries. International guidelines for management of asthma (GINA) and COPD (GOLD) have been adopted and their cost-effectiveness demonstrated in industrialized countries. As resources are scarce in developing countries, adaptation of these guidelines using only essential drugs is required. It remains for governments to set priorities. To make these choices, a set of criteria have been proposed. It is vital that the results of scientific investigations are presented in these terms to facilitate their use by decision-makers. To respond to this emerging public health problem in developing countries, WHO has developed 2 initiatives: "Practical Approach to Lung Health (PAL)" and the Global Alliance Against Chronic Respiratory Diseases (GARD)", and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (The Union) has launched a new initiative to increase affordability of essential asthma drugs for patients in developing countries termed the "Asthma Drug Facility" (ADF), which could facilitate the care of patients living in these parts of the world.

Acceptability of domestic violence against women in the European Union: a multilevel analysis.

PubMed

Gracia, Enrique; Herrero, Juan

2006-02-01

The acceptability of domestic violence against women (DVAW) plays an important part in shaping the social environment in which the victims are embedded, which in turn may contribute either to perpetuate or to reduce the levels of DVAW in our societies. This study analyses correlates of the acceptability of DVAW in the European Union (EU). Three level ordinal logistic regression of 13 457 people nested within 212 localities (cities), nested within 15 countries of the EU. Sampling is multistage with random probability. All interviews were face to face in people's homes. The outcome variable was acceptability of DVAW. Multiple correlates at the individual, locality, and country level were analysed. European Union, 1999. National data were used of residents 15 years old and above of all member states in 1999 (n = 13 457). Average response rate was 47%, although it varied across countries (23%-73%). Higher levels of acceptability were reported by those who perceived DVAW as less severe and less frequent. Acceptability is higher among men who know a perpetrator and lower among men who know a victim. Victim blaming attitude is associated with higher levels of acceptability. In countries with higher gender empowerment measure the difference in acceptability among those who blame and those who do not blame the victim is greater. There are still widespread attitudes in the EU such as victim blaming that condone DVAW, contributing to a climate of social acceptability of DVAW. Further efforts to reduce the acceptability of DVAW are still needed.

Anaesthesia workforce in Europe.

PubMed

Egger Halbeis, C B; Cvachovec, K; Scherpereel, P; Mellin-Olsen, J; Drobnik, L; Sondore, A

2007-12-01

The European anaesthesia workforce is facing increased demand and expansion of the labour market, which may likely exceed supply. This survey assesses the numbers and practice patterns of anaesthesiologists and studies migration and shortage of the anaesthesia workforce in Europe. A questionnaire was sent to all national European anaesthesia societies. Countries were grouped according to their relationship with the European Union. The number of anaesthesiologists per 100,000 population varies between 2.7 (Turkey) and 20.7 (Estonia). There seems to be no clear evidence for feminization of the anaesthesia workforce. Anaesthesia physician training lasts between 3 yr (Armenia, Belarus, Uzbekistan) and 7 yr (Ireland, UK), and seems to positively correlate with the number of trainees. Throughout Europe, anaesthesiologists typically work in public practice, and are involved in the entire care chain of surgical patients (anaesthesia, intensive care, chronic pain and pre-hospital emergency medicine). The differences between European salaries for anaesthesiologists are up to 50-fold. Most Western European countries are recipients of migrating anaesthesiologists who often originate from the new member states of the European Union. However, it seems that expectations about anaesthesia workforce shortages are not confined to Eastern Europe. Each European country has its own unique workforce constellation and practice pattern. Westward migration of anaesthesiologists from those countries with access to the European Union labour market may be explained by substantial salary differences. There is a European-wide lack of systematic, comparable data about the anaesthesia workforce, which makes it difficult to accurately assess the supply of anaesthesiologists.

'Children and obesity: a pan-European project examining the role of food marketing'.

PubMed

Matthews, Anne E

2008-02-01

Rising levels of obesity in school-age children across Europe are causing increasing concern. The 'Children, Obesity and associated avoidable Chronic Diseases' project sought to examine the effects of promotion within food marketing, given the influential role it plays in children's diets. A questionnaire and data-collection protocol was designed for the national co-ordinators, facilitating standardized responses. Co-ordinators collected data from within 20 European Union countries relating to food promotion to children. Results showed that unhealthy foods such as savoury snacks and confectionary were the most commonly marketed and consumed by children across all countries. Television was found to be the prime promotional medium, with in-school and internet marketing seen as growth areas. Media literacy programmes designed specifically to counterbalance the effects of food marketing to children were reported by only a few of the 20 countries. An ineffective and incoherent pattern of regulation was observed across the countries as few governments imposed tough restrictions with most preferring to persuade industry to voluntarily act with responsibly. Most health, consumer and public interest groups supported food marketing restrictions whilst industry and media groups advocated self-regulation. Recommendations include the amendment of the European Union's Television Without Frontiers Directive to ban all TV advertising of unhealthy food to children, the adoption of a commonly agreed European Union definition of an 'unhealthy' food, and the establishment of a mechanism for pan-European monitoring of the nature and extent of food marketing to children and its regulation.

Educational inequalities in smoking among men and women aged 16 years and older in 11 European countries.

PubMed

Huisman, M; Kunst, A E; Mackenbach, J P

2005-04-01

To determine those groups who are at increased risk of smoking related diseases, we assessed in which male and female generations smoking was more prevalent among lower educated groups than among the higher educated, in 11 European countries. Cross sectional analysis of data on smoking, covering the year 1998, from a social survey designed for all member states of the European Union. Higher and lower educated men and women aged 16 years and older from 11 member states of the European Union. Age standardised prevalence rates by education and prevalence odds ratios of current and ever daily smoking comparing lower educated groups with higher educated groups. A north-south gradient in educational inequalities in current and ever daily smoking was observed for women older than 24 years, showing larger inequalities in the northern countries. Such a gradient was not observed for men. A disadvantage for the lower educated in terms of smoking generally occurred later among women than among men. Indications of inequalities in smoking in the age group 16-24 years were observed for all countries, with the exception of women from Greece and Portugal. Preventing and reducing smoking among lower educated subgroups should be a priority of policies aiming to reduce inequalities in health in Europe. If steps are not taken to control tobacco use among the lower educated groups specifically, inequalities in lung cancer and other smoking related diseases should be anticipated in all populations of the European Union, and both sexes.

Generalized System of Preferences: Background and Renewal Debate

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-09-26

Market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Stakeholders’ Concerns...States, the European Union and 11 other industrialized countries — Australia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland , and...GSP is to provide certain goods originating in developing countries with preferential market access (usually in the form of lower tariff rates or duty

Syria Country Analysis Brief

EIA Publications

2015-01-01

Syria's energy sector has encountered a number of challenges as a result of conflict and subsequent sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union. Damage to energy infrastructure—including oil and natural gas pipelines and electricity transmission networks—hindered the exploration, development, production, and transport of the country's energy resources.

Banking the Furnace: Restructuring of the Steel Industry in Eight Countries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bain, Trevor

A study examined how the cross-national differences in the social contract among managers, unions, and government influenced adjustment strategies in steel. The restructuring process in eight major steel-producing countries was studied to determine who bore the costs of restructuring--employers, employees, or government--and which industrial…

Social care and changes in occupational accidents and diseases - the situation in Eastern Europe in general and for skin diseases in particular

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

Background As a consequence of the disintegration of the state systems and the expansion of the European Union, there have been marked changes in the political and social affiliations of the countries of Eastern Europe. Of the 22 countries in Northeastern, Centraleastern, Southeastern and Eastern Europe, 12 are now members and 10 are "new" neighbours of the European Union. The accident insurance systems and changes in occupational accidents and occupational diseases in eastern European countries are described. Changes since EU and visible differences from non-EU countries are analysed. Special emphasis is given to occupational skin diseases. Methods The available data from the European Union (MISSOC and MISSCEEC Studies on the Social Protection Systems), the database "Social Security Worldwide" (SSW) of the International Social Security Association (ISSA), the International Labour Office Database (LABORSTA), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the annual statistical reports of the different countries were analysed with respect to changes in occupational accidents and occupational diseases. To find missing data, 128 ministries and authorities in the 22 countries in eastern Europe were researched and 165 persons contacted. Results The social insurance systems were very different in the different countries and some were better established than others. Moreover, not all data were available. For these reasons, detailed comparison was not always possible. The occupational accident rates are decreasing in more than half the countries. In contrast, the fatal accident rates have increased in half the countries. The number of newly registered occupational diseases is decreasing in more than half the countries. The rates for occupational skin diseases in 2006 were particularly high in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. In half the countries (four out of eight), the number of occupational skin diseases is decreasing. A reliable analysis of any correlation between EU membership and the rates of occupational accidents and occupational diseases was not possible, because of missing current data. Conclusion Comparison of the social insurance systems and changes in occupational accidents and occupational diseases in 22 countries in eastern Europe makes it clear that further effort is needed to develop registration and notification procedures. Only then will it be possible to analyse changes, to map successes and problems and perhaps to initiate necessary improvements. Standardisation of the documents must also be improved, to allow international comparisons between the systems. PMID:19922633

Similarities, Divergence, and Incapacity in the Bologna Process Reform Implementation by the Former-Socialist Countries: The Self-Defeat of State Regulations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soltys, Dennis

2015-01-01

This qualitative analysis describes the socialist legacy in the governance of higher education within the former Soviet-led member countries that entered the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) between 2001 and 2010. In joining the EHEA these countries signed on for the Bologna Process (BP), but are not members of the European Union. The…

Matching Up to the Information Society: An Evaluation of the EU, the EU Accession Countries, Switzerland and the United States. Summary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graafland-Essers, Irma; Cremonini, Leon; Ettedgui, Emile; Botterman, Maarten

2003-01-01

This report presents the current understanding of the advancement of the Information Society within the European Union and countries that are up for accession in 2004, and is based on the SIBIS (Statistical Indicators Benchmarking the Information Society) surveys and analyses per SIBIS theme and country. The report is unique in its coherent and…

Matching Up to the Information Society: An Evaluation of the EU, the EU Accession Countries, Switzerland and the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graafland-Essers, Irma; Cremonini, Leon; Ettedgui, Emile; Botterman, Maarten

2003-01-01

This report presents the current understanding of the advancement of the Information Society within the European Union and countries that are up for accession in 2004, and is based on the SIBIS (Statistical Indicators Benchmarking the Information Society) surveys and analyses per SIBIS theme and country. The report is unique in its coherent and…

Innovation in Psychology Teaching in Europe: A Scoping Survey of European Union Universities Use of Technology, Aims and Status of Teaching, Drivers of Change, and a Thematic Review of Recent Publications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reddy, Peter; Hammond, Jennifer; Lewandowska, Anna; Trapp, Annie; Marques, J. Frederico

2014-01-01

To investigate innovation in psychology teaching in European Union (EU) higher education, Europlat partners were surveyed and 43 replies were received from 30 countries. Estimated use of e-learning and other technologies including e-books and journals, virtual learning environments, lecture recording, plagiarism detection, laboratory simulation…

Use of Simulation in Nursing Education: Initial Experiences on a European Union Lifelong Learning Programme--Leonardo Da Vinci Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Terzioglu, Fusun; Tuna, Zahide; Duygulu, Sergul; Boztepe, Handan; Kapucu, Sevgisun; Ozdemir, Leyla; Akdemir, Nuran; Kocoglu, Deniz; Alinier, Guillaume; Festini, Filippo

2013-01-01

Aim: The aim of this paper is to share the initial experiences on a European Union (EU) Lifelong Learning Programme Leonardo Da Vinci Transfer of Innovation Project related to the use of simulation-based learning with nursing students from Turkey. The project started at the end of the 2010 involving 7 partners from 3 different countries including…

Needed: A Twenty-First Century Vision for Economic Assistance

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-04-01

Soviet Union) toward market economies and democratic political systems; and "o Confronting global issues and trends: To address global forces leading...Union, U.S. investment is important for these countries’ successful transitions to market economies. On global issues , U.S. business can offer...to global issues , many of the states involved in active or potential regional conflicts or in democratic transitions need help to avoid general

International Issues: Cross-border mobility of junior neurologists within and to the European Union.

PubMed

Macerollo, Antonella; Varga, Edina T; Struhal, Walter; Györfi, Orsolya; Kobeleva, Xenia; Sellner, Johann

2014-09-23

To assess the general interest in and motivation for cross-border mobility among residents and junior neurologists from member states of the European Union and neighboring countries. Questionnaire-based paper survey among 118 participants of a neurology course. Ninety-seven (82%) participants returned the survey. Most of them had at one point considered relocating within or to the European Union for postgraduate education (87%) or employment (71%). Common motivations were superior prospects for clinical training (85%), resources at work and academic environment (both 80%), and remuneration (70%). Barely half of the surveyed intended to return to their home country. The attractiveness of Europe as a destination for migration was ranked over other continents. The most common reasons that reduce enthusiasm for relocation were the loss of family connection (55%) and uncertain future prospects (41%), whereas language barriers were less relevant (21%). There is keen interest of the upcoming generation of neurologists to relocate within and to the European Union. The motives include regional differences in training and career opportunities as well as economic welfare. Appropriate steps toward the harmonization of educational and career prospects are urgently required to ensure adequate provision of neurology service and patient care throughout Europe. © 2014 American Academy of Neurology.

Trends of mortality from Alzheimer's disease in the European Union, 1994-2013.

PubMed

Niu, H; Alvarez-Alvarez, I; Guillen-Grima, F; Al-Rahamneh, M J; Aguinaga-Ontoso, I

2017-06-01

In many countries, Alzheimer's disease (AD) has gradually become a common disease in elderly populations. The aim of this study was to analyse trends of mortality caused by AD in the 28 member countries in the European Union (EU) over the last two decades. We extracted data for AD deaths for the period 1994-2013 in the EU from the Eurostat and World Health Organization database. Age-standardized mortality rates per 100 000 were computed. Joinpoint regression was used to analyse the trends and compute the annual percent change in the EU as a whole and by country. Analyses by gender and by European regions were conducted. Mortality from AD has risen in the EU throughout the study period. Most of the countries showed upward trends, with the sharpest increases in Slovakia, Lithuania and Romania. We recorded statistically significant increases of 4.7% and 6.0% in mortality rates in men and women, respectively, in the whole EU. Several countries showed changing trends during the study period. According to the regional analysis, northern and eastern countries showed the steepest increases, whereas in the latter years mortality has declined in western countries. Our findings provide evidence that AD mortality has increased in the EU, especially in eastern and northern European countries and in the female population. Our results could be a reference for the development of primary prevention policies. © 2017 EAN.

Program Review: Recreation, Parks, and Leisure Studies: The State University System of Florida.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mobley, Tony A.

This is the report of a 1990 review of Recreation, Parks, and Leisure Studies programs at the University of Florida (UF), Florida State University (FSU), and Florida International University (FIU). Among the conclusions are that these programs are essential to the lifestyle of Florida residents and the continued economic growth of the state.…

The Mind in the Middle

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matthews, Frank J.

2006-01-01

Adults regularly ask children what they want to be when they grow up. The responses are often interesting. David Castillo knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life, even at a young age. Now he is well on his way to accomplishing his childhood dream. Castillo, a center for the Florida State University (FSU) Seminoles' football team and…

European and US publications in the 50 highest ranking pathology journals from 2000 to 2006.

PubMed

Fritzsche, F R; Oelrich, B; Dietel, M; Jung, K; Kristiansen, G

2008-04-01

To analyse the contributions of the 15 primary member states of the European Union and selected non-European countries to pathological research between 2000 and 2006. Pathological journals were screened using ISI Web of Knowledge database. The number of publications and related impact factors were determined for each country. Relevant socioeconomic indicators were related to the scientific output. Subsequently, results were compared to publications in 10 of the leading biomedical journals. The research output remained generally stable. In Europe, the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain ranked top concerning contributions to publications and impact factors in the pathological and leading general biomedical journals. With regard to socioeconomic data, smaller, mainly northern European countries showed a relatively higher efficiency. Of the lager countries, the UK is the most efficient in that respect. The rising economic powers of China and India were consistently in the rear. Results mirror the leading role of the USA in pathology research but also show the relevance of European scientists. The scientometric approach in this study provides a new fundamental and comparative overview of pathology research in the European Union and the USA which could help to benchmark scientific output among countries.

JPRS Report, Soviet Union, International Affairs.

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-01-19

capitalism and building socialism in countries with an undeveloped economy and an archaic social structure and the conviction that it was necessary and...in countries with undeveloped econ- omies and archaic social structures and the conviction of the necessity and possibility of accelerating the...Drambyants; AZIYA I AFRIKA SEGODNYA, No 10, Oct 87] 12 Study of Russian in African Countries Described [V. Shaklein; AZIYA 1 AFRIKA SEGODNYA, No 10, Oct 87

Underdevelopment: Major Cause of Insecurity in West Africa

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-03-03

Government involvement in business in many West African countries could be another reason for the sub-region’s undeveloped industrial sector...PAGES: 30 CLASSIFICATION: Unclassified The stability of a country in terms of physical security is necessary for economic development when considered...insecurity emanate from within the borders of a country . Since the demise of communism and the collapse of the Soviet Union as a super power, there has

The Concept of Good Teaching in Universities around the World.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ballantine, Jeane; King, Edith W.

The paper's hypothesis is that higher education has universal value, but is seen as serving different primary purposes in different societies and political contexts. In Part I of the study, 18 professors from 12 countries were interviewed; the 12 countries were England, Spain, Yugoslavia, Soviet Union, Turkey, India, Malaysia, Philippines, China…

76 FR 15279 - Importation of Garlic From the European Union and Other Countries Into the Continental United States

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-21

... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service [Docket No. APHIS-2011-0015...: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: We are advising the public... introducing or disseminating plant pests or noxious weeds via the importation of garlic from these countries...

Implementation of Inquiry-Based Science Education in Different Countries: Some Reflections

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rundgren, Carl-Johan

2018-01-01

In this forum article, I reflect on issues related to the implementation of inquiry-based science education (IBSE) in different countries. Regarding education within the European Union (EU), the Bologna system has in later years provided extended coordination and comparability at an organizational level. However, the possibility of the EU to…

Mathematics Teaching in Four European Countries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andrews, Paul; Sayers, Judy

2006-01-01

This article discusses a comparative study, funded by the European Union, of the teaching of mathematics in five European countries, (Flanders, England, Finland, Hungary and Spain) to students in the upper primary (ages 10-12) and lower secondary (12-14) years. These ages were chosen as they represent a time when many students' experiences of…

Livestock-associated meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among human MRSA isolates, European Union/European Economic Area countries, 2013

PubMed Central

Kinross, Pete; Petersen, Andreas; Skov, Robert; Van Hauwermeiren, Evelyn; Pantosti, Annalisa; Laurent, Frédéric; Voss, Andreas; Kluytmans, Jan; Struelens, Marc J; Heuer, Ole; Monnet, Dominique L

2017-01-01

Currently, surveillance of livestock-associated meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) in humans in Europe is not systematic but mainly event-based. In September 2014, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) initiated a questionnaire to collect data on the number of LA-MRSA from human samples (one isolate per patient) from national/regional reference laboratories in European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries in 2013. Identification of LA-MRSA as clonal complex (CC) 398 by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) was preferred, although surrogate methods such as spa-typing were also accepted. The questionnaire was returned by 28 laboratories in 27 EU/EEA countries. Overall, LA-MRSA represented 3.9% of 13,756 typed MRSA human isolates, but it represented ≥ 10% in five countries (Belgium, Denmark, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia). Seven of the reference laboratories did not type MRSA isolates in 2013. To monitor the dispersion of LA-MRSA and facilitate targeted control measures, we advocate periodic systematic surveys or integrated multi-sectorial surveillance. PMID:29113628

Livestock-associated meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among human MRSA isolates, European Union/European Economic Area countries, 2013.

PubMed

Kinross, Pete; Petersen, Andreas; Skov, Robert; Van Hauwermeiren, Evelyn; Pantosti, Annalisa; Laurent, Frédéric; Voss, Andreas; Kluytmans, Jan; Struelens, Marc J; Heuer, Ole; Monnet, Dominique L

2017-11-01

Currently, surveillance of livestock-associated meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) in humans in Europe is not systematic but mainly event-based. In September 2014, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) initiated a questionnaire to collect data on the number of LA-MRSA from human samples (one isolate per patient) from national/regional reference laboratories in European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries in 2013. Identification of LA-MRSA as clonal complex (CC) 398 by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) was preferred, although surrogate methods such as spa -typing were also accepted. The questionnaire was returned by 28 laboratories in 27 EU/EEA countries. Overall, LA-MRSA represented 3.9% of 13,756 typed MRSA human isolates, but it represented ≥ 10% in five countries (Belgium, Denmark, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia). Seven of the reference laboratories did not type MRSA isolates in 2013. To monitor the dispersion of LA-MRSA and facilitate targeted control measures, we advocate periodic systematic surveys or integrated multi-sectorial surveillance.

What is new about covered interest parity condition in the European Union? Evidence from fractal cross-correlation regressions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreira, Paulo; Kristoufek, Ladislav

2017-11-01

We analyse the covered interest parity (CIP) using two novel regression frameworks based on cross-correlation analysis (detrended cross-correlation analysis and detrending moving-average cross-correlation analysis), which allow for studying the relationships at different scales and work well under non-stationarity and heavy tails. CIP is a measure of capital mobility commonly used to analyse financial integration, which remains an interesting feature of study in the context of the European Union. The importance of this features is related to the fact that the adoption of a common currency is associated with some benefits for countries, but also involves some risks such as the loss of economic instruments to face possible asymmetric shocks. While studying the Eurozone members could explain some problems in the common currency, studying the non-Euro countries is important to analyse if they are fit to take the possible benefits. Our results point to the CIP verification mainly in the Central European countries while in the remaining countries, the verification of the parity is only residual.

Translations on Eastern Europe Political, Sociological, and Military Affairs No. 1423.

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-07-26

expected to analyze positive , we repeat positive , exper- iences acquired in the course of the implementation of the principles adopted and agreements...all countries, found a positive response in Europe and elsewhere. However, the communique emphasized at the same time that the facts testify- ing...political affairs and in work and study. The fundamental source of the positive development of the Union of Socialist Youth and of the Union’s Pioneer

Free Trade Agreements: Impact on U.S. Trade and Implications for U.S. Trade Policy

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-02-23

markets in which member countries go beyond a customs union by eliminating barriers to labor and capital flows across national borders within the... market ; and • economic unions where members merge their economies even further by establishing a common currency, and therefore a unified monetary... market over the lowest tariff wall. Most FTAs also include procedures on the settlement of disputes arising among members and rules on the

Children Studying in a Wrong Language: Russian-Speaking Children in Estonian School Twenty Years after the Collapse of the Soviet Union

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toomela, Aaro, Ed.; Kikas, Eve, Ed.

2012-01-01

The Soviet Union collapsed more than 20 years ago, but the traces left in occupied countries by this monstrous system still affect the lives of millions of people. Under the glittering surface of newsworthy events that regularly appear in the mass media, there are many other wounds hard to heal. The system of education is one of the social…

The Ideas of the Students of Education Faculty about the European Union Education and Youth Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ergün, Muammer; Kamer, S. Tunay

2009-01-01

The most important issue that Turkey has been dealing with since the beginning of 2000s is the entrance to the European Union and the preparatory activities for this period. No what how it is evaluated, as an opportunity or a threat to which will break us off our cultural values, EU is a reality that our country faces. The programs such as FORCE,…

Effects of Source RDP Models and Near-source Propagation: Implication for Seismic Yield Estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saikia, C. K.; Helmberger, D. V.; Stead, R. J.; Woods, B. B.

- It has proven difficult to uniquely untangle the source and propagation effects on the observed seismic data from underground nuclear explosions, even when large quantities of near-source, broadband data are available for analysis. This leads to uncertainties in our ability to quantify the nuclear seismic source function and, consequently the accuracy of seismic yield estimates for underground explosions. Extensive deterministic modeling analyses of the seismic data recorded from underground explosions at a variety of test sites have been conducted over the years and the results of these studies suggest that variations in the seismic source characteristics between test sites may be contributing to the observed differences in the magnitude/yield relations applicable at those sites. This contributes to our uncertainty in the determination of seismic yield estimates for explosions at previously uncalibrated test sites. In this paper we review issues involving the relationship of Nevada Test Site (NTS) source scaling laws to those at other sites. The Joint Verification Experiment (JVE) indicates that a magnitude (mb) bias (δmb) exists between the Semipalatinsk test site (STS) in the former Soviet Union (FSU) and the Nevada test site (NTS) in the United States. Generally this δmb is attributed to differential attenuation in the upper-mantle beneath the two test sites. This assumption results in rather large estimates of yield for large mb tunnel shots at Novaya Zemlya. A re-examination of the US testing experiments suggests that this δmb bias can partly be explained by anomalous NTS (Pahute) source characteristics. This interpretation is based on the modeling of US events at a number of test sites. Using a modified Haskell source description, we investigated the influence of the source Reduced Displacement Potential (RDP) parameters ψ ∞ , K and B by fitting short- and long-period data simultaneously, including the near-field body and surface waves. In general, estimates of B and K are based on the initial P-wave pulse, which various numerical analyses show to be least affected by variations in near-source path effects. The corner-frequency parameter K is 20% lower at NTS (Pahute) than at other sites, implying larger effective source radii. The overshoot parameter B appears to be low at NTS (although variable) relative to other sites and is probably due to variations in source conditions. For a low B, the near-field data require a higher value of ψ ∞ to match the long-period MS and short-period mb observations. This flexibility in modeling proves useful in comparing released FSU yields against predictions based on mb and MS.

