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This paper addresses whether Germany, France and the UK (the EU3) – with the EU in the background – can shape their own approach to acommon Europeanised positionor even aEuropean role conceptionregarding the Iranian Nuclear Programme. As the EU3 initiative appears situated between Europeanisation and national role conceptions, it seems that the EU3 members – after a coherent start – were finally inclined to readapt themselves to certain of their national role conceptions, resulting in a “mix” of national and European role patterns in the process leading up to 2016. Currently, this mix hints at still-prevailing hindrances involved in genuine European conflict management, although this outcome holds the promise of greater European coherence in the future. Abbreviations:E3: Germany, France and UK (without formal support of the EU); EU: European Union; EU3: Germany, France, UK and the “High Representative for the Common Security and Foreign Policy of the European Union”; EU3 + 3: official designation of the contact group concerning the Iranian Nuclear Programme, consisting of the EU3, the USA, Russia and China; IAEA: International Atomic Energy Agency; P5 + 1: informal designation of the contact group concerning the Iranian Nuclear Programme, consisting of the EU3, the USA, Russia and China (Permanent Security Council Members [P5] plus Germany); UK: United Kingdom; UNs: United Nations; UNSR: Security Council of the United Nations [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Two recent studies from Australia and Germany have both shown that people who stutter (PWS) have elevated Neuroticism scores on the widely used NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) compared to individuals in a control sample. The two studies showed opposite results, however, for the personality traits Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. One reason for these opposing findings could be that the two studies were conducted in different cultural settings. Given that the effect of different cultural background on the relationship between the NEO-FFI and stuttering remains an open question, we investigated the NEO-FFI scores from 98 PWS and an age- and sex-matched control-group from a less widely studied cultural background (Iran). Overall, the present study showed, in line with a study from Germany, higher Agreeableness, but not Neuroticism, in PWS compared to normally fluent controls. To get further insights into these findings, we also contrasted both samples from Iran with a healthy matched sample from Germany. The resulting cross-cultural differences from these analyses are also discussed in the present paper. Although the present study is limited by a cross-sectional design, and so no causal conclusions can be drawn, the authors discuss whether the replicated elevated Agreeableness scores in PWS might represent a self-defense mechanism to cope with one's own speech handicap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social innovations for sustainable consumption have attracted policymakers' attention internationally as a possible means to reach sustainability and climate change goals. So far, most of the research on the emergence and potential of social innovations has been carried out in the Global North. Consequentially, some theoretical approaches and concepts have not been reviewed critically for their applicability in other contexts. This paper explores similarities and differences in the emergence and development process of social innovations for sustainable consumption in different cultural and geographical contexts to fill this gap. The objective is to enrich current concepts with more context-sensitive categories. On this account, the paper undertakes an explorative qualitative cross-country analysis of innovations for sustainable consumption in diverse sectors, using a sample of 87 cases collected by desk research in Brazil, Germany, and Iran. The analysis is based on a procedural perspective on innovation and refers to the three phases problematization, experimentation, and restabilization. The research shows that, in the problematization phase, the initiatives differ in taking up "globalized" challenges affecting most countries worldwide versus "locally emerged" ones, more connected to socio-economic, cultural, or political specifics. Experimentation with possible solutions differentiates between "imported" versus "locally" invented or appropriated context-specific approaches. Forms and degrees of restabilization depend mainly on framings for start-ups or non-governmental organizations and the local government's openness for innovative approaches. Based on the manifestation of these characteristics, the analyses result in four different qualitative types. The identified categories complement existing typologies, which so far neglect the geopolitical scope of the addressed problems and the tested solutions. Further empirical analyses in different countries will show whether the identified categories and types are helpful for a better understanding of the emergence and development of social innovations for sustainable consumption in different socio-economic, geopolitical, and cultural contexts. • The analytical framework combines the phenomena of sustainable consumption with the three phases of the innovation process. • Social innovations for sustainable consumption differ in their reaction to global or local challenges. • The solutions to global and local challenges can be imported, locally invented, or appropriated context-specific approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: To improve the energy efficiency of buildings via compliance to regulation in Iran, Code No. 19 was devised in 1991. The code lacks high level aims and objectives, addressing the characteristics of Iranian buildings. As a consequence, the code has been revised and is not completely implemented in practice, and still remains inefficient. As with any energy coding system, this code has to identify the right balance between the different energy variables for the Iranian climate and way of life. In order to assist improvements to high level objectives of Code 19, this code is compared with ISO 9164, EN 832, German regulation, TS 825 of Turkey and China’s GB 50189 to understand how these have adapted international standards to national features. In order to test the appropriateness of Code 19, five case study buildings in Iran are assessed against Code 19 as well as Turkish standard TS 825 and the results are compared. The results demonstrate that Code 19 is efficient in calculations of building envelope, but it needs improvements in the areas of ventilation, gains from internal and solar sources. The paper concludes by offering suggestions for improving the code. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Patient safety in primary care is an emerging field of research with a growing evidence base in western countries but little has been explored in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries (GCC) including the Sultanate of Oman. This study aimed to review the literature on the safety culture and patient safety measures used globally to inform the development of safety culture among health care workers in primary care with a particular focus on the Middle East. Methods: A systematic review of the literature. Searches were undertaken using Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL and Scopus from the year 2000 to 2014. Terms defining safety culture were combined with terms identifying patient safety and primary care. Results: The database searches identified 3072 papers that were screened for inclusion in the review. After the screening and verification, data were extracted from 28 papers that described safety culture in primary care. The global distribution of the articles is as follows: the Netherlands (7), the United States (5), Germany (4), the United Kingdom (1), Australia, Canada and Brazil (two for each country), and with one each from Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The characteristics of the included studies were grouped under the following themes: safety culture in primary care, incident reporting, safety climate and adverse events. The most common theme from 2011 onwards was the assessment of safety culture in primary care (13 studies, 46%). The most commonly used safety culture assessment tool is the Hospital survey on patient safety culture (HSOPSC) which has been used in developing countries in the Middle East. Conclusions: This systematic review reveals that the most important first step is the assessment of safety culture in primary care which will provide a basic understanding to safety-related perceptions of health care providers. The HSOPSC has been commonly used in Kuwait, Turkey, and Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]