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Sample records for european forsteo observational

  1. Characterization of patients in the European Forsteo Observational Study (EFOS): postmenopausal women entering teriparatide treatment in a community setting

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rajzbaum, Gerald; Jakob, Franz; Karras, Dimitrios

    2007-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: The European Forsteo Observational Study (EFOS) study was primarily designed to assess fracture incidence, degree of pain, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and compliance in women prescribed teriparatide in a community setting. This report describes the design of the study...... deformities and 91.7% were pre-treated with bisphosphonates. HRQoL, evaluated by the health state value (HSV) (median: 0.59, Q1; Q3: 0.08; 0.71) and visual analogue scale (VAS) (median 50.0, Q1; Q3: 35.0; 69.0) status of the European quality of life questionnaire (EQ-5D) was poor. Extreme problems were...

  2. Teriparatide use during an economic crisis: baseline data from the Greek cohort of the Extended Forsteo Observational Study (ExFOS).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aloumanis, Kyriakos; Kapetanos, George; Bartzis, Nikolaos; Drossinos, Vangelis

    2015-06-05

    The Extended Forsteo Observational Study (ExFOS) is a multinational, non-interventional, prospective, observational study that aims to provide real-life data on patients with osteoporosis treated with teriparatide for up to 24 months. It includes the new indications of osteoporosis in men and glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIOP). We describe the Greek subpopulation enrolled in this study and compare it with a similar cohort from the previous European Forsteo Observational Study (EFOS). Baseline data were collected from the Greek cohort of ExFOS. Data included demographic characteristics, medical and osteoporosis history, disease status, prior use of medications, back pain and quality of life. Baseline data for 439 patients, enrolled at 31 sites, indicated the majority of patients were females (92.3%), elderly [mean (standard deviation; SD) age 70.1 (9.8) years] and slightly overweight [mean (SD) body mass index 26.7 (4.3) kg/m(2)], with very low bone mineral density (mean T-score history of fracture was recorded in 53.8% of female patients in ExFOS versus 74.5% in EFOS. Greek patients prescribed teriparatide in ExFOS had severe osteoporosis with a high risk of fractures and back pain. Female patients shared similarities with EFOS counterparts, reflecting a constant prescribing profile for use of teriparatide, although a noticeable difference in fracture history between the two study cohorts may indicate a change towards prescribing in less severely affected patients. The economic crisis in Greece did not appear to affect patient enrolment. Data are interpreted in the context of an observational setting.

  3. European Biodiversity Observation Network – EBONE

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Halada, L.; Jongman, R.H.G.; Gerard, F.; Whittaker, L.; Bunce, R.G.H.; Bauch, B.; Schmeller, D.S.

    2009-01-01

    EBONE (European Biodiversity Observation Network) is a project developing a system of biodiversity observation at regional, national and European levels as a contribution to European reporting on biodiversity. The project focuses on GEO (Group of Earth Observations) task BI 07-01 to unify many of

  4. European Marine Observation and Data Network EMODnet Physics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antonio Novellino

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Recently the European Commission undertook steps towards a European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet in order to standardize method for observing and assessing the grade of the Member States seas and improve access to high quality data. Since 2008-2009, European Commission, represented by the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE, is running several service contracts for creating pilot thematic components of the ur-EMODNET: Biology, Bathymetry, Chemistry, Geology, Habitats, and Physics.The existing EMODnet-Physics portal (www.emodnet-physics.eu is based on a strong collaboration between EuroGOOS member institutes and its regional operational oceanographic systems (ROOSs, and the National Oceanographic Data Centres (NODCs, and it is a marine observation information system. It includes systems for physical data from the whole Europe (wave height andperiod, temperature of the water column, wind speed and direction, salinity of the water column, horizontal velocity of the water column, light attenuation, and sea level provided mainly by fixed stations and ferry-box platforms, discovering related data sets (both near real time and historical data sets, viewing and downloading of the data from about 2100 platforms (www.emodnetphysics.eu/map and thus contributing towards the definition of an operational European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet.

  5. ERA-PLANET THE EUROPEAN NETWORK FOR OBSERVING OUR CHANGING PLANET

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. Pirrone

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available In the last decade a significant number of projects and programmes in different domains of Earth Observation and environmental monitoring have generated a substantial amount of data and knowledge on different aspects related to environmental quality and sustainability. Big data generated by in-situ or satellite platforms are being collected and archived with a plethora of systems and instruments making difficult the sharing of data and transfer of knowledge to stakeholders and policy makers to support key economic and societal sectors. The overarching goal of ERAPLANET is to strengthen the European Research Area in the domain of Earth Observation in coherence with the European participation in the Group on Earth Observation (GEO and Copernicus. The expected impact is to strengthen European leadership within the forthcoming GEO 2015-2025 Work Plan. ERA-PLANET is designed to reinforce the interface with user communities, whose needs the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS intends to address. It will provide more accurate, comprehensive and authoritative information to policy and decision-makers in key societal benefit areas, such as Smart Cities and Resilient Societies; Resource efficiency and Environmental management; Global changes and Environmental treaties; Polar areas and Natural resources. ERA-PLANET will provide advanced decision-support tools and technologies aimed to better monitor our global environment and share the information and knowledge available in the different domains of Earth Observation.

  6. Era-Planet the European Network for Observing Our Changing Planet

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pirrone, N.; Cinnirella, S.; Nativi, S.; Sprovieri, F.; Hedgecock, I. M.

    2016-06-01

    In the last decade a significant number of projects and programmes in different domains of Earth Observation and environmental monitoring have generated a substantial amount of data and knowledge on different aspects related to environmental quality and sustainability. Big data generated by in-situ or satellite platforms are being collected and archived with a plethora of systems and instruments making difficult the sharing of data and transfer of knowledge to stakeholders and policy makers to support key economic and societal sectors. The overarching goal of ERAPLANET is to strengthen the European Research Area in the domain of Earth Observation in coherence with the European participation in the Group on Earth Observation (GEO) and Copernicus. The expected impact is to strengthen European leadership within the forthcoming GEO 2015-2025 Work Plan. ERA-PLANET is designed to reinforce the interface with user communities, whose needs the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) intends to address. It will provide more accurate, comprehensive and authoritative information to policy and decision-makers in key societal benefit areas, such as Smart Cities and Resilient Societies; Resource efficiency and Environmental management; Global changes and Environmental treaties; Polar areas and Natural resources. ERA-PLANET will provide advanced decision-support tools and technologies aimed to better monitor our global environment and share the information and knowledge available in the different domains of Earth Observation.

  7. Gap analysis of the European Earth Observation Networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Closa, Guillem; Serral, Ivette; Maso, Joan

    2016-04-01

    Earth Observations (EO) are fundamental to enhance the scientific understanding of the current status of the Earth. Nowadays, there are a lot of EO services that provide large volume of data, and the number of datasets available for different geosciences areas is increasing by the day. Despite this coverage, a glance of the European EO networks reveals that there are still some issues that are not being met; some gaps in specific themes or some thematic overlaps between different networks. This situation requires a clarification process of the actual status of the EO European networks in order to set priorities and propose future actions that will improve the European EO networks. The aim of this work is to detect the existing gaps and overlapping problems among the European EO networks. The analytical process has been done by studying the availability and the completeness of the Essential Variables (EV) data captured by the European EO networks. The concept of EVs considers that there are a number of parameters that are essential to characterize the state and trends of a system without losing significant information. This work generated a database of the existing gaps in the European EO network based on the initial GAIA-CLIM project data structure. For each theme the missing or incomplete data about each EV was indentified. Then, if incomplete, the gap was described by adding its type (geographical extent, vertical extent, temporal extent, spatial resolution, etc), the cost, the remedy, the feasibility, the impact and the priority, among others. Gaps in EO are identified following the ConnectinGEO methodology structured in 5 threads; identification of observation requirements, incorporation of international research programs material, consultation process within the current EO actors, GEOSS Discovery and Access Broker analysis, and industry-driven challenges implementation. Concretely, the presented work focuses on the second thread, which is based on

  8. Topology of the European Network of Earth Observation Networks and the need for an European Network of Networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masó, Joan; Serral, Ivette; McCallum, Ian; Blonda, Palma; Plag, Hans-Peter

    2016-04-01

    ConnectinGEO (Coordinating an Observation Network of Networks EnCompassing saTellite and IN-situ to fill the Gaps in European Observations" is an H2020 Coordination and Support Action with the primary goal of linking existing Earth Observation networks with science and technology (S&T) communities, the industry sector, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), and Copernicus. The project will end in February 2017. ConnectinGEO will initiate a European Network of Earth Observation Networks (ENEON) that will encompass space-based, airborne and in-situ observations networks. ENEON will be composed of project partners representing thematic observation networks along with the GEOSS Science and Technology Stakeholder Network, GEO Communities of Practices, Copernicus services, Sentinel missions and in-situ support data representatives, representatives of the European space-based, airborne and in-situ observations networks. This communication presents the complex panorama of Earth Observations Networks in Europe. The list of networks is classified by discipline, variables, geospatial scope, etc. We also capture the membership and relations with other networks and umbrella organizations like GEO. The result is a complex interrelation between networks that can not be clearly expressed in a flat list. Technically the networks can be represented as nodes with relations between them as lines connecting the nodes in a graph. We have chosen RDF as a language and an AllegroGraph 3.3 triple store that is visualized in several ways using for example Gruff 5.7. Our final aim is to identify gaps in the EO Networks and justify the need for a more structured coordination between them.

  9. The contribution of the Volcano Observations Work Package to the implementation of the European Plate Observing System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Puglisi, Giuseppe

    2016-04-01

    The overall aim of the implementation phase of European Plate Observing System (EPOS) is to make the integrated platform operational in order to guarantee seamless access to the data provided by the European Solid Earth communities. The Volcano Observations Work Package (WP11) contributes to this objective by implementing a Thematic Core Service (TCS) which is planned to give access to the data and services provided by the European Volcano Observatories (VO) and some Volcanological Research Institutions (VRI; such as university departments, laboratories, etc.). Both types are considered as national research infrastructures (RI) which the TCS will integrate. Currently, monitoring networks on European volcanoes consist of thousands of stations or sites where volcanological parameters are continuously or periodically measured. These sites are equipped with instruments for geophysical (seismic, geodetic, gravimetric, electromagnetic), geochemical (volcanic plumes, fumaroles, groundwater, rivers, soils), environmental observations (e.g. meteorological and air quality parameters), as well as various prototypal monitoring systems (e.g. Doppler radars, ground based SAR). Across Europe several laboratories provide sample characterization (rocks, gases, isotopes, etc.), quasi-continuous analysis of space-borne data (SAR, thermal imagery, SO2 and ash), as well as high-performance computing facilities. All these RIs provide high-quality information (observations) on the current status of European volcanoes and the geodynamic background of the surrounding areas. The implementation of the Volcano Observations TCS will address technical as well as managerial issues, both considering the current heterogeneous state-of-the-art of the volcanological research infrastructures in Europe. Indeed, the current arrangement of individual VO and VRI is considered too fragmented to be considered as a unique distributed infrastructure. Therefore, the main effort in the framework of the EPOS

  10. The "Volcano Observations" Thematic Core Service of the European Plate Observing System (EPOS): status of the implementation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Puglisi, Giuseppe

    2017-04-01

    The European volcanological community contributes to implementation of European Plate Observing System (EPOS) by making operational an integrated platform to guarantee a seamless access to the data provided by the European Solid Earth communities. To achieve this objective, the Volcano Observations Work Package (WP11) will implement a Thematic Core Services (TCS) which is planned to give access to the data and services provided by the European Volcano Observatories (VO) and some Volcanological Research Institutions (VRI; as university departments, laboratories, etc.); both types are considered as national research infrastructures (RI) over which to build the TCS. Currently, the networks on European volcanoes consist of thousands of stations or sites where volcanological parameters are continuously or periodically measured. These sites are equipped with instruments for geophysical (seismic, geodetic, gravimetric, electromagnetic), geochemical (volcanic plumes, fumaroles, groundwater, rivers, soils), environmental observations (e.g. meteorological and air quality parameters), as well as various prototypal monitoring systems (e.g. Doppler radars, ground based SAR). In Europe also operate laboratories for sample analysis (rocks, gases, isotopes, etc.), and almost continuous analysis of space-borne data (SAR, thermal imagery, SO2 and ash), as well as high-performance computing centres. All these RIs provide high-quality information (observations) on the current status of European volcanoes and the geodynamic background of the surrounding areas. The implementation of the Volcano Observations TCS is addressing technical and management issues, both considering the current heterogeneous state of the art of the volcanological research infrastructures in Europe. Indeed, the frame of the VO and VRI is now too fragmented to be considered as a unique distributed infrastructure, thus the main effort planned in the frame of the EPOS-IP is focused to create services aimed at

  11. Functional description of the monitoring and observability detailed concepts for the Pan-European Control Schemes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Marinelli, Mattia; Pertl, Michael; Rezkalla, Michel M.N.

    2017-01-01

    Deliverable D5.4 outlines the methodology and the topics analysed in T5.4 for deriving PanEuropean observables within the Web-of-Cells (WoC) concept. Observables are derived by analysing traditional instability events typical of large power systems.......Deliverable D5.4 outlines the methodology and the topics analysed in T5.4 for deriving PanEuropean observables within the Web-of-Cells (WoC) concept. Observables are derived by analysing traditional instability events typical of large power systems....

  12. Using Combined Marine Spatial Planning Tools and Observing System Experiments to define Gaps in the Emerging European Ocean Observing System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nolan, G.; Pinardi, N.; Vukicevic, T.; Le Traon, P. Y.; Fernandez, V.

    2016-02-01

    Ocean observations are critical to providing accurate ocean forecasts that support operational decision making in European open and coastal seas. Observations are available in many forms from Fixed platforms e.g. Moored Buoys and tide gauges, underway measurements from Ferrybox systems, High Frequency radars and more recently from underwater Gliders and profiling floats. Observing System Simulation Experiments have been conducted to examine the relative contribution of each type of platform to an improvement in our ability to accurately forecast the future state of the ocean with HF radar and Gliders showing particular promise in improving model skill. There is considerable demand for ecosystem products and services from today's ocean observing system and biogeochemical observations are still relatively sparse particularly in coastal and shelf seas. There is a need to widen the techniques used to assess the fitness for purpose and gaps in the ocean observing system. As well as Observing System Simulation Experiments that quantify the effect of observations on the overall model skill we present a gap analysis based on (1) Examining where high model skill is required based on a marine spatial planning analysis of European seas i.e where does activity take place that requires more accurate forecasts? and (2) assessing gaps based on the capacity of the observing system to answer key societal challenges e.g. site suitability for aquaculture and ocean energy, oil spill response and contextual oceanographic products for fisheries and ecosystems. The broad based analysis will inform the development of the proposed European Ocean Observing System as a contribution to the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS).

  13. Biodiversity monitoring in Europe: the EU FP7 EBONE project. European biodiversity observation NEtwork

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Lück-Vogel, Melanie

    2008-09-01

    Full Text Available submission Presentation Poster presentation A) Title Biodiversity Monitoring in Europe: The EU FP7 EBONE project European Biodiversity Observation NEtwork B) Short title EBONE - European Biodiversity Observation NEtwork C) Author(s) Vogel, M. (1... stream_source_info Vogel_2008.pdf.txt stream_content_type text/plain stream_size 3055 Content-Encoding UTF-8 stream_name Vogel_2008.pdf.txt Content-Type text/plain; charset=UTF-8 BIOTA AFRICA Congress 2008 Abstract...

  14. European Marine Observation and Data Network EMODnet Physics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antonio Novellino

    2014-10-01

    period, temperature of the water column, wind speed and direction, salinity of the water column, horizontal velocity of the water column, light attenuation, and sea level provided mainly by fixed stations and ferry-box platforms, discovering related data sets (both near real time and historical data sets, viewing and downloading of the data from about 2100 platforms (www.emodnetphysics.eu/map and thus contributing towards the definition of an operational European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet.

  15. The Validity of Observational Measures in Detecting Optimal Maternal Communication Styles: Evidence from European Americans and Latinos

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nadeem, Erum; Romo, Laura F.; Sigman, Marian; Lefkowitz, Eva S.; Au, Terry K.

    2007-01-01

    This study examined the sensitivity of an observational coding system for assessing positive and negative maternal behaviors of Latino and European American mothers toward their adolescent children. Ninety Latino (54 Spanish speaking and 35 English speaking) and 20 European American mother-adolescent dyads participated in an observational study of…

  16. Strategies for the implementation of a European Volcano Observations Research Infrastructure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Puglisi, Giuseppe

    2015-04-01

    Active volcanic areas in Europe constitute a direct threat to millions of people on both the continent and adjacent islands. Furthermore, eruptions of "European" volcanoes in overseas territories, such as in the West Indies, an in the Indian and Pacific oceans, can have a much broader impacts, outside Europe. Volcano Observatories (VO), which undertake volcano monitoring under governmental mandate and Volcanological Research Institutions (VRI; such as university departments, laboratories, etc.) manage networks on European volcanoes consisting of thousands of stations or sites where volcanological parameters are either continuously or periodically measured. These sites are equipped with instruments for geophysical (seismic, geodetic, gravimetric, electromagnetic), geochemical (volcanic plumes, fumaroles, groundwater, rivers, soils), environmental observations (e.g. meteorological and air quality parameters), including prototype deployment. VOs and VRIs also operate laboratories for sample analysis (rocks, gases, isotopes, etc.), near-real time analysis of space-borne data (SAR, thermal imagery, SO2 and ash), as well as high-performance computing centres; all providing high-quality information on the current status of European volcanoes and the geodynamic background of the surrounding areas. This large and high-quality deployment of monitoring systems, focused on a specific geophysical target (volcanoes), together with the wide volcanological phenomena of European volcanoes (which cover all the known volcano types) represent a unique opportunity to fundamentally improve the knowledge base of volcano behaviour. The existing arrangement of national infrastructures (i.e. VO and VRI) appears to be too fragmented to be considered as a unique distributed infrastructure. Therefore, the main effort planned in the framework of the EPOS-PP proposal is focused on the creation of services aimed at providing an improved and more efficient access to the volcanological facilities

  17. CONSIDERATIONS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF OBSERVING HUMAN RIGHTS WITHIN EUROPEAN STATES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Isabela, STANCEA

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available The detailed analysis of the institution of human rights and fundamental freedoms is necessary to know its role. The promotion of the human condition in the world leads to the innovative interpretation of this institution. The existence of so many international legal instruments aims towards a better protection of the human rights in contemporary society. The issue of human rights has occupied an important role within the states, human rights violations being a common concern, especially in the former communist states. The issue of human rights in Romania has emerged and developed very early. The changes made in Romania by the revolution of 22 December 1989 caused an intense process of amending the legislation in order to be correlated with the international standards. Within European states human rights observance has acquired great importance, a matter which will be emphasised in the future as well. The European Court of Human Rights ensures the guarantee of respecting human rights in Europe, having as legal instrument the European Convention on Human Rights.

  18. The EMBARC European Bronchiectasis Registry: protocol for an international observational study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James D. Chalmers

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Bronchiectasis is one of the most neglected diseases in respiratory medicine. There are no approved therapies and few large-scale, representative epidemiological studies. The EMBARC (European Multicentre Bronchiectasis Audit and Research Collaboration registry is a prospective, pan-European observational study of patients with bronchiectasis. The inclusion criterion is a primary clinical diagnosis of bronchiectasis consisting of: 1 a clinical history consistent with bronchiectasis; and 2 computed tomography demonstrating bronchiectasis. Core exclusion criteria are: 1 bronchiectasis due to known cystic fibrosis; 2 age <18 years; and 3 patients who are unable or unwilling to provide informed consent. The study aims to enrol 1000 patients by April 2016 across at least 20 European countries, and 10 000 patients by March 2020. Patients will undergo a comprehensive baseline assessment and will be followed up annually for up to 5 years with the goal of providing high-quality longitudinal data on outcomes, treatment patterns and quality of life. Data from the registry will be available in the form of annual reports. and will be disseminated in conference presentations and peer-reviewed publications. The European Bronchiectasis Registry aims to make a major contribution to understanding the natural history of the disease, as well as guiding evidence-based decision making and facilitating large randomised controlled trials.

  19. Euro-Argo: The European contribution to the global Argo ocean observations network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gourcuff, Claire

    2017-04-01

    The international Argo programme is a major element of the global in-situ ocean observing system. More than 3900 floats are now globally measuring temperature and salinity throughout the global oceans, down to 2,000 meters depth and delivering data both in real time for operational users and after careful scientific quality control for climate change research and monitoring. Argo is the single most important in-situ observing system for the Copernicus Marine Service. The Euro-Argo research infrastructure organizes and federates European contribution to Argo. A legal and governance framework (Euro-Argo ERIC) was set up in May 2014; it allows European countries to consolidate and improve their contribution to Argo international. We will provide an overview of the development of Euro-Argo over the past years and present the now agreed Euro-Argo long term organization. The capability of the Euro-Argo infrastructure to organize Argo floats procurement, deployment and processing at European level and to conduct R&D driven by Copernicus needs will be highlighted. During the recent years, within the H2020 E-AIMS project, Euro-Argo carried R&D activities on new Argo floats, equipped with biogeochemical sensors or able to dive up to 4000m, from the floats design up to the analysis of their measurements. European Argo data centers were adapted so that they can handle the new data. Observing System Evaluations and Simulation Experiments were also conducted to provide robust recommendations for the next phase of Argo. One of the main challenges for Euro-Argo is now to implement the next phase of Argo with an extension towards biogeochemistry (e.g. oxygen, biology), the polar oceans, the marginal seas and the deep ocean. Meeting such challenges is essential for the long term sustainability and evolution of the Copernicus Marine Service. We will present Euro-Argo strategy and provide some highlights on the implementation-plan for the years to come and the Argo extensions for the

  20. Current Efforts in European Projects to Facilitate the Sharing of Scientific Observation Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bredel, Henning; Rieke, Matthes; Maso, Joan; Jirka, Simon; Stasch, Christoph

    2017-04-01

    This presentation is intended to provide an overview of currently ongoing efforts in European projects to facilitate and promote the interoperable sharing of scientific observation data. This will be illustrated through two examples: a prototypical portal developed in the ConnectinGEO project for matching available (in-situ) data sources to the needs of users and a joint activity of several research projects to harmonise the usage of the OGC Sensor Web Enablement standards for providing access to marine observation data. ENEON is an activity initiated by the European ConnectinGEO project to coordinate in-situ Earth observation networks with the aim to harmonise the access to observations, improve discoverability, and identify/close gaps in European earth observation data resources. In this context, ENEON commons has been developed as a supporting Web portal for facilitating discovery, access, re-use and creation of knowledge about observations, networks, and related activities (e.g. projects). The portal is based on developments resulting from the European WaterInnEU project and has been extended to cover the requirements for handling knowledge about in-situ earth observation networks. A first prototype of the portal was completed in January 2017 which offers functionality for interactive discussion, information exchange and querying information about data delivered by different observation networks. Within this presentation, we will introduce the presented prototype and initiate a discussion about potential future work directions. The second example concerns the harmonisation of data exchange in the marine domain. There are many organisation who operate ocean observatories or data archives. In recent years, the application of the OGC Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) technology has become more and more popular to increase the interoperability between marine observation networks. However, as the SWE standards were intentionally designed in a domain independent manner

  1. Towards the creation of a European Network of Earth Observation Networks within GEO. The ConnectinGEO project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masó, Joan; Serral, Ivette; Menard, Lionel; Wald, Lucien; Nativi, Stefano; Plag, Hans-Peter; Jules-Plag, Shelley; Nüst, Daniel; Jirka, Simon; Pearlman, Jay; De Maziere, Martine

    2015-04-01

    ConnectinGEO (Coordinating an Observation Network of Networks EnCompassing saTellite and IN-situ to fill the Gaps in European Observations" is a new H2020 Coordination and Support Action with the primary goal of linking existing Earth Observation networks with science and technology (S&T) communities, the industry sector, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), and Copernicus. ConnectinGEO aims to facilitate a broader and more accessible knowledge base to support the needs of GEO, its Societal Benefit Areas (SBAs) and the users of the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS). A broad range of subjects from climate, natural resources and raw materials, to the emerging UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be addressed. The project will generate a prioritized list of critical gaps within available observation data and models to translate observations into practice-relevant knowledge, based on stakeholder consultation and systematic analysis. Ultimately, it will increase coherency of European observation networks, increase the use of Earth observations for assessments and forecasts and inform the planning for future observation systems. ConnectinGEO will initiate a European Network of Earth Observation Networks (ENEON) that will encompass space-based, airborne and in-situ observations networks. ENEON will be composed by project partners representing thematic observation networks along with the GEOSS Science and Technology Stakeholder Network, GEO Communities of Practices, Copernicus services, Sentinel missions and in-situ support data representatives, representatives of the space-based, airborne and in-situ observations European networks (e.g. EPOS, EMSO and GROOM, etc), representatives of the industry sector and European and national funding agencies, in particular those participating in the future ERA-PlaNET. At the beginning, the ENEON will be created and managed by the project. Then the management will be transferred to the network itself to ensure

  2. The European Plate Observing System (EPOS) Services for Solid Earth Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cocco, Massimo; Atakan, Kuvvet; Pedersen, Helle; Consortium, Epos

    2016-04-01

    The European Plate Observing System (EPOS) aims to create a pan-European infrastructure for solid Earth science to support a safe and sustainable society. The main vision of the European Plate Observing System (EPOS) is to address the three basic challenges in Earth Sciences: (i) unravelling the Earth's deformational processes which are part of the Earth system evolution in time, (ii) understanding the geo-hazards and their implications to society, and (iii) contributing to the safe and sustainable use of geo-resources. The mission of EPOS is to monitor and understand the dynamic and complex Earth system by relying on new e-science opportunities and integrating diverse and advanced Research Infrastructures in Europe for solid Earth Science. EPOS will enable innovative multidisciplinary research for a better understanding of the Earth's physical and chemical processes that control earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, ground instability and tsunami as well as the processes driving tectonics and Earth's surface dynamics. EPOS will improve our ability to better manage the use of the subsurface of the Earth. Through integration of data, models and facilities EPOS will allow the Earth Science community to make a step change in developing new concepts and tools for key answers to scientific and socio-economic questions concerning geo-hazards and geo-resources as well as Earth sciences applications to the environment and to human welfare. EPOS has now started its Implementation Phase (EPOS-IP). One of the main challenges during the implementation phase is the integration of multidisciplinary data into a single e-infrastructure. Multidisciplinary data are organized and governed by the Thematic Core Services (TCS) and are driven by various scientific communities encompassing a wide spectrum of Earth science disciplines. These include Data, Data-products, Services and Software (DDSS), from seismology, near fault observatories, geodetic observations, volcano observations

  3. SUPPORTING MANAGEMENT OF EUROPEAN REFUGEE STREAMS BY EARTH OBSERVATION AND GEOINFORMATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K.-U. Komp

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The sharp increase in refugee numbers arriving in the European Union has recently caused major and manifold challenges for the member states and their administrative services. Location based situation reports and maps may support the refugee management from local to European level. The first support is mapping of the geographical distribution of migrating people which needs more or less real time data. The actual data sources are location related observations along the routes of refugees, actual satellite observations and data mining results. These tools and data are used to monitor spatial distributions as well as extrapolate the arrival of refugees for the subsequent weeks. The second support is the short term update of the location of initial registration facilities and first reception facilities, their capacities, and their occupancy. The third management level is the systematic inquiry for unoccupied housing facilities and for empty places within build-up areas. Geo-coded data sets of house numbers have to be cross-referenced with city maps and communal inhabitants address data. The legal aspects of data mining and secured access to personal data are strictly controlled by the administration allowing only limited access and distribution of data and results. However, the paper will not disclose scientific progress in Earth Observation and GIS, but will actually demonstrate an urgently needed new combination of existing methods to support actual needs. The societal benefits of EO/GIS are no longer just potential possibilities, but actual results in real political, administrative and humanitarian day to day reality.

  4. Large Deployable Reflector Technologies for Future European Telecom and Earth Observation Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ihle, A.; Breunig, E.; Dadashvili, L.; Migliorelli, M.; Scialino, L.; van't Klosters, K.; Santiago-Prowald, J.

    2012-07-01

    This paper presents requirements, analysis and design results for European large deployable reflectors (LDR) for space applications. For telecommunications, the foreseeable use of large reflectors is associated to the continuous demand for improved performance of mobile services. On the other hand, several earth observation (EO) missions can be identified carrying either active or passive remote sensing instruments (or both), in which a large effective aperture is needed e.g. BIOMASS. From the European point of view there is a total dependence of USA industry as such LDRs are not available from European suppliers. The RESTEO study is part of a number of ESA led activities to facilitate European LDR development. This paper is focused on the structural-mechanical aspects of this study. We identify the general requirements for LDRs with special emphasis on launcher accommodation for EO mission. In the next step, optimal concepts for the LDR structure and the RF-Surface are reviewed. Regarding the RF surface, both, a knitted metal mesh and a shell membrane based on carbon fibre reinforced silicon (CFRS) are considered. In terms of the backing structure, the peripheral ring concept is identified as most promising and a large number of options for the deployment kinematics are discussed. Of those, pantographic kinematics and a conical peripheral ring are selected. A preliminary design for these two most promising LDR concepts is performed which includes static, modal and kinematic simulation and also techniques to generate the reflector nets.

  5. European Marine Observation Data Network - EMODnet Physics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manzella, Giuseppe M. R.; Novellino, Antonio; D'Angelo, Paolo; Gorringe, Patrick; Schaap, Dick; Pouliquen, Sylvie; Loubrieu, Thomas; Rickards, Lesley

    2015-04-01

    The EMODnet-Physics portal (www.emodnet-physics.eu) makes layers of physical data and their metadata available for use and contributes towards the definition of an operational European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet). It is based on a strong collaboration between EuroGOOS associates and its regional operational systems (ROOSs), and it is bringing together two very different marine communities: the "real time" ocean observing institute/centers and the National Oceanographic Data Centres (NODCs) that are in charge of ocean data validation, quality check and update for marine environmental monitoring. The EMODnet-Physics is a Marine Observation and Data Information System that provides a single point of access to near real time and historical achieved data (www.emodnet-physics.eu/map) it is built on existing infrastructure by adding value and avoiding any unless complexity, it provides data access to users, it is aimed at attracting new data holders, better and more data. With a long-term vision for a pan European Ocean Observation System sustainability, the EMODnet-Physics is supporting the coordination of the EuroGOOS Regional components and the empowerment and improvement of their data management infrastructure. In turn, EMODnet-Physics already implemented high-level interoperability features (WMS, Web catalogue, web services, etc…) to facilitate connection and data exchange with the ROOS and the Institutes within the ROOSs (www.emodnet-physics.eu/services). The on-going EMODnet-Physics structure delivers environmental marine physical data from the whole Europe (wave height and period, temperature of the water column, wind speed and direction, salinity of the water column, horizontal velocity of the water column, light attenuation, and sea level) as monitored by fixed stations, ARGO floats, drifting buoys, gliders, and ferry-boxes. It does provide discovering of data sets (both NRT - near real time - and Historical data sets), visualization and free

  6. Complicated Intra-Abdominal Infections Observational European study (CIAO Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sartelli Massimo

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Complicated intra-abdominal infections are frequently associated with poor prognoses and high morbidity and mortality rates. Despite advances in diagnosis, surgery, and antimicrobial therapy, mortality rates associated with complicated intra-abdominal infections remain exceedingly high. In order to describe the clinical, microbiological, and management-related profiles of both community-acquired and healthcare-acquired complicated intra-abdominal infections (IAIs, the World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES, in collaboration with the Surgical Infections Society of Europe (SIS-E and other prominent European surgical societies, has designed the CIAO study. The CIAO study is a multicenter, observational study and will be carried out in various surgical departments throughout Europe. The study will include patients undergoing surgery or interventional drainage for complicated IAI.

  7. "Real-World" use of cinacalcet for managing SHPT in different European countries: analysis of data from the ECHO observational study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vervloet, M; Bencova, V; Malberti, F

    2010-01-01

    The pan-European ECHO observational study evaluated cinacalcet in adult dialysis patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) in "real-world" clinical practice. A sub-analysis compared data for 7 European countries/country clusters: Austria, CEE (Czech Republic and Slovakia), France, Italy,...

  8. Multiyear high-resolution carbon exchange over European croplands from the integration of observed crop yields into CarbonTracker Europe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Combe, Marie; Vilà-Guerau de Arellano, Jordi; de Wit, Allard; Peters, Wouter

    2016-04-01

    Carbon exchange over croplands plays an important role in the European carbon cycle over daily-to-seasonal time scales. Not only do crops occupy one fourth of the European land area, but their photosynthesis and respiration are large and affect CO2 mole fractions at nearly every atmospheric CO2 monitoring site. A better description of this crop carbon exchange in our CarbonTracker Europe data assimilation system - which currently treats crops as unmanaged grasslands - could strongly improve its ability to constrain terrestrial carbon fluxes. Available long-term observations of crop yield, harvest, and cultivated area allow such improvements, when combined with the new crop-modeling framework we present. This framework can model the carbon fluxes of 10 major European crops at high spatial and temporal resolution, on a 12x12 km grid and 3-hourly time-step. The development of this framework is threefold: firstly, we optimize crop growth using the process-based WOrld FOod STudies (WOFOST) agricultural crop growth model. Simulated yields are downscaled to match regional crop yield observations from the Statistical Office of the European Union (EUROSTAT) by estimating a yearly regional parameter for each crop species: the yield gap factor. This step allows us to better represent crop phenology, to reproduce the observed multiannual European crop yields, and to construct realistic time series of the crop carbon fluxes (gross primary production, GPP, and autotrophic respiration, Raut) on a fine spatial and temporal resolution. Secondly, we combine these GPP and Raut fluxes with a simple soil respiration model to obtain the total ecosystem respiration (TER) and net ecosystem exchange (NEE). And thirdly, we represent the horizontal transport of carbon that follows crop harvest and its back-respiration into the atmosphere during harvest consumption. We distribute this carbon using observations of the density of human and ruminant populations from EUROSTAT. We assess the model

  9. OMI and Ground-Based In-Situ Tropospheric Nitrogen Dioxide Observations over Several Important European Cities during 2005–2014

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Spiru Paraschiv

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available In this work we present the evolution of tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2 content over several important European cities during 2005–2014 using space observations and ground-based in-situ measurements. The NO2 content was derived using the daily observations provided by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI, while the NO2 volume mixing ratio measurements were obtained from the European Environment Agency (EEA air quality monitoring stations database. The European cities selected are: Athens (37.98° N, 23.72° E, Berlin (52.51° N, 13.41° E, Bucharest (44.43° N, 26.10° E, Madrid (40.38° N, 3.71° W, Lisbon (38.71° N, 9.13° W, Paris (48.85° N, 2.35° E, Rome (41.9° N, 12.50° E, and Rotterdam (51.91° N, 4.46° E. We show that OMI NO2 tropospheric column data can be used to assess the evolution of NO2 over important European cities. According to the statistical analysis, using the seasonal variation, we found good correlations (R > 0.50 between OMI and ground-based in-situ observations for all of the cities presented in this work. Highest correlation coefficients (R > 0.80 between ground-based monitoring stations and OMI observations were calculated for the cities of Berlin, Madrid, and Rome. Both types of observations, in-situ and remote sensing, show an NO2 negative trend for all of locations presented in this study.

  10. Some recent results from European sounding rocket and satellite observations of the hot magnetospheric plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hultqvist, B.

    1979-03-01

    A brief summary of some recent results from European studies of the hot magnetospheric plasma is presented. The material is organized in four main sections: 1) Observations of keV auroral electrons. 2) Observation of the hot ion component of the magnetospheric plasma. 3) Sudden changes of the distribution of the hot plasma in the dayside magnetosphere. 4) Banded electron cyclotron harmonic instability in the magnetosphere - a first comparison of theory and experiment. (E.R.)

  11. Towards European organisation for integrated greenhouse gas observation system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaukolehto, Marjut; Vesala, Timo; Sorvari, Sanna; Juurola, Eija; Paris, Jean-Daniel

    2013-04-01

    Climate change is one the most challenging problems that humanity will have to cope with in the coming decades. The perturbed global biogeochemical cycles of the greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) are a major driving force of current and future climate change. Deeper understanding of the driving forces of climate change requires full quantification of the greenhouse gas emissions and sinks and their evolution. Regional greenhouse gas budgets, tipping-points, vulnerabilities and the controlling mechanisms can be assessed by long term, high precision observations in the atmosphere and at the ocean and land surface. ICOS RI is a distributed infrastructure for on-line, in-situ monitoring of greenhouse gases (GHG) necessary to understand their present-state and future sinks and sources. ICOS RI provides the long-term observations required to understand the present state and predict future behaviour of the global carbon cycle and greenhouse gas emissions. Linking research, education and innovation promotes technological development and demonstrations related to greenhouse gases. The first objective of ICOS RI is to provide effective access to coherent and precise data and to provide assessments of GHG inventories with high temporal and spatial resolution. The second objective is to provide profound information for research and understanding of regional budgets of greenhouse gas sources and sinks, their human and natural drivers, and the controlling mechanisms. ICOS is one of several ESFRI initiatives in the environmental science domain. There is significant potential for structural and synergetic interaction with several other ESFRI initiatives. ICOS RI is relevant for Joint Programming by providing the data access for the researchers and acting as a contact point for developing joint strategic research agendas among European member states. The preparatory phase ends in March 2013 and there will be an interim period before the legal entity will

  12. Disability, fatigue, pain and their associates in early diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis: the European Scleroderma Observational Study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Peytrignet, Sébastien; Denton, Christopher P; Lunt, Mark

    2018-01-01

    Objectives: Our aim was to describe the burden of early dcSSc in terms of disability, fatigue and pain in the European Scleroderma Observational Study cohort, and to explore associated clinical features. Methods: Patients completed questionnaires at study entry, 12 and 24 months, including the HA...

  13. A review on existing OSSEs and their implications on European marine observation requirements

    Science.gov (United States)

    She, Jun

    2017-04-01

    Marine observations are essential for understanding marine processes and improving the forecast quality, they are also expensive. It has always been an important issue to optimize sampling schemes of marine observational networks so that the value of marine observations can be maximized and the cost can be lowered. Ocean System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) is an efficient tool in assessing impacts of proposed future sampling schemes on reconstructing and forecasting the ocean and ecosystem conditions. In this study existing OSSE research results from EU projects (such as JERICO, OPEC, SANGOMA, E-AIMS and AtlantOS), institutional studies and review papers are collected and analyzed, according to regions (Arctic, Baltic, N. Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea) and instruments/variables. The preliminary results show that significant gaps for OSSEs in regions and instruments. Among the existing OSSEs, Argo (Bio-Argo and Deep See Argo), gliders and ferrybox are the most often investigated instruments. Although many of the OSSEs are dedicated for very specific monitoring strategies and not sufficiently comprehensive for making solid recommendations for optimizing the existing networks, the detailed findings for future marine observation requirements from the OSSEs will be summarized in the presentation. Recommendations for systematic OSSEs for optimizing European marine observation networks are also given.

  14. The Political History of European Integration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schulz-Forberg, Hagen; Stråth, Bo

    This book adopts a historical perspective to explore the tensions between the idea of a European democracy through a European market, and the observations that there are signs of increasing social disintegration, political extremism and populism in the wake of economic integration. It was shortli......This book adopts a historical perspective to explore the tensions between the idea of a European democracy through a European market, and the observations that there are signs of increasing social disintegration, political extremism and populism in the wake of economic integration...

  15. The European Natural Gas Market

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Correlje, A.F.

    The European Union started the introduction of competition in the European market for natural gas. Today, mid-2016, the process of restructuring is still going on. In parallel, important changes in geopolitical, environmental and technological determinants can be observed in the European and global

  16. On Law and Policy in a European and European Union Patent Court (EEUPC)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schovsbo, Jens Hemmingsen; Petersen, Clement Salung

    On 4 December 2009, the European Council unanimously adopted conclusions on an enhanced patent system in Europe, which inter alia intends to establish a new EU patent as well as a new common patent judiciary - the European and European Union Patent Court (EEUPC). The EEUPC will constitute a new sui...... generis, transnational court system with exclusive jurisdiction in respect of civil litigation related to the infringement and validity of European patents and EU patent. This paper considers this proposal for the establishment of the EEUPC under two basic observations, namely that substantive law...

  17. On Law and Policy in a European and European Union Patent Court (EEUPC)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petersen, Clement Salung; Schovsbo, Jens Hemmingsen

    2010-01-01

    On 4 December 2009, the European Council unanimously adopted conclusions on an enhanced patent system in Europe, which inter alia intends to establish a new EU patent as well as a new common patent judiciary – the European and European Union Patent Court (EEUPC). The EEUPC will constitute a new sui...... generis, transnational court system with exclusive jurisdiction in respect of civil litigation related to the infringement and validity of European patents and EU patent. This paper considers this proposal for the establishment of the EEUPC under two basic observations, namely that substantive law...

  18. Joint Efforts Towards European HF Radar Integration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rubio, A.; Mader, J.; Griffa, A.; Mantovani, C.; Corgnati, L.; Novellino, A.; Schulz-Stellenfleth, J.; Quentin, C.; Wyatt, L.; Ruiz, M. I.; Lorente, P.; Hartnett, M.; Gorringe, P.

    2016-12-01

    During the past two years, significant steps have been made in Europe for achieving the needed accessibility to High Frequency Radar (HFR) data for a pan-European use. Since 2015, EuroGOOS Ocean Observing Task Teams (TT), such as HFR TT, are operational networks of observing platforms. The main goal is on the harmonization of systems requirements, systems design, data quality, improvement and proof of the readiness and standardization of HFR data access and tools. Particular attention is being paid by HFR TT to converge from different projects and programs toward those common objectives. First, JERICO-NEXT (Joint European Research Infrastructure network for Coastal Observatory - Novel European eXpertise for coastal observaTories, H2020 2015 Programme) will contribute on describing the status of the European network, on seeking harmonization through exchange of best practices and standardization, on developing and giving access to quality control procedures and new products, and finally on demonstrating the use of such technology in the general scientific strategy focused by the Coastal Observatory. Then, EMODnet (European Marine Observation and Data Network) Physics started to assemble HF radar metadata and data products within Europe in a uniform way. This long term program is providing a combined array of services and functionalities to users for obtaining free of charge data, meta-data and data products on the physical conditions of European sea basins and oceans. Additionally, the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) delivers from 2015 a core information service to any user related to 4 areas of benefits: Maritime Safety, Coastal and Marine Environment, Marine Resources, and Weather, Seasonal Forecasting and Climate activities. INCREASE (Innovation and Networking for the integration of Coastal Radars into EuropeAn marine SErvices - CMEMS Service Evolution 2016) will set the necessary developments towards the integration of existing European

  19. 20 Years of Total and Tropical Ozone Time Series Based on European Satellite Observations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loyola, D. G.; Heue, K. P.; Coldewey-Egbers, M.

    2016-12-01

    Ozone is an important trace gas in the atmosphere, while the stratospheric ozone layer protects the earth surface from the incident UV radiation, the tropospheric ozone acts as green house gas and causes health damages as well as crop loss. The total ozone column is dominated by the stratospheric column, the tropospheric columns only contributes about 10% to the total column.The ozone column data from the European satellite instruments GOME, SCIAMACHY, OMI, GOME-2A and GOME-2B are available within the ESA Climate Change Initiative project with a high degree of inter-sensor consistency. The tropospheric ozone columns are based on the convective cloud differential algorithm. The datasets encompass a period of more than 20 years between 1995 and 2015, for the trend analysis the data sets were harmonized relative to one of the instruments. For the tropics we found an increase in the tropospheric ozone column of 0.75 ± 0.12 DU decade^{-1} with local variations between 1.8 and -0.8. The largest trends were observed over southern Africa and the Atlantic Ocean. A seasonal trend analysis led to the assumption that the increase is caused by additional forest fires.The trend for the total column was not that certain, based on model predicted trend data and the measurement uncertainty we estimated that another 10 to 15 years of observations will be required to observe a statistical significant trend. In the mid latitudes the trends are currently hidden in the large variability and for the tropics the modelled trends are low. Also the possibility of diverging trends at different altitudes must be considered; an increase in the tropospheric ozone might be accompanied by decreasing stratospheric ozone.The European satellite data record will be extended over the next two decades with the atmospheric satellite missions Sentinel 5 Precursor (launch end of 2016), Sentinel 4 and Sentinel 5.

  20. European Plate Observing System - Norway (EPOS-N): A National Consortium for the Norwegian Implementation of EPOS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atakan, Kuvvet; Tellefsen, Karen

    2017-04-01

    The European Plate Observing System (EPOS) aims to create a pan-European infrastructure for solid Earth science to support a safe and sustainable society. The main vision of the European Plate Observing System (EPOS) is to address the three basic challenges in Earth Science: (i) unravelling the Earth's deformational processes which are part of the Earth system evolution in time, (ii) understanding geo-hazards and their implications to society, and (iii) contributing to the safe and sustainable use of geo-resources. The mission of EPOS-Norway is therefore in line with the European vision of EPOS, i.e. monitor and understand the dynamic and complex Earth system by relying on new e-science opportunities and integrating diverse and advanced Research Infrastructures for solid Earth science. The EPOS-Norway project started in January 2016 with a national consortium consisting of six institutions. These are: University of Bergen (Coordinator), NORSAR, National Mapping Authority, Geological Survey of Norway, Christian Michelsen Research and University of Oslo. EPOS-N will during the next five years focus on the implementation of three main components. These are: (i) Developing a Norwegian e-Infrastructure to integrate the Norwegian Solid Earth data from the seismological and geodetic networks, as well as the data from the geological and geophysical data repositories, (ii) Improving the monitoring capacity in the Arctic, including Northern Norway and the Arctic islands, and (iii) Establishing a national Solid Earth Science Forum providing a constant feedback mechanism for improved integration of multidisciplinary data, as well as training of young scientists for future utilization of all available solid Earth observational data through a single e-infrastructure. Currently, a list of data, data products, software and services (DDSS) is being prepared. These elements will be integrated in the EPOS-N data/web-portal, which will allow users to browse, select and download

  1. Biological and Environmental Research: Climate and Environmental Sciences Division: U.S./European Workshop on Climate Change Challenges and Observations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mather, James [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; McCord, Raymond [Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Sisterson, Doug [Argonne National Laboratory; Voyles, Jimmy [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

    2012-11-08

    The workshop aimed to identify outstanding climate change science questions and the observational strategies for addressing them. The scientific focus was clouds, aerosols, and precipitation, and the required ground- and aerial-based observations. The workshop findings will be useful input for setting priorities within the Department of Energy (DOE) and the participating European centers. This joint workshop was envisioned as the first step in enhancing the collaboration among these climate research activities needed to better serve the science community.

  2. Observational uncertainty and regional climate model evaluation: A pan-European perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kotlarski, Sven; Szabó, Péter; Herrera, Sixto; Räty, Olle; Keuler, Klaus; Soares, Pedro M.; Cardoso, Rita M.; Bosshard, Thomas; Pagé, Christian; Boberg, Fredrik; Gutiérrez, José M.; Jaczewski, Adam; Kreienkamp, Frank; Liniger, Mark. A.; Lussana, Cristian; Szepszo, Gabriella

    2017-04-01

    Local and regional climate change assessments based on downscaling methods crucially depend on the existence of accurate and reliable observational reference data. In dynamical downscaling via regional climate models (RCMs) observational data can influence model development itself and, later on, model evaluation, parameter calibration and added value assessment. In empirical-statistical downscaling, observations serve as predictand data and directly influence model calibration with corresponding effects on downscaled climate change projections. Focusing on the evaluation of RCMs, we here analyze the influence of uncertainties in observational reference data on evaluation results in a well-defined performance assessment framework and on a European scale. For this purpose we employ three different gridded observational reference grids, namely (1) the well-established EOBS dataset (2) the recently developed EURO4M-MESAN regional re-analysis, and (3) several national high-resolution and quality-controlled gridded datasets that recently became available. In terms of climate models five reanalysis-driven experiments carried out by five different RCMs within the EURO-CORDEX framework are used. Two variables (temperature and precipitation) and a range of evaluation metrics that reflect different aspects of RCM performance are considered. We furthermore include an illustrative model ranking exercise and relate observational spread to RCM spread. The results obtained indicate a varying influence of observational uncertainty on model evaluation depending on the variable, the season, the region and the specific performance metric considered. Over most parts of the continent, the influence of the choice of the reference dataset for temperature is rather small for seasonal mean values and inter-annual variability. Here, model uncertainty (as measured by the spread between the five RCM simulations considered) is typically much larger than reference data uncertainty. For

  3. First OH Airglow Observation of Mesospheric Gravity Waves Over European Russia Region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Qinzeng; Yusupov, Kamil; Akchurin, Adel; Yuan, Wei; Liu, Xiao; Xu, Jiyao

    2018-03-01

    For the first time, we perform a study of mesospheric gravity waves (GWs) for four different seasons of 1 year in the latitudinal band from 45°N to 75°N using an OH all-sky airglow imager over Kazan (55.8°N, 49.2°E), Russia, during the period of August 2015 to July 2016. Our observational study fills a huge airglow imaging observation gap in Europe and Russia region. In total, 125 GW events and 28 ripple events were determined by OH airglow images in 98 clear nights. The observed GWs showed a strong preference of propagation toward northeast in all seasons, which was significantly different from airglow imager observations at other latitudes that the propagation directions were seasonal dependent. The middle atmosphere wind field is used to explain the lack of low phase speed GWs since these GWs were falling into the blocking region due to the filtering effects. Deep tropospheric convections derived from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts reanalysis data are determined near Caucasus Mountains region, which suggests that the convections are the dominant source of the GWs in spring, summer, and autumn seasons. This finding extends our knowledge that convection might also be an important source of GWs in the higher latitudes. In winter the generation mechanism of the GWs are considered to be jet stream systems. In addition, the occurrence frequency of ripple is much lower than other stations. This study provides some constraints on the range of GW parameters in GW parameterization in general circulation models in Europe and Russia region.

  4. Symbolism in European Integration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Manners, Ian

    2011-01-01

    Ernst Haas observed over fifty years ago that ‘United Europe' is a resilient, adaptable, unifying, and yet unspecified symbol'. It is precisely this adaptability and ambiguity that has ensures the continuing importance of European studies as a means of understanding ‘the remarkable social...... of social transformation involved' (Calhoun 2003: 18). This article will consider the role of symbolism in European integration as part of answering Craig Calhoun's call for a means of transcending specific regimes of analysis in order to advance European studies....

  5. Sentinel European Node Trial (SENT)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schilling, Clare; Stoeckli, Sandro J; Haerle, Stephan K

    2015-01-01

    in patients with early-stage oral squamous cell carcinoma. METHODS: An European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer-approved prospective, observational study commenced in 2005. Fourteen European centres recruited 415 patients with radiologically staged T1-T2N0 squamous cell carcinoma. SNB...

  6. Observations on European Education and Educational Research: The "European Educational Research Journal" at Work, 2002-2014

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindblad, Sverker

    2014-01-01

    This is a review of the "European Educational Research Journal" ("EERJ") since the start in 2002 and up to 2014. Three questions were put forward: what are the ambitions with the journal, how has the journal developed over time, and what are its possible futures? The review is based on minutes and emails from the late 1990s up…

  7. COPERNICUS - The European Union Earth Observation Programme - State of play and way ahead

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koch, Astrid-Christina

    2015-04-01

    Copernicus is the new name of the European Earth Observation Programme, GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security). Copernicus or rather its predecessor was established as an EU programme. It covers all the activities for ensuring an uninterrupted provision of accurate and reliable data and information on environmental issues and security matters to users in charge of policy making, implementation and monitoring, in the EU and its Member States. Copernicus aims at providing Europe with a continuous, independent and reliable access to observation data and information. The EU investment aims at filling the observation gaps, providing access to existing assets and developing operational services. The data policy of the Copernicus programme supports an open, full and free of charge data access that is in line with the data sharing principles of the Group for Earth Observation (GEO). Copernicus is structured in six Services: Marine, Atmosphere, Land and Climate change monitoring as well as support to Emergency and Security. Copernicus uses data from satellites and in-situ sensors such as buoys, balloons or air sensors to provide timely and reliable added-value information and forecasting to support for example, agriculture and fisheries, land use and urban planning, the fight against forest fires, disaster response, maritime transport or air pollution monitoring. The need for continuing such observations is becoming critical, considering the increasing political pressure on public authorities to take informed decisions in the field of environment, security and climate change and the need to respect international agreements. Copernicus also contributes to economic stability and growth by boosting commercial applications (the so-called downstream services) in many different sectors through a full and open access to Copernicus observation data and information products. KEY WORDS: Sentinels, big data, data access, Emergency, Marine, Atmosphere.

  8. European Integration and Postcolonial Sovereignty Games

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    observation, textual, legal and institutional analysis for a new theoretical approach to understanding the strategic possibilities and subjectivity of non-sovereign entities in international politics. Bringing together research on European integration and postcolonial theory, European Integration...

  9. An important day for European science

    CERN Document Server

    2009-01-01

    Today is an important day for the future of European science. It is the day on which CERN’s relationship with the European Union reaches maturity. Ever since the early 1950s, CERN and the European project have grown together. CERN was a child of the European movement: the first discussions at Denis de Rougemont’s European Cultural Conference in Lausanne in 1949 led directly to the foundation of CERN in 1954. More recently, the European Union has become an Observer at the CERN Council, links between CERN and the EU have strengthened as Europe has pursued the goal of creating a European Research Area, and CERN has benefited from European support for projects as varied as Grid computing and future accelerator R&D, not forgetting, of course, the numerous Marie Curie fellows whose careers have received a boost thanks to European funds. Today, that collaboration goes one step further with the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding between CERN and the European C...

  10. The European standard series in 9 European countries, 2002/2003 -- first results of the European Surveillance System on Contact Allergies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Uter, W; Hegewald, J; Aberer, W

    2005-01-01

    Since January 2001, the European Surveillance System on Contact Allergies (ESSCA), supported by European Union funding (contract QLK4-CT-2001-00343), has started to collect patch-test data. This comprises a standardized clinical history and the patch-test results using the European standard series...... observed. The prevalence of contact allergy to Myroxylon pereirae resin (balsam of Peru) (5.8%) is coming close to the frequency found with the fragrance mix (6.4%). Regarding contact allergy to chromium compounds, different frequencies were noted in the 2 centres focused on occupational dermatitis (2......-marketing surveillance in the field of contact allergy, ESSCA will meet its objective of increased consumer safety across Europe....

  11. Are we Europeans?: Correlates and the relation between national and European identity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mihić Vladimir

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Researches of the correlates of the national identity are plentiful both in Serbian and foreign literature. However, in the past decade or so, a new social identity starts to make its way into the researches of the social psychologists-European identity or the sense of belonging to the Europe and the Europeans. This paper deals with the relation between national and European identity, as well as with the correlates of both of these, or one of them. The sample consisted of 451 subjects, all residents of major cities in the Vojvodina region (northern Serbia, divided into several categories-ethnicity (Serbs and Hungarians, educational level (primary and secondary school or University degree, gender and age. Several scales have been used: Cinnirela's national and European identity scale, Collective self-esteem scale, scale measuring attitudes towards the European integration-STEIN and Social dominance orientation scale-SDO. The questionnaire with the demographic characteristics has also been the part of the instrument. The research has been conducted in 2005 and 2006 in the all of the major Vojvodinian cities. Results show the relation between national and European identity is foggy, but general conclusion is that we can observe them as independent identities. The correlates of the national identity were ethnicity, high social dominance orientation, high collective self-esteem and negative attitude towards the European integrations. Correlates of the European identity were fewer: ethnicity, positive attitude towards the European integration and low social dominance orientation.

  12. The Demonstrator for the European Plate Observing System (EPOS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoffmann, T. L.; Euteneuer, F.; Ulbricht, D.; Lauterjung, J.; Bailo, D.; Jeffery, K. G.

