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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is an analysis of the process of digital transformation of enterprises, by measuring the efficiency of the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in business in 29 European countries in the period from 2012 to 2020. Design/methodology/approach: A Charnes, Cooper and Rhodes data envelopment analysis (CCR DEA, 1978) window model has been developed to measure the ICT efficiency of European countries. Several indicators of the use of information and communication technologies in enterprises are selected as the variables of the proposed models, which are available as such in the Eurostat database for European countries. Due to the sensitivity of the results obtained by applying the DEA method to measurement errors and output values, the robustness analysis of the obtained values of average efficiency is also performed, using the bootstrap method. Findings: The obtained results show that the highest average technical efficiency of the use of ICT in companies by windows, in the observed period, is recorded in Belgium, while Denmark is in the second place. Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Latvia have the lowest average technical ICT efficiency per window. The analysis of the obtained results by years in the same period brings identical conclusions. Only Belgium has been ICT efficient many times. In general, for all observed countries, the movement of average ICT efficiency in the observed period shows a slightly growing trend, with the exception of a significantly decline in 2013. However, the fact is that the ICT efficiency of the observed countries in the past period is relatively low and for all countries it is 46.36%, with no country being 100% efficient and with eight countries whose average efficiency is below 50% of best practice. Research limitations/implications: To measure and evaluate the efficiency of ICT use in enterprises, four variables for efficiency assessment are identified, given the fact that only these data are available continuously for the observed period from 2012 to 2020 in the Eurostat database. Practical implications: Low efficiency of using digital potential in business of the observed countries indicates the need for better understanding of the nature and goals of the digital business transformation process by employees and management, to create conditions for effective implementation and optimization of business digitalization. Originality/value: Measurement of digital transformation is the subject of a very small number of studies and research, which mainly focus on measuring and assessing the impact of digital transformation on individual countries and perform a comparative analysis of technological development in those countries. Also, analyses are mainly based on identifying similarities and differences between countries or ranking countries according to adopted evaluation criteria using different digitization indices. A step forward in this research is the application of the DEA window method for measuring the relative efficiency of the use of ICT in enterprises, and the development of a model that can be extended if necessary with indicators for which data are available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social enterprises are seen as innovative towards solving societal problems, but little research exists on possible negative aspects, the so‐called dark sides. In this study, the emphasis is on dark sides of social entrepreneurship, how they are managed, and how systems thinking can contribute towards managing these effects. Dark sides of social entrepreneurship can take many forms, like unethical or insincere motives and unintended outcomes like the negative impact on the well‐being of founders and employees, but they are also a call for a critical reflection on the role of the government in society and the economic system social enterprises have to operate in. This paper aims to contribute to the dark side theory of social entrepreneurship by linking system archetypes to themes of dark side thereby stressing how management strategies act as balancing feedback loops to mitigate or prevent dark sides. A qualitative research was conducted by interviewing 21 respondents who play an important role in the world of social entrepreneurship in Belgium. The results show that dark sides of social enterprises manifest itself mostly in the form of trade‐offs and financial, business, and management related issues. Taking over the habits of profit‐oriented companies emerged as a new dark side element. Management strategies include anchoring goals, transparency, obtaining external views, changing the system, and above all reflection. The latter is an important first step to become aware of these issues to be able to change the negative dynamism of these dark sides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a critical analysis of the NEET category. We argue that it is both too focused on individual responsibility and too homogenizing to enable the development of public policies and measures capable of responding to the needs of the most excluded youth. We respond to these needs using a qualitative approach that has allowed us to account for the diversity of young people, especially the most marginalized, living in lower-class neighborhoods of the Brussels region. Our approach generates a NEET/non-NEET typology that helps deconstruct NEET as a statistical category by identifying social situations that are both diverse and temporary. This typology challenges the tendency to reify young people and to hold them responsible for their own circumstances. Furthermore, our typology shows how NEET situations result from trajectories shaped by structural dynamics as well as relations and processes of inequality. These may stem from social class, experiences of migration, or the intersection of the two, and inevitably exercise an effect on both school and job market environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to explore how pervasive constructions regarding a person's sex and gender identity in society and law limit the human rights of persons with variations of sex characteristics. Societal culture promulgates a binary (male/female) gender ideal which includes standards of normality for our bodies. People who do not easily fit these culturally constructed norms, such as persons with variations of sex characteristics, encounter numerous difficulties. The legal conceptualisation of 'sex' according to the binary maintains the medicalisation of variations of sex characteristics and reinforces the focus on sex 'normalising' treatment of children who are too young to provide their informed consent. The paper makes use of Belgium as an illustration. Not only is comprehensive legal research concerning variations of sex characteristics absent in Belgium, but the country has also been responsive to human rights claims regarding