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Thermal printing technology requires a color developer to activate the dye under the action of heat. Bisphenol A (BPA) has traditionally been used for this purpose, although it has increasingly been replaced by bisphenol S (BPS) in recent years. Due to concerns regarding their toxicity, the Swiss authorities have banned both BPA and BPS from thermal papers since 2020. The impact of this regulatory decision was evaluated during 3 monitoring campaigns: in 2013-2014, 2019 and 2021. They were used to describe the starting point, the transition phase, and the status after entry into force of the ban, respectively. Whereas the use of BPA as color developer dropped from 82.2% in 2013/14 to 10.8% in 2021, the fraction of BPS-based thermal paper rose from 3.1% to 19.1% during the same period, despite being banned. However, Pergafast® 201 (PF201) is now the main color developer in thermal paper in Switzerland, with an occurrence of 60.3%. Other alternatives such as D-8, TGSA, PPSMU, NKK-1304, BPS-MAE, D-90 and Blue4est® have only been marginally detected. This study demonstrates the efficiency of the regulatory measure and the feasibility to substitute BPA in thermal papers with less-toxic alternatives., 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 © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Central neurocytoma is the most common primary intraventricular tumor in adults being classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a benign grade II tumor with a good prognosis. Given the recent advances with regard to this tumor, a bibliometric analysis was due to study the future direction of research for neurocytomas. A comprehensive Elsevier's Scopus database search was performed to capture all published and indexed studies to date relevant to neurocytoma. A discrete set of validated bibliometric parameters were extracted and analyzed on R v4.1.3. A total of 1002 documents were included in our analysis covering a period between 1910 and 2021 (111 years). Around 98.5% of the documents were multi-author publications with a collaboration index (CI) of 4.21. Acta Neuropathologica, The American Journal of Surgical Pathology, and Cancer were the journals to include the highest number of top ten cited articles (2 out of 10 most cited articles, 20%). Switzerland (4 out of 10, 40%) accounted for the country to have the highest number of top 10 most cited articles with the USA (5588 out of 16,395 citations, 34.1%) having the greatest number of citations. Lastly, our analysis reported an annual growth rate of 6.9% for the number of papers produced by year. This is the first bibliometric analysis to study the top 10 most cited articles with regard to neurocytomas. A shift from histopathologic and clinical symptoms towards the treatment and management of the tumor was observed in our analysis., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Alternatives to bisphenol A (BPA) are more and more used in thermal paper receipts. To get an overview of the situation in Switzerland, 124 thermal paper receipts were collected and analyzed. Whereas BPA was detected in most samples (n=100), some alternatives, namely bisphenol S (BPS), Pergafast® 201 and D-8 have been found in 4, 11 and 9 samples respectively. As no or few data on their endocrine activity are available, these chemicals and bisphenol F (BPF) were tested in vitro using the H295R steroidogenesis assay. 17β-Estradiol production was induced by BPA and BPF, whereas free testosterone production was inhibited by BPA and BPS. Both non-bisphenol substances did not show significant effects. The binding affinity to 16 proteins and the toxicological potential (TP) were further calculated in silico using VirtualToxLab™. TP values lay between 0.269 and 0.476 and the main target was the estrogen receptor β (84.4 nM to 1.33 μM). A substitution of BPA by BPF and BPS should be thus considered with caution, since they exhibit almost a similar endocrine activity as BPA. D-8 and Pergafast® 201 could be alternatives to replace BPA, however further analyses are needed to better characterize their effects on the hormonal system., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Fear of falling (FoF) results in social, functional, physical, and psychological symptoms, including secondary disorders, such as depression and general anxiety disorder (GAD). A vicious cycle develops, where symptoms maintain and reinforce FoF and its consequences, including increasing the risk of falling. In this position paper, we suggest screening for FoF using the falls efficacy scale international (FES-I) questionnaire. The presence of a high score (> 23) warrants an investigation into frailty and exclusion of depression and GAD, during the clinical interview. Stratifying frailty, based on the Fried frailty criteria will guide treatment options based on the most significant health concerns. Frail older adults should first receive physiotherapy and exercise interventions, as physical disabilities are their most significant characteristic, while pre-frail and non-frail older adults should receive multicomponent interventions, consisting of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with physical exercise. The non-frail with predominantly GAD and depression should receive specialized CBT interventions. Currently, only exercise interventions are available for FoF treatment in Switzerland. Although some exercise interventions use CBT elements, such as goal setting and reflections on behavior and feelings, they are not systematically used, are not part of a quality-assured procedure, and do not address the psychological-cognitive aspects of FoF. As the pre-frail and non-frail are the largest groups to use these services, adapting current exercise programs by incorporating a CBT component would be the most practical means to provide optimized care., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