Public health research systems in the European union

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Strengthening health research is an important objective for international health organisations, but there has been less attention to support for health research in Europe. We describe the public-health (population and organisational level) research systems in the 27 European Union countries. Methods We developed a typology for describing health research structures based on funding streams and strategies. We drew data from internet sources and asked country informants to review these for consistency and completeness. The structures were described as organograms and narratives in country profiles for each of the 27 EU member states. National public-health research structures included public and independent funding organisations, 'mixed' institutions (which receive funds, and both use and allocate them) and provider institutions. Results Most health research is funded through ministries of science or science councils (and sometimes foundations), while parliaments and regions may also contribute. National institutes of public health are usually funded by ministries of health. Many national research organisations both determine research programmes and undertake health research, but there is a move towards public-health sciences within the universities, and a transition from internal grants to competitive funding. Of 27 national research strategies, 17 referred to health and 11 to public health themes. Although all countries had strategies for public health itself, we found little coherence in public-health research programmes. The European Commission has country contact points for both EU research and health programmes, but they do not coordinate with national health-research programmes. Conclusions Public-health research is broadly distributed across programmes in EU countries. Better understanding of research structures, programmes and results would improve recognition for public health in Europe, and contribute to practice. EU ministries of health should give greater attention to national public-health research strategies and programmes, and the European Union and the World Health Organisation can provide coordination and support. PMID:21970897

Infant mortality and ethnicity in an indigenous European population: novel evidence from the Finnish population register.

PubMed

Saarela, Jan; Finnäs, Fjalar

2014-02-27

We provide the first analyses of infant mortality rates by indigenous ethnic group in Finland, a country that has one of the lowest relative numbers of infant deaths in the world. Using files from the Finnish population register, we identified both of the parents of children born in the period from 1975-2003 according to ethnic affiliation, socioeconomic profile, and demographic position. The infant mortality rate in homogamous Finnish unions is similar to that in homogamous Swedish unions, which reflects a lack of social disparities between the two groups. Surprisingly, infants from ethnically mixed unions have markedly lower mortality rates, with an adjusted rate ratio of 0.81 relative to homogamous Swedish unions (95% CI: 0.67-0.98). Although not empirically verified, we argue that the lower infant mortality rate in ethnically mixed unions may be due to lower levels of inbreeding, and hence related to historically low intermarriage rates between the two ethnic groups, remote consanguinities, and restricted inter-community gene flow.

Emerging from the tragedies in Bangladesh: a challenge to voluntarism in the global economy.

PubMed

Claeson, Björn Skorpen

2015-02-01

Under the regime of private company or multi-stakeholder voluntary codes of conduct and industry social auditing, workers have absorbed low wages and unsafe and abusive conditions; labor leaders and union members have become the targets of both government and factory harassment and violence; and trade union power has waned. Nowhere have these private systems of codes and audits so clearly failed to protect workers as in Bangladesh's apparel industry. However, international labor groups and Bangladeshi unions have succeeded in mounting a challenge to voluntarism in the global economy, persuading more than 180 companies to make a binding and enforceable commitment to workers' safety in an agreement with 12 unions. The extent to which this Bangladesh Accord will be able to influence the entrenched global regime of voluntary codes and weak trade unions remains an open question. But if the Accord can make progress in Bangladesh, it can help to inspire similar efforts in other countries and in other industries. © 2015 SAGE Publications.

The Black Students' View of the White Students Attending Fayetteville State University.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stocker, Sheila L.; Magee, Ray

The results of a study on the position and attitudes of black students at the traditionally black Fayetteville State University (FSU), North Carolina, to the presence of white students are presented. During the fall semester of 1987, the undergraduate white student body comprised 20.4%, compared to 3% prior to 1967. A random sample survey was…

On the Use of Biaxial Properties in Modeling Annulus as a Holzapfel–Gasser–Ogden Material

PubMed Central

Momeni Shahraki, Narjes; Fatemi, Ali; Goel, Vijay K.; Agarwal, Anand

2015-01-01

Besides the biology, stresses and strains within the tissue greatly influence the location of damage initiation and mode of failure in an intervertebral disk. Finite element models of a functional spinal unit (FSU) that incorporate reasonably accurate geometry and appropriate material properties are suitable to investigate such issues. Different material models and techniques have been used to model the anisotropic annulus fibrosus, but the abilities of these models to predict damage initiation in the annulus and to explain clinically observed phenomena are unclear. In this study, a hyperelastic anisotropic material model for the annulus with two different sets of material constants, experimentally determined using uniaxial and biaxial loading conditions, were incorporated in a 3D finite element model of a ligamentous FSU. The purpose of the study was to highlight the biomechanical differences (e.g., intradiscal pressure, motion, forces, stresses, strains, etc.) due to the dissimilarity between the two sets of material properties (uniaxial and biaxial). Based on the analyses, the biaxial constants simulations resulted in better agreements with the in vitro and in vivo data, and thus are more suitable for future damage analysis and failure prediction of the annulus under complex multiaxial loading conditions. PMID:26090359

Dynamic Monte Carlo Simulations of Phase Ordering in Br Electrosorption on Ag(100)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitchell, S. J.; Brown, G.; Rikvold, P. A.

2000-03-01

We study the dynamics of Br electrosorption on single-crystal Ag(100) by Monte Carlo simulation. The system has a second-order phase transition from a low-coverage disordered phase at more negative potentials to a doubly degenerate c(2× 2) ordered phase at more positive potentials.(B.M. Ocko, et al.), Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 1511 (1997). Effective lateral interactions were estimated by fitting equilibrium Monte Carlo isotherms to experiments. These are well described by nearest-neighbor exclusion and repulsive 1/r^3 interactions.(M.T.M. Koper, J. Electroanal. Chem. 450), 189 (1997). Considering adsorption/desorption and diffusion with barriers estimated from ab-initio calculations,(A. Ignaczak and J.A.N.F. Gomes, J. Electroanal. Chem. 420), 71 (1997). we simulate the time dependent Br coverage, order parameter, and x-ray scattering intensity following sudden potential steps across the phase boundary. For steps far into the ordered phase, dynamical scaling is observed. For smaller steps, the dynamics are more complicated. We also analyze hysteresis in a simulated cyclic-voltammetry experiment. Movies at http://www.scri.fsu.edu/ ~mitchell/.

The Impact of the 2008 Economic Crisis on Substance Use Patterns in the Countries of the European Union.

PubMed

Dom, Geert; Samochowiec, Jerzy; Evans-Lacko, Sara; Wahlbeck, Kristian; Van Hal, Guido; McDaid, David

2016-01-13

From 2008 on, a severe economic crisis (EC) has characterized the European Union (E.U.). However, changes in substance use behavioral patterns as a result of the economic crisis in Europe, have been poorly reflected upon, and underlying mechanisms remain to be identified; In this review we explore and systematize the available data on the effect of the 2008 economic crisis on patterns of substance use and related disorders, within the E.U. countries; The results show that effects of the recession need to be differentiated. A number of studies point to reductions in population's overall substance use. In contrast, an increase in harmful use and negative effects is found within specific subgroups within the society. Risk factors include job-loss and long-term unemployment, and pre-existing vulnerabilities. Finally, our findings point to differences between types of substances in their response on economic crisis periods; the effects of the 2008 economic crisis on substance use patterns within countries of the European Union are two-sided. Next to a reduction in a population's overall substance use, a number of vulnerable subgroups experience serious negative effects. These groups are in need of specific attention and support, given that there is a real risk that they will continue to suffer negative health effects long after the economic downfall has formally been ended.

The Impact of the 2008 Economic Crisis on Substance Use Patterns in the Countries of the European Union

PubMed Central

Dom, Geert; Samochowiec, Jerzy; Evans-Lacko, Sara; Wahlbeck, Kristian; Van Hal, Guido; McDaid, David

2016-01-01

Background: From 2008 on, a severe economic crisis (EC) has characterized the European Union (E.U.). However, changes in substance use behavioral patterns as a result of the economic crisis in Europe, have been poorly reflected upon, and underlying mechanisms remain to be identified; Methods: In this review we explore and systematize the available data on the effect of the 2008 economic crisis on patterns of substance use and related disorders, within the E.U. countries; Results: The results show that effects of the recession need to be differentiated. A number of studies point to reductions in population’s overall substance use. In contrast, an increase in harmful use and negative effects is found within specific subgroups within the society. Risk factors include job-loss and long-term unemployment, and pre-existing vulnerabilities. Finally, our findings point to differences between types of substances in their response on economic crisis periods; Conclusions: the effects of the 2008 economic crisis on substance use patterns within countries of the European Union are two-sided. Next to a reduction in a population’s overall substance use, a number of vulnerable subgroups experience serious negative effects. These groups are in need of specific attention and support, given that there is a real risk that they will continue to suffer negative health effects long after the economic downfall has formally been ended. PMID:26771628

Surveillance and laboratory detection for non-polio enteroviruses in the European Union/European Economic Area, 2016

PubMed Central

Harvala, Heli; Jasir, Aftab; Penttinen, Pasi; Pastore Celentano, Lucia; Greco, Donato; Broberg, Eeva

2017-01-01

Enteroviruses (EVs) cause severe outbreaks of respiratory and neurological disease as illustrated by EV-D68 and EV-A71 outbreaks, respectively. We have mapped European laboratory capacity for identification and characterisation of non-polio EVs to improve preparedness to respond to (re)-emerging EVs linked to severe disease. An online questionnaire on non-polio EV surveillance and laboratory detection was submitted to all 30 European Union (EU)/European Economic Area (EEA) countries. Twenty-nine countries responded; 26 conducted laboratory-based non-polio EV surveillance, and 24 included neurological infections in their surveillance. Eleven countries have established specific surveillance for EV-D68 via sentinel influenza surveillance (n = 7), typing EV-positive respiratory samples (n = 10) and/or acute flaccid paralysis surveillance (n = 5). Of 26 countries performing non-polio EV characterisation/typing, 10 further characterised culture-positive EV isolates, whereas the remainder typed PCR-positive but culture-negative samples. Although 19 countries have introduced sequence-based EV typing, seven still rely entirely on virus isolation. Based on 2015 data, six countries typed over 300 specimens mostly by sequencing, whereas 11 countries characterised under 50 EV-positive samples. EV surveillance activity varied between EU/EEA countries, and did not always specifically target patients with neurological and/or respiratory infections. Introduction of sequence-based typing methods is needed throughout the EU/EEA to enhance laboratory capacity for the detection of EVs. PMID:29162204

Is tuberculosis crossing borders at the Eastern boundary of the European Union?

PubMed Central

van der Werf, Marieke J.; Hollo, Vahur; Noori, Teymur

2013-01-01

Background: The Eastern border of the European Union (EU) consists of 10 countries after the expansion of the EU in 2004 and 2007. These 10 countries border to the East to countries with high tuberculosis (TB) notification rates. We analyzed the notification data of Europe to quantify the impact of cross-border TB at the Eastern border of the EU. Methods: We used TB surveillance data of 2010 submitted by 53 European Region countries to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. Notified TB cases were stratified by origin of the case (national/foreign). We calculated the contribution of foreign to overall TB notification. Results: In the 10 EU countries located at the EU Eastern border, 618 notified TB cases (1.7% of all notified TB cases) were of foreign origin. Of those 618 TB cases, 173 (28.0%) were from countries bordering the EU to the East. More specifically, 90 (52.0%) were from Russia, 33 (19.1%) from Belarus, 33 (19.1%) from Ukraine, 13 (7.5%) from Moldova and 4 (2.3%) from Turkey. Conclusions: Currently, migrants contribute little to TB notifications in the 10 EU countries at the Eastern border of the EU, but changes in migration patterns may result in an increasing contribution. Therefore, EU countries at the Eastern border of the EU should strive to provide prompt diagnostic services and adequate treatment of migrants. PMID:23813718

Mapping health research capacity in 17 countries of the former Soviet Union and south-eastern Europe: an exploratory study.

PubMed

Santoro, Alessio; Glonti, Ketevan; Bertollini, Roberto; Ricciardi, Walter; McKee, Martin

2016-04-01

Policies to improve health status, tackle disease and ensure equitable access to healthcare should be informed by evidence derived from high-quality research. However, health research capacity is unevenly distributed across countries, as revealed by mapping exercises that have been undertaken to provide a basis for concerted action to strengthen capacity. This study systematically describes capacity to undertake health research in the countries of the former Soviet Union and south-eastern Europe and identifies the elements required to create a national health research system. The mapping exercise comprised two elements: a survey of key informants in the respective countries and a bibliometric analysis of scientific publications in the field of public health. Our results confirm that health research remains a low priority in some countries of the WHO European Region. In these countries, most of the literature was produced by researchers outside the country, often to inform international donors. This study provides important information for countries seeking to initiate action to strengthen their research capacity. There is a need for a comprehensive strategy with sustained investment in training and career development of researchers. There is also a need to create new funding systems to provide financial support to those undertaking policy-relevant research. International collaboration and investment in mechanisms to bridge the gap between research and policy are urgently required. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Surveillance and laboratory detection for non-polio enteroviruses in the European Union/European Economic Area, 2016.

PubMed

Harvala, Heli; Jasir, Aftab; Penttinen, Pasi; Pastore Celentano, Lucia; Greco, Donato; Broberg, Eeva

2017-11-01

Enteroviruses (EVs) cause severe outbreaks of respiratory and neurological disease as illustrated by EV-D68 and EV-A71 outbreaks, respectively. We have mapped European laboratory capacity for identification and characterisation of non-polio EVs to improve preparedness to respond to (re)-emerging EVs linked to severe disease. An online questionnaire on non-polio EV surveillance and laboratory detection was submitted to all 30 European Union (EU)/European Economic Area (EEA) countries. Twenty-nine countries responded; 26 conducted laboratory-based non-polio EV surveillance, and 24 included neurological infections in their surveillance. Eleven countries have established specific surveillance for EV-D68 via sentinel influenza surveillance (n = 7), typing EV-positive respiratory samples (n = 10) and/or acute flaccid paralysis surveillance (n = 5). Of 26 countries performing non-polio EV characterisation/typing, 10 further characterised culture-positive EV isolates, whereas the remainder typed PCR-positive but culture-negative samples. Although 19 countries have introduced sequence-based EV typing, seven still rely entirely on virus isolation. Based on 2015 data, six countries typed over 300 specimens mostly by sequencing, whereas 11 countries characterised under 50 EV-positive samples. EV surveillance activity varied between EU/EEA countries, and did not always specifically target patients with neurological and/or respiratory infections. Introduction of sequence-based typing methods is needed throughout the EU/EEA to enhance laboratory capacity for the detection of EVs.

JPRS Report, Soviet Union, Kommunist, No. 8, May 1989

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-08-11

in which ethnographic ties were combined with moral ties, an awareness of spiritual unity, and a community of historical destinies and interests...historical destinies ," noted by Klyuchevskiy. This text does not seem to include the word "nation." But what is a people which has "become a state...toward the Soviet Union and the other socialist countries. S. Karaganov pointed out the fact that the embryos of the new political thinking appeared

Enlargement Project: Insight into ICT Professional Skills and Jobs in the Candidate Countries. Enlargement Futures Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gourova, Elissaveta

A study examined information and communication technologies (ICT) job trends and the prospects for preservation and supply of high skilled professionals in the medium and longer term in candidate countries (CCs), for admission into the European Union, focusing on Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, and Poland. Rapidly changing technology and growth of…

Transnational Analysis of Vocational Education and Training in the Countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

European Training Foundation, Turin (Italy).

Vocational education and training (VET) in 10 Central and Eastern European countries--Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic, and Slovenia--was examined. The analysis focused on the following issues: socioeconomic context of VET reforms; VET at the start of reforms; the European Union Phare…

Innovations in Lifelong Learning: Capitalising on ADAPT. CEDEFOP Panorama Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Janssens, Jos

A community initiative (called ADAPT) was intended to help the workforce in European Union countries to adapt to industrial change and prepare for the information society, as well as to promote growth, employment, and the competitiveness of companies in the countries. Between 1995 and 1999, 4,000 projects were funded to transform the ways in which…

Government Expenditures on Education as the Percentage of GDP in the EU

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Galetic, Fran

2015-01-01

This paper analyzes the government expenditures as the percentage of gross domestic product across countries of the European Union. There is a statistical model based on Z-score, whose aim is to calculate how much each EU country deviates from the average value. The model shows that government expenditures on education vary significantly between…

All the People. A History of US. Book Ten.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hakim, Joy

This textbook explores the years after World War II when the United States became the world's greatest power. It discusses U.S. uneasiness with its postwar role as global policeman, even as the country fought to keep countries across the world from becoming part of the Soviet Union's communist empire. There were battles at home, too, with the…

Changing Rules: A Review of Tempus Support to University Governance. A Tempus Study. Issue 01

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reilly, John; Jongsma, Ard

2010-01-01

The Tempus Programme, which funds cooperation in higher education between universities in EU Member States and a defined set of partner countries outside the European Union, is excellently positioned to support explorations into higher education governance in countries that want to draw on the developing EU experience in this field. Governance is…

Bulletin on Women and Employment in the EU. 1994-1996.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bulletin on Women and Employment in the EU, 1996

1996-01-01

These six bulletins examine various aspects of women's employment in the European Union (EU). In the first bulletin, the different positions of women in the labor markets of the individual EU member countries are demonstrated to mirror the roles of women in each country's family and welfare system. The problems of unemployment and underemployment…

The Use of Nudges and Other Behavioural Approaches in Education. EENEE Analytical Report No. 29

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Damgaard, Mette Trier; Nielsen, Helena Skyt

2017-01-01

Globalisation and rapid technological progress have increased the focus on efficient investment in high-quality skills across the European Union (EU) countries. One issue that is high on the political agenda is the persistent underachievement among youths in many European countries meaning that approximately 20 percent of Europe's 15 year olds…

Survey of surveillance systems and select prevention activities for hepatitis B and C, European Union/European Economic Area, 2009.

PubMed

Duffell, E F; van de Laar, M J

2015-04-02

Hepatitis B and C viral infections are leading causes of hepatic cirrhosis and cancer. The incidence and prevalence of both hepatitis B and C varies across European countries. European wide surveillance data help to understand the dynamic epidemiology of hepatitis B and C, which is important for the implementation and effectiveness of prevention and control activities.Comparison of surveillance data between countries in Europe is hampered by the differences in national healthcare and reporting systems. This report presents the results of a survey in 2009 which was undertaken to collect baseline information on surveillance systems and core prevention programmes for hepatitis B and C in individual European Union/ European Economic Area countries. The results provide key information to aid the interpretation of surveillance data, and while indicating heterogeneity in national surveillance systems and programmes, they highlight the potential of these systems. This resource has supported the implementation of a standardised European enhanced surveillance programme.

Pharmacology and Therapeutics Education in the European Union Needs Harmonization and Modernization: A Cross‐sectional Survey Among 185 Medical Schools in 27 Countries

PubMed Central

Tichelaar, J; Okorie, M; Bissell, L; Christiaens, T; Likic, R; Mačìulaitis, R; Costa, J; Sanz, EJ; Tamba, BI; Maxwell, SR; Richir, MC; van Agtmael, MA

2017-01-01

Effective teaching in pharmacology and clinical pharmacology and therapeutics (CPT) is necessary to make medical students competent prescribers. However, the current structure, delivery, and assessment of CPT education in the European Union (EU) is unknown. We sent an online questionnaire to teachers with overall responsibility for CPT education in EU medical schools. Questions focused on undergraduate teaching and assessment of CPT, and students' preparedness for prescribing. In all, 185 medical schools (64%) from 27 EU countries responded. Traditional learning methods were mainly used. The majority of respondents did not provide students with the opportunity to practice real‐life prescribing and believed that their students were not well prepared for prescribing. There is a marked difference in the quality and quantity of CPT education within and between EU countries, suggesting that there is considerable scope for improvement. A collaborative approach should be adopted to harmonize and modernize the undergraduate CPT education across the EU. PMID:28295236

Weather and seasonal climate prediction for South America using a multi-model superensemble

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chaves, Rosane R.; Ross, Robert S.; Krishnamurti, T. N.

2005-11-01

This work examines the feasibility of weather and seasonal climate predictions for South America using the multi-model synthetic superensemble approach for climate, and the multi-model conventional superensemble approach for numerical weather prediction, both developed at Florida State University (FSU). The effect on seasonal climate forecasts of the number of models used in the synthetic superensemble is investigated. It is shown that the synthetic superensemble approach for climate and the conventional superensemble approach for numerical weather prediction can reduce the errors over South America in seasonal climate prediction and numerical weather prediction.For climate prediction, a suite of 13 models is used. The forecast lead-time is 1 month for the climate forecasts, which consist of precipitation and surface temperature forecasts. The multi-model ensemble is comprised of four versions of the FSU-Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Model, seven models from the Development of a European Multi-model Ensemble System for Seasonal to Interannual Prediction (DEMETER), a version of the Community Climate Model (CCM3), and a version of the predictive Ocean Atmosphere Model for Australia (POAMA). The results show that conditions over South America are appropriately simulated by the Florida State University Synthetic Superensemble (FSUSSE) in comparison to observations and that the skill of this approach increases with the use of additional models in the ensemble. When compared to observations, the forecasts are generally better than those from both a single climate model and the multi-model ensemble mean, for the variables tested in this study.For numerical weather prediction, the conventional Florida State University Superensemble (FSUSE) is used to predict the mass and motion fields over South America. Predictions of mean sea level pressure, 500 hPa geopotential height, and 850 hPa wind are made with a multi-model superensemble comprised of six global models for the period January, February, and December of 2000. The six global models are from the following forecast centers: FSU, Bureau of Meteorology Research Center (BMRC), Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), and Recherche en Prevision Numerique (RPN). Predictions of precipitation are made for the period January, February, and December of 2001 with a multi-analysis-multi-model superensemble where, in addition to the six forecast models just mentioned, five additional versions of the FSU model are used in the ensemble, each with a different initialization (analysis) based on different physical initialization procedures. On the basis of observations, the results show that the FSUSE provides the best forecasts of the mass and motion field variables to forecast day 5, when compared to both the models comprising the ensemble and the multi-model ensemble mean during the wet season of December-February over South America. Individual case studies show that the FSUSE provides excellent predictions of rainfall for particular synoptic events to forecast day 3. Copyright

Constructions of gender in Vietnam: in pursuit of the 'Three Criteria'.

PubMed

Schuler, Sidney Ruth; Hoang, Tu Anh; Vu, Song Ha; Tan, Hung Minh; Bui, Thi Thanh Mai; Pham, Vu Thien

2006-01-01

Vietnam has advanced far beyond most other developing countries and, indeed, surpasses many developed countries in adopting a legal framework based on gender equality, and in creating institutions and programmes to support women's advancement. Inegalitarian gender norms have also persisted, however. The Vietnam Women's Union promotes women's educational, political and economic advancement but simultaneously exhorts women to pay attention to their Confucian role of maintaining family hierarchy and harmony. This paper presents findings from qualitative research examining gender relations at the grassroots level in central Vietnam. It argues that the Vietnam Women's Union could support women more effectively by promoting greater diversity in gender norms and by initiating a public discussion to address the pressures women face in trying to achieve ideals that are often experienced as contradictory and unattainable.

Education and the Transition to Fatherhood: The Role of Selection Into Union.

PubMed

Trimarchi, Alessandra; Van Bavel, Jan

2017-02-01

Although advanced education has been found to be consistently associated with a later transition to parenthood for women, findings about education and the transition to parenthood have been much less consistent for men, and no stylized fact has emerged from the literature. We argue that the inconsistency of findings for men is due to the fact that the selection process involved in union formation has been disregarded in earlier studies. We hypothesize that men's educational attainment consistently and positively affects the transition to fatherhood via higher rates of union formation. We apply multiprocess event-history analysis to data from the Generations and Gender Surveys for 10 European countries. Our results show indeed a consistent positive effect of education on the transition to fatherhood, but it operates chiefly through selection into union. Failing to account for this selection process leads to a major underestimation of the salience of education for the transition to fatherhood.

Tuberculosis treatment outcome monitoring in European Union countries: systematic review

PubMed Central

van Hest, Rob; Ködmön, Csaba; Verver, Suzanne; Erkens, Connie G.M.; Straetemans, Masja; Manissero, Davide; de Vries, Gerard

2013-01-01

Treatment success measured by treatment outcome monitoring (TOM) is a key programmatic output of tuberculosis (TB) control programmes. We performed a systematic literature review on national-level TOM in the 30 European Union (EU)/European Economic Areas (EEA) countries to summarise methods used to collect and report data on TOM. Online reference bibliographic databases PubMed/MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched to identify relevant indexed and non-indexed literature published between January 2000 and August 2010. The search strategy resulted in 615 potentially relevant indexed citations, of which 27 full-text national studies (79 data sets) were included for final analysis. The selected studies were performed in 10 EU/EEA countries and gave a fragmented impression of TOM in the EU/EEA. Publication year, study period, sample size, databases, definitions, variables, patient and outcome categories, and population subgroups varied widely, portraying a very heterogeneous picture. This review confirmed previous reports of considerable heterogeneity in publications of TOM results across EU/EEA countries. PubMed/MEDLINE and EMBASE indexed studies are not a suitable instrument to measure representative TOM results for the 30 EU/EEA countries. Uniform and complete reporting to the centralised European Surveillance System will produce the most timely and reliable results of TB treatment outcomes in the EU/EEA. PMID:22790913

An interactive economic GIS tool for Europe using map objects for Java

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Srinivasan, Vaishnavi

Europe is one of the world's seven continents, which has approximately 50 countries and all are rich in culture, traditions, economy, biodiversity, among other things. This thesis focuses on creating a GIS application about Europe which will give an overview of Europe in various aspects. It covers 50 countries including financial centers, currency used, population, GDP growth, private banks, central banks, stock exchange, coat of arms and flags for each country, using the HotLink Tool. A reference link is also provided for detailed understanding of the above mentioned aspects. The other part of the thesis mainly focuses on the economics of the European Union as well as each country independently, which gives a thorough knowledge about the current investment climate in Europe. A part of this idea is to ensure transparency after the financial crisis in 2008. Further the capital markets of the European Union and other European countries are brought to light to provide a clear picture of their present financial situation. The application can help in improving policy and decision making, foreign investments, business environment for various development organizations. So this GIS application will be an effective tool for customers to understand the risks in investments by learning about the economic conditions of Europe.

