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Background: Involvement of young partners by experience in research is on the rise and becoming expected practice. However, literature on how to promote equitable and meaningful involvement of young people is scarce. The purpose of this paper is to describe and reflect on different approaches between researchers and young partners by experience based on six research projects conducted in Canada, Netherlands, and United Kingdom. Methods: From six exemplar research projects, at least one researcher and one young partner by experience were asked to collaboratively (1) describe the project; (2) summarise the values and practicalities of the project; and (3) reflect on their partnership. Thematic analysis was applied to the findings from these reflective exercises, which included meeting summaries, recordings, and notes. Results: All projects shared similar values, including mutual respect between all team members. Young partners were offered a variety of opportunities and approaches to being involved, for example in recruiting participants, co-analysing or (co-)presenting results. Supports were provided to the teams in a variety of ways, including organizing accessible meetings and having dedicated facilitators. Regular and proactive communication was encouraged by using asynchronous modes of communication, establishing reference documents, and a personal approach by facilitators. Facilitators aimed to tailor the needs of all team members by continuously discussing their preferred roles in the project. While most projects did not offer formal research training, various learning and skill development opportunities were provided throughout, including presenting skills or advocacy training. Conclusion: With this paper, we demonstrated the value of reflection, and we invite others to reflect on their partnerships and share their lessons learned. Our recommendations for involvement of young people in research are: (1) Remember that it is okay to not know what the partnership might look like and there is no single recipe of how to partner; (2) Take the time to invest in partnerships; (3) Provide ongoing opportunities to reflect on partnerships; (4) Consider how to balance the power dynamics; and (5) Consider how to incorporate diversity in the background of young partners in research. Plain English summary: In more and more projects, researchers and young people are working together in partnership; but there is little guidance about how to organize this partnership. In this paper, we share what partnerships in six projects from Canada, Netherlands, and United Kingdom looked like, so that others can be inspired. To do so, a researcher and a young partner from each project were asked to together: (1) describe their project, (2) summarize the practical details about the collaboration and (3) think about things that went well or could be improved. We found that all projects had the same beliefs important to partnerships, like having respect for each other. Young people could work on parts of the project they liked in a way that worked for them. They were supported by staff, could join meetings and were appreciated for their work. Clear communication during and in-between meetings was helpful. Youth were often asked about the role they wanted in the project. While there was often no formal training on how to do research, there were many opportunities to learn. We offer six recommendations to researchers and young people who want to partner together: (1) It is okay to not know what the partnership will look like and there is no single recipe of how to partner; (2) Take your time; (3) Discuss how the partnership is going; (4) Think about who is doing what and why; (5) Consider the diversity of young partners. We hope others will share their experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demand response (DR) can potentially provide a cost-efficient alternative for balancing the electricity grid by replacing fossil-fuelled power plants for the provision of flexible capacity. This paper aims to quantify the cost reduction potential of DR from a system perspective. Historical data of balancing markets are studied using regression and average bid price analysis to quantify the effect of the participation of DR resources on the price of flexible capacity for the provision of balancing reserves by focusing on two case studies in Great Britain and the Netherlands. It is estimated that DR bids are, on average, 35% lower than the market average. The regression analysis concluded that 1% higher participation of DR in balancing markets leads, on average, to a 2.7% lower prices for flexible capacity. The results verify the hypothesis that flexible DR capacity is offered at a lower price on balancing markets compared to conventional generation resources, resulting in lower costs for grid operators to balance the grid, thus reducing societal costs for electricity provision and overall emissions through the integration of low-carbon balancing resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces three new scales to measure left- and right-wing radical as well as general extremist attitudes that can be applied across Western European countries. We therefore propose a thorough conceptualization of extremist attitudes that consists of two dimensions: general extremism, by which we understand attitudes that oppose the constitutional democratic state, and another dimension that differentiates between right- and left-wing radicalism by which we understand people who take far-reaching but often one-sided positions on political issues (e.g., on nationalism or anti-imperialism) by advocating fundamental socio-political change. Based on data from Germany, Great Britain, and the Netherlands (n = 6,201) we created short indices for general extremism and left- and right-wing radicalism. We check for convergence validity by assessing the psychometric properties of the extracted indices, i.e. their internal coherence and the degree to which a scale is able to distinguish strongly extremist and non-extremist individuals. Finally, we correlate the scales with various constructs that are likely related to extremist attitudes in order to assure external or construct validity. The results indicate that the three scales are highly valid and applicable across three Western European countries. Overall, we find that about two to four percent of citizens in each country hold left-wing or right-wing extremist attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper investigates the impact of sustainability information disclosure on consumers' choice of order-to-delivery lead-time in relation to consumers' sustainability concern. Design/methodology/approach: Based on two choice experiments with participants from the Netherlands (n = 348) and the United Kingdom (n = 1,387), the impact of sustainability information disclosure was examined in connection with consumers' concerns for environmental and social sustainability. Information on environmental impact (carbon emission) and social impact (warehouse workers and drivers' well-being) was considered and compared. Findings: Disclosing sustainability impact information significantly increased consumers' preference and choice for longer delivery times, with equivalent effects for environmental and social impact information. Consumers' relevant (environmental or social) sustainability concern as personality traits enhanced effects on preferences, as did priming of environmental concern. Research limitations/implications: Future research may consider differences between product categories or e-commerce companies' reputation in sustainability activities. Practical implications: The findings provide opportunities for online retailers to influence consumer choice of delivery time, especially through disclosing environmental and/or social sustainability information. Originality/value: This study fills a gap in the literature on sustainability information disclosure to actively steer consumer choice of delivery time, particularly regarding the effect of social sustainability impact information in comparison to its environmental counterpart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The green bond market helps to mobilize financial sources toward sustainable investments. Green bonds are similar to conventional bonds but are specifically designed to raise money to finance environmental projects. The feature of green bonds is the existence of greenium, or the lower yield compared to "conventional" bonds of the same risk. The relevance of the paper is underpinned by the mixed evidence on the existence of 'greenium', especially in corporate green bond markets; there has been limited research on the topic and a narrow focus on global, US, or Chinese green bond markets. Instead, the greenium in European debt markets remains underexplored. The objective of this study is to investigate the existence of greenium and its key determinants in European corporate debt capital markets, including the local markets of the United Kingdom (UK), France, Netherlands, and Germany. The sample included 3851 corporate bonds, both green and conventional ones, between 2007 and 2021 from 33 European countries. Linear regression was applied for the analysis. The results show that the climate corporate bonds in Europe are priced at a discount to the same-risk conventional corporate bonds. The magnitude of greenium is around 3 bps. Determinants of greenium include the presence of an ESG rating and belonging to the utility and financial industry. The remaining drivers of bond yields in the European corporate debt market are the credit quality (expressed by the level of credit rating), the coupon size, the bond tenor, the market liquidity, and macroeconomic variables (growth of gross domestic product and consumer price index). For the local corporate debt markets, our results are controversial. In all markets under consideration except for the UK and the Netherlands, we did not find sustainable evidence of greenium. The results of the research lead to a better understanding of the green bond market for investors, researchers, regulators, and potential issuing companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world's elderly population is growing at a rapid pace. This has led to an increase in demand on the health and welfare systems due to age-related disorders, with musculoskeletal complaints driving the need for rehabilitation services. However, there are concerns about health services' ability to meet this demand. While chiropractic care is gaining recognition for its benefits in treating older adults with musculoskeletal disorders, there is limited scientific literature on chiropractors' role and experiences in this area. To bridge this gap, we interviewed 21 chiropractors in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. Inductive qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the interviews, and despite differences in integration and regulation between the countries, several common facilitators and barriers in caring for and managing older patients with musculoskeletal complaints emerged. While participants expressed optimism about future collaborations with other healthcare professionals and the integration of chiropractic into national healthcare systems, they also highlighted significant concerns regarding the existing healthcare infrastructure. The participants also felt that chiropractors, with their non-surgical and holistic approach, were well-positioned to be the primary point of contact for older patients. However, there were some common barriers, such as the affordability of care, limited integration of chiropractic, and the need to prioritise musculoskeletal complaints within public healthcare. Our findings suggest that chiropractors experience their clinical competencies as an underutilised resource in the available healthcare systems and that they could contribute to and potentially reduce the escalating burden of musculoskeletal complaints and associated costs among older patients. Additionally, our findings highlight the desire among the participants to foster collaboration among healthcare professionals and integrate chiropractic into the national public healthcare system. Integrating chiropractors as allied health professionals was also perceived to improve coordinated, patient-centred healthcare for older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: End-of-life (EoL) care volunteers in hospitals are a novel approach to support patients and their close ones. The iLIVE Volunteer Study supported hospital volunteer coordinators from five European countries to design and implement an EoL care volunteer service on general wards in their hospitals. This study aimed to identify and explore barriers and facilitators to the implementation of EoL care volunteer services in the five hospitals. Methods: Volunteer coordinators (VCs) from the Netherlands (NL), Norway (NO), Slovenia (SI), Spain (ES) and United Kingdom (UK) participated in a focus group interview and subsequent in-depth one-to-one interviews. A theory-inspired framework based on the five domains of the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) was used for data collection and analysis. Results from the focus group were depicted in radar charts per hospital. Results: Barriers across all hospitals were the COVID-19 pandemic delaying the implementation process, and the lack of recognition of the added value of EoL care volunteers by hospital staff. Site-specific barriers were struggles with promoting the service in a highly structured setting with many stakeholders (NL), negative views among nurses on hospital volunteering (NL, NO), a lack of support from healthcare professionals and the management (SI, ES), and uncertainty about their role in implementation among VCs (ES). Site-specific facilitators were training of volunteers (NO, SI, NL), involving volunteers in promoting the service (NO), and education and awareness for healthcare professionals about the role and boundaries of volunteers (UK). Conclusion: Establishing a comprehensive EoL care volunteer service for patients in non-specialist palliative care wards involves multiple considerations including training, creating awareness and ensuring management support. Implementation requires involvement of stakeholders in a way that enables medical EoL care and volunteering to co-exist. Further research is needed to explore how trust and equal partnerships between volunteers and professional staff can be built and sustained. Trial registration: NCT04678310. Registered 21/12/2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Many countries continue to experience pertussis epidemics despite