In the wake of local initiatives and developmental funding programs, interprofessionality is now included in national curricula in the German-speaking countries. Based on the 3P model (presage, process, product), this position paper presents the development of interprofessional education in recent years in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and places it in an international context. Core aspects as legal frameworks, including amendments to occupational regulations as well as the formation of networks and faculty development are basic requirements for interprofessional education. New topics and educational settings take shape in the process of interprofessional education: patient perspectives and teaching formats, such as online courses, become more important or are newly established. The influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on interprofessional education is explored as well. Among many new interprofessional courses, particularly the implementation of interprofessional training wards in Germany and Switzerland are positive examples of successful interprofessional education. The objective of interprofessional education continues to be the acquisition of interprofessional competencies. The main focus is now centered on evaluating this educational format and testing for the corresponding competencies. In the future, more capacities will be required for interprofessional continuing education and post-graduate education. Structured research programs are essential to ascertain the effects of interprofessional education in the German-speaking countries. In this position paper the GMA committee on interprofessional education encourages further advancement of this topic and expresses the aim to continue cooperating with other networks to strengthen and intensify interprofessional education and collaboration in healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Only a few studies with small sample sizes have compared electronic Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) rating checklists with traditional paper-based OSCE rating checklists. In this study, the examiner-perceived usability and preference for type of OSCE checklist (electronic vs. paper based) were compared, and the influence of OSCE checklist type on missed ratings was determined, for the Swiss Federal Licensing Examination in clinical skills for human medicine., Methods: All examiners in the Swiss Federal Licensing Examination in clinical skills for human medicine were invited over two subsequent years to evaluate the OSCE checklist type they had worked with during the examination. This was based on a questionnaire with 14 closed questions (i.e., demographic, checklist-type experience, perceived usability, checklist type preference). Furthermore, the numbers of missed ratings for the paper-based checklist were recorded., Results: The data from these examiners ( n =377) with experience of both OSCE checklist types were analyzed. The electronic OSCE checklist was rated significantly higher on all usability aspects (i.e., ease of use, candidate rating and error correction, clarity, distraction using the checklist, overall satisfaction), except for the speed of registering comments (no significant difference). The majority of the examiners in both years (2014: 54.5%, n =60, 2015: 89.8%, n =230) reported preference for working with the electronic OSCE checklist in the future. Missed ratings were seen for 14.2% of the paper-based OSCE checklists, which were prevented with the electronic OSCE checklists., Conclusions: Electronic OSCE checklists were rated significantly more user-friendly and were preferred over paper-based OSCE checklists by a broad national sample of examiners, supporting previous results from faculty-level examinations. Furthermore, missed ratings were prevented with the electronic OSCE checklists. Overall, the use of electronic OSCE checklists is therefore advisable., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. The OSCE-Eval application that was used to implement the electronic OSCE checklist was designed and developed by the Department for Software Development, Usability Consulting and IT Infrastructure (ASCII), at the Institute for Medical Education. More information about the application can be accessed through the website [https://eosce.ch/]., (Copyright © 2022 Wagner et al.)

This document is an introduction to a special collection of papers in honor of Robert Deschenaux, a chemist who made significant contributions to the field of soft materials. Deschenaux was born in Switzerland in 1957 and obtained his PhD in chemistry in 1983. Throughout his career, he conducted research on various topics including metal complexes, liquid-crystalline materials, and dendrimers. Deschenaux also played a role in teaching and promoting chemistry. The special collection of papers was organized to celebrate his retirement and his outstanding contributions to the field. [Extracted from the article]

Objectives: The number of older people dying in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) is increasing globally, but care quality may be variable. A framework was developed drawing on empirical research findings from the Palliative Care for Older People (PACE) study and a scoping review of literature on the implementation of palliative care interventions in LTCFs. The PACE study mapped palliative care in LTCFs in Europe, evaluated quality of end-of-life care and quality of dying in a cross-sectional study of deceased residents of LTCFs in 6 countries, and undertook a cluster-randomized control trial that evaluated the impact of the PACE Steps to Success intervention in 7 countries. Working with the European Association for Palliative Care, a white paper was written that outlined recommendations for the implementation of interventions to improve palliative and end-of-life care for all older adults with serious illness, regardless of diagnosis, living in LTCFs. The goal of the article is to present these key domains and recommendations., Design: Transparent expert consultation., Setting: International experts in LTCFs., Participants: Eighteen (of 20 invited) international experts from 15 countries participated in a 1-day face-to-face Transparent Expert Consultation (TEC) workshop in Bern, Switzerland, and 21 (of 28 invited) completed a follow-up online survey., Methods: The TEC study used (1) a face-to-face workshop to discuss a scoping review and initial recommendations and (2) an online survey., Results: Thirty recommendations about implementing palliative care for older people in LTCFs were refined during the TEC workshop and, of these, 20 were selected following the survey. These 20 recommendations cover domains at micro (within organizations), meso (across organizations), and macro (at national or regional) levels addressed in 3 phases: establishing conditions for action, embedding in everyday practice, and sustaining ongoing change., Conclusions and Implications: We developed a framework of 20 recommendations to guide implementation of improvements in palliative care in LTCFs., (Copyright © 2020 AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The transition period from the hospital to the outpatient setting is a critical phase when managing heart failure. A well-structured transition is paramount and helps to ensure a tight follow-up schedule for the heart failure patient, thereby improving treatment outcomes. This article aims to provide guidance for the first three follow-up visits after hospital discharge, with a focus on monitoring heart failure patients and up-titrating their medication in primary care.