Price and cigarette consumption in Europe.

PubMed

Gallus, S; Schiaffino, A; La Vecchia, C; Townsend, J; Fernandez, E

2006-04-01

To analyse the variation in demand for tobacco according to price of cigarettes across the European region. Cross-sectional study. All the 52 countries of the European region. For each European country, data were collected on annual per adult cigarette consumption (2000), smoking prevalence (most recent), retail price of a pack of local and foreign brand cigarettes (around 2000), the gross domestic product adjusted by purchasing power parities, and the adult population (2000). Price elasticity of demand for cigarettes (that is, the change in cigarette consumption according to a change in tobacco price) across all the European countries, estimated by double-log multiple linear regression. Controlling for male to female prevalence ratio, price elasticities for consumption were -0.46 (95% confidence interval (CI) -0.74 to -0.17) and -0.74 (95% CI -1.13 to -0.35) for local and foreign brand, respectively. The inverse relation between cigarette price and consumption was stronger in countries not in the European Union (price elasticity for foreign brand cigarettes of -0.8) as compared to European Union countries (price elasticity of -0.4). The result that, on average, in Europe smoking consumption decreases 5-7% for a 10% increase in the real price of cigarettes strongly supports an inverse association between price and cigarette smoking.

Economic impacts of policies affecting crop biotechnology and trade.

PubMed

Anderson, Kym

2010-11-30

Agricultural biotechnologies, and especially transgenic crops, have the potential to boost food security in developing countries by offering higher incomes for farmers and lower priced and better quality food for consumers. That potential is being heavily compromised, however, because the European Union and some other countries have implemented strict regulatory systems to govern their production and consumption of genetically modified (GM) food and feed crops, and to prevent imports of foods and feedstuffs that do not meet these strict standards. This paper analyses empirically the potential economic effects of adopting transgenic crops in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. It does so using a multi-country, multi-product model of the global economy. The results suggest the economic welfare gains from crop biotechnology adoption are potentially very large, and that those benefits are diminished only very slightly by the presence of the European Union's restriction on imports of GM foods. That is, if developing countries retain bans on GM crop production in an attempt to maintain access to EU markets for non-GM products, the loss to their food consumers as well as to farmers in those developing countries is huge relative to the slight loss that could be incurred from not retaining EU market access. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

East Europe Report, Economic and Industrial Affairs, No. 2417

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-07-01

the country has so far won by operating in the market with an open strategy . The USSR Situation in 1982—The Soviet economy went into full...in the international markets by Bulgarian economic policy’s more marked alignment with that of the Soviet Union. The rate of growth of heavy industri...that the country will once again be forced to have recourse to the international markets to meet domestic needs. The country’s governing circles

Diversity and dynamics of patient cost-sharing for physicians' and hospital services in the 27 European Union countries.

PubMed

Tambor, Marzena; Pavlova, Milena; Woch, Piotr; Groot, Wim

2011-10-01

During the past decades, many governments have introduced patient cost-sharing in their public health-care system. This trend in health-care reforms affected the European Union (EU) member states as well. This article presents a review of patient cost-sharing for health-care services in the 27 EU countries, and discusses directions for their improvement. Data are collected based on a review of international data bases, national laws and regulations, as well as scientific and policy reports. The analysis presents a combination of qualitative and quantitative research techniques. Patient cost-sharing arrangements in the EU have been changing considerably over the past two decades (mostly being extended) and are quite diverse at present. There is a relation between patient cost-sharing arrangements and some characteristics of the health-care system in a country. In a few EU countries, a mix of formal and informal charges exists, which creates a double financial burden for health-care consumers. The adequacy of patient cost-sharing arrangements in EU countries needs to be reconsidered. Most importantly, it is essential to deal with informal patient payments (where applicable) and to assure adequate exemption mechanisms to diminish the adverse equity effects of patient cost-sharing. A close communication with the public is needed to clarify the objectives and content of a patient payment policy in a country.

Export competitiveness of dairy products on global markets: the case of the European Union countries.

PubMed

Bojnec, Š; Fertő, I

2014-10-01

This paper analyzed the export competitiveness of dairy products of the European Union (EU) countries (EU-27) on intra-EU, extra-EU, and global markets, using the revealed comparative advantage index over the 2000-2011 period. The results indicated that about half of the EU-27 countries have had competitive exports in a certain segment of dairy products. The results differed by level of milk processing and for intra-EU and extra-EU markets, and did so over the analyzed years. Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, and the Netherlands are old EU-15 countries with competitive dairy exports (from the lowest to the highest according to the level of milk processing). The majority of the new EU-12 countries have faced difficulties in maintaining their level of export competitiveness, at least for some dairy products and market segments. The more competitive EU-12 countries in dairy exports were the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) and Poland. The duration of export competitiveness differed across the dairy groups of products according to the level of milk processing, indicating the importance of dairy chain product differentiation for export competitiveness and specialization. The export competitiveness of the higher level of processed milk products for final consumption can be significant for export dairy chain competitiveness on global markets. Copyright © 2014 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Palumbo, Anthony V.

Our current research represents a joint effort between Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the University of Tennessee (UT), and Florida State University (FSU). ORNL serves as the lead institution with Dr. A.V. Palumbo responsible for project coordination, integration, and deliverables. This project is in its second year. The overall goal of our project is to provide an improved understanding of the relationships between microbial community structure, geochemistry, and metal reduction rates.

An Attempt to Identify Comparatively Supportive and Non-Supportive Environments for Underrepresented Minorities and Females in SUS Colleges of Engineering

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Micceri, Theodore

2005-01-01

This study sought to determine whether consistent differences in enrollment and graduation among different racial/ethnic and sex groups occur at different colleges of Engineering in the Florida State University System (SUS). Analyses were limited to the major institutions (UF, FSU, USF, UCF, FAU, FIU) with the addition of FAMU due to a high…

A new FIA-Type strategic inventory (NFI)

Treesearch

Richard A. Grotefendt; Hans T. Schreuder

2006-01-01

New remote sensing technologies are now available to lower the cost of doing strategic surveys. A new sampling approach for the Forest Inventory and Analysis program (FIA) of the U.S.D.A. Forest Service is discussed involving a bi-sampling unit (BSU) that is composed of a field sample unit (FSU) centered within a large scale (1:1,000 to 1:3,000) photo sample unit (PSU...

Stand-alone lumbar cage subsidence: A biomechanical sensitivity study of cage design and placement.

PubMed

Calvo-Echenique, Andrea; Cegoñino, José; Chueca, Raúl; Pérez-Del Palomar, Amaya

2018-08-01

Spinal degeneration and instability are commonly treated with interbody fusion cages either alone or supplemented with posterior instrumentation with the aim to immobilise the segment and restore intervertebral height. The purpose of this work is to establish a tool which may help to understand the effects of intervertebral cage design and placement on the biomechanical response of a patient-specific model to help reducing post-surgical complications such as subsidence and segment instability. A 3D lumbar functional spinal unit (FSU) finite element model was created and a parametric model of an interbody cage was designed and introduced in the FSU. A Drucker-Prager Cap plasticity formulation was used to predict plastic strains and bone failure in the vertebrae. The effect of varying cage size, cross-sectional area, apparent stiffness and positioning was evaluated under 500 N preload followed by 7.5 Nm multidirectional rotation and the results were compared with the intact model. The most influential cage parameters on the FSU were size, curvature congruence with the endplates and cage placement. Segmental stiffness was higher when increasing the cross-sectional cage area in all loading directions and when the cage was anteriorly placed in all directions but extension. In general, the facet joint forces were reduced by increasing segmental stiffness. However, these forces were higher than in the intact model in most of the cases due to the displacement of the instantaneous centre of rotation. The highest plastic deformations took place at the caudal vertebra under flexion and increased for cages with greater stiffness. Thus, wider cages and a more anteriorly placement would increase the volume of failed bone and, therefore, the risk of subsidence. Cage geometry plays a crucial role in the success of lumbar surgery. General considerations such as larger cages may be applied as a guideline, but parameters such as curvature or cage placement should be determined for each specific patient. This model provides a proof-of-concept of a tool for the preoperative evaluation of lumbar surgical outcomes. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Bioethanol from poplar: a commercially viable alternative to fossil fuel in the European Union.

PubMed

Littlewood, Jade; Guo, Miao; Boerjan, Wout; Murphy, Richard J

2014-01-01

The European Union has made it a strategic objective to develop its biofuels market in order to minimize greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, to help mitigate climate change and to address energy insecurity within the transport sector. Despite targets set at national and supranational levels, lignocellulosic bioethanol production has yet to be widely commercialized in the European Union. Here, we use techno-economic modeling to compare the price of bioethanol produced from short rotation coppice (SRC) poplar feedstocks under two leading processing technologies in five European countries. Our evaluation shows that the type of processing technology and varying national costs between countries results in a wide range of bioethanol production prices (€0.275 to 0.727/l). The lowest production prices for bioethanol were found in countries that had cheap feedstock costs and high prices for renewable electricity. Taxes and other costs had a significant influence on fuel prices at the petrol station, and therefore the presence and amount of government support for bioethanol was a major factor determining the competitiveness of bioethanol with conventional fuel. In a forward-looking scenario, genetically engineering poplar with a reduced lignin content showed potential to enhance the competitiveness of bioethanol with conventional fuel by reducing overall costs by approximately 41% in four out of the five countries modeled. However, the possible wider phenotypic traits of advanced poplars needs to be fully investigated to ensure that these do not unintentionally negate the cost savings indicated. Through these evaluations, we highlight the key bottlenecks within the bioethanol supply chain from the standpoint of various stakeholders. For producers, technologies that are best suited to the specific feedstock composition and national policies should be optimized. For policymakers, support schemes that benefit emerging bioethanol producers and allow renewable fuel to be economically competitive with petrol should be established. Finally, for researchers, better control over plant genetic engineering and advanced breeding and its consequential economic impact would bring valuable contributions towards developing an economically sustainable bioethanol market within the European Union.

HIV/AIDS, health and wellbeing study among International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) seafarer affiliates.

PubMed

Altaf Chowdhury, Syed Asif; Smith, Jacqueline; Trowsdale, Steve; Leather, Susan

2016-01-01

Transport workers generally face a higher-than-average risk of HIV as well as other health challenges. In order to improve understanding of health issues in the maritime sector, including but not limited to HIV/AIDS, and to prepare appropriate responses the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) conducted a study of the views and needs of those affiliates. The ITF carried out two surveys. The first consisted of a questionnaire sent to all ITF seafarer affiliates to establish their concerns about health issues, including the impact of HIV/AIDS, and to assess the extent and nature of existing trade union programmes. The second consisted of a knowledge, attitude and behaviour survey on health, wellbeing and AIDS among a cross-section of individual members administered through anonymous and confidential questionnaires by maritime affiliates in four countries in different regions and an identical online questionnaire through Survey Monkey. For the first survey, replies were received from 35 unions in 30 countries, including major seafarer supplying countries - India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Turkey, Ukraine - and major beneficial ownership countries such as Germany, Italy, Norway, and South Korea. Health issues of concern included HIV and other sexually transmitted infections for over three-quarters of them, and then alcohol use, weight control, and mental health. All said they would welcome ITF support in starting or strengthening a programme on general health and/or HIV. Replies were received to the second survey from 615 individual seafarers. Half to three-quarters said they worried about their weight, lack of exercise and drinking; over half felt depressed sometimes or often. There were serious knowledge gaps in a number of areas, especially HIV transmission and prevention, as well as high levels of stigma towards workmates with HIV. A number of health issues and information gaps remain unaddressed on board and pre-departure. Mental health is especially neglected but the needs emerge clearly. Seafarers believe that companies should provide programmes but also look to their unions for health information and services. The ITF has an important role to play in supporting affiliated unions in developing activities and in providing technical and strategic guidance.

Publication Productivity in Central Asia and Countries of the Former Soviet Union.

PubMed

Adambekov, Shalkar; Askarova, Sholpan; Welburn, Sharon C; Goughnour, Sharon L; Konishi, Ayumi; LaPorte, Ronald; Linkov, Faina

2016-01-01

Despite the significant number of research institutions and rich scientific heritage, published research from Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan) is traditionally underrepresented in international scientific literature. The goal of this paper was to analyze publication patterns in Central Asian countries, and to explore the factors that contributed to the publication productivity in Kazakhstan. Publication productivity was evaluated using data generated by the SCImago Journal & Country Rank over the period of 1996-2014 for all of the 15 former Soviet Union Republics for all subject categories. Country specific data, including total population, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, research and development (R&D) expenditure (% of GDP), number of reserchers (per million people), was abstracted from World Bank data. ANOVA and ANCOVA analyses compared the mean number of publications among Central Asian countries. Separate analyses was done for publication patterns in the health sciences. Multiple comparisons were performed using Tukey method. The analysis of publication productivity showed significant discrepancies in the number of published documents among the Central Asian countries. Kazakhstan demonstrated a significant increase in the number of published documents in the period of 1996-2014, mainly in the areas of natural and multidisciplinary sciences. Our analyses also showed that the number of publications are siginicantly associated with GDP and population size. We identified large gaps in publication productivity among the Central Asian countries. The association between publication rate with GDP and population size indicates there is a need to adjust for these factors when planning research policy.

Presence, characteristics and equity of access to breast cancer screening programmes in 27 European countries in 2010 and 2014. Results from an international survey.

PubMed

Deandrea, S; Molina-Barceló, A; Uluturk, A; Moreno, J; Neamtiu, L; Peiró-Pérez, R; Saz-Parkinson, Z; Lopez-Alcalde, J; Lerda, D; Salas, D

2016-10-01

The European Union Council Recommendation of 2 December 2003 on cancer screening suggests the implementation of organised, population-based breast cancer screening programmes based on mammography every other year for women aged 50 to 69years, ensuring equal access to screening, taking into account potential needs for targeting particular socioeconomic groups. A European survey on coverage and participation, and key organisational and policy characteristics of the programmes, targeting years 2010 and 2014, was undertaken in 2014. Overall, 27 countries contributed to this survey, 26 of the 28 European Union member states (92.9%) plus Norway. In 2014, 25 countries reported an ongoing population-based programme, one country reported a pilot programme and another was planning a pilot. In eight countries, the target age range was broader than that proposed by the Council Recommendation, and in three countries the full range was not covered. Fifteen countries reported not reaching some vulnerable populations, such as immigrants, prisoners and people without health insurance, while 22 reported that participation was periodically monitored by socioeconomic variables (e.g. age and territory). Organised, population-based breast cancer screening programmes based on routine mammograms are in place in most EU member states. However, there are still differences in the way screening programmes are implemented, and participation by vulnerable populations should be encouraged. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

EWork in Europe: The EMERGENCE 18-Country Employer Survey. IES Report 380.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huws, U.; O'Regan, S.

The EMERGENCE project was conducted to map and measure eWork (the processing of information and transmission of it by means of telecommunications located anywhere in the world) in 18 European countries (15 European Union states plus Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic). Data for the project were gathered through a survey of 7,268 employers of…

Voluntary Activity of Polish People and Its Motives in Recent Years: New Volunteering

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kosewska, Bernadetta

2015-01-01

This article covers an issue or the phenomenon of volunteering. The introduction is a recall of a definition of volunteering. Then it shows the distribution of voluntary activity in different countries of the European Union in order to look at some aspects of the phenomenon in the microscale of one country--Poland. It shows the percentage of…

U.S. and Soviet Agriculture: The Shifting Balance of Power. Worldwatch Paper 51.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Lester R.

Analysts of U.S.-Soviet balance of power usually focus on relative military strength. But other factors determine a country's overall power and influence. Among the most basic is a country's capacity to feed its people. By this measure the Soviet Union appears to be in deep trouble. Massive spending has increased Soviet military strength in recent…

Work Alienation, Patterns of Substance Use and Country of Origin among Male Hospitality Workers in Israel

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Isralowitz, Richard; Reznik, Alexander; Belhassen, Yaniv

2012-01-01

This prospective study examined the relationship between work alienation, country of origin and substance use among male hospitality workers in Israel. Results show work alienation more prevalent among Former Soviet Union origin males and those workers who binge drink and use cannabis (i.e., marijuana and/or hashish). Given the paucity of…

The Importance of the Geographic Level of Analysis in the Assessment of the Quality of Life: The Case of Spain

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gonzalez, Eduardo; Carcaba, Ana; Ventura, Juan

2011-01-01

There is a growing literature on the assessment of quality of life conditions in geographically and/or politically divided regions. Sometimes these territories are countries within a specified supranational structure, such as the European Union, for instance, and sometimes they are regions within countries. There is also some research that focuses…

Is Managing Academics "Women's Work"? Exploring the Glass Cliff in Higher Education Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peterson, Helen

2016-01-01

Sweden is among the countries with the highest per cent of women university Vice Chancellors in Europe. In "She Figures 2012" the average proportion of female Vice Chancellors in the 27 European Union countries is estimated to be 10 per cent. In Sweden the number is much higher: 43 per cent. Swedish higher education management has…

Who Works with Young Children? Concepts and Issues of Staffing and Professionalization in European Countries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oberhuemer, Pamela

This is the preliminary report of a project collating information from 15 European Union countries on professionals serving infants through 14-year-olds in nonformal educational settings. Findings include: (1) There is a great range of variation in the training of individuals working in non-traditional education and child care; this ranges from…

Tableau de Bord, 1996. Follow-up to the Conclusions of the Essen European Council on Employment Policies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Commission of the European Communities, Brussels (Belgium).

This document presents an overview of the principal labor market measures taken by the 15 member states of the European Union since the publication of the 1995 overview. In each section, individual countries' actions are discussed separately, with code letters indicating the country name. The following topics are among those discussed in the…

eLearning Survey: What Is the Extent of eLearning in Europe?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, Thessaloniki (Greece).

The extent of electronic learning (eLearning) was examined in an online survey to which 650 individuals responded. Of the responses, 84% were from European Union countries; 9% were from elsewhere in Europe; 5.5% were from the rest of the world; and nearly 2% did not specify a country. The types of responding organizations included…

A Living Example of Lifelong Learning: Prof. Dr. Necmettin Tozlu

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gürbüz, Fatih; Töman, Ufuk

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study is to propound the views, thoughts and suggestions of Prof. Dr. Necmettin Tozlu related to lifelong learning. He is an academician and a doyen in education and philosophy fields who teaches in many universities of our country training students in the four corners of the country and is awarded by the Writers Union of…

Beyond the Limits of the European Higher Education Area: The Case of Belarus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gille-Belova, Olga

2015-01-01

All European Union (EU) member states and many former post-Soviet countries joined the Bologna Process without major obstacles during the 2000s and today belong to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The only European country which was refused membership in the EHEA was Belarus, whose demand was rejected in 2012. The case study of this…

The Features of Development in the Pacific Countries of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cuenca Garcia, Eduardo; Rodriguez Martin, Jose Antonio; Navarro Pabsdorf, Margarita

2010-01-01

In this article we present a new proposal for the measurement of development, applied to the Pacific Countries of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group (ACP), conditional on their insularity, and with privileged relations with the European Union. Our index has been constructed attending to the criteria defined in the Goals of the Millennium…

[Migrant vaccinations in Poland].

PubMed

Sakowski, Piotr

2012-01-01

After the European Union accession in 2004, Poland has been perceived by foreigners as an attractive destination of their migration, and also as a popular transit country for people going further to the Western Europe countries. The Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine is involved in the implementation of the international project PROMOVAX (Promote Vaccinations among Migrant Populations in Europe). The objective of the project is to promote immunizations among migrant populations in Europe. This article presents the up-to-date legal regulations that are effective in Poland, taking into account their relevance to the issue of vaccinations in migrant population. The analysis of the Polish legislation concerning this problem shows that there are no specific regulations addressed to migrant population staying in our country. This issue seems to be popular in the European Union, where immunization of migrants is given high priority. From the point of view of health care professionals it is important to be aware of the fact that EU open borders favor the increased flow of people between countries. The scale of migration from outside the EU to its member states also contributes to the increase in potential contacts between health care workers and migrants working in Poland.

Potential adjustment methodology for missing data and reporting delay in the HIV Surveillance System, European Union/European Economic Area, 2015.

PubMed

Rosinska, Magdalena; Pantazis, Nikos; Janiec, Janusz; Pharris, Anastasia; Amato-Gauci, Andrew J; Quinten, Chantal; Ecdc Hiv/Aids Surveillance Network

2018-06-01

Accurate case-based surveillance data remain the key data source for estimating HIV burden and monitoring prevention efforts in Europe. We carried out a literature review and exploratory analysis of surveillance data regarding two crucial issues affecting European surveillance for HIV: missing data and reporting delay. Initial screening showed substantial variability of these data issues, both in time and across countries. In terms of missing data, the CD4+ cell count is the most problematic variable because of the high proportion of missing values. In 20 of 31 countries of the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA), CD4+ counts are systematically missing for all or some years. One of the key challenges related to reporting delays is that countries undertake specific one-off actions in effort to capture previously unreported cases, and that these cases are subsequently reported with excessive delays. Slightly different underlying assumptions and effectively different models may be required for individual countries to adjust for missing data and reporting delays. However, using a similar methodology is recommended to foster harmonisation and to improve the accuracy and usability of HIV surveillance data at national and EU/EEA levels.

Matches and mismatches between conservation investments and biodiversity values in the European Union.

PubMed

Sánchez-Fernández, David; Abellán, Pedro; Aragón, Pedro; Varela, Sara; Cabeza, Mar

2018-02-01

Recently, the European Commission adopted a new strategy to halt the loss of biodiversity. Member states are expected to favor a more effective collection and redistribution of European Union (EU) funds under the current Multiannual Financial Framework for 2014-2020. Because of the large spatial variation in the distribution of biodiversity and conservation needs at the continental scale, EU instruments should ensure that countries with higher biodiversity values get more funds and resources for the conservation than other countries. Using linear regressions, we assessed the association between conservation investments and biodiversity values across member states, accounting for a variety of conservation investment indicators, taxonomic groups (including groups of plants, vertebrates, and invertebrates), and indicators of biodiversity value. In general, we found clear overall associations between conservation investments and biodiversity variables. However, some countries received more or less investment than would be expected based on biodiversity values in those countries. We also found that the extensive use of birds as unique indicators of conservation effectiveness may lead to biased decisions. Our results can inform future decisions regarding funding allocation and thus improve distribution of EU conservation funds. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

Intimate Partner Jealousy and Femicide Among Former Ethiopians in Israel.

PubMed

Edelstein, Arnon

2018-02-01

Ethiopian immigrant women in Israel are overrepresented as victims of femicide; they are killed at more than 16 times the rate of the general population. This article suggests integrating current theoretical and empirical models to explain Ethiopian femicide, and stresses that considering psychological or sociocultural explanations as risk factors alone is not enough to understand this phenomenon. We distinguish between risk factors and triggers for femicide against Ethiopian women. While sociocultural and even psychological changes are risk factors for femicide, one, two, or three main triggers may activate such potential risk factors, such as the woman's willingness (WW) to leave the intimate relationship, sexual jealousy (SJ), and formal complaints against the abusive partner. The first two triggers are jealousy oriented. To analyze this phenomenon in Israel, we examined all court decisions on intimate partner homicide (IPH) from 1990 to 2010. After reading former studies on IPH and identifying important variables that could explain the phenomenon, we first catalogued the data in every decision and verdict according to main independent variables mentioned in the literature. The study population consists of first-generation immigrants, N = 194: native Israelis (47%), new immigrants from the former Soviet Union (FSU; 31%), and Ethiopians (16%). Our analysis of court decisions reveals that triggers containing jealousy components are responsible for 83% of femicide cases committed by Ethiopian men, in comparison with native Israelis (77%) and immigrant Russian men (66%) who murdered their intimate partners. In addition, there is a significant correlation among motive (jealousy), method of killing (stabbing), and "overkilling" (excessive force).

Impact of hepatitis B vaccination on acute hepatitis B epidemiology in European Union/European Economic Area countries, 2006 to 2014

PubMed Central

Miglietta, Alessandro; Quinten, Chantal; Lopalco, Pier Luigi; Duffell, Erika

2018-01-01

Hepatitis B prevention in European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries relies on vaccination programmes. We describe the epidemiology of acute hepatitis B virus (HBV) at country and EU/EEA level during 2006–2014. Using a multi-level mixed-effects Poisson regression model we assessed differences in the acute HBV infection notification rates between groups of countries that started universal HBV vaccination before/in vs after 1995; implemented or not a catch-up strategy; reached a vaccine coverage ≥ 95% vs < 95% and had a hepatitis B surface antigen prevalence ≥ 1% vs < 1%. Joinpoint regression analysis was used to assess trends by groups of countries, and additional Poisson regression models to evaluate the association between three-dose HBV vaccine coverage and acute HBV infection notification rates at country and EU/EEA level. The EU/EEA acute HBV infection notification rate decreased from 1.6 per 100,000 population in 2006 to 0.7 in 2014. No differences (p > 0.05) were found in the acute HBV infection notification rates between groups of countries, while as vaccine coverage increased, such rates decreased (p < 0.01). Countries with universal HBV vaccination before 1995, a catch-up strategy, and a vaccine coverage ≥ 95% had significant decreasing trends (p < 0.01). Ending HBV transmission in Europe by 2030 will require high vaccine coverage delivered through universal programmes, supported, where appropriate, by catch-up vaccination campaigns. PMID:29439751

Legislative regulation and ethical governance of medical research in different European Union countries.

PubMed

Veerus, Piret; Lexchin, Joel; Hemminki, Elina

2014-06-01

To obtain information about the similarities and differences in regulating different types of medical research in the European Union (EU). Web searches were performed from September 2009 to January 2011. Notes on pre-determined topics were systematically taken down from the web pages. The analysis relied only on documents and reports available on the web, reflecting the situation at the end of 2010. In several countries, regulatory legislation applied only to clinical trials on drugs and medical devices, in other states various types of research were also regulated but by laws different from those concerning trials, and in many countries, some research areas were not controlled by legislation at all. In very few countries was all medical research handled similarly from a legal point of view. The number of research ethics committees (RECs) in a single country varied from one to 264. Their areas of responsibility, working principles and length of time to grant research permission varied as well as the rules for obtaining informed consent from vulnerable groups. In 10 EU countries, there was no appeal mechanism after a negative decision by an REC. The RECs were not accountable to any organisation in five EU countries. There is a need for a fundamental debate regarding whether and which kinds of changes are needed for the further harmonisation of medical research governance in the EU and how cross-country medical research could be facilitated in the future. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Health system factors influencing management of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in four European Union countries - learning from country experiences.

