Editorial - A new European Neighbourhood Policy to strengthen the European project

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Gilles ROUET

2016-12-01

Full Text Available It is now common to link the difficulties of the European project with the instability of the “European Union’s neighbours” and the repeated crises. The “Europeans” would no longer have confidence in a political project, however innovative and hopeful, at least of peace and stability, if not of economic growth. After the beginning of its largest enlargement, twelve years ago, the EU has discovered a new Eastern Neighbourhood, the same one as the Western Neighbourhood of Russia . Even if the “demand of Europe” seems to remain large, for example in Belgrade, Skopje, Kiev or Tbilisi, an important part of the concerned populations express their regret not of previous political situations but of lost stability. And these people express themselves in votes, clearly, as in the last Bulgarian presidential elections, for example. And these votes cannot only be analysed in “sanction vote”.

[The Dutch emigration pattern around 1840 in the European perspective].

Science.gov (United States)

Stokvis Prd

1980-01-01

"In 1850 and 1860 the Netherlands ranked eighth among twelve North-Western European nations that contributed to the transatlantic migration. The Dutch emigration pattern reflecting the agrarian crisis of the 1840's resembled the one of Hanover and Westphalia, be it that like in Scandinavia the ecclesiastical situation played a more important part. Besides the motivating forces, conditions such as information, organization, public and official reactions, and transportation are reviewed." (SUMMARY IN ENG) excerpt

Attachment in cultural context: Differences in attachment between Eastern and Western Europeans

OpenAIRE

Polek, Elzbieta

2008-01-01

Political changes after 1989 and resulting from the European Union enlargement increased emigration from Eastern to Western Europe. In the introductory Chapter 1 the data about migration from the Eastern to Western Europe are presented, as well as the data about cultural, social and economic differences between Russia, Hungary, the Netherlands and Poland. In this chapter we also introduce A theoretical basis of acculturation and attachment theory. In Chapter 2 we focused on the replicability ...

The guest-worker in Western Europe--an obituary.

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Castles, S

1986-01-01

The significance of guest workers is examined for six Western European countries. It is found that "the dynamics of the migratory process led to family reunification and settlement, against the original intentions of the workers, employers and states concerned. The recruitment of guest-workers stopped after 1974, but many migrants stayed on, becoming permanent ethnic minorities, in a situation of economic and social crisis. It is argued that guest-worker systems inevitably lead to permanent migration in the long run, and that it is better to plan for orderly settlement through appropriate policies." excerpt

Income convergence in the process of the Western Balkan states’ accession to the European Union

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Nenad Stanisic

2016-04-01

Full Text Available One of the main expectations in European transition economies is that the processes of building the market economy and European integrations lead to a significant increase in the living standard, as well as to catching up with the level of the income per capita achieved in developed European economies. A quarter century after the beginning of transition, many of the former socialist countries joined the EU and significantly increased their GDP per capita. On the other hand, transition in the countries of the so-called Western Balkans has disappointed in this sense. The paper tests the existence and speed of income convergence in the Western Balkan states and developed EU countries, in comparison with the so-called „New Member States”. The results indicate that, despite the achieved income convergence in the pre-crisis years, the outbreak of the global economic crisis has revealed many structural and reform problems that the countries of the region have been facing for a long time. Catching up with developed EU members’ average GDP per capita stopped in the Western Balkan states after the beginning of the crisis, with a simultaneous increase in the income gap between the Western Balkan states and the new EU member states.

Different trends in euthanasia acceptance across Europe. A study of 13 western and 10 central and eastern European countries, 1981-2008.

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Cohen, Joachim; Van Landeghem, Paul; Carpentier, Nico; Deliens, Luc

2013-06-01

We examined how acceptance of euthanasia among the general public has changed between 1981 and 2008 in western and central and eastern European (CEE) countries using data of the European Values Surveys. Data were collected in 1981, 1990, 1999 and 2008 for 13 western European countries and in 1990, 1999 and 2008 for 10 CEE countries. Euthanasia acceptance increased each decade up until 2008 in 11 of 13 western European countries; in CEE countries, it decreased or did not increase between 1999-2008 in 8 of 10 countries. A number of explanations for and implications of this apparent east-west polarization are suggested.

DOCTRINAL AND IDEOLOGICAL PARADIGM OF THE CONSERVATISM IN THE WESTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

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Nikola Gjorshoski

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This paper is an illustration of certain specifications in the conservative discourse in a certain European western countries. Each one of the countries from the western hemisphere has its particular peculiarities that determine the usage of the political operation by the conservative parties. Certainly, the complexity of the conservative ideology study has been enriching with the perception of the most basic practices in the political activity of the right parties in some western countries. This paper consists of a short definition about the conservatism followed by its primary and secondary principles. Then, continues to an individual cases in a three highly developed European countries where as a sample are taken the most significant parties in the conservative and Christian Democrat ideology. The conservatism as a political ideology has been formed in the middle of the XVII century as a resistance towards the shifts and the challenges that were under influence of the enlightenment, industrialization and the urbanization. If the conservatism as a political theory, ideology and practice originates from the countries with foregoing activities, logically emerges a need to study their characteristics. The author’s intention is to represent the traits creating the content of that ideology and activity, what are the distinction marks that would be the most appealing of the certain country, as well as to prove the link with the parties from the conservative family on a European level. The study of the conservatism as a political ideology in the modern ideological- doctrinal spectrum would be certainly impossible if there is no closer look to those paradigms.

Buying behaviour of Western European food retailers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skytte, Hans; Blunch, Niels Johan

2005-01-01

The aim of this study has been to analyze important aspects of buying behavior of food retailers, i.e., trade buyers' evaluation of product and vendor attributes, based on a number of background variables, when choosing a new supplier of an already well-known product category. The study encompassed...... the retailers' buying behavior for pork, fish and cheese products. By conducting a conjoint analysis in sixteen Western European countries (15 'old' EU Countries (except Luxemburg), and Norway, and Austria), it is demonstrated that the traditional four Ps are losing ground to some previously neglected...... attributes, and that it is possible to generalise retailers' buying behavior for different food products across countries, retail organizations, and buyers....

The indicative map of the pan-European ecological network in Western Europe : technical background report

OpenAIRE

Jongman, R.H.G.; Bouwma, I.M.; Doorn, van, A.M.

2006-01-01

The Pan European Ecological Network for Western Europe is the third project in developing the Pan European Ecological Network The objective of the Pan-European Ecological Network is to develop a vision for a coherent network of high value areas for biodiversity, as internationally and nationally protected areas in combination with other suitable habitat areas for long term favourable conservation of Europe’s key ecosystems, habitats and species

Go East: Differences between Poland and Western European countries in the motivational structures underlying seafood consumption

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Scholderer, Joachim; Brunsø, Karen; Olsen, Svein Ottar

in the Netherlands. Despite the variation between Western European countries, a common finding was a much higher consistency between intentions and actual consumption behavior as compared to Poland. The differences are discussed in terms of their implications for supply chain management, product supply...... a deeper understanding of the preferences, motives and usage patterns of Polish seafood consumers. The aim of the study was to fill this gap. Representative consumer samples from Poland (N = 1000) and four Western European countries (Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain; total N = 3800) were surveyed...

The Western European countryside from an Eastern European perspective: Case of migrant workers in Norwegian agriculture

OpenAIRE

Rye, Johan Fredrik

2014-01-01

In the wake of the EU enlargements in 2004 and 2007, large numbers of migrant workers from Eastern Europe in-migrated to the Western European countryside. In this paper I discuss how these migration streams in important ways challenge the dominant perspectives in contemporary rural studies, in particular their focus on lifestyle-related rural in-migration, on the post-productivist character of the countryside, and on the social constructions of the rural as idyllic space. These perspectives a...

Explaining the gender gap in radical right voting: A cross-national investigation in 12 Western European countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Immerzeel, Tim; Coffe, Hilde; van der Lippe, Tanja

2015-01-01

It is common wisdom in radical right research that men are over-represented among the radical right electorate. We explore whether a radical right gender gap exists across 12 Western European countries and examine how this gap may be explained. Using the European Values Study (2010), we find a

Comparison between Polish and Western European fish consumers in their attitudinal and behavioural patterns

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pieniak, Zuzanna; Verbeke, Wim; Brunsø, Karen

2009-01-01

The objective of this paper is to investigate consumer attitudes and behavioural patterns related to fish consumption in Poland and four Western European countries (Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Spain). A quantitative cross-sectional consumer survey was carried out and a total sample...

Increased competition on the supply side of the Western European natural gas market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Golombek, R.; Gjelsvik, E.; Rosendahl, K.N.

1996-01-01

This publication discusses the impact of breaking up national gas sales consortia in Western Europe. A numerical model of the Western European natural gas market is used to show that once the demand side of the market is liberalized, each producing country has an incentive to break up its national gas sales consortium. The situation is not stable, however, since each country has an incentive to increase the number of domestic producers in response to more competitors. Consequently the model suggests that there may be a large number of producers in a completely liberalized natural gas market. 19 refs., 1 fig., 3 tabs

Peculiarities of Future Finance and Economics Specialists' Training in Western European Countries and Ukraine

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Homoniuk, Olena; Pokudina, Larysa

2016-01-01

The article touches on the peculiarities of future finance and economics specialists' training in educational establishments of Western Europe and Ukraine. The problem of higher economic education has been considered. The experience of higher economic education organization in developed European countries has been generalized. The peculiarities of…

Economic development in the European super-periphery: Evidence from the Western Balkans

OpenAIRE

Bartlett Will

2009-01-01

This paper argues that the conflicts that afflicted the Western Balkan region in the 1990s pushed the countries into the European 'super-periphery', characterized by deindustrialization and high unemployment, ethnic and regional fragmentation, political turmoil, and instability. Integration into international trade has been disrupted, leading to chronic balance of payments deficits. Low inflows of international capital, due to high country risk, have hindered technological catch-up and weaken...

Profitability of Western European banking systems: panel evidence on structural and cyclical determinants

OpenAIRE

Beckmann, Rainer

2007-01-01

This paper analyses structural and cyclical determinants of banking profitability in 16 Western European countries. We find that financial structure matters, particularly through the beneficial effect of the capital market orientation in the respective national financial system. Furthermore, higher diversification regarding banks' income sources shows a positive effect. The industry concentration of national banking systems, though, does not significantly affect aggregate profitability. Busin...

Birth weight and perinatal mortality: A comparison of "optimal" birth weight in seven western European countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Graafmans, W.C.; Richardus, J.H.; Borsboom, G.J.J.M.; Bakketeig, L.; Langhoff-Roos, J.; Bergsjø, P.; Macfarlane, A.; Verloove-Vanhorick, P.; Mackenbach, J.; Aelvoet, W.; Alderdice, F.; Amelink, M.; Bakoula, C.; Blondel, B.; Bødker, B.; Bolumar, F.; Davidson, L.; Gissler, M.; Hartikainen, A.L.; Holt, J.; Kaminski, M.; Leidinger, J.; Lekea, V.; Lindmark, G.; Masuy-Stroobant, G.; Pal, K. van der; Penney, G.; Purificação Araújo, M. Da; Rantakallio, P.; Rebagliato, M.

2002-01-01

Background. Previous studies have suggested that a population's entire birth weight distribution may be shifted towards higher or lower birth weights, and that optimal birth weight may be lower in populations with a lower average birth weight. We evaluated this hypothesis for seven western European

Self-perceived health among Eastern European immigrants over 50 living in Western Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Lanari, D; Bussini, O; Minelli, L

2015-01-01

This paper examines whether Eastern European immigrants aged 50 and over living in Northern and Western Europe face a health disadvantage in terms of self-perceived health, with respect to the native-born. We also examined health changes over time (2004-2006-2010) through the probabilities of transition among self-perceived health states, and how they vary according to nativity status and age group. Data were obtained from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Logistic regressions and probabilities of transition were used. Results emphasise the health disadvantage of Eastern European immigrants living in Germany, France and  Sweden with respect to the native-born, even after controlling for socio-economic status. Probabilities of transition also evidenced that people born in Eastern Europe were more likely to experience worsening health and less likely to recover from sickness. This paper suggests that health inequalities do not affect immigrant groups in equal measure and confirm the poorer and more steeply deteriorating health status of Eastern European immigrants.

The western european point of view about the other one: a paradigm of science

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Jéssica Fernandes Maia dos Santos

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Looking the Levi-Strauss’s works The Savage Mind and Totemism Today, and Edward Said’s Orientalism, this paper aims to propose a reflection on the historical European thought regarding the alterity, how it was build and how it still is an science paradigm. According to Levi-Strauss, the institutionalization of the totemism would be a false analysis category in which the European, by classifying and typifying the foreign people while totemic organizations designed their own universe. This concept considers the other people as their opposite side, without having a conceptual consensus of that would be a totemic organization. The same does the evolutionism, which has influenced not only the totemic institution but also the whole western thinking.

Vitamin and mineral intake of twelve adolescent male Kalenjin runners in western Kenya

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Dirk Lund; Jakobsen, Jette; Friis, H

2005-01-01

runners was carried out to determine their micronutrient intake. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Over a two-week period, samples of the main eaten food were collected for analysis of micronutrient distribution and a daily 24 recall interview performed to determine additional food intake. RESULTS: The estimated...... mg, 1309 microg, and 79 microg, respectively. CONCLUSION: Total daily micronutrient intake of the twelve Kalenjin runners was far from adequate compared to FAO/WHO daily recommended and suggested adequate intake....

Transmission capacities and competition in Western European electricity market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spiridonova, Olga

2016-01-01

The integration of national electricity markets into a single European one is expected to reduce the ability of dominant players to exercise market power. This paper investigates whether or not existing transmission capacities of cross-border interconnectors are sufficient to achieve this result and create vigorous competition in the market. A model with two decision levels is used. On the first level profit maximizing generators play Cournot game against each other. On the last level the system operator clears the market and determines flows in the network to maximize social welfare subject to a set of physical constraints. As each strategic generator anticipates her impact on equilibrium prices and congestion in the system, her optimization problem is subject to equilibrium constraints from the system operator's problem. The analysis demonstrates that interconnector capacities in Western Europe are insufficient for integration alone to reduce the exercise of market power. I compare several possible competition-enhancing policies: expansion of interconnectors and different scenarios of national markets’ restructuring. I show that although increase of line capacity is a useful tool to stimulate competition in an integrated market, it is not a substitute for the restructuring of large players. - Highlights: •The ability of integration to reduce market power depends on transmission capacities. •In the model firms compete in quantities, know their impact on prices and congestion. •In Western Europe integration will not diminish market power. •Line extension stimulates competition but is not a substitute for the regulation.

Globalisation and western music historiography

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Romanou Katy

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Globalisation of musicology and music history aims to fuse the divisions created during Western music’s acme, and is referred to as “post-European historical thinking”. Therefore, “post” and “pre” European historical thinking have much in common. One aspect of this process of fragmentation was that music history was separated from theory and that Western Music Histories succeeded General Music Histories (a development described in some detail in the article. Connecting global music history with “post-European” historical thinking is one among numerous indications of Western awareness that European culture has reached some sort of a terminal phase. Concurrently, countries that have been developing by following Western Europe as a prototype, are leading today some past phase of Western development, which, with the ideas of cultural relativism prevailing, are not considered inferior.

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

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Stefler, Denes; Bobak, Martin

2015-01-01

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

Energy and greenhouse effect. Twelve short notes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prevot, Henri

2013-12-01

The author proposes twelve brief notes aimed at discussing the reduction of fossil energy consumption in order to reduce CO 2 emissions and to improve the French energy supply security, without any useless expense. These notes address the reason for energy savings, the cost and price of a CO 2 ton, the issue of thermal regulation for buildings (it's not in compliance with the law, and results in higher expenses and increased CO 2 emissions), the introduction of a carbon tax to incite investments for energy saving, the status and health of the CO 2 European market, the support of actions aimed at reducing fossil energy consumption, the fact that bio-heat is ten times more efficient than bio-fuel and that therefore car holders should finance bio-heat, the development of hybrid uses of energy to avoid the difficulty of energy storage, the reduction of CO 2 emissions at low cost (by consuming as much renewable energy as nuclear energy but without wind or photovoltaic energy), the cost of less CO 2 , less fossil energy and less nuclear, and the interest of France to act on its own to reduce CO 2 emissions. The author proposes a brief synthesis of these notes and some proposals regarding thermal regulation for buildings, taxes, the European CO 2 market, the forest biomass, electricity production, and the European and word dimensions of these issues

Towards a line-of-sight, implementation of performance measurement by road agencies : A European and Western Australian perspective

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schoenmaker, R.; Van der Lei, T.T.E.

2015-01-01

This paper is the result of an international, explorative study of the alignment of government and road authority goals from different European countries and Western Australia. The goal of the study is to advance the understanding of the development of performance management of road agencies.

Towards a Western European “Social Movement Society”? An Assessment: 1981–2009

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Mario Quaranta

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Some social movements scholars argue that contemporary democracies are becoming “social movements societies”: citizens are often mobilized to make claims; protest actions are progressively becoming part of institutional politics; and protest has diffused to new constituents. In other words, participants in protest activities are more difficult to be identified. This article aims to provide an updated assessment of the “social movement society” thesis in Western Europe, with a focus on the expansion, institutionalization, and, in particular, to the diffusion of political protest to new groups. Using the European Values Study, which spans from 1981 to 2009, it is found that in Western Europe forms of protest are more popular than in the past, that a partial institutionalization has occurred, and that traditionally disengaged individuals protest more compared to the past. However, the process of “normalization” of the political protester has yet to be completed, given that differences in the levels of engagement still exist among social groups.

Origin of elemental carbon in snow from western Siberia and northwestern European Russia during winter-spring 2014, 2015 and 2016

Science.gov (United States)

Evangeliou, Nikolaos; Shevchenko, Vladimir P.; Espen Yttri, Karl; Eckhardt, Sabine; Sollum, Espen; Pokrovsky, Oleg S.; Kobelev, Vasily O.; Korobov, Vladimir B.; Lobanov, Andrey A.; Starodymova, Dina P.; Vorobiev, Sergey N.; Thompson, Rona L.; Stohl, Andreas

2018-01-01

Short-lived climate forcers have been proven important both for the climate and human health. In particular, black carbon (BC) is an important climate forcer both as an aerosol and when deposited on snow and ice surface because of its strong light absorption. This paper presents measurements of elemental carbon (EC; a measurement-based definition of BC) in snow collected from western Siberia and northwestern European Russia during 2014, 2015 and 2016. The Russian Arctic is of great interest to the scientific community due to the large uncertainty of emission sources there. We have determined the major contributing sources of BC in snow in western Siberia and northwestern European Russia using a Lagrangian atmospheric transport model. For the first time, we use a recently developed feature that calculates deposition in backward (so-called retroplume) simulations allowing estimation of the specific locations of sources that contribute to the deposited mass. EC concentrations in snow from western Siberia and northwestern European Russia were highly variable depending on the sampling location. Modelled BC and measured EC were moderately correlated (R = 0.53-0.83) and a systematic region-specific model underestimation was found. The model underestimated observations by 42 % (RMSE = 49 ng g-1) in 2014, 48 % (RMSE = 37 ng g-1) in 2015 and 27 % (RMSE = 43 ng g-1) in 2016. For EC sampled in northwestern European Russia the underestimation by the model was smaller (fractional bias, FB > -100 %). In this region, the major sources were transportation activities and domestic combustion in Finland. When sampling shifted to western Siberia, the model underestimation was more significant (FB < -100 %). There, the sources included emissions from gas flaring as a major contributor to snow BC. The accuracy of the model calculations was also evaluated using two independent datasets of BC measurements in snow covering the entire Arctic. The model underestimated BC concentrations in

Population Structure Analysis of Bull Genomes of European and Western Ancestry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chung, Neo Christopher; Szyda, Joanna; Frąszczak, Magdalena

2017-01-01

Since domestication, population bottlenecks, breed formation, and selective breeding have radically shaped the genealogy and genetics of Bos taurus. In turn, characterization of population structure among diverse bull (males of Bos taurus) genomes enables detailed assessment of genetic resources...... and origins. By analyzing 432 unrelated bull genomes from 13 breeds and 16 countries, we demonstrate genetic diversity and structural complexity among the European/Western cattle population. Importantly, we relaxed a strong assumption of discrete or admixed population, by adapting latent variable models...... harboring largest genetic differentiation suggest positive selection underlying population structure. We carried out gene set analysis using SNP annotations to identify enriched functional categories such as energy-related processes and multiple development stages. Our population structure analysis of bull...

THE CRITICAL THINKING OF SOME WESTERN EUROPEAN CORPORATE GOVERNANCE STANDARDS AFTER FINANCIAL CRISIS, CORPORATE SCANDALS AND MANIPULATION

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Dinh TRAN NGOC HUY

2013-12-01

Full Text Available After the recent global crisis, corporate scandals and bankruptcy in US and Europe, there is some certain evidence on weak auditing, risk management, accounting and audit system. This paper chooses a different analytical approach and among its aims is to give some systematic opinions on corporate governance criteria as a benchmark for stock markets. Firstly, it classifies limited Western European representative corporate governance (CG standards into two (2 groups: The Netherlands and Belgium latest CG principles covered in group 1 and, group 2, including corporate governance principles from Italy and Austria, so-called relative good CG group, while it uses OECD and ICGN principles as reference. Secondly, it identifies through analysis the differences and advantages between the above set of standards which are and have been used as reference principles for many relevant organizations. Third, it establishes a selected comparative set of standards for Western European representative corporate governance system in accordance to international standards. Last but not least, this paper covers some ideas and policy suggestions.

Options of biofuel trade from Central and Eastern to Western European countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

van Dam, J.; Faaij, A.P.C.; Lewandowski, I.; Van Zeebroeck, B.

2009-01-01

Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) have a substantial biomass production and export potential. The objective of this study is to assess whether the market for biofuels and trade can be profitable enough to realize a supply of biofuels from the CEEC to the European market and to estimate the cost performance of the energy carriers delivered. Five NUTS-2 (Nomenclature d'Unites Territoriales Statistiques) regions with high biomass production potentials in Poland, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic were analysed for biofuel export options. From these regions pellets from willow can be provided to destination areas in Western European countries (WEC) at costs of 105.2-219.8 EUR t -1 . Ethanol can be provided at 11.95-20.89 EUR per GJ if the biomass conversion is performed at the destination areas in the WEC or at 14.84-17.83 EUR GJ -1 J if the biomass to ethanol conversion takes place (at small scale) at the CEEC region where the biomass is produced. Short sea shipping shows most cost advantages for longer distance international transport compared to inland waterway shipping and railway. Another reason for lower biofuel supply costs are shorter distances between the regions of biomass production and the destination areas. Therefore the Szczecin region in Poland, closely located to the Baltic Sea, shows a better economic performance for long distance trade of biomass production than the selected region in Hungary ('land-locked'). It is concluded that in future key CEEC regions can supply (pre-treated) biomass and biofuels to the European market at cost levels, which are sound and attractive to current and expected diesel and gasoline prices. (author)

Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation in twelve European countries results of the European cardiac rehabilitation registry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Benzer, Werner; Rauch, Bernhard; Schmid, Jean-Paul

2017-01-01

AIM: Results from EuroCaReD study should serve as a benchmark to improve guideline adherence and treatment quality of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) in Europe. METHODS AND RESULTS: Data from 2.054 CR patients in 12 European countries were derived from 69 centres. 76% were male. Indication for CR...

Nurse prescribing of medicines in Western European and Anglo-Saxon countries: a survey on forces, conditions and jurisdictional control.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kroezen, M.; Francke, A.L.; Groenewegen, P.P.; Dijk, L. van

2012-01-01

Background: The number of Western European and Anglo-Saxon countries where nurses are legally allowed to prescribe medicines is growing. As the prescribing of medicines has traditionally been the task of the medical profession, nurse prescribing is changing the relationship between the medical and

Trends in Spring Phenology of Western European Deciduous Forests

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Eliakim Hamunyela

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Plant phenology is changing because of recent global warming, and this change may precipitate changes in animal distribution (e.g., pests, alter the synchronization between species, and have feedback effects on the climate system through the alteration of biogeochemical and physical processes of vegetated land surface. Here, ground observations (leaf unfolding/first leaf separation of six deciduous tree species and satellite-derived start-of-growing season (SOS are used to assess how the timing of leafing/SOS in Western European deciduous forest responded to climate variability between 2001 and 2011 and evaluate the reliability of satellite SOS estimates in tracking the response of forest leafing to climate variability in this area. Satellite SOS estimates are derived from the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI time series of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS. Temporal trends in the SOS are quantified using linear regression, expressing SOS as a function of time. We demonstrated that the growing season was starting earlier between 2001 and 2011 for the majority of temperate deciduous forests in Western Europe, possibly influenced by regional spring warming effects experienced during the same period. A significant shift of up to 3 weeks to early leafing was found in both ground observations and satellite SOS estimates. We also show that the magnitude and trajectory of shifts in satellite SOS estimates are well comparable to that of in situ observations, hence highlighting the importance of satellite imagery in monitoring leaf phenology under a changing climate.

Experience of Forming Professional and Communicative Competency of Future Social Workers in Education Systems of Western European Countries

Science.gov (United States)

Baranyuk, Vita

2015-01-01

The article analyzes the experience of forming professional and communicative competency of future social workers in the education systems of Western European countries, in particular, France, Germany and Switzerland. On the basis of generalization of the studied data it has been found out that each country has its own techniques of forming…

Economic analysis of different supporting policies for the production of electrical energy by solar photovoltaics in western European Union countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dusonchet, Luigi; Telaretti, Enrico

2010-01-01

Within various renewable energy technologies, photovoltaics (PV) today attracts considerable attention due to its potential to contribute a major share of renewable energy in the future. However, PV market development is, undoubtedly, dependent on the political support of any given country. In this paper, after a brief analysis of national support policies in PV technology in western European Union (EU) countries, the authors perform an economic analysis of the main support mechanisms as implemented in the same countries, based on the calculation of the cash flow, the Net Present Value (NPV) and the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) indices. The analysis shows that in some situations support policies can be inconvenient for the owner of the PV-based generation system and that, in many cases, the differences between the implementation of the same support policy in different countries, can give rise to significantly different results. The analysis carried out in this work could help: ·to assess the impact of PV energy policies in different western European member states; ·renewable energy companies to identify potential PV markets and investigate the policy landscape across western EU countries.

Skill Content of Intra-European Trade Flows

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Zeddies, Goetz

2013-04-01

Full Text Available In recent decades, the international division of labor has expanded rapidly in the wake of European integration. In this context, especially Western European high-wage countries should have specialized on (human-capital intensively manufactured goods and should have increasingly sourced labor-intensively manufactured goods, especially parts and components, from Eastern European low wage countries. Since this should be beneficial for the high-skilled and harmful to the lower-qualified workforce in high-wage countries, the opening up of Eastern Europe is often considered as a vital reason for increasing unemployment of the lower-qualified in Western Europe. This paper addresses this issue by analyzing the skill content of Western European countries’ bilateral trade using input-output techniques in order to evaluate possible effects of international trade on labor demand. Thereby, differences in factor inputs and production technologies have been considered, allowing for vertical product differentiation. In this case, skill content of bilateral exports and imports partially differs substantially, especially in bilateral trade between Western and Eastern European countries. According to the results, East-West trade should be harmful particularly to the medium-skilled in Western European countries.

Western Balkan States and the European Union Enlargement

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Gelina Maliqi (Ramolli

2011-07-01

Full Text Available For half a century, European Union-(EU has pursued ever-deeper integration while taking in new members. It’s marked as an important step in relationship deepening between EU and Western Balkans-(WBs where Albania is part of. In 2003, EU declared that the future of WBs is within EU. Initially it adopted a generous strategy that linked the timetable for accession to the pace of reform in WBs. The declaration contained a conditional promise; EU would consider WBs for membership only if they reached EU standards. The EU was motivated by usual economic considerations connected to enlargement and a desire to increase regional stability. The enlargement process regarding Albania will bring several reforms on different fields. Our country will benefit from a share of multibeneficiary funds for competitiveness, SMEs, energy efficiency and banking sector regulation. This presentation handles out these main issues: EU policy and the enlargement process regarding Albania inspecting the way and progress done up to now by our country, the main features of our national EUcoordination system, concluding in a SWOT Analysis of EU-coordination system in Albania. Eventually, I believe that Albania being part of WBs is at one time an opportunity and a challenge for the future of EU.

European ancestry predominates in neuromyelitis optica and multiple sclerosis patients from Brazil.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Doralina Guimarães Brum

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Neuromyelitis optica (NMO is considered relatively more common in non-Whites, whereas multiple sclerosis (MS presents a high prevalence rate, particularly in Whites from Western countries populations. However, no study has used ancestry informative markers (AIMs to estimate the genetic ancestry contribution to NMO patients. METHODS: Twelve AIMs were selected based on the large allele frequency differences among European, African, and Amerindian populations, in order to investigate the genetic contribution of each ancestral group in 236 patients with MS and NMO, diagnosed using the McDonald and Wingerchuck criteria, respectively. All 128 MS patients were recruited at the Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto (MS-RP, Southeastern Brazil, as well as 108 healthy bone marrow donors considered as healthy controls. A total of 108 NMO patients were recruited from five Neurology centers from different Brazilian regions, including Ribeirão Preto (NMO-RP. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: European ancestry contribution was higher in MS-RP than in NMO-RP (78.5% vs. 68.7% patients. In contrast, African ancestry estimates were higher in NMO-RP than in MS-RP (20.5% vs. 12.5% patients. Moreover, principal component analyses showed that groups of NMO patients from different Brazilian regions were clustered close to the European ancestral population. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate that European genetic contribution predominates in NMO and MS patients from Brazil.

On Cooperation and Competition: A Comparative Analysis of National Policies for Internationalisation of Higher Education in Seven Western European Countries

Science.gov (United States)

Luijten-Lub, Anneke; Van der Wende, Marijk; Huisman, Jeroen

2005-01-01

The focus of this article is on a comparison of the national policies for internationalisation in seven Western European countries (Austria, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United Kingdom). In this comparison, it will be shown that the trend suggested in previous research of increasing economical rationales for…

Harmonization of nuclear and radiation safety regulations for nuclear power plants with reference levels of Western European Nuclear Regulators Association (WENRA)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bojchuk, V.S.; Mikolajchuk, O.A.; Gromov, G.V.; Dibach, O.M.; Godovanyuk, G.M.; Nosovs'kij, A.V.

2014-01-01

Self-evaluation of the Ukrainian regulations on nuclear and radiation safety that apply to nuclear power plants for compliance with the reference levels of the Western European Nuclear Regulators Association (WENRA) is presented. Proposals on improvement of the regulations upon self-evaluation are provided

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...

Western Sufism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sedgwick, Mark

Western Sufism is sometimes dismissed as a relatively recent "new age" phenomenon, but in this book, Mark Sedgwick argues that it actually has very deep roots, both in the Muslim world and in the West. In fact, although the first significant Western Sufi organization was not established until 1915......, the first Western discussion of Sufism was printed in 1480, and Western interest in some of the ideas that are central to Sufi thought goes back to the thirteenth century. Sedgwick starts with the earliest origins of Western Sufism in late antique Neoplatonism and early Arab philosophy, and traces later......, the year in which the first Western Sufi order based not on the heritage of the European Middle Ages, Renaissance and Enlightenment, but rather on purely Islamic models, was founded. Later developments in this and other orders are also covered. Western Sufism shows the influence of these origins...

A collation of recently published Western European formulae for age estimation of subadult skeletal remains: recommendations for forensic anthropology and osteoarchaeology.

Science.gov (United States)

Rissech, Carme; Márquez-Grant, Nicholas; Turbón, Daniel

2013-01-01

The aim of this study is to provide an effective and quick reference guide based on the most useful European formulae recently published for subadult age estimation. All of these formulae derive from studies on postnatal growth of the scapula, innominate, femur, and tibia, based on modern skeletal data (173 ♂, 173 ♀) from five documented collections from Spain, Portugal, and Britain. The formulae were calculated from Inverse Regression. For this reason, these formulae are especially useful for modern samples from Western Europe and in particular on 20th century human remains from the Iberian Peninsula. Eleven formulae were selected as the most useful because they can be applied to individuals from within a wide age range and in individuals of unknown sex. Due to their high reliability and because they derive from documented European skeletal samples, we recommend these formulae be used on individuals of Caucasoid ancestry from Western Europe. © 2012 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

The Media as a Dual Mediator of the Political Agenda–Setting Effect of Protest : A Longitudinal Study in Six Western European Countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vliegenthart, R.; Walgrave, S.; Wouters, R.; Hutter, S.; Jennings, W.; Gava, R.; Tresh, A.; Varone, F.; Grossman, E.; Breunig, C.; Brouard, S.; Chaques-Bonafont, L.

2016-01-01

The study investigates the impact of media coverage of protest on issue attention in parliament (questions) in six Western European countries. Integrating several data sets on protest, media, and political agendas, we demonstrate that media coverage of protest affects parliamentary agendas: the more

[Twelve years of liver transplantation in Lausanne].

Science.gov (United States)

Mosimann, F; Bettschart, V; Gardaz, J P; Fontolliet, C; Tissot, J D; Meuwly, J Y; Chioléro, R; Gillet, M

2001-02-01

From 1988 to June 2000 138 transplantations were performed in 129 adult patients. Actuarial patient and graft survivals have been 80.7% and 75.4% at one year and 67.8% and 63.5% at 10 years. This compares favourably with the statistics of the European Liver Transplant Registry that collected data from more than 30,000 grafts. Over the twelve years of activity, the indications have become more liberal and the techniques have been simplified. The waiting list has therefore grown and some patients are now unfortunately dying before a graft can be found because the number of brain dead donors remains stable. In order to palliate this shortage, older donors are now being accepted even with co-morbidities and/or moderate alterations of the liver function tests. The use of live donors and the split of the best cadaveric grafts for two recipients will also reduce the gap between the demand and the offer.

The Frequency of Occurrence of Air Masses Over Twelve European Cities.

Science.gov (United States)

1983-01-01

cluster analysis technique to investigate the possibility of simplifying the European "",Oskar Essermanger, 1954, Neue Methode der Zerleang von...Masses, Streamlines, and the Boreal Forest," Geographical Bulletin, Vol 8 11 J. M. Davis, 1981, The Use of Cluster Analysis in the Identification and...Atmosphere and a Proposed Model for Frontal Analysis," Tellus, Vol 5 ’’N. S. McDonald, 1975, "Etgenvectur Analisis as an Aid to Air Mass Recognition

Origin and genetic diversity of Western European populations of the potato cyst nematode (Globodera pallida) inferred from mitochondrial sequences and microsatellite loci.

Science.gov (United States)

Plantard, O; Picard, D; Valette, S; Scurrah, M; Grenier, E; Mugniéry, D

2008-05-01

Native to South America, the potato cyst nematode Globodera pallida is one of the principal pests of Andean potato crops and is also an important global pest following its introduction to Europe, Africa, North America, Asia and Oceania. Building on earlier work showing a clear south to north phylogeographic pattern in Peruvian populations, we have been able to identify the origin of Western European populations with high accuracy. They are all derived from a single restricted area in the extreme south of Peru, located between the north shore of the Lake Titicaca and Cusco. Only four cytochrome b haplotypes are found in Western Europe, one of them being also found in some populations of this area of southern Peru. The allelic richness at seven microsatellite loci observed in the Western European populations, although only one-third of that observed in this part of southern Peru, is comparable to the allelic richness observed in the northern region of Peru. This result could be explained by the fact that most of the genetic variability observed at the scale of a field or even of a region is already observed at the scale of a single plant within a field. Thus, even introduction via a single infected potato plant could result in the relatively high genetic variability observed in Western Europe. This finding has important consequences for the control of this pest and the development of quarantine measures.

Increasing large scale windstorm damage in Western, Central and Northern European forests, 1951-2010

Science.gov (United States)

Gregow, H.; Laaksonen, A.; Alper, M. E.

2017-04-01

Using reports of forest losses caused directly by large scale windstorms (or primary damage, PD) from the European forest institute database (comprising 276 PD reports from 1951-2010), total growing stock (TGS) statistics of European forests and the daily North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index, we identify a statistically significant change in storm intensity in Western, Central and Northern Europe (17 countries). Using the validated set of storms, we found that the year 1990 represents a change-point at which the average intensity of the most destructive storms indicated by PD/TGS > 0.08% increased by more than a factor of three. A likelihood ratio test provides strong evidence that the change-point represents a real shift in the statistical behaviour of the time series. All but one of the seven catastrophic storms (PD/TGS > 0.2%) occurred since 1990. Additionally, we detected a related decrease in September-November PD/TGS and an increase in December-February PD/TGS. Our analyses point to the possibility that the impact of climate change on the North Atlantic storms hitting Europe has started during the last two and half decades.

Comparative assay of fluorescent antibody test results among twelve European National Reference Laboratories using various anti-rabies conjugates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Robardet, E.; Andrieu, S.; Rasmussen, Thomas Bruun

2013-01-01

Twelve National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) for rabies have undertaken a comparative assay to assess the comparison of fluorescent antibody test (FAT) results using five coded commercial anti-rabies conjugates (Biorad, Bioveta, Fujirebio, Millipore, and SIFIN conjugates). Homogenized positive...

Economic development in the European super-periphery: Evidence from the Western Balkans

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bartlett Will

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This paper argues that the conflicts that afflicted the Western Balkan region in the 1990s pushed the countries into the European 'super-periphery', characterized by deindustrialization and high unemployment, ethnic and regional fragmentation, political turmoil, and instability. Integration into international trade has been disrupted, leading to chronic balance of payments deficits. Low inflows of international capital, due to high country risk, have hindered technological catch-up and weakened international competitiveness. An unattractive environment for productive entrepreneurship has created barriers to the entry of SMEs, and at the same time large informal economies. Several countries have become labour-export economies, with significant outflows of skilled labour. Economic development follows a low-skill growth path. The current global economic crisis is having a further deleterious effect as export revenues, foreign direct investment, and labour remittances all diminish. Furthermore, as transition has proceeded, disparities between capital cities and rural areas have increased, while weak administrative capacities have hindered the implementation of effective local development policies to counteract these effects. Endogenous local development cannot provide an alternative to greater engagement with the global economy. The conclusion is that the countries of the region have been left out of the most beneficial elements of the globalisation process, while simultaneously suffering from its main defects. Without a faster process of accession to the EU, local disparities are likely to widen, and the region may remain within the European super-periphery for the foreseeable future.

The European Central Bank and the Eurosystem

OpenAIRE

Carol C. Bertaut

2002-01-01

The Eurosystem comprises the European Central Bank at its center as well as the national central banks of the twelve countries currently participating in monetary union. The European Central Bank was established in July 1998, six months before the beginning of Stage Three of economic and monetary union. Although decisions regarding monetary policy are made centrally by the Governing Council of the Eurosystem, the operational aspects of monetary policy-including open market operations, adminis...

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.

Migration and Western europe: the old world turning new.

Science.gov (United States)

Therborn, G

1987-09-04

The 1960s meant a historical turn of Western Europe, becoming an immigration area. Net immigration has been concentrated to some of the prosperous Western European countries and has been mainly determined by the demand of their particular national labor regimes. The size of alien employment has been very differently affected by the 1973 crisis, but a multiethnical society will remain a novel feature of most Western European countries. Political abdication from full employment and technological change makes a ghetto of un(der)employment a likely prospect of a large part of the second generation of recent immigrants into Western Europe.

Beyond Eurocentrism: Manuel Poirier’s Breton Road-film Western

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helene Catherine Sicard-Cowan

2007-08-01

Full Text Available In this paper on Manuel Poirier’s 1998 film Western, I explore the Peruvian-born director’s construction of Europe as a ‘home’ for non-European immigrants and Europeans alike. Through his appropriation and creative re-signification of the conventions pertaining to the genre of the American western, Poirier projects an image of the French equivalent of the American Far West, i.e. the region of Brittany, as a micro-version of an idealized Europe in which non-European male immigrants turn into friends, lovers and hosts for their homeless, jobless and/or loveless European counterparts.

Diagnostic accuracy of HbA1c in diabetes between Eastern and Western.

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Shuang; Liu, Siying; Zhao, Yashuang; Zhang, Wencui; Sun, Xiaohui; Li, Jianing; Jiang, Fuli; Ju, Jiaming; Lang, Ning; Zhang, Yingqi; Zhou, Weiyu; Li, Qiang

2013-07-01

In 2010, the American Diabetes Association recommended the use of HbA1c as a diagnostic criterion for diabetes. However, HbA1c is not an accepted diagnostic tool for diabetes in Eastern Asia, because genetic differences compromise the standardization of the diagnostic cut-off point. This study evaluated differences in the use of HbA1c for diagnosing diabetes in Eastern and Western populations and investigated whether HbA1c cut-off point of ≥ 6.5% is diagnostic of diabetes in patients from Eastern Asia. Literature was obtained from MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane databases. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of each HbA1c cut-off point were extracted and compared between Western and Eastern populations. Differences in the cut-off point for diagnosing diabetes in each region were compared by examining differences in the area under summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curves. Twelve publications from Eastern countries (n = 59,735) and 13 from Western countries (n = 22,954) were included in the analysis. Areas under SROC curves in the Eastern and Western groups were 0.9331 and 0.9120, respectively (P = 0.98). The cut-off point of the highest Youden index was 6.0%. At the HbA1c cut-off point of 6.5%, the pooled sensitivity and specificity were 58.7% and 98.4% for Eastern countries and 65.5% and 98.1% for Western countries, respectively. HbA1c exhibits the same diagnostic value for diabetes in Eastern and Western populations. In both populations, HbA1c levels > 6.0% identify the population at high risk of diabetes, and HbA1c > 6.5% is diagnostic of clinically established diabetes. © 2013 Stichting European Society for Clinical Investigation Journal Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Nurse prescribing of medicines in Western European and Anglo-Saxon countries: a survey on forces, conditions and jurisdictional control.

Science.gov (United States)

Kroezen, Marieke; Francke, Anneke L; Groenewegen, Peter P; van Dijk, Liset

2012-08-01

The number of Western European and Anglo-Saxon countries where nurses are legally allowed to prescribe medicines is growing. As the prescribing of medicines has traditionally been the task of the medical profession, nurse prescribing is changing the relationship between the medical and nursing professions. To gain more insight into the forces that led to the introduction of nurse prescribing of medicines in Western European and Anglo-Saxon countries, as well as into the legal, educational and organizational conditions under which nurses prescribe in these countries. Moreover, this study sought to determine which consequences nurse prescribing has for the division of jurisdictional control over prescribing between the nursing and medical professions. International survey. An email survey was sent to 60 stakeholders of professional nursing or medical associations or government bodies, at national, state or provincial level across ten Western European and Anglo-Saxon countries, namely Australia, Canada, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The survey addressed the reasons for the introduction of nurse prescribing and the conditions under which nurses are or will be prescribing medicines. The response rate was 65% (n=39). It was shown that a diversity of forces led to the introduction of nurse prescribing, and respondents from nursing and medical associations and government bodies cited different forces as being important for the introduction of nurse prescribing. Representatives of nurses' associations oftentimes emphasized the medication needs of patients living in remote geographical areas, while representatives of medical associations more often pointed to workforce shortages within the health care service. The conditions under which nurses prescribe medicines vary considerably, from countries where nurses prescribe independently to countries in which prescribing by nurses is only

Mergers and acquisitions in Western European health care: exploring the role of financial services organizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Angeli, Federica; Maarse, Hans

2012-05-01

Recent policy developments in Western European health care - for example in the Netherlands - aim to enhance efficiency and curb public expenditures by strengthening the role of private sector. Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) play an important role in this respect. This article presents an analysis of 1606 acquisition deals targeting health care provider organizations in Western Europe between 1990 and 2009. We particularly investigate the role of financial services organisations as acquirers. Our analysis highlights (a) a rise of M&As in Western Europe since 2000, (b) an increase of M&As with financial service organisations acting as acquirer in absolute terms, and (c) a dominant role of the latter type of M&As in cross-border deals. To explain these developments, we make a distinction between an integration and a diversification rationale for M&As and we argue that the deals with financial services organisations in the role of acquirer are driven by a diversification rationale. We then provide arguments why health care, from the acquirer's perspective, can be considered as an interesting target in a diversification strategy and we advance reasons why health care providers may welcome this development. Although caution in drawing conclusions is needed, our findings suggest a penetration of private capital into health care provision that may be interpreted as a specific form of privatisation. Furthermore, they point to a rising internationalisation of health care. Both findings may entail far-reaching implications for health care, as they may induce both cultural privatisation and cultural internationalisation. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nuclear energy in Western Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loennroth, M.; Walker, W.

1984-01-01

This is an overview of nuclear energy in Western Europe, as seen by two Western Europeans, attempting to place the topic into the context not only of energy supply but also of industrial relations, institutional structure, and sociocultural factors. Although its main focus is Western Europe, it is sometimes necessary to glance at the wider context, in particular the industrial relations with the United States and Japan. Export markets are also considered, in particular, in the Pacific. The paper does not, however, deal with nonproliferation policies and the possible difference of opinion within Western Europe and between Western Europe and other regions over this topic. (author)

Occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma and decompensation in western European patients with cirrhosis type B. The EUROHEP Study Group on Hepatitis B Virus and Cirrhosis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fattovich, G; Giustina, G; Schalm, S W

1995-01-01

To examine the morbidity of compensated cirrhosis type B, a cohort of 349 Western European, white patients (86% men; mean age, 44 years) with biopsy-proven cirrhosis was followed up for a mean period of 73 months and was studied for occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and decompensation...

Western European gas: economic versus strategic considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoppard, Michael.

1994-01-01

Concerns over the export of Russian gas to Western Europe are aired in this paper. Although gas deliveries continue to flow to the economic benefit of both buyers and seller, some critics fear supply disruptions, of the sort common in the old Soviet Union. Proponents of the scheme argue for its economic benefits and dismiss concerns of the strategic leverage it gives the Russian Federation, pointing out that Western Europe's dependence on imported oil is much higher than upon natural gas. The technology for gas storage is seen as a priority to defeat the strategic importance of possible supply disruptions. It is argued that the United Kingdom will eventually distance itself economically from Germany, France, Italy and Spain in terms of its energy policy as our policy of diversification moves away from their commitment to free market forces. (UK)

Solar energy futures in a Western European context

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nakicenovic, N; Messner, S

1983-02-01

The study considers three limiting scenarios that specify possible but not necessarily likely transitions to sustainable energy futures for Western Europe. Two scenarios consider exclusively solar futures--one based on centralized solar technologies (Hard scenario) and the other on decentralized, user-oriented technologies (Soft scenario). The third scenario, based on nuclear technologies, incorporates an intermediate degree of centralization in the energy system and serves as a comparison to the two exclusively solar scenarios. All three scenarios lead to sustainable energy futures before the year 2100, which is the time horizon of the study. While all three scenarios eliminate Western Europe's dependence on domestic and foreign fossil energy sources, the Hard Solar scenario requires substantial imports of solar produced hydrogen. The scenarios are based on dynamic balances of energy demand and supply using detailed models to achieve consistency. The overall implications of each scenario are that fundamental but different changes of the whole energy system, economic structure and life-styles are necessary in order to achieve sustainable energy futures in Western Europe.

Solar energy futures in a Western European context

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nakicenovic, N; Messner, S

1983-02-01

The study considers three limiting scenarios that specify possible but not necessarily likely transitions to sustainable energy future for Western Europe. Two scenarios consider exclusively solar futures - one based on centralized solar technologies (hard scenario) and the other on decentralized, user-oriented technologies (soft scenario). The third scenario, based on nuclear technologies, incorporates an intermediate degree of centralization in the energy system and serves as a comparison to the two exclusively solar scenarios. All three scenarios lead to sustainable energy futures before the year 2100, which is the time horizon of the study. While all three scenarios eliminate Western Europe's dependence on domestic and foreign fossil energy sources, the Hard Solar scenario requires substantial imports of solar produced hydrogen. The scenarios are based on dynamic balances of energy demand and supply using detailed models to achieve consistency. The overall implications of each scenario are that fundamental but different changes of the whole energy system, economic structure and life-styles are necessary in order to achieve sustainable energy futures in Western Europe.

Viewls - Possibilities and performance of international biofuel trade from CEEC to WEC[Central and Eastern European Countries; Western European Countries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dam, J. van; Faaij, A.; Lewandowski, I. [Utrecht Univ., Dept. of Science, Technology and Society, Utrecht (Netherlands); Zeebroeck, B. van [Transport and Mobility Leuven, Leuven (Belgium); Falkenberg, D.; Hein, M.; Schroeder, G.; Thraen, D.; Weber, M. [Inst. of Energy and Environment, Leipzig (Germany)

2006-05-13

The EU has set high targets to increase the use of renewable energy sources from which a large part has to come from biomass. To meet these targets, a large amount of biomass resources is needed, which requires large areas of land in the EU for energy crop production. However, the availability of good land for energy crop production is limited in Western European countries (WEC). This means that the potential from indigenous biomass resources is not sufficient to meet the set bioenergy targets. At the same time, the expansion of the EU and the inclusion of the Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) in agricultural and energy EU policies create potential difficulties as well as opportunities. Agriculture plays an important role in the CEEC furthermore, the share of agricultural employment is still large. In the future rationalization of the current agriculture in the CEEC is expected. This will lead to increased productivity and economic performance. On the other hand, unemployment and an increase in abandoned land are expected as well. A study of the technical biomass production potentials in the CEEC shows that in some scenarios the biomass production potential exceeds the current final energy consumption on a country level. The main objectives of this study are: 1) Define the critical factors to set up a stable international biofuel trade between CEEC and WEC, 2) Estimate the cost performance of the energy carriers delivered in the WEC from the CEEC, 3) Analyze the regional differences in cost performance of the energy carriers in the CEEC. (BA)

Twelve Girls＇ Band＇ A Modern Miracle of Traditional Music

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

YaoZhanxiong

2004-01-01

Twelve antique traditional instruments. Twelve spirited, pretty girls. "Twelve Girls' Band" is a traditional instrument orchestra playing well-known folk music in the form of pop. Besides age-old traditional instruments peculiar to China, such as zheng (ancient 21 to 25-stringed plucked instrument), qin (seven-stringed plucked instrument) and erhu (two-stringed Chinese fiddle),

Expert perspectives on Western European prison health services: do ageing prisoners receive equivalent care?

Science.gov (United States)

Bretschneider, Wiebke; Elger, Bernice Simone

2014-09-01

Health care in prison and particularly the health care of older prisoners are increasingly important topics due to the growth of the ageing prisoner population. The aim of this paper is to gain insight into the approaches used in the provision of equivalent health care to ageing prisoners and to confront the intuitive definition of equivalent care and the practical and ethical challenges that have been experienced by individuals working in this field. Forty interviews took place with experts working in the prison setting from three Western European countries to discover their views on prison health care. Experts indicated that the provision of equivalent care in prison is difficult mostly due to four factors: variability of care in different prisons, gatekeeper systems, lack of personnel, and delays in providing access. This lack of equivalence can be fixed by allocating adequate budgets and developing standards for health care in prison.

Introduction: Imams in Western Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vinding, Niels Valdemar; Hashas, Mohammed; de Ruiter, Jan Jaap

2018-01-01

by this source of religious authority in the context of the secular-liberal societies of Western Europe since the Second World War and the subsequent migration and refugee flows. At the same time, this research also serves to highlight secular-liberal institutions and their adaptation, or lack thereof......, to the multiculturalism that characterizes Western European states. The social facts of globalization, transnational migration, and various interpretations of secularism have challenged the visibility of religion in the public sphere in Western societies. This has most importantly and urgently required religious...

Cones, Seeds, and Foliage of Tetraclinis Salicornioides (Cupressaceae) from the Oligocene and Miocene of Western North America: A Geographic Extension of the European Tertiary Species.

Science.gov (United States)

Kvacek; Manchester; Schorn

2000-03-01

The cupressaceous genus Tetraclinis is recognized from the Oligocene and Miocene of western North America on the basis of co-occurring seed cones, seeds, and foliage branches. Morphological and anatomical comparisons with the two previously recognized European Tertiary species indicate that the North American specimens are morphologically inseparable from Tetraclinis salicornioides (Unger) Kvacek. The North American taxon is treated as a new variety, T. salicornioides (Unger) Kvacek var. praedecurrens (Knowlton) comb. et stat. nov., and is distinguished from the European representatives, T. salicornioides (Unger) Kvacek var. salicornioides, by slight anatomical differences in the leaf epidermis. Although cones and seeds of the fossil species are closely similar to those of extant Tetraclinis articulata, the foliage is more "spreading," composed of flattened segments with fused facial and lateral leaves that are apparently adaptive for a more mesic climate. The recognition of T. salicornioides in western North America along with the absence of Tetraclinis in the fossil and recent flora of eastern Asia provide evidence for communication of the species across the North Atlantic during the early or middle Tertiary.

