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Immigrant minority (IM) languages have a significant presence in certain European regions. Nonetheless, these languages are not usually included in the school curriculum. This paper aims to analyse the studies published between 2010 and 2020 considering IM languages in multilingual European education contexts. The method included a search of academic papers published in the databases ERIC, Web of Science and Scopus, which yielded 42 studies. The studies were analysed by considering: (1) the demographic characteristics of the countries where the studies were conducted, (2) the sociolinguistic or psycholinguistic focus of the papers in relation to the European country, and (3) the characteristics of the bi-multilingual education programme including IM languages. The results indicate that: (1) the demographic characteristics of the country are not strictly related to the number of studies published, (2) most studies have a sociolinguistic approach even though many studies analyse both sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic factors, and (3) only seven multilingual education programmes including IM languages were described in these papers. We conclude that there is a lack of research focusing on IM languages in educational settings and discuss how addressing these gaps could create opportunities for building equitable multilingual communities in Europe.

The adoption of a system based on cycles has been one of the core action lines in the Bologna Process. It represents the base for promoting student mobility, employability, and international competitiveness. The implementation of the degree-cycle system -- conditioned by the achievement of other policy objectives (i.e. ECTS) -- started hot debates on multiple levels including on the relevance of different study stages, or the extent to which the curricular emphasis would differ between the two levels. After almost two decades since the reform has been introduced, rather than looking at the state of implementation, current research should focus on how the reform has been implemented and what are its effects. By using the Romanian case as an illustration of the situation in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), this paper aims to answer the following questions: to what extent have the intentions and expectations linked to the introduction of a tiered structure of degrees have been fulfilled and what are some the (unintended) effects of such reforms? Based on a series of interviews done in November 2017 with academic staff, student representatives and decision-makers from Romania, this paper presents an analysis of the deliberate intentions and expectations of the introduction of the degree structure. The conclusions show that issues related to (1) financing; (2) quality (3) access and participation; (4) content and curricula (5) career path and opportunities after graduation are the main implications of the implementation of the degree-cycle system.

In the last two decades the web expansion from web of things to web of thought presents a real provocation for governments across societies to achieve citizens' expectations. The transition from e-government to digital government from reactive to proactive service delivery mechanisms is one of the governments main challenges worldwide. The aim of this paper is to analyse the readiness of governments across Europe for the transition from the traditional e-government to digital government. In the paper the digital government is analyzed comparatively with the e-government and focusing on the main differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The competition of civilizations forced the European universities to adapt to the competition with the Chinese and American universities. European integration cannot advance without the collaboration between European universities. An answer to these challenges is the CIVICA project, the European University of Social Sciences, a consortium of the following universities: Bocconi University (Italy), Central European University (Hungary), European University Institute (European Intergovernmental Organization), Hertie School of Governance (Germany), The National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (Romania), Sciences Po (France) and the School of Economics in Stockholm (Sweden). This experiment aims to become one of the European pilot universities, in the first round of applications for Erasmus+ in February 2019. The experiment takes into consideration the most important resource of a country: the human resource. The network of universities that are part of the CIVICA consortium will group approximately 38,000 students, 7,000 teachers and 3,000 people from the administrative apparatus. The London School of Economics is part of the CIVICA consortium, as an associate partner. At the Bucharest conference, the public presentation of the consortium and its objectives, the rectors of the seven universities set out to educate the future generations of professionals in social sciences, in order to solve the most pressing problems of the world. Creating a European identity is essentially the long-term, fundamental objective of the CIVICA consortium. In the context of this conference, we interviewed a few representatives of CIVICA, and their answers will be analyzed in this paper's section dedicated to the results of the research.