    2014-12-01

    An important outcome of the 4-year Preparatory Phase of the ESFRI project European Plate Observing System (EPOS) was the development and first implementation of the EPOS Demonstrator by the project's ICT Working Group 7. The Demonstrator implements the vertical integration of the three-layer architectural scheme for EPOS, connecting the Integrated Core Services (ICS), Thematic Core Services (TCS) and the National Research Infrastructures (NRI). The demonstrator provides a single GUI with central key discovery and query functionalities, based on already existing services by the seismic, geologic and geodetic communities. More specifically the seismic services of the Demonstrator utilize webservices and APIs for data and discovery of raw seismic data (FDSN webservices by the EIDA Network), events (Geoportal by EMSC) and analytical data products (e.g., hazard maps by EFEHR via OGC WMS). For geologic services, the EPOS Demonstrator accesses OneGeology Europe which serves the community with geologic maps and point information via OGC webservices. The Demonstrator also provides access to raw geodetic data via a newly developed universal tool called GSAC. The Demonstrator itself resembles the future Integrated Core Service (ICS) and provides direct access to the end user. Its core functionality lies in a metadata catalogue, which serves as the central information hub and stores information about all RIs, related persons, projects, financial background and technical access information. The database schema of the catalogue is based on CERIF, which has been slightly adapted. Currently, the portal provides basic query functions as well as cross domain search. [www.epos.cineca.it

  13. The EMBARC European bronchiectasis registry: Protocol for an international observational study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Chalmers, J.D. (James D.); S. Aliberti (Stefano); Polverino, E. (Eva); Vendrell, M. (Montserrat); Crichton, M. (Megan); Loebinger, M. (Michael); Dimakou, K. (Katerina); Clifton, I. (Ian); M. van der Eerden (Menno); G. Rohde (Gernot); Murris-Espin, M. (Marlene); Masefield, S. (Sarah); Gerada, E. (Eleanor); Shteinberg, M. (Michal); F.C. Ringshausen (Felix C.); Haworth, C. (Charles); W.G. Boersma (Wim); Rademacher, J. (Jessica); Hill, A.T. (Adam T.); Aksamit, T. (Timothy); O’Donnell, A. (Anne); Morgan, L. (Lucy); B. Milenkovic (Branislava); Tramma, L. (Leandro); Neves, J. (Joao); Menendez, R. (Rosario); Paggiaro, P. (Perluigi); Botnaru, V. (Victor); Skrgat, S. (Sabina); R. Wilson (Richard); Goeminne, P. (Pieter); De Soyza, A. (Anthony); T. Welte; Torres, A. (Antoni); S. Elborn (Stuart); Blasi, F. (Francesco)

    2016-01-01

    textabstractBronchiectasis is one of the most neglected diseases in respiratory medicine. There are no approved therapies and few large-scale, representative epidemiological studies. The EMBARC (European Multicentre Bronchiectasis Audit and Research Collaboration) registry is a prospective,

  14. Geo-energy Test Beds: part of the European Plate Observing System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stephenson, Michael; Schofield, David; Luton, Christopher; Haslinger, Florian; Henninges, Jan; Giardini, Domenico

    2016-04-01

    For 2020, the EU has committed to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions to 20% below 1990 levels and further cuts are being decided for 2050. This commitment is one of the headline targets of the Europe 2020 growth strategy and is being implemented through binding legislation. This decarbonisation of the EU economy is one dimension of an overall EU energy and climate framework that is mutually interlinked with the need to ensure energy security, promote a fully integrated energy market, promote energy efficiency and promote research innovation and competitiveness. Power generation will have to take a particularly large part in emissions reductions (-54 to -68% by 2030 and -93 to -99% by 2050), mainly by focussing on increasing surface renewables (wind, tidal and solar) but also on carbon capture and storage on fossil fuel and biofuel power plants, shale gas, nuclear and geothermal power. All the above generation technologies share common geological challenges around containment, safety and environmental sustainability. In a densely populated continent, this means that high levels of subsurface management are needed to fully realise the energy potential. In response to this need, across Europe, public and private sector funded, experimental test and monitoring facilities and infrastructures (Geo-energy Test Beds, GETB) are being developed. These GETB investigate the processes, technology and practices that facilitate the sustainable exploitation of Geo-energy resources and are of intense interest to the public and regulators alike. The vision of EPOS IP Work Package 17 (wp17) is to promote research and innovation in Geo-energy that reflects core European energy priorities through provision of virtual access to data and protocols and trans-national access to GETB experiments. This will be achieved through provision of access to continuous strategic observations, promotion of the integrated use of data and models from European GETB, development of underpinning research

  15. European 'Stabilisation through Association'

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rodt, Annemarie Peen

    In 2012 the Nobel Committee awarded the European Union (EU) its Peace Prize. It commemorated the building and sustaining of peace between Europeans, a process in which the Nobel Committee proposed that the EU and its predecessors had played an important part. It explicitly commen-ded the Union......’s success in repeatedly reconciling a divided continent and complemented its efforts to build peace beyond its borders. But does the EU (continue to) deserve such praise? This contribution examines European peacebuilding from the early inte-gration of post-World War Two economies, through the uniting...... of Europe after the Cold War to contemporary conflict management efforts in the Western Balkans and the Eastern neighbourhood. The purpose of this endeavour is to examine whether lessons from the European experience can be observed that may facilitate future regional stabilisation processes – within...

  16. 25-Hydroxyvitamin-D3 serum modulation after use of sunbeds compliant with European Union standards: A randomized open observational controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weber, Benedikt; Bachmann, Chantal C; Braun, Ralph; Abraham, Alison G; Serra, Andreas L; Hofbauer, Günther F L

    2017-07-01

    Regular use of sunbed exposure has been reported to increase 25-hydroxyvitamin-D3 [25(OH)D] serum levels. However, the influence of sunbeds compliant with the recent European Union standard EN-60335-2-27 on 25(OH)D serum levels is unknown. We investigated the impact of standard sunbed use compliant with the European Union standard on 25(OH)D serum modulation and well-being. In a randomized controlled study, 25(OH)D serum levels were measured at enrollment, after 1 week, and after completion of the 12-week period of sunbed use with twice weekly exposure and compared with the control group without any sunbed exposure. In the sunbed intervention group (N = 31), a 27% increase of mean 25(OH)D levels was noted 1 week after starting sunbed use (P European Union standard induced a transient increase of 25(OH)D levels, whereas no change in well-being was observed. Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation on European tropospheric composition: an observational and modelling study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pope, R.; Chipperfield, M.

    2017-12-01

    The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) has a strong influence on winter-time North Atlantic and European circulation patterns. Under the positive phase of the NAO (NAO+), intensification of the climatological Icelandic low and Azores high pressure systems results in strong westerly flow across the Atlantic into Europe. Under the NAO negative phase (NAO-), there is a weakening of this meridional pressure gradient resulting in a southerly shift in the westerlies flow towards the sub-tropical Atlantic. Therefore, NAO+ and NAO- introduce unstable stormy and drier stable conditions into Europe, respectively. Under NAO+ conditions, the strong westerlies tend to enhance transport of European pollution (e.g. nitrogen oxides) away from anthropogenic source regions. While during NAO-, the more stable conditions lead to a build up of pollutants. However, secondary pollutants (i.e. tropospheric ozone) show the opposite signal where NAO+, while transporting primary pollutants away, introduces Atlantic ozone enriched air into Europe. Here ozone can form downwind of pollution from continental North America and be transported into Europe via the westerly flow. Under NAO-, this westerly ozone transport is reduced yielding lower European ozone concentrations also depleted further by ozone loss through the reaction with NOx, which has accumulated over the continent. Peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN), observed in the upper troposphere - lower stratosphere (UTLS) by satellite, peaks over Iceland/Southern Greenland in NAO-, between 200-100 hPa, consistent with trapping by an anticyclone at this altitude. During NAO+, PAN is enhanced over the sub-tropical Atlantic and Arctic. Model simulations show that enhanced PAN over Iceland/Southern Greenland in NAO- is associated with vertical transport from the troposphere into the UTLS, while peak Arctic PAN in NAO+ is its accumulation given the strong northerly meridional transport in the UTLS. UTLS ozone spatial anomalies, relative to the winter

  18. Nurses' intention to leave their profession: a cross sectional observational study in 10 European countries

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Heinen, M.M.; Achterberg, T. van; Schwendimann, R.; Zander, B.; Matthews, A.; Kozka, M.; Ensio, A.; Sjetne, I.S.; Moreno Casbas, T.; Ball, J.; Schoonhoven, L.

    2013-01-01

    BACKGROUND: As the European population ages, the demand for nursing care increases. Yet, a shortage of nurses at the labour market exists or is predicted for most European countries. There are no adequate solutions for this shortage yet, and recruitment of future nurses is difficult. Therefore,

  19. Observing environmental European legislation - strategic priority of SC Termoelectrica

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pop, Ovidiu; Motiu, Cornel

    2004-01-01

    Defined as the main Romanian power producer, SC Termoelectrica is also a Company that faced over 50 years of experience and confrontations with different technical, economical and legislative problems. The measures of restructuring that were taken during the last years, also included a program of retiring of use of some inefficient and in excess units. That brought our company at its actual structure that consists in producing, repairs and services units, organized as commercial societies and subsidiaries of SC Termoelectrica. The activity of producing thermal and electric power using old power equipment (33.84% of them are over 30 years old, 46.54% are between 10-20 years old and only 0.64 % are under 10 years old) and without control pollution installations or having inefficient installations, led to the increasing of some environmental problems along the years. The paper has the following structure: - Introduction; - Actual situation; - The accession to the European Union - the control of industrial pollution (The abatement of atmospheric, water and soil pollution); - The mitigation of greenhouse gases. In conclusion one stresses that no matter which will be the way of organization the environmental approach at European or national level, these will become a strategic priority for SC Termoelectrica. The way these environmental problems will be solved will have a great influence on: - The company's thermal power plants work, while their impact upon the local, regional and global environment will be almost nonexistent; - The offer of electric power produced by thermal power plants in national and international transactions; - The fulfillment of the three objectives of a power producer: accessibility, availability and acceptability

  20. Contributions of the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) to the EPOS (European Plate Observing System) Implementation Phase 2015-18

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoffmann, T. L.; Lauterjung, J.

    2017-12-01

    The European Plate Observing System project is currently approaching the end of year two of its four-year Implementation Phase 2015-18 (EPOS-IP). Under the Horizon 2020 Programme INFRADEV-3, the EPOS cyberinfrastructure is being established as an ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium) and encompasses the implementation of both the EPOS Integrated Core Services (ICS) for solid Earth Science and a multitude of EPOS Thematic Core Services (TCS). During year two, a basic set of ICS and TCS services was developed and implemented, so that in October 2017 the validation phase (year 3) of EPOS is ready to be launched. Up to now, various TCS-Elements have integrated different Service Providers (SD) that are delivering Data, Data Products, Services and Software (DDSS) to their specific scientific community. As one of the 29 awardees of the EC grant, the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) plays an important role in the implementation of EPOS and its Thematic and Integrated Core Services. The presented poster will give an overview of GFZ's participation in the work of nine technical EPOS Work Packages (WP7 ICS Development, WP8 Seismology, WP11 Volcano Observations, WP12 Satellite Data, WP13 Geomagnetic Observations, WP14 Anthropogenic Hazards, WP15 Geological Information and Modelling, WP16 Multi-Scale Laboratories and WP17 Geo Energy Test Beds) as well as in four administrative EPOS Work Packages (WP2 Communication, WP3 Harmonization, WP4 Legal & Governance, and WP5 Financial).

  1. PEP725 Pan European Phenological Database

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koch, E.; Adler, S.; Lipa, W.; Ungersböck, M.; Zach-Hermann, S.

    2010-09-01

    Europe is in the fortunate situation that it has a long tradition in phenological networking: the history of collecting phenological data and using them in climatology has its starting point in 1751 when Carl von Linné outlined in his work Philosophia Botanica methods for compiling annual plant calendars of leaf opening, flowering, fruiting and leaf fall together with climatological observations "so as to show how areas differ". Recently in most European countries, phenological observations have been carried out routinely for more than 50 years by different governmental and non governmental organisations and following different observation guidelines, the data stored at different places in different formats. This has been really hampering pan European studies as one has to address many network operators to get access to the data before one can start to bring them in a uniform style. From 2004 to 2009 the COST-action 725 established a European wide data set of phenological observations. But the deliverables of this COST action was not only the common phenological database and common observation guidelines - COST725 helped to trigger a revival of some old networks and to establish new ones as for instance in Sweden. At the end of 2009 the COST action the database comprised about 8 million data in total from 15 European countries plus the data from the International Phenological Gardens IPG. In January 2010 PEP725 began its work as follow up project with funding from EUMETNET the network of European meteorological services and of ZAMG the Austrian national meteorological service. PEP725 not only will take over the part of maintaining, updating the COST725 database, but also to bring in phenological data from the time before 1951, developing better quality checking procedures and ensuring an open access to the database. An attractive webpage will make phenology and climate impacts on vegetation more visible in the public enabling a monitoring of vegetation development.

  2. The ethical aspect of observation and criticism of the term European science

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Popović Brankica V.

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper relies primarily on criticism of Husserl of the European nations to which he looks inside the main context and the history of Western metaphysics and philosophy through the lens of European culture in general. The main deposited tradition of science, according to Husserl, has its core in theory inaugurated by Galileo, which becomes explicit with Descartes philosophy and affirmed the works of Newton, Leibniz, and Kant. This tradition of science Husserl calls 'Galilean science' while his critique of Cartesian spirit is derived from perceptions of philosophical centrality of the concept of 'world - life' as a valid basis and source of all knowledge of reality. Implicit in this criticism turning to Husserl experience with intuitive-reflective method seeks its evidence within the contours of the human experience, i.e. activities of the entity as a living body, which is a cognitive dualism overcome.

  3. EFSA and ECDC (European Food Safety Authority and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control), 2015. The European Union Summary Report on Trends and Sources of Zoonoses, Zoonotic Agents and Food-borne Outbreaks in 2013

    OpenAIRE

    Helwigh, Birgitte

    2015-01-01

    This report of the European Food Safety Authority and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control presents the results of the zoonoses monitoring activities carried out in 2013 in 32 European countries (28 Member States and four non-Member States). Campylobacter iosis was the most commonly reported zoonosis. After several years of an increasing European Union (EU) trend, the human Campylobacter iosis notification rate has stabilised. In food and animals no EU trends were observed a...

  4. Future European Temperature change uncertainties reduced by using land heat flux observations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stegehuis, A.I.; Teuling, A.J.; Ciais, P.; Vautard, R.; Jung, M.

    2013-01-01

    The variability of European summer climate is expected to increase in the next century due to increasing levels of atmospheric greenhouse gases, likely resulting in more frequent and more extreme droughts and heatwaves. However, climate models diverge on the magnitude of these processes, due to

  5. Cytomorphology review of 100 newly diagnosed lower-risk MDS patients in the European LeukemiaNet MDS (EUMDS) registry reveals a high inter-observer concordance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Swart, L. de; Smith, A.; MacKenzie, M.; Symeonidis, A.; Neukirchen, J.; Mikulenkova, D.; Vallespi, T.; Zini, G.; Paszkowska-Kowalewska, M.; Kruger, A.; Saft, L.; Fenaux, P.; Bowen, D.; Hellstrom-Lindberg, E.; Cermak, J.; Stauder, R.; Tatic, A.; Holm, M.S.; Malcovati, L.; Madry, K.; Droste, J.A.; Blijlevens, N.M.; Witte, T.J. de; Germing, U.

    2017-01-01

    The European LeukemiaNet MDS (EUMDS) registry is collecting data of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients belonging to the IPSS low or intermediate-1 category, newly diagnosed by local cytologists. The diagnosis of MDS can be challenging, and some data report inter-observer variability with regard

  6. European Utility Requirements: European nuclear energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Komsi, M.; Patrakka, E.

    1997-01-01

    The work procedure and the content of the European Utility Requirements (EUR) concerning the future LWRs is described in the article. European Utility Requirements, produced by utilities in a number of European countries, is a document specifying the details relating to engineered safety, operating performance, reliability and economics of the reactors to be built by manufacturers for the European market

  7. Knowledge base for growth and innovation in ocean economy: assembly and dissemination of marine data for seabed mapping - European Marine Observation Data Network - EMODnet Physics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Novellino, Antonio; Gorringe, Patrick; Schaap, Dick; Pouliquen, Sylvie; Rickards, Lesley; Manzella, Giuseppe

    2014-05-01

    The Physics preparatory action (MARE/2010/02 - Lot [SI2.579120]) had the overall objectives to provide access to archived and near real-time data on physical conditions as monitored by fixed stations and Ferrybox lines in all the European sea basins and oceans and to determine how well the data meet the needs of users. The existing EMODnet-Physics portal, www.emodnet-physics.eu, includes systems for physical data from the whole Europe (wave height and period, temperature of the water column, wind speed and direction, salinity of the water column, horizontal velocity of the water column, light attenuation, and sea level) provided mainly by fixed stations and ferry-box platforms, discovering related data sets (both near real time and historical data sets), viewing and downloading of the data from about 470 platforms across the European Sea basins. It makes layers of physical data and their metadata available for use and contributes towards the definition of an operational European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet). It is based on a strong collaboration between EuroGOOS member institutes and its regional operational oceanographic systems (ROOSs), and it brings together two marine, but different, communities : the "real time" ocean observing institutes and centers and the National Oceanographic Data Centres (NODCs) that are in charge for archived ocean data validation, quality check and continuous update of data archives for marine environmental monitoring. EMODnet Physics is a Marine Observation and Data Information System that provides a single point of access to near real time and historical achieved data, it is built on existing infrastructure by adding value and avoiding any unnecessary complexity, it provides data access to any relevant user, and is aimed at attracting new data holders and providing better and more data. With a long term-vision for a sustained pan European Ocean Observation System EMODnet Physics is supporting the coordination of the

  8. Vision of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems: a European Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ollier, G.; Craglia, M.; Nativi, S.

    2013-12-01

    The possibility of involving citizens in measuring and providing data is becoming a reality through the concept of "Citizen Observatories". This takes advantage of everybody's capacity to use mobile phone/tablet/laptop to monitor the environment and by trying to find cheap solutions to strengthen the in-situ network of observatories needed for a Global Earth Observation System. Further to the Citizen Observatories approach, the development of cheap sensors based on disposable technologies, nanotech and the piggy-back approach could also be applied to several Societal Challenges and contribute to the GEOSS. The involvement of citizens in the domain of Earth Observation implies dealing with many diverse communities that need to be fully connected into the overall GEOSS architecture. With the introduction of a brokering capability this becomesnow possible. The value of the brokering approach has been demonstrated within the European Union funded EuroGEOSS research project. The EuroGEOSS brokering capability has now been incorporated into the GEOSS information system, (known as the GEOSS Common Infrastructure, or GCI) and renamed the GEOSS Discovery and Access Broker. In a matter of a few months the GEOSS DAB has enabled the GEOSS to extend the data resources available from a few hundred to over 28 million The vison which is discussed here is that with a more active participation of the Citizens one could imagine a world with instant information flow about the state and future evolution of the environment available, similar to what has been achieved in weather forecasting but covering fields such as climate, agriculture, water etc. and covering larger forecast time spans from months to years. Failure on crops for instance could be forecasted and measures to mitigate potential upcoming problems could be put in place well in advance. Obviously, the societal and economic benefits would be manifold and large

  9. European guidelines on lifestyle changes for management of hypertension : Awareness and implementation of recommendations among German and European physicians.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bolbrinker, J; Zaidi Touis, L; Gohlke, H; Weisser, B; Kreutz, R

    2017-05-22

    In the 2013 European Society of Hypertension (ESH) and European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines for the management of arterial hypertension, six lifestyle changes for treatment are recommended for the first time with class I, level of evidence A. We initiated a survey among physicians to explore their awareness and consideration of lifestyle changes in hypertension management. The survey included questions regarding demographics as well as awareness and implementation of the recommended lifestyle changes. It was conducted at two German and two European scientific meetings in 2015. In all, 1064 (37.4% female) physicians participated (806 at the European and 258 at the German meetings). Of the six recommended lifestyle changes, self-reported awareness was highest for regular exercise (85.8%) followed by reduction of weight (66.2%). The least frequently self-reported lifestyle changes were the advice to quit smoking (47.3%) and moderation of alcohol consumption (36.3%). Similar frequencies were observed for the lifestyle changes implemented by physicians in their care of patients. A close correlation between awareness of guideline recommendations and their implementation into clinical management was observed. European physicians place a stronger emphasis on regular exercise and weight reduction than on the other recommended lifestyle changes. Moderation of alcohol consumption is the least emphasized lifestyle change.

  10. Do European consumers use nutrition labels?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wills, Josephine M.; Grunert, Klaus G.; Celemín, Laura Fernández

    2009-01-01

    Nutrition labelling on food packages becomes more and more widespread in the European Union. Such information is not compulsory, unless a nutrition or health claim is made. However, how do consumers use nutrition information? Two European studies are currently assessing whether nutrition...... information on food labels is exerting an effect on healthy food choices among consumers. Based for the first time on in-store observations and interviews, these studies give a real-life insight into consumers' shopping behaviours. The major outcomes to date are that most European consumers have reasonable...... knowledge about nutrition and are able to use nutrition labels to identify healthier products within a category....

  11. Hydroxyethyl starch 130/0.42/6:1 for perioperative plasma volume replacement in 1130 children: results of an European prospective multicenter observational postauthorization safety study (PASS)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sümpelmann, Robert; Kretz, Franz-Josef; Luntzer, Robert; de Leeuw, Thomas G.; Mixa, Vladimir; Gäbler, Ralf; Eich, Christoph; Hollmann, Markus W.; Osthaus, Wilhelm A.

    2012-01-01

    Introduction: Third-generation hydroxyethyl starch (HES) is now approved also for the use in children, but safety studies including large numbers of pediatric patients are still missing. Therefore, we performed an European multicentric prospective observational postauthorization safety study (PASS)

  12. Tuberculosis among migrant populations in the European Union and the European Economic Area.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Odone, Anna; Tillmann, Taavi; Sandgren, Andreas; Williams, Gemma; Rechel, Bernd; Ingleby, David; Noori, Teymur; Mladovsky, Philipa; McKee, Martin

    2015-06-01

    Although tuberculosis (TB) incidence has been decreasing in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) in the last decades, specific subgroups of the population, such as migrants, remain at high risk of TB. This study is based on the report 'Key Infectious Diseases in Migrant Populations in the EU/EEA' commissioned by The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. We collected, critically appraised and summarized the available evidence on the TB burden in migrants in the EU/EEA. Data were collected through: (i) a comprehensive literature review; (ii) analysis of data from The European Surveillance System (TESSy) and (iii) evidence provided by TB experts during an infectious disease workshop in 2012. In 2010, of the 73,996 TB cases notified in the EU/EEA, 25% were of foreign origin. The overall decrease of TB cases observed in recent years has not been reflected in migrant populations. Foreign-born people with TB exhibit different socioeconomic and clinical characteristics than native sufferers. This is one of the first studies to use multiple data sources, including the largest available European database on infectious disease notifications, to assess the burden and provide a comprehensive description and analysis of specific TB features in migrants in the EU/EEA. Strengthened information about health determinants and factors for migrants' vulnerability is needed to plan, implement and evaluate targeted TB care and control interventions for migrants in the EU/EEA. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association.

  13. Modelling of X-ray emission supernova remnants observed by the European satellite XMM-Newton

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cassam-Chenai, G.

    2004-01-01

    This thesis deals with the X-ray emission of supernova remnants (SNRs) observed by the European satellite XMM-Newton. In SNRs, the matter heated to millions of degrees shines brightly in X-rays. This emission depends on the hydrodynamical evolution of the SNR, on the chemical composition of the ejected matter and on the ambient medium. Moreover, the blast-wave is considered to be the prime site of the production and the acceleration of cosmic-rays in our Galaxy. XMM-Newton is one of the first to allow the investigation of these different aspects thanks to its spatially-resolved spectroscopy and its very good sensitivity. l first studied Kepler's SNR (SN 1604) whose X-ray emission is dominated by the ejecta. Its observation has allowed to obtain information on the nucleosynthesis products, on their spatial distribution and on the temperature structure in the shocked ejecta. This gives strong constraints on the physics of the explosion and on the progenitor's type. l have shown also that the X-ray emission at the shock is likely to be non-thermal. Then, l studied the SNR G347.3-0.5 whose X-ray emission is entirely due to the synchrotron radiation of relativistic (TeV) electrons accelerated at the shock. From five pointing, l made a full mapping of the X-ray emission characteristics (brightness, absorption and spectral index) at small scale. Combined to radio observations, these results have indicated a clear interaction between the SNR and molecular clouds located at 1 kpc and not at 6 kpc as previously estimated. Lastly, in the framework of a self-similar hydrodynamical model coupled with non-linear particle acceleration, l have obtained the synchrotron emission profile in SNRs, including the adiabatic and radiative losses of the accelerated electrons. (author) [fr

  14. The european union as subjects of law

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fila R.

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available At the international level it is recognized that development and progress of the new and unique international organization – European Union – is one of the appropriate form of the international organization’s integration. Although European Union was establish as international economic organization, it has gradually integrated the various “best practices” ideas from different governmental systems. Encouragement and motives for cooperation of Member states indicate that member states give more competences of government to the international organization’s institutes. Wherewith, it is observed that the economic and political internationalization has led to disappearance of integrity of territory of member states. The above mentioned opinion is not based on research of the European Union as international organization from standpoint of international law, but from standpoint of theory law – could give juridical estimate regarding executive power in European Union and who could define particular source and entity of administrative law of European Union.

  15. The European Social Survey and European research policy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kropp, Kristoffer

    2017-01-01

    This article analyses the history of the European Social Survey (ESS) and its relationship to changes in European research policy, using Bourdieu’s field-analytical approach. It argues that the success of the ESS relied on three interwoven processes that we can understand theoretically in terms...... of the establishment of homological structures and the formation of conjunctural alliances between the field of European social-scientific research and the field of European policy. The three interwoven processes that I depict are: first, the production of a European field of social research, connected to both...... European and national scientific institutions; second, the establishment of European Union (EU) institutions and organisations that were able to identify and link up with social researchers; and third, the formation of conjunctural alliances between the two fields (social science and EU research policy...

  16. The EIROforum Collaboration Agreement with the European Union

    CERN Document Server

    2003-01-01

    Collaboration between CERN and the European Union has extended over many years, and the European Commission were granted Observer Status in the CERN Council in 1985 already. In 1994, an Administrative Arrangement was signed between CERN's Director-General, Professor C.H. Llewellyn Smith, and the Commissioner of the European Communities, Professor Antonio Ruberti, "to promote co-operation between the Commission of the European Communities and CERN in research and technological development". (See Annex I). In 2000, the EIROforum was set up composed of the Directors-General of the seven organisations - CERN, EFDA, EMBL, ESA, ESO, ESRF and ILL - whom now meet regularly twice per year. More information is available at the Web site www.eiroforum.org. On 27 October 2003, the EIROforum members signed a joint "Statement of Intent" with the European Commission, represented by Commissioner Philippe Busquin, confirming their common commitment to developing the European Research Area. The goal is to work together to estab...

  17. European Population Genetic Substructure: Further Definition of Ancestry Informative Markers for Distinguishing Among Diverse European Ethnic Groups

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tian, Chao; Kosoy, Roman; Nassir, Rami; Lee, Annette; Villoslada, Pablo; Klareskog, Lars; Hammarström, Lennart; Garchon, Henri-Jean; Pulver, Ann E.; Ransom, Michael; Gregersen, Peter K.; Seldin, Michael F.

    2009-01-01

    The definition of European population genetic substructure and its application to understanding complex phenotypes is becoming increasingly important. In the current study using over 4000 subjects genotyped for 300 thousand SNPs we provide further insight into relationships among European population groups and identify sets of SNP ancestry informative markers (AIMs) for application in genetic studies. In general, the graphical description of these principal components analyses (PCA) of diverse European subjects showed a strong correspondence to the geographical relationships of specific countries or regions of origin. Clearer separation of different ethnic and regional populations was observed when northern and southern European groups were considered separately and the PCA results were influenced by the inclusion or exclusion of different self-identified population groups including Ashkenazi Jewish, Sardinian and Orcadian ethnic groups. SNP AIM sets were identified that could distinguish the regional and ethnic population groups. Moreover, the studies demonstrated that most allele frequency differences between different European groups could be effectively controlled in analyses using these AIM sets. The European substructure AIMs should be widely applicable to ongoing studies to confirm and delineate specific disease susceptibility candidate regions without the necessity to perform additional genome-wide SNP studies in additional subject sets. PMID:19707526

  18. Gender equality observations and actions by the European Research Council

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rydin, Claudia Alves de Jesus; Farina Busto, Luis; Penny, Martin

    2016-04-01

    Women have historically been underrepresented in science. Much positive progress in attracting women to research careers has been achieved in recent years; however, the most influential and high profile positions in most countries are still predominantly occupied by men. The European Research Council (ERC), Europe's premiere funding agency for frontier research, views gender equality as an important challenge. The ERC monitors closely gender figures on every call and has taken actions to tackle gender imbalances and potential unconscious biases. The ERC talk is focused on efforts made to understand and ensure equal treatment of all candidates, with particular focus on gender balance and with specific attention to geosciences. Data and statistics collected from ERC's internationally recognised funding schemes are presented.

  19. EUROPEAN UNION AND THE PROCESS OF GLOBALIZATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mihail CARADAICĂ

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available What is the relation between globalization and the process of European integration? Does the European integration have its own way, or is it deeply dependent on globalization? Those are the main questions I will try to answer in this paper by using an alternative critical approach: neo-gramscianism. Neo-gramscianism is a historical materialist view on the European integration process and international political economy which offers a better understanding of the social changes in terms of social forces agency and super structural influence (the neoliberal ideology of globalization and European integration. My aim is to analyze the globalization process through a neo-gramscian theoretical framework and to observe how its main components affect European Integration. I will do this by assuming the definition of globalization provided by Andreas Bieler, who understands this process through three main pillars: transnationalization of finance, transnationalization of production and ideological shift from Keynesianism to neoliberalism. Finally I will try to formulate some conclusions regarding the emergence of European Round Table of Industrialists – the first lobby group of big capital at the European Union level – and Economic and Monetary Union – the internal market program that symbolizes the shift to neo-liberalism.

  20. Compliance of blood sampling procedures with the CLSI H3-A6 guidelines: An observational study by the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) working group for the preanalytical phase (WG-PRE)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Simundic, Ana-Maria; Church, Stephen; Cornes, Michael P.; Grankvist, Kjell; Lippi, Giuseppe; Nybo, Mads; Nikolac, Nora; van Dongen-Lases, Edmee; Eker, Pinar; Kovalevskaya, Svjetlana; Kristensen, Gunn B. B.; Sprongl, Ludek; Sumarac, Zorica

    2015-01-01

    Abstract Background: An observational study was conducted in 12 European countries by the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine Working Group for the Preanalytical Phase (EFLM WG-PRE) to assess the level of compliance with the CLSI H3-A6 guidelines. Methods: A structured

  1. The post-European city in Europe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marco Venturi

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available Established tools for forecasting urban development are evidently insufficient. Even most hypotheses seen as axiomatic in urbanisation processes are confronted by new phenomena on a daily basis. In the European tradition there is however a method, which allows definition of common methods and answers: the analysis of ties in urbanisation processes. By analysis of quantitative observation, re-evaluation of the essence of public investments, identification of signs of urbanity and transformation of hierarchies the author offers a possibility for urban futures of European cities, which stems from relationships of contradicting pairs.

  2. Strategy for sustainability of the Joint European Research Infrastructure Network for Coastal Observatories - JERICO

    OpenAIRE

    Puillat, Ingrid; Farcy, Patrick; Durand, Dominique; Petihakis, George; Morin, Pascal; Kriegger, Magali; Petersen, Wilhelm; Tintoré, Joaquin; Sorensen, Kai; Sparnocchia, Stefania; Wehde, Henning

    2015-01-01

    The JERICO European research infrastructure (RI) is integrating several platform types i.e. fixed buoys, piles, moorings, drifters, Ferryboxes, gliders, HF radars, coastal cable observatories and the associated technologies dedicated to the observation and monitoring of the European coastal seas. The infrastructure is to serve both the implementation of European marine policies and the elucidation of key scientific questions through dedicated observation and monitoring plans. It includes obse...

  3. European communion

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Manners, Ian James

    2013-01-01

    Political theory of European union, through an engagement between political concepts and theoretical understandings, provides a means of identifying the EU as a political object. It is argued that understanding the projects, processes and products of European union, based on ‘sharing’ or ‘communion......’, provides a better means of perceiving the EU as a political object rather than terms such as ‘integration’ or ‘co-operation’. The concept of ‘European communion’ is defined as the ‘subjective sharing of relationships’, understood as the extent to which individuals or groups believe themselves to be sharing...... relations (or not), and the consequences of these beliefs for European political projects, processes and products. By exploring European communion through an engagement with contemporary political theory, using very brief illustrations from the Treaty of Lisbon, the article also suggests that European...

  4. The European Hematology Association Roadmap for European Hematology Research

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Engert, Andreas; Balduini, Carlo; Brand, Anneke

    2016-01-01

    The European Hematology Association (EHA) Roadmap for European Hematology Research highlights major achievements in diagnosis and treatment of blood disorders and identifies the greatest unmet clinical and scientific needs in those areas to enable better funded, more focused European hematology...... research. Initiated by the EHA, around 300 experts contributed to the consensus document, which will help European policy makers, research funders, research organizations, researchers, and patient groups make better informed decisions on hematology research. It also aims to raise public awareness...... of the burden of blood disorders on European society, which purely in economic terms is estimated at €23 billion per year, a level of cost that is not matched in current European hematology research funding. In recent decades, hematology research has improved our fundamental understanding of the biology...

  5. Eastern Dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy: Europeanization Mutual Trap

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. A. Latkina

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The article analyses the Europeanization policy of the European Union towards the Eastern Partnership participant countries. Suffering from the lack of clear strategy and ultimate goal in the European Neighbourhood Policy the European Union enhances external democratization and its governance in post soviet states without immediate Union's membership perspective. Underestimation of common neighbourhood geopolitical duality in the context of growing rivalry between European (EU and Eurasian (Custom Union/Eurasian Economic Union integration gravitation centers presents the Eastern partners of the EU with a fierce dilemma of externally forced immediate geopolitical and civilizational choice while not all of them are well prepared to such a choice. The mutual Europeanization trap here to be studied both for the EU and its Eastern partners (involving Russia is a deficiency of regulating cooperation mechanism in the situation of European and Eurasian free trades zones overlapping. Vilnius Summit 2013 results test the "European aspirations" of the New Independent States and upset the ongoing process of the European Neighbourhood Policy in the context of growing economic interdependence in Wider Europe. Besides, the Ukrainian crisis escalation during 2014 as a new seat of tension provokes unbalance of the whole European security system and creates new dividing lines in Europe from Vancouver to Vladivostok.

  6. Juvenile European anchovy otolith microstructure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pablo Cermeño

    2006-09-01

    Full Text Available Juvenile European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus has a complex incremental growth pattern that was studied using scanning electron microscope (SEM and optical microscope observations. Daily increments were identified and related to rhythmic growth patterns while double-band structures were identified as one increment. The causes of these growth patterns are discussed.

  7. The Probation Service in the Context of European Integration. The Supervision of Convicts in the Community. Critical Observations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ion RUSU

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of the appliance of non-custodial penalties, completed by the necessity of respecting the measures of surveillance and/or certain obligations imposed by the court, is to ensure the re-socialization and reintegration into the community to which they belong. In this context, at the European Union’s level it was adopted 2008/947/JHA Framework Decision of the Council on 27 November 2008 regarding the appliance of mutual recognition principle in the case of judgments and probation decisions for supervising the probation measures and alternative sanctions. The most important criterion under which judicial decision can be transmitted to another Member State is referring to the convicted person residency, considering that adopting such a measure the chances of social reintegration of the sentenced person will increase, allowing them to preserve the family, linguistic, cultural links. The probation service has a critical role for community supervision of the measures and obligations imposed by the Romanian court to the sentenced person. This institution has a number of specific tasks even when the Romanian court sends the legal judgment accompanied by the certificate in another Member State, seeking its recognition and enforcement. These responsibilities relate in particular to the cooperation activity that needs to be carried out with similarauthority of the executing Member State, since it can always intervene the possibility of restoring the competence of executing the decision of the Romanian court. The critical observations relate to the legislative act both European and our internal law.

  8. Who makes European Cohesion Policy: a practitioners’ learning perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fanny Sbaraglia

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Through the European Social Fund (ESF, the European Union subsidizes social inclusion and occupational trainee projects. This policy instrument is formulated by European Union institutions and implemented by regions through a call for projects which requires innovative actions and a result-oriented strategy. It is a key vantage point to observe sub-national implementation of an European Union policy instrument in a sub-national practitioner’s perspective, a topic under-investigated in the literature. For a project to receive funding, sub-national practitioners must take the European Union requirements (accounting standards, evidence of innovation etc. and their social needs into account. Against this backdrop, this research tackles an original question: how can local practitioners adapt their policy actions to fit with European Union requirements? Taking the region of Wallonia in Belgium as a case study, the ESF implementation is considered as a specific policy process in sub-national policy sectors. Adopting an in-depth qualitative perspective, this research contends that it depends on practitioners’ learning, practices and experience of past applications, their specific socio-economic context and income maximization.

  9. Reconciling work and poverty reduction: how successful are European welfare states?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cantillon, B.; Vandenbroucke, F.

    2014-01-01

    Since the beginning of the great recession, poverty has, not unexpectedly, increased in many Member States of the European Union. More worrying in view of its structural implications is the observation that in the years before the financial crisis, in most European countries poverty rates for the

  10. European Research Reloaded : Cooperation and Integration Among Europeanized States

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Holzhacker, Ron; Haverland, Markus

    2006-01-01

    European integration has had an ever deepening impact on the member states. The first wave of research concerned the process of institution building and policy developments at the European Union (EU) level. The second wave, on Europeanization used the resulting integration as an explanatory factor

  11. The new European Hubble archive

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Marchi, Guido; Arevalo, Maria; Merin, Bruno

    2016-01-01

    The European Hubble Archive (hereafter eHST), hosted at ESA's European Space Astronomy Centre, has been released for public use in October 2015. The eHST is now fully integrated with the other ESA science archives to ensure long-term preservation of the Hubble data, consisting of more than 1 million observations from 10 different scientific instruments. The public HST data, the Hubble Legacy Archive, and the high-level science data products are now all available to scientists through a single, carefully designed and user friendly web interface. In this talk, I will show how the the eHST can help boost archival research, including how to search on sources in the field of view thanks to precise footprints projected onto the sky, how to obtain enhanced previews of imaging data and interactive spectral plots, and how to directly link observations with already published papers. To maximise the scientific exploitation of Hubble's data, the eHST offers connectivity to virtual observatory tools, easily integrates with the recently released Hubble Source Catalog, and is fully accessible through ESA's archives multi-mission interface.

  12. Population-Area Relationship for Medieval European Cities.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rudolf Cesaretti

    Full Text Available Medieval European urbanization presents a line of continuity between earlier cities and modern European urban systems. Yet, many of the spatial, political and economic features of medieval European cities were particular to the Middle Ages, and subsequently changed over the Early Modern Period and Industrial Revolution. There is a long tradition of demographic studies estimating the population sizes of medieval European cities, and comparative analyses of these data have shed much light on the long-term evolution of urban systems. However, the next step-to systematically relate the population size of these cities to their spatial and socioeconomic characteristics-has seldom been taken. This raises a series of interesting questions, as both modern and ancient cities have been observed to obey area-population relationships predicted by settlement scaling theory. To address these questions, we analyze a new dataset for the settled area and population of 173 European cities from the early fourteenth century to determine the relationship between population and settled area. To interpret this data, we develop two related models that lead to differing predictions regarding the quantitative form of the population-area relationship, depending on the level of social mixing present in these cities. Our empirical estimates of model parameters show a strong densification of cities with city population size, consistent with patterns in contemporary cities. Although social life in medieval Europe was orchestrated by hierarchical institutions (e.g., guilds, church, municipal organizations, our results show no statistically significant influence of these institutions on agglomeration effects. The similarities between the empirical patterns of settlement relating area to population observed here support the hypothesis that cities throughout history share common principles of organization that self-consistently relate their socioeconomic networks to structured

  13. Population-Area Relationship for Medieval European Cities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cesaretti, Rudolf; Lobo, José; Bettencourt, Luís M A; Ortman, Scott G; Smith, Michael E

    2016-01-01

    Medieval European urbanization presents a line of continuity between earlier cities and modern European urban systems. Yet, many of the spatial, political and economic features of medieval European cities were particular to the Middle Ages, and subsequently changed over the Early Modern Period and Industrial Revolution. There is a long tradition of demographic studies estimating the population sizes of medieval European cities, and comparative analyses of these data have shed much light on the long-term evolution of urban systems. However, the next step-to systematically relate the population size of these cities to their spatial and socioeconomic characteristics-has seldom been taken. This raises a series of interesting questions, as both modern and ancient cities have been observed to obey area-population relationships predicted by settlement scaling theory. To address these questions, we analyze a new dataset for the settled area and population of 173 European cities from the early fourteenth century to determine the relationship between population and settled area. To interpret this data, we develop two related models that lead to differing predictions regarding the quantitative form of the population-area relationship, depending on the level of social mixing present in these cities. Our empirical estimates of model parameters show a strong densification of cities with city population size, consistent with patterns in contemporary cities. Although social life in medieval Europe was orchestrated by hierarchical institutions (e.g., guilds, church, municipal organizations), our results show no statistically significant influence of these institutions on agglomeration effects. The similarities between the empirical patterns of settlement relating area to population observed here support the hypothesis that cities throughout history share common principles of organization that self-consistently relate their socioeconomic networks to structured urban spaces.

  14. Twenty Years of the European Information Systems Academy at ECIS

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stein, Mari-Klara; Galliers, Robert D.; Whitley, Edgar A.

    2016-01-01

    by further developing the profile of European IS research that was reported on in EJIS following the first 10 years of the European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS). On the basis of an analysis of all papers published in ECIS proceedings during the 10-year period 2003–2012, the paper highlights three...... key characteristics of the developing European IS research profile: (1) continuation of the traditional European IS research profile as developed in the first decade; (2) convergence with aspects of the North American tradition and (3) development of a distinct approach to design science. We place...... these observed characteristics within broader historical and contextual features such as the changing European academic landscape, with increasing pressures to ‘publish or perish’ in order to be internationally competitive. Our contribution lies in providing a contemporaneous account of the dominant contextual...

  15. FOOD SELF-SUFFICIENCY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES – ENERGETIC APPROACH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arkadiusz Sadowski

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The paper covers the issues of a basic social need, namely alimentation. The aim of the research is to evaluate the energetic food self-sufficiency and its changes in the European Union countries. The research has been conducted using the author’s methodology basing on the amount of energy produced and consumed in 1990-2009. The analyses proved that within the considered period, the European Union became an importer of net energy comprised in agricultural products. The excess in produced energy was mainly observed by the countries of European lowland. Moreover in most of the countries, a decrease in the analyzed factor was observed when compared with the 1990-1999 period. On the other hand, in relation to the new member states the increase in food energetic self-sufficiency was observed. The conclusion has been drawn that, while the general food self-sufficiency is mainly determined by environmental factors, its dynamics is primarily influenced by the factors connected with agricultural policy.

  16. Do French macroseismic intensity observations agree with expectations from the European Seismic Hazard Model 2013?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rey, Julien; Beauval, Céline; Douglas, John

    2018-02-01

    Probabilistic seismic hazard assessments are the basis of modern seismic design codes. To test fully a seismic hazard curve at the return periods of interest for engineering would require many thousands of years' worth of ground-motion recordings. Because strong-motion networks are often only a few decades old (e.g. in mainland France the first accelerometric network dates from the mid-1990s), data from such sensors can be used to test hazard estimates only at very short return periods. In this article, several hundreds of years of macroseismic intensity observations for mainland France are interpolated using a robust kriging-with-a-trend technique to establish the earthquake history of every French mainland municipality. At 24 selected cities representative of the French seismic context, the number of exceedances of intensities IV, V and VI is determined over time windows considered complete. After converting these intensities to peak ground accelerations using the global conversion equation of Caprio et al. (Ground motion to intensity conversion equations (GMICEs): a global relationship and evaluation of regional dependency, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 105:1476-1490, 2015), these exceedances are compared with those predicted by the European Seismic Hazard Model 2013 (ESHM13). In half of the cities, the number of observed exceedances for low intensities (IV and V) is within the range of predictions of ESHM13. In the other half of the cities, the number of observed exceedances is higher than the predictions of ESHM13. For intensity VI, the match is closer, but the comparison is less meaningful due to a scarcity of data. According to this study, the ESHM13 underestimates hazard in roughly half of France, even when taking into account the uncertainty in the conversion from intensity to acceleration. However, these results are valid only for the acceleration range tested in this study (0.01 to 0.09 g).

  17. Do French macroseismic intensity observations agree with expectations from the European Seismic Hazard Model 2013?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rey, Julien; Beauval, Céline; Douglas, John

    2018-05-01

    Probabilistic seismic hazard assessments are the basis of modern seismic design codes. To test fully a seismic hazard curve at the return periods of interest for engineering would require many thousands of years' worth of ground-motion recordings. Because strong-motion networks are often only a few decades old (e.g. in mainland France the first accelerometric network dates from the mid-1990s), data from such sensors can be used to test hazard estimates only at very short return periods. In this article, several hundreds of years of macroseismic intensity observations for mainland France are interpolated using a robust kriging-with-a-trend technique to establish the earthquake history of every French mainland municipality. At 24 selected cities representative of the French seismic context, the number of exceedances of intensities IV, V and VI is determined over time windows considered complete. After converting these intensities to peak ground accelerations using the global conversion equation of Caprio et al. (Ground motion to intensity conversion equations (GMICEs): a global relationship and evaluation of regional dependency, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 105:1476-1490, 2015), these exceedances are compared with those predicted by the European Seismic Hazard Model 2013 (ESHM13). In half of the cities, the number of observed exceedances for low intensities (IV and V) is within the range of predictions of ESHM13. In the other half of the cities, the number of observed exceedances is higher than the predictions of ESHM13. For intensity VI, the match is closer, but the comparison is less meaningful due to a scarcity of data. According to this study, the ESHM13 underestimates hazard in roughly half of France, even when taking into account the uncertainty in the conversion from intensity to acceleration. However, these results are valid only for the acceleration range tested in this study (0.01 to 0.09 g).

  18. European Corporate Law

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dorresteijn, Adriaan; Teichmann, Christoph; Werlauff, Erik

    , and the United Kingdom are taken into account; Italy is now included in this new edition. As in earlier editions, the authors demonstrate that analysis and comparison of national corporate laws yield highly valuable general principles and observations, not least because business organizations, wherever located...... initiatives in such aspects of the corporate environment as regulation of financial institutions and non-financial reporting obligations with a view to sustainability and other social responsibility concerns. The authors, all leading experts in European corporate law, describe current and emerging trends...

  19. Carbon cycling of European croplands: A framework for the assimilation of optical and microwave Earth observation data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Revill, Andrew; Sus, Oliver; Williams, Mathew

    2013-04-01

    Croplands are traditionally managed to maximise the production of food, feed, fibre and bioenergy. Advancements in agricultural technologies, together with land-use change, have approximately doubled World grain harvests over the past 50 years. Cropland ecosystems also play a significant role in the global carbon (C) cycle and, through changes to C storage in response to management activities, they can provide opportunities for climate change mitigation. However, quantifying and understanding the cropland C cycle is complex, due to variable environmental drivers, varied management practices and often highly heterogeneous landscapes. Efforts to upscale processes using simulation models must resolve these challenges. Here we show how data assimilation (DA) approaches can link C cycle modelling to Earth observation (EO) and reduce uncertainty in upscaling. We evaluate a framework for the assimilation of leaf area index (LAI) time series, empirically derived from EO optical and radar sensors, for state-updating a model of crop development and C fluxes. Sensors are selected with fine spatial resolutions (20-50 m) to resolve variability across field sizes typically used in European agriculture. Sequential DA is used to improve the canopy development simulation, which is validated by comparing time-series LAI and net ecosystem exchange (NEE) predictions to independent ground measurements and eddy covariance observations at multiple European cereal crop sites. Significant empirical relationships were established between the LAI ground measurements and the optical reflectance and radar backscatter, which allowed for single LAI calibrations being valid for all the cropland sites for each sensor. The DA of all EO LAI estimates results indicated clear adjustments in LAI and an enhanced representation of daily CO2 exchanges, particularly around the time of peak C uptake. Compared to the simulation without DA, the assimilation of all EO LAI estimates improved the predicted at

  20. Brazil to Join the European Southern Observatory

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-12-01

    conducted where every aspect of this large project was scrutinised by an international panel of independent experts. The panel found that the E-ELT project is technically ready to enter the construction phase. The go-ahead for E-ELT construction is planned for 2011 and when operations start early in the next decade, European, Brazilian and Chilean astronomers will have access to this giant telescope. The president of ESO's governing body, the Council, Laurent Vigroux, concludes: "Astronomers in Brazil will benefit from collaborating with European colleagues, and naturally from having observing time at ESO's world-class observatories at La Silla and Paranal, as well as on ALMA, which ESO is constructing with its international partners." Notes [1] After ratification of Brazil's membership, the ESO Member States will be Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. More information ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 14 countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and VISTA, the world's largest survey telescope. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the

  1. How campaigns enhance European issues voting during European Parliament elections

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Beach, Derek; Møller Hansen, Kasper; Larsen, Martin Vinæs

    2017-01-01

    Based on findings from the literature on campaign effects on the one hand, and the literature on European Parliament elections on the other, we propose a model of European Parliamentary elections in which the campaign shift the calculus of electoral support, making differences in national political...... allegiances less important and attitudes about the European project more important by informing voters of and getting them interested in European politics. In effect, we argue that the political campaign leading up to the election makes European Parliament elections less second-order. While previous studies...... have demonstrated that EU attitudes can matter for voting behavior in European Parliament elections, existing research has drawn on post-election surveys that do not enable us to capture campaign effects. Our contribution is to assess the impact of a campaign by utilizing a rolling cross sectional...

  2. DIAS Project: The establishment of a European digital upper atmosphere server

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belehaki, A.; Cander, Lj.; Zolesi, B.; Bremer, J.; Juren, C.; Stanislawska, I.; Dialetis, D.; Hatzopoulos, M.

    2005-08-01

    The main objective of DIAS (European Digital Upper Atmosphere Server) project is to develop a pan-European digital data collection on the state of the upper atmosphere, based on real-time information and historical data collections provided by most operating ionospheric stations in Europe. A DIAS system will distribute information required by various groups of users for the specification of upper atmospheric conditions over Europe suitable for nowcasting and forecasting purposes. The successful operation of the DIAS system will lead to the development of new European added-value products and services, to the effective use of observational data in operational applications and consequently to the expansion of the relevant European market.

  3. The European Parliament and the European future of Albania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Skerdilajd Bajramaj

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available On 06.24.2014 Albania was granted the status of candidate country. The foreign ministers of the 28 European Union member states decided unanimously to grant the candidate status for Albania. After receiving the status of “candidate country” for EU membership, the institutional relations with European international bodies are becoming stronger. One of these institutions, which during this time has increased its authority with Albania, is the European Parliament. In this paper will be analyzed the composition, competences and functioning of this particular institution, which is not only important for the future of the European Union and its Member States, but also for those who aim to join in. The study will be based on decisions made by this legislative body, as the only direct representative of the citizens of the European Union, and the impact they have on the performance and functioning of the Member States and the EU itself. In order to verify the validity of these claims, the analysis aims to assess the scope of the legislative function of the European Parliament post-Lisbon, examining its participation in the EU lawmaking both from the point of view of quantity and quality in over the past legislatures. Particular attention has been given to the examination of the changes that have taken place with the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, and the areas most affected. We will finally look at the work and contribution of the European Parliament, through the instruments at his disposal, on behalf of Albania’s progress towards full accession in the European Union.

  4. Results of the Simulation and Assimilation of Doppler Wind Lidar Observations in Preparation for European Space Agency's Aeolus Mission

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCarty, Will

    2011-01-01

    With the launch of the European Space Agency's Aeolus Mission in 2013, direct spaceborne measurements of vertical wind profiles are imminent via Doppler wind lidar technology. Part of the preparedness for such missions is the development of the proper data assimilation methodology for handling such observations. Since no heritage measurements exist in space, the Joint Observing System Simulation Experiment (Joint OSSE) framework has been utilized to generate a realistic proxy dataset as a precursor to flight. These data are being used for the development of the Gridpoint Statistical Interpolation (GSI) data assimilation system utilized at a number of centers through the United States including the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center and at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NOAA/NWS/NCEP) as an activity through the Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation. An update of this ongoing effort will be presented, including the methodology of proxy data generation, the limitations of the proxy data, the handling of line-of-sight wind measurements within the GSI, and the impact on both analyses and forecasts with the addition of the new data type.

  5. PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS ON THE DELEGATION OF POWERS TO NATIONAL AND EUROPEAN UNION LEVEL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silviu Alexandru Lăzărescu Simion

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available In the context of Romania's accession to the European Union, have created the conditions to issue a new category of delegation of powers at the national level, used in the management of EU funds. Thus, delegation under delegation agreements concluded between ministries function with role management authorities and legal entities subordinated, coordination or subordination or coordination outside a hierarchy is a concrete way to exercise the powers conferred by the provisions Romania Community and pursue assimilated by delegating temporary administrative office.

  6. Centre of the European gas market. The European Autumn Gas Conference

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van Hasselt, F.; Van der Wal, W.; Ruinen, H.

    1998-01-01

    From the results of the 1997 European Autumn Gas Conference in Barcelona, Spain, it appears that the European gas industry is mainly focused on the liberalization of the European energy market. The main topic of the Conference was 'dealing with surplus'. A brief overview is given of the natural gas trade developments in the European countries. 1 ill., 1 tab. 2 ills

  7. European Community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1987-05-01

    The European Community was established in 1951 to reconcile France and Germany after World War II and to make possible the eventual federation of Europe. By 1986, there were 12 member countries: France, Italy, Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Greece, Spain, and Portugal. Principal areas of concern are internal and external trade, agriculture, monetary coordination, fisheries, common industrial and commercial policies, assistance, science and research, and common social and regional policies. The European Community has a budget of US$34.035 billion/year, funded by customs duties and 1.4% of each member's value-added tax. The treaties establishing the European Community call for members to form a common market, a common customs tariff, and common agricultural, transport, economic, and nuclear policies. Major European Community institutions include the Commission, Council of Ministers, European Parliament, Court of Justice, and Economic and Social Committee. The Community is the world's largest trading unit, accounting for 15% of world trade. The 2 main goals of the Community's industrial policy are to create an open internal market and to promote technological innovation in order to improve international competitiveness. The European Community aims to contribute to the economic and social development of Third World countries as well.

  8. The European Plate Observing System (EPOS): Integrating Thematic Services for Solid Earth Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atakan, Kuvvet; Bailo, Daniele; Consortium, Epos

    2016-04-01

    The mission of EPOS is to monitor and understand the dynamic and complex Earth system by relying on new e-science opportunities and integrating diverse and advanced Research Infrastructures in Europe for solid Earth Science. EPOS will enable innovative multidisciplinary research for a better understanding of the Earth's physical and chemical processes that control earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, ground instability and tsunami as well as the processes driving tectonics and Earth's surface dynamics. Through integration of data, models and facilities EPOS will allow the Earth Science community to make a step change in developing new concepts and tools for key answers to scientific and socio-economic questions concerning geo-hazards and geo-resources as well as Earth sciences applications to the environment and to human welfare. EPOS, during its Implementation Phase (EPOS-IP), will integrate multidisciplinary data into a single e-infrastructure. Multidisciplinary data are organized and governed by the Thematic Core Services (TCS) and are driven by various scientific communities encompassing a wide spectrum of Earth science disciplines. These include Data, Data-products, Services and Software (DDSS), from seismology, near fault observatories, geodetic observations, volcano observations, satellite observations, geomagnetic observations, as well as data from various anthropogenic hazard episodes, geological information and modelling. In addition, transnational access to multi-scale laboratories and geo-energy test-beds for low-carbon energy will be provided. TCS DDSS will be integrated into Integrated Core Services (ICS), a platform that will ensure their interoperability and access to these services by the scientific community as well as other users within the society. This requires dedicated tasks for interactions with the various TCS-WPs, as well as the various distributed ICS (ICS-Ds), such as High Performance Computing (HPC) facilities, large scale data storage

  9. An overview of European efforts in generating climate data records

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Su, Z.; Timmermans, W.J.; Zeng, Y.; Schulz, J.; John, V.O.; Roebeling, R.A.; Poli, P.; Tan, D.; Kaspar, F.; Kaiser-Weiss, A.; Swinnen, E.; Tote, C.; Gregow, H.; Manninen, T.; Riihela, A.; Calvet, J.C.; Ma, Yaoming; Wen, Jun

    2018-01-01

    The Coordinating Earth Observation Data Validation for Reanalysis for Climate Services project (CORE-CLIMAX) aimed to substantiate how Copernicus observations and products can contribute to climate change analyses. CORE-CLIMAX assessed the European capability to provide climate data records (CDRs)

  10. Raising European Citizens: Constructing European Identities in French and English Textbooks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Inari Sakki

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Schools play a pivotal role in the formation of identities and in the political socialization of youth. This study explores the social representations of European integration in French and English school textbooks and shows how the social representations are discursively used to construct national and European identities. By analysing the history and civics textbooks of major educational publishers, this study aims to demonstrate how European integration is understood, made familiar and concretized in the school textbooks of the two influential but different European countries. The findings suggest some shared and some diverse patterns in the way the two European countries portray and construct the political project of European integration. These representations, constructed around French Europe in French textbooks and ambivalent Europe in English textbooks, share the images of a strong European economy and a French-led political Europe. However, they position themselves differently with respect to the United States, motivation for the European unification process and the significance of common values and heritage. In both countries textbooks draw upon memories that are important for group identity. While the French textbooks make European integration meaningful in reference to a shared post-war collective memory and to a cultural memory based on a more ancient idea of Europe, shared values and heritage, the English textbooks anchor it more strongly to domestic policy.