Dolni Vestonice (Czech Republic) an intermédiate loess series between Western and eastern European records

Science.gov (United States)

Rousseau, D.; Antoine, P.; Hatte, C.; Lagroix, F.; Fuchs, M.; Moine, O.; Gauthier, C.; Svoboda, J.; Lisa, L.

2010-12-01

Previous investigations on western and eastern European loess series have shown similarities at least for the main loess deposition during the last climate cycle, recording North-Atlantic abrupt climate changes, the Dansgaard-Oeschger and Heinrich events. To address the question of how such record occurred through modeling experiments (Sima et al., QSR, 2009), we need reference series located in an intermediary position between the Nussloch (Germany - Antoine et al, QI 2001, QSR, 2009; Rousseau et al, GRL 2007) and Stayky (Ukraine -Rousseau et al, Clim Past D 2010) loess series at about 50°N latitude, location of the main deposits. The key sequence of Dolni Vestonice in southern Czech Republic, had been investigated previously and described by many authors since 1961, and more especially by G Kukla and B Klima. Here we present the preliminary results of the new study of this key sequence by a multidisciplinary study, supported by ANR-ACTES project, combining the detailed stratigraphy, AMS 14C and IRSL dating, rock magnetic property, grain size, d13C and mollusks analyses. We applied the same sampling protocol than previously developed, by carefully cleaning the sequence on a vertical panel, 15m high and 5m wide in order to have parallel samples (on continuous columns) easily comparable. The results show similar patterns, high frequency variations of the different proxies in the upper part of the record corresponding to MIS 3 and 2, as observed in western and eastern European sequences supporting then our assumption of the recording of N Atlantic abrupt changes over Europe. Other interesting variations are clearly demonstrated for every proxy making these results remarkable new data for individual in deep studies. Moreover our detailed investigation also shows new data about abrupt dust events, markers, in the lower part of the sequence, and previously interpreted as strong dust events, and how they appear within sedimentary cycles linked to the cyclicity at the

Mitterrand and the Great European Design—From the Cold War to the European Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Troitiño David Ramiro

2017-10-01

Full Text Available François Mitterrand had a leading role in directing the course for the European integration process. While he orchestrated the economic integration of Europe, he remained deeply opposed to further political integration within the Communities. This article researches Mitterrand’s rationale for his clear focus on economic affairs and develops his vision for the institutional setting of the European Union (EU. The focus of the article is allocated to four different perspectives that reflect the four pillars of Mitterrand’s European policy: the common currency, the establishment of a closely integrated and small Western European based EU, the development of the Social Europe and of a free trade area between Europe and Africa. It is argued that although EU institutions have been established based on Mitterrand’s design, today’s reality deviates from the conditions on which his plan was based. For Mitterrand, the ideal EU involved a deep-rooted Western Europe with France at its core and a loose association with Central and Eastern Europe. His perception resembles the current discussions of multi-speed Europe and the determination of France and Germany to proceed to the next stage of the integration process. Importantly, Mitterrand’s print can still be recognised in the EU’s social policy included in the treaties, yet still far from being implemented. Notably, like all of the French Presidents, Mitterrand developed a design for Africa in which an extensive free trade area between Europe and former French colonies were to be established. In this proposal, Germany was to be assigned the part of the economic engine behind the actualisation of the proposal, while France was to carry out the role of a required middle man of the transactions. To further assure France’s political predominance over the Communities, Mitterrand designed a common currency for a small number of homogenous Western-European states.

HTA Implementation Roadmap in Central and Eastern European Countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaló, Zoltán; Gheorghe, Adrian; Huic, Mirjana

2016-01-01

The opportunity cost of inappropriate health policy decisions is greater in Central and Eastern European (CEE) compared with Western European (WE) countries because of poorer population health and more limited healthcare resources. Application of health technology assessment (HTA) prior to health......The opportunity cost of inappropriate health policy decisions is greater in Central and Eastern European (CEE) compared with Western European (WE) countries because of poorer population health and more limited healthcare resources. Application of health technology assessment (HTA) prior......, use of local data, scope of mandatory HTA, decision criteria, and international collaboration in HTA. Although HTA implementation strategies from the region can be relevant examples for other CEE countries with similar cultural environment and economic status, HTA roadmaps are not still fully...

Russian natural gas policy and its possible effects on European gas markets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quast, O.; Locatelli, C.

1997-01-01

There is a growing perception among Western European gas experts that Russia has developed a considerable gas surplus - the Russian gas bubble. Thus, the question clearly arises how much gas is available for export and how much gas, over the next 15 to 20 years, can the Russian quasi-monopolist Gazprom market in Western Europe. We consider that Gazprom's export strategy mirrors the approach of Russia's natural gas policy towards the Western European market. In this paper, we will focus on the characteristics of Gazprom's export strategy, its underlying logic, and its impact on Western European gas markets. As a consequence of Gazprom's export strategy, the Russian gas company faces today a price quantity dilemma. Gazprom's problem is to place as much gas as possible in the growing Western European gas market, without destroying downstream gas prices. We argue that Gazprom has adopted a market share expansion and downstream vertical integration strategy, aimed at capturing a part of the downstream gas rent. Although this strategy appears to have initiated a form of gas to gas competition in a number of European consumer markets, this strategy is not based on an aggressive price policy. However, in order to live up to its ambitions, there is a chance that Gazprom will have to somewhat relax traditional contract clauses, such as contract length, indexation terms and take or pay conditions. (author)

The twelve colourful stones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doria, R.M.

1983-01-01

A dynamics with twelve colourful stones is created based on the concepts of gauge and colour. It is associated different gauge fields to the same group. A group of gauge invariant Lagrangians is established. A gauge invariant mass term is introduced. The colourful stones physical insight is to be building blocks for quarks and leptons. (Author) [pt

A European test of pesticide-leaching models: methodology and major recommendations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vanclooster, M.; Boesten, J.J.T.I.; Trevisan, M.; Brown, C.D.; Capri, E.; Eklo, O.M.; Gottesbüren, B.; Gouy, V.; Linden, van der A.M.A.

2000-01-01

Testing of pesticide-leaching models is important in view of their increasing use in pesticide registration procedures in the European Union. This paper presents the methodology and major conclusions of a test of pesticide-leaching models. Twelve models simulating the vertical one-dimensional

Imams in Western Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

As European Muslims and Muslims in the Middle East diverge, imams in Europe have emerged as major agents of religious authority who shape Islam’s presence in Western societies. This volume examines the theoretical and practical questions concerning the evolving role of imams in Europe. To what...

Multiple selective events at the PRDM16 functional pathway shaped adaptation of western European populations to different climate conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Quagliarello, Andrea; De Fanti, Sara; Giuliani, Cristina; Abondio, Paolo; Serventi, Patrizia; Sarno, Stefania; Sazzini, Marco; Luiselli, Donata

2017-12-30

Several studies highlighted the role of climate in shaping many human evolutionary processes. This occurred even in relatively recent times, having affected various human phenotypic traits, among which metabolic processes that orchestrate absorption and accumulation of substances to maintain energy homeostasis, that is critical for the survival of individuals in high energy-expenditure environments. To date, most researches have focalized on detection of climatic influence on SNPs' frequency in populations exposed to extreme environmental conditions or by comparing variation patterns between populations from different continents. In this study, we instead explored the genetic background of distinct western European human groups at loci involved in nutritional and thermoregulation processes, to test whether patterns of differential local adaptation to environmental conditions could be appreciated also at a lower geographical scale. Taking advantage from the 1000 Genomes Project data, genetic information for 21 genes involved in nutritional and thermoregulation processes was analysed for three western European populations. The applied Anthropological Genetics methods pointed to appreciable differentiation between the examined groups especially for the PRDM16 gene. Moreover, several neutrality tests suggested that balancing selection has acted on different regions of the gene in people from Great Britain, as well as that more recent positive selection could have also targeted some PRDM16 SNPs in Finn and Italian populations. These series of adaptive footprints are plausibly related to climate variability in both ancient and relatively recent times. Since this locus is involved in thermoregulation mechanisms and adipogenesis, local adaptations mediated by a pathway related to the brown adipose tissue activity could have evolved in response to changing cold temperature exposures of such populations.

Hydrogen and Biofuels - A Modeling Analysis of Competing Energy Carriers for Western Europe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guel, Timur; Kypreos, Socrates; Barreto, Leonardo

2007-07-01

This paper deals with the prospects of hydrogen and biofuels as energy carriers in the Western European transportation sector. The assessment is done by combining the US hydrogen analysis H2A models for the design of hydrogen production and delivery chains, and the Western European Hydrogen Markal Model EHM with a detailed representation of biofuels, and the European electricity and transportation sector. The paper derives policy recommendations to support the market penetration of hydrogen and biofuels, and investigates learning interactions between the different energy carriers. (auth)

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...

European future natural gas demand and supply diversification: key issues for Central and Eastern Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mueller-Elschner, E.

1996-01-01

After the breakdown of the former Soviet Union and the COMECON the demarcation line between western Europe and central/eastern Europe has disappeared. The central and eastern European economies as a whole and their gas industries as well as the western European gas companies are preparing for the future enlarged market in creating the prerequisites to participate successfully in such a market and to seize the opportunities this market is offering. The framework for this future European Gas Market has to be created now. The European gas industries and gas markets are in transition and are in a process of reshaping, with the following challenges: (1) In Central and Eastern European countries: To complete the privatization and restructuring process from centrally-planned economies to market-oriented structures with deregulated prices, market-oriented tariff systems and new legal and regulatory frameworks. These are the essential prerequisites for an integration of the central and eastern European countries into a single European gas market and the basis for an effective and successful trans border gas co-operation between east and west. (2) In western European countries: To pursue nearly similar processes of restructuring which are underway: privatization by reducing state participation and influence in gas and energy companies, with the accent on liberalization and deregulation of market structures with fewer market entry barriers, and more competition by reducing the influence of state or private monopolies. Gas companies are undertaking cost-efficiency measures to be prepared to meet the requirements of more competitive market structures and also of a more advanced internationalized gas business. The fundamental rules on which western European gas industries based their operations up to now have to be reconsidered. The old western European structures which have developed under the shelter of governmental protection are under pressure from several sources. EU energy

Religious Education in Public Schools in Western Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Llorent-Vaquero, Mercedes

2018-01-01

Christianity is one of the cultural and ethical cornerstones of Europe. In the European Union (EU) there is no overarching policy on religious education (RE) in the school system. The authors use a comparative methodology to analyze the constitutions of Western European countries in relation to different aspects of RE. Specifically, it is focused…

Y-STR variation in the Basque diaspora in the Western USA: evolutionary and forensic perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Valverde, Laura; Rosique, Melania; Köhnemann, Stephan; Cardoso, Sergio; García, Ainara; Odriozola, Adrián; Aznar, Jose María; Celorrio, David; Schuerenkamp, Marianne; Zubizarreta, Josu; Davis, Michael C; Hampikian, Greg; Pfeiffer, Heidi; de Pancorbo, Marian M

2012-03-01

Individuals of Basque origin migrated in large numbers to the Western USA in the second half of the nineteenth century, and the flow continued with less intensity during the last century. The European source population, that of the Basque Country, has long been a cultural and geographical isolate. Previous studies have demonstrated that Y-STR frequencies of Basques are different from those of other Spanish and European populations [1]. The Basque diaspora in the Western USA is a recent migration, but the founder effect and the incorporation of new American Y chromosomes into the paternal genetic pool of the Basque diaspora could have influenced its genetic structure and could thus have practical implications for forensic genetics. To check for genetic substructure among the European source and Basque diaspora populations and determine the most suitable population database for the Basque diaspora in the Western USA, we have analysed the haplotype distribution of 17 Y-STRs in both populations. We have found that the Basque diaspora in the Western USA largely conserve the Y chromosome lineage characteristic of the autochthonous European Basque population with no statistically significant differences. This implies that a common 17 Y-STR Basque population database could be used to calculate identification or kinship parameters regardless of whether the Basque individuals are from the European Basque Country or from the Basque diaspora in the Western USA.

Epidemiology of taeniosis/cysticercosis in Europe, a systematic review: Western Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Laranjo-González, Minerva; Devleesschauwer, Brecht; Trevisan, Chiara; Allepuz, Alberto; Sotiraki, Smaragda; Abraham, Annette; Afonso, Mariana Boaventura; Blocher, Joachim; Cardoso, Luís; Correia da Costa, José Manuel; Dorny, Pierre; Gabriël, Sarah; Gomes, Jacinto; Gómez-Morales, María Ángeles; Jokelainen, Pikka; Kaminski, Miriam; Krt, Brane; Magnussen, Pascal; Robertson, Lucy J; Schmidt, Veronika; Schmutzhard, Erich; Smit, G Suzanne A; Šoba, Barbara; Stensvold, Christen Rune; Starič, Jože; Troell, Karin; Rataj, Aleksandra Vergles; Vieira-Pinto, Madalena; Vilhena, Manuela; Wardrop, Nicola Ann; Winkler, Andrea S; Dermauw, Veronique

2017-07-21

Taenia solium and Taenia saginata are zoonotic parasites of public health importance. Data on their occurrence in humans and animals in western Europe are incomplete and fragmented. In this study, we aimed to update the current knowledge on the epidemiology of these parasites in this region. We conducted a systematic review of scientific and grey literature published from 1990 to 2015 on the epidemiology of T. saginata and T. solium in humans and animals. Additionally, data about disease occurrence were actively sought by contacting local experts in the different countries. Taeniosis cases were found in twelve out of eighteen countries in western Europe. No cases were identified in Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. For Denmark, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and the UK, annual taeniosis cases were reported and the number of detected cases per year ranged between 1 and 114. Detected prevalences ranged from 0.05 to 0.27%, whereas estimated prevalences ranged from 0.02 to 0.67%. Most taeniosis cases were reported as Taenia spp. or T. saginata, although T. solium was reported in Denmark, France, Italy, Spain, Slovenia, Portugal and the UK. Human cysticercosis cases were reported in all western European countries except for Iceland, with the highest number originating from Portugal and Spain. Most human cysticercosis cases were suspected to have acquired the infection outside western Europe. Cases of T. solium in pigs were found in Austria and Portugal, but only the two cases from Portugal were confirmed with molecular methods. Germany, Spain and Slovenia reported porcine cysticercosis, but made no Taenia species distinction. Bovine cysticercosis was detected in all countries except for Iceland, with a prevalence based on meat inspection of 0.0002-7.82%. Detection and reporting of taeniosis in western Europe should be improved. The existence of T. solium tapeworm carriers, of suspected autochthonous cases of human cysticercosis and

The twelve colourful stones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doria, R.M.

1984-01-01

The gauge symmetry is extended. It is associated differents matter and gauge fields to the same group. A group of gauge invariant Lagrangians is established. A gauge invariant mass term is introduced. A massive Yang Mills is obtained. A dynamics with twelve colourful stones is created based on the concepts of gauge and colour. Structures identified as quarks and leptons are generated. A discussion about colour meaning is presented. (Author) [pt

News from the western European invasion front

OpenAIRE

Filipe Ribeiro

2015-01-01

Invasive species are one of the main threats to aquatic biodiversity, being particularly serious in regions with high number of endemic and endangered fishes. Portugal has currently one of the highest numbers of non-native fishes per area in western Europe and the rate of species arrival is increasing. In this review, an updated status of non-native fishes is provided with recent trends of leading vectors and routes. Non-native fish component represents 31% of the freshwater fish diversity ex...

Preparation for emergence of an Eastern European porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) strain in Western Europe: Immunization with modified live virus vaccines or a field strain confers partial protection.

Science.gov (United States)

Renson, P; Fablet, C; Le Dimna, M; Mahé, S; Touzain, F; Blanchard, Y; Paboeuf, F; Rose, N; Bourry, O

2017-05-01

The porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) causes huge economic losses for the swine industry worldwide. In the past several years, highly pathogenic strains that lead to even greater losses have emerged. For the Western European swine industry, one threat is the possible introduction of Eastern European PRRSV strains (example Lena genotype 1.3) which were shown to be more virulent than common Western resident strains under experimental conditions. To prepare for the possible emergence of this strain in Western Europe, we immunized piglets with a Western European PRRSV field strain (Finistere: Fini, genotype 1.1), a new genotype 1 commercial modified live virus (MLV) vaccine (MLV1) or a genotype 2 commercial MLV vaccine (MLV2) to evaluate and compare the level of protection that these strains conferred upon challenge with the Lena strain 4 weeks later. Results show that immunization with Fini, MLV1 or MLV2 strains shortened the Lena-induced hyperthermia. In the Fini group, a positive effect was also demonstrated in growth performance. The level of Lena viremia was reduced for all immunized groups (significantly so for Fini and MLV2). This reduction in Lena viremia was correlated with the level of Lena-specific IFNγ-secreting cells. In conclusion, we showed that a commercial MLV vaccine of genotype 1 or 2, as well as a field strain of genotype 1.1 may provide partial clinical and virological protection upon challenge with the Lena strain. The cross-protection induced by these immunizing strains was not related with the level of genetic similarity to the Lena strain. The slightly higher level of protection established with the field strain is attributed to a better cell-mediated immune response. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mythematics Solving the Twelve Labors of Hercules

CERN Document Server

Huber, Michael

2009-01-01

How might Hercules, the most famous of the Greek heroes, have used mathematics to complete his astonishing Twelve Labors? From conquering the Nemean Lion and cleaning out the Augean Stables, to capturing the Erymanthean Boar and entering the Underworld to defeat the three-headed dog Cerberus, Hercules and his legend are the inspiration for this book of fun and original math puzzles. While Hercules relied on superhuman strength to accomplish the Twelve Labors, Mythematics shows how math could have helped during his quest. How does Hercules defeat the Lernean Hydra and stop its heads from multip

Gendering Citizenship in Western Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Siim, Birte; Lister, Ruth; Williams, Fiona

The first part of the book clarifies the ways that the concept of citizenship has developed historically and is understood today in a range of Western European welfare states. It elaborates on the contempory framing of debates and struggles around citizenship. This provides a framework for thee...

Effects of liberalizing the natural gas markets in Western Europe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Golombek, R [Stiftelsen for Samfunns- og Naeringslivsforskning, Oslo (Norway); Gjelsvik, E; Rosendahl, K E [Statistisk sentralbyraa, Oslo (Norway)

1994-08-01

The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of liberalization of the West-European natural gas markets within a numerical model. The authors study profit maximizing Cournot producers facing an ideal third party access for gas transport in Western Europe. In each country there are two types of end-users, small consumers in the residential, commercial and public sector and large users in the manufacturing industry and in the electric power supply. The analysis proceeds in stages. First the case where no traders exploit arbitrage possibilities and some producers have limited access to the markets is examined. In this equilibrium net prices differ across markets. These differences disappear in the second case where traders are introduced. The third case focuses on a complete European market for natural gas in which traders exploit all arbitrage possibilities and all producers are in a position to sell gas in all markets. The impact on the complete European market of changes in costs of production, costs of transport and costs of distribution is studied. Finally, the impact of banning gas sales consortia in Western Europe is studied. It is shown that this measure increases welfare in Western Europe, whereas profits to non-European producers decrease. 31 refs., 12 tabs.

Effects of liberalizing the natural gas markets in Western Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Golombek, R.; Gjelsvik, E.; Rosendahl, K.E.

1994-01-01

The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of liberalization of the West-European natural gas markets within a numerical model. The authors study profit maximizing Cournot producers facing an ideal third party access for gas transport in Western Europe. In each country there are two types of end-users, small consumers in the residential, commercial and public sector and large users in the manufacturing industry and in the electric power supply. The analysis proceeds in stages. First the case where no traders exploit arbitrage possibilities and some producers have limited access to the markets is examined. In this equilibrium net prices differ across markets. These differences disappear in the second case where traders are introduced. The third case focuses on a complete European market for natural gas in which traders exploit all arbitrage possibilities and all producers are in a position to sell gas in all markets. The impact on the complete European market of changes in costs of production, costs of transport and costs of distribution is studied. Finally, the impact of banning gas sales consortia in Western Europe is studied. It is shown that this measure increases welfare in Western Europe, whereas profits to non-European producers decrease. 31 refs., 12 tabs

Children of non-Western origin with end-stage renal disease in the Netherlands, Belgium and a part of Germany have impaired health-related quality of life compared with Western children

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schoenmaker, N.J.; Haverman, L.; Tromp, W.F.; Lee, J.H. van der; Offringa, M.; Adams, B.; Bouts, A.H.M.; Collard, L.; Cransberg, K.; Dyck, M. van; Godefroid, N.; Hoeck, K. van; Koster-Kamphuis, L.; Lilien, M.R.; Raes, A.; Taylan, C.; Grootenhuis, M.A.; Groothoff, J.W.

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: Many children with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) living in Western Europe are of non-Western European origin. They have unfavourable somatic outcomes compared with ESRD children of Western origin. In this study, we compared the Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) of both groups.

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...

Energy consumption across European Union farms: Efficiency in terms of farming output and utilized agricultural area

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martinho, Vítor João Pereira Domingues

2016-01-01

Energy consumption is a global concern, namely due to the limited availability of energy sources and the consequences in terms of gas emissions, with its implications upon greenhouse gas emissions. In the agricultural sector this question bears an additional concern, considering that it is an economic activity which is sensitive to the dimension of the costs associated with production factors. In this way, the objective of the study presented here is to analyze, the efficiency of energy consumption, for the twelve former European Union countries, at farm level, in terms of farming output and utilized agricultural area, over the period 1989–2009 and for the years 2004–2012, with data available in the Farm Accountancy Data Network. On the other hand, the implications of energy consumption in farms' economic performance were analyzed, through econometric techniques (time series, panel data and generalized method of moments) and models based on the Kaldor developments. As a main conclusion, to stress the decrease in efficiency related with energy consumption by farms in the twelve former European Union countries. - Highlights: • It was analyzed the efficiency of energy consumption. • It was considered data for the twelve former European Union states at farm level. • They were evaluated the implications of energy consumption in farms performance. • The conclusions stress the decrease in efficiency of the farms energy consumption.

Urban regeneration in European social housing areas, Chapter 11

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Droste, C.; Lelevrier, C.; Wassenberg, F.

2008-01-01

Many European countries have policies to renew cities and neighbourhoods. This paper examines the policies of France, the Netherlands and Germany. In these, as in most Western European countries, the social housing sector forms an important part of regeneration schemes. Social housing is both actor

Conservation Motivation, Social Equality and Left-Right Ideological Preferences in Western and Eastern Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Hadarics, Márton

2017-05-01

We investigated how attitudes towards social equality can influence the relationship between conservation motivation (or openness) and personal ideological preferences on the left-right dimension, and how this relationship pattern differs between Western and Central & Eastern European (CEE) respondents. Using data from the European Social Survey (2012) we found that individual-level of conservation motivation reduces cultural egalitarianism in both the Western European and the CEE regions, but its connection with economic egalitarianism is only relevant in the CEE region where it fosters economic egalitarianism. Since both forms of egalitarianism were related to leftist ideological preferences in Western Europe, but in the CEE region only economic egalitarianism was ideologically relevant, we concluded that the classic "rigidity of the right" phenomenon is strongly related to cultural (anti)egalitarianism in Western Europe. At the same time, conservation motivation serves as a basis for the "rigidity of the left" in the post-socialist CEE region, in a great part due to the conventional egalitarian economic views.

Nort-South gradients in plasma concentrations of B-vitamins and other components of one-carbon metabolism in Western Europe: results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eussen, S.J.P.M.; Nilsen, R.M.; Midttun, O.; Hustad, S.; IJssenagger, N.; Meyer, K.; Fredriksen, A.; Ulvik, A.; Ueland, P.M.; Brennan, P.; Johansson, M.; Bueno-de-Mesquita, B.; Vineis, P.; Chuang, S.C.; Boutron-Ruault, M.C.; Dossus, L.; Perquier, F.; Overvad, K.; Teucher, B.; Grote, V.A.; Trichopoulou, A.; Adarakis, G.; Plada, M.; Sieri, S.; Tumino, R.; Santucci de Magistris, M.; Ros, M.M.; Peeters, P.H.M.; Redondo, M.L.; Zamora-Ros, R.; Chirlaque, M.D.; Ardanaz, E.; Sonestedt, E.; Ericson, U.; Schneede, J.; Guelpen, B.; Wark, P.A.; Gallo, V.; Norat, T.; Riboli, E.; Vollset, S.E.

2013-01-01

Different lifestyle patterns across Europe may influence plasma concentrations of B-vitamins and one-carbon metabolites and their relation to chronic disease. Comparison of published data on one-carbon metabolites in Western European regions is difficult due to differences in sampling procedures and

North-south gradients in plasma concentrations of B-vitamins and other components of one-carbon metabolism in Western Europe: results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eussen, S.J.; Nilsen, R.M.; Midttun, O.; Hustad, S.; N, I.J.; Meyer, K.; Fredriksen, A.; Ulvik, A.; Ueland, P.M.; Brennan, P.; Johansson, M.; Bueno-de-Mesquita, B.; Vineis, P.; Chuang, S.C.; Boutron-Ruault, M.C.; Dossus, L.; Perquier, F.; Overvad, K.; Teucher, B.; Grote, V.A.; Trichopoulou, A.; Adarakis, G.; Plada, M.; Sieri, S.; Tumino, R.; Magistris, M.S. de; Ros, M.M.; Peeters, P.H.M.; Redondo, M.L.; Zamora-Ros, R.; Chirlaque, M.D.; Ardanaz, E.; Sonestedt, E.; Ericson, U.; Schneede, J.; Guelpen, B. van; Wark, P.A.; Gallo, V.; Norat, T.; Riboli, E.; Vollset, S.E.

2013-01-01

Different lifestyle patterns across Europe may influence plasma concentrations of B-vitamins and one-carbon metabolites and their relation to chronic disease. Comparison of published data on one-carbon metabolites in Western European regions is difficult due to differences in sampling procedures and

Attitudes toward Shock Advertising of Western-European and Serbian University Students With Regard To Public Health Context (Anti-Smoking and Anti-HIV/AIDS Campaigns)

OpenAIRE

Krstic, Tamara

2007-01-01

The main objective of this dissertation is to examine attitudes toward shock advertising of western-European and Serbian university students with regard to public health context (anti-smoking and anti-HIV/AIDS campaigns). Although the use of shock advertising is widely adopted in practice, there has not been extensive research with regard to this topic. Public health context is of special interest in this dissertation as there is an urge for social marketing on Serbian market. The results of ...

Children of non-Western origin with end-stage renal disease in the Netherlands, Belgium and a part of Germany have impaired health-related quality of life compared with Western children

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schoenmaker, Nikki J.; Haverman, Lotte; Tromp, Wilma F.; van der Lee, Johanna H.; Offringa, Martin; Adams, Brigitte; Bouts, Antonia H. M.; Collard, Laure; Cransberg, Karlien; van Dyck, Maria; Godefroid, Nathalie; van Hoeck, Koenraad; Koster-Kamphuis, Linda; Lilien, Marc R.; Raes, Ann; Taylan, Christina; Grootenhuis, Martha A.; Groothoff, Jaap W.

2014-01-01

Many children with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) living in Western Europe are of non-Western European origin. They have unfavourable somatic outcomes compared with ESRD children of Western origin. In this study, we compared the Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) of both groups. All children

A Philosophical reflection on European integration : Aristotelian subsidiarity versus Kantian universalism

OpenAIRE

Bielskis, Andrius

2010-01-01

This paper aims to show how contemporary Aristotelian political philosophy can be utilised in our reflections on European integration. It argues that changes in international relations after the end of the Cold War and a growing cultural divide between Europe and the US makes Europe's Western identity untenable. Through a brief philosophical sketch of the history of 'the West' it argues that Europe needs to return to its European rather than Western roots. The philosophical emphasis on nation...

Comparing Chinese and European American mental health decision making.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Shanshan; Corrigan, Patrick W; Qin, Sang; Nieweglowski, Katherine

2017-12-20

Shared decision making (SDM) tends to reflect more Western values of individualism and empowerment, values that may be foreign to East Asian healthcare preferences for collectivism and family involvement: family centered decision making (FCDM). To show that Chinese will be more likely to believe FCDM would be more pleasing for them if they were the patient. Conversely, European Americans will respond more favorably to SDM. To examine effects of Western acculturation on FCDM compared to SDM. In this study, preferences for FCDM versus SDM and doctor-led decision making (DrDM) were examined in a vignette study completed online by European Americans (n = 298) and Chinese (n = 327). Research participants read a vignette about Lily (a depression patient) presenting with symptoms of depression. After reading the vignette, participants completed items representing two sets of outcomes: three perceptions of impact on Lily and how participants might respond for themselves in a similar decision making situation. Chinese rated FCDM greater than European and Chinese Americans. Chinese Americans mostly responded similar to European Americans and not Chinese. European Americans prefer SDM more for mental health services. Chinese value FCDM more than European Americans. Preferences of Chinese living in America seem to parallel European Americans.

Cost effectiveness of eptifibatide in acute coronary syndromes; an economic analysis of Western European patients enrolled in the PURSUIT trial. The Platelet IIa/IIb in unstable Angina: Receptor Suppression Using Integrilin Therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, R E; Henderson, R A; Koster, D; Hutton, J; Simoons, M L

2002-01-01

To assess the direct medical costs and cost effectiveness of routine eptifibatide use amongst patients with unstable angina and myocardial infarction without persistent ST-segment elevation in the Western European subgroup of the PURSUIT trial. Health care resources were collected for the Western European PURSUIT trial patients (n=3697). Unit costs for major resources were developed within six countries using a consistent bottom-up methodology. Resource consumption from the Western European population was used to calculate the average direct medical costs per patient in the eptifibatide and placebo arms of the trial. Eptifibatide was estimated to cost 524 Euros per treatment. Long-term survival estimated from the 6-month trial survival data and combined with the cost data was used to calculate cost-effectiveness ratios. Additionally, cost per death and non-fatal myocardial infarction at 30 days was calculated. Sensitivity analyses were conducted on the discount rate and resource consumption. Cost-effectiveness ratios ranged from 9603 Euros to 18 115 Euros per year of life saved with 3% discount. Using resource consumption based on countries with low coronary arteriography rates, the cost per year of life saved was between 3329 Euros and 10 079 Euros. Using resource consumption based on high coronary arteriography rate countries, the cost per year of life saved was between 17 089 Euros and 24 099 Euros. Assuming no difference in treatment costs except for the addition of eptifibatide, the incremental cost per year of life saved was 23 818 Euros. Routine eptifibatide use was associated with a reduction in the combined end-point of death and myocardial infarction at 30 days, which was sustained at 6 months. Long-term projections indicate a modest increase in survival in eptifibatide patients. These data translate into cost-effectiveness ratios that compare favourably with other new technologies that are currently in use. Copyright 2001 The European Society of

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.

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.

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.)

108 WESTERN INFLUENCE ON CHINESE AND NIGERIAN ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Ike Odimegwu

extinction of indigenous languages and cultures of many societies in ... Ogirisi: a new journal of African studies vol 9 2012. 109 ... Odinye & Odinye: Western Influence on Chinese & Nigerian Cultures. 110 .... The Ibo People and the Europeans.

Nurse prescribing of medicines in Western European and Anglo-Saxon countries: a systematic review of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Kroezen, Marieke; van Dijk, Liset; Groenewegen, Peter P; Francke, Anneke L

2011-05-27

A growing number of countries are introducing some form of nurse prescribing. However, international reviews concerning nurse prescribing are scarce and lack a systematic and theoretical approach. The aim of this review was twofold: firstly, to gain insight into the scientific and professional literature describing the extent to and the ways in which nurse prescribing has been realised or is being introduced in Western European and Anglo-Saxon countries; secondly, to identify possible mechanisms underlying the introduction and organisation of nurse prescribing on the basis of Abbott's theory on the division of professional labor. A comprehensive search of six literature databases and seven websites was performed without any limitation as to date of publication, language or country. Additionally, experts in the field of nurse prescribing were consulted. A three stage inclusion process, consisting of initial sifting, more detailed selection and checking full-text publications, was performed independently by pairs of reviewers. Data were synthesized using narrative and tabular methods. One hundred and twenty-four publications met the inclusion criteria. So far, seven Western European and Anglo-Saxon countries have implemented nurse prescribing of medicines, viz., Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden, the UK and the USA. The Netherlands and Spain are in the process of introducing nurse prescribing. A diversity of external and internal forces has led to the introduction of nurse prescribing internationally. The legal, educational and organizational conditions under which nurses prescribe medicines vary considerably between countries; from situations where nurses prescribe independently to situations in which prescribing by nurses is only allowed under strict conditions and supervision of physicians. Differences between countries are reflected in the jurisdictional settlements between the nursing and medical professions concerning prescribing. In some

The Evolution of the European Security Policy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vasilica Negrut

2010-06-01

Full Text Available The process of development of the European Union’s security dimension has known a spectacular evolution in the past years, passing from political consultation to establishing objectives, then commonactions and positions; at a practical level, the Petersburg measures, carried on initially by the Western European Union as an armed branch of the European Union, have been replaced by actions of implication ofthe Union in managing some conflicts. The Lisbon Treaty confirms the commitments of the member states and mentions the fact that the European Union will dispose of the necessary measures for the defense of its objectives and to contribute to world peace and stability.

Development in the number of clinical trial applications in Western Europe from 2007 to 2015

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dombernowsky, Tilde; Hædersdal, Merete; Lassen, Ulrik

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the development in the number of applications for authorisation of clinical trials of medicines (CTAs) submitted annually to national competent authorities in 10 Western European member states of the European Union from 2007 to 2015. DESIGN: Registry study. SETTING: Data...... from national competent authorities. PARTICIPANTS: Germany, Italy, Spain, France, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and Sweden. Inclusion criteria were Western European member states of the European Union, receiving more than 200 CTAs per year. OUTCOME MEASURES: Summarised number...... of CTAs and distribution of CTAs by type of sponsor (commercial or non-commercial) and trial phase (I-IV). Average annual growth rates (AAGRs) based on linear regressions. Data were evaluated 2007-2011 and 2012-2015 to compare findings with the European Commission's statement of a 25% decrease in CTAs...

Dietary exposure to selected Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in four European regions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Klenow, S.; Heinemeyer, G.; Brambilla, G.; Dellatte, E.; Herzke, D.; de Voogt, P.

2013-01-01

The dietary exposure to selected PFAAs was estimated in four selected European states (Belgium, the Czech Republic, Italy and Norway) representing Western, Southern, Eastern and Northern Europe. The harmonised sampling programme designed in the European Union project PERFOOD was targeted at

Number of Children, Partnership Status, and Later-life Depression in Eastern and Western Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Grundy, Emily; van den Broek, Thijs; Keenan, Katherine

2017-05-03

To investigate associations between number of children and partnership with depressive symptoms among older Europeans and assess whether associations are greater in Eastern than Western countries. We further analyze whether associations are mediated by provision and receipt of emotional and financial support. Using cross-sectional data for five Eastern (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Georgia, Romania, and Russia) and four Western European countries (Belgium, France, Norway, and Sweden) (n = 15,352), we investigated variation in depressive symptoms using linear regression. We fitted conditional change score models for depressive symptoms using longitudinal data for four countries (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Georgia, and France) (n = 3,978). Unpartnered women and men had more depressive symptoms than the partnered. In Eastern, but not Western, European countries childlessness and having one compared with two children were associated with more depressive symptoms. Formal tests indicated that partnership and number of children were more strongly associated with depressive symptoms in Eastern than Western Europe. Availability of close family is more strongly associated with older people's depressive symptoms in Eastern than Western Europe. The collapse of previous state supports and greater economic stress in Eastern Europe may mean that having a partner and children has a greater psychological impact than in Western countries. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.

Does Institutional Trust in East Central Europe Differ from Western Europe?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zsolt Boda

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Compared to Western European countries, the new democracies of East Central Europe (ECE demonstrate substantially lower levels of institutional trust. Some authors consider this phenomenon as a consequence of the transition process and raise concerns about the public approval and legitimacy of ECE political systems and institutions. Based on the datasets of the European Social Survey (ESS, in this paper we aim to address this issue by shedding light on the possible differences between old and new European democracies regarding the origins and patterns of institutional trust. We especially focus on the micro-level foundations of institutional trust and through a quantitative analysis of the 2010 ESS dataset we find that, overall, similarly to Western Europe, institutional trust in ECE is positively associated with success in social and economic life. We also find that relative to westerners, ECE citizens demonstrate comparable degrees of “materialistic trust” as income levels and trust in institutions are similarly associated with each other across these countries even after controlling for several socio-economic characteristics. In addition, the citizens of new European democracies seem to be equally ready to formulate separate evaluative attitudes towards specific institutions. Our findings suggest that in order to explain the persistently low levels of trust in ECE a greater emphasis should be devoted to how people perceive institutional performance when they formulate their trust judgements towards specific institutions.

Secondary markets for transmission rights in the North West European Market. Position Paper of the North West European Market Parties Platform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Haaster, G.

2006-06-01

The most important way to acquire cross border transmission rights in the North West European electricity market is through explicit auctions. Although market driven flexibility and therefore efficiency can be further enhanced. One way to this is to introduce a secondary market for transmission rights. In this paper the North West European Market Parties Platform (NWE MPP) proposes a model that is developed and preferred by the market parties. The paper will provide a converging contribution to the congestion management discussions in the North Western European region

Minor and trace metals levels in human milk in north western cities of Libya

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahabbis, M. T.; Elkubat, M. S.; Kut, H. M.

2009-01-01

Levels of twelve minor and trace metals were determined by using (AAS, ES and ICP/MS) in breast milk obtained from 60 women living in north western cities of Libya. Samples were collected at one week up to two years after delivery. Women with age>21 years old to an age of <43 years old were investigated. (Author)

Development of twelve microsatellite loci in the red tree corals Primnoa resedaeformis and Primnoa pacifica

Science.gov (United States)

Morrison, Cheryl L.; Springmann, Marcus J.; Shroades, Kelsey; Stone, Robert P.

2015-01-01

A suite of tetra-, penta-, and hexa-nucleotide microsatellite loci were developed from Roche 454 pyrosequencing data for the cold-water octocorals Primnoa resedaeformis and P. pacifica. Twelve of 98 primer sets tested consistently amplified in 30 P. resedaeformis samples from Baltimore Canyon (western North Atlantic Ocean) and in 24 P. pacifica samples (Shutter Ridge, eastern Gulf of Alaska). The loci displayed moderate levels of allelic diversity (average 7.5 alleles/locus) and heterozygosity (average 47 %). Levels of genetic diversity were sufficient to produce unique multi-locus genotypes and to distinguish species. These common species are long-lived (hundreds of years) and provide essential fish habitat (P. pacifica), yet populations are provided little protection from human activities. These loci will be used to determine regional patterns of population connectivity to inform effective marine spatial planning and ecosystem-based fisheries management.

Options of biofuel trade from Central and Eastern to Western European countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Dam, J.; Faaij, A.P.C.; Lewandowski, I.M.; Van Zeebroeck, B.

2009-01-01

Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) have a substantial biomass production and export potential. The objective of this study is to assess whether the market for biofuels and trade can be profitable enough to realize a supply of biofuels from the CEEC to the European market and to estimate

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.

[Knowledge about basic life support in European students].

Science.gov (United States)

Marton, József; Pandúr, Attila; Pék, Emese; Deutsch, Krisztina; Bánfai, Bálint; Radnai, Balázs; Betlehem, József

2014-05-25

Better knowledge and skills of basic life support can save millions of lives each year in Europe. The aim of this study was to measure the knowledge about basic life support in European students. From 13 European countries 1527 volunteer participated in the survey. The questionnaire consisted of socio-demographic questions and knowledge regarding basic life support. The maximum possible score was 18. Those participants who had basic life support training earned 11.91 points, while those who had not participated in lifesaving education had 9.6 points (pbasic life support between students from different European countries. Western European youth, and those who were trained had better performance.

Gene flow and genetic structure in the Galician population (NW Spain according to Alu insertions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diéguez Lois

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The most recent Alu insertions reveal different degrees of polymorphism in human populations, and a series of characteristics that make them particularly suitable genetic markers for Human Biology studies. This has led these polymorphisms to be used to analyse the origin and phylogenetic relationships between contemporary human groups. This study analyses twelve Alu sequences in a sample of 216 individuals from the autochthonous population of Galicia (NW Spain, with the aim of studying their genetic structure and phylogenetic position with respect to the populations of Western and Central Europe and North Africa, research that is of special interest in revealing European population dynamics, given the peculiarities of the Galician population due to its geographical situation in western Europe, and its historical vicissitudes. Results The insertion frequencies of eleven of the Alu elements analysed were within the variability range of European populations, while Yb8NBC125 proved to be the lowest so far recorded to date in Europe. Taking the twelve polymorphisms into account, the GD value for the Galician population was 0.268. The comparative analyses carried out using the MDS, NJ and AMOVA methods reveal the existence of spatial heterogeneity, and identify three population groups that correspond to the geographic areas of Western-Central Europe, Eastern Mediterranean Europe and North Africa. Galicia is shown to be included in the Western-Central European cluster, together with other Spanish populations. When only considering populations from Mediterranean Europe, the Galician population revealed a degree of genetic flow similar to that of the majority of the populations from this geographic area. Conclusion The results of this study reveal that the Galician population, despite its geographic situation in the western edge of the European continent, occupies an intermediate position in relation to other European populations in

Measures to overcome consequences of agricultural land fragmentation: European experience and Ukrainian realities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andriy Popov

2016-03-01

Full Text Available One of the land reform implementation results in Ukraine is the distribution of the state-owned agricultural land to the rural population in the form of physical land parcels. As a consequence, however, the land was subdivided into many small units. This land fragmentation has led to fundamental changes in the formation of the new agricultural enterprises and brought some negative consequences in their functioning. The problem of the land fragmentation in Ukraine is quite new and uninvestigated. The aim of the article is to analyze the existing measures (instruments in European countries for reducing the effects of agricultural land fragmentation and to determine the possibility of «transplantability» of Western experience to Ukraine. The principal measures to decrease the agricultural land fragmentation in European countries are: voluntary parcel exchange, land banking and land consolidation. The article presents the characteristics and comparative analysis of these measures. One of the four types of land fragmentation is a main problem of Ukraine, namely the discrepancy between the landownership and the land use. The Western European countries have been used the three instruments for reducing only two types of land fragmentation: the land use fragmentation and the internal fragmentation. Consequently, the using of Western European measures to decrease agricultural land fragmentation is impossible without their adaptation to the Ukrainian realities. Therefore, the actual problem in Ukraine today is to find the own measures to overcome the problem of agricultural land fragmentation based on the Western European experience.

Monetary determinants of deposit euroization in European post-transition countries

OpenAIRE

Tkalec Marina

2013-01-01

This paper investigates the long-run and short-run relationship between deposit euroization in twelve European post-transition economies and two determinants of deposit euroization that are under the influence of monetary policy: the exchange rate and the interest rate differential. The link between deposit euroization, exchange rates and interest rate differentials is investigated using Johansen cointegration and error correction models for each country separately. The results suggest ...

ENIQ: European Network for Inspection Qualification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Champigny, F.; Crutzen, S.; Lemaitre, P.

1995-01-01

Many countries are currently considering their own approach to inspection qualification and are carefully assessing experience to date. ENIQ, which stands for European Network for Inspection Qualification, groups the major part of the utilities in Western Europe. The general objective of ENIQ is to coordinate and manage at European level expertise and resources for the assessment and qualification of NDE inspection techniques and procedures, primarily for nuclear components. Also non-nuclear heavy duty components will be considered. Within ENIQ there is a growing consensus of opinion on the general principles of a European approach towards inspection qualification. In this paper the main activities, organization and actual status of ENIQ will be discussed

Women's and Feminist Activism in Western Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Buikema, R.L.

First- and second-wave Western European feminists struggled to realize full access to civil rights for women and the creation of a participatory democracy that ensured social solidarity. They consequently stressed the fact that in addition to the struggle for civil rights, women needed to contest

Aquatic insect emergence from headwater streams flowing through regeneration and mature forests in western Oregon

Science.gov (United States)

Robert Progar; Andrew R. Moldenke

2009-01-01

We examined the effect of canopy cover on adult aquatic insect emergence by collecting bi-weekly samples from twelve headwater stream reaches flowing either under a mature conifer canopy or streams flowing through ten-year-old regeneration in western Oregon from February to November 1997. Density and biomass generally followed a bimodal curve with peaks during early...

Disentangling neighbourhood problems: Area-based interventions in Western European cities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Gent, W.P.C.; Musterd, S.; Ostendorf, W.

2009-01-01

Urban policies in Western Europe have increasingly taken a territorial focus in addressing social problems through area-based initiatives (ABIs). Policy discourses emphasise the role of the residential environment in the social economic deprivation. However, a territorial focus that tackles both

European Union: fears and hopes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gilles ROUET

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This contribution analyses some data from Eurobarometer 83, spring 2015, especially to draw a map of Fears. The European Union is a divided space and one of the main consequences of the budget (financial crisis of Greece, followed by the crisis caused by the arrival of thousands of immigrants is an enhanced communication difficulty between the Western and Eastern parts of the EU But all citizens have some new rights with the European Citizenship, which are additional. One of the main issues for the future could be to change the fundamental basis of the Union, thus trying to organize a new articulation between local and supranational, with another role for States, for example to change the organisation of European elections, and to pursue the connection of public spaces with mobility.

ARMED CONFLICT IN CHECHNYA IN EUROPEAN (NON ENGLISH HISTORIOGRAPHY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Николай Николаевич Малишевский

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the problems of historiography of the armed conflict in the Chechen Republic. The activephase of themilitary operationsofthe armed conflictin Chechnyawas completedin2001. At that timehistorians, analysts andjournalists created awide range of theoretical worksconcerningthe conflict.Inthese publications there were discussed a number of commonfeaturesofthe use ofbasicresources. The degree ofaccessibilityof the sourceswhichfocus onthe descriptionof the conflictand itssocio-political assessment is of great importance for researchersand their objectives. The author analyzes Western (European historiography of the armed conflict in the Chechen Republic. It considers the publications and specialized monographs of European (French, German and Polish authors on the subjects under research. There areput forward the ideas of the consequences of the armed conflict in the Chechen Republic, articulated in the works of European researchers.For the first time within the study of the Western historiography of the war in Chechnya the author analyzes the main blocks of the supposed and factual consequences of the conflict for both the Russian and Chechen sides. The European historiography, dedicated tothe armed conflictin Chechnya, is just being developedand thestate ofitsdocumentarycomplexis characterized bya number ofqualitative changes.

Go West: The Western Balkans towards European integration

OpenAIRE

Ninka, Eniel

2005-01-01

When we talk about the Balkans we think of war, suffering, ethnic cleansing and hatred. And up to a rather recent point in time this was not a misleading idea. Unfortunately, this has been the reality in the Balkans. If one tries to imagine the map of the European Union in 2007 something would come in front of the eyes. An area in the Balkan Peninsula washed by the Adriatic Sea and circulated by Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovenia, all of them EU Member States. The Union has alrea...

High Resolution Air Quality Forecasts in the Western Mediterranean area within the MACC, MACC-II and MACC-III European projects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cansado, A.; Martinez, I.; Morales, T.

2015-07-01

The European Earth observation programme Copernicus, formerly known as GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) is establishing a core global and regional environmental atmospheric service as a component of the Europes Copernicus/GMES initiative through successive R and D projects led by ECMWF (European Center for Medium-range Weather Forecasting) and funded by the 6th and 7th European Framework Programme for Research and Horizon 2020 Programme: GEMS, MACC, MACC-II and MACC-III. AEMET (Spanish State Meteorological Agency) has participated in the projects MACC and MACC-II and continues participating in MACC-III (http://atmosphere.copernicus.eu). AEMET has contributed to those projects by generating highresolution (0.05 degrees) daily air-quality forecasts for the Western Mediterranean up to 48 hours aiming to analyse the dependence of the quality of forecasts on resolution. We monitor the evolution of different chemical species such as NO{sub 2}, O{sub 3}, CO y SO{sub 2} at surface and different vertical levels using the global model MOCAGE and the MACC Regional Ensemble forecasts as chemical boundary conditions. We will show different case-studies, where the considered chemical species present high values and will show a validation of the air-quality by comparing to some of the available air-quality observations (EMEP/GAW, regional -autonomous communities- and local -city councils- air-quality monitoring networks) over the forecast domain. The aim of our participation in these projects is helping to improve the understanding of the processes involved in the air-quality forecast in the Mediterranean where special factors such as highly populated areas together with an intense solar radiation make air-quality forecasting particularly challenging. (Author)

High Resolution Air Quality Forecasts in the Western Mediterranean area within the MACC, MACC-II and MACC-III European projects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cansado, A.; Martinez, I.; Morales, T.

2015-07-01

The European Earth observation programme Copernicus, formerly known as GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) is establishing a core global and regional environmental atmospheric service as a component of the Europe’s Copernicus/GMES initiative through successive R&D projects led by ECMWF (European Center for Medium-range Weather Forecasting) and funded by the 6th and 7th European Framework Programme for Research and Horizon 2020 Programme: GEMS, MACC, MACC-II and MACC-III. AEMET (Spanish State Meteorological Agency) has participated in the projects MACC and MACC-II and continues participating in MACC-III (http://atmosphere.copernicus.eu). AEMET has contributed to those projects by generating highresolution (0.05 degrees) daily air-quality forecasts for the Western Mediterranean up to 48 hours aiming to analyse the dependence of the quality of forecasts on resolution. We monitor the evolution of different chemical species such as NO2, O3, CO y SO2 at surface and different vertical levels using the global model MOCAGE and the MACC Regional Ensemble forecasts as chemical boundary conditions. We will show different case-studies, where the considered chemical species present high values and will show a validation of the air-quality by comparing to some of the available air-quality observations (EMEP/GAW, regional -autonomous communities- and local -city councils- air-quality monitoring networks) over the forecast domain. The aim of our participation in these projects is helping to improve the understanding of the processes involved in the air-quality forecast in the Mediterranean where special factors such as highly populated areas together with an intense solar radiation make air-quality forecasting particularly challenging. (Author)

Children of non-Western origin with end-stage renal disease in the Netherlands, Belgium and a part of Germany have impaired health-related quality of life compared with Western children.

Science.gov (United States)

Schoenmaker, Nikki J; Haverman, Lotte; Tromp, Wilma F; van der Lee, Johanna H; Offringa, Martin; Adams, Brigitte; Bouts, Antonia H M; Collard, Laure; Cransberg, Karlien; van Dyck, Maria; Godefroid, Nathalie; van Hoeck, Koenraad; Koster-Kamphuis, Linda; Lilien, Marc R; Raes, Ann; Taylan, Christina; Grootenhuis, Martha A; Groothoff, Jaap W

2014-02-01

Many children with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) living in Western Europe are of non-Western European origin. They have unfavourable somatic outcomes compared with ESRD children of Western origin. In this study, we compared the Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) of both groups. All children (5-18 years) with ESRD included in the RICH-Q project (Renal Insufficiency therapy in Children-Quality assessment and improvement) or their parents were asked to complete the generic version of the Paediatric Quality-of-Life Inventory 4.0 (PedsQL). RICH-Q comprises the Netherlands, Belgium and a part of Germany. Children were considered to be of non-Western origin if they or at least one parent was born outside Western-European countries. Impaired HRQoL for children with ESRD of Western or non-Western origin was defined as a PedsQL score less than fifth percentile for healthy Dutch children of Western or non-Western origin, respectively. Of the 259 eligible children, 230 agreed to participate. One hundred and seventy-four children responded (response rate 67%) and 55 (32%) were of non-Western origin. Overall, 31 (56%) of the ESRD children of non-Western origin, and 58 (49%) of Western origin had an impaired total HRQoL score. Total HRQoL scores of children with ESRD of Western origin and non-Western origin were comparable, but scores on emotional functioning and school functioning were lower in non-Western origin (P=0.004 and 0.01, respectively). The adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for ESRD children of non-Western origin to have impaired emotional functioning and school functioning, compared with Western origin, were 3.3(1.5-7.1) and 2.2(1.1-4.2), respectively. Children with ESRD of non-Western origin in three Western countries were found to be at risk for impaired HRQoL on emotional and school functioning. These children warrant special attention.

The Western Balkans Geopolitics and Russian Energy Politics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhidin Mulalic

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The Energy politics is today at the center of the Russian and the Western Balkans relations. It is widely known that Russia has been playing significant role in world energy supply. Therefore, Russian energy companies have taken a leading role in the promotion of their businesses in the Western Balkans. The Western Balkans region has become geostrategic partner as a transit route for the integration of Russia into the global energy world market. With regards to the transportation of gas Western Balkans as a transit route is determined to fully realize South Stream project. In contrast to “a buffer zone” role, in the past few decades the Western Balkans gained an attention from Russia and became an important geopolitical bridge towards Western Europe. Such geopolitical and geostrategic planning of Russia is apparent with regards to gas and oil. Due to Russian South Stream gas pipeline project the Western Balkans became an important European energy transforming center. These new geostrategic games over the pipeline have also revived the Russian historical interests in the Balkans. This paper aims to analyze Russian-Western Balkans relations with special emphasis on energy politics and geopolitical and geostrategic interdependence of Russia and the Western Balkans.