In European post-socialistic countries or more commonly known as Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries, regardless of their differences and specifics, the common communist and post-communist legacies in the field of educational sciences are still recognisable. The aim of this article is to explore research activity in the educational sciences in 15 CEE countries: 11 EU member states and 4 from the former Yugoslav Republic in the period from 1996 to 2013. The purpose of this research is to recognise the specificity and dynamics of subject and content issues, and development of methodological approaches in the educational science research. The sample consists of abstracts of 2,395 papers by CEE authors published in 265 journals indexed in Scopus between 1996 and 2013. Content analysis was applied, where the abstracts were grouped into specifically created categories describing the content and methods of the paper and analysed on the basis of two criterion variables -- CEE and non-CEE or international journals. The ?[superscript 2] test showed that the field of educational sciences in 15 European post-socialist countries changed over time in terms of quantity, content and methods, becoming more expansive and diverse, which is recognisable in papers published both in international and in CEE journals.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of a variety of levels of education, namely, high school, vocational and university education, on the probability of being employed in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Design/methodology/approach: The data are from two waves of the Life-in-Transition Survey that covers 29 post-communist transitional countries. The number of binary logistic models is estimated to quantify the effects of different types of education on the likelihood of being employed, while controlling for different sets of covariates. Findings: The findings reveal that the effect of employment associated with university education is higher than that of vocational education, which in turn is higher than that of high school education. However, the differences between the effects of the various levels of education are not considerable. Any specific level of education is always associated with a higher effect in Eastern Europe as compared to the former Soviet Union. The effect of education is also found to be higher for females than for males. In the former Soviet Union, the positive effect of university and vocational education on employment is found to go down with age. Originality/value: This is the first study which compares effect of different types of education on probability of being employed on a diverse sample of 29 post-communist countries over the period of five years.

This study involves 35 research participants: 20 immigrant parents (primarily mothers from South America, North Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East) and 15 primary school children, aged 10-11. These children were born outside Italy and primary school was their first encounter with the Italian educational system. We observed their processes of integration through their stories and those of their parents. Our investigation aims to identify factors that support or inhibit their school integration. We adopt an ecological research paradigm, proposing a vision of knowledge as rooted in natural life contexts, focusing on subjectivity. Analysis of the data led to identification of core categories concerning these families' experiences and their children's encounters with Italian schools. This paper focuses on the children's perspectives of their experiences with school.

Purpose - This paper aims to investigate the development of accounting academia in an emerging country situated in Central and Eastern Europe. Design/methodology/approach - First, the authors analyze publications in the main three local Romanian journals dedicated to accounting, using content analysis and statistical tests in line with the issues analyzed for accounting publications in the international literature. Second, they mobilize personal experience of, and observations of local developments by, the authors. Findings - The authors find that the decision of establishing a national journal ranking system in Romania in 2005 had both positive and negative consequences. Romanian accounting academics were asked after 2005 to focus on a very short notice on writing research papers, following a long period of communism and about 15 years of post-communism during which they wrote textbooks and professional papers. Journal and university rankings therefore influenced the publication behavior of such researchers, leading to searches for efficiency, ease of publications, publications outside accounting as well as to a difficult publication of their research outcome by internationally relevant accounting journals. Research limitations/implications - Publications in the three Romanian accounting journals for one year were analyzed and the personal experience of the authors mobilized. However, following this study, university administrators and national regulators can better ascertain the effect of their actions, and use these findings to better plan their future actions. Originality/value - This paper contributes to accounting research literature by offering insights into the current state of accounting research and publication in an emerging economy (Romania), and by investigating the institutional factors that may be responsible for this state of affairs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The imperative conditions for sustainable development both in Europe and around the world, waste collection is a fundamental goal, one way to achieve this is to develop circular economies. In this context, the paper analyzes the evolutions of the recycling rate of packaging waste by type of packaging in Romania compared to the 27 states of the European Union, as well as to other states in Europe. The analysis revealed that, among the 30 states included in the analysis, Romania moved from 28th place in 2006 to 23rd place in 2018, but is still quite far from the European Union average. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introduction provides some insights on this special issue of Mortality, entitled Dying and Death in Former Communist European Countries, setting the issue against the general background of death studies and, more specifically, of death studies in eastern European countries. Some relevant references to the Dying and Death in 18th-21st Century Europe International Conference, organised in Romania, at the '1 Decembrie 1918ʹ University of Alba Iulia, Romania, between 2007 and 2019, are also made. The rationale and also the limitations of this special issue are brought into attention. The papers that form this issue are briefly presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the paper was to study the effects of the Russian -Ukrainian conflict on Romanian inflation using the energy shock's pass-through effect to inflation in Europe after the invasion. A monthly time series dataset is used for econometric analysis, and the data was collected from EUROSTAT, IMF and BNR databases. Using a Cochrane-Orcutt AR (1) regression with iterated estimates that control for autocorrelated error terms, we measured how variations in the price of coal, gas, and oil affected the harmonized consumer price index (HCPI). Our results suggest that oil price increases will lead to an increase in HIPC in Romania. Gas prices had an inverse relationship with HIPC in the analyzed period. The data however did not suggest a relation between coal price and inflation, in the studied period. The energy shock that occurred in Europe accounted in higher prices for gasoline, heating, and electricity on the short run, but there is no evidence that this inflationary pressure will affect long run household inflation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2015 refugee crisis has held the attention of Romanian news media, as one of the most challenging issues for the European Union in the last decade, even though Romania is not situated on the main routes on which refugees arrive. Our research focuses on the variation of issue-specific news frames in time, according to media type, and by the countries covered, also addressing the locally salient issue of religion. Articles from the websites of the top-ranked six Romanian news outlets were analyzed, including three quality papers and three tabloids (N=6,183), from 1 April 2015 to 30 September 2017. Using a computer-assisted, cluster-based frame analysis, we identify six primary, mutually exclusive and six secondary, nonexclusive frames: European crisis, context/victimization, relocation/distribution, international conflict, and social problem, national costs, religious issues, US immigration policy, humanitarian/international. The variations in their salience follow the general European tendency toward securitization. At the same time, the emphasis on the issue as a European crisis indicates a tendency characteristic of Central and Eastern European media coverage. Co-occurrence patterns of frames and specific countries also indicate that the salience of some globally recurrent frames varies by countries covered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of graduates from universities or higher education institutions increased in the last 30 years in Europe, but not in the same pace as their absorption rates on the labor market in their fields of study. Understanding the paradigms in which higher institutions' work is important in relation to their structure, teaching staff, curriculum and opportunities for students. Our analysis focuses on the reasons why students choose a faculty of Geography and assesses their perception regarding the educational process and employability. The results emphasize as main motivation the passion for Geography, while the location in Bucharest plays an important role also. The results underlined that students felt that they should have been more involved in research activities or they should have been given the opportunity to work in part-time jobs during their studies. The findings of our paper correspond with the social and economic context as the youth who arrive in a big city, such as Bucharest, are more interested to find a job and produce an income, putting their studies on the second place. These aspects emphasize the need for creating a stronger connection between the higher education institution and the labour market actors and the need to adjust the curricula according to employers' requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the main findings regarding the role of women entrepreneurs in Europe specifically, and how the influence of alternative forms of finance and networking support helped their business development. The main results show that, even though women are considered one of the greatest powers of macro environment development, they are not aware of the possibilities of financing their business and they do not trust the women networks to have business with. -consider revising [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a short analysis of the ecclesiological and missiological context that led to the establishment of the Romanian Pentecostal Agency for Foreign Mission (APME). It states the main steps in the process of the development of the organization in its first decade of existence (2006–2016), during which it became one of the youngest and most dynamic missionary structures in Europe. It describes the process of the birth of APME and the important role the founding team played in the existence of the agency and in articulating the mission, vision, values, and work philosophy. The main section will present the components of APME's work strategy which led to implementing the vision and reaching the objectives: mobilizing the churches, recruiting, training, sending, supporting missionaries, and