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In asking Professor Börje Holmberg to write this keynote paper, I believe that I have found one of the most advanced thinkers and prolific writers in European Distance Education. Professor Holmberg has a wide and interesting background. He has been Director General of the prestigious Swedish Distance Education organisation, Hermods, and is currently Professor of the Methodology of Distance Education at the FernUniversität, Hagen in West Germany. He is internationally known, having consulted in most of the continents of the world, and is a Past President of the International Council for Distance Education. He has written several books on the subject, is a Knight both of the Swedish Order of Vasa and of the Finnish Order of the White Rose, and has Honorary Doctorates from the UK Open University and Deakin University in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

LINKED CONTENT This article is linked to Pol et al and Lampertico & Papatheodoridis papers. To view these articles, visit https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.16197 and https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.16238 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rosiglitazone, the thiazolidinedione class anti-diabetic withdrawn from Europe in 2010 amid reports of adverse cardiovascular effects, is revealed by Yu et al. in this issue of the British Journal of Pharmacology to be a selective blocker of ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels. This seems little cause for excitement given that the closure of pancreatic KATP channels is integral to insulin secretion; and sulphonylureas, which inhibit KATP channels, are widely used to treat type II diabetes. However, rosiglitazone, whose primary targets are nuclear transcription factors that regulate genes involved in lipid metabolism, blocks KATP channels by a novel mechanism different to that of the sulphonylureas and has a worrying preference for blood flow-regulating vascular KATP channels. Identification of a new molecule that modulates KATP channel gating will not only tell us more about how these complex metabolic sensors work but also raises questions as to whether rosiglitazone suppresses the cardiovascular system's ability to cope with metabolic stress - a claim that has dogged the sulphonylureas for many years. LINKED ARTICLE This article is a commentary on Yu et al., pp. 26-36 of this issue. To view this paper visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1476-5381.2012.01934.x [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forests dominated by European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) are among both the most widespread in Europe and the most intensely exploited globally. One of the largest remnants of unmanaged beech forests in Europe is the Uholka‐Shyrokyi Luh forest in Transcarpathia, Ukraine, covering 8,800 ha of primeval forest. In 2000, a permanent forest plot of 10 ha has been established in the Uholka massif. All living and dead trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 60 mm were identified to species, DBH measured, stems tagged and mapped. Since then, the plot has been remeasured in 2005, 2010, and 2015. In total, 4,820 individual trees were measured with 14,116 individual measurements throughout all four inventories. In spring 2018, an Airborne Laser Scan was carried out, covering the Uholka‐Shyrokyi Luh forest. This data set allows us to derive a high‐resolution digital elevation model (DEM) of the plot area. European beech covers a share of ≈ 95% of the basal area (BA) of all living stems. While BA was relatively stable throughout all inventories (≈ 38 m2/ha), the number of stems increased considerably between 2010 and 2015 from 290 to 430 stems/ha. Additionally, the proportion of beech stems decreased from 95% in 2010 to 86% in 2015. The continuity of the share of beech on BA and the decrease in number of stems can be traced back to disturbance events, which led to an increase of more light demanding species in the recruitment but did not alter the distribution of BA as these small trees contribute very little to BA. The data set allows for important insights into the development and the spatial and temporal dynamics of primeval beech forests. It can be used to quantify the demographic processes growth, mortality, and recruitment, and to study inter‐ and intraspecific effects on demographic rates, stand structure, and species composition. No copyright or proprietary restrictions are associated with the use of this data set other than citation of this Data Paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the tradeoff between megacities and networks of smaller cities in a model of recombinant growth and endogenous amenities. Three factors are key: local returns to scale in innovation, the housing supply elasticity and the importance of local amenities. Even with global increasing returns, local returns to scale in innovation may be decreasing, making networks more appealing. Inelastic housing supply makes density costlier and may explain why networks are more popular in Europe than the US. Megacities can prevail thanks to amenities if the benefits of scale overwhelm the costs of density. The skilled are more likely to prefer megacities than the unskilled. Megacities may have short-run costs yet improve upon networks in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaborations are particularly important for the development and deployment of technology. We analyse the influence of organizational, technological and geographical proximity on European nanotechnology collaborations with the help of a publication dataset and additional geographical information. While organizational proximity influences the output of collaborations only indirectly, geographical and technological proximity do so directly. Geographical proximity is most significant in statistical terms and technological proximity has the highest magnitude of effect. Consequently, the latter lends itself most for management and policy interventions, for example, by providing information on technological specialization of potential partners. Resumen Las colaboraciones son especialmente importantes para el desarrollo y el despliegue tecnológico. Se analiza la