Ten colour photometry of twelve Ap-stars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Musielok, B.; Lange, D.; Schoeneich, W.; Hildebrandt, G.; Zelwanowa, E.; Hempelmann, A.; Salmanov, G.

1980-01-01

Ten-colour photoelectric observations are presented for twelve Ap-stars. Improved ephemeris for seven of them is given. Phase relations between the light curves and line intensity variations are discussed. The problem of the electromagnetic flux conctancy of IOTA Cas is approached from a qualitative point of view. (author)

The Role of Western Germany in West European Defense

Science.gov (United States)

1966-04-08

Ralph. Modern German History. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1964. (DD175 F5) 34. German Research Association. Germany: Franz Steiner Verlag Gmb...and Rudolf , Walter. This Germany. New York: New York Graphic Society Publishers, Ltd., 1954. (DD257 L42) 39. Heidenheimer, Arnold J. The Government...202-07, 243. 47. Lauder, K. H. A Brief Review of Science and Technoloc in Western Germany. London: HIISO, 1955. (Q18 G4G7) 48. Leonhardt, Rudolf Walter

Luxury and Gender in European Towns, 1700-1914

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

and across borders. This book will mirror some of the concerns of the network and will focus on the operation of gender in three distinct, but interrelated, areas of urban study: the economic, the political and the spatial. The three central themes speak directly to newer ideas of exploring the dynamics......The three hundred year period between the 1650s and 1950s traces the emergence, diversification and developing hegemony of the town in the history of Europe. As places which fostered and disseminated key social, economic, political and cultural developments, towns were central to the creation...... of gendered identities and the transmission of ideas across local, national and transnational boundaries. This book draws on research undertaken within a pan-European network of historians from twelve countries whose interests lie in examining the ways that the European urban experience was gendered over time...

TRENDS IN AUTHORITARIANISM: EVIDENCE FROM 31 EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sabrina de Regt

2011-01-01

Full Text Available To date, few studies have been conducted on trendsin authoritarian attitudes,despite the importance of this research in our understanding of undemocraticmovements in society. Studies that have surveyed trends in authoritarianism arealready rather outdated, often based on student samples and conducted in only alimited number of countries. Furthermore, until now, no study had tested whetherthe meaning of authoritarianism is invariant acrosstime. Using theEuropeanValues Study,we examined trends in authoritarianism in 31 European countriesover the last decade (1999-2008, based on representative samples. It was foundthat in many Western European countries, with the exception of the Netherlands,authoritarianism declined significantly over the last decade. However, in some,mostly Eastern European countries, levels of authoritarianism actually increasedsignificantly during the last decade. Changing levels of authoritarianism werelinked to extreme-right and anti-democratic sentiment in European societies.

Norwegian gas sales and the impacts on European CO2 emissions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berg, E.; Boug, P.; Kverndokk, S.

2001-01-01

This paper has studied the impacts on Western European CO 2 emissions of a reduction in Norwegian gas sales. Such impacts are due to changes in energy demand, energy supply, and environmental and political regulations. The gas supply model DYNOPOLY was used to analyse the effects on Russian and Algerian gas exports of a reduction in Norwegian gas supply. The effects on the demand side and the effects of committing to CO 2 targets were analysed using the energy demand model SEEM. If Western European countries commit to their announced CO 2 emissions targets, reduced Norwegian gas sales will have no impact on emissions. The consumption of oil and coal will increase slightly, while the total energy consumption will go down. Also, a reduction in Norwegian gas sales will have only minor impacts on the CO 2 emissions from Western Europe when no emissions regulations are considered

Chinese consumers and European beer: Associations between attribute importance, socio-demographics, and consumption.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ou; Gellynck, Xavier; Verbeke, Wim

2017-01-01

The demand for western alcoholic beverages in China has increased tremendously in recent years. However, there is still a lack of understanding with regard to the behaviour of Chinese consumers towards European beer, which is a common western alcoholic beverage. This study explores associations between beer attribute importance scores, socio-demographic factors, general beer consumption frequency and country associations of European beer, and the consumption of imported European beer in China. The data (n = 541) were collected in two Chinese cities: Shanghai and Xi'an. Results of ordered logistic regression analyses show that the consumption of imported European beer is positively associated with importance attached to the product attributes Origin, Brand, Colour and Texture, and it is negatively associated with importance attached to Price and Alcoholic content. Furthermore, male gender, living in Shanghai city, a good financial situation, frequent beer consumption and a high-level employment position have a significantly positive influence on European beer consumption in China. In addition, about two thirds of the study participants associate imported European beer with 'Germany'. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Poland, a workforce in transition: Exploring leadership styles and effectiveness of Polish vs. Western expatriate managers

OpenAIRE

Eisenberg, Jacob; Pieczonka, Artur; Eisenring, Martin; Mironski, Jacek

2015-01-01

Given the cultural differences between Western Europe and Poland, differences are expected in leadership styles and behaviours between Polish and Western managers. Our study explored Polish employees’ perceptions and attitudes toward expatriate Western versus local managers. The main method was surveying Polish employees working under Western managers in three mid-size companies. We supplemented the survey with in-depth interviews with five West European middle managers working in Poland. We ...

A new species of nectar-feeding bat, genus Lonchophylla, from western Colombia and western Ecuador (Mammalia: Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae)

Science.gov (United States)

Woodman, N.

2007-01-01

The twelve recognized species of nectar-feeding bats of the genus Lonchophylla occur in low- and middle-elevation, humid, Neotropical forests. Morphological and morphometrical analyses of specimens formerly lumped with Lonchophylla mordax O. Thomas (1903) support recognition of Lonchophylla concava Goldman (1914) as a separate species and reveal a third species from the western Pacific lowlands of Colombia and Ecuador that I describe herein as Lonchophylla jornicata. This new species is morphologically similar to Lonchophylla concava but is distinctively larger than that species. Tests for sexual dimorphism within these and other species of Lonchophyllini suggest a tendency for females to have slightly longer, narrower skulls, higher coronoid processes of the mandible, and longer forearms than males.

The European nuclear industry - an overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berke, Claus

1994-01-01

In his talk, the President of Foratom, Dr. Claus Berke, reviews the present state of the nuclear industry in Europe. The European nuclear park is still the largest of any region in the world. In some countries, there has been a moratorium on new construction in recent years. This has made life for the supplying industry very difficult. One positive side-effect o at has been a significant rationalisation of the industry. In the course of this the previous vertical integration within European states has given place to the creation of important new transnational structures. In his talk, Dr. Berke describes some of the most important facets of the 'Europeanisation' of the industry, both in the area of power-plants and of the nuclear fuel-cycle. He also describes the increasing cooperation between utilities and suppliers in Western Europe and the operators of nuclear power plant in Eastern Europe, which is aimed at introducing a safety culture and an institutional framework in the East as close as possible to that which exists in Western Europe. Dr. Berke concludes that, over the coming years, both economic and environmental arguments will start to reverse the present political opposition, in many European countries, to new building programmes, and that the industry is likely be in a healthier state by the end of the decade

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.

The changing European family: lessons for the American reader.

Science.gov (United States)

Cherlin, A; Furstenberg Ff

1988-09-01

The 7 chapters in this journal discuss the European family, including families in Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, the German Democratic Republic, Italy, and Sweden. The authors feel that observers in the US sometimes resort to peculiarly American explanations (the budget deficit, changes in welfare benefits) to account for recent trends in marriage and fertility. The articles in this issue demonstrate that the pattern of post-WWII family change has been generally similar in North America, Western Europe, and even part of Eastern Europe, suggesting that more global rather than particular national explanations need to be sought. The post-WWII years can be divided into 2 periods: 1) the period from 1945 to 1965 that brought the unexpected marriage rush and baby boom, and 2) the period from 1965 to the present that brought a reversal of those trends in the form of later marriage, a great increase in nonmarital cohabitation, a large rise in divorce, and a sharp fall in fertility to below the replacement level. The similarity of these large-scale trends in North America and Western Europe is striking. The US is most like Britain and, beyond Europe, Canada, and Australia, suggesting that influence of the common culture of the English-speaking Western world. Yet the US has, and probably always has had, higher rates of fertility, marriage, and divorce than most Western European nations. The proportion of single-parent families is unusually large, even though some nations such as Sweden and East Germany have higher proportions of births to unmarried but cohabiting women. The level of cohabitation in the US, although greatly increased, is still moderate by European standards. Concern over the burden of government support for the elderly already has prompted changes in the Social Security program. The ability to support programs for children and for poor families is being questioned, even though the level of government support for the family is relatively low

Dynamics of the European refining and petrochemical industry. Strategies, structure and change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steenbakkers, K.

1997-01-01

The changes in the market position of producers engaged in the oil refining and basic petrochemical industry on the Western European market are the central theme of this book. Analysis of this reshuffling process among these actors is conducted on three levels. First, research is carried out at the level of world regions. In order to understand the reorganization of oil refining and basic petrochemical production in Western Europe, it is necessary to explore the recent aggregate dynamics of these activities on a global scale. Second, the differences in strategic behaviour are exanuned at the level of groups of market participants, namely the major oil companies, the chemical companies, the state-owned companies from both consumer and producer countries, and the independents. Finally, the investment/disinvestment decisions in the Western European oil refining and basic petrochemical industry are investigated at the level of the individual firm. Particular emphasis is placed upon explaining why companies active in the sectors under study have followed different strategies, although they have been confronted with similar adverse market conditions in Western Europe during the last decades. 341 refs

European needs for uranium in relation to world supply and demand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davis, M.

1977-01-01

The paper explains why Western Europe, and in particular the European Community, is engaged in an important diversification of energy sources to nuclear generated electricity. The resulting Western European demand for uranium (most of which will have to be imported) is quantified and discussed in relation to the needs of North America and Japan and the latest estimates of world uranium resources and production capability. The European Community will be the largest purchaser of uranium from a variety of sources on the world market. It is shown that the lower limits of past estimates for uranium demand appear to be the most reliable so far; the causes and effects of uncertainty for the future are outlined; and the need for exploration is emphasized. It is maintained that although close collaboration between electricity utilities and mining companies is highly desirable, the goal of an orderly market (which should be achievable for uranium) will not be achieved without a positive and constructive contribution being made by public authorities. (author)

Bacteriological And Clinical Evaluation Of Twelve Cases Of Post ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Bacteriological And Clinical Evaluation Of Twelve Cases Of Post-Surgical Sepsis Of Odontogenic Tumours At A ... East African Medical Journal ... Intervention: Adequate review of patient\\'s medical history, bacteriological investigations and

Commercial nuclear power in Western Europe: experience and prospects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hart, D.

1986-01-01

The commercialization of nuclear power in Western Europe is likely to bring nuclear's share of electricity production from its current level of 30% to as high as 50% by the year 2000. Although France will build most of this new capacity and Denmark and Austria are abstaining, there is a clear trend in the region. Western Europe will likely decline in its share of world nuclear power as capacity increases in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union even though its growth has been faster than that of the US. The author compares capacity changes, plant performance, and nuclear trade developments in the individual European countries with those of the US, Soviet Union, and Japan. The author also describes the nuclear fuel cycle, the commercialization of fast breeder reactors, and public opposition to the European Community's policy of expanding nuclear power. The use of nuclear heat for district heating in addition to electric power could change the prospects over the long term. 3 tables

Lime stabilization of fine-grained sediments in western Greenland

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Anders Stuhr; Ingeman-Nielsen, Thomas; Skels, Peteris

2011-01-01

Thick deposits of fine-grained marine sediments exist in large areas of western Greenland. Many places these sediments are located above sea-level, and now complicate construction projects in urban areas. The mineralogy of the fine-grained sediments is very different from European sediments, mainly...... due to the cold climate, and it is therefore of great interest to study possible methods to improve the stability and strength properties. This project includes laboratory studies of lime stabilization on fine-grained marine sediments from Kangerlussuaq, western Greenland. The results have included...

Reinstitutionalisation in mental-health care : comparison of data on service provision from six European countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Priebe, S; Badesconyi, A; Fioritti, A; Hansson, L; Kilian, RT; Torres-Gonzales, F; Turner, T; Wiersma, D

2005-01-01

Objective To establish whether reinstitutionalisation is occurring in mental health care mid, if so, with What variations between Western European countries. Design Comparison of data on changes in service provision. Setting Six European countries with different traditions of mental health care that

Uniting the Divided Continent. The Estonian National Committee of the European Movement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pauli Heikkilä

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The article examines the exiled Estonian politicians in the European Movement in the early Cold War period. The ultimate goal of exiled Estonians was to restore their state’s independence. In order to promote this, Estonian leaders sought connections with Western leaders. The European Movement was the only organisation involving actors from both the East and the West, and this corresponded to the Estonian discourse on Europe as a whole. Therefore, the European Movement was appreciated, although its limited opportunities for decisive actions were also recognised. East and West European interest in the European Movement declined as West European integration rapidly intensified through the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC and particularly after the January 1952 Eastern European Conference in London. By 1957, disappointment in the inability of European unification to help regain Estonian independence became evident.

Where everybody knows your game: the appeal and function of game cafes in Western Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gajadhar, B.J.; Kort, de Y.A.W.; IJsselsteijn, W.A.; Poels, K.

2009-01-01

Game cafés are popping up in cities across Western Europe and are rapidly becoming popular places in the tangible world of the gamer. Compared to studies focused on Asia, motivations and activities of Western European visitors of game cafés are relatively unclear and not discussed in academic

Vegetative propagation of twelve fodder tree species indigenous to ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Vegetative propagation of twelve fodder tree species indigenous to the Sahel, West Africa. Catherine Ky-Dembele, Jules Bayala, Antoine Kalinganire, Fatoumata Tata Traoré, Bréhima Koné, Alain Olivier ...

Beverage and water intake of healthy adults in some European countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Nissensohn, Mariela; Castro-Quezada, Itandehui; Serra-Majem, Lluis

2013-11-01

Nutritional surveys frequently collect some data of consumption of beverages; however, information from different sources and different methodologies raises issues of comparability. The main objective of this review was to examine the available techniques used for assessing beverage intake in European epidemiological studies and to describe the most frequent method applied to assess it. Information of beverage intake available from European surveys and nutritional epidemiological investigations was obtained from gray literature. Twelve articles were included and relevant data were extracted. The studies were carried out on healthy adults by different types of assessments. The most frequent tool used was a 7-d dietary record. Only Germany used a specific beverage assessment tool (Beverage Dietary History). From the limited data available and the diversity of the methodology used, the results show that consumption of beverages is different between countries. Current epidemiological studies in Europe focusing on beverage intake are scarce. Further research is needed to clarify the amount of beverage intake in European population.

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

European pipelines spill near record amounts in 1993

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1995-01-01

European pipelines in 1993 spilled as much crude oil and petroleum products as in any year since 1971, when statistics first began to be reported. Final cost of cleanup will exceed $10 million, by far the most ever spent by western European oil pipelines operating on land. This cost figure is only preliminary: costs for three spills totaling nearly 2,600 cu m (approximately 16,380 bbl; 43.6% of total spilled) had not been reported through November 1994. Ten incidents of oil spills from pipelines occurred in 1993, compared with seven for 1992 and an average of 12.7/year since 1971. Total length of oil industry cross-country pipelines operating in Western Europe at the end of 1993 was 21,600 km, up from nearly 19,000 km in 1989. In all, 601 million cu m (3.8 billion bbl) of crude oil and refined products moved through the pipeline system. The paper briefly describes several of the accidents

Education and Development: Twelve Considerations for Transformative Practice

Science.gov (United States)

VanBalkom, W. Duffie; Eastham, Sarada

2011-01-01

Twelve factors that are essential to consider when embarking on the process of transformative development are examined in the context of international development programming in education and training. Each factor raises a number of questions for the deliberations of policy makers, development practitioners, scholars, international educators,…

Developments in the European methanol market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Speed, J.

1995-01-01

In the late eighties/early nineties the World Methanol Market was basically divided into three regional markets--America, Asia Pacific and Europe. These markets were interrelated but each had its own specific characteristics and traditional suppliers. Now the situation has changed; in the mid nineties there is a Global Methanol Market with global players and effective global pricing and the European market is governed by events world-wide. Europe is however a specific market with specific characteristics which are different from those of other markets although it is also part of the Global Market. Hence before the author focuses on Europe he looks at the World Market. The paper discusses world methanol production and consumption by region, world methanol consumption by end use, world methanol supply demand balance, the west European market, western European methanol production, methanol imports to W. Europe, the Former Soviet Union supplies, W. European methanol consumption by end use, MTBE in Europe, duties on methanol imports into W. Europe, investment in Europe, the effect of the 1994/95 price spike, and key issues for the future of the industry

Statistics on the use of cardiac electronic devices and electrophysiological procedures in the European Society of Cardiology countries: 2014 report from the European Heart Rhythm Association.

Science.gov (United States)

Raatikainen, M J Pekka; Arnar, David O; Zeppenfeld, Katja; Merino, Jose Luis; Levya, Francisco; Hindriks, Gerhardt; Kuck, Karl-Heinz

2015-01-01

There has been large variations in the use of invasive electrophysiological therapies in the member countries of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). The aim of this analysis was to provide comprehensive information on cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) and catheter ablation therapy trends in the ESC countries over the last five years. The European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) has collected data on CIED and catheter ablation therapy since 2008. Last year 49 of the 56 ESC member countries provided data for the EHRA White Book. This analysis is based on the current and previous editions of the EHRA White Book. Data on procedure rates together with information on economic aspects, local reimbursement systems and training activities are presented for each ESC country and the five geographical ESC regions. In 2013, the electrophysiological procedure rates per million population were highest in Western Europe followed by the Southern and Northern European countries. The CIED implantation and catheter ablation rate was lowest in the Eastern European and in the non-European ESC countries, respectively. However, in some Eastern European countries with relative low gross domestic product procedure rates exceeded those of some wealthier Western countries, suggesting that economic resources are not the only driver for utilization of arrhythmia therapies. These statistics indicate that despite significant improvements, there still is considerable heterogeneity in the availability of arrhythmia therapies across the ESC area. Hopefully, these data will help identify areas for improvement and guide future activities in cardiac arrhythmia management. Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2015. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Impact of unemployment variations on suicide mortality in Western European countries (2000-2010).

Science.gov (United States)

Laanani, Moussa; Ghosn, Walid; Jougla, Eric; Rey, Grégoire

2015-02-01

A scientific debate is currently taking place on whether the 2008 economic crisis caused an increase in suicide rates. Our main objective was to assess the impact of unemployment rate on suicide rate in Western European countries between 2000 and 2010. We then tried to estimate the excess number of suicides attributable to the increase of unemployment during the 2008-2010 economic crisis. The yearly suicide rates were modelled using a quasi-Poisson model, controlling for sex, age, country and a linear time trend. For each country, the unemployment-suicide association was assessed, and the excess number of suicides attributable to the increase of unemployment was estimated. Sensitivity analyses were performed, notably in order to evaluate whether the unemployment-suicide association found was biased by a confounding context effect ('crisis effect'). A significant 0.3% overall increase in suicide rate for a 10% increase in unemployment rate (95% CI 0.1% to 0.5%) was highlighted. This association was significant in three countries: 0.7% (95% CI 0.0% to 1.4%) in the Netherlands, 1.0% (95% CI 0.2% to 1.8%) in the UK and 1.9% (95% CI 0.8% to 2.9%) in France, with a significant excess number of suicides attributable to unemployment variations between 2008 and 2010 (respectively 57, 456 and 564). The association was modified inconsistently when adding a 'crisis effect' into the model. Unemployment and suicide rates are globally statistically associated in the investigated countries. However, this association is weak, and its amplitude and sensitivity to the 'crisis effect' vary across countries. This inconsistency provides arguments against its causal interpretation. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Secondary Textbook Review: English, Grades Nine through Twelve.

Science.gov (United States)

California State Dept. of Education, Sacramento.

This book is intended as a resource for teachers and curriculum developers who select textbooks for secondary English courses. It includes a compilation of 32 factual textbook reviews obtained from the application of a review instrument, which was based on the California "Model Curriculum Standards: Grades Nine through Twelve, English…

Cancer risk diversity in non-western migrants to Europe: An overview of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, Melina; Razum, Oliver; Coebergh, Jan-Willem

2010-09-01

Cancer risk varies geographically and across ethnic groups that can be monitored in cancer control to respond to observed trends as well as ensure appropriate health care. The study of cancer risk in immigrant populations has great potential to contribute new insights into aetiology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Disparities in cancer risk patterns between immigrant and autochthonous populations have been reported many times, but up to now studies have been heterogeneous and may be discordant in their findings. The aim of this overview was to compile and compare studies on cancer occurrence in migrant populations from non-western countries residing in Western Europe in order to reflect current knowledge in this field and to appeal for further research and culturally sensitive prevention strategies. We included 37 studies published in the English language between 1990 and April 2010 focussing on cancer in adult migrants from non-western countries, living in the industrialised countries of the European Union. Migrants were defined based on their country of birth, ethnicity and name-based approaches. We conducted a between-country comparison of age-adjusted cancer incidence and mortality in immigrant populations with those in autochthonous populations. Across the board migrants from non-western countries showed a more favourable all-cancer morbidity and mortality compared with native populations of European host countries, but with considerable site-specific risk diversity: Migrants from non-western countries were more prone to cancers that are related to infections experienced in early life, such as liver, cervical and stomach cancer. In contrast, migrants of non-western origin were less likely to suffer from cancers related to a western lifestyle, e.g. colorectal, breast and prostate cancer. Confirming the great cancer risk diversity in non-western migrants in and between different European countries, this overview reaffirms the importance of exposures

Democratization in Albania: The OSCE, NATO and the European Union

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-01

html? maca =en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf (accessed 4 March 2010). 263 Manuel Montobbio de Balanzo, Spanish Ambassador to Albania, http://www.dw- world.de/dw...article/0,,5259561,00.html? maca =en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf (accessed 4 March 2010). 264 Reinhard Priebe, The Western Balkan European Perspective, http...world.de/dw/article/0,,5259561,00.html? maca =en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf (accessed 4 March 2010). European Commission Enlargement, Albania – Questions

The Role and Impact of Iranian Migrants in Western Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Honari, A.; van Bezouw, M.J.; Namazie, Pari

In light of increasing migration in Europe, the aim of the current study is to gather a better understanding of the societal position, societal and political participation, and embeddedness of migrants in Western European countries. The Iranian migrant community is used as a case study. The research

Admixture of Eastern and Western European Red Deer Lineages as a Result of Postglacial Recolonization of the Czech Republic (Central Europe).

Science.gov (United States)

Krojerová-Prokešová, Jarmila; Barančeková, Miroslava; Koubek, Petr

2015-01-01

Due to a restriction of the distributional range of European red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) during the Quaternary and subsequent recolonization of Europe from different refugia, a clear phylogeographical pattern in genetic structure has been revealed using mitochondrial DNA markers. In Central Europe, 2 distinct, eastern and western, lineages of European red deer are present; however, admixture between them has not yet been studied in detail. We used mitochondrial DNA (control region and cytochrome b gene) sequences and 22 microsatellite loci from 522 individuals to investigate the genetic diversity of red deer in what might be expected to be an intermediate zone. We discovered a high number of unique mtDNA haplotypes belonging to each lineage and high levels of genetic diversity (cyt b H = 0.867, D-loop H = 0.914). The same structuring of red deer populations was also revealed by microsatellite analysis, with results from both analyses thus suggesting a suture zone between the 2 lineages. Despite the fact that postglacial recolonization of Central Europe by red deer occurred more than 10000 years ago, the degree of admixture between the 2 lineages is relatively small, with only 10.8% admixed individuals detected. Direct translocations of animals by humans have slightly blurred the pattern in this region; however, this blurring was more apparent when using maternally inherited markers than nuclear markers. © The American Genetic Association 2015. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Ancient split of major genetic lineages of European Black Pine

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Naydenov, Krassimir D.; Naydenov, Michel K.; Alexandrov, Alexander; Vasilevski, Kole; Gyuleva, Veselka; Matevski, Vlado; Nikolic, Biljana; Goudiaby, Venceslas; Bogunic, Faruk; Paitaridou, Despina; Christou, Andreas; Goia, Irina; Carcaillet, Christopher; Alcantara, Adrian Escudero; Ture, Cengiz; Gulcu, Suleyman; Peruzzi, Lorenzo; Kamary, Salim; Bojovic, Srdjan; Hinkov, Georgi; Tsarev, Anatoly

2016-01-01

The European Black Pine (Pinus nigra Arn.) has a long and complex history. Genetic distance and frequency analyses identified three differentiated genetic groups, which corresponded to three wide geographical areas: Westerns Mediterranean, Balkan Peninsula and Asia Minor. These groups shared

Safety of superconducting fusion magnets: twelve problem areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, L.R.

1979-01-01

Twelve problem areas of superconducting magnets for fusion reaction are described. These are: quench detection and energy dump, stationary normal region of conductor, current leads, electrical arcing, electrical shorts, conductor joints, forces from unequal currents, eddy current effects, cryostat rupture, vacuum failure, fringing field and instrumentation for safety. Priorities among these areas are suggested

Safety of superconducting fusion magnets: twelve problem areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, L.R.

1979-01-01

Twelve problem areas of superconducting magnets for fusion reaction are described. These are: Quench Detection and Energy Dump, Stationary Normal Region of Conductor, Current Leads, Electrical Arcing, Electrical Shorts, Conductor Joints, Forces from Unequal Currents, Eddy Current Effects, Cryostat Rupture, Vacuum Failure, Fringing Field and Instrumentation for Safety. Priorities among these areas are suggested

Sharing the burden for climate insurance: The Western European response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lenstra, W.J.; Ossewaaerde, M.J.

1992-01-01

In this paper, the authors emphasize the need to act quickly in addressing the problems of climatic change. The most important options for CO 2 reduction in Western Europe are as follows: efficiency improvements and conservation in energy supply, conversion and end use; behavioral, management and structural changes; fuel substitution by energy sources with lower or no global warming potential; and CO 2 removal and storage in depleted gas fields or aquifers, or fixation in forest and other green spots

New early Eocene vertebrate assemblage from western India reveals a mixed fauna of European and Gondwana affinities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thierry Smith

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The Ypresian Cambay Shale Formation at Vastan and Mangrol lignite mines in Gujarat, western India, has yielded a rich vertebrate fauna with numerous taxa of European affinities. Here we report a new, approximately contemporary vertebrate assemblage from two fossiliferous layers in the nearby mine of Tadkeshwar. These layers have yielded a similar mammal fauna with the co-occurrence of the perissodactyl-like cambaytheriid Cambaytherium thewissi, the adapoid primates Marcgodinotius indicus and cf. Asiadapis cambayensis, and the hyaenodontid Indohyaenodon raoi. The presence of these species in both Vastan and Tadkeshwar mines and at different levels suggests that the deposits between the two major lignite seams represent a single land mammal age. Apart from the aforementioned species there is a new, smaller species of Cambaytherium, and a new genus and species of esthonychid tillodont. This fauna also contains the first large early Eocene vertebrates from India, including an unidentified Coryphodon-like pantodont, a dyrosaurid crocodyliform and a new giant madtsoiid snake. Among the Tadkeshwar vertebrates several taxa are of Gondwana affinities, such as Pelomedusoides turtles, dyrosaurids, and large madtsoiids, attesting that the early Eocene was a crucial period in India during which Laurasian taxa of European affinities co-existed with relict taxa from Gondwana before the India-Asia collision. Our results suggest that terrestrial faunas could have dispersed to or from Europe during episodes of contact between the Indian subcontinent and different island blocks along the northern margin of the Neotethys, such as the Kohistan–Ladakh island-arc system. Gondwana taxa might represent remnants of ghost lineages shared with Madagascar, which reached the Indian subcontinent during the late Cretaceous; alternatively they might have come from North Africa and passed along the southern margin of the Neotethys to reach the Indian subcontinent. These

Average level of satisfaction in 10 European countries: explanation of differences

OpenAIRE

Veenhoven, Ruut

1996-01-01

textabstractABSTRACT Surveys in 10 European nations assessed satisfaction with life-as-a-whole and satisfaction with three life-domains (finances, housing, social contacts). Average satisfaction differs markedly across countries. Both satisfaction with life-as-a-whole and satisfaction with life-domains are highest in North-Western Europe, medium in Southern Europe and lowest in the East-European nations. Cultural measurement bias is unlikely to be involved. The country differences in average ...

"Daughters of British Blood" or "Hordes of Men of Alien Race": The Homesteads-for-Women Campaign in Western Canada

Science.gov (United States)

Carter, Sarah

2009-01-01

In May 1910 Mildred Williams, a young teacher in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, made headlines across Western Canada for her pluck and stamina as she waited for twelve days and nights on a chair on the stairs outside the door of the land office in Saskatoon to claim a homestead. She was determined to file on a half-section (320 acres) of valuable land…

United States interests and Western Europe: Arms control, energy, and trade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Czempiel, E.O.; Krell, G.; Mueller, H.

1981-01-01

The 'Research Group USA' within the Hessische Stiftung Friedens- und Konfliktforschung, Frankfurt, has analysed extensively the US policy towards Western Europe. In December 1980 the research group arranged an international Conference at Bad Homburg. Topics were American European policies in the field of arms control, trade and energy. The main findings of the research group were presented to the conference. This volume contains six papers presented to the conference: The Salt II-Debate in the US Senate; Issues in West German Security Policy: An American Perspective; US Energy Policy Foreign Policy Goals Versus Domestic Interests; Economic and Political Consequences of US Energy Policy on Europe; Foreign Trade Policy Interests and Decisions in the US; Multinational Corporations in Euro-American Trade. It contains also an introductory analysis of the somewhat larger US-European-Soviet Union context within which the American policy towards Western Europe has to be seen. (HSCH) [de

[Eating disorders after the political changes in the formerly communist Eastern-European countries].

Science.gov (United States)

Rathner, G; Túry, F; Szabó, P

2001-06-24

The authors summarize the Central and East European epidemiological data of eating disorders. These demonstrate that eating disorders are not exclusively characteristic to Western societies. In this respect the comparison of newer data to those which were performed before the political changes in 1989-1990 is especially valuable. Formerly in a Hungarian university sample the prevalence of bulimia was 1-1.3% among females, 0-0.8% among males, and this was higher than the prevalence of 0.6% in Austrian females, or 0% in German Democratic Republic. After the social changes similar data were found in several East European countries. This corroborates the culture-change idea of eating disorders. The transition to a Western market economy and the process of globalization is an experiment to evaluate the effect of sociocultural factors. The values and norms (e.g. thinness ideal) come closer to the Western culture, and mass media have a significant impact in this process.

Integration of International Migrants into Western Society

Science.gov (United States)

2017-05-01

Western Australia’s capital city, Perth. Data was collected on residency, English proficiency, employment status, mode of transport, housing, home...European Union 2010, 2014). Based on the concept of “human capital ”, a cross-sectorial approach covering inter alia education, employment and...populations of unqualified migrants with poor local language skills who have become dependent on the welfare state. In the UK, migration as a product of

'Western Balkans': Political context and the media usage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Svilar Predrag

2010-01-01

Full Text Available By accessing the content analysis of media archives, available both on the Internet presentations of the most significant and most influential media, press agencies, web search engines, and official public institutions, international government and non-government organizations, we will make an attempt to point to political conditioning, appearances and uses, as well as political etymology of the term Western Balkans. The attention will also be called to the fact that the term has its origin in Anglo-Saxon political and historiographical tradition, through the examples of its use, as well as to the similarities of political relations which bring to its applicability. By analyzing the content of media inscriptions, reports, documents, official announcements, authorial reviews and analyses, it came to a conclusion that Western Balkans occurs as a regional reference in particular historical and political circumstances and that geographical frames it is being used within, could be located outside the time frames and there are specified the particularities of its use. We will demonstrate that through the analysis of the political context and media usage, Western Balkans could be interpreted on more than one level. Western Balkans can at the same time represent both a terminological construction and a regional reference which expresses the indecisiveness of the West on social and cultural properties of the Balkans and the founding of Balkan cultures as immanently European, but at the same time the means of measurement, which is not only the determination of regionalism, but the determination of historical and political moment likewise. Besides, Western Balkans could also be interpreted as a mean of practical methodology and classification of naming the societies on the Balkans, which are the only outside the European Union frames, but also stand for the synchronization of the Balkanistic discourse with current political and historical circumstances and

How have the Eastern European countries of the former Warsaw Pact developed since 1990? A bibliometric study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kozak, M.; Bornmann, L.; Leydesdorff, L.

2015-01-01

Did the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991 influence the scientific performance of the researchers in Eastern European countries? Did this historical event affect international collaboration by researchers from the Eastern European countries with those of Western countries? Did it also change

Western European influences on Post-Byzantine panel painting technique through binding media identification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kouloumpi, E.; Lawson, G.; Pavlidis, B.

2006-01-01

Post-Byzantine is called the period after the invasion of the Ottomans in Constantinople, the capital of Byzantium in 1453, which lasted until the establishment of the first Greek State in 1836. The Post - Byzantine era is one of the most important artistic periods of the Neo-Hellenic Pictorial Art, since, through cultural exchanges with Western Europe, it sets the fundaments for oil painting. The thematology changes from religious to civil, the technique changes from egg yolk to egg-oil emulsion in order to end up to pure oil painting and finally, it opens 'the gates' for the modern artistic movements of the world. The current research is focused on the study of the effects of western influences on the technique and pictorial characteristics of the post-Byzantine icons by the study of any changes in the pigment's binding media through scientific analyses (SEM-EDX, micro-FTIR and GC), as well as of any changes in the painting style of the icons through comparison with both Byzantine and western painting standards. Research never ends and the results of this work give rise to further analysis, in order to throw some light to this transitional period of art. (Author)

Energy, a networked Europe - Twelve proposals for a common energy infrastructure policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Derdevet, Michel

2015-01-01

energies (wind, photovoltaic), but also the emergence of new uses, such as electric vehicles. - Ensuring solidarity between the States and regions, in a context where the technological uncertainties of the new sectors are added to the older ones of a geopolitical nature. - Continuing to ensure equal access to energy services, without the transition becoming a discriminating factor against those citizens who are economically the weakest. Pooling knowledge and thinking to adapt the networks is a necessity if the Europeans want the energy transition to be a success. Article 194 of the Treaty of Lisbon has already laid down the way to greater intervention by the Union in this regard. But the Europeans must go further and explore, as quickly as possible, areas of joint cooperation, innovation and investment. The challenge is great since hundreds of billions of euros of investment will have to be made between now and 2030, and no argument is needed to convince oneself that, in a convalescent Europe, every euro will have to be invested with the greatest concern for effectiveness for our communities. Finally, this 'networked European energy', that we all wish for, will not only be a physical, technical and economic challenge. It must also embody these 'shared idiosyncrasies' that today characterise the European energy space: the verticality of the national hierarchies will be followed by the horizontality of communication between the territories; the authority of the powers in place, by the legitimacy of the citizen, initiative and success; industrial uniformity, by the diversity of models of organisation; a situation of separate States, by exchanges within the European area. The twelve proposals presented at the end of this report thus aim to promote the emergence of a coherent and pragmatic European approach in the field of networks, to solve today's problems and to meet tomorrow's challenges. From this standpoint, these proposals are structured

The Balkans: Between Economic Crisis And European Integration

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Andrei RĂDULESCU

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The Balkans region (also known as the „Powder keg of Europe” has always been an European question, a Western question, as underlined by Arnold Toynbee, in 1922. At present, European Union is confronted with the fifth enlargement, also known as the “post-conflict” enlargement – the integration of Balkan states. Bulgaria joined European Union in 2007. Croatia signed the Accession Treaty in 2011 and is expected to become an EU member in 2013. The other countries encounter in different stages of European integration. However, this process presents several challenges and dilemmas, either for European Union, or for the Balkan enclave. The main challenge in the case of this enlargement is to reconcile the nation-state building and the European integration. From the economic point of view, the Balkans region is underdeveloped. Several factors determined this stance of the region: the poor endowment in terms of natural resources, the political situation over the centuries (the military conflicts – impeding the economic development, the cultural factors. At present, the region is confronted with the consequences of the worst economic and financial crisis o global economy since the end of World War II.

WORK COMPETENCES AT WESTERN BANK DISCOUNT

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Haidee Coste

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The research aimed to identify the generic work competences in the staff of the Vice Presidency of Compensation and Development of the Western Bank Discount. Authors were consulted such as Alles (2008, Tobon (2006 and Hay Group (2004, among others. The research is descriptive, non-experimental, transactional and field design. The population consisted of twelve (12 subjects belonging to the vice presidency. It was applied a questionnaire of thirty (30 items, validated by the trial of three (3 experts, with 0.92 reliability by Cronbach alpha coefficient.  It is concluded the employees of the vice presidency have a high level of the generic work competences customer focus, teamwork, effective communication, innovation, emotional intelligence and making decisions. It is strength for the institution, because staff with those competences contributes doing the best for the development of the institution.

Transparency in natural gas prices in Western Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vrieling, E.B.; Munksgaard, J.; Hopper, R.J.

1989-11-01

The present situation on price transparency in Western Europe and North america within the context of the European internal gas market is analyzed. In chapter one the ideas and policy proposals put forward by the European Commission are discussed. Special attention is paid to the situation of the large industrial consumers. It is argued that price transparency needs to be extended to more upstream price aspects. This includes information on city-gates prices, transmission and handling charges in addition to wellhead and import prices. In Western Europe (chapter two) two pricing principles can be distinguished at the final consumer level: pricing according to costs and prices according to market value. The first principle is applied in France, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Austria, as some cost elements are included in the tariff calculations in Italy. Countries where a market-evaluation methodology is applied are Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Switzerland. In North America (chapter three) price transparency is extensive and part of the necessary conditions of an open access contract carriage market. In order to integrate the aspect of price transparency in the broader framework of the internal gas market a model of an integrated natural gas market is described in chapter four. The model specifies the preconditions of a truly integrated gas market, i.e. accessible market entry at all levels of the gas sector and for all market players, equal market opportunity and a regulatory oversight system. A brief comparison between the model and the actual market situation in Western Europe showed that hardly any of these preconditions are met. The comparison points out which actions need to be taken to implement an internal gas market in Western Europe. 9 appendices

Reconstruction of the early invasion history of the quagga mussel (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) in Western Europe

OpenAIRE

Heiler, Katharina; Vaate, Abraham bij de; Ekschmitt, Klemens; Oheimb, Parm von; Albrecht, Christian; Wilke, Thomas

2013-01-01

The recent introduction of the quagga mussel into Western European freshwaters marked the beginning of one of the most successful biological invasions during the past years in this region. However, the spatial and temporal origin of the first invasive population(s) in Western Europe as well as subsequent spreading routes still remain under discussion. In this study, we therefore aim at reconstructing the early invasion history of the quagga mussel in Western Europe based on an age-corrected t...

Flank Attacks : Populism and Left-Right Radicalism in Western Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rooduijn, M.; Akkerman, T.

2017-01-01

How is populism distributed over the political spectrum? Are right-wing parties more populist than left-wing parties? Based on the analysis of 32 parties in five Western European countries between 1989 and 2008, we show that radical parties on both the left and the right are inclined to employ a

Flank attacks : Populism and left-right radicalism in Western Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rooduijn, Matthijs; Akkerman, Tjitske

2017-01-01

How is populism distributed over the political spectrum? Are right-wing parties more populist than left-wing parties? Based on the analysis of 32 parties in five Western European countries between 1989 and 2008, we show that radical parties on both the left and the right are inclined to employ a

APPROACHES TO QUALITY MANAGEMENT AT EUROPEAN LEVEL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salagean Horatiu Catalin

2013-07-01

Full Text Available In the current economic context, quality has become a source of competitive advantage and organizations must perceive quality as something natural and human in order to achieve excellence. The proper question for the context of the internationalisation of the economy is whether the culture of the regions, states or nations affects the development in the quality management field and the quality approach. The present study tries to give a theoretical approach of how culture influences the quality approach at the European level. The study deals only with the European quality approach, beacuse at European level one could meet a great variety of models and methodologies. In the U.S.A. and Japan one could identify a specific cultural approach regarding quality. At the European level, we cannot discuss in the same terms, because each country has a different cultural specifics in terms of quality. In order to determine the cultural specificity of the countries surveyed, the study has used the most popular analysis tool of cultural dimensions, namely the Dutch Professor Geert Hofstede\\'s model. The model illustrates according to a survey, the organizational behavior of several countries and was able to identify a set of variables and fundamental dimensions, that differentiates one culture from another. An attempt was made to see if there are connections between the values of Hofestede \\'s cultural dimensions and the quality characteristics in the analysed countries. The study, describes on the one hand,the quality evolution from quality control to Total Quality Management and on the other hand, focuses on the quality approach modalities at European level. The second part of the paper is structured into two parts, addressing on the one hand the quality in countries of Western Europe, such as United Kingdom, France and Germany,because these three countries are considered to be the exponents of quality development in Western Europe. In the same time, the

Undermining the West from within: European populists, the US and Russia

OpenAIRE

Chryssogelos, Angelos

2010-01-01

Populist parties of the Right and Left are on the rise in Western Europe, but little has been said about their foreign policy positions. This article outlines the basic elements of the positions of some important radical Right and Left populist parties on transatlantic relations, NATO, European security and EU–Russia relations. An examination of these positions reveals that European populist parties of the Right and Left are united by a common aversion to the ongoing modernisation and liberal...

Ethics and the European countries in transition--the past and the future.

Science.gov (United States)

Borovecki, Ana; ten Have, Henk; Oreskovic, Stiepan

2006-01-01

This paper surveys the situation regarding bioethical issues in the European transitional societies. It aims at exploring past, present and future characteristics of bioethics in the European countries in transitions, analysing similarities, differences and common themes together with the historical development of bioethics. By carefully studying articles published since the early 1990s, one can perceive a number of bioethical issues, varying from specificities for certain countries to similar problems for all transitional European societies. It seems that more than 15 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Central and Eastern European societies were able to achieve significant improvements in the development of bioethics. However, looking at the bioethical issues important for European transitional societies, it seems that the invisible wall between eastern and western European societies is still there and that it will take years to remove it.

Positive IgG Western Blot for Borrelia burgdorferi in Colombia

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Palacios Ricardo

1999-01-01

Full Text Available In order to evaluate the presence of specific IgG antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi in patients with clinical manifestations associated with Lyme borreliosis in Cali, Colombia, 20 serum samples from patients with dermatologic signs, one cerebrospinal fluid (CSF sample from a patient with chronic neurologic and arthritic manifestations, and twelve serum samples from individuals without clinical signs associated with Lyme borreliosis were analyzed by IgG Western blot. The results were interpreted following the recommendations of the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC for IgG Western blots. Four samples fulfilled the CDC criteria: two serum specimens from patients with morphea (localized scleroderma, the CSF from the patient with neurologic and arthritic manifestations, and one of the controls. Interpretation of positive serology for Lyme disease in non-endemic countries must be cautious. However these results suggest that the putative "Lyme-like" disease may correlate with positivity on Western blots, thus raising the possibility that a spirochete genospecies distinct from B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, or a Borrelia species other than B. burgdorferi sensu lato is the causative agent. Future work will focus on a survey of the local tick and rodent population for evidence of spirochete species that could be incriminated as the etiologic agent.

An analysis of a regional nuclear safeguards organisation: the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) and the development of nuclear safeguards in Western Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Howlett, Darryl.

1988-08-01

This thesis argues that the nuclear safeguards system implemented by EURATOM in Western Europe has come to fruition as a result of a complex political process. This process has involved negotiations over the exact limits on safeguards interventions into the nuclear affairs of the European Community. There are two dimensions to these negotiations. On the one hand, they involve EURATOM and its member states over the necessary limits on safeguards intervention in member states' domestic nuclear affairs. On the other, there are negotiations between EURATOM and several actors outside the region, particularly the International Atomic Energy Agency. The thesis concludes by arguing that international safeguards organisations, of which EURATOM is a regional example, have made important contributions to arms control and international security. In the process, certain kinds of precedents and procedures which have potential for broader application have been established. (author)

nab-Paclitaxel plus gemcitabine for metastatic pancreatic cancer: a subgroup analysis of the Western European cohort of the MPACT trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tabernero J

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Josep Tabernero,1 Volker Kunzmann,2 Werner Scheithauer,3 Michele Reni,4 Jack Shiansong Li,5 Stefano Ferrara,6 Kamel Djazouli7 1Medical Oncology Department, Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain; 2Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik II, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany; 3Medizinische Universität Wien, Wien, Austria; 4San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy; 5Celgene Corporation, Summit, NJ, USA; 6Celgene Corporation, Boudry, Switzerland; 7Celgene Corporation, Paris, France Purpose: The global Phase III MPACT trial demonstrated superior efficacy of nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine over gemcitabine alone as first-line treatment for metastatic pancreatic cancer. Region was a randomization stratification factor in the MPACT trial. This subgroup analysis of MPACT examined efficacy and safety of patients treated in Western Europe.Patients and methods: Patients received nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine or gemcitabine alone as first-line treatment for metastatic pancreatic cancer as previously described. A total of 76 patients were included in this analysis (n=38 for each arm.Results: Differences between the overall Western European cohort and the intention-to-treat population included lower percentages of male patients (46% and 58%, respectively and patients with biliary stents (8% and 17%, and higher percentages of patients with Karnofsky performance status of 90–100 (78% and 60% and primary tumors in the body of the pancreas (48% and 31%. The median overall survival was 10.7 months with nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine vs 6.9 months with gemcitabine alone (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.82 [95% confidence interval (CI: 0.48–1.40]; P=0.471. Median progression-free survival was 5.3 vs 3.7 months, respectively (HR: 0.70 [95% CI: 0.37–1.33]; P=0.277. The independently assessed overall response rate was 18% vs 5% (response rate ratio, 3.50 [95% CI: 0.78–15.78]; P=0.076. The most common grade ≥3 adverse events with nab

Queer to be kind: Exploring Western media discourses about the “Eastern bloc” during the 2007 and 2014 Eurovision Song Contests

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Alexej Ulbricht

2015-05-01

Full Text Available This article examines the voting results and Western European media coverage of the 2007 and 2014 Eurovision Song Contests. The Austrian drag act Conchita Wurst (the alter ego of an openly gay man won in 2014, whilst Serbian entrant Marija Šerifović, portrayed in Western European media as lesbian at the time, won in 2007. We first explore the extent to which there was an East-West voting divide in both contests. In 2014, while there was some elite hostility against Conchita in Eastern Europe, the popular support was on a similar level to that in Western Europe. In 2007, we find no significant geographic divide in support for Šerifović. However, when we examine mainstream UK and German media coverage during and after both contests, we find strong anti-Eastern European discourses that are at odds with the similarity in the public voting. We employ the concept of homonationalism to interrogate inconsistent Western media discourses: the East was depicted as a site of homophobia and the West as a site of tolerance in 2014, whilst the queer aesthetic / identity of Šerifović was largely overlooked in 2007.

Shining a Light on the Western Balkans: Internal Vulnerabilities and Malign Influence from Russia, Terrorism, and Transnational Organized Crime

Science.gov (United States)

2017-05-01

October 30, 2016. de Borja Lasheras, Francisco, Return to Instability : How Migration and Great Power Politics Threaten the Western Balkans, European...Director Center for Stability and Development Center for Strategic Studies REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188...Since the civil wars of the 1990s, the Western Balkans region has been plagued by conflict and instability . The United States and Western Europe

Balancing Cost and Risk: The Treatment of Renewable Energy in Western Utility Resource Plans

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bolinger, Mark; Wiser, Ryan

2005-08-10

Markets for renewable energy have historically been motivated primarily by policy efforts, but a less widely recognized driver is poised to also play a major role in the coming years: utility integrated resource planning (IRP). Resource planning has re-emerged in recent years as an important tool for utilities and regulators, particularly in regions where retail competition has failed to take root. In the western United States, the most recent resource plans contemplate a significant amount of renewable energy additions. These planned additions--primarily coming from wind power--are motivated by the improved economics of wind power, a growing acceptance of wind by electric utilities, and an increasing recognition of the inherent risks (e.g., natural gas price risk, environmental compliance risk) in fossil-based generation portfolios. This report examines how twelve western utilities treat renewable energy in their recent resource plans. In aggregate, these utilities supply approximately half of all electricity demand in the western United States. Our purpose is twofold: (1) to highlight the growing importance of utility IRP as a current and future driver of renewable energy, and (2) to identify methodological/modeling issues, and suggest possible improvements to methods used to evaluate renewable energy as a resource option. Here we summarize the key findings of the report, beginning with a discussion of the planned renewable energy additions called for by the twelve utilities, an overview of how these plans incorporated renewables into candidate portfolios, and a review of the specific technology cost and performance assumptions they made, primarily for wind power. We then turn to the utilities' analysis of natural gas price and environmental compliance risks, and examine how the utilities traded off portfolio cost and risk in selecting a preferred portfolio.

Finnish Mothers’ Assessments of the Harmfulness of Childcare at Home on Occupational Careers: A Comparison of Twelve European Countries

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Sirpa Weckström

2015-11-01

Full Text Available It is generally believed that long periods of childcare at home deteriorate mothers’ occupational careers. This study examined mothers’ experiences regarding negative career consequences of full-time care of children at home, and of part-time work due to childcare. The focus was on Finland, a country that provides all mothers a financially compensated, longer-term childcare leave linked with unrestricted access to day care services. Experiences of Finnish mothers were compared with experiences of mothers in 11 other European countries. The data were based on European Social Survey (ESS round 2, conducted in 2004 and 2005. In all of the studied countries, the majority of mothers assessed that taking care of children at home had not harmed their occupational careers. There was, however, a clear cross-country variation. Perceived career consequences for both types of care at home were least common in Finland. In most of the investigated countries, longer times spent with children at home increased the probability to perceive negative career consequences. In Finland, the difference was relatively small. Thus, as long as the focus is on mothers’ perceptions, the longer-term childcare leave does not seem to markedly deteriorate Finnish mothers’ careers.

Comparison of quality control for trauma management between Western and Eastern European trauma center

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Gambale Giorgio

2008-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Quality control of trauma care is essential to define the effectiveness of trauma center and trauma system. To identify the troublesome issues of the system is the first step for validation of the focused customized solutions. This is a comparative study of two level I trauma centers in Italy and Romania and it has been designed to give an overview of the entire trauma care program adopted in these two countries. This study was aimed to use the results as the basis for recommending and planning changes in the two trauma systems for a better trauma care. Methods We retrospectively reviewed a total of 182 major trauma patients treated in the two hospitals included in the study, between January and June 2002. Every case was analyzed according to the recommended minimal audit filters for trauma quality assurance by The American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACSCOT. Results Satisfactory yields have been reached in both centers for the management of head and abdominal trauma, airway management, Emergency Department length of stay and early diagnosis and treatment. The main significant differences between the two centers were in the patients' transfers, the leadership of trauma team and the patients' outcome. The main concerns have been in the surgical treatment of fractures, the outcome and the lacking of documentation. Conclusion The analyzed hospitals are classified as Level I trauma center and are within the group of the highest quality level centers in their own countries. Nevertheless, both of them experience major lacks and for few audit filters do not reach the mmum standard requirements of ACS Audit Filters. The differences between the western and the eastern European center were slight. The parameters not reaching the minimum requirements are probably occurring even more often in suburban settings.

Social policies, separation, and second birth spacing in Western Europe

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Michaela Kreyenfeld

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Objective: This paper studies postseparation fertility behavior. The aim is to investigate whether, and if so how, separation affects second birth spacing in Western European countries. Methods: This analysis makes use of rich survey data from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom, as well as from Finnish register data. We thus cover the behavior of a large proportion of the population of Western Europe. We also use descriptive measures, such as Kaplan‒Meier survival functions and cumulative incidence curves. In the multivariate analysis, we employ event history modeling to show how education relates to postseparation fertility behavior. Results: There are large differences in postseparation fertility behavior across European countries. For Spain and Italy, we find that only a negligibly small proportion of the population have a second child after separating from the other parent of the firstborn child. The countries with the highest proportion of second children with a new partner are the United Kingdom, Germany, and Finland. In all countries, separation after first birth leads to a sharp increase in the birth interval between first and second births. Contribution: Our study is a contribution to the demographic literature that aims at understanding birth spacing patterns in Western Europe. Furthermore, we draw attention to the role of postseparation policies in explaining country differences in fertility behavior in contemporary societies.