promoting the ministry. A short section will show the crucial importance of internal and foreign partnerships in the activity of APME. In the final part we will list the main lessons learned in the ten years of APME's existence that can be shared with other mission organizations, as well as the challenges that the organization faces over the next few years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Standard-based management is a research field that received a lot of attention in the latest years. Implementation of ISO standards of management systems brings multiple benefits to organizations that adopt a standard-based management. Increasing of the consistency of business operations, improvement of customer satisfaction, or increasing in the overall efficiency of an organization are only some of those benefits. The current paper examines the extent to which organizations in Romania and in Central and Eastern Europe value importance of certification to ISO management system standards. For this purpose it analyzes the data collected by the annual ISO survey 2015, for the last six years, to identify evolutions and changes in ISO certifications of organizations in different European countries. The paper results show encouraging perspectives regarding importance given by Romanian organizations to ISO management systems certification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper seeks to contribute to the better knowledge of the parental rocks of different soil types that are found in Romania, as well as their share in the country's territory. During its geological-geographical evolution, on Romania’s territory various geological (petrographic) formations have been formed, from crystalline rocks to loams, sands, fluvial and organic deposits. Because the types of rocks are numerous and their territorial distribution changes in narrower areas, the paper aims to group them according to their associating mode, genesis, as well as to their contribution to soil formation. The paper introduces a new map of solification rocks in Romania, scale 1:1.000.000, which aims not only to their theoretical classification, but also to determine the surfaces occupied by each category, and their distribution on the country's major relief units. In addition to the new map, achieved after the processing and updating of different cartographical materials using GIS techniques, information regarding the soil types formed on each category of parental rocks is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism destinations associated with the place myth phenomena often experience increased visitation and marketing opportunities. Considering the popularity of the Dracula myth worldwide, Romania has a great opportunity to improve its image as a unique destination on the international tourism market. Thus, the present study aims to analyze the exploitation of the Dracula myth in the Romanian tourism context, as well as the managerial and marketing implications of such an approach. It begins with an overview of the imaginary and historical links between Romania and the Dracula myth. Further on, it reviews the national initiatives to develop Dracula tourism, from both private and governmental perspectives. The paper concludes by highlighting the opportunities of developing Dracula tourism in Romania and embracing the Dracula myth as a unique competitive advantage of the country as a tourism destination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper represents a synthetic exposure in critical note of some aspects of fiscal policy after the economic crisis in Romania. The paper aimed to analyze several topics related to taxation that are found in current debates in Romania, in the context of the need to establish a coherent legal framework compatible with sustainable economic growth. I considered pointing the moral aspects related to taxation, analysis of the tax-expenditure tandem and criticize the prevalence of the Keynesian approach to fiscal policy in Romania. From the research method point of view, the approach is a qualitative one, in a praxeological note based on economic argumentation. This paper is not intended to provide advice on fiscal policy, but to expose the necessary ideas for understanding its implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Europe has changed, the world has changed. The 21st century brings new challenges and new opportunities. The interaction of economies and peoples worldwide, whether by communication, trade, migration, shared security, concerns or cultural exchange, is in constant evolution. In such a globalised world, Europe needs to be competitive to secure economic growth and more and better jobs, in order to achieve an overall sustainable development. Climate change calls for a response that must be both global and local. Demographic change has shifted some of the old certainties about the patterns of how society works. New security threats call for new strategies and policies. In all these areas, Europe needs to be equipped for change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European farmlands are vital arenas for socio-ecological sustainability because of their significant land coverage and potential for integrating food production with biodiversity conservation. The knowledge produced by scientific research is a critical ingredient in developing and implementing socio-economically and ecologically sustainable management strategies for farming landscapes. The grasslands of Europe have been managed for millennia. They have exceptional socio-cultural and economic value and are among the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world. The quality of scientific knowledge on them and its potential to address grasslands as complex socio-ecological systems is strongly dependent not only on the creativity and scientific ambition of the researcher, but also on the network around the researcher (including both academic and non-academic sectors). The goal of