widespread vaccination. Waning protection after booster vaccination has highlighted the need for a better understanding of the immunological factors that promote durable protection. Here we apply systems vaccinology to investigate antibody responses in adolescents in the Netherlands (N = 14; NL) and the United Kingdom (N = 12; UK) receiving a tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis-inactivated poliovirus (Tdap-IPV) vaccine. We report that early antiviral and interferon gene expression signatures in blood correlate to persistence of pertussis-specific antibody responses. Single-cell analyses of the innate response identified monocytes and myeloid dendritic cells (MoDC) as principal responders that upregulate antiviral gene expression and type-I interferon cytokine production. With public data, we show that Tdap vaccination stimulates significantly lower antiviral/type-I interferon responses than Tdap-IPV, suggesting that IPV may promote antiviral gene expression. Subsequent in vitro stimulation experiments demonstrate TLR-dependent, IPV-specific activation of the pro-inflammatory p38 MAP kinase pathway in MoDCs. Together, our data provide insights into the molecular host response to pertussis booster vaccination and demonstrate that IPV enhances innate immune activity associated with persistent, pertussis-specific antibody responses. Epidemics of whooping cough caused by Bordetella pertussis have been seen and are linked to waning immunity globally. Here the authors explore responses to inactivated poliovirus (IPV) in the Tdap-IPV vaccine and show it stimulates early antiviral responses in monocytes and dendritic cells that are associated with long-lived pertussis antibody responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A child's disability, long-term illness, or mental ill-health is known to affect siblings' health, social life, school engagement, and quality of life. This article addresses a research gap by its focus on young sibling carers and the impact of providing care to a sibling. A cross-national survey study was conducted in 2018–2019 (Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK) to examine the incidence of adolescent sibling carers, the extent of care they provide, and their self-reported health, well-being, and school situation. The survey was completed by 7146 adolescents, aged 15–17, and 1444 of them provided care to family members with health-related conditions. Out of these, 286 were identified as Sibling Carers and 668 as Parent Carers, while 181 had both sibling(s) and parent(s) with health-related conditions, and thus were identified as Sibling–Parent Carers. Sibling Carers and Sibling–Parent Carers carried out higher levels of caring activities compared to Parent Carers. They reported both positive aspects of caring, such as increased maturity, and negative aspects, such as mental ill-health, impact on schooling and a lack of support. To reduce the negative aspects of a sibling carer role, it is important to recognise them and to implement early preventive measures and formal support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patient and public involvement (PPI) is a critical priority in research, policy, academia and advocacy organizations. PPI in dementia research is gaining momentum. However, these efforts are missing in international projects aimed at those living with advanced dementia in long‐term care (LTC) homes. Additional complexities can arise in enacting PPI within the context of integration of a palliative approach to care and experiences around end‐of‐life in (EOL) dementia. The mySupport study involved implementing the Family Carer Decision Support (FCDS) intervention for care partners of those living with advanced dementia in LTC in six countries. Research Design and Objective: An interpretive description study was conducted to explore the perspectives of international researchers from six countries on engaging people with lived experiences of dementia and EOL care in research processes. The findings from this study informed the development of a PPI strategy and a subsequent toolkit for the FCDS intervention. Findings: Thirty‐eight interviews were completed with project researchers: 12 from the United Kingdom, 8 from Canada, 7 from Ireland, 4 each from Italy and The Netherlands and 3 from the Czech Republic. Four broad themes describe international researchers' perspectives on advancing methods of engagement for people with lived experiences of dementia and EOL in international PPI activities: (1) Groundwork to engage in research; (2) planning for research activities is key; (3) focus on meaningful engagement and (4) having foresight for practical issues shaping PPI. Discussion and Implications: International projects that involve PPI can present many sources of challenges. The findings in this study highlight important considerations for foundational work for incorporating PPI in international projects. Learning from world leaders and those with lived experiences in various regions can be insightful and help share tools and resources. Patient or Public Contribution: PPI was envisioned as a critical part of conducting the mySupport study. The findings from this study informed the development of a PPI strategy and an international Strategic Guiding Council that included family carers of those living with advanced dementia in LTC homes in six countries. This manuscript focused on the perspectives of researchers on their engagement with people with lived experiences of dementia and EOL. The perspectives of persons with lived experiences on engaging in the mySupport research study will be reported in a forthcoming manuscript. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a bibliometric analysis of the investigations of the last 54 years focused on the teaching of topology and its applications in the learning of other areas of knowledge was carried out. The articles that appear in the SCOPUS database were taken into account under the search criteria of the words topology and teaching, connected with the Boolean expression AND in the search field ABS. As a result, 329 articles were obtained which, based on the PRISMA methodology, were reduced to 74 papers. In them publication trends, impact of publications, citation frequencies, among others, were compared. In addition, its use was identified for learning topology at different levels of training, areas of knowledge where this discipline is most applied and strategies used to teach these applications.