Cultural and gender convergence in adolescent drunkenness: evidence from 23 European and North American countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuntsche, Emmanuel; Kuntsche, Sandra; Knibbe, Ronald; Simons-Morton, Bruce; Farhat, Tilda; Hublet, Anne; Bendtsen, Pernille; Godeau, Emmanuelle; Demetrovics, Zsolt

2011-02-01

To investigate time-trend changes in the frequency of drunkenness among European and North American adolescents. Cross-sectional surveys in the 1997/1998 and 2005/2006 Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Study (HBSC). High schools in 23 countries. A sample of 77 586 adolescents aged 15 years was analyzed by means of hierarchical linear modeling. The frequency of drunkenness. We observed a significant increase of about 40% in the mean frequency of drunkenness in all 7 participating Eastern European countries. This increase was evident among both genders, but most consistently among girls. Meanwhile, it declined in 13 of 16 Western countries, about 25% on average. Declines in Western countries were particularly notable among boys and in North America, Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. Despite this gender convergence, with few exceptions (Greenland, Norway, United Kingdom) boys continued to have a higher frequency of drunkenness in 2005/2006 than girls. The confirmed cultural convergence implies that adoption and implementation of evidence-based measures to mitigate the frequency of adolescent drunkenness such as tax increases and restricting alcohol access and advertisement should get the same priority in Eastern European countries as in Western countries. Policy measures that might facilitate decreases in drunkenness such as server training and the promotion of alcohol-free leisure-time activities should be reinforced in Western countries. The gender convergence implies that prevention policy should be less exclusively focused on male adolescents.

European oil refining: strategies for a competitive future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MacDonald, James.

1997-07-01

European Oil Refining investigates how the industry came to be in crisis and what the future holds. As well as an extensive analysis of past and present market shifts, the report predicts likely future developments and their consequences for investors. The report reviews the European oil sector in a global context, calculates the cost to refiners of key environmental legislation, assesses the problems caused by changing product demand and crude supply, examines possible solutions to the problems of low margins and overcapacity, evaluates the key players' main strategies to increase their competitiveness, analyses the western European oil refining industry by country, details the refinery operations of the major countries of central and eastern Europe, profiles 15 of the major oil companies and estimates the increase in investment required as a result of legislative and demand changes. (author)

Bioaccumulation of persistent organic pollutants in female common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) and harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) from western European seas: Geographical trends, causal factors and effects on reproduction and mortality

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pierce, G.J. [School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen AB24 2TZ (United Kingdom); Instituto Espanol de Oceanografia, Centro Oceanografico de Vigo, P.O. Box 1552, 36200, Vigo (Spain)], E-mail: g.j.pierce@abdn.ac.uk; Santos, M.B. [School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen AB24 2TZ (United Kingdom); Instituto Espanol de Oceanografia, Centro Oceanografico de Vigo, P.O. Box 1552, 36200, Vigo (Spain); Murphy, S. [AFDC, Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science, University College, National University of Ireland, Enterprise Centre, North Mall, Cork (Ireland); Sea Mammal Research Unit, Gatty Marine Laboratory, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB (United Kingdom); Learmonth, J.A. [School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen AB24 2TZ (United Kingdom); Zuur, A.F. [Highland Statistics, 6 Laverock Road, Newburgh, Aberdeenshire AB41 6FN (United Kingdom); Rogan, E. [AFDC, Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science, University College, National University of Ireland, Enterprise Centre, North Mall, Cork (Ireland); Bustamante, P.; Caurant, F. [Centre de Recherche sur les Ecosystemes Littoraux Anthropises, UMR 6217 CNRS-IFREMER-Universite de la Rochelle, 22 avenue Michel Crepeau, 17042 La Rochelle (France); Lahaye, V. [School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen AB24 2TZ (United Kingdom); Centre de Recherche sur les Ecosystemes Littoraux Anthropises, UMR 6217 CNRS-IFREMER-Universite de la Rochelle, 22 avenue Michel Crepeau, 17042 La Rochelle (France); Ridoux, V. [Centre de Recherche sur les Ecosystemes Littoraux Anthropises, UMR 6217 CNRS-IFREMER-Universite de la Rochelle, 22 avenue Michel Crepeau, 17042 La Rochelle (France); Zegers, B.N.; Mets, A. [Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), P.O. Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Texel (Netherlands)] (and others)

2008-05-15

Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in blubber of female common dolphins and harbour porpoises from the Atlantic coast of Europe were frequently above the threshold at which effects on reproduction could be expected, in 40% and 47% of cases respectively. This rose to 74% for porpoises from the southern North Sea. PCB concentrations were also high in southern North Sea fish. The average pregnancy rate recorded in porpoises (42%) in the study area was lower than in the western Atlantic but that in common dolphins (25%) was similar to that of the western Atlantic population. Porpoises that died from disease or parasitic infection had higher concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) than animals dying from other causes. Few of the common dolphins sampled had died from disease or parasitic infection. POP profiles in common dolphin blubber were related to individual feeding history while those in porpoises were more strongly related to condition. - High PCB levels were recorded in porpoises and common dolphins from European coasts.

Bioaccumulation of persistent organic pollutants in female common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) and harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) from western European seas: Geographical trends, causal factors and effects on reproduction and mortality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pierce, G.J.; Santos, M.B.; Murphy, S.; Learmonth, J.A.; Zuur, A.F.; Rogan, E.; Bustamante, P.; Caurant, F.; Lahaye, V.; Ridoux, V.; Zegers, B.N.; Mets, A.

2008-01-01

Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in blubber of female common dolphins and harbour porpoises from the Atlantic coast of Europe were frequently above the threshold at which effects on reproduction could be expected, in 40% and 47% of cases respectively. This rose to 74% for porpoises from the southern North Sea. PCB concentrations were also high in southern North Sea fish. The average pregnancy rate recorded in porpoises (42%) in the study area was lower than in the western Atlantic but that in common dolphins (25%) was similar to that of the western Atlantic population. Porpoises that died from disease or parasitic infection had higher concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) than animals dying from other causes. Few of the common dolphins sampled had died from disease or parasitic infection. POP profiles in common dolphin blubber were related to individual feeding history while those in porpoises were more strongly related to condition. - High PCB levels were recorded in porpoises and common dolphins from European coasts

Comparison of perceived barriers to entrepreneurship in Eastern and Western European countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Iakovleva, T.A.; Kolvereid, L.; M.J. Gorgievski-Duijvesteijn (Marjan); Sørhaug, Ø

2014-01-01

textabstractThis qualitative study among 591 business students from four European countries investigated cross-country differences in the kind of barriers people perceive to business start-up. In line with institutional theory, the most important perceived barriers in all countries related to

Striking elevation in incidence and prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease in a province of western Hungary between 1977-2001

Science.gov (United States)

Lakatos, Laszlo; Mester, Gabor; Erdelyi, Zsuzsanna; Balogh, Mihaly; Szipocs, Istvan; Kamaras, Gyorgy; Lakatos, Peter Laszlo

2004-01-01

AIM: An investigation into inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer in Veszprem Province was conducted from 1977 to 2001. METHODS: Both hospital and outpatient records were collected and reviewed comprehensively. The majority of patients were followed up regularly. RESULTS: The population of the province was decreased from 386000 to 376000 during the period. Five hundred sixty new cases of ulcerative colitis (UC), 212 of Crohn’s disease (CD), and 40 of indeterminate colitis (IC) were diagnosed. The incidence rates increased from 1.66 to 11.01 cases per 100000 persons for UC, from 0.41 to 4.68 for CD and from 0.26 to 0.74 for IC. The prevalence rate at the end of 2001 was 142.6 for UC and 52.9 cases per 100000 persons for CD. The peak onset age in UC patients was between 30 and 40 years, in CD between 20 and 30 years. A family history of IBD was present in 3.4 % in UC and 9.9 % in CD patients. Smoking increased the risk for CD (OR = 1.94) while it decreased the risk for UC (OR = 0.25). Twelve colorectal carcinomas were observed in this cohort, the cumulative colorectal cancer risk after 10 years in UC was 2%, after 20 years 8.8%, after 30 years 13.3%. CONCLUSION: The incidence and prevalence rates of IBD have increased steadily in Veszprem Province, now equivalent to that in Western European countries. Rapid increase in incidence rates supports a probable role for environmental factors. The rate of colorectal cancers in IBD is similar to that observed in Western countries. PMID:14760767

The Integration of International Migrants into Western Society

Science.gov (United States)

2017-05-31

Western Australia’s capital city, Perth. Data was collected on residency, English proficiency, employment status, mode of transport, housing, home...European Union 2010, 2014). Based on the concept of “human capital ”, a cross-sectorial approach covering inter alia education, employment and...populations of unqualified migrants with poor local language skills who have become dependent on the welfare state. In the UK, migration as a product of

Women in European Culture and Society

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Simonton, Deborah Leigh

A new and major contribution to the field, Women in European Culture and Society is a transnational history of women in Europe from the beginning of the eighteenth century that pushes women’s history beyond national studies to create an integrated view of three hundred years of women in Europe...... as exploring cultural perceptions of women and the ways in which women have been have been represented by these discourses. It explicitly engages with how women contributed as practitioners to shaping the culture and society of western Europe. The geographical range and generational breadth of this study...... provides a cohesive vision of women’s lives up to the present day. Women in European Culture and Society is an invaluable and essential guide to the conditions, circumstances and understandings of how women lived throughout Europe....

Food retailers' buying behaviour: An analysis in 16 European countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skytte, Hans; Blunch, Niels Johan

2001-01-01

This paper presents results from a study on food retailer buying behaviour, i.e., how the retailers judge product and vendor attributes when choosing a new supplier of a product category that is already well known to them. A conjoint analysis was conducted in 16 Western European countries...

Improved outcome of childhood acute myeloid leukemia in an Eastern European country: Lithuanian experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Kairiene, Igne; Pasauliene, Ramune; Lipunova, Nadezda; Vaitkeviciene, Goda; Rageliene, Lina; Rascon, Jelena

2017-10-01

The reported treatment outcomes of children treated for cancer in Eastern European countries are inferior to those in Northern/Western Europe. We hypothesized that recent survival rates could be comparable to the current standards and performed a population-based analysis of treatment outcome of childhood acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in Lithuania, a small Eastern European country. Children  80% in high-income countries. The difference in survival rates between Northern/Western and Eastern European countries as well as between high- and middle-/low-income countries is as much as 20%. Recently, the 5-year event-free survival rate of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has reached > 60% in high-income countries. The survival rates for myeloproliferative diseases were the lowest in Eastern European countries. • The reported inferior survival rates were calculated based on outcome data of patients treated until 2007. The recent survival rates in Eastern European countries are unknown. What is New: • Being a small Eastern European country, Lithuania has experienced good economic growth during the last decade. We hypothesized that economic growth and gain of experience could result in better survival rates of children treated for cancer in our country in recent years. • A population-based analysis of treatment outcome of childhood AML treated in Lithuania in the recent years was performed for the first time. The survival rates of childhood AML in Lithuania are comparable to those of other high-income countries. Current survival rates of children treated for cancer in Eastern European countries could be comparable to the best current standards contributing to better European survival rates of childhood cancer in general.

It’s not the Fish that Stinks! EU Trade Relations with Morocco under the Scrutiny of the General Court of the European Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandra Hummelbrunner

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The EU’s international agreements with Morocco on trade in agricultural and fishery products have drawn criticism due to their application to the disputed territory of Western Sahara, a territory that remains on the list of non-self-governing territories to be decolonised in accordance with the right of self-determination of the indigenous Sahrawi people. Recently, the Sahrawi liberation movement Front Polisario brought an action for annulment before the General Court of the European Union (GC against the Council Decision approving the conclusion of one such agreement, alleging multiple violations of European and international legal norms. Interestingly, although the GC concurred by annulling the Decision insofar as it applies to Western Sahara, it chose to exclusively base its judgment on EU fundamental rights, invoking the EU’s failure to ensure that the fundamental rights of the Sahrawi people were not infringed by applying the agreements to Western Sahara. By summarily setting aside Front Polisario’s other claims, several relevant questions of applicable international and European law, which warrant further discussion, remain. This article examines these questions using the GC’s judgment in Front Polisario, thereby combining general matters of international and European law with the specific circumstances of the EU-Morocco relations and Western Sahara.

Central European projects could alter oil movement patterns

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deffarges, E.H.; Howard, D.J.; Treat, J.E.

1991-01-01

This paper reports that several oil transportation projects are set to transform the flows of oil in Central Europe, with potentially important implications for crude oil and product prices in the region. These projects are spurred by the desires of the newly opened economies of Central Europe to diversify their sources of oil supplies away from the U.S.S.R. and by expectations of economic growth in this region. Today, Central European countries (Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Romania, and Bulgaria) rely heavily on Soviet crude supplies. Of the 1.7 million b/d of crude oil consumed by these six countries, about 55% is imported from the U.S.S.R. This is down significantly from the more than 75% import dependence in the mid-1980s. This dependency on U.S.S.R. crude - for countries that either have a history of indigenous production (Romania) or access to Middle East or North African supplies (Yugoslavia) - testifies to more than 40 years of centrally planned economics in which Moscow provided the energy and raw materials and Central European countries delivered finished goods. Since the end of World War II, the pipeline flow of crude oil and products from Western to Central Europe has been almost nonexistent. In fact, the Western European crude and product pipeline network itself is a rather poorly integrated system, with only limited interconnections between northern and southern networks and no real competition across the major flow routes

[Tianjin characteristics of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine in first aid medical system].

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhijun

2018-05-01

Tianjin, as the earliest city to open up, the exchange of Chinese and Western cultures also started earlier. Therefore, today's emergency medicine system with integrated features of Chinese and Western medicine is formed. Professor Wang Jinda, who works in Tianjin First Center Hospital, makes the theory of "treating bronchitis and treating diseases" and "three methods of three syndromes" for the treatment of severe diseases such as sepsis. The surgical aspect is the treatment of acute abdomen with the combination of Chinese and Western medicine which is proposed by Academician Wu Xianzhong who worked in Tianjin Nankai Hospital. In the aspect of acupuncture and moxibustion, Professor Guo Yi, who works in Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, provides the twelve Jing points blood-letting therapy for cerebral diseases such as stroke. Professor Liu Xinqiao from the First Affiliated Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine also conducts in-depth studies on brain protection after cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). He proposes the importance of traditional Chinese medicine in addition to mild hypothermia and neuroprotective agents. The author summarized these achievements, in light of which looked forward to the future and proposed the concept of establishing a multi-specialist collaboration and an emergency center with obvious characteristics of integrated Chinese and Western medicine, which would pave the way for the development of integrated Chinese and Western medicine first aid.

Report made on the behalf of the Foreign Affairs Commission on the bill project nr 2932 authorizing the ratification of the protocol modifying the protocol on transitory dispositions attached to the Treaty on the European Union, to the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union, and to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2011-01-01

This report first describes and comments the consequences of the Lisbon Treaty in terms of composition for the European Parliament, and more particularly the debate about the design of an efficient and representative parliament, the election mode and the seat distribution. Then, it describes how the modification protocol has been elaborated, its content (general architecture, eighteen additional seats for twelve member States and their election modalities), and its implementation (agenda and method)

Toward the integration of European natural gas markets:A time-varying approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Renou-Maissant, Patricia

2012-01-01

Over the past fifteen years, European gas markets have radically changed. In order to build a single European gas market, a new regulatory framework has been established through three European Gas Directives. The purpose of this article is to investigate the impact of the reforms in the natural gas industry on consumer prices, with a specific focus on gas prices for industrial use. The strength of the relationship between the industrial gas prices of six western European countries is studied by testing the Law of One Price for the period 1991–2009. Estimations were carried out using both cointegration analysis and time-varying parameter models. Results highlight an emerging and on-going process of convergence between the industrial gas prices in western Europe since 2001 for the six EU member states. The strength and the level of convergence differ widely between countries. Strong integration of gas markets in continental Europe, except for the Belgian market, has been established. It appears that the convergence process between continental countries and the UK is not completed. Thus, the integration of European gas markets remains an open issue and the question of how far integration will proceed will still be widely discussed in the coming years. - Highlights: ► We investigate the integration of European natural gas markets. ► We use both cointegration analysis and time-varying parameter models. ► We show the failure of cointegration techniques to take account of evolving processes. ► An emerging and on-going process of convergence between the industrial gas prices is at work. ► Strong integration of gas markets in continental Europe has been established.

Finger Counting Habits in Middle Eastern and Western Individuals: An Online Survey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lindemann, O.; Alipour, A.; Fischer, M.H.

2011-01-01

The current study documents the presence of cultural differences in the development of finger counting strategies. About 900 Middle Eastern (i.e., Iranian) and Western (i.e., European and American) individuals reported in an online survey how they map numbers onto their fingers when counting from 1

News from the western European invasion front

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Filipe Ribeiro

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Invasive species are one of the main threats to aquatic biodiversity, being particularly serious in regions with high number of endemic and endangered fishes. Portugal has currently one of the highest numbers of non-native fishes per area in western Europe and the rate of species arrival is increasing. In this review, an updated status of non-native fishes is provided with recent trends of leading vectors and routes. Non-native fish component represents 31% of the freshwater fish diversity existing in the country, totaling 20 established species out of 28 introduced species. In the last decade, the non-native fish detection rate (a proxy of introduction rate has been one new species in every two years. Most of the non-native fishes in Portugal are mainly from Central Europe and North America and were illegally introduced for sports fisheries. However, some recent records are also linked with the ornamental trade, from Asia, indicating an increase of this vector in fish introductions. The international drainages exhibit the highest number of non-native fishes due to prevalent invasion routes from Spain, although direct introductions to national drainages in spatially limited areas suggest new invasion routes caused by higher propagule pressure of leading vectors (fisheries and ornamental trade. Management options are presented in order to tackle this growing threat, namely risk assessment, enforcement and environmental education. Only a comprehensive and integrated approach at an Iberian level could reduce the current rate of non-native species arrival to this region and help us to preserve the Iberian freshwater fishes for future generations.

Regressive Progression: The Quest for Self-Transcendence in Western Tragedy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bahee Hadaegh

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Regressive progression is a concept which interestingly describes the developmental process of Western tragedy based on the recurring motif of the quest for the higher self and Nietzsche’s understanding of Dionysian tragic hero. This motif reveals itself in three manifestations - action, imagination and inaction- respectively visible in the three major dramatic eras of the Renaissance tragedy, European nineteenth-century drama, and the Absurd Theatre. Although the approach of the quest regressively shifts from action to inaction, the degree of success of the tragic questers in approximating the wished-for higher self reveals a progressive line in the developmental process of Western tragedy.

Crocodilian faunal renewal in the Upper Oligocene of Western Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Antunes, Miguel Telles; Cahuzac, Bruno

1999-01-01

The presence of Tomistomine Crocodilians ( Tomistoma sp.) is first recorded in the Upper Oligocene of Western Europe (Chattian, Saint-Geours-de-Maremne, Aquitaine basin). Immigration, probably of Asiatic origin, occurred ca. 26 Ma, prior to the previously earliest records for Lowermost Miocene. Tomistoma points to warm, at least subtropical environments, in agreement with data on invertebrates and fish fauna. Immigrations to Western Europe of Tomistoma (and of Gavialis, in Miocene times) during Upper Oligocene and Lower-Middle Miocene seem related to climatic warming and eustatic rise events. There was a renewal of the European Crocodilian fauna, much impoverished in Late Eocene and reduced to Diplocynodon.

Neogene amphibians and reptiles (Caudata, Anura, Gekkota, Lacertilia, and Testudines) from the south of Western Siberia, Russia, and Northeastern Kazakhstan.

Science.gov (United States)

Vasilyan, Davit; Zazhigin, Vladimir S; Böhme, Madelaine

2017-01-01

The present-day amphibian and reptile fauna of Western Siberia are the least diverse of the Palaearctic Realm, as a consequence of the unfavourable climatic conditions that predominate in this region. The origin and emergence of these herpetofaunal groups are poorly understood. Aside from the better-explored European Neogene localities yielding amphibian and reptile fossil remains, the Neogene herpetofauna of Western Asia is understudied. The few available data need critical reviews and new interpretations, taking into account the more recent records of the European herpetofauna. The comparison of this previous data with that of European fossil records would provide data on palaeobiogeographic affiliations of the region as well as on the origin and emergence of the present-day fauna of Western Siberia. An overview of the earliest occurrences of certain amphibian lineages is still needed. In addition, studies that address such knowledge gaps can be useful for molecular biologists in their calibration of molecular clocks. In this study, we considered critically reviewed available data from amphibian and reptile fauna from over 40 Western Siberian, Russian and Northeastern Kazakhstan localities, ranging from the Middle Miocene to Early Pleistocene. Herein, we provided new interpretations that arose from our assessment of the previously published and new data. More than 50 amphibians and reptile taxa were identified belonging to families Hynobiidae, Cryptobranchidae, Salamandridae, Palaeobatrachidae, Bombinatoridae, Pelobatidae, Hylidae, Bufonidae, Ranidae, Gekkonidae, Lacertidae, and Emydidae. Palaeobiogeographic analyses were performed for these groups and palaeoprecipitation values were estimated for 12 localities, using the bioclimatic analysis of herpetofaunal assemblages. The Neogene assemblage of Western Siberia was found to be dominated by groups of European affinities, such as Palaeobatrachidae, Bombina, Hyla , Bufo bufo , and a small part of this assemblage

Irregular Migration flows and human trafficking in the Western Balkan countries: challenges of the covergence of counter-trafficking response

OpenAIRE

Mece, Merita H.

2016-01-01

Irregular migration on the Western Balkan route has marked an unprecedented number during the last five years. Evidence indicates that both, non-European nationals and Western Balkan citizens have been involved in this complex migratory flow being exposed to various risks of human trafficking. But Western Balkan countries are source, transit and destination countries of human trafficking while their states are not well organized to implement a comprehensive and well-coordinated regional respo...

Twelve years of fireworks market surveillance in France

OpenAIRE

Branka , Ruddy

2012-01-01

International audience; In the view of market surveillance, more than 4400 fireworks have been taken on the spot by sworn people or bought on the market in France since 1999 for inspection purposes. This paper presents the market surveillance sampling evolution during twelve years, carried out by the PYRO unit of the Accidental Risks Division of INERIS as testing body ; the related measures implemented : additional audits in importer plants, interlaboratory tests for guarantying the reliabili...

Twelve Theses on Reactive Rules for the Web

OpenAIRE

Bry, François; Eckert, Michael

2006-01-01

Reactivity, the ability to detect and react to events, is an essential functionality in many information systems. In particular, Web systems such as online marketplaces, adaptive (e.g., recommender) sys- tems, and Web services, react to events such as Web page updates or data posted to a server. This article investigates issues of relevance in designing high-level programming languages dedicated to reactivity on the Web. It presents twelve theses on features desira...

Extreme working hours in Western Europe and North America: A new aspect of polarization

OpenAIRE

Burger, Anna S.

2015-01-01

This paper analyzes the trends and root causes of extreme working hours in sixteen Western European countries, Canada, and the United States between 1970 and 2010. Earlier literature has revealed increasing trends in extreme working hours in the United States and recognized the negative repercussions of this new aspect of labor market polarization. As European average working hours have declined over the past decades, scholars have turned little attention to the analysis of extreme working ho...

European Commission policies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coldwell, R.

1993-01-01

This debate discusses the debate surrounding the proposed European Community (EC) Directive on the completion of the internal energy market for natural gas and electric power. The context in which the liberalisation program is proposed is described for electricity, considering political issues, international ownership patterns and trade between Eastern and Western Europe. The author then argues for Member States to be consistent and fair, bearing in mind existing variations in liberalisation of national energy markets. Finally the components of the directive are examined. The United Kingdom, with its already liberalised electricity industry has much to gain from the Directive, while other countries which oppose it, are seen as protecting the vested interests of their own utilities. (UK)

THE FLAT TAX EFFECTS a€“ THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE IN WESTERN AND EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moga Aura Carmen

2009-05-01

Full Text Available This paper takes a close look at the advantages and disadvantages of the flat tax and looks at its proven benefits and failings in some European countries which adopted it and its theoretical or possible effects on the economies of other European countrie

Meningen over abortus in West-Europa, 1981-2000 [Abortion attitudes in Western Europe, 1981-2000

OpenAIRE

Need, A.; Ultee, W.C.; Levels, M.; Tienen, M. van

2008-01-01

Summary Abortion attitudes in Western Europe, 1981-2000 This article answers descriptive and explanatory questions about abortion attitudes in Western Europe between 1981 and 2000. It explains country differences and trends in these attitudes with abortion laws of states, with the norms that prevail in churches and schools, and with opinions and behaviour of others in a society. Using the European and World Value Surveys, complemented with abortion statistics and information about abortion la...

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

THE ANALYSIS OF ABSORPTION CAPACITY OF EUROPEAN FUNDING IN THE NORTH WESTERN REGION OF ROMANIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Droj Laurentiu

2010-12-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes the Romanian absorption capacity of the funds allocated through the REGIO programme, which is part of ERDF programme. Within the paper are presented the concept of absorption capacity and several opinions regarding its main composing elements. Also the Regio programme, its main axis and its budget is briefly presented. In the last chapter of the analysis a thorough analysis of the implementation of REGIO in the Romanian North-West Region was carried out and several causes for the low absorption of European Founds have been identified.. The process of improving the absorption capacity of European Funds is still at the beginning in Romania and will certainly become an important issue over the following years at all levels of the Romanian society and at the level of the European Funding Authorities as well.

Monetary determinants of deposit euroization in European post-transition countries

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Tkalec Marina

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the long-run and short-run relationship between deposit euroization in twelve European post-transition economies and two determinants of deposit euroization that are under the influence of monetary policy: the exchange rate and the interest rate differential. The link between deposit euroization, exchange rates and interest rate differentials is investigated using Johansen cointegration and error correction models for each country separately. The results suggest that changes in both monetary drivers have significant effects on deposit euroization and are therefore important for explaining and fighting deposit euroization. Differences between exchange rate regimes, fixed and managed vs. floating, seem to matter for deposit euroization.

In tradition of ideas euroscepticism in Serbia: Anti-western discourse

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diković Jovana

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper I questioned whether euroscepticism can be perceived as an immanent current of Serbian anti-western discourse, which have usually been used as synonyms by one part of public and scholars. Following the most influential conceptualisation of party positions on European Union and integration, provided by Kopecky and Mudde (2002, I classified positions of several dominant Serbian political parties according to attitudes on EU and integration. As the analysis has shown, eurosceptisism does not exist as an option in Serbian political spectrum, between euroenthusiasts, from one side, and eurorejects, on the other side. Since euroscepticism represents quite new and complex phenomenon, I showed that it has nothing to do with anti-western discourse in Serbia. On the contrary, in the second part of the paper I reveal the link between current eurorejects and the founders of anti-western ideas in Serbia, that were established in the second half of XIX century. Ujedinjena Omladina srpska (Serbian Joint Youth was national movement of young writers and cultural workers who developed anti-western feelings and orientation in the spirit of European romanticism and ideas of national liberation. However, these ideas have been preserved and slightly changed to the present, due to specific political circumstances and almost permanent social, economic or identity crises, which were especially intensified during last two decades. Therefore, current eurorejects are real inheritors of these ideas, that are adapted to current political circumstances and vocabulary, but essentially they represent one, more or less, unchanged belief system which is worth exploring. The main object of the paper was to point out that eurosceptisism does not represent the inner side of anti-western discourse in Serbia, on the one hand, and that current eurorejects in fact continue to develop nineteenth century concept of hostility towards the other which is based on dogma, self

Birth of Olympic flame: Ancient Greece and European identity (II

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Malešević Miroslava

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The anti-Chinese protests that were organized throughout European cities fol­lowing the route of the Olympic torch from Athens to Beijing, and the conflicts that erupted with strong emotions on both sides between the protestors and the Chinese citizens, will without a doubt remain a lasting memory of the 2008 Olympic games. Regardless of these protests' justified motives, there is a visible paradoxical role-switch in the scenes that circled the globe for months: the Olympic torch and Olympic idea, were being defended by China as a highest value and the source of their own past and identity, and attacked by the people (Europeans on whose land that very idea had been created and nurtured for over a hundred years. How should these contradictory images be understood? How did it come to this that the Chinese view themselves as the keepers of the Olympic tradition, that the pride of the Chinese nation, focused in that flame, gets hurt in attempts of European protestors to put it out? The modern Olympic Games, founded in 1896, were one of the echoes of a centuries' long Western European fascination with the Antique. This phenomenon of the Antique admiration has brought about a redefining of the European civilization's past, the abandoning the biblical narrative and the gradual creation of a secular story that we call modern history, in which Greece and Rome have become the main references of origin. The same process influenced the formation of national states that perceive, apart from their own histories, a collective cultural origin in Ancient Greece. Of course, the Galls, Francs or Germans had little in common with ancient Greeks; but modern European nations unite this fictional image of the Antique with the firm belief that it is the source of their cultural identity. For instance, not only did the 18th century French and English believe that they originated from ancient Greece but they managed to successfully 'sell' that story to modern Greeks

Revision of the Late Jurassic crocodyliform Alligatorellus, and evidence for allopatric speciation driving high diversity in western European atoposaurids.

Science.gov (United States)

Tennant, Jonathan P; Mannion, Philip D

2014-01-01

Atoposaurid crocodyliforms represent an important faunal component of Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous Laurasian semi-aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems, with numerous spatiotemporally contemporaneous atoposaurids known from western Europe. In particular, the Late Jurassic of France and Germany records evidence for high diversity and possible sympatric atoposaurid species belonging to Alligatorellus, Alligatorium and Atoposaurus. However, atoposaurid taxonomy has received little attention, and many species are in need of revision. As such, this potentially high European diversity within a narrow spatiotemporal range might be a taxonomic artefact. Here we provide a taxonomic and anatomical revision of the Late Jurassic atoposaurid Alligatorellus. Initially described as A. beaumonti from the Kimmeridgian of Cerin, eastern France, additional material from the Tithonian of Solnhofen, south-eastern Germany, was subsequently referred to this species, with the two occurrences differentiated as A. beaumonti beaumonti and A. beaumonti bavaricus, respectively. We provide a revised diagnosis for the genus Alligatorellus, and note a number of anatomical differences between the French and German specimens, including osteoderm morphology and the configuration and pattern of sculpting of cranial elements. Consequently, we restrict the name Alligatorellus beaumonti to include only the French remains, and raise the rank of the German material to a distinct species: Alligatorellus bavaricus. A new diagnosis is provided for both species, and we suggest that a recently referred specimen from a coeval German locality cannot be conclusively referred to Alligatorellus. Although it has previously been suggested that Alligatorellus, Alligatorium and Atoposaurus might represent a single growth series of one species, we find no conclusive evidence to support this proposal, and provide a number of morphological differences to distinguish these three taxa that appear to be independent of

Twelve years at DESY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1993-01-01

As reported in our previous issue (page 27), on 28 February Volker Soergel stepped down after serving as Chairman of the Board of the DESY Laboratory in Hamburg since January 1981, when the previous chairman, Herwig Schopper, moved to become Director General of CERN. DESY is now headed by Bjorn Wiik. During the twelve years of Soergel's mandate, DESY substantially evolved and progressed. Dominating the landscape was the big HERA electron-proton collider - the world's first - proposed, approved, constructed and commissioned under Soergel's leadership. As well as pioneering electron-proton collisions, HERA also broke new ground in international collaboration. At the approval of the project by the German government, it had already been made clear that both the machine and its experiments had to be built with full international cooperation, using material contributions from foreign institutes. With the difficult task of transforming these requirements into hard reality, Volker Soergel succeeded brilliantly. The 'HERA model', with interested countries pledging contributions in equipment and/or manpower, established a new route to major project involvement. For HERA, the substantial Italian contribution, organized by Antonino Zichichi, was vital to the success of the project

The political economy of energy use and pollution: the environmental effects of East-European transition to market economy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Midttun, A.; Chander, I. [Norwegian School of Management, Sandvicka (Norway)

1998-11-01

The transition of Eastern Europe to Western-type liberal capitalism has been interpreted as an important step towards a more ecologically sustainable Europe. The main argument has been that the energy efficiency of the West-European economy will be imported to Eastern Europe and lead to lower energy consumption and lower pollution. This line of argumentation seems sound as far as the industrial sector is concerned. However, it does not take into consideration the energy and pollution bill of the lavish lifestyle of modern consumer-oriented societies. A shift away from the moderate private consumption of East-European Communism, towards the Western consumerist lifestyle may diminish or even abolish the positive ecological effects of the East-European transition to a competitive market economy. The article explores energy consumption and pollution patterns of Eastern and Western Europe both as far as industrial and domestic end-user consumption is concerned. The article argues that these patterns are related to basic characteristics of the communist and capitalist systems and that pollution and energy use are fundamentally conditioned by the overall political economy. 18 refs., 14 figs., 1 tab., 1 app.

Citizenship Education Development: European Experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. V. Suslov

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The paper considers the European experience of the citizenship education developmentan important aspect of internal policy in the most countries. The education in question is considered to be the democratic citizenship training aimed at developing the loyal attitude to different value priorities in society, social responsibility, active citizenship position, awareness of democratic rights, capability of using and protecting them.The author looks at the transformation of citizenship education concept in the last three decades from the civics education (i.e. history, political science, law, etc. to the democratic citizen education. The paper analyzes differ- ent approaches to citizenship education in several European countries including the post-soviet ones. It is emphasized that both in western and eastern Europe a lot of effort is made for spreading and supporting the education in question. The author recommends considering the foreign experience of integrating the democratic citizenship education into the state academic curricula at the primary, secondary and higher school levels. 

Living arrangements in Western Europe: does cultural origin matter?

OpenAIRE

Giuliano, Paola

2006-01-01

Why are there such large differences in living arrangements across Western European countries? Conventional economic analyses have not been successful in explaining differences in living arrangements and particularly the dramatic increase in the fraction of young adults living with their parents in Mediterranean Europe. This paper presents a cultural interpretation. I argue that the sexual revolution of the 1970s - by liberalizing parental attitudes - had a differential impact on living arran...

Corporatism In Western Europe: Current State And Prospects For Evolution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Р. Ja. Feldman

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The article conducts a political analysis of the Western European institutions of corporatism. The main task of the author is the study of the policy of harmonizing the interests of labor and capital (trade unions and employers’ associations, which is implemented in countries such as the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Denmark etc. Dynamics of political processes unfolding in the space of Western Europe, suggests that the mechanisms of articulation and political representation of social and labour interests have significantly transformed over the past 30 years. The use of institutional and systemic approaches along with the empirical methods, leads to the conclusion that the most developed European countries are moving from the classical model of corporatism to a more pluralistic forms of interaction between the state, labour and capital. Social partnership as an instrument of collective bargaining between employees and employers is displaced from the political sphere to the sectoral and organizational levels. The typical institutions of democratic corporatism (tripartite commissions, socio-economic councils, etc., who played a crucial role in rebuilding post-war Europe, become rudimentary organs of the national political systems. In addition, there is a tendency to weaken the political influence of trade unions, who successfully struggled for the satisfaction of collective demands of workers in the beginning of XX century. Large multinational companies prefer to influence the political decision-making centers autonomously, ignoring the associative membership in the guild organizations. As a consequence, corporatist bargaining is being replaced by direct and indirect lobbying, Government Relations and election fundraising. When accounting for identified trends, the author presents a hypothesis that the evolution of corporatism in Western Europe will lead to its gradual degeneration. Taking into account the identified trends, the

Nuclear power in western society

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Franklin, N.L.

1977-01-01

The degree to which problems of public acceptance have contributed to the slowdown in progress of nuclear power in Western European countries and the USA is discussed. Some of the effects on the nuclear power industry, i.e. the electrical utilities, the power station suppliers, and the fuel cycle contractors are described. The problem of the lack of public acceptance is examined by consideration of four areas: the position of the employee working in nuclear installations, opposition from the local community, the question of terrorism and its impact on nuclear policy, and finally, what is felt to constitute the greatest anxiety concerning nuclear power, that of proliferation. (U.K.)

Safety of nuclear power reactors in the former Eastern European Countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chakraborty, S.

1995-01-01

This article discusses the safety of nuclear power plants in the former Eastern European countries (including the former Soviet Union). The current international design, fabrication, construction, operation, safety, regulatory standards and practices, and ways to resolve plant problems are addressed in light of experience with the Western nuclear power development programs

The effect of generation and age on turnout to the European Parliament

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bhatti, Yosef; Hansen, Kasper Møller; Wass, Hanna

2012-01-01

Electoral turnout has been declining at national elections in almost all Western democracies. European Parliament (EP) elections have followed the same trend. We utilize a previously suggested method for separating the effect of generation, age and period and show that a major part of the decline...

Peucedanum ostruthium (L. Koch: Morphological and phytochemical variability of twelve accessions from the Swiss alpine region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

McCardell, Jessica Heather

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Ostruthin, a natural bioactive compound mainly occurring in the roots of Peucedanum ostruthium, is the focus of this study. P. ostruthium was collected from twelve locations in the Swiss alpine region and reared in an experimental field, subdivided into twelve lots over two years. In the spring and fall, a portion of each of the twelve accessions was harvested and separated into above and below ground plant parts. The dried plants were then extracted with 60 % ethanol using accelerated solvent extraction (ASE and analyzed using high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC.The above and below ground plant parts were then analyzed concerning their dry matter yield (DMY, their ostruthin concentration and their ostruthin yield. Focusing on ostruthin, it was found that the below ground plant parts harvested in the fall rendered the highest ostruthin yield. Furthermore, a variability concerning ostruthin among the twelve accessions was found. This variability among the accessions is of interest with regards to a breeding program used to develop a cultivar with a high ostruthin yield.

Attitudes towards homosexuality amongst recent Polish migrants in Western Europe: Migrant selectivity and attitude change

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Röder, A.; Lubbers, M.

2015-01-01

This contribution investigates the socially conservative attitudes of newly arrived immigrants from Poland in two Western European countries, Ireland and the Netherlands, with a particular interest in the selective nature of out-migration along non-economic factors and attitude change after

Nature of the crust in the Laxmi Basin (14°-20°N), western continental margin of India

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Krishna, K.S.; Rao, D.G.; Sar, D.

for determining the crust below the shelf, Laxmi Basin and Western Basin. 3. Crustal structure ? associated gravity and magnetic anomalies In the present study we have integrated the new datasets with published geophysical data: Conrad 1707 profiles (Naini..., 1980), SK- 12, 22, 50, 64 and 79 profiles (Bhattacharya et al., 1994a; Chaubey et al., 2002) and twelve long-range sonobuoy refraction stations (Naini and Talwani, 1983) (Figure 1) for carrying out integrated interpretation of the data. 3.1 Previous...

Neogene amphibians and reptiles (Caudata, Anura, Gekkota, Lacertilia, and Testudines from the south of Western Siberia, Russia, and Northeastern Kazakhstan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Davit Vasilyan

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Background The present-day amphibian and reptile fauna of Western Siberia are the least diverse of the Palaearctic Realm, as a consequence of the unfavourable climatic conditions that predominate in this region. The origin and emergence of these herpetofaunal groups are poorly understood. Aside from the better-explored European Neogene localities yielding amphibian and reptile fossil remains, the Neogene herpetofauna of Western Asia is understudied. The few available data need critical reviews and new interpretations, taking into account the more recent records of the European herpetofauna. The comparison of this previous data with that of European fossil records would provide data on palaeobiogeographic affiliations of the region as well as on the origin and emergence of the present-day fauna of Western Siberia. An overview of the earliest occurrences of certain amphibian lineages is still needed. In addition, studies that address such knowledge gaps can be useful for molecular biologists in their calibration of molecular clocks. Methods and Results In this study, we considered critically reviewed available data from amphibian and reptile fauna from over 40 Western Siberian, Russian and Northeastern Kazakhstan localities, ranging from the Middle Miocene to Early Pleistocene. Herein, we provided new interpretations that arose from our assessment of the previously published and new data. More than 50 amphibians and reptile taxa were identified belonging to families Hynobiidae, Cryptobranchidae, Salamandridae, Palaeobatrachidae, Bombinatoridae, Pelobatidae, Hylidae, Bufonidae, Ranidae, Gekkonidae, Lacertidae, and Emydidae. Palaeobiogeographic analyses were performed for these groups and palaeoprecipitation values were estimated for 12 localities, using the bioclimatic analysis of herpetofaunal assemblages. Conclusion The Neogene assemblage of Western Siberia was found to be dominated by groups of European affinities, such as Palaeobatrachidae

Capturing Talent: Generation Y and European Labor Markets

OpenAIRE

GAYLE ALLARD; Cristina Simón; RAQUEL MARTIN

2007-01-01

This study explores the challenge of capturing talent from both the political and the management level in Western Europe. It begins by identifying the special characteristics of Generation Y: those born since 1980 and recently joining national labor forces. It then evaluates the rigidity of labor markets in the European countries, dividing them into most and least regulated and exploring some of the labor-market characteristics that accompany those extremes. Finally, it identifies the employm...

Strategies for reducing emissions and depositions in Central and Eastern European countries: The case of Slovakia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Harmelen, T.; Stoffer, A.; De Kruijk, H.; Salamonova, A.

1995-06-01

A detailed case study on developments and reduction of acidifying SO 2 and NO x emissions from the energy system was conducted for Slovakia. Scenarios and the Energy Flow Optimization Model - Environment (EFOM-ENV) of the European Union (DG 12) were applied for the first time in Slovakia and were similar to those that were used in the other European country studies in preparation of the Second Sulphur Protocol. Slovak SO 2 emissions can be reduced at low marginal costs but high total national costs compared with e.g. the Netherlands. The main reasons for this are the high sulphur content of (brown) coal that has a high share in national energy consumption, a relatively high energy intensity, lower wages, and the fact that most Western countries already have reduced their SO 2 emissions in the past. Marginal NO x emission reduction costs are similar to those of Western countries and national total NO x reduction costs are relatively high. In contrast with fuel switching, retrofitting of existing technologies is an attractive SO 2 and NO x reduction option in the short term. High interest and discount rates due to capital scarcity increases emissions and emission reduction costs. Therefore, short term involvement of Western investors could lead to European cost-effective emission reduction. 17 figs., 5 tabs., 2 appendices, 20 refs

Coverage and development of specialist palliative care services across the World Health Organization European Region (2005-2012): Results from a European Association for Palliative Care Task Force survey of 53 Countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Centeno, Carlos; Lynch, Thomas; Garralda, Eduardo; Carrasco, José Miguel; Guillen-Grima, Francisco; Clark, David

2016-04-01

The evolution of the provision of palliative care specialised services is important for planning and evaluation. To examine the development between 2005 and 2012 of three specialised palliative care services across the World Health Organization European Region - home care teams, hospital support teams and inpatient palliative care services. Data were extracted and analysed from two editions of the European Association for Palliative Care Atlas of Palliative Care in Europe. Significant development of each type of services was demonstrated by adjusted residual analysis, ratio of services per population and 2012 coverage (relationship between provision of available services and demand services estimated to meet the palliative care needs of a population). For the measurement of palliative care coverage, we used European Association for Palliative Care White Paper recommendations: one home care team per 100,000 inhabitants, one hospital support team per 200,000 inhabitants and one inpatient palliative care service per 200,000 inhabitants. To estimate evolution at the supranational level, mean comparison between years and European sub-regions is presented. Of 53 countries, 46 (87%) provided data. Europe has developed significant home care team, inpatient palliative care service and hospital support team in 2005-2012. The improvement was statistically significant for Western European countries, but not for Central and Eastern countries. Significant development in at least a type of services was in 21 of 46 (46%) countries. The estimations of 2012 coverage for inpatient palliative care service, home care team and hospital support team are 62%, 52% and 31% for Western European and 20%, 14% and 3% for Central and Eastern, respectively. Although there has been a positive development in overall palliative care coverage in Europe between 2005 and 2012, the services available in most countries are still insufficient to meet the palliative care needs of the population. © The

Peculiarities of the Research of the History of Western European Countries, Case of Norway

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexey A. Vorobiev

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract: Researcing of history of small advanced countries of Western Europe has a number of specific features, which are connected to its socio-economic level and dynamic development and the dependence on the external economic factor. So the article is devoted to the analysis of regularity of the development of the industry of Norwegian economic specialization (energy sector in the international division of labour as an important element of its historical development. The author of the article analyzes the influence of the energy sector on the political life of the country, the balance of political forces, legislation, foreign policy priorities, and the history of the development of society. At the same time he uses the interdisciplinary approach to determine the relationship of cause and effect between historical events to compile a complete historical picture. The author concludes that the regularities in history are universal and concern all small highly developed countries of Western Europe including Norway. The complex of economic, social, political, financial, legal, tax, environmental and other measures of state support to specialized branches of the national economy is the main semantic rod of historical events in many of the small countries of Western Europe. Analysis of individual industries of the economy in the international division of labor should be an integral part of researches of the historical development of small countries which have a narrow structure of economy, because it helps to understand the peculiarities of the historical development of nations.

Hidden twelve-dimensional super Poincare symmetry in eleven dimensions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bars, Itzhak; Deliduman, Cemsinan; Pasqua, Andrea; Zumino, Bruno

2004-01-01

First, we review a result in our previous paper, of how a ten-dimensional superparticle, taken off-shell, has a hidden eleven-dimensional super Poincare symmetry. Then, we show that the physical sector is defined by three first-class constraints which preserve the full eleven-dimensional symmetry. Applying the same concepts to the eleven-dimensional superparticle, taken off-shell, we discover a hidden twelve-dimensional super Poincare symmetry that governs the theory

Chalcone Synthase Gene Lineage Diversification confirms allopolyploid evolutionary relationships of European Rostrate Violets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hof, van den K.; Berg, van den R.G.; Gravendeel, B.

2008-01-01

Phylogenetic relationships among and within the subsections of the genus Viola are still far from resolved. We present the first organismal phylogeny of predominantly western European species of subsection Rostratae based on the plastid trnS¿trnG intron and intergenic spacer and the nuclear low-copy

Filling the gap in the European administrative space

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mastenbroek, Ellen; Martinsen, Dorte Sindbjerg

2017-01-01

European administrative networks (EANs) are a key building block of the European Administrative Space (EAS). Crucially, they are to fill the gap between the EU’s policy ambitions and its limited administrative capacities. Whereas ample research has been done on policy preparation networks, the role...... of implementing EANs has received less attention in the EAS literature. This article fills this gap by providing a systematic review of relevant insights in four adjacent literatures: EU governance; international relations; public administration; and EU compliance. Employing a systematic literature review......, it reports divergent findings on EAN establishment, functioning and impact, as well as variant normative evaluations. These variant findings partly relate to a lack of comparative research, selective policy coverage and predominant focus on North-western states. We conclude by suggesting a number of lines...

The future of European natural gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ausems, D.

1991-01-01

Western Europe's natural gas markets abound with opportunities. They also contain major challenges. This paper presents a revealing assessment of both the challenges and the opportunities that arise from those markets. It also explains some of the surprising ways in which the European Commission and Dutch gas industry will influence gas markets throughout the Continent. Gas consumption is well-established and expanding in a small group of European nations. These countries rely on an equally small collection of suppliers, both within and beyond the Community's borders, to provide the required volumes of natural gas. Because supply and demand are likely to grow at significantly different rates, it is suggested what a major market imbalance could materialize before the end of the decade. Averting major gas supply problems beyond the year 2000 will require multi-billion dollar commitments by producers and will necessitate long-term take-or-pay contacts backed by strong and financially healthy buyers

Competition in European electricity markets: a cross-country comparison

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glachant, J.-M.; Finon, D.

2003-01-01

In 1988, the European Commission floated the idea of liberalising the power sector as the key to improving competition and creating jobs in Western Europe, and many reforms have taken place since then. This book examines and evaluates those changes drawing on 12 specific countries. An introductory chapter presents an overview of the typology of institutional structure, approaches to reform, industrial response and progress. The heart of the book looks at three separate areas, viz. the northerners, western-central, and southern and Latin Europe. A dozen chapters by 21 writers present an analysis of the issues faced in dealing with the reforms. The book discusses price convergence and why this cannot be forced. Both practical and academic perspectives are dealt with

Low-cost airlines in Europe: Network structures after the enlargement of the European Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dudas Gabor

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The liberalization of the European air opened the strictly regulated European market, and contributed to the appearance and quick spread of the Low-Cost Carriers (LCCs. At the beginning of the 21st century the low cost traffic absolutely concentrated on the Western European market but after the enlargement of the European Union (EU LCCs started their operations in Eastern Europe enlarging and enriching the former evolved network structures. The aim of this paper is to trace the evolution of the route network as a result of EU expansion. During the study we came to the conclusion that in the time period after the EU enlargement the European LCC traffic showed dynamic development, route networks widened and the number of accessible destinations doubled. Comparing the LCCs network structures we defined three main characteristics, which represents the North-South flows, the West-East routes and the mixed network structure.

Dietary Patterns in European and Brazilian Adolescents: Comparisons and Associations with Socioeconomic Factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Camila Aparecida Borges

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Associations between dietary patterns (DP and socioeconomic factors have been little explored in adolescents. The aim of this study was to identify DP in European and Brazilian adolescents and to investigate their associations with a range of socioeconomic indicators. Adolescents from the HELENA-study and the Household Budget Survey were analyzed. Factor analysis was used to obtain DP. Linear regression was used to examine the association between DP and SES. In Europeans, the Western DP was associated with low education of the mother, high socioeconomic status (boys, older age (boys, and living in cities of the Northern Europe; in Brazilians, the Western DP was associated with high secondary education of the mother, high socioeconomic status and living in Southern areas of the country. The Traditional European DP, in both genders, was associated with high secondary education of the mother and inversely associated with a high socioeconomic status; the Traditional Brazilian DP, was associated with university level education of the mother and older age (boys. The association between DP and socioeconomic factors is relevant for the understanding of food-related practices and highlight the importance of performing a complete assessment of the socioeconomic influence in adolescent’s DP from developed and developing countries.

Premarital sex in the last twelve months and its predictors among ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Premarital sex increases the risk of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections including HIV if unprotected and contraception is not used. Thus, the objective of this study was to assess premarital sex in the last twelve months and its predictors among regular undergraduate students of Wollega ...

Estimates of probability of severe accidents at European reactors potentially leading to fallout in the UK

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mottram, P.R.; Goldemund, M.H.

2001-08-01

This study has examined a large number of reactors and data for Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) in Western Europe, Russia, the seven Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) seeking membership of the European Union, and the Newly Independent States (NIS) with operable NPPs. The potential threats from severe accidents at these NPPs causing fallout in the UK has been estimated using IAEA guidelines and Probabilistic Safety Assessments carried out in the specified countries. (author)

Jihadist Foreign Fighter Phenomenon in Western Europe: A Low-Probability, High-Impact Threat

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edwin Bakker

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The phenomenon of foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq is making headlines. Their involvement in the atrocities committed by terrorist groups such as the so-called “Islamic State” and Jabhat al-Nusra have caused grave concern and public outcry in the foreign fighters’ European countries of origin. While much has been written about these foreign fighters and the possible threat they pose, the impact of this phenomenon on Western European societies has yet to be documented. This Research Paper explores four particular areas where this impact is most visible: a violent incidents associated with (returned foreign fighters, b official and political responses linked to these incidents, c public opinion, and d anti-Islam reactions linked to these incidents. The authors conclude that the phenomenon of jihadist foreign fighters in European societies should be primarily regarded as a social and political threat, not a physical one. They consider the phenomenon of European jihadist foreign fighters a “low-probability, high-impact” threat.

Twelve tips for the top

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cranfield, J; Buckman, D

1994-09-01

Exploration has shown the presence of oil and gas in a number of new offshore sites around the world, those in the Caspian Sea appearing to be the most promising the water generally being shallow enough for economic development by Western technology. The potential for oil and gas development is outlined for each of the following countries; Azerbaijan; Turkmenistan; Kazakstan; Iran; Italy; Croatia; Namibia; Equatorial Guinea; Sudan; Bangladesh; Myanmar; Cambodia. (UK)

Capturing the essence of a corporate brand personality: A Western brand in Eastern Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Rekom, Johan; Jacobs, Gabriele; Verlegh, Peeter W J; Podnar, Klement

2006-01-01

This study focuses on the positioning of a Western brand (McDonald ’ s) in an Eastern European market (Slovenia), and shows how corporate communication efforts can infl uence consumer perceptions of brand essence. In order to ensure the long-time viability of a brand ’ s equity, preserving and

Safety of superconducting fusion magnets: twelve problem areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, L.R.

1979-05-01

Twelve problem areas of superconducting magnets for fusion reaction are described. These are: Quench Detection and Energy Dump, Stationary Normal Region of Conductor, Current Leads, Electrical Arcing, Electrical Shorts, Conductor Joints, Forces from Unequal Currents, Eddy Current Effects, Cryostat Rupture, Vacuum Failure, Fringing Field and Instrumentation for Safety. Each is described under the five categories: Identification and Definition, Possible Safety Effects, Current Practice, Adequacy of Current Practice for Fusion Magnets and Areas Requiring Further Analytical and Experimental Study. Priorities among these areas are suggested; application is made to the Large Coil Project at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Twelve tips for creating an academic teaching portfolio.