Background: 5-Fluorouracil (FU) is one of the most commonly used cytostatic drugs in the systemic treatment of cancer. Treatment with FU may cause severe or life-threatening side effects and the treatment-related mortality rate is 0.2-1.0%., Summary: Among other risk factors associated with increased toxicity, a genetic deficiency in dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD), an enzyme responsible for the metabolism of FU, is well known. This is due to variants in the DPD gene (DPYD). Up to 9% of European patients carry a DPD gene variant that decreases enzyme activity, and DPD is completely lacking in approximately 0.5% of patients. Here we describe the clinical and genetic background and summarize recommendations for the genetic testing and tailoring of treatment with 5-FU derivatives. The statement was developed as a consensus statement organized by the German Society for Hematology and Medical Oncology in cooperation with 13 medical associations from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Key Messages: (i) Patients should be tested for the 4 most common genetic DPYD variants before treatment with drugs containing FU. (ii) Testing forms the basis for a differentiated, risk-adapted algorithm with recommendations for treatment with FU-containing drugs. (iii) Testing may optionally be supplemented by therapeutic drug monitoring., (© 2020 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

The profitability of medical treatment has gained increasing importance in health politics and likewise has become a considerable part of a microsurgeon's daily practice. The resulting cost pressure leads to microsurgeons having to justify their often complex and expensive treatments against hospital providers and health insurances. In this position paper of the German Speaking Group for Microsurgery of Peripheral Nerves and Vessels, we analyze the current status of profitability of microsurgical extremity and breast reconstruction, and its impact on choice of therapy and residency training. We specifically highlight the available literature, that shows often reduced long-term treatment costs after microsurgical reconstruction in comparison to cheaper initial treatments. The statements are based on a consensus workshop on the 40th meeting of the DAM in Lugano, Switzerland., Competing Interests: Die Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

The free-banking history of Switzerland is subdivided into periods with unfettered competition (1826–1881), and strict banknote regulation (1881–1907). This paper suggests that the Federal Banknote Act of 1881 was introduced to remedy the fragmentation of the unfettered-competition period, during which private note-issuing banks were unable to issue standardised paper money. Although the corresponding minimum-reserve and mutual-acceptance rules led to a standardisation, they created new problems. For example, these regulatory interventions reduced the flexibility (or "elasticity") of the paper-money supply. It turned out that a central note-issuing bank is needed to supply adequate amounts of standardised banknotes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines digital archiving policies of open access (OA) electronic scholarly journals in Central Europe. The research sample consists of 1589 journals from nine Central European countries registered in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Results show that of the 1589 journals, 69% of them have an archiving policy. In terms of the number of indexed journals, Poland ranks first with 592 journals. Switzerland is at the forefront of digital archiving with 89% of archived journals. It was also found that Portico and national libraries are the most widely used archives, and that 19% of the preserved journals are archived in more than one archive. A preliminary analysis was also conducted to investigate the possible existence of a relationship between journal rank and digital archiving. The results show a higher number of JCR indexed titles, as well as a higher ranking, among archived journals. The paper also compares the status of archiving policies among Asian and Central European countries. The results reveal that archived journals are significantly more represented in Central European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To evaluate the efficiency and acceptance of digital pen and paper technology for real-time clinical data acquisition., Methods: A prospective interventional unblinded study involving consecutive patients in two clinical settings during a defined time-frame was proposed. The first trial was designed as a stress test to evaluate acceptance in a workload-intensive environment. Acceptance was assessed using observations and a satisfaction questionnaire. The second trial was intended to determine the reliability of data acquisition in a controlled environment. Reliability was assessed by comparing the performance of the digital pen against scanner analysis and a double human blinded acquisition., Results: Overall, users were satisfied with the use of the digital pen (median 3 on a Likert-scale (-5, 5)). Without any specific user training, successful data acquisition was greater than 80%. Use of this technology required less adaptation than standard computer devices, and was easy to learn and use. Ergonomic problems shaded the perception of the technology by inducing an increased cognitive load. Digitalized data was missing either because of a bug or due to lack of data validation. The reliability obtained with the digital pen was significantly lower to that obtained with the scanner., Conclusions: Natural technology such as the digital pen proved to be a good tool in stressful clinical environments without interfering with the normal workload or increasing the time for data acquisition. However, in order to improve quality of data acquisition, designing acquisition forms specifically for the use of digital pens is of paramount importance.