this study is to map the research network around Romania’s grasslands using bibliometrics analysis, a well-developed scientific domain that utilizes network theory to analyze relationships between affiliations networks, co-authorship networks, and co-word analysis. The number of studies targeting grasslands in Romania is increasing, owing mostly to international involvement. However, management of the grasslands is still deficient and the contribution of science to the process is virtually absent. The current research is mainly related to the biological and ecological characteristics of grasslands, with topics related to their management notably absent from internationally visible research, especially in the context of EU Common Agricultural Policies. To increase scientific inquiry and better inform the EU and local policies on grasslands management, Romanian researchers should capitalize on international collaborations and local academic leaders. Our findings can be used to identify research gaps and to improve collaboration and knowledge exchange between practitioners, researchers, policy makers, and stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Populism is on the rise in Europe; this is a fact attested by the success of populist parties in recent elections (regional, national, European). Populists' electoral performance can be explained from a variety of perspectives, depending on the focus of the analysis; e.g. ideological, socio-economic, political factors. This paper aims to contribute insightful observations to the attempts to show how these parties have managed to score so well in elections by analyzing the communication and discursive practices used by populist politicians. I will focus on examining elements of populist rhetoric used by populist politicians, as well as by mainstream politicians in televised debates and election posters from the 2014 European Parliament election campaign in Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays we are witnessing a transition period, a post new regionalism period in which both states and regions are trying to find the most sustainable methods in order to ensure the life quality of their citizens. This post new regionalism was generated by the economic and financial crisis that affected Europe, in which states found not only national responses, but also local, and regional ones. The present paper's aim is to develop a glibly analysis over the issue of regionalization in Romania, especially in the frontier regions, as this subject has created national debates over the number, the extension and the criteria that is being used for the development ot these restions, stiven the fact that Romania was already administratively divided in counties in which emerged cultural and, historical distinctiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Healthcare-associated infections can occur in different care units and can affect both patients and healthcare professionals. Bacteria represent the most common cause of nosocomial infections and, due to the excessive and irrational use of antibiotics, resistant organisms have appeared. The most important healthcare-associated infections are central line-associated bloodstream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, surgical site, soft tissue infections, ventilator-associated pneumonia, hospital acquired pneumonia, and Clostridioides difficile colitis. In Europe, some hospitalized patients develop nosocomial infections that lead to increased costs and prolonged hospitalizations. Healthcare-associated infection prevalence in developed countries is lower than in low-income and middle-income countries such as Romania, an Eastern European country, where several factors contribute to the occurrence of many nosocomial infections, but official data show a low reporting rate. For the rapid identification of bacteria that can cause these infections, fast, sensitive, and specific methods are needed, and they should be cost-effective. Therefore, this review focuses on the current situation regarding healthcare-associated infections in Europe and Romania, with discussions regarding the causes and possible solutions. As a possible weapon in the fight against the healthcare-associated infections, the diagnosis methods and tests used to determine the bacteria involved in healthcare-associated infections are evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is investigating the cultural sources of the identity characterizing the eastern part of the European continent. After defining the concerned geographical region, which is usually called Central and Eastern Europe, its historical evolution is analyzed in order to see where the break-up point between Central and Eastern Europe occurred, somewhere during the communist rule and the post-communist era. As an illustration of this, the Romanian political relation with Russian is chronologically presented. Then, the current perspectives for a certain Eastern European identity in the region are presented. The conclusion is that, at present Eastern European identity is very much related to Russia, under the influence of geopolitical disputes, although some cultural elements are still present in countries which oppose Russia's current Eurasian regional project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To date, a multi-country review evaluating the cost-of-illness (COI) studies from the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region has not yet been published. Our main objective was to provide a general description about published COI studies from CEE.Methods: A systematic search was performed between 1 January 2006 and 1 June 2017 in Medline, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and Web of Science to identify all relevant COI studies from nine CEE countries. COI studies reporting costs without any restrictions by age, co-morbidities, or treatment were included. Methodology, publication standards, and cost results were analysed.Results: We identified 58 studies providing 83 country-specific COI results: Austria (n = 9), Bulgaria (n = 16), Croatia (n = 3), the Czech Republic (n = 10), Hungary (n = 24), Poland (n = 11), Romania (n = 3), Slovakia (n = 3), and Slovenia (n = 4). Endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases (18%), neoplasms (12%), infections (11%), and neurological disorders (11%) were the most frequently studied clinical areas, and multiple sclerosis was the most commonly studied disease. Overall, 57 (98%) of the studies explicitly stated the source of resource use data, 45 (78%) the study perspective, 34 (64%) the costing method, and 24 (58%) reported at least one unit costs. Regardless of methodological differences, a positive relationship was observed between costs of diseases and countries' per capita GDP.Conclusions: Cost-of-illness studies varied considerably in terms of methodology, publication practice, and clinical areas. Due to these heterogeneities, transferability of the COI results is limited across Central and Eastern European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Decreasing gender differences in mental health are found largely in countries in which the roles of men and women have improved in terms of opportunities for employment, education, child care and other indicators of increasing gender equality. In this study, we examine how European welfare regimes influence this association between mental health and the social roles that men and women occupy. Methods The EU-World Mental Health data are used, which covers the general population in 10 European countries (n = 37 289); Countries were grouped into four welfare regions: Liberal regime (Northern Ireland), Bismarckian regime (Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and France), Southern regime (Spain, Italy, Portugal) and Central-Eastern regime (Romania and Bulgaria). The lifetime prevalence of mood, anxiety and alcohol disorders was determined by using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview 3.0. Overall prevalence rates along with odds ratios by means of bivariate logistic regression models are calculated to compare the presence of common mental disorders in women versus men per welfare regime. Results Overall prevalence of common mental disorders is highest in the Liberal regime and lowest in the Central/Eastern regime. The gender gap in mental disorders is largest in the Southern regime and smallest in the Liberal regime. Marital status and certain employment positions help to explain variation in mental disorders across and within welfare regimes. Conclusion Most prominent pathways linking gender to mental ill-health being are related to marital status and certain employment positions. However, these pathways also show substantial variation across welfare regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the way in which Romanian online media had covered the refugees which had entered in Europe between June 2015 and October 2016. The content analysis of the articles enclosed in the sample allowed us to identify the main perspectives (economic, geopolitical, delinquency, security, religious, ethnic, humanitarian, human rights) associated with refugees in Romanian media. The authors have attempted to identify the ways in which online media journalists in Romania have used these perspectives. The main focus of analysis was on the types of articles (opinion articles, reports, interviews), the sources used in reporting, the use of images, the type of media (newspaper, aggregate sites, TV sites). The analysis had pointed out the fact that journalists represented refugees using mainly the geopolitical, humanitarian and human rights perspectives. Also, in the case of this topic media used more photographs with refugees and less videos, drawings, graphics or maps related to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, out of 185 countries, Romania holds the 59th position as regards the relative importance of this sector to the total contribution to GDP. Europe is the most important tourist destination in the world, having the greatest number of international visitors each year and a market share of 51% in 2017. However, Romania is not adaptable enough to attract foreign citizens, losing the competition with the countries in the region and continuing to be a transit country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The activity of ceftazidime/avibactam was assessed against 5716 Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates collected from 96 medical centres in 18 European countries as part of the International Network for Optimal Resistance Monitoring (INFORM) global surveillance programme from 2012 to 2015. Activity was analysed against subsets of isolates based on resistance phenotypes and β-lactamase content.Methods: Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by broth microdilution and β-lactamase genes were detected by PCR screening and sequencing.Results: Ceftazidime/avibactam was highly active in vitro against the overall collection of P. aeruginosa isolates and colistin-resistant isolates (92.4% and 92.9% susceptible, respectively). Although activity was slightly reduced against MBL-negative subsets of ceftazidime-non-susceptible (79.6% susceptible), meropenem-non-susceptible (85.1% susceptible) and MDR (81.6% susceptible) P. aeruginosa, ceftazidime/avibactam remained the second most active entity, after colistin, compared with all other comparator agents tested. At the country level, susceptibility to ceftazidime/avibactam ranged from 74.6% to 99.6%, with decreased susceptibilities only observed in countries where MBLs are more frequently encountered, such as the Czech Republic, Greece, Romania and Russia. Ceftazidime/avibactam was also active in vitro against 87.6% of meropenem-non-susceptible isolates in which no acquired β-lactamases were detected by molecular methods; these isolates were assumed to hyperproduce the chromosomally encoded AmpC in combination