Background: The value of a life is regularly monetised by government departments for informing resource allocation. Guidance documents indicate how economic evaluation should be conducted, often specifying precise values for different impacts. However, we find different values of life and health are used in analyses by departments within the same government despite commonality in desired outcomes. This creates potential inconsistencies in considering trade-offs within a broader public sector spending budget. We provide evidence to better inform the political process and to raise important issues in assessing the value of public expenditure across different sectors. Methods: Our document analysis identifies thresholds, explicitly or implicitly, as observed in government-related publications in the following public sectors: health, social care, transport, and environment. We include both demand-side and supply-side thresholds, understood as societies' and governments' willingness to pay for health gains. We look at key countries that introduced formal economic evaluation processes early on and have impacted other countries' policy development: Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. We also present a framework to consider how governments allocate resources across different public services. Results: Our analysis supports that identifying and describing the Value of a Life from disparate public sector activities in a manner that facilitates comparison is theoretically meaningful. The optimal allocation of resources across sectors depends on the relative position of benefits across different attributes, weighted by the social value that society puts on them. The value of a Quality-Adjusted Life Year is generally used as a demand-side threshold by Departments of transport and environment. It exceeds those used in health, often by a large enough proportion to be a multiple thereof. Decisions made across departments are generally based on an unspecified rationing rule. Conclusions: Comparing government expenditure across different public sector departments, in terms of the value of each department outcome, is not only possible but also desirable. It is essential for an optimal resource allocation to identify the relevant social attributes and to quantify the value of these attributes for each department. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Maternal death generates a great impact on public health, and it is recognized that its main cause is postpartum hemorrhage (PPH). Therefore, the objective was to analyze the bibliometric profile of the world scientific production on maternal mortality due to PPH. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Bibliometric study that included original articles indexed in Scopus, identified by means of a search strategy that included MESH terms and logical operators. Bibliometric indicators were estimated with the SciVal tool, and the VOSwiever program was used for co-occurrence networks by key terms and co-authorship by country. RESULTS: There has been an increase in the number of publications in the past 5 years. Regarding co-occurrence, the most frequent terms were "postpartum hemorrhage" and "maternal mortality." The United States and the United Kingdom are positioned as those with the highest density of publications; in addition, Australia evidences collaboration with Canada and South Korea. Publications with national collaboration were more frequent (36%). BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth is the most productive journal, although BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology has a higher normalized impact. The authors with the highest scientific output belong to an institution in the Netherlands. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Leiden University are the most productive. CONCLUSION: Scientific activity on maternal mortality due to PPH is increasing and its main means of dissemination are high-impact journals. National collaboration was more frequent, with the active participation of authors and institutions from the Netherlands and the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nursing competency frameworks describe the competencies; knowledge, skills and attitudes nurses should possess. Countries have their own framework. Knowledge of the content of professional competency frameworks in different countries can enhance the development of these frameworks and international collaborations. Objective: This study examines how competencies and task divisions are described in the current professional competency frameworks for registered nurses (RNs with a Bachelor's degree) in the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom (UK), Canada and the United States (US). Methods: Qualitative document analysis was conducted using the most recently published professional competency frameworks for registered nurses in the above-mentioned five countries. Results: All the competency frameworks distinguished categories of competencies. Three of the five frameworks explicitly mentioned the basis for the categorization: an adaptation of the CanMEDS model (Netherlands), European directives on the recognition of professional qualifications (Belgium) and an adapted inter-professional framework (US). Although there was variation in how competencies were grouped, we inductively identified ten generic competency domains: (1) Professional Attitude, (2) Clinical Care in Practice, (3) Communication and Collaboration, (4) Health Promotion and Prevention, (5) Organization and Planning of Care, (6) Leadership, (7) Quality and Safety of Care, (8) Training and (continuing) Education, (9) Technology and e-Health, (10) Support of Self-Management and Patient Empowerment. Country differences were found in some more specific competency descriptions. All frameworks described aspects related to the division of tasks between nurses on the one hand and physicians and other healthcare professionals on the other hand. However, these descriptions were rather limited and often imprecise. Conclusions: Although ten generic domains could be identified when analysing and comparing the competency frameworks, there are country differences in the categorizations and the details of the competencies described in the frameworks. These differences and the limited attention paid to the division of tasks might lead to cross-country differences in nursing practice and barriers to the international labour mobility of Bachelor-educated RNs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the causal impact that clinical risk factors have on healthcare-related costs is critical to evaluate healthcare interventions. Here, we used a genetically-informed design, Mendelian Randomization (MR), to infer the causal impact of 15 risk factors on annual total healthcare costs. We calculated healthcare costs for 373,160 participants from the FinnGen Study and replicated our results in 323,774 individuals from the United Kingdom and Netherlands. Robust causal effects were observed for waist circumference (WC), adult body mass index, and systolic blood pressure, in which a standard deviation increase corresponded to 22.78% [95% CI: 18.75-26.95], 13.64% [10.26-17.12], and 13.08% [8.84-17.48] increased healthcare costs, respectively. A lack of causal effects was observed for certain clinically relevant biomarkers, such as albumin, C-reactive protein, and vitamin D. Our results indicated that increased WC is a major contributor to annual total healthcare costs and more attention may be given to WC screening, surveillance, and mitigation. Understanding the causal impact that risk factors have on healthcare cost is critical to evaluate healthcare interventions. Here, authors show that waist circumference, body mass index, and blood pressure have robust causal impact on healthcare cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Supermarkets are the primary source of food for many people yet their full potential as a setting to encourage healthy dietary-related behaviours remains underutilised. Sharing the experiences from research groups who have worked with supermarket chains to evaluate strategies that promote healthy eating could improve the efficiency of building such relationships and