PubMed

de Vries, Gerard; Tsolova, Svetla; Anderson, Laura F; Gebhard, Agnes C; Heldal, Einar; Hollo, Vahur; Cejudo, Laura Sánchez-Cambronero; Schmid, Daniela; Schreuder, Bert; Varleva, Tonka; van der Werf, Marieke J

2017-04-19

In the European Union and European Economic Area only 38% of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients notified in 2011 completed treatment successfully at 24 months' evaluation. Socio-economic factors and patient factors such as demographic characteristics, behaviour and attitudes are associated with treatment outcomes. Characteristics of healthcare systems also affect health outcomes. This study was conducted to identify and better understand the contribution of health system components to successful treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. We selected four European Union countries to provide for a broad range of geographical locations and levels of treatment success rates of the multidrug-resistant tuberculosis cohort in 2009. We conducted semi-structured interviews following a conceptual framework with representatives from policy and planning authorities, healthcare providers and civil society organisations. Responses were organised according to the six building blocks of the World Health Organization health systems framework. In the four included countries, Austria, Bulgaria, Spain, and the United Kingdom, the following healthcare system factors were perceived as key to achieving good treatment results for patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis: timely diagnosis of drug-resistant tuberculosis; financial systems that ensure access to a full course of treatment and support for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients; patient-centred approaches with strong intersectoral collaboration that address patients' emotional and social needs; motivated and dedicated healthcare workers with sufficient mandate and means to support patients; and cross-border management of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis to secure continuum of care between countries. We suggest that the following actions may improve the success of treatment for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients: deployment of rapid molecular diagnostic tests; development of context-specific treatment guidance and criteria for hospital admission and discharge in the European context; strengthening patient-centred approaches; development of collaborative mechanisms to ensure cross-border care, and development of long-term sustainable financing strategies.

Apollo-Soyuz test project docking system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Swan, W. L., Jr.

1976-01-01

The United States and Soviet Union in July 1975 successfully completed a joint space mission utilizing each country's spacecraft and the compatible docking system designed and fabricated by each country. The compatible docking system is described, along with the extensive research, development, and testing leading up to the successful mission. It also describes the formulation and implementation of methods for breaking the language barrier, bridging the extensive distances for communication and travel, and adjusting to each country's different culture during the three-year development program.

[Fundamental ethical principles in the European framework programmes for research and development].

PubMed

Hirsch, François; Karatzas, Isidoros; Zilgalvis, Pēteris

2009-01-01

The European Commission is one of the most important international funding bodies for research conducted in Europe and beyond, including developing countries and countries in transition. Through its framework programmes for research and development, the European Union finances a vast array of projects concerning fields affecting the citizens' health, as well as the researchers' mobility, the development of new technologies or the safeguard of the environment. With the agreement of the European Parliament and of the Council of Ministers, the two decisional authorities of the European Union, the 7th framework programmes was started on December 2006. This program has a budget of 54 billion Euros to be distributed over a 7-year period. Therefore, the European Union aims to fully address the challenge as stated by the European Council of Lisbon (of March 2000) which declared the idea of providing 3% of the GDP of all the Member States for the purpose of research and development. One of the important conditions stated by the Members of the European Parliament to allocate this financing is to ensuring that "the funding research activities respect the fundamental ethical principles". In this article, we will approach this aspect of the evaluation.

A survey on characteristics of Japanese academic job market and evaluation.

PubMed

Domon, Koji; Kitamura, Yoshihiro

2015-02-01

During the Meiji era, at the end of the 19th century, Japan introduced western systems into many fields, economically developing later than other industrially developed countries. Japan introduced a higher education system modeled on the German system, focusing not on education but on research. The historical background has shaped contemporary Japanese academia differently from that of the United States and the European Union. In addition, because of geographical and linguistic barriers in Asia, intercommunication with researchers in other developed countries has been much less than that between the United States and the European Union, leaving Japanese academia relatively isolated. We survey the characteristics of the Japanese academic system in higher education, using the latest published data. This article indicates a concentration of research at former imperial universities and a rigidity of movement among universities both internationally and domestically. Furthermore, small differences in salary levels have provided little incentive to perform research. However, while most universities in Japan have not introduced evaluation systems for promotion and salary that are heavily dependent on journal rankings, as in the European Union and United States, Japanese academic performance has not declined. This article suggests that in Japan, salary incentives, the impact factor, and so on have had little influence on academic performance. Even though cultural and historical differences between countries affect academic behaviors, we hope that this article might trigger consideration of other possible evaluation schemes for the future. © The Author(s) 2015.

Trends in cancer mortality in the European Union and accession countries, 1980-2000.

PubMed

Levi, F; Lucchini, F; Negri, E; Zatonski, W; Boyle, P; La Vecchia, C

2004-09-01

Cancer mortality rates and trends over the period 1980-2000 for accession countries to the European Union (EU) in May 2004, which include a total of 75 million inhabitants, were abstracted from the World Health Organization (WHO) database, together with, for comparative purposes, those of the current EU. Total cancer mortality for men was 166/100,000 in the EU, but ranged between 195 (Lithuania) and 269/100,000 (Hungary) in central and eastern European accession countries. This excess related to most cancer sites, including lung and other tobacco-related neoplasms, but also stomach, intestines and liver, and a few neoplasms amenable to treatment, such as testis, Hodgkin's disease and leukaemias. Overall cancer mortality for women was 95/100,000 in the EU, and ranged between 100 and 110/100,000 in several central and eastern European countries, and up to 120/100,000 in the Czech Republic and 138/100,000 in Hungary. The latter two countries had a substantial excess in female mortality for lung cancer, but also for several other sites. Furthermore, for stomach and especially (cervix) uteri, female rates were substantially higher in central and eastern European accession countries. Over the last two decades, trends in mortality were systematically less favourable in accession countries than in the EU. Most of the unfavourable patterns and trends in cancer mortality in accession countries are due to recognised, and hence potentially avoidable, causes of cancer, including tobacco, alcohol, dietary habits, pollution and hepatitis B, plus inadequate screening, diagnosis and treatment. Consequently, the application of available knowledge on cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment may substantially reduce the disadvantage now registered in the cancer mortality of central and eastern European accession countries.

Annual Progress Report, January 1, 1969 through December 31, 1969.

DTIC Science & Technology

1970-02-01

or extended. E. The Role of CAI in Curriculum Revision I The Intermediate Science Curriculum Study (ISCS)* (Dr. Ernest Burkman, i Director and Dr David...Educational Research, FSU. Henry T. Lippert , Ed.D., 1967, Education, University of Illinois, Research Associate in the CAI Center and Assistant...Walter Dick, and Henry T Lippert , Tech Report 3, Florida State University, Tallahassee, 1968 "A Systematic Investigation of Three Facets of Programmed

Is Bologna Working? Employer and Graduate Reflections of the Quality, Value and Relevance of Business and Management Education in Four European Union Countries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andrews, Jane; Higson, Helen

2014-01-01

This article focuses on the relevance of undergraduate business and management higher education from the perspectives of recent graduates and graduate employers in four European countries. Drawing upon the findings of an empirical qualitative study in which data was collated and analysed using grounded theory research techniques, the paper draws…

How Green Are European Curricula? A Comparative Analysis of Primary School Syllabi in Five European Countries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hanish, Anna; Rank, Astrid; Seeber, Gunther

2014-01-01

The authors conducted a cross-national curriculum analysis as part of a European Union Comenius project regarding the implementation of an online tool to foster environmental education (EE) in primary schools. The overall goal was to determine the extent and intensity that EE is embedded in the syllabi of five European countries. To this end, the…

Developments in Education Legislation of Post-Soviet Countries: Republic of Moldova's Education Code and Other CIS Experiences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaliak, Andrei

2017-01-01

Continued changes to legislation in countries that were previously parts of the Soviet Union cause them to become increasingly differentiated. Many of the changes are to social and economic processes. In the field of education, various parameters have changed and are continuing to change, from details concerning the way to conduct assessments to…

IPTS/ESTO Studies on Reforms of Agriculture, Education and Social Systems within the Context of Enlargement and Demographic Change in the EU. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

2002

This document summarizes a comparative analysis of the interconnections between technological and socioeconomic developments in agriculture and rural development, human capital formation, and social systems in the 13 candidate countries (CCs) for admission into the European Union (EU) and in the 15 countries of the EU. Specific topics considered…

Polish plant beats the odds to become model EU generator

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Neville, A.

2009-03-15

Once a Soviet satellite, Poland is now transforming into a thoroughly modern nation. To support its growing economy, this recent European Union member country is modernizing its power industry. Exemplifying the advances in the Polish electricity generation market is the 460 MW Patnow II power plant - the largest, most efficient (supercritical cycle) and environmentally cleanest lignite-fired unit in the country. 3 photos.

Towards sustainable transport infrastructure : a sectoral approach in practice

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1996-07-01

These guidelines provide a comprehensive overview of the issues in moving towards more sustainable transport infrastructure in developing countries. They provide a sectoral framework in which project proposals and requests for European Union assistan...

Flexitime: Some Problems and Solutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Owen, John D.

1977-01-01

Flexible work hours scheduling has been well received in this country as well as in Europe, where it was introduced in 1967. Some problems and their solutions attempted by various employers, unions, and government bodies are described. (MF)

Patterns of exchange of forensic DNA data in the European Union through the Prüm system.

PubMed

Santos, Filipe; Machado, Helena

2017-07-01

This paper presents a study of the 5-year operation (2011-2015) of the transnational exchange of forensic DNA data between Member States of the European Union (EU) for the purpose of combating cross-border crime and terrorism within the so-called Prüm system. This first systematisation of the full official statistical dataset provides an overall assessment of the match figures and patterns of operation of the Prüm system for DNA exchange. These figures and patterns are analysed in terms of the differentiated contributions by participating EU Member States. The data suggest a trend for West and Central European countries to concentrate the majority of Prüm matches, while DNA databases of Eastern European countries tend to contribute with profiles of people that match stains in other countries. In view of the necessary transparency and accountability of the Prüm system, more extensive and informative statistics would be an important contribution to the assessment of its functioning and societal benefits. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The European Union's Adequacy Approach to Privacy and International Data Sharing in Health Research.

PubMed

Stoddart, Jennifer; Chan, Benny; Joly, Yann

2016-03-01

The European Union (EU) approach to data protection consists of assessing the adequacy of the data protection offered by the laws of a particular jurisdiction against a set of principles that includes purpose limitation, transparency, quality, proportionality, security, access, and rectification. The EU's Data Protection Directive sets conditions on the transfer of data to third countries by prohibiting Member States from transferring to such countries as have been deemed inadequate in terms of the data protection regimes. In theory, each jurisdiction is evaluated similarly and must be found fully compliant with the EU's data protection principles to be considered adequate. In practice, the inconsistency with which these evaluations are made presents a hurdle to international data-sharing and makes difficult the integration of different data-sharing approaches; in the 20 years since the Directive was first adopted, the laws of only five countries from outside of the EU, Economic Area, or the European Free Trade Agreement have been deemed adequate to engage in data transfers without the need for further administrative safeguards. © 2016 American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics.

Pharmacology and Therapeutics Education in the European Union Needs Harmonization and Modernization: A Cross-sectional Survey Among 185 Medical Schools in 27 Countries.

PubMed

Brinkman, D J; Tichelaar, J; Okorie, M; Bissell, L; Christiaens, T; Likic, R; Mačìulaitis, R; Costa, J; Sanz, E J; Tamba, B I; Maxwell, S R; Richir, M C; van Agtmael, M A

2017-11-01

Effective teaching in pharmacology and clinical pharmacology and therapeutics (CPT) is necessary to make medical students competent prescribers. However, the current structure, delivery, and assessment of CPT education in the European Union (EU) is unknown. We sent an online questionnaire to teachers with overall responsibility for CPT education in EU medical schools. Questions focused on undergraduate teaching and assessment of CPT, and students' preparedness for prescribing. In all, 185 medical schools (64%) from 27 EU countries responded. Traditional learning methods were mainly used. The majority of respondents did not provide students with the opportunity to practice real-life prescribing and believed that their students were not well prepared for prescribing. There is a marked difference in the quality and quantity of CPT education within and between EU countries, suggesting that there is considerable scope for improvement. A collaborative approach should be adopted to harmonize and modernize the undergraduate CPT education across the EU. © 2017 The Authors Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

Approaches for controlling illicit tobacco trade--nine countries and the European Union.

PubMed

Ross, Hana; Husain, Muhammad Jami; Kostova, Deliana; Xu, Xin; Edwards, Sarah M; Chaloupka, Frank J; Ahluwalia, Indu B

2015-05-29

An estimated 11.6% of the world cigarette market is illicit, representing more than 650 billion cigarettes a year and $40.5 billion in lost revenue. Illicit tobacco trade refers to any practice related to distributing, selling, or buying tobacco products that is prohibited by law, including tax evasion (sale of tobacco products without payment of applicable taxes), counterfeiting, disguising the origin of products, and smuggling. Illicit trade undermines tobacco prevention and control initiatives by increasing the accessibility and affordability of tobacco products, and reduces government tax revenue streams. The World Health Organization (WHO) Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, signed by 54 countries, provides tools for addressing illicit trade through a package of regulatory and governing principles. As of May 2015, only eight countries had ratified or acceded to the illicit trade protocol, with an additional 32 needed for it to become international law (i.e., legally binding). Data from multiple international sources were analyzed to evaluate the 10 most commonly used approaches for addressing illicit trade and to summarize differences in implementation across select countries and the European Union (EU). Although the WHO illicit trade protocol defines shared global standards for addressing illicit trade, countries are guided by their own legal and enforcement frameworks, leading to a diversity of approaches employed across countries. Continued adoption of the methods outlined in the WHO illicit trade protocol might improve the global capacity to reduce illicit trade in tobacco products.

Factors associated with teenage pregnancy in the European Union countries: a systematic review.

PubMed

Imamura, Mari; Tucker, Janet; Hannaford, Phil; da Silva, Miguel Oliveira; Astin, Margaret; Wyness, Laura; Bloemenkamp, Kitty W M; Jahn, Albrecht; Karro, Helle; Olsen, Jørn; Temmerman, Marleen

2007-12-01

As part of the REPROSTAT2 project, this systematic review aimed to identify factors associated with teenage pregnancy in 25 European Union countries. The search strategy included electronic bibliographic databases (1995 to May 2005), bibliographies of selected articles and requests to all country representatives of the research team for relevant reports and publications. Primary outcome measure was conception. Inclusion criteria were quantitative studies of individual-level factors associated with teenage (13-19 years) pregnancy in EU countries. Of 4444 studies identified and screened, 20 met the inclusion criteria. Most of the included studies took place in UK and Nordic countries. The well-recognized factors of socioeconomic disadvantage, disrupted family structure and low educational level and aspiration appear consistently associated with teenage pregnancy. However, evidence that access to services in itself is a protective factor remains inconsistent. Although further associations with diverse risk-taking behaviours and lifestyle, sexual health knowledge, attitudes and behaviour are reported, the independent effects of these factors too remain unclear. Included studies varied widely in terms of methods and definitions used. This heterogeneity within the studies leaves two outstanding issues. First, we cannot synthesize or generalize key findings as to how all these factors interact with one another and which factors are the most significant. Second, it is not possible to examine potential variation between countries. Future research ensuring comparability and generalizability of results related to teenage sexual health outcomes will help gain insight into the international variation in observed pregnancy rates and better inform interventions.

Infectious disease health services for refugees and asylum seekers during a time of crisis: A scoping study of six European Union countries.

PubMed

Bozorgmehr, Kayvan; Samuilova, Mariya; Petrova-Benedict, Roumyana; Girardi, Enrico; Piselli, Pierluca; Kentikelenis, Alexander

2018-04-11

Systematic information on infectious disease services provided to refugees and asylum seekers in the European Union (EU) is sparse. We conducted a scoping study of experts in six EU countries in order to map health system responses related to infectious disease prevention and control among refugees and asylum seekers. We conducted 27 semi-structured in-depth interviews with first-line staff and health officials to collect information about existing guidelines and practices at each stage of reception in first-entry (Greece/Italy), transit (Croatia/Slovenia), and destination countries (Austria/Sweden). Thematic coding was used to perform a content analysis of interview material. Guidance on infectious disease screening and health assessments lack standardisation across and-partly-within countries. Data collection on notifiable infectious diseases is mainly reported to be performed by national public health institutions, but is not stratified by migrant status. Health-related information is not transferred in a standardized way between facilities within a single country. International exchange of medical information between countries along the migration route is irregular. Services were reported to be fragmented, and respondents mentioned no specific coordination bodies beyond health authorities at different levels. Infectious disease health services provided to refugees and asylum seekers lack standardisation in health assessments, data collection, transfer of health-related information and (partly) coordination. This may negatively affect health system performance including public health emergency preparedness. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparing pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement policies in Croatia to the European Union Member States.

PubMed

Vogler, Sabine; Habl, Claudia; Bogut, Martina; Voncina, Luka

2011-04-15

To perform a comparative analysis of the pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement systems in Croatia and the 27 European Union (EU) Member States. Knowledge about the pharmaceutical systems in Croatia and the 27 EU Member States was acquired by literature review and primary research with stakeholders. Pharmaceutical prices are controlled at all levels in Croatia, which is also the case in 21 EU Member States. Like many EU countries, Croatia also applies external price referencing, i.e., compares prices with other countries. While the wholesale remuneration by a statutorily regulated linear mark-up is applied in Croatia and in several EU countries, the pharmacy compensation for dispensing reimbursable medicines in the form of a flat rate service fee in Croatia is rare among EU countries, which usually apply a linear or regressive pharmacy mark-up scheme. Like in most EU countries, the Croatian Social Insurance reimburses specific medicines at 100%, whereas patients are charged co-payments for other reimbursable medicines. Criteria for reimbursement include the medicine's importance from the public health perspective, its therapeutic value, and relative effectiveness. In Croatia and in many EU Member States, reimbursement is based on a reference price system. The Croatian pharmaceutical system is similar to those in the EU Member States. Key policies, like external price referencing and reference price systems, which have increasingly been introduced in EU countries are also applied in Croatia and serve the same purpose: to ensure access to medicines while containing public pharmaceutical expenditure.

Lessons learnt to keep Europe polio-free: a review of outbreaks in the European Union, European Economic Area, and candidate countries, 1973 to 2013.

PubMed

Derrough, Tarik; Salekeen, Alexandra

2016-04-21

Between 1973 and 2013, 12 outbreaks of paralytic poliomyelitis with a cumulative total of 660 cases were reported in the European Union, European Economic Area and candidate countries. Outbreaks lasted seven to 90 weeks (median: 24 weeks) and were identified through the diagnosis of cases of acute flaccid paralysis, for which infection with wild poliovirus was subsequently identified. In two countries, environmental surveillance was in place before the outbreaks, but did not detect any wild strain before the occurrence of clinical cases. This surveillance nonetheless provided useful information to monitor the outbreaks and their geographical spread. Outbreaks were predominantly caused by poliovirus type 1 and typically involved unvaccinated or inadequately vaccinated groups within highly immunised communities. Oral polio vaccine was primarily used to respond to the outbreaks with catch-up campaigns implemented either nationwide or in restricted geographical areas or age groups. The introduction of supplementary immunisation contained the outbreaks. In 2002, the European region of the World Health Organization was declared polio-free and it has maintained this status since. However, as long as there are non-vaccinated or under-vaccinated groups in European countries and poliomyelitis is not eradicated, countries remain continuously at risk of reintroduction and establishment of the virus. Continued efforts to reach these groups are needed in order to ensure a uniform and high vaccination coverage.

Cross-border mobility of health professionals: contesting patients' right to health.

PubMed

Plotnikova, Evgeniya Vadimovna

2012-01-01

Cross-border labour mobility in the health sector is portrayed as both an opportunity for health professionals immigrating to developed countries, and as a challenge for patients remaining in low-income countries with restricted access to health care provision. In policy debate, this problem is articulated as the opposition between, 'the right to freedom of movement' and 'the right to health'. The underlying layers of this dilemma expose competing institutional interests for source and destination countries, international organisations, private recruitment agencies, trade unions and professional organisations. To resolve some of these tensions, a 'soft law' regulation (ethical recruitment policy) was adopted in the UK in the early 2000s. This article argues that this ethical recruitment policy produces an ambivalent effect. The qualitative content analysis refers to documents produced by international organisations, government bodies, professional organisations and trade unions in the UK and source countries. We found that ethical recruitment on the one hand proposes a practical mechanism to the realisation of the right to health in source countries, through encouraging employers' behaviour in accordance with ethical principles in international recruitment. On the other hand, this policy protects the reputation of institutional stakeholders changing rhetoric around international recruitment rather than the practice. The findings of this study contribute to a broader discussion of the international norms diffusion and the ambivalent role of 'soft law' in their implementation. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Obama Emphasizes Science and Innovation in State of the Union Address

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tretkoff, Ernie

2011-02-01

U.S. president Barack Obama emphasized innovation and competitiveness in his State of the Union address on 25 January. He also raised science and technology early in the hour-long speech, noting that nations like China and India are focusing on math and science education and investing in research and technology. To be competitive with those countries, “we need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world,” Obama said. “The first step in winning the future is encouraging American innovation.”

Foreign Assistance: Enterprise Funds’ Contributions to Private Sector Development Vary.

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-09-01

private sector development in selected countries of Central and Eastern Europe as they transition from centrally planned to market-oriented economies. The funds, which are private, nonprofit U.S. corporations, are supposed to make loans to, or investments in, small- and medium-sized businesses in which other financial institutions are reluctant to invest. With the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, enterprise funds were subsequently established in the newly independent states. Currently, 10 funds operate in Central Europe and the former Soviet Union, covering 19

Area Handbook Series. Albania: A Country Study

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-04-01

128 Population and Work Force .................... 130 Women in the Work Force ..................... 132 Trade Unions...155 RETAIL TRADE , SERVICES, AND TOURISM ......... 156 Retail Trade and Services ..................... 156 Black M arket...158 Tourism .................................... 158 FOREIGN ECONOMIC RELATIONS .................. 159 Foreign Trade

Around the World in Science Class.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rubino, Ann M; Duerling, Carolyn K.

1991-01-01

Interdisciplinary learning modules called "Maude Visits..." are described. The modules apply basic scientific concepts to current and future problems facing people in various countries such as the Soviet Union. Activities using maps, money, and convection currents are included. (KR)

Congo (Brazzaville) Country Analysis Brief

EIA Publications

2014-01-01

Congo (Brazzaville) is among the top five oil producers in Sub-Saharan Africa. Oil production comes almost entirely from offshore oil fields. Congo exports almost all of its oil production, and the largest recipients are China and the European Union.

European Union's public fishing access agreements in developing countries.

PubMed

Le Manach, Frédéric; Chaboud, Christian; Copeland, Duncan; Cury, Philippe; Gascuel, Didier; Kleisner, Kristin M; Standing, André; Sumaila, U Rashid; Zeller, Dirk; Pauly, Daniel

2013-01-01

The imperative to increase seafood supply while dealing with its overfished local stocks has pushed the European Union (EU) and its Member States to fish in the Exclusive Economic Zones of other countries through various types of fishing agreements for decades. Although European public fishing agreements are commented on regularly and considered to be transparent, this is the first global and historical study on the fee regime that governs them. We find that the EU has subsidized these agreements at an average of 75% of their cost (financial contribution agreed upon in the agreements), while private European business interests paid the equivalent of 1.5% of the value of the fish that was eventually landed. This raises questions of fisheries benefit-sharing and resource-use equity that the EU has the potential to address during the nearly completed reform of its Common Fisheries Policy.

Regulating genetically modified food. Policy trajectories, political culture, and risk perceptions in the U.S., Canada, and EU.

PubMed

Wohlers, Anton E

2010-09-01

This paper examines whether national differences in political culture add an explanatory dimension to the formulation of policy in the area of biotechnology, especially with respect to genetically modified food. The analysis links the formulation of protective regulatory policies governing genetically modified food to both country and region-specific differences in uncertainty tolerance levels and risk perceptions in the United States, Canada, and European Union. Based on polling data and document analysis, the findings illustrate that these differences matter. Following a mostly opportunistic risk perception within an environment of high tolerance for uncertainty, policymakers in the United States and Canada modified existing regulatory frameworks that govern genetically modified food in their respective countries. In contrast, the mostly cautious perception of new food technologies and low tolerance for uncertainty among European Union member states has contributed to the creation of elaborate and stringent regulatory policies governing genetically modified food.

The healthcare system and provision of oral healthcare in European Union member states. Part 4: Greece.

PubMed

Damaskinos, P; Koletsi-Kounari, H; Economou, C; Eaton, K A; Widström, E

2016-03-11

This paper presents a description of the healthcare system and how oral healthcare is organised and provided in Greece, a country in a deep economic and social crisis. The national health system is underfunded, with severe gaps in staffing levels and the country has a large private healthcare sector. Oral healthcare has been largely provided in the private sector. Most people are struggling to survive and have no money to spend on general and oral healthcare. Unemployment is rising and access to healthcare services is more difficult than ever. Additionally, there has been an overproduction of dentists and no development of team dentistry. This has led to under or unemployment of dentists in Greece and their migration to other European Union member states, such as the United Kingdom, where over 600 Greek dentists are currently working.