  11. Globalization and Europeanization. A Projection on a European Model of Public Administration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ani Matei

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available The specialized studies and literature present moreover and insistently the connection between globalization and Europeanization, more precisely between globalization and a European model of integration, whose features aim to set up a global-type European society. The development of the European model of integration starts with economic elements, it reveals nowadays the Economic and Monetary Union and in perspective it will be structured within a sui generis system of transnational governance. The values of the European model of integration become fundamental values of a social process, with powerful economic and political determinations, aiming the multi-causal interference between individual, community and European construction. This process, remarked increasingly in the specialized literature, being assigned with the name of Europeanization, has got original, functional features in the spectrum of significations of the globalization paradigm. As essential global-type formula, within Europeanization, we shall find models with economic, political or social finality, integrating also a model of administration among the latter ones. When we say administration, we refer to its up dated and adequate contents to the new European developments. This assertion derives from a less economic modality to conceptualize the relationship between globalization and Europeanization, presenting Europeanization more as a political adaptation to globalization and even a political expression of globalization. In this context, the development of a system for European governance on several levels (local, regional, national, intergovernmental and supranational suggests its evolution towards globalization. In fact, the literature specific for Europeanization asserts the fact that the European model has also features with integrative nature related to the supranational and trans-governmental dimensions, as well as features with normative nature in view of harmonization

  12. European Union

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schaller, K.

    1995-01-01

    Different instruments used by European Commission of the European Union for financial support radioactive waste management activities in the Russian Federation are outlined. Three particular programmes in the area are described

  13. European Union response to Fukushima. European stress tests and peer review

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jamet, Philippe [Autorite de Surete Nucleaire (ASN), Paris (France)

    2012-07-01

    Following the severe accidents which started in the Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP on 11 March 2011, the European Council requested that a comprehensive safety and risk assessment, in light of preliminary lessons learned, be performed on all EU nuclear plants. Therefore, stress tests and peer review assessing natural initiating events, the loss of safety systems and severe accident management have been performed in the 15 European Union countries with nuclear power plants as well as Switzerland and Ukraine. The final peer review report of the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) highlights four main areas for improvement to be explored across Europe: 1. Development by the Western European Nuclear Regulators' Association (WENRA), with the contribution of the best available EU expertise, of a European guidance on assessment of natural hazards and margins; 2. Importance of Periodic Safety Review to be underlined by ENSREG; 3. Expeditious implementation of the recognised measures to protect containment integrity; 4. Prevention of accidents resulting from natural hazards and limitation of their consequences. The peer review of the European stress tests was completed in April 2012. In their conclusive statement issued 26 April 2012, the national European regulators and the European Commission as European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) required that follow-up would occur by way of an ENSREG action plan. Country specific action plans will be developed and peer review workshop will be organised to share lessons learned on the implementation of post-Fukushima safety improvements.

  14. European Union response to Fukushima. European stress tests and peer review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jamet, Philippe

    2012-01-01

    Following the severe accidents which started in the Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP on 11 March 2011, the European Council requested that a comprehensive safety and risk assessment, in light of preliminary lessons learned, be performed on all EU nuclear plants. Therefore, stress tests and peer review assessing natural initiating events, the loss of safety systems and severe accident management have been performed in the 15 European Union countries with nuclear power plants as well as Switzerland and Ukraine. The final peer review report of the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) highlights four main areas for improvement to be explored across Europe: 1. Development by the Western European Nuclear Regulators' Association (WENRA), with the contribution of the best available EU expertise, of a European guidance on assessment of natural hazards and margins; 2. Importance of Periodic Safety Review to be underlined by ENSREG; 3. Expeditious implementation of the recognised measures to protect containment integrity; 4. Prevention of accidents resulting from natural hazards and limitation of their consequences. The peer review of the European stress tests was completed in April 2012. In their conclusive statement issued 26 April 2012, the national European regulators and the European Commission as European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) required that follow-up would occur by way of an ENSREG action plan. Country specific action plans will be developed and peer review workshop will be organised to share lessons learned on the implementation of post-Fukushima safety improvements.

  15. European visit

    CERN Multimedia

    2006-01-01

    The European Commissioner for Science and Research, Janez Potočnik, (on the right) visited the CMS assembly hall accompanied by Jim Virdee, Deputy Spokesman of CMS (on the left), and Robert Aymar, Director-General of CERN. The European Commissioner for Science and Research, Janez Potočnik, visited CERN on Tuesday 31 January. He was welcomed by the Director-General, Robert Aymar, who described the missions and current activities of CERN to him, in particular the realisation of the LHC with its three components: accelerator, detectors, storage and processing of data. The European Commissioner then visited the CMS assembly hall, then the hall for testing the LHC magnets and the ATLAS cavern. During this first visit since his appointment at the end of 2004, Janez Potočnik appeared very interested by the operation of CERN, an example of successful scientific co-operation on a European scale. The many projects (30 on average) that CERN and the European Commission carry out jointly for the benefit of res...

  16. Europeanization by it is tools: the case of European transnational projects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sanchez Salgado, R.

    2010-01-01

    In the understanding of Europeanization, specific tools of governance matter. Europeanization through flexible tools of governance enables strategic uses by domestic actors, and does not necessaritly preclude policy transfer or transformation. As long as they favour participation, European

  17. Europeanization and social movement mobilization during the European sovereign debt crisis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bourne, Angela; Chatzopoulou, Sevasti

    2015-01-01

    The article addresses Europeanization of social movements in the context of the European Sovereign Debt Crisis. Europeanization occurs when movements collaborate, or make horizontal communicative linkages with movements in other countries, contest authorities beyond the state, frame issues...

  18. The phase-in and phase-out of European emissions of HCFC-141b and HCFC-142b under the Montreal Protocol: Evidence from observations at Mace Head, Ireland and Jungfraujoch, Switzerland from 1994 to 2004

    Science.gov (United States)

    Derwent, R. G.; Simmonds, P. G.; Greally, B. R.; O'doherty, S.; McCulloch, A.; Manning, A.; Reimann, S.; Folini, D.; Vollmer, M. K.

    The mixing ratios of HCFC-141b (1,1-dichlorofluoroethane) and HCFC-142b (1-chloro-1,1-difluoroethane) have been rising steadily in baseline air at Mace Head, Ireland over the 10-year period from 1994 to 2004. These HCFCs are widely used replacements for the chlorofluorocarbons phased out under the Montreal Protocol and its subsequent amendments. Analysis of the HCFC content of regionally-polluted air arriving at Mace Head from the European continent shows that European emissions reached a peak during 2000-2001 and have declined subsequently, following the phase-out in their usage. European emissions of HCFC-141b have been further constrained by observations at the High-Alpine Jungfraujoch site. The reductions are consistent with the phase-out of HCFC production and use from the year 2001 onwards mandated by European regulations designed to exceed the requirements of the Montreal Protocol.

  19. THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION – THE EXERCISE OF THE POWERS OF CONTROL AND MONITORING OF THE ENFORCEMENT OF THE LEGISLATION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION IN THE MOLDOVA NOUA CASE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adriana Deac

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available One of the competencies that the EU Treaties confer to the European Commission is the control and supervision of the application of primary and secondary law and the enforcement of this legislation so it is observed by private persons, Member States and EU institutions2 . Further to an official communiqué in October 2014, the European Commission has announced that it sued Romania at the European Union Court of Justice concerning the failure to observe EU legislation on the treatment of extractive industry waste. Namely, it refers to the Moldova Noua case, in which toxic waste from the zinc and copper mines were discharged into the Bosneag pond. This paper means to present the regulations in the field of extractive industry, the competence of the European Commission regarding the enforcement of EU legislation and the ability to sue a Member State at the EU Court of Justice, when the entity exploiting the zinc and copper deposits is not the Romanian state, but a private law legal person.

  20. Grain Yield Observations Constrain Cropland CO2 Fluxes Over Europe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Combe, M.; de Wit, A. J. W.; Vilà-Guerau de Arellano, J.; van der Molen, M. K.; Magliulo, V.; Peters, W.

    2017-12-01

    Carbon exchange over croplands plays an important role in the European carbon cycle over daily to seasonal time scales. A better description of this exchange in terrestrial biosphere models—most of which currently treat crops as unmanaged grasslands—is needed to improve atmospheric CO2 simulations. In the framework we present here, we model gross European cropland CO2 fluxes with a crop growth model constrained by grain yield observations. Our approach follows a two-step procedure. In the first step, we calculate day-to-day crop carbon fluxes and pools with the WOrld FOod STudies (WOFOST) model. A scaling factor of crop growth is optimized regionally by minimizing the final grain carbon pool difference to crop yield observations from the Statistical Office of the European Union. In a second step, we re-run our WOFOST model for the full European 25 × 25 km gridded domain using the optimized scaling factors. We combine our optimized crop CO2 fluxes with a simple soil respiration model to obtain the net cropland CO2 exchange. We assess our model's ability to represent cropland CO2 exchange using 40 years of observations at seven European FluxNet sites and compare it with carbon fluxes produced by a typical terrestrial biosphere model. We conclude that our new model framework provides a more realistic and strongly observation-driven estimate of carbon exchange over European croplands. Its products will be made available to the scientific community through the ICOS Carbon Portal and serve as a new cropland component in the CarbonTracker Europe inverse model.

  1. Diversity of dietary patterns observed in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) project

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Slimani, N.; Fahey, M.; Welch, A.A.; Wirfalt, E.; Stripp, C.; Bergstrom, E.; Linseisen, J.; Schulze, M.B.; Bamia, C.; Chloptsios, Y.; Veglia, F.; Panico, S.; Bueno de Mesquita, B.; Ocké, M.C.; Brustadt, M.; Lund, E.; Gonzalez, C.A.; Barcos, A.; Berglund, G.; Winkvist, A.; Mulligan, A.; Appleby, P.; Overvad, K.; Tjonneland, A.; Clavel-Chapelon, F.; Kesse, E.; Ferrari, P.; Staveren, van W.A.; Riboli, E.

    2002-01-01

    Objective: To describe the diversity in dietary patterns existing across centres/regions participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Design and setting: Single 24-hour dietary recall measurements were obtained by means of standardised face-to-face

  2. Mental health expectancy--the European perspective

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jagger, C; Ritchie, K; Brønnum-Hansen, Henrik

    1998-01-01

    The increase in life expectancy observed over the last decade has particular relevance for mental health conditions of old age, such as dementia. Although mental disorders have been estimated to be responsible for 60% of all disabilities, until recently population health indicators such as health...... expectancies have concentrated on calculating disability-free life expectancy based on physical functioning. In 1994, a European Network for the Calculation of Health Expectancies (Euro-REVES) was established, one of its aims being the development and promotion of mental health expectancies. Such indicators...... may have an important role in monitoring future changes in the mental health of populations and predicting service needs. This article summarizes the proceedings and recommendations of the first European Conference on Mental Health Expectancy....

  3. The Croatian Strategy of European Integration 2000-2005

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mario Sošić

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available In June 2000, the European Council established that Croatia fulfi lled the conditions for acquiring the status of potential candidate for membership in the European Union.Thereafter, the integration process aimed at the candidature for, and subsequent full membership in the EU has been the fundamental Croatian “governmental strategy” and foreign policy goal, developing with “diff erent speeds” and diff erent levels of success towards the fi nal expected goal. Research is focused on the identifi cation and description of actions of the major foreign and internal actors in the process (Croatian governments and the European Union, as well as on the assessment of the achieved results of their interaction in the sixyear period under observation. The empirically studied phenomenon is analysed through the theoretical approach of actor-based institutionalism and the game theory model. The result of analysis shows a comparative advantage of the management of Ivo Sanader’s single-party government (2003-2005 in contrast to the coalition government of Ivica Račan (2000-2003 with respect to their achievement and level of success in managing the process of European integration.The European Union’s contribution and quality of support to that process are ambiguous and complex, in keeping with its structure and politics.

  4. Observations on Three Endpoint Properties and Their Relationship to Regulatory Outcomes of European Oncology Marketing Applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liberti, Lawrence; Stolk, Pieter; McAuslane, James Neil; Schellens, Jan; Breckenridge, Alasdair M; Leufkens, Hubert

    2015-06-01

    Guidance and exploratory evidence indicate that the type of endpoints and the magnitude of their outcome can define a therapy's clinical activity; however, little empirical evidence relates specific endpoint properties with regulatory outcomes. We explored the relationship of 3 endpoint properties to regulatory outcomes by assessing 50 oncology marketing authorization applications (MAAs; reviewed from 2009 to 2013). Overall, 16 (32%) had a negative outcome. The most commonly used hard endpoints were overall survival (OS) and the duration of response or stable disease. OS was a component of 91% approved and 63% failed MAAs. The most commonly used surrogate endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS), response rate, and health-related quality of life assessments. There was no difference (p = .3801) between the approved and failed MAA cohorts in the proportion of hard endpoints used. A mean of slightly more than four surrogate endpoints were used per approved MAA compared with slightly more than two for failed MAAs. Longer OS and PFS duration outcomes were generally associated with approvals, often when not statistically significant. The approved cohort was associated with a preponderance of statistically significant (p < .05) improvements in primary endpoints (p < .0001 difference between the approved and failed groups). Three key endpoint properties (type of endpoint [hard/surrogate], magnitude of an endpoint outcome, and its statistical significance) are consistent with the European Medicines Agency guidance and, notwithstanding the contribution of unique disease-specific circumstances, are associated with a predictable positive outcome for oncology MAAs. Regulatory decisions made by the European Medicines Agency determine which new medicines will be available to European prescribers and for which therapeutic indications. Regulatory success or failure can be influenced by many factors. This study assessed three key properties of endpoints used in

  5. European mobility cultures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Haustein, Sonja; Nielsen, Thomas A. Sick

    2016-01-01

    More targeted European policies promoting green travel patterns require better knowledge on differing mobility cultures across European regions. As a basis for this, we clustered the EU population into eight mobility styles based on Eurobarometer data. The mobility styles - including, for example...... positions on the path towards sustainable mobility and therefore different requirements towards European platforms and support measures, e.g. for 'Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans'. The country clusters can provide a starting point for future communication and targeting of European efforts in sustainable...

  6. A European legal method? On European private law and scientific method

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hesselink, M.

    2009-01-01

    This article examines the relationship between European private law and scientific method. It argues that a European legal method is a good idea. Not primarily because it will make European private law scholarship look more scientific, but because a debate on the method of a normative science

  7. Colonic microbiota signatures across five northern European countries

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lay, C.; Rigottier-Gois, L.; Holmstrom, K.; Rajilic-Stojanovic, M.; Vaughan, E.E.; Vos, de W.M.; Collins, M.D.; Thiel, R.; Namsolleck, P.; Blaut, M.; Dore, J.

    2005-01-01

    The composition of the colonic microbiota of 91 northern Europeans was characterized by fluorescent in situ hybridization using 18 phylogenetic probes. On average 75% of the bacteria were identified, and large interindividual variations were observed. Clostridium coccoides and Clostridium leptum

  8. Selective Europeanization

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hoch Jovanovic, Tamara; Lynggaard, Kennet

    2014-01-01

    and rules. The article examines the reasons for both resistance and selectiveness to Europeanization of the Danish minority policy through a “path dependency” perspective accentuating decision makers’ reluctance to deviate from existing institutional commitments, even in subsequently significantly altered...... political contexts at the European level. We further show how the “translation” of international norms to a domestic context has worked to reinforce the original institutional setup, dating back to the mid-1950s. The translation of European-level minority policy developed in the 1990s and 2000s works most...

  9. Renewable Energy Policy Fact sheet - European Union

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2017-09-01

    The EurObserv'ER policy profiles give a snapshot of the renewable energy policy in the EU Member States. The European Union aims to achieve a 20% share (with legally binding national targets) of its final energy consumption from RES by 2020, and at least a 27% share (not broken down into nationally binding targets) by 2030. Key instruments at EU level to promote RES include directives, such as the 2009 Renewable Energy Directive. The EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) is also intended to support RES. The European Commission has also adopted state aid guidelines to ensure that support schemes to promote RES at national level are compatible with EU competition law and internal market rules. Further instruments are research, development and innovation funding programmes, such as Horizon2020, the Innovation Fund, and the NER300 programme. RES are also supported through regional development funds as well as through grants and loans for RES projects and related infrastructure from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI). A recast directive on the promotion of RES in the period 2020- 2030 is to be adopted along with governance rules to ensure that the EU-wide RES target for 2030 is met

  10. CH4 emissions from European Major Population Centers: Results from aircraft-borne CH4 in-situ observations during EMeRGe-Europe campaign 2017

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roiger, A.; Klausner, T.; Schlager, H.; Ziereis, H.; Huntrieser, H.; Baumann, R.; Eirenschmalz, L.; Joeckel, P.; Mertens, M.; Fisher, R.; Bauguitte, S.; Young, S.; Andrés Hernández, M. D.

    2017-12-01

    Urban environments represent large and diffuse area sources of CH4 including emissions from pipeline leaks, industrial/sewage treatment plants, and landfills. However, there is little knowledge about the exact magnitude of these emissions and their contribution to total anthropogenic CH4. Especially in the context of an urbanizing world, a better understanding of the methane footprint of urban areas is crucial, both with respect to mitigation and projection of climate impacts. Aircraft-borne in-situ measurements are particularly useful to both quantify emissions from such area sources, as well as to study their impact on the regional distribution. However, airborne CH4 observations downstream of European cities are especially sparse.Here we report from aircraft-borne CH4 in-situ measurements as conducted during the HALO aircraft campaign EMeRGe (Effect of Megacities on the Transport and Transformation of Pollutants on the Regional to Global Scales) in July 2017, which was led by the University of Bremen, Germany. During seven research flights, emissions from a variety of European (Mega)-cities were probed at different altitudes from 3km down to 500m, including measurements in the outflows of London, Rome, Po Valley, Ruhr and Benelux. We will present and compare the CH4 distribution measured downstream of the various studied urban hot-spots. With the help of other trace gas measurements (including e.g. CO2, CO, O3, SO2), observed methane enhancements will be attributed to the different potential source types. Finally, by the combination of in-situ measurements and regional model simulations using the EMAC-MECO(n) model, the contribution of emissions from urban centers to the regional methane budget over Europe will be discussed.

  11. Trans-European transport networks and urban systems in European Union

    OpenAIRE

    Maksin-Mićić Marija

    2003-01-01

    The trans-European transport network has different effects at interregional macro-regional and mezzo-regional level, and its effectiveness rises at the lower regional levels. Possible approaches to the trans-European transport network impact and effect survey and policy options have been pointed out. In that respect the brief review of survies, strategic framework and policies in European Union has been given. The importance of increased accessibility and mobility for regional expansion and f...

  12. The Europeanization of Welfare - The Domestic Impact of Intra-European Social Security

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Martinsen, Dorte Sindbjerg

    2005-01-01

    Studies of Europeanization have demonstrated that the impact of European integration differs between Member States and across policies. Although Europeanization research has been expanded and clarified in recent years, we still know relatively little about the factors mediating the national...... responses to integration. It is argued that these intervening variables are decisive for how common European demands are mediated nationally and are likely to explain impact variations referring to the same cause....

  13. The european hematology association roadmap for european hematology research : A consensus document

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    A. Engert (Andreas); C.L. Balduini (Carlo); A. Brand (Anneke); B. Coiffier (Bertrand); C. Cordonnier (Charlotte); H. Döhner (Hartmut); De Wit, T.D. (Thom Duyvené); Eichinger, S. (Sabine); W.E. Fibbe (Willem); Green, T. (Tony); De Haas, F. (Fleur); A. Iolascon (Achille); T. Jaffredo (Thierry); F. Rodeghiero (Francesco); G. Salles (Gilles); J.J. Schuringa (Jan Jacob)

    2016-01-01

    textabstractThe European Hematology Association (EHA) Roadmap for European Hematology Research highlights major achievements in diagnosis and treatment of blood disorders and identifies the greatest unmet clinical and scientific needs in those areas to enable better funded, more focused European

  14. The European Hematology Association Roadmap for European Hematology Research : A consensus document

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Engert, Andreas; Balduini, Carlo; Brand, Anneke; Coiffier, Bertrand; Cordonnier, Catherine; Döhner, Hartmut; de Wit, Thom Duyvené; Eichinger, Sabine; Fibbe, Willem; Green, Tony; de Haas, Fleur; Iolascon, Achille; Jaffredo, Thierry; Rodeghiero, Francesco; Salles, Gilles; Schuringa, Jan Jacob

    The European Hematology Association (EHA) Roadmap for European Hematology Research highlights major achievements in diagnosis and treatment of blood disorders and identifies the greatest unmet clinical and scientific needs in those areas to enable better funded, more focused European hematology

  15. The European standard series in 9 European countries, 2002/2003 - First results of the European Surveillance System on Contact Allergies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Uter, W; Hegewald, J; Aberer, W; Ayala, F; Bircher, AJ; Brasch, J; Coenraads, PJ; Schuttelaar, Marielouise; Elsner, P; Fartasch, M; Mahler, V.; Fortina, AB; Frosch, PJ; Fuchs, T; Johansen, JD; Menne, T; Jolanki, R; Krecisz, B; Kiec-Swierczynska, M; Larese, F; Orton, D; Peserico, A; Rantanen, T; Schnuch, A

    Since January 2001, the European Surveillance System on Contact Allergies (ESSCA), supported by European Union funding (contract QLK4-CT-2001-00343), has started to collect patch-test data. This comprises a standardized clinical history and the patch-test results using the European standard series,

  16. Incidence rates and trends of hip/femur fractures in five European countries

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Requena, G; Abbing-Karahagopian, V; Huerta, C

    2014-01-01

    Hip fractures represent a major public health challenge worldwide. Multinational studies using a common methodology are scarce. We aimed to estimate the incidence rates (IRs) and trends of hip/femur fractures over the period 2003-2009 in five European countries. The study was performed using seven......, P European countries. With the exception of Denmark, no decreasing trend was observed over the study period....

  17. A Grand Vision for European Astronomy

    Science.gov (United States)

    2007-09-01

    Today, and for the first time, astronomers share their global Science Vision for European Astronomy in the next two decades. This two-year long effort by the ASTRONET network of funding agencies, sponsored by the European Commission and coordinated by INSU-CNRS, underscores Europe's ascension to world leadership in astronomy and its will to maintain that position. It will be followed in just over a year by a prioritised roadmap for the observational facilities needed to implement the Vision. Implementation of these plans will ensure that Europe fully contributes to Mankind's ever deeper understanding of the wonders of our Universe. astronet logo "This is a great opportunity to help create a vibrant long-term future for astronomy and science" says Tim de Zeeuw (Leiden Observatory, The Netherlands) who led this community-wide effort. The ASTRONET Science Vision provides a comprehensive overview of the most important scientific questions that European astronomy should address in the next twenty years. The four key questions are the extremes of the Universe, from the nature of the dark matter and dark energy that comprise over 95% of the Universe to the physics of extreme objects such as black holes, neutron stars, and gamma-ray bursts; the formation of galaxies from the first seeds to our Milky Way; the formation of stars and planets and the origin of life; and the crucial question of how do we (and our Solar System) fit in the global picture. These themes reach well beyond the realm of traditional astronomy into the frontiers of physics and biology. The Vision identifies the major new facilities that will be needed to achieve these goals, but also stresses the need for parallel developments in theory and numerical simulations, high-performance computing resources, efficient astronomical data archiving and the European Virtual Observatory, as well as in laboratory astrophysics. "This report is a key input for the even more challenging task of developing a prioritised

  18. European Whiteness?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Blaagaard, Bolette

    2008-01-01

    Born out of the United States’ (U.S.) history of slavery and segregation and intertwined with gender studies and feminism, the field of critical whiteness studies does not fit easily into a European setting and the particular historical context that entails. In order for a field of European...

  19. Biofuels barometer - EurObserv'ER - July 2014

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2014-07-01

    6.8% the drop in biofuel consumption in European Union transport between 2012 and 2013. The growth of biofuel consumption for use in transport in the European Union (EU -28) has dwindled in the past few years and finally dropped by about 1 million toe (6.8%) between 2012 and 2013 according to EurObserv'ER, to a consumption level of 13.6 million toe. Nevertheless, sustainable biofuel consumption, certified and thus eligible for inclusion in European targets increased slightly by 1.1% to 11.8 Mtoe

  20. Nurse staffing and education and hospital mortality in nine European countries: a retrospective observational study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aiken, Linda H; Sloane, Douglas M; Bruyneel, Luk; Van den Heede, Koen; Griffiths, Peter; Busse, Reinhard; Diomidous, Marianna; Kinnunen, Juha; Kózka, Maria; Lesaffre, Emmanuel; McHugh, Matthew D; Moreno-Casbas, M T; Rafferty, Anne Marie; Schwendimann, Rene; Scott, P Anne; Tishelman, Carol; van Achterberg, Theo; Sermeus, Walter

    2014-05-24

    Austerity measures and health-system redesign to minimise hospital expenditures risk adversely affecting patient outcomes. The RN4CAST study was designed to inform decision making about nursing, one of the largest components of hospital operating expenses. We aimed to assess whether differences in patient to nurse ratios and nurses' educational qualifications in nine of the 12 RN4CAST countries with similar patient discharge data were associated with variation in hospital mortality after common surgical procedures. For this observational study, we obtained discharge data for 422,730 patients aged 50 years or older who underwent common surgeries in 300 hospitals in nine European countries. Administrative data were coded with a standard protocol (variants of the ninth or tenth versions of the International Classification of Diseases) to estimate 30 day in-hospital mortality by use of risk adjustment measures including age, sex, admission type, 43 dummy variables suggesting surgery type, and 17 dummy variables suggesting comorbidities present at admission. Surveys of 26,516 nurses practising in study hospitals were used to measure nurse staffing and nurse education. We used generalised estimating equations to assess the effects of nursing factors on the likelihood of surgical patients dying within 30 days of admission, before and after adjusting for other hospital and patient characteristics. An increase in a nurses' workload by one patient increased the likelihood of an inpatient dying within 30 days of admission by 7% (odds ratio 1·068, 95% CI 1·031-1·106), and every 10% increase in bachelor's degree nurses was associated with a decrease in this likelihood by 7% (0·929, 0·886-0·973). These associations imply that patients in hospitals in which 60% of nurses had bachelor's degrees and nurses cared for an average of six patients would have almost 30% lower mortality than patients in hospitals in which only 30% of nurses had bachelor's degrees and nurses cared

  1. Programmable wide field spectrograph for earth observation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zamkotsian, Frédéric; Lanzoni, Patrick; Liotard, Arnaud; Viard, Thierry; Costes, Vincent; Hébert, Philippe-Jean

    2017-11-01

    In Earth Observation, Universe Observation and Planet Exploration, scientific return of the instruments must be optimized in future missions. Micro-Opto-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MOEMS) could be key components in future generation of space instruments. These devices are based on the mature micro-electronics technology and in addition to their compactness, scalability, and specific task customization, they could generate new functions not available with current technologies. French and European space agencies, the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and the European Space Agency (ESA) have initiated several studies with LAM and TAS for listing the new functions associated with several types of MEMS, and developing new ideas of instruments.

  2. Political dimension of European constitutionalism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kaplánová Patricia

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Author in the article tries to analyse different elements of document called European Constitution. Analysis is supported with theoretical framework of federalism, presented by Brezovšek. Authors is playing with idea of (confederal and international organization elements of European Constitution and their mix. They are also trying to set some connections between so called common European identity as necessary condition to give legitimacy to the European Constitution. This became important question after „votes of non-confidence“ to the European Constitution in France, despite it should be addressed already before. However, European Constitution is important document on the path of European integration and lack of support to it will slow down this process of widening and deepening European ties.

  3. Can the European Central Bank Create a European identity?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ravn Sørensen, Anders

    2014-01-01

    In what ways do central banks construct community, and how may the European Central Bank (ECB) contribute to a supranational European identity? In this paper I seek to answer these two questions by developing a conceptual framework for the ways that central banks construct national identities and...

  4. European citizenship and the constitutionalisation of the European Union

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Eijken, Hanneke|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/314133992

    2014-01-01

    The concept of citizenship in relatively new legal order of the European Union has its own meaning and dynamics compared to national citizenship. One of the important questions regarding this transnational form of citizenship is how to place this European citizenship in a constitutional context in

  5. The european passive plant (EPP) design: compliance with the european utilities requirements (EUR)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Noviello, L.; Oyarzabal, M.

    1996-01-01

    Back 1986, most of the European firms have participated to the American program called the Advanced Light Water Reactors (ALWR) including the development of the Utilities Requirements as well as four projects as for instance AP600. Later, in the year 1990, seven European firms have begun to develop the European Utilities Requirements. This development is justified by the fact that the lessons learned by the nuclear power plants designs programs of the years 1980 can be incorporated and the European specific conditions can be taken into consideration. Thus, in 1994, eight European firms - Westinghouse and their industrial partners - have decided to launch a multiphase program in order to check the AP600 compliance with the European Utilities Requirements (EUR) and to develop the required alterations. Today, the phase I of the EPP (European Passive Plant) program has been completed. In this phase, the main important objectives have been reached. (O.M.)

  6. European Institutions?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meacham, Darian

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this article is to sketch a phenomenological theory of political institutions and to apply it to some objections and questions raised by Pierre Manent about the project of the European Union and more specifically the question of “European Construction”, i.e. what is the aim of the

  7. European Identity and European Citizenship: the Case of Missing Polis?

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Šejvl, Michal

    2008-01-01

    Roč. 2, č. 2 (2008), s. 49-56 ISSN 1789-1035 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z70680506 Keywords : the European integration * law of citizenship * European identity Subject RIV: AG - Legal Sciences

  8. The European Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme (Euro-GASP)--a sentinel approach in the European Union (EU)/European Economic Area (EEA).

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  9. Spent fuel transportation - lessons drawn and ways forward: European utilities perspective

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Debes, M.; Schimmele, J.G.; Sannen, H.; Patak, H.

    2001-01-01

    Surface contamination that was found on surfaces of spent fuel shipping containers (flasks) in 1998 was treated differently by authorities in different European countries. In two countries, Germany and Switzerland, spent fuel shipments were stopped for an indefinite period by Government authorities. This paper, co-authored by representatives of utilities from four European countries, explains the rationale for surface contamination limits in transport regulations and attempts to place the observed contamination in proper perspective. (author)

  10. Impact of gastroesophageal reflux disease on work absenteeism, presenteeism and productivity in daily life: a European observational study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gisbert, Javier P; Cooper, Alun; Karagiannis, Dimitrios; Hatlebakk, Jan; Agréus, Lars; Jablonowski, Helmut; Nuevo, Javier

    2009-10-16

    The RANGE (Retrospective ANalysis of GastroEsophageal reflux disease [GERD]) study assessed differences among patients consulting a primary care physician due to GERD-related reasons in terms of: symptoms, diagnosis and management, response to treatment, and effects on productivity, costs and health-related quality of life. This subanalysis of RANGE determined the impact of GERD on productivity in work and daily life. RANGE was conducted at 134 primary care sites across six European countries (Germany, Greece, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the UK). All subjects (aged >or=18 years) who consulted with their primary care physician over a 4-month identification period were screened retrospectively, and those consulting at least once for GERD-related reasons were identified (index visit). From this population, a random sample was selected to enter the study and attended a follow-up appointment, during which the impact of GERD on productivity while working (absenteeism and presenteeism) and in daily life was evaluated using the self-reported Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire for patients with GERD (WPAI-GERD). Overall, 373,610 subjects consulted with their primary care physician over the 4-month identification period, 12,815 for GERD-related reasons (3.4%); 2678 randomly selected patients attended the follow-up appointment. Average absenteeism due to GERD was highest in Germany (3.2 hours/week) and lowest in the UK (0.4 hours/week), with an average of up to 6.7 additional hours/week lost due to presenteeism in Norway. The average monetary impact of GERD-related work absenteeism and presenteeism were substantial in all countries (from euro55/week per employed patient in the UK to euro273/patient in Sweden). Reductions in productivity in daily life of up to 26% were observed across the European countries. GERD places a significant burden on primary care patients, in terms of work absenteeism and presenteeism and in daily life. The resulting costs to the

  11. The Eldicus prospective, observational study of triage decision making in European intensive care units. Part II: Intensive care benefit for the elderly

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sprung, Charles L; Artigas, Antonio; Kesecioglu, Jozef

    2012-01-01

    on mortality and intensive care unit benefit, specifically for elderly patients. DESIGN:: Prospective, observational study of triage decisions from September 2003 until March 2005. SETTING:: Eleven intensive care units in seven European countries. PATIENTS:: All patients >18 yrs with an explicit request......RATIONALE:: Life and death triage decisions are made daily by intensive care unit physicians. Admission to an intensive care unit is denied when intensive care unit resources are constrained, especially for the elderly. OBJECTIVE:: To determine the effect of intensive care unit triage decisions...... care unit rejections than younger patients and have a higher mortality when admitted, the mortality benefit appears greater for the elderly. Physicians should consider changing their intensive care unit triage practices for the elderly....

  12. A European Research Area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Caro, R.

    2001-01-01

    This article is a summary of the presentation of the European Commissioner, Philippe Busquen, to the European Parliament (beginning of year 2000) with the proposal and method for a revival of the Research and Development in this wider sense in the European Union. The starting point of his thesis is that Europe performs less, and more disorderly, activities in this field that her main competitors. USA and Japan. His basic proposal is a larger coordination among the european research projects, with a previous phase of informatics intoxicator among the european research centres and the cross-linked participation, real of virtual in the experiments and projects. (Author)

  13. Bio-fuels barometer - EurObserv'ER - July 2016

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2016-07-01

    The European bio-fuel market is now regulated by the directive, known as ILUC, whose wording focuses on the environmental impact of first generation bio-fuel development. This long-awaited clarification has arrived against the backdrop of falling oil prices and shrinking European Union bio-fuel consumption, which should drop by 1.7% between 2014 and 2015, according to EurObserv'ER

  14. Biofuels barometer - EurObserv'ER - July 2016

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2016-07-01

    The European biofuel market is now regulated by the directive, known as ILUC, whose wording focuses on the environmental impact of first generation biofuel development. This long-awaited clarification has arrived against the backdrop of falling oil prices and shrinking European Union biofuel consumption, which should drop by 1.7% between 2014 and 2015, according to EurObserv'ER

  15. The European Location Framework - from National to European

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pauknerova, E.; Sidlichovsky, P.; Urbanas, S.; Med, M.

    2016-06-01

    The European Location Framework (ELF) means a technical infrastructure which will deliver authoritative, interoperable geospatial reference data from all over Europe for analysing and understanding information connected to places and features. The ELF has been developed and set up through the ELF Project, which has been realized by a consortium of partners (public, private and academic organisations) since March 2013. Their number increased from thirty to forty in the year 2016, together with a project extension from 36 to 44 months. The project is co-funded by the European Commission's Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) and will end in October 2016. In broad terms, the ELF Project will deliver a unique gateway to the authoritative reference geospatial information for Europe (harmonised pan-European maps, geographic and land information) sourced from the National Mapping and Cadastral Authorities (NMCAs) around Europe and including transparent licensing. This will be provided as an online ELF web service that will deliver an up-to-date topographic base map and also as view & download services for access to the ELF datasets. To develop and build up the ELF, NMCAs are accompanied and collaborate with several research & academia institutes, a standardisation body, system integrators, software developers and application providers. The harmonisation is in progress developing and triggering a number of geo-tools like edge-matching, generalisation, transformation and others. ELF will provide also some centralised tools like Geo Locator for searching location based on geographical names, addresses and administrative units, and GeoProduct Finder for discovering the available web-services and licensing them. ELF combines national reference geo-information through the ELF platform. ELF web services will be offered to users and application developers through open source (OSKARI) and proprietary (ArcGIS Online) cloud platforms. Recently, 29 NMCAs plus the

  16. THE MANIFESTATION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK’S LEGAL PERSONALITY AT NATIONAL, EUROPEAN AND INTERNATIONAL LEVEL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MONICA ŞAGUNA

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available The European Central Bank is one of the world’ s most important central banks, responsible for the monetary policy covering the 17 member States of the Eurozone. Established by the European Union in 1998, it was given the exclusive right to authorize the issue of banknotes within the European Union. The European Central Bank has legal personality under public international law. As article 282, paragraph 3 of the Treaty on functioning of the European Union and article 9, paragraph 1 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank states, the European Central Bank and the National Central Banks enjoy their own legal personality. The European Central Bank, given its important role in the economic integration, is the single institution of the European Union which has legal personality. This is a premise for it to fulfill its objectives. In this framework, the purpose of my paper is to analyze the effects of the European Central Bank’s legal personality from a complete perspective: at national, European and international level. Therefore the objectives of my study are: an introspection in the concept of legal personality, the identification of the reason why it was entrusted to a single institution of the European Union and a detailed analyze of the effects of the European Central Bank’ s legal personality.

  17. Principles of European Contract Law

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lando, Ole; Beale, Hugh

    This text provides a comprehensive guide to the principles of European contract law. They have been drawn up by an independent body of experts from each Member State of the EU, under a project supported by the European Commission and many other organizations. The principles are stated in the form...... of articles, with a detailed commentary explaining the purpose and operation of each article and its relation to the remainder. Each article also has extensive comparative notes surveying the national laws and other international provisions on the topic. "The Principles of European Contract Law Parts I &...... in developing a common European legal culture. The European Parliament has twice called for the creation of a European Civil Code. The principles of European contract law are essential steps in these projects. This text provides a comprehensive guide to the Principles of European contract law. They have been...

  18. European Vegetation Archive (EVA)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Chytrý, Milan; Hennekens, S.M.; Jiménez-Alfaro, Borja; Schaminée, J.H.J.; Haveman, Rense; Janssen, J.A.M.

    2016-01-01

    The European Vegetation Archive (EVA) is a centralized database of European vegetation plots developed by the IAVS Working Group European Vegetation Survey. It has been in development since 2012 and first made available for use in research projects in 2014. It stores copies of national and

  19. European coordination for coastal HF radar data in EMODnet Physics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mader, Julien; Novellino, Antonio; Gorringe, Patrick; Griffa, Annalisa; Schulz-Stellenfleth, Johannes; Montero, Pedro; Montovani, Carlo; Ayensa, Garbi; Vila, Begoña; Rubio, Anna; Sagarminaga, Yolanda

    2015-04-01

    Historically, joint effort has been put on observing open ocean, organizing, homogenizing, sharing and reinforcing the impact of the acquired information based on one technology: ARGO with profilers Argo floats, EuroSites, ESONET-NoE, FixO3 for deep water platforms, Ferrybox for stations in ships of opportunities, and GROOM for the more recent gliders. This kind of networking creates synergies and makes easier the implementation of this source of data in the European Data exchange services like EMODnet, ROOSs portals, or any applied services in the Blue economy. One main targeted improvement in the second phase of EMODnet projects is the assembling of data along coastline. In that sense, further coordination is recommended between platform operators around a specific technology in order to make easier the implementation of the data in the platforms (4th EuroGOOS DATAMEQ WG). HF radar is today recognized internationally as a cost-effective solution to provide high spatial and temporal resolution current maps (depending on the instrument operation frequency, covering from a few kilometres offshore up to 200 km) that are needed for many applications for issues related to ocean surface drift or sea state characterization. Significant heterogeneity still exists in Europe concerning technological configurations, data processing, quality standards and data availability. This makes more difficult the development of a significant network for achieving the needed accessibility to HF Radar data for a pan European use. EuroGOOS took the initiative to lead and coordinate activities within the various observation platforms by establishing a number of Ocean Observing Task Teams such as HF-Radars. The purpose is to coordinate and join the technological, scientific and operational HF radar communities at European level. The goal of the group is on the harmonization of systems requirements, systems design, data quality, improvement and proof of the readiness and standardization of

  20. European larch phenology in the Alps: can we grasp the role of ecological factors by combining field observations and inverse modelling?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Migliavacca, M.; Cremonese, E.; Colombo, R.; Busetto, L.; Galvagno, M.; Ganis, L.; Meroni, M.; Pari, E.; Rossini, M.; Siniscalco, C.; Morra di Cella, U.

    2008-09-01

    Vegetation phenology is strongly influenced by climatic factors. Climate changes may cause phenological variations, especially in the Alps which are considered to be extremely vulnerable to global warming. The main goal of our study is to analyze European larch ( Larix decidua Mill.) phenology in alpine environments and the role of the ecological factors involved, using an integrated approach based on accurate field observations and modelling techniques. We present 2 years of field-collected larch phenological data, obtained following a specifically designed observation protocol. We observed that both spring and autumn larch phenology is strongly influenced by altitude. We propose an approach for the optimization of a spring warming model (SW) and the growing season index model (GSI) consisting of a model inversion technique, based on simulated look-up tables (LUTs), that provides robust parameter estimates. The optimized models showed excellent agreement between modelled and observed data: the SW model predicts the beginning of the growing season (BGS) with a mean RMSE of 4 days, while GSI gives a prediction of the growing season length (LGS) with a RMSE of 5 days. Moreover, we showed that the original GSI parameters led to consistent errors, while the optimized ones significantly increased model accuracy. Finally, we used GSI to investigate interactions of ecological factors during springtime development and autumn senescence. We found that temperature is the most effective factor during spring recovery while photoperiod plays an important role during autumn senescence: photoperiod shows a contrasting effect with altitude decreasing its influence with increasing altitude.

  1. European Vegetation Archive (EVA): an integrated database of European vegetation plots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chytrý, M; Hennekens, S M; Jiménez-Alfaro, B

    2015-01-01

    vegetation- plot databases on a single software platform. Data storage in EVA does not affect on-going independent development of the contributing databases, which remain the property of the data contributors. EVA uses a prototype of the database management software TURBOVEG 3 developed for joint management......The European Vegetation Archive (EVA) is a centralized database of European vegetation plots developed by the IAVS Working Group European Vegetation Survey. It has been in development since 2012 and first made available for use in research projects in 2014. It stores copies of national and regional...... data source for large-scale analyses of European vegetation diversity both for fundamental research and nature conservation applications. Updated information on EVA is available online at http://euroveg.org/eva-database....

  2. Photovoltaic Barometer - EurObserv'ER - April 2015

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2015-04-01

    The global photovoltaic market continued to expand between 2013 and 2014, rising from 37.6 GW to almost 40 GW unlike the European Union market that plummeted further. The EurObserv'ER estimate of the European photovoltaic market is about 6.9 GWp in 2014, a 32.3 % drop on 2013, yet three years earlier, in 2011, it hovered around the 22 GWp mark

  3. Improving the profile of the European tourist destinations through the European tourism indicators system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura CISMARU

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Within the most recent European Policy for Tourism, the competitiveness of the European tourism industry is directly linked to the image of Europe and to its perception, as a collection of sustainable and high-quality tourist destinations. In such context, improving the profile of the European tourist destinations has become a main target. During the last years, the European Commission focused on the sustainable development of tourist destinations. Several projects were developed, the most recent one introducing a practical tool - the European Tourism Indicators System (ETIS for the sustainable development of destinations. The present paper advances the idea that such tool can be successfully used in order to achieve the goal of improving the profile of the European tourist destinations.

  4. The European Small Claims Procedure: Striking the Balance between Simplicity and Fairness in European Litigation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    X.E. Kramer (Xandra)

    2008-01-01

    textabstractThis article deals with the European Small Claims Procedure (ESCP). After the European Order for Payment procedure, this is the second autonomous European procedure that has been established. Attention is paid to the background of harmonization of small claims proceedings in the European

  5. The European Photovoltaic Technology Platform

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nowak, S.; Aulich, H.; Bal, J.L.; Dimmler, B.; Garnier, A.; Jongerden, G.; Luther, J.; Luque, A.; Milner, A.; Nelson, D.; Pataki, I.; Pearsall, N.; Perezagua, E.; Pietruszko, S.; Rehak, J.; Schellekens, E.; Shanker, A.; Silvestrini, G.; Sinke, W.; Willemsen, H.

    2006-05-01

    The European Photovoltaic Technology Platform is one of the European Technology Platforms, a new instrument proposed by the European Commission. European Technology Platforms (ETPs) are a mechanism to bring together all interested stakeholders to develop a long-term vision to address a specific challenge, create a coherent, dynamic strategy to achieve that vision and steer the implementation of an action plan to deliver agreed programmes of activities and optimise the benefits for all parties. The European Photovoltaic Technology Platform has recently been established to define, support and accompany the implementation of a coherent and comprehensive strategic plan for photovoltaics. The platform will mobilise all stakeholders sharing a long-term European vision for PV, helping to ensure that Europe maintains and improves its industrial position. The platform will realise a European Strategic Research Agenda for PV for the next decade(s). Guided by a Steering Committee of 20 high level decision-makers representing all relevant European PV Stakeholders, the European PV Technology Platform comprises 4 Working Groups dealing with the subjects policy and instruments; market deployment; science, technology and applications as well as developing countries and is supported by a secretariat

  6. Is autonomic modulation different between European and Chinese astronauts?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Jiexin; Li, Yongzhi; Verheyden, Bart; Chen, Shanguang; Chen, Zhanghuang; Gai, Yuqing; Liu, Jianzhong; Gao, Jianyi; Xie, Qiong; Yuan, Ming; Li, Qin; Li, Li; Aubert, André E

    2015-01-01

    The objective was to investigate autonomic control in groups of European and Chinese astronauts and to identify similarities and differences. Beat-to-beat heart rate and finger blood pressure, brachial blood pressure, and respiratory frequency were measured from 10 astronauts (five European taking part in three different space missions and five Chinese astronauts taking part in two different space missions). Data recording was performed in the supine and standing positions at least 10 days before launch, and 1, 3, and 10 days after return. Cross-correlation analysis of heart rate and systolic pressure was used to assess cardiac baroreflex modulation. A fixed breathing protocol was performed to measure respiratory sinus arrhythmia and low-frequency power of systolic blood pressure variability. Although baseline cardiovascular parameters before spaceflight were similar in all astronauts in the supine position, a significant increase in sympathetic activity and a decrease in vagal modulation occurred in the European astronauts when standing; spaceflight resulted in a remarkable vagal decrease in European astronauts only. Similar baseline supine and standing values for heart rate, mean arterial pressure, and respiratory frequency were shown in both groups. Standing autonomic control was based on a balance of higher vagal and sympathetic modulation in European astronauts. Post-spaceflight orthostatic tachycardia was observed in all European astronauts, whereas post-spaceflight orthostatic tachycardia was significantly reduced in Chinese astronauts. The basis for orthostatic intolerance is not apparent; however, many possibilities can be considered and need to be further investigated, such as genetic diversities between races, astronaut selection, training, and nutrition, etc.

  7. Is autonomic modulation different between European and Chinese astronauts?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiexin Liu

    Full Text Available The objective was to investigate autonomic control in groups of European and Chinese astronauts and to identify similarities and differences.Beat-to-beat heart rate and finger blood pressure, brachial blood pressure, and respiratory frequency were measured from 10 astronauts (five European taking part in three different space missions and five Chinese astronauts taking part in two different space missions. Data recording was performed in the supine and standing positions at least 10 days before launch, and 1, 3, and 10 days after return. Cross-correlation analysis of heart rate and systolic pressure was used to assess cardiac baroreflex modulation. A fixed breathing protocol was performed to measure respiratory sinus arrhythmia and low-frequency power of systolic blood pressure variability.Although baseline cardiovascular parameters before spaceflight were similar in all astronauts in the supine position, a significant increase in sympathetic activity and a decrease in vagal modulation occurred in the European astronauts when standing; spaceflight resulted in a remarkable vagal decrease in European astronauts only. Similar baseline supine and standing values for heart rate, mean arterial pressure, and respiratory frequency were shown in both groups. Standing autonomic control was based on a balance of higher vagal and sympathetic modulation in European astronauts.Post-spaceflight orthostatic tachycardia was observed in all European astronauts, whereas post-spaceflight orthostatic tachycardia was significantly reduced in Chinese astronauts. The basis for orthostatic intolerance is not apparent; however, many possibilities can be considered and need to be further investigated, such as genetic diversities between races, astronaut selection, training, and nutrition, etc.

  8. Impact of the European Water framework directive on knowledge of biodiversity Impact of the European Water framework directive on knowledge of biodiversity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christine Argillier and Mario Lepage

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available The European Water framework directive requires observation and monitoring of certain biological communities to assess the ecological status of aquatic environments. How does the WFD contribute to knowledge and evaluation of aquatic biodiversity? What may be the results in terms of monitoring?The concept of biodiversity is complex and difficult to describe in an exhaustive manner. The Water Framework Directive (WFD, through its aquatic ecosystem monitoring network, aims to assess the ecological and chemical status of water bodies. This assessment requires observations on certain biological communities in a definite number of European sites representing continental, transitional and coastal water bodies. Consequently, the WFD contributes to improving knowledge on biodiversity. Nevertheless, genetic diversity and some communities are clearly not targeted and the monitoring networks are not well designed to assess changes in biodiversity. However, we may expect improvements in scientific knowledge of ecosystems and in the monitoring programmes that will make possible better convergence of environmental objectives.

  9. Welcome from ESARDA (European Safeguards Research and Development Association)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van der Meer, K.

    2015-01-01

    ESARDA, on the one hand being part of that European family and on the other hand working in practice to support peace by the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, can be considered as a perfect representative of that European peace process. Going now from the European to the global perspective, peace should be our motivating force and this is also expressed in the basis of safeguards: the non-proliferation Treaty. Several articles of the Treaty deal with not developing nuclear weapons and not supporting the development of nuclear weapons by other countries, and one article (Article VI) deals with the general and complete nuclear disarmament. What is ESARDA doing in practice- First we provide a forum to exchange scientific information for the benefit of all safeguards stakeholders. The most important forum is the biannual open ESARDA safeguards symposium that will be held next year from 19-21 May in Manchester. Next to the ESARDA symposia, we coordinate European safeguards research via our ESARDA Working Groups. Also non-members are welcome in these WG as observers. JRC Ispra maintains the ESARDA website that also supports exchange of safeguards information

  10. The ConnectinGEO Observation Inventory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santoro, M.; Nativi, S.; Jirka, S.; McCallum, I.

    2016-12-01

    ConnectinGEO (Coordinating an Observation Network of Networks EnCompassing saTellite and IN-situ to fill the Gaps in European Observations) is an EU-funded project under the H2020 Framework Programme. The primary goal of the project is to link existing coordinated Earth Observation networks with science and technology (S&T) communities, the industry sector and the GEOSS and Copernicus stakeholders. An expected outcome of the project is a prioritized list of critical gaps within GEOSS (Global Earth Observation System of Systems) in observations and models that translate observations into practice relevant knowledge. The project defines and utilizes a formalized methodology to create a set of observation requirements that will be related to information on available observations to identify key gaps. Gaps in the information provided by current observation systems as well as gaps in the systems themselves will be derived from five different threads. One of these threads consists in the analysis of the observations and measurements that are currently registered in GEO Discovery and Access Broker (DAB). To this aim, an Observation Inventory (OI) has been created and populated using the current metadata information harmonized by the DAB. This presentation describes the process defined to populate the ConnectinGEO OI and the resulting system architecture. In addition, it provides information on how to systematically access the OI for performing the gap analysis. Furthermore it demonstrates initial findings of the gap analysis, and shortcomings in the metadata that need attention. The research leading to these results benefited from funding by the European Union H2020 Framework Programme under grant agreement n. 641538 (ConnectinGEO).

  11. Path dependence and the geography of infrastructure networks: the case of the European fibre-optic network

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vinciguerra, S.; Frenken, K.

    2015-01-01

    We analyse the path dependent dynamics in the formation of new infrastructure using an augmented gravity model. We observe that the formation of the pan-European telecommunication backbone has been dependent on pre-existent European transportation networks, particularly, the maritime and railway

  12. Calibration of column-averaged CH4 over European TCCON FTS sites with airborne in-situ measurements

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Geibel, M. C.; Messerschmidt, J.; Gerbig, C.; Blumenstock, T.; Chen, H.; Hase, F.; Kolle, O.; Lavric, J. V.; Notholt, J.; Palm, M.; Rettinger, M.; Schmidt, Martina; Sussmann, R.; Warneke, T.; Feist, D. G.

    2012-01-01

    In September/October 2009, six European ground-based Fourier Transform Spectrometers (FTS) of the Total Carbon Column Observation Network (TCCON) were calibrated for the first time using aircraft measurements. The campaign was part of the Infrastructure for Measurement of the European Carbon Cycle

  13. European Security

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Møller, Bjørn

    Theoretical chapters on "Security", "Organisations" and "Regions," Historical Chapters on "Europe and Its Distinguishing Features" and on "The United Nations," "NATO," "The CSCE/OSCE and the Council of Europe" and "The European Union"......Theoretical chapters on "Security", "Organisations" and "Regions," Historical Chapters on "Europe and Its Distinguishing Features" and on "The United Nations," "NATO," "The CSCE/OSCE and the Council of Europe" and "The European Union"...

  14. European trauma guideline compliance assessment: the ETRAUSS study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamada, Sophie Rym; Gauss, Tobias; Pann, Jakob; Dünser, Martin; Leone, Marc; Duranteau, Jacques

    2015-12-08

    Haemorrhagic shock is the leading cause of preventable death in trauma patients. The 2013 European trauma guidelines emphasise a comprehensive, multidisciplinary, protocol-based approach to trauma care. The aim of the present Europe-wide survey was to compare 2015 practice with the 2013 guidelines. A group of members of the Trauma and Emergency Medicine section of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine developed a 50-item questionnaire based upon the core recommendations of the 2013 guidelines, employing a multistep approach. The questionnaire covered five fields: care structure and organisation, haemodynamic resuscitation targets, fluid management, transfusion and coagulopathy, and haemorrhage control. The sampling used a two-step approach comprising initial purposive sampling of eminent trauma care providers in each European country, followed by snowball sampling of a maximum number of trauma care providers. A total of 296 responses were collected, 243 (81 %) from European countries. Those from outside the European Union were excluded from the analysis. Approximately three-fourths (74 %) of responders were working in a designated trauma centre. Blunt trauma predominated, accounting for more than 90 % of trauma cases. Considerable heterogeneity was observed in all five core aspects of trauma care, along with frequent deviations from the 2013 guidelines. Only 92 (38 %) of responders claimed to comply with the recommended systolic blood pressure target, and only 81 (33 %) responded that they complied with the target pressure in patients with traumatic brain injury. Crystalloid use was predominant (n = 209; 86 %), and vasopressor use was frequent (n = 171, 76 %) but remained controversial. Only 160 respondents (66 %) declared that they used tranexamic acid always or often. This is the first European trauma survey, to our knowledge. Heterogeneity is significant across centres with regard to the clinical protocols for trauma patients and as to locally

  15. European Criminal Law a! er the Lisbon Treaty, or Europeanization of European law, under the co-responsibility of the Member States

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arif Riza

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Same as EU Law, that presents a new area of law and that it is still in progress, the EU Criminal Law is developing. The development of EU criminal law, of course, is dictated by the development of European Law itself, or the EU itself. Depending on it, the EU will be a supranational structure, or will undergo changes and become a Federal State, or another unified form. Taking into consideration the importance of this area of law, which is created for cooperation among states to combat organized crime, and especially terrorism, we can have a Criminal Code European and a European code of Criminal Procedure certainly in the near future, namely, a codification of European criminal field. This paper aims to discuss the development of European criminal law, until the Treaty of Lisbon.

  16. Development of european consciousness in Erasmus students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sevda Mutlu

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available This research is the content analysis of 502 Erasmus students’ experiences published in the website www.20erasmus.eu. One of the main purposes of the Erasmus Student Exchange Program is to maintain a cross-cultural dialogue through student activity, to remove prejudices and thus to strengthen interaction and join EU citizens under such concepts as “European Consciousness” and “Being European”. The purpose of this study is to determine how successful the Erasmus Student Exchange Program is through the shared Erasmus experiences of the participating students. In conclusion, in this research, it is observed that the students talked highly positively about the Erasmus experience. The students described this process as enjoyable and productive. It could be argued that the Erasmus experience contributed to students’ “individual development” rather than “academic development”. It could also be maintained that one of the key purposes of the Erasmus exchange program is to remove prejudices by maintaining student mobility and cross-cultural dialogue and to unite societies under the European Consciousness and European People understanding via strengthening interactions between EU member citizens. Data collected in this research present evidence that the Erasmus programme has reached this aim

  17. The Europeanization of Politics: Building a Terminology for European Studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Damir Grubiša

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available The article discusses the problem of Europeanisation, one of the key concepts developed within the European Studies in the last ten years or so, since the adoption and entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty. The fi rst part of the article deals with various models of Europeanisation in a context extending beyond the conceptual framework of the European Union, within which the phenomenon of Europeanisation arises. Therefore, the author attempts to develop a typology of broader approaches to the identifi cation of the phenomenon and process of Europeanisation, which includes six conceptions thereof: the fi rst approach is a geographical-political one, where Europeanisation is seen as a change in outer borders of Europe, from the reduction of Europe to the countries of Western Europe and Central Europe, to the extension of the concept of Europe to marginal countries; the second approach links the concept of Europeanisation with the development of political institutions on the European level. The third defi nition identifi es Europeanisation as an export of various forms of political organisation, a process which proceeds from the experience of European colonisation to the diff usion of European values as a role model for other continents; the fourth model of Europeanisation is the identifi cation with the project of European unifi cation, i. e. the process of integration which ends up in a federal, unifi ed Europe; the fi fth subtype is the penetration of national systems of governance by the European model of multilevel governance, which becomes manifest in the adaptation, convergence and harmonisation of the political and legal systems of member nations. The author elaborates on this classic typology by adding the sixth approach, which he calls “retrospective Europeanisation”. It involves Europeanisation as identifi cation with traditional European values that existed before EC and EU, primarily with the preintegration traditional

  18. THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK AND THE EUROZONE CRISIS MANAGEMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MONICA ŞAGUNA

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available The Euro is the single currency shared by 17 of the European Union's Member States, which together make up the Euro area. Since its introduction, in January 2002, it became the second most traded currency in the world after the United States dollar. With the launch of the Euro, the monetary policy became the responsibility of the independent European Central Bank, which was created for that purpose, and of the national central banks of the Member States, having adopted the Euro. However, the accumulation of massive and unsustainable deficits and public debt levels in a number of peripheral economies threatened the Eurozone's viability by the end of its first decade, triggering a Eurozone sovereign debt crisis. The institutional mechanisms surrounding the Euro have also been an integral part of the crisis. On this line, the European Monetary Union is supported on one side by treaties and multilateral agreements including the Maastricht Treaty, the Stability and Growth Pact and the Lisbon Strategy and, on the other side, by the European Central Bank. The combination of these institutions has produced a mix of monetary, fiscal and labour market policies with powerful social implications. And, what started as a debt crisis in Greece in late 2009 has evolved into a broader economic and political crisis in the Eurozone and European Union. In this framework, the purpose of my paper is to analyze the roots of the Eurozone crisis, as the biggest challenge since the Euro adoption and the European Central Bank’s response to it. Therefore the objectives are: identification of the reasons that stand behind the crisis, then observing how the crisis has affected the functioning of the European Central Bank and the Euro, and how it was forced to respond and, finally, focusing on the future and the challenges that lie ahead.