enhance the design quality of future research studies. Methods: A collective case study approach was used to synthesise experiences of engaging and sustaining research collaborations with national supermarket chains to test the effectiveness of health-focused in-store interventions. The collective narrative covers studies conducted in three high-income countries: Australia, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Results: We have distilled our experiences and lessons learned into six recommendations for conducting high quality public health research with commercial supermarket chains. These include: (i) using personal contacts, knowledge of supermarket activities and engaging executive management to establish a partnership and allowing time to build trust; (ii) using scientifically robust study designs with appropriate sample size calculations; (iii) formalising data exchange arrangements and allocating adequate resource for data extraction and re-categorisation; (iv) assessing effects at individual/households level where possible; (v) designing a mixed-methods process evaluation to measure intervention fidelity, dose and unintended consequences; and (vi) ensuring scientific independence through formal contract agreements. Conclusions: Our collective experiences of working in non-financial partnerships with national supermarket chains could be useful for other research groups looking to develop and implement supermarket studies in an efficient manner. Further evidence from real-life supermarket interventions is necessary to identify sustainable strategies that can improve population diet and maintain necessary commercial outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background In Europe, more than 15 million people live with heart failure (HF). It imposes an enormous social, organizational and economic burden. As a reaction to impending impact on healthcare provision, different country-specific structures for HF-care have been established. The aim of this report is to provide an overview and compare the HF-care approaches of Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and the UK, and to open the possibility of learning from each other's experience. Methods A mixed methods approach was implemented that included a literature analysis, interviews and questionnaires with HF-patients and caregivers, and expert interviews with representatives from healthcare, health service research and medical informatics. Results The models of HF-care in all countries analyzed are based on the European Society of Cardiology guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of HF. Even though the HF-models differed in design and implementation in practice, key challenges were similar: (i) unequal distribution of care between urban and rural areas, (ii) long waiting times, (iii) unequal access to and provision of healthcare services, (iv) information and communication gaps and (v) inadequate implementation and financing of digital applications. Conclusion Although promising approaches exist to structure and improve HF-care, across the four countries, implementation was reluctant to embrace novel methods. A lack of financial resources and insufficient digitalization making it difficult to adopt new concepts. Integration of HF-nurses seems to be an effective way of improving current models of HF-care. Digital solutions offer further opportunities to overcome communication and coordination gaps and to strengthen self-management skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite the fact that for over ten years, Lithuanian consumers have been able to report adverse drug reactions (ADR) directly to the competent authority, reporting rates remain low. A comprehensive understanding of consumer perceptions and experiences regarding ADRs is needed to ascertain further factors impacting their engagement in ADR reporting. This study aimed to assess consumer knowledge of, attitude toward, and practice of reporting ADRs. Methods: A questionnaire-guided cross-sectional survey among 404 consumers between October 2021 and June 2022 was conducted. The semi-structured questionnaire comprised open-ended and closed-ended questions to explore the sociodemographic characteristics and general knowledge of ADRs and pharmacovigilance. Other question items evaluated attitudes toward ADR reporting and ADR reporting practice. The data were summarised using descriptive statistics, while the chi-square test was used to assess categorical variables at p < 0.05. The overall percent score in the knowledge and attitude domains was divided into groups of "poor", "moderate", and "good" knowledge, as well as "positive" and "negative" attitudes. Results: While having a generally poor understanding, this study demonstrates that Lithuanian consumers have a favourable attitude toward pharmacovigilance, particularly regarding issues involving the requirement for reporting. The data also revealed the justifications for reporting and not reporting ADRs. Conclusions: The current study provided the first understanding of consumer awareness and ADR reporting intentions, which can help to develop educational campaigns and interventions addressing pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the outbreak of a disease caused by a pathogen with unknown characteristics, the uncertainty of its progression parameters can be reduced by devising methods that, based on rational assumptions, exploit available information to provide actionable insights. In this study, performed a few (~6) weeks into the outbreak of COVID-19 (caused by SARS-CoV-2), one of the most important disease parameters, the average time-to-recovery, was calculated using data publicly available on the internet (daily reported cases of confirmed infections, deaths, and recoveries), and fed into an algorithm that matches confirmed cases with deaths and recoveries. Unmatched cases were adjusted based on the matched cases calculation. The mean time-to-recovery, calculated from all globally reported cases, was found to be 18.01 days (SD 3.31 days) for the matched cases and 18.29 days (SD 2.73 days) taking into consideration the adjusted unmatched cases as well. The proposed method used limited data and provided experimental results in the same region as clinical studies published several months later. This indicates that the proposed method, combined with expert knowledge and informed calculated assumptions, could provide a meaningful calculated average time-to-recovery figure, which can be used as an evidence-based estimation to support containment and mitigation policy decisions, even at the very early stages of an outbreak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background the mySupport advance care planning intervention was originally developed and evaluated in Northern Ireland (UK). Family caregivers of nursing home residents with dementia received an educational booklet and a family care conference with a trained facilitator to discuss their relative's future care. Objectives to investigate whether upscaling the intervention adapted to local context and complemented by a question prompt list impacts family caregivers' uncertainty in decision-making and their satisfaction with care across six countries. Second, to investigate whether mySupport affects residents' hospitalisations and documented advance decisions. Design a pretest–posttest