Science.gov (United States)

Little-Wienert, Kim; Mazziotti, Mark

2018-01-01

An academic teaching portfolio is not only a requirement at many academic teaching institutions, but it is also important in a medical educator's growth and development through documentation, reflection, evaluation, and change. Creating an academic portfolio may appear daunting at first but with careful advanced preparation, organized evidence collection of your educational work, proof of scholarship, and thorough documentation of self-reflection and change, you can produce a successful product that accurately represents your educational beliefs, accomplishments, and growth throughout your career. This article provides medical educators with twelve steps for creating a successful academic teaching portfolio.

Education and Communities at the “Margins”: The Contradictions of Western Education for Islamic Communities in Sub-Saharan Africa

OpenAIRE

Obed Mfum-Mensah

2017-01-01

This paper employs postcolonial framework to discuss the contradictions of promoting western education in Islamic communities in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Prior to colonization, Islamic education was an important socializing process that instilled strong Islamic identity in Islamic communities in SSA. European encounters in SSA and the introduction of western education shifted the socializing process and reconfigured SSA societies and dislocated Islamic communities in the region. I argue that...

Comparison of fumonisin contamination using HPLC and ELISA methods in bt and near-isogenic maize hybrids infested with European corn borer or western bean cutworm.

Science.gov (United States)

Bowers, Erin; Hellmich, Richard; Munkvold, Gary

2014-07-09

Field trials were conducted from 2007 to 2010 to compare grain fumonisin levels among non-Bt maize hybrids and Bt hybrids with transgenic protection against manual infestations of European corn borer (ECB) and Western bean cutworm (WBC). HPLC and ELISA were used to measure fumonisin levels. Results of the methods were highly correlated, but ELISA estimates were higher. Bt hybrids experienced less insect injury, Fusarium ear rot, and fumonisin contamination compared to non-Bt hybrids. WBC infestation increased fumonisin content compared to natural infestation in non-Bt and hybrids expressing Cry1Ab protein in five of eight possible comparisons; in Cry1F hybrids, WBC did not impact fumonisins. These results indicate that WBC is capable of increasing fumonisin levels in maize. Under WBC infestation, Cry1F mitigated this risk more consistently than Cry1Ab or non-Bt hybrids. Transgenically expressed Bt proteins active against multiple lepidopteran pests can provide broad, consistent reductions in the risk of fumonisin contamination.

Development of European regulations on radiopharmaceuticals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kristensen, K.

1990-01-01

Separate regulatory systems are being developed on the use of radiopharmaceuticals including radiation protection of patients and personnel and on the quality including safety and efficacy of radiopharmaceuticals. Radiation protection legislation has been introduced in most western European Economic Community (EEC). Within the drug field radiopharmaceuticals have been excepted up till now. However, new EEC directive on radiopharmaceuticals will soon come into force. The work done on the preparation of regulations and guidelines will be discussed. This discussion will focus on the problems faced when radiation protection aspects shall be balanced to traditional requirements of pharmaceutical aspects

E-business and its Application in Conditions of Central European Market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Naci Tolga Saruc

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Aim of this paper is highlighting possibilities in effective utilization of Information and Communication Technologies for supporting entrepreneurship (e-business for Small and Medium enterprises. The core research carried on for duration of twelve months covered analysis and following presentation of possibilities of practical utilization of e-business applications. Furthermore research was oriented towards innovative forms of marketing communication in Real Corporation conducting business in Central European market. Analyzing data on collected findings can add value towards gaining a significant competitive advantage in form of better understanding of real facts influencing entrepreneurship in principle. This can lead consequently to positive influence on corporate effectiveness in the environment of Small and Medium enterprises.

Projected developments in the US and European LWR fabrication market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, C.K.; Varley, G.

1996-01-01

There are several important factors influencing change in the fuel fabrication supply industry in Western Europe today. The most important is the changing supply relationships resulting from lower costs in the USA. With US fabrication prices substantially lower than in Western Europe, a situation which is sustainable based on production costs, a major force for change prevails which will have significant implications for the commercial development of both markets over the next decade. The extent to which supply from the USA will drive the Western Europe market will depend, to some extent, on three other factors: the new US-Euratom agreement on nuclear trade; electricity market deregulation in the European Union (EU); near term MOX fuel fabrication capacity. The main purpose of this paper is to discuss the current situation in the USA and Europe, and the manner in which this will lead to changing fuel fabrication supply dynamics in both markets. (author)

European Crises of Legally-constituted Public Power

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjær, Poul F.

2017-01-01

. The dual (trans-)national re-constitution of Western Europe in the years immediately after the Second World War, which the European integration process was an integrated part of, successfully remedied this development. However, over the last decades, Europe has experienced a ‘turn to governance’, which......The ‘turn to corporatism’ in the interwar period implied an erosion of the fragile institutionalisation of legally-constituted public power due to its suspension of the legal infrastructure of society and the concomitant breakdown of the distinction between the public and private realms of society...

Educational differentials in cohabitors' marriage intentions at different childbearing stages in seven European countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Vergauwen, Jorik; Neels, Karel; Wood, Jonas

2017-07-01

Several studies have looked into the socio-economic gradients of cohabitation and non-marital fertility. According to the theory of the Second Demographic Transition, highly educated individuals can be considered as forerunners in the Western European spread of non-marital family forms after the 1970s. In Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), however, research has provided evidence for a Pattern of Disadvantage where those with the lowest education have been the most likely to adopt such family forms. Hitherto, few studies have considered the educational gradient of the intentions underlying these behaviors. This contribution uses information on marriage and fertility intentions from the Generations and Gender Surveys for seven European countries to assess educational differentials. In Western Europe we observe no strong educational gradients in marriage intentions at any childbearing stage (before, during or following). In CEE countries, however, less educated cohabitors more frequently choose for cohabitation during childbearing. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Strategies for reducing emissions and depositions in Central and Eastern European countries: The case of the Czech Republic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Harmelen, T.; De Kruijk, H.; Stoffer, A.; Maly, M.

1995-06-01

A detailed case study on developments and reduction of acidifying SO 2 and NO x emissions from the energy system was conducted for the Czech Republic. Scenarios and the Energy Flow Optimization Model - Environment (EFOM-ENV) of the European Union (DG 12) were applied for the first time in the Czech Republic and were similar to those that were used in the other European country studies in preparation of the Second Sulphur Protocol. Czech SO 2 emissions can be reduced at low marginal costs, but at high total national costs compared with e.g. the Netherlands. The main reasons for this are the high sulphur content of (brown) coal, that has a high share in national energy consumption, a relatively high energy intensity, low wages, and the fact that most Western countries already have reduced their SO 2 emissions in the past. Marginal NO x emission reduction costs are similar to those of Western countries and national total NO x reduction costs are relatively high. In contrast with fuel switching, retrofitting of existing technologies is an attractive SO 2 and NO x reduction option in the short term. High interest and discount rates due to capital scarcity increases emissions and emission reduction costs. Therefore, short term involvement of Western investors could lead to European cost-effective emission reduction. 17 figs., 5 tabs., 2 appendices, 20 refs

Who should do what in environmental management? Twelve principles for allocating responsibilities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mostert, E.

2015-01-01

In environmental management there is often discussion on the allocation of responsibilities. Such discussions can continue for a long time and can form an obstacle for effective action. In this article twelve normative principles for the allocation of responsibilities are identified, coming from

PCB pollution continues to impact populations of orcas and other dolphins in European waters

Science.gov (United States)

Jepson, Paul D.; Deaville, Rob; Barber, Jonathan L.; Aguilar, Àlex; Borrell, Asunción; Murphy, Sinéad; Barry, Jon; Brownlow, Andrew; Barnett, James; Berrow, Simon; Cunningham, Andrew A.; Davison, Nicholas J.; Ten Doeschate, Mariel; Esteban, Ruth; Ferreira, Marisa; Foote, Andrew D.; Genov, Tilen; Giménez, Joan; Loveridge, Jan; Llavona, Ángela; Martin, Vidal; Maxwell, David L.; Papachlimitzou, Alexandra; Penrose, Rod; Perkins, Matthew W.; Smith, Brian; de Stephanis, Renaud; Tregenza, Nick; Verborgh, Philippe; Fernandez, Antonio; Law, Robin J.

2016-01-01

Organochlorine (OC) pesticides and the more persistent polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have well-established dose-dependent toxicities to birds, fish and mammals in experimental studies, but the actual impact of OC pollutants on European marine top predators remains unknown. Here we show that several cetacean species have very high mean blubber PCB concentrations likely to cause population declines and suppress population recovery. In a large pan-European meta-analysis of stranded (n = 929) or biopsied (n = 152) cetaceans, three out of four species:- striped dolphins (SDs), bottlenose dolphins (BNDs) and killer whales (KWs) had mean PCB levels that markedly exceeded all known marine mammal PCB toxicity thresholds. Some locations (e.g. western Mediterranean Sea, south-west Iberian Peninsula) are global PCB “hotspots” for marine mammals. Blubber PCB concentrations initially declined following a mid-1980s EU ban, but have since stabilised in UK harbour porpoises and SDs in the western Mediterranean Sea. Some small or declining populations of BNDs and KWs in the NE Atlantic were associated with low recruitment, consistent with PCB-induced reproductive toxicity. Despite regulations and mitigation measures to reduce PCB pollution, their biomagnification in marine food webs continues to cause severe impacts among cetacean top predators in European seas.

PCB pollution continues to impact populations of orcas and other dolphins in European waters.

Science.gov (United States)

Jepson, Paul D; Deaville, Rob; Barber, Jonathan L; Aguilar, Àlex; Borrell, Asunción; Murphy, Sinéad; Barry, Jon; Brownlow, Andrew; Barnett, James; Berrow, Simon; Cunningham, Andrew A; Davison, Nicholas J; Ten Doeschate, Mariel; Esteban, Ruth; Ferreira, Marisa; Foote, Andrew D; Genov, Tilen; Giménez, Joan; Loveridge, Jan; Llavona, Ángela; Martin, Vidal; Maxwell, David L; Papachlimitzou, Alexandra; Penrose, Rod; Perkins, Matthew W; Smith, Brian; de Stephanis, Renaud; Tregenza, Nick; Verborgh, Philippe; Fernandez, Antonio; Law, Robin J

2016-01-14

Organochlorine (OC) pesticides and the more persistent polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have well-established dose-dependent toxicities to birds, fish and mammals in experimental studies, but the actual impact of OC pollutants on European marine top predators remains unknown. Here we show that several cetacean species have very high mean blubber PCB concentrations likely to cause population declines and suppress population recovery. In a large pan-European meta-analysis of stranded (n = 929) or biopsied (n = 152) cetaceans, three out of four species:- striped dolphins (SDs), bottlenose dolphins (BNDs) and killer whales (KWs) had mean PCB levels that markedly exceeded all known marine mammal PCB toxicity thresholds. Some locations (e.g. western Mediterranean Sea, south-west Iberian Peninsula) are global PCB "hotspots" for marine mammals. Blubber PCB concentrations initially declined following a mid-1980s EU ban, but have since stabilised in UK harbour porpoises and SDs in the western Mediterranean Sea. Some small or declining populations of BNDs and KWs in the NE Atlantic were associated with low recruitment, consistent with PCB-induced reproductive toxicity. Despite regulations and mitigation measures to reduce PCB pollution, their biomagnification in marine food webs continues to cause severe impacts among cetacean top predators in European seas.

Primagaz's European horizon; Les horizons europeens de Primagaz

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fridman, G.

1999-07-01

First European LPG marketer, Primagaz achieved excellent results in 1998, with some differences between the various countries whereby this group operates: Western Europe, Central Europe, Mediterranean Basin. Sales rose to 2.7 million tones last year. The aim is to reach the level of 4 million tones. The million tones in 2003. This is underlined by Franck Bruneau, President of this group which works in 15 countries. (authors)

Twelve fundamental life histories evolving through allocation-dependent fecundity and survival.

Science.gov (United States)

Johansson, Jacob; Brännström, Åke; Metz, Johan A J; Dieckmann, Ulf

2018-03-01

An organism's life history is closely interlinked with its allocation of energy between growth and reproduction at different life stages. Theoretical models have established that diminishing returns from reproductive investment promote strategies with simultaneous investment into growth and reproduction (indeterminate growth) over strategies with distinct phases of growth and reproduction (determinate growth). We extend this traditional, binary classification by showing that allocation-dependent fecundity and mortality rates allow for a large diversity of optimal allocation schedules. By analyzing a model of organisms that allocate energy between growth and reproduction, we find twelve types of optimal allocation schedules, differing qualitatively in how reproductive allocation increases with body mass. These twelve optimal allocation schedules include types with different combinations of continuous and discontinuous increase in reproduction allocation, in which phases of continuous increase can be decelerating or accelerating. We furthermore investigate how this variation influences growth curves and the expected maximum life span and body size. Our study thus reveals new links between eco-physiological constraints and life-history evolution and underscores how allocation-dependent fitness components may underlie biological diversity.

Postglacial recolonization and Holocene diversification of Crocidura suaveolens (Mammalia, Soricidae) on the north-western fringe of the European continent

Science.gov (United States)

Rofes, Juan; Cucchi, Thomas; Hanot, Pauline; Herman, Jeremy; Stephan, Pierre; Cersoy, Sophie; Horáček, Ivan; Kerr, Elizabeth; Allberry, Kate; Valenzuela, Silvia; Zazzo, Antoine; Cornette, Raphaël; Tresset, Anne

2018-06-01

Phenotypic variation was characterized in 187 modern and archaeological specimens of the lesser white-toothed shrew (Crocidura suaveolens), obtained from both insular and continental European locations. Geometric morphometric methods were used to quantify variation in size and shape of the mandible. The phenotypic distance between populations, and the influence of several eco-geographical factors on the size and shape of the mandible in island populations, were assessed. Based on mandible shape divergence, the populations of C. suaveolens were clustered into continental, insular Atlantic and insular Mediterranean groups. Archaeological specimens from Molène Island, more than 3400 years old, display a mandible shape signal closer to that of the continental population than those of modern island populations. Conversely, the continental shape signals of the modern populations from Höedic and Sark suggest that these are relatively recent anthropogenic introductions. The populations of C. suaveolens from both the Atlantic and Mediterranean islands (except for Rouzic and Cyprus) show a significant increase in mandible size, compared to those from continental Europe. Significant phenotypic differences support the indigenous condition of C. suaveolens on most of the Atlantic islands, suggesting that the species arrived there before the separation of the Scilly Isles and Ushant from the continent due to the post-glacial rise in sea level. This provides an ante quem for its colonization of the north-western fringe of continental Europe, notwithstanding its absence from the region in the present day.

The medicinal plants of Chepan Mountain (Western Bulgaria)

Science.gov (United States)

Zahariev, Dimcho

2015-12-01

Bulgaria is one of the European countries with the greatest biodiversity, including biodiversity of medicinal plants. The object of this study is Chepan Mountain. It is located in Western Bulgaria and it is part of Balkan Mountain. On the territory of the Chepan Mountain (only 80 km2) we found 344 species of medicinal plants from 237 genera and 83 families. The floristic analysis indicates, that the most of the families and the genera are represented by a small number of inferior taxa. The hemicryptophytes dominate among the life forms with 49.71%. The biological types are represented mainly by perennial herbaceous plants (60.47%). There are 7 types of floristic elements divided in 27 groups. The largest percentage of species are of the European type (58.43%). Among the medicinal plants, there are two Balkan endemic species and 18 relic species. We described 23 species with protection statute. The anthropophytes among the medicinal plants are 220 species (63.95%).

European Explorers' Engagements with Sexuality in Indigenous Cultures : The Forsters' Interpretations of Tahitian Sexual Practices

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Tilburg, M.W.A.

2013-01-01

While current analyses of European interpretations of non-western cultures are guided by a modern concept of sexuality, this article argues for a more encompassing, historical awareness by drawing historical constructs of sexuality into the analysis. To illustrate the point, it will analyze the

Key lessons: Twelve factors critical to the success of WDM at the ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

English · Français ... Key lessons: Twelve factors critical to the success of WDM at the policy and at the operational levels ... from slums in central New Delhi to the city's desolate periphery face daily indignities and danger as they collect water o.

Contributions to the phytocoenologic study in pure european beech stand forests in Codru-Moma Mountains (North-Western Romania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Călin-Gheorghe PĂŞCUŢ

2010-05-01

Full Text Available In the present work we present a phytocoenologic study on the associations found in pure European beech stand forests in Codru-Moma Mountains namely: Festuco drymejae-Fagetum Morariu et al. 1968, Luzulo albidae-Fagetum sylvaticae Zólyomi 1955.Characterization of the associations we studied and presentation of the tables have been made considering the selection of the most representative relevées of pure European beech forests belonging to Codru-Moma Mountains.The phytocoenoses of pure forest stands of European beech forests belonging to the two associations were analyzed in terms of floristic composition, life forms spectrum, spectrum chart of the floral elements and ecological indices.

European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition's Educational Offer and the Training Syllabus.

Science.gov (United States)

Maglione, Marco; Finizio, Daniela; Veres, Gabor; Pop, Tudor L; Continisio, Grazia I; Papadopoulou, Alexandra; Guarino, Alfredo

2017-11-01

The basic knowledge necessary for a European pediatric gastroenterologist/hepatologist/nutritionist is set-out in the training syllabus (TS) of the European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (ESPGHAN). We retrospectively compared the topics covered in ESPGHAN's training events between 2013 and 2016 with the basic knowledge TS items. Thirty-six initiatives including e-learning were identified. Twelve (33%) courses focused on gastroenterology, 9 (25%) on hepatology, and 10 (28%) on nutrition. Five (14%) courses covered >1 field and were classified "General." The initiatives covered 12 of 57 (21%) TS items; 31 of 57 items (54%) were partially covered; and 14 of 57 (25%) not covered. Five of 9 e-learning courses covered gastroenterology topics, whereas none covered hepatology topics. ESPGHAN's 3-year educational offer partially met the training needs listed in the TS. A coordinated educational program covering all TS items would harmonize training within Europe and would provide trainees with a professional portfolio for employment purposes.

Shear wave velocities in the upper mantle of the Western Alps: new constraints using array analysis of seismic surface waves

Science.gov (United States)

Lyu, Chao; Pedersen, Helle A.; Paul, Anne; Zhao, Liang; Solarino, Stefano

2017-07-01

It remains challenging to obtain absolute shear wave velocities of heterogeneities of small lateral extension in the uppermost mantle. This study presents a cross-section of Vs across the strongly heterogeneous 3-D structure of the western European Alps, based on array analysis of data from 92 broad-band seismic stations from the CIFALPS experiment and from permanent networks in France and Italy. Half of the stations were located along a dense sublinear array. Using a combination of these stations and off-profile stations, fundamental-mode Rayleigh wave dispersion curves were calculated using a combined frequency-time beamforming approach. We calculated dispersion curves for seven arrays of approximately 100 km aperture and 14 arrays of approximately 50 km aperture, the latter with the aim of obtaining a 2-D vertical cross-section of Vs beneath the western Alps. The dispersion curves were inverted for Vs(z), with crustal interfaces imposed from a previous receiver function study. The array approach proved feasible, as Vs(z) from independent arrays vary smoothly across the profile length. Results from the seven large arrays show that the shear velocity of the upper mantle beneath the European plate is overall low compared to AK135 with the lowest velocities in the internal part of the western Alps, and higher velocities east of the Alps beneath the Po plain. The 2-D Vs model is coherent with (i) a ∼100 km thick eastward-dipping European lithosphere west of the Alps, (ii) very high velocities beneath the Po plain, coherent with the presence of the Alpine (European) slab and (iii) a narrow low-velocity anomaly beneath the core of the western Alps (from the Briançonnais to the Dora Maira massif), and approximately colocated with a similar anomaly observed in a recent teleseismic P-wave tomography. This intriguing anomaly is also supported by traveltime variations of subvertically propagating body waves from two teleseismic events that are approximately located on

Intensification of agriculture, landscape composition and wild bee communities: A large scale study in four European countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Feon, Le V.; Schermann-Legionnet, A.; Delettre, Y.; Aviron, S.; Billeter, R.; Bugter, R.J.F.; Hendrickx, F.; Burel, F.

2010-01-01

The impacts of agricultural practices and landscape composition on bee communities were investigated in 14 sites located in four Western European countries (Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland). Standardized interviews with farmers assessed agricultural practices in terms of

CONFIRMATION OF OCCURRENCE OF THE NARROW-CLAWED CRAYFISH ? STACUS LEPTODACTYLUS ESCHSCHOLTZ, 1823 IN THE RIVER EVROS IN GREECE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

PERDIKARIS C.

2007-04-01

Full Text Available The narrow-clawed crayfish Astacus leptodactylus Eschscholtz, 1823, is widely distributed in eastern European and western Asian countries. However, species presence in Greece was documented only by limited museum conserved specimens dating back to 1893. Recently (May 2005 several crayfish were captured in the Evros River (close to city of Didimotiho and these were identified as A. leptodactylus. The present work confirms the presence of A. leptodactylus in the Evros River still hundred and twelve years later and introduces the possibility of A. leptodactylus being indigenous to Greece.

Food-related lifestyles in Singapore: Testing a Western European research instrument in Southeast Asia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Askegaard, Søren; Brunsø, Karen; Crippen, Kaye

The food-realaed life style instrument developed by the MAPP research group has, up till now, been applied mainly in the context of European cultures. The purpose of the present study is to apply the food-related life style instrument in a new and different cultural setting, to compare results, a...

A Hidden Twelve-Dimensional SuperPoincare Symmetry In Eleven Dimensions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bars, Itzhak; Deliduman, Cemsinan; Pasqua, Andrea; Zumino, Bruno

2003-12-13

First, we review a result in our previous paper, of how a ten-dimensional superparticle, taken off-shell, has a hidden eleven-dimensional superPoincare symmetry. Then, we show that the physical sector is defined by three first-class constraints which preserve the full eleven-dimensional symmetry. Applying the same concepts to the eleven dimensional superparticle, taken off-shell, we discover a hidden twelve dimensional superPoincare symmetry that governs the theory.

First Steps into the Wild - Exploration Behavior of European Bison after the First Reintroduction in Western Europe.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Philip Schmitz

Full Text Available Biodiversity is rapidly declining globally. One strategy to help to conserve species is to breed species in captivity and release them into suitable habitats. The way that reintroduced animals explore new habitats and/or disperse from the release site is rarely studied in detail and represents key information for the success of reintroduction projects. The European bison (Bison bonasus L. 1758 was the largest surviving herbivore of the post-glacial megafauna in Europe before it became extinct in the wild, surviving only in captivity since 1919. We investigated the exploration behavior of a herd of European bison reintroduced into the Rothaargebirge, a commercial forest in low range mountain intensively used and densely populated by humans, in the first six months after release. We focused on three questions: (1 how did the European bison move and utilize the habitat on a daily basis, (2 how did the animals explore the new environment, and (3 did their habitat preferences change over time. The European bison dispersed away from their previous enclosure at an average rate of 539 m/month, with their areas of daily use ranging from 70 to 173 ha, their movement ranging from 3.6 km to 5.2 km per day, and their day-to-day use of areas ranged between 389 and 900 m. We could identify three major exploration bouts, when the animals entered and explored areas previously unknown to them. During the birthing phase, the European bison reduced daily walking distances, and the adult bull segregated from the herd for 58 days. Around rut, roaming behavior of the herd increased slightly. The animals preferred spruce forest, wind thrown areas and grassland, all of which are food abundant habitat types, and they avoided beech forest. Habitat preference differed slightly between phases of the study period, probably due to phenological cycles. After six months, the complete summer home range was 42.5 km2. Our study shows that a small free-ranging herd of European

What Are the Main Drivers of Young Consumers Purchasing Traditional Food Products? European Field Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

George Vlontzos

2018-02-01

Full Text Available In this research, the attitude of European young adults (age 18 to 30 years regarding their consumption of local and traditional products was examined. The survey was conducted on a sample of 836 consumers from seven European countries (Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, Denmark and France. Data collection was made by distributing a developed questionnaire through social media and university mail services. Principal Component Analysis (PCA was used to identify consumer perception comparing the overall sample with two subsets (consumers from Eastern and Western European countries. Six major factors were revealed: consumer behavior, uncertainty about health issues, cost, influence of media and friends and availability in store. Young adults had a positive attitude to local and traditional food products, but they expressed insecurity about health issues. Cost factor had less of an influence on interviewees from Eastern European countries than those from the overall sample (3rd and 5th factor accordingly. Influence of close environment was a different factor in Eastern countries compared to Western ones, for which it was common to see an influence from media. Females and older people (25–30 years old have fewer doubts about Traditional Food Products, while media have a high influence on consumers’ decisions. The aim of this survey was to identify the consumer profiles of young adults and create different promotion strategies of local and traditional products among the two groups of countries.

What Are the Main Drivers of Young Consumers Purchasing Traditional Food Products? European Field Research

Science.gov (United States)

Kyrgiakos, Leonidas

2018-01-01

In this research, the attitude of European young adults (age 18 to 30 years) regarding their consumption of local and traditional products was examined. The survey was conducted on a sample of 836 consumers from seven European countries (Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, Denmark and France). Data collection was made by distributing a developed questionnaire through social media and university mail services. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to identify consumer perception comparing the overall sample with two subsets (consumers from Eastern and Western European countries). Six major factors were revealed: consumer behavior, uncertainty about health issues, cost, influence of media and friends and availability in store. Young adults had a positive attitude to local and traditional food products, but they expressed insecurity about health issues. Cost factor had less of an influence on interviewees from Eastern European countries than those from the overall sample (3rd and 5th factor accordingly). Influence of close environment was a different factor in Eastern countries compared to Western ones, for which it was common to see an influence from media. Females and older people (25–30 years old) have fewer doubts about Traditional Food Products, while media have a high influence on consumers’ decisions. The aim of this survey was to identify the consumer profiles of young adults and create different promotion strategies of local and traditional products among the two groups of countries. PMID:29439536

Intake of fatty acids in Western Europe with emphasis on trans fatty acids: The TRANSFAIR study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hulshof, K.F.A.M; Erp van - Baart, M.A.; Anttolainen, M.; Becker, W.; Church, S.M.; Couet, C.; Hermann-Kunz, E.; Kesteloot, H.; Leth, T.; Martins, I.; Moreiras, O.; Moschandreas, J.; Pizzoferrato, L.; Rimestad, A.H.; Thorgeirsdottir, H.; Amelsvoort, J.M.M. van; Aro, A.; Kafatos, A.G.; Lanzmann-Petithory, D.; Poppel, G. van

1999-01-01

Objective: To assess the intake of trans fatty acids (TFA) and other fatty acids in 14 Western European countries. Design and subjects: A maximum of 100 foods per country were sampled and centrally analysed. Each country calculated the intake of individual trans and other fatty acids, clusters of

Intake of fatty acids in Western Europe with emphasis on trans fatty acids: The TRANSFAIR study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hulshof, K. F. A. M.; Erp-Baart, M. A. van; Anttolainen, M.

1999-01-01

Objective: To assess the intake of trans fatty acids (TFA) and other fatty acids in 14 Western European countries. Design and subjects: A maximum of 100 foods per country were sampled and centrally analysed. Each country calculated the intake of individual trans and other fatty acids, clusters of...

The European nuclear power industry: Restructuring for combined strength and worldwide leadership

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forsberg, C.W.; Norman, R.E.; Reich, W.J.; Hill, L.J.

1993-01-01

The European nuclear power industry is being restructured from an industry drawn along national lines to a European-wide industry. This, in part, reflects growth of the European Economic Community, but it also reflects changes in the international nuclear power industry. The objectives of the participants, beyond better integration of the nuclear industry in Western Europe, are to (1) obtain European leadership of the worldwide commercial nuclear power industry, (2) improve medium- and long-term safety of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (FSU) power reactors, and (3) reduce domestic concerns about nuclear power. The activities to achieve these goals include (1) formation of Nuclear Power International (a joint venture of the German and French nuclear power plant vendors for design and construction of nuclear power plants), (2) formation of a utility group to forge agreement throughout Europe on what the requirements are for the next generation of nuclear power plants, and (3) agreement by regulators in multiple European countries to harmonize regulations. This is to be achieved before the end of the decade. These changes would allow a single design of nuclear power plant to be built anywhere in Europe. The creation of European-wide rules (utility requirements, engineering standards, and national regulations) would create strong economic and political forces for other European countries (Eastern Europe and FSU) to meet these standards

The European nuclear power industry: Restructuring for combined strength and worldwide leadership

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Forsberg, C.W.; Norman, R.E.; Reich, W.J.; Hill, L.J.

1993-06-18

The European nuclear power industry is being restructured from an industry drawn along national lines to a European-wide industry. This, in part, reflects growth of the European Economic Community, but it also reflects changes in the international nuclear power industry. The objectives of the participants, beyond better integration of the nuclear industry in Western Europe, are to (1) obtain European leadership of the worldwide commercial nuclear power industry, (2) improve medium- and long-term safety of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (FSU) power reactors, and (3) reduce domestic concerns about nuclear power. The activities to achieve these goals include (1) formation of Nuclear Power International (a joint venture of the German and French nuclear power plant vendors for design and construction of nuclear power plants), (2) formation of a utility group to forge agreement throughout Europe on what the requirements are for the next generation of nuclear power plants, and (3) agreement by regulators in multiple European countries to harmonize regulations. This is to be achieved before the end of the decade. These changes would allow a single design of nuclear power plant to be built anywhere in Europe. The creation of European-wide rules (utility requirements, engineering standards, and national regulations) would create strong economic and political forces for other European countries (Eastern Europe and FSU) to meet these standards.

Contemporary Modernity and 'Death Ethics': Antecedents and Impacts of Western Expansion as War in the Northern Plains, 1820 - 1880

OpenAIRE

Lee, Leece Michelle

2013-01-01

In the broadest sense, the dissertation identifies the "death ethics of war" during Western expansion of the United States, its claims to exceptionalism, and its enduring legacies in Native American contexts historically and today. The logic of Western European expansion in the Americas can be argued to have exemplified the theory the "death ethics of war". I engage Nelson Maldonado-Torres's articulation of the "death ethics of war" to identify the political logics behind the normalization of...

European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) calibration study: rationale, design and population characteristics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Slimani, N.; Kaaks, R.; Ferrari, P.

2002-01-01

The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), which covers a large cohort of half a million men and women from 23 European centres in 10 Western European countries, was designed to study the relationship between diet and the risk of chronic diseases, particularly cancer......, a calibration approach was developed. This approach involved an additional dietary assessment common across study populations to re-express individual dietary intakes according to the same reference scale. A single 24-hour diet recall was therefore collected, as the EPIC reference calibration method, from...... in a large multi-centre European study. These studies showed that, despite certain inherent methodological and logistic constraints, a study design such as this one works relatively well in practice. The average response in the calibration study was 78.3% and ranged from 46.5% to 92.5%. The calibration...

Energy security in western Mediterranean: new factors, new policies. A Spanish perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mane-Estrada, Aurelia

2008-01-01

After having noticed that there are two typical approaches and models to address energy security, policies acting on the supply side and policies based on a market-and-institutions approach (like stated by the European Union), the author outlines the effects of this second approach for countries of the western Mediterranean Sea, and then analyses the evolutions of energetic relationships between Algeria (where the energy sector is the most open, which is the best equipped in terms of gas infrastructures, and which attracts foreign investors) and European countries of the region (France, Italy, Spain and Portugal). Thus, she analyses present exchanges in the region, the dependency of these European countries on Mediterranean producers, and the relationships between involved companies of the region. She discusses the issue of energy security policy for the region from the perspective of the governments of producing countries and of consuming countries, and of companies. She discusses whether the project of Union for the Mediterranean complies with these objectives of energy security

AGEING WORKFORCE IN ROMANIA – PERSPECTIVES OF AGEING WORKFORCE POLICIES IN EAST EUROPEAN COUNTRIES -

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Radu Florea

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This paper tries to encompass the effects that modern industrialization of East European countries has one the working population over the age of 50. Policies and procedures that multinational corporations have proved to be difficult to follow for the ageing population in Romania; the fact that western companies have introduced specific procedures on performance appraisal and organizational development is proven to be hard to understand and follow by the ageing population of Romania. One of the core topics of the paper discusses the effects that different cultural perspectives-between Western corporations and the human capital from East European countries- may have on the ageing workforce. The fact that Western corporations are becoming an important presence in Romania’s national economy can cause major social problems for workers over the age of 50 because of the aforementioned cultural differences. Western companies generally have specific working methodologies which need to be internalized by their personnel. Considering the fact that Romania is mainly an ageing country, Western corporations depend on workers over the age of 50. In this regard, foreign companies need to adapt their training programs and general working procedures for them to be understood by workers that are accustomed to other organizational systems.As mentioned in the paper, unemployment rate remains constant for workers over the age of 50, but their performance declines compared to other age categories. This aspect shows that, even if workers over the age of 50 manage to keep their current position in a Western company, they do not excel in their tasks, relying heavily on cultural values that companies may enlist, like the promotion of retirement from the company.Adapting Romania’s ageing workforce to the standards of multinational corporations represents a key element in obtaining sustainable growth and encouraging companies to locate an operational branch in the

Ariane: NASA's European rival

Science.gov (United States)

The successful test launch of two three-quarter ton satellites in the European Space Agency's (ESA) Ariane rocket last June firmly placed ESA in competition with NASA for the lucrative and growing satellite launching market. Under the auspices of the private (but largely French-government financed) Arianespace company, ESA is already attracting customers to its three-stage rocket by offering low costs.According to recent reports [Nature, 292, pp. 785 and 788, 1981], Arianespace has been able to win several U.S. customers away from NASA, including Southern Pacific Communications, Western Union, RCA, Satellite Television Corporation, and GTE. Nature [292, 1981] magazine in an article entitled ‘More Trouble for the Hapless Shuttle’ suggests that it will be possible for Ariane to charge lower prices for a launch than NASA, even with the space shuttle.

Towards an ethnographic understanding of the European Marriage Pattern: Global correlates and links with female status

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Carmichael, S.G.; van Zanden, J.L.

2015-01-01

This contribution compares the EMP, and the associated Western European family system (inheritance practices, intergenerational co-residence and exogamy), with what is known about family systems and marriage patterns in the rest of the world, with a special focus on the consequences of these family

Ties between parents and their adult children: a Western European typology of late-life families

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dykstra, P.A.; Fokkema, C.M.

2011-01-01

Following Reher’s (1998) seminal paper on family ties in western Europe, the perspective that family solidarity patterns are divided along the lines of an individualistic north and a familialistic south has dominated the research literature. We challenge this view and address variability in

New Challenges for Islamic Ritual Slaughter: A European Perspective

OpenAIRE

Bergeaud-Blackler, Florence

2007-01-01

International audience; The production and consumption of halal meat products, i.e. deriving from Islamic ritual slaughter, has have grown steadily over the last 15 years. Today the global halal market is estimated at US $150 billion per year. In this paper, I describe the main steps in the integration of ‘“Muslim ritual slaughter” ' into the national legislation of Western European countries, and I present an analysis of the economic and political issues involved. Once the subject of dispute...

The Central European, Tarim and Siberian Large Igneous Provinces, Late Palaeozoic orogeny and coeval metallogeny

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Boorder, H.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/098199056

2014-01-01

The formation of the Central European and Tarim Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) in the Early Permian coincided with the demise of the Variscan and the Southern Tianshan orogens, respectively. The Early Triassic Siberian LIP was formed in the wake of the Western Altaid orogeny in the Late Permian.

Vitamin D in the healthy European paediatric population

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Braegger, Christian; Campoy, Cristina; Colomb, Virginie

2013-01-01

In recent years, reports suggesting a resurgence of vitamin D deficiency in the Western world, combined with various proposed health benefits for vitamin D supplementation have resulted in increased interest from healthcare professionals, the media and the public. The aim of this position paper...... is to summarize the published data on vitamin D intake and prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in the healthy European paediatric population, to discuss health benefits of vitamin D and to provide recommendations for the prevention of vitamin D deficiency in this population. Vitamin D plays a key role in calcium...

Health conditions and role limitation in three European Regions: a public-health perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Barbaglia, Gabriela; Adroher, Núria D; Vilagut, Gemma; Bruffaerts, Ronny; Bunting, Brentan; Caldas de Almeida, José Miguel; Florescu, Silvia; de Girolamo, Giovanni; de Graaf, Ron; Haro, Josep Maria; Hinkov, Hristo; Kovess-Masfety, Vivianne; Matschinger, Herbert; Alonso, Jordi

To describe the distribution of role limitation in the European population aged 18-64 years and to examine the contribution of health conditions to role limitation using a public-health approach. Representative samples of the adult general population (n=13,666) aged 18-64 years from 10 European countries of the World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys Initiative, grouped into three regions: Central-Western, Southern and Central-Eastern. The Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI 3.0) was used to assess six mental disorders and standard checklists for seven physical conditions. Days with full and with partial role limitation in the month previous to the interview were reported (WMH-WHODAS). Population Attributable Fraction (PAFs) of full and partial role limitation were estimated. Health conditions explained a large proportion of full role limitation (PAF=62.6%) and somewhat less of partial role limitation (46.6%). Chronic pain was the single condition that consistently contributed to explain both disability measures in all European Regions. Mental disorders were the most important contributors to full and partial role limitation in Central-Western and Southern Europe. In Central-Eastern Europe, where mental disorders were less prevalent, physical conditions, especially cardiovascular diseases, were the highest contributors to disability. The contribution of health conditions to role limitation in the three European regions studied is high. Mental disorders are associated with the largest impact in most of the regions. There is a need for mainstreaming disability in the public health agenda to reduce the role limitation associated with health conditions. The cross-regional differences found require further investigation. Copyright © 2016 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Genetic characterization of Western European noble crayfish populations (Astacus astacus) for advanced conservation management strategies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schrimpf, A.; Piscione, M.; Cammaerts, R.; Collas, M.; Herman, D.; Jung, A.; Ottburg, F.; Roessink, I.; Rollin, X.; Schulz, R.; Theissinger, K.

2017-01-01

One central goal of conservation biology is to conserve the genetic diversity of species in order to protect their adaptive potential. The main objective of this study was to identify management units (MUs) for the threatened noble crayfish (Astacus astacus) in Western Europe by utilizing

Cooperation between Eastern and Western Europe in electrical networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Persoz, H.; Remondeulaz, J.

1993-01-01

This paper begins with a brief historical account of relations between Eastern and Western Europe in matters of electricity and explains why the two blocks developed separately, at the same nominal frequency but with disparate synchronous systems. Then, examining annual electrical energy transfers among the various groups of European countries, the authors show that these exchanges are destined to grow considerably as the development gap between the Eastern and Western countries gradually closes. They wind up with a comparative study of the advantages and disadvantages of alternating and direct current interconnections and raise the question of whether the need for very costly AC-DC conversion stations might be avoided by synchronizing the two existing systems. Answers can be found only in broad international cooperation to lay down the guidelines, and in bilateral negociations to implement them. International organization like UNIPEDE and UCPTE seem to be the perfect framework for this type of concertation. 5 figs

Multiple connections in European co-operation: : international organizations, policy ideas, practices and transfers 1967–92

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kaiser, Wolfram; Patel, Kiran Klaus

2017-01-01

International organizations are ubiquitous in contemporary Europe and the wider world. This special issue takes a historical approach to exploring their relations with each other in Western Europe between 1967 and 1992. The authors seek to ‘provincialize’ and ‘de-centre’ the European Union’s role,

Isolation and characterization of twelve microsatellite loci for the Japanese Devilray (Mobula japanica)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Poortvliet, Marloes; Galvan-Magana, Felipe; Bernardi, Giacomo; Croll, Donald A.; Olsen, Jeanine L.

2011-01-01

Twelve polymorphic microsatellites loci were characterized for Mobula japanica (Japanese Devilray) using an enrichment protocol. All but two loci were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium with no evidence of linkage disequilibrium or null-alleles for a sample of 40 individuals from two populations. The

IRREGULAR MIGRATION FLOWS AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE WESTERN BALKAN COUNTRIES: CHALLENGES OF THE CONVERGENCE OF COUNTER-TRAFFICKING RESPONSE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Merita H. Mece

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Irregular migration on the Western Balkan route has marked an unprecedented number during the last five years. Evidence indicates that both, non-European nationals and Western Balkan citizens have been involved in this complex migratory flow being exposed to various risks of human trafficking. But Western Balkan countries are source, transit and destination countries of human trafficking while their states are not well organized to implement a comprehensive and well-coordinated regional response to combat it. This paper aims at examining challenges faced by the Western Balkan countries to converge anti-trafficking response while facing increased irregular migratory waves. Using secondary data it illustrates various disparities and differences among them concluding that a well-coordinated, multi-faceted and integrated regional response is needed to combat this humanitarian problem.

The European Union and the Kosovo issue: An international ethical perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Radojičić Mirjana S.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The subject of this paper is the stand taken by the European Union towards the complex and decades-long Kosovo issue viewed from an international ethical perspective. The author is trying to prove that the issue, such as it is, represents a continuity of an inconsistent attitude of most European states towards the Serbian state territorial issue, which attitude has been persisting for two decades. The stand taken by the author is that by acquiescing to the formation and stabilization of a newly-created state in the Serbian territory, the European Union has actually assumed the role of a medium of overseas attempts at attaining as painlessly as possible the goal of the secession of Kosovo, which territory has been proclaimed of special American national interest and hence, of a legitimate influence. During the process, it was also the unreserved choice of Serbia for a 'European future' after October 5, 2000 that was taken into account. In the conclusion of this paper, the author points to possible consequences that the method of resolving this important state territorial issue could have on the stability of the Western Balkans in near or remote future.

Geochemistry of regional background aerosols in the Western Mediterranean

Science.gov (United States)

Pey, J.; Pérez, N.; Castillo, S.; Viana, M.; Moreno, T.; Pandolfi, M.; López-Sebastián, J. M.; Alastuey, A.; Querol, X.

2009-11-01

The chemical composition of regional background aerosols, and the time variability and sources in the Western Mediterranean are interpreted in this study. To this end 2002-2007 PM speciation data from an European Supersite for Atmospheric Aerosol Research (Montseny, MSY, located 40 km NNE of Barcelona in NE Spain) were evaluated, with these data being considered representative of regional background aerosols in the Western Mediterranean Basin. The mean PM 10, PM 2.5 and PM 1 levels at MSY during 2002-2007 were 16, 14 and 11 µg/m 3, respectively. After compiling data on regional background PM speciation from Europe to compare our data, it is evidenced that the Western Mediterranean aerosol is characterised by higher concentrations of crustal material but lower levels of OM + EC and ammonium nitrate than at central European sites. Relatively high PM 2.5 concentrations due to the transport of anthropogenic aerosols (mostly carbonaceous and sulphate) from populated coastal areas were recorded, especially during winter anticyclonic episodes and summer midday PM highs (the latter associated with the transport of the breeze and the expansion of the mixing layer). Source apportionment analyses indicated that the major contributors to PM 2.5 and PM 10 were secondary sulphate, secondary nitrate and crustal material, whereas the higher load of the anthropogenic component in PM 2.5 reflects the influence of regional (traffic and industrial) emissions. Levels of mineral, sulphate, sea spray and carbonaceous aerosols were higher in summer, whereas nitrate levels and Cl/Na were higher in winter. A considerably high OC/EC ratio (14 in summer, 10 in winter) was detected, which could be due to a combination of high biogenic emissions of secondary organic aerosol, SOA precursors, ozone levels and insolation, and intensive recirculation of aged air masses. Compared with more locally derived crustal geological dusts, African dust intrusions introduce relatively quartz-poor but clay

Definition of a Twelve-Point Polygonal SAA Boundary for the GLAST Mission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Djomehri, Sabra I.; UC, Santa Cruz; SLAC

2007-01-01

The Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST), set to launch in early 2008, detects gamma rays within a huge energy range of 100 MeV - 300 GeV. Background cosmic radiation interferes with such detection resulting in confusion over distinguishing cosmic from gamma rays encountered. This quandary is resolved by encasing GLAST's Large Area Telescope (LAT) with an Anti-Coincidence Detector (ACD), a device which identifies and vetoes charged particles. The ACD accomplishes this through plastic scintillator tiles; when cosmic rays strike, photons produced induce currents in Photomultiplier Tubes (PMTs) attached to these tiles. However, as GLAST orbits Earth at altitudes ∼550km and latitudes between -26 degree and 26 degree, it will confront the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), a region of high particle flux caused by trapped radiation in the geomagnetic field. Since the SAA flux would degrade the sensitivity of the ACD's PMTs over time, a determined boundary enclosing this region need be attained, signaling when to lower the voltage on the PMTs as a protective measure. The operational constraints on such a boundary require a convex SAA polygon with twelve edges, whose area is minimal ensuring GLAST has maximum observation time. The AP8 and PSB97 models describing the behavior of trapped radiation were used in analyzing the SAA and defining a convex SAA boundary of twelve sides. The smallest possible boundary was found to cover 14.58% of GLAST's observation time. Further analysis of defining a boundary safety margin to account for inaccuracies in the models reveals if the total SAA hull area is increased by ∼20%, the loss of total observational area is < 5%. These twelve coordinates defining the SAA flux region are ready for implementation by the GLAST satellite

Identification of Challenges to the Availability and Accessibility of Opioids in Twelve European Countries: Conclusions from Two ATOME Six-Country Workshops.

Science.gov (United States)

Linge-Dahl, Lisa; Vranken, Marjolein; Juenger, Saskia; North, Kate; Scholten, Willem; Payne, Sheila; Radbruch, Lukas

2015-12-01

Access to many controlled medicines is inadequate in a number of European countries. This leads to deficits in the treatment of moderate to severe pain as well as in opioid agonist therapy. The study objective was to elaborate the reasons for this inadequacy. The work plan of the Access to Opioid Medication in Europe (ATOME) project included two six-country workshops. These workshops comprised a national situational analysis, drafting tailor-made recommendations for improvement and developing action plans for their implementation. In total, 84 representatives of the national Ministries of Health, national controlled substances authorities, experts representing regulatory and law enforcement authorities, leading health care professionals, and patient representatives from 13 European countries participated in either one of the workshops. The delegates used breakout sessions to identify key common challenges. Content analysis was used for the evaluation of protocols and field notes. A number of challenges to opioid accessibility in the countries was identified in the domains of knowledge and educational, regulatory, legislative, as well as public awareness and training barriers that limit opioid prescription. In addition, short validity of prescriptions and bureaucratic practices resulting in overregulation impeded availability of some essential medicines. Stigmatization and criminalisation of people who use drugs remained the major impediment to increasing opioid agonist program coverage. The challenges identified during outcomes of the workshops were used as the basis for subsequent dissemination and implementation activities in the ATOME project, and in some countries the workshop proceedings already served as a stepping-stone for the first changes in regulations and legislation.

The British Position towards European Integration: A Different Economic and Political Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Troitiño David Ramiro

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The United Kingdom has had an important position in Europe for centuries. Often it is seen as an anti-European country, or as being anti-integration in Europe but it is just defending its own interests, which in many cases hare differed from other members of the European Communities. The UK policy towards European cooperation has been influenced by the particular interest of the country, but there has always been a strong relation between the British and Europe. Great Britain had the biggest empire in human history spread all over the globe, and hence its interest was global rather than limited to local European states. The UK was a victorious country in the Second World War, the only Western European state that participated actively in Nazi defeat. As an important consequence, British nationalism was seen as a positive force to unite all the British against an external threat. During centuries, the British economy has been based on trade, and internationally the government supported and expanded the free trade idea in the world economy to European trade relations. This paper analyzes the main issues that explain the special relations between the EU and the UK. The paper is developed from a historical point of view with a methodology’ based on the critical review of historical facts from a global perspective of the whole traditional approach of the UK towards European integration.

How to play the game as the bridge between two European power markets-the case of Western Denmark

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olsen, Ole Jess; Amundsen, Eirik S.; Donslund, Bjarne

2006-01-01

In this paper, we set out to investigate the price and quantity fluctuations in Western Denmark, which took place during the winter season 2002-2003. It was a period, which exhibited critical supply conditions in the Nordic area due to a shortage of hydropower. On average, the market in Western Denmark helped to ease the situation by large net exports. However, a more detailed investigation reveals anomalies in market behaviour that do not fit well into this overall positive description of the situation. Several explanations of the anomalies are offered. These may work separately or act in concert. In particular, we look at: the exercise of market power and gaming of the dominant power generator; the role of the large capacity of volatile wind power; the role of the guaranteed fixed prices and the design and functioning of the special auction system of transmission capacity in the interface between Western Denmark and Germany

How to play the game as the bridge between two European power markets-the case of Western Denmark

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Olsen, Ole Jess [Department of Environment, Technology and Social Studies, Roskilde University, P.O. Box 260, DK-4000 Roskilde (Denmark)]. E-mail: ojo@ruc.dk; Amundsen, Eirik S. [Department of Economics, University of Bergen, Fosswinckelsgt. 7, N-5006 Bergen (Norway)]. E-mail: eirik.amundsen@econ.uib.no; Donslund, Bjarne [Eltra, Fjordvejen 1-11, DK-7000 Fredericia (Denmark)]. E-mail: bjarne.donslund@eltra.dk

2006-11-15

In this paper, we set out to investigate the price and quantity fluctuations in Western Denmark, which took place during the winter season 2002-2003. It was a period, which exhibited critical supply conditions in the Nordic area due to a shortage of hydropower. On average, the market in Western Denmark helped to ease the situation by large net exports. However, a more detailed investigation reveals anomalies in market behaviour that do not fit well into this overall positive description of the situation. Several explanations of the anomalies are offered. These may work separately or act in concert. In particular, we look at: the exercise of market power and gaming of the dominant power generator; the role of the large capacity of volatile wind power; the role of the guaranteed fixed prices and the design and functioning of the special auction system of transmission capacity in the interface between Western Denmark and Germany.

Education and Communities at the "Margins": The Contradictions of Western Education for Islamic Communities in Sub-Saharan Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Mfum-Mensah, Obed

2017-01-01

This paper employs postcolonial framework to discuss the contradictions of promoting western education in Islamic communities in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Prior to colonization, Islamic education was an important socializing process that instilled strong Islamic identity in Islamic communities in SSA. European encounters in SSA and the…

Natural and experimental infection of sheep with European bat lyssavirus type-1 of Danish bat origin

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tjørnehøj, Kirsten; Fooks, A.R.; Agerholm, J.S.

2006-01-01

In 1998 and 2002, European bat lyssavirus type-1 (EBLV-1) was demonstrated in brain tissue of five Danish sheep suffering from micrological disorders. Four of the five sheep also had encephalic listeriosis. The animals originated from four flocks on pastures within a limited area of western Jutla...

Trade regimes, investment promotion and export prospects in the Western Balkans

OpenAIRE

Mulaj, Isa

2009-01-01

Once regarded as a more prosperous part of socialist world, the region that was within the Yugoslav common market now excludes Slovenia and includes Albania to be renamed as the Western Balkans. After a decade of social unrest and civil wars of mainly ethnic character, it has yet to come up in terms of economic development that is behind some advanced transition economies, namely those in Visegrad countries. With the admission of Bulgaria and Romania in the European Union (EU) since 2007, the...

Late-glacial recolonization and phylogeography of European red deer (Cervus elaphus L.).

Science.gov (United States)

Meiri, Meirav; Lister, Adrian M; Higham, Thomas F G; Stewart, John R; Straus, Lawrence G; Obermaier, Henriette; González Morales, Manuel R; Marín-Arroyo, Ana B; Barnes, Ian

2013-09-01

The Pleistocene was an epoch of extreme climatic and environmental changes. How individual species responded to the repeated cycles of warm and cold stages is a major topic of debate. For the European fauna and flora, an expansion-contraction model has been suggested, whereby temperate species were restricted to southern refugia during glacial times and expanded northwards during interglacials, including the present interglacial (Holocene). Here, we test this model on the red deer (Cervus elaphus) a large and highly mobile herbivore, using both modern and ancient mitochondrial DNA from the entire European range of the species over the last c. 40,000 years. Our results indicate that this species was sensitive to the effects of climate change. Prior to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) haplogroups restricted today to South-East Europe and Western Asia reached as far west as the UK. During the LGM, red deer was mainly restricted to southern refugia, in Iberia, the Balkans and possibly in Italy and South-Western Asia. At the end of the LGM, red deer expanded from the Iberian refugium, to Central and Northern Europe, including the UK, Belgium, Scandinavia, Germany, Poland and Belarus. Ancient DNA data cannot rule out refugial survival of red deer in North-West Europe through the LGM. Had such deer survived, though, they were replaced by deer migrating from Iberia at the end of the glacial. The Balkans served as a separate LGM refugium and were probably connected to Western Asia with genetic exchange between the two areas. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Welfare State Regimes and Attitudes Towards Redistribution in 15 Western European Countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jæger, Mads

Social Survey and the third wave of the European Values Study, and by means of an ordered mixed probit model with concomitant variables, we find strong evidence that structural characteristics affect mass opinion in a manner consistent with regime theory. For example, public support for redistribution...... increases with total social expenditure relative to GDP, family benefits, and active labour market policies. Furthermore, we find that institutionalised left-wing political power as measured by left-wing government seats and neo-corporatism are significant predictors of support for redistribution.- See more...... at: http://www.sfi.dk/s%c3%b8geresultat-10668.aspx?Action=1&NewsId=248&PID=32427#sthash.ISdYS6vF.dpuf...

