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Objectives: Little is known about the experiences of women who travel within Europe for abortion care from countries with relatively liberal laws. This paper aims to assess the primary reasons for travel among a sample of women who travelled from European countries with relatively liberal abortion laws to obtain abortion care mainly in the UK and the Netherlands. Design: Multi‐country, 5‐year mixed methods study on barriers to legal abortion and travel for abortion. Setting: UK, the Netherlands and Spain. Population or Sample: We present quantitative data from 204 surveys, and qualitative data from 30 in‐depth interviews with pregnant people who travelled to the UK, the Netherlands and Spain from countries where abortion is legal on broad grounds within specific gestational age (GA) limits. Methods: Mixed‐methods. Main outcome measures: GA when presenting at abortion clinic, primary reason for abortion‐related travel. Results: Study participants overwhelmingly reported travelling for abortion because they had exceeded GA limits in their country of residence. Participants also reported numerous delays and barriers to receiving care. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the need for policies that support access to abortion throughout pregnancy and illustrate that early access to it is necessary but not sufficient to meet people's reproductive health needs. Funding: This study is funded by the European Research Council (ERC). This study shows that GA limits drive women from EU countries where abortion is legal to seek abortions abroad. This study shows that GA limits drive women from EU countries where abortion is legal to seek abortions abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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For continuously stocked pastures, net forage accumulation is thought to be relatively unaffected across a rather large range of canopy-based management targets. It is not known whether this is also characteristic of intermittently stocked canopies, and if so, the underlying mechanisms have not been well delineated. We hypothesized that initiation of grazing when canopy heights are shorter than heights corresponding to the critical leaf area index, associated with a moderate intensity of defoliation, do not reduce forage accumulation in pastures under intermittent stocking. Therefore, kikuyugrass (Pennisetum clandestinum Hochst. Ex Chiov) pastures were grazed at four pregrazing heights (10, 15, 20, and 25 cm) with the same proportion of defoliation (50% reduction in pregrazing height; i.e., postgrazing heights of 5, 7.5, 10, and 12.5 cm, respectively) from December 2011 to May 2013. As the canopy height increased, there was an inverse relationship between tiller weight and number; however, heavier tillers presented greater rates of leaf elongation. Pastures grazed at 15 to 25 cm had the same forage accumulation. The same homeostatic mechanisms that keep a constant forage accumulation in different heights when pastures are subjected to continuous stocking also allowed for a similar forage accumulation in pastures under intermittent stocking at different grazing heights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Leukaemia is the most common cancer in children, but its aetiology is still poorly understood. We tested the hypothesis that traffic-related air pollution is associated with paediatric leukaemia because of chronic exposure to several potential carcinogens. Methods The Italian SETIL study (Study on the aetiology of lymphohematopoietic malignancies in children) was conducted in 14 Italian regions. All incident cases of leukaemia in children aged ≤10 years from these regions (period 1998-2001) were eligible for enrolment. Two controls per case, matched on birth date, gender and region of residence were randomly selected from the local population registries. Exposure assessment at birth residence included traffic indicators (distance to main roads and length of main roads within 100 m) and estimates of pollutants concentrations (particulate matter -PM2.5 and PM10- and gases -NO2 and O3) from national dispersion model and land use regression models. The association between the exposure variables and leukaemia was assessed by logistic regression analyses. Results Participation rates were 91.4% among cases and 69.2% in controls; 620 cases (544 acute lymphocytic and 76 acute non-lymphocytic leukaemia) and 957 controls were included. Overall, when considering the residence at birth, 35.6% of cases and 42.4% of controls lived along busy roads, and the mean annual PM10 levels were 33.3 (SD=6.3) and 33.4 mg/m³ (SD=6.5), respectively. No association was found, and all ORs, independent of the method of assessment and the exposure windows, were close to the null value. Conclusions Using various exposure assessment strategies, air pollution appears not to affect the incidence of childhood leukaemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents 3 years of GIS-based monitoring of western corn rootworm (WCR - Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte), a pest which invaded Northern Italy in 1998. The Veneto Region established a regional monitoring network to detect this important quarantine pest and to employ an eradication programme. Data