design. Setting in Canada, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK, two nursing homes participated. Participants in total, 88 family caregivers completed baseline, intervention and follow-up assessments. Methods family caregivers' scores on the Decisional Conflict Scale and Family Perceptions of Care Scale before and after the intervention were compared with linear mixed models. The number of documented advance decisions and residents' hospitalisations was obtained via chart review or reported by nursing home staff and compared between baseline and follow-up with McNemar tests. Results family caregivers reported less decision-making uncertainty (−9.6, 95% confidence interval: −13.3, −6.0, P  < 0.001) and more positive perceptions of care (+11.4, 95% confidence interval: 7.8, 15.0; P  < 0.001) after the intervention. The number of advance decisions to refuse treatment was significantly higher after the intervention (21 vs 16); the number of other advance decisions or hospitalisations was unchanged. Conclusions the mySupport intervention may be impactful in countries beyond the original setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atmospheric visibility, or meteorological optical range (MOR), is governed by light extinction by aerosols. State-of-the-art visibility sensors, such as employed in meteorological observatories and airports, infer MOR by measuring either transmittance or scattering. While these sensors yield robust measurements with reasonable accuracy (10 % to 20 %), they measure in situ. MOR from these sensors may thus not be representative of MOR further away, for example, under conditions with stratified aerosol types. This includes off-shore sites near the sea surface during conditions with advection fog, sea spray or mist. Elastic backscatter lidar can be used to measure light extinction and has previously demonstrated to be a powerful method to infer visibility. Lidar can measure visibility not just near the instrument but also further away (remotely) and single-ended whilst also being capable of measuring profiles of MOR along atmospheric slant paths. Continuous-wave (CW) Doppler wind lidar systems make up one of the most widespread type of elastic backscatter lidar and are typically used in wind resource assessment. Using these existing platforms for remote and single-ended measurement of MOR profiles could allow for new and valuable applications. However, the low-light extinction associated with this type of lidar excludes the use of the extinction coefficient for MOR retrieval but leaves the backscatter coefficient as a possible proxy for MOR, though with an accuracy expected to be inferior to the former method. We analysed backscatter data from CW wind lidar and co-measured MOR from visibility sensors from two campaigns (Cabauw, Netherlands, and Pershore, United Kingdom) and found backscatter from CW wind lidar to be a viable proxy of MOR if calibrated against a visibility sensor. The expected accuracy of the method is low and of the order of few kilometres. This means MOR from CW wind lidar could be used in safety-uncritical problems, such as assessment of visibility of manmade objects, including wind turbines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemical adherence testing is a reliable method to assess adherence to antihypertensive drugs. However, it is expensive and has limited availability in clinical practice. To reduce the number and costs of chemical adherence tests, we aimed to develop and validate a clinical screening tool to identify patients with a low probability of non-adherence in patients with uncontrolled hypertension. In 495 patients with uncontrolled hypertension referred to the University Medical Centre Utrecht (UMCU), the Netherlands, a penalised logistic regression model including seven pre-specified easy-to-measure clinical variables was derived to estimate the probability of non-adherence. Non-adherence was defined as not detecting at least one of the prescribed antihypertensive drugs in plasma or urine. Model performance and test characteristics were evaluated in 240 patients with uncontrolled hypertension referred to the Heartlands Hospital, United Kingdom. Prevalence of non-adherence to antihypertensive drugs was 19% in the UMCU and 44% in the Heartlands Hospital population. After recalibration of the model's intercept, predicted probabilities agreed well with observed frequencies. The c-statistic of the model was 0.63 (95%CI 0.53–0.72). Predicted probability cut-off values of 15%–22.5% prevented testing in 5%–15% of the patients, carrying sensitivities between 97% (64–100) and 90% (80–95), and negative predictive values between 74% (10–99) and 70% (50–85). The combination of seven clinical variables is not sufficient to reliably discriminate adherent from non-adherent individuals to safely reduce the number of chemical adherence tests. This emphasises the complex nature of non-adherence behaviour and thus the need for objective chemical adherence tests in patients with uncontrolled hypertension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With worldwide activities of carbon neutrality, clean energy is playing an important role these days. Natural gas (NG) is one of the most efficient clean energies with less harmful emissions and abundant reservoirs. This work aims at developing a swarm intelligence-based tool for NG forecasting to make more convincing projections of future energy consumption, combining Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) and the Salp Swarm Algorithm (SSA). The XGBoost is used as the core model in a nonlinear auto-regression procedure to make multi-step ahead forecasting. A cross-validation scheme is adopted to build a nonlinear programming problem for optimizing the most sensitive hyperparameters of the XGBoost, and then the nonlinear optimization is solved by the SSA. Case studies of forecasting the Natural gas consumption (NGC) in the United Kingdom (UK) and Netherlands are presented to illustrate the performance of the proposed hybrid model in comparison with five other intelligence optimization algorithms and two other decision tree-based models (15 hybrid schemes in total) in 6 subcases with different forecasting steps and time lags. The results show that the SSA outperforms the other 5 algorithms in searching the optimal parameters of XGBoost and the hybrid model outperforms all the other 15 hybrid models in all the subcases with average MAPE 4.9828% in NGC forecasting of UK and 9.0547% in NGC forecasting of Netherlands, respectively. Detailed analysis of the performance and properties of the proposed model is also summarized in this work, which indicates it has high potential in NGC forecasting and can be expected to be used in a wider range of applications in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Medication non-adherence is a prevalent health problem in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Interventions have previously been developed to improve medication adherence, but inconsistent outcomes have been reported. A potential explanation for this inconsistency is a 'one size fits all' approach, with interventions not tailored to the needs and preferences of individuals. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a personalised intervention programme aimed at improving adherence to oral antidiabetic and/or antihypertensive medication in people with T2DM.Methods: A parallel-group randomised controlled trial will be conducted in 40-50 community pharmacies in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (UK). A total of 300 participants will be included and followed up for a period of 6 months. Participants will be people with T2DM identified as non-adherent to oral antidiabetic and/or antihypertensive medication, aged 35-75 years and mobile phone users. The intervention group will receive a personalised intervention programme that is based on one or more of the participants' pre-defined non-adherence profile(s), namely (I) Knowledge and perceptions, (II) Practical problems, (III) Side effects and (IV) Negative mood and beliefs. The intervention comprises of one or more supporting modules, namely (I) Brief messaging, (II) Clinical medication review, (III) Medication schedule, (IV) Reminding messaging, (V) Medication dispensing systems, (VI) Smart messaging, (VII) Referral to general practitioner and (VIII) Unguided web-based Self Help Application for low mood. The control group will receive usual care including access to a publicly available informative diabetes website. The primary study outcome is medication adherence measured with a telephone pill count. Secondary outcomes are systolic blood pressure, HbA1c level, self-reported medication adherence, attitude and beliefs toward medication, satisfaction with diabetes treatment, health status and medical consumption and productivity cost. In addition, a process evaluation will be undertaken to establish the fidelity, reach and the extent to which intervention delivery is normalised in the daily practice of community pharmacy teams.Discussion: The study can lead to a personalised intervention programme that improves medication adherence in people with T2DM that are non-adherent to oral antidiabetic and/or antihypertensive medication.Trial Registration: Dutch Trial Register, Trial NL8747 , registered 02 July, 2020; ISRCTN Registry, ISRCTN36009809 , registered 05 February, 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study provides Dutch national norms for the parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) for children aged 3-14 years, and assesses the test performance of the SDQ Total Difficulties Scale (TDS) and impairment Scale. We further compared Dutch SDQ norms with those of the United Kingdom (UK), to determine potential variation in country-specific norms.Study Design: We analyzed data of 3384 children aged 3 to 14 years. The data were obtained in schools, and in the context of Preventive Child Healthcare. Parents completed the SDQ parent form and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). We determined clinical (10% elevated scores) and borderline (20% elevated scores) SDQ TDS norms. We assessed the test performance (validity) of the SDQ TDS and Impairment Score using the CBCL as criterion.Results: The clinical SDQ TDS norms varied between > 10 and > 14 depending on the age group. The SDQ TDS discriminated between children with and without problems, as measured by the CBCL, for all age groups (AUCs varied from 0.92 to 0.96). The SDQ Impairment Score had added value (beyond the SDQ TDS) only for the age group 12-14 years. For the Netherlands we found lower clinical SDQ TDS norms than those previously reported for the UK (i.e. > 16).Conclusion: The clinical SDQ TDS norms varied between > 10 and > 14 depending on the age groups. We found good test performance at these proposed norms. Dutch norms differed somewhat from UK norms. In the Netherlands, the SDQ performed better with Dutch-specific norms than with UK-specific norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we share our enriching experiences during internships at two prominent Archaeological Open-Air Museums in Europe: preHistorisch Dorp in the Netherlands and Butser Ancient Farm in the UK. Motivated by our passion for experimental archaeology, we embarked on this journey to contribute to the development of this field in Romania. At preHistorisch Dorp, we immersed ourselves in various historical periods, participating in activities ranging from exploring exhibits to restoring Roman walls. Our hands-on tasks, including working with clay, allowed us to connect with the museum's history and engage with visitors. Accommodated within the museum, we explored not only the exhibits but also the surrounding areas, fostering an informal and enjoyable atmosphere. The adventure continued at Butser Ancient Farm in the UK, where we were exposed to diverse activities aligned with the museum's focus on experimental archaeology. From administering medicine to animals to participating in house dismantling and bronze casting, we gained practical insights into ancient technologies and agricultural practices. We also experienced the educational aspect of the museum by interacting with school groups. Our article concludes with our expression of eagerness to contribute to the establishment of an Open-Air Museum/Experimental Archaeology Park in Romania. The immersive experiences at preHistorisch Dorp and Butser Ancient Farm not only deepened our understanding of experimental archaeology and museum education but also inspired us to bring these best practices to our home country. The journey, funded by the Erasmus+ program, expanded our academic horizons and laid the foundation for future collaborations and knowledge sharing. The experiences, living history, and storytelling that unfolded almost daily, along with discussions on experimental archaeology, ignited within us a desire for an Open-Air Museum/Experimental Archaeology Park in Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Assisted human reproduction (AHR) treatment is not regulated in Ireland although it has been practiced since 1987. Thus, Ireland is one of the only European countries without any form of AHR specific regulation. This literature review research aimed to provide a comprehensive and comparative overview of AHR regulation and any associated literature to compare Ireland and other developed countries. Methods: Systematic searches were conducted in several databases (Google Scholar, Web of Science, MEDLINE, SCOPUS and official government websites) utilising search strings in relation to AHR legislation for each country under review. A final review of 155 research articles were eligible after screening related to legislation in each country for inclusion. The findings were synthesised and summarised by legislation in each country. Results: Different countries offer different levels of ART and IVF provision and services in terms of the type of services allowed, financial support, age, sex and eligibility of recipients. The UK's oversight legislation combined with the Netherlands financial legislation section provides as being most effective hybrid model of best practice for adoption in Ireland. Conclusions: This research concluded that there is no AHR legislation in any country that can be described as all-encompassing in terms of the services allowed, financial support and age of recipients. It was concluded that significant changes need to be made to the Irish draft legislation which is in limbo with the government for the last 3 years in order to meet Irish patient needs. Plain language summary: Ireland is one of the only European countries without any form of assisted human reproduction specific regulation. This research