  19. CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING THE EVOLUTION OF EUROPEAN FUNDS ABSORPTION IN ROMANIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    IOANA TATIANA STANESE

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper analyzes the evolution of the absorption of European funds in Romania reported to the closure period of the operational programms related to the European Union cohesion policy during the years 2007 – 2013. This programming period officially concluded only at the end of year 2015. Considering the financial aspects of the 2007- 2013 programming period for European funds the analysis focuses exclusively on the Structural and Cohesion Funds and the absorption rate of these funds in Romania, namely 90.44%, recorded in March 2017. Nearly 3 years from the start of the new programming period 2014-2020 related to the European Union’s cohesion policy, there is a direct link between the quality of public administration’s activity and the application of the principle of investment programming. Despite a slow and difficult start, we can observe an accelerated trend over the last few hundred meters. Identifying priority projects at national and regional level, followed by a alteration and adaptation of strategic documents such as National Reform Programs, could be a solution for Romania to gain a more rigorous planning that leads to a higher and faster absorption of European funds in the current programming period 2014-2020.

  20. Making Sense of the ‘Agency Programme’ in post-Lisbon Europe: Mapping European Agencies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Helena Margaretha Ekelund

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available The institutional landscape of the EU has been transformed through the establishment of agencies and changes brought by the Lisbon Treaty. This article seeks to contribute to our conceptual and empirical understanding of European agencies post-Lisbon. It maps the current European agencies according to timing of establishment, size, functions, governance structures and financial arrangements, and discusses the findings in relation to studies and classifications of agencies in national settings. It shows that variations between different European agencies correspond to variations observed between agencies in national settings and argues that what is innovative is the political level at which they are created, not the agency type. Focusing on the functions, governance structure and financial arrangements of European agencies, it develops a classification model for European agencies. It concludes that there are four main types of agencies, distinguished by their formal functions and formal autonomy from the European Union’s core executive institutions.

  1. European nuclear education network

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blomgren, J.; Moons, F.; Safieh, J.

    2005-01-01

    In most countries within the European Union that rely to a significant extent on nuclear power, neither undergraduate nor PhD education is producing a sufficient number of engineers and doctors to fill the needs of the industry. As a result of an EU-supported project, a new education organisation, European Nuclear Education Network (ENEN), has recently been established, with the aim to establish a European master's degree of nuclear engineering. Recently, a new EU project, Nuclear European Platform of Training and University Organisations (NEPTUNO), has been launched, aiming at the practical implementation of ENEN and harmonisation of training activities. (author)

  2. European Union and oil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paillard, Christophe Alexandre

    2004-01-01

    In a context of oil price increase, problems about a Russian oil company (Loukos), and uncertainties in the Middle-East, the possibility of a new oil shock is a threat for Europe, and raises the issue of a true European energy policy which would encompass, not only grid development, environmental issues or market regulation issues, but also strategic issues related to energy supply security. This article proposes an overview of the European policy: first steps for a future European energy and oil policy in the green paper of the European Commission published in November 2000, issues of pollution and safety for hydrocarbon maritime transport. The article then examines the possibility of a third oil shock due to a crisis in the Middle East, and discusses whether European must have strategic stocks to face an outage of oil supplies

  3. European Home Energy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tommerup, Henrik M.

    2009-01-01

    An important aim of the european energy performance of buildings directive is to improve the overall energy efficiency of new homes......An important aim of the european energy performance of buildings directive is to improve the overall energy efficiency of new homes...

  4. Mineral metabolism in European children living with a renal transplant: a European society for paediatric nephrology/european renal association-European dialysis and transplant association registry study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bonthuis, Marjolein; Busutti, Marco; van Stralen, Karlijn J.; Jager, Kitty J.; Baiko, Sergey; Bakkaloğlu, Sevcan; Battelino, Nina; Gaydarova, Maria; Gianoglio, Bruno; Parvex, Paloma; Gomes, Clara; Heaf, James G.; Podracka, Ludmila; Kuzmanovska, Dafina; Molchanova, Maria S.; Pankratenko, Tatiana E.; Papachristou, Fotios; Reusz, György; Sanahuja, Maria José; Shroff, Rukshana; Groothoff, Jaap W.; Schaefer, Franz; Verrina, Enrico

    2015-01-01

    Data on mineral metabolism in pediatric renal transplant recipients largely arise from small single-center studies. In adult patients, abnormal mineral levels are related to a higher risk of graft failure. This study used data from the European Society for Paediatric Nephrology/European Renal

  5. Trusted Spotter Network Austria - a new standard to utilize crowdsourced weather and impact observations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krennert, Thomas; Kaltenberger, Rainer; Pistotnik, Georg; Holzer, Alois M.; Zeiler, Franz; Stampfl, Mathias

    2018-05-01

    Information from voluntary storm spotters has been an increasingly important part for the severe weather warning process at the Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie and Geodynamik (ZAMG), Austria's National Weather Service, for almost 15 years. In 2010 a collaboration was formalized and an annual training was established to educate voluntary observers into Trusted Spotters. The return of this investment is a higher credibility of their observations after these spotters have undergone a basic meteorological training and have become aware of their responsibility. The European Severe Storms Laboratory (ESSL) was included to this collaboration to adopt their successful quality control system of severe weather reports, which is employed in the European Severe Weather Database ESWD. That way, reports from Trusted Spotters automatically obtain a higher quality flag, which enables a faster processing by forecasters on duty for severe weather warnings, when time is a critical issue. The concept of combining training for voluntary storm spotters and a thorough quality management was recognized as a Best Practice Model by the European Meteorological Society. We propose to apply this concept also in other European countries and present its advancement into an even broader, pan-European approach. The European Weather Observer app EWOB, recently released by ESSL, provides a novel and easy-to-handle tool to submit weather and respective impact observations. We promote its use to provide better data and information for a further real-time improvement of severe weather warnings.

  6. New finding of Trichinella britovi in a European beaver (Castor fiber) in Latvia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Segliņa, Zanda; Bakasejevs, Eduards; Deksne, Gunita; Spuņģis, Voldemārs; Kurjušina, Muza

    2015-08-01

    We report the first finding of Trichinella britovi in a European beaver. In Latvia, beaver is a common game animal and frequently used in human diet. A high prevalence of Trichinella infections in Latvia is present in the most common hosts-carnivores and omnivores. In total, 182 European beaver muscle samples were tested for Trichinella larvae accordingly to the reference method of European Communities Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2075/2005 (2005). Trichinella britovi larvae were detected in one animal (prevalence 0.5%; intensity 5.92 larvae per gram of muscle). This finding suggests that the consumption of European beaver meat can be a risk to human health. Further studies are needed in order to determine if the present observation represents an isolated individual case or low prevalence of Trichinella infection in beavers.

  7. Ethics issues in scientific data and service provision: evidence and challenges for the European Plate Observing System (EPOS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cocco, Massimo; Freda, Carmela; Haslinger, Florian; Consortium, Epos

    2016-04-01

    Addressing Ethics issues is nowadays a relevant challenge for any initiative, program or project dealing with scientific data and products provision, access to services for scientific purposes and communication with different stakeholders, including society. This is corroborated by the evidence that Ethics has very high priority in EU funded research. Indeed, all the activities carried out under Horizon 2020 must comply with ethical principles and national, Union and international legislation. This implies that "For all activities funded by the European Union, Ethics is an integral part of research from beginning to end, and ethical compliance is seen as pivotal to achieve real research excellence." Here, we present the experience of EPOS, a public pan-European research infrastructure. EPOS aims at integrating data, data products, services and software (DDSS) for solid Earth science generated and provided by monitoring networks, observing systems and facilities belonging to European countries. EPOS fosters the integrated use of multidisciplinary solid Earth data to improve the understanding of physical and chemical processes controlling earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis as well as those driving tectonics and surface dynamics. The EPOS integration plan will make significant contributions to understanding and mitigating geo-hazards, yielding data for hazard assessment, data products for engaging different stakeholders, and services for training, education and communication to society. Numerous national research infrastructures engaged in EPOS are deployed for the monitoring of areas prone to geo-hazards and for the surveillance of the national territory including areas used for exploiting geo-resources. The EPOS community is therefore already trained to provide services to public (civil defence agencies, local and national authorities) and private (petroleum industry, mining industry, geothermal companies, aviation security) stakeholders. Our ability to

  8. European media law

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Castendyk, O.; Dommering, E.; Scheuer, A.

    2008-01-01

    European Union legislation concerning electronic communications media is firmly established as an essential part of the law in the field in Europe. From relevant provisions of the European Convention of Human Rights and the EC Treaty to numerous directives, the most recent being the Audiovisual

  9. European works councils

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Knudsen, Herman Lyhne

    2004-01-01

    The theme addressed by this artcle is the opportunities for European Works Councils of gaining influence on corporate decisions in multinational companies.......The theme addressed by this artcle is the opportunities for European Works Councils of gaining influence on corporate decisions in multinational companies....

  10. European [Security] Union

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Manners, Ian James

    2013-01-01

    The past 20 years, since the 1992 Treaty on European Union, have seen the gradual creation of both an “Area of Freedom, Security and Justice” and a “Common Foreign and Security Policy”. More recent is the development of a “European Neighbourhood Policy” over the past 10 years. All three...... of these policies involved the navigation and negotiation of security, borders and governance in and by the European Union (EU). This article analyses these practices of bordering and governance through a five-fold security framework. The article argues that a richer understanding of EU security discourses can...

  11. Trans-European transport networks and urban systems in European Union

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maksin-Mićić Marija

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available The trans-European transport network has different effects at interregional macro-regional and mezzo-regional level, and its effectiveness rises at the lower regional levels. Possible approaches to the trans-European transport network impact and effect survey and policy options have been pointed out. In that respect the brief review of survies, strategic framework and policies in European Union has been given. The importance of increased accessibility and mobility for regional expansion and for more balanced and polycentric system of city networks has been underlined. The question is how the new major transport infrastructure affects the development of functional complementarity between cities and regions. The new trans-European or major transport infrastructure does not per se create regional and urban system network development, although it can affect the conditions for the processes that create growth and development. The effects can be increased by co-ordination of measures of regional and urban policy, land use, transport and other policies. The necessary measure is the introduction of spatial impact assessment as sectorial policy instrument for the large transport infrastructure projects.

  12. National choices in a European perspective. Proceedings of the European Forum 2003

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sido, Bruno; Lamoureux, Francois; ); Herzog, Philippe; ); Barre, Bertrand; Bataille, Christian; Colombani, Pascal; Gonzalez Gomez, Jose Luis; Lescoeur, DBruno; Perez, Serge; Weh, Rudolf; Westerlind, Magnus; Houssin, Didier; Nagashima, Hideo; Pavlopoulos, Panagiotis; Linkohr, Rolf; ); Allemeersch, Antoine; Beveridge, George; Bonnemains, Jacky; Fritschi, Markus; Piguet, Jack-Pierre; Rigny, Paul; Streydio, Jean-Marie; Tallec, Michele; Vasa, Ivo; Pancher, Bertrand

    2003-01-01

    In 2003, the 'Entretiens europeens' engaged a dialogue between stakeholders of various socio-professional backgrounds from several countries and with the European Commission, in order to compare the selected options of management of radioactive waste and materials and to emphasize the best experiments, which could inspire an innovating European policy in the world. This document is the proceedings of this first European Forum on this topic. Content: 1 - Introduction by Bruno Sido, senator and chairman of the County Council of Haute-Marne; 2 - talk by Francois Lamoureux, General Director of DG TREN, European Commission. 3 - Debate with the audience. 4 - First round table chaired by Philippe Herzog, Member of the European Parliament and President of Confrontations Europe: Is a European directive feasible? Within what time frame? What flexibility is required? What democratic process is needed? With the contributions from: Bertrand Barre, Manager in charge of Scientific Communications (AREVA), Christian Bataille, Member of the French Parliament, author of the 'Bataille Law', Pascal Colombani, Administrator, British Energy (nuclear power producer in UK), Jose Luis Gonzalez Gomez, ENRESA (Spain), Bruno Lescoeur, Director of the Energy sector, EDF, Serge Perez, Trade Unionist, Member of the National Bureau, FNME CGT (France), Rudolf Weh, Head of Department Spent Fuel and Waste Management Services/Interim Storage, GNS Gesellschaft fuer Nuklear-Service mbH (Germany), Magnus Westerlind, Manager Nuclear Security, SKI (Sweden). 5 - Hearing Didier Houssin, Director, Raw Materials and Hydrocarbons, DGEMP. 6 - Interventions of Hideo Nagashima, Executive Director, NUMO (Japan) and of Panagiotis Pavlopoulos, Research Director CERN, Geneva. 7 - Second round table chaired by Rolf Linkohr, Member of the European Parliament and chairman of European Energy Foundation: 'The scientific and social importance of the various options for the management of nuclear waste' With the contributions

  13. Demand Side Management for the European Supergrid: Occupancy variances of European single-person households

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Torriti, Jacopo

    2012-01-01

    The prospect of a European Supergrid calls for research on aggregate electricity peak demand and Europe-wide Demand Side Management. No attempt has been made as yet to represent a time-related demand curve of residential electricity consumption at the European level. This article assesses how active occupancy levels of single-person households vary in single-person household in 15 European countries. It makes use of occupancy time-series data from the Harmonised European Time Use Survey database to build European occupancy curves; identify peak occupancy periods; construct time-related electricity demand curves for TV and video watching activities and assess occupancy variances of single-person households. - Highlights: ► Morning peak occupancies of European single households tale place between 7h30 and 7h40. ► Evening peaks take place between 20h10 and 20h20. ► TV and video activities during evening peaks make up about 3.1 GWh of European peak electricity load. ► Baseline and peak occupancy variances vary across countries. ► Baseline and peak occupancy variances can be used as input for Demand Side Management choices.

  14. Impact of gastroesophageal reflux disease on work absenteeism, presenteeism and productivity in daily life: a European observational study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gisbert, Javier P; Cooper, Alun; Karagiannis, Dimitrios; Hatlebakk, Jan; Agréus, Lars; Jablonowski, Helmut; Nuevo, Javier

    2009-01-01

    Background The RANGE (Retrospective ANalysis of GastroEsophageal reflux disease [GERD]) study assessed differences among patients consulting a primary care physician due to GERD-related reasons in terms of: symptoms, diagnosis and management, response to treatment, and effects on productivity, costs and health-related quality of life. This subanalysis of RANGE determined the impact of GERD on productivity in work and daily life. Methods RANGE was conducted at 134 primary care sites across six European countries (Germany, Greece, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the UK). All subjects (aged ≥18 years) who consulted with their primary care physician over a 4-month identification period were screened retrospectively, and those consulting at least once for GERD-related reasons were identified (index visit). From this population, a random sample was selected to enter the study and attended a follow-up appointment, during which the impact of GERD on productivity while working (absenteeism and presenteeism) and in daily life was evaluated using the self-reported Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire for patients with GERD (WPAI-GERD). Results Overall, 373,610 subjects consulted with their primary care physician over the 4-month identification period, 12,815 for GERD-related reasons (3.4%); 2678 randomly selected patients attended the follow-up appointment. Average absenteeism due to GERD was highest in Germany (3.2 hours/week) and lowest in the UK (0.4 hours/week), with an average of up to 6.7 additional hours/week lost due to presenteeism in Norway. The average monetary impact of GERD-related work absenteeism and presenteeism were substantial in all countries (from €55/week per employed patient in the UK to €273/patient in Sweden). Reductions in productivity in daily life of up to 26% were observed across the European countries. Conclusion GERD places a significant burden on primary care patients, in terms of work absenteeism and presenteeism and in daily

  15. Impact of gastroesophageal reflux disease on work absenteeism, presenteeism and productivity in daily life: a European observational study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hatlebakk Jan

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The RANGE (Retrospective ANalysis of GastroEsophageal reflux disease [GERD] study assessed differences among patients consulting a primary care physician due to GERD-related reasons in terms of: symptoms, diagnosis and management, response to treatment, and effects on productivity, costs and health-related quality of life. This subanalysis of RANGE determined the impact of GERD on productivity in work and daily life. Methods RANGE was conducted at 134 primary care sites across six European countries (Germany, Greece, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the UK. All subjects (aged ≥18 years who consulted with their primary care physician over a 4-month identification period were screened retrospectively, and those consulting at least once for GERD-related reasons were identified (index visit. From this population, a random sample was selected to enter the study and attended a follow-up appointment, during which the impact of GERD on productivity while working (absenteeism and presenteeism and in daily life was evaluated using the self-reported Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire for patients with GERD (WPAI-GERD. Results Overall, 373,610 subjects consulted with their primary care physician over the 4-month identification period, 12,815 for GERD-related reasons (3.4%; 2678 randomly selected patients attended the follow-up appointment. Average absenteeism due to GERD was highest in Germany (3.2 hours/week and lowest in the UK (0.4 hours/week, with an average of up to 6.7 additional hours/week lost due to presenteeism in Norway. The average monetary impact of GERD-related work absenteeism and presenteeism were substantial in all countries (from €55/week per employed patient in the UK to €273/patient in Sweden. Reductions in productivity in daily life of up to 26% were observed across the European countries. Conclusion GERD places a significant burden on primary care patients, in terms of work absenteeism and

  16. Observations and actions to ensure equal treatment of all candidates by the European Research Council

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rydin, Claudia Alves de Jesus; Farina Busto, Luis; El Mjiyad, Nadia; Kota, Jhansi; Thelen, Lionel

    2017-04-01

    The European Research Council (ERC), Europe's premiere funding agency for frontier research, views equality of opportunities as an important challenge. The ERC monitors closely gender figures on every call and has taken actions to tackle imbalances and potential unconscious biases. The ERC talk is focused on efforts made to understand and ensure equal treatment of all candidates, with particular focus on gender balance and with specific attention to geosciences. Data and statistics collected in running highly competitive and internationally recognised funding schemes are presented. Recent initiatives to tackle geographical imbalances will also be presented.

  17. European Metals Conference

    CERN Document Server

    Vereecken, Jean

    1991-01-01

    This volume contains the papers that will be presented at 'EMC '91 '-the European Metals Conference-to be held in Brussels, Belgium, from 15 to 20 September 1991, and organized by Benelux Metallurgie, GDMB (Gesellschaft Deutscher Metallhutten­ und Bergleute) and IMM (the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy). 'EMC '91' is the first of an intended major series organized at the European level with the aim of bringing together all those who are involved with the extraction and processing of non-ferrous metals-European metallurgists and their international colleagues-to provide them with the opportunity to exchange views on the state and evolution of their industry. The programme covers all the different aspects of the metallurgy of non-ferrous metals from mining to fabricated products. Particular attention is being paid to the European non -ferrous industry with respect to changes in demand, the technology used, pressures on the environment and the competitive position of manufacturers. The contributions of the...

  18. ERA—European Radiochemists Association: Report on the activities of the Working Party for Nuclear and Radiochemistry of the Federation of European Chemical Societies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kolar, Z. I.; Ware, A. R.

    2003-01-01

    The European Radiochemists Association started almost simultaneously with the appearance of the first issue of the Radiochemistry in Europe newsletter in August 1995. The objective of the European Radiochemists Association (ERA) is to extend and improve communication between radiochemists in Europe through a newsletter. Liaison persons within each country or group exchange details of their activities, set up a diary of relevant international events and exchange details of specialist equipment, facilities and technology. In the year 2000 the Federation of European Chemical Societies decided to form a working party on nuclear and radiochemistry. It is a formalisation of the European Radiochemists Association. Each chemical society is allowed to nominate a member to the Working Party on Nuclear and Radiochemistry. Currently we have 12 nominated members plus two invited and one observer. In addition to the ERA aims and objectives it proposes to put together a syllabus of radiochemistry for undergraduate and post-graduate students—this aspect has been a part of our support of the International Atomic Energy Agency initiative. Also the aim of the working party is to support other working parties and divisions, to press the Federation of the European Chemical Societies for financial structure. To this end an Expression of Interest has been tabled with the Framework 6 Programme for networking within radiochemistry in Europe. The WP will liaise with the International Isotope Society and the International Society on Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry and Biology to seek to communicate and to consider ways of working together.

  19. European Analytical Column

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Karlberg, B.; Grasserbauer, M.; Andersen, Jens Enevold Thaulov

    2009-01-01

    for European analytical chemistry. During the period 2002–07, Professor Grasserbauer was Director of the Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (EC), Ispra, Italy. There is no doubt that many challenges exist at the present time for all of us representing...

  20. Parametrization of the Richardson weather generator within the European Union

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Voet, van der P.; Kramer, K.; Diepen, van C.A.

    1996-01-01

    The Richardson model for mathematically generating daily weather data was parametrized. Thirty years' time-series of the 355 main meteorological stations in the European Union formed the database. Model parameters were derived from both observed weather station data and interpolated weather data on

  1. European Union Energy Research

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Valdalbero, D.R.; Schmitz, B.; Raldow, W.; Poireau, M.

    2007-01-01

    This article presents an extensive state of the art of the energy research conducted at European Union level between 1984 and 2006, i.e. from the first to the sixth European Community Framework Programmes (FP1-FP6) for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration (RTD and D). The FP is the main legal tool and financial instrument of EU RTD and D policy. It sets the objectives, priorities and budgets for a period of several years. It has been complemented over time with a number of policy oriented initiatives and notably with the launch of the European Research Area. FP7 will cover the period 2007-2013 and will have a total budget of more than euros 50 billion. Energy has been a main research area in Europe since the founding Treaties (European Coal and Steel Community, European Atomic Energy Community-Euratom and European Economic Community), and energy RTD and D has always been a substantial part of common EU research. Nevertheless, when inflation and successive European enlargements are taken into account, over time the RTD and D effort in the field of energy has decreased significantly in relative terms. In nominal terms it has remained relatively stable at about euros 500 million per year. For the next years (FP7), it is expected that energy will still represent about 10 % of total EU research effort but with an annual budget of more than euros 800 million per year. This article presents a detailed review of the thematic areas and budget in both European nuclear energy research (fusion and fission) and non-nuclear energy research (energy efficiency/rational use of energy, fossil fuels, CO 2 capture and storage, fuel cells and hydrogen, renewable energy sources, strategic energy research/socio-economy). (authors)

  2. EUROPEAN-TURKISH IDENTITY INTERACTION FROM THE SOCIALCONSTRUCTIVIST PERSPECTIVE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zuhal Unalp Cepel

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Identity formation efforts of the EU draw attentionin Turkey’s membershipprocess. This paper is based on a hypothesis that identity, culture, norms andvalues which construct the social structure affectEuropean and Turkish identityinteraction. In the paper, right and left views within the Turkish parliament andEuropean parliament will be analyzed in the framework of social constructivism.Social constructivism which is provided as an alternative area of study in thesocial sciences to the European integration, is still evaluated as a debatedapproach in the internatioal relations literature.Wendt, Checkel, Smith,Katzenstein, Keohane and Krasner define social constructivism as an approachbetween rationalism represented with neo-realism, neo-liberalism and neo-liberalinstitutionalism- and reflectivism represented withpost-modernism and post-structuralism. On the other hand, some other authors evaluate socialconstructivism within the critical theories. This paper is based on the firstdefinition.The first assumption of the social constructivism asserts that material structuresshould be observed beyond the biological facts(Jupille, Caporaso, Checkel,2003.According to this asumption, material structures gain importance by interpretingwithin the social conditions and environment. By following this assumption, thispaper will focus on different foreign policy strategies of Turkey and Europe as aresult of different identity perceptions. The second assumption points to the natureof the actors and their relations with the institutional environment. In accordancewith this assumption, opinions, values and discourses of the party groups in theTurkish parliament and European parliament will betaken into consideration.Social constructivism stresses on the social interaction of the states and non-state actors. In this respect analyzing the social interaction within the framework ofTurkish-European identity will make a contributionto the literature.

  3. Warming shelf seas drive the subtropicalization of European pelagic fish communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Montero-Serra, Ignasi; Edwards, Martin; Genner, Martin J

    2015-01-01

    Pelagic fishes are among the most ecologically and economically important fish species in European seas. In principle, these pelagic fishes have potential to demonstrate rapid abundance and distribution shifts in response to climatic variability due to their high adult motility, planktonic larval stages, and low dependence on benthic habitat for food or shelter during their life histories. Here, we provide evidence of substantial climate-driven changes to the structure of pelagic fish communities in European shelf seas. We investigated the patterns of species-level change using catch records from 57,870 fisheries-independent survey trawls from across European continental shelf region between 1965 and 2012. We analysed changes in the distribution and rate of occurrence of the six most common species, and observed a strong subtropicalization of the North Sea and Baltic Sea assemblages. These areas have shifted away from cold-water assemblages typically characterized by Atlantic herring and European sprat from the 1960s to 1980s, to warmer-water assemblages including Atlantic mackerel, Atlantic horse mackerel, European pilchard and European anchovy from the 1990s onwards. We next investigated if warming sea temperatures have forced these changes using temporally comprehensive data from the North Sea region. Our models indicated the primary driver of change in these species has been sea surface temperatures in all cases. Together, these analyses highlight how individual species responses have combined to result in a dramatic subtropicalization of the pelagic fish assemblage of the European continental shelf. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  4. ELSY. European LFR activities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alemberti, Alessandro; Carlsson, Johan; Malambu, Edouard; Orden, Alfredo; Cinotti, Luciano; Struwe, Dankward; Agostini, Pietro; Monti, Stefano

    2011-01-01

    The European Lead Fast Reactor has been developed in the frame of the European lead system (ELSY) project funded by the Sixth Framework Programme of EURATOM. The project, coordinated by Ansaldo Nucleare, involved a wide consortium of European organizations. The ELSY reference design is a 600 MWe pool-type reactor cooled by pure lead. The project demonstrates the possibility of designing a competitive and safe fast critical reactor using simple engineered technical features, whilst fully complying with the Generation IV goals. The paper focuses on the main aspects of the proposed design for the European lead fast reactor highlighting the innovation of this reactor concept and overall objectives. Special attention has been dedicated to safety starting from the first step of the design development taking into account other important aspects, such as the investment protection, the compactness of the primary system as well as sustainability. The main safety features of the proposed innovative decay heat removal (DHR) systems are presented. From the beginning of 2010, and for a duration of three years, the European Commission (EC) is financing the new project Lead European Advanced Demonstration Reactor (LEADER) as part of the 7th Framework Program. This paper highlights the main objectives of the LEADER project. (author)

  5. Parameters of measuring of european political consciousness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. M. Pikula

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available In the article the author analyzes the parameters of European political consciousness, i.e. European research field of political consciousness in qualitative and quantitative terms, which may be based on different indicators. The issue of emergence and development of European political consciousness becomes topical because firstly, its formation as the subjective dimension of European integration policy is not a spontaneous process and, secondly, European integration is carried out not only from the top but from the bottom, requiring deliberate interference of the public with the process; the public possesses the formed European political consciousness. Since the latter is a specific mental construct, the author offers to apply the triad «criteria ­ parameters – indicators». The characteristic that makes it possible to evaluate certain processes or phenomena in the system of Europeanness / Europeanism and specifies the quality system of views and opinions, which are realized in European behavior, is considered to be the criterion of European political consciousness. The European political consciousness parameters are seen to include the relevant historical memory, trends of public opinion and awareness regarding the European Union and position of its members in the European integration process, including the assessment of the existence and development of the EU; knowledge and views on the main EU institutions, assessing the importance of the main institutions of the EU and trust in them; a positive vision for the future of the European Union etc. The author considers the performance and objective characteristics and dimensions, including positive correlation of national and European levels of identity (European identity and European behavior to be the indicatiors of European political awareness. On the basis of these indicators the control of the condition and trends of European political consciousness development will be carried out.

  6. The Offshore New European Wind Atlas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karagali, I.; Hahmann, A. N.; Badger, M.; Hasager, C.; Mann, J.

    2017-12-01

    The New European Wind Atlas (NEWA) is a joint effort of research agencies from eight European countries, co-funded under the ERANET Plus Program. The project is structured around two areas of work: development of dynamical downscaling methodologies and measurement campaigns to validate these methodologies, leading to the creation and publication of a European wind atlas in electronic form. This atlas will contain an offshore component extending 100 km from the European coasts. To achieve this, mesoscale models along with various observational datasets are utilised. Scanning lidars located at the coastline were used to compare the coastal wind gradient reproduced by the meso-scale model. Currently, an experimental campaign is occurring in the Baltic Sea, with a lidar located in a commercial ship sailing from Germany to Lithuania, thus covering the entire span of the south Baltic basin. In addition, satellite wind retrievals from scatterometers and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) instruments were used to generate mean wind field maps and validate offshore modelled wind fields and identify the optimal model set-up parameters.The aim of this study is to compare the initial outputs from the offshore wind atlas produced by the Weather & Research Forecasting (WRF) model, still in pre-operational phase, and the METOP-A/B Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) wind fields, reprocessed to stress equivalent winds at 10m. Different experiments were set-up to evaluate the model sensitivity for the various domains covered by the NEWA offshore atlas. ASCAT winds were utilised to assess the performance of the WRF offshore atlases. In addition, ASCAT winds were used to create an offshore atlas covering the years 2007 to 2016, capturing the signature of various spatial wind features, such as channelling and lee effects from complex coastal topographical elements.

  7. Correlates of poor mental health in early pregnancy in obese European women

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sattler, Matteo C; Jelsma, Judith G M; Bogaerts, Annick

    2017-01-01

    health, in a group of overweight/obese pregnant women in nine European countries, and thus, to contribute to better recognition and intervention for maternal depression. METHODS: In this cross-sectional observational study, baseline data from early pregnancy (... in European overweight/obese pregnant women. The identified correlates might help in early recognition and subsequent treatment of poor mental health problems during pregnancy. This is important to reduce the unfavorable effects of poor mental health on pregnancy outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN70595832...

  8. Environment in the European Union 1995

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    The update to the 1992 report on the state of the environment in the European Union requested by the European Commission......The update to the 1992 report on the state of the environment in the European Union requested by the European Commission...

  9. European standards for composite construction

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stark, J.W.B.

    2000-01-01

    The European Standards Organisation (CEN) has planned to develop a complete set of harmonized European building standards. This set includes standards for composite steel and concrete buildings and bridges. The Eurocodes, being the design standards, form part of this total system of European

  10. European oil product supply modelling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saint-Antonin, V.

    1998-01-01

    Over the last few years, trends in European oil product consumption (in terms of level as structure and quality) has important implications of the refining industry. In this context, the purpose of this thesis consists in building a mathematical programming model applied to the European refineries in order to determine oil product supply prices, European refining industry investments and oil product exchanges of the European Union. The first part presents the reason for our choice for a long-term aggregate multi-refineries linear programming model, based on European refineries characteristics and the objectives of our model. Its dual properties are studied in detail and we focus particularly on the European exchange modelling. In the second part, an analysis of the European refining trends leads us to identify parameters and variables of the model that are essential to the aggregate representation of the European oil product supply. The third part is devoted to the use of this model, regarding two scenarios of increasingly stringent specifications for gasoline and diesel oil. Our interest for these products is due to their important share of the European oil product consumption and the not insignificant responsibility of the transport sector for atmospheric pollution. Finally, in order to have the use of an overall picture of the European refining industry, we build a regression model summarizing, though a few equations, the main relations between the major endogenous and exogenous variables o the LP model. Based on pseudo-data, this kind of model provides a simple and robust representation of the oil product supply. But a more specialized analysis of the refining industry operations, turning on a technical assessment of processing units, is reliant on the use of an optimization model such as the model we have built. (author)

  11. Small larvae in large rivers: observations on downstream movement of European grayling Thymallus thymallus during early life stages.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Leeuwen, C H A; Dokk, T; Haugen, T O; Kiffney, P M; Museth, J

    2017-06-01

    Behaviour of early life stages of the salmonid European grayling Thymallus thymallus was investigated by assessing the timing of larval downstream movement from spawning areas, the depth at which larvae moved and the distribution of juvenile fish during summer in two large connected river systems in Norway. Trapping of larvae moving downstream and electrofishing surveys revealed that T. thymallus larvae emerging from the spawning gravel moved downstream predominantly during the night, despite light levels sufficient for orientation in the high-latitude study area. Larvae moved in the water mostly at the bottom layer close to the substratum, while drifting debris was caught in all layers of the water column. Few young-of-the-year still resided close to the spawning areas in autumn, suggesting large-scale movement (several km). Together, these observations show that there may be a deliberate, active component to downstream movement of T. thymallus during early life stages. This research signifies the importance of longitudinal connectivity for T. thymallus in Nordic large river systems. Human alterations of flow regimes and the construction of reservoirs for hydropower may not only affect the movement of adult fish, but may already interfere with active movement behaviour of fish during early life stages. © 2017 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

  12. The constitutional momentum of European contract law (II): The DCFR and the European constitutional order

    OpenAIRE

    Mak, C.

    2009-01-01

    This paper analyses the potential impact of the recently published Draft Common Frame of Reference for European contract law (DCFR) on the European constitutional process. Looking at the combination of characteristics of codification and aspects of constitutionalism reflected in the DCFR, it is submitted that the further harmonisation of European contract law may contribute to the definition of the European constitutional order both on the institutional level (regarding the forms in which Eur...

  13. Pan European Phenological database (PEP725): a single point of access for European data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Templ, Barbara; Koch, Elisabeth; Bolmgren, Kjell; Ungersböck, Markus; Paul, Anita; Scheifinger, Helfried; Rutishauser, This; Busto, Montserrat; Chmielewski, Frank-M.; Hájková, Lenka; Hodzić, Sabina; Kaspar, Frank; Pietragalla, Barbara; Romero-Fresneda, Ramiro; Tolvanen, Anne; Vučetič, Višnja; Zimmermann, Kirsten; Zust, Ana

    2018-02-01

    The Pan European Phenology (PEP) project is a European infrastructure to promote and facilitate phenological research, education, and environmental monitoring. The main objective is to maintain and develop a Pan European Phenological database (PEP725) with an open, unrestricted data access for science and education. PEP725 is the successor of the database developed through the COST action 725 "Establishing a European phenological data platform for climatological applications" working as a single access point for European-wide plant phenological data. So far, 32 European meteorological services and project partners from across Europe have joined and supplied data collected by volunteers from 1868 to the present for the PEP725 database. Most of the partners actively provide data on a regular basis. The database presently holds almost 12 million records, about 46 growing stages and 265 plant species (including cultivars), and can be accessed via http://www.pep725.eu/. Users of the PEP725 database have studied a diversity of topics ranging from climate change impact, plant physiological question, phenological modeling, and remote sensing of vegetation to ecosystem productivity.

  14. Pan European Phenological database (PEP725): a single point of access for European data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Templ, Barbara; Koch, Elisabeth; Bolmgren, Kjell; Ungersböck, Markus; Paul, Anita; Scheifinger, Helfried; Rutishauser, This; Busto, Montserrat; Chmielewski, Frank-M.; Hájková, Lenka; Hodzić, Sabina; Kaspar, Frank; Pietragalla, Barbara; Romero-Fresneda, Ramiro; Tolvanen, Anne; Vučetič, Višnja; Zimmermann, Kirsten; Zust, Ana

    2018-06-01

    The Pan European Phenology (PEP) project is a European infrastructure to promote and facilitate phenological research, education, and environmental monitoring. The main objective is to maintain and develop a Pan European Phenological database (PEP725) with an open, unrestricted data access for science and education. PEP725 is the successor of the database developed through the COST action 725 "Establishing a European phenological data platform for climatological applications" working as a single access point for European-wide plant phenological data. So far, 32 European meteorological services and project partners from across Europe have joined and supplied data collected by volunteers from 1868 to the present for the PEP725 database. Most of the partners actively provide data on a regular basis. The database presently holds almost 12 million records, about 46 growing stages and 265 plant species (including cultivars), and can be accessed via http://www.pep725.eu/ . Users of the PEP725 database have studied a diversity of topics ranging from climate change impact, plant physiological question, phenological modeling, and remote sensing of vegetation to ecosystem productivity.

  15. European hadrons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1986-01-01

    The European Hadron Facility (EHF) is a project for particle and nuclear physics in the 1990s which would consist of a fast cycling high intensity proton synchrotron of about 30 GeV primary energy and providing a varied spectrum of intense high quality secondary beams (polarized protons, pions, muons, kaons, antiprotons, neutrinos). The physics case of this project has been studied over the last two years by a European group of particle and nuclear physicists (EHF Study Group), whilst the conceptual design for the accelerator complex was worked out (and is still being worked on) by an international group of machine experts (EHF Design Study Group). Both aspects have been discussed in recent years in a series of working parties, topical seminars, and workshops held in Freiburg, Trieste, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Les Rasses and Villigen. This long series of meetings culminated in the International Conference on a European Hadron Facility held in Mainz from 10-14 March

  16. Changes in prevalence of obesity and high waist circumference over four years across European regions: the European male ageing study (EMAS).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Thang S; Correa, Elon; Lean, Michael E J; Lee, David M; O'Neill, Terrence W; Bartfai, György; Forti, Gianni; Giwercman, Aleksander; Kula, Krzysztof; Pendleton, Neil; Punab, Margus; Rutter, Martin K; Vanderschueren, Dirk; Huhtaniemi, Ilpo T; Wu, Frederick C W; Casanueva, Felipe F

    2017-02-01

    Diversity in lifestyles and socioeconomic status among European populations, and recent socio-political and economic changes in transitional countries, may affect changes in adiposity. We aimed to determine whether change in the prevalence of obesity varies between the socio-politically transitional North-East European (Łódź, Poland; Szeged, Hungary; Tartu, Estonia), and the non-transitional Mediterranean (Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Florence, Italy) and North-West European (Leuven, Belgium; Malmö, Sweden; Manchester, UK) cities. This prospective observational cohort survey was performed between 2003 and 2005 at baseline and followed up between 2008 and 2010 of 3369 community-dwelling men aged 40-79 years. Main outcome measures in the present paper included waist circumference, body mass index and mid-upper arm muscle area. Baseline prevalence of waist circumference ≥ 102 cm and body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m 2 , respectively, were 39.0, 29.5 % in North-East European cities, 32.4, 21.9 % in Mediterranean cities, and 30.0, 20.1 % in North-West European cities. After median 4.3 years, men living in cities from transitional countries had mean gains in waist circumference (1.1 cm) and body mass index (0.2 kg/m 2 ), which were greater than men in cities from non-transitional countries (P = 0.005). North-East European cities had greater gains in waist circumference (1.5 cm) than in Mediterranean cities (P developing waist circumference ≥ 102 cm, compared with men from Mediterranean cities, were 2.3 (1.5-3.5) in North-East European cities and 1.6 (1.1-2.4) in North-West European cities, and 1.6 (1.2-2.1) in men living in cities from transitional, compared with cities from non-transitional countries. These regional differences in increased prevalence of waist circumference ≥ 102 cm were more pronounced in men aged 60-79 years than in those aged 40-59 years. Overall there was an increase in the prevalence of obesity (body

  17. Sensitivity of European wheat to extreme weather

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mäkinen, H; Kaseva, J; Trnka, M

    2018-01-01

    The frequency and intensity of extreme weather is increasing concomitant with changes in the global climate change. Although wheat is the most important food crop in Europe, there is currently no comprehensive empirical information available regarding the sensitivity of European wheat to extreme...... weather. In this study, we assessed the sensitivity of European wheat yields to extreme weather related to phenology (sowing, heading) in cultivar trials across Europe (latitudes 37.21° to 61.34° and longitudes −6.02° to 26.24°) during the period 1991–2014. All the observed agro-climatic extremes (≥31 °C...... wheat cultivars that responded positively (+10%) to drought after sowing, or frost during winter (−15 °C and −20 °C). Positive responses to extremes were often shown by cultivars associated with specific regions, such as good performance under high temperatures by southern-origin cultivars. Consequently...

  18. Current approaches to the European Health Policy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anda CURTA

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to identify the key elements that define the new European health policy. We observed that the health policy actually appeared to be an enclave within the integration process. The development of health policy in the new Member States followed a common pattern. Therefore, the European health policy reflected a general desire on behalf of the members to have more clarity of the rules in this area, given the different interpretation of the rules by different Member States.The Lisbon Treaty does not bring substantive changes regarding the public health policy, therefore the Member States shall keep their competence in defining the organization and financing this domain. However, the EU2020 Strategy states that “Europe faces a moment of transformation”. Therefore, the “Europeanization” of health policy could lead to the positive developments that all EU citizens are expecting.

  19. Heading south or north: novel insights on European silver eel Anguilla anguilla migration in the North Sea

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Huisman, Jeroen; Verhelst, Pieterjan; Verhelst, Pieterjan; Deneudt, K.; Goethals, Peter; Moens, Tom; Nagelkerke, Leopold A.J.; Nolting, Carsten; Reubens, Jan; Schollema, Peter Paul; Winter, Hendrik V.; Mouton, Ans

    2016-01-01

    The European eel Anguilla anguilla L. is a critically endangered fish species that migrates from coastal and freshwater habitats to the Sargasso Sea to spawn. However, the exact migration routes and destination of European eel are still unknown. We are the first to observe southward migrating

  20. EUROPEAN MONETARY FUND - BETWEEN ILLUSION AND FUTURE INSTRUMENT FOR EUROPEAN FINANCIAL STABILITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Firtescu Bogdan

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available The finance crises that culminate with the Greece situation shows that majority of European countries are facing balance-of-payments difficulties and it is clear that actual mechanism couldnt face the situation. This paper wants to highlight some of the proposals related to the development mechanisms, such the creation of the European Monetary Fund or the design of the European Mechanism for Financial Stability (EMFS, which could include the EMF, showing also the actual mechanism of financing through International Monetary Fund (IMF.Some pro and counter arguments are furthermore taken into discussion.

  1. European Conference „Meetbike“. Information

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gerd-Axel AHRENS

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available The information is devoted European Conference „Meetbike“ 3-4 April2008 in Dresden, Germany. Stronger networking of European bicycle-friendly cities and better cooperation of bike use and public transport has been considered. Results of the European Conference „MeetBike“ are presented.

  2. European brown hare syndrome virus in free-ranging European brown hares from Argentina

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Frolich, K.; Kujawski, G.E.J.G.; Rudolph, M.

    2003-01-01

    From 1998 to 2000, serum samples of 80 shot European brown hares (Lepus europaeus) from Argentina were examined for antibodies against European brown hare syndrome virus (EBHSV) and 80 spleen samples were tested for EBHSV-antigen by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Nine hares were posit...... in these hares. This is the first report of antibodies to EBHSV, EBHSV-antigen, and electron microscopy findings in free-ranging European brown hares from South America....

  3. Gendering European welfare states and citizenship

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Siim, Birte; Borchorst, Anette

    2017-01-01

    on gender, class, ethnicity or race, and nationality. One issue is what has been the effect of the European emphasis on women’s wage work and gender equality policies for women in different European countries? Another issue concerns how multiple discrimination is tackled and institutionalized in European......The chapter revisits the feminist scholarship on gendering of European welfare states and European citizenship, and reflects on the effects of globalization, Europeanization and migration. It first presents feminist perspectives on the liberal, the conservative and the social democratic welfare...... welfare states. A third issue is to what extent the Nordic welfare states still represent an attractive alternative model of social and gender equality to neo-liberalism. The final part discusses feminist approaches to reframe gender equality and gender justice from the transnational European contexts....

  4. Introductory Guide to European Corporate Law

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fomcenco, Alex

    Introductory Guide to European Corporate Law presents in an easily comprehensible and accessible way the main features and principles that govern European corporate law.......Introductory Guide to European Corporate Law presents in an easily comprehensible and accessible way the main features and principles that govern European corporate law....

  5. Olanzapine monotherapy and olanzapine combination therapy in the treatment of mania: 12-week results from the European Mania in Bipolar Longitudinal Evaluation of Medication (EMBLEM) observational study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vieta, Eduard; Panicali, Francesco; Goetz, Iris; Reed, Catherine; Comes, Merce; Tohen, Mauricio

    2008-02-01

    To evaluate the 12-week outcomes (effectiveness, tolerability, and patterns of medication use) of olanzapine (either in antimanic monotherapy or in combination with other antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, and/or lithium) in patients with bipolar mania or mixed mania. EMBLEM (European Mania in Bipolar Longitudinal Evaluation of Medication) is a 24-month prospective observational study of in- and outpatients with acute mania/mixed mania conducted in 14 European countries. Primary outcome measures included Clinical Global Impressions-Bipolar Disorder scale (overall, mania, and depression); 5-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale; and Young Mania Rating Scale. Tolerability measures included a questionnaire to assess patients' symptomatic complaints. Overall, 2004 patients received olanzapine (olanzapine monotherapy, n=673; olanzapine combination, n=1331). Concomitant therapy with antidepressants and/or anxiolytics was possible in both groups. The countries significantly differed in the use of olanzapine monotherapy versus olanzapine combination (pEMBLEM results suggest that in naturalistic settings, olanzapine (both as monotherapy and combination) may be effective in treating patients with bipolar mania. The use of olanzapine monotherapy or combination varies significantly across countries, but combination is generally the rule, rather than the exception.

  6. The unknown story of the European carbon market: an archaeology of the electrical sector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cartel, Melodie; Aggeri, Franck; Caneill, Jean-Yves

    2017-01-01

    In economic literature, the creation of the European carbon market is presented as a major institutional innovation that can be viewed as a direct application of economic theory. In this article, we propose another version of how the European carbon market came about that emphasizes the active role played by companies. For a period of three years, these companies designed and tested a prototype carbon market, while being observed by European experts. Drawing on archive documents, we analyze this experimentation process and examine in detail its influence on the European carbon market. We then discuss the role of companies in the processes of institutional innovation, a process that generally remains invisible. Finally it is explained how such experiments, conducted in protected spaces, can facilitate the design and testing of new concepts

  7. European Synchrotron Radiation Facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Buras, B.

    1985-01-01

    How a European Synchrotron Radiation Facility has developed into a detailed proposal recently accepted as the basis for construction of the facility at Grenoble is discussed. In November 1977, the General Assembly of the European Science Foundation (ESF) approved the report of the ESF working party on synchrotron radiation entitled Synchrotron Radiation - a Perspective View for Europe. This report contained as one of its principal recommendations that work should commence on a feasibility study for a European synchrotron radiation laboratory having a dedicated hard X-ray storage ring and appropriate advanced instrumentation. In order to prepare a feasibility study the European Science Foundation set up the Ad-hoc Committee on Synchrotron Radiation, which in turn formed two working groups: one for the machine and another for instrumentation. This feasibility study was completed in 1979 with the publication of the Blue Book describing in detail the so called 1979 European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. The heart of the facility was a 5 GeV electron storage ring and it was assumed that mainly the radiation from bending magnets will be used. The facility is described

  8. European environmental stratifications and typologies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hazeu, G.W,; Metzger, M.J.; Mücher, C.A.

    2011-01-01

    their limitations and challenges. As such, they provide a sound basis for describing the factors affecting the robustness of such datasets. The latter is especially relevant, since there is likely to be further interest in European environmental assessment. In addition, advances in data availability and analysis......A range of new spatial datasets classifying the European environment has been constructed over the last few years. These datasets share the common objective of dividing European environmental gradients into convenient units, within which objects and variables of interest have relatively homogeneous...... scale. This paper provides an overview of five recent European stratifications and typologies, constructed for contrasting objectives, and differing in spatial and thematic detail. These datasets are: the Environmental Stratification (EnS), the European Landscape Classification (LANMAP), the Spatial...

  9. Emotional support, education and self-rated health in 22 European countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    von dem Knesebeck, Olaf; Geyer, Siegfried

    2007-10-01

    The analyses focus on three aims: (1) to explore the associations between education and emotional support in 22 European countries, (2) to explore the associations between emotional support and self-rated health in the European countries, and (3) to analyse whether the association between education and self-rated health can be partly explained by emotional support. The study uses data from the European Social Survey 2003. Probability sampling from all private residents aged 15 years and older was applied in all countries. The European Social Survey includes 42,359 cases. Persons under age 25 were excluded to minimise the number of respondents whose education was not complete. Education was coded according to the International Standard Classification of Education. Perceived emotional support was assessed by the availability of a confidant with whom one can discuss intimate and personal matters with. Self-rated health was used as health indicator. Results of multiple logistic regression analyses show that emotional support is positively associated with education among women and men in most European countries. However, the magnitude of the association varies according to country and gender. Emotional support is positively associated with self-rated health. Again, gender and country differences in the association were observed. Emotional support explains little of the educational differences in self-rated health among women and men in most European countries. Results indicate that it is important to consider socio-economic factors like education and country-specific contexts in studies on health effects of emotional support.

  10. Enantiomeric profiling of chiral illicit drugs in a pan-European study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Castrignanò, Erika; Yang, Zhugen; Bade, Richard

    2018-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to present the first study on spatial and temporal variation in the enantiomeric profile of chiral drugs in eight European cities. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) and enantioselective analysis were combined to evaluate trends in illicit drug use in the context....... High loads of racemic methamphetamine were detected in Oslo (EF = 0.49 ± 0.02). This is in contrast to other European cities where S-(+)-methamphetamine was the predominant enantiomer. This indicates different methods of methamphetamine synthesis and/or trafficking routes in Oslo, compared...... with the other cities tested. An enrichment of MDMA with the R-(−)-enantiomer was observed in European wastewaters indicating MDMA consumption rather than disposal of unused drug. MDA's chiral signature indicated its enrichment with the S-(+)-enantiomer, which confirms its origin from MDMA metabolism in humans...

  11. "We have made Europe, now we have to make Europeans." Researching European Identity Among Flemish Youths

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Petra Huyst

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available After the rejection of the European Constitution in 2005, questions were raised about if and how European citizens feel connected to the European Union (EU. This article examines the image young, Flemish people have of the EU and whether they feel some sense of belonging in the EU. The research draws upon a qualitative study in which Flemish young people were asked how they felt towards the EU and how they perceived it. Using a social-constructionist perspective, the first part of the article concentrates on the concept of European identity and the theoretical divide between a civic and a cultural European political identity, as proposed by Bruter (2004. The second part of the article focuses on the results of a series of focus groups with young people (aged 17 to 19, held in spring 2007. The article argues that no strong European identity is yet present in the hearts and minds of these young people, although contexts and interactions might evoke a limited notion of European identity. This article offers an empirical account of a theoretical debate and presents a critical understanding of the dynamics at play in European identity construction.

  12. Gender inequalities in mental wellbeing in 26 European countries: do welfare regimes matter?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dreger, Stefanie; Gerlinger, Thomas; Bolte, Gabriele

    2016-10-01

    Nature and extent of welfare regimes and social policies are important determinants of health and health inequalities. This study examines the association of gender and mental wellbeing in European countries and investigates whether type of welfare regime plays a role in this association. Data of 19 366 women and 14 338 men of the third round of the European Quality of Life Survey (2011-12) was used to analyse mental wellbeing, assessed by the World Health Organization 5-Mental Wellbeing Index. Multilevel logistic regression analyses were performed to analyse the association between gender and good mental wellbeing first at country-level, and secondly the between country variation was analysed and welfare regimes were included as explanatory variables. We observed cross-national variation in good mental wellbeing. At country levels gender inequalities in good mental wellbeing were observed in 7 out of 26 countries. In analyses considering all countries together gender inequalities in good mental wellbeing were identified independent of further individual socio-demographic variables and independent of the welfare regimes that people lived in [women vs. men: OR = 0.76; (95% CI = 0.71-0.81)]. Gender inequalities in good mental wellbeing were not modified by welfare regimes. There are cross-national differences in good mental wellbeing between European countries. Gender inequalities with a lower prevalence of good mental wellbeing among women are common in European countries. This study suggests that welfare regimes do not modify these gender inequalities in mental wellbeing. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

  13. Inverse modelling of European CH4 emissions during 2006-2012 using different inverse models and reassessed atmospheric observations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bergamaschi, Peter; Karstens, Ute; Manning, Alistair J.; Saunois, Marielle; Tsuruta, Aki; Berchet, Antoine; Vermeulen, Alexander T.; Arnold, Tim; Janssens-Maenhout, Greet; Hammer, Samuel; Levin, Ingeborg; Schmidt, Martina; Ramonet, Michel; Lopez, Morgan; Lavric, Jost; Aalto, Tuula; Chen, Huilin; Feist, Dietrich G.; Gerbig, Christoph; Haszpra, László; Hermansen, Ove; Manca, Giovanni; Moncrieff, John; Meinhardt, Frank; Necki, Jaroslaw; Galkowski, Michal; O'Doherty, Simon; Paramonova, Nina; Scheeren, Hubertus A.; Steinbacher, Martin; Dlugokencky, Ed

    2018-01-01

    We present inverse modelling (top down) estimates of European methane (CH4) emissions for 2006-2012 based on a new quality-controlled and harmonised in situ data set from 18 European atmospheric monitoring stations. We applied an ensemble of seven inverse models and performed four inversion experiments, investigating the impact of different sets of stations and the use of a priori information on emissions. The inverse models infer total CH4 emissions of 26.8 (20.2-29.7) Tg CH4 yr-1 (mean, 10th and 90th percentiles from all inversions) for the EU-28 for 2006-2012 from the four inversion experiments. For comparison, total anthropogenic CH4 emissions reported to UNFCCC (bottom up, based on statistical data and emissions factors) amount to only 21.3 Tg CH4 yr-1 (2006) to 18.8 Tg CH4 yr-1 (2012). A potential explanation for the higher range of top-down estimates compared to bottom-up inventories could be the contribution from natural sources, such as peatlands, wetlands, and wet soils. Based on seven different wetland inventories from the Wetland and Wetland CH4 Inter-comparison of Models Project (WETCHIMP), total wetland emissions of 4.3 (2.3-8.2) Tg CH4 yr-1 from the EU-28 are estimated. The hypothesis of significant natural emissions is supported by the finding that several inverse models yield significant seasonal cycles of derived CH4 emissions with maxima in summer, while anthropogenic CH4 emissions are assumed to have much lower seasonal variability. Taking into account the wetland emissions from the WETCHIMP ensemble, the top-down estimates are broadly consistent with the sum of anthropogenic and natural bottom-up inventories. However, the contribution of natural sources and their regional distribution remain rather uncertain. Furthermore, we investigate potential biases in the inverse models by comparison with regular aircraft profiles at four European sites and with vertical profiles obtained during the Infrastructure for Measurement of the European Carbon

  14. ESN information bulletin. European science notes information bulletin reports on current European/Middle eastern science

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Orendorf, C.R.

    1990-06-01

    The European Science Notes Information Bulletin (ESNIB) 90-05 is a compilation of reports on recent developments in European science of specific interest to the U.S. research and development community, and is issued in support of the mission of the Office of Naval Research European Office. Issue Number 90-05, in addition to European area news, notes, and abstracts, contains reports in the fields of Acoustics, Atmospheric Electricity, Computer Science, Electronics, and Physics. The value of the ESNIB to Americans is to call attention to current activity in European science and technology and to identify the institutions and people responsible for these efforts. The ESNIB authors are primarily ONREUR staff members; other reports are prepared by or in cooperation with staff members of the USAF European Office of Aerospace Research and Development or the U.S. Army Research, Development and Standardination Group. Scientists from the U.S. who are traveling in Europe may also be invited to submit reports.

  15. Eco-Efficiency Actions and Firm Growth in European SMEs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elisenda Jové-Llopis

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This study investigates the effects of eco-efficiency actions on firm performance in terms of sales growth in an extensive sample of 11,336 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs located in 28 European countries. Our empirical results suggest that not all eco-strategies are positively related to better performance, at least not in the short term. We found that European companies using renewable energies, and recycling or designing products that are easier to maintain, repair, or reuse, perform better. Those that aim to reduce water or energy pollution, however, seemed to show a negative correlation to firm growth. Our results also indicate that high investment in eco-strategies improves firm growth, particularly in new members that joined the EU from 2004 onwards. Finally, we observed a U-shaped relationship between eco-strategies and firm growth, which indicates that a greater breadth of eco-strategies is associated with better firm performance. However, few European SMEs are able to either invest heavily or undertake multiple eco-strategies, thus leaving room for policy interventions.