Recent reforms in Swiss higher education transformed vocational training institutions with a teaching mission into universities of applied sciences and universities of teacher education that should balance research and teaching activities of individual lecturers following the Humboldtian model. Drawing on the concept of ambidexterity, we aim to examine the current outcome of the reforms in terms of the structural conditions for research and the research competence of lecturers at the two new types of universities. By means of a document analysis, we first assess how the shift manifests itself in institutional mission statements. We then analyze recent survey data (N=2454) regarding the lecturers' perceptions of the structural conditions for research and their research competence. While our findings suggest that the new higher education sector has formally adopted the Humboldtian model, notable differences between the two types of universities can be observed in the extent to which the new policy imperatives have influenced the mission statements. Furthermore, we find a certain degree of mismatch between the organizational ambidexterity required by the Humboldtian model, the structural conditions for research encountered by lecturers, and the individual research competence. A number of conceptual and policy implications are drawn.

In Switzerland, regulatory requirements mandated that spraying drones undergo a testing procedure, which included assessing their transversal spray distribution using a patternator. Various stakeholders have repeatedly expressed uncertainty as to whether these static measurements correctly reflect the real dynamic spray distribution or whether this type of measurement falsifies the spray pattern. Taking these uncertainties into account, the present study compared the static patternator method with dynamic field measurements using water-sensitive and filter paper. The three methods showed good agreement in the results. In contrast to the other two methods, the measurements on the patternator showed the lowest variability, which shows that hovering at the same point probably causes some compensation in the distribution. Different nozzles (flat fan, hollow cone, air induction nozzles) produce quite similar distribution patterns in all three measurement methods, whereby the injector nozzle with the largest droplets produced the best transverse distribution with a coefficient of variation of less than 10 %. • Spray drones can achieve regular transversal distribution with coefficients of variation less than 10 %. • Patternator is well suited to measure the transversal volume distribution of the spray liquid. • Collectors (water sensitive and filter paper) show the variability of the distribution during the flight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prevention and screening recommendations have to be adapted on a regular basis to the latest scientific data and should be completed by tools made to facilitated the implication of patients in decision-making. The prevention and screening webpages hosted on the website of the Department of community medicine and ambulatory care of the University of Lausanne facilitate access to clinical recommendations identified by members of the five medical faculties in Switzerland (EviPrev national program), and to various information sources for physicians and patients, including patient decision aids. These webpages have been developed with primary care physicians who have participated in a pilot project in the canton of Vaud. The webpages have also been tested and welcome by a participatory group of citizen-users., Competing Interests: Ce projet a reçu un financement par le Service de Santé publique du canton de Vaud dans le cadre du projet « Vieillissement et Santé ».