Managing mixed fisheries in the European western waters: application of Fcube methodology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Iriondo, Ane; García, Dorleta; Santurtún, Marina

2012-01-01

Fisheries management is moving towards ecosystem based management instead of traditional single species based advice. To progress towards an ecosystem approach, a new methodology called “Fleet and Fisheries Forecast” (Fcube) has been proposed. In the application of the method, a precise initial f...... the lowest. In this analysis, Western Waters fleet management results show consistency between stocks and their respective TACs. The study highlights that it is possible to deliver advice within the context of mixed fisheries using the Fcube method......Fisheries management is moving towards ecosystem based management instead of traditional single species based advice. To progress towards an ecosystem approach, a new methodology called “Fleet and Fisheries Forecast” (Fcube) has been proposed. In the application of the method, a precise initial...

Dietary specialization during the evolution of Western Eurasian hominoids and the extinction of European Great Apes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel DeMiguel

Full Text Available Given the central adaptive role of diet, paleodietary inference is essential for understanding the relationship between evolutionary and paleoenvironmental change. Here we rely on dental microwear analysis to investigate the role of dietary specialization in the diversification and extinction of Miocene hominoids from Western Eurasian between 14 and 7 Ma. New microwear results for five extinct taxa are analyzed together with previous data for other Western Eurasian genera. Except Pierolapithecus (that resembles hard-object feeders and Oreopithecus (a soft-frugivore probably foraging opportunistically on other foods, most of the extinct taxa lack clear extant dietary analogues. They display some degee of sclerocarpy, which is most clearly expressed in Griphopithecus and Ouranopithecus (adapted to more open and arid environments, whereas Anoiapithecus, Dryopithecus and, especially, Hispanopithecus species apparently relied more strongly on soft-frugivory. Thus, contrasting with the prevailing sclerocarpic condition at the beginning of the Eurasian hominoid radiation, soft- and mixed-frugivory coexisted with hard-object feeding in the Late Miocene. Therefore, despite a climatic trend towards cooling and increased seasonality, a progressive dietary diversification would have occurred (probably due to competitive exclusion and increased environmental heterogeneity, although strict folivory did not evolve. Overall, our analyses support the view that the same dietary specializations that enabled Western Eurasian hominoids to face progressive climatic deterioration were the main factor ultimately leading to their extinction when more drastic paleoenvironmental changes took place.

Morphology of the spermathecae of twelve species of Triatominae (Hemiptera, Reduviidae) vectors of Chagas disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Nascimento, Juliana Damieli; Ribeiro, Aline Rimoldi; Almeida, Larissa Aguiar; de Oliveira, Jader; Mendonça, Vagner José; Cilense, Mário; da Rosa, João Aristeu

2017-12-01

Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease, is transmitted by triatomines that have been described in a large number of studies. Most of those studies are related to external morphology and taxonomy, but some biochemical, genetic and physiological studies have also been published. There are a few publications in the literature about the internal organs of Triatominae, for instance the spermathecae, which are responsible for storing and maintaining the viability of the spermatozoids until the fertilization of the oocytes. This work aims to study the spermathecae of twelve species of triatomines obtained from the Triatominae Insectarium of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UNESP, Araraquara, using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The spermathecae of the twelve species studied showed three morphological patterns: a) P. herreri sn, P. lignarius, P. megistus, Triatoma brasiliensis, T. juazeirensis, T. sherlocki and T. tibiamaculata have spermathecae with a thin initial portion and an oval-shaped final portion; b) R. montenegrensis, R. nasutus, R. neglectus, R. pictipes and R. prolixus have tubular and winding spermathecae; c) T. infestans has oval spermathecae. In addition to the three morphological patterns, it was noted that each of the twelve species has particular features that differentiate them. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Attitudes towards sex selection in the Western world.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Balen, Frank

2006-07-01

It appears that in most Western countries, son preference is somewhat stronger than daughter preference. However, when one considers the preference of women it looks as though the opposite pattern is emerging. There is a considerable social acceptance of 'light' methods of sex selection (such as diets), even though these methods are not proven to be effective. The inclination to use sperm separation methods appears to be greater in the United States than in some European countries. There are indications that a preference for boys or for girls is associated with attitudes towards technology, child-rearing style and the stereotyping of boys or girls. Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Links between North Atlantic atmospheric blocking and recent trends in European winter precipitation

Science.gov (United States)

Ummenhofer, Caroline; Seo, Hyodae; Kwon, Young-Oh; Joyce, Terrence

2015-04-01

European precipitation has sustained robust trends during wintertime (January - March) over recent decades. Central, western, and northern Europe have become wetter by an average 0.1-0.3% per annum for the period 1901-2010, while southern Europe, including the Iberian Peninsula, much of Italy and the Balkan States, has sustained drying of -0.2% per annum or more over the same period. The overall pattern is consistent across different observational precipitation products, while the magnitude of the precipitation trends varies amongst data sets. Using cluster analysis, which identifies recurrent states (or regimes) of European winter precipitation by grouping them according to an objective similarity criterion, changes in the frequency of dominant winter precipitation patterns over the past century are evaluated. Considerable multi-decadal variability exists in the frequency of dominant winter precipitation patterns: more recent decades are characterised by significantly fewer winters with anomalous wet conditions over southern, western, and central Europe. In contrast, winters with dry conditions in western and southern Europe, but above-average rainfall in western Scandinavia and the northern British Isles, have been more common recently. We evaluate the associated multi-decadal large-scale circulation changes across the broader extratropical North Atlantic region, which accompany the observed wintertime precipitation variability using the 20th Century reanalysis product. Some influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is apparent in modulating the frequency of dominant precipitation patterns. However, recent trends in the characteristics of atmospheric blocking across the North Atlantic sector indicate a change in the dominant blocking centres (near Greenland, the British Isles, and west of the Iberian Peninsula). Associated changes in sea level pressure, storm track position and strength, and oceanic heat fluxes across the North Atlantic region are also

The European Alps as an interrupter of the Earth's conductivity structures

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Halbouni, D.

2013-07-01

Joint interpretation of magnetotelluric and geomagnetic depth sounding results in the period range of 10-105 s in the Western European Alps offer new insights into the conductivity structure of the Earth's crust and mantle. This first large scale electromagnetic study in the Alps covers a cross-section from Germany to northern Italy and shows the importance of the alpine mountain chain as an interrupter of continuous conductors. Poor data quality due to the highly crystalline underground is overcome by Remote Reference and Robust Processing techniques and the combination of both electromagnetic methods. 3-D forward modeling reveals on the one hand interrupted dipping crustal conductors with maximum conductances of 4960 S and on the other hand a lithosphere thickening up to 208 km beneath the central Western Alps. Graphite networks arising from Palaeozoic sedimentary deposits are considered to be accountable for the occurrence of high conductivity and the distribution pattern of crustal conductors. The influence of huge sedimentary Molasse basins on the electromagnetic data is suggested to be minor compared with the influence of crustal conductors. Dipping direction (S-SE) and maximum angle (10.1°) of the northern crustal conductor reveal the main thrusting conditions beneath the Helvetic Alps whereas the existence of a crustal conductor in the Briançonnais supports theses about its belonging to the Iberian Peninsula. In conclusion the proposed model arisen from combined 3-D modeling of noise corrected electromagnetic data is able to explain the geophysical influence of various structural features in and around the Western European Alps and serves as a background for further upcoming studies.

HIV Infection in Migrant Populations in the European Union and European Economic Area in 2007-2012: An Epidemic on the Move.

Science.gov (United States)

Hernando, Victoria; Alvárez-del Arco, Débora; Alejos, Belén; Monge, Susana; Amato-Gauci, Andrew J; Noori, Teymur; Pharris, Anastasia; del Amo, Julia

2015-10-01

Migrants are considered a key group at risk for HIV infection. This study describes the epidemiology of HIV and the distribution of late HIV presentation among migrants within the European Union/European Economic Area during 2007-2012. HIV cases reported to European Surveillance System (TESSy) were analyzed. Migrants were defined as people whose geographical origin was different than the reporting country. Multiple logistic regression was used to model late HIV presentation. Overall, 156,817 HIV cases were reported, of which 60,446 (38%) were migrants. Of these, 53% were from Sub-Saharan Africa, 12% from Latin America, 9% from Western Europe, 7% from Central Europe, 5% from South and Southeast Asia, 4% from East Europe, 4% from Caribbean, and 3% from North Africa and Middle East. Male and female migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America had higher odds of late HIV presentation than native men and women. Migrants accounted for 40% of all HIV notifications in 2007 versus 35% in 2012. HIV cases in women from Sub-Saharan Africa decreased from 3725 in 2007 to 2354 in 2012. The number of HIV cases from Latin America peaked in 2010 to decrease thereafter. HIV diagnoses in migrant men who have sex with men increased from 1927 in 2007 to 2459 in 2012. Migrants represent two-fifths of the HIV cases reported and had higher late HIV presentation. HIV epidemic in migrant populations in European Union/European Economic Area member states is changing, probably reflecting the global changes in the HIV pandemic, the impact of large-scale ART implementation, and migration fluctuations secondary to the economic crisis in Europe.

Health-related quality of life in European women following myocardial infarction: a cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Lidell, Evy; Höfer, Stefan; Saner, Hugo; Perk, Joep; Hildingh, Cathrine; Oldridge, Neil

2015-08-01

Coronary heart disease is a major contributor to women's health problems. Self-perceived social support, well-being and health-related quality of life (HRQL) were documented in the cross-sectional HeartQoL survey of European women one and six months after a myocardial infarction. European women were recruited in 18 European countries and grouped into four geographical regions (Southern Europe, Northern Europe, Western Europe and Eastern Europe). Continuous socio-demographic variables and categorical variables were compared by age and region with ANOVA and χ(2), respectively; multiple regression models were used to identify predictors of social support, well-being and HRQL. Women living in the Eastern European region rated social support, well-being and HRQL significantly lower than women in the other regions. Older women had lower physical HRQL scores than younger women. Eastern European women rated social support, well-being and HRQL significantly lower than women in the other regions. Prediction of the dependent variables (social support, well-being and HRQL) by socio-demographic factors varied by total group, in the older age group, and by region; body mass index and managerial responsibility were the most consistent significant predictors. © The European Society of Cardiology 2014.

Groundwater quality in western New York, 2011

Science.gov (United States)

Reddy, James E.

2013-01-01

Water samples collected from 16 production wells and 15 private residential wells in western New York from July through November 2011 were analyzed to characterize the groundwater quality. Fifteen of the wells were finished in sand and gravel aquifers, and 16 were finished in bedrock aquifers. Six of the 31 wells were sampled in a previous western New York study, which was conducted in 2006. Water samples from the 2011 study were analyzed for 147 physiochemical properties and constituents that included major ions, nutrients, trace elements, radionuclides, pesticides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and indicator bacteria. Results of the water-quality analyses are presented in tabular form for individual wells, and summary statistics for specific constituents are presented by aquifer type. The results are compared with Federal and New York State drinking-water standards, which typically are identical. The results indicate that groundwater generally is of acceptable quality, although at 30 of the 31 wells sampled, at least one of the following constituents was detected at a concentration that exceeded current or proposed Federal or New York State drinking-water standards: pH (two samples), sodium (eight samples), sulfate (three samples), total dissolved solids (nine samples), aluminum (two samples), arsenic (one sample), iron (ten samples), manganese (twelve samples), radon-222 (sixteen samples), benzene (one sample), and total coliform bacteria (nine samples). Existing drinking-water standards for color, chloride, fluoride, nitrate, nitrite, antimony, barium, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, selenium, silver, thallium, zinc, gross alpha radioactivity, uranium, fecal coliform, Escherichia coli, and heterotrophic bacteria were not exceeded in any of the samples collected. None of the pesticides analyzed exceeded existing drinking-water standards.

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

European Water Footprint Scenarios for 2050

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Ertug Ercin

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This study develops water footprint scenarios for Europe for 2050, at the country level, based on projections regarding population and economic growth, production and trade patterns, consumption patterns (diets and bioenergy use and technological development. The objective is to estimate possible future changes in the green, blue and grey water footprint (WF of production and consumption, to analyze the main drivers of projected changes and to assess Europe’s future dependence on water resources elsewhere in the world. We develop four scenarios, considering globalization versus regional self-sufficiency, and development driven by economic objectives versus development driven by social and environmental objectives. The study shows that the most critical driver of change affecting Europe’s future WF is the consumption pattern. The WFs of both production and consumption in Western Europe increase under scenarios with high meat consumption and decrease with low-meat scenarios. Besides, additional water demands from increasing biofuel needs will put further pressure on European water resources. The European countries with a large ratio of external to total WF of consumption in 2000 decrease their dependencies on foreign water resources in 2050.

Environmental Conditions and Occupant Perceptions in European Office Buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stoops, J.L. [Chalmers Univ. of Tech., Goeteborg (Sweden). Dept. of Building Services Engineering

2003-03-01

This is a preliminary report regarding a portion of the environmental conditions and occupant comfort perceptions from a five nation, 26 building European field data collection effort. Approximately 1,000 participants were involved in this project which included twelve monthly visits to each building. Climate, building and cultural variation will be illustrated for the five countries involved - France, Greece, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom (UK). Each country used identical instrumentation; questionnaires and experimental protocols imbedded in a custom hardware/software system. The comfort survey was based on the ASHRAE model. The physical measurements included air temperature, globe temperature, relative humidity, air movement, CO{sub 2}, light, and sound levels. Where possible, connections and explanations between variables are made. Potential energy and policy ramifications are illustrated. (The publication includes two reports from EU JOULE III projects JOE3CT970066 'Smart controls and thermal comfort project)

“2083 – A European Declaration of Independence” - An Analysis of Discourses from the Extreme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kerstin von Brömssen

2013-08-01

Full Text Available This paper analyses three of the dominating discourses Anders Behring Breivik used in his compendium, the official title of which is 2083 – A European Declaration of Independence, also known as Breivik's Manifesto. It is believed Breivik posted his Manifesto on the Internet shortly before the attacks in Norway in July, 2011. The number 2083 stands for the year when the “Western European Civil War” was expected to be completed, all traitors executed, and all Muslims deported from Europe. This article will discuss dominating discourses in the Manifesto, seen from a background of a European multicultural backlash, in which the political far-right movement is increasing. Furthermore, this article will end with a discussion of education and the importance of analysis of such phenomena within different subjects.

Performance of middle-aged and elderly European minority and majority populations on a Cross-Cultural Neuropsychological Test Battery (CNTB)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, T Rune; Segers, Kurt; Vanderaspoilden, Valérie

2018-01-01

/Indian Punjabi, 41 Polish, 66 Turkish, and 19 former Yugoslavian minority participants, and 145 western European majority participants. Significant differences between ethnic groups were found on most CNTB measures. However, ethnic groups differed greatly in demographic characteristics and differences in test...

NEMO-SN1 observatory developments in view of the European Research Infrastructures EMSO and KM3NET

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Favali, Paolo, E-mail: emsopp@ingv.i [Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Sect. Roma 2, Via di Vigna Murata 605, 00143 Roma (Italy); Beranzoli, Laura [Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Sect. Roma 2, Via di Vigna Murata 605, 00143 Roma (Italy); Italiano, Francesco [Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Sect. Palermo, Via Ugo La Malfa 153, 90146 Palermo (Italy); Migneco, Emilio; Musumeci, Mario; Papaleo, Riccardo [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Via di S. Sofia 62, 95125 Catania (Italy)

2011-01-21

NEMO-SN1 (Western Ionian Sea off Eastern Sicily), the first real-time multiparameter observatory operating in Europe since 2005, is one of the nodes of the upcoming European ESFRI large-scale research infrastructure EMSO (European Multidisciplinary Seafloor Observatory), a network of seafloor observatories placed at marine sites on the European Continental Margin. NEMO-SN1 constitutes also an important test-site for the study of prototypes of Kilometre Cube Neutrino Telescope (KM3NeT), another European ESFRI large-scale research infrastructure. Italian resources have been devoted to the development of NEMO-SN1 facilities and logistics, as with the PEGASO project, while the EC project ESONET-NoE is funding a demonstration mission and a technological test. EMSO and KM3NeT are presently in the Preparatory Phase as projects funded under the EC-FP7.

Evaluating Forecasting Models for Unemployment Rates by Gender in Selected European Countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ksenija Dumičić

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The unemployment can be considered as one of the main economic problems. The aim of this article is to examine the differences in male and female unemployment rates in selected European countries and to predict their future trends by using different statistical forecasting models. Furthermore, the impact of adding a new data point on the selection of the most appropriate statistical forecasting model and on the overall forecasting errors values is also evaluated. Male and female unemployment rates are observed for twelve European countries in the period from 1991 to 2014. Four statistical forecasting models have been selected and applied and the most appropriate model is considered to be the one with the lowest overall forecasting errors values. The analysis has shown that in the period from 1991 to 2014 the decreasing trend of unemployment rates in the short-run is forecasted for more Eastern Balkan than the EU-28 countries. An additional data point for male and female unemployment rates in 2014 led to somewhat smaller forecasting errors in more than half of the observed countries. However, the additional data point does not necessarily improve forecasting performances of the used statistical forecasting models.

Dispersion of radionuclides in the European north-western seas: observations and modelling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bailly du Bois, Pascal

2013-01-01

In this report for an Accreditation to supervise research (HDR), the author reports the use over 30 years by the Cherbourg-Octeville IRSN Laboratory of artificial radionuclides in solution in sea water as oceanographic markers. Such measurements on radio-markers which are soluble in sea water, enabled a better knowledge of dissolved substance displacements in north-western seas of Europe, notably the Channel, the North Sea, the Celtic Sea, and the Irish Sea. The author reports researches which aimed at studying the dispersion of radionuclides in seawater and their use as water mass markers, at validating hydrodynamic models of dispersion at different time-space scales, at the understanding and simulation of the sedimentary transport, and at studying the transfer to living species. These different topics give the document its structure [fr

Educational inequalities in self-rated health across US states and European countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Präg, Patrick; Subramanian, S V

2017-07-01

The US shows a distinct health disadvantage when compared to other high-income nations. A potential lever to reduce this disadvantage is to improve the health situation of lower socioeconomic groups. Our objective is to explore how the considerable within-US variation in health inequalities compares to the health inequalities across other Western countries. Representative survey data from 44 European countries and the US federal states were obtained from the fourth wave of the European Values Study (EVS) and the 2008 wave of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Using binary logistic regression, we analyze different forms of educational inequalities in self-rated health (SRH), adjusted for age and sex. The extent of educational inequalities in SRH varies considerably over European countries and US states; with US states in general showing greater inequality, however, differences between US states and European countries are less clear than commonly assumed. The US has considerable differences in educational inequalities in SRH across geographic locations. To understand the reasons for the US health disadvantage, comparative research has to take into account the vast variation in health inequalities within the US.

GREECE DURING THE EARLY COLD WAR THE VIEW FROM THE WESTERN ARCHIVES:DOCUMENTS

OpenAIRE

Chourchoulis , Dionysios; Christidis , Christos; Kalogrias , Vaios; Karavis , Periklis-Stelios; Koumas , Manolis; Papastamkou , Sofia

2015-01-01

International audience; Greece‘s relation with the West during the Cold War era has constantly attracted theattention of Greek and international scholarship. In this relationship, continuities andbreaks become evident. The postwar era was marked by the continuation of theagonizing Greek effort to integrate in the West. Thus, there was an effort to bringrelations with the major Western European states (Britain, France, West Germany,Italy) back to a kind of normalcy. This, as could be expected,...

Knowledge economy readiness, innovativeness and competitiveness of the Western Balkan countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cvetanović Slobodan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The Western Balkan countries have set themselves the goal to join the European Union as soon as possible. Accordingly, they must adjust the key components of their development policies to the Europe 2020 strategy, focusing on key priorities such as smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. This paper explores the relationship among knowledge economy readiness, innovativeness, and competitiveness of six Western Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, and Montenegro and the group of six selected neighboring EU countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Romania, and Slovenia. The paper relies on the data obtained from the Knowledge Economy Index of the World Bank Institute, INSEAD's Global Innovation Index and the Global Competitiveness Index of the World Economic Forum for 2013. Obtained data from all three sources indicated significantly lower readiness for the development of economy based on knowledge, innovation and competitiveness in the Western Balkans countries in comparison to the selected EU countries. The analysis of the interdependence of the aforementioned variables points to: a statistically significant correlation between the indicator knowledge economy index and the global innovation index for both groups of countries; b statistically significant linear correlation between innovativeness and innovation efficiency ratio for the Western Balkan countries. Conversely, no respective correlation has been registered for the group of selected EU countries; c no statistically significant correlation between the global innovation index and the global competitiveness index in the Western Balkan countries, while in respect of the group of selected EU countries, the existence of significant linear correlation between these variables has been revealed.

Nuclear power is really assisting Romania on its accession way to the European Union

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bilegan, Iosif Constantin

2005-01-01

accurate information on the overall indices and new regional development trends. Public's perceptions is evolving into the right direction with respect to nuclear power. As a result of public debates, more and more people become aware, understand and place proper confidence in nuclear technology that is environmentally friendly while offering safe, reliable and cost effective industrial electricity. Once concluded the Agreement of Accession to the European Union on February 1st, 1995, Romania irreversibly committed itself onto the way of the European integration, assuming increased responsibilities regarding the compliance with the Copenhagen criteria. The conclusion of the analysis carried out by the European Commission '2000 Agenda', confirmed by the Western Europe Nuclear Regulators' Association - WENRA, were in favor of Romania and Slovenia, presently the only countries in the Central and South-eastern Europe that hold nuclear units (Cernavoda and Krsko, respectively) based on western technology design. It is obviously that each country is monitored and evaluated for the purpose of harmonizing all the units' nuclear safety standards imposed on European level. The following conclusions come out of the aforesaid: - The electric power developed in Romania based on the CANDU Western Technology successfully complies with the nuclear safety requirements and standards. Thus, considering this pre-requisite, the process of our country's accession to the European structure is not jeopardized; - moreover by using the own resources of natural uranium and heavy water for the industrial generation of electricity, Romania is contributing to its own safe supply and EU's safe supply as well, after the accession; - the development strategies and policies in the electric power in Romania are harmonized with the present ones provided for the EU development, what is confirmed by the current support granted by EURATOM for the completion of the Cernavoda NPP Unit 2. (author)

A Western Dietary Pattern Increases Prostate Cancer Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Fabiani, Roberto; Minelli, Liliana; Bertarelli, Gaia; Bacci, Silvia

2016-10-12

Dietary patterns were recently applied to examine the relationship between eating habits and prostate cancer (PC) risk. While the associations between PC risk with the glycemic index and Mediterranean score have been reviewed, no meta-analysis is currently available on dietary patterns defined by "a posteriori" methods. A literature search was carried out (PubMed, Web of Science) to identify studies reporting the relationship between dietary patterns and PC risk. Relevant dietary patterns were selected and the risks estimated were calculated by a random-effect model. Multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (ORs), for a first-percentile increase in dietary pattern score, were combined by a dose-response meta-analysis. Twelve observational studies were included in the meta-analysis which identified a "Healthy pattern" and a "Western pattern". The Healthy pattern was not related to PC risk (OR = 0.96; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.88-1.04) while the Western pattern significantly increased it (OR = 1.34; 95% CI: 1.08-1.65). In addition, the "Carbohydrate pattern", which was analyzed in four articles, was positively associated with a higher PC risk (OR = 1.64; 95% CI: 1.35-2.00). A significant linear trend between the Western ( p = 0.011) pattern, the Carbohydrate ( p = 0.005) pattern, and the increment of PC risk was observed. The small number of studies included in the meta-analysis suggests that further investigation is necessary to support these findings.

The Current State of European Studies in North America and of Scholarly Publishing in Western Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Hacken, Richard

1998-01-01

Relates how scholarly publishing in Western Europe feeds into North America. Discusses globalization, regionalism, and particularism; new models and research methodology; Biblio-Darwinism (survival of the fittest publishing languages) and the language of the imprint; differing academic infrastructures of Europe; booming scholarly-title production;…

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.

La Base Del Derecho Alimentario Europeo: Una Reflexión Crítica Sobre El Concepto De Alimento No Seguro (The Foundation of European Food Law: A Critical Reflection on the Concept of Unsafe Food)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meulen, van der B.M.J.

2014-01-01

This paper is a Spanish language continuation of: B.M.J. van der Meulen, The Core of Food Law, European Food and Feed Law Review 3/2012, pp. 117-125. It has been made at the request of AIBADA, Asociación Iberoamericana para el Derecho Alimentario. The most fundamental notion underlying twelve years

Status of the Pacific Oyster Crassostrea gigas (Thunberg, 1793) in the western Limfjord, Denmark – Five years of population development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Groslier, Tilde; Christensen, Helle Torp; Davids, Jens

2014-01-01

The Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, was introduced into the Netherlands in 1964 for aquaculture purposes and has since spread extensively in Northern European waters. Eight locations in the western part of the Limfjord, Denmark, first sampled in 2006 were revisited in 2011, to determine how...

Russia’s Relations with the European Union and China: Comparative Analysis of Mutual Perception in the Border Regions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Renald H. Simonyan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Occurred nearly a quarter of a century ago, the collapse of the Soviet Union - an event that led to the formation of a new configuration of the world-system. In this global role, the national significance of this event for Russia that she has to find their place in the world that actualizes a scientific discussion on this topic. Without public clarification and comparison of the ideological differences and disagreements it is difficult to imagine the development of a democratic society. Moreover, it is impossible to do without a debate in the society, standing in the darkness. Russia again, as in the beginning 1990-h years is in a situation of historical bifurcation. Russia to go their own way or try to rebuild themselves in the experience of the successful modernization of the States of the European, Asian, South American or African. They have used the Western (European experience, without losing their national identity. Inherent in our ethnic consciousness and the inclination to extremes, Russian intellectuals keen on totally unproductive debates, like the endless, which is between "Westerners" and "Slavophil's" (in the current language - "fundamentalists". The notorious dichotomy becomes more and more absurd, Recalling the disputes of "points" and "dull bits" from the famous novel of Jonathan Swift. The country is a completely different choice - effectiveness and development or the inefficiency and backwardness, modernization or preservation of its political and economic model, developed by reformers in 1990-ies. Today, therefore, Russia should not deifying the West, than succeeded ones and not the deification of exclusivity, what more you want to succeed others, but strong awareness of the reality and the pursuit of maximum expediency, pragmatism in the development of the achievements of Western civilization. If Asian countries are to successfully adopt the European (Western modernization experience, then Russia as a European country should

An Environmental Risk Assessment for Human-Use Trimethoprim in European Surface Waters

OpenAIRE

Straub, J?rg Oliver

2013-01-01

An environmental risk assessment (ERA) for the aquatic compartment in Europe from human use was developed for the old antibiotic Trimethoprim (TMP), comparing exposure and effects. The exposure assessment is based on European risk assessment default values on one hand and is refined with documented human use figures in Western Europe from IMS Health and measured removal in wastewater treatment on the other. The resulting predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) are compared with measured...

Istanbul and the Heritage of the European City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katharina Sucker

2011-03-01

Full Text Available “The society, which has produced form and shape of the traditional European city does not exist any more.” (Siebel 2004 Raising our conscience on this circumstance as it as been pointed to by Walter Siebel does make planning issues re-appear in the light of knowledge that problems tackled on the basis of realities no longer there, are not going to be solved. In spite of this knowledge however the discourse around the European city seems to narrow a perspective to fully grasp reasons for the stagnation of its spatial form in the backdrop of socio-cultural change. For this reason I want to include another city into the discussion, which by Siebel’s definition is a typical European city and therefore fit for a comparison with postfeudal European Cities around which Siebel´s theory is oriented. At the same time however Istanbul lifts itself from an euro-centred context by never having fully internalized culturally the mechanisms of spatial production based on western capitalism. In this contribution I will look at the role of this cultural heritage for the prevalence of spatial specificities. Without the cultural backbone of civic management and social redistribution Istanbul is now, in the late stage of capitalism, a city that has integrated the global tendencies of neo-liberalism directly into the production of urban space. It demonstrates therefore clearly the realities of society through the characteristics of the built environment. Possibly the image that prevails with its new more explicit forms of urban segregation and the rise of gated communities is a glimpse upon social realities which have gained validity also for the European City. Article in Germany

2013 European guideline on the management of lymphogranuloma venereum.

Science.gov (United States)

de Vries, H J C; Zingoni, A; Kreuter, A; Moi, H; White, J A

2015-01-01

WHAT IS NEW IN THIS UPDATED GUIDELINE?: This is the update version of the 2010 European guideline on the management of lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV). New issues are: Based on clonal relatedness of prevalent LGV strains there is evidence that the LGV epidemic among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the Western world prevailed already in the United States in the 1980s and was introduced into Europe by the end of the last century. A new LGV variant causing severe proctitis was unveiled and designated L2c. The L2b LGV variant causing the vast majority of infections among MSM is now also found among a few heterosexual women. Apart from HIV and STI screening, Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) testing should be offered to all LGV patients. To exclude reinfections, STI screening during a follow-up visit 3 months after an LGV diagnosis should be offered. © 2014 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

The Interpretation of Circular Priorities to Central European Business Environment with Focus on Hungary

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fogarassy Csaba

2017-05-01

Full Text Available In recent years, there was an increase in economic concepts which defined various concepts for the European Union to leave the economic depression behind. The idea of circular economy boomed into the sight of European Union policy makers in the beginning of 2015. The notion introduced a holistic system planning approach for EU development initiatives. This paper introduces the essential background for the interpretation of circular economy and presents the main priorities throughout its implementation. The size of the European Community leaves many opportunities for the reconsideration of circular processes. The study focuses on circular applications in Hungary which substantially differ from the Western-European practice. The different wage and development levels of the member states in some cases might appear as a possibility to extend product life cycles which otherwise would end sooner. The analysis aims to find the reasons for the variant operations and examines how the extended spatial perspective from national levels to the EU level influences the transition to circular economy.

The twelve-flavor β-function and dilaton tests of the sextet scalar

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fodor Zoltan

2018-01-01

Full Text Available We discuss near-conformal gauge theories beyond the standard model (BSM where interesting results on the twelve-flavor β-function of massless fermions in the fundamental representation of the SU(3 color gauge group and dilaton tests of the light scalar with two massless fermions in the two-index symmetric tensor (sextet representation can be viewed as parts of the same BSM paradigm under investigation. The clear trend in the decreasing size of β-functions at fixed renormalized gauge coupling is interpreted as a first indicator how the conformal window (CW is approached in correlation with emergent near-conformal light scalars. BSM model building close to the CW will be influenced by differing expectations on the properties of the emergent light 0++ scalar either as a σ-particle of chiral symmetry breaking (ΧS B, or as a dilaton of scale symmetry breaking. The twelve-flavor β-function emerges as closest to the CW, perhaps near-conformal, or perhaps with an infrared fixed point (IRFP at some unexplored strong coupling inside the CW. It is premature to speculate on dilaton properties of the twelveflavor model since the near-conformal realization remains an open question. However, it is interesting and important to investigate dilaton tests of the light sextet scalar whose β-function is closest to the CW in the symmetry breaking phase and emerges as the leading candidate for dilaton tests of the light scalar. We report results from high precision analysis of the twelve-flavor β-function [1] refuting its published IRFP [2, 3]. We present our objections to recent claims [4, 5] for non-universal behavior of staggered fermions used in our analysis. We also report our first analysis of dilaton tests of the light 0++ scalar in the sextet model and comment on related post-conference developments. The dilaton test is the main thrust of this conference contribution including presentation #405 on the nf = 12 β-function and presentation #260 on dilaton

Performance of middle-aged and elderly European minority and majority populations on a Cross-Cultural Neuropsychological Test Battery (CNTB).

Science.gov (United States)

Nielsen, T Rune; Segers, Kurt; Vanderaspoilden, Valérie; Bekkhus-Wetterberg, Peter; Minthon, Lennart; Pissiota, Anna; Bjørkløf, Guro Hanevold; Beinhoff, Ulrike; Tsolaki, Magda; Gkioka, Mara; Waldemar, Gunhild

2018-01-24

The aim of this study was to examine test performance on a cross-cultural neuropsychological test battery for assessment of middle-aged and elderly ethnic minority and majority populations in western Europe, and to present preliminary normative data. The study was a cross-sectional multi-center study. Tests in the European Cross-Cultural Neuropsychological Test Battery (CNTB) cover several cognitive domains, including global cognitive function, memory, executive functions, and visuospatial functions. A total of 330 participants were included: 14 Moroccan, 45 Pakistani/Indian Punjabi, 41 Polish, 66 Turkish, and 19 former Yugoslavian minority participants, and 145 western European majority participants. Significant differences between ethnic groups were found on most CNTB measures. However, ethnic groups differed greatly in demographic characteristics and differences in test scores were mainly related to educational differences, explaining an average of 15% of the variance. Preliminary multicultural CNTB normative data dichotomized by education and age were constructed using overlapping cells. Applying this normative data across the whole sample resulted in an acceptable number of participants scoring in the impaired range across all ethnic groups. Factor analyses found the CNTB to have a stable and clinically meaningful factor structure. The CNTB represents the first European joint effort to establish neuropsychological measures appropriate for ethnic minority populations in western Europe. The CNTB can be applied in approximately 60 min, covers several cognitive domains, and appears appropriate for assessment of the targeted populations. However, due to the small sample size in some ethnic groups further studies are needed replicate and support this.

Supply prospects and network integration in the European natural gas sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bergmann, B.

1998-01-01

At least for the next 10-15 years, natural gas will be the fastest growing energy form in Europe, with a higher rate of growth in consumption (from a lower base) in central Europe than in western Europe. Although most of the prospective demand until 2010 is covered by signed import contracts and indigenous production, important additional gas supply capacity still has to be developed out of a plenitude of reserves within and (in the long run primarily) outside western and central Europe. The real problem is how to mobilise the reserves economically and direct them towards the European market, in competition with other markets. Europe has a sophisticated transmission system whose development has gone hand-in-hand with long-term import agreements. Among the missing links is the Interconnector, which, at the end of 1998, is due to integrate the UK and Ireland into mainland Europe. This is expected to enhance security of supply in both areas, to balance prices and maybe also to foster ideas of liberalisation. Overall, the European gas industry is in an excellent position to develop the supply of gas in an environmentally benign way. The future belongs all the more to natural gas, the fewer the mistakes that are made when it comes to matters of legal frameworks and taxation

Twelve reasons to refuse the nuclear in the MDP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonduelle, A.

2000-01-01

The author presents twelve reasons which show that the nuclear energy has not a place in the MDP Mechanism of Clean Development: a main loophole for the developed countries, the doubtful ''additionality'' of the nuclear, the treaty ratification is more difficult with the nuclear, the domestic energy conservation is more efficient in Europe than the nuclear development, the nuclear white elephants facing the South debts, the technology transfers are doubtful, the developing countries and the sustainable development policies are evicted from the MDP, some options are more powerful in the South, the reactors and transport networks size are unsuited, the absence of democratic control, the nuclear proliferation, the nuclear safety and the wastes. (A.L.B.)

Electronic Data Exchange within European Justice: A Good Opportunity?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nadia Carboni

2012-12-01

Full Text Available This paper analyses one of the most debated and controversial issues regarding the changes which are taking place in the Justice domain: the complexity of developing and implementing ITC systems that ‘actually work’, and doing so with a reasonable budget and in a reasonable time. While the number of studies on National experiences is slowly growing (see for example Fabri & Contini 2001, Fabri 2007, Contini & Lanzara 2009, Reiling 2012, filling an often-mentioned gap in justice sector literature, building on the European project e-CODEX case study, the authors point the attention to a somewhat new and unexplored phenomenon, the concrete attempt to build cross-border electronic data exchange within the European justice field. e-CODEX (e-Justice Communication via Online Data Exchange is the first European Large Scale Pilot in the domain of e-Justice. The project is carried out by 19 partners either being or representing their national ministries of justice of 15 European countries, plus the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE, the Conseil des Notariats de l'Union Européenne (CNUE and the National Research Council of Italy (through two of its institutes - IRSIG-CNR and ITTIG-CNR. To provide a better grasp of the project scale, its overall budget is over 14 M euro and about 14 hundred person-months are committed to it. The project aims at improving cross-border access of citizens and businesses to legal means in Europe, as well as to improve the interoperability between legal authorities of different Member States. With a case based approach, e-CODEX is developing and will be soon implementing an interoperability layer to connect existing National Systems in order to provide cross border e-justice services. The project commitment includes running a live pilot in a ‘production environment’ for a duration of twelve months. The electronic services that have been so far selected are: European Payment Order (EPO, European Small

Industrial aspects of radioactive waste management in Western Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marcus, F.R.; Seynaeve, F.

1977-01-01

In 1980 there will be about 120 nuclear power reactors with 70,000 MWe in operation in Western Europe, and this number will be doubled by 1985, when the nuclear capacity in operation is expected to be 180,000 MWe. Predictions are made of the waste management requirements resulting from this nuclear expansion. Until a few years ago waste from nuclear research and from the use of isotopes in medicine has been the dominating source. Now there is a much larger proportion from the day to day operation of nuclear power reactors. Waste amounts from reprocessing of spent reactor fuel will rise more slowly. Waste production in other fuel cycle industries is relatively insignificant. There will be around 30 reactors and other nuclear plants to take out of operation in Western Europe around 1990. The large-scale handling of these wastes calls for overall management schemes, based on clear policies for storage and disposal. Questions are identified which have to be answered within the next few years in order to allow the orderly development of such large-scale waste management. These questions deal with: (i) rules and regulations, (ii) new technical evidence, (iii) administrative frameworks and responsibilities. Several areas of waste management are well suited to commercial waste operating firms, already established at present in a number of European countries. The scope for waste operators may include waste transportation, operating of own or government owned treatment and storage installations, and the carrying out of disposal operations. In the paper, development needs originally suggested by the Foratom waste study group will be discussed in the light of a late 1976 review to be carried through by European industry

Industrial aspects of radioactive waste management in Western Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marcus, F.R.; Seynaeve, F.

1977-01-01

In 1980 about 120 nuclear power reactors with 70,000MW(e) will be in operation in Western Europe, and this number will be doubled by the second half of the 1980s, when the nuclear capacity in operation is expected to be 180,000MW(e). Predictions are made of the waste management requirements resulting from this nuclear expansion. Until a few years ago nuclear research and the use of isotopes in medicine have been the dominating source of radioactive waste. Now there is a much larger proportion from the day-to-day operation of nuclear power reactors. The amount of waste from reprocessing spent reactor fuel will rise more slowly. Waste production in other fuel cycle industries is relatively insignificant. Approximately 30 reactors and other nuclear plants will be taken out of operation in Western Europe by about 1990. The large-scale handling of these wastes calls for overall management schemes based on clear policies for storage and disposal. Questions are identified which will have to be answered within the next few years in order to allow the orderly development of such large-scale waste management. These questions deal with (i) rules and regulations, (ii) new technical evidence, (iii) administrative framework and responsibilities. Several areas of waste management are well suited to commercial waste operating firms already established in a number of European countries. The scope for waste operators may include transport of waste, operation of own or government-owned treatment and storage installations, and disposal operations. Development requirements originally suggested by the Foratom waste study group are discussed in the light of the latest developments as seen by European industry. (author)

On the cultural guises of cognitive dissonance: the case of easterners and westerners.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoshino-Browne, Etsuko; Zanna, Adam S; Spencer, Steven J; Zanna, Mark P; Kitayama, Shinobu; Lackenbauer, Sandra

2005-09-01

Cognitive dissonance and effects of self-affirmation on dissonance arousal were examined cross-culturally. In Studies 1 and 2, European Canadians justified their choices more when they made them for themselves, whereas Asian Canadians (Study 1) or Japanese (Study 2) justified their choices more when they made them for a friend. In Study 3, an interdependent self-affirmation reduced dissonance for Asian Canadians but not for European Canadians. In Study 4, when Asian Canadians made choices for a friend, an independent self-affirmation reduced dissonance for bicultural Asian Canadians but not for monocultural Asian Canadians. These studies demonstrate that both Easterners and Westerners can experience dissonance, but culture shapes the situations in which dissonance is aroused and reduced. Implications of these cultural differences for theories of cognitive dissonance and self-affirmation are discussed.

Institutional shifts in inter-municipal service delivery: an analysis of developments in eight Western European countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hulst, J.R.; van Montfort, A.J.G.M.; Haveri, A.; Airaksinen, J.; Kelly, J.

2009-01-01

Comparative research on inter-municipal cooperation in eight European countries shows that there is a great variety of institutional arrangements for cooperation across the different countries. Also, these arrangements tend to change over time in terms of the scope of cooperation among partners,

Professor Gerschenkron goes to Brussels. Russian Catch-up Economics and the Common European Space

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefan Hedlund

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Ongoing discussions between Russia and the EU on the formation of a Common European Economic Space bring back to mind Alexander Gerschenkron's classic essay on economic backwardness in historical perspective. This paper argues that the institutions that once produced a specific kind of catch-up economics in Czarist Russia still remain largely the same. Unless negotiations between Moscow and Brussels take into consideration such fundamental institutional incompatibility, attempts at harmonization, expressed by Brussels as an attempt tp spread Western values, will be doomed to fail. A cynical conlusion views potential convergence as adaptation by Brussels to traditional Russian institutional patterns of rule evasion, rather than a Westernization of Russia

Islam, religiosity, and immigrant political action in Western Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Just, Aida; Sandovici, Maria Elena; Listhaug, Ola

2014-01-01

The issues of migration and immigrant political integration in western democracies have become increasingly intertwined with debates on religion, particularly Islam. To date, however, we have surprisingly little systematic research on how religious beliefs are related to immigrants' political engagement. In this study, we argue that religion has a capacity to mobilize immigrants politically but the strength of this relationship depends on immigrant generation, religiosity, and the type of religion. Using survey data collected as part of the European Social Survey (ESS) 2002-2010 in 18 West European democracies, our analyses reveal that religion is indeed linked to political engagement of immigrants in a complex way: while belonging to a religion is generally associated with less political participation, exposure to religious institutions appears to have the opposite effect. Moreover, we find that, compared to foreign-born Muslims, second-generation Muslim immigrants are not only more religious and more politically dissatisfied with their host countries, but also that religiosity is more strongly linked to their political engagement. This relationship, however, is limited to uninstitutionalized political action. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

European Values and Practices in Post-Communist Public Administration: The Baltic States

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Karin Hilmer; Johannsen, Lars

2015-01-01

In Chapter Twelve Karin Hilmer Pedersen and Lars Johannsen look into the changes in public administration and in the identity of public servants after the breakdown of the Soviet regime. Fundamental reconstructions of the political, economic and administrative systems of the Central and East...... democracy. Public administrations have undergone complete changes in their legal environment and deep structural reorganisation, combined with a high degree of turnover among staff. This has turned previous Soviet administrations into capable modern administrations. The question highlighted in this chapter...... is whether the public servants have also returned to Europe in the sense of sharing common European values and administrative identity. Pedersen and Johannsen find that the core principles of integrity and neutrality have been internalised and many, though not all, public servants see responsiveness...

More Power, Less SympathyThe Response of IGOs in Western Europe to Unwanted Migration during Economic Crises Compared

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irial Glynn

2012-08-01

Full Text Available This article chronicles the influence of intergovernmental organisations (IGOs over unwanted migration in Western Europe since the 1930s. It pays particular attention to what occurred during times of economic crisis, especially the Great Depression in the 1930s, the recession-hit 1970s and early 1980s, and the current global financial difficulties. The IGOs under consideration are the League of Nations during the 1930s and the European Commission from the 1970s onwards. The European Commission’s ability to influence West European states’ policies on unwanted migration has grown considerably since the League of Nations’ unsuccessful attempts in the 1930s, especially in the lead-up to the current economic crisis. This increase in power has been offset, however, by a decrease in the European Commission’s sympathy as Brussels increasingly regards unwanted migration as a security and justice issue rather than as a social and cultural one in a move that bears close resemblance to the stance of West European states.

Two-dimensional liquid chromatography consisting of twelve second-dimension columns for comprehensive analysis of intact proteins.

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Jiangtao; Beckner, Matthew A; Lynch, Kyle B; Chen, Huang; Zhu, Zaifang; Yang, Yu; Chen, Apeng; Qiao, Zhenzhen; Liu, Shaorong; Lu, Joann J

2018-05-15

A comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography (LCxLC) system consisting of twelve columns in the second dimension was developed for comprehensive analysis of intact proteins in complex biological samples. The system consisted of an ion-exchange column in the first dimension and the twelve reverse-phase columns in the second dimension; all thirteen columns were monolithic and prepared inside 250 µm i.d. capillaries. These columns were assembled together through the use of three valves and an innovative configuration. The effluent from the first dimension was continuously fractionated and sequentially transferred into the twelve second-dimension columns, while the second-dimension separations were carried out in a series of batches (six columns per batch). This LCxLC system was tested first using standard proteins followed by real-world samples from E. coli. Baseline separation was observed for eleven standard proteins and hundreds of peaks were observed for the real-world sample analysis. Two-dimensional liquid chromatography, often considered as an effective tool for mapping proteins, is seen as laborious and time-consuming when configured offline. Our online LCxLC system with increased second-dimension columns promises to provide a solution to overcome these hindrances. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Surveillance for European bat lyssavirus in Swiss bats.

Science.gov (United States)

Megali, A; Yannic, G; Zahno, M-L; Brügger, D; Bertoni, G; Christe, P; Zanoni, R

2010-10-01

Most countries in Western Europe are currently free of rabies in terrestrial mammals. Nevertheless, rabies remains a residual risk to public health due to the natural circulation of bat-specific viruses, such as European bat lyssaviruses (EBLVs). European bat lyssavirus types 1 and 2 (EBLV-1 and EBLV-2) are widely distributed throughout Europe, but little is known of their true prevalence and epidemiology. We report that only three out of 837 brains taken from bats submitted to the Swiss Rabies Centre between 1976 and 2009 were found by immunofluorescence (FAT) to be positive for EBLVs. All three positive cases were in Myotis daubentoni, from 1992, 1993 and 2002. In addition to this passive surveillance, we undertook a targeted survey in 2009, aimed at detecting lyssaviruses in live bats in Switzerland. A total of 237 bats of the species M. daubentoni, Myotis myotis, Eptesicus serotinus and Nyctalus noctula were captured at different sites in western Switzerland. Oropharyngeal swabs and blood from each individual were analysed by RT-PCR and rapid fluorescent focus inhibition test (RFFIT), respectively. RNA corresponding to EBLV-2 was detected from oropharyngeal swabs of a single M. daubentoni bat, but no infectious virus was found. Molecular phylogenetic analysis revealed that the corresponding sequence was closely related to the other EBLV-2 sequences identified in previous rabies isolates from Swiss bats (particularly to that found at Geneva in 2002). Three M. daubentoni bats were found to be seropositive by RFFIT. In conclusion, even though the prevalence is low in Switzerland, continuous management and surveillance are required to assess the potential risk to public health.

Twelve worlds: a geo-demographic comparison of global inequalities in mortality.

Science.gov (United States)

Day, P; Pearce, J; Dorling, D

2008-11-01

The aim of this study was to identify clusters of nations grouped by health outcomes in order to provide sensible groupings for international comparisons. The utility of this approach is demonstrated by comparing life expectancy and a range of health system indicators within and between each cluster. Age- and sex-specific mortality data for 190 member states were extracted from the Burden of Disease Estimates statistics produced by the World Health Organization. A hierarchical cluster method was used to identify groupings of countries that are homogeneous in terms of mortality rates. 12 clusters of countries were identified. The average life expectancy of each cluster ranged from 81.5 years (cluster 1) to 37.7 years (cluster 12). The two highest ranked clusters were dominated by Western European countries, Australia, Japan and Canada. Cluster 3 included the UK and USA. The four clusters with the lowest life expectancies were characterised by different configurations of African countries. Health system indicators for workforce, hospital beds, access to medicines and measles vaccination corresponded well with a clear association with cluster life expectancy. On a per capita basis, worldwide health spending was concentrated within the three highest life expectancy clusters, especially cluster 3 containing the USA. Considerable inequalities in life expectancy and healthcare are made clearer when viewed across clusters of countries grouped by health outcomes. This geo-demographic taxonomy of global mortality has advantages over traditional more ad hoc systems for comparing global health inequalities and for deciding which countries appear to have the most comparable health outcomes.

Costs and resource utilization for diagnosis and treatment during the initial year in a European inflammatory bowel disease inception cohort

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Burisch, Johan; Vardi, Hillel; Pedersen, Natalia

2015-01-01

:: The EpiCom cohort is a prospective population-based inception cohort of unselected inflammatory bowel disease patients from 31 Western and Eastern European centers. Patients were followed every third month from diagnosis, and clinical data regarding treatment and investigations were collected. Costs were...

Survey of European LWR fuel irradiation test facilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hardt, P von der [Commission of the European Communities, Joint Research Centre, Petten Establishment, Petten (Netherlands)

1983-06-01

The first European commercial nuclear power plants (1956) featured gas-cooled thermal reactors. Although there is now a general orientation towards light water cooled plants (with a slight preference for the PWR) a large fraction of the 1982 nuclear generating capacity is still invested in gas-cooled reactors. R and D also continues for the HTGR with its long-term development potential. This paper, however, is limited to a general survey of experimental programmes and facilities for light water reactor fuel testing in Western Europe, particularly inside the European Communities. As it turns out, over a dozen major installations are available, all connected to research reactors in government-funded R and D centres. Their equipment is briefly reviewed. Some 50% of the experimental programmes are carried out in large international collaboration, involving up to 20 organizations per project. Techniques and results are rapidly communicated through frequent meetings and conferences. It is anticipated that a part of the present research reactor-based work will gradually shift to power reactor pool side inspection facilities. (author)

Survey of European LWR fuel irradiation test facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hardt, P. von der

1983-01-01

The first European commercial nuclear power plants (1956) featured gas-cooled thermal reactors. Although there is now a general orientation towards light water cooled plants (with a slight preference for the PWR) a large fraction of the 1982 nuclear generating capacity is still invested in gas-cooled reactors. R and D also continues for the HTGR with its long-term development potential. This paper, however, is limited to a general survey of experimental programmes and facilities for light water reactor fuel testing in Western Europe, particularly inside the European Communities. As it turns out, over a dozen major installations are available, all connected to research reactors in government-funded R and D centres. Their equipment is briefly reviewed. Some 50% of the experimental programmes are carried out in large international collaboration, involving up to 20 organizations per project. Techniques and results are rapidly communicated through frequent meetings and conferences. It is anticipated that a part of the present research reactor-based work will gradually shift to power reactor pool side inspection facilities. (author)

European Ethnopharmaceuticals for Self-Medication in Japan: Review Experience of Vitis vinifera L., Folium Extract and Vitex agnus-castus L., Fructus Extract as OTC Drugs.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoshino, Tatsuro; Muto, Nanami; Tsukada, Shinsuke; Nakamura, Takatoshi; Maegawa, Hikoichiro

2018-01-06

Since the publication of "Application Guideline for Western Traditional Herbal Medicines as OTC Drugs" in 2007, only two European ethnopharmaceuticals, Vitis vinifera L., folium extract (Antistax) and Vitex agnus-castus L., fructus extract (Prefemin), have been approved as OTC drugs in Japan. In this review, we describe the current regulation of Western ethnopharmaceuticals in Japan, summarize our regulatory experiences and discuss the scientific and regulatory issues involved.

Openness as a predictor of political orientation and conventional and unconventional political activism in Western and Eastern Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Roets, Arne; Cornelis, Ilse; Van Hiel, Alain

2014-01-01

This study provides a comprehensive investigation of the relationship between Openness and political orientation and activism in Europe. Analyses were conducted on the 4 waves of the European Social Survey, including large representative samples in up to 26 European countries (total N > 175,000). In line with previous studies, a robust, positive relationship between Openness and left-wing political orientation was obtained in Western Europe. However, in Eastern Europe, the relationship between Openness and political orientation was weaker, and reversed in 3 out of 4 waves. Moreover, Openness yielded significant positive relationships with unconventional activism and to a lesser degree with conventional activism. The magnitude of the relationship between Openness and activism was dependent on political orientation and region. Stronger associations between Openness and activism were found for those having a left-wing orientation in Western Europe, whereas in Eastern Europe, Openness was somewhat stronger related to activism for those having a right-wing orientation. In the discussion we elaborate on the role of the geopolitical context in the relationship between Openness and political variables.