sexual identity in recent years. With regards to the sex assigning or 'normalising' treatment of persons with variations of sex characteristics, this paper argues that by accepting the substitution of the child's informed consent for the opinion of the legal representative in the absence of urgent medical necessity, Belgian law fails to protect the former's right to bodily integrity and best interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the drivers of research performance of 1431 economists from six European countries. Data from the Scopus database are collected. We compare the relative performance of economists from three northern European countries: Belgium, Denmark and Germany with three from the south: Greece, Italy and Portugal. Relative performance is measured as the deviation from the country average in both citations and papers. The dependent variables take the value of 1 if the productivity of the researcher is above the country average and 0 if it is below. Probit/logit analysis is employed and marginal effects are estimated to examine the significance of factors like the country of their PhD studies, gender and inbreeding at the national level. A US PhD or a German PhD affects negatively the relative productivity of German economists. Inbreeding at the national level (locally trained economists) reduces productivity among Greek, Italian and Portuguese economists. Gender is significant in the case of Denmark, Germany and Italy, but it does not affect productivity in Belgium, Greece and Portugal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Over the past 20 years, evidence has suggested that gut microbiota plays an important role in metabolic homeostasis. The relationship between gut microbiota and diabetes has become the focus of considerable scientific interest. With the sharp increase in publications in this area, it is imperative to analyze the relevant articles using bibliometrics methods. Methods: Publications on "the gut microbiota and diabetes" were retrieved and downloaded from the Web of Science Core Collection database. Microsoft Excel 2020, VOSviewer, CiteSpace 5.8.R3 and Co-Occurrence 9.94 software were used for data analysis and visualization. Country/academic institution, journal, author, subject category, keyword and reference were analyzed thoroughly. The cutting-edge directions in this field were also determined by analyzing keywords and key articles. Results: A total of 2,342 documents were included in the analysis; the number of articles in this field has increased yearly, particularly after 2010. China and the University of Copenhagen are the country and research institution associated with the largest number of publications. Nutrients have published 191 articles in this field, ranking first among highly productive journals in the number of publications. The researcher Cani PD affiliated with the University of Leuven, Belgium, published the greatest number of articles in this field between 2001 and 2021 and was also ranked as the first co-cited author and the largest contributor of highly cited papers in this field. Endocrinology & Metabolism was the most common subject category. Three of the most frequently found keywords, besides terms related to "microbiota" and "diabetes," were "obesity," "probiotics," and "inflammation." Akkermansia muciniphila, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, trimethylamine n-oxide and branched-chain amino acids are intestinal bacteria or metabolites that have attracted more attention in recent years. Natural products represented by Chinese herbal medicine and some protein receptors or signaling pathways such as aryl hydrocarbon receptor, farnesoid X receptor and AMP-activated protein kinase were frontiers in this field. Conclusion: Over the past two decades, the rapid development of research on the gut microbiota has deepened the understanding of the physiology and pathology of diabetes, providing new insights into different approaches to treatment. In the future, further interdisciplinary innovation, clinical transformation, and application may receive more attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues how communicative planning approaches, as one of the most dominant conceptualisations of participatory planning, often ignore the embodied dimensions of participation as a socio-political learning processes. To do so, the paper theoretically traces why a Habermasian conceptualisation of political intersubjectivity fails to democratise planning processes and turns to an alternative Mouffean framework where coproductive methods are conceptualised as public pedagogic interventions, allowing for different meanings to be created and shared in a dialogical process. Based on an analysis of two experiments the authors have conducted, some lessons are drawn on how specific methods can be designed to stimulate more embodied forms of intersubjectivity between involved actors, while avoiding top-down consensus-making. In this way, the analysis demonstrates how such methods stimulate participants to share experiences, while orienting the discussion in a spatialised direction and creating a space where the ambivalence of place is effectively stimulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to serve as a reminder of Polish economic migrations to and from Belgium between 1918 and 1952, largely absent from the collective memory of Poles or frequently identified with migrations to and from France. Based on the account of the Szotek family, collected in accordance with oral history methodology, the authors present the family's complex story of migration: first a journey from Ujków Stary to the Charleroi coal basin in Belgium and then a return to Poland, where they lived again in Ujków Stary, then in Zalesie and Bystrzyca Kłodzka, only to finally return to Ujków Stary. The family's reasons behind the decision to go to Belgium and then re-migrate to their homeland helps to comprehend the historical context of economic migration to and from Belgium, as outlined by the authors. The issue of adaptation of emigrants in the country of settlement, and then their adjustment as re-emigrants to the new reality forged by the authorities of the "democratic" Polish People's Republic occupies an important place in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on a discourse analysis of both policy documents and media statements by government and political representatives on the entangled topics of marriage migration and integration, this article starts by exploring the factual details and context of emergence of the 2011 renewed Belgian marriage migration policy. It will argue that these restrictive marriage migration policies are informed by the rise of a specific gendered and culturalised political discourse: the growing need to protect and save women – especially when they are Muslim or come from a Muslim background (Ghorashi, 2010; Moors & Vroon-Najem, 2020) – and to determine the purposes for marriage migration