  16. Peculiarities of the Enforcement of the European Arrest Warrant in the Case of an Illegal Liberty Deprivation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Minodora Ioana Rusu

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available The illegal deprivation of liberty is, under the current context, one of the most serious offenses, being treated differently in the European Union. The need to prevent and combat this violation, it has led the European legislator to include it under different names in the European legislative act that governs the institution of the European arrest warrant. In this context, the European arrest warrant is the most important form of judicial cooperation in penal matters between the Member States of the EU, which is based on mutualrecognition of criminal judgments. The research conducted on how it is regulated the enforcement of the European arrest warrant in the case of illegal liberty deprivation in the European legislative act (the Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA leads to the conclusion that the legislature failed to mention the violation in question in the group of the violation for which it was not necessary the inspection of the double incrimination, but, still, including the offenses as kidnapping, illegal restraint and hostage-taking. Even if theRomanian legislator included this violation in the above mentioned group, this situation is not solved, because it will cause some problems in the request by the Romanian judicial authorities of the enforcement of such warrant. Another criticized issue, observed not only in the European legislative act, but also in the internal law, is related to the lack of stipulations, which can lead to the possibility of issuing and executing a European arrest warrant and for the execution of educational measures for illegal deprivation of liberty and also others. Also, in order to increase the effectiveness of the execution of a European arrest warrant, we consider that it should be granted executive powers of all courts of Romania. The originality of the work consists of the critical observations and the lege ferenda proposal which covers both the European legislativeact and the Romanian Law. At the same time

  17. The Europeanization of National Judiciaries

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jaremba, Urszula; Mayoral, Juan A.

    2018-01-01

    judiciaries is still somewhat scattered and fragmented. The central ambition of this article is to provide a theoretical framework that would contribute to the understanding of Europeanization of judiciaries by: 1) offering a definition and theoretical developments useful for the study Europeanization and its......The article is underpinned by the idea that the national courts/judges are expected to act as decentralized European Union judges. However, the general knowledge concerning the impact of EU law on the functioning of national courts as EU judges and the process of Europeanization of national...

  18. The European Hematology Association Roadmap for European Hematology Research: a consensus document.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Engert, Andreas; Balduini, Carlo; Brand, Anneke; Coiffier, Bertrand; Cordonnier, Catherine; Döhner, Hartmut; de Wit, Thom Duyvené; Eichinger, Sabine; Fibbe, Willem; Green, Tony; de Haas, Fleur; Iolascon, Achille; Jaffredo, Thierry; Rodeghiero, Francesco; Salles, Gilles; Schuringa, Jan Jacob

    2016-02-01

    The European Hematology Association (EHA) Roadmap for European Hematology Research highlights major achievements in diagnosis and treatment of blood disorders and identifies the greatest unmet clinical and scientific needs in those areas to enable better funded, more focused European hematology research. Initiated by the EHA, around 300 experts contributed to the consensus document, which will help European policy makers, research funders, research organizations, researchers, and patient groups make better informed decisions on hematology research. It also aims to raise public awareness of the burden of blood disorders on European society, which purely in economic terms is estimated at €23 billion per year, a level of cost that is not matched in current European hematology research funding. In recent decades, hematology research has improved our fundamental understanding of the biology of blood disorders, and has improved diagnostics and treatments, sometimes in revolutionary ways. This progress highlights the potential of focused basic research programs such as this EHA Roadmap.The EHA Roadmap identifies nine 'sections' in hematology: normal hematopoiesis, malignant lymphoid and myeloid diseases, anemias and related diseases, platelet disorders, blood coagulation and hemostatic disorders, transfusion medicine, infections in hematology, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. These sections span 60 smaller groups of diseases or disorders.The EHA Roadmap identifies priorities and needs across the field of hematology, including those to develop targeted therapies based on genomic profiling and chemical biology, to eradicate minimal residual malignant disease, and to develop cellular immunotherapies, combination treatments, gene therapies, hematopoietic stem cell treatments, and treatments that are better tolerated by elderly patients. Copyright© Ferrata Storti Foundation.

  19. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE COMMITTEES IN EUROPEAN UNION EMERGING ECONOMIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mihaela Dumitrascu

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this research is to analyze the support committees of European Union emerging economies. The importance of good corporate governance is vital for an organization, especially in the emerging markets, fact that leads to a several perceived improvements of the entity, while being more trustable, open and transparent in relationship with all its stakeholders. In our demarche we started by choosing the emerging economies from European Union, which lead us to a sample consisting of the companies listed on Bucharest Stock Exchange, Sofia Stock Exchange, Warsaw Stock Exchange, Prague Stock Exchange, Budapest Stock Exchange, without taking into consideration a specific tier. In order to have a heterogeneous sample, we did eliminate the financial institutions from our research. This study is developed at European Union level and takes into consideration the following indices: BET® BUCHAREST EXCHANGE TRADING (Romania, SOFIX (Bulgaria, WIG 20 (Poland, PX (Czech Republic, BUX The Share Index of the Budapest Stock Exchange Co. Ltd. (Hungary. The data are extracted from the Annual Reports, Corporate Governance Codes, Comply or Explain Statement or the websites of the listed companies, from period 2007 - 2011. We choose this period, because we wanted to see the evolution of the corporate governance committees’ implementation from the period when the last countries from our sample joined the European Union since nowadays. Our conclusion is that we can not discuss about good corporate governance practices. Even so, we can observe from our investigation that the trend in this regard is encouraging. Like future research, we thought at developing our study by comparing the emerging economies from European Union with those outside this area. It is an interesting field of investigation, as every country has different regulations.

  20. Main Developments and Perspectives of the European Union

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Prof. Constantin ANGHELACHE PhD

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, the authors have analyzed the main economic-financial evolutions of the European Union member countries. First, we have performed the study regarding the evolution of the Gross Domestic Product growth in the European Union, by total and by comparison with other countries that play an important role in the global evolution of the economy. There are emphasized comparative data regarding the economic growth of China, which is the highest in the world. The growth rate of China is net superior to the rates recorded by USA, Japan and European Union (28 members. There can be observed a significant decrease of economic growth during the period 2008-2010, with a negative peak in 2009 (-2%-6% in the case of the United States, EU-28 and Japan. Even if China itself has felt the effects of the economic-financial crisis, the growth rate has reduced from 14% in 2007 to 9% in 2008, the decrease continued in the subsequent period, reaching some 8.5% in 2014. Then, we have analyzed the financial evolution, the exchange rate of the main currencies, the evolution of the inflation and the balance of foreign payments and international commercial exchanges. Particular attention was granted to direct foreign investments in and out the EU member states. The study is focused on the comparison of the foreign investments’ evolution during 2009-2014 for the main 10 partners of the European Union. Through this study, the results achieved by the EU during the specified periods were outlined, at each specific item within the internal, but also external relationships with other states in Europe or on wider global plan. The authors have put additional emphasis on the analysis of the period after 2007, since Romania has become member of the European Union.

  1. Comparing the American and European diagnostic guidelines for cystic fibrosis: same disease, different language?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ooi, Chee Y; Dupuis, Annie; Ellis, Lynda; Jarvi, Keith; Martin, Sheelagh; Gonska, Tanja; Dorfman, Ruslan; Kortan, Paul; Solomon, Melinda; Tullis, Elizabeth; Durie, Peter R

    2012-07-01

    The American and European cystic fibrosis (CF) guidelines recommend different diagnostic criteria. This study assessed diagnostic concordance between these recommendations. Subjects with single organ manifestations suggestive of CF (chronic sinopulmonary disease (RESP), chronic/recurrent pancreatitis (PANC) or obstructive azoospermia (AZOOSP)) were prospectively evaluated by sweat test, nasal potential difference and genotyping. Concordance in diagnostic outcomes between the two algorithms was measured using observed agreement and κ statistics. A total of 208 subjects were evaluated. Observed agreement was 84.8% and level of agreement was excellent (κ=0.87) between the American and European recommendations. The RESP phenotype was associated with the highest degree of concordance (observed agreement ≥90%, κ=0.92) compared with the PANC (observed agreement 86%, κ=0.65) and AZOOSP (observed agreement 80%, κ=0.87) phenotypes. Incorporation of nasal potential difference into the American algorithm failed to improve the overall degree of concordance (good agreement level; κ=0.75); the level of agreement was unchanged in RESP and PANC subjects, but reduced in AZOOSP subjects (from excellent to good). Extensive genotyping had limited clinical utility in the diagnosis of CF in both algorithms. Despite inconsistencies between the American and European diagnostic recommendations, concordance in diagnostic outcomes among subjects presenting with single organ manifestations of CF was good to excellent. These diagnostic guidelines provide guidance and promote rigorous evaluation for the diagnosis of CF but neither guideline should be regarded as dogma.

  2. Understanding the links among neuromedin U gene, beta2-adrenoceptor gene and bone health: an observational study in European children.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesco Gianfagna

    Full Text Available Neuromedin U, encoded by the NMU gene, is a hypothalamic neuropeptide that regulates both energy metabolism and bone mass. The beta-2 adrenergic receptor, encoded by the ADRB2 gene, mediates several effects of catecholamine hormones and neurotransmitters in bone. We investigated whether NMU single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs and haplotypes, as well as functional ADRB2 SNPs, are associated with bone stiffness in children from the IDEFICS cohort, also evaluating whether NMU and ADRB2 interact to affect this trait. A sample of 2,274 subjects (52.5% boys, age 6.2 ± 1.8 years from eight European countries, having data on calcaneus bone stiffness index (SI, mean of both feet and genotyping (NMU gene: rs6827359, rs12500837, rs9999653; ADRB2 gene: rs1042713, rs1042714, was studied. After false discovery rate adjustment, SI was significantly associated with all NMU SNPs. rs6827359 CC homozygotes showed the strongest association (recessive model, Δ= -1.8, p=0.006. Among the five retrieved haplotypes with frequencies higher than 1% (range 2.0-43.9%, the CCT haplotype (frequency=39.7% was associated with lower SI values (dominant model, Δ= -1.0, p=0.04 as compared to the most prevalent haplotype. A non-significant decrease in SI was observed in in ADRB2 rs1042713 GG homozygotes, while subjects carrying SI-lowering genotypes at both SNPs (frequency = 8.4% showed much lower SI than non-carriers (Δ= -3.9, p<0.0001; p for interaction=0.025. The association was more evident in preschool girls, in whom SI showed a curvilinear trend across ages. In subgroup analyses, rs9999653 CC NMU or both GG ADRB2 genotypes were associated with either lower serum calcium or β-CrossLaps levels (p=0.01. This study in European children shows, for the first time in humans, a role for NMU gene through interaction with ADRB2 gene in bone strength regulation, more evident in preschool girls.

  3. Denmark and the European Union

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Manners, Ian

    2011-01-01

    Over the past two decades Morten Kelstrup’s work has been at the centre of three important intellectual innovations in political science – the study of the EU as a regional political system; European security studies; and small states in European integration. Kelstrup’s best known books (Buzan, K...... of this book, two of Kelstrup’s most important intellectual contributions come from his work on Denmark’s relations with the European Union, and his use of systems theory to understand the EU.......Over the past two decades Morten Kelstrup’s work has been at the centre of three important intellectual innovations in political science – the study of the EU as a regional political system; European security studies; and small states in European integration. Kelstrup’s best known books (Buzan...

  4. Political Psychology of European Integration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Manners, Ian James

    2014-01-01

    The chapter engages in a survey of what political psychology and European integration have to say to each other in the understanding of the European Union. The chapter draws on five strands of political psychology as part of this engagement – conventional psychology, social psychology, social...... construction, psychoanalysis, and critical political psychology. Within each strand a number of examples of scholarship at the interface of political psychology and European integration are examined. The chapter argues that the study of the EU has much to benefit from political psychology in terms of theories...... and methods of European identity and integration, but it also argues that political psychology can benefit from the insights of European integration by rethinking the processes that drive the marking of inside and outside, interior and exterior, belonging and otherness....

  5. Male Lineages in Brazil: Intercontinental Admixture and Stratification of the European Background

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geppert, Maria; Roewer, Lutz; Palha, Teresinha; Alvarez, Luis; Ribeiro-dos-Santos, Ândrea; Santos, Sidney

    2016-01-01

    The non-recombining nature of the Y chromosome and the well-established phylogeny of Y-specific Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (Y-SNPs) make them useful for defining haplogroups with high geographical specificity; therefore, they are more apt than the Y-STRs to detect population stratification in admixed populations from diverse continental origins. Different Y-SNP typing strategies have been described to address issues of population history and movements within geographic territories of interest. In this study, we investigated a set of 41 Y-SNPs in 1217 unrelated males from the five Brazilian geopolitical regions, aiming to disclose the genetic structure of male lineages in the country. A population comparison based on pairwise FST genetic distances did not reveal statistically significant differences in haplogroup frequency distributions among populations from the different regions. The genetic differences observed among regions were, however, consistent with the colonization history of the country. The sample from the Northern region presented the highest Native American ancestry (8.4%), whereas the more pronounced African contribution could be observed in the Northeastern population (15.1%). The Central-Western and Southern samples showed the higher European contributions (95.7% and 93.6%, respectively). The Southeastern region presented significant European (86.1%) and African (12.0%) contributions. The subtyping of the most frequent European lineage in Brazil (R1b1a-M269) allowed differences in the genetic European background of the five Brazilian regions to be investigated for the first time. PMID:27046235

  6. The European Communities (Privileges of the Joint European Torus) Order 1978 (S.I. no. 1033)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1978-01-01

    This Order confers privileges on the Joint European Torus, as required by Decision 78/472/Euratom of 30 May 1978 of the Council of the European Communities and by the Exchange of Letters of 3 May 1978 between the Government of the United Kingdom and the European Atomic Energy Community [fr

  7. European Measurement Comparisons of Environmental Radioactivity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Waetjen, Uwe

    2008-01-01

    The scheme of European measurement comparisons to verify radioactivity monitoring in the European Union is briefly explained. After a review of comparisons conducted during the years 1990, the approach of IRMM organising these comparisons since 2003 is presented. IRMM is providing comparison samples with a reference value traceable to the SI units and which is fully documented to all participants and national authorities after completion of the comparison. The sample preparation and determination of traceable reference values at IRMM, the sample treatment and measurement in the participating laboratories, as well as the evaluation of comparison results are described in some detail using the example of an air filter comparison. The results of a comparison to determine metabolised 40 K, 90 Sr and 137 Cs in milk powder are presented as well. The necessary improvements in the estimation of measurement uncertainty by the participating laboratories are discussed. The performance of individual laboratories which have participated in at least four comparison exercises over the years is studied in terms of observable trends

  8. Pathological Internet Use and Risk-Behaviors among European Adolescents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tony Durkee

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Risk-behaviors are a major contributor to the leading causes of morbidity among adolescents and young people; however, their association with pathological Internet use (PIU is relatively unexplored, particularly within the European context. The main objective of this study is to investigate the association between risk-behaviors and PIU in European adolescents. This cross-sectional study was conducted within the framework of the FP7 European Union project: Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe (SEYLE. Data on adolescents were collected from randomized schools within study sites across eleven European countries. PIU was measured using Young’s Diagnostic Questionnaire (YDQ. Risk-behaviors were assessed using questions procured from the Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS. A total of 11,931 adolescents were included in the analyses: 43.4% male and 56.6% female (M/F: 5179/6752, with a mean age of 14.89 ± 0.87 years. Adolescents reporting poor sleeping habits and risk-taking actions showed the strongest associations with PIU, followed by tobacco use, poor nutrition and physical inactivity. Among adolescents in the PIU group, 89.9% were characterized as having multiple risk-behaviors. The significant association observed between PIU and risk-behaviors, combined with a high rate of co-occurrence, underlines the importance of considering PIU when screening, treating or preventing high-risk behaviors among adolescents.

  9. INSTITUTIONAL MANAGEMENT OF EUROPEAN STATISTICS AND OF THEIR QUALITY - CURRENT CONCERNS AT EUROPEAN LEVEL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniela ŞTEFĂNESCU

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available The issues referring to official statistics quality and reliability became the main topics of debates as far as statistical governance in Europe is concerned. The Council welcomed the Commission Communication to the European Parliament and to the Council « Towards robust quality management for European Statistics » (COM 211, appreciating that the approach and the objective of the strategy would confer the European Statistical System (ESS the quality management framework for the coordination of consolidated economic policies. The Council pointed out that the European Statistical System management was improved during recent years, that progress was noticed in relation with high quality statistics production and dissemination within the European Union, but has also noticed that, in the context of recent financial crisis, certain weaknesses were identified, particularly related to quality management general framework.„Greece Case” proved that progresses were not enough for guaranteeing the complete independence of national statistical institutes and entailed the need for further consolidating ESS governance. Several undertakings are now in the preparatory stage, in accordance with the Commission Communication; these actions are welcomed, but the question arise: are these sufficient for definitively solving the problem?The paper aims to go ahead in the attempt of identifying a different way, innovative (courageous! on the long run, towards an advanced institutional structure of ESS, by setting up the European System of Statistical Institutes, similar to the European System of Central Banks, that would require a change in the Treaty.

  10. Road tunnels safety according to European legislation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fedor KÁLLAY

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with safety of European road tunnels in accordance with actual European legislation. Standards and recommendations of European Commission, PIARC and other professional bodies of the European Union define minimal technological requirements for equipment and operation of the tunnels in scope of Trans-European Road Network.

  11. The Lisbon Treaty and the role of the European Parliament in the European Atomic Energy Community

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thomas, S.

    2008-01-01

    In June 2007, the European Council commissioned an intergovernmental conference to draft a 'treaty of reform' of the European Union. The wording of the treaty was signed by the heads of state and government of the member countries on December 13, 2007. The ongoing process of ratification in the 27 EU member countries is to be completed before the next elections to the European Parliament in June 2009. The treaty is now referred to as 'Lisbon Treaty'. The Lisbon Treaty (Treaty Amending the Treaty about the European Union and the Treaty Establishing the European Community) does not replace the European Treaties currently in force, but merely amends them. Also the 'Treaty Establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM)' is amended in this way. On the basis of the contributions about 'The German Presidency Program of the Council Working Group on Nuclear Issues - an Interim Report' (W. Sandtner and S. Thomas) and 'Euratom Treaty and Intergovernmental Conference' (S. Thomas), current links to the Euratom Treaty with potential amendments are presented and commented upon. (orig.)

  12. Geostatistical enhancement of european hydrological predictions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pugliese, Alessio; Castellarin, Attilio; Parajka, Juraj; Arheimer, Berit; Bagli, Stefano; Mazzoli, Paolo; Montanari, Alberto; Blöschl, Günter

    2016-04-01

    Geostatistical Enhancement of European Hydrological Prediction (GEEHP) is a research experiment developed within the EU funded SWITCH-ON project, which proposes to conduct comparative experiments in a virtual laboratory in order to share water-related information and tackle changes in the hydrosphere for operational needs (http://www.water-switch-on.eu). The main objective of GEEHP deals with the prediction of streamflow indices and signatures in ungauged basins at different spatial scales. In particular, among several possible hydrological signatures we focus in our experiment on the prediction of flow-duration curves (FDCs) along the stream-network, which has attracted an increasing scientific attention in the last decades due to the large number of practical and technical applications of the curves (e.g. hydropower potential estimation, riverine habitat suitability and ecological assessments, etc.). We apply a geostatistical procedure based on Top-kriging, which has been recently shown to be particularly reliable and easy-to-use regionalization approach, employing two different type of streamflow data: pan-European E-HYPE simulations (http://hypeweb.smhi.se/europehype) and observed daily streamflow series collected in two pilot study regions, i.e. Tyrol (merging data from Austrian and Italian stream gauging networks) and Sweden. The merger of the two study regions results in a rather large area (~450000 km2) and might be considered as a proxy for a pan-European application of the approach. In a first phase, we implement a bidirectional validation, i.e. E-HYPE catchments are set as training sites to predict FDCs at the same sites where observed data are available, and vice-versa. Such a validation procedure reveals (1) the usability of the proposed approach for predicting the FDCs over the entire river network of interest using alternatively observed data and E-HYPE simulations and (2) the accuracy of E-HYPE-based predictions of FDCs in ungauged sites. In a

  13. Natural gas in the European Community

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kalim, Z.

    1991-01-01

    A report is presented on 'Natural Gas in the European Community'. Aspects discussed include the challenges facing the gas industry in the EC, the development of the European gas industry, the structure and role of European gas companies, the sources of European supply, gas contracts and the influences that operate on sales into end markets, electricity generation from natural gas, evolving markets for natural gas in the EC, life in the private sector using British Gas as a role model and country profiles for eleven European countries. (UK)

  14. European Stars and Stripes

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Hendricks, Nancy

    1994-01-01

    The European Stars and Stripes (ES&S) organization publishes a daily newspaper, The Stars and Stripes, for DoD personnel stationed in Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and other DoD activities in the U.S. European Command...

  15. Ethics and European security

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Paskins, B.

    1986-01-01

    The alliance between the United States and her NATO partners has been strained severely in the last few years. American perceptions of European disloyalty and European impressions of American assertiveness and lack of judgment have played a large part in generating tensions between the allies and emphasising the new peace movements. This book is an attempt to develop a broader understanding of the problem of European security based on Christian ethics. There are disagreements and differences of emphasis among the contributors but they have in common the view that an exclusive preoccupation with the military dimension is damagingly one-sided. Instead the contributors argue that moral and theological concerns are a vital part of the politics and mechanics of European security and must be incorporated in any effort to devise new policies for security in Europe and the West.

  16. ALADIN: the first european lidar in space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morançais, Didier; Fabre, Frédéric; Schillinger, Marc; Barthès, Jean-Claude; Endemann, Martin; Culoma, Alain; Durand, Yannig

    2017-11-01

    The Atmospheric LAser Doppler INstrument (ALADIN) is the payload of the ESA's ADMAEOLUS mission, which aims at measuring wind profiles as required by the climatology and meteorology users. ALADIN belongs to a new class of Earth Observation payloads and will be the first European Lidar in space. The instrument comprises a diode-pumped high energy Nd:YAG laser and a direct detection receiver operating on aerosol and molecular backscatter signals in parallel. In addition to the Proto- Flight Model (PFM)., two instrument models are developed: a Pre-development Model (PDM) and an Opto-Structure-Thermal Model (OSTM). The flight instrument design and the industrial team has been finalised and the major equipment are now under development. This paper describes the instrument design and performance as well as the development and verification approach. The main results obtained during the PDM programme are also reported. The ALADIN instrument is developed under prime contractorship from EADS Astrium SAS with a consortium of thirty European companies.

  17. Personal Dignity in the European Legal Culture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lyudmila V. Butko

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The article presents the genesis of the origins of forming the legal mechanisms to protect the personal dignity in the European legal culture. It is noted that the legal content of dignity is predetermined by the moral aspect of consideration. In addition, the definition of "dignity" was transformed under the influence of the development of legal norms, doctrine and practice of protecting a person's rights and freedoms, the foundations of civil society and legal awareness. The chronological period of research was limited to the XIII-XIX centuries, within which the authors, using a comparative legal method, defined the directions of conceptualization and formalization of the personal dignity by scientists and legislation in the European countries. As a conclusion, it is shown that the observance of the right to personal dignity by the state will not only promote the exaltation of human dignity, but also simultaneously initiate the expansion of public law compensated by increasing the subjective rights.

  18. Transnational infrastructure vulnerability : the historical shaping of the 2006 European 'blackout'

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vleuten, van der E.B.A.; Lagendijk, V.C.

    2010-01-01

    The "European Blackout" of 4 November 2006 is a key reference in current debates on transnational electricity infrastructure vulnerability and governance. Several commentators have observed that to understand what happened, one must look at history. Our paper answers this call and demonstrates how

  19. Nuclear energy: the European way

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1993-01-01

    The dossier published in this issue deals with the present and future situation of nuclear energy in Europe. What could be the trends of the nuclear development in the Europe of tomorrows. That global question is answered by pointing out the different data related to the present state of european nuclear programmes. Such an overview is followed by a serie of articles dealing with definite items: the actions implemented by the European Communities Commission: the electricity market and EDF policy in the field of european electric grids; the trends of nuclear cycle industry and the perfecting of the future european nuclear reactor

  20. Transnational European Television Drama

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bondebjerg, Ib; Redvall, Eva Novrup; Helles, Rasmus

    This book deals with the role of television drama in Europe as enabler of transnational, cultural encounters for audiences and the creative community. It demonstrates that the diversity of national cultures is a challenge for European TV drama but also a potential richness and source of creative...... variation. Based on data on the production, distribution and reception of recent TV drama from several European countries, the book presents a new picture of the transnational European television culture. The authors analyse main tendencies in television policy and challenges for national broadcasters...

  1. The European Space Agency and the European Union: The Next Step on the Road to the Stars

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas Christian Hoerber

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available Given the outlook, the main questions considered in this article are whether a European position on a genuine common space policy is developing. If so, why is this happening now?; and what kind of potentials do these developments hold for the European integration process as a whole? This article will approach these questions through an analysis of past European collaboration in space affairs. It will describe the recent process of closer involvement between European Space Agency (ESA and the European Union (EU. It will identify the motivations underlying this process. It will also try to gauge the strategic potential of an intensification of the coordination of national space efforts in ESA and the involvement of the EU. In the conclusion, the ever closer relationship between the EU and ESA will be considered against the larger picture of European politics and the ongoing process of European integration

  2. ESN information bulletin. European science notes information bulletin reports on current European/Middle eastern science

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Orendorf, C.R.

    1989-10-01

    The European Science Notes Information Bulletin (ESNIB) 89-09 is a compilation of reports on recent developments in European science of specific interest to the U.S. research and development community, and is issued in support of the mission of the Office of Naval Research European Office. Issue Number 89-09, in addition to European area news, notes, and abstracts, contains reports in the fields of Acoustics, Computer Science, Condensed-Matter Physics, Materials Science, Mathematics, Physics, Psychology, and Solid-State Physics. It is not intended to be part of the scientific literature. The value of the ESNIB to Americans is to call attention to current activity in European science and technology and to identify the institutions and people responsible for these efforts. The ESNIB authors are primarily ONREUR staff members; other reports are prepared by or in cooperation with staff members of the USAF European Office of Aero space Research and Development or the U.S. Army Research, Development and Standardization Group. Scientists from the U.S. who are traveling in Europe may also be invited to submit reports.

  3. The 1997 Protocol and the European Union (European Union and '2nd generation' responsibility conventions)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Handrlica, Jakub; Novotna, Marianna

    2014-01-01

    The issue of accession of the Eastern European Member States to the 1997 Protocol is discussed with focus on the European Union's authority and enforcement powers. Following up the article published in the preceding issue of this journal, the present contribution analyses the relations of the '2nd generation' responsibility conventions to the law of the European Union. (orig.)

  4. Solid biomass barometer - EurObserv'ER - December 2015

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2015-12-01

    The European Reanalysis and Observations for Monitoring (EURO4M) project experts report that the year 2014 was unusually hot on the European continent, with the highest temperatures on record, following on from 2013 whose winter conditions were also exceptionally mild, and ahead of 2015 which is also set to be very warm. This situation led to a fall in solid biomass consumption for heating across the European Union. In 2014 electricity output increased by 4.5% on its 2013 level to 84.8 TWh, as the vagaries of climate have less impact on demand and it was also boosted by the expansion of biomass cogeneration and new coal-fired power plant conversions

  5. European atomic (nuclear) law and Austria

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heitzinger, R.

    2000-05-01

    The dissertation investigates the question, how the Austrian membership in the European Community works out to the Austrian Atomic Nonproliferation Law, which is a simple federal law. By the day of the Austrian accession to the European Community, the whole law of the European Community became part of the Austrian Legal Order. Also part of the primary right, the constitutional law of the European Community, is the contract for founding the European Atomic Energy Community, which also became part of the Austrian Legal Order. In 1978 Austria decided after the plebiscite of November the 5th against the opening of the nuclear power station in Zwentendorf. The result of this plebiscite was the Austrian Atomic Nonproliferation Law, a simple federal law from December the 15th, BGBl 676/1978. To continue their atomic politics, forbidding the use of nuclear powerstations for producing energy, after becoming a member of the European Community, Austria and the members of the European Community signed the Fourth Common Declaration at September the 23rd in 1993 for the use of the contract for founding the European Atomic Energy Community. This Common Declaration is neither a part of the accession of the contract, nor a part of the accessions to the acts of the contract of the European Community, and also not a part of the primary right of the European Community. It is only an agreement between the signatory states, which can be characterized as a part of the context. The sphere of the context, where the Fourth Common Declaration could be important, restrains to the secondary right of the European Community. This means, that the opinion on the rage of application is a decision of the executive bodies of the European Community. Consequently is to say, that the declaration, that the continuance of the Austrian Atomic Nonproliferation Law is save, can't resist an analysis in the law of nations. (author)

  6. European standards and regulation - CEN/CENELEC

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Caballero, J. [AENOR, Madrid (Spain)

    1997-02-27

    An overview is given of the European Standards structure, as well as the general Directives and Regulations related to the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Sector. The importance of standardisation, both on quality and as a strategic tool for manufacturers, is stressed. Participation in the elaboration of standards makes it possible to reflect a manufacturer`s technology in the standards. Voluntary standardisation can be used as a differentiating element. European standards for the HVAC sector are being elaborated by the European Standardisation Committee (CEN), the European Electrotechnical Standardisation Committee (CENELEC) and by the European Telecommunication Institute (ETSI)

  7. ATLAS OF EUROPEAN VALUES

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    M Ed Uwe Krause

    2008-01-01

    Uwe Krause: Atlas of Eurpean Values De Atlas of European Values is een samenwerkingsproject met bijbehorende website van de Universiteit van Tilburg en Fontys Lerarenopleiding in Tilburg, waarbij de wetenschappelijke data van de European Values Study (EVS) voor het onderwijs toegankelijk worden

  8. Causality in Europeanization Research

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lynggaard, Kennet

    2012-01-01

    to develop discursive institutional analytical frameworks and something that comes close to the formulation of hypothesis on the effects of European Union (EU) policies and institutions on domestic change. Even if these efforts so far do not necessarily amount to substantive theories or claims of causality......Discourse analysis as a methodology is perhaps not readily associated with substantive causality claims. At the same time the study of discourses is very much the study of conceptions of causal relations among a set, or sets, of agents. Within Europeanization research we have seen endeavours......, it suggests that discourse analysis and the study of causality are by no means opposites. The study of Europeanization discourses may even be seen as an essential step in the move towards claims of causality in Europeanization research. This chapter deals with the question of how we may move from the study...

  9. How to Enforce European Law

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Morten

    2017-01-01

    This article explores the well known saga of the European Court of Justice’s introduction of direct effect of Council directives on basis of new comprehensive archival research. The expansion of the doctrine of direct effect to include directives was part of a drive of the Legal Service of the Eu......This article explores the well known saga of the European Court of Justice’s introduction of direct effect of Council directives on basis of new comprehensive archival research. The expansion of the doctrine of direct effect to include directives was part of a drive of the Legal Service...... of the European Commission and the ECJ to strengthen the enforcement of European law. This threatened the deeper balance of competences between the European Community and its member states and consequently led to a sharp response from the national parliaments and courts. The force of these responses and the deep...

  10. Decomposing European bond and equity volatility

    OpenAIRE

    Christiansen, Charlotte

    2004-01-01

    The paper investigates volatility spillover from US and aggregate European asset markets into European national asset markets. A main contribution is that bond and equity volatilities are analyzed simultaneously. A new model belonging to the "volatilityspillover" family is suggested: The conditional variance of e.g. the unexpected German stock return is divided into separate effects from the contemporaneous idiosyncratic variance of US bonds, US stocks, European bonds, European stocks, German...

  11. Analysis of the cool down related cavity performance of the European XFEL vertical acceptance tests

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wenskat, Marc; Schaffran, J.

    2017-09-15

    For the European X-Ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) cavity production, the cold radio-frequency (RF) test of the cavities at 2 K after delivery from the two vendors was the mandatory acceptance test. It has been previously reported, that the cool down dynamics of a cavity across T{sub c} has a significant influence on the observed intrinsic quality factor Q{sub 0}, which is a measure of the losses on the inner cavity surface. A total number of 367 cool downs is used to analyze this correlation and we show that such a correlation is not observed during the European XFEL cavity production.

  12. Catalogue of European earthquakes and an atlas of European seismic maps

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van Gils, J.M.

    1988-01-01

    The Catalogue of European earthquakes and an atlas of European seismic maps has been prepared in the framework of the activities of the CEC Working Group on the safety of ligh-water reactors. Seismic hazards are considered to be an important element of possible external accidents to be taken into account in the design, construction, and operation of nuclear power plants. The report relies on the data base available, the historical as well as the present-day data. After a short historical review, actually-used intensity scales are discussed. The scale applied in European countries and the one proposed in the United States of America are compared. The different seismic maps of interest are explained and a mathematical procedure presented which allows, under certain conditions, to draw seismic maps by computer facilities

  13. Vocational Training in the European Union

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehmet BALCI

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available European Union requires some standards in all areas. Today, the importance of training qualified individuals which holds an important place in the development of countries increases and certain standards are adopted creating common European Union tools in the field of vocational and technical education. In this study, vocational education and training policies system and the standards adopted by the European Union are discussed. Furthermore, this study was accepted as a European Union project in 2010 and the results obtained from the Leonardo Da Vinci Life Learning European Union project called “Web Based Basic Vocational Training” between the years 2010-2012 were presented. Since the partners of these projects are Turkey, Spain and Germany, the structure of vocational education, institutions of public and private vocational education and the diplomas and certificates entitled after these educations are included. As Turkey is on its way to become a European Union member, a number of advices are presented for Turkey to reach its destination about vocational education standards that European Union has aimed. The purpose of the study is not only to be a guide for the young who want to get professional training in the countries that are European Union members or candidates about how and where to have education opportunities but also to give a chance for trainers and training managers, participating in vocational training, so as to glimpse different practices from different countries and compare these practices between the countries of European Union and their countries. The study is also very important as it has the opportunities for training managers to see if their countries' vocational education is close enough to vocational education in European Union.

  14. Democratic Citizenship: European referents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María PUIG GUTIÉRREZ

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Let’s sense beforehand in this article a tour concerning the educational European policies that favors the development of a democratic citizenship. The aim that we chase is to understand the way in which nowadays it is being interpreted and stimulated the Citizenship education from European Union. for it we offer a conceptual delimiting of «Citizenship education» and later, we show an analysis of the principal documents and materials elaborated principally by the Council of Europe that mark the way followed by European Union as for education for Democratic Citizenship (EDC.

  15. Phytoliths in pottery reveal the use of spice in European prehistoric cuisine.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hayley Saul

    Full Text Available Here we present evidence of phytoliths preserved in carbonised food deposits on prehistoric pottery from the western Baltic dating from 6,100 cal BP to 5750 cal BP. Based on comparisons to over 120 European and Asian species, our observations are consistent with phytolith morphologies observed in modern garlic mustard seed (Alliaria petiolata (M. Bieb Cavara & Grande. As this seed has a strong flavour, little nutritional value, and the phytoliths are found in pots along with terrestrial and marine animal residues, these findings are the first direct evidence for the spicing of food in European prehistoric cuisine. Our evidence suggests a much greater antiquity to the spicing of foods than is evident from the macrofossil record, and challenges the view that plants were exploited by hunter-gatherers and early agriculturalists solely for energy requirements, rather than taste.

  16. Phytoliths in Pottery Reveal the Use of Spice in European Prehistoric Cuisine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saul, Hayley; Madella, Marco; Fischer, Anders; Glykou, Aikaterini; Hartz, Sönke; Craig, Oliver E.

    2013-01-01

    Here we present evidence of phytoliths preserved in carbonised food deposits on prehistoric pottery from the western Baltic dating from 6,100 cal BP to 5750 cal BP. Based on comparisons to over 120 European and Asian species, our observations are consistent with phytolith morphologies observed in modern garlic mustard seed (Alliaria petiolata (M. Bieb) Cavara & Grande). As this seed has a strong flavour, little nutritional value, and the phytoliths are found in pots along with terrestrial and marine animal residues, these findings are the first direct evidence for the spicing of food in European prehistoric cuisine. Our evidence suggests a much greater antiquity to the spicing of foods than is evident from the macrofossil record, and challenges the view that plants were exploited by hunter-gatherers and early agriculturalists solely for energy requirements, rather than taste. PMID:23990910

  17. Biofuels barometer - EurObserv'ER - July 2015

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2015-07-01

    +6.1% The increase of biofuel consumption in European Union transport between 2013 and 2014 (in energy content). Biofuel consumption for transport picked up in Europe after a year of uncertainty and decline, increasing by 6.1% over 2013, to 14 million toe (Mtoe) according to EurObserv'ER's first estimates. However it is still below its 2012 level when 14.5 Mtoe of biofuel was incorporated. Consumption of biofuel that meets the European Renewable Energy directive's sustainability criteria rose to 12.5 Mtoe, its highest level so far

  18. Towards the development of European networks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hanreich, G.

    2004-01-01

    The second AFG (French Gas Association) forum, held on June 17, addressed the issue of links between European networks with presentations by Guenther Hainreich, Director of Trans-European Networks for the European Commission Energy and Transport DG, and Loannis Galanis, Assistant Unit Director for the European Commission Energy and Transport DG. The choice for this topic has been influenced by the opening of gas markets in Europe which supposes that two conditions are fulfilled: first, the existence of gas availabilities, and second, the development of transportation, storage and LNG terminal infrastructures. In this context, the national policies are today the regional variations of a European policy at the service of the reinforcement of isolated areas and of the sustain of expanding areas. It is thus necessary to consider the European point-of-view about the existing infrastructures, their development and their financing means

  19. The European Public on Social Media

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tarta, Ancuta-Gabriela

    This study explorers the European public on social media by discussing the case of communicative interactions taking place on the official Facebook page of the European Parliament. Based on the theoretical framework conceptualizing the public and the public sphere on social network sites, the study...... examines the European social media public from two perspectives. The first is a top-down, institutional perspective of European Parliament, based on a case-study approach to the way this European institution constructs and addresses the public through its social media communication. The second is a bottom......-up perspective of the public of social media users, informed by a content analysis of Facebook comments and a discourse analysis of live chat interactions with Members of the European Parliament. Results confirm a discursive potential of the Facebook public of users. In the case of the Facebook comment threads...

  20. Quasat - European status report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schilizzi, R.T.

    1987-01-01

    The scientific goals, design, and current development status of Quasat are reviewed. Quasat is a proposed 15-m orbiting radio telescope intended to serve as the space leg of an astronomical VLBI network comprising the existing large arrays in Europe, the U.S., the USSR, and Australia. The planned 63-deg-inclination 5700 x 12,500-km elliptical orbit is optimized for high-resolution imaging of quasar and radio-galaxy nuclei at cm wavelengths with the U.S. and European ground arrays. A drawing of the ESA inflatable-antenna concept, a diagram of the space/ground system, and tables listing additional observing targets and the predicted angular and spatial resolutions of a Quasat-based array at different wavelengths are included

  1. Priority for import capacity. The fear of the European Union for a free European energy market

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roggen, M.

    2002-01-01

    Brussels (the seat of the European Union in Belgium) is worried about the performance of the liberalized European energy market. The natural gas and electricity networks are suffering from chronic congestion. Some areas are largely or even entirely cut off from the European energy infrastructure. Those problems must be addressed to realize the internal market. A package of reforms has been put forward by the European Commission the end of 2001 and 12 priority projects are identified and briefly discussed in this article [nl

  2. First steps towards a European atlas of natural radiation: status of the European indoor radon map

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dubois, G.; Bossew, P.; Tollefsen, T.; De Cort, M.

    2010-01-01

    Within the context of its institutional scientific support to the European Commission, in 2005 the Radioactivity Environmental Monitoring (REM) group at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, started to explore the possibility of mapping indoor radon in European houses as a first step towards preparing a European Atlas of Natural Radiations. The main objective of such an atlas is to contribute to familiarizing the public with its naturally radioactive environment. The process of preparing the atlas should also provide the scientific community with a database of information that can be used for further studies and for highlighting regions with elevated levels of natural radiation. This document presents the status of the European indoor radon (Rn) map, first statistical results, and outlines of forthcoming challenges.

  3. The European 2015 drought from a hydrological perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laaha, Gregor; Gauster, Tobias; Delus, Claire; Vidal, Jean-Philippe

    2016-04-01

    The year 2015 was hot and dry in many European countries. A timely assessment of its hydrological impacts constitutes a difficult task, because stream flow records are often not available within 2-3 years after recording. Moreover, monitoring is performed on a national or even provincial basis. There are still major barriers of data access, especially for eastern European countries. Wherever data are available, their compatibility poses a major challenge. In two companion papers we summarize a collaborative initiative of members of UNESCO's FRIEND-Water program to perform a timely Pan-European assessment of the 2015 drought. In this second part we analyse the hydrological perspective based on streamflow observations. We first describe the data access strategy and the assessment method. We than present the results consisting of a range of low flow indices calculated for about 800 gauges across Europe. We compare the characteristics of the 2015 drought with the average, long-term conditions, and with the specific conditions of the 2003 drought, which is often used as a worst-case benchmark to gauge future drought events. Overall, the hydrological 2015 drought is characterised by a much smaller spatial extend than the 2003 drought. Extreme streamflows are observed mainly in a band North of the Alps spanning from E-France to Poland. In terms of flow magnitude, Czech, E-Germany and N-Austria were most affected. In this region the low flows often had return periods of 100 years and more, indicating that the event was much more severe than the 2003 event. In terms of deficit volumes, the centre of the event was more oriented towards S-Germany. Based on a detailed assessment of the spatio-temporal characteristics at various scales, we are able to explain the different behaviour in these regions by diverging wetness preconditions in the catchments. This suggest that the sole knowledge of atmospheric indices is not sufficient to characterise hydrological drought events. We

  4. Secondary mirror system for the European Solar Telescope (EST)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cavaller, L.; Siegel, B.; Prieto, G.; Hernandez, E.; Casalta, J. M.; Mercader, J.; Barriga, J.

    2010-07-01

    The European Solar Telescope (EST) is a European collaborative project to build a 4m class solar telescope in the Canary Islands, which is now in its design study phase. The telescope will provide diffraction limited performance for several instruments observing simultaneously at the Coudé focus at different wavelengths. A multi-conjugated adaptive optics system composed of a tip-tilt mirror and several deformable mirrors will be integrated in the telescope optical path. The secondary mirror system is composed of the mirror itself (Ø800mm), the alignment drives and the cooling system needed to remove the solar heat load from the mirror. During the design study the feasibility to provide fast tip-tilt capabilities at the secondary mirror to work as the adaptive optics tip-tilt mirror is also being evaluated.

  5. The globalization and Europeanization of mortgage markets

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Aalbers, M.B.

    2009-01-01

    Do globalization and Europeanization lead to the deterritorialization of European mortgage markets? Neither economic globalization nor EU policies have resulted in one European mortgage market. The various European mortgage markets are still quite different from one another in many respects. In most

  6. European Industry, 1700 - 1870

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Broadberry, Stephen; Fremdling, Rainer; Solar, Peter M.

    2008-01-01

    This paper offers an overview of the development of European industry between 1700 and 1870, drawing in particular on the recent literature that has emerged following the formation of the European Historical Economics Society in 1991. The approach thus makes use of economic analysis and quantitative

  7. European Industry, 1700-1870

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Broadberry, Stephen; Fremdling, Rainer; Solar, Peter M.

    2008-01-01

    This paper offers an overview of the development of European industry between 1700 and 1870, drawing in particular on the recent literature that has emerged following the formation of the European Historical Economics Society in 1991. The approach thus makes use of economic analysis and quantitative

  8. CERN welcomes European science

    CERN Multimedia

    2002-01-01

    On 3 and 4 October CERN will host a special workshop for Marie Curie fellows. This programme is a key plank in the EU's strategy for creating a European research area.     With thousands of scientists from all over the continent working together, CERN is already an exemplary European science showcase. On 3 and 4 October, the Laboratory will contribute further to unifying all European science by hosting a special workshop for EU-funded Marie Curie fellows. This scheme gives young researchers from around the continent the mobility to go to wherever Europe's best facilities in their chosen field happen to be. The event that will take place at CERN, entitled 'Special workshop of Marie Curie Fellows on research and training in physics and technology', organised together with the European Commission, is a continuation of a series of workshops with the aim, among others, of promoting young researchers, supporting their training and mobility, and facilitating the interdisciplinary dissemination of knowledge. Dur...

  9. European security framework for healthcare.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruotsalainen, Pekka; Pohjonen, Hanna

    2003-01-01

    eHealth and telemedicine services are promising business areas in Europe. It is clear that eHealth products and services will be sold and ordered from a distance and over national borderlines in the future. However, there are many barriers to overcome. For both national and pan-European eHealth and telemedicine applications a common security framework is needed. These frameworks set security requirements needed for cross-border eHealth services. The next step is to build a security infrastructure which is independent of technical platforms. Most of the European eHealth platforms are regional or territorial. Some countries are looking for a Public Key Infrastructure, but no large scale solutions do exist in healthcare. There is no clear candidate solution for European-wide interoperable eHealth platform. Gross-platform integration seems to be the most practical integration method at a European level in the short run. The use of Internet as a European integration platform is a promising solution in the long run.

  10. HARMONIZED EUROPE OR EUROPEAN HARMONY?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cosmin Marinescu

    2007-07-01

    Full Text Available Recent evolutions in Europe raise questions on the viability of the present economic and social model that defines the European construction project. In this paper, the author will try to explain the viability of institutional European model that sticks between free market mechanisms and protectionism. The main challenge for the EU is about the possibility to bring together the institutional convergence and the welfare for all Europeans. This is the result of the view, still dominant, of European politics elite, according to which institutional harmonization is the solution of a more dynamic and prosper Europe. But, economic realities convince us that, more and more, a harmonized, standardized Europe is not necessarily identical with a Europe of harmony and social cooperation. If „development through integration” seems to be harmonization through „institutional transplant”, how could then be the European model one sufficiently wide open to market, which creates the prosperity so long waited for by new member countries?

  11. Cloud Based Earth Observation Data Exploitation Platforms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romeo, A.; Pinto, S.; Loekken, S.; Marin, A.

    2017-12-01

    In the last few years data produced daily by several private and public Earth Observation (EO) satellites reached the order of tens of Terabytes, representing for scientists and commercial application developers both a big opportunity for their exploitation and a challenge for their management. New IT technologies, such as Big Data and cloud computing, enable the creation of web-accessible data exploitation platforms, which offer to scientists and application developers the means to access and use EO data in a quick and cost effective way. RHEA Group is particularly active in this sector, supporting the European Space Agency (ESA) in the Exploitation Platforms (EP) initiative, developing technology to build multi cloud platforms for the processing and analysis of Earth Observation data, and collaborating with larger European initiatives such as the European Plate Observing System (EPOS) and the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). An EP is a virtual workspace, providing a user community with access to (i) large volume of data, (ii) algorithm development and integration environment, (iii) processing software and services (e.g. toolboxes, visualization routines), (iv) computing resources, (v) collaboration tools (e.g. forums, wiki, etc.). When an EP is dedicated to a specific Theme, it becomes a Thematic Exploitation Platform (TEP). Currently, ESA has seven TEPs in a pre-operational phase dedicated to geo-hazards monitoring and prevention, costal zones, forestry areas, hydrology, polar regions, urban areas and food security. On the technology development side, solutions like the multi cloud EO data processing platform provides the technology to integrate ICT resources and EO data from different vendors in a single platform. In particular it offers (i) Multi-cloud data discovery, (ii) Multi-cloud data management and access and (iii) Multi-cloud application deployment. This platform has been demonstrated with the EGI Federated Cloud, Innovation Platform Testbed Poland

  12. Technological growth of fuel efficiency in european automobile market 1975–2015

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hu, Kejia; Chen, Yuche

    2016-01-01

    This paper looks at the technological growth of new car fleet fuel efficiency in the European Union between 1975 and 2015. According to the analysis results, from1975 to 2006 the fuel efficiency technology improvements were largely offset by vehicles' increased weight, engine size, and consumer amenities such as acceleration capacity. After 2006, downsizing in weight and engine capacity was observed in new car fleet, while fuel consumption decreased by 32% between 2006 and 2015. We adopt a statistical method and find that from 1975 to 2015, a 1% increase in weight would result in 0.3 to 0.5% increments in fuel consumption per 100 km, and a 1% reduction in 0–100 km/h acceleration time would increase fuel consumption by about 0.3%. Impacts of other attributes on fuel consumption are also assessed. To meet the European Union's 2021 fuel consumption target, downsizing of cars, as well as at least maintaining fuel efficiency technology growth trend observed between 2005 and 2015, are needed. Government policies on controlling improvement in acceleration performance or promoting alternative fuel vehicles are also important to achieve European Union 2021 target. - Highlights: • We evaluated fuel efficiency technological growth trends in European cars. • We quantified trade-offs between vehicle attributes and fuel consumption using statistical methods. • Technology development was offset by upsizing and upgrading of cars in 1975–2006. • Technology development and downsizing enabled large improvements in efficiency in 2006–2015. • Maintaining historical trend of efficiency improvement is not enough to achieve EU 2021 target.

  13. Introduction to the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP and observed atmospheric composition change during 1972–2009

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. E. Yttri

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available European scale harmonized monitoring of atmospheric composition was initiated in the early 1970s, and the activity has generated a comprehensive dataset (available at http://www.emep.int which allows the evaluation of regional and spatial trends of air pollution during a period of nearly 40 yr. Results from the monitoring made within EMEP, the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme, show large reductions in ambient concentrations and deposition of sulphur species during the last decades. Reductions are in the order of 70–90% since the year 1980, and correspond well with reported emission changes. Also reduction in emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx are reflected in the measurements, with an average decrease of nitrogen dioxide and nitrate in precipitation by about 23% and 25% respectively since 1990. Only minor reductions are however seen since the late 1990s. The concentrations of total nitrate in air have decreased on average only by 8% since 1990, and fewer sites show a significant trend. A majority of the EMEP sites show a decreasing trend in reduced nitrogen both in air and precipitation on the order of 25% since 1990. Deposition of base cations has decreased during the past 30 yr, and the pH in precipitation has increased across Europe. Large inter annual variations in the particulate matter mass concentrations reflect meteorological variability, but still there is a relatively clear overall decrease at several sites during the last decade. With few observations going back to the 1990s, the observed chemical composition is applied to document a change in particulate matter (PM mass even since 1980. These data indicate an overall reduction of about 5 μg m−3 from sulphate alone. Despite the significant reductions in sulphur emissions, sulphate still remains one of the single most important compounds contributing to regional scale aerosol mass concentration. Long-term ozone trends at EMEP sites show a mixed pattern. The year

  14. Genetic variability of European honey bee, Apis mellifera in mid hills ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    To observe the genetic variability in European honey bee, A. mellifera, PCR was run separately with five primers and analysis of the banding pattern was worked out to investigate the molecular profile of honey bee genotypes collected from different locations having random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) primers.

  15. Red fox, Vulpes vulpes, kills a European beaver, Castor fiber, kit

    OpenAIRE

    Kile, Nils B.; Nakken, Petter J.; Rosell, Frank; Espeland, Sigurd

    1996-01-01

    We observed an adult Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) attack, kill and partially consume a 2-month-old female kit European Beaver (Castor fiber) near its lodge in Norway. The inner organs were consumed first. One adult beaver apparently attempted to frighten the fox away by tail-slapping.

  16. European Counterpublics? DiEM25, Plan B and the Agonistic European Public Sphere

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Agustin, Oscar Garcia

    2017-01-01

    After the negotiations between the Syriza government and the European Union (EU), the European Left faced the dilemma of which kind of progressive Europe could be developed within the existing EU framework. Two initiatives were launched to foster an alternative Europe after the Greek crisis: ‘A...... Plan B in Europe’ (Plan B) and the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25). These initiatives emerged to promote a new European project as a rejection of EU austerity policies and lack of democracy. The shaping of alternatives is understood within the framework of the public sphere...

  17. The Eurosceptic Europeanization of Public Spheres: Print and Social Media Reactions to the 2014 European Parliament Elections

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dutceac Segesten, Anamaria; Bossetta, Michael

    2017-01-01

    The present study tests the theoretical claim that Eurosceptics contribute to the Europeanization of national public spheres. Although advocating a renationalization of European politics, Eurosceptic parties can engender public media debates of transnational or European relevance. Through...... of social media vis-à-vis traditional media structures: print media was more Europeanized in scope, whereas social media publics were more aligned in their sentiment towards Euroscepticism....... a comparative research design of two national cases (Sweden and Denmark), we examine the public discourse on the day following the 2014 European Parliament elections across three media: print, Twitter, and Facebook. Separating the discussions of Eurosceptic issues and actors from other topics of the election...

  18. European monetary union: limits to growth or bifurcation point

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oleksandr Sharov

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents the background and process of the EU monetary union establishment with regard to historical experience of European countries involving previous attempts of currency integration between separate countries. The author also analyzes methods of solving various theoretical and practical problems arising during the process. In particular, it is pointed out that the majority of the problems were caused by neglecting monetary integration principles, the need for observing which had been clearly stated yet at the preliminary stages of the integration process. Special emphasis is made on reviewing current development stage of the monetary union, in particular, with regard to problems caused by the financial crisis in "peripheral countries" of the Union as well as by concurrent intensification of cooperation in the field of banking and fiscal issues. In this context, the trends of further European monetary integration development are also considered. As resulted from analysis, the author concludes that the European Monetary Union had exhausted its energy for development along previously assigned trajectory and reached the bifurcation point, whereas its further improvement or gradual preservation and decline depend upon the direction in which the point is passed.

  19. Analysis and modelling of the fuels european market

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Simon, V.

    1999-04-01

    The research focus on the European fuel market prices referring to the Rotterdam and Genoa spot markets as well the German, Italian and French domestic markets. The thesis try to explain the impact of the London IPE future market on spot prices too. The mainstream research has demonstrated that co-integration seems to be the best theoretical approach to investigate the long run equilibrium relations. A particular attention will be devoted to the structural change in the econometric modelling on these equilibriums. A deep analysis of the main European petroleum products markets permit a better model specification concerning each of these markets. Further, we will test if any evidence of relations between spot and domestic prices could be confirmed. Finally, alternative scenarios will be depicted to forecast prices in the petroleum products markets. The objective is to observe the model reaction to changes crude oil prices. (author)

  20. The European Union: Challenges and Perspectives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Botescu Ion

    2017-01-01

    If to all these we add the protectionist measures that the new president of the United States wishes to implement, as well as some deterioration in the European Union credibility generated by Brexit, the bureaucratic aspects that characterize the European institutions, etc., we can outline the context of the European Union, which requires a series of measures to ensure the progress of the European Union as a whole and, in particular, the effective integration of each Community country.

  1. Introduction: European climate leadership

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wurzel, R.K.W.; Liefferink, J.D.; Connelly, J.; Wurzel, R.K.W.; Connelly, J.; Liefferink, D.

    2017-01-01

    There is no shortage of would-be leaders in EU climate change politics. The EU institutions (e.g. European Council, Council of the EU, Commission and the European Parliament (EP)), member states and societal actors have all, though to varying degrees and at different time periods, tried to offer

  2. The European Programme Manager

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larson, Anne; Bergman, E.; Ehlers, S.

    The publication is a result of a cooperation between organisations in six European countries with the aim to develop a common European education for programme managers. It contains of a description of the different elements of the education together with a number of case-studies from the counties...

  3. Exposure to psychosocial work factors in 31 European countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niedhammer, I; Sultan-Taïeb, H; Chastang, J-F; Vermeylen, G; Parent-Thirion, A

    2012-04-01

    Although psychosocial work factors are recognized as major occupational risk factors, little information is available regarding the prevalence of exposure to these factors and the differences in exposure between countries. To explore the differences in various psychosocial work exposures between 31 European countries. The study was based on a sample of 14,881 male and 14,799 female workers from the 2005 European Working Conditions Survey. Eighteen psychosocial work factors were studied: low decision latitude (skill discretion and decision authority), high psychological demands, job strain, low social support, iso-strain, physical violence, sexual harassment, bullying, discrimination, work-family imbalance, long working hours, high effort, job insecurity, low job promotion, low reward and effort-reward imbalance. Covariates were age, number of workers in household, occupation, economic activity, self-employed/employee, public/private sector and part/full time work. Statistical analysis was performed using multilevel logistic regression analysis. Significant differences in all psychosocial work factors were observed between countries. The rank of the countries varied according to the exposure considered. However, some countries, especially Denmark, Netherlands and Norway, displayed a significantly lower prevalence of exposure to four factors or more, while some Southern and Eastern countries, especially Czech Republic, Greece, Lithuania and Turkey, had a higher prevalence. Differences in psychosocial work exposures were found between countries. This study is the first to compare a large set of psychosocial work exposures between 31 European countries. These findings may be useful to guide prevention policies at European level.

  4. European Identity through Space Space Activities and Programmes as a Tool to Reinvigorate the European Identity

    CERN Document Server

    Baranes, Blandina

    2013-01-01

    Space activities are one particularly visible area, where Europe can shape its identity. This publication investigates the effect space activities have already had on building a European “spirit” (e.g. through European missions or European astronauts). It also looks into the effects that activities labelled “national” have on the emergence of a European identity. Based on this analysis, the book's intention is to identify creative ways and means for how to further use space for shaping the European identity. For this purpose the focus is not only on policy analysis but also on expertise from the fields of cultural science and the arts in order to tap their creative potential and also their theoretical approaches to the topic. Selecting this theme provides ESPI with another opportunity to develop its trans-disciplinary approach.