influencia de la proximidad organizacional, tecnológica y geográfica en colaboraciones europeas en nanotecnología, con la ayuda de un conjunto de datos publicados e información geográfica adicional. Si bien la proximidad organizacional influye en el resultado de las colaboraciones solo de manera indirecta, las proximidades geográfica y tecnológica influyen directamente. La proximidad geográfica es la más significativa en términos estadísticos y la proximidad tecnológica tiene la magnitud del efecto más elevada. Consecuentemente, esta última se presta más a las intervenciones de gestión y de políticas, por ejemplo, facilitando información sobre la especialización tecnológica de socios potenciales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of network theory in the input-output field supposes an interesting alternative that allows structural complexity, weakness and strength to be shown. To this end, we analyse the relative position of each industry via core-periphery models to offer an approach to fundamental economy structure. These models are very flexible and can be applied on Boolean or valued graphs. In order to overcome the usual criticisms, we extend previous works and develop core-periphery valued models. This novel proposal is applied to the analysis of the European and Spanish economies in 1995. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study which focused on the development of an economic procedure that integrates a theory-guided analysis of determinants of regional disparities with standard classification approaches. The researchers designed the procedure to resolve limitations that commonly exist in classification schemes including the lack of a theoretically meaningful organization of the variable selection process. They also examined the conditions in the labor market which affect the outcomes of a policy related to an active labor market.

The emerging knowledge economy has led to an increase of demand and locational competition for highly-skilled labour. Brain competition policy (BCP) is the reaction from national and regional policymakers. In short, BCP refers to the attraction, education and circulation of talent in and between regional and national economies. This new focus on human capital instead of physical capital indicates a paradigmatic shift in innovation policy and regional policy. While most of the contributions to this new policy approach come from the US, it can be demonstrated that different institutions in Europe prevent the simple copying of those strategies. The article contributes to the ongoing paradigmatic shift by conceptualizing a coherent framework for BCP from a European perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Difficulty in extracting scientific and research findings from EU universities and placing such knowledge at the commercial disposal of innovation-dependent firms and industries is a cause for grave concern in many European states and regions. We take stock of the evidence from the perspective of knowledge-seeking firms and knowledge-generating universities, an exercise that reveals striking asymmetries: firms presently seek mainly public science outputs of academics, while universities encourage their academics to pursue proprietary science opportunities more heavily in their dealings with business and industry, pursuit of which may provoke other academics to oppose greater commercialization of university research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this study is on cross-region R&D collaborations in Europe. We use data on collaborative R&D projects funded by the 5th EU Framework Programme (FP5). The objective is to identify separation effects – such as geographical or technological effects – on the constitution of cross-region collaborative R&D activities within a Poisson spatial interaction modelling framework. The results provide striking evidence that geographical factors are important determinants of cross-region collaboration intensities, but the effect of technological proximity is stronger. R&D collaborations occur most often between organizations that are located close to each other in technological space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article a semiparametric spatial Durbin model is employed to analyse the growth behaviour of 155 European regions in the period 1988–2000. This specification combines the semiparametric approach with the usual parametric spatial econometric technique to accommodate both spatial dependence and nonlinearities as suggested by recent neoclassical growth models with spatial technological interdependence. The results provide evidence of nonlinearities in the effect of initial per capita incomes and human capital investments. Moreover, the specification used allows identifying the effect of the interaction between the characteristics (initial conditions and structural variables) of each region and those of its neighbours. Finally, it shows some indication of global spillovers across-country and local spatial spillovers from domestic neighbours. Resumen En este artículo se emplea un modelo semiparamétrico espacial de Durbin para analizar el comportamiento del crecimiento de 155 regiones europeas durante el periodo 1988–2000. Esta especificación combina el enfoque semiparamétrico con técnicas econométricas espaciales paramétricas habituales para reconciliar la dependencia espacial y las no linealidades, tal y como sugieren los modelos de crecimiento neoclásicos recientes con interdependencia tecnológica espacial. Los resultados ofrecen pruebas de no linealidades en el efecto de ingresos per capita iniciales e inversiones en capital humano. Además, la especificación utilizada permite utilizar el efecto de la interacción entre las características (condiciones iniciales y variables estructurales) de cada región y las de sus vecinos. Finalmente, da una idea de spillovers (efectos de derrame) globales entre países y spillovers espaciales locales de regiones vecinas dentro del país. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyse the relationship between regional unemployment and labour productivity in Europe, basing our empirical analysis on the predictions of a Neary-type General Oligopolistic Equilibrium trade model with efficiency-wages. Using semiparametric and dynamic panel data estimators and controlling for other factors, we give evidence of a nonlinear relationship between productivity and regional unemployment in Europe: with a level of productivity smaller than a certain threshold, this relationship is negative, while no relation occurs in the case of higher productivity regions. This evidence proves an important role of a wage-floor (induced by efficiency wages and exacerbated by institutional factors) under which the productivity gap cannot be compensated by a wage gap. Resumen. Analizamos la relación entre el desempleo regional y la productividad laboral en Europa, tomando como base de nuestro análisis empírico las predicciones de un modelo de comercio general oligopolístico de equilibrio tipo Neary con salarios eficientes. Mediante el uso de estimadores semiparamétricos y datos de panel dinámicos y control de otros factores, proporcionamos evidencia de una relación no lineal entre la productividad y el desempleo regional en Europa: con un nivel de productividad por debajo de un cierto valor umbral, esta relación es negativa, mientras que no existe esta relación en el caso de regiones con productividad mas elevada. Esta evidencia prueba el papel importante de una base salarial (inducida por salarios eficientes y exacerbada por factores institucionales) por debajo de la cual la diferencia de productividad no puede ser compensada por una diferencia salarial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the formative years of biotechnology, ‘star’ bioscientists possessed intellectual capital of extraordinary scientific and pecuniary value. In America and Japan, 35 percent of star bioscientists became involved with firms in commercialising their discoveries (a crucial determinant of success) versus 7 percent in Europe. Did star involvement come at expense of scientific progress? No, the publication rate of these ‘involved stars’ increased very significantly whilst actively involved with firms. Furthermore, citations per article were unchanged or significantly increased; so quality was maintained. Top academic scientists and firms working together led to faster commercial and scientific progress – a truly virtuous circle. Durante los años formativos de la biotecnología, los bioinvestigadores “estrella” acumulaban un capital intelectual de extraordinario valor científico y pecuniario. En América y Japón, el 35 por ciento de bioinvestigadores “estrella” se involucraron con empresas en la comercialización de sus descubrimientos (determinante crucial del éxito) comparado con un 7 por ciento en Europa. ¿Fue este involucramiento a costa del progreso científico? No, la tasa de publicación de estos investigadores estrella aumentó muy significativamente mientras que estaban activamente involucrados con dichas empresas. Es más, el número de citas de sus artículos no cambiaron o aumentaron significativamente, y por tanto la calidad se ha mantenido. Los investigadores más eminentes y las empresas punteras trabajando juntos nos llevan más rápidamente al progreso comercial y científico – un círculo virtuoso verdadero. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The trade liberalization associated with NAFTA has affected the pattern of state exports by altering the origin as well as the destination of merchandise exports. We find that NAFTA has increased US merchandise exports to Mexico and Canada by just over 15%, and has increased total US merchandise exports by nearly 8%. We also find that although many states have seen large increases in exports to both Mexico and Canada, others have seen large decreases. NAFTA has also affected states’ exports to non-NAFTA regions of the world, tending to decrease exports to Europe and Latin America and increase exports to Asia. States in the northeast regions of the United States have seen the smallest increases in exports in the wake of NAFTA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. We want to determine here whether the trans-European consumer reacts to changes in total food consumption or changes in income equalise in the long run. Do total calorie intake elasticities and income elasticities converge in the long-run? A demand system is estimated for each European country. The proportional caloric intakes of the various food groups are analyzed as endogenous variables, and two exogenous variables (total calorie intake and income), are both defined in log terms. As all variables are I(1) and non-cointegrated, demand systems are specified in first differences. Finally, we use Johansen and Juselius's multivariate cointegration tests to test for the convergence of calorie intake and income elasticities. Empirical results indicate a very limited convergence between certain products and countries considered, suggesting that country idiosyncrasies still play an important role in consumer behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental health and mental disorders pose a tremendous challenge to the societal, health, and research policies in Europe, and sound advice is needed on a potential strategy for mental health research investment. Toward this goal, the ROAMER initiative ('Roadmap for Mental Health Research in Europe') was launched to map the current state of the art, to identify gaps and to delineate advances needed in various areas and domains of mental health research in Europe. To further stimulate discussions among the scientific community and stakeholders on how to improve mental health research and to promote an improved research agenda for the next decade, this IJMPR topic issue presents the overall ROAMER methodology as well as a series of selected papers highlighting critical issues of psychological approaches and interventions as outcomes of the ROAMER work package 5 'Psychological research and treatments'. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the author comments on declining population of old trees in Europe and the U.S. by referring research paper "New policies for old trees: averting a global crisis in a keystone ecological structure" by D.B. Lindenmayer and colleagues presented in a 2013 issue of the periodical. He mentions increase in the volume of large trees in the Europe boreal forest and North American temperate forests. He also discusses the impact of declining trees population on environment.