in order to combat sham and forced marriage practices. The paper thus moves beyond the written marriage migration policy – and its dominant narrative – and seeks to theoretically contribute to a critical perspective concerning the construction of a colonial feminist discourse in marriage migration policy. The methodological contribution of this paper consists of the work with expert informants or 'mediators' (Lutz, 1993, p. 486) in order to challenge this dominant colonial narrative. Therefore, the main focus of this article is a grounded and intersectional analysis of in-depth interviews conducted with mediators working in the Flemish socio-political field of migration and integration. Building on their expertise and positionalities, the analytical part looks at their narratives and arguments of critique concerning tensions and ambivalent characteristics of the policy's regulations and conditions, and how they affect migrant couples in general and migrant women in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For about 20 years, Belgium has successfully implemented working-time reduction policies for the older workforce. However, the impact of such policies on health has not been explored yet. Using longitudinal data from Waves 5 and 6 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) (N = 1,498), the paper assesses whether working-time reduction in late career is associated with a change in self-perceived health, depression (EURO-D) and quality of life (CASP-12). For that purpose, ordered logit and ordinary least squares regressions are performed, using four different models for defining working-time reductions. Results show that people reducing working time with or without additional social benefits tend to have a poorer self-perceived health at follow-up compared with people keeping the same or increasing working time. By comparison, people moving to retirement are more likely to present a better self-perceived health, depression level and quality of life compared to people increasing or keeping the same working-time level. Although, introducing an interaction effect, the paper shows that the change in quality of life for respondents reducing working hours in addition to social benefits tends to be less negative for those who wished to retire early at baseline than for those who did not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we focus on the tax deductibility of mortgage loans, which is a key measure of housing policies in many countries. Several studies have shown that the distribution of the benefits of this measure runs counter to the vertical equity principle. We contribute to the existing literature by addressing the distribution of the tax deductibility of mortgage loans considering the spatial outcomes of this policy. We use Belgian data to measure the impact of this policy on households' income and inequality and poverty in different types of areas. We show that this measure favours suburban households and subsidizes urban sprawl. Exogenous factors such as past housing policies and homeownership determinants play a key role in this phenomenon. We also simulate the distributional impact of three stylized reforms of the deductibility of mortgage loans in Belgium. These simulations show that the distributional outcomes could be improved on both social and spatial sides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Thai migration to Belgium is numerically a woman-led phenomenon, which has captured social attention for the last decades. This attention entails stereotypes about Thai migrant women as 'workers' in the intimate industry and/or 'exotic wives' of Belgian men. To challenge these stereotypes, the present paper explores the often-ignored dimension of Thai women's sociality. Specifically, it examines the transmission dynamics occurring in their Buddhist social spaces, which shape and reinforce their sense of belonging. To do so, it draws from ethnographic fieldwork with Thai migrant women and key social actors within the Thai population in the country. Data analysis unveils that these women engage in multiform modes of transmission in their Buddhist social spaces. First, they transmit good deeds from the material world to the spiritual realm through merit-making practices and by seeking spiritual guidance in the temple. Second, they pass their socio-cultural ways of belonging to their children by engaging in different socializing activities. And third, they involve themselves in sharing religious faith, material symbols, and tastes described as part of Thai culture. Through this multiform transmission, Thai migrant women confront in subtle ways the common-held views about them at the intersection of their various identities as spouses, mothers, citizens, and Buddhist devotees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND A growing number of primarily qualitative studies have shown that the legal trajectories of immigrants in Western countries are often complex. However, immigrants' long-term legal trajectories remain a blind spot in quantitative migration research. OBJECTIVES This paper aims to provide new empirical insights into the variety of legal pathways among non-European immigrants who arrived in Belgium between 1999 and 2008. We build a typology of legal trajectories, and we investigate how these trajectories are related to immigrants' country of origin, asylum status, and social ties in Belgium. METHODS The micro longitudinal data is from the Belgian National Register. We use sequence analysis to identify clusters of legal trajectories, and multinomial logistic regressions to explore how they are related to immigrants' characteristics. RESULTS We identify seven types of legal trajectory. While some are simple and smooth, others are characterized by moves back and forth between legal statuses and frequent periods of irregularity. Immigrants from the least developed countries and rejected asylum seekers are more likely to experience slow and chaotic trajectories. By contrast, simple and short trajectories are more common among immigrants from higher- or middle-income countries. We also find that social and family ties are a key factor in long-term immigrants experiencing smooth legal trajectories. CONCLUSIONS Legal statuses vary substantially over time, and trajectories differ widely among immigrants. Some categories of immigrants are more at risk of highly precarious longterm trajectories that may lead to situations of 'permanent temporariness'. CONTRIBUTION The paper highlights the relevance of a quantitative longitudinal perspective on immigrants' legal status and underlines the need to take into account not only the legal status upon arrival but also the complexity of legal trajectories during the stay in the destination country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community pharmacists in Belgium frequently dispense emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs). However, variable and insufficient counseling