  5. CFC legislation in the European Union

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cvjetković Cvjetana M.

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper the author considers CFC legislation in the Member States of the European Union, and points to the official attitude of the institutions of the European Union toward CFC legislation. Special attention in this paper is focused on Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the case Cadbury Schweppes. The aim of the paper is to analyze CFC legislation in the Member States in order to determine its basic characteristics, as well as to determine its compatibility with freedoms guaranteed by the primary law of the European Union, i.e. with Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the Cadbury Schweppes case.

  6. ETUDE - European Trade Union Distance Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Creanor, Linda; Walker, Steve

    2000-01-01

    Describes transnational distance learning activities among European trade union educators carried out as part of the European Trade Union Distance Education (ETUDE) project, supported by the European Commission. Highlights include the context of international trade union distance education; tutor training course; tutors' experiences; and…

  7. An economic analysis of the European commission’s proposal for a European account

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicolas Kyriakides

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper performs an economic analysis of the European Commission’s proposal for a European-wide preservation order. Bentham’s utilitarianism theory suggests that legislators must take into mind the pleasures and pains associated with any legislation and to form laws in order to create the greatest good for the greatest number. These ideas are reflected in the modern economic theories of welfare economics. But are these principles sufficient to create effective legal rules and achieve justice? Section 2 of this work analyzes the difficulties in obtaining a provisional measure to preserve another party’s assets in another Member State of the European Union (“EU”. Section 3 sets out the Commission’s proposal for a European Account Preservation Order (“EAPO”. Section 4 applies welfare economics principles in order to identify the effect of legal rules related to this proposal, while it proposes an alternative approach to these principles. Lastly, section 4 makes suggestions on the proposal based on this alternative approach.

  8. Update of European bioethics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rendtorff, Jacob Dahl

    2015-01-01

    This paper presents an update of the research on European bioethics undertaken by the author together with Professor Peter Kemp since the 1990s, on Basic ethical principles in European bioethics and biolaw. In this European approach to basic ethical principles in bioethics and biolaw......, the principles of autonomy, dignity, integrity and vulnerability are proposed as the most important ethical principles for respect for the human person in biomedical and biotechnological development. This approach to bioethics and biolaw is presented here in a short updated version that integrates the earlier...... research in a presentation of the present understanding of the basic ethical principles in bioethics and biolaw....

  9. Political Psychology of European Integration

    OpenAIRE

    Manners, Ian James

    2014-01-01

    The chapter engages in a survey of what political psychology and European integration have to say to each other in the understanding of the European Union. The chapter draws on five strands of political psychology as part of this engagement – conventional psychology, social psychology, social construction, psychoanalysis, and critical political psychology. Within each strand a number of examples of scholarship at the interface of political psychology and European integration are examined. The...

  10. Analysis of the European Food Industry

    OpenAIRE

    Banse, Martin; McDonald, Scott; Joint Research Centre; Institute for Prospective Technological Studies; Kaditi, Eleni

    2008-01-01

    This report is based on a study assigned to the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) by the European Commission¿s Joint Research Centre, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (JRC-IPTS) to investigate recent developments in the European food industry and the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) and trade flows on the food industry in the EU-25. The report illustrates trends in and the structure of the European food industry. Past and possible future developments are ana...

  11. European social model and the harmonization of Macedonian labour legislation with the European Union community labour law

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kalamatiev Todor

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The European integration process accompanied by the harmonization of the EU member states' legislation will inevitably lead to the establishment of a European social model which has a 'sui generis' legal nature. European social model forms a part of the common legal heritage of the European countries and it can be defined as a system of values that include democracy and individual rights, free collective bargaining, market economy, equal opportunities for all, and social protection and solidarity. Subject of analysis in this paper are both, the essential components of the European social model such as: the social 'acquis communautaire' and the European industrial relations. The social 'acquis communautaire' is an integral part of the general 'acquis communautaire' and it encompasses the regulations arising from the primary and secondary labour law legislation of the EU, decisions of the European Court of Justice and other legal measures of the European Union with a binding or non-binding legal nature. European industrial relations encompass the key features of the European trade union models as well as the types of social dialogue in different EU member states. This paper pays attention to a profound elaboration of the harmonization of two EU labour law directives with the Macedonian employment legislation. The first Directive (Directive 91/533/EEC of 14 October 1991 on an employers' obligation to inform employees of the conditions applicable to the contract or employment relationship may be classified in the field of individual employment relations, while the second one (Directive 2002/14/EC of 11 March 2002 establishing a general framework for informing and consulting employees in the European Community can be subsumed within the field of collective employment relations. Finally, the authors illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of the Macedonian labour legislation in the process of harmonization with the relevant EU directives

  12. European Defence Community: origins of integration in the defence sphere

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Іван Васильович Яковюк

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available There is a tendency among non-historians to force «practioners» of the discipline to justify why the study of a particular episode of the past is so important and to articulate the lessons to be learned from the experience. The fate of international constitutions and treaties is particularly prone to demands of this kind. After all, «constitutional borrowing» has long been a common feature of international law and politics. This article will address one such Treaty from the past. But it does not aspire to preserving its historical integrity; rather to awaken interest in it in the first place.          The European Defence Community (EDC was an ambitious initiative in the first years of the 1950s. Leading European countries had different foreign policy agendas towards it. The EDC. could have been a crucial milestone on the long path towards European integration. European Defense Community (EDC, an abortive attempt by western European powers, with United States support, to counterbalance the overwhelming conventional military ascendancy of the Soviet Union in Europe by the formation of a supranational European army and, in the process, to subsume West German forces into a European force, avoiding the tendentious problem of West German rearmament. One can trace the U.S. influence from the very first stages of the EDC. negotiations. Even in the agreement of the EDC., the footprints of U.S. policies can be observed, bringing the NATO Alliance to the forefront. The EDC. is also interrelated with the Marshall Plan, which leads us to think that the EDC. was not solely a European dream as has been widely argued, but rather an instrument of U.S. foreign policy, which could be resorted to as and when needed.          Influenced by the Korean War, the French politician René Pleven evolved a plan that later was put forward by the French foreign minister Robert Schuman at a meeting of the Council of Europe in 1951. Though the weaker

  13. German Quality in the Service of a European Public Sphere? An Analysis of the Deutsche Welle’s European Journal program

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oana Ludmila Popescu

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available The economic crisis of the European Union has rendered the European public sphere as a forever emerging concept marked by uncertainties regarding its structure. In this context, eyes of both European officials and citizens turn towards the media, the main communication link between the EU and its citizens. The present paper looks at a media product that is designed to permeate multiple national public spheres, the weekly news show European Journal, a half-hour TV program produced by Deutsche Welle and rebroadcast by partner TV channels throughout Europe. Considering the main characteristics of the European public sphere as identified in the literature, with a focus on horizontal Europeanization, and using the method of content analysis, this paper looks at the means employed by the European Journal to support the integration process and to add a European dimension to national public sphere. Findings suggest that the type of public sphere promoted by the European Journal is not centered around the EU as a distinct entity, but around the member states, approach which supports the idea of a horizontal Europeanization.

  14. EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) and ECDC (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control), 2014. The European Union Summary Report on Trends and Sources of Zoonoses, Zoonotic Agents and Food-borne Outbreaks in 2012

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Korsgaard, Helle; Helwigh, Birgitte; Sørensen, Anna Irene Vedel

    the same as in 2011. The number of brucellosis-positive cattle, and sheep and goat herds continued to decrease, although marginally compared with 2011. Trichinella caused 301 confirmed human cases in the European Union. Although the number of cases was slightly higher in 2012 than in 2011, human...... trichinellosis cases remained at a low level in the European Union compared with 2009 and previous years. In 2012, the prevalence of Trichinella in pigs was similar to that observed in 2011. The parasite was more prevalent in wildlife than in farmed animals. However, seven out of the nine strong......-evidence outbreaks reported were due to consumption of pig meat. Toxoplasma was reported by the Member States from pigs, sheep, goats, hunted wild boar and hunted deer, in 2011 and 2012. In addition, positive findings were detected in cats (the natural hosts), cattle and dogs as well as several other animal species...

  15. The European energy community is now

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andoura, Sami; Buzek, Jerzy; Delors, Jacques; Vitorino, Antonio

    2013-01-01

    On the eve of the European Council on 22 May dealing with energy issues, the Jacques Delors Institute publishes a Tribune calling for the implementation of a positive agenda for the European energy policy and the definition of the concrete bases of a genuine European Energy

  16. European energy balance research to prevent excessive weight gain among youth (ENERGY) project

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stralen, Maartje M. van; Velde, Saskia J. te; Singh, Amika S.

    2011-01-01

    . Method: A school-based cross-sectional survey was carried out in 2010 in seven different European countries; Belgium, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, and Spain. The survey included measurements of anthropometrics, child, parent and school-staff questionnaires, and school observations...... as assessing a range of EBRBs and their potential correlates at the personal, family and school level, among 10-12 year old children in seven European countries. This study will result in a unique dataset, enabling cross country comparisons in overweight, obesity, risk behaviours for these conditions as well...

  17. Abatement of CO2 emissions in the European Union

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lesourne, J.; Keppler, J.H.; Jaureguy-Naudin, Maite; Smeers, Yves; Bouttes, Jean-Paul; Trochet, Jean-Michel; Dassa, Francois; Neuhoff, Karsten

    2008-01-01

    This first monograph of the Ifri program on European Governance and Geopolitics of Energy is devoted to the control of carbon dioxide emissions within the European Union. Since it is almost unanimously accepted that Greenhouse Gas emissions constitute the main cause of the observed increase of the world average temperature, the system implemented by the European Union to limit and decrease the CO 2 emissions is a significant pillar of the EU energy policy, the two others being the acceptance by the Member States of long-term commitments (for instance on the future share of renewable energy sources in their energy balance sheet) and the establishment of an internal market for electricity and gas. Though simple in principle, the European Union Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is in fact rather complex, and only experts really understand its merits and its deficiencies. These deficiencies are real and will have to be corrected in the future for the system to be effective. At this moment, when the 2005-2007 trial phase of the EU ETS is ending, the monograph has the purpose to stimulate the discussion between experts and to enable all those interested in the topic to understand the issues and to take part in the public debates on the subject. The monograph contains five papers: - 'An Overview of the CO 2 Emission Control System in the European Union' by Jacques Lesourne and Maite Jaureguy-Naudin. - 'Description and Assessment of EU CO 2 Regulations' by Yves Smeers. - 'Assessment of EU CO 2 Regulations' by Jean-Paul Bouttes, Jean-Michel Trochet and Francois Dassa. - 'Investment in Low Carbon Technologies, Policies for the Power Sector' by Karsten Neuhoff. - 'Lessons Learned from the 2005-2007 Trial Phase of the EU Emission Trading System' by Jan Horst Keppler

  18. Solar thermal and concentrated solar power barometer - EurObserv'ER - May 2014

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2014-05-01

    The European concentrated solar plant market is set to mark time for a year following efforts to complete construction on 350 MW of CSP capacity in Spain in 2013. The spotlight has switched to Italy which could re-launch the European market within a couple of years. The European solar thermal market for heat and hot water production and space heating, is shrinking all the time. EurObserv'ER reports that the market is in its fifth successive year of contraction in the European Union. It now posts a 10.5% decline on its 2012 performance having struggled to install just over 3 million m 2 of collectors in 2013

  19. Affordability of medicines in the European Union.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tomasz Zaprutko

    Full Text Available Medications and their prices are key issues for healthcare. Although access to medicines at affordable prices had been specified as a key objective of the European Health Policy, it seems that these goals have not been achieved. Therefore, we attempted an evaluation of affordability of selected medicines at full prices.The analysis concerned 2012 and was conducted between 2013 and 2015 in all the European Union (EU countries divided into 3 groups depending on the date of their accession to the EU. Finally, we considered 9 originators used in the treatment of schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis. Information on drug prices were collected from pharmacies. Participation in the study was voluntary and anonymous in order to avoid accusations of advertising. To evaluate affordability, several factors were used (e.g. minimum earnings and Gini coefficient. Due to unavailability in some countries, the exact number of analyzed medicines varies.Drug prices vary significantly between EU Member States. Almost eleven fold difference was observed between Germany (EUR 1451.17 and Croatia (EUR 132.77 in relation to Interferone beta-1a 22 μg. Generally, prices were the highest in Germany. The cheapest drugs were found in various countries but never in the poorest ones like Bulgaria or Romania. Discrepancies in wages were observed too (the smallest minimum wage was EUR 138.00 in Bulgaria and the highest EUR 1801.00 in Luxembourg. Full price of olanzapine 5mg, however, was higher in Bulgaria (EUR 64.53 than, for instance, in Belgium (EUR 37.26.Analyzed medications are still unaffordable for many citizens of the EU. Besides, access to medicines is also impaired e.g. due to parallel trade. Unaffordability of medications may lead to the patients' non-compliance and therefore to increased direct and indirect costs of treatment. Common European solutions are needed to achieve a real affordability and accessibility of medications.

  20. The European Network of Coloproctology: a strategy towards the European research and healthcare system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rubbini, Michele

    2016-12-01

    Many documents from the International Institutions point out that Health represents an engine of economic and social development. Based on these documents and concepts, the European Parliament decided to create a system of European Reference Networks as a synthesis of clinical and research activities, particularly in the field of rare diseases. This initiative, properly implemented, could be first step towards a new European health system. This article instead, wanting to deepen this perspective, postulates that the ERNs may also be related to widespread diseases, such as those of coloproctological interest, with the aim of setting up a European Network of Coloproctology (ENCP). Here are analyzed: (a) the documents related to ERNs and others related to research and training, the characteristics of the coloproctological diseases, and proposal of the ENCP; (b) a survey that involves 14 out of 25 of the National and Regional Representative of the European Society of Coloproctology. Hundred percent of the people interviewed agree to the ENCP project. The percentage of the approved proposed fields of activity of the ENCP are: Healthcare 71%, Research 100%, Training 86%, Support to legislation 78%, Professional Mobility 64%, Patient Database 71%, and Expenditure control 64%. From the analysis of the documents and the result of the survey, ERNs are appropriate not only in relation to rare diseases but also in those fields with higher diffusion and the creation of a European Network of Coloproctology is then postulated.

  1. The European Union's Africa Policy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olsen, Gorm Rye

    2013-01-01

    For a number of years, there has been an international debate on whether and to what extent small member states can influence the common external policies of the European Union. Recent research on the role of small EU states concludes that these states are neither per se political dwarfs nor power...... including North–South and specifically Africa policies. Five separate analyses are carried out addressing the question of Nordicization and Europeanization. Based on the empirical analyses, it is not possible to confirm the hypothesis that a Nordicization of the European Union's Africa policy has taken...... place. Rather, it appears adequate to talk about convergence of policies between the Nordics and the EU and therefore, the Africa policies of both actors are basically the result of Europeanization....

  2. Infrared observations of AE Aquarii

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanzi, E. G.; Chincarini, G.; Tarenghi, M.

    1981-01-01

    Broadband infrared observations of the cataclysmic variable AE Aquarii are reported. The observations were obtained in the J, H, K and L filters with the InSb photometer attached to the 1-m telescope of the European Southern Observatory. The infrared energy distribution observed from 0.35 to 3.5 microns for phase 0.5 suggests a spectral type of K5 V for the secondary and a distance to the system of approximately 70 pc if an absolute magnitude of 7.3 is assumed. Monitoring of the flux at 2.2 microns reveals a variability with an amplitude of approximately 0.3 magnitude over one third of the orbital period, the nature of which is under investigation.

  3. Report from the 2012 European Gender Summit

    CERN Document Server

    European Gender Summit, 2012

    2012-01-01

    Report from the 2012 European Gender Summit to the European Parliament and the Council, the European Commission, the Council of Europe, EU Member and Associate States, Science Institutions. Developing Systematic Implementation Strategy to Advance EU Policy on Gender Equality in Science, as part of HORIZON 2020, European Research Area and Innovation Union.

  4. Increasing Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation in the European Union : Current Trends and Challenges

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Fromage, D.B.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/370195086

    2016-01-01

    This article analyses the blossoming of the initiatives for inter-parliamentary cooperation currently observable in the European Union from a democratic legitimacy perspective. It shows that there exists numerous forms and settings for the cooperation among national parliaments (NPs) and with the

  5. Determinants of European air traffic development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tomislav MIHETEC

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper elaborates main determinants of the strategic development as well as the key factors, which influence European air traffic dynamics. The problem of European airspace fragmentation should be solved by the comprehensive dynamic harmonization programmes, which can contribute to effective increase of airspace capacity and increase of air transport efficiency. The main objective of development strategy refers to the implementation of reformation processes of the European air traffic management system through functional ATM regionalization and adoption of Single European Sky legislation.

  6. An observational European study on clinical outcomes associated with current management strategies for non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (ENERGIB-Turkey).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mungan, Zeynel

    2012-01-01

    This observational, retrospective cohort study assessed outcomes of the current management strategies for nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding in several European countries (Belgium, Greece, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Turkey) (NCT00797641; ENERGIB). Turkey contributed 23 sites to this study. Adult patients (≥18 years old) consecutively admitted to hospital and who underwent endoscopy for overt non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (hematemesis, melena or hematochezia, with other clinical/laboratory evidence of acute upper GI blood loss) were included in the study. Data were collected from patient medical records regarding bleeding continuation, re-bleeding, pharmacological treatment, surgery, and mortality during a 30-day follow-up period. A total of 423 patients (67.4% men; mean age: 57.8 ± 18.9 years) were enrolled in the Turkish study centers, of whom 96.2% were admitted to hospital with acute non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding. At admission, the most common symptom was melena (76.1%); 28.6% of patients were taking aspirin, 19.9% were on non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and 7.3% were on proton pump inhibitors. The most common diagnoses were duodenal (45.2%) and gastric (27.7%) ulcers and gastritis/gastric erosions (26.2%). Patients were most often managed in general medical wards (45.4%). A gastrointestinal team was in charge of treatment in 64.8% of cases. Therapeutic procedures were performed in 32.4% of patients during endoscopy. After the endoscopy, most patients (94.6%) received proton pump inhibitors. Mean (SD) hospital stay was 5.36 ± 4.91 days. The cumulative proportions of continued bleeding/re-bleeding, complications and mortality within 30 days of the non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding episode were 9.0%, 5.7% and 2.8%, respectively. In the Turkish sub-group of patients, the significant risk factors for bleeding continuation or re-bleeding were age >65 years, presentation with hematemesis or shock

  7. Wind Energy Barometer - EurObserv'ER - February 2018

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2018-02-01

    The global wind energy market contracted for the second year in succession. According to EurObserv'ER, the additional capacity, less decommissioned capacity, should be about 51 GW in 2017, compared to 55.5 GW in 2016. Restrained Chinese market development is the main reason for this downturn. The European Union market witnessed a flurry of activity before the new European Commission regulatory framework came into force. Installed global wind energy capacity passed the half-million MW mark in 2017, i.e. 539256 MW

  8. Do all the European surgeons perform the same D2? The need of D2 audit in Europe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bencivenga, Maria; Verlato, Giuseppe; Mengardo, Valentina; Weindelmayer, Jacopo; Allum, William H

    2018-06-04

    Although D2 lymphadenectomy is the standard of care for radical intent surgical treatment of gastric cancer, the real compliance with D2 dissection in Europe is still unknown. The aim of the present study is to analyze the variation in lymph-node harvesting reported after D2 dissection in European series and to present a European project aiming at evaluating the real compliance with D2 lymphadenectomy. A PubMed search for papers using the key words "D2 lymphadenectomy" and "gastric cancer" from 2008 to 2017 was undertaken. Only studies by European authors in English language reporting the number of retrieved lymph nodes after D2 lymphadenectomy were included. The results of literature review were descriptively reported. The literature survey yielded 16 studies: 2 RCTs, 3 observational multicentre studies, and 11 observational monocentric studies. A large variability was found in the number of retrieved nodes, which, overall, was the lowest in the surgical series from Eastern Europe (16.6 and 19.9 in the Lithuanian and Hungarian series, respectively) and the highest in an Italian RCT. The within-study variability was also quite high, especially in multicentre RCTs and observational studies. Sample size tended to have a larger effect on the variability of lymph nodes retrieved than on its actual value. However, in both cases, the relation was not significant, due to the low number of studies considered. There is a large variability in the number of retrieved nodes after D2 dissection in European series. This reflects, at least partly, different approaches to D2 lymphadenectomy by European surgeons and may be responsible of the different outcomes observed in patients with gastric cancer across Europe. Therefore, there is the need to standardize the practice of D2 gastrectomy in Europe and to define possible variations of D2 procedures according to tumour's characteristics.

  9. A high-resolution European dataset for hydrologic modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ntegeka, Victor; Salamon, Peter; Gomes, Goncalo; Sint, Hadewij; Lorini, Valerio; Thielen, Jutta

    2013-04-01

    There is an increasing demand for large scale hydrological models not only in the field of modeling the impact of climate change on water resources but also for disaster risk assessments and flood or drought early warning systems. These large scale models need to be calibrated and verified against large amounts of observations in order to judge their capabilities to predict the future. However, the creation of large scale datasets is challenging for it requires collection, harmonization, and quality checking of large amounts of observations. For this reason, only a limited number of such datasets exist. In this work, we present a pan European, high-resolution gridded dataset of meteorological observations (EFAS-Meteo) which was designed with the aim to drive a large scale hydrological model. Similar European and global gridded datasets already exist, such as the HadGHCND (Caesar et al., 2006), the JRC MARS-STAT database (van der Goot and Orlandi, 2003) and the E-OBS gridded dataset (Haylock et al., 2008). However, none of those provide similarly high spatial resolution and/or a complete set of variables to force a hydrologic model. EFAS-Meteo contains daily maps of precipitation, surface temperature (mean, minimum and maximum), wind speed and vapour pressure at a spatial grid resolution of 5 x 5 km for the time period 1 January 1990 - 31 December 2011. It furthermore contains calculated radiation, which is calculated by using a staggered approach depending on the availability of sunshine duration, cloud cover and minimum and maximum temperature, and evapotranspiration (potential evapotranspiration, bare soil and open water evapotranspiration). The potential evapotranspiration was calculated using the Penman-Monteith equation with the above-mentioned meteorological variables. The dataset was created as part of the development of the European Flood Awareness System (EFAS) and has been continuously updated throughout the last years. The dataset variables are used as

  10. Defence electro-optics: European perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartikainen, Jari

    2011-11-01

    In 2009 the United States invested in defence R&T 3,6 times and in defence research and development 6,8 times as much as all member states of the European Defence Agency (EDA) combined while the ratio in the total defence expenditure was 2,6 in the US' favour. The European lack of investments in defence research and development has a negative impact on the competitiveness of European defence industry and on the European non-dependence. In addition, the efficiency of investment is reduced due to duplication of work in different member states. The Lisbon Treaty tasks EDA to support defence technology research, and coordinate and plan joint research activities and the study of technical solutions meeting future operational needs. This paper gives an overview how EDA meets the challenge of improving the efficiency of European defence R&T investment with an emphasis on electro-optics and describes shortly the ways that governmental and industrial partners can participate in the EDA cooperation. Examples of joint R&T projects addressing electro-optics are presented.

  11. Asian and European American cultural values and communication styles among Asian American and European American college students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Yong S; Kim, Bryan S K

    2008-01-01

    The present study examined the relationships between adherence to Asian and European cultural values and communication styles among 210 Asian American and 136 European American college students. A principal components analysis revealed that, for both Asian Americans and European Americans, the contentious, dramatic, precise, and open styles loaded onto the first component suggesting low context communication, and interpersonal sensitivity and inferring meaning styles loaded onto the second component suggesting high context communication. Higher adherence to emotional self-control and lower adherence to European American values explained Asian Americans' higher use of the indirect communication, while higher emotional self-control explained why Asian Americans use a less open communication style than their European American counterparts. When differences between sex and race were controlled, adherence to humility was inversely related to contentious and dramatic communication styles but directly related to inferring meaning style, adherence to European American values was positively associated with precise communication and inferring meaning styles, and collectivism was positively related to interpersonal sensitivity style. 2008 APA

  12. The European system of veterinary specialization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romagnoli, Stefano

    2010-01-01

    Veterinary specialist diplomas were available in many European countries during the second half of the 20th century. However, such an early recognition of the importance of veterinary specialization actually delayed the concept of the European veterinary specialist in Europe, compared with the United States, where the first specialist colleges were established in the 1960s, because it was felt that the national system was functioning properly and there was therefore no need for a new structure in the European countries. The European Board of Veterinary Specialisation (EBVS) was established in 1996, and currently there are 23 specialist colleges with more than 2,600 veterinarians officially listed in the EBVS register as European specialists. The Advisory Committee on Veterinary Training (ACVT) approved the establishment of EBVS but never implemented a supervising body (with ACVT representation). Such a body, the European Coordinating Committee on Veterinary Training, was later implemented by the profession itself, although it still lacked a political component. Each college depends on the EBVS, which has the function to define standards and criteria for monitoring the quality of college diplomates. To become a European Diplomate, veterinarians must have gone through an intensive period of training supervised by a diplomate, after which candidates must pass an examination. Although the term European veterinary specialist still does not have any legal recognition, national specialist qualifications are being phased out in many countries because of the inherent higher quality of EBVS specialist qualifications.

  13. Inverse modelling of national and European CH4 emissions using the atmospheric zoom model TM5

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. Bergamaschi

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available A synthesis inversion based on the atmospheric zoom model TM5 is used to derive top-down estimates of CH4 emissions from individual European countries for the year 2001. We employ a model zoom over Europe with 1° × 1° resolution that is two-way nested into the global model domain (with resolution of 6° × 4°. This approach ensures consistent boundary conditions for the zoom domain and thus European top-down estimates consistent with global CH4 observations. The TM5 model, driven by ECMWF analyses, simulates synoptic scale events at most European and global sites fairly well, and the use of high-frequency observations allows exploiting the information content of individual synoptic events. A detailed source attribution is presented for a comprehensive set of 56 monitoring sites, assigning the atmospheric signal to the emissions of individual European countries and larger global regions. The available observational data put significant constraints on emissions from different regions. Within Europe, in particular several Western European countries are well constrained. The inversion results suggest up to 50-90% higher anthropogenic CH4 emissions in 2001 for Germany, France and UK compared to reported UNFCCC values (EEA, 2003. A recent revision of the German inventory, however, resulted in an increase of reported CH4 emissions by 68.5% (EEA, 2004, being now in very good agreement with our top-down estimate. The top-down estimate for Finland is distinctly smaller than the a priori estimate, suggesting much smaller CH4 emissions from Finnish wetlands than derived from the bottom-up inventory. The EU-15 totals are relatively close to UNFCCC values (within 4-30% and appear very robust for different inversion scenarios.

  14. European Languages: Instruments and Symbols

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martina Ožbot

    2008-07-01

    Further, the role of Latin as the single most important European language over the centuries and as a unifying feature of European culture is discussed. Parallels are drawn between Latin as the historical European lingua franca on the one hand and English as the modern language of international communication on the other: the importance of both languages started growing after substantial territorial expansion of their speakers and it was especially the political and economic power associated to these languages that played a significant role in their diffusion and long-term influence. Taking into consideration the instrumental as well as the symbolic function of languages, the question about the relationship between English and other European languages in today’s Europe is dealt with; it is suggested that the European languages are in principle not endangered as a result of the spread of English, with the exception of those instances in which English has been taking over the functions they have traditionally performed as national or community languages. It is emphasized that the future of Europe lies in the promotion of biand multilingualism, which have, in actual fact, been present on this continent throughout its history, and which in the cases of some European languages (e.g. Catalan, Basque, Irish, etc. have been successfully enhanced over the past decades.

  15. Play the European card

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Majewski, O.

    1999-01-01

    Dr. Otto Majewski, Chief Executive Officer of the Bayernwerk AG utility, in his capacity as Chairman of the European Nuclear Council pointed out at ENC 98 in Nice that national energy policies constituted a major danger to the use of nuclear power. At the same time, he indicated ways and means by which to evade that danger. The decisions taken in Sweden and in the Federal Republic of Germany to opt out of the use of nuclear power show that national energy policies can seriously jeopardize the use of nuclear power. Bayernwerk CEO Dr. Majewski urged nuclear power plant operators to counteract these tendencies by playing the European card. Nuclear power anyway was a classical topic of European cooperation which, in the past, had resulted in higher safety standards and in the development of the EPR. It should also be attempted, by working on European institutions, to strengthen the use of nuclear power, even on a national level. He invoked economic arguments against nuclear opponents, especially the preservation of competitiveness by means of lower electricity prices, and arguments of climate protection. (orig.) [de

  16. Habermas on European Constitution and European Identity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Éva Biró-Kaszás

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available For the last two decades or so philosophers have been reflecting on a set of practical and political concerns in connection with the new political structural arrangements beyond the nation-state. In this article two essays by Jürgen Habermas shall be examined. An attempt shall be made to tackle Habermas’ philosophical concepts of personal and collective identity as well as the role that a constitution may play in building the post-national constellation. It has been shown that Habermas has normative answers. Firstly, according to him, the fragile balance between the legal order and the particular cultures and traditions of a community has to be protected by the constitutional state. For that reason the political culture has to be “decoupled” from the majority culture. Secondly, the democratically structured attempt to achieve shared meaning has to find the delicate balance between the context-transcending universal normative claims and the claims of particular individual and collective life. Thirdly, it is possible to expand legally mediated civil solidarity trans-nationally, across Europe – we may recognize this development as the emergence of European identity –, since the process of democratic will-formation of citizens may get loose from the structures provided by the state if both shared democratic political cultures as well as a European-wide public sphere exist. The European Constitution may have a catalytic function in materialization of these conditions. It has been shown that in his deliberations Habermas tried to find a reflective equilibrium between the normative and the empirical.

  17. Federal and European Union Policy Making

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dosenrode, Søren

    By using the policy cycle approach, this paper compares the policy-process in a number of Anglo-Saxon type federations with the policy-process in continental-European style federations from within the European Union (EU) area.  The comparison would reveal: a) distinct different styles of policy...... making in European style federations in relation with the Anglo-Saxon ones. b) that the policy-process in the EU resembles that of the European style federations, and c) the Constitutional Treaty (CT) or a possible CT-light would strengthen the federal policy-making characteristics already present...

  18. The Political Psychology of European Integration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Manners, Ian James

    2015-01-01

    express for the EU and fellow Europeans, and the passion with which supporters of the EU argue for greater integration and enlargement are today central to understanding European integration. Being mindful of Europe - reflecting on the ways in which psychology and politics are deeply implicated in under......In an era of European crises over political legitimacy, economic austerity, and collapse of confidence in the EU the topic of European integration has be-come a very emotional subject. The anger which protestors demonstrate against economic austerity, the hate which nationalist far-right parties...

  19. European Non Destructive Examination Forum (ENDEF)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Deffrennes, M.; Engl, G.; Estorff, U. von

    1998-01-01

    Non destructive examination (NDE) during fabrication, Pre-service inspection (PSI) and In service inspection (ISI) are considered key issues for the safe use of nuclear energy. They are important elements of plant lifetime management which is a critical item in decision making on nuclear policies. The European non destructive examination forum (ENDEF) founded by European Commission provides a platform for open discussion between representatives of the European industries with the purpose to establish cooperation between EU, Central and Eastern European Countries and New Independent States in the field of NDE and ISI

  20. European Practice Assessment of Cardiovascular risk management (EPA Cardio: protocol of an international observational study in primary care

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    van Lieshout Jan

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Despite important improvements in available prevention and treatment, cardiovascular diseases (CVD remain an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Not all high-risk patients and patients with CVD have healthy lifestyles and receive the best possible healthcare. Internationally comparative data are needed to compare cardiovascular risk management in different countries, and to examine the impact of improvement programs and others factors. Objectives This study aims to provide internationally comparative data on cardiovascular risk management provided in primary care and on health-related lifestyles of patients in Europe. The study will also explore the views of doctors and patients on innovative preventive services for CVDs. Design and methods An observational cross-sectional study is planned. In 10 European countries, stratified samples of 36 practices per country will be recruited. In each practice, three samples of 15 patients each will be sampled: patients with coronary heart disease, patients at high risk for CVD, and healthy adult patients. The quality of cardiovascular risk management has been specified in terms of 44 performance indicators that resulted from an international Delphi-procedure with general practitioners. Most indicators are based on medical records, and some on a structured interview with a contact person of the practice. Lifestyle (smoking, physical exercise, diet will be measured with previously validated questionnaires that are completed by patients. Additional measures include practice characteristics and exposure to programs to improve cardiovascular care.

  1. Children and ICT European Initiatives and Policies on Protecting Children Online

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wojniak, Justyna; Majorek, Marta

    2016-01-01

    The paper concerns the opportunities of use information and communication technologies for the education purposes. It presents key assumptions of the European Union policy concerning innovative methods of training and the prospects for their further development. As nowadays one can observe increasing activity of the children and young people in…

  2. European innovation and technology development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnson, R.W.

    1991-01-01

    The promotion of technological innovation by European national governments and the EC in pursuit of both increased recovery and the anchoring of technology in supply, manufacturing and service sector companies has been a feature of the strategic involvement by European states in exploration and production research and development. This paper summaries past trends in this activity and reviews the targets for future industry innovation which will enable European (primarily the North Sea) production to be sustained for a further generation

  3. A European experiment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Willson, D.

    1981-01-01

    The Joint European Torus (JET) is an experiment in nuclear fusion research which was planned as a joint effort between national research laboratories and Euratom. Before approval was given for it to be built it became a political football in the European Communities. This book describes the background against which JET was conceived, designed and planned. It gives a chronological account of the political imbroglio which followed between 1975 and 1978 and indicates how close the project came to collapse at one point. In addition to the two years' delay caused by Ministerial conflicts over its siting, the project suffered many compromises in its financing, its staffing and its organisation. An account is given of the unique structure of the European Communities and its procedures, which shows how idealism constantly faces reality. The role of Euratom is discussed, taking into account the difference between its approach to applications of nuclear fission as opposed to those of nuclear fusion. (author)

  4. The Rome II Regulation on the Law Applicable to Non-Contractual Obligations: The European Private International Law Tradition Continued. : Introductory Observations, Scope, System, and General Rules

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    X.E. Kramer (Xandra)

    2008-01-01

    textabstractThe establishment of Regulation No 864/2007 on the Law Applicable to Non-Contractual Obligations (Rome II) is a landmark for European Private International Law. The regulation of torts in the European Union has a history of forty years, starting with the preparation of the Rome

  5. European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, European Society of Gastroenterology and Endoscopy Nurses and Associates, and the European Society of Anaesthesiology Guideline: Non-anaesthesiologist administration of propofol for GI endoscopy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dumonceau, J.M.; Riphaus, A.; Aparicio, J.R.

    2010-01-01

    ), the European Society of Gastroenterology and Endoscopy Nurses and Associates (ESGENA) and the European Society of Anaesthesiology (ESA). These three societies have endorsed the present guideline.The guideline is published simultaneously in the Journals Endoscopy and European Journal of Anaesthesiology....

  6. The future of European health policies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koivusalo, Meri Tuulikki

    2005-01-01

    The role of the European Union in health policies is changing. The European social model is under threat due to shifts in E.U. policies on liberalization of service provision, limited public budgets, a focus on the health sector as a productive sector in the context of broader European policies and the Lisbon strategy, and changes in the context of the new Constitutional Treaty. These changes are evident in a new reflection paper on European health strategy and its focus. E.U. health policies are at a critical juncture. The danger is that the current processes will lead European health policies and the health systems of member states more in the direction of U.S. health policies and the commercialization of health systems than toward improvement of the current situation.

  7. Obesogenic Diets in European Children

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Intemann, Timm; Hebestreit, Antje; Reisch, Lucia A.

    2017-01-01

    Introduction: Poor nutrition is a major contributor to the overall burden of disease. Worldwide, nutrition-related diseases have become a major health concern, reportedly causing a loss of over 56 million years of healthy life for European citizens in the year 2000. Childhood obesity is one...... will stress dietary factors in European children as one major aspect of the complex aetiology of childhood obesity, and offer a broader comment on the role of contemporary food systems. Results: Parental socioeconomic status, children’s media consumption and current arketing strategies employed by the food...... industry were associated with a low-quality diet and unhealthy food intake in European children. Conclusion: Present evidence calls for policy interventions to facilitate healthy diets of European children and adolescents. Prevention strategies for childhood obesity should address upstream factors...

  8. The European Utility Requirement Document

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roche, I.I.

    1999-01-01

    The major European electricity producers work on a common requirement document for future LWR plants since 1992. They aim at requirements acceptable together by the owners, the public and the authorities. Thus the designers can develop standard LWR designs acceptable everywhere in Europe and the utilities can open their consultations to vendors on common bases. Such a standardisation promotes an improvement of generation costs and of safety : public and authorities acceptance should be improved as well ; significant savings are expected in development and construction costs. Since the early stages of the project, the EUR group has grown significantly. It now includes utilities from nine European countries. Utilities from two other European countries are joining the group. Specific cooperation agreements are also in progress with a few extra-European partners

  9. The European Union in International Financial Governance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Niamh Moloney

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This article considers the role of the European Union in international financial governance after the institutional reforms it undertook in connection with the global financial crisis. It suggests that the new administrative actors that support the governance of the European Union's single financial market, notably the European Supervisory Authorities, have the potential to reshape how the European Union engages with international financial governance. It finds that the European Union’s effectiveness in influencing international financial governance—and the effectiveness of international financial governance more generally—is likely to strengthen as a result.

  10. European Cosmoscapes. The case of the Festival of Europe in Florence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dario Verderame

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this essay is to offer an empirical contribution to the understanding of cosmopolita-nization processes, centred on Europe. Specifically, the subject of my study is the Festival of Europe, an event dedicated to European themes that is held every two years in the city of Florence (Italy. By means of this case study I intend to analyse those elements that enable or constrain the formation of a European cosmopolitan imaginary within a concrete situational context. This analysis will also permit the formulation of some observations with regard to the role that such organizational and social forms – festivals – can play in the construction of a cosmopolitan social space.

  11. Evaluation of seven European aerosol optical depth retrieval algorithms for climate analysis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Leeuw, G. de; Holzer-Popp, T.; Bevan, S.; Davies, W.H.; Descloitres, J.; Grainger, R.G.; Griesfeller, J.; Heckel, A.; Kinne, S.; Klüser, L.; Kolmonen, P.; Litvinov, P.; Martynenko, D.; North, P.; Ovigneur, B.; Pascal, N.; Poulsen, C.; Ramon, D.; Schulz, M.; Siddans, R.; Sogacheva, L.; Tanré, D.; Thomas, G.E.; Virtanen, T.H.; von Hoyningen Huene, W.; Vountas, M.; Pinnock, S.

    2015-01-01

    Satellite data are increasingly used to provide observation-based estimates of the effects of aerosols on climate. The Aerosol-cci project, part of the European Space Agency's Climate Change Initiative (CCI), was designed to provide essential climate variables for aerosols from satellite data. Eight

  12. European Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moons, Frans; Safieh, Joseph; Giot, Michel; Mavko, Borut; Sehgal, Bal Raj; Schaefer, Anselm; Goethem, Georges van; D'Haeseleer, William

    2005-01-01

    The need to preserve, enhance or strengthen nuclear knowledge is worldwide recognised since a couple of years. Among others, 'networking to maintain nuclear competence through education and training', was recommended in 2001 by an expert panel to the European Commission [EUR, 19150 EN, Strategic issues related to a 6th Euratom Framework Programme (2002-2006). Scientific and Technical Committee Euratom, pp. 14]. It appears that within the European University education and training framework, nuclear engineering is presently still sufficiently covered, although somewhat fragmented. However, it has been observed that several areas are at risk in the very near future including safety relevant fields such as reactor physics and nuclear thermal-hydraulics. Furthermore, in some countries deficiencies have been identified in areas such as the back-end of the nuclear fuel cycle, waste management and decommissioning. To overcome these risks and deficiencies, it is of very high importance that European countries work more closely together. Harmonisation and improvement of the nuclear education and training have to take place at an international level in order to maintain the knowledge properly and to transfer it throughout Europe for the safe and economic design, operation and dismantling of present and future nuclear systems. To take up the challenges of offering top quality, new, attractive and relevant curricula, higher education institutions should cooperate with industry, regulatory bodies and research centres, and more appropriate funding from public and private sources. In addition, European nuclear education and training should benefit from links with international organisations like IAEA, OECD-NEA and others, and should include worldwide cooperation with academic institutions and research centres. The first and central issue is to establish a European Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering. The concept envisaged is compatible with the projected harmonised European

  13. European energy policy: the green book

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    2006-01-01

    Energy dependence, insecurity of supplies, rise of demand and prices, global warming: these are the characteristics of the energy situation of the 21. century. The new green book of the European Commission about 'a European strategy for a safe, competitive and durable energy' starts from this alarming status and proposes some suggestions for the building up of a new global European energy policy: realization of the European domestic energy markets (a European energy network, a priority interconnection plan for gas networks, a separation of transport and distribution activities for equitable rules, a reinforcement of the competitiveness of the European industry), a joint security of supplies between member states (redefining the EU position about strategic oil and gas reserves), a sustainable, efficient and diversified energy offer, an integrated approach to fight against global warming (improving energy efficiency, development of renewable energy sources, carbon sequestration), encouraging innovation, developing a consistent foreign policy of energy (a clear policy for the security and diversification of energy supplies, energy partnerships between producers, transit countries and other international actors). (J.S.)

  14. Ranking of European Capitals According to the Impact of Future Heat Waves

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smid, M.; Costa, A. C.; Russo, S.; Pebesma, E. J.; Canut, C. G.

    2017-12-01

    In warming Europe, we are witnessing a growth in urban population with aging trend, which will make the society more vulnerable to extreme heat waves. In the period 1950-2015 the occurrence of extreme heat waves increased across European capitals. As an example, Moscow was hit by the strongest heat wave of the present era, killing more than ten thousand people. Here we focus on larger metropolitan areas of European capitals. By using observations and an ensemble of eight EURO-CORDEX models under the RCP8.5 scenario, we calculate a suite of temperature based climate indices. We introduce a simple ranking procedure based on ensemble predictions using the mean of metropolitan grid cells for each capital, and population density as a proxy to quantify the future impact. Results show that the selected ensemble provides solid simulation of climate characteristics over most of the targeted metropolitan areas. All the investigated European metropolitan areas will be more vulnerable to extreme heat in the coming decades. Based on the impact ranking, the results reveal that in near, but mainly in distant future, the extreme heat events in European capitals will be not exclusive to traditionally exposed areas such as the Mediterranean and the Iberian Peninsula. The ranking of European capitals based on their vulnerability to the extreme heat could be of paramount importance to the decision makers in order to mitigate the heat related mortality, especially with the foreseen increase of global mean temperature. Acknowledgments: The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of Geoinformatics: Enabling Open Cities (GEO-C), the project funded by the European Commission within the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, International Training Networks (ITN), European Joint Doctorates (EJD). Grant Agreement number 642332 — GEO-C — H2020-MSCA-ITN-2014.

  15. The European Communities (Definition of Treaties) (No.5) (Joint European Torus) Order 1978 (S.I. no.1032)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1978-01-01

    This Order declares the Exchange of Letters dated 3 May 1978 between the Government of the United Kingdom and the European Atomic Energy Community regarding privileges to be granted to the Joint European Torus to be a Community Treaty as defined in section 1(2) of the European Communities Act 1972. The principal effect of declaring this Exchange of Letters to be a Community Treaty as so defined is to bring into play, in relation to the Exchange of Letters, the provisions of section 2 of the European Communities Act 1972 [fr

  16. Novel genetic markers associate with atrial fibrillation risk in Europeans and Japanese.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lubitz, Steven A; Lunetta, Kathryn L; Lin, Honghuang; Arking, Dan E; Trompet, Stella; Li, Guo; Krijthe, Bouwe P; Chasman, Daniel I; Barnard, John; Kleber, Marcus E; Dörr, Marcus; Ozaki, Kouichi; Smith, Albert V; Müller-Nurasyid, Martina; Walter, Stefan; Agarwal, Sunil K; Bis, Joshua C; Brody, Jennifer A; Chen, Lin Y; Everett, Brendan M; Ford, Ian; Franco, Oscar H; Harris, Tamara B; Hofman, Albert; Kääb, Stefan; Mahida, Saagar; Kathiresan, Sekar; Kubo, Michiaki; Launer, Lenore J; MacFarlane, Peter W; Magnani, Jared W; McKnight, Barbara; McManus, David D; Peters, Annette; Psaty, Bruce M; Rose, Lynda M; Rotter, Jerome I; Silbernagel, Guenther; Smith, Jonathan D; Sotoodehnia, Nona; Stott, David J; Taylor, Kent D; Tomaschitz, Andreas; Tsunoda, Tatsuhiko; Uitterlinden, Andre G; Van Wagoner, David R; Völker, Uwe; Völzke, Henry; Murabito, Joanne M; Sinner, Moritz F; Gudnason, Vilmundur; Felix, Stephan B; März, Winfried; Chung, Mina; Albert, Christine M; Stricker, Bruno H; Tanaka, Toshihiro; Heckbert, Susan R; Jukema, J Wouter; Alonso, Alvaro; Benjamin, Emelia J; Ellinor, Patrick T

    2014-04-01

    This study sought to identify nonredundant atrial fibrillation (AF) genetic susceptibility signals and examine their cumulative relations with AF risk. AF-associated loci span broad genomic regions that may contain multiple susceptibility signals. Whether multiple signals exist at AF loci has not been systematically explored. We performed association testing conditioned on the most significant, independently associated genetic markers at 9 established AF loci using 2 complementary techniques in 64,683 individuals of European ancestry (3,869 incident and 3,302 prevalent AF cases). Genetic risk scores were created and tested for association with AF in Europeans and an independent sample of 11,309 individuals of Japanese ancestry (7,916 prevalent AF cases). We observed at least 4 distinct AF susceptibility signals on chromosome 4q25 upstream of PITX2, but not at the remaining 8 AF loci. A multilocus score comprised 12 genetic markers demonstrated an estimated 5-fold gradient in AF risk. We observed a similar spectrum of risk associated with these markers in Japanese. Regions containing AF signals on chromosome 4q25 displayed a greater degree of evolutionary conservation than the remainder of the locus, suggesting that they may tag regulatory elements. The chromosome 4q25 AF locus is architecturally complex and harbors at least 4 AF susceptibility signals in individuals of European ancestry. Similar polygenic AF susceptibility exists between Europeans and Japanese. Future work is necessary to identify causal variants, determine mechanisms by which associated loci predispose to AF, and explore whether AF susceptibility signals classify individuals at risk for AF and related morbidity. Copyright © 2014 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. European Union, 2017

    OpenAIRE

    Malone Margaret Mary

    2018-01-01

    The year 2017 was eventful for the EU and its member states. Given the widespread Euroscepticism and populism which appeared to be on the rise last year, election results in the Netherlands, France and Germany were greeted with relief and hope for the future. The EU was in an optimistic mood. European Commission President Jean- Claude Juncker used his State of the European Union speech in September to note that the EU had the ‘wind in its sails’ (Juncker, 2017). At the same time, he cautioned...

  18. [Gene geography of Chile: regional distribution of American, European and African genetic contributions].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fuentes, Macarena; Pulgar, Iván; Gallo, Carla; Bortolini, María-Cátira; Canizales-Quinteros, Samuel; Bedoya, Gabriel; González-José, Rolando; Ruiz-Linares, Andrés; Rothhammer, Francisco

    2014-03-01

    The geographical distribution of genes plays a key role in genetic epidemiology. The Chilean population has three major stem groups (Native American, European and African). To estimate the regional rate of American, European and African admixture of the Chilean population. Forty single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP´s) which exhibit substantially different frequencies between Amerindian populations (ancestry-informative markers or AIM´s), were genotyped in a sample of 923 Chilean participants to estimate individual genetic ancestry. The American, European and African individual average admixture estimates for the 15 Chilean Regions were relatively homogeneous and not statistically different. However, higher American components were found in northern and southern Chile and higher European components were found in central Chile. A negative correlation between African admixture and latitude was observed. On the average, American and European genetic contributions were similar and significantly higher than the African contribution. Weighted mean American, European and African genetic contributions of 44.34% ± 3 9%, 51.85% ± 5.44% and 3.81% ± 0.45%, were estimated. Fifty two percent of subjects harbor African genes. Individuals with Aymara and Mapuche surnames have an American admixture of 58.64% and 68.33%, respectively. Half of the Chilean population harbors African genes. Participants with Aymara and Mapuche surnames had a higher American genetic contribution than the general Chilean population. These results confirm the usefulness of surnames as a first approximation to determine genetic ancestry.

  19. European Symposium on Precision Medicine in Allergy and Airways Diseases: Report of the European Union Parliament Symposium (October 14, 2015)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Muraro, A.; Fokkens, W. J.; Pietikainen, S.; Borrelli, D.; Agache, I.; Bousquet, J.; Costigliola, V.; Joos, G.; Lund, V. J.; Poulsen, L. K.; Price, D.; Rolland, C.; Zuberbier, T.; Hellings, P. W.

    2016-01-01

    The European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI), the European Rhinologic Society (ERS), and the European Medical Association (EMA) organized, on October 14, 2015, a symposium in the European Parliament in Brussels on Precision Medicine in Allergy and Airways Diseases, hosted by MEP

  20. Insights into the European Years’ Communication Toolboxes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Camelia-Mihaela Cmeciu

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Since 1983 the European syntagm “unity in diversity” has been implemented in the European Years’ communication campaigns. Dependent on subsidiarity and decentralization, European Years focus on a specific issue which constitutes the subject of a year-long awareness campaign. Beyond the involvement of Europe’s citizens through their local, regional and national authorities in the implementation of the European Years’ policies, there is a unity at the level of the visual communication of the EU by two important image-building elements: EY logos and communication toolboxes. The European Years’ communication toolboxes can be considered signs of inclusion since every organization is expected to customize the templates in the official campaign design of the European Year. The analysis will focus on the image-building elements of three European Years (2010, 2011, 2012. Having social semiotics as the qualitative research method and the analytical framework based on the distinction between design resources and representational resources, I will analyze the double layers of the high intensity point of inclusion: (1 the European Years’ branding process; (2 the visual deontic modality within the visual guidelines of the EY communication toolbox.

  1. Realizing the European Higher Education Area: Berlin Conference of European Higher Education Ministers

    Science.gov (United States)

    European Education, 2004

    2004-01-01

    The Bologna Declaration of June 1999 has put in motion a series of reforms needed to make European higher education more compatible and comparable, more competitive and attractive for European citizens and for citizens and scholars from other continents. In Prague, in May 2001, the ministers took note of the progress so far and added three new…

  2. Working in a developing communication space. Facebook and Twitter as journalistic tools for European information pure-player websites

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Florian Tixier

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Since the creation of the European Union, European information has been a very important issue of communication. Numerous Europe-specialized information websites were born in the first decade of the 21st century, thus creating a European informational landscape on the Internet. In a context of journalistic technological and economical evolutions, journalists have to adapt rapidly their ways of working. A new function in terms of management of socio-numeric networks has appeared: community management. This research aims at analyzing the uses of Facebook and Twitter in the community management of online European information websites. We will be specifically observing how information makers integrate these technologies, which originally were not part of the journalistic work patterns, and how they use these new means of communication to circulate European ideas through self-promotion practices.

  3. WORKING IN A DEVELOPING COMMUNICATION SPACE. FACEBOOK AND TWITTER AS JOURNALISTIC TOOLS FOR EUROPEAN INFORMATION PURE-PLAYER WEBSITES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Florian Tixier

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Since the creation of the European Union, European information has been a very important issue of communication. Numerous Europe-specialized information websites were born in the first decade of the 21st century, thus creating a European informational landscape on the Internet. In a context of journalistic technological and economical evolutions, journalists have to adapt rapidly their ways of working. A new function in terms of management of socio-numeric networks has appeared: community management. This research aims at analyzing the uses of Facebook and Twitter in the community management of online European information websites. We will be specifically observing how information makers integrate these technologies, which originally were not part of the journalistic work patterns, and how they use these new means of communication to circulate European ideas through self-promotion practices.

  4. National And European Law: Problem Of Implementation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olga M. Mesheriakova

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Present article is devoted to one of the main problems for all integration communities –problem of implementation of the integration law norms in the national legal system of member states. Author, on the example of certain member states of the European Union considers mechanism of the European Union law action in it's member states. In the article constitutional norms of the number of member states which set a ratio of the national and European laws are analyzed. According to the principle of competence giving, member states voluntary transfer part of the competence to the European Union. Competences which are transferred to the member states are the competences of the European Union. In the course of research author investigates opinions of scientists and analyze regulations. Author pays separate attention to the question of the European Union creation. For example, author notes that consideration by the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe of the question of compliance of the Treaty to the Constitution of Germany became neither more nor less a most important milestone on the way of Treaty on the European Union ratification by Germany. In the decision on this matter Court defined a number of reference points for the purpose of possible excise if the European integration elimination out of those limits which are set for the government of Germany by its Constitution. The decision of the Constitutional Court of Germany though meant approval of the Treaty on the European Union in the political sense, it was nevertheless unambiguously directed against broad interpretation and federalist vision of the European integration. It is obvious that states, on the basis of constitutional norms may leave contracts that are burdensome for them. It concerns not only international treaties, but also Treaties of the European Union.

  5. Theories and myths of European foreign policy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Manners, Ian James

    2014-01-01

    interactions of European international organizations, and the behaviour of European non-governmental actors working through the above agents as part of transnational and globalizing activism. The chapter adopts a pan-European approach in analysing EFP at the interfaces of these international, supranational...... the international, supranational and transnational policy processes of European states and institutions in relation to the rest of the world. In this respect, the study of EFP includes an analysis of the engagements of European states in international and multilateral diplomacy, the interregional and multipolar...... activity, whether international, supranational or transnational, in order to identify common patterns....

  6. West European magnetic confinement fusion research

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McKenney, B.L.; McGrain, M.; Hogan, J.T.; Porkolab, M.; Thomassen, K.I.

    1990-01-01

    This report presents a technical assessment and review of the West European program in magnetic confinement fusion by a panel of US scientists and engineers active in fusion research. Findings are based on the scientific and technical literature, on laboratory reports and preprints, and on the personal experiences and collaborations of the panel members. Concerned primarily with developments during the past 10 years, from 1979 to 1989, the report assesses West European fusion research in seven technical areas: tokamak experiments; magnetic confinement technology and engineering; fusion nuclear technology; alternate concepts; theory; fusion computations; and program organization. The main conclusion emerging from the analysis is that West European fusion research has attained a position of leadership in the international fusion program. This distinction reflects in large measure the remarkable achievements of the Joint European Torus (JET). However, West European fusion prominence extends beyond tokamak experimental physics: the program has demonstrated a breadth of skill in fusion science and technology that is not excelled in the international effort. It is expected that the West European primacy in central areas of confinement physics will be maintained or even increased during the early 1990s. The program's maturity and commitment kindle expectations of dramatic West European advances toward the fusion energy goal. For example, achievement of fusion breakeven is expected first in JET, before 1995

  7. European Non Destructive Examination Forum (ENDEF)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Deffrennes, M.; Engl, G.; Estorff, U. von

    1998-01-01

    ENDEF, an initiative of the European Commission, DG XVII (Energy) was well supported by the European industrial institutions working in assistance with nuclear industrial organisations in the CEEC's (Central and Eastern European Countries) and NIS's (New Independent States). This Forum provides effectively a platform for open discussion between representatives of industrial actors active in the NDE (Non Destructive Examination)/ISI (In Service Inspection) field with the purpose to establish a co-operation pattern between qualified representatives of the EU (European Union) industry to offer a better co-ordinated and well defined assistance to the CEEC's and NIS in the field of NDE/ISI, and to lay the ground for further industrial co-operation. ENDEF developed a strategy to follow for the establishment of co-operation projects. This strategy is now used to understand the extent of past or present assistance projects and to identify the areas where more co-operation is needed. ENDEF encourages the creation in the NIS's and CEEC's of similar forums in order to increase the co-operation and co-ordination. ENDEF is also working in perfect agreement with the European Network ENIQ, piloted by the European plant operators. This identity of views lead to the leadership by the ENDEF co-ordinator of the ENIQ Task 3 involving Applications of the European Methodology for ISI qualification in the CEEC's and NIS's and presently fully integrated in ENDEF. (orig.)

  8. Educational inequalities in tuberculosis mortality in sixteen European populations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Álvarez, J. L.; Kunst, A. E.; Leinsalu, M.; Bopp, M.; Strand, B. H.; Menvielle, Gwenn; Lundberg, O.; Martikainen, P.; Deboosere, P.; Kalediene, R.; Artnik, B.; Mackenbach, J. P.; Richardus, J. H.