were collected by means of sex pheromone PAL traps and analysed by Indicator Kriging, a geostatistics tool that determines the probability of data values in a given area being greater than a defined threshold value. Geostatistical analysis proved to be effective in mapping the spread of WCR. The temporal sequence of the probability maps was useful in interpreting the expansion of the insect. The detailed description of the pattern of WCR presence in 2006-2008 proves the temporary and local efficacy of the eradication programme carried out up to the 2006 season in Venezia province. An interpretation of the spatial pattern of WCR between the 2006 and 2008 seasons suggests that the pest colonized the eradication area coming from other invasion fronts. The large-scale pattern of WCR dispersion can be accurately described by the spatial approach, thus optimizing the monitoring and subsequent control of this important insect pest of Northern Italy. Other data analyses, based on stochastic interpolations and a demographical approach are in progress. An interesting perspective would be to build predictive simulation models based on climatic and agronomic data taking into account the spatial representation of WCR patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims/objectives: This review examines the ‘tako-tsubo-like’ syndrome or transient left ventricular apical ballooning. The aim of this review is a complete evaluation of epidemiology, clinical and instrumental features, pathophysiological mechanisms, therapy and prognosis of this syndrome. Methods: We have evaluated the data from literature for a comprehensive consideration of multiple aspects of this syndrome. Results/findings: Transient left ventricular apical ballooning typically affects women, and the clinical presentation is comparable to acute coronary syndrome with chest pain or sudden dyspnoea, changes in ECG and elevated cardiac enzymes in the absence of significant coronary stenosis, with complete resolution of wall-motion abnormalities in a period of days or weeks. This syndrome is triggered by marked psychological or physiological stress. Several pathophysiological mechanisms have been proposed, such as cathecolamine-mediated cardiotoxicity, abnormalities in coronary microvascular function and multivessel coronary vasospasm. The highest incidence of transient left ventricular apical ballooning is in the Japanese population, but it has been recently identified also in the USA and Europe. Treatment is empirical and supportive. The prognosis is generally favourable, although some deaths have been reported, usually the result of irreversible cardiogenic shock, refractory ventricular arrhythmias, or other catastrophic cardiovascular event. Conclusions/interpretations: We conclude by emphasising the importance of a more deeper knowledge of this syndrome for general physicians and cardiologists and it should be often considered as a possible diagnosis occurring in emergency department and in patients admitted in the Chest Pain Units with a diagnosis of coronary acute syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The immunogenicity and protective efficacy of various antigen-adjuvant formulations derived either from the merozoite-surface protein-3 (MSP-3) or the glutamate-rich protein (GLURP) of Plasmodium falciparum were evaluated in Saimiri sciureus monkeys. These proteins were selected for immunogenicity studies based primarily on their capacity of inducing an antibody-dependent cellular inhibition effect on parasite growth. Some of the S. sciureus monkeys immunized with MSP-3212−380-AS02 or GLURP27−500-alum were able to fully or partially control parasitaemia upon an experimental P. falciparum [Falciparum Uganda Palo Alto (FUP-SP) strain] blood-stage infection, and this protection was related to the prechallenge antibody titres induced. The data are indicative that MSP-3 and GLURP can induce protective immunity against an experimental P. falciparum infection using adjuvants that are acceptable for human use and this should trigger further studies with those new antigens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The principal models of the physician-patient relationship are analysed in terms of their historical development. An outline is given of the clinical, psychological and ethical particularities of the approach to patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The peculiarities of this disease are so exclusive that they do not resemble other progressive diseases with a negative prognosis, and therefore require an equally exclusive approach to the physician-patient relationship. This approach should not only be informative, scientific and interpretative-deliberative, but must simultaneously be founded on a solid therapeutic alliance aimed at seeking the best interests of the patients while respecting their autonomy as well as their "good" (not only in the sense of physical well-being, but also in terms of respect for their personal values). This is the only way to confront the conflicts that inevitably arise (especially in advanced stages of the disease) without the risks associated with a desire to escape or to adopt extreme solutions (such as euthanasia and therapeutic insistence) and without the risk of burn-out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]