An Examination of the Special Education Teacher Training Programs in Turkey and European Union Member Countries in Terms of Language Development and Communication Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akmese, Pelin Pistav; Kayhan, Nilay

2016-01-01

The academic terms and the periods of the courses related to the language development and communication differs considerably in the programs of the countries which train teachers for the special education department. The aim of this study is to examine the contents and credits of the communication and the language development courses in Teacher…

JPRS Report. Soviet Union: World Economy & International Relations, No. 7, July 1989.

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-11-09

developing countries is based not so much on a national industrial bourgeoisie (which in principle should be the agent of capitalist development...as on the bureaucratic bour- geoisie, which represents the state-capitalist structure (a kind of "surrogate" bourgeoisie ). The socialist tendency...countries of Tropical Africa. The industrial bourgeoisie is financially weak, is not inclined to take risks, lacks authority, and is inexperienced and

JPRS Report, Soviet Union, World Economy & International Relations, No. 11, November 1987.

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-02-22

those liberated from colonialism and industrially developed capitalist countries. They unite over 80 million persons (400,000 in 1917). In the 70...now lives in socialist countries. Communists have participated most actively and, in certain cases, led national liberation revolutions. Coun- tries... liberated from colonial dependence now constitute a pronounced majority in the world community of states. Communists have always been and remain at

Key pharmacovigilance stakeholders' experiences of direct patient reporting of adverse drug reactions and their prospects of future development in the European Union.

PubMed

Inácio, P; Cavaco, A; Allan, E; Airaksinen, M

2018-02-01

In the European Union (EU), legislation allows patients to directly report adverse drug reactions (ADRs) to competent authorities. Five years after its implementation, patient reporting is not equal in all countries. This study aimed to explore key stakeholders' perceptions of patient reporting in four EU countries. Qualitative study design. Twelve representatives from national pharmacovigilance centres and/or authorities as well as national pharmaceutical industry bodies in four EU countries participated in the study. Supranational organizations were also included. Data collection was via face-semi-structured interviews. Inductive content analysis was performed thereafter, applying principles of risk management as a theoretical framework. Four themes (attitudes and beliefs, system maturation factors, regulatory improvements, and cultural shifts) emerged, conceptually interconnected. Participants from countries introducing patient reporting recently expressed a negative attitude. Participants highlighted the need for additional resources, both human and financial, to address patient reporting and associated advantages. The findings identified perceived barriers and facilitators of patient reporting. The involvement of patients, use of information, and dissemination of patient reporting are far from optimal. A better integration of the work by EU regulatory authorities is recommended. Copyright © 2017 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Physician assessment of aptitude for driving in the European Union].

PubMed

Lentaigne de Logivière, Xavier; Jardé, Olivier; Manaouil, Cécile

2015-09-01

Road safety is for several years a major public health issue, given the number of casualties and annual deaths caused by road accidents in France or Europe. European directives of 2006 and 2009 were aimed harmonized community practices for the conduct, including medically. We studied the laws in force in each of the 28 countries of the European Union to make an inventory of the organization on this subject. The results showed that 25 countries introduce, at least once, including 21 medical check regularly. Age is the main factor that motivates control. The frequency of examinations increases with the age of the driver. In other countries, a sworn statement of the absence of pathology is enough. Although a medical examination is mostly carried out systematically, it the content is extremely variable, ranging from a simple vision test to a full review with psycho test. Management of professional secrecy is approached differently in different countries, although predominantly an exemption exists in the event of discovery of the inability of a patient. We note that there is a great diversity in the medical screening modalities unsuited to driving. These systems will be harmonized to comply with the wishes of European directives. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Motivational goals, group identifications, and psychosocial adjustment of returning migrants: The case of Jews returning to Russia.

PubMed

Tartakovsky, Eugene; Patrakov, Eduard; Nikulina, Marina

2017-12-01

The present study investigated the motivational goals, group identifications, and psychosocial adjustment of Jews who returned to Russia after emigrating from the republics of the Former Soviet Union to different countries (n = 151). To gain a deeper understanding of these returning migrants, their traits were compared with those of Jews living in Russia who did not emigrate (n = 935). Compared to locals, returnees reported a higher preference for the openness to change and self-enhancement values and a lower preference for the conservation values; there was no difference in the self-transcendence values. Returning migrants had a relatively weak affiliation with the home country: they had a weaker identification with the home country than with the country of emigration, their identification with Russians was weaker than that among Jews who did not emigrate from Russia, and their intention to emigrate (again) from Russia was greater than that among locals. However, the Jewish identification of returning migrants was similar to that of locals. The adjustment of returning migrants varied across different dimensions: their economic adjustment was better than that of locals; however, the interpersonal adjustment of returnees was less successful than among locals. © 2016 International Union of Psychological Science.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pfiffner, Susan M.

Our current research represents a joint effort between Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Florida State University (FSU), and the University of Tennessee. ORNL will serve as the lead institution with Dr. A.V. Palumbo responsible for project coordination, integration, and deliverables. This project was initiated in November, 2004, in the Integrative Studies Element of the NABIR program. The overall goal of our project is to provide an improved understanding of the relationships between microbial community structure, geochemistry, and metal reduction rates.

Control of Acoustics and Store Separation in a Cavity in Supersonic Flow

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-02-01

laser -based flow visualization experiments on the FSU cavity for different microjet pressures. The details of the experiments are given in Zhuang, et. al...developed that rigorously explains the role of leading edge microjets in cavity noise suppression and predicts the magnitude of noise reduction for a...given control input (that is the steady pressure at which the microjets are fired). The model is validated through comparison of its noise reduction

Asia's changing role in global climate change.

PubMed

Siddiqi, Toufiq A

2008-10-01

Asia's role in global climate change has evolved significantly from the time when the Kyoto Protocol was being negotiated. Emissions of carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas, from energy use in Asian countries now exceed those from the European Union or North America. Three of the top five emitters-China, India, and Japan, are Asian countries. Any meaningful global effort to address global climate change requires the active cooperation of these and other large Asian countries, if it is to succeed. Issues of equity between countries, within countries, and between generations, need to be tackled. Some quantitative current and historic data to illustrate the difficulties involved are provided, and one approach to making progress is suggested.

The impact of conditional cash transfers on marriage and divorce.

PubMed

Bobonis, Gustavo J

2011-01-01

A growing number of less-developed countries have introduced conditional cash transfer programs in which funds are targeted to women. Economic models of the family suggest that these transfer programs may lead to marital turnover among program beneficiaries. Data from the experimental evaluation of the PROGRESA program in Mexico is used to provide new evidence on the short-run impacts of targeted transfers on couples' union dissolution and individuals' new union formation decisions. We find that, although the overall share of women in union does not change as a result of the program, marital turnover increases. Intact families eligible for the transfers experienced a modest (0.32 percentage points) increase in separation rates, with most of the effect concentrated among young and relatively educated women households. In contrast, young single women with low educational attainment levels experienced a substantial increase in new union formation rates. The marital transition patterns are consistent with the workhorse economic model of the marriage market-individuals with the greatest prospects to start new unions and those who may become more attractive in the marriage market are more likely to transition out of existing relationships and form new ones.

Adolescent sexual behavior and reproductive outcomes in Central America: trends over the past two decades.

PubMed

Samandari, Ghazaleh; Speizer, Ilene S

2010-03-01

Compared with the Latin American average, adolescent fertility is high in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, countries that also have high poverty levels and poor access to reproductive health care. For each country, data were drawn from four national health surveys conducted between 1987 and 2007, and analysis focused on trends in sexual and reproductive behavior among adolescent females aged 15-19. Event history analysis examined transitions to first sexual intercourse, first union and first live birth across survey years; Cox hazard and logistic regression analyses assessed associations between selected demographic characteristics and these outcomes, as well as ever-use of a modern contraceptive method. The likelihood that adolescent females have initiated sexual intercourse has increased over time in El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, and has remained stable in Guatemala. Meanwhile, the odds of having entered their first union have declined in Nicaragua and risen in El Salvador, but have not changed in Honduras or Guatemala. Notably, the likelihood that adolescents have ever used a modern contraceptive method has increased in all four countries over the survey years. Nicaraguan adolescents became significantly less likely to have had their first live birth over the study period. Finally, urban residence, education level and socioeconomic status were important predictors of adolescents' sexual and reproductive outcomes. Programmatic and policy initiatives should focus on improving adolescents' education and socio- economic prospects, and efforts are especially needed to help adolescents delay the age at which they become sexually active and enter their first union.

Unions, Health and Safety Committees, and Workplace Accidents in the Korean Manufacturing Sector.

PubMed

Kim, Woo-Yung; Cho, Hm-Hak

2016-06-01

Despite the declining trend of workplace accidents in Republic of Korea, its level is still quite high compared with that in other developed countries. Factors that are responsible for high workplace accidents have not been well documented in Republic of Korea. The main purpose of this paper is to estimate the effects of unions and health and safety committees on workplace accidents in Korean manufacturing firms. We also allow for the interactions between unions and health and safety committees in the analysis. The results obtained in this paper will not only contribute to the literature in this field, but might also be useful for employers and worker representatives who are trying to find an effective way to reduce workplace accidents. This paper utilizes the 2012 Occupational Safety and Health Trend Survey data, which is a unique data set providing information on workplace injuries and illness as well as other characteristics of participatory firms, representative of the manufacturing industry in Republic of Korea. In estimating the effects of unions and health and safety committees, we build a negative binomial regression model in which the interactions between unions and health and safety committees are permissible in reducing workplace accidents. Health and safety committees were found to reduce the incidence of accidents whereas unionized establishments have higher incidence of accidents than nonunionized establishments. We also found that health and safety committees can more effectively reduce accidents in nonunionized establishments. By contrast, nonexclusive joint committees can more effectively reduce accidents in unionized establishments.

Fruit and vegetable consumption in the former Soviet Union: the role of individual- and community-level factors.

PubMed

Goryakin, Yevgeniy; Rocco, Lorenzo; Suhrcke, Marc; Roberts, Bayard; McKee, Martin

2015-10-01

To explain patterns of fruit and vegetable consumption in nine former Soviet Union countries by exploring the influence of a range of individual- and community-level determinants. Cross-sectional nationally representative surveys and area profiles were undertaken in 2010 in nine countries of the former Soviet Union as part of the Health in Times of Transition (HITT) study. Individual- and area-level determinants were analysed, taking into account potential confounding at the individual and area level. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine. Adult survey respondents (n 17 998) aged 18-95 years. Being male, increasing age, lack of education and lack of financial resources were associated with lower probability of consuming adequate amounts of fruit or vegetables. Daily fruit or vegetable consumption was positively correlated with the number of shops selling fruit and vegetables (for women) and with the number of convenience stores (for men). Billboard advertising of snacks and sweet drinks was negatively related to daily fruit or vegetable consumption, although the reverse was true for billboards advertising soft drinks. Men living near a fast-food outlet had a lower probability of fruit or vegetable consumption, while the opposite was true for the number of local food restaurants. Overall fruit and vegetable consumption in the former Soviet Union is inadequate, particularly among lower socio-economic groups. Both individual- and community-level factors play a role in explaining inadequate nutrition and thus provide potential entry points for policy interventions, while the nuanced influence of community factors informs the agenda for future research.

The European Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme (Euro-GASP)--a sentinel approach in the European Union (EU)/European Economic Area (EEA).

PubMed

Spiteri, Gianfranco; Cole, Michelle; Unemo, Magnus; Hoffmann, Steen; Ison, Catherine; van de Laar, Marita

2013-12-01

Antimicrobial resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae is monitored in the European Union/European Economic Area through the European Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme (Euro-GASP) coordinated by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Euro-GASP includes a sentinel surveillance programme which aims to detect in a timely manner changes in resistance patterns and inform treatment guidelines. The programme aims to test a representative number of isolates from each European Union/European Economic Area member state per year for a range of therapeutically relevant antimicrobials through a biannual hybrid centralised/decentralised system. Testing is supported by an External Quality Assurance programme and a laboratory training programme. Participation in the programme has increased to 21 countries in 2012. Euro-GASP has been able to detect the rapid spread of isolates with decreased susceptibility to cefixime across Europe in 2010 and 2011. Results from the programme have informed changes in European treatment guidelines for gonorrhoea and led to the development of the 'Response plan to control and manage the threat of multidrug resistant gonorrhoea in Europe'. Future challenges for Euro-GASP include supporting countries to participate in Euro-GASP through decentralised testing, improving timeliness and epidemiological data quality, and increasing participation from Eastern Europe.

Robert Bartini and His Contribution to the Development of Transport and Aviation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Težak, Sergej

2017-10-01

After the First World War, the young Soviet Union (USSR) desperately needed new engineers and scientists who would provide the new country with development of modern industry and transportation. At that time, Western European countries had knowledge and experience, especially in the field of aviation. One of the young engineers was Robert Bartini, who was educated in Austria-Hungary and Italy, and graduated from Milan Polytechnic Institute. In 1923, he fled Italy to escape Fascists and emigrated in Soviet Union. This article is a brief description of aircraft designer Robert Bartini and his role in the development of the military, passenger and transport aviation. In addition, it presents his vision of the intercontinental and continental high-speed transport, which was his focus in the last years of his work and creation. He worked as a researcher and expert in the former Soviet Union, therefore, more detailed and relevant information on his work has been revealed to the public in recent years. In Russia, he is very popular as a researcher and developer. There are many books about him in Russian and Italian language, but not in English. Thus, his work is still quite unknown in the West. He was born in Kanjiza (today Serbia) in 1897, and spent his youth in Fiume (Rijeka, today Croatia).

Clinical education and training of student nurses in four moderately new European Union countries: Assessment of students' satisfaction with the learning environment.

PubMed

Antohe, Ileana; Riklikiene, Olga; Tichelaar, Erna; Saarikoski, Mikko

2016-03-01

Nurses underwent different models of education during various historical periods. The recent decade in Europe has been marked with educational transitions for the nursing profession related to Bologna Declaration and enlargement of the European Union. This paper aims to explore the situation of clinical placements for student nurses and assess students' satisfaction with the learning environment in four relatively new member states of European Union: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania and Romania. The data for cross-sectional quantitative study were collected during the exploratory phase of EmpNURS Project via a web based questionnaire which utilized a part of Clinical Learning Environment scale (CLES + T). The students evaluated their clinical learning environment mainly positively. The students' utter satisfaction with their clinical placements reached a high level and strongly correlated with the supervisory model. Although the commonest model for supervision was traditional group supervision, the most satisfied students had the experience of individualised supervision. The study gives a picture of the satisfaction of students with the learning environment and, moreover, with clinical placement education of student nurses in four EU countries. The results highlight the individualized supervision model as a crucial factor of students' total satisfaction during their clinical training periods. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Historical Responsibility for Climate Change - from countries emissions to contribution to temperature increase

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krapp, Mario; Gütschow, Johannes; Rocha, Marcia; Schaeffer, Michiel

2016-04-01

The notion of historical responsibility is central to the equity debate and the measure of responsibility as a countries' share of historical global emissions remains one of the essential parameters in so-called equity proposals, which attempt to distribute effort among countries in an equitable manner. The focus of this contribution is on the historical contribution of countries, but it takes it one step further: its general objective lies on estimating countries' contribution directly to the change in climate. The historical responsibility is not based on cumulative emissions but instead measured in terms of the countries' estimated contribution to the increase in global-mean surface-air temperature. This is achieved by (1) compiling a historical emissions dataset for the period from 1850 until 2012 for each individual Kyoto-greenhouse gas and each UNFCCC Party using a consistent methodology and (2) applying those historical emissions to a revised version of the so-called Policy-maker Model put forward by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Federative Republic of Brazil, which is a simple, yet powerful tool that allows historical GHG emissions of individual countries to be directly related to their effect on global temperature changes. We estimate that the cumulative GHG emissions until 2012 from the USA, the European Union and China contribute to a total temperature increase of about 0.50°C in 2100, which is equivalent to about 50% of the temperature increase from total global GHG emissions by that year (of about 1.0°C). Respectively, the USA, the European Union, and China are responsible for 20.2%, 17.3%, and 12.1% of global temperature increase in 2100. Russian historical emissions are responsible for 0.06°C temperature increase by 2100, ranking as the fourth largest contributor to temperature increase with 6.2% of the total contribution. India ranks fifth: Indian emissions to date would contribute to roughly 0.05°C of global mean temperature increase by 2100, or about 5.3%. Brazilian historical emissions would contribute to 0.04°C to global temperature increase by 2100 or 4.4% to total temperature increase. If the European Union countries were considered independently, Germany and Great Britain would be responsible respectively to 3.9% and 3.4% of global temperature increase in 2100. We present the results on countries' historical responsibilities and then outline in detail the methodology employed to obtain the historical emissions dataset and final temperature contributions including the different approaches to derive a revised version of the Policy-maker Model, its underlying assumptions, advantages, and limitations for estimating countries' historical contribution to temperature increase.

HTLV-I infection in the South West Indian Ocean islands, particularly in La Réunion and the Seychelles.

PubMed

Aubry, P; Bovet, P; Vitrac, D; Schooneman, F; Hollanda, J; Malvy, D; Gaüzère, B-A

2013-10-01

Data on HTLV-I are scarce in several Southwest Indian Ocean islands except for La Réunion and The Seychelles. The two cases of HTLV-I have been confirmed by Western-Blot in La Réunion, among blood donors. In Seychelles (87 400 inhabitants in 2012), where blood donors and some other cases are screened, HTLV-I was confirmed with a line immune assay in 43 persons and at least 10-20 patients are known to have tropical spastic paraparesia or adult T-cell lymphoma associated with HTLV-I. In the south-west Indian Ocean, a possibly important other issue may be co-infection of HTLV-1 with the Strongyloides stercoralis roundworm, which is endemic in all countries of the region and which can sometimes lead to severe symptomatic infestation.

Mountain and Cold Weather Warfighting: Critical Capability for the 21st Century

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-05-22

guidance, and sage advice. His extensive and detailed understanding of mountain warfare, the former Soviet Union and Afghanistan, and his knowledge ...not brooding about the grimness of nature, they are apt to exult in their mastery of it…Most adults are excellent cross-country skiers . Even the...training apparatus had not prepared them for such conditions. The Finns moved well cross-country in the snow and cold. They were proficient skiers

Building the Information Society in Candidate Countries? A Prospective Analysis on Potential Trajectories To Realise the Lisbon Goals. IPTS Experts Workshop Report, February 23-25, 2003, Sevilla.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bogdanowicz, Marc; Burgelman, Jean-Claude; Centeno, Clara; Gourova, Elisavetta; Carat, Gerard

Potential policies and strategies for building the information society (IS) in countries that are candidates for admission to the European Union were explored at a workshop attended by 39 experts from the European Commission (EC), the EC's Institute for Prospective and Technological Studies, and outside the EC. The workshop focused on the specific…

Demographic Trends in the European Union: Political and Strategic Implications

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-06-01

male attitudes if they do not. What is happening in Italy, Spain and Japan is the war of women against male chauvinism . Women are winning. If the...light of the unfunded pension liabilities in most European countries. Small cohorts of draft-age males will mean that European countries, including...banning head scarves for public school teachers .52 Moreover, In the Netherlands, long a haven for tolerance, 26,000 mostly Muslim asylum seekers are

Comparing pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement policies in Croatia to the European Union Member States

PubMed Central

Vogler, Sabine; Habl, Claudia; Bogut, Martina; Vončina, Luka

2011-01-01

Aim To perform a comparative analysis of the pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement systems in Croatia and the 27 European Union (EU) Member States. Methods Knowledge about the pharmaceutical systems in Croatia and the 27 EU Member States was acquired by literature review and primary research with stakeholders. Results Pharmaceutical prices are controlled at all levels in Croatia, which is also the case in 21 EU Member States. Like many EU countries, Croatia also applies external price referencing, ie, compares prices with other countries. While the wholesale remuneration by a statutorily regulated linear mark-up is applied in Croatia and in several EU countries, the pharmacy compensation for dispensing reimbursable medicines in the form of a flat rate service fee in Croatia is rare among EU countries, which usually apply a linear or regressive pharmacy mark-up scheme. Like in most EU countries, the Croatian Social Insurance reimburses specific medicines at 100%, whereas patients are charged co-payments for other reimbursable medicines. Criteria for reimbursement include the medicine’s importance from the public health perspective, its therapeutic value, and relative effectiveness. In Croatia and in many EU Member States, reimbursement is based on a reference price system. Conclusion The Croatian pharmaceutical system is similar to those in the EU Member States. Key policies, like external price referencing and reference price systems, which have increasingly been introduced in EU countries are also applied in Croatia and serve the same purpose: to ensure access to medicines while containing public pharmaceutical expenditure. PMID:21495202

Public Health Aspects of the Family Medicine Concepts in South Eastern Europe

PubMed Central

Masic, Izet; Hadziahmetovic, Miran; Donev, Doncho; Pollhozani, Azis; Ramadani, Naser; Skopljak, Amira; Pasagic, Almir; Roshi, Enver; Zunic, Lejla; Zildzic, Muharem

2014-01-01

Introduction: Family medicine as a part of the primary health care is devoted to provide continuous and comprehensive health care to the individuals and families regardless of age, gender, types of diseases and affected system or part of the body. Special emphasis in such holistic approach is given to the prevention of diseases and health promotion. Family Medicine is the first step/link between doctors and patients within patients care as well as regular inspections/examinations and follow-up of the health status of healthy people. Most countries aspire to join the European Union and therefore adopting new regulations that are applied in the European Union. Aim: The aim of this study is to present the role and importance of family medicine, or where family medicine is today in 21 Century from the beginning of development in these countries. The study is designed as a descriptive epidemiological study with data from 10 countries of the former Communist bloc, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, just about half of them are members of the EU. We examined the following variables: socio-organizational indicators, health and educational indicators and health indicators. The data used refer to 2002 and as a source of data are used official data from reference WebPages of family medicine doctors associations, WONCA website (EURACT, EQuiP, EGPRN), WebPages of Bureau of Statistics of the countries where the research was conducted as well as the Ministries of Health. Results: Results indicates that the failures and shortcomings of health care organizations in Southeast Europe. Lack of money hinders the implementation of health care reform in all mentioned countries, the most of them that is more oriented to Bismarck financing system. Problems in the political, legal and economic levels are obstacles for efficient a problem reconstructing health care system toward family medicine and primary prevention interventions. The population is not enough educated for complicated enforcement for and prevention of diseases that have a heavy burden on the budget. Health insurance and payment of health services is often a problem, because the patients must be treated regardless of their insurance coverage and financial situation. The decrease in production and economic growth, as well as low gross national income in the countries with economic crisis, lead to the inability of treatment for a large number of the population. Such situation a system leads to additional debts and loans to healthcare system. Measures implemented for provision of acute curative care largely did not lead to improvements in the health status of the population. Educational and preventive measures, as well as higher standards for quality and accessibility of health care services for entire population in each country, especially those struggling are bound to joining the European Union and their implementation must start. The most A large number of medical institutions are is inefficient in health education and health promotion and must work to educate patients and families and increase the quality of preventive health services. Modernization of health care delivery and joining the European Union by increasing overall economic stability of countries is one of the primary goals of all countries in Southeast Europe. PMID:25395894

Pandemic risk prevention in European countries: role of the ECDC in preparing for pandemics. Development and experience with a national self-assessment procedure, 2005-2008.

PubMed

Nicoll, A

2010-12-01

To be effective risk prevention work takes place well before pandemics through the three Ps: Planning, Preparedness and Practise. Between 2005 and 2008 the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) worked with the European Commission (EC) and the WHO Regional Office for Europe (WHO-Euro) to assist European countries in preparing themselves for a future influenza pandemic. All eligible countries in the European Union and European Economic Area participated with energy and commitment. Indicators of preparedness were developed based on WHO planning guidance and these were set within a simple assessment which included a formal country visit. The procedure evolved considerably with field experience. As the complexity of pandemic preparedness was appreciated it changed from being a classical short external assessment to longer national self-assessments with demonstrable impact, especially when self-assessments were published. There were essential supporting activities undertaken including a series of pan-European pandemic preparedness workshops organised by EC, WHO-Euro, ECDC and countries holding the European Union Presidency. The self-assessments highlighted additional work and documentation that was needed by national authorities from the ECDC. This work was undertaken and the document produced. The benefits of the self-assessments were seen in the 2009 pandemic in that EU/EEA countries performed better than some others. A number of the guidance documents were updated to fit the specific features of the pandemic. However the pandemic revealed many weaknesses and brought new challenges for European countries, notably over communication and vaccines, the need to prepare for a variety of scenarios and to factor severity estimates into preparedness, to improve surveillance for severe disease and to deliver seroepidemiology. Any revised self-assessment procedure will need to respond to these challenges.

Ranking of Palliative Care Development in the Countries of the European Union.

PubMed

Woitha, Kathrin; Garralda, Eduardo; Martin-Moreno, Jose María; Clark, David; Centeno, Carlos

2016-09-01

There is growing interest in monitoring palliative care (PC) development internationally. One aspect of this is the ranking of such development for comparative purposes. To generate a ranking classification and to compare scores for PC development in the countries of the European Union, 2007 and 2013. PC "development" in this study is understood as a combination of the existence of relevant services in a country ("resources") plus the capacity to develop further resources in the future ("vitality"). "Resources" comprise indicators of three types of PC services per population (inpatient palliative care units and inpatient hospices, hospital support teams, and home care teams). "Vitality" of PC is estimated by numerical scores for the existence of a national association, a directory of services, physician accreditation, attendances at a key European conference and volume of publications on PC development. The leading country (by raw score) is then considered as the reference point against which all other countries are measured. Different weightings are applied to resources (75%) and vitality (25%). From this, an overall ranking is constructed. The U.K. achieved the highest level of development (86% of the maximum possible score), followed by Belgium and overall The Netherlands (81%), and Sweden (80%). In the resources domain, Luxembourg, the U.K., and Belgium were leading. The top countries in vitality were Germany and the U.K. In comparison to 2007, The Netherlands, Malta, and Portugal showed the biggest improvements, whereas the positions of Spain, France, and Greece deteriorated. The ranking method permitted a comparison of palliative care development between countries and shows changes over time. Recommendations for improving the ranking include improvements to the methodology and greater explanation of the levels and changes it reveals. Copyright © 2016 Universidad Navarra. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

What about the mothers? An analysis of maternal mortality and morbidity in perinatal health surveillance systems in Europe.