    2011-01-01

    Objective We aim to describe the magnitude of socioeconomic inequalities in tuberculosis (TB) mortality by level of education in male, female, urban, and rural populations in several European countries. Design Data were obtained from the Eurothine project covering 16 populations between 1990 and 2003. Age- and sex-standardized mortality rates, the Relative Index of Inequality, and the slope index of inequality were used to assess educational inequalities. Results The number of TB deaths reported was 8530, with a death rate of 3 per 100 000 per year, of which 73% were males. Educational inequalities in TB mortality were present in all European populations. Inequalities in TB mortality were larger than in total mortality. Relative and absolute inequalities were large in Eastern Europe, and Baltic countries but relatively small in Southern countries and in Norway, Finland, and Sweden. Mortality inequalities were observed among both men and women, and in both rural and urban populations. Conclusions Socioeconomic inequalities in TB mortality exist in all European countries. Firm political commitment is required to reduce inequalities in the social determinants of TB incidence. Targeted public health measures are called for to improve vulnerable groups’ access to treatment and thereby reduce TB mortality. PMID:22008757

  9. Eastern European Political Socialization Modeling Research: A Literature Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Camelia Florela Voinea

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents empirical modeling research on political socialization of the citizens in the new Eastern European democracies. The political socialization issue offers a comparative perspective over the modeling methodologies in analytical paradigms. Eastern European political culture research has revealed features of the electoral behavior and political participation which can be identified in different degrees in all the new democracies in the area: passivity with respect to political activity of parties, elites and institutions, political apathy or lack of reaction to anti-democratic actions, skepticism or distrust in institutions, scarce participation to social movements. Several authors explain the actual political behavior of the Eastern European citizens’ and their low social and political involvement by the (political culture heritage of the communist regimes in which they lived for a long time, and which keeps shaping their political attitudes towards the state, civil society, government and institutions. Research issues in the analysis of political participation are traditionally based on statistics analyses of empirical evidence coming from public surveys. However, scarcity ofempirical data from the communist periode with regard to (political socialization, values and beliefs represent a major obstacle towards a better understanding of the historical roots of current behaviors and attitudes. Scarcity of observational data might be overcome by computational and simulation modeling.

  10. European commission - 7th framework programme. The collaborative project on European sodium fast reactor (CP ESFR)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fiorini, G.L.

    2009-01-01

    The paper summarizes the key characteristics of the four years large Collaborative Project on European Sodium Fast Reactor (CP ESFR - 2009-2012); the CP ESFR follows the 6th FP project named 'Roadmap for a European Innovative SOdium cooled FAst Reactor - EISOFAR' further identifying, organizing and implementing a significant part of the needed R and D effort. The CP ESFR merges the contribution of 25 european partners; it will be realized under the aegis of the 7th FP under the Area - Advanced Nuclear Systems with a refund from the European Commission of 5.8 M euro (11.55 M euro total budget). It will be a key component of the European Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform (SNE TP) and its Strategic Research Agenda (SRA). The inputs for the project are the key research goals for fourth generation of European sodium cooled fast reactors which can be summarized as follow: an improved safety with in particular the achievement of a robust architecture vis a vis of abnormal situations and the robustness of the safety demonstrations; the guarantee of a financial risk comparable to that of the other means of energy production; a flexible and robust management of the nuclear materials and especially the waste reduction through the Minor Actinides burning. (author)

  11. Experiencing European integration: transnational lives and European identity

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kuhn, T.

    2015-01-01

    European integration has generated a wide array of economic, political, and social opportunities beyond the nation state. Scandinavians spending their retirement at the Mediterranean coast; Germans employing a Polish caretaker; international exchange students staying in Prague; Italian baristas

  12. Antifungal therapy in European hospitals

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zarb, P; Amadeo, B; Muller, A

    2012-01-01

    The study aimed to identify targets for quality improvement in antifungal use in European hospitals and determine the variability of such prescribing. Hospitals that participated in the European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption Point Prevalence Surveys (ESAC-PPS) were included. The WHO...

  13. Participation in European water policy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    J.A. van Ast (Jacko); S.P. Boot (Sander Paul)

    2003-01-01

    textabstractThis paper considers the possibilities for interactive policy-making in European water management. In the new European Water Framework Directive, public information and consultation are major elements in the procedure (process) that leads to River Basin Management Plans. In general,

  14. Regional geographic variations in kidney cancer incidence rates in European countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Peng; Znaor, Ariana; Holcatova, Ivana; Fabianova, Eleonora; Mates, Dana; Wozniak, Magdalena B; Ferlay, Jacques; Scelo, Ghislaine

    2015-06-01

    Marked unexplained national variations in incidence rates of kidney cancer have been observed for decades in Europe. To investigate geographic variations at the regional level and identify European regions with high incidence rates of kidney cancer. Regional- and national-level incidence data were extracted from the Cancer Incidence in Five Continents databases, local cancer registry databases, and local published reports. World population age-standardised rates (ASRs) were calculated for the periods 2003-2007 and 1988-1992. Rates by period and sex were compared using map visualisation. During 2003-2007, the highest ASR was found in the Plzen region, Czech Republic (31.4/100,000 person-years in men). Other regions of the Czech Republic had ASRs of 18.6-27.5/100,000 in men, with a tendency for higher rates in regions south of Prague. Surrounding regions, including eastern Germany and regions of Slovakia and Austria, had medium-to-high incidence rates (13.0-16.8/100,000 in men). Three other areas in Europe showed higher incidence rates in men compared with the rest of the continent: Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, and Belarus (15.0-17.6/100,000); Iceland (13.5/100,000), and northern Italy (up to 16.0/100,000). Similar regional differences were observed among women, with rates approximately half of those observed in men in the same region. In general, these regional geographic variations remained stable over the periods 1988-1992 and 2003-2007, although higher incidence rates were detected in the Baltic countries in 2003-2007. Several European regions show particularly high rates of kidney cancer incidence. Large variations were observed within countries covered by national health-care systems, implying that overdetection is not the major factor. We present regional geographic variations in kidney cancer incidence rates in Europe. We highlight several regions with high incidence rates where further studies should be conducted for cancer control and prevention. Copyright

  15. European MEDIA Programme: the role of 'language' and 'visual images' in the processes of constructing European culture and identity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bozić-Vrbancić, Senka; Vrbancić, Mario; Orlić, Olga

    2008-12-01

    Questions of diversity and multiculturalism are at the heart of many discussions on European supranational identity within contemporary anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, linguistics and so on. Since we are living in a period marked by the economic and political changes which emerged after European unification, a call for a new analysis of heterogeneity, cultural difference and issues of belonging is not surprising. This call has been fuelled by the European Union's concern with "culture" as one of the main driving forces for constructing "European identity". While the official European policy describes European culture as common to all Europeans, Europe is also-seen as representing "unity in diversity". By analysing contemporary European MEDIA policies and programs this article attempts to contribute to a small but growing body of work that explores what role "language" and "visual images" play in the process of constructing European culture and supranational European identity. More specifically, the article explores the complex articulation of language and culture in order to analyse supranational imaginary of European identity as it is expressed through the simple slogan "Europe: unity in diversity". We initially grounded our interest in the politics of identity within the European Union within theoretical frameworks of "power and knowledge" and "identity and subjectivity". We consider contemporary debates in social sciences and humanities over the concepts of language", "culture" and "identity" as inseparable from each other (Ahmed 2000; Brah 1996, 2000; Butler 1993, Derrida 1981; Gilroy 2004; Laclau 1990). Cultural and postcolonial studies theorists (e.g. Brah 1996; Bhabha 1994; Hall 1992, 1996, among others) argue that concepts of "culture" and "identity" signify a historically variable nexus of social meanings. That is to say, "culture" and "identity" are discursive articulations. According to this view, "culture" and "identity" are not separate

  16. A global vernacular? Musings on European art music in Hong Kong

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giorgio Biancorosso

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The presence of Classical European Music in higher education curricula in Tokyo or Beijing, Hong Kong or Singapore is a fact that barely registers to the eye (and ear of a visiting teacher, especially a Western one. Daily engagement with university instruction over an extended period of time, however, soon reveals the complexity and significance of the adoption of European notation-based repertories, and the practices associated with them. As an “outsider-insider”, in this paper I sketch a picture of the opportunities and challenges of teaching the repertories of the so-called European “Common Practice” in contemporary East Asia. Drawing on a few case studies based on my experience in Hong Kong, Beijing, South Korea and Japan, I then consider the implications of the adoption of a recently imported musical language as the norm in music theory education as well as the pinnacle of artistic accomplishment in the fields of both composition and performance. Observing patterns of absorption of foreign cultural artifacts and sensibilities need not lead to sobering conclusions about cultural imperialism or thoughtless Westernisation.

  17. An introduction to European intergovernmental organizations

    CERN Document Server

    Cogen, Marc

    2015-01-01

    An Introduction to European Intergovernmental Organizations provides an up-to-date and accessible reference to European intergovernmental organizations other than the European Union. The EU is so dominant that people often overlook the multitude of older and newer, smaller and larger intergovernmental organizations rooted in the history of contemporary Europe which continue to help shape its future. The specialized character of these organizations adds value to cooperation in Europe as a whole, creates permanent channels of communication regardless of EU membership and allows the possibility for non-European involvement through organizations such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and NATO. It also allows sub regional groups of states, such as the Nordic countries or the Benelux countries to exist and express their own identity via their own organizations. This book looks at the history of Non-EU organizations, their decision-making characteristics, membership policies, legal powers actio...

  18. European Marine Information System. Eumaris; European Marine Information System. Eumaris

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Caiaffa, E. [ENEA, Centro Ricerche Casaccia, Rome (Italy). Dipt. Ambiente

    1999-07-01

    The present paper summarises the activities developed by ETC/MCE, under European Environment Agency (EEA) contract, on the Geographic Information System. The aim of present paper is to introduce some general concepts about the Geographic Information Systems and to investigate the potential of G.I.S. as tool for the assessment of the European seas. Care has also been taken to explain the main technical and educational reasons that led to EUMARIS GIS birth, its evolution in the last year, till to its presentation at the Inter-Regional Forum of the European Conventions held in Venice. GIS is a technological tool phenomenon involving various aspects and different issues; many examples of thematic maps involving that different subjects are shown in the paper. [Italian] Il presente articolo riassume le attivita' svolte, nell'ambito del Geographic Information System, dall'ETC/MCE sotto contratto con l'Agenzia Europea per l'Ambiente (EEA) che ha sede a Copenhagen. Scopo del presente articolo e' quello di introdurre alcuni concetti generali sui Geographic Information System (GIS) e di dimostrare la possibilita' di utilizzare il GIS stesso come strumento per la valutazione dello stato dei mari dell'Europa. Si e' cercato di spiegare le principali ragioni tecniche che hanno portato alla nascita del progeto del GIS EUMARIS, alla sua realizzazione fino alla sua presentazione all'Inter-Regional Forum of European Conventions tenutosi a Venezia. Si e' cercato anche di mostrare come un GIS per sua natura e' uno strumento che coinvolge vari aspetti tecnologici e differenti tipi di dati; nell'articolo vengono mostrati diversi esempi di mappe tematiche che contengono tali differenti argomenti.

  19. Relatedness and diversification in the European Union (EU-27) and European Neighbourhood Policy countries

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boschma, Ron; Capone, Gianluca

    2016-01-01

    This paper analyzes the process of industrial diversification in the countries that were part of the European Union (EU-27) and those that were the target of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) in the period 1995–2010 by means of world trade data derived from the BACI database (elaborated UN

  20. Cambodia’s Façade Democracy and European Assistance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Markus Karbaum

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Although Cambodia adopted a modern democratic constitution in 1993, Prime Minister Hun Sen has consolidated an autocratic regime in which elections are the only way political competition plays out, and even that competition is limited. Freedom of expression, horizontal and vertical control mechanisms, and civil participation have been reduced to almost zero by the Royal Government of Cambodia. Irrespective of the deinstitutionalization of liberal principles, the European Commission and some EU member states still perceive Cambodia as moving toward democratization. In the case of Cambodia, the difficulty of external democracy promotion is compounded by the limited impact of formal state institutions, which are completely undermined by kinship relations, personal networks, clientelism and nepotism. However, one can observe not only non-effective efforts toward European democracy promotion, but also increasing human rights violations due to trade facilitations, namely the EU’s “Everything But Arms” initiative.

  1. European energy markets deregulation observatory. Winter 2002/2003 period

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    2004-01-01

    Launched in 2002, the European energy markets deregulation observatory (EEMDO/OELME) aims at actualizing the main energy market indicators and at observing the advance of deregulation within the European countries. While for most of these markets, the deregulation of electricity has preceded the deregulation of gas, the natural gas market is at the evidence a key-market in Europe. For this reason, the 4. edition of the observatory (October 2003) takes into consideration for the first time the specific elements of gas markets, in addition to those of electricity markets. This article presents some excerpts of this last edition, published by Cap Gemini Ernst and Young, and synthesizes the present day situation of gas supplies and the conditions of network access by third parties. The informations reported in the EEMDO come from organizations like UCTE, Nordel, Eurelectric or from energy stock exchanges. (J.S.)

  2. The European Crisis Management: An Organizational Narrative

    OpenAIRE

    Patrícia Kaplánová

    2016-01-01

    The debate of scholars in the field of international relations in last years has put the European Union’s role into the consideration. The European Foreign and Security Policy has positioned itself through its development to the constructive and normative line of research of world politics. With this respect, this article examines a character of crisis management of the European Common Foreign Policy based on the institutional development. Besides the European Union does not po...

  3. Container Traffic In European Ports

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elen Twrdy

    2004-03-01

    Full Text Available Over the last fifteen years the European transport markethas witnessed a growth of container traffic which today reachesapproximately 50 million TEU per year. From 1997 to 2002,container traffic in the northern European ports increased from14 to 20.6 million TEU per year, in the ports of the westernMedite"anean from 6 to 10 million TEU per year, and in thenorthern Adriatic ports from 0. 69 to 0. 74 million TEU per year.The ports of the northern Adriatic are located in three states(Slovenia, Croatia and Italy with different statuses in relationto the common European market. In addition, different developmentlevels of these states are reflected in different levels ofinternational commercial exchange, the development of the existinginfrastructure and plans for the construction of new infrastructures.However, all three countries share a common goaltoincrease their competitiveness in comparison with the westemEuropean ports.

  4. Insulin resistance in Chileans of European and indigenous descent: evidence for an ethnicity x environment interaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Celis-Morales, Carlos A; Perez-Bravo, Francisco; Ibañes, Luis; Sanzana, Ruth; Hormazabal, Edison; Ulloa, Natalia; Calvo, Carlos; Bailey, Mark E S; Gill, Jason M R

    2011-01-01

    Effects of urbanisation on diabetes risk appear to be greater in indigenous populations worldwide than in populations of European origin, but the reasons are unclear. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine whether the effects of environment (Rural vs. Urban), adiposity, fitness and lifestyle variables on insulin resistance differed between individuals of indigenous Mapuche origin compared to those of European origin in Chile. 123 Rural Mapuche, 124 Urban Mapuche, 91 Rural European and 134 Urban European Chilean adults had blood taken for determination of HOMA-estimated insulin resistance (HOMA(IR)) and underwent assessment of physical activity/sedentary behaviour (using accelerometry), cardiorespiratory fitness, dietary intake and body composition. General linear models were used to determine interactions with ethnicity for key variables. There was a significant "ethnicity x environment" interaction for HOMA(IR) (Mean±SD; Rural Mapuche: 1.65±2.03, Urban Mapuche: 4.90±3.05, Rural European: 0.82±0.61, Urban European: 1.55±1.34, p((interaction)) = 0.0003), such that the effect of urbanisation on HOMA(IR) was greater in Mapuches than Europeans. In addition, there were significant interactions (all pMapuches compared to Europeans, an observation that persisted after adjustment for potential confounders. Urbanisation, adiposity, physical activity and sedentary behaviour influence insulin resistance to a greater extent in Chilean Mapuches than Chileans of European descent. These findings have implications for the design and implementation of lifestyle strategies to reduce metabolic risk in different ethnic groups, and for understanding of the mechanisms underpinning human insulin resistance.

  5. Observing the Ocean from Space: Emerging Capabilities in Europe

    OpenAIRE

    Johannessen, Johnny A.; Le Provost, Christian; Drange, Helge; Srokosz, Meric; Woodworth, Philip; Sclüssel, Peter; Le Grand, Pascal; Kerr, Yann; Wingham, Duncan; Rebhan, Helge

    2001-01-01

    Chap. 2.7 of "Observing the Oceans in the 21st Century, Chester J. Koblinsky and Neville R. Smith (Eds.)" http://www.bom.gov.au/GODAE/ocean_book.html During the first decade of the 21st century Earth observation from satellites will be faced with two major demands: provision of continuity missions and launch of new exploratory missions. This paper addresses European plans for new Earth observations in the context of Ocean Observing System for Climate at the onset of this new millennium. It...

  6. The nature of the european leadership crisis and how to solve it

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Van Esch, Femke

    2017-01-01

    Observers of the European Union (EU) agree that it suffers from a leadership crisis. However, diagnoses of the precise nature of this crisis vary: some lament the lack of strong, visionary leaders, while others argue that the EU suffers from too much elite leadership. This article takes issue with

  7. Obligations to power supply and Antitrust Law of the European Community; Strombezugsverpflichtungen und EG-Kartellverbot

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lerch, Dirk

    2008-07-01

    In the European electricity supply industry, a change to competition-oriented national markets under development of a common European electricity market is observed for some years. Under this aspect, the author of the contribution under consideration reports on obligations to the current power supply and on the trust prohibition in the European Community. The contribution under consideration consists of the following three chapters: (a) Discussion of fundamental questions regarding to cartel legal evaluation of obligations to power supply; (b) Conditions of the art. 81 sect. 1 EEC and application to obligations for power supply; (c) Exemption from the obligation to power supply according to art. 1 sect. 3 EEC. In particular, the regulation of the group exemption for vertical agreements of 22nd December, 1999, is considered.

  8. European nuclear education initiatives

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Glatz, Jean-Paul

    2011-01-01

    Whatever option regarding their future nuclear energy development is chosen by European Union Member States, the availability of a sufficient number of well trained and experienced staff is key for the responsible use of nuclear energy. This is true in all areas including design, construction, operation, decommissioning, fuel cycle and waste management as well as radiation protection. Given the high average age of existing experts leading to a significant retirement induce a real risk of the loss of nuclear competencies in the coming years. Therefore the demand of hiring skilled employees is rising. The challenge of ensuring a sufficient number of qualified staff in the nuclear sector has been acknowledged widely among the different stakeholders, in particular the nuclear industry, national regulatory authorities and Technical Support Organisations (TSOs). Already the EURATOM Treaty refers explicitly to the obligation for the Commission to carry out training actions. Recently initiatives have been launched at EU level to facilitate and strengthen the efforts of national stakeholders. The European Nuclear Education Network (ENEN) Association aims at preservation and further development of expertise in the nuclear field by higher education and training. The goal of the European Nuclear Energy Leadership Academy (ENELA) is to educate future leaders in the nuclear field to ensure the further development of sustainable European nuclear energy solutions The European Nuclear Energy Forum (ENEF) is a platform operated by the European Commission for a broad discussion on the opportunities and risks of nuclear energy. The nuclear programs under investigation in the Joint Research Center (JRC) are increasingly contributing to Education and Training (E and T) initiatives, promoting a better cooperation between key players and universities as well as operators and regulatory bodies in order to mutually optimise their training programmes. Another objective is to increase

  9. European initiatives in postgraduate education in gerontology

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Rijsselt, R.J.T.; Parkatti, T.; Troisi, J.

    2007-01-01

    This paper describes three innovative European initiatives in postgraduate education in gerontology. The first is the European Masters Program in Gerontology (EuMaG), developed as an interdisciplinary joint program, supported and delivered by 22 European universities. Second, the Nordplus initiative

  10. Fly me to the Sun! ESA inaugurates the European Project on the Sun

    Science.gov (United States)

    2000-11-01

    In an initiative mounted by ECSITE (European Collaborative for Science, Industry and Technology Exhibitions) with funding from the European Commission and under the supervision, coordination and co-sponsorship of ESA, five teams of youngsters (16-18 years old) from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands were selected and coordinated by European science museums from each of their countries (Musée des Sciences et des Techniques - Parentville, B; Cité de l'Espace - Toulouse, F; Deutsches Museum - Munich, D; Fondazione IDIS - Naples, I; Foundation Noordwijk Space Expo - Noordwijk, NL). The teams each focused on a theme related to solar research: "How does the Sun work?" (I), "The Sun as a star" (F), "Solar activity" (NL), "Observing the Sun" (D), "Humans and the Sun" (B), and built exhibition "modules" that they will present at the inauguration, in the context of European Science and Technology Week 2000 (6-10 November), promoted by the European Commission. During the two-day event, a jury of representatives of other European science and technology museums, ESA scientists, a science journalist, and two ESA astronauts (Frank de Winne and Andre Kuipers) will judge the youngsters' exhibition modules on the basis of their scientific correctness, their museological value and the commitment shown by the young "communication experts". The winning team will be officially announced on 9 November. The prize is a weekend at the Space Camp in Redu, Belgium. The objective of the European Project on the Sun is educational. It aims, through the direct and "fresh" involvement of youngsters, to heighten European citizens' awareness of space research in general and the Sun's influence on our daily lives in particular. The role of the European Space Agency as reference point in Europe for solar research has been fundamental to the project. From ESA's perspective, EPOS is part of this autumn's wider communication initiative called the Solar Season, which is highlighting ESA

  11. European Non Destructive Examination Forum (ENDEF)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Deffrennes, M [EC, DG XVII, Nuclear Energy, Brussels (Belgium); Engl, G [Siemens AG Energieerzeugung KWU, Erlangen (Germany); Estorff, U von [EC, JRC/IAM, Petten (Netherlands)

    1998-11-01

    ENDEF, an initiative of the European Commission, DG XVII (Energy) was well supported by the European industrial institutions working in assistance with nuclear industrial organisations in the CEEC`s (Central and Eastern European Countries) and NIS`s (New Independent States). This Forum provides effectively a platform for open discussion between representatives of industrial actors active in the NDE (Non Destructive Examination)/ISI (In Service Inspection) field with the purpose to establish a co-operation pattern between qualified representatives of the EU (European Union) industry to offer a better co-ordinated and well defined assistance to the CEEC`s and NIS in the field of NDE/ISI, and to lay the ground for further industrial co-operation. ENDEF developed a strategy to follow for the establishment of co-operation projects. This strategy is now used to understand the extent of past or present assistance projects and to identify the areas where more co-operation is needed. ENDEF encourages the creation in the NIS`s and CEEC`s of similar forums in order to increase the co-operation and co-ordination. ENDEF is also working in perfect agreement with the European Network ENIQ, piloted by the European plant operators. This identity of views lead to the leadership by the ENDEF co-ordinator of the ENIQ Task 3 involving Applications of the European Methodology for ISI qualification in the CEEC`s and NIS`s and presently fully integrated in ENDEF. (orig.)

  12. Gaia-GOSA: An interactive service for coordination of asteroid observation campaigns

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santana-Ros, Toni; Bartczak, Przemyslaw; Michalowski, Tadeusz; Marciniak, Anna; Butkiewicz-Bak, Magda; Dudziński, Grzegorz

    2016-10-01

    We describe the Gaia-Ground-based Observational Service for Asteroids (www.gaiagosa.eu), which is a website aiming to facilitate asteroid observers in contributing to the Gaia mission by gathering lightcurves of selected targets.There are many asteroids which lightcurves cannot be covered during one observing run, like slow rotators,with periods longer than 12 hours. There are also targets with periods commensurate with the Earth's day, sotheir lightcurves cannot be covered by observing from one site only. There are also targets of special interest,like binary objects, where a large amount of data is needed. For all targets like those mentioned above, acoordination of observers is needed, also to avoid unnecessary duplication of data gathering.To that end we have created Gaia-GOSA, a web service which allows coordination between observers, focuseson interesting targets and may avoid observers to unnecessary gather data of the same object at the sametime. Furthermore, it is not necessary to be an advanced observer to contribute to the project. The websiteprepares the observing plan, providing all the necessary information to point your telescope. Thesubscription is free and observers with any level of experience are welcome.All the data gathered by Gaia-GOSA users will be reduced and analyzed by astronomers from the Astronomical Observatory of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan (AO AMU). The resulting catalogue, containing all the lightcurves obtained, will be used to enhance the results of the Gaia (cornerstone European Space Agency's mission) inversion algorithm.The project has been developed under funding from the European Space Agency (ESA) and initially was only devoted to help users in planning photometric observations of asteroids. However, in this poster we also present an extended version of the website, which also aims to publish predictions of stellar occultations for selected targets. This work has been done in the framework of the Small Bodies: Near

  13. the right to GOOD ADMINISTRATION IN THE Court of Justice of the EUROPEAN Union CASE LAW

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elisabeta SLABU

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The provisions of the Lisbon Treaty highlight that, at present, the Union has as objectives, not only an unitary economic development, but also strengthening the observance of peoples' fundamental rights, hence, implicitly, the right to good administration. The Court of Justice of the European Union has analyzed over time, in its decisions, the emergence and development of the good administration principle, its fundamental elements, and impossibility of framing it clearly in a definition, and, not least, turning the principle of good administration into a fundamental right through the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. At European level, citizens of the EU member states, but also those from third countries thus benefit from a right to good administration in the relations with European Union institutions and bodies, according to Article 41 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The same should be the proceeding at internal level. Each Member State of the European Union should concern itself about identifying and promoting the most adequate measures for ensuring good governance and good administration. By identifying and applying at national level the principles governing the public administration activity at European level can be created the requisites for a national public administration that is transparent and efficient, close to the needs and interests of its citizens and that could be considered an integral part of the European public administration.

  14. Opportunities to Learn about Europe at School. A Comparative Analysis among European Adolescents in 21 European Member States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verhaegen, Soetkin; Hooghe, Marc; Meeusen, Cecil

    2013-01-01

    In this article, we investigate the relationship between different learning methods and the formation of European identity among adolescents. The analysis is based on the European module of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (2009), with 70,502 respondents in 21 European member states. The results show that offering…

  15. Development of archetypes for non-ranking classification and comparison of European National Health Technology Assessment systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, Nicola; Pichler, Franz; Wang, Tina; Patel, Sundip; Salek, Sam

    2013-12-01

    European countries are increasingly utilising health technology assessment (HTA) to inform reimbursement decision-making. However, the current European HTA environment is very diverse, and projects are already underway to initiate a more efficient and aligned HTA practice within Europe. This study aims to identify a non-ranking method for classifying the diversity of European HTA agencies process and the organisational architecture of the national regulatory review to reimbursement systems. Using a previously developed mapping methodology, this research created process maps to describe national processes for regulatory review to reimbursement for 33 European jurisdictions. These process maps enabled the creation of 2 HTA taxonomic sets. The confluence of the two taxonomic sets was subsequently cross-referenced to identify 10 HTA archetype groups. HTA is a young, rapidly evolving field and it can be argued that optimal practices for performing HTA are yet to emerge. Therefore, a non-ranking classification approach could objectively characterise and compare the diversity observed in the current European HTA environment. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. European Nanotechnology Experts Visit NCL; Harmonize Best Practices for Nanomedicine Collaboration in Europe | FNLCR

    Science.gov (United States)

    European nanotechnology experts visited the Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory (NCL) to observe best practices and methods and to share their own knowledge with NCL scientists as they prepared to launch an NCL-like operation in Europe. The Eu

  17. Market forces in european soccer

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Haan, M.; Koning, Ruud H.; Witteloostuijn, A. van

    2002-01-01

    Recent decades have witnessed major changes in the market for European soccer. The most profound were the Bosman ruling, which lifted restrictions in the European labor market for soccer talent, and the introduction of the Champions' League, a high-profile international competition that generates

  18. Action Research in European perspective

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Lauge Baungaard

    2004-01-01

    The article gives an overview of how different Italian and Danish contributions to action research can be viewed in an European perspective.......The article gives an overview of how different Italian and Danish contributions to action research can be viewed in an European perspective....

  19. PRODUCT INTERVENTION: A EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE

    OpenAIRE

    Schaeken Willemaers, Gaëtane

    2013-01-01

    This article wishes to contribute to the debate on how to best regulate the European retail financial market. This article is a reflection on the recent emphasis put by the European regulator on product intervention to address the various risks facing the retail investor.

  20. Brazilian Portuguese Ethnonymy and Europeanisms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stephens, Thomas M.

    1994-01-01

    Delineates the incorporation and analyzes the impact of European borrowings in Brazilian racio-ethnic terminology. This overview covers French, Italian, Spanish, and English influences. Borrowings from European languages have had a small impact on the calculus of Brazilian racio-ethnic terms. (43 references) (Author/CK)

  1. Factors affecting birthweights in Hindus, Moslems and Europeans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McFadyen, I R; Campbell-Brown, M; Abraham, R; North, W R; Haines, A P

    1984-10-01

    The birthweights of 664 Hindu and 132 Moslem babies were compared with those of 486 European babies born at the same hospital. The mean birthweight of the Europeans was 3362 g, compared with 3146 g for the Moslems and 2960 g for the Hindus. The Asian women were smaller than the European and tended to have a shorter length of gestation. Forty-four per cent of the Asians and 46% of the European mothers were of social classes I and II; 28% of the Europeans and 2% of the Asians smoked. There were no significant differences between Asians and Europeans in the effects of maternal size, parity, gestational age and fetal sex on birthweight. After adjustment for these variables and for cigarette smoking there was no significant difference in birthweight between the Moslems and the Europeans, but the mean birthweight of the Hindus was about 190 g lighter than that of the Europeans. Hindus from East Africa had lighter babies than those from India.

  2. The European Model Company Act

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cleff, Evelyne Beatrix

    2011-01-01

    European Company Law regulation is currently undergoing a reform. These reforms raise a number of regulatory questions, such as what should be the aims of companies' legislation, and how these aims should best be met by regulation. Many of the reforms and discussions (both on EU and national level...... an increasing influence on the framing of company legislation, such as the choice between mandatory or default rules. This article introduces the project 'European Company Law and the choice of Regulatory Method' which is carried out in collaboration with the 'European Model Company Act Group'. The project aims...

  3. EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENT OF ECO‐MANAGEMENT AND AUDIT SCHEME (EMAS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Justyna SŁONIMIEC

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents the implementation of the Environmental Management and Audit Scheme System (EMAS in Poland and the European Union. It analyzes the existing rules on the implementation and the process of its implementation. It also defines the benefits and costs arising from the registration of organizations in the system. The paper presents the current status of implementation of EMAS in the European Union.

  4. Conditions for spatial segregation: some European perspectives.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Musterd, S.; de Winter, M.

    1998-01-01

    Evaluates some theses on the theme of spatial segregation in Europe. Spatial segregation as an important issue on the political agendas of European nations; Two views of segregation in Europe; Strategies of European nations to deal with segregation; Segregation in European cities

  5. Globalized Trade, Logistics and Intermodality: European Perspectives

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Henstra, D.; Ruijgrok, C.J.; Tavasszy, L.A.; Capineri, C.; Leinbach, T.; Black, W.

    2007-01-01

    This chapter describes megatrends that are shaping international trade, logistics organization and (multi)modal transport in Europe. It focuses on impacts on the European context, both from the peculiarities arising from the European uni?cation process and the European transport policies but also

  6. Abatement of CO{sub 2} emissions in the European Union

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lesourne, J.; Keppler, J.H.; Jaureguy-Naudin, Maite; Smeers, Yves; Bouttes, Jean-Paul; Trochet, Jean-Michel; Dassa, Francois; Neuhoff, Karsten

    2008-07-01

    This first monograph of the Ifri program on European Governance and Geopolitics of Energy is devoted to the control of carbon dioxide emissions within the European Union. Since it is almost unanimously accepted that Greenhouse Gas emissions constitute the main cause of the observed increase of the world average temperature, the system implemented by the European Union to limit and decrease the CO{sub 2} emissions is a significant pillar of the EU energy policy, the two others being the acceptance by the Member States of long-term commitments (for instance on the future share of renewable energy sources in their energy balance sheet) and the establishment of an internal market for electricity and gas. Though simple in principle, the European Union Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is in fact rather complex, and only experts really understand its merits and its deficiencies. These deficiencies are real and will have to be corrected in the future for the system to be effective. At this moment, when the 2005-2007 trial phase of the EU ETS is ending, the monograph has the purpose to stimulate the discussion between experts and to enable all those interested in the topic to understand the issues and to take part in the public debates on the subject. The monograph contains five papers: - 'An Overview of the CO{sub 2} Emission Control System in the European Union' by Jacques Lesourne and Maite Jaureguy-Naudin. - 'Description and Assessment of EU CO{sub 2} Regulations' by Yves Smeers. - 'Assessment of EU CO{sub 2} Regulations' by Jean-Paul Bouttes, Jean-Michel Trochet and Francois Dassa. - 'Investment in Low Carbon Technologies, Policies for the Power Sector' by Karsten Neuhoff. - 'Lessons Learned from the 2005-2007 Trial Phase of the EU Emission Trading System' by Jan Horst Keppler

  7. The constitutional momentum of European contract law (II): The DCFR and the European constitutional order

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mak, C.

    2009-01-01

    This paper analyses the potential impact of the recently published Draft Common Frame of Reference for European contract law (DCFR) on the European constitutional process. Looking at the combination of characteristics of codification and aspects of constitutionalism reflected in the DCFR, it is

  8. EPERC: The European Pressure Equipment Research Council

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Darlaston, J.; McAllister, S.

    1998-01-01

    The European Pressure Equipment Research Council (EPERC) is a European Network of industries, research laboratories, inspection bodies and governmental institutions set up to foster co-operative research for the greater benefit of the European industry. The concept of a European Research Council originated at the PVRC meeting in Cannes in 1989 and since this time volunteers from the industry, research laboratories and of the European Commission Joint Research Centre, Petten have worked together to create a Statute for EPERC. In the context of the pressure equipment industry, the creation of EPERC is extremely pertinent, since in the near future, a Council directive on pressure equipment will replace the existing national regulations. In parallel to this, work is in progress for the elaboration of European Standards. It is useful to recall that ''Harmonised Standards'' will be the privileged means of complying with the Essential Safety Requirements of the directive. (author)

  9. State of Art in space weather observational activities and data management in Europe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stanislawska, Iwona

    One of the primary scientific and technical goals of space weather is to produce data in order to investigate the Sun impact on the Earth and its environment. Studies based on data mining philosophy yield increase the knowledge of space weather physical properties, modelling capabilities and gain applications of various procedures in space weather monitoring and forecasting. Exchanging tailored individually and/or jointly data between different entities, storing of the databases and making data accessible for the users is the most important task undertaken by investigators. National activities spread over Europe is currently consolidated pursuant to the terms of effectiveness and individual contributions embedded in joint integrated efforts. The role of COST 724 Action in animation of such a movement is essential. The paper focuses on the analysis of the European availability in the Internet near-real time and historical collections of the European ground based and satellite observations, operational indices and parameters. A detailed description of data delivered is included. The structure of the content is supplied according to the following selection: (1) observations, raw and/or corrected, updated data, (2) resolution, availability of real-time and historical data, (3) products, as the results of models and theory including (a) maps, forecasts and alerts, (b) resolution, availability of real-time and historical data, (4) platforms to deliver data. Characterization of the networking of stations, observatories and space related monitoring systems of data collections is integrated part of the paper. According to these provisions operational systems developed for these purposes is presented and analysed. It concerns measurements, observations and parameters from the theory and models referred to local, regional collections, European and worldwide networks. Techniques used by these organizations to generate the digital content are identified. As the reference pan-European

  10. What energy policy for the European Union?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2007-01-01

    ) and externally (the Common foreign and security policy should be developed by fully incorporating the strategic dimension of energy). This is no mean challenge, since for it to be met Member States have to agree to break the 'taboo' of exclusive national competence as regards the energy mix. It is on the basis of this observation that the members of the working group have attempted to define the principles that should underpin a European energy policy and, on the basis of concrete propositions, have set out its strong points and its limitations. Three main guidelines for action have been identified by the working group: - The first is geographic and inter-generational solidarity. - The second is subsidiarity, in the sense of the need 'to act together at the most appropriate level'. Since a purely national response would not permit sufficiently effective capacity of action, a policy at European level has to be envisaged, to be articulated with maintained national competence. This is a major challenge for Europe, since it will be necessary to get Member States to accept no longer being the sole masters of their energy choices and to get European citizens to agree to transfer to the European level large swathes of their national energy policies. - The last is effectiveness, which means that Europe must provide itself with the instruments that are indispensable for the implementation of policies it deems appropriate. While the statutory basis for this exists, Europe still has to provide itself with the necessary means for action. (authors)

  11. The European SL-9/JUPITER Workshop

    Science.gov (United States)

    1995-02-01

    During the past six months, many astronomers - observational as well theoretical - have been busy interpreting the many data taken during the impacts and thereafter. This is a very labour-intensive task and although the first conclusions have begun to emerge, it has also become obvious that extensive consultations between the various groups are necessary before it will be possible to understand the very complex processes during the impacts and thereafter. In order to further the interaction among the involved scientists, it has been decided to hold a three-day "European SL-9/Jupiter Workshop" at the Headquarters of the European Southern Observatory. More than 100 astronomers will meet on February 13-15, 1995, and close to 100 reports will be delivered on this occasion. Although most come from European countries, the major groups on other continents are also well represented. This meeting will give the participants the opportunity to exchange information about their individual programmes and will serve to establish future collaborative efforts. SL-9/JUPITER PRESS CONFERENCE In this connection, ESO is pleased to invite the media to a Press Conference: Wednesday, February 15, 1995, 17:30 CET ESO Headquarters, Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, D-85748 Garching, Germany This conference will be held at the end of the Workshop and will provide a thorough overview of the latest results, as presented during the meeting. Media representatives who are interested in participating in this Press Conference are requested to register with the ESO Information Service (Mrs. E. Völk, Tel.: +49-89-32006276; Fax: +49-89-3202362), at the latest on Friday, February 10, 1995. ESO Press Information is made available on the World-Wide Web (URL: http://www.hq.eso.org/) and on CompuServe (space science and astronomy area, GO SPACE).

  12. Book Review: Diversity in European Marketing

    OpenAIRE

    Hana Machková

    2012-01-01

    The case book “Diversity in European Marketing” is the result of the scientific cooperation of the CEMS Marketing Faculty Group. Prestigious Central European Universities - Corvinius University of Budapest and University of Economic, Prague - are members of CEMS - the Global Alliance in Management Education of 26 leading business schools and 70 multinational companies. Four authors from these two Universities share in this book their experience of Central European Marketing specifics.

  13. Demographics of the European apicultural industry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chauzat, Marie-Pierre; Cauquil, Laura; Roy, Lise; Franco, Stéphanie; Hendrikx, Pascal; Ribière-Chabert, Magali

    2013-01-01

    Over the last few years, many European and North American countries have reported a high rate of disorders (mortality, dwindling and disappearance) affecting honeybee colonies (Apis mellifera). Although beekeeping has become an increasingly professional activity in recent years, the beekeeping industry remains poorly documented in Europe. The European Union Reference Laboratory for Honeybee Health sent a detailed questionnaire to each Member State, in addition to Kosovo and Norway, to determine the demographics and state of their beekeeping industries. Based on data supplied by the National Reference Laboratory for honeybee diseases in each European country, a European database was created to describe the beekeeping industry including the number and types of beekeepers, operation size, industry production, and health (notifiable diseases, mortalities). The total number of beekeepers in Europe was estimated at 620,000. European honey production was evaluated at around 220,000 tons in 2010. The price of honey varied from 1.5 to 40 €/kg depending on the country and on the distribution network. The estimated colony winter mortality varied from 7 to 28% depending on the country and the origin of the data (institutional survey or beekeeping associations). This survey documents the high heterogeneity of the apicultural industry within the European Union. The high proportion of non-professional beekeepers and the small mean number of colonies per beekeeper were the only common characteristics at European level. The tremendous variation in European apicultural industries has implication for any comprehensive epidemiological or economic analysis of the industry. This variability needs to be taken into account for such analysis as well as for future policy development. The industry would be served if beekeeping registration was uniformly implemented across member states. Better information on the package bee and queen production would help in understanding the ability of

  14. Validity of a short questionnaire to assess physical activity in 10 European countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peters, Tricia; Brage, Soren; Westgate, Kate; Franks, Paul W; Gradmark, Anna; Tormo Diaz, Maria Jose; Huerta, Jose Maria; Bendinelli, Benedetta; Vigl, Mattheaus; Boeing, Heiner; Wendel-Vos, Wanda; Spijkerman, Annemieke; Benjaminsen-Borch, Kristin; Valanou, Elisavet; de Lauzon Guillain, Blandine; Clavel-Chapelon, Françoise; Sharp, Stephen; Kerrison, Nicola; Langenberg, Claudia; Arriola, Larraitz; Barricarte, Aurelio; Gonzales, Carlos; Grioni, Sara; Kaaks, Rudolf; Key, Timothy; Khaw, Kay Tee; May, Anne; Nilsson, Peter; Norat, Teresa; Overvad, Kim; Palli, Domenico; Panico, Salvatore; Ramón Quirós, Jose; Ricceri, Fulvio; Sanchez, Maria-Jose; Slimani, Nadia; Tjonneland, Anne; Tumino, Rosario; Feskins, Edith; Riboli, Elio; Ekelund, Ulf; Wareham, Nick

    2012-01-01

    To accurately examine associations of physical activity (PA) with disease outcomes, a valid method of assessing free-living activity is required. We examined the validity of a brief PA questionnaire (PAQ) used in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). PA energy expenditure (PAEE) and time spent in moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was measured in 1,941 healthy individuals from 10 European countries using individually-calibrated combined heart-rate and movement sensing. Participants also completed the short EPIC-PAQ, which refers to past year's activity. Pearson (r) and Spearman (σ) correlation coefficients were calculated for each country, and random effects meta-analysis was used to calculate the combined correlation across countries to estimate the validity of two previously- and one newly-derived ordered, categorical PA indices ("Cambridge index", "total PA index", and "recreational index") that categorized individuals as inactive, moderately inactive, moderately active, or active. The strongest associations with PAEE and MVPA were observed for the Cambridge index (r = 0.33 and r = 0.25, respectively). No significant heterogeneity by country was observed for this index (I(2) = 36.3%, P = 0.12; I(2) = 0.0%, P = 0.85), whereas heterogeneity was suggested for other indices (I(2) > 48%, P  47%, P PAQ is suitable for categorizing European men and women into four distinct categories of overall physical activity. The difference in PAEE between categories may be useful when estimating effect sizes from observational research.

  15. A European Master's Programme in Public Health Nutrition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yngve, A; Warm, D; Landman, J; Sjöström, M

    2001-12-01

    Effective population-based strategies require people trained and competent in the discipline of Public Health Nutrition. Since 1997, a European Master's Programme in Public Health Nutrition has been undergoing planning and implementation, by establishing initial quality assurance systems with the aid of funding from the European Commission (DG SANCO/F3). Partners from 17 European countries have been involved in the process. A European Network of Public Health Nutrition has been developed and accredited by the European Commission.

  16. The way ahead through European collaboration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vaughan, R.D.

    1987-01-01

    The paper on the ''Way ahead through European Collaboration'' was presented to the seminar on ''European commercial fast reactor programme'', London, 1987. A description is given of the world energy consumption, world nuclear energy consumption, and uranium resources. It is suggested that the fast reactor is likely to be developed first in Western Europe, and more particularly in the European Economic Community. Collaboration in Europe has taken a positive step forward with the decision of the European Fast Reactor Utilities Group to open a dialogue with the design and construction companies, working together. The companies are invited to prepare jointly a new design for a demonstration fast reactor to be ordered in the early 1990's. (U.K.)

  17. European Union Financial Crisis: A Marxist Analysis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Petrus Kanisius Farneubun, P.

    European financial crisis poses a serious challenge to the fundamental structure of the European Union, political and financial institutions, as well as the values that bind European together. Different factors have been suggested as the causes of the crisis notably the failure of national

  18. Volatility Spillover Effects in European Equity Markets

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Baele, L.

    2003-01-01

    This paper quantifies the magnitude and time-varying nature of volatility spillovers from the aggregate European (EU) and US market to 13 local European equity markets.I develop a shock spillover model that decomposes local unexpected returns into a country speciffic shock, a regional European

  19. 5th European Rheology Conference

    CERN Document Server

    1998-01-01

    Global sustainable development of the world economy requires better understanding and utilization of natural recourses. In this endeavor rheology has an indispensable role. The Rheology Conferences are therefore always an important event for science and technology. The Fifth European Rheology Conference, held from September 6 to 11 in the Portoro-z, Slovenia, will be the first AlI-European rheology meeting after the formal constitution of the European Society ofRheology. As such it will be a special historical event. At this meeting the European Society of Rheology will introduce the Weissenberg Medal, to be bestowed every four years to an individual for hislhers contribution to the field of Rheology. The recipient ofthe first award will be professor G. Marrucci ofthe Universita degli Studi di Napoli, Italy. Two mini Symposia will be part of the Conference. The first, on Industrial Rheology, will commemorate the late professor G. Astarita. The second will honor the eightieth birthday of professor N.W. Tschoeg...

  20. Europeans' attitudes towards climate change

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2009-07-01

    This report presents the results of a survey on Europeans' attitudes towards climate change which was carried out in January and February 2009. The survey focuses on: Citizens' perceptions of climate change in relation to other world problems; Citizens' perceptions of the seriousness of climate change; The extent to which citizens feel informed about climate change - its causes, consequences and ways of fighting it; Citizens' attitudes towards alternative fuels and CO2 emissions; Whether citizens feel that climate change is stoppable or has been exaggerated, and what impact it has on the European economy; Whether citizens have taken personal action to fight climate change. This Eurobarometer survey was carried out by TNS Opinion and Social network between 16 January and 22 February 2009. The interviews were conducted among 26,718 citizens in the 27 Member States of the European Union, the three candidate countries for accession to the European Union (Croatia, Turkey and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) and in the Turkish Cypriot Community.

  1. What European gynaecologists need to master: Consensus on medical expertise outcomes of pan-European postgraduate training in obstetrics & gynaecology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Aa, Jessica E; Tancredi, Annalisa; Goverde, Angelique J; Velebil, Petr; Feyereisl, Jaroslav; Benedetto, Chiara; Teunissen, Pim W; Scheele, Fedde

    2017-09-01

    European harmonisation of training standards in postgraduate medical education in Obstetrics and Gynaecology is needed because of the increasing mobility of medical specialists. Harmonisation of training will provide quality assurance of training and promote high quality care throughout Europe. Pan-European training standards should describe medical expertise outcomes that are required from the European gynaecologist. This paper reports on consensus development on the medical expertise outcomes of pan-European training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. A Delphi procedure was performed amongst European gynaecologists and trainees in Obstetrics & Gynaecology, to develop consensus on outcomes of training. The consensus procedure consisted of two questionnaire rounds, followed by a consensus meeting. To ensure reasonability and feasibility for implementation of the training standards in Europe, implications of the outcomes were considered in a working group thereafter. We invited 142 gynaecologists and trainees in Obstetrics & Gynaecology for participation representing a wide range of European countries. They were selected through the European Board & College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and the European Network of Trainees in Obstetrics & Gynaecology. Sixty people participated in round 1 and 2 of the consensus procedure, 38 (63.3%) of whom were gynaecologists and 22 (36.7%) were trainees in Obstetrics & Gynaecology. Twenty-eight European countries were represented in this response. Round 3 of the consensus procedure was performed in a consensus meeting with six experts. Implications of the training outcomes were discussed in a working group meeting, to ensure reasonability and feasibility of the material for implementation in Europe. The entire consensus procedure resulted in a core content of training standards of 188 outcomes, categorised in ten topics. European consensus was developed regarding the medical expertise outcomes of pan-European training in Obstetrics and

  2. The european ALARA network

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Croueail, P.; Lefaure, C.; Croft, J.

    2000-01-01

    Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s the European Commission sponsored projects on the understanding and practical implementation of the ALARA principle. These projects helped ensure that ALARA was integrated into many organisations radiation protection programmes, particularly in the nuclear industry. However there was still much to be done in the non-nuclear sector, as well as for the management of internal exposure. Therefore, the European Commission decided to set up, as of the first January 1996, a European ALARA Network (EAN) whose main goals are to: Further promote ALARA within non nuclear industry, research and the nuclear cycle; Provide a means for feedback experience and the exchange and dissemination of good radiological protection practices in these areas; Initiate proposals for research projects and workshops on topics dealing with optimisation of radiological protection for all types of occupational exposure. The Network has a Steering Committee of experts from 11 countries, with CEPN being the co-ordinator. Twice yearly, the EAN products for the international community a European ALARA Newsletter that reaches several thousand individuals or institutions, mainly in Europe. Each year since 1997, the EAN has organised an ALARA workshop attended by 60 to 80 experts from about ten countries. The first three Workshops were devoted to: ALARA and Decommissioning (1997, Saclay, France), Good Radiation Practices in Industry and Research (1998, Chilton, United Kingdam), and ALARA and Internal Exposure (1999, Munich, Germany). Each of these Workshops gave rise to sets of recommendations to the European Commission which included proposals for further research, modification of regulations, and actions to support feedback experience within the member states. (author)

  3. Dissemination of European Cinema in the European Union and the International Market

    OpenAIRE

    Wutz, Josef; Pérez, Valentin

    2014-01-01

    This report by Josef Wutz aims to take stock of the dissemination of European films in Europe and in the world from 2002 to 2014. To do so, it takes all those working in the film industry into account: filmmakers, distributors, cinema operators, but also video content providers and public bodies providing funding to films. It focuses on four countries: Germany, Spain, France and Italy. Valentin Pérez then makes recommendations aiming at raising the profile of the European film industry. Fo...

  4. Long Term Preservation of Earth Observation Data in Europe - Challenge and Cooperation Activities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molch, K.; Albani, M.

    2014-12-01

    Earth observation data are unique snapshots of the Earth and the atmosphere. As such they constitute a humankind asset in their importance for monitoring changes in global environmental conditions. With spaceborne Earth observation (EO) missions dating back to the 1970s, 40 years worth of observations are now available in EO data archives worldwide. Data holdings are growing exponentially, e.g. with the Sentinel series of high resolution EO satellites of the European Copernicus Program - which introduces a new dimension of data volumes to be handled. As other EO data holders around the globe, the European Space Agency (ESA) and its member states are committed to keeping the valuable EO data assets safe, accessible, and useable for an unlimited timespan. Rapidly evolving information technology and changing user requirements call for a dedicated and coordinated approach to EO data long term preservation. In Europe collaborative EO data stewardship activities are coordinated by ESA within the ESA long term data preservation (LTDP) program. With a view to the entire data set life cycle of historic and current missions an active LTDP working group addresses a wide range of relevant technical and organizational topics. Studies investigate archiving and access technologies, user expectations, or applicable standards; guidelines and best practices recommend preservation workflows, steps to take in curating individual data sets, the composition of the preserved data set, or concepts for introducing persistent identifiers. Fostering an active international exchange, the activities and documents developed within this European LTDP framework extend beyond Europe by being introduced to the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS). The paper describes the European LTDP cooperation framework, discusses individual focus areas and current activities, and highlights the interaction with global data stewardship initiatives.

  5. EUROPEAN CULTURE: A REASSESSMENT OF THE IDENTITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    LAZĂR LUDMILA

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Massive migration to the EU, violent challenges in European capitals and internal conflicts raise not only political, but also cultural issues. The values of the European civilization are challenged by the new communication and informational technologies, at the EU level, as well as at the national and individual level. Europe is deeply marked by the globalization phenomenon and its consequences require to be addressed from a new perspective. West European vulnerabilities appear in the foreground and some people try to doubt the fundamental identity marks of the European society. In fact, as far back as the end of the last century, Edgar Morin proposed the dialogic principle to conceive Europe, merely because the dialogic ‘is at the heart of European identity, and not one or another of its elements or moments’. Under the current conditions, the European identity becomes fluid, ever-changing, whilst preserving the ‘hard core’ of values centred on the cultural dimension, characterized by diversity and openness for intercultural dialogue.

  6. Strategies of development of European power producers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heddebaut, D.

    2007-12-01

    This economical study answers the following questions: what is the dynamics of European power markets? What is the relative competitiveness of the different power production means? What are the determining factors of electricity wholesale prices? Who are the operators the most threatened by the rise of wholesale prices? To what extend power producers are impacted by the CO 2 constrain? Who are the most efficient producers? The analysis is based on 18 of the most representative groups of the European electric utilities. The first volume of the study presents the strategic perspectives of European power producers: dynamics and basic characteristics of European power markets, strategic options of European operators, typology and financial results of European power producers, scenarios of market reorganization according to Eurostaf (possible mega-mergers in the future, competition). Volume 2 makes a detailed analysis of the positioning and perspectives of the 18 selected groups: key figures, sourcing strategies, production means management, Eurostaf's diagnosis. (J.S.)

  7. European astronaut selected for the third Hubble Space Telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    1998-08-01

    The STS-104 crew will rendezvous with the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope, which is the size of a city bus, capture it using the Shuttle's Canadian robot arm and secure it in Columbia's payload bay. Then, working in teams of two, the four astronauts will leave the Shuttle's pressurised cabin and venture into the payload bay, performing a variety of tasks that will improve the productivity and reliability of the telescope. The four astronauts will perform a series of six "extravehicular" activities in the open space environment. Such activities are commonly called spacewalks, but this term does little justice to the considerable physical and mental efforts that astronauts need to make in doing the very demanding work involved. The Shuttle commander and pilot for this flight have not yet been appointed, but the four designated mission specialists begin training for the STS-104 mission immediately. "The ambitious nature of this mission, with its six spacewalks, made it important for the payload crew to begin training as early as possible," said David C. Leestma, NASA Director of Flight Crew Operations at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, to which Claude Nicollier is on resident assignment from ESA's European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, the home base of the European astronaut corps. The Hubble Space Telescope was launched into orbit in April 1990. It is one of the most capable optical telescopes available to astronomers today, producing images and spectral observations at the forefront of astronomy. The European Space Agency contributed a 15 share to the development of Hubble. One of the five scientific instruments on board, the Faint Object Camera, was built by a European industrial consortium made up of British Aerospace, Dornier and Matra under a contract with the European Space Agency. The solar arrays which provide Hubble with electrical power were manufactured by British Aerospace and Dornier. In its eight years of operation, the telescope has not

  8. Carbon accumulation in European forests

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ciais, P.; Schelhaas, M.J.; Zaehle, S.; Piao, S.L.; Cescatti, A.; Liski, J.; Luyssaert, S.; Le-Maire, G.; Schulze, E.D.; Bouriaud, O.; Freibauer, A.; Valentini, R.; Nabuurs, G.J.

    2008-01-01

    European forests are intensively exploited for wood products, yet they also form a sink for carbon. European forest inventories, available for the past 50 years, can be combined with timber harvest statistics to assess changes in this carbon sink. Analysis of these data sets between 1950 and 2000

  9. European Consulting Survey 2012 : The Future of European Management Consulting Firms' Business Models

    OpenAIRE

    Kreutzer, Markus; Menz, Markus

    2012-01-01

    This study report provides European management consulting firms' assessment of trends and currently prevailing business models in the industry. It depicts the different threats and opportunities that consulting firms with different business models, consulting foci, sizes, leverage ratios, international orientations, and geographical footprints face; it also reveals these firms' adaptation strategies. Based on an analysis of a survey of 311 consulting firms from 26 European countries, the repo...

  10. Drunk and disorganised: relationships between bar characteristics and customer intoxication in European drinking environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hughes, Karen; Quigg, Zara; Bellis, Mark A; Calafat, Amador; van Hasselt, Ninette; Kosir, Matej; Voorham, Lotte; Goossens, Ferry X; Duch, Mariangels; Juan, Montse

    2012-11-12

    Preventing alcohol-related harm in drinking environments is a growing international priority. Factors relating to the physical, social and staffing environments in bars can contribute to increased alcohol consumption and harm. Understanding the relationships between such factors and intoxication in European drinking environments is critical to developing appropriate interventions. We undertook a quantitative observational study in 60 bars in four European cities, in The Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain and the UK (n = 237 observational visits). Using a structured observational schedule, researchers recorded characteristics of the bar environment and rated customer intoxication levels. All physical bar characteristics showed associations with intoxication before interactions between them were controlled for. Hierarchical modelling found significant independent associations between intoxication and use of plastic glassware, promotion of non-alcoholic drinks (often energy drinks), permissive environments, poor washroom facilities, the presence of a dance floor, customer sexual activity/competitiveness and later observational time. Findings suggest that prevention efforts should focus on raising and enforcing managerial standards in bars. While harm reduction measures such as plastic glassware are often promoted for high risk bars, such measures are inadequate to address public health concerns and insufficient to demonstrate social responsibility.

  11. GOVERNING EUROPEAN UNION TO FINANCIAL STABILITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ion-Lucian CATRINA

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available In the last four years, a significant part of the European Union members has recorded a real decline in the sustainability of their public debt. The failure of Greece, Italy, Belgium or Spain to easily find funding at previous interest rates has induced the fear that the European Monetary Union would disintegrate. Such as scenario is not realistic because does not take into account the economic interdependencies that have been created between the countries participating at the monetary zone. Nevertheless, we can say that the Stability and Growth Pact which aimed towards the coordination of national fiscal policies for ensuring the stability and prudence of the budgetary climate, has failed. This failure was primarily due to the lack of specific sanctions for those members that have not fought against the fiscal imbalances and secondly to the stopping the steps forward towards a common fiscal policy. Thus, we can say that the European Monetary Union is driven now by the wrong rule of “no taxation with representation”. For these reasons, this paper aims at showing that the European fiscal federalism is still far away from becoming reality and that the new instruments chosen for the new stability of the European Monetary Union will be the task of the Member States themselves. This paper will also review the main rules that are projected to be the source for the future European financial stability and growth: the balanced budgets and the deficits built only on the “Golden Rule” premises, for which other amendments on European Treaties are expected.