with alterations in OprD or drug efflux. As expected, ceftazidime/avibactam was not active against isolates carrying MBLs.Conclusions: The data show that ceftazidime/avibactam is highly potent in vitro against clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa collected in European countries, including isolates that exhibit resistance to ceftazidime, meropenem and colistin and combined resistance to agents from multiple drug classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The activity of ceftazidime/avibactam was assessed against 24 750 isolates of Enterobacteriaceae collected from 96 medical centres in 18 European countries as part of the International Network for Optimal Resistance Monitoring (INFORM) global surveillance programme from 2012 to 2015. Activity was analysed against subsets of isolates based on resistant phenotypes and β-lactamase content.Methods: Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed using broth microdilution and the presence of β-lactamase genes in isolates of interest was determined using PCR and sequencing.Results: Ceftazidime/avibactam was the most active agent, compared with all other tested comparator agents, against the overall collection of Enterobacteriaceae isolates (99.4% susceptible) and against subsets of ceftazidime-non-susceptible (97.7% susceptible), colistin-resistant (98.2% susceptible), MDR (96.7% susceptible) and meropenem-non-susceptible, MBL-negative (98.5% susceptible) isolates. At the country level, susceptibility to ceftazidime/avibactam ranged from 96.3% to 100% among Enterobacteriaceae isolates, with decreased susceptibilities only observed in countries where MBLs were more frequently encountered (e.g. Greece and Romania). Ceftazidime/avibactam was active against 99.7% of Enterobacteriaceae isolates that carried serine β-lactamases, including ESBLs, AmpC cephalosporinases and carbapenemases (KPC, GES and OXA-48-like) in all combinations. As expected, ceftazidime/avibactam was not active against isolates carrying MBLs.Conclusions: The data show that ceftazidime/avibactam is highly potent in vitro against clinical isolates of Enterobacteriaceae collected in European countries, including isolates that exhibit resistance to ceftazidime, meropenem and colistin and combined resistance to agents from multiple drug classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background While some WHO European Region countries are global tobacco control leaders, the South Eastern region of Europe has the highest tobacco smoking prevalence globally and a relatively low level of overall implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). An abridged version of SimSmoke has been developed to project the health impact of implementing tobacco control policies in line with the WHO FCTC. Methods Data on population size, smoking prevalence, policy-specific effect sizes and formulas were applied in 11 South Eastern WHO European Region countries [Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska), Bulgaria, Croatia, Israel, Montenegro, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia] to project the relative reduction in smoking prevalence, number of smokers and number of smoking-attributable deaths resulting from implementing individual and/or combined six WHO FCTC measures. Results For all countries, an increase in excise cigarette taxes to 75% of price yields the largest relative reduction in smoking prevalence (range 8–28%). The projections show that within 15 years smoking prevalence can be reduced by at least 30% in all countries when all six tobacco control measures are fully implemented in line with the WHO FCTC. Conclusion The projections show that large health effects can be achieved and the results can be used as an advocacy tool towards acceleration of the enforcement of tobacco control laws in WHO European Region countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) have produced numerous global burden of disease (GBD) estimates since the 1990s, using disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs). Here we attempt to identify studies that have either independent DALY estimates or build on the work of WHO and IHME, for the WHO European Region, categorize them by scope of disease analysis and geographic coverage, and briefly compare their methodology (age weighting, discounting and disability weights). Methods Google and Google Scholar were used with the search terms ‘DALY’, ‘national burden of disease’, Member State names and researcher’s names, covering all years. Studies were categorized as: ‘specific’ (fewer than five disease categories or just risk factors for a single country), ‘specific, multicountry’ (fewer than five disease categories or just risk factors for more than one country), ‘extensive’ (covering five or more but not all disease categories for one country), ‘full, sub country’ (covering all relevant disease categories for part of one country) and ‘full, country’ (covering all relevant disease categories for one country). Results A total of 198 studies were identified: 143 ‘specific’, 26 ‘specific, multicountry’, 7 ‘extensive’, 10 ‘full, sub country’ and 12 ‘full, country’ [England (1), Estonia (2), France (1), Romania (1), Serbia (1), Spain (3), Sweden (2) and Turkey (1)]. About 5 (20%) of the 25 examinable ‘extensive’, ‘full, sub country’ and ‘full, country’ studies calculated DALYs using GBD 2010 methodology. Conclusions Independent burden of diseases studies in Europe have been located, and categorized by scope of disease analysis and geographic coverage. Methodological choices varied between independent ‘full, country’ studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the relation between average net wage, urbanization rate, women density, life expectancy, medical infrastructure and medical human resources, and the incidence of total, insulin, and non - insulin diabetes among Romanians. We fitted three panel regression models with interaction terms using official data comprising of 