PubMed

Bouvier-Colle, M-H; Mohangoo, A D; Gissler, M; Novak-Antolic, Z; Vutuc, C; Szamotulska, K; Zeitlin, J

2012-06-01

To assess capacity to develop routine monitoring of maternal health in the European Union using indicators of maternal mortality and severe morbidity. Analysis of aggregate data from routine statistical systems compiled by the EURO-PERISTAT project and comparison with data from national enquiries. Twenty-five countries in the European Union and Norway. Women giving birth in participating countries in 2003 and 2004. Application of a common collection of data by selecting specific International Classification of Disease codes from the 'Pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium' chapter. External validity was assessed by reviewing the results of national confidential enquiries and linkage studies. Maternal mortality ratio, with distribution of specific obstetric causes, and severe acute maternal morbidity, which included: eclampsia, surgery and blood transfusion for obstetric haemorrhage, and intensive-care unit admission. In 22 countries that provided data, the maternal mortality ratio was 6.3 per 100,000 live births overall and ranged from 0 to 29.6. Under-ascertainment was evident from comparisons with studies that use enhanced identification of deaths. Furthermore, routine cause of death registration systems in countries with specific systems for audit reported higher maternal mortality ratio than those in countries without audits. For severe acute maternal morbidity, 16 countries provided data about at least one category of morbidity, and only three provided data for all categories. Reported values ranged widely (from 0.2 to 1.6 women with eclampsia per 1000 women giving birth and from 0.2 to 1.0 hysterectomies per 1000 women). Currently available data on maternal mortality and morbidity are insufficient for monitoring trends over time in Europe and for comparison between countries. Confidential enquiries into maternal deaths are recommended. © 2012 The Authors BJOG An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology © 2012 RCOG.

What about the mothers? An analysis of maternal mortality and morbidity in perinatal health surveillance systems in Europe

PubMed Central

Bouvier-Colle, M-H; Mohangoo, AD; Gissler, M; Novak-Antolic, Z; Vutuc, C; Szamotulska, K; Zeitlin, J

2012-01-01

Objective To assess capacity to develop routine monitoring of maternal health in the European Union using indicators of maternal mortality and severe morbidity. Design Analysis of aggregate data from routine statistical systems compiled by the EURO-PERISTAT project and comparison with data from national enquiries. Setting Twenty-five countries in the European Union and Norway. Population Women giving birth in participating countries in 2003 and 2004. Methods Application of a common collection of data by selecting specific International Classification of Disease codes from the ‘Pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium’ chapter. External validity was assessed by reviewing the results of national confidential enquiries and linkage studies. Main outcome measures Maternal mortality ratio, with distribution of specific obstetric causes, and severe acute maternal morbidity, which included: eclampsia, surgery and blood transfusion for obstetric haemorrhage, and intensive-care unit admission. Results In 22 countries that provided data, the maternal mortality ratio was 6.3 per 100 000 live births overall and ranged from 0 to 29.6. Under-ascertainment was evident from comparisons with studies that use enhanced identification of deaths. Furthermore, routine cause of death registration systems in countries with specific systems for audit reported higher maternal mortality ratio than those in countries without audits. For severe acute maternal morbidity, 16 countries provided data about at least one category of morbidity, and only three provided data for all categories. Reported values ranged widely (from 0.2 to 1.6 women with eclampsia per 1000 women giving birth and from 0.2 to 1.0 hysterectomies per 1000 women). Conclusions Currently available data on maternal mortality and morbidity are insufficient for monitoring trends over time in Europe and for comparison between countries. Confidential enquiries into maternal deaths are recommended. PMID:22571748

The Silent Battle.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-04-01

exhibition opened. Lenin stated that freedom of speech and press would be possible only after capitalism was defeated, a classless society was developed, and...countries because property owners (capitalists) controlled the newspapers. but, he said freedom of speech did exist in the Soviet Union because the

75 FR 75662 - Sunshine Act Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-06

..., union representatives and industry groups' to discuss regulation of offshore drilling operations in the... from leading safety experts involved in offshore drilling activities from countries including the... be holding an all day symposium entitled ``International Models of Offshore Oil Rig Regulation'' on...

Since Chernobyl: A World of Difference.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clamp, Alice

1991-01-01

This article chronicles the international collaboration behind the technological review and the subsequent upgrading of operational safety procedures at Soviet-designed nuclear power plants within the Soviet Union and various Eastern European countries in the aftermath of the tragedy at Chernobyl. (JJK)

Mutagenic and toxicological results from Ukrainian surface waters

EPA Science Inventory

Ukraine is a country of 46 million people with increasingly modern industrial cities as well as productive, fertile agricultural areas. Historically, Ukraine served as a center for agriculture and industry during much of the Soviet Union dominance. Legacy compounds (DDT, PCBs, ...

UIAGM Ropehandling Techniques.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cloutier, K. Ross

The Union Internationale des Associations des Guides de Montagne's (UIAGM) rope handling techniques are intended to form the standard for guiding ropework worldwide. These techniques have become the legal standard for instructional institutions and commercial guiding organizations in UIAGM member countries: Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Great…

Persistent Differences in Mortality Patterns across Industrialized Countries

PubMed Central

d'Albis, Hippolyte; Esso, Loesse Jacques; Pifarré i Arolas, Héctor

2014-01-01

The epidemiological transition has provided the theoretical background for the expectation of convergence in mortality patterns. We formally test and reject the convergence hypothesis for a sample of industrialized countries in the period from 1960 to 2008. After a period of convergence in the decade of 1960 there followed a sustained process of divergence with a pronounced increase at the end of the 1980's, explained by trends within former Socialist countries (Eastern countries). While Eastern countries experienced abrupt divergence after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, differences within Western countries remained broadly constant for the whole period. Western countries transitioned from a strong correlation between life expectancy and variance in 1960 to no association between both moments in 2008 while Eastern countries experienced the opposite evolution. Taken together, our results suggest that convergence can be better understood when accounting for shared structural similarities amongst groups of countries rather than through global convergence. PMID:25181447

The effect of protected areas on forest disturbance in the Carpathian Mountains 1985-2010.

PubMed

Butsic, Van; Munteanu, Catalina; Griffiths, Patrick; Knorn, Jan; Radeloff, Volker C; Lieskovský, Juraj; Mueller, Daniel; Kuemmerle, Tobias

2017-06-01

Protected areas are a cornerstone for forest protection, but they are not always effective during times of socioeconomic and institutional crises. The Carpathian Mountains in Eastern Europe are an ecologically outstanding region, with widespread seminatural and old-growth forest. Since 1990, Carpathian countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Ukraine) have experienced economic hardship and institutional changes, including the breakdown of socialism, European Union accession, and a rapid expansion of protected areas. The question is how protected-area effectiveness has varied during these times across the Carpathians given these changes. We analyzed a satellite-based data set of forest disturbance (i.e., forest loss due to harvesting or natural disturbances) from 1985 to 2010 and used matching statistics and a fixed-effects estimator to quantify the effect of protection on forest disturbance. Protected areas in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and the Ukraine had significantly less deforestation inside protected areas than outside in some periods; the likelihood of disturbance was reduced by 1-5%. The effectiveness of protection increased over time in these countries, whereas the opposite was true in Romania. Older protected areas were most effective in Romania and Hungary, but newer protected areas were more effective in Czech Republic, and Poland. Strict protection (International Union for Conservation of Nature [IUCN] protection category Ia-II) was not more effective than landscape-level protection (IUCN III-VI). We suggest that the strength of institutions, the differences in forest privatization, forest management, prior distribution of protected areas, and when countries joined the European Union may provide explanations for the strikingly heterogeneous effectiveness patterns among countries. Our results highlight how different the effects of protected areas can be at broad scales, indicating that the effectiveness of protected areas is transitory over time and space and suggesting that generalizations about the effectiveness of protected areas can be misleading. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

Herbs and dietary supplements in the European Union: a review of the regulations with special focus on Germany and Poland.

PubMed

Konik, Ewa A; Jungling, Roman C; Bauer, Brent A

2011-03-01

In the European Union, the manufacturing of and the trade in herbs and dietary supplements are regulated by pharmaceutical and food laws. While dietary supplements are subject to food laws, provisions dealing with herbs are primarily to be found in pharmaceutical regulations. Having a basic understanding of the complexities of this regulatory environment can help clinicians and their patients understand the unique challenges and opportunities presented by EU herbs and supplements and may help inform regulatory practices in other countries struggling to ensure quality and safety of such products.

IEA Wind Task 26. Wind Technology, Cost, and Performance Trends in Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Norway, the European Union, and the United States: 2007–2012

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vitina, Aisma; Lüers, Silke; Wallasch, Anna-Kathrin

The International Energy Agency Implementing Agreement for cooperation in Research, Development, and Deployment of Wind Energy Systems (IEA Wind) Task 26—The Cost of Wind Energy represents an international collaboration dedicated to exploring past, present and future cost of wind energy. This report provides an overview of recent trends in wind plant technology, cost, and performance in those countries that are currently represented by participating organizations in IEA Wind Task 26: Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Norway, and the United States as well as the European Union.

Trends in high-speed camera development in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics /USSR/ and People's Republic of China /PRC/

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hyzer, W. G.

1981-10-01

Significant advances in high-speed camera technology are being made in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and People's Republic of China (PRC), which were revealed to the author during recent visits to both of these countries. Past and present developments in high-speed cameras are described in this paper based on personal observations by the author and on private communications with other technical observers. Detailed specifications on individual instruments are presented in those specific cases where such information has been revealed and could be verified.

Radiation Oncology in the Developing Economies of Central and Eastern Europe.

PubMed

Esiashvili, Natia

2017-04-01

Eastern Europe is represented by 22 countries of significant variability in population density and degree of economic development. They have been affected by past geopolitical isolation due to their association with the "Soviet Block." Currently, all Eastern European countries except Slovenia are low- or middle-income level and 10 of them are part of European Union. Health care systems in Central and Eastern Europe have been influenced by the legacy of centralized soviet-era governance; however, most countries, particularly in European Union zone, have gone through health care reforms directed toward modernizing infrastructure and staffing. The level of health financing available through health insurance has increased in the region, although still lags behind the Western European levels. After adjusting for differing population age structures, overall incidence rates in both sexes are lower in Eastern and Central Europe compared with the Northern and Western European countries; however, mortality remains higher. There is an ongoing shortage of oncology services in Eastern Europe, including radiotherapy equipment and personnel. Eastern European radiotherapy field is highly diverse with large differences among countries regarding staffing structure, training, accreditation, and defined roles and responsibilities. The rapid diffusion of technological innovations has been identified as one of the most important factors driving the escalating health care expenses, and the need for better cost-effective solutions applicable to the local health care systems and levels of economic development. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kostka, Joel E.

Summary of Results to Date: Our current research represents a joint effort between Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Florida State University (FSU), and the University of Tennessee. ORNL will serve as the lead institution with Dr. A.V. Palumbo responsible for project coordination, integration, and deliverables. This project was initiated in November, 2004, in the Integrative Studies Element of the NABIR program. The overall goal of our project is to provide an improved understanding of the relationships between microbial community structure, geochemistry, and metal reduction rates.

Russia After Putin

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-05-01

was operating in the dark surrounded by “yes men.” Granted it would take time, but the handwriting was on the wall; the days of the Power Vertical...ideas across the entire expanse of the FSU. . . . Needless to say , the war on the Internet and independent media outlets presently underway in Russia...Russia’s Far East Remains ‘More Dead than Alive’ Experts Say ,” Window on Eurasia, December 2, 2012. He notes that “within a radius of 1,000 kilometers

Influence of dental resin material composition on cross-polarization-optical coherence tomography imaging

PubMed Central

Lammeier, Carmen; Li, YuPing; Lunos, Scott; Fok, Alex; Rudney, Joel

2012-01-01

Abstract. The purpose of this study was to investigate cross-polarization-optical coherence tomography (CP-OCT) signal attenuation through different resin material compositions. Four distinct composite systems were used: Filtek supreme ultra (FSU) (3M ESPE), IPS empress direct (EMD) (Ivoclar Vivadent), estelite sigma quick (SQK) (Tokuyama Dental), and Z100 (3M ESPE). Cross-sectional images of different composite-demineralized phantoms (n=108) were collected using a 1310-nm intraoral cross-polarization swept source OCT (CP-OCT) imaging system. %T quantified the CP-OCT signal attenuation. Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometer chemical analysis was utilized to determine how different matrix/filler compositions affected attenuation of the near infrared (NIR) signal. CP-OCT imaging of dental resin composites showed enormous variation in signal attenuation. For each of our composite systems, there was not a consistent attenuation difference in the NIR signal for A to D shades. The four composites had similar measured backscattering values but attenuated the overall signal to different degrees. When comparing the A2 shades between the four different composite systems, the order of highest to lowest of %T was EMD>Z100, FSU>SQK (ANOVA, Tukey, p<0.0001). As a result, we demonstrate the importance of understanding how the constituents of composite materials affect CP-OCT signal attenuation. PMID:23224001

High Penetration Solar PV Deployment Sunshine State Solar Grid Initiative (SUNGRIN)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Meeker, Rick; Steurer, Mischa; Faruque, MD Omar

The report provides results from the Sunshine State Solar Grid Initiative (SUNGRIN) high penetration solar PV deployment project led by Florida State University’s (FSU) Center for Advanced Power Systems (CAPS). FSU CAPS and industry and university partners have completed a five-year effort aimed at enabling effective integration of high penetration levels of grid-connected solar PV generation. SUNGRIN has made significant contributions in the development of simulation-assisted techniques, tools, insight and understanding associated with solar PV effects on electric power system (EPS) operation and the evaluation of mitigation options for maintaining reliable operation. An important element of the project was themore » partnership and participation of six major Florida utilities and the Florida Reliability Coordinating Council (FRCC). Utilities provided details and data associated with actual distribution circuits having high-penetration PV to use as case studies. The project also conducted foundational work supporting future investigations of effects at the transmission / bulk power system level. In the final phase of the project, four open-use models with built-in case studies were developed and released, along with synthetic solar PV data sets, and tools and techniques for model reduction and in-depth parametric studies of solar PV impact on distribution circuits. Along with models and data, at least 70 supporting MATLAB functions have been developed and made available, with complete documentation.« less

Influence of dental resin material composition on cross-polarization-optical coherence tomography imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lammeier, Carmen; Li, YuPing; Lunos, Scott; Fok, Alex; Rudney, Joel; Jones, Robert S.

2012-10-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate cross-polarization-optical coherence tomography (CP-OCT) signal attenuation through different resin material compositions. Four distinct composite systems were used: Filtek supreme ultra (FSU) (3M ESPE), IPS empress direct (EMD) (Ivoclar Vivadent), estelite sigma quick (SQK) (Tokuyama Dental), and Z100 (3M ESPE). Cross-sectional images of different composite-demineralized phantoms (n=108) were collected using a 1310-nm intraoral cross-polarization swept source OCT (CP-OCT) imaging system. %T quantified the CP-OCT signal attenuation. Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometer chemical analysis was utilized to determine how different matrix/filler compositions affected attenuation of the near infrared (NIR) signal. CP-OCT imaging of dental resin composites showed enormous variation in signal attenuation. For each of our composite systems, there was not a consistent attenuation difference in the NIR signal for A to D shades. The four composites had similar measured backscattering values but attenuated the overall signal to different degrees. When comparing the A2 shades between the four different composite systems, the order of highest to lowest of %T was EMD>Z100, FSU>SQK (ANOVA, Tukey, p<0.0001). As a result, we demonstrate the importance of understanding how the constituents of composite materials affect CP-OCT signal attenuation.

The contribution of health to the economy in the European Union.

PubMed

Suhrcke, Marc; McKee, Martin; Stuckler, David; Sauto Arce, Regina; Tsolova, Svetla; Mortensen, Jørgen

2006-11-01

Despite increasing recognition of the link between health and economic development in low-income countries, the relationship has to date received scant attention in rich countries. We argue that this lack of attention is not justifiable. While the economic argument for investing in health in rich countries may differ in detail from that in low-income countries, there is considerable and convincing evidence that significant economic benefits can be achieved by improving health not only in poor, but also in rich countries. Better health increases labour supply and productivity and historically, health has been a major contributor to economic growth. In spite of remaining evidence gaps economic policy-makers also in developed countries should consider investing in health as one (of few) ways by which to achieve their economic objectives.

Assessing the Risk of African Swine Fever Introduction into the European Union by Wild Boar.

PubMed

De la Torre, A; Bosch, J; Iglesias, I; Muñoz, M J; Mur, L; Martínez-López, B; Martínez, M; Sánchez-Vizcaíno, J M

2015-06-01

The presence of African swine fever (ASF) in the Caucasus region and Russian Federation has increased concerns that wild boars may introduce the ASF virus into the European Union (EU). This study describes a semi-quantitative approach for evaluating the risk of ASF introduction into the EU by wild boar movements based on the following risk estimators: the susceptible population of (1) wild boars and (2) domestic pigs in the country of origin; the outbreak density in (3) wild boars and (4) domestic pigs in the countries of origin, the (5) suitable habitat for wild boars along the EU border; and the distance between the EU border and the nearest ASF outbreak in (6) wild boars or (7) domestic pigs. Sensitivity analysis was performed to identify the most influential risk estimators. The highest risk was found to be concentrated in Finland, Romania, Latvia and Poland, and wild boar habitat and outbreak density were the two most important risk estimators. Animal health authorities in at-risk countries should be aware of these risk estimators and should communicate closely with wild boar hunters and pig farmers to rapidly detect and control ASF. © 2013 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Publication ethics in biomedical journals from countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

PubMed

Broga, Mindaugas; Mijaljica, Goran; Waligora, Marcin; Keis, Aime; Marusic, Ana

2014-03-01

Publication ethics is an important aspect of both the research and publication enterprises. It is particularly important in the field of biomedical science because published data may directly affect human health. In this article, we examine publication ethics policies in biomedical journals published in Central and Eastern Europe. We were interested in possible differences between East European countries that are members of the European Union (Eastern EU) and South-East European countries (South-East Europe) that are not members of the European Union. The most common ethical issues addressed by all journals in the region were redundant publication, peer review process, and copyright or licensing details. Image manipulation, editors' conflicts of interest and registration of clinical trials were the least common ethical policies. Three aspects were significantly more common in journals published outside the EU: statements on the endorsement of international editorial standards, contributorship policy, and image manipulation. On the other hand, copyright or licensing information were more prevalent in journals published in the Eastern EU. The existence of significant differences among biomedical journals' ethical policies calls for further research and active measures to harmonize policies across journals.

Identifying components for programmatic latent tuberculosis infection control in the European Union

PubMed Central

Sandgren, Andreas; Vonk Noordegraaf-Schouten, Jannigje M; Oordt-Speets, Anouk M; van Kessel, Gerarda B; de Vlas, Sake J; van der Werf, Marieke J

2016-01-01

Individuals with latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) are the reservoir of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a population and as long as this reservoir exists, elimination of tuberculosis (TB) will not be feasible. In 2013, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) started an assessment of benefits and risks of introducing programmatic LTBI control, with the aim of providing guidance on how to incorporate LTBI control into national TB strategies in European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) Member States and candidate countries. In a first step, experts from the Member States, candidate countries, and international and national organisations were consulted on the components of programmatic LTBI control that should be considered and evaluated in literature reviews, mathematical models and cost-effectiveness studies. This was done through a questionnaire and two interactive discussion rounds. The main components identified were identification and targeting of risk groups, determinants of LTBI and progression to active TB, optimal diagnostic tests for LTBI, effective preventive treatment regimens, and to explore the potential for combining LTBI control with other health programmes. Political commitment, a solid healthcare infrastructure, and favourable economic situation in specific countries were identified as essential to facilitate the implementation of programmatic LTBI control. PMID:27589214

Impact of innovations in national public health markets in Europe.

PubMed

McCarthy, Mark; Alexanderson, Kristina; Voss, Margaretha; Conceição, Claudia; Grimaud, Olivier; Narkauskaité, Laura; Katreniakova, Zuzana; Saliba, Amanda; Sammut, Marvic

2013-11-01

Social innovations can contribute to health and wellbeing. PHIRE (Public Health Innovation and Research in Europe) investigated the impacts at national level of innovation projects funded by the European Union Public Health Programme. Through the European Public Health Association, experts assessed the uptake of the eight public health projects, for 30 European countries. Their reports were assembled by country and, thereafter, national public health associations reviewed the reports. Following stakeholder workshops, or internal and external consultations, 11 national reports were produced which included discussion on the impacts of the public health innovations in national product markets. In 11 countries, there were reports on the eight innovations for 45 (51%) of the possible public health markets. The innovations contributed positively to policy, practice and research, across different levels and in different ways, in 35 (39%) market, while competing innovation activities were recorded in 10 (11%) markets. The workshops also discussed contributing factors and limitations in dissemination and timing for policy cycles. The impacts of European Union social innovations in public health markets can be identified through national discussions. Further attention should be given to understanding drivers and incentives for successful public health innovations.

Socio-economic factors and suicide rates in European Union countries.

PubMed

Ferretti, Fabio; Coluccia, Anna

2009-04-01

Are socio-economic factors valid determinants of suicide? The modern sociological theory of suicide is based on Durkheim's studies. In addition to these fundamental social determinants, modern theorists have put more attention on economic factors. The purpose of the research is to determine the relationship between suicide rates and socio-economic factors, such as demography, economic development, education, healthcare systems, living conditions and labour market. All data were collected from a Eurostat publication and they concern 25 European Union countries. In order to test this relationship, a discriminant analysis was performed using an ordinal dependent variable and a set of independent variables concerning socio-economic factors. A dataset of 37 independent variables was used. We estimated a model with five variables: annual growth rates for industry, people working in S&T (% of total employment), at-risk-of-poverty rate, all accidents (standardized rates), and healthcare expenditures (% of GDP). Highly significant values of Wilk's Lambda assess a good discriminating power of the model. The accuracy too is very high: all cases are correctly classified by the model. Countries with high suicide rate levels are marked by high levels of at-risk-of-poverty rates, high annual growth rates for industry and low healthcare expenditures.

Bibliographic Databases Outside of the United States.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGinn, Thomas P.; And Others

1988-01-01

Eight articles describe the development, content, and structure of databases outside of the United States. Features discussed include library involvement, authority control, shared cataloging services, union catalogs, thesauri, abstracts, and distribution methods. Countries and areas represented are Latin America, Australia, the United Kingdom,…

Environmental Impact Assessment in the Visegrad Group countries

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gałaś, Slávka, E-mail: sgalas@geol.agh.edu.pl; Gałaś, Andrzej, E-mail: pollux@geol.agh.edu.pl; Zeleňáková, Martina, E-mail: martina.zelenakova@tuke.sk

Highlights: • Comparison and evaluation of EIA systems in the V4 countries are presented. • Strengths and weaknesses of EIA systems based on a questionnaire survey are stated. • The function and efficiency of the EIA application in the V4 countries are analysed. • Irregularities and shortcomings of EIA systems in the V4 should be eliminated. The Environmental Impact Assessment Directive (EIA Directive) has created a reference framework for the implementation of the system of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) into the legal systems of the Member States of the European Union, including the countries belonging to the Visegrad Group (V4):more » Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The Directive was the basis for the introduction of compulsory stages of the EIA process in the V4. The stages were then adapted to national requirements, including thresholds of the qualifying criteria of projects at the screening and scoping stages. The EIA system in the analysed countries has been growing, changing and being modified together with the political and economic changes of the last 30 years. Although all Visegrad Group countries are members of the EU and should harmonize the provisions of the EIA Directive and its amendments, there still exist singularities in each country's national EIA legislation, in terms of complementarities among the V4 countries, access to information resources, protection of natural resources, mitigation of socio-environmental impacts, or transboundary impact assessment. The article compares and evaluates the EIA systems in the four countries, specifies similarities and differences in the implementation of administrative proceedings and points out opportunities to strengthen the system. It presents selected results of a study conducted in 2013 within the framework of the international project “Assessment of the quality of the environment in the V4 Countries” (AQE V4). This paper indicates examples of good practice in the EIA systems and the obtained results are compared regarding the amendments to the current European Union EIA Directive.« less

Breast cancer in European Union: an update of screening programmes as of March 2014 (review).

PubMed

Altobelli, E; Lattanzi, A

2014-11-01

Breast cancer, a major cause of female morbidity and mortality, is a global health problem; 2008 data show an incidence of ~450,000 new cases and 140,000 deaths (mean incidence rate 70.7 and mortality rate 16.7, world age-standardized rate per 100,000 women) in European Union Member States. Incidence rates in Western Europe are among the highest in the world. We review the situation of BC screening programmes in European Union. Up to date information on active BC screening programmes was obtained by reviewing the literature and searching national health ministries and cancer service websites. Although BC screening programmes are in place in nearly all European Union countries there are still considerable differences in target population coverage and age and in the techniques deployed. Screening is a mainstay of early BC detection whose main weakness is the rate of participation of the target population. National policies and healthcare planning should aim at maximizing participation in controlled organized screening programmes by identifying and lowering any barriers to adhesion, also with a view to reducing healthcare costs.

European Union research in support of environment and health: Building scientific evidence base for policy.