  12. The politics of a European civil code

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hesselink, M.W.

    2004-01-01

    Last year the European Commission published its Action Plan on European contract law. That plan forms an important step towards a European Civil Code. In its Plan, the Commission tries to depoliticise the codification process by asking a group of academic experts to prepare what it calls a 'common

  13. European Initiatives in Postgraduate Education in Gerontology

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Rijsselt, Rene J. T.; Parkatti, Terttu; Troisi, Joseph

    2007-01-01

    This paper describes three innovative European initiatives in postgraduate education in gerontology. The first is the European Masters Program in Gerontology (EuMaG), developed as an interdisciplinary joint program, supported and delivered by 22 European universities. Second, the Nordplus initiative to increase mobility of students and staff in…

  14. IUE observations of the eclipsing binary Epsilon Aurigae

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hack, M.; Selvelli, P.L.

    1978-01-01

    It is stated that the eclipsing binary Epsilon Aur is a most peculiar binary system and it has not been explained satisfactorily. Observations of this system using the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) collected at the Villafranca Satellite Tracking Station of the European Space Agency are here reported. (author)

  15. Energy challenges: European viewpoints and French answers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marc Gjidara

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The European Union attempts to improve the European energy market so that it is better coordinated because in a unified Europe it is no longer possible to act in isolation. The production of energy form renewable sources of great proportions demands a mutually linked European energy market if the aims established in the “Energy and Climate” programme and adopted in 2009 are to be achieved. The aim of this paper is to establish how the principles of European Law influence legal norming in energy issues and in the battle against global warming. The development of energy which does not emit carbon dioxide is in accordance with the aims set by the European Union. In that area, this development relies on regions, and not just countries which are not always able to implement defined ambitious aims. Energy continues in the majority of cases to depend on the power of countries and European control is limited. The European Union participates mainly in the co-ordination and support of national policy, within provisions relating to trans-European networks and within environment protection policy. In principle, the measures relating to the choice of each country from the various sources of energy and on the general structure of providing energy have been unanimously accepted. Particular attention has been given to comparing the French legal rules which are applied in the development of renewable sources of energy and the adaptation of the law on renewable sources of energy and laws on environmental protection to urban planning and the importance of supervision with European legal standards of regulation.

  16. EUROPEAN CIVIL CODE BETWEEN DESIDERATUM AND REALITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liviu-Bogdan Ciucă

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The principle of priority and direct application of European rules in relation to the provisions that we find in the national legislation, once assumed at European level, it has generated debates and concerns about the usefulness of a single legal act in private law matters. The idea of European Civil Code, appeared somewhere in the early 80s, is becoming more current and triggers a justified and sustained interest. Considering that the civil legislation of Community Member is a legislation dominated by tradition and peculiarities of culture, religion and temper, the issue of a European Civil Code forms as a project generating discussions, restraints and even rejec tions of the Member States in relation to this proposal. The current system of European legislative acts that apply immediately and priority in EU member states remains only a temporary solution and which generates difficulties in interpretation and affects the utility of the enactment. Clarifications on the pros and cons to promote a European Civil Codex will be analyzed primarily in terms of law and, last but not least in terms of political perspective, taking into account the Community objectives undertaken by accession treaties and the need for a legislative norm, especially European, to be predictable, transparent, useful and accessible. This paper intends to submit to debate both current doctrinal arguments, the blocking of such an approach, based on the principle of autonomy and the peculiarities of the legal system of each Member State, but also considering the practical arguments and of simplification of rules met in a European Civil Code assumed and applicable in the European space.

  17. Semantically supporting data discovery, markup and aggregation in the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lowry, Roy; Leadbetter, Adam

    2014-05-01

    The semantic content of the NERC Vocabulary Server (NVS) has been developed over thirty years. It has been used to mark up metadata and data in a wide range of international projects, including the European Commission (EC) Framework Programme 7 projects SeaDataNet and The Open Service Network for Marine Environmental Data (NETMAR). Within the United States, the National Science Foundation projects Rolling Deck to Repository and Biological & Chemical Data Management Office (BCO-DMO) use concepts from NVS for markup. Further, typed relationships between NVS concepts and terms served by the Marine Metadata Interoperability Ontology Registry and Repository. The vast majority of the concepts publicly served from NVS (35% of ~82,000) form the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) Parameter Usage Vocabulary (PUV). The PUV is instantiated on the NVS as a SKOS concept collection. These terms are used to describe the individual channels in data and metadata served by, for example, BODC, SeaDataNet and BCO-DMO. The PUV terms are designed to be very precise and may contain a high level of detail. Some users have reported that the PUV is difficult to navigate due to its size and complexity (a problem CSIRO have begun to address by deploying a SISSVoc interface to the NVS), and it has been difficult to aggregate data as multiple PUV terms can - with full validity - be used to describe the same data channels. Better approaches to data aggregation are required as a use case for the PUV from the EC European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) Chemistry project. One solution, proposed and demonstrated during the course of the NETMAR project, is to build new SKOS concept collections which formalise the desired aggregations for given applications, and uses typed relationships to state which PUV concepts contribute to a specific aggregation. Development of these new collections requires input from a group of experts in the application domain who can decide which PUV

  18. Association Study for 26 Candidate Loci in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Patients from Four European Populations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amit Kishore

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF affects lung parenchyma with progressing fibrosis. In this study, we aimed to replicate MUC5B rs35705950 variants and determine new plausible candidate variants for IPF among four different European populations. We genotyped 26 IPF candidate loci in 165 IPF patients from four European countries: Czech Republic (n = 41, Germany (n = 33, Greece (n = 40, France (n = 51 and performed association study comparing observed variant distribution with this obtained in a genetically similar Czech healthy control population (n = 96 described in our earlier data report. A highly significant association for a promoter variant (rs35705950 of mucin encoding MUC5B gene was observed in all IPF populations, individually and combined [OR (95% CI; p-value as 5.23 (8.94-3.06; 1.80x10-11. Another non-coding variant, rs7934606 in MUC2 was significant among German patients [2.85 (5.05-1.60; 4.03x10-4] and combined European IPF cases [2.18 (3.16-1.50; 3.73x10-5]. The network analysis for these variants indicated gene-gene and gene-phenotype interactions in IPF and lung biology. With replication of MUC5B rs35705950 previously reported in U.S. populations of European descent and indicating other plausible polymorphic variants relevant for IPF, we provide additional reference information for future extended functional and population studies aimed, ideally with inclusion of clinical parameters, at identification of IPF genetic markers.

  19. European vehicle passive safety network

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wismans, J.S.H.M.; Janssen, E.G.

    1999-01-01

    The general objective of the European Vehicle Passive Safety Network is to contribute to the reduction of the number of road traffic victims in Europe by passive safety measures. The aim of the road safety policy of the European Commission is to reduce the annual total of fatalities to 18000 in

  20. A toolbox for European judges

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hesselink, M.W.

    2011-01-01

    The forthcoming instrument on European contract law, be it in the shape of an optional code for cross-border contracts or as an official toolbox for the European legislator, is likely to have a spill-over effect on private law adjudication in Europe. Judges will have no great difficulty in finding

  1. European Capitals of Culture: A “soft power” resource for the European Union?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexandros Sianos

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Using English-language newspaper articles retrieved from digital repositories, this paper examines the cultural asymmetrical encounter between Western and Eastern Europe after 1989. It argues that due to the rise of the Iron Curtain after 1948 and the post-war progress of the Western European integration project after 1950, the idea of “Europe” was confined to the West until 1989. After 1989, however, the Eastern European nations were free to “return to Europe”, and in order to do so they followed the “reference model” of the West. The paper takes the institution of the European Capital of Culture (ECOC as a case study and demonstrates how both Western and Eastern European cities used the ECOC title as a gateway to modernity, why it acquired an extra functionality in the East as a stage where they could showcase their “European” credentials, and how it gradually developed into one of the E.U.’s “soft power” resources.

  2. Political Values in a European Museum

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pieter Huistra

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available The last decades have seen the rise of a European politic of cultural identity. One of the most recent initiatives in this respect, dating from 2007, is the House of European History that is due to open its doors in 2015. In this article, we investigate the recent history of the House, in particular through an analysis of the Conceptual Basis that was meant to be its foundation. We analyse the two narrative strategies that are employed in the formation of a shared European past and cultural identity. The first is that of continuity, in which Europe’s deep roots are traced. The second is that of a shared European destiny. Finally, we investigate the criticism these plans have received.

  3. Offshore winds from a new generation of European satellites

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Badger, Merete; Karagali, Ioanna; Ahsbahs, Tobias Torben

    at sea. All are important for the planning, operation, and maintenance of offshore wind farms. Typical shortcomings of SAR-based wind fields include a low sampling frequency and a need for advanced data processing in order to retrieve the wind speed at 10 m above sea level. A new generation of European...... satellites and services could lower these barriers for applications in wind energy significantly. The Sentinel-1 A/B missions by the European Space Agency (ESA) deliver C-band SAR observations at an unprecedented coverage and spatial resolution. Over the seas of Europe, approximately 200 new acquisitions...... of Europe over time. The accuracy of this new product is currently under investigation. TerraSAR-X is an X-band SAR mission by the German Aerospace Center (DLR). It offers very high-resolution imagery, which may be used for detailed studies of e.g. wind farm wakes. TerraSAR-X imagery is acquired on...

  4. The Cases of the European Values Study and the European Social Survey

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kropp, Kristoffer

    2017-01-01

    institutions, had ties to the EU, and used survey techniques to address urgent contemporary political and social problems. Despite their similarities, the surveys represent two rather different constellations of social science knowledge production. The EVS emerged from a coalition of Catholic-oriented agents...... continued to play a significant role in its constellation. The ESS grew out of a scientific and technical aspiration among wellconnected and recognised Western European social scientists. It emphasised rigourous methods and drew on its founding agents’ close relations with European institutions...

  5. The Regional and Local Distribution of Funds Allocated by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development in Romania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ALINA-MIRELA MARCU

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this study is to present and analyze the regional and local distribution of the funds allocated by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD, European fund that finances rural development in Romania, in the post-accession period. This financing instrument was created by the European Union with the order to continue the main directions of investment of Special Pre-Accession Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (SAPARD. As a member state of the European Union, Romania observes the principles of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP while the development of the Romanian rural area for the programming period 2007-2013 is supported by the European Community through the National Rural Development Programme (RDP. This approach pays special attention to improving the quality of life in rural areas and the diversification of the rural economy because local communities in Romania have experienced some changes in this period, while accessing EAFRD funds contributed to increased regional disparities between developed and poor areas.

  6. THIRD-COUNTRY MIGRATION TO THE EU: BETWEEN NORMATIVE EUROPEAN FRAMEWORKS AND NON-EUROPEAN IMMIGRANTS' PERSONAL EFFORTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Demir ABDULLAH

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available European leaders' rhetoric on third-country migration ranges from a discourse extolling the benefits of a United Europe, to one upholding Europe’s repute as a bastion of fundamental human rights, to yet another one out of which the continent emerges as a repressive fortress. Third-country migration not only engages the EU's efforts, but also those exerted by non-EU immigrantstowardsintegrating and becoming more open to their European host culture. This paper will be focusing both on the EU's commitment to honing its third-country migration policies, as well as on the non-EU immigrants' potential and limitations when it comes to their assimilation/integration into EU countries, in particular, Romania. Methodologically this paper uses the content analysis of European leaders’ discourses and also the qualitative analysis of data collected from 40 interviews carried out with non-EU immigrants into Romania. Another methodological tool will consist in an analysis of official EU documents. What will be pursued is the way in which the EU official documents reflect the shared interest proved by European leaders concerning the immigration processes. It will touch upon how the integration processes reclaims on the one hand permanent exchanges between the host European society and non European immigrant and on the other hand sustained efforts from these two parts in order to meet their needs and recognise their limits, in terms of economic, professional and social resources.

  7. AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY ASSESSMENT IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

    OpenAIRE

    Serrao, Amilcar

    2001-01-01

    This research work examines levels and trends in global agricultural productivity in fifteen European Union countries and four Eastern European countries that have already applied for European Union membership. The study makes use of data collected from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and covers the period 1980-1998. An approach based on Data Envelopment Analysis is used to provide information on the peers of the (inefficient) i-th country and to derive the Malmqui...

  8. The spatialization of the european project

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Richardson, Tim; Jensen, Ole B.

    This paper argues the need for more critical analysis of the ?spatialisation of the European Project? than has been the case in much previous academic work on the European Union`s spatial policy so far. The focus is on the EU, and the way that this huge institutional and territorial setting...... is organised, driven and imagined according to a particular hegemonic spatiality which gives shape to the political, economic, social and territorial dimensions of the European project....

  9. The European chart of territorial planning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1998-01-01

    In this chapter the European chart of territorial planning is included. This European chart contains next chapters: Introduction; The mission of the territorial planning; The basic aims; Realization of aims of the territorial planning; The confirmation of the European co-operation. In the Appendix the Specific aims: (1) The village territory; (2) The urban territory; (3) The boundary territory; (4) The mountain territory; (5) The structurally weak territory; (6) The decaying territory; (7) The coastal territories and islands

  10. European PV industry -- The future beckons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shah, D.J.

    1994-01-01

    The author believes that there are reasons to believe that the solar industry is poised on the brink of rapid commercial growth, leading to broadly-based industry viability. The author discusses the role that the European solar industry has to play in helping to bring about a better future. He begins his discussion with the current state of the European industry and follows with recommendations of what the European industry should be doing to encourage the solar industry growth

  11. HARMONISATION OF EUROPEAN CONTRACT LAW: SLOWLY BUT SURELY?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    GEMA TOMÁS

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals with the harmonisation of European Contract Law from a gradual point of view. The main objective is to show the different academic and official steps carried out in this field. The so called Commission on European Contract Law under the leadership of Professor Ole Lando was the starting point in 1982. Some international research teams set up by European scholars and lawyers have been devoted to this aim for two decades. Time and effort have been made in the academic level to get a serious advance on bringing closer contractual national rules. This bottom-up approach met a stronger support in the last years although the European Parliament had “requested” the creation of a European Civil Code already in 1989. The momentous time comes in 2010 with a Green Paper from the European Commission on policy options for progress towards a European Contract Law for consumers and businesses. This Green Paper opened a public consultation period in 2011 and afterwards an expert group was appointed to draft a feasibility study for a future Instrument in European Contract Law. After all, a Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on a Common European Sales Law was adopted in October 2011 arising not few doubts, worries and misgivings from different points of view. This will be not the last step in this process.

  12. Seasonal Sex Ratio Trend in the European Kestrel : An Evolutionarily Stable Strategy Analysis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pen, I.R.; Weissing, F.J.; Daan, S.

    We present an evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) model to analyze selection on seasonal variation in the brood sex ratio, as observed in several species of raptorial birds. The model is specifically tailored to the life history of the European kestrel, and it reflects the maturation time

  13. European Nutrition and Health Report 2009

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Elmadfa, Ibrahim; Meyer, A.; Nowak, V.

    The general aim of the ENHR II project is to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date report on the nutrition and health situation in Europe that focuses on diet, physical activity, tobacco use and alcohol consumption. The European Nutrition and Health Report 2009 will contribute to the identificat......The general aim of the ENHR II project is to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date report on the nutrition and health situation in Europe that focuses on diet, physical activity, tobacco use and alcohol consumption. The European Nutrition and Health Report 2009 will contribute...... to the identification of major nutrition and health problems in the EU regions and to the monitoring and evaluation of food and nutrition policies already in place within the Member States. The method implies collecting and critically reviewing available data on the most common indicators used for the assessment...... of nutrition and health situation of 25 European countries. The European Nutrition and Health Report 2009 will provide information on dietary habits, diet related health indicators as well as established food and nutrition policies in European countries....

  14. European integration and cooperation, basic vectors of European space of freedom, security and justice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ion Balaceanu

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available European integration and cooperation, basic vectors of European space of freedom, security and justiceAbstract: The European countries joining to the Schengen area had the effect elimination of internal border controls between Schengen member countries, that use permenent provisions of the Schengen acquis, being a single external border where operational checks are carried out according to a set of clear rules on immigration, visas, the asylum, as well as some decisions concerning police cooperation, judicial or customs. This means that the border crossing can be made at any time through many places, and citizens of member countries who are traveling in the Schengen area must present a valid ID. Overcoming internal border can be equated with a journey through the country.

  15. European Clearinghouse for Nuclear Power Plants Operational Experience Feedback

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martin Ramos, M.; Noel, M.

    2010-01-01

    In the European Union, in order to support the Community activities on operational experience, a centralized regional network on nuclear power plants operational experience feedback (European Clearinghouse on Operational Experience Feedback for Nuclear Power Plants) was established in 2008 at the EC JRC-IE, Petten (The Netherlands) on request of nuclear Safety Authorities of several Member States. Its main goal is to improve the communication and information sharing on OEF, to promote regional collaboration on analyses of operational experience and dissemination of the lessons learned. The enlarged EU Clearinghouse was launched in April 2010, and it is currently gathering the Regulatory Authorities of Finland, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Czec Republic, France, Germany, Slovak Republic, and Spain (these last six countries as observers). The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, the IAEA, the EC Directorates General of the JRC and ENER are also part of the network. Recently, collaboration between some European Technical Support Organizations (such IRSN and GRS) and the EU Clearinghouse has been initiated. This paper explains in detail the objectives and organization of the EU Clearinghouse, as well as the most relevant activities carried out, like research work in trend analysis of events ocurred in NPP, topical reports on particular events, dissemination of the results, quarterly reports on events reported publicly and operational experience support to the members of the EU Clearinghouse. (Author)

  16. European Decommissioning Academy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Slugen, V. S.; Hornacek, M.

    2016-01-01

    Full text: Experiences from the first run of the European Decommissioning Academy (EDA) are reported in details. EDA was created at the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava Slovakia, based on discussion and expressed needs declared at many international meetings including ECED2013. The first run successfully passed 15 participants during 7–26 June 2015. Academy was focused on decommissioning issues via lessons, practical exercises in laboratories, on-site training prepared at NPP V-1 in Jaslovské Bohunice, Slovakia as well as four day technical tour to other European decommissioning facilities in Switzerland and Italy. Detailed information can be found at http://kome.snus.sk/inpe/. (author

  17. How Is European Governance Configuring the EHEA?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Magalhães, António; Veiga, Amélia; Sousa, Sofia; Ribeiro, Filipa

    2012-01-01

    This article focuses on the interaction between the European dimension driven by the creation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and the development of national reforms to fulfil that objective. On the basis of data gathered in eight countries involved in EuroHESC project TRUE (Transforming European Universities), the curricular and the…

  18. The European XFEL project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Floettmann, K.

    2005-01-01

    The European XFEL project is a 4th generation synchrotron radiation facility based on the SASE FEL concept and the superconducting TESLA technology for a linear accelerator. In February 2003 the German government decided that the XFEL should be realized as a European project and be located at DESY in Hamburg. The paper will give an overview of the overall layout and parameters of the facility, with emphasis on the accelerator design, technology and physics. (author)

  19. ‘What Europeans Saw of Europe’: Medial Construction of European Identity in Information Films and Newsreels in the 1950s

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anne Bruch

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available This article examines Austrian, British, French and German newsreels and European information films produced in the period from 1948 to 1958 either by private and semi-private newsreel companies or transnational, supranational and national institutions like the Economic Cooperation Administration, Council of Europe, European Coal and Steel Community. These newsreel items and short films are not only records from the beginning and consolidation of the European integration project but also political instruments in this process. On the one hand, they informed the public about the new institutions, their purposes as well as their decision-making procedures; on the other hand, they were intended to create a European identity by rewriting a collective cultural and historical memory. By means of these films, some of them being part of the public relations campaigns of various European institutions and newsreel companies, a consistent picture of ‘Europe’ was shaped. This audiovisual representation of Europe as a geographical and historical entity, or, respectively, ‘the idea of European integration’, was not only a result of a political discourse but also a cultural continuation of a centuries-old iconographic tradition. This article aims at broadening the academic debate on a European identity by analysing the political communication process of the European Integration in the 1950s.

  20. Further European initiatives and regulations concerning radiation protection: drinking water guideline, maximum permissible contamination in food products and feeding stuff

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mundigl, Stefan

    2013-01-01

    The radiation protection community has observed intensively the development of basic safety standards concerning protection against hazards of ionizing radiation. The new core part of the European radiation protection legislation is complemented by several specialized regulations relevant for radiation protection. Besides the existing regulations in the field of emergency protection the European Commission initiated a drinking water guideline that will be published in the near future. Furthermore the European commission approved a revised regulation concerning the maximum permissible contamination limits for food products and feeding stuff in case of a future nuclear accident. Together with the new radiation protection basic standards a new complete, coherent and modernized European regulation package will be accomplished.

  1. Copernicus: a quantum leap in Earth Observation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aschbacher, Josef

    2015-04-01

    Copernicus is the most ambitious, most comprehensive Earth observation system world-wide. It aims at giving decision-makers better information to act upon, at global, continental, national and regional level. The European Union (EU) leads the overall programme, while the European Space Agency (ESA) coordinates the space component. Similar to meteorology, satellite data is combined with data from airborne and ground sensors to provide a holistic view of the state of the planet. All these data are fed into a range of thematic information services designed to benefit the environment and to support policy-makers and other stakeholders to make decisions, coordinate policy areas, and formulate strategies relating to the environment. Moreover, the data will also be used for predicting future climate trends. Never has such a comprehensive Earth-observation based system been in place before. It will be fully integrated into an informed decision making process, thus enabling economic and social benefits through better access to information globally. A key feature of Copernicus is the free and open data policy of the Sentinel satellite data. This will enable that Earth observation based information enters completely new domains of daily life. High quality, regularly updated satellite observations become available for basically everyone. To ensure universal access new ground segment and data access concepts need to be developed. As more data are made available, better decisions can made, more business will be created and science and research can be achieved through the upcoming Sentinel data.

  2. The study of the European Union from outside: European integration studies in Norway and Iceland 1990-2010

    OpenAIRE

    Eliassen, Kjell; Marino, Marit Sjøvaag; Bergmann, Eirikur

    2012-01-01

    This is a working paper version of a paper written for SENT - The Network of European Studies. The aim of this chapter is to map the research on European integration carried out by Norwegian and Icelandic researchers and research institutions in the period 1990–2010. This study covers research of central aspects of the European Union itself: institutions, decision-making processes, policies, actors and the relationship to other countries, global and regional institutions and local and regiona...

  3. European Summit on the Prevention and Self-Management of Chronic Respiratory Diseases: report of the European Union Parliament Summit (29 March 2017).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hellings, Peter W; Borrelli, David; Pietikainen, Sirpa; Agache, Ioana; Akdis, Cezmi; Bachert, Claus; Bewick, Michael; Botjes, Erna; Constantinidis, Jannis; Fokkens, Wytske; Haahtela, Tari; Hopkins, Claire; Illario, Maddalena; Joos, Guy; Lund, Valerie; Muraro, Antonella; Pugin, Benoit; Seys, Sven; Somekh, David; Stjärne, Pär; Valiulis, Arunas; Valovirta, Erkka; Bousquet, Jean

    2017-01-01

    On March 29, 2017, a European Summit on the Prevention and Self-Management of Chronic Respiratory Diseases (CRD) was organized by the European Forum for Research and Education in Allergy and Airway Diseases. The event took place in the European Parliament of Brussels and was hosted by MEP David Borrelli and MEP Sirpa Pietikainen. The aim of the Summit was to correspond to the needs of the European Commission and of patients suffering from CRD to join forces in Europe for the prevention and self-management. Delegates of the European Rhinologic Society, European Respiratory Society, European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, European Academy of Paediatrics, and European Patients Organization EFA all lectured on their vision and action plan to join forces in achieving adequate prevention and self-management of CRD in the context of Precision Medicine. Recent data highlight the preventive capacity of education on optimal care pathways for CRD. Self-management and patient empowerment can be achieved by novel educational on-line materials and by novel mobile health tools enabling patients and doctors to monitor and optimally treat CRDs based on the level of control. This report summarizes the contributions of the representatives of different European academic stakeholders in the field of CRD.

  4. How to study the history of European law?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Morten

    This paper has a double purpose. On the one hand, it offers a new history, based on recently discovered primary sources, of the driving forces behind the so-called ‘constitutionalisation’ of European law taking place in 1963-64. On the other hand, it uses the lessons of this new history to reflect...... on how a general history of European law should be written and in particular how to avoid the pitfalls that characterises mainstream research on European law. In the first part it is argued that the ‘constitutionalisation’ of European law was promoted by a broad coalition beyond the Court of Justice...... the ‘constitutionalisation’ of European law in the 1960s. This is in particular the case with the ‘integration-through-law’ paradigm that permeates most of the writing on European law even today. Concluding, it is argued that a general history of European law should avoid the adoption of mainstream conceptualisations...

  5. European Union energy policy integration: A case of European Commission policy entrepreneurship and increasing supranationalism

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maltby, Tomas

    2013-01-01

    Focusing on gas, this article explores the role of the European Commission in the process of European Union energy security policy development, and the extent to which the policy area is becoming increasingly supranational. Situating the article within the literature on agenda-setting and framing, it is argued that a policy window was opened as a result of: enlargement to include more energy import dependent states, a trend of increasing energy imports and prices, and gas supply disruptions. From the mid-2000s, the Commission contributed to a shift in political norms, successfully framing import dependency as a problem requiring an EU-level solution, based on the institution’s pre-existing preferences for a diversified energy supply and internal energy market. Whilst Member States retain significant sovereignty, the Commission has achieved since 2006 creeping competencies in the internal, and to a lesser extent external, dimensions of EU energy policy. - Highlights: ► We examine the development of EU energy security policy, focusing on gas. ► We examine changes in European Commission competence in energy policy. ► The European Commission has gained increased competence in the internal market. ► In the external dimension of EU energy policy Member States retain competence. ► The European Commission has had qualified success as a policy entrepreneur

  6. Combined ecological risks of nitrogen and phosphorus in European freshwaters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Azevedo, Ligia B.; Zelm, Rosalie van; Leuven, Rob S.E.W.; Hendriks, A. Jan; Huijbregts, Mark A.J.

    2015-01-01

    Eutrophication is a key water quality issue triggered by increasing nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) levels and potentially posing risks to freshwater biota. We predicted the probability that an invertebrate species within a community assemblage becomes absent due to nutrient stress as the ecological risk (ER) for European lakes and streams subjected to N and P pollution from 1985 to 2011. The ER was calculated as a function of species-specific tolerances to NO 3 − and total P concentrations and water quality monitoring data. Lake and stream ER averaged 50% in the last monitored year (i.e. 2011) and we observed a decrease by 22% and 38% in lake and stream ER (respectively) of river basins since 1985. Additionally, the ER from N stress surpassed that of P in both freshwater systems. The ER can be applied to identify river basins most subjected to eutrophication risks and the main drivers of impacts. - Highlights: • Ecological risk was estimated as response additions of N and P. • The risk posed by N stress is higher than that by P in European freshwaters. • Ecological risks have remained unchanged in most European river basins. - Quantifying the ecological risk of invertebrate losses due to N and P pollution

  7. Opting Out of the European Union

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Adler-Nissen, Rebecca

    controversial cases of differentiated integration: the British and Danish opt-outs from Economic and Monetary Union and European policies on borders, asylum, migration, internal security and justice. Drawing on over one hundred interviews with national representatives and EU officials, the author demonstrates......European integration continues to deepen despite major crises and attempts to take back sovereignty. A growing number of member states are reacting to a more constraining EU by negotiating opt-outs. This book provides the first in-depth account of how opt-outs work in practice. It examines the most...... how representatives manage the stigma of opting out, allowing them to influence even politically sensitive areas covered by their opt-outs. Developing a practice approach to European integration, the book shows how everyday negotiations transform national interests into European ideals. It is usually...

  8. Development of European urban tourist systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jerković Senta

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Relationship between urban development and tourism is a significant process in Europe today. Development of tourism has caused many organizational changes in urban environment. In the middle of the 20th century cultural and historical heritage in the cities was impetus of development of tourism in European cities. Nowadays, in many European cities tourism is recognized as a mean of further economic development. Strategy of polycentricity, outlined in European spatial development perspective is supporting that process, too. Many tourist centres and metropolitan tourist areas have been developed. In the period from 1996. to 2007. number of visitors in European cultural capitals was growing continuously by rate of 25,6%. In the same period, the number of international tourist arrivals increased by rate of only 7%.

  9. European Utility Requirements: leveling the European electricity producers' playing ground for new NPPs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bernard Roche

    2006-01-01

    Full text of publication follows: Since 1992, the European Utility Requirement (EUR) document has been developed by the major European electricity producers. The main driver to this work has been the construction of a unified European market. The electricity producers have set out design requirements adapted to this new European environment, while keeping in mind experience feedback from operating NPPs worldwide. The EUR document is now fully operational and its set of generic requirements have been recently used as bid specification in Finland and in China. The EUR document keeps developing in two directions: 1- completing the assessment of the projects that could be proposed by the vendors for the European market. Five projects have been assessed between 1999 and 2002: BWR90, EPR, EP1000, ABWR and SWR1000. Two new projects are being assessed, the Westinghouse AP1000 and the Russian VVER AES92. It is currently planned to publish these two new assessments in the first half of 2006. Others may be undertaken meanwhile. 2- revision of the generic requirements. A revision C of the volume 4 dedicated to power generation plant is being completed. It includes responses to vendors comments and feedback from the TVO call for bid for Finland 5. A revision D of the volumes 1 and 2 dedicated to nuclear islands is foreseen. The main contributions to this revision are the harmonization actions going on in Europe about nuclear safety (WENRA study on reactor safety harmonization, EC works, evolution of the IAEA guides and requirements), the harmonization works on the conditions of connection to the European HV grid as well as harmonization works on other matters, like codes and standards. This has given a unified frame in which the future nuclear plants can be designed and built. In this frame development of standards designs usable throughout Europe without major design change is possible, thus helping to increase competition, and ultimately to save investment and operating costs

  10. The European Large-Area ISO Survey (ELAIS): the final band-merged catalogue

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rowan-Robinson, M.; Lari, C.; Perez-Fournon, I.

    2004-01-01

    We present the final band-merged European Large-Area ISO Survey (ELAIS) Catalogue at 6.7, 15, 90 and 175 mum, and the associated data at U, g', r', i', Z, J, H, K and 20 cm. The origin of the survey, infrared and radio observations, data-reduction and optical identifications are briefly reviewed...

  11. IDENTITY AND THE EUROPEAN UNION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abrudan Cristina

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to throw some light on the question of identity in the European Union. The challenge is to understand how identity formation takes place in the contemporary world. The European integration has to be understood both as a process of socio-economic convergence among European states but also as a process of co-operation on different other levels, too. It seems that cultures, traditions and interests are more and more interconnected as societies become increasingly multicultural. This is the reason why people are concerned with the concept of identity and the recognition of their uniqueness in terms of traditions, values and ways of lives.

  12. Interest Organisations and European Integration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Ove K.

    This paper examines the influence of European integration on the relationship between state administration and private interests in the four Nordic countries - Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. By private interests I mean interest organizations, private corporations and independent experts....... The paper focuses exclusively on the national policy processes that are involved with managing European Union (EU) issues. More specifically, this paper discusses two aspects of multi-level governance. First is the important role of private interests in the coordination of decision making at the national...... level preceding their government's representation of national interests in the European Council of Ministers and other EU organizations. Second is the effect of all this on national democratic systems....

  13. European Nanotechnology Experts Visit NCL; Harmonize Best Practices for Nanomedicine Collaboration in Europe | FNLCR Staging

    Science.gov (United States)

    European nanotechnology experts visited the Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory (NCL) to observe best practices and methods and to share their own knowledge with NCL scientists as they prepared to launch an NCL-like operation in Europe. The Eu

  14. Spanish Earth Observation Satellite System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borges, A.; Cerezo, F.; Fernandez, M.; Lomba, J.; Lopez, M.; Moreno, J.; Neira, A.; Quintana, C.; Torres, J.; Trigo, R.; Urena, J.; Vega, E.; Vez, E.

    2010-12-01

    The Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade (MITyC) and the Ministry of Defense (MoD) signed an agreement in 2007 for the development of a "Spanish Earth Observation Satellite System" based, in first instance, on two satellites: a high resolution optical satellite, called SEOSAT/Ingenio, and a radar satellite based on SAR technology, called SEOSAR/Paz. SEOSAT/Ingenio is managed by MITyC through the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI), with technical and contractual support from the European Space Agency (ESA). HISDESA T together with the Spanish Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA, National Institute for Aerospace Technology) will be responsible for the in-orbit operation and the commercial operation of both satellites, and for the technical management of SEOSAR/Paz on behalf of the MoD. In both cases EADS CASA Espacio (ECE) is the prime contractor leading the industrial consortia. The ground segment development will be assigned to a Spanish consortium. This system is the most important contribution of Spain to the European Programme Global Monitoring for Environment and Security, GMES. This paper presents the Spanish Earth Observation Satellite System focusing on SEOSA T/Ingenio Programme and with special emphasis in the potential contribution to the ESA Third Party Missions Programme and to the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security initiative (GMES) Data Access.

  15. European Neighbourhood Policy. A Polish Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paula Marcinkowska

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Before the bing-bang enlargement of the EU in 2004, the Union needed to define a coherent policy towards its new neighbours. The European Neighbourhood Policy was formulated when Poland became a member of the EU. Due to its close ties with the Eastern European countries, Poland tried to shape the EU foreign policy towards its neighbouring countries and became their advocate in Brussels. In 2009 it succeeded in establishing the Eastern Partnership as one of the dimensions of the European Neighbourhood Policy.

  16. Eastern European retailers and wholesalers' buying behaviour

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Esbjerg, Lars; Stacey, Julia

    1999-01-01

    During the last ten years, retailing in Eastern Europe has undergone considerable changes. The entry of Western European retail chains into Eastern Europe has helped accelerate the distributive trade of Eastern Europe. But what does it take to sell fish and cheese to retailers and wholesalers...... in Eastern Europe compared to Western Europe? Eastern European buyers attach great importance to other aspects when they list new suppliers and products than does Western European retailing. These are the results of a MAPP study of Eastern European retail and wholesale buying behaviour for fish and cheese....... Low prices and favourable terms of payment are most important when retailers in Eastern Europe buy fish and cheese. Then follows the supplier's range of products, trustworthiness of the supplier and product quality. Eastern European wholesalers also rank price and financial conditions as most...

  17. Nuclear power and European Union enlargement challenge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chirica, T.; Bilegan, C.; Pall, S.; Sandru, P.

    2000-01-01

    In the nuclear power sector, the main concern for the candidate countries entering the European Union, remains the nuclear safety. New standards and regulation will be issued for improving the general quality of life in a sound environment. For the candidate countries entering the European Union, this situation represents a real challenge. Their national legislation must be improved to meet the European standards. The conditions are different from country to country, and more difficult for those, which operate ''non west European reactor type''. The paper also present the actual status of the Romanian legislation related to nuclear power and environment. There are presented the principles, terms and responsibilities contained in this legislation. The authors discuss some aspects related to the possibilities to improve the national legislation to meet the actual European Commission or EURATOM standards. (author)

  18. Falling in love with(in) Europe: European bi-national love relationships, European identification and transnational solidarity

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Van Mol, C.; de Valk, H.A.G.; van Wissen, L.J.G.

    2015-01-01

    Love is often a key factor in migration decisions. Partner relationships and union formation have also been identified as forming an intrinsic part of intra-European migration. Nevertheless, empirical research into intra-European love migration remains rather scarce. In this paper, we focus on the

  19. Codes and standards an European point of view

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roche, R.L.; Corsi, F.

    1987-01-01

    The first part of this paper is related to the European situation in which Construction Codes for FBR components are developed. Attention is given to the different agreements between European Countries. After a description of the present state of Codes development, indications are given on the future work in this field. Several appendix are devoted to the state of Codes in different European Countries and to the action of European Commission

  20. PERL - European research project on characterization of gaskets for bolted flange connections

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kockelmann, H.; Hahn, R.

    2004-01-01

    Great progress was observed in the European standardization in the last years in the field of the design of floating type bolted flange connections. New design rules were developed (EN 1591) which include new definitions of gasket characteristics for the calculation of floating type flanged joints. In addition a new gasket testing standard was drafted (prEN 13555) which assures a comprehensive characterization of gaskets for bolted flanged joints. This draft standard contains some new features which were examined and validated within the European research project PERL (Pressure Equipment - Reduction of Leak Rate). The gasket testing strategy laid down in prEN 13555 is presented in this paper. Some testing results highlighten the measuring procedures and the evaluation of the gasket characteristics. (orig.)

  1. Collective legal protection: The European approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Petrušić Nevena

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available One of the basic goals of the EU justice policy is to ensure an efficient and effective legal protection, particularly in cross-border disputes and cases concerning the violation of rights guaranteed under the EU legislation. In order to accomplish this goal, the EU embarked on a horizontal harmonization of civil procedure in some sectors and reinforced the institutional cooperation of Member States in the field of civil justice. Concurrently, there were some legal interventions in the field of civil procedure, which contributed to establishing a number of European procedural mechanisms, such as: the European Small Claims Procedure (2007, the European Payment Order Procedure (2006, etc. Many studies and analyses show that procedural mechanisms of collective legal protection are essential for ensuring an efficient and effective legal protection of rights guaranteed by the EU law. The idea of introducing the collective legal protection instruments into the EU law has been present for more than two decades. It has been endorsed by the European Economic and Social Committee, which has played the key role in its promotion. In June 2013, after extensive consultations, the European Commission adopted the Recommendation on common principles for injunctive and compensatory collective redress mechanisms in the Members States concerning violations of rights guaranteed under the EU law. This document has provided a coherent horizontal framework for the collective legal protection at the EU level by establishing the common European principles for collective redress mechanisms which the Member States should incorporate into their national systems. Analysis of the common principles governing the collective legal protection shows that the European approach to shaping the collective redress claims is significantly different from the American class action model, which is considered to be incompatible with the European legal tradition and deemed to provide a wide

  2. European Economic Community/the European energy conference

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1979-03-30

    European Economic Community/the European energy conference (a meeting of the energy ministers of the nine member countries), held at Brussels on 3/27/79, was a continuation of the EEC Council meeting held at Paris on 3/12-13/79. Proposals for measures to be taken by the member countries included support for exploration, especially geophysical prospecting for oil off the east coast of Greenland, at a cost of 3.5 million units of account (UC); modification of the regulations for crude oil distribution among the EEC member countries in case of a supply crisis; a second series of 36 energy-conservation demonstration projects, to cost 15,626,320 UC and be undertaken in 1979-83; and the UK proposal to call for bids on the first series of 17 projects, costing 5,779,000 UC and adopted in Dec. 1978, before discussing the second series. Six of the 36 projects are French; they involve heat pumps and hybrid nuclear-electric vehicles and space-heating systems. A report on the current status of coal projects was given, and problems with fast-breeder reactors were discussed.

  3. The Impact of European Economic Integration on Migration in the European Union

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simionescu Mihaela

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available The recent enlargement of the EU (since 2004 and the United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union have prompted a growing research interest in the political and academic environment because of the causes and consequences of migration between the CEE countries and those in the Western Europe. In this study, the effects of European economic integration on the number of EU-15 immigrants from the newly integrated EU countries were assessed by econometric techniques. According to panel data models, in the period 2000-2015, the number of migrants from the new member states of the EU has increased, in average, with more than 2200 people only due to their EU membership. This result reflects the positive impact of European economic integration on the number of emigrants from the CEE countries that chose the EU-15 states as destination countries. Moreover, according to some ridge Bayesian regressions, during the period 2004-2015, the EU-15 immigrants coming from the EU-13 states did not negatively affect the economic growth of the EU-15 countries.

  4. The Fight against Terrorism and Cross-Border Crime in the European Union

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Minodora-Ioana BĂLAN-RUSU

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Providing an area of freedom, security and justice, an objective assumed by the European Union can only be achieved under conditions that ensure an improvement of judicial cooperation activity in criminal matters. The Council Framework Decision 2008/615/JHA of 23 June 2008 is the framework normative act that rules the Member States' cooperation in the fight against terrorism and cross-border crime. This paper is a review of the European legislative act, with critical remarks and it represents the sequel of these types of examinations, previously published. The research results consist of the presentation of some critical observations regarding the skills of the agents operating in the territory of another Member State rather than in the country from where they come, terms of keeping the data that regards people, the need to take in the records the judicial persons and the need for establishing separate accounts that would regard the natural and legal persons from other countries that are not members of the European Union. The relevant conclusions highlight the usefulness of European legislative act as a whole and the need to complete it with new provisions. The work is useful both for theorists and practitioners in the field, the essential contribution consisting of the formulation of critical remarks and sustained proposals de lege ferenda.

  5. European bank for reconstruction and development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kastratović Radovan

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available European Bank for Reconstruction and Development - EBRD was established in the year 1991 and commenced operations in 1991. The objective of the Bank was to instigate market oriented approach to business in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. This comprises support offered to structural reforms, privatisation, and development of entrepreneurship and legal system through financing of project conducive to the achievement of the aimed targets. The Bank approves loans both to the nation states and to the private sector. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development often appears in the role of investor. In addition, the Bank has also its consultative function. Owners of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development are the developed countries and those that participate in the distribution of the Bank's profit. The Bank invests in the countries of Central, Eastern and South-East Europe, but also in those of Central Asia and Southern Mediterranean. The importance that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has for our country is best illustrated by the fact that this Bank is our largest institutional investor, with investments exceeding 3.5 billion EUR. This work begins with presentation of general information on the work of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, its objectives, activities, background history, ownership and organisational structure. It proceeds by giving relevant data on the Bank's business operations - the manner of project financing, the Bank's funds distribution per geographic criteria and activities, and the operative and financial results of the Bank's business activities. Brief description is also offered of the cooperation that the European Bank has with other international financial institutions. Finally, data is given bearing witness on the importance that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has for Serbia.

  6. Effects of atmospheric and climate change at the timberline of the Central European Alps

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wieser, Gerhard; Matyssek, Rainer; Luzian, Roland; Zwerger, Peter; Pindur, Peter; Oberhuber, Walter; Gruber, Andreas

    2011-01-01

    This review considers potential effects of atmospheric change and climate warming within the timberline ecotone of the Central European Alps. After focusing on the impacts of ozone (O3) and rising atmospheric CO2 concentration, effects of climate warming on the carbon and water balance of timberline trees and forests will be outlined towards conclusions about changes in tree growth and treeline dynamics. Presently, ambient ground-level O3 concentrations do not exert crucial stress on adult conifers at the timberline of the Central European Alps. In response to elevated atmospheric CO2 Larix decidua showed growth increase, whereas no such response was found in Pinus uncinata. Overall climate warming appears as the factor responsible for the observed growth stimulation of timberline trees. Increased seedling re-establishment in the Central European Alps however, resulted from invasion into potential habitats rather than upward migration due to climate change, although seedlings will only reach tree size upon successful coupling with the atmosphere and thus loosing the beneficial microclimate of low stature vegetation. In conclusion, future climate extremes are more likely than the gradual temperature increase to control treeline dynamics in the Central European Alps. PMID:21379395

  7. [Policies encouraging price competition in the generic drug market: Lessons from the European experience].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Puig-Junoy, Jaume

    2010-01-01

    To describe alternative policies aimed at encouraging price competition in generic drug markets in countries with strict price regulation, and to present some case studies drawn from the European experience. Systematic literature review of articles and technical reports published after 1999. The shortcomings in consumer price competition observed in some European generic markets, including Spain, may be reduced through three types of public reimbursement or financing reforms: policies aimed at improving the design of current maximum reimbursement level policies; policies aimed at monitoring competitive prices in order to reimburse real acquisition cost to pharmacies; and, more radical and market-oriented policies such as competitive tendering of public drug purchases. The experience of recent reforms adopted in Germany, Belgium, Holland, Norway, and Sweden offers a useful guide for highly price-regulated European countries, such as Spain, currently characterized by limited consumer price competition and the high discounts offered to pharmacy purchases. Direct price regulation and/or the generic reference pricing systems used to reduce generic drug prices in many European countries can be successfully reformed by adopting measures more closely aimed at encouraging consumer price competition in generic drug markets. Copyright 2009 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

  8. European utilities requirements for future reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roch, M.

    1996-01-01

    The prospect for future nuclear power plants has led the utilities of seven European countries to launch an effort to define the requirements that should be common to all utilities for the next reactors to be built in Europe. These requirements will ultimately be part of a four-volume document and will cover all aspects of a plant: performance, grid connection, codes and standards, materials, quality assurance, cost, and, of course, safety. The seven European countries - France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, and Belgium - issued revision A of Vols 1 and 2 in Nov. 1994, which deal with all the general requirements, not specific to any design, originally issued in March 1994. Comments were requested from most of the nuclear utilities as well as from reactor vendors worldwide. This gave rise to an enormous number of comments, which were duly considered by the European Union. The relevant ones were incorporated into revision B of Vols. 1 and 2, which was issued in Nov 1995, the objective of this revision B being essentially to gain approval from the safety authorities. A particular aspect of the European approach resides in the fact that these European requirements will have to be discussed and agreed on by at least nine safety authorities, i.e., the authorities of the seven counties that launched revision B, plus the authorities of two newcomers, Finland and Sweden, which have just applied for European Union membership

  9. Insulin resistance in Chileans of European and indigenous descent: evidence for an ethnicity x environment interaction.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos A Celis-Morales

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Effects of urbanisation on diabetes risk appear to be greater in indigenous populations worldwide than in populations of European origin, but the reasons are unclear. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine whether the effects of environment (Rural vs. Urban, adiposity, fitness and lifestyle variables on insulin resistance differed between individuals of indigenous Mapuche origin compared to those of European origin in Chile. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: 123 Rural Mapuche, 124 Urban Mapuche, 91 Rural European and 134 Urban European Chilean adults had blood taken for determination of HOMA-estimated insulin resistance (HOMA(IR and underwent assessment of physical activity/sedentary behaviour (using accelerometry, cardiorespiratory fitness, dietary intake and body composition. General linear models were used to determine interactions with ethnicity for key variables. There was a significant "ethnicity x environment" interaction for HOMA(IR (Mean±SD; Rural Mapuche: 1.65±2.03, Urban Mapuche: 4.90±3.05, Rural European: 0.82±0.61, Urban European: 1.55±1.34, p((interaction = 0.0003, such that the effect of urbanisation on HOMA(IR was greater in Mapuches than Europeans. In addition, there were significant interactions (all p<0.004 with ethnicity for effects of adiposity, sedentary time and physical activity on HOMA(IR, with greater effects seen in Mapuches compared to Europeans, an observation that persisted after adjustment for potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Urbanisation, adiposity, physical activity and sedentary behaviour influence insulin resistance to a greater extent in Chilean Mapuches than Chileans of European descent. These findings have implications for the design and implementation of lifestyle strategies to reduce metabolic risk in different ethnic groups, and for understanding of the mechanisms underpinning human insulin resistance.

  10. European nursing students' academic success or failure: a post-Bologna Declaration systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dante, Angelo; Petrucci, Cristina; Lancia, Loreto

    2013-01-01

    The aim of this systematic review is to synthesise the available evidence in the European scientific literature produced after the Bologna Declaration and to evaluate studies that quantify and examine the factors associated with the academic success or failure of nursing students. A systematic review of the literature was conducted. Major health literature databases were searched for studies published from 2000 to 2011. This review includes only European observational studies that were submitted to a quality assessment by two researchers before inclusion. Only five studies were included in this review. There are discordant results regarding the predictors of success or failure, which were common objects of study (gender, age, qualification on entry, ethnic group). other factors were studied individually (student personality, gendered view of nursing careers, intention to leave, family commitments, working while on course, student performance, clinical learning environment) need to be confirmed in additional studies. Although the predictors may be relevant at the local level, given their low external validity and the conflicting results, it is not possible to state with certainty that these factors are effectively predictive of success or failure in the context of post-Bologna Declaration Europe. This review showed that over the last ten years, in the European context, only a few high-quality observational studies have been performed. In this regard, given the small number and heterogeneity of the available studies, there is little useful evidence available for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to effectively address the problem. In the future, European researchers should focus not only on the documentation of the predictors but also on the documentation of the outcomes produced by the HEI strategies that have been implemented to prevent avoidable academic failure and contain physiological academic failure. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption (ESAC): outpatient penicillin use in Europe (1997-2009).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Versporten, Ann; Coenen, Samuel; Adriaenssens, Niels; Muller, Arno; Minalu, Girma; Faes, Christel; Vankerckhoven, Vanessa; Aerts, Marc; Hens, Niel; Molenberghs, Geert; Goossens, Herman

    2011-12-01

    Data on 13 years (1997-2009) of outpatient penicillin use were collected from 33 European countries within the European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption (ESAC) project and analysed in detail. For the period 1997-2009, data on outpatient use of systemic penicillins aggregated at the level of the active substance were collected using the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC)/defined daily dose (DDD) method (WHO, version 2011) and expressed in DDD per 1000 inhabitants per day (DID). For detailed analysis of trends over time, seasonal variation and composition of outpatient penicillin use in 33 European countries, we distinguished between narrow-spectrum penicillins (NSP), broad-spectrum penicillins (BSP), penicillinase-resistant penicillins (PRP) and combinations with β-lactamase inhibitors (COP). Total outpatient penicillin (ATC group J01C) use in 2009 varied by a factor of 3.8 between the countries with the highest (16.08 DID in France) and lowest (4.23 DID in the Russian Federation) use. COP represented 45.8%, BSP 40.7%, NSP 10.8% and PRP 2.6% of total European outpatient penicillin use. Total outpatient penicillin use significantly increased over time by 1.53 (SD 0.71) DID between 1997 and 2009. COP (mainly co-amoxiclav) increased by 2.17 (SD 0.40) DID, which was the result of its absolute increase as well as the observed shift from NSP and BSP towards COP. This increase exceeded 10% in 20 countries, where it coincided with a similar decrease in either BSP (15 countries) or NSP (5 countries). Penicillins represented the most widely used antibiotic subgroup in all 33 participating countries, albeit with considerable variation in their use patterns. For Europe, a continuous increase in overall penicillin use and of COP use was observed during the period 1997-2009.

  12. European Nuclear Features

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barre, B.; Gonzalez, E.; Diaz Diaz, J.L.; Jimenez, J.L.; Velarde, G.; Navarro, J.M.; Hittner, D.; Dominguez, M.T.; Bollini, G.; Martin, A.; Suarez, J.; Traini, E.; Lang-Lenton, J.

    2004-01-01

    ''European Nuclear Features - ENF'' is a joint publication of the three specialized technical journals, Nuclear Espana (Spain), Revue General Nucleaire (France), and atw - International Journal of Nuclear Power (Germany). The ENF support the international Europeen exchange of information and news about energy and nuclear power. News items, comments, and scientific and technical contributions will cover important aspects of the field. The second issue of ENF contains contributions about theses topics, among others: Institutional and Political Changes in the EU. - CIEMAT Department of Nuclear Fission: A General Overview. - Inertial Fusion Energy at DENIM. - High Temperature Reactors. European Research Programme. - On Site Assistance to Khmelnitsky NPP 1 and 2 (Ukraine). - Dismantling and Decommissioning of Vandellos I. (orig.)

  13. Solar Power in the European Context: Conversion Efficiency and the Issue of Carbon

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Henrique Silva Pacini Costa

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available The European Union is committed to increasing the use of renewable energies across Europe. One of the ways this is to be done is through the promotion of solar photovoltaics (PV, a method with significant environmental benefits. However, the high costs of electricity generated through PV have constrained the market reach of this option. This paper takes the form of a policy discussion, analyzing the fundamental issues concerning this type of energy, and its place in the European alternative energy market. Furthermore, a scenario is drafted to estimate how efficient solar panels should ideally be to make electricity produced by them cost-competitive with conventional, grid-tied energy sources. The study considers both a conventional scenario and another, with carbon capture costs incorporated into the final electricity prices. It is observed that in order to be competitive with conventional fossil-based electricity, photovoltaic conversion efficiencies should be around 34%. Incorporating carbon costs would further help promote solar PV, making it more price-attractive compared to emission-intensive electricity generation based on fossil fuels. The final part of the paper sheds light on the new developments on European PV, mainly in regards to the 2008 European Commission Climate Change Package, its implications and reactions from the industry.

  14. Suggesting a new European language policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nelde, Peter H

    2004-01-01

    Conflict is the most intriguing aspect of contact linguistics. Throughout history ever since the Tower of Babel was left unfinished, contacts between speakers of different languages have unavoidably resulted in conflicts between speakers of those languages. Without any doubt, the European Union (EU)--above all after the decision to enlarge the community--has accepted the multidisciplinary symbolic function of language and culture as a basis for European political unification. Accordingly, European Union policy makers have had to analyze conflicts caused by monolingualism and multilingualism, all aspects of contact linguistics. Can these conflicts be solved, minimized or neutralized by strategies of language planning, language policies and language politics? Initial results of European language policy strategies permit at least a cautious measure of optimism and open broad perspectives for the future of a New Multilingualism which will be discussed in our contribution.

  15. DISCRIMINATION BY ASSOCIATION IN EUROPEAN LAW

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cătălina-Adriana Ivănuș

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available The european law prohibit direct and indirect discrimination and harrasment on grounds of sex, racial or ethnic, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation. The question is what is the situation when someone is discriminated on can claim to be the victim of unlawful discrimination because he or she is associated with another person who has the protected characteristic. The the Court of Justice of the European Union’s judgment in Coleman v Attridge Law and Steve Law confirms, for the first time in European law, the existence of the concept of discrimination by association. In this article I examine the implications of this case on all conceps of discrimination concepts of discrimination in European law (direct discrimination, indirect discrimination and harassment. I also examine the application of discrimination by association to grounds other than disability.

  16. Agenda Responsiveness in the European Council

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Alexandrova, Petya; Rasmussen, Anne; Toshkov, Dimiter

    2016-01-01

    The existence of political responsiveness in multi-level systems like the EU remains an open question despite significant recent research on the topic. This article studies whether the European Council responds to the shifting policy priorities of European citizens. More specifically, it explores......, a detailed examination of the shifts in prioritisation of single issues over time reveals little evidence for dynamic issue responsiveness. Recently the European Council has paid more attention to the issues that the public considered the most pressing problems but the convergence could possibly be driven...

  17. Consensus document on European brain research

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Di Luca, Monica; Baker, Mary; Corradetti, Renato

    2011-01-01

    will increase exponentially in the years to come due to ageing of the European population, it is necessary to act now in order to curb this increase and possibly reverse the trend. Thus, establishing a strong European platform supporting basic and clinical research in neuroscience is needed to confront...... version. Multinational and multidisciplinary teams have once again come together to express their views, not only on the current strengths in European research, but also on what needs to be done in priority, hoping that this update will inspire policy makers and stakeholders in directing funding...

  18. Distribution of Mytilus taxa in European coastal areas as inferred from molecular markers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kijewski, T.; Zmietanka, B.; Zbawicka, M.; Gosling, E.; Hummel, H.; Wenne, R.

    2011-01-01

    The genetic constitution of mussels (Mytilus spp.) was studied by means of three nuclear (Me 15/16, EF-bis, ITS) and one mtDNA (ND2-COIII) marker on a large European scale. In addition to a sharp cline between Atlantic and Mediterranean M. galloprovincialis, we observed a clear genetic distinction

  19. Factors controlling stable isotope composition of European precipitation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rozanski, K.; Sonntag, C.; Muennich, K.O.

    1982-01-01

    The seasonal and spatial variations of stable isotope ratios in present day European precipitation are simulated with a simple multibox model of the mean west-east horizontal transport of the atmospheric water vapour across the European continent. Isotope fractionation during the formation of precipitation leads to an increasing depletion of heavy isotopes in the residual air moisture as it moves towards the centre of the continent. This isotopic depletion is partly compensated, particularly in summer, by evapotranspiration, which is assumed to transfer soil water into the atmosphere without isotope fractionation. The model estimates are based on horizontal water vapour flux data, varying seasonally between 88 and 130 kg m -1 s -1 for the Atlantic coast region, and on the monthly precipitation, evapotranspiration and surface air temperature data available for various locations in Europe. Both continental and seasonal temperature effects observed in the stable isotope composition of European precipitation are fairly well reproduced by the model. The calculations show that the isotopic composition of local precipitation is primarily controlled by regional scale processes, i.e. by the water vapour transport patterns into the continent, and by the average precipitation-evapotranspiration history of the air masses precipitating at a given place. Local parameters such as the surface and/or cloud base temperature or the amount of precipitation modify the isotope ratios only slightly. Implications of the model predictions for the interpretation of stable isotope ratios in earlier periods as they are preserved in ice cores and in groundwater are also discussed. (Auth.)

  20. Nuclear Energy and European Union

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Picamal, B.

    2010-01-01

    The interest shown by the European Institutions in the energy debates, in which the nuclear energy is included as a key component within the energy mix, is obvious. Climate change and energy supply have pushed some countries to publicly express their interest for developing the nuclear energy. These positions are however in contradiction with some others within the European Union which are a lot more critical towards this type of energy and where face-out policies still prevail. Despite the fact that the use of the nuclear energy will remain within the competence of each Member State, the European Union will continue to play a prominent role in the development of an energy strategy based on a low carbon economy. (Author)