Food retailers' buying behaviour: An analysis in 16 European countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skytte, Hans; Blunch, Niels Johan

2001-01-01

This paper presents results from a study on food retailer buying behaviour, i.e., how the retailers judge product and vendor attributes when choosing a new supplier of a product category that is already well known to them. A conjoint analysis was conducted in 16 Western European countries....... The study encompassed the retailers' buying behaviour for fish and cheese products. The results demonstrate that the traditional four P's are losing ground to some previously neglected attributes, which now demand consideration by retail suppliers of products and services and by researchers....

Westerns fra hele verden

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjerre, Thomas Ærvold

2014-01-01

Om den amerikanske western, spaghettiwesterns, kommunistiske westerns og danske westerns - i forbindelse med Kristian Levrings The Salvation (2014).......Om den amerikanske western, spaghettiwesterns, kommunistiske westerns og danske westerns - i forbindelse med Kristian Levrings The Salvation (2014)....

International arrivals: widespread bioinvasions in European Seas.

Science.gov (United States)

Galil, B S; Marchini, A; Occhipinti-Ambrogi, A; Minchin, D; Narščius, A; Ojaveer, H; Olenin, S

2014-04-01

The European Union lacks a comprehensive framework to address the threats posed by the introduction and spread of marine non-indigenous species (NIS). Current efforts are fragmented and suffer substantial gaps in coverage. In this paper we identify and discuss issues relating to the assessment of spatial and temporal patterns of introductions in European Seas (ES), based on a scientifically validated information system of aquatic non-indigenous and cryptogenic species, AquaNIS. While recognizing the limitations of the existing data, we extract information that can be used to assess the relative risk of introductions for different taxonomic groups, geographic regions and likely vectors. The dataset comprises 879 multicellular NIS. We applied a country-based approach to assess patterns of NIS richness in ES, and identify the principal introduction routes and vectors, the most widespread NIS and their spatial and temporal spread patterns. Between 1970 and 2013, the number of recorded NIS has grown by 86, 173 and 204% in the Baltic, Western European margin and the Mediterranean, respectively; 52 of the 879 NIS were recorded in 10 or more countries, and 25 NIS first recorded in European seas since 1990 have since been reported in five or more countries. Our results highlight the ever-rising role of shipping (commercial and recreational) as a vector for the widespread and recently spread NIS. The Suez Canal, a corridor unique to the Mediterranean, is responsible for the increased introduction of new thermophilic NIS into this warming sea. The 2020 goal of the EU Biodiversity Strategy concerning marine Invasive Alien Species may not be fully attainable. The setting of a new target date should be accompanied by scientifically robust, sensible and pragmatic plans to minimize introductions of marine NIS and to study those present.

Dioxins and PCBs in feed and food--review from European perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Malisch, Rainer; Kotz, Alexander

2014-09-01

During the 1990s, a number of adverse contamination incidents focussed the attention of the media and the general public on food safety. This led to the evaluation of safety measures with regard to dioxin intake from food. Important aspects regarding dioxins and PCBs in the food chain are reviewed here, allowing a contextual understanding of the present situation through its chronological developments. About 90-98% of the average exposure of humans to dioxins and PCBs results from dietary intake, with food of animal origin being the predominant source. Therefore, animal feed contributes considerably to the presence of these compounds in food. The detection of the "real" source of a contamination event in the food chain is a complex scientific problem and requires specific knowledge on production processes and changes of patterns during bioaccumulation. This is demonstrated by complex investigations performed in three studies on two continents to identify the source (e.g. from contamination of cow's milk in Germany, to citrus pulp pellets from Brazil as an ingredient in feed, then to contaminated lime for neutralization and finally to a landfill with residues of vinyl chloride monomer production). This example shows also the substantial economic losses resulting from incidents in the food chain and the consequences to global trade. In 2001, the EU Scientific Committee on Food established a group tolerable weekly intake (TWI) of 14 pg WHO-TEQ/kg body weight and concluded that a considerable proportion of the European population would exceed this TWI. On the global level, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) provides scientific advice to the Codex Alimentarius Commission and therefore contributes to harmonized international food standards. In its evaluation of 2001, JECFA derived a provisional tolerable monthly intake (PTMI) of 70 pg TEQ/kg body weight. The sum of the median intake of PCDD/F-TEQ and PCB-TEQ exceeded the PTMI in Western European

Balancing Cost and Risk: The Treatment of Renewable Energy inWestern Utility Resource Plans

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wiser, Ryan; Bolinger, Mark

2005-09-01

, which is based on a longer report from Berkeley Lab, examines how twelve western utilities - Avista, Idaho Power, NorthWestern Energy (NorthWestern or NWE), Portland General Electric (PGE), Puget Sound Energy (PSE), PacifiCorp, Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo), Nevada Power, Sierra Pacific, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE), and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) - treat renewable energy in their recent resource plans. In aggregate, these utilities supply approximately half of all electricity demand in the western United States. In reviewing these plans, our purpose is twofold: (1) to highlight the growing importance of utility IRP as a current and future driver of renewable energy, and (2) to suggest possible improvements to methods used to evaluate renewable energy as a resource option. This article begins with a discussion of the planned renewable energy additions called for by the twelve utilities in our sample, followed by an overview of how these plans incorporated renewables into candidate portfolios, and a review of the specific technology cost and performance assumptions they made, primarily for wind power. We then turn to the utilities analysis of natural gas price and environmental compliance risks, and examine how the utilities traded off portfolio cost and risk in selecting a preferred portfolio.

[Comparative study of three Western models of deontological codes for dentists].

Science.gov (United States)

Macpherson Mayol, Ignacio; Roqué Sánchez, María Victoria; Gonzalvo-Cirac, Margarita; de Ribot, Eduard

2013-01-01

We performed a comparative analysis of the codes of ethics of three official organizations in Dentistry professional ethics: Code of Ethics for Dentists in the European Union, drawn up by the Council of European Dentists (CED); Código Español de Ética y Deontología Dental, published by the Consejo General de Colegios de Odontólogos y Estomatólogos de España (CGCOE); and Principles of Ethics and Code of Professional Conduct, of the American Dental Association (ADA). The analysis of the structure of the codes allows the discovery of different approaches governing professional ethics according to the ethical and legislative tradition from which they derive. While there are common elements inherent in Western culture, there are nuances in the grounds, the layout and wording of articles that allows to deduce the ethical foundations that underlie each code, and reflects the real problems encountered by dentists in the practice of their profession.

An air quality assessment in the industrialised western Bushveld Igneous Complex, South Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew D. Venter

2012-09-01

Full Text Available South Africa has the largest industrialised economy in Africa, with significant mining and metallurgical activities. A large fraction of the South African mineral assets is concentrated in the Bushveld Igneous Complex (BIC, with the western limb being the most exploited. Because the majority of the world’s platinum is produced in the BIC, this area is also of international interest. There are some indications that the western BIC should be considered an air pollution hotspot; however, inadequate data exist to substantiate these claims scientifically. To partially address this knowledge gap, a comprehensive air quality monitoring station was operated for more than 2 years in this area. Meteorological parameters, trace gas concentrations and total mass concentration of particulate matter up to 10 µm in size (PM10 were measured. Compared with South African and European ambient air quality standards, SO2, NO2 and CO concentrations were generally acceptable. The major sources of SO2 were identified as high-stack industry emissions, while household combustion from semi-formal and informal settlements was identified as the predominant source of NO2 and CO. In contrast, O3 exceeded the 8-h moving average more than 322 times per year. The main contributing factor was identified to be the influx of regional air masses, with high O3 precursor concentrations. PM10 exceeded the current South African 24-h standard 6.6 times per year, the future (2015 standard 42.3 times per year and the European standard more than 120 times per year. The main source of PM10 was identified as household combustion from semi-formal and informal settlements. The findings clearly indicate that atmospheric O3 and PM10 levels in the western BIC need to be addressed to avoid negative environmental and human health impacts.

Extended investigation of the twelve-flavor β-function

Science.gov (United States)

Fodor, Zoltán; Holland, Kieran; Kuti, Julius; Nógrádi, Dániel; Wong, Chik Him

2018-04-01

We report new results from high precision analysis of an important BSM gauge theory with twelve massless fermion flavors in the fundamental representation of the SU(3) color gauge group. The range of the renormalized gauge coupling is extended from our earlier work [1] to probe the existence of an infrared fixed point (IRFP) in the β-function reported at two different locations, originally in [2] and at a new location in [3]. We find no evidence for the IRFP of the β-function in the extended range of the renormalized gauge coupling, in disagreement with [2,3]. New arguments to guard the existence of the IRFP remain unconvincing [4], including recent claims of an IRFP with ten massless fermion flavors [5,6] which we also rule out. Predictions of the recently completed 5-loop QCD β-function for general flavor number are discussed in this context.

Comedy of the Impossible: The Power of Play in Post-War European Drama

OpenAIRE

Street, Anna

2016-01-01

By tracing the development of theories of comedy within Western philosophy, this thesis claims that anti-comic prejudices prevented comedy from being recognized as a serious genre. Comedy's inferior status for over two thousand years is shown to correspond to an ethical model that distinguishes the real from the Ideal and affirms a Neo-Platonic vision of existence. Through numerous examples taken from a particular phenomenon of post-war European theatre comprising five different playwrights, ...

Comparative analysis and supragenome modeling of twelve Moraxella catarrhalis clinical isolates.

Science.gov (United States)

Davie, Jeremiah J; Earl, Josh; de Vries, Stefan P W; Ahmed, Azad; Hu, Fen Z; Bootsma, Hester J; Stol, Kim; Hermans, Peter W M; Wadowsky, Robert M; Ehrlich, Garth D; Hays, John P; Campagnari, Anthony A

2011-01-26

M. catarrhalis is a gram-negative, gamma-proteobacterium and an opportunistic human pathogen associated with otitis media (OM) and exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). With direct and indirect costs for treating these conditions annually exceeding $33 billion in the United States alone, and nearly ubiquitous resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics among M. catarrhalis clinical isolates, a greater understanding of this pathogen's genome and its variability among isolates is needed. The genomic sequences of ten geographically and phenotypically diverse clinical isolates of M. catarrhalis were determined and analyzed together with two publicly available genomes. These twelve genomes were subjected to detailed comparative and predictive analyses aimed at characterizing the supragenome and understanding the metabolic and pathogenic potential of this species. A total of 2383 gene clusters were identified, of which 1755 are core with the remaining 628 clusters unevenly distributed among the twelve isolates. These findings are consistent with the distributed genome hypothesis (DGH), which posits that the species genome possesses a far greater number of genes than any single isolate. Multiple and pair-wise whole genome alignments highlight limited chromosomal re-arrangement. M. catarrhalis gene content and chromosomal organization data, although supportive of the DGH, show modest overall genic diversity. These findings are in stark contrast with the reported heterogeneity of the species as a whole, as wells as to other bacterial pathogens mediating OM and COPD, providing important insight into M. catarrhalis pathogenesis that will aid in the development of novel therapeutic regimens.

Food-related lifestyles in Singapore: Preliminary testing of a Western European research instrument in Southeast Asia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Askegaard, Søren; Brunsø, Karen

1999-01-01

The food-related lifestyle instrument developed by the MAPP research group has, up till now, been applied mainly in the context of European cultures. The purpose of the present study is to apply the food-related life style instrument in a new and very different cultural setting, to compare result...

Cross-Cultural Differences in Beliefs and Practices that Affect the Language Spoken to Children: Mothers with Indian and Western Heritage

Science.gov (United States)

Simmons, Noreen; Johnston, Judith

2007-01-01

Background: Speech-language pathologists often advise families about interaction patterns that will facilitate language learning. This advice is typically based on research with North American families of European heritage and may not be culturally suited for non-Western families. Aims: The goal of the project was to identify differences in the…

Evidence of ancient DNA reveals the first European lineage in Iron Age Central China.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, C Z; Li, C X; Cui, Y Q; Zhang, Q C; Fu, Y Q; Zhu, H; Zhou, H

2007-07-07

Various studies on ancient DNA have attempted to reconstruct population movement in Asia, with much interest focused on determining the arrival of European lineages in ancient East Asia. Here, we discuss our analysis of the mitochondrial DNA of human remains excavated from the Yu Hong tomb in Taiyuan, China, dated 1400 years ago. The burial style of this tomb is characteristic of Central Asia at that time. Our analysis shows that Yu Hong belonged to the haplogroup U5, one of the oldest western Eurasian-specific haplogroups, while his wife can be classified as haplogroup G, the type prevalent in East Asia. Our findings show that this man with European lineage arrived in Taiyuan approximately 1400 years ago, and most probably married a local woman. Haplogroup U5 was the first west Eurasian-specific lineage to be found in the central part of ancient China, and Taiyuan may be the easternmost location of the discovered remains of European lineage in ancient China.

Muslims in their European societies of settlement : A comparative agenda for empirical research on socio-cultural integration across countries and groups

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Statham, P.; Tillie, J.

2016-01-01

Islam has become the key site for demarcating boundaries between majority populations and individuals of immigrant origin across Europe. This article outlines a research agenda on the socio-cultural integration of Muslims in their Western European societies of settlement. Integration issues with

High-Speed Rail for Central and Eastern European Countries: A Conference Report

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jandová Monika

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The European transport strategy promotes the role of railways and expects that the key role in passenger transport should be played by high-speed rail (HSR. Although the core network of high-speed lines has already been built and is operating in Western Europe, there has been little coverage so far in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE. The aim of the conference “High-Speed Rail for CEE Countries” that took place in Prague in June 2016 was to put together academics, policy-makers, and practitioners interested in HSR and to formulate recommendations for CEE countries based on West European countries’ experience. Based on the conference presentations and subsequent discussion, the following conclusions were formulated. Firstly, there are many crucial differences in national HSR build-up and operation, which means that former experience of Western Europe is not directly applicable to CEE countries. Secondly, in comparing presentations discussing experiences in France, Britain, Italy, and Germany, it was concluded that the German approach-upgrading existing lines where possible and only building new lines for bottleneck sections-was the most likely appropriate solution in CEE. Lastly, CEE has the additional problem of many border crossings, with a reduction of traffic in comparison with purely domestic routes, and this effect has to be taken into account.

Patient safety in undergraduate radiography curricula: A European perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

England, A.; Azevedo, K.B.; Bezzina, P.; Henner, A.; McNulty, J.P.

2016-01-01

Purpose: To establish an understanding of patient safety within radiography education across Europe by surveying higher education institutions registered as affiliate members of the European Federation of Radiographer Societies (EFRS). Method: An online survey was developed to ascertain data on: programme type, patient safety definitions, relevant safety topics, specific areas taught, teaching and assessment methods, levels of teaching and curriculum drivers. Responses were identifiable in terms of educational institution and country. All 54 affiliated educational institutions were invited to participate. Descriptive and thematic analyses are reported. Results: A response rate of 61.1% (n = 33) was achieved from educational institutions representing 19 countries. Patient safety topics appear to be extremely well covered across curricula, however, topics including radiation protection and optimisation were not reported as being taught at an ‘advanced level’ by five and twelve respondents, respectively. Respondents identified the clinical department as the location of most patient safety-related teaching. Conclusions: Patient safety topics are deeply embedded within radiography curricula across Europe. Variations exist in terms of individual safety topics including, teaching and assessment methods, and the depth in which subjects are taught. Results from this study provide a baseline for assessing developments in curricula and can also serve as a benchmark for comparisons. - Highlights: • First European report on patient safety (PS). • PS deeply embedded within training curricula. • Terms and definitions largely consistent. • Some variety in the delivery and assessment methods. • Report provides baseline and opportunities for comparisons.

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...

European Ethnopharmaceuticals for Self-Medication in Japan: Review Experience of Vitis vinifera L., Folium Extract and Vitex agnus-castus L., Fructus Extract as OTC Drugs

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Tatsuro Hoshino

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Since the publication of “Application Guideline for Western Traditional Herbal Medicines as OTC Drugs” in 2007, only two European ethnopharmaceuticals, Vitis vinifera L., folium extract (Antistax and Vitex agnus-castus L., fructus extract (Prefemin, have been approved as OTC drugs in Japan. In this review, we describe the current regulation of Western ethnopharmaceuticals in Japan, summarize our regulatory experiences and discuss the scientific and regulatory issues involved.

Gazprom: the European idealism to the test of Russian realism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dasseleer, P.H.

2009-01-01

This geopolitical book analyses a major element of the future Russian-European relations. Gazprom is not only a giant gas company but a real 'centre of power' complementary to the Russian government. Gazprom is responsible for 86% of the Russian national production of gas and owns 70% of the reserves. It is involved in oil, power generation, and nuclear energy too and employs more than 300.000 people. It contributes to 25% of Russia's budget. This study tries to decipher the temporal and geographical approach of Gazprom with respect to its field of action which is the European continent. This analysis puts forward Gazprom's energy policy, with its logical and rational organization in front of an hesitating and idealistic Western Europe. It offers some paths of reflexion about the future intra-continental negotiations aiming at ensuring the security of gas supplies in Europe. The Russian exports, often considered as a threat, would easily become an opportunity for the geo-political consolidation of the Old Continent. (J.S.)

European energy security: An analysis of future Russian natural gas production and exports

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Soederbergh, Bengt, E-mail: bengt.soderbergh@fysast.uu.s [Global Energy Systems, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Laegerhyddsvaegen 1, Box 535, SE-751 21, Uppsala (Sweden); Jakobsson, Kristofer; Aleklett, Kjell [Global Energy Systems, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Laegerhyddsvaegen 1, Box 535, SE-751 21, Uppsala (Sweden)

2010-12-15

The widening gap between EU gas production and consumption may require an 87% increase of import volumes between 2006 and 2030, and there are great uncertainties regarding the amounts of gas that can be expected from new suppliers. The potential of increased production from Norway and Algeria is limited; hence, Russia is likely to play a crucial part of meeting the anticipated growing gas demand of the EU. A field-by-field study of 83 giant gas fields shows that the major producing Russian gas fields are in decline, and by 2013 much larger supplies from the Yamal Peninsula and the Shtokman field will be needed in order to avoid a decline in production. Gas from fields in Eastern Siberia and the Far East will mainly be directed to the Asian and Pacific Rim markets, thereby limiting its relevance to the European and CIS markets. As a result, the maximum export increase to the European and CIS markets amounts only to about 45% for the period 2015-2030. The discourse surrounding the EU's dependence on Russian gas should thus not only be concerned with geopolitics, but also with the issue of resource limitations. - Research highlights: {yields}Natural gas production in the Nadym Pur Taz region (Western Siberia) will start to decline within a few years. {yields}New production from the Yamal peninsula is critical to ensure gas exports to Europe. {yields}Additional production in East Siberia and the Far East will not be available for the European market. {yields}Rapid gas demand growth in China might also lead to competition for gas from Western Siberia.

Production of hybrids between western gray wolves and western coyotes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L David Mech

Full Text Available Using artificial insemination we attempted to produce hybrids between captive, male, western, gray wolves (Canis lupus and female, western coyotes (Canis latrans to determine whether their gametes would be compatible and the coyotes could produce and nurture offspring. The results contribute new information to an ongoing controversy over whether the eastern wolf (Canis lycaon is a valid unique species that could be subject to the U. S. Endangered Species Act. Attempts with transcervically deposited wolf semen into nine coyotes over two breeding seasons yielded three coyote pregnancies. One coyote ate her pups, another produced a resorbed fetus and a dead fetus by C-section, and the third produced seven hybrids, six of which survived. These results show that, although it might be unlikely for male western wolves to successfully produce offspring with female western coyotes under natural conditions, western-gray-wolf sperm are compatible with western-coyote ova and that at least one coyote could produce and nurture hybrid offspring. This finding in turn demonstrates that gamete incompatibility would not have prevented western, gray wolves from inseminating western coyotes and thus producing hybrids with coyote mtDNA, a claim that counters the view that the eastern wolf is a separate species. However, some of the difficulties experienced by the other inseminated coyotes tend to temper that finding and suggest that more experimentation is needed, including determining the behavioral and physical compatibility of western gray wolves copulating with western coyotes. Thus although our study adds new information to the controversy, it does not settle it. Further study is needed to determine whether the putative Canis lycaon is indeed a unique species.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Karanikolos, Marina; Adany, Roza; McKee, Martin

2017-10-01

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

The Greek Crisis and the Generalization of Euro in European Union

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Octavian PERPELEA

2015-09-01

Full Text Available In December 1991 the question of a single European currency is born, perhaps the most powerful glue of a united Europe. It might sound weird, the Greek crisis finds its root causes in ambiguity and inconsistency that treaty and, in the depths of contemporary history, the decision by Churchill and Stalin to bring Greece, East-European with the most powerful communist movement in the area, under the Western sphere of influence. So it is that Greece, after has experienced extreme political (kingdom, civil war, republic, military dictatorship and strong passions left, is admitted in 1981, the EEC “(... treated recklessly and tolerant European partners who did not exercise any control over them, nor have forced on performance targets.” So, ideal conditions for real “debauchery” that this country financially practiced under the nose of the EU, especially after entering the euro zone. As a result, the global crisis was “the occasion and not the cause” of the crisis and it finds its roots in Greek behaviour – governments and the public alike. The rational “solutions” are actually are... is only one – agreement with the EU because GREXIT, although possible, is ...inconceivable.

Significance of Two New Pleistocene Plant Records from Western Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Field, Michael H.; Velichkevich, Felix Y.; Andrieu-Ponel, Valerie; Woltz, Phillipe

2000-09-01

The first records of extinct Caulinia goretskyi (Dorofeev) Dorofeev (synonym Najas goretskyi Dorofeev) in western Europe and of Potamogeton occidentalis M.H. Field sp. nov. were obtained from plant macrofossil analyses of Middle Pleistocene temperate stage deposits exposed at Trez Rouz, Brittany, France. Palynological assemblages recovered suggest correlation with the Holsteinian Stage. This discovery greatly expands the western limit of the paleogeographical distribution of Caulinia goretskyi. The record of Potamogeton occidentalis indicates an affinity with the eastern Asiatic flora, as the fruits resemble those of the extant Potamogeton maackianus A. Bennett. Other extinct Pleistocene species related to P. maackianus have been described, and it is possible to follow the development of this group through the Pleistocene in the European fossil record. These new finds illustrate the importance of a complete paleobotanical approach (both plant macrofossil and palynological analyses). The plant macrofossil assemblages not only provide detailed insight into local vegetation and environment, because they are often not transported long distances (in temperate areas) and can frequently be identified to species level; they can also offer the opportunity to investigate Pleistocene evolutionary trends.

"Islam" In the Anti-Multicultural Rhetoric of Western European Politicians and Anthropologists: Congruence or Coincidence?

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Marko Pišev

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The recent rhetoric of the "end" or "failure" of multiculturalism in Europe and beyond came as no surprise to anthropologists. Moreover, the statements made by leading politicians of key European economies seem as though they are based on the decades old anthropological critique of the consequences of the failed implementation of multicultural policies in Europe and on the global level. It is as though the messages we have been getting over the course of the last few years – that multicultural policies are contraindicated, that they weaken the contacts between cultures, rob individuals of the right to change and chose their identities and strengthen intra-cultural mediators of power, with patriarchy, violence against women and children, leaving school, religious fundamentalism and even terrorism as main consequences – are being read by politicians from anthropological analyses of abuses of collective "cultural" rights. The paper considers the nature of this similarity between the discourse of politicians and anthropologists with a special emphasis on the status of "Islam" in them, and discusses whether it is congruence or mere coincidence of stances toward minorities, immigrants and cultural differences, as toward the regulations which were tasked with protecting this diversity as a fundamental European value which today, at least at the rhetorical level, seems to be fading.

Pathogenicity of two recent Western Mediterranean West Nile virus isolates in a wild bird species indigenous to Southern Europe: the red-legged partridge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sotelo Elena

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract West Nile virus (WNV is an emerging zoonotic pathogen whose geographic spread and incidence in humans, horses and birds has increased significantly in recent years. WNV has long been considered a mild pathogen causing self-limiting outbreaks. This notion has changed as WNV is causing large epidemics with a high impact on human and animal health. This has been particularly noteworthy since its introduction into North America in 1999. There, native bird species have been shown to be highly susceptible to WNV infection and disease with high mortalities. For this reason, the effect of WNV infection in North American bird species has been thoroughly studied by means of experimental inoculations in controlled trials. To a lesser extent, European wild birds have been shown to be affected clinically by WNV infection. Yet experimental studies on European wild bird species are lacking. The red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa is a gallinaceous bird indigenous to the Iberian Peninsula, widely distributed in South Western Europe. It plays a key role in the Mediterranean ecosystem and constitutes an economically important game species. As such it is raised intensively in outdoor facilities. In this work, red-legged partridges were experimentally infected with two recent WNV isolates from the Western Mediterranean area: Morocco/2003 and Spain/2007. All inoculated birds became viremic and showed clinical disease, with mortality rates of 70% and 30%, respectively. These results show that Western Mediterranean WNV variants can be pathogenic for some European bird species, such as the red-legged partridge.

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

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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.

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

Predictors of discontinuation of antipsychotic medication and subsequent outcomes in the European First Episode Schizophrenia Trial (EUFEST).

Science.gov (United States)

Landolt, Karin; Rössler, Wulf; Ajdacic-Gross, Vladeta; Derks, Eske M; Libiger, Jan; Kahn, René S; Fleischhacker, W Wolfgang

2016-04-01

This study had two aims: to describe patients suffering from first-episode schizophrenia who had stopped taking any antipsychotic medication, and to gain information on the predictors of successful discontinuation. We investigated data from the European First Episode Schizophrenia Trial (EUFEST). From the 325 patients included, 15.7% discontinued all antipsychotic medication. In a first analysis, clinical and sociodemographical predictors of discontinuing any antipsychotic medication were identified, using Cox regression. In the second analysis, logistic regression was used to determine variables associated with those patients who had stopped taking antipsychotic medication and had a favourable outcome, i.e., successful discontinuation. A good outcome was defined as a) having had no relapse within the whole observation period (80.6%), and b) having had no relapse and symptomatic remission at 12-month-follow-up (37.2%). Cox regression revealed that a higher proportion of patients from Western European countries and Israel stopped antipsychotic medication than from Central and Eastern European countries, that relapse was associated with discontinuation, and that discontinuers had lower compliance and higher quality of life. Predictors of successful discontinuation differed with the outcome definition used. Using definition b), successful discontinuers had a better baseline prognosis and better baseline social integration. Using definition a), successful discontinuers more often were from Western European countries. Region and clinical factors were associated with discontinuation. Prognosis and social integration played an important role in predicting successful discontinuation. As this study had several limitations, for example the observational design regarding discontinuation, further studies are needed to identify predictors of successful discontinuation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The epidemiology of HIV and AIDS reports in migrants in the 27 European Union countries, Norway and Iceland: 1999-2006.

Science.gov (United States)

Del Amo, Julia; Likatavičius, Giedrius; Pérez-Cachafeiro, Santiago; Hernando, Victoria; González, Cristina; Jarrín, Inma; Noori, Teymur; Hamers, Françoise F; Bolúmar, Francisco

2011-10-01

To describe the epidemiology of HIV and AIDS by geographical origin in the EU, 1999-2006. AIDS and HIV cases from the EU 27, Norway and Iceland reported to European Centre for Epidemiological Monitoring of AIDS were analysed. Of 75,021 AIDS reports over 1999-2006, 35% were migrants. Of 2988 heterosexual AIDS reports in 2006, 50% were migrants, largely from Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), 20% of 1404 AIDS cases in men who have sex with men (MSM) were migrants from Latin-America and Western Europe. Of 57 mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) AIDS cases, 23% were from SSA. AIDS cases decreased from 1999 to 2006 in natives (42%), Western Europeans (40%) and North Africa and Middle East (34%), but increased in people from SSA (by 89%), Eastern Europe (by 200%) and Latin-America (50%). Of 17,646 HIV infections in men and 9066 in females in 2006, 49 and 76% were migrants, largely from SSA. Of 169 MTCT infections, 41% were from SSA. Migrants, largely from SSA, represent a considerable proportion of AIDS and HIV reports in EU, especially among heterosexual and MTCT infections. Their contribution is higher among female reports. A substantial percentage of diagnoses in MSM are migrants, largely from Western Europe and Latin-America.

A Comparative Facebook Content Analysis between Romanian and Western European Airline Carriers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bogdan AVRAM

2014-03-01

Full Text Available This research aims to investigate the different social media strategies adopted by the airline companies from two European regions. In the attempt to land more customers on their social media runway, drive more sales from social media content, increase customer satisfaction through a high response rate or increase their brand awareness, the airlines combine creativity and high-quality ideas to better promote their products and services to customers all around the globe. The paper analyses the content (number of fans, posts, number of likes, the dynamics of comments, response rate on the Facebook pages of Tarom, Blue Air, Wizz Air, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, KLM International and Air Europa on a one week period (10th February – 18th February 2014 and successful practices on social media. The paper also aims to provide solutions for airlines to better connect with their passengers and effectively use the social media environment to increase sales and customer satisfaction.

Power purchase prices for wind power IPPs (independent power producers) in Western Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kummert, C.

1995-01-01

In a number of European countries, renewable energy installations, especially wind turbines, are supported by paying high prices for their electricity. A survey of pricing practice should not be limited to an international comparison of price levels, however. The terms under which prices are fixed are important criteria for the assessment of costs and cost effectiveness of wind power projects. The conditions for electricity supply by independent wind power operators in Western Europe are therefore surveyed here. A comparison of the price levels is also shown. (author)

Cooperation between West and East German gas transmission companies - an example of collaboration with Eastern European gas suppliers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geweke, J.

1994-01-01

In the future, it can be assumed there will be a new quality of co-operation between the East and the West. The tremendous growth in demand for natural gas in Europe necessitates the development of new, increasingly distant gas resources. The investment required can not be raised by a few countries on their own. A strategy is needed for all states integrated in the European natural gas transmission system. Due to their geographic location, Eastern and Southern European countries have a key role to play. Central Europe will become the heart of the international natural gas business. Then the future co-operation between East and Western Europe must be taken into account. An important prerequisite for equal partners in the European gas industry will be coordination, if natural gas is to continue to make a growing contribution to an environmentally compatible and efficient energy supply in all European states and beyond. (orig.)

Cluster analysis of European Y-chromosomal STR haplotypes using the discrete Laplace method

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Mikkel Meyer; Eriksen, Poul Svante; Morling, Niels

2014-01-01

The European Y-chromosomal short tandem repeat (STR) haplotype distribution has previously been analysed in various ways. Here, we introduce a new way of analysing population substructure using a new method based on clustering within the discrete Laplace exponential family that models the probabi......The European Y-chromosomal short tandem repeat (STR) haplotype distribution has previously been analysed in various ways. Here, we introduce a new way of analysing population substructure using a new method based on clustering within the discrete Laplace exponential family that models...... the probability distribution of the Y-STR haplotypes. Creating a consistent statistical model of the haplotypes enables us to perform a wide range of analyses. Previously, haplotype frequency estimation using the discrete Laplace method has been validated. In this paper we investigate how the discrete Laplace...... method can be used for cluster analysis to further validate the discrete Laplace method. A very important practical fact is that the calculations can be performed on a normal computer. We identified two sub-clusters of the Eastern and Western European Y-STR haplotypes similar to results of previous...

The status of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the process of accession to the European Union

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Lakić Danijela

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The paper analyzes the level that Bosnia and Herzegovina has reached in the process of accession to the European union. Since year 2000, it has been included in Stabilization and Accession process, politico-legal framework of the European union for the integration in the Western Balkans. Among the countries in this region, Bosnia and Herzegovina has the slowest advancement on its way to the EU. It has not yet submitted the application for EU membership nor has the Stabilization and Accession Agreement come into force. The EU requires that Bosnia and Herzegovina meet two conditions in order to move forward. The first condition is the implementation of the Sejdić and Finci ruling of The European Court of Human Rights, from 2009, and the second is to create an efficient coordination mechanism on EU issues ( with one voice on EU issues. until the second condition is met, the EU has postponed making the decision on pre-accession assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina until further notice. According to the assessment of the European Commission, the main cause of this stagnation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the lack of political will, and its specific constitution that does not present the obstacle to succession in the process of European integration.

European origin of Bradyrhizobium populations infecting lupins and serradella in soils of Western Australia and South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Stepkowski, Tomasz; Moulin, Lionel; Krzyzańska, Agnieszka; McInnes, Alison; Law, Ian J; Howieson, John

2005-11-01

We applied a multilocus phylogenetic approach to elucidate the origin of serradella and lupin Bradyrhizobium strains that persist in soils of Western Australia and South Africa. The selected strains belonged to different randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-PCR clusters that were distinct from RAPD clusters of applied inoculant strains. Phylogenetic analyses were performed with nodulation genes (nodA, nodZ, nolL, noeI), housekeeping genes (dnaK, recA, glnII, atpD), and 16S-23S rRNA intergenic transcribed spacer sequences. Housekeeping gene phylogenies revealed that all serradella and Lupinus cosentinii isolates from Western Australia and three of five South African narrow-leaf lupin strains were intermingled with the strains of Bradyrhizobium canariense, forming a well supported branch on each of the trees. All nodA gene sequences of the lupin and serradella bradyrhizobia formed a single branch, referred to as clade II, together with the sequences of other lupin and serradella strains. Similar patterns were detected in nodZ and nolL trees. In contrast, nodA sequences of the strains isolated from native Australian legumes formed either a new branch called clade IV or belonged to clade I or III, whereas their nonsymbiotic genes grouped outside the B. canariense branch. These data suggest that the lupin and serradella strains, including the strains from uncultivated L. cosentinii plants, are descendants of strains that most likely were brought from Europe accidentally with lupin and serradella seeds. The observed dominance of B. canariense strains may be related to this species' adaptation to acid soils common in Western Australia and South Africa and, presumably, to their intrinsic ability to compete for nodulation of lupins and serradella.

Natural disease course of Crohn's disease during the first 5 years after diagnosis in a European population-based inception cohort: an Epi-IBD study.

Science.gov (United States)

Burisch, Johan; Kiudelis, Gediminas; Kupcinskas, Limas; Kievit, Hendrika Adriana Linda; Andersen, Karina Winther; Andersen, Vibeke; Salupere, Riina; Pedersen, Natalia; Kjeldsen, Jens; D'Incà, Renata; Valpiani, Daniela; Schwartz, Doron; Odes, Selwyn; Olsen, Jóngerð; Nielsen, Kári Rubek; Vegh, Zsuzsanna; Lakatos, Peter Laszlo; Toca, Alina; Turcan, Svetlana; Katsanos, Konstantinos H; Christodoulou, Dimitrios K; Fumery, Mathurin; Gower-Rousseau, Corinne; Zammit, Stefania Chetcuti; Ellul, Pierre; Eriksson, Carl; Halfvarson, Jonas; Magro, Fernando Jose; Duricova, Dana; Bortlik, Martin; Fernandez, Alberto; Hernández, Vicent; Myers, Sally; Sebastian, Shaji; Oksanen, Pia; Collin, Pekka; Goldis, Adrian; Misra, Ravi; Arebi, Naila; Kaimakliotis, Ioannis P; Nikuina, Inna; Belousova, Elena; Brinar, Marko; Cukovic-Cavka, Silvija; Langholz, Ebbe; Munkholm, Pia

2018-01-23

The Epi-IBD cohort is a prospective population-based inception cohort of unselected patients with inflammatory bowel disease from 29 European centres covering a background population of almost 10 million people. The aim of this study was to assess the 5-year outcome and disease course of patients with Crohn's disease (CD). Patients were followed up prospectively from the time of diagnosis, including collection of their clinical data, demographics, disease activity, medical therapy, surgery, cancers and deaths. Associations between outcomes and multiple covariates were analysed by Cox regression analysis. In total, 488 patients were included in the study. During follow-up, 107 (22%) patients received surgery, while 176 (36%) patients were hospitalised because of CD. A total of 49 (14%) patients diagnosed with non-stricturing, non-penetrating disease progressed to either stricturing and/or penetrating disease. These rates did not differ between patients from Western and Eastern Europe. However, significant geographic differences were noted regarding treatment: more patients in Western Europe received biological therapy (33%) and immunomodulators (66%) than did those in Eastern Europe (14% and 54%, respectively, P<0.01), while more Eastern European patients received 5-aminosalicylates (90% vs 56%, P<0.05). Treatment with immunomodulators reduced the risk of surgery (HR: 0.4, 95% CI 0.2 to 0.6) and hospitalisation (HR: 0.3, 95% CI 0.2 to 0.5). Despite patients being treated early and frequently with immunomodulators and biological therapy in Western Europe, 5-year outcomes including surgery and phenotype progression in this cohort were comparable across Western and Eastern Europe. Differences in treatment strategies between Western and Eastern European centres did not affect the disease course. Treatment with immunomodulators reduced the risk of surgery and hospitalisation. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the

Tycho Brahe in China: the Jesuit mission to Peking and the iconography of European instrument-making processes

Science.gov (United States)

Chapman, Allan

In the late 1660s, Ferdinand Verbiest, a Flemish Jesuit missionary in Peking, was instructed to re-equip the Imperial Observatory. The new instruments which he caused to be built were modelled neither upon contemporary European prototypes, nor those of traditional Chinese astronomy, but on the pieces in Tycho Brahe's Mechanica, of eighty years before. The Chinese instruments were lavishly illustrated, moreover, in 105 woodcuts that contained detailed representations of their processes of construction. It is argued that these illustrations not only give us valuable insights into what the technical Jesuits did in Peking, but show how sixteenth- and seventeenth-century European craftsmen constructed their instruments, for while the location was Oriental, the technology was Western. They can also give important insights into how Tycho's prototypes had been built, and provide us with useful information regarding European instrument-making technology.

WESTERN ALGERIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohamed Meddi

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Soil erosion by rain and surface runoff is an important problem in the Mediterranean countries. The study of the relationship between erosion and sediment transport with hydrological and climatic factors have b een conducted in many countries around the world. The aim of this work is to show ra infall impact on the variability of spatial and temporal concentration in twelve drainage basins in the west of Algeria. We will also seek to find a representative parameter of rainfall erosive potential on a Time and spatial scale. When studying sediment transport in twelve drainage basins of the Centre and the west of Algeria, we have found that the modified Fournier index Which explains much of the specific degradation comp ared to the Fournier index. The study of the temporal variability of the annual rain fall series, modified Fournier index and concentration of the precipitation in the year for a series from 1930 to 2007 showed a negative trend of the two variables. The a nnual rainfall and modified Fournier index have declined by more than 20%. This de cline is more significant in inland areas.

Dioxins and PCBs in feed and food — Review from European perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malisch, Rainer; Kotz, Alexander

2014-01-01

Western European countries, was in the PTMI range in North America, but lower in Japan and New Zealand. The 90th percentile of PCDD/F-TEQ exceeded the PTMI in Western European countries and North America, the 90th percentile of coplanar PCBs in Western European countries. Therefore, in 2001 the EU Commission developed a strategy to reduce the presence of dioxins and PCBs in the environment and in the food chain. The legislative measures comprised maximum levels and action levels for feed and food, and a Rapid Alert System for detected incidents was introduced. The network of the EU Reference Laboratory and National Reference Laboratories contributes to harmonization within the EU Member States and developed analytical criteria for screening and confirmatory methods for control of feed and food. After all these efforts it is of general interest to see whether these measures had an effect. The 2012 evaluation of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) based on comprehensive monitoring data of 26 European countries shows a general decrease in dietary exposure of dioxins and DL-PCBs between 2002–2004 and 2008–2010, estimated to be between 16.6% and 79.3% for the different population groups. A smaller decrease was observed for NDL-PCBs. The percentage of individuals exposed above the TWI of 14 pg TEQ/kg b.w. was estimated to be between 1.0 and 52.9%. Toddlers and other children were the most exposed groups (being at the upper end of these ranges). Fish, meat and dairy products appeared to be the highest contributing food groups to dietary exposure

Dioxins and PCBs in feed and food — Review from European perspective

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Malisch, Rainer, E-mail: rainer.malisch@cvuafr.bwl.de; Kotz, Alexander

2014-09-01

Western European countries, was in the PTMI range in North America, but lower in Japan and New Zealand. The 90th percentile of PCDD/F-TEQ exceeded the PTMI in Western European countries and North America, the 90th percentile of coplanar PCBs in Western European countries. Therefore, in 2001 the EU Commission developed a strategy to reduce the presence of dioxins and PCBs in the environment and in the food chain. The legislative measures comprised maximum levels and action levels for feed and food, and a Rapid Alert System for detected incidents was introduced. The network of the EU Reference Laboratory and National Reference Laboratories contributes to harmonization within the EU Member States and developed analytical criteria for screening and confirmatory methods for control of feed and food. After all these efforts it is of general interest to see whether these measures had an effect. The 2012 evaluation of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) based on comprehensive monitoring data of 26 European countries shows a general decrease in dietary exposure of dioxins and DL-PCBs between 2002–2004 and 2008–2010, estimated to be between 16.6% and 79.3% for the different population groups. A smaller decrease was observed for NDL-PCBs. The percentage of individuals exposed above the TWI of 14 pg TEQ/kg b.w. was estimated to be between 1.0 and 52.9%. Toddlers and other children were the most exposed groups (being at the upper end of these ranges). Fish, meat and dairy products appeared to be the highest contributing food groups to dietary exposure.

Comparative analysis and supragenome modeling of twelve Moraxella catarrhalis clinical isolates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hermans Peter WM

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background M. catarrhalis is a gram-negative, gamma-proteobacterium and an opportunistic human pathogen associated with otitis media (OM and exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD. With direct and indirect costs for treating these conditions annually exceeding $33 billion in the United States alone, and nearly ubiquitous resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics among M. catarrhalis clinical isolates, a greater understanding of this pathogen's genome and its variability among isolates is needed. Results The genomic sequences of ten geographically and phenotypically diverse clinical isolates of M. catarrhalis were determined and analyzed together with two publicly available genomes. These twelve genomes were subjected to detailed comparative and predictive analyses aimed at characterizing the supragenome and understanding the metabolic and pathogenic potential of this species. A total of 2383 gene clusters were identified, of which 1755 are core with the remaining 628 clusters unevenly distributed among the twelve isolates. These findings are consistent with the distributed genome hypothesis (DGH, which posits that the species genome possesses a far greater number of genes than any single isolate. Multiple and pair-wise whole genome alignments highlight limited chromosomal re-arrangement. Conclusions M. catarrhalis gene content and chromosomal organization data, although supportive of the DGH, show modest overall genic diversity. These findings are in stark contrast with the reported heterogeneity of the species as a whole, as wells as to other bacterial pathogens mediating OM and COPD, providing important insight into M. catarrhalis pathogenesis that will aid in the development of novel therapeutic regimens.

Energy, a networked Europe. Twelve proposals for a common energy infrastructure policy. Report addressed to Francois Hollande, President of the French Republic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Derdevet, Michel

2015-01-01

the networks is a necessity if the Europeans want the energy transition to be a success. Article 194 of the Treaty of Lisbon has already laid down the way to greater intervention by the Union in this regard. But the Europeans must go further and explore, as quickly as possible, areas of joint cooperation, innovation and investment. The challenge is great since hundreds of billions of euros of investment will have to be made between now and 2030, and no argument is needed to convince oneself that, in a convalescent Europe, every euro will have to be invested with the greatest concern for effectiveness for our communities. Finally, this 'networked European energy', that we all wish for, will not only be a physical, technical and economic challenge. It must also embody these 'shared idiosyncrasies' that today characterise the European energy space: the verticality of the national hierarchies will be followed by the horizontality of communication between the territories; the authority of the powers in place, by the legitimacy of the citizen, initiative and success; industrial uniformity, by the diversity of models of organisation; a situation of separate States, by exchanges within the European area. The twelve proposals presented at the end of this report thus aim to promote the emergence of a coherent and pragmatic European approach in the field of networks, to solve today's problems and to meet tomorrow's challenges. From this standpoint, these proposals are structured around three main focus areas: - Revising security of supply and cooperation between the network companies, but also the local authorities involved in the energy transition, - Strengthening coordination of the regulations and the funding levers to optimise the infrastructure costs, while investing in the territories crossed by this strategic infrastructure, - Promoting Europe as an energy innovation leader, giving a new impetus and a new dimension to its R and D, in

Neogene-Quaternary slow coastal uplift of Western Europe through the perspective of sequences of strandlines from the Cotentin Peninsula (Normandy, France)

Science.gov (United States)

Pedoja, K.; Jara-Muñoz, J.; De Gelder, G.; Robertson, J.; Meschis, M.; Fernandez-Blanco, D.; Nexer, M.; Poprawski, Y.; Dugué, O.; Delcaillau, B.; Bessin, P.; Benabdelouahed, M.; Authemayou, C.; Husson, L.; Regard, V.; Menier, D.; Pinel, B.

2018-02-01

The Cotentin Peninsula (Normandy, France) displays sequences of marine terraces and rasas, the latter being wide Late Cenozoic coastal erosion surfaces, that are typical of Western European coasts in Portugal, Spain, France and southern England. Remote sensing imagery and field mapping enabled reappraisal of the Cotentin coastal sequences. From bottom to top, the N Cotentin sequence includes four previously recognized Pleistocene marine terraces (T1 to T4) at elevations 5e), sequential morphostratigraphy and modelling, we have reappraised uplift rates and derived: (i) mean Upper Pleistocene (i.e. since MIS 5e 122 +/- 6 ka, i.e. kilo annum) apparent uplift rates of 0.04 ± 0.01 mm/yr, (ii) mean Middle Pleistocene eustasy-corrected uplift rates of 0.09 ± 0.03 mm/yr, and (iii) low mean Pleistocene uplift rates of 0.01 mm/yr. Extrapolations of these slow rates combined with geological evidence implies that the formation of the sequences from the Cotentin Peninsula occurred between 3 Ma (Pliocene) and 15 Ma (Miocene), which cannot be narrowed down further without additional research. Along the coasts of Western Europe, sequences of marine terraces and rasas are widespread (169 preserve the MIS 5e benchmark). In Spain, Portugal, S England and other parts of western France, the sequences morphostratigraphy is very similar to that of Cotentin. The onset of such Western European sequences occurred during the Miocene (e.g. Spain) or Pliocene (e.g. Portugal). We interpret this Neogene-Quaternary coastal uplift as a symptom of the increasing lithospheric compression that accompanies Cenozoic orogenies.

Personal Values as Mitigating Factors in the Link between Income and Life Satisfaction: Evidence from the European Social Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Georgellis, Yannis; Tsitsianis, Nicholas; Yin, Ya Ping

2009-01-01

Using data from the first two rounds of the European Social Survey, we examine the link between income, reference income and life satisfaction across Western Europe. We find that whilst there is a strong positive relationship between income and life satisfaction, reference or comparison income exerts a strong negative influence. Interestingly, our…

Labor force participation, unemployment and occupational attainment among immigrants in West European countries.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anastasia Gorodzeisky

Full Text Available The present paper examines modes of immigrants' labor market incorporation into European societies with specific emphasis on the role played by immigrant status (i.e. first-generation immigrants, immigrant descendants and native born without migrant background, region of origin, and gender. The data were obtained from the European Union Labour Forces Survey 2008 Ad-Hoc Module for France, Belgium, UK and Sweden. In order to supplement the results from the country-specific analysis, we replicated the analysis using pooled data from the five rounds of the European Social Survey conducted between 2002 and 2010, for nine 'old immigration' Western European countries together. The analysis centered on two aspects of incorporation: labor force status and occupation. Multinominal, binary logistic as well as linear probability regression models were estimated. The findings suggest that in all countries non-European origin is associated with greater disadvantage in finding employment not only among first-generation immigrants, but also among sons and daughters of immigrants (i.e. second-generation. Moreover, the relative employment disadvantage among immigrant men of non-European origin is especially pronounced in the second-generation. The likelihood of attaining a high-status job is influenced mostly by immigrant status, regardless of region of origin and gender. The results of the study reveal that patterns of labor force incorporation vary considerably across origin groups and across generations. The patterns do not vary as much across countries, despite cross-country differences in welfare state regimes, migration integration policy and composition of migration flows.

Examples of the Motif of the Shrew in European Literature and Film

OpenAIRE

Vasvári, Louise O.

2001-01-01

In her article "Examples of the Motif of the Shrew in European Literature and Film" Louise O. Vasvári presents the shrew-taming story as a masterplot of both Eastern and Western folklore and literature concerned with establishing the appropriate power dynamic between a married couple. Vasvári firts reviews the comparative groundwork of the story she has documented in her earlier studies of the topic. In addition to tracing the bundle of motifs that make up the shrew story from medieval Arabic...

How have the Eastern European countries of the former Warsaw Pact developed since 1990? A bibliometric study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kozak, Marcin; Bornmann, Lutz; Leydesdorff, Loet

Did the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991 influence the scientific performance of the researchers in Eastern European countries? Did this historical event affect international collaboration by researchers from the Eastern European countries with those of Western countries? Did it also change international collaboration among researchers from the Eastern European countries? Trying to answer these questions, this study aims to shed light on international collaboration by researchers from the Eastern European countries (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia). The number of publications and normalized citation impact values are compared for these countries based on InCites (Thomson Reuters), from 1981 up to 2011. The international collaboration by researchers affiliated to institutions in Eastern European countries at the time points of 1990, 2000 and 2011 was studied with the help of Pajek and VOSviewer software, based on data from the Science Citation Index (Thomson Reuters). Our results show that the breakdown of the communist regime did not lead, on average, to a huge improvement in the publication performance of the Eastern European countries and that the increase in international co-authorship relations by the researchers affiliated to institutions in these countries was smaller than expected. Most of the Eastern European countries are still subject to changes and are still awaiting their boost in scientific development.

The practice of scholarly communication correspondence networks between Central and Western Europe, 1550-1700

CERN Document Server

Urbanek, Vladimir

2018-01-01

Digital humanities have become an integral part of the academic landscape, providing scholars with unique opportunities to explore the past in imaginative and innovative ways. Demonstrating the exciting possibilities of such approaches, this volume draws upon the increasing availability of on-line primary sources to highlight on-going research reconstructing the scholarly and scientific networks of communication that flourished across early-modern Europe. Following an introductory essay providing an overview of recent developments in European intellectual studies, twelve scholars - from Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom - provide a selection of wide-ranging chapters united by a focus on comparisons between key correspondence networks. Fully exploiting the possibilities provided by online databases - the searchability of big data and new methods of visualisation - each essay reflects upon the relationships between scholarly institutions such as libraries, universitie...

If you can't beat them, join them? Explaining social democratic responses to the challenge from the populist radical right in Western Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bale, Tim; Green-Pedersen, Christoffer; Krouwel, A.P.M.; Luther, Kurt Richard; Sitter, Nick

2010-01-01

Over the last three decades many Western European social democratic parties have been challenged by populist radical right parties. The growth and success of parties on the right flank of the party system represents a triple challenge to the social democrats: they increase the salience of issues

Advocating vaccination of adults aged 60 years and older in Western Europe: statement by the Joint Vaccine Working Group of the European Union Geriatric Medicine Society and the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics-European Region.

Science.gov (United States)

Michel, Jean-Pierre; Chidiac, Christian; Grubeck-Loebenstein, Beatrix; Johnson, Robert W; Lambert, Paul Henri; Maggi, Stefania; Moulias, Robert; Nicholson, Karl; Werner, Hans

2009-04-01

Vaccines are an underused public health strategy for healthy aging. Considering the risks of vaccine-preventable diseases and the current low vaccine coverage rates in older European citizens, the two European geriatric and gerontological societies (European Union Geriatric Medicine Society [EUGMS] and International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics-European Region [IAGG-ER]) convened a Joint Vaccine Working Group to develop a consensus document advocating routine vaccination of aging populations. The mandate of this Working Group was to improve the uptake of routine vaccinations in adults aged 60 years and over. The consensus statement underlines the need to establish, strengthen, and harmonize European policies that continue routine vaccinations to adulthood and that will include older populations. Improved vaccination rates will promote healthy aging by reducing the burden of vaccine-preventable infectious diseases in older populations, a population that is rapidly increasing in Europe.

Complex local Moho topography in the Western Carpathians: Indication of the ALCAPA and the European Plate contact

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hrubcová, Pavla; Środa, P.