41 Romanian counties analysed between 2007 and 2014. After controlling for age groups, we found that the share of women in the overall population moderates the influence of salary level on diabetes incidence for the total and non - insulin groups, while for the insulin - dependent category, urbanization rate was positively associated with the number of newly recorded patients. Health infrastructure was relevant only for the total, and the insulin - dependent categories. Our results are in line with the sizeable disparities in diabetes that exist within other European countries and are useful for regional decision-makers planning adequate healthcare services and target proper risk groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of the present work is to provide a more comprehensive picture of the Romanian energy system, a special attention being given to the emerging renewable sources. As a first step, different indexes will be considered to highlight the structure of the electricity portfolios, from which the authors mention electricity access and consumption and the dioxide emissions. The obtained results will be discussed at both regional and European levels, by taking also into account the share of electricity coming from renewable sources. If one discusses about renewables, it is important to mention that most of the Romanian projects are located onshore, but since there is access to the Black Sea, the benefits coming from a marine project need also to be discussed. Finally, the authors conclude that the Romanian energy market is defined by various opportunities and challenges and, using the renewable sources, it will be possible to build a sustainable energy industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an introduction to the special thematic section on political mobilization in East Central Europe. Based on a brief presentation of the main arguments of the individual articles, the authors discuss the recent political volatility in East Central Europe. They highlight the tension between fierce political rhetoric and populist policies on the one hand, and low levels of voter turnout and overall political participation in the region on the other. The authors argue that recent cases of successful as well as unsuccessful political mobilization in East Central Europe point to structural re-alignments in the region’s political landscape. In particular, the parties that are successful are those that manage to communicate their visions in new ways and whose messages resonate with nested attitudes and preferences of the electorate. These parties typically rally against the so-called establishment and claim for themselves an anti-hegemonic agenda. The introductory essay also asserts that these developments in East Central Europe deserve attention for their potential Europe-wide repercussions – especially the idea of “illiberal democracy,” which combines populist mobilization and autocratic demobilization and finds adherents also in more established European democracies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The comparative advantage and intra-industry trade of five countries: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Turkey, are analyzed in the global textile and clothing markets by employing Balassa's revealed comparative advantage (RCA) index and intraindustry trade (IIT) index for the period 2002-2013. The results have revealed that while Turkey is the only one among the countries selected to have comparative advantage in the global textile market, Romania joins Turkey in this in the world's clothing market. The comparative advantage of these two countries in the global clothing market presents a stronger declining trend compared to that in textiles, which is probably due to the entrance of cheap-labour eastern Asian countries into the global clothing market, as this market is more labor-intensive compared to textiles. Moreover, while a high intra-industry trade index is found in Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, an inter-industry trade structure is observed in Romania for textiles and clothing. Turkey presents intra-industry specialisation in textiles, while possessing inter-industry trade structure in terms of clothing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I approach the mobilization of women outside the realm of politics and inside NGOs in Romania and Poland, by analyzing some of the most important contextual elements that shaped their activities, interests or causes. In this manner, I present both similarities and differences between the communist legacies in the two countries, the effects of democratization and economic change, the civil society development and Western funding, elements of national culture, as well as transnational and EU actors. Issues such as interactions with the political sphere, network building and alliances, as well as differences between Western and Eastern countries are described throughout this endeavor. Conclusions are then drawn to stress out how different contextual elements have impacted women's movements in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary Poland and Romania are closely connected countries, both being members in the EU and NATO and situated on the eastern flank of the Euro-Atlantic world. Most Romanians have a favorable vision of Poland and Polish people and there is a historic tradition of friendship and cooperation. The diplomatic bilateral relations were established in 1919, at the level of „legation" and later in 1938 at the level of Embassy. Now they are both EU and NATO states, situated on the eastern flank of these organizations. They are disturbed by Russia's territorial revisionism and would like to see a coherent West protecting the Helsinki status quo. Romania and Poland want to develop the political, economic, securoty and cultural cooperation but they must overcome some bureaucratic, mentality and material obstacles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]