Background: The adoption and use of health information technology (IT) continues to grow around the globe. In Switzerland, the government nor professional associations have to this day provided incentives for health IT adoption., Objective: We aim to assess the proportion of physicians who are routinely working with electronic health data and describe to what extent physicians exchange electronic health data with peers and other health care providers. Additionally, we aim to estimate the effect of physicians' attitude towards health IT on the adoption of electronic workflows., Methods: Between May and July 2013, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of 1200 practice based physicians in Switzerland. Respondents were asked to report on their technical means and where applicable their paper-based workarounds to process laboratory data, examination results, referral letters and physician's letters. Physicians' view of barriers and facilitators towards health IT use was determined by a composite score., Results: A response rate of 57.1% (n=685) was reached. The sample was considered to be representative for physicians in Swiss ambulatory care. 35.2% of the respondents documented patients' health status with the help of a longitudinal semi-structured electronic text record generated by one or more encounters in the practice. Depending on the task within a workflow, around 11-46% of the respondents stated to rely on electronic workflow practices to process laboratory and examination data and dispatch referral notes and physician's letters. The permanent use of electronic workflow processes was infrequent. Instead, respondents reported paper-based workarounds affecting specific tasks within a workflow. Physicians' attitude towards health IT was significantly associated with the adoption of electronic workflows (OR 1.04-1.31, p<0.05), but the effect sizes of factors related to the working environment (e.g., regional factors, medical specialty, type of practice) were larger., Conclusion: At present, only a few physicians in Swiss ambulatory care routinely work with electronic health data. Until more of their peers participate in electronic exchange of structured clinical information, most physicians will continue to stay in paper-based systems and workarounds. The survey found that physicians with a positive attitude towards health IT were more likely to adopt electronic workflows, but the impact is minor. It will likely be necessary to introduce financial incentives and develop national standards in order to promote the adoption by a critical mass of practicing clinicians., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This paper examines a disaster preparedness organisation for which waiting is, and has long been, an intensive yet frustrating state. Its focus is on the organisation most centrally concerned with disaster response in Switzerland: Zivilschutz, or 'Civil Protection'. Drawing on ethnographic and historical research, it explores how a particular modality of waiting - waiting on standby - is rendered fragile by the absence of disasters severe enough to authorise its activities. For many, participating in this organisational enterprise appears to incur the risk of becoming trapped in an endless present, in which training and exercises become the primary focus of organisational activity over and above responding directly to disasters. The paper suggests that a core challenge that has occupied the recent and more distant pasts of Swiss disaster preparedness is how to continue to claim its 'relevance', in the context of pasts and anticipated futures that threaten to undermine this very claim. The paper draws on work that has looked to the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead to account for how, precisely, the world and conditions of possibility are continually made and remade. This includes in relation to practices of 'relevance-making', as well as the capturing of 'feeling'. By doing so, the paper examines how particular times and spaces, both past and future, become joined, sometimes unavoidably, to the practices, affects and devices of disaster preparedness. It adds to work on the temporal dimensions of organisational life, in particular that which has focused on the role of affect and the everyday. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Due to the complexity and importance of oral bone structure, oral bone regeneration materials differ from those used in other parts of the body. To study the research trends and hotspots of oral bone regeneration materials, this paper conducts a bibliometric analysis of related papers from 1991 to 2023 (retrieved on 27 September 2023). Materials and methods: Using bibliometric methods, two visualization metric software, Citespace and VOSviewer, were used to analyze 1217 papers in SCIE, including paper analysis, author analysis, country and institution analysis, keyword analysis, and cited literature analysis. Results: (Alavi et al., Oral Surgery Oral Medicine Oral Pathology Oral Radiology, 2023, 136 (5), 554-68) The number of papers is generally increasing and gradually stabilizing; (Xia et al., Bioactive Materials, 2021, 6 (11), 4186-208) Buser D is the most influential author, while Jung, Ronald E has the highest number of papers and total citations; (Wagner et al., Stem Cells Translational Medicine, 2019, 8 (10), 1084-91) The United States has the highest number of papers and citation frequency. The University of Bern and the University of Zurich in Switzerland are not only the institutions with the most papers but also the institutions with the most collaborations with other institutions. (Gallego et al., T Engineering Part A, 2010, 16 (4), 1179-87) Many research directions have persisted for decades since their inception. The field of oral bone regeneration materials is constantly developing and improving. In recent years, the research direction in this field may mainly focus on the role of blood cells and proteins in bone regeneration. (Wang et al., Japanese Dental Science Review, 2022, 58, 233-48). In recent years, the types of cited literature mainly include barrier membranes, alveolar ridge augmentation, bone graft materials, histological examination, and in vivo animal experimental models. Conclusion: The United States and Switzerland have a significant influence in the field of oral bone regeneration materials. The research hotspot in recent years is mainly on tissue engineering materials. However, traditional materials still occupy a large proportion in clinical treatment or research. In addition, the combined use of new and old materials has gradually become one of the research hotspots in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Patient-reported outcome (PRO) assessment is becoming increasingly important after joint replacement surgery. However, PRO data collection, questionnaire handling, and data processing are time consuming and costly process. The aim of our study was to evaluate the efficiency of PRO assessment using tablet computers compared with traditional paper questionnaires in a total hip or knee arthroplasty (THR or TKR) population., Materials and Methods: We recruited 100 patients from outpatient clinics attending for routine follow-up 2 months, 1 year, or 5 years after THR or TKR. Fifty patients completed the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) osteoarthritis score and Forgotten Joint Score-12 (FJS-12) questionnaires on paper, and 50 patients completed these on a tablet computer. Questionnaire completion was timed for each PRO assessment and for manual data entry of the paper questionnaires into the database. The t test, Mann-Whitney U test, Fisher's exact test, and Wilcoxon test were used for statistical analysis., Results: The mean age of the patients was 67.0 years (standard deviation 10.3 years), with no significant difference between the two groups. Median time for WOMAC questionnaire completion (including data entry for the paper questionnaires) was 197 s for the paper version and 117 s for the tablet version (p < 0.001). Median times for completion of FJS-12 were comparable for paper and tablet versions (32 vs. 37 s). We did not find a significant correlation between age and time for questionnaire completion., Conclusion: Electronic PRO data collection can substantially decrease time, logistics, and effort associated with questionnaire completion in daily clinical practice. It is also acceptable for use in an older arthroplasty population.