aimed to review of assisted human reproduction regulations to compare Ireland with other developed countries. There is no assisted reproduction legislation in any country that can be described as perfect. The UK's legislation combined with the Netherlands financial legislation section is concluded as being most effective hybrid model of best practice for adoption in Ireland. It was concluded that significant changes need to be made to the Irish draft legislation which is in limbo with the government for the last 3 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This literature review aims to examine the approach given to open science policy in the different studies. The main findings are that the approach given to open science has different aspects: policy framing and its geopolitical aspects are described as an asymmetries replication and epistemic governance tool. The main geopolitical aspects of open science policies described in the literature are the relations between international, regional, and national policies. There are also different components of open science covered in the literature: open data seems much discussed in the works in the English language, while open access is the main component discussed in the Portuguese and Spanish speaking papers. Finally, the relationship between open science policies and the science policy is framed by highlighting the innovation and transparency that open science can bring into it.

Pension systems are one of the fundamental pillars of the welfare state. The ageing of the population caused by longer life expectancy and low birth rates has led to a crisis in the public pension system in developed countries. Changes for the system's sustainability are necessary, and the scientific literature on the subject is abundant, especially in recent years. This article aims to carry out a bibliometric analysis of the research carried out to date, highlighting, in turn, future lines of research. The study was carried out on a total of 1287 articles published from 1936 to 2021 and found in the Scopus database. The SciMAT, VOSviewer, and Datawrapper tools were used to analyse the most important articles, authors, countries, and institutions by volume of production and citations, as well as the relationships between them. Likewise, the most important keywords and their evolution over time were highlighted, obtaining the main focus of the research. In addition to the general analysis, a specific study was carried out in the area of Mathematics. The results show that the leading countries are the United Kingdom, the USA, and the Netherlands. On the other hand, the lead subject area in which these articles have been published is Economics, Econometrics, and Finance. The research trends are sustainability, pension reform related to ageing, and pension insurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Headache is a common condition with a substantial burden of disease worldwide. Concerns have been raised over the potential impact of long-term mobile phone use on headache due to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMFs). We explored prospectively the association between mobile phone use at baseline (2009-2012) and headache at follow-up (2015-2018) by analysing pooled data consisting of the Dutch and UK cohorts of the Cohort Study of Mobile Phone Use and Health (COSMOS) (N = 78,437). Frequency of headache, migraine, and information on mobile phone use, including use of hands-free devices and frequency of texting, were self-reported. We collected objective operator data to obtain regression calibrated estimates of voice call duration. In the model mutually adjusted for call-time and text messaging, participants in the high category of call-time showed an adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 1.04 (95 % CI: 0.94-1.15), with no clear trend of reporting headache with increasing call-time. However, we found an increased risk of weekly headache (OR = 1.40, 95 % CI: 1.25-1.56) in the high category of text messaging, with a clear increase in reporting headache with increasing texting. Due to the negligible exposure to RF-EMFs from texting, our results suggest that mechanisms other than RF-EMFs are responsible for the increased risk of headache that we found among mobile phone users., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Aim: This scoping review identified studies on approaches to intact cord resuscitation and/or stabilisation (ICR/S) for neonates delivered by Caesarean section (C-section)., Methods: A systematic literature search was carried out using the PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane and CINAHL databases to identify papers published in English from inception to 14 November 2022., Results: We assessed 2613 studies and included 18 from 10 countries, covering 1-125 C-sections: the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, India, Italy, China, France, The Netherlands, New Zealand and Taiwan. The papers were published from 2014 to 2023, and the majority were randomised controlled trials and observational studies. Different platforms, equipment and staff positions in relation to the operating table were described. Options for resuscitation and stabilisation included different bedding and trolley approaches, and maintaining aseptic conditions was mainly addressed by the neonatal team scrubbing in. Hypothermia was prevented by using warm surfaces, polythene bags and radiant heaters. Equipment was kept easily accessible by mounting it on a trolley or a separate mobile pole., Conclusion: We could not reach definitive conclusions on the optimal method for performing ICR/S during a C-section, due to study variations. However, a number of equipment and management options appeared to be feasible approaches., (© 2023 The Authors. Acta Paediatrica published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Foundation Acta Paediatrica.)

Rising migration numbers and the resulting increase in economic and sociocultural heterogeneity in societies all over the world are theorised to put pressure on the sustainable use of common-pool resources [CPRs]. Increased heterogeneity is argued to decrease trust and diversify interests between resource users, leading to overuse and decline of natural and man-made CPRs. The aim of this paper is to understand cooperative behaviour under economic and sociocultural heterogeneity in CPRs, through the analyses of experimental data including 344 subjects from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, and 144 subjects from India. Multilevel regression, ordinal logistic regression, linear conditional-contribution profiles [LCPs] and agent-based models [ABMs] are used to analyse and replicate experimental outcomes on the micro- and macro-level. Results show that the combination of economic and sociocultural heterogeneity affects cooperation negatively when the decision-situation is perceived as unfair, but that neither economic nor sociocultural heterogeneity on themselves affect cooperation negatively. Economic heterogeneity is even found to affect cooperation positively relative to homogeneity. Player type classification based on LCP scores shows that experimental outcomes can be interpreted with player types, and ABM simulations validate the experimental results by replicating the main outcomes., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.