PubMed

Karjalainen, Tuomo; Hoeveler, Arnd; Draghia-Akli, Ruxandra

2017-06-01

Opinion polls show that the European Union citizens are increasingly concerned about the impact of environmental factors on their health. In order to respond and provide solid scientific evidence for the numerous policies related to the protection of human health and the environment managed at the Union level, the European Union made a substantial investment in research and innovation in the past two decades through its Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development, including the current programme, Horizon 2020, which started in 2014. This policy review paper analysed the portfolio of forty collaborative projects relevant to environment and health, which received a total amount of around 228 million euros from the EU. It gives details on their contents and general scientific trends observed, the profiles of the participating countries and institutions, and the potential policy implications of the results obtained. The increasing knowledge base is needed to make informed policy decisions in Europe and beyond, and should be useful to many stakeholders including the scientific community and regulatory authorities. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Associations Between Availability and Coverage of HIV-Prevention Measures and Subsequent Incidence of Diagnosed HIV Infection Among Injection Drug Users

PubMed Central

Likatavičius, Giedrius; Klempová, Danica; Hedrich, Dagmar; Nardone, Anthony; Griffiths, Paul

2009-01-01

HIV-prevention measures specific to injection drug users (IDUs), such as opioid substitution treatment and needle-and-syringe programs, are not provided in many countries where injection drug use is endemic. We describe the incidence of diagnosed HIV infection in IDUs and the availability and coverage of opioid substitution and needle-and-syringe programs in the European Union and 5 middle- and high-income countries. Countries with greater provision of both prevention measures in 2000 to 2004 had lower incidence of diagnosed HIV infection in 2005 and 2006. PMID:19372511

Science Education in Global Perspective: Lessons from Five Countries. Selected Papers Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (Washington, D.C., January 3-8, 1982). AAAS Selected Symposium 100.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klein, Margrete Siebert, Ed.; Rutherford, F. James, Ed.

Designed to provide an international cross-section of data on science and mathematics education, this document describes the educational systems of countries that developed innovative approaches to science education. The science-centered systems of Japan, People's Republic of China, East Germany, West Germany, and the Soviet Union are featured in…

Supplement to the Study on the Structures of the Education and Initial Training Systems in the European Union. The Situation in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Commission of the European Communities, Brussels (Belgium). Directorate-General for Education, Training, and Youth.

This document consists of six reports that each provide essential basic information on the organization of the education system of one of the following countries as of 1995-1996: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. Each report includes information on some or all of the following aspects of the given country's initial…

Quel effet de l’euro sur le commerce europeen des produits forestiers? Académie d’Agriculture de France, Notes Académiques

Treesearch

Joseph Buongiorno

2015-01-01

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of the monetary union on the trade of forest products between euro-using countries. A differential gravity model of bilateral trade flows was developed and estimated with data for the bilateral trade between 12 euro countries from 1988 to 2013, for commodity groups HS44 (wood and articles of wood), HS47 (pulp of...

An estimate of syphilis incidence in Eastern Europe

PubMed Central

Herbert, Liam J.; Middleton, Stephen I.

2012-01-01

Aim Eastern Europe experienced epidemic levels of syphilis after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Presently data are less comprehensive outside the European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA). This review aims to identify published papers with suitable data to estimate a regional burden of disease for syphilis in the 19 member countries of Eastern Europe. Methods A systematic literature review was conducted to identify published data relating to syphilis incidence in Eastern Europe through Web of Knowledge, PubMed and Google Scholar databases in addition to the latest surveillance report from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control. A total of 381 papers fitted our search criteria; 30 papers were subjected to full text analysis. Results Seven papers were included in this study and provided useable data for 13 out of 19 member countries. There was a high level of heterogeneity observed in the incidence rates from the member countries. Gross, population weighted and geographically subdivided incidence rate estimates were carried out but the comprehensiveness of some of the included data is doubtful. Conclusions Despite the limits of the data, the incidence of syphilis in Eastern Europe is still substantially larger than that observed in the EU15 countries. This indicates that efforts to control syphilis in Eastern Europe can be enhanced; however, such goals would require significant investment in infrastructure, technology and surveillance mechanisms. PMID:23198131

European Union investment and countries' involvement in mental health research between 2007 and 2013.

PubMed

Hazo, J-B; Gervaix, J; Gandré, C; Brunn, M; Leboyer, M; Chevreul, K

2016-08-01

This study aimed to estimate the commitment to mental health research by the European Union (EU) through the 7th framework (FP7) and the competitiveness and innovation (CIP) programmes during the 2007-2013 period. Research projects dedicated or partially related to mental health were identified using keywords in the CORDIS database that inventories all FP7 and CIP research projects. We then contacted projects' principal investigators to access the budget breakdown by country and performed an imputation of the distribution of funding between countries based on projects' and participants' characteristics where information was missing. Among the 25 783 research projects funded by the FP7 and the CIP, 215 (0.8%) were specifically dedicated to mental health and 170 (0.7%) were partially related to mental health. They received €607.1 million representing 1.4% of FP7 total funding. Within the FP7-Health subprogramme, the projects represented 5.2% of funding. Important variations appeared across EU countries both for raw funding, which varied between €0 and €77M, and for funding per 100 inhabitants, which varied between €0 and €293. EU funding of mental health research does not match the burden incurred by mental disorders and must be increased in the next framework programme. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Principles and Framework for eHealth Strategy Development

PubMed Central

Mars, Maurice

2013-01-01

Significant investment in eHealth solutions is being made in nearly every country of the world. How do we know that these investments and the foregone opportunity costs are the correct ones? Absent, poor, or vague eHealth strategy is a significant barrier to effective investment in, and implementation of, sustainable eHealth solutions and establishment of an eHealth favorable policy environment. Strategy is the driving force, the first essential ingredient, that can place countries in charge of their own eHealth destiny and inform them of the policy necessary to achieve it. In the last 2 years, there has been renewed interest in eHealth strategy from the World Health Organization (WHO), International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the African Union, and the Commonwealth; yet overall, the literature lacks clear guidance to inform countries why and how to develop their own complementary but locally specific eHealth strategy. To address this gap, this paper further develops an eHealth Strategy Development Framework, basing it upon a conceptual framework and relevant theories of strategy and complex system analysis available from the literature. We present here the rationale, theories, and final eHealth strategy development framework by which a systematic and methodical approach can be applied by institutions, subnational regions, and countries to create holistic, needs- and evidence-based, and defensible eHealth strategy and to ensure wise investment in eHealth. PMID:23900066

Principles and framework for eHealth strategy development.

PubMed

Scott, Richard E; Mars, Maurice

2013-07-30

Significant investment in eHealth solutions is being made in nearly every country of the world. How do we know that these investments and the foregone opportunity costs are the correct ones? Absent, poor, or vague eHealth strategy is a significant barrier to effective investment in, and implementation of, sustainable eHealth solutions and establishment of an eHealth favorable policy environment. Strategy is the driving force, the first essential ingredient, that can place countries in charge of their own eHealth destiny and inform them of the policy necessary to achieve it. In the last 2 years, there has been renewed interest in eHealth strategy from the World Health Organization (WHO), International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the African Union, and the Commonwealth; yet overall, the literature lacks clear guidance to inform countries why and how to develop their own complementary but locally specific eHealth strategy. To address this gap, this paper further develops an eHealth Strategy Development Framework, basing it upon a conceptual framework and relevant theories of strategy and complex system analysis available from the literature. We present here the rationale, theories, and final eHealth strategy development framework by which a systematic and methodical approach can be applied by institutions, subnational regions, and countries to create holistic, needs- and evidence-based, and defensible eHealth strategy and to ensure wise investment in eHealth.

Influences on food choice perceived to be important by nationally-representative samples of adults in the European Union.

PubMed

Lennernäs, M; Fjellström, C; Becker, W; Giachetti, I; Schmitt, A; Remaut de Winter, A; Kearney, M

1997-06-01

The purpose of this baseline survey was to obtain comparable data on perceived influences on food choice from EU member countries as the starting point for EU healthy eating promotion campaigns and programmes. A cross-sectional study in which quota-controlled, nationally-representative samples of approximately 1000 adults from each country completed a face-to-face interview-assisted questionnaire. The survey was conducted between October 1995 and February 1996 in the 15 member states of the European Union. 14331 subjects (aged 15 y upwards) completed the questionnaire. Data were weighted by population size for each country and by sex, age and regional distribution within each member state. The five most important factors influencing consumers food choice were 'quality or freshness' (74%), 'price' (43%), 'taste' (38%), 'trying to eat healthy' (32%) and 'family preferences' (29%). Subjects in different categories (age, sex, education and employment status) selected different factors as having major influence on their food choice. Demographic factors seemed to have greater effects on perceived influences than culture (country): 'quality/freshness', 'price', 'trying to eat healthy', 'family preferences' seemed to be most important in women, 'taste' and 'habit' in males. Females and older and more educated subjects were more likely than other subjects to select 'trying to eat healthy' as having a major influence. 'Price' seemed most important in unemployed and retired subjects.

Effectiveness of text versus pictorial health warning labels and predictors of support for plain packaging of tobacco products within the European Union.

PubMed

Agaku, Israel T; Filippidis, Filippos T; Vardavas, Constantine I

2015-01-01

Tobacco product warning labels are a key health communication medium with plain packaging noted as the next step in the evolution of tobacco packaging. We assessed the self-reported impact of text versus pictorial health warnings and the determinants of support for plain packaging of tobacco products in the European Union (EU). The Special Eurobarometer 385 survey was analyzed for 26,566 adults from 27 EU countries in 2012. The self-reported impact of warning labels (text or pictorial) and determinants of EU-wide support for plain packaging were assessed using multivariate logistic regression. Current smokers in countries where cigarette pictorial warnings were implemented had higher odds of reporting that health warning labels had any effect on their smoking behavior (making a quit attempt or reducing number of cigarettes smoked per day) compared to respondents in countries with text-only warning labels (adjusted odds ratio, aOR = 1.31; 95% confidence interval, 95% CI: 1.10-1.56). Population support for plain packaging of tobacco packs was higher in countries where cigarette pictorial warnings already existed (aOR = 1.17; 95% CI: 1.07-1.28). These findings indicate that the implementation of pictorial warnings at an EU level may have a positive behavioral impact among smokers and pave the way for population support for plain packaging in the EU.

Impact of laws restricting the sale of tobacco to minors on adolescent smoking and perceived obtainability of cigarettes: an intervention-control pre-post study of 19 European Union countries.

PubMed

Kuipers, Mirte A G; Brandhof, Stephanie D; Monshouwer, Karin; Stronks, Karien; Kunst, Anton E

2017-02-01

To estimate the impact of introducing sales restriction laws in Europe by measuring changes in adolescent smoking prevalence and perceived obtainability of cigarettes over time in countries that have recently introduced sales restriction laws (intervention countries). These countries were compared with countries where such laws were already in force (control countries). The secondary aim was to test whether these trends differed between adolescents of higher and lower socio-economic position (SEP). Repeated cross-sectional data were used in a quasi-experimental pre-post design. Intervention countries raised tobacco sales restrictions to 18 years in 2007, 2008 or 2009. Control countries have had sales restrictions of 18 years since at least 2004. Nineteen European Union (EU) countries in 2007 and 2011. Data of 97 245 15- and 16-year-old adolescents from the 2007 and 2011 European Survey Project on Alcohol and other Drugs (ESPAD) surveys. Dependent variables were smoking status (weekly smoking versus non-smoking or less than weekly smoking) and perceived obtainability of tobacco (easy versus difficult). Key independent variables were time (2007 or 2011), intervention exposure (intervention or control country) and their interaction (time × intervention). Covariates included sex, SEP, the tobacco control scale (TCS), gross domestic product (GDP) and adult smoking prevalence. We did not find a difference in the change in smoking prevalence between intervention and control countries [odds ratio (OR) = 1.00, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.93-1.07]. However, sales restrictions were associated with a significantly greater decrease in perceived ease of cigarette obtainability in intervention countries (OR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.70-0.80). No significant differential effects between high and low SEP adolescents were found (OR = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.81-1.25). Laws prohibiting the sales of tobacco to minors in Europe do not appear to be associated with a reduction in adolescent smoking rates, but lower the perceived obtainability of cigarettes irrespective of their socio-economic position. © 2016 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Assessing Arsenic Bioavailability In Soil When In Vitro Gastrointestinal Methods Are The Only Option

EPA Science Inventory

Human health risk assessment science continues to mature with bioavailability-based risk assessment frameworks being developed and/or considered for implementation in the U.S., Canada, the European Union, Australia and other countries. Incidental ingestion is an important exposu...

Governance Challenges of Technological Systems Convergence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitman, Jim

2006-01-01

The convergence of several technological systems (especially nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, and robotics) has now been adopted as a strategic goal by several countries, most notably the United States and those of the European Union. The anticipated benefits and related fears of competitive disadvantage have brought together…

Magnitutde and Characterization of Toxicity in Sediments from Several Ukrainian Estuaries

EPA Science Inventory

During the Soviet era, Ukraine was one of the most important industrial and agricultural regions of the Soviet Union. A consequence of this industrial and agricultural activity was the contamination of several areas of the country, including the estuaries, with pollutants includ...

USSR Report, Energy, No. 163.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-10-24

Gas Transport System Examined (R. Verdiyan; VYSHKA, 26 Jul 83).. 40 National Pipeline Transport System Examined (L. Korenev ; SOVETSKAYA...SOVETSKAYA LATVIYA in Russian 9 Aug 83 p 2 /Article by L. Korenev : "The Country’s Pipeline TransportV /Text/ The Soviet Union produces more steel pipes

Geography Education Research in Serbia: A Teacher's Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rajovic, Goran; Bulatovic, Jelisavka

2017-01-01

In all European Union countries have harmonized attitudes on the need and improving the quality geographic of education and his innovating. Modernization of geographic education is unthinkable without quality professional and personal development of teacher's geography. Renewal, modernization and supplement professional knowledge and skills…

Collective Bargaining and the Principal.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Susan Moore

Collective bargaining contracts with teachers unions have reduced principals' autonomy but have still left them opportunities for effective administration of their schools. Interviews with 289 educators in six diverse school districts across the country show that contracts have limited principals' powers both from above, by centralizing labor…

Computer Based Learning in Europe: A Bibliography.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rushby, N. J.

This bibliography lists 172 references to papers on computer assisted learning (CAL) in European countries including the Soviet Union, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Yugoslavia, Austria, and Italy. The references which deal with such topics as teacher training, simulation, rural education, model construction, program evaluation, computer managed…

New opportunities for field research on the pathogenesis and treatment of Lassa fever.

PubMed

Khan, Sheik Humarr; Goba, Augustine; Chu, May; Roth, Cathy; Healing, Tim; Marx, Arthur; Fair, Joseph; Guttieri, Mary C; Ferro, Philip; Imes, Tiffany; Monagin, Corina; Garry, Robert F; Bausch, Daniel G

2008-04-01

Unlike many viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs), Lassa fever (LF) is not a rare disease that emerges only as sporadic cases or in outbreak form. Although surveillance is inadequate to determine the true incidence, up to 300,000 infections and 5000 deaths from LF are estimated to occur yearly. The highest incidence is in the "Mano River Union (MRU) countries" of Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea. Although civil unrest in this region over the past two decades has impeded capacity building and research, new-found peace in recent years presents new opportunities. In 2004, the Mano River Union Lassa Fever Network (MRU LFN) was established to assist MRU countries in the development of national and regional surveillance, diagnosis, treatment, control, and prevention of LF. Here, we review the present literature on treatment and pathogenesis of LF and outline priorities for future research in the field made possible by the improved research capacity of the MRU LFN.

Methods Applied to Uranium and Thorium Ore Prospecting. a. In the Desert Countries. b. In the Equatorial Forest Regions of the Union Francaise; LA PROSPECTION DES MINERAIS D'URANIUM ET DE THORIUM DANS LES PAYS DESERTIQUES ET DANS LES REGIONS DE FORET EQUATORIALE DE L'UNION FRANCAISE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lecoq, J.J.; Bigotte, G.; Hinault, J.

1959-10-31

Since 1946 the Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique has supported explorations for uranium and thorium deposits in the French territorial possessions of French territorial possessions of French Africa, Madagascar, and French Guiana. A lange part of this territory is desert, equatorial forest, or savannah regions. The particular difficulties of prospecting for radioactive minerals in these territories include the geographic character of the region, the climate, and the lack of access and skilled labor. The different methods of prospecting in the desert and equatorial forests include photogeology, aerial and ground prospecting, geochemical and geophysical techniques, and the training of local labor formore » prospecting. These techniques are described, and the results obtained are discussed. Three examples of prospecting in countries with extreme climates are given. (J.S.R.)« less

Representation and redistribution in federations.

PubMed

Dragu, Tiberiu; Rodden, Jonathan

2011-05-24

Many of the world's most populous democracies are political unions composed of states or provinces that are unequally represented in the national legislature. Scattered empirical studies, most of them focusing on the United States, have discovered that overrepresented states appear to receive larger shares of the national budget. Although this relationship is typically attributed to bargaining advantages associated with greater legislative representation, an important threat to empirical identification stems from the fact that the representation scheme was chosen by the provinces. Thus, it is possible that representation and fiscal transfers are both determined by other characteristics of the provinces in a specific country. To obtain an improved estimate of the relationship between representation and redistribution, we collect and analyze provincial-level data from nine federations over several decades, taking advantage of the historical process through which federations formed and expanded. Controlling for a variety of country- and province-level factors and using a variety of estimation techniques, we show that overrepresented provinces in political unions around the world are rather dramatically favored in the distribution of resources.

Community incidence of pathogen-specific gastroenteritis: reconstructing the surveillance pyramid for seven pathogens in seven European Union member states.

PubMed

Haagsma, J A; Geenen, P L; Ethelberg, S; Fetsch, A; Hansdotter, F; Jansen, A; Korsgaard, H; O'Brien, S J; Scavia, G; Spitznagel, H; Stefanoff, P; Tam, C C; Havelaar, A H

2013-08-01

By building reconstruction models for a case of gastroenteritis in the general population moving through different steps of the surveillance pyramid we estimated that millions of illnesses occur annually in the European population, leading to thousands of hospitalizations. We used data on the healthcare system in seven European Union member states in relation to pathogen characteristics that influence healthcare seeking. Data on healthcare usage were obtained by harmonized cross-sectional surveys. The degree of under-diagnosis and underreporting varied by pathogen and country. Overall, underreporting and under-diagnosis were estimated to be lowest for Germany and Sweden, followed by Denmark, The Netherlands, UK, Italy and Poland. Across all countries, the incidence rate was highest for Campylobacter spp. and Salmonella spp. Incidence estimates resulting from the pyramid reconstruction approach are adjusted for biases due to different surveillance systems and are therefore a better basis for international comparisons than reported data.

[Innovating in public health: monitoring of social determinants of health and reduction of health inequities: a priority for Spanish presidency of the European union in 2010].

PubMed

Calvete Oliva, Antonio; Campos Esteban, Pilar; Catalán Matamoros, Daniel; Fernández de la Hoz, Karoline; Herrador Ortiz, Zaida; Merino Merino, Begoña; Ramírez Fernández, Rosa; Santaolaya Cesteros, María; Hernández Aguado, Ildefonso

2010-01-01

Tackling health inequalities to achieve health equity is currently one of the main challenges for developed and developing countries. Aware of this reality, and knowing how relevant for economic and social growth the inequalities in health are, the Spanish Ministry of Health and Social Policy has established "Innovation in Public Health: monitoring social determinants of health and reduction of health inequalities" as one of the priorities for the Spanish presidency of the European Union in the first semester of 2010. Furthermore, a national strategy to tackle health inequalities is being developed in the current political term. By choosing this priority, the Spanish Ministry of Health an Social Policy aims to contribute to move forward a coherent and effective agenda at both European and national level, in a new world stage more aware of the social and economic expenditure of inequity in health and its repercussions on countries welfare and development.

The implementation of the Strategy Europe 2020 objectives in European Union countries: the concept analysis and statistical evaluation.

PubMed

Stec, Małgorzata; Grzebyk, Mariola

2018-01-01

The European Union (EU), striving to create economic dominance on the global market, has prepared a comprehensive development programme, which initially was the Lisbon Strategy and then the Strategy Europe 2020. The attainment of the strategic goals included in the prospective development programmes shall transform the EU into the most competitive economy in the world based on knowledge. This paper presents a statistical evaluation of progress being made by EU member states in meeting Europe 2020. For the basis of the assessment, the authors proposed a general synthetic measure in dynamic terms, which allows to objectively compare EU member states by 10 major statistical indicators. The results indicate that most of EU countries show average progress in realisation of Europe's development programme which may suggest that the goals may not be achieved in the prescribed time. It is particularly important to monitor the implementation of Europe 2020 to arrive at the right decisions which will guarantee the accomplishment of the EU's development strategy.

Nicaraguan migration and the prevalence of adolescent childbearing in Costa Rica.

PubMed

Sintonen, Heidi; Bonilla-Carrión, Roger Enrique; Ashorn, Per

2013-02-01

This study describes the dynamics of adolescent childbearing of Nicaraguan-born and Costa Rican-born adolescents in Costa Rica and examines the association between socio-demographic factors and adolescent childbearing in the country. We studied Nicaraguan-born and Costa Rican adolescents using the data of the 2000 Census. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the association between country of origin and adolescent childbearing, while controlling for socio-demographic factors (age, education, union, urbanization and poverty). 26% of Nicaraguan-born migrants and 9.5% of Costa Ricans had given birth during adolescence. The migrants' increased odds of pregnancy decreased from 3.34 (CI 3.21, 3.48) to 1.88 (CI 1.79, 1.97) when controlling for socio-demographic factors. Age, low educational attainment, urban residence, poverty and union were all significant predictors of adolescent pregnancy. Nicaraguan-born status is associated with adolescent childbearing in Costa Rica. Further research is needed to understand what factors, other than socio-demographic indicators, contribute to the differing prevalence of adolescent childbearing in Costa Rica.

Theoretical Studies on Microwave Plasma Electronics and Microhollow Cathode Discharges

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-01-01

in China. Particularly, the FSU have developed a large spectrum of marketable sources for these applications. Custom made high power devices in the...K^ <v M \\r’ - — A ( /& ; /A-1: JL -T ’ i \\r*^-% ^^ ?L t^.-^ kfc - ■ *£« $L>*£X 4<- ct.„r;j^wl 15. Shenggang Liu, "Higher...for doctors c. Bachelor d. Associate. 6. Teaching, a. Credit System, it is really a mixed one. Semester (two per year) and credit system. b

Epidemiology of Time-Loss Injuries in Senior and under-18 Portuguese Male Rugby Players

PubMed Central

Cruz-Ferreira, Antonio Miguel; Cruz-Ferreira, Eduardo Miguel; Ribeiro, Pedro Barbosa; Santiago, Luiz Miguel; Taborda-Barata, Luis

2018-01-01

Abstract Rugby union has one of the highest injury incidence rates in team sports, however, most of the available data focus on the epidemiology of injuries in countries where rugby is popular. We aimed to report the incidence rate and relevant epidemiological aspects of injuries occurred in a group of Portuguese male rugby players. A prospective cohort study was conducted with a group of 45 senior and 32 under-18 male players (total of 77 players). Outcome measures included injury incidence, position, type, location and severity of injuries. The match injury incidence for all players was 55.84 per 1000 player match-hours (66.66 for seniors, 42.85 for under-18), while mean time-loss for injury was 20.79 days. No statistical differences were found between groups. Lower limb injuries accounted for 60.5% of all injuries, while joint/ligament injuries were the most prevalent type. Contact events were responsible for 65.1% of injuries. Despite the limitations, the obtained data are consistent with the literature. Time-loss injuries seem highly prevalent in rugby union and the incidence rates found in this Portuguese-based study were lower than the reported for international and senior men’s professional rugby union, but higher than those occurring in community rugby in tier-1 countries. The authors believe these data reinforce the need to develop and implement effective injury surveillance and prevention programs. PMID:29922379

Migrants' access to healthcare services within the European Union: a content analysis of policy documents in Ireland, Portugal and Spain.

PubMed

Ledoux, Céline; Pilot, Eva; Diaz, Esperanza; Krafft, Thomas

2018-06-15

The current migration flow into Europe is leading to a growing ethnically diverse population in many European countries. Now more than ever, those populations have different healthcare needs, languages, traditions, and previous level of care. This higher level of diversity is likely to increase health inequalities that might challenge healthcare systems if not addressed. In this context, this study aims at reviewing the policy framework for migrants' access to healthcare in Spain, Portugal and Ireland, countries with a long history of immigration, to identify lessons to be learned for policies on migrants' health. A content analysis of official policy documents was undertaken and the conceptual framework developed by Mladowsky was adapted to classify the actions indicated in the policies. The content analysis revealed that the policy aim for all three analysed countries is the improvement of the health status of the immigrant population based on equity and equality principles. The main strategies are the adaptation of services through actions targeting patients and providers, such as the implementation of cultural mediators and trainings for health professionals. The three countries propose a great range of policies aiming at improving access to healthcare services for immigrants that can inspire other European countries currently welcoming refugees. Developing inclusive policies, however does not necessarily mean they will be implemented or felt on the ground. Inclusive policies are indeed under threat due to the economic and social crises and due to the respective nationalistic attitudes towards integration. The European Union is challenged to take a more proactive leadership and ensure that countries effectively implement inclusive actions to improve migrant's access to health services.

European postgraduate training in geriatric medicine: data of a systematic international survey.

PubMed

Singler, Katrin; Holm, Ellen Astrid; Jackson, Thomas; Robertson, Gillian; Müller-Eggenberger, Eva; Roller, Regina Elisabeth

2015-10-01

High-quality education and training standards in geriatric medicine are important to develop the profession of geriatric medicine. The objective of the study was to give a structured update on postgraduate specialty training in geriatric medicine throughout Europe to assess the need for further developments in postgraduate education. The study was performed as a cross-sectional structured quantitative online survey with qualitative comments. The survey content covered organization, content and educational aspects of specialty training in geriatric medicine in European countries. After piloting, the questionnaire was sent to experts in geriatric medicine with a special interest in postgraduate training who are members of one of the following organizations; European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS), European Academy for the Medicine of Aging (EAMA), and European Union Geriatric Medicine Society (EUGMS). Respondents to the survey represented 31 European countries. Geriatric medicine is recognized as an independent postgraduate specialty in 61.3 % (19/31) and as a subspecialty in 29.0 % (9/31) of the countries. In 5 of the 31 countries geriatric medicine is not recognized at all. Nearly all countries offering postgraduate training in geriatric medicine have written, competence-based curricula covering different learning domains. 20/31 countries (64.5 %) have some kind of specialist assessment. The survey tries to give an actual condensed picture of postgraduate specialty training in geriatric medicine across Europe. Results show a consistent improvement in the recognition of geriatric medicine as independent specialty over the last decade. Continuous development of specialty training in geriatric medicine is required to medical address the public health needs of an aging population. Competence-based educational models including adequate forms of assessment should be targeted throughout Europe. To emphasize the importance of postgraduate geriatric training, it should be a mission to harmonize training standards across Europe.