The educational outcomes of the descendants of migrants are important indicators of migrants' incorporation into host societies and an indicator of intergenerational social im/mobility. This paper examines this relationship using data from a survey that follows a cohort of young adults, born between 1988 and 1997, who grew up in Switzerland. It looks at the relationship between the educational output of respondents and their parental migratory background, with the theoretical consideration that the family's social capital is a starting point in the descendants' trajectories. The paper is based on secondary data and exploratory cross-sectional quantitative analyses. The results highlight first a correspondence between migrant parents' national origins and their socio-economic status—in other words, an 'ethno-class'. Second, they show differences in educational outcomes between migrants' descendants and native Swiss as well as between the migrants' descendants themselves—which indicates a segmented incorporation process for both the first and the second generation, in confirmation of previous research. Third, results show that parental background and language region of residence are statistically significant in determining the level of education achieved by the migrants' descendants, especially those with a low socio-economic status. Their social mobility is 'limited', and they remain mostly in vocational education. The paper concludes that the Swiss school system still fails to include the most unprivileged and that a glass ceiling remains for them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on the recognition of that Zurich, Switzerland-based ABB Pulp & Paper as the recipient of the 2004 Customer Value Enhancement Award for the motors, drives, and power transmission segment by Frost & Sullivan Inc.

Strategic environmental assessment is often referred to as a tool for predicting the consequences of planned development. The assumption of predictability of outcomes is inconsistent with reality which is characterised by uncertainty and complexity. Furthermore, the capacity of our life support systems to absorb disturbance and re-organise without changing into undesirable states appears to be of critical importance. Resilience thinking provides a structured way of looking at complexity, uncertainty and interrelatedness of systems and processes, and above all, provides us with new ways of dealing with planning and more effective use of SEA. Resilience thinking provides inspiration for those who want to extend their thinking about sustainability, but it also challenges some ideas underpinning the impact assessment profession (the future is unpredictable; change is inevitable; increasing stability leads to vulnerability). This paper is the result of a lively and well-visited workshop on resilience thinking and SEA at the 2010 IAIA conference in Geneva. It introduces the basic concepts of resilience thinking, and develops ideas for its integration within SEA practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the evolution of the banking system sensitivity to cross-border contagion in 2006-2011. The study is performed on the basis of the BIS data on cross-border exposures and the Bankscope data on Tier 1 capital of 20 banking systems (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK, and the USA). Since the European sovereign debt crisis took a decisive turn at the end of 2009, markets started looking at its main protagonists—Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain (GIIPS)—with a lot of anxiety. However, unexpectedly, we find that a single failure among GIIPS could be absorbed by the network. Our results reveal that the USA, the UK, France, and Germany pose the highest threat to the systemic stability. Moreover, the resilience of the banking systems to contagion risks tends to improve over the years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iodine deficiency-induced goiter continues to be a global public health concern, with varying manifestations based on geography, patient's age, and sex. To gain insights into clinical occurrences, a retrospective study analyzed medical records from patients with iodine deficiency-induced goiter or thyroid cancer who underwent surgery at the Community Hospital in Riehen, Switzerland, between 1929 and 1989. Despite today's adequate iodine supplementation, a significant risk for iodine-independent goiter remains in Switzerland, suggesting that genetic factors, among others, might be involved. Thus, a pilot study exploring the feasibility of genetic analysis of blood spots from these medical records was conducted to investigate and enhance the understanding of goiter development, potentially identify genetic variations, and explore the influence of dietary habits and other environmental stimuli on the disease. Blood prints from goiter patients' enlarged organs were collected per decade from medical records. These prints had been made by pressing, drawing, or tracing (i.e., pressed and drawn) the removed organs onto paper sheets. DNA analysis revealed that its yields varied more between the prints than between years. A considerable proportion of the samples exhibited substantial DNA degradation unrelated to sample collection time and DNA mixtures of different contributors. Thus, each goiter imprint must be individually evaluated and cannot be used to predict the success rate of genetic analysis in general. Collecting a large sample or the entire blood ablation for genetic analysis is recommended to mitigate potential insufficient DNA quantities. Researchers should also consider degradation and external biological compounds' impact on the genetic analysis of interest, with the dominant contributor anticipated to originate from the patient's blood. Highlights: DNA can be extracted from paper-derived historical blood spots using a commercial kit. Strong fluctuation in DNA quantity and quality over and within decades due to storage and samples' age. DNA mixtures are to be expected due to the handling of patient files by multiple individuals. Analysis of blood ablations should be considered individually and holistically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to find an answer to the questions of "whether chief executive officers (CEOs) are compensated for market risk", and "how the combined interaction of board size and CEO duality moderates this relationship" from the tenets of agency theory and managerial power theory. Even though the contracting view of agency theory posits that agents are neither to be punished nor rewarded for events that go beyond their direct control (market risk), the research findings in the corporate governance domain are contradictory. It was found that Chinese and American executives were paid for market risk, including oil prices and exchange rates, which was explained by retention risk and weaker corporate governance systems. To shed light on previous inconclusive research, this paper investigates the topic further in a new country setting, that of Switzerland, because the previous results were mostly related to Anglo-Saxon countries. Switzerland is also one of the exemplary countries for executive compensation. Furthermore, it investigates the combined (cascaded) interaction effects of the board size and CEO duality on CEO compensation and market risk from the perspective of managerial power theory, which has not been previously analyzed in the literature to date. For the direct effect, in contrast to previous findings in Anglo-Saxon countries, it has been found that CEOs were not paid for market risk in Switzerland, which confirms agency theory's contracting prediction. This finding outlines the future comparative research area in this domain. For the combined interaction effect, it has been found that board size incorporated with CEO duality is the significant cascaded moderator, and large boards with CEO duality are significantly more effective in controlling asymmetric compensation, which confirms the efficacy of large boards with CEO duality in coping with asymmetric compensation and managerial entrenchment (managerial power theory). These results have both practical and academic implications for boards of directors, Human Resources and corporate governance literature, agency theory, and managerial power theory, by providing further evidence on previous inconclusive findings on board size, CEO duality, and the role of market risk in the CEO pay structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