practices exist across pharmacies, highlighting the need for standardization and quality improvement strategies. The aim of this project was to develop and test an ECP dispensing protocol for pharmacists. An 'experience-based' co-design approach involving academic and practicing pharmacists was applied, followed by a 4-month test period and interviews to assess users' experiences. In total, eight geographically dispersed pharmacies participated. Pharmacists (n = 15) reached a consensus on most items to be included in the protocol, which was subsequently tested in seven pharmacies, with overall 97 registered ECP conversations. Pharmacists considered the protocol complete but felt that not all items should be mentioned/questioned during all conversations. They suggested only subtle modifications to be made prior to delivering a final protocol ready for nationwide distribution. Despite attributing positive effects to having a protocol, no single pharmacist 'actively' used it at-the-counter but used it instead as a 'checklist' after the encounter. Pharmacists found that the paper-based format of the protocol hindered protocol-based dispensing. Future research is needed to provide evidence on the actual benefits of protocol application, as well as to identify factors influencing the implementation of ECP dispensing using a software-integrated protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the impact on household incomes of the COVID‐19 pandemic and governments' policy responses in April 2020 in four large and severely hit EU countries: Belgium, Italy, Spain and the UK. We provide comparative evidence on the level of relative and absolute welfare resilience at the onset of the pandemic, by creating counterfactual scenarios using the European tax‐benefit model EUROMOD combined with COVID‐19‐related household surveys and timely labor market data. We find that income poverty increased in all countries due to the pandemic while inequality remained broadly the same. Differences in the impact of policies across countries arose from four main sources: the asymmetric dimension of the shock by country, the different protection offered by each tax‐benefit system, the diverse design of discretionary measures and differences in the household level circumstances and living arrangements of individuals at risk of income loss in each country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent paper published in the European Addiction Research journal highlighted the discrepancies in addiction medicine and psychology training across European countries. The paper specifically mentioned Belgium as having no specific training and only four academics working on addictive disorders. However, further investigation revealed that the situation in the French-speaking part of Belgium is less dire than described in the paper. Three universities in this region have research groups focusing on addiction research, and courses related to addiction are routinely provided to students. Additionally, there are inter-university diplomas available for medical professionals and a dense network of care for addictive disorders in the French-speaking part of Belgium. Despite these strengths, challenges remain in terms of the education of caretakers specialized in addiction and the quality of treatment offered. Proposed solutions include improving continuous training, reducing the treatment gap, and strengthening preventive laws and policies. Collaboration between French- and Dutch-speaking clinicians and researchers is also crucial for improving addiction treatment in Belgium. [Extracted from the article]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many things changed in people's educational lives as individuals transitioned to remote learning. While technologically advanced countries swiftly adapted to the new normal, less developed countries encountered substantial obstacles. This study aimed to compare distance education practices during the lockdown in four OECD countries (Belgium, Japan, Spain, and Türkiye) and provide future-oriented suggestions. A systematic literature review was conducted using OECD documents on distance education practices accessed through the OECD iLibrary database with a keyword search. Nine papers out of 1,294 meeting inclusion criteria were thoroughly reviewed, focusing on categories such as general information, sample practices, implementation challenges, conducting courses, supporting students during the lockdown, and evaluation and national examinations. A descriptive analysis was performed based on coding categories. Findings revealed that school closure durations varied by country and educational level, with each country adopting approaches suitable for distance learning. Online learning platform development was similar across countries, except for Japan, which has a distinct curriculum structure. Challenges, including technological limitations and resistance to change, were common, exacerbated by a lack of expertise and the need for rapid adaptation. Distance education primarily relied on computers, television, and homework, with radio use varying. Decisionmaking processes differed across countries, with centralized decision-making observed in Türkiye. Supporting disadvantaged students and addressing learning losses were prioritized, and national exams were postponed with changes in content and the number of questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates three potential mechanisms of educational differentials in formal childcare uptake in Belgium, a country characterised by high availability, but also pronounced gradients in childcare uptake. We investigate whether and to what extent educational differentials can be accounted for by (i) differences in employment opportunities of mothers with different educational backgrounds, (ii) variation in local childcare availability which may entail different access, or (iii) differential availability of grandparents as an alternative source of affordable and flexible care. We use data from the 2011 Belgian census, which provides us with information on the socio-demographic characteristics of the entire population legally residing in Belgium. The census was linked to tax register data which gives insight into the uptake of formal childcare as childcare expenses are tax-deductible, as well as municipality-level data on childcare availability. Using logistic regression analysis, we investigate the uptake of formal childcare among two-parent families with one child younger than 2.5 years old. Results indicate that educational gradients are mainly due to differences in employment opportunities rather than differential availability of formal childcare at the local level or informal childcare availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper starts with a description of the complexity of the Belgian nation and an overview of its universities. During the term of the authors' librarianship at their university, there were regular