Diversity of Pediatric Workforce and Education in 2012 in Europe: A Need for Unifying Concepts or Accepting Enjoyable Differences?

PubMed

Ehrich, Jochen H H; Tenore, Alfred; del Torso, Stefano; Pettoello-Mantovani, Massimo; Lenton, Simon; Grossman, Zachi

2015-08-01

To evaluate differences in child health care service delivery in Europe based on comparisons across health care systems active in European nations. A survey involved experts in child health care of 40 national pediatric societies belonging both to European Union and non-European Union member countries. The study investigated which type of health care provider cared for children in 3 different age groups and the pediatric training and education of this workforce. In 24 of 36 countries 70%-100% of children (0-5 years) were cared for by primary care pediatricians. In 12 of 36 of countries, general practitioners (GPs) provided health care to more than 60% of young children. The median percentage of children receiving primary health care by pediatricians was 80% in age group 0-5 years, 50% in age group 6-11, and 25% in children >11 years of age. Postgraduate training in pediatrics ranged from 2 to 6 years. A special primary pediatric care track during general training was offered in 52% of the countries. One-quarter (9/40) of the countries reported a steady state of the numbers of pediatricians, and in one-quarter (11/40) the number of pediatricians was increasing; one-half (20/40) of the countries reported a decreasing number of pediatricians, mostly in those where public health was changing from pediatric to GP systems for primary care. An assessment on the variations in workforce and pediatric training systems is needed in all European nations, using the best possible evidence to determine the ideal skill mix between pediatricians and GPs. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

HIV research productivity and structural factors associated with HIV research output in European Union countries: a bibliometric analysis.

PubMed

Uusküla, A; Toompere, K; Laisaar, K T; Rosenthal, M; Pürjer, M L; Knellwolf, A; Läärä, E; Des Jarlais, D C

2015-02-03

To assess HIV/AIDS research productivity in the 27 countries of the European Union (EU), and the structural level factors associated with levels of HIV/AIDS research productivity. A bibliometric analysis was conducted with systematic search methods used to locate HIV/AIDS research publications (period of 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2011; search databases: MEDLINE (Ovid, PubMed), EMBASE, ISI-Thomson Web of Science; no language restrictions). The publication rate (number of HIV/AIDS research publications per million population in 10 years) and the rate of articles published in HIV/AIDS journals and selected journals with moderate to very high (IF ≥3) 5-year impact factors were used as markers for HIV research productivity. A negative binomial regression model was fitted to assess the impact of structural level factors (sociodemographic, health, HIV prevalence and research/development indicators) associated with the variation in HIV research productivity. The total numbers of HIV/AIDS research publications in 2002-2011 by country ranged from 7 to 9128 (median 319). The median publication rate (per million population in 10 years) was 45 (range 5-150) for all publications. Across all countries, 16% of the HIV/AIDS research was published in HIV/AIDS journals and 7% in selected journals with IF ≥3. Indicators describing economic (gross domestic product), demographic (size of the population) and epidemiological (HIV prevalence) conditions as well as overall scientific activity (total research output) in a country were positively associated with HIV research productivity. HIV research productivity varies noticeably across EU countries, and this variation is associated with recognisable structural factors. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Migration from new-accession countries and duration expectancy in the EU-15: 2002–2008

PubMed Central

DeWaard, Jack; Ha, Jasmine Trang; Raymer, James; Wiśniowski, Arkadiusz

2016-01-01

European Union (EU) enlargements in 2004 and 2007 were accompanied by increased migration from new-accession to established-member (EU-15) countries. The impacts of these flows depend, in part, on the amount of time that persons from the former countries live in the latter over the life course. In this paper, we develop period estimates of duration expectancy in EU-15 countries among persons from new-accession countries. Using a newly developed set of harmonised Bayesian estimates of migration flows each year from 2002 to 2008 from the Integrated Modelling of European Migration (IMEM) Project, we exploit period age patterns of country-to-country migration and mortality to summarize the average number of years that persons from new-accession countries could be expected to live in EU-15 countries over the life course. In general, the results show that the amount of time that persons from new-accession countries could be expected to live in the EU-15 nearly doubled after 2004. PMID:28286353

Scandinavian research in anaesthesiology 1981-2000: visibility and impact in EU and world context.

PubMed

Skram, U; Larsen, B; Ingwersen, P; Viby-Mogensen, J

2004-09-01

We wished to assess the development in number and impact of publications in anaesthesiology and intensive care medicine from 1981 to 2000 in the four Scandinavian countries: Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark. For comparison, we also analyzed data from the UK and the Netherlands. Publication and citation data from 1981 to 2000 were gathered from National Science Indicators (2001), covering 33 journals indexed in Current Contents. Data were analyzed in running 5-year periods. The following informetric indicators were used: absolute number of publications; absolute number of citations; absolute citation impact (average number of citations per publication per 5-year period); citation impact relative to the European Union and the world; and the percentage of cited papers from each country. The annual number of publications from Denmark was stable over the 20-year period. Sweden increased its production by 35%, while the remaining four countries showed increases from 100% to 146%. Thus, Sweden and Denmark lost visibility within the European Union (EU) and in world context. The EU and world citation shares of Finland and Norway increased slightly, whereas those of Sweden, Denmark, the UK, and the Netherlands all declined significantly. The absolute citation impact (ACI) increased for all the four Scandinavian countries. The ACI of the Netherlands did not change and was surpassed by all the Scandinavian countries by 1994-98, while the UK finished below the other five countries. (1) The annual number of publications from Sweden, Norway, Finland, the UK, and the Netherlands increased after the late eighties, whereas the net publication output from Denmark was stagnant over the 20-year period investigated; (2) the international publication and citation visibility of Finland and Norway increased slightly, as opposed to the significant decrease seen by the other four countries; (3) judging from the increase in absolute and relative citation impact and in the percentage of cited papers, the recognition of publications from the four Scandinavian countries increased over the past 20 years.

The trajectories of EAEC countries development: Numerical analysis of competitive strategies in investments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shelomentsev, A. G.; Medvedev, M. A.; Isaichik, K. F.; Dyomina, M. I.; Berg, I. A.; Kit, M.

2017-12-01

This paper discusses comparative analysis of trajectories in the development of participating countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEC) in a two-dimensional phase space. The coordinates in the space is represented by the value of a dynamic variable that is a key indicator of the country's development, and the rate of its relative growth. This allows for construction of a ternary classification diagram describing competitive behavior strategies of countries in question. The comparative analysis was run for two primary factors: the size of investment in the main capital and R&D spendings. The authors carried out analysis and identification of competitive strategies for the behavior of the EAEC countries, as well as he proposed conclusions and recommendations on improving the policy of economic development.

Threats to international science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kisslinger, Carl

The role of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) as effective agents for promoting world science is seriously threatened. It is ironic that the threat comes from Norway and Denmark, two countries that have demonstrated a deep commitment to individual freedom and human rights. Motivated by a sincere desire to express their strongest disapproval of the “apartheid” policies of the government of the Republic of South Africa, these countries have passed laws that have the effect of rejecting the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) principles of nondiscrimination and free circulation of scientists.

Teenage pregnancies in the European Union in the context of legislation and youth sexual and reproductive health services.

PubMed

Part, Kai; Moreau, Caroline; Donati, Serena; Gissler, Mika; Fronteira, Inês; Karro, Helle

2013-12-01

To study cross-country and regional variations and trends in reported teenage pregnancies in the context of legislation and youth sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services in Europe. Data were collected on teenage live births and induced abortions, abortion legislation and youth SRH services. Population-based statistics from the European Union (EU) member states. Fifteen- to nineteen-year-old female teenagers. Detailed statistical information for each member state about teenage live births, induced abortions, abortion legislation and youth SRH services were compiled relying on national and international data sources. The annual reported pregnancies per 1000 women aged 15-19 years. Teenage pregnancy rates have declined since 2001, although progress has been uneven across regions and countries. Eastern Europe has a higher average teenage pregnancy rate (41.7/1000) than Northern (30.7/1000), Western (18.2/1000) and Southern Europe (17.6/1000). While data on teenage live births are available across Europe, data on teenage abortions are unavailable or incomplete in more than one-third of EU countries. Reported teenage pregnancy rates are generally lower for countries where parental consent for abortion is not required, youth SRH services are available in all areas and contraceptives are subsidized for all minors, compared with countries where these conditions are not met. The collection of standardized teenage pregnancy statistics is critically needed in the EU. The remarkable variability in teenage pregnancy rates across the EU is likely to be explained, among other factors, by varying access to abortion and youth SRH services. © 2013 Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Classification of the European Union member states according to the relative level of sustainable development.

PubMed

Anna, Bluszcz

Nowadays methods of measurement and assessment of the level of sustained development at the international, national and regional level are a current research problem, which requires multi-dimensional analysis. The relative assessment of the sustainability level of the European Union member states and the comparative analysis of the position of Poland relative to other countries was the aim of the conducted studies in the article. EU member states were treated as objects in the multi-dimensional space. Dimensions of space were specified by ten diagnostic variables describing the sustainability level of UE countries in three dimensions, i.e., social, economic and environmental. Because the compiled statistical data were expressed in different units of measure, taxonomic methods were used for building an aggregated measure to assess the level of sustainable development of EU member states, which through normalisation of variables enabled the comparative analysis between countries. Methodology of studies consisted of eight stages, which included, among others: defining data matrices, calculating the variability coefficient for all variables, which variability coefficient was under 10 %, division of variables into stimulants and destimulants, selection of the method of variable normalisation, developing matrices of normalised data, selection of the formula and calculating the aggregated indicator of the relative level of sustainable development of the EU countries, calculating partial development indicators for three studies dimensions: social, economic and environmental and the classification of the EU countries according to the relative level of sustainable development. Statistical date were collected based on the Polish Central Statistical Office publication.

Appropriateness of no-fault compensation for research-related injuries from an African perspective: an appeal for action by African countries.

PubMed

Kamalo, Patrick Dongosolo; Manda-Taylor, Lucinda; Rennie, Stuart

2016-08-01

Compensation for research-related injuries (RRIs) remains a challenge in the current environment of global collaborative biomedical research as exemplified by the continued reluctance of the US government, a major player in international biomedical research, to enact regulation for mandatory compensation for RRIs. This stance is in stark contrast to the mandatory compensation policies adopted by other democracies like the European Union (EU) countries. These positions taken by the USA and the EU create a nexus of confusion when research is exported to low-income and middle-income countries which have no laws guiding compensation for RRIs. In this paper, we begin by exploring the background to policies concerning RRIs, how they reflect on the traditional dispute resolution mechanisms in African societies, and how this compares with the no-fault compensation model. We then explore the underlying African ethical framework of Ubuntu in the sub-Saharan region, guiding traditional practices of dispute resolution and compensation, and how this framework can help to form the moral justification for no-fault compensation as the preferred compensation model for RRIs for African countries. Finally, we call upon countries in the African Union (AU), to adopt a no-fault policy for compensation of RRIs, and enact it into a regulatory requirement for insurance-based no-fault compensation for biomedical research, which will then be enforced by member states of the AU. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Consanguinity and dysmorphology in Arabs.

PubMed

Al-Gazali, Lihadh; Hamamy, Hanan

2014-01-01

Incidence rates of congenital disorders among the 350 million inhabitants of Arab countries could be influenced via the people's demographic and cultural characteristics. Arabs usually marry at a young age and have large families. They share certain core cultural values and beliefs, with the family accepted as the central structure of society. Consanguineous marriage is favored and respected in most if not all Arab communities, and intrafamilial unions currently account for 20-50% of all marriages. First-cousin unions are especially popular and constitute almost one quarter of all marriages in many Arab countries. Consequently, autosomal recessive (AR) dysmorphic syndromes constitute a considerable proportion of all birth defects among Arabs. Arab geneticists, with their persistent commitment to advancing research, have contributed to the description of a number of rare and new AR syndromes with the identification of novel genes. The collaboration with research teams in high-income countries resulted in a plethora of data on pathogenic variants and their function in causing dysmorphic syndromes. There could still be a considerable number of rare dysmorphic syndromes that prevail among Arabs which are not hitherto described and whose underlying molecular pathologies are not yet defined. Arab countries should thus strive to deploy DNA diagnostics and to build research capability around local priorities. Furthermore, a characterization of the prevailing genetic disorders in each geographic location, together with their mutations, is needed to plan for appropriate screening and testing protocols. An overview of consanguinity in Arab countries and examples of dysmorphology syndromes associated with consanguinity with their available molecular bases will be discussed. © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel

Blueprint for Bologna: University of Prishtina and the European Union

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Epp, Juanita Ross; Epp, Walter

2010-01-01

Countries hoping to demonstrate an adequate educational infrastructure need a national framework that meets Bologna requirements, a national accreditation agency which sets out the approved framework, and national accreditation processes by which individual institutions can be measured against the standards set by the national accreditation…

Forms in Search of Substance: Quality and Evaluation in Romanian Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geven, Koen; Maricut, Adina

2015-01-01

Romania's integration into the European Union is fraught with cultural stereotypes. One dominant narrative is that the country creates "forms without substance": meaningless institutions without adequate personnel or intellectual capital. In this paper, we investigate whether this popular stereotype adequately describes higher education…

A Nuclear Freeze and a Noninterventionary Conventional Policy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forsberg, Randall

1982-01-01

The history of the arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union is related, and the role assigned to conventional and nuclear forces in both countries is explained. A plea is made for a nuclear freeze and for reducing conventional forces as well. (PP)

Unions between Foreign Language and Business: British Patterns.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scott, James Calvert

Traditional British attitudes toward foreigners, which are now being challenged by current economic realities, and the increasing internationalization of British business, which magnifies the need for employees to communicate effectively with people from other countries and cultures, are discussed. A brief overview is provided that covers recent…

A review of Ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernuus) life history in its native versus non-native range

EPA Science Inventory

Invasive Ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernuus) have caused or have the potential to cause negative economic and ecological impacts in North America (particularly the Laurentian Great Lakes), the European Union, Scandinavian countries, and the United Kingdom. To better predict potential f...

Telecommunication and Information Infrastructures in the Botswana and SADC Development Strategy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Afullo, Thomas J. O.

1999-01-01

Examines the role of telecommunications and the information infrastructure in the economic development of Botswana. Highlights include the SADC (Southern African Development Community), the role of the World Bank in telecommunications in developing countries, and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) agenda for global telecommunications…

The Soviet Union: population trends and dilemmas.

PubMed

Feshbach, M

1982-08-01

Focus in this discussion of population trends and dilemmas in the Soviet Union is on demographic problems, data limitations, early population growth, geography and resources, the 15 republics of the Soviet Union and nationalities, agriculture and the economy, population growth over the 1950-1980 period (national trend, regional differences); age and sex composition of the population, fertility trends, nationality differentials in fertility, the reasons for fertility differentials (child care, divorce, abortion and contraception, illegitimacy), labor shortages and military personnel, mortality (mortality trends, life expectancy), reasons for mortality increases, urbanization and emigration, and future population prospects and projections. For mid-1982 the population of the Soviet Union was estimated at 270 million. The country's current rate of natural increase (births minus deaths) is about 0.8% a year, higher than current rates of natural increase in the U.S. (0.7%) and in developed countries as a whole (0.6%). Net immigration plays no part in Soviet population growth, but emigration was noticeable in some years during the 1970s, while remaining insignificant relative to total population size. National population growth has dropped by more than half in the last 2 decades, from 1.8% a year in the 1950s to 0.8% in 1980-1981, due mostly to declining fertility. The national fertility decline masks sharp differences among the 15 republics and even more so among the some 125 nationalities. In 1980, the Russian Republic had an estimated fertility rate of 1.9 births/woman, and the rate was just 2.0 in the other 2 Slavic republics, the Ukraine and Belorussia. In the Central Asian republics the rates ranged up to 5.8. Although the Russians will no doubt continue to be the dominant nationality, low fertility and a relatively higher death rate will reduce their share of the total population by less than half by the end of the century. Soviet leaders have launched a pronatalist policy which they hope will lead to an increase in fertility, at least among the dominant Slavic groups of the multinational country. More than 9 billion rubles (U.S. $12.2 billion) is to be spent over the next 5 years to implement measures aimed at increasing state aid to families with children, to be carried out step by step in different regions of the country. It is this writer's opinion that overall fertility is not likely to increase markedly despite the recent efforts of the central authorities, and the Russian share of the total population will probably continue to drop while that of Central Asian Muslim peoples increases.

USGS international activities in coal resources

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

1999-01-01

During the last 30 years the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been engaged in coal exploration and characterization in more that 30 foreign countries, including India, Pakistan, China, Turkey, several Eastern European countries, Russia, and other former Soviet Union countries. Through this work, the USGS has developed an internationally recognized capability for assessing coal resources and defining their geochemical and physical characteristics. More recently, these data have been incorporated into digital databases and Geographic Information System (GIS) digital map products. The USGS has developed a high level of expertise in assessing the technological, economic, environmental, and human health impacts of coal occurrences and utilization based on comprehensive characterization of representative coal samples.

International certification in developing countries: the role of internal and external institutional pressure.

PubMed

Fikru, Mahelet G

2014-11-01

This paper examines the different internal and external institutional factors that affect the decision of businesses in developing countries to adopt international certification (IC). Past studies focus on pressure from international laws, the role of multinationals, and businesses mimicking practices of their counterparts in developed countries. This paper finds that, in addition to these external factors, internal factors may have a significant role. Even though environmental regulation is weak in developing countries, governments do not ignore industrial pollution and casualties. They respond by increasing bureaucratic regulations for businesses and this can affect the decision to adopt IC. Furthermore, internal pressure may come from workers' unions that push for a safe and healthy working environment. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Study of problem of waste chemical current sources in Russia and in European countries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zilenina, V. G.; Ulanova, O. V.; Dornack, C.

2017-10-01

This article gives a comparative analysis of handling waste chemical current sources in Russia and in the European countries, presents the effective international documents (Directives, acts) and national legislative acts (state standards, building codes, governmental decrees, etc.), demonstrates the mechanisms for disposal and recycling of waste in the European Union countries. Along with the data of the research works, conducted in other countries during many yearsб it presents the experimental data on leaching out heavy metals from chemical current sources by municipal solid waste landfill filtrate, depending on the morphological composition of domestic waste in the city of Irkutsk. An important point described in the article, is assessment and prediction of negative impact produced on the environment.

Microgravity Effecs During Fertilization, Cell Division, Development, and Calcium Metabolism in Sea Urchins

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schatten, Heide

1999-01-01

Calcium loss and muscle atrophy are two of the main metabolic changes experienced by astronauts and crew members during exposure to microgravity in space. For long-term exposure to space it is crucial to understand the underlying mechanisms for altered physiological functions. Fundamental occurrences in cell biology which are likely to depend on gravity include cytoskeletal dynamics, chromatin and centrosome cycling, and ion immobilization. These events can be studied during fertilization and embryogenesis within invertebrate systems. We have chosen the sea urchin system to study the effects of microgravity on cytoskeletal processes and calcium metabolism during fertilization, cell division, development, and embryogenesis. Experiments during an aircraft parabolic flight (KC-135) demonstrated: (1) the viability of sea urchin eggs prior to fertilization, (2) the suitability of our specimen containment system, (3) the feasibility of fertilization in a reduced gravity environment (which was achieved during 25 seconds of reduced gravity under parabolic flight conditions). Two newly developed pieces of spaceflight hardware made further investigations possible on a spaceflight (STS-77); (1) the Aquatic Research Facility (ARF), and (2) the Fertilization Syringe Unit (FSU). The Canadian Space Agency developed ARF to conduct aquatic spaceflight experiments requiring controlled conditions of temperature, humidity, illumination, and fixation at predetermined time points. It contained a control centrifuge which simulated the 1 g environment of earth during spaceflight. The FSU was developed at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) by the Bionetics Corporation specifically to enable the crew to perform sea urchin fertilization operations in space.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Galambos, Paul C.

This is the latest in a series of LDRD's that we have been conducting with Florida State University/Florida A&M University (FSU/FAMU) under the campus executive program. This research builds on the earlier projects; ''Development of Highly Integrated Magnetically and Electrostatically Actuated Micropumps'' (SAND2003-4674) and ''Development of Magnetically and Electrostatically Driven Surface Micromachined Pumps'' (SAND2002-0704P). In this year's LDRD we designed 2nd generation of surface micromachined (SMM) gear and viscous pumps. Two SUMMiT{trademark} modules full of design variations of these pumps were fabricated and one SwIFT{trademark} module is still in fabrication. The SwIFT{trademark} fabrication process results in a transparent pump housingmore » cover that will enable visualization inside the pumps. Since the SwIFT{trademark} pumps have not been tested as they are still in fabrication, this report will focus on the 2nd generation SUMMiT{trademark} designs. Pump testing (pressure vs. flow) was conducted on several of the SUMMiT{trademark} designs resulting in the first pump curve for this class of SMM pumps. A pump curve was generated for the higher torque 2nd generation gear pump designed by Jason Hendrix of FSU. The pump maximum flow rate at zero head was 6.5 nl/s for a 30V, 30 Hz square wave signal. This level of flow rate would be more than adequate for our typical SMM SUMMiT{trademark} or SwIFT{trademark} channels which have typical volumes on the order of 50 pl.« less

Future Education: Learning the Future. Scenarios and Strategies in Europe. CEDEFOP Reference Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Wieringen, Fons; Sellin, Burkart; Schmidt, Ghislaine

Five research institutes covering five European Union (EU) member states and five Central and Eastern European countries participated in a scenario project designed to improve understanding of vocational education and training (VET) systems in their economic-technological, employment-labor, and training-knowledge environments. The participating…

Advances in the identification of adulterated cereals and cereal products

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This book chapter addresses the most common occurrences of adulteration in the cereal grains, the regulations in place by countries (such as the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, India, and the European Union), and the methodologies by which detection and quantification of the contaminant are ma...

Content Reading in Four European Union Countries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brozo, William G.; Flynt, E. Sutton

2009-01-01

Is content literacy exclusively a U.S. phenomenon? In this installment we report on the state of content literacy from four international perspectives. Descriptions of content literacy from Ireland, Sweden, Germany, and Bulgaria offer insights into (a) the value policymakers may be placing on reading practices for content learning, and (b) the…

Literalia: Towards Developing Intercultural Maturity Online

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stickler, Ursula; Emke, Martina

2011-01-01

The European Union funded LITERALIA project connected adult language learners from four countries with the help of an online workspace and supported visits. The project was based on Tandem principles, whereby learners of different languages support one another in learning one another's language and culture, in turn taking on the roles of learners…

World Basic Place Vocabulary Test.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saveland, Robert N.

1979-01-01

Teachers of 13-year-old students are invited to participate in a place-vocabulary project conducted by the International Geographical Union. Students associate names of oceans, countries, and cities with their correct location on a world outline map. Although the test is included, teachers must contact the coordinator to participate. (KC)

Workers Education Programme in India

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chansarkar, M. A.

1970-01-01

The philosophy of Workers Education in India is that strong and enlightened trade unions could be of great value in the rapid industrialization of the country. The Central Board for Workers Education has devised a number of training programs, the most important of which are training of education officers, worker-teachers training, and training…

European Industrial Doctorates: Marie Curie Actions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

European Commission, 2012

2012-01-01

European industrial doctorates are joint doctoral training projects funded by the European Union (EU) and open to all research fields. The project brings together an academic participant (university, research institution, etc.) and a company. They have to be established in two different EU Member States or associated countries. Associated partners…

Building Ukrainian Montessori from the Ground up

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cusack, Ginny

2008-01-01

Ukraine had been under Soviet domination for 75 years. Its institutions, including its educational system, were guided by rules established in Moscow. When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, the country had opportunities to reinvent itself. In this article, the author discusses the Ukrainian Montessori Project, a successful partnership between…

Dental Education in Europe: The Challenges of Variety.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scott, John

2003-01-01

Finds that dental education varies considerably across Europe, with differing traditions of stomatology and odontology. The European Union's Dental Directives are often poorly followed by individual schools, and differences will likely intensify as Eastern/Central European countries join. The DentEd Thematic Network Project, which aims to promote…

Developing a European Practitioner Qualification: The TRAVORS2 Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lester, Stan

2013-01-01

The TRAVORS projects, supported by the European Union's Lifelong Learning Programme, ran between 2008 and 2012. Their object was to develop training programmes for disability employment practitioners across nine countries based on proven approaches both to vocational rehabilitation and to skills training. The second of the two projects aimed to…

After Common Core, States Set Rigorous Standards

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peterson, Paul E.; Barrows, Samuel; Gift, Thomas

2016-01-01

In spite of Tea Party criticism, union skepticism, and anti-testing outcries, the campaign to implement Common Core State Standards (otherwise known as Common Core) has achieved phenomenal success in statehouses across the country. Since 2011, 45 states have raised their standards for student proficiency in reading and math, with the greatest…

The Rise of the Information Society amongst European Academics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salajan, Florin D.

2008-01-01

This study investigates the information society discourse in the European Union in relation to the European Commission's eLearning programmes, based on selected academics' conceptualisation of the term. It reveals a mixed picture of the perceptions that academics have of the information society in their respective countries. The findings indicate…

Science Policy: Former NAS Official Reviews World Science.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malone, Thomas F.

1982-01-01

Issues discussed with Thomas F. Malone (former Foreign Secretary-National Academy of Sciences) include: scientists role in dealing with such global problems as nuclear war and needs in developing countries; scientific relations with China/Soviet Union; scientific enterprise/human rights; science/technology role in foreign policy; and political…