An abstract of the research paper "Consensus Statement of the European Guidelines on Clinical Management of HIV-1 Tropism Testing," by L.P.R. Vandekerckhove and colleagues which was presented at the Tenth International Congress on Drug Therapy in HIV Infection held at Glasgow, Scotland from November 7-11, 2010 is presented.

As an introduction to the special issue on European floodplain forests, this paper reviews the fundamental hydrological and geomorphological controls on floodplain biodiversity and river-forest interactions. The role of the energy/slope gradient and channel conditions (including number of channels) can be seen as critical in determining the nature and dynamics of floodplain woodland and biodiversity. These factors also control the processing of materials and nutrients in forested floodplains. The biogeochemistry of floodplain forests is complicated by multi-dimensional interactions between substrate, hydrology and vegetation which include longitudinal interactions (e.g. between channels and banks and live and dead-water zones). All of these factorscomplicate the application of the river continuum concept as do natural variations caused by geomorphological inheritance and multiple channels. The distribution and status of European floodplain woodlands and the history of floodplain forests in the British Isles are briefly outlined. Lastly the paper considers the possibilities for the partial afforestation of some British Floodplains and the potential environmental benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Please cite this paper as: Shanks et al. Relationship between 'purulent bronchitis' in military populations in Europe prior to 1918 and the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses 6(4), 235-239. Purulent bronchitis was a distinctive and apparently new lethal respiratory infection in British and American soldiers during the First World War. Mortality records suggest that purulent bronchitis caused localized outbreaks in the midst of a broad epidemic wave of lethal respiratory illness in 1916-1917. Probable purulent bronchitis deaths in the Australian Army showed an epidemic wave that moved from France to England. Purulent bronchitis may have been the clinical expression of infection with a novel influenza virus which also could have been a direct precursor of the 1918 pandemic strain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This data set consists of vascular plant and bryophyte species composition and plant and soil biogeochemical data from 153 acid grasslands located in the Atlantic biogeographic region of Europe. Data were collected between 2002 and 2007. The grasslands all belong to the Violion caninae association and were managed by grazing or cutting but had not received fertilizer inputs. These data provide plant composition from five randomly located 2 × 2 m quadrats at each site with all vascular plants and bryophytes identified to species level with cover estimates for each species. Topsoil and subsoil were collected in each quadrat, and data are provided for pH, metal concentrations, nitrate and ammonium concentrations, total carbon and N, and Olsen extractable phosphorus. Aboveground plant tissues were collected for three species (Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus, Galium saxatile, and Agrostis capillaris), and data are provided for percentage N, carbon, and phosphorus. These data have already been used in a number of research papers focusing on the impacts of atmospheric N deposition on grassland plant community and biogeochemistry. The unique data set presented here provides the opportunity to test, theories about the effect of environmental variation on plant communities, biogeochemistry, and plant-soil interactions, as well as spatial ecology and biogeography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outlines the changes that the 'European Journal of Biochemistry' (EJB) took during 2002. Introduction of a complete electronic online submission/review process; Publication of all articles online in advance of compilation of the paper issue of the journal; Changes and expansion of the editorial board; Increase penetration and visibility of EJB through online versions.