2015-01-01

Roč. 638, 7 January (2015), s. 63-81 ISSN 0040-1951 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA13-08971S Institutional support: RVO:67985530 Keywords : Western Carpathians * seismic modelling * crustal structure * anomalous Moho * Bohemian Massif * Pannonian Basin Subject RIV: DC - Siesmology, Volcanology, Earth Structure Impact factor: 2.650, year: 2015

Setting Up a Limited Liability Company with Sole Shareholder in the European Union Countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simona Petrina GAVRILA

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Given the importance of legal rules as closely as possible to the legal systems of the European Union Member States in respect of the companies, several directives have been adopted, of which twelve present the essence of the operational mechanisms harmonization . The consecration of single-member company in positive law is determined by multiple motivations, and the relevance of its objectives is complex, for the reason of the diverse role it plays in the economic and social life, from which the existence of different single-member business derives:limited liability company, joint stock company, simplified joint stock company, dedicated assets, subjected to a personal legal system, difficult to compare, each of them to be therefore studied in the legal, economic, social and tax context of each country.

Activity Of The Moderate And Radical Islamic Organizations In The European States

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Nina V. Volodina

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In the present article author examines various aspects of Islamic organizations functioning in modern European countries. In the world the dangerous situation due to the spread of radical Islamic views, this is directly related to safety arose. Author researches some aspects of Islamic organizations in Europe functioning and their division into "moderate" and "radical". Author notes that the concept of "moderate Islam" is actively used in the western countries. In the article it is emphasized that supporters of such division believe that it is the "moderate Islamists" may help deal with the terrorist threat. Author gives definition of "religious extremism" and analyzes activities of Islamic organizations in Germany and France, as well as other European countries at the present stage of their development. In the process of study author pays enough attention to the notion of "spreading radicalism within the law", analyze existing legal acts. In the article problems of financing extremist organizations is pointed out and the need to create a set of joint measures to counter extremism and terrorism by Russian Federation and European countries, further improvement of law-enforcement is identified.

Energy in the western Balkans - the path to reform and reconstruction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2008-06-15

The Western Balkans - composed of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo - is a complex region facing significant energy challenges. The conflicts over the break-up of the former Yugoslavia damaged much of the energy infrastructure and compounded the challenge of providing reliable energy supply. Electricity systems in many parts of the region remain fragile and in need of investment. A priority across the region is to put into place the institutions, infrastructure and policies that can support the provision of reliable, affordable and sustainable energy. For the Western Balkans as a whole, a key element of the reform effort is the Energy Community Treaty - a regulatory and market framework to which the entire region has now subscribed. This Treaty aims to create an integrated regional market for electricity and gas compatible with the European Union's internal energy market. This Energy Policy Survey is the first comprehensive review of energy policies and strategies in the Western Balkan region, and also covers important cross-cutting topics such as co-operation and energy trade, oil and gas transportation, and the links between energy and poverty. It identifies and assesses the reforms that are still needed to deliver efficient, modernised energy systems that can assist economic development, address energy poverty and reduce the environmental impacts of energy use.

Energy in the western Balkans - the path to reform and reconstruction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2008-06-15

The Western Balkans - composed of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo - is a complex region facing significant energy challenges. The conflicts over the break-up of the former Yugoslavia damaged much of the energy infrastructure and compounded the challenge of providing reliable energy supply. Electricity systems in many parts of the region remain fragile and in need of investment. A priority across the region is to put into place the institutions, infrastructure and policies that can support the provision of reliable, affordable and sustainable energy. For the Western Balkans as a whole, a key element of the reform effort is the Energy Community Treaty - a regulatory and market framework to which the entire region has now subscribed. This Treaty aims to create an integrated regional market for electricity and gas compatible with the European Union's internal energy market. This Energy Policy Survey is the first comprehensive review of energy policies and strategies in the Western Balkan region, and also covers important cross-cutting topics such as co-operation and energy trade, oil and gas transportation, and the links between energy and poverty. It identifies and assesses the reforms that are still needed to deliver efficient, modernised energy systems that can assist economic development, address energy poverty and reduce the environmental impacts of energy use.

New large-scale lithospheric model of the Western Carpathian-Pannonian Basin region based on the 3-D gravity modelling.

Science.gov (United States)

Alasonati Tasarova, Zuzana; Bielik, Miroslav; Götze, Hans-Jürgen; Afonso, Jaun Carlos; Fullea, Javier

2010-05-01

A 3-D forward modelling of the Bouguer gravity field was performed for the Western Carpathian-Pannonian Basin region. The gravity model extends to depth of 220 km and includes also the surrounding units (the Eastern Alps, Bohemian Massif, Trans-European Suture Zone and East European Craton). It is constrained by seismic models, mainly from the CELEBRATION 2000 seismic experiment, and other geophysical data. Additionally, the density distribution and thermal structure in the shallow upper mantle were estimated using a combination of petrological, geophysical, and mineral physics information (LitMod). This approach is necessary in order to better constrain the more complicated structure of the Pannonian Basin. As a result, we present the first 3-D gravity model of the region that combines various geophysical datasets and is consistent with petrological data. Realistic density values within the uppermost mantle provide a better control on the regional gravity signal. In turn, this generates a model with refined and enhanced crustal structure. This means that deeper parts of the model are better accounted for, which helps to better constrain the nature of shallower crustal layers. Although not commonly applied in potential field modelling, we find that this approach is advantageous when modelling large areas with insufficient near-surface constraints. Also, a density distribution within the crust and uppermost mantle that is consistent with petrological data allows better estimates of the depth to the Moho (where it is not constrained by seismic data) and to the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary. Hence, our model provides improved estimates of both the density distribution within the crust and uppermost mantle and the depth to major density discontinuities (sediments, Moho, lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary). The results of the modelling reveal a markedly different nature of the Western Carpathian-Pannonian region (ALACAPA and Tisza-Dacia microplates) from the

Rectal Tumour Staging with Endorectal Ultrasound: Is There Any Difference between Western and Eastern European Countries?

Science.gov (United States)

Fábián, Anna; Bor, Renáta; Farkas, Klaudia; Bálint, Anita; Milassin, Ágnes; Rutka, Mariann; Tiszlavicz, László; Wittmann, Tibor; Nagy, Ferenc; Molnár, Tamás; Szepes, Zoltán

2016-01-01

Background. Rectal tumour management depends highly on locoregional extension. Rectal endoscopic ultrasound (ERUS) is a good alternative to computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. However, in Hungary only a small amount of rectal tumours is examined with ERUS. Methods. Our retrospective study (2006-2012) evaluates the diagnostic accuracy of ERUS and compares the results, the first data from Central Europe, with those from Western Europe. The effect of neoadjuvant therapy, rectal probe type, and investigator's experience were also assessed. Results. 311 of the 647 ERUS assessed locoregional extension. Histological comparison was available in 177 cases: 67 patients underwent surgery alone; 110 received neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT); ERUS preceded CRT in 77 and followed it in 33 patients. T-staging was accurate in 72% of primarily operated patients. N-staging was less accurate (62%). CRT impaired staging accuracy (64% and 59% for T- and N-staging). Rigid probes were more accurate (79%). At least 30 examinations are needed to master the technique. Conclusions. The sensitivity of ERUS complies with the literature. ERUS is easy to learn and more accurate in early stages but unnecessary for restaging after CRT. Staging accuracy is similar in Western and Central Europe, although the number of examinations should be increased.

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.

Peculiarities of foreign policy of Ukraine: European Integration or Accession with Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia

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Bostan Sergii Ivanovich

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Geopolitical location of Ukraine on the map of Europe gave the country a number of benefits, as well as serious problems with which it is trying to understand and use as their advantage. The country, its government has a hard choice: to define their own place in Europe and the world. In general, European integration or accession to the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, choice of Eurasian movement or the Western European traditions. The way out of the difficult domestic political situation in the country, raise of economy depend on the foreign policy of the country and the choice of integration model for its further development.

Residents' Dissatisfaction and All-Cause Mortality. Evidence from 74 European Cities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana I. Ribeiro

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Background: About 2/3 of the Europeans reside in cities. Thus, we must expand our knowledge on how city characteristics affect health and well-being. Perceptions about cities' resources and functioning might be related with health, as they capture subjective experiences of the residents. We characterized the health status of 74 European cities, using all-cause mortality as indicator, and investigated the association of mortality with residents' dissatisfaction with key domains of urban living.Methods: We considered 74 European cities from 29 countries. Aggregated data on residents' dissatisfaction was obtained from the Flash Eurobarometer, Quality of life in European cities (2004–2015. For each city a global dissatisfaction score and a dissatisfaction score by domain (environment, social, economic, healthcare, and infrastructures/services were calculated. Data on mortality and population was obtained from the Eurostat. Standardized Mortality Ratios, SMR, and 95% Confidence Intervals (95% CI were calculated. The association between dissatisfaction scores and SMR was estimated using Generalized Linear Models.Results: SMR varied markedly (range: 73.2–146.5, being highest in Eastern Europe and lowest in the South and Western European cities. Residents' dissatisfaction levels also varied greatly. We found a significant association between city SMR and residents' dissatisfaction with healthcare (β = 0.334; IC 95% 0.030–0.639 and social environment (β = 0.239; IC 95% 0.015–0.464. No significant association was found with the dissatisfaction scores related with the physical and economic environment and the infrastructures/services.Conclusions: We found a significant association between city levels of mortality and residents' dissatisfaction with certain urban features, suggesting subjective assessments can be also used to comprehend urban health.

Contact allergy to finished woods in furniture and furnishings: a small allergic contact dermatitis epidemic to western red cedar in sauna interior decoration.

Science.gov (United States)

Huilaja, L; Kubin, M E; Riekki, R

2016-01-01

Allergic contact dermatitis caused by wood dust remains uncommon and most cases are occupational. Contact allergy to finished wooden products is even more rare and only few cases of contact dermatitis to wooden furnishings and furniture are described. During 2012-2014 surprisingly many patients with dermatitis associated to sauna baths were referred to our clinic. We report three novel cases with allergic contact dermatitis to western red cedar due to exposure during sauna baths. Three cases of non-occupational contact dermatitis to western red cedar were confirmed by patch testing. Allergic contact dermatitis to interior decoration or furniture is a rarity, but can be induced by novel exposures, like western red cedar in sauna interior decoration. © 2015 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

The Making of the Executive Head: The Process of Defining Institutional Leaders in Certain Western European Countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Neave, Guy

1988-01-01

An examination of the formal procedures by which European university's chief executive is selected and the role he or she fulfills finds many differences among countries. One notable innovation is the election of administrators within the institution. It is suggested that the drive toward professional management may endanger academic collegiality.…

The Clash of Discourses Regarding Relations with Russia: New Fault Lines in the European Union?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valentin Naumescu

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Following the annexation of Crimea and the secession war in Eastern Ukraine, the topic of European security has returned as a major benchmark for a number of EU and non-EU countries. For a couple of years, in 2014-2015, the discourse of condemnation and international sanctions against the Russian regime dominated the agenda of the European-Russian relations. Nevertheless, the economic considerations and the ascension of right-wing or left-wing populism(s in the European Union acted as a drag on European unity and solidarity. Thereby a series of political leaders in the EU and its Eastern Neighbourhood began to ask for economic rapprochement with Russia, while others remained very cautious. Based on a comparative qualitative method, this paper explores the clashing discourses about relations with Russia, in light of the discourse theory. The dynamics of divergent positioning regarding Russia after 2016 led to the question of possible new fault lines in the European Union. Inconsistencies on this topic can be seen between West and East, between post-communist countries on the Eastern Flank with Poland, Romania and the Baltic States, on one side, and Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic on the other side, and between Western chancelleries with rather different views such as Berlin, London or Rome. The aim of this article is to explore the increasing differences and clarify whether conflicting approaches regarding relations with Russia could create real cleavages between EU Member States and threaten European unity.

Portrayal of Life Form in Selected Biographies for Children Eight to Twelve Years of Age.

Science.gov (United States)

Koch, Shirley Lois

This study describes and analyzes, in a critical literary manner, selected biographies for children eight to twelve years of age. Biographies of Jane Addams, Cesar Chavez, Mohandas Gandhi, Toyohiko Kagawa, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Albert Schweitzer are viewed from the perspective of a literary criterion based on the principles of design to…

The Concept of Freedom in Post-Communism: a Proposal for Reconsidering Eastern European Thinking in Constructing Social Research in Romania

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FLORIN GRANCEA

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This article analyzes the concept of freedom and its ontology in post-communist Romania and questions the opportunity of using, without filtering through Eastern European philosophy, the major Western philosophical ideas on freedom. While there is a need to use verified and up to date theories when discussing post-communism, there is also a danger of using terms which locally have other meanings than those with which they are employed in the Western academic world. Thus, this article argues, research done without filtering Western-based theories and without debating them by using the local school of thought, can fail to reach its purpose. The methodology used for this article is mainly critical. Literature on both Western and Eastern schools of thought was reviewed and compared with data obtained from newspaper analyses. In order to validate empirical observations on the notion of freedom (including philosophical freedom, political freedom etc. qualitative interviews were conducted with people whom the "train of life" (Şora brought my way.

Dietary heterogeneity among Western industrialized countries reflected in the stable isotope ratios of human hair.

Science.gov (United States)

Valenzuela, Luciano O; Chesson, Lesley A; Bowen, Gabriel J; Cerling, Thure E; Ehleringer, James R

2012-01-01

Although the globalization of food production is often assumed to result in a homogenization of consumption patterns with a convergence towards a Western style diet, the resources used to make global food products may still be locally produced (glocalization). Stable isotope ratios of human hair can quantify the extent to which residents of industrialized nations have converged on a standardized diet or whether there is persistent heterogeneity and glocalization among countries as a result of different dietary patterns and the use of local food products. Here we report isotopic differences among carbon, nitrogen and sulfur isotope ratios of human hair collected in thirteen Western European countries and in the USA. European hair samples had significantly lower δ(13)C values (-22.7 to -18.3‰), and significantly higher δ(15)N (7.8 to 10.3‰) and δ(34)S (4.8 to 8.3‰) values than samples from the USA (δ(13)C: -21.9 to -15.0‰, δ(15)N: 6.7 to 9.9‰, δ(34)S: -1.2 to 9.9‰). Within Europe, we detected differences in hair δ(13)C and δ(34)S values among countries and covariation of isotope ratios with latitude and longitude. This geographic structuring of isotopic data suggests heterogeneity in the food resources used by citizens of industrialized nations and supports the presence of different dietary patterns within Western Europe despite globalization trends. Here we showed the potential of stable isotope analysis as a population-wide tool for dietary screening, particularly as a complement of dietary surveys, that can provide additional information on assimilated macronutrients and independent verification of data obtained by those self-reporting instruments.

Dietary heterogeneity among Western industrialized countries reflected in the stable isotope ratios of human hair.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luciano O Valenzuela

Full Text Available Although the globalization of food production is often assumed to result in a homogenization of consumption patterns with a convergence towards a Western style diet, the resources used to make global food products may still be locally produced (glocalization. Stable isotope ratios of human hair can quantify the extent to which residents of industrialized nations have converged on a standardized diet or whether there is persistent heterogeneity and glocalization among countries as a result of different dietary patterns and the use of local food products. Here we report isotopic differences among carbon, nitrogen and sulfur isotope ratios of human hair collected in thirteen Western European countries and in the USA. European hair samples had significantly lower δ(13C values (-22.7 to -18.3‰, and significantly higher δ(15N (7.8 to 10.3‰ and δ(34S (4.8 to 8.3‰ values than samples from the USA (δ(13C: -21.9 to -15.0‰, δ(15N: 6.7 to 9.9‰, δ(34S: -1.2 to 9.9‰. Within Europe, we detected differences in hair δ(13C and δ(34S values among countries and covariation of isotope ratios with latitude and longitude. This geographic structuring of isotopic data suggests heterogeneity in the food resources used by citizens of industrialized nations and supports the presence of different dietary patterns within Western Europe despite globalization trends. Here we showed the potential of stable isotope analysis as a population-wide tool for dietary screening, particularly as a complement of dietary surveys, that can provide additional information on assimilated macronutrients and independent verification of data obtained by those self-reporting instruments.

Genetic monitoring of western corn rootworm (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) populations on a microgeographic scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Ivkosic, S A; Gorman, J; Lemic, D; Mikac, K M

2014-06-01

Microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA genetic monitoring of the western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, was undertaken in Croatia and Serbia from 1996 to 2011 and in the United States in 2011. The seven U.S. populations displayed the greatest allelic diversity. In Europe, the highest number of alleles was found in Rugvica, Croatia, and Surčin, Serbia, the two sites closest to international airports. The highest number of mitochondrial (mt) DNA haplotypes was recorded from Croatia in 1996. From 2009 to 2011, haplotype diversity declined, and Croatia and Serbia had a single fixed haplotype. U.S. continuous maize locations had one haplotype, while three haplotypes were found at crop-rotated locations. Minimal temporal genetic differentiation was found within and between populations in Europe and the United States. Bayesian cluster analysis identified two genetic clusters that grouped western corn rootworm from Croatia and Serbia separately from U.S. populations; however, these clusters were not neat, and numerous U.S. individuals had both European and U.S. ancestry, suggesting bidirectional gene flow. Bottlenecks were identified within most Croatian populations sampled in 1996, only two populations in 2009, and in all populations in 2011. Bottlenecks were not identified from Serbia from 1996 to 2011 or from the United States in 2011. As suspected Serbia was identified as the geographic source of western corn rootworm in Croatia. The temporal genetic monitoring undertaken allowed a deeper understanding of the population genetics of western corn rootworm in Croatia, neighboring Serbia, and its geographic source in the United States. The data obtained can be used to inform western corn rootworm pest management strategies in Croatia and Europe.

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...

The Legacy of the Golden Horde in the European Cartography of 15th–18th Centuries (1

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I.K. Fomenko

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The article presents the development of the European cartography of Eurasia as a reflection of the gradual accumulation of geographic and ethnographic information about people and states, which history was directly connected with the formation and subsequent dissolution of Genghis Khan’s empire. The author traces the gradual increase in the information on eastern regions among western cartographers, which however consistently compared the strengthened Russian State with the “Tartar kingdoms”. The author emphasizes as well the importance of the information provided by the European maps for the study of the state structure of the Golden Horde, of the formation of the new Eurasian nations and of Russia’s relations with the Tatar states.

The Legacy of the Golden Horde in the European Cartography of 15th–18th Centuries (2

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I.K. Fomenko

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The article presents the development of the European cartography of Eurasia as a reflection of the gradual accumulation of geographic and ethnographic information about the people and the state, which historical destiny was directly connected with the formation and subsequent dissolution of Genghis Khan’s empire. The author traces the gradual increase of information on eastern regions among western cartographers, which however consistently compared the strengthened Russian State with the “Tartar kingdoms”. The author emphasizes as well the importance of the information provided by the European maps for the study of the state structure of the Golden Horde, of the formation of the new Eurasian nations and of Russia’s relations with the Tatar states.

Unraveling the genetic history of the European wild goats

Science.gov (United States)

Ureña, I.; Ersmark, E.; Samaniego, J. A.; Galindo-Pellicena, M. A.; Crégut-Bonnoure, E.; Bolívar, H.; Gómez-Olivencia, A.; Rios-Garaizar, J.; Garate, D.; Dalén, L.; Arsuaga, J. L.; Valdiosera, C. E.

2018-04-01

The population history of the Iberian wild goat and the Alpine ibex has been closely related to that of humans since the Palaeolithic. Current molecular and paleontological studies differ substantially on the phylogenetic origin of the European wild goats, possibly due the loss of genetic variation through time. We investigated the phylogenetic relationship between the Alpine ibex (Capra ibex) and the Iberian wild goat (Capra pyrenaica) including different Iberian wild goat subspecies by applying ancient DNA techniques combined with Next Generation Sequencing technologies. We analysed the cytochrome b gene of the mitochondrial genome in 33 ancient and modern European wild goats from Spain and France together with publicly available genetic information of modern wild goats. This work uncovers for the first time ancient genetic information of the Iberian wild goat and the Alpine ibex, spanning a time range of approximately 40,000 years to the present. Our results suggest genetic continuity between ancient and modern populations and indicate a monophyletic origin of the Alpine ibex and the Iberian wild goat when compared to other Capra species. The monophyly of both species is in agreement with other molecular studies based only on modern populations, therefore supporting one-wave migration of wild goats into Western Europe followed by possible allopatric speciation. We observe three major clades of wild goats in Western Europe: Capra ibex, Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica and the group containing the subspecies Capra pyrenaica hispanica and Capra pyrenaica victoriae. This genetic structure recognizes the distinctiveness of the bucardo (C. p. pyrenaica) from the rest of Iberian wild goats and thus supports the idea that this group is an Evolutionary Significant Unit. The divergence time estimated here indicates an almost contemporaneous split between the three clades around 50,000-90,000 years BP.

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...

Eastern Dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy: Europeanization Mutual Trap

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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.

Labour Market Institutions in the Western Balkan Countries and their Economic Implications: Evidence for Kosova

OpenAIRE

MSc. Anera Alishani; BA. Ariana Shabani; Dr.Sc. Muje Gjonbalaj

2013-01-01

Flexicurity as one of the most important priorities of employment policies in the EU and its Member States is considered to be also important for the other states of Central and Eastern Europe, including the Western Balkans. According to European Commission (2007, p.7), flexicurity as a combination of flexibility and security in working arrangements can be suggested as an answer to dynamic changes happening in today’s national and international economies; it is an answer to the EU’s dilemma o...

Early Hungarian Information about the Mongol Western Campaign (1235–1242 »

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Roman Hautala

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The author of this article examines the origin of the primary information about the Mongol Western Campaign spread in the Kingdom of Hungary on the eve of the Mongol invasion of Eastern Europe. At the beginning of this article, the author pays particular attention to the information on the Mongol expansion, which appeared in the Hungarian Kingdom through the Cumans of southern Moldova. After that the author goes on to consider the earliest news about the beginning of the Mongol Western Campaign delivered to the Hungarian Kingdom by Catholic missionaries as a result of their persistent attempts to find a historic ancestral home of the western Hungarians. The primary information about the beginning of the Mongol Western Campaign was brought to Europe by Dominican Friar Julian, after his return from a journey to the Trans-Volga Magyars in the late 1235. In addition to the valuable description of the Eastern European peoples on the eve of the Mongol invasion, Julian’s report on his first journey to the East contains interesting information about both the early Jochid expansion that preceded the Mongol Western Campaign and the arrival to the land of the Trans-Volga Magyars of the official representative of the Mongol power who informed the Magyars on the completion of the all-Mongolian kuriltai of 1235, which made the decision on the beginning of the Mongol campaign in the West. In turn, the letter of Friar Julian written at the beginning of 1238 is repleted with information about the Mongol tactical warfare, previous military campaigns of Genghis Khan and Jochi, and the first Mongol conquest in the early stages of the Western campaign of Batu. But the most important news brought by Friar Julian in Hungary was an oral report of the Prince of Vladimir on the Mongol plans to attack the Hungarian Kingdom confirming both by the contents of the Batu’s ultimatum and eschatological interpretations of future events.

Communication and relationship satisfaction in Chinese, Western, and intercultural Chinese-Western couples.

Science.gov (United States)

Hiew, Danika N; Halford, W Kim; van de Vijver, Fons J R; Liu, Shuang

2016-03-01

The current study compared Chinese, Western, and intercultural Chinese-Western couples' communication and examined how culture moderates the association of communication with relationship satisfaction. We coded the communication of 33 Western couples, 36 Chinese couples, and 54 intercultural Chinese-Western couples when discussing a relationship problem and when reminiscing about positive relationship events. Couples with Chinese female partners showed fewer positive behaviors and more negative behaviors (as classified in existing Western coding systems) than couples with Western female partners. The male partner's culture had few associations with couples' rates of communication behavior. Relationship satisfaction was associated with low rates of negative behaviors and high rates of most of the positive behaviors across cultural groups, and these associations were more evident in problem discussions than positive reminiscences. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Effectiveness of community-based treatment for problem gambling: a quasi-experimental evaluation of cognitive-behavioral vs. twelve-step therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Toneatto, Tony; Dragonetti, Rosa

2008-01-01

With the increasing availability of gambling throughout North America, there is interest in developing more effective treatments. This study compares the effectiveness of two brief outpatient treatments for problem gambling: eight sessions of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (n = 65) and eight sessions of a twelve-step treatment-oriented approach based on the first five steps of Gamblers Anonymous (n = 61). There were no baseline group differences on gambling-relevant variables. Twelve months post-treatment showed no group differences on key gambling variables (eg, frequency, abstinence rates, money wagered) in an analysis of completers. Participants who attended more sessions and chose an initial abstinent treatment goal appeared to achieve better outcomes.

Prasugrel vs. clopidogrel in contemporary Western European patients with acute coronary syndromes receiving drug-eluting stents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wein, Bastian; Coslovsky, Michael; Jabbari, Reza

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND: Clinical and cost-effectiveness of prasugrel vs. clopidogrel in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) was only evaluated using TRITON-TIMI 38 event rates. A comparative analysis of both drugs in contemporary European ACS patients is lacking. METHODS: To address this issue, cardiac and bleedin......=0.255), but more major bleedings (4.0% vs. 1.7%, pexpenditures per patient: 1116.3 (DNK), 1063.5 (GER) and 880.8 (SUI) EURO, respectively. Accordingly, incremental cost...

A study of the 2013 Western European issue of aflatoxin contamination of maize from the Balkan area

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rijk, de T.C.; Egmond, van H.P.; Fels-Klerx, van der H.J.; Herbes, R.; Nijs, de W.C.M.; Samson, R.A.; Slate, A.B.; Spiegel, van der M.

2015-01-01

In March 2013 a large shipment of maize, intended for feed was subject of an alert in the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed of the European Commission (EC) because the aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) level in the load exceeded the EC regulated maximum level of 20 µg/kg. Since the shipment had passed import

Delivery and fate of fluvial water and sediment to the sea: a marine geologist's view of European rivers

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John D. Milliman

2001-12-01

Full Text Available Despite their relatively small drainage areas, European rivers reflect a wide variety of hydrologic regimes, although with very few exceptions they have been strongly affected by human activity. Scandinavian rivers (particularly those draining Iceland and western Norway can have high runoff, and, except for those draining Iceland, all have very low suspended and dissolved sediment loads. Northern and western European rivers have somewhat lower runoff, among the lowest suspended sediment yields in the world, and anthropogenically enhanced dissolved solid loads. Annual discharge of many of these rivers appears to vary inversely with the North Atlantic Oscillation index. Rivers discharging from the southern Alps into the Mediterranean Sea have relatively high runoff, high suspended sediment yields (reflecting younger, more easily erodable rocks as well as generally smaller drainage basins, and high dissolved yields, although presumably with somewhat less human influence. European rivers and their estuaries tend to reflect the terrestrial environments of their drainage basins (i.e. climate, landscape geomorphology, geology, but they also display strong anthropogenic signatures. Sediment erosion increased dramatically in the last several millenia in response to deforestation, farming and mining. In the past 50 years, however, increased soil conservation and local reversion of agricultural land to forest, as well as river diversion and dam construction, have decreased the suspended sediment loads of many European rivers. Improved mining and manufacturing techniques, as well as more effective use of fertilizers and improved waste treatment, almost surely will result in lower dissolved solids and nutrient fluxes to the coastal environments, which presently are the highest in the world. The long-range effects of changed land use on estuarine and coastal environments remain to be seen, although decreased sediment loads in the past 20-40 years have already

The EU(7)-PIM list: a list of potentially inappropriate medications for older people consented by experts from seven European countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Renom-Guiteras, Anna; Meyer, Gabriele; Thürmann, Petra A

2015-07-01

The aim of the study was to develop a European list of potentially inappropriate medications (PIM) for older people, which can be used for the analysis and comparison of prescribing patterns across European countries and for clinical practice. A preliminary PIM list was developed, based on the German PRISCUS list of potentially inappropriate medications and other PIM lists from the USA, Canada and France. Thirty experts on geriatric prescribing from Estonia, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden participated; eight experts performed a structured expansion of the list, suggesting further medications; twenty-seven experts participated in a two-round Delphi survey assessing the appropriateness of drugs and suggesting dose adjustments and therapeutic alternatives. Finally, twelve experts completed a brief final survey to decide upon issues requiring further consensus. Experts reached a consensus that 282 chemical substances or drug classes from 34 therapeutic groups are PIM for older people; some PIM are restricted to a certain dose or duration of use. The PIM list contains suggestions for dose adjustments and therapeutic alternatives. The European Union (EU)(7)-PIM list is a screening tool, developed with participation of experts from seven European countries, that allows identification and comparison of PIM prescribing patterns for older people across European countries. It can also be used as a guide in clinical practice, although it does not substitute the decision-making process of individualised prescribing for older people. Further research is needed to investigate the feasibility and applicability and, finally, the clinical benefits of the newly developed list.

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

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

Disentangling the control of tectonics, eustasy, trophic conditions and climate on shallow-marine carbonate production during the Aalenian-Oxfordian interval: From the western France platform to the western Tethyan domain

Science.gov (United States)

Andrieu, Simon; Brigaud, Benjamin; Barbarand, Jocelyn; Lasseur, Eric; Saucède, Thomas

2016-11-01

The objective of this work is to improve our understanding of the processes controlling changes in the architecture and facies of intracontinental carbonate platforms. We examined the facies and sequence stratigraphy of Aalenian to Oxfordian limestones of western France. Seventy-seven outcrop sections were studied and thirty-one sedimentary facies identified in five depositional environments ranging from lower offshore to backshore. Platform evolution was reconstructed along a 500 km cross-section. Twenty-two depositional sequences were identified on the entire western France platform and correlated with European third-order sequences at the biozone level, demonstrating that eustasy was the major factor controlling the cyclic trend of accommodation. The tectonic subsidence rate was computed from accommodation measurements from the Aalenian to the Oxfordian in key localities. Tectonism controlled the sedimentation rate and platform architecture at a longer time scale. Tectonic subsidence triggered the demise of carbonate production at the Bathonian/Callovian boundary while the uplift made possible the recovery of carbonate platform from Caen to Le Mans during the mid Oxfordian. Topography of the Paleozoic basement mainly controlled lateral variations of paleodepth within the western France platform until the mid Bathonian. A synthesis of carbonate production in the western Tethyan domain at that time was conducted. Stages of high carbonate production during the Bajocian/Bathonian and the middle to late Oxfordian are synchronous with low δ13C, high eccentricity intervals, and rather dry climate promoting (1) evaporation and carbonate supersaturation, and (2) oligotrophic conditions. Periods of low carbonate production during the Aalenian and from the middle Callovian to early Oxfordian correlate with high δ13C and low eccentricity intervals, characterized by wet climate and less oligotrophic conditions. Such conditions tend to diminish growth potential of carbonate

A novel double quad-inverter configuration for multilevel twelve-phase open-winding converter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Padmanaban, Sanjeevi Kumar; Blaabjerg, Frede; Wheeler, Patrick William

2016-01-01

This paper describes a novel proposal of double quad-inverter configuration for multilevel twelve-phase open-winding ac converter. Modular power units are developed from reconfigured eight classical three-phase voltage source inverters (VSIs). Each VSI has one additional bi-directional switching...... numerical simulation software's (Matlab/PLECS) developments. Further, the results confirm the good agreement to the developed theoretical background. Proposed converter suits the need of low-voltage/high-current applications such as ac tractions and `More-Electric Aircraft' propulsion systems....

Food-related life styles in Singapore: Testing a Western European research instrument in Southeast Asia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Askegaard, Søren; Brunsø, Karen; Crippen, Kaye

The food-related life style instrument developed by the MAPP research group has, up til now, been applied mainly in the context of European cultures. The purpose of the present study is to apply the food-related life style instrument in a new and very different cultural setting, to compare results......, and to interpret similarities and differences found. For this purpose, data have been collected in Singaporean families using the food-related life style instrument. A total of 89 questionnaires form the basis of the analysis. First, the cross-cultural validity of the instrument is tested, and secondly...

[An etymology of pharmacy in the Western languages].

Science.gov (United States)

Uchibayashi, Masao

2003-01-01

An etymological and semantic history of the terms of various pharmaceutical retailers in the West in presented. Apothecary is a combination of IE * apo- (separate) and * dhē (to place) which gave rise to the Greek term apothēkē, which originally meant a warehouse for food and wine. Pharmacy is a combination of the Greek term * pharama form IE * bher- (to charm, enchant) and -(a)-ko- resulting in * pharmako- (magic, charm, cure, potion, medicine) and in Latin pharmacie. Chemist's shop is the English version of an American drugstore. Further, such terms as dispensary, officinal and drug are etymologically discussed. Different usages in England and the U.S. of terms like shop and store are summarized. [Note:"IE" with asterisk stands for the Indo-European proto-languages which are the ancestors of most Western tongues.

Report made on the behalf of the Foreign Affairs Commission on the bill project nr 2932 authorizing the ratification of the protocol modifying the protocol on transitory dispositions attached to the Treaty on the European Union, to the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union, and to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community; Rapport fait au nom de la Commission des Affaires Etrangeres sur le Projet de Loi n. 2932, autorisant la ratification du protocole modifiant le protocole sur les dispositions transitoires annexe au traite sur l'Union europeenne, au traite sur le fonctionnement de l'Union europeenne et au traite instituant la Communaute europeenne de l'energie atomique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2011-07-01

This report first describes and comments the consequences of the Lisbon Treaty in terms of composition for the European Parliament, and more particularly the debate about the design of an efficient and representative parliament, the election mode and the seat distribution. Then, it describes how the modification protocol has been elaborated, its content (general architecture, eighteen additional seats for twelve member States and their election modalities), and its implementation (agenda and method)

How to benefit from a common European electricity market design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ringler, Philipp; Keles, Dogan; Fichtner, Wolf

2017-01-01

The realization of an Internal Electricity Market in Europe is currently, on the one hand, progressing, in particular thanks to the wide-spread implementation of market coupling solutions for cross-border congestion management. On the other hand, diverging national market designs pose a threat to the continuation of this process. Given the challenges to electricity market design in a multi-regional context, we analyze how different design aspects, namely cross-border congestion management and capacity mechanisms, affect welfare and generation adequacy in Europe. In doing so, we rely on an agent-based simulation model for electricity wholesale markets which we apply within several numerical, computational case studies for the region of Central Western Europe (2012–2030). Our results confirm the benefits of market coupling in terms of welfare as well as generation adequacy. Furthermore, we find indications that coordinating market designs across regions supports these targets. Therefore, we recommend that European energy policy forms a stable, transparent regulatory framework with cross-border market coupling as an integral component. In this context, energy policy targets should be clearly defined and operationalized, which also needs to consider potential conflicts between them. Finally, electricity market designs need to be coordinated among states to benefit most from a common European market. - Highlights: • European electricity markets at crossroads given diverging market designs • Simulation of CWE Market Coupling using an agent-based model. • Welfare and adequacy gains from European market coupling and new interconnections. • Conflicts between energy policy targets to be considered in market design. • Coordination key to further strengthen integration of electricity markets in Europe.

Some aspects on the reproductive cycle of European conger eel, Conger conger (Linnaeus, 1758 (Osteichthyes, Anguilliformes, Congridae captured from Western Algerian coasts: a histological description of spermatogenesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abi-ayad Sidi-Mohammed El-Amine

2011-09-01

Full Text Available The aim of this work was to study the annual reproductive cycle of European conger eel (Conger conger,Linnaeus, 1758 through analysis and description of spermatogenesis. A sample of 168 males was capturedbetween September 2008 and August 2009 from the Western coast of Algeria, from Béni Saf. Fish length andweight varied between 26.20-112 cm and 0.45-3.44 kg, respectively.Condition factors (K, gonadosomatic index (G.S.I. and hepatosomatic index (H.S.I. were calculatedmonthly. Factor K reached the minimum in August/September (0.10% corresponding to reproductive periodand a maximum in January (0.18%. Although G.S.I. values revealed to be statistically not significant, therewere two peaks for G.S.I., the first in March, denoting the beginning of spermatogenesis, and the second inAugust/September, indicating the reproduction period. H.S.I. reached a peak in December (1.90%, then thevalue decreased to a minimum in April.Histological analysis of testis allowed us to distinguish 5 stages summarized as follows: Stage 1:Spermatogonia A; Stage 2: Spermatogonia B; Stage 3: Spermatocytes and spermatids; Stage 4: Spermatocytes,spermatids and spermatozoa (cytodifferentiation of spermatids into spermatozoa; Stage 5: Spermatozoa(spermiogenesis or cytodifferentiation of spermatids into spermatozoa.

Plate tectonic model for the oligo-miocene evolution of the western Mediterranean

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Curtis R.

1980-10-01

This paper outlines a plate tectonic model for the Oligo-Miocene evolution of the western Mediterranean which incorporates recent data from several tectonic domains (Corsica, Sardinia, the Kabylies, Balearic promontory, Iberia, Algero-Provençal Basin and Tunisian Atlas). Following late Mesozoic anticlockwise rotation of the Iberian peninsula (including the Balearic promontory and Sardinia), late Eocene collision occurred between the Kabylies and Balearic promontory forming a NE-trending suture with NW-tectonic polarity. As a result of continued convergence between the African and European plates, a polarity flip occurred and a southward-facing trench formed south of the Kabylie—Balearic promontory suture. During late Oligocene time an E-W-trending arc and marginal basin developed behind the southward-facing trench in the area of the present-day Gulf of Lion. Opening of this basin moved the Corsica—Sardinia—Calabria—Petit Kabylie—Menorca plate southward, relative to the African plate. Early Miocene back-arc spreading in the area between the Balearic promontory and Grand Kabylie emplaced the latter in northern Algeria and formed the South Balearic Basin. Coeval with early Miocene back-arc basin development, the N-S-extension in the Gulf of Lion marginal basin changed to a more NW-SE direction causing short-lived extension in the area of the present-day Valencia trough and a 30° anticlockwise rotation of the Corsica-Sardinia-Calabria—Petit Kabylie plate away from the European plate. Early—middle Miocene deformation along the western Italian and northeastern African continental margins resulted from this rotation. During the early late Miocene (Tortonian), spreading within a sphenochasm to the southwest of Sardinia resulted in the emplacement of Petit Kabylie in northeastern Algeria.

Twelve tips for teaching child development and disability to medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

McDonald, Jenny

2018-02-01

Child development is a marker of well-being in childhood and recognition of developmental delay allows timely investigation and intervention for children with developmental disabilities. Despite this, child development and disabilities are not given emphasis in the medical curriculum. This under representation of teaching combined with the stigma associated with disabilities contributes to the sub-optimal health care of people with disabilities. As well as, addressing the stigma of disability a medical undergraduate curriculum should include: the key concepts of child development; the clinical presentation of the most common developmental disabilities; developmental history taking and the infant neurodevelopmental examination. The following twelve tips provide practical advice about how to teach this knowledge and these skills during medical training.

Trends and low-frequency variability of storminess over western Europe, 1878-2007

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Xiaolan L.; Wan, Hui; Zwiers, Francis W.; Swail, Val R. [Environment Canada, Climate Research Division, Science and Technology Branch, Toronto, ON (Canada); Compo, Gilbert P. [University of Colorado, CIRES, Climate Diagnostics Center, Boulder, CO (United States); Physical Sciences Division, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, CO (United States); Allan, Robert J. [Met Office, Hadley Centre, Exeter (United Kingdom); Vose, Russell S. [NOAA' s National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC (United States); Jourdain, Sylvie [Direction de la Climatologie, Meteo-France, Toulouse (France); Yin, Xungang [STG Inc., Asheville, NC (United States)

2011-12-15

This study analyzes extremes of geostrophic wind speeds derived from sub-daily surface pressure observations at 13 sites in the European region from the Iberian peninsula to Scandinavia for the period from 1878 or later to 2007. It extends previous studies on storminess conditions in the Northeast (NE) Atlantic-European region. It also briefly discusses the relationship between storminess and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The results show that storminess conditions in the region from the Northeast Atlantic to western Europe have undergone substantial decadal or longer time scale fluctuations, with considerable seasonal and regional differences (especially between winter and summer, and between the British Isles-North Sea area and other parts of the region). In the North Sea and the Alps areas, there has been a notable increase in the occurrence frequency of strong geostrophic winds from the mid to the late twentieth century. The results also show that, in the cold season (December-March), the NAO-storminess relationship is significantly positive in the north-central part of this region, but negative in the south-southeastern part. (orig.)

SSR allelic diversity changes in 480 European bread wheat varieties released from 1840 to 2000.

Science.gov (United States)

Roussel, V; Leisova, L; Exbrayat, F; Stehno, Z; Balfourier, F

2005-06-01

A sample of 480 bread wheat varieties originating from 15 European geographical areas and released from 1840 to 2000 were analysed with a set of 39 microsatellite markers. The total number of alleles ranged from 4 to 40, with an average of 16.4 alleles per locus. When seven successive periods of release were considered, the total number of alleles was quite stable until the 1960s, from which time it regularly decreased. Clustering analysis on Nei's distance matrix between these seven temporal groups showed a clear separation between groups of varieties registered before and after 1970. Analysis of qualitative variation over time in allelic composition of the accessions indicated that, on average, the more recent the European varieties, the more similar they were to each other. However, European accessions appear to be more differentiated as a function of their geographical origin than of their registration period. On average, western European countries (France, The Netherlands, Great Britain, Belgium) displayed a lower number of alleles than southeastern European countries (former Yugoslavia, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary) and than the Mediterranean area (Italy, Spain and Portugal), which had a higher number. A hierarchical tree on Nei's distance matrix between the 15 geographical groups of accessions exhibited clear opposition between the geographical areas north and south of the arc formed by the Alps and the Carpathian mountains. These results suggest that diversity in European wheat accessions is not randomly distributed but can be explained both by temporal and geographical variation trends linked to breeding practices and agriculture policies in different countries.

Risk assessment: A European Community perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haigh, R.

1992-01-01

The world is a risky place in which to live! The world tolerates that 750,000 deaths occur on the roads each year. Society has not yet come to terms with the added burden that urbanisation brings to developing countries. Pollution from the use of fossil fuels creates incalculable loss to the world's environment and to the health of its inhabitants. The misuse of chemicals provokes suffering and deformity. In the European Community alone, over 21 million tonnes of toxic waste have to be treated each year. Of course, there are different types of risk: individual and societal. Individuals continue to travel by air in defiance of terrorists or faulty machinery. Whilst society urges caution in diet and nutrition, the individual is probably more worried about food additives that he is about eating too much or making a rigorous appraisal of the value of his die!. As the conference progresses many people will die from the causes of malnutrition, from war or societal neglect while we, individually, will be more at risk from overeating. In other words, we perceive risks is in a multitude of ways. We tolerate these risks according to our perception of what we feel is acceptable without carrying out scientific assessment of the relative severity of those risks. If applied at a governmental level, this subjective tolerance can lead to unnecessary burdens or constraints that are disproportionate to the risk. Clearly, this is not acceptable for policy makers. We have just seen the closure of the UNCED World Conference on the Environment in Rio de Janeiro, where the absolute need for more effective cooperation in the protection of the environment and the world inhabitants was convincingly demonstrated. The European Communities already coordinate risk assessment with its twelve Member States in a large number of areas and is increasing its international cooperation. We have recognized that it is no longer possible to carry out effective risk assessment in one country alone or to

Risk assessment: A European Community perspective

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haigh, R [Industrial Medicine and Hygiene Unit Health and Safety Directorate, Directorate-General Employment, Industrial Relations and Social Affairs Commission of the European Communities, Luxembourg (Luxembourg)

1992-07-01

The world is a risky place in which to live{exclamation_point} The world tolerates that 750,000 deaths occur on the roads each year. Society has not yet come to terms with the added burden that urbanisation brings to developing countries. Pollution from the use of fossil fuels creates incalculable loss to the world's environment and to the health of its inhabitants. The misuse of chemicals provokes suffering and deformity. In the European Community alone, over 21 million tonnes of toxic waste have to be treated each year. Of course, there are different types of risk: individual and societal. Individuals continue to travel by air in defiance of terrorists or faulty machinery. Whilst society urges caution in diet and nutrition, the individual is probably more worried about food additives that he is about eating too much or making a rigorous appraisal of the value of his die{exclamation_point}. As the conference progresses many people will die from the causes of malnutrition, from war or societal neglect while we, individually, will be more at risk from overeating. In other words, we perceive risks is in a multitude of ways. We tolerate these risks according to our perception of what we feel is acceptable without carrying out scientific assessment of the relative severity of those risks. If applied at a governmental level, this subjective tolerance can lead to unnecessary burdens or constraints that are disproportionate to the risk. Clearly, this is not acceptable for policy makers. We have just seen the closure of the UNCED World Conference on the Environment in Rio de Janeiro, where the absolute need for more effective cooperation in the protection of the environment and the world inhabitants was convincingly demonstrated. The European Communities already coordinate risk assessment with its twelve Member States in a large number of areas and is increasing its international cooperation. We have recognized that it is no longer possible to carry out effective risk

Antifouling activity of twelve demosponges from Brazil

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SM. Ribeiro

Full Text Available Benthic marine organisms are constantly exposed to fouling, which is harmful to most host species. Thus, the production of secondary metabolites containing antifouling properties is an important ecological advantage for sessile organisms and may also provide leading compounds for the development of antifouling paints. High antifouling potential of sponges has been demonstrated in the Indian and Pacific oceans and in the Caribbean and Mediterranean seas. Brazilian sponges remain understudied concerning antifouling activities. Only two scientific articles reported this activity in sponges of Brazil. The objective of this study was to test crude extracts of twelve species of sponges from Brazil against the attachment of the mussel Perna perna through laboratorial assays, and highlight promising species for future studies. The species Petromica citrina, Amphimedon viridis, Desmapsamma anchorata, Chondrosia sp., Polymastia janeirensis, Tedania ignis, Aplysina fulva, Mycale angulosa, Hymeniacidon heliophila, Dysidea etheria, Tethya rubra, and Tethya maza were frozen and freeze-dried before extraction with acetone or dichloromethane. The crude extract of four species significantly inhibited the attachment of byssus: Tethya rubra (p = 0.0009, Tethya maza (p = 0.0039, Petromica citrina (p = 0.0277, and Hymeniacidon heliophila (p = 0.00003. These species, specially, should be the target of future studies to detail the substances involved in the ability antifouling well as to define its amplitude of action.

Retrospective evaluation of 155 adult equids and 21 foals with tetanus in Western, Northern, and Central Europe (2000-2014). Part 1: Description of history and clinical evolution.

OpenAIRE

van Galen, Gaby; Saegerman, Claude; Rijckaert, Joke; Amory, Hélène; Armengou, Lara; Bezdekova, Barbora; Durie, Inge; Findshoj Delany, Rikke; Fouche, Nathalie; Haley, Laura; Hewetson, Michael; van den Hoven, Rene; Kendall, Anna; Malalana, Fernando; Muller Cavalleri, Jessika

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To describe clinical data of hospitalized adult equids and foals with tetanus. DESIGN: Multicenter retrospective study (2000-2014). SETTING: Twenty Western, Northern, and Central European university teaching hospitals and private referral centers. ANIMALS: One hundred fifty-five adult equids (>6 months) and 21 foals (

Prospects for the Development of Scientific Libraries of Ukrainian Research Universities in the context of the Implementation of the European Experience

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Serbin Oleh O.

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The key directions for the long-term development of scientific libraries of research universities in Ukraine are determined to improve their strategic management system on the way toward entry into the European competitive environment. The scientific ideas, practice and legislative bases in the field of the development of scientific libraries in the European Union are highlighted. There carried out comparative characteristic of the traditional library and the modern one with the purpose of revealing distinctions of their functioning and development. The content of the seventeen main contrasts that distinguish these libraries is identified and described. On the basis of the analysis of the European experience, there identified and characterized twelve key directions for the further strategic development of Ukraine’s scientific libraries, which are in the improvement of digital content; library space; systems of automation of service processes; observance of copyrights; commercialization of library services; international exchange of the library information; depository of master works; updating of equipment; a consolidated system for detecting plagiarism; introduction of new related services; alternative financing systems; systems for staff development. The results of this study will be useful for leaders of research universities and their scientific libraries, as well as scientists and practitioners in the field of strategic management of development of research universities.

European Origin of Bradyrhizobium Populations Infecting Lupins and Serradella in Soils of Western Australia and South Africa† ‡

Science.gov (United States)

Stępkowski, Tomasz; Moulin, Lionel; Krzyżańska, Agnieszka; McInnes, Alison; Law, Ian J.; Howieson, John

2005-01-01

We applied a multilocus phylogenetic approach to elucidate the origin of serradella and lupin Bradyrhizobium strains that persist in soils of Western Australia and South Africa. The selected strains belonged to different randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-PCR clusters that were distinct from RAPD clusters of applied inoculant strains. Phylogenetic analyses were performed with nodulation genes (nodA, nodZ, nolL, noeI), housekeeping genes (dnaK, recA, glnII, atpD), and 16S-23S rRNA intergenic transcribed spacer sequences. Housekeeping gene phylogenies revealed that all serradella and Lupinus cosentinii isolates from Western Australia and three of five South African narrow-leaf lupin strains were intermingled with the strains of Bradyrhizobium canariense, forming a well supported branch on each of the trees. All nodA gene sequences of the lupin and serradella bradyrhizobia formed a single branch, referred to as clade II, together with the sequences of other lupin and serradella strains. Similar patterns were detected in nodZ and nolL trees. In contrast, nodA sequences of the strains isolated from native Australian legumes formed either a new branch called clade IV or belonged to clade I or III, whereas their nonsymbiotic genes grouped outside the B. canariense branch. These data suggest that the lupin and serradella strains, including the strains from uncultivated L. cosentinii plants, are descendants of strains that most likely were brought from Europe accidentally with lupin and serradella seeds. The observed dominance of B. canariense strains may be related to this species' adaptation to acid soils common in Western Australia and South Africa and, presumably, to their intrinsic ability to compete for nodulation of lupins and serradella. PMID:16269740

Atmospheric Dynamics Leading to West European Summer Hot Temperatures Since 1851

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M. Carmen Alvarez-Castro

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Summer hot temperatures have many impacts on health, economy (agriculture, energy, and transports, and ecosystems. In Western Europe, the recent summers of 2003 and 2015 were exceptionally warm. Many studies have shown that the genesis of the major heat events of the last decades was linked to anticyclonic atmospheric circulation and to spring precipitation deficit in Southern Europe. Such results were obtained for the second part of the 20th century and projections into the 21st century. In this paper, we challenge this vision by investigating the earlier part of the 20th century from an ensemble of 20CR reanalyses. We propose an innovative description of Western-European heat events applying the dynamical system theory. We argue that the atmospheric circulation patterns leading to the most intense heat events have changed during the last century. We also show that the increasing temperature trend during major heatwaves is encountered during episodes of Scandinavian Blocking, while other circulation patterns do not yield temperature trends during extremes.

Retrospective evaluation of 155 adult equids and 21 foals with tetanus in Western, Northern, and Central Europe (2000–2014). Part 1: Description of history and clinical evolution

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Galen, G.; Westermann, C.M.

2017-01-01

Objective – To describe clinical data of hospitalized adult equids and foals with tetanus.Design – Multicenter retrospective study (2000–2014).Setting – Twenty Western, Northern, and Central European university teaching hospitals and private referralcenters.Animals – One hundred fifty-five adult

European clinical guidelines for Tourette syndrome and other tic disorders. Part III: behavioural and psychosocial interventions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Verdellen, Cara; van de Griendt, Jolande; Hartmann, Andreas

2011-01-01

This clinical guideline provides recommendations for the behavioural and psychosocial interventions (BPI) of children and adolescents with tic disorders prepared by a working group of the European Society for the Study of Tourette Syndrome (ESSTS). A systematic literature search was conducted...... to obtain an update on the efficacy of BPI for tics. Relevant studies were identified using computerised searches of the Medline and PsycINFO databases and the Cochrane Library for the years 1950-2010. The search identified no meta-analyses, yet twelve (systematic) reviews and eight randomised controlled...... trials provided evidence for the current review. Most evidence was found for habit reversal training (HRT) and the available but smaller evidence also supports the efficacy of exposure with response prevention (ERP). Both interventions are considered first line behavioural treatments for tics for both...

Education and Communities at the “Margins”: The Contradictions of Western Education for Islamic Communities in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Obed Mfum-Mensah

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This paper employs postcolonial framework to discuss the contradictions of promoting western education in Islamic communities in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA. Prior to colonization, Islamic education was an important socializing process that instilled strong Islamic identity in Islamic communities in SSA. European encounters in SSA and the introduction of western education shifted the socializing process and reconfigured SSA societies and dislocated Islamic communities in the region. I argue that Islamic communities’ marginalization educationally since the colonial era is partly the result of their resistance to western colonization and all its forms. In the first part of the paper I discuss postcolonial discourse and education. The second part discusses education and religion nexus in sub-Saharan Africa. It uses recent Pew Research for example as evidence to delineate the Muslim-Christian gaps in education by age categories and gender. The third part outlines ways western education became a tool for reconfiguring Islamic communities and the rationales behind Islamic communities’ resistance to this form of education. The concluding section discusses contemporary efforts to promote education in Islamic communities in SSA within the rubric of Education for All (EFA.