About half of all deaths are due to cardiovascular disease and its complications. The economic burden on society and the healthcare system from cardiovascular disability, complications, and treatments is huge and getting larger in the rapidly aging populations of developed countries. As conventional risk factors fail to account for part of the cases, homocysteine, a "new" risk factor, is being viewed with mounting interest. Homocysteine is a sulfur-containing intermediate product in the normal metabolism of methionine, an essential amino acid. Folic acid, vitamin B12, and vitamin B6 deficiencies and reduced enzyme activities inhibit the breakdown of homocysteine, thus increasing the intracellular homocysteine concentration. Numerous retrospective and prospective studies have consistently found an independent relationship between mild hyperhomocysteinemia and cardiovascular disease or all-cause mortality. Starting at a plasma homocysteine concentration of approximately 10 micromol/l, the risk increase follows a linear dose-response relationship with no specific threshold level. Hyperhomocysteinemia as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease is thought to be responsible for about 10% of total risk. Elevated plasma homocysteine levels (>12 micromol/l; moderate hyperhomocysteinemia) are considered cytotoxic and are found in 5 to 10% of the general population and in up to 40% of patients with vascular disease. Additional risk factors (smoking, arterial hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia) may additively or, by interacting with homocysteine, synergistically (and hence over-proportionally) increase overall risk. Hyperhomocysteinemia is associated with alterations in vascular morphology, loss of endothelial anti-thrombotic function, and induction of a procoagulant environment. Most known forms of damage or injury are due to homocysteine-mediated oxidative stress. Especially when acting as direct or indirect antagonists of cofactors and enzyme activities, numerous agents, drugs, diseases, and lifestyle factors have an impact on homocysteine metabolism. Folic acid deficiency is considered the most common cause of hyperhomocysteinemia. An adequate intake of at least 400 microg of folate per day is difficult to maintain even with a balanced diet, and high-risk groups often find it impossible to meet these folate requirements. Based on the available evidence, there is an increasing call for the diagnosis and treatment of elevated homocysteine levels in high-risk individuals in general and patients with manifest vascular disease in particular. Subjects of both populations should first have a baseline homocysteine assay. Except where manifestations are already present, intervention, if any, should be guided by the severity of hyperhomocysteinemia. Consistent with other working parties and consensus groups, we recommend a target plasma homocysteine level of <10 micromol/l. Based on various calculation models, reduction of elevated plasma homocysteine concentrations may theoretically prevent up to 25% of cardiovascular events. Supplementation is inexpensive, potentially effective, and devoid of adverse effects and, therefore, has an exceptionally favorable benefit/risk ratio. The results of ongoing randomized controlled intervention trials must be available before screening for, and treatment of, hyperhomocysteinemia can be recommended for the apparently healthy general population.

The Basel Project on Psychiatry and the Printed Media has focussed on the role of the media in the development and enhancement of prejudice and stigma against the mentally ill. Analyzing the reporting of the German national paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on schizophrenia we show a gap between the competent reporting on the illness schizophrenia and a devaluating use of schizophrenia as a metaphor. This is of special importance since almost three fifth of the identified articles (48 of 83) use schizophrenia as a metaphor.

Background: Publications are one of the most important tools to measure scientific production in a particular sphere. Hence, the aim of this study was to identify the quantitative and (through Journal Impact Factor) qualitative amount of ophthalmological articles coming from Switzerland., Materials and Methods: With a specifically developed software we searched 70 ophthalmological Journals indexed by Medline for articles from Switzerland., Results: Not counting the publications related to the annual meeting of the Swiss Ophthalmological Society, the amount of Swiss papers in ophthalmological journals indexed by Medline, increased between 1988 and 1999 by a factor of four. In proportion to the global amount of ophthalmological publications we calculated an increase by a factor of 2.6. The amount of publications grew particularly during the analysed time period in journals with high impact factors. In 1999 a total of 1.8 % of the indexed ophthalmological articles originated from Swiss research institutes and hospitals. The average amount of authors of Swiss publications increased, thereby following an international trend., Conclusions: The increased amount of publications may rely on the growing role of Swiss research in ophthalmology as well as on a broadened and deepened international orientation of Swiss ophthalmology. The increased number of authors can be explained by the growing complexity and interdisciplinary nature of research projects. Both, the amount of publications and the number of authors, can be linked to the "publish or perish" paradigm.