meetings with their colleagues from the other universities, both at a national and a Flemish level. For both, a brief description is given of the actions originating from these collaborations. Nevertheless, these collaborations were also influenced negatively by the existing competitivity between their universities. At a national level, this led to a failure of the dream of installing a unified library management system. At a Flemish level, resentments were raised by the discussion on how to divide the funding that the Ministry of Education had allocated for the acquisition of digital journals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates when party selectors prefer ethnic minority female over male candidates on their lists. We argue that the two competing strategies parties can follow (gaining the ethnic vote ('ethnic community' argument) versus not scaring ethnic majority voters ('deterrence' argument)) are dependent upon party ideology, district diversity and ethnic minorities' visibility. Focusing on the 2018 local elections in Flanders (Belgium), we find that female Turkish/Maghrebi (i.e., visible ethnic minority) candidates outnumber their male counterparts in less diverse districts and rightist parties, whereas an opposite picture emerges in more diverse districts and leftist parties. Surprisingly, however, female candidates with less visible minority backgrounds outnumber their male counterparts in all contexts. These results imply a confirmation of the 'ethnic community argument', while casting doubts on the 'deterrence' argument. Taken together, our findings clearly highlight the conditionality of the selection of ethnic minority male versus female candidates in Proportional Representation list-systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic relatedness figures heavily in contemporary ethical debates on egg freezing, although the arguments lack empirical‐based evidence. Rather than adding another theoretical view on the moral relevance of genetic connections, this paper instead proposes an empirically grounded perspective based on two independent qualitative interview‐based studies conducted in Belgium and France. Three themes emerge from our empirical data: (1) prioritizing family building; (2) centering the gestational experience of motherhood; and (3) identifying the complexities and limitations of adoption. These themes suggest that the relationship between egg freezing, genetics, biological motherhood, and adoption is highly complex and less straightforward than what is often assumed in the egg freezing debate. Our study provides more detailed insights into women's ambivalent experiences regarding those reproductive options. We discuss the ethical implications of our empirical findings and hold that pursuing genetic desire is not necessarily the main moral reason why women freeze their eggs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using time use diary data collected among 2603 teachers from the Flemish community of Belgium, this article investigates the 'family friendliness' of the teaching profession by exploring the family time of teachers in couple households with children. Teachers are an interesting case as the teaching profession is heavily feminised and considered to be a 'family friendly' occupation; it allows to synchronize the workers' schedule with their children's. Flexible work arrangements such as schedule or work-place flexibility function as so called 'boundary-spanning strategies'. However, research on the impact of flexible work on work-life balance has shown mixed results. This paper develops a number of time-use based indicators to measure the quality of family time and validates these by relating them to work-life balance. Subsequently, it is assessed how teachers' use of work time flexibility affects the quality of family time to evaluate whether this flexibility can be understood as a resource for increasing work-family balance. Results show that teachers with children have a better quality of family time and subsequently a better work-life balance if they work on standard hours rather than using their schedule flexibility to optimize the amount of family time. Highlights: Postponing work from afternoons to evenings and weekends proves to be detrimental for the quality of family time. The quality of family time is more important for self-reported work-life balance than the total amount of family time. Uncontaminated family leisure time is positively associated with the perceived work-life balance. Contaminated non-free time with family and fragmented shared time is negatively associated with the perceived work-life balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do members of regional parliaments engage in EU policymaking? This paper examines how and why members of the Walloon, Flemish and Brussels regional parliaments vary in their EU-contacting activities, by adapting a German survey. Belgium makes a relevant case, as the 'in foro interno, in foro externo' principle entitles regions to conduct foreign policy, including EU affairs in those areas they possess internal competency. Our data show that the level of EU-contacting activities of Belgian regional parliamentarians is overall low, mainly directed towards informational activities and taking place in the direct environment of the parliamentarians. The variation in EU-related activities is best explained by individual-level factors such as the perceived salience of Europe for their own careers, their perceived influence on EU policymaking and their position towards European integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Six taxonomic errors and one relevant taxonomic change were discovered after publication of "Mislabelling may explain why some prohibited invasive aquatic plants are still being sold in Belgium" Van den Neucker T, Scheers K. 2022. Knowl Manag Aquat Ecosyst 423: 8. This corrigendum lists the changes that need to be made in the paper and in Appendices A and B. The authors state that this does not change the scientific conclusions of the paper in any way. Corrected versions of Appendices A and B are made available as supplementary material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I investigated whether the sustainability attitudes and behaviour of young people are similar to those of the older generation. Furthermore, I examined to which extent today's parents play a role as socialization agents in shaping the broader sustainability attitudes and behaviour of their children by investigating whether specific family characteristics are important to explain this association. The research questions were analysed by using data from a Belgian study conducted among Flemish pupils from 47 primary and secondary schools and one of their parents (n = 880). I found that children's attitudes towards sustainability are higher compared to those of the older generation (e.g. their parents) but that the older generation, on the contrary, act more