Scientists from a consortium of Swiss energy research centres and universities have prepared a white paper on 'Power-to-X' for the Swiss Federal Energy Research Commission, to collect the key insights into Power-to-X technologies. The study sheds light on contributions that could be made to Switzerland's energy strategy by different technologies based on conversion and storage of various forms of energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the essence of position paper of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) on cross-border financial services. It states that the position paper focuses on the legal and regulatory framework that governs the provision of financial services in Switzerland. It notes that the review of the cross-border activities conducted by the Swiss financial institution should also include payment services and should not be limited to asset management services.

In our study on Psychiatry, Mass Media and Public Opinion we made a content analysis of newspaper reports on ECT and electric defibrillation. We traced only few special articles on the subject in the 1994 and 1995 CD-Rom versions of the "Der Spiegel", The "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" (FAZ), the "Neue Zürcher Zeitung" (NZZ) and the "Berliner Tageszeitung" (taz), although the word "Elektroschock" was employed 118 times. Even in high standard newspapers the style of language becomes special when they deal with ECT. The articles are strongly biased and lack informations. In contrast to Defibrillation ECT is not generally accepted. Referring to ECT horror pictures of past psychiatry are cited. The language used is biased and discriminative. Referring to Defibrillation technical details are described and the language is neutral. The social representation of ECT is completely negative.

Potentially, technology transfer offices (TTOs) can play a significant role in facilitating the successful transfer of technologies and knowledge between universities and industry. Many developing countries are currently developing technology transfer practices within their universities. However, many developing country TTOs operate inefficiently or are ineffective. The sharing of experiences can lead to improvements in this endeavour. Advanced nations can serve as a frame of reference and a basis of policy recommendations for developing countries due to the longevity of their technology transfer activities. The authors issued 234 questionnaires to European university TTOs, of which 54 usable questionnaires were returned. They combine the data from these questionnaires with 19 interviews conducted with university TTO staff from 9 countries in an attempt to create a typology of practices that developing nations could emulate to improve technology transfer in their own contexts. While ultimately a clear typology was not forthcoming, the authors found some relationship between the dominant focus in the mission statement of developed country TTOs, the activities they undertake, their position in the university governance structure and their level of maturity which may usefully inform the development of TTO practices in developing countries.

This paper estimates the impact of the introduction of a tax on unsorted waste increasing the 35-l bag price from 0.24 to 1.95 CHF in 2013 in the canton of Vaud. Using panel data for 22 districts over the period 2010–2017, we identify the effects over time of the waste tax on unsorted waste and recycling. The neighbouring cantons of Geneva and Valais form our control group. The waste tax decreases the amount of yearly unsorted household-waste by about 47 kg, corresponding to a reduction of about one fourth per inhabitant. The effect is strongest the year after the introduction of the tax and is persistent over time. We further find a robust increase in organic waste recycling. For recycling of paper and glass, the effect is not clear-cut. Interestingly, in terms of weight, the reduction in unsorted waste is not fully compensated by increased recycling. Given that there are no signs for illegal waste disposal, this means that consumers probably reduced their total packaging bought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Over the past decades, there has been an increase in research publications focusing on peri‐implantitis. When facing limited healthcare resources, bibliometric analyses can guide researchers and funding parties toward areas where reallocation or more focus on research activity is warranted. The main objective of this study was to identify the trends of the top 100 cited articles on peri‐implantitis research as the first study of its kind. Methods: A Web of Science search, using the keywords "peri‐implantitis or periimplantitis" was built to create a database of the most‐cited articles. Articles were ranked by citation count and screened by two independent reviewers. The bibliometric characteristics of the studies were gathered and analyzed using several bibliometric software. Author collaborations, author clusters, and keyword co‐occurrence network analyses were also performed. The correlation between the citation count and the age of each article was tested. Results: The top 100 cited papers were published from 1994 to 2018 and the total citation counts ranged from 119 to 972 with 244.5 citations/paper on average. There was no correlation between the age of the articles and the citation count (p‐value = 0.67). 21% of the studies consisted of prospective clinical studies. 35% of the papers focused on treatment and prevention of peri‐implantitis while 65% concerned epidemiology. The top three most prolific countries were Sweden (n = 31), Germany (n = 15), and Switzerland (n = 13). We found 12 authors who had greater than five publications on the list. Also, the most published journal was Clinical Oral Implants Research. Conclusion: This study provides insight into the characteristics and quality of the most highly cited peri‐implantitis literature. This revealed a deficiency in terms of the number of studies on treatment strategies as well as a higher level of evidence studies among the most‐ impactful papers on peri‐implantitis at the moment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]