sustainably. Furthermore, there were small but positive correlations within the family for sustainability attitudes and behaviour. Finally, the results showed that increased intrafamily discussions are associated with more sustainable attitudinal parent–child congruence. However, the results did not provide evidence in support of behavioural congruence. It was concluded that the transmission of sustainability attitudes and behaviour is not limited to the classic top-down approach where parents influence children's attitudes and behaviour and children are considered as passive recipients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnoses and medication use has increased over time around the world, but significant regional differences remain. This paper aims to determine and explain disparities in ADHD prevalence and medication use among school-aged children in two distinct school systems, in Flanders (Belgium) and Québec (Canada). We present detailed descriptive and comparative analyses of data from 35 schools, 114 teachers, and 1046 parents (children) that were collected as part of a comparative international project. The data concern teacher and parent suspicions, teachers' ratings of ADHD-related behaviors in children, teachers' views of medication use, and teachers' beliefs about ADHD. The results show that, compared with Flanders, Québec had significantly more children diagnosed with ADHD and more frequent suspicions of ADHD in children by teachers and parents. We refer to the conceptual, institutional, and interactional levels of medicalization to interpret our findings and conclude that social and cultural readings of children's behaviors differ greatly between regions. Medicalization of children's behaviors is more common in Québec than in Flanders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historical re-enactments have become an increasingly popular topic in academic debate, as some scholars argue that re-enactments allow participants to critically investigate history and its representations. As a pastime dominated by men, most literature on war re-enactment and gender, however, has emphasized the subordinate position of women and the reproduction of conventional gender roles. This paper focuses on two European women re-enactment groups that challenge this understanding: Die Flakhelferinnen in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany and the Army Nurse Corps of the United States. Based on a visual ethnography of their Instagram combined with fieldwork in the Czech Republic and Belgium, I analyse the strategies these reenactors use in the remediation of the 'invisible' histories of women in the armed forces during WWII. The analysis demonstrates a complex negotiation between historical notions of 'femininity', contemporary identities, and Instagram's affordances in the remediation of gendered pasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While economic voting theory assumes that voters respond to economic conditions, critics have argued that most voters lack an adequate understanding of key national economic indicators. In this paper, we investigate the occurrence of a neighbourhood effect, where citizens can observe unemployment levels in their own local communities. Using both official statistics and survey data of three recent election studies in Belgium, we assess whether local unemployment levels are associated with the assessment of the national economy, and incumbent voting. While the results show that the local unemployment level is strongly associated with the assessment of the national economy, results regarding a direct association with supporting incumbent political parties are mixed. We argue that the neighbourhood effect is an important mechanism in economic voting, as citizens react to a neighbourhood effect in their assessment of the state of the national economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Belgium, an extensive corrosion program on a wide range of metals has been studied as candidate container material, which is considered in the geological disposal concept of high‐level radioactive waste or spent fuel. This paper presents an overview of the corrosion studies initiated by SCK CEN more than 40 years ago. The experiments conducted in these studies were conceived based on early disposal designs, that is, designs in which the radioactive waste was to be enclosed in a metallic overpack that would be directly emplaced in an argillaceous environment. A step‐wise approach was adopted consisting of laboratory screening studies, detailed studies, and demonstration tests. The screening studies included accelerated tests, conducted in a surface laboratory, and exposure tests carried out either in autoclaves or in the field in a surface clay quarry. The detailed studies involved both in situ and laboratory experiments. Gradually, the emphasis shifted from basic research to large‐scale integrated demonstration experiments enabling the simultaneous study of different parameters and/or processes and their coupling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Aphasia can affect the communication between the person with aphasia (PWA) and the communication partner (CP). It is therefore necessary to support both the PWA and their CPs. Communication partner training (CPT) focuses on training communication between dyads of whom one person has aphasia. Although there is increasing evidence supporting CPT as an effective intervention to improve communication and reduce the psychosocial consequences of stroke, implementation in clinical practice remains limited. Aim: To understand the mechanisms behind the practice–evidence gap currently hindering CPT implementation, this study investigated the role of (1) education, (2) concept knowledge, (3) work setting and (4) clinical experience in CPT. Methods & Procedures: Flemish speech and language therapists (SLTs) clinically involved in aphasia rehabilitation were surveyed online regarding CPT. Statistical analyses include descriptive statistics to report survey results and non‐parametric group comparisons to investigate the role of the four variables on CPT. Outcomes & Results: In this study 72 SLTs were included, of whom 73.61% indicated they deliver CPT but of whom only 43.10% indicated CP presence during therapy. The most frequently identified barriers to CPT delivery were lack of time and CPT‐specific knowledge. Other barriers were lack of resources, work setting dependent factors, PWA or CP dependent factors, individual therapy to the PWA being of higher priority, existing CPT methods and interventions being perceived as unclear and feeling uncertain about CPT delivery. Concerning the role of the four variables on CPT delivery, neither education nor concept knowledge had a significant effect on CPT delivery. Work setting and clinical experience did, however, influence CPT delivery. More specifically, CPT delivery and CP presence were higher in the private practice (chronic phase) compared to the other three settings and experienced SLTs deliver CPT more often compared with less experienced SLTs. Conclusions & Implications: To reduce the practice–evidence gap, we suggest prioritising the two most frequently identified barriers, that is, lack of time and CPT‐specific knowledge. To overcome the time barrier in CPT, we propose implementing automated natural speech analysis to reduce the workload. To enhance CPT‐specific knowledge, speech and language therapy curricula should provide more in‐depth theory and hands‐on practice for CPT. In addition, increased awareness about CPT‐specific methods is needed to further support clinical practice. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on the subject: Communication partner training (CPT) is an effective intervention to improve communication and reduce the psychosocial consequences of stroke. Despite this evidence base, a current practice–evidence gap exists. What this study adds: This is the first study to characterise CPT delivery in a Flemish cohort of speech and language therapists (SLTs). In addition, on a more international perspective, few studies have investigated the role of education, concept knowledge, work setting and clinical experience in CPT. We found that neither education nor concept knowledge has a significant effect on CPT delivery. CPT delivery and communication partner presence are significantly higher in the private practice compared to the hospital, rehabilitation centre or nursing home settings. Experienced SLTs deliver CPT more often compared with less‐experienced SLTs. The two most prominent reported barriers include lack of time and CPT‐specific knowledge. What are the clinical implications of this work?: This study suggests reducing the practice–evidence gap by alleviating the main barriers identified, that is, lack of time and CPT‐specific knowledge. Time‐barriers can be addressed by implementing automated natural speech analyses. We additionally advocate for more in‐depth theory and hands‐on practice for CPT in speech and language therapy curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Cancer causes a substantial burden to our society, both from a health and an economic perspective. To improve cancer patient outcomes and lower society expenses, early diagnosis and timely treatment are essential. The recent COVID-19 crisis has disrupted the care trajectory of cancer patients, which may affect their prognosis in a potentially negative way. The purpose of this paper is to present a flexible decision-analytic Markov model methodology allowing the evaluation of the impact of delayed cancer care caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium which can be used by researchers to respond to diverse research questions in a variety of disruptive events, contexts and settings. Methods: A decision-analytic Markov model was developed for 4 selected cancer types (i.e. breast, colorectal, lung, and head and neck), comparing the estimated costs and quality-adjusted life year losses between the pre-COVID-19 situation and the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium. Input parameters were derived from published studies (transition probabilities, utilities and indirect costs) and administrative databases (epidemiological data and direct medical costs). One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses are proposed to consider uncertainty in the input parameters and to assess the robustness of the model's results. Scenario analyses are suggested to evaluate methodological and structural assumptions. Discussion: The results that such decision-analytic Markov model can provide are of interest to decision makers because they help them to effectively allocate resources to improve the health outcomes of cancer patients and to reduce the costs of care for both patients and healthcare systems. Our study provides insights into methodological aspects of conducting a health economic evaluation of cancer care and COVID-19 including insights on cancer type selection, the elaboration of a Markov model, data inputs and analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: In Belgium, the Planning Commission for Medical Supply is responsible for monitoring human resources for health (HRH) and ultimately proposing workforce quotas. It is supported by the Planning Unit for the Supply of the Health Professions. This Unit quantifies and forecasts the workforce in the healthcare professions on the basis of a stock and flow model, based on trends observed in the past. In 2019, the Planning Unit asked the KCE (Belgian Health Care Knowledge Centre) to develop additional forecasting scenarios for the midwifery workforce, to complement the standard historical trend approach. The aim of this paper is to present the development of such forecasting scenarios. Methods: The Robust Workforce Planning Framework, developed by the Centre for Workforce Intelligence in the UK was used to develop alternative midwifery workforce scenarios. The framework consists of four steps (Horizon scanning, Scenario generation, Workforce modelling, and Policy analysis), the first two of which were undertaken by KCE, using two online surveys and five workshops with stakeholders. Results: Three alternative scenarios are proposed. The first scenario (close to the current situation) envisages pregnancy and maternity care centred on gynaecologists working either in a hospital or in private practice. The second scenario describes an organisation of midwife-led care in hospitals. In the third scenario, care is primarily organised by primary care practitioners (midwives and general practitioners) in outpatient settings. Conclusions: The Robust Workforce Planning Framework provides an opportunity to adjust the modelling of the health workforce and inform decision-makers about the impact of their future decisions on the health workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. To review the prevalence of loneliness (during/after COVID-19) in older people. Design. Scoping review using Medline and PsycInfo for worldwide prevalence estimates (white published literature search) and Google for prevalence data inside the Euregio Meuse-Rhine (grey literature). Setting. Worldwide prevalence estimates and a focus on the Euregio Meuse-Rhine. Participants. Papers published between 2016 and 2022 and a mean age of minimum of 65 years. Measurements. Prevalence estimates for older people. Results. The white literature search yielded 37 articles. Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, loneliness estimates were the highest in Nigeria (46%) and the lowest in Australia (5%) (mean prevalence was 25.6%). Loneliness was reported to be higher in specific populations, for example, people living in specific communities such as senior housing communities or with impairments, than in the general population, with a mean prevalence estimate of 47.8%. During COVID-19, the prevalence of loneliness was higher than that before the pandemic: we observed a mean prevalence of 39.4%, in comparison to 25.6 before COVID-19. The grey literature search showed that, compared to Belgium and the Netherlands (13.5% and 36.5%, respectively), loneliness estimates were the lowest in Germany, with a mean prevalence of 7.7%. Conclusion. Large international differences in the prevalence of loneliness were observed between countries and populations studied. Several hypotheses could explain such differences, including sociocultural or historical-political characteristics. Without surprise, the pandemic and associated measures were linked to a higher level of loneliness. Furthermore, recommendations for addressing loneliness, including interventions, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on transformative interactional practice in COVID-19 contact tracing telephone calls in Flanders (Belgium). It is based on a large corpus of recorded telephone conversations conducted by COVID-19 contact tracers with index patients in the period mid-2020 to mid-2022. The calls were conducted through government-contracted commercial call centers. For nearly 2 years and applied country-wide, this was the most prominent strategy in Belgium for breaking transmission chains. COVID-19 telephone contact tracing with infected patients counts as transformative professional work in two ways. First, in addition to the registration of recent contacts in a relevant time window, the work is oriented to awareness-raising about how patients and their co-dwellers can and should adjust their behavior by attending actively to critical aspects of the pandemic during an individual period of (potential) infection. This is the terrain of advice, interdictions and recommendations about quarantine, isolation, personal hygiene, etc. In addition, the focus on interactional attention indexes patients' affect and emotions (e.g., anxiety, worry, or anger) in a period of health uncertainty and social isolation. The transformative work thus depends on successfully established rapport and empathetic, responsive behavior. Our analysis of the recorded conversational sequences focuses on the complexities of clientsensitive and responsive transformative sequences and highlights the constraints and affordances which surround the interactional task of 'instructional awareness raising' which is central to telephone contact tracing. Specifically, we detail the following dimensions of transformative sequences: (i) how do contact tracers deal with the knowledge status of clients, (ii) their use of upgrading/downgrading formulations, (iii) the use of humor and other mitigating strategies, and (iv) how contact tracers attend to interactional displays of affect and emotion. In a final section, we tie together our observations about the communication of particularized advice in a context of general measures through the twin notions of categorization/particularization-work. The findings in this paper are limited to the first step in the chain of contact tracing, i.e., telephone calls with tested and infected citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Media attention is both an important outcome and a resource for protest groups. This paper examines media-movement dynamics using television news coverage of 1,277 protests in Belgium (2003–2019). We situate protest coverage in media issue attention cycles and scrutinize whether features of protest or rather media issue attention fluctuations are key for protest's agenda-setting effect. Our results show that while most protests fail to alter the attention cycle, a considerable share of protests is followed by a significant increase in media issue attention, especially when surfing issue attention already on the rise. Overall, media issue attention cycles rather than protest features affect protest's agenda-setting effect, suggesting that protest agenda-setting is more a matter of exploiting discursive opportunities than of forcing one's issue on the media agenda by signaling newsworthiness. These findings have serious implications for our understanding of protest group agency in news making and agenda-setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we revisit this well‐established linear relationship of person‐organisation, demands‐abilities, and needs‐supply fit with job satisfaction, commitment, and OCBs, and propose that this relationship may be linear for affective work outcomes but curvilinear for behavioural ones. We test this idea in a two‐wave sample of 212 employees, with measures taken 4 weeks apart. The results support the idea that the relationship between fit and behavioural outcomes can, indeed, be curvilinear. Overall, this study contributes to a better understanding of the nature of the relationship between fit and work outcomes by challenging the long‐held 'more fit is better' logic that pervades much of the PE fit research to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Assessing the speech production of multilingual children is challenging for speech‐language therapists (SLTs) around the world. Scientific recommendations to improve clinical practice are available, but their implementation has mostly been described in studies from English‐speaking countries. Aims: This survey aimed to describe the perspectives and practices of SLTs in assessing the speech production of multilingual children in French‐speaking Belgium. Methods & Procedures: An online survey was completed by 134 SLTs in French‐speaking Belgium. Outcomes & Results: SLTs predominantly used norm‐referenced assessment approaches, which are not recommended for use with multilingual children, and lacked necessary training and resources to implement recommended practices in the assessment of speech production of multilingual children. The shift towards more appropriate practices with multilingual children seems to be in its infancy among SLTs in French‐speaking Belgium. Some challenges identified by the SLTs were common to those in other countries and languages, such as the difficulty to distinguish between speech differences and speech disorders. Other challenges were specific to the French language and/or the Belgian context, such as the lack of appropriate tools in French. Conclusions & Implications: Action is required to improve clinical practice in assessing the speech production of multilingual children in French‐speaking contexts: better training for SLTs regarding linguistic diversity, more implementation research in the field of SLT, and advocacy for linguistic diversity with decision makers. What this paper adds: What is already known on this subject: Existing research indicates that assessing the speech production of multilingual children is challenging for speech‐language therapists (SLTs). Scientific recommendations for best practices have been published, and the shift to more appropriate assessment practices may be progressing differently across countries. SLTs' practices have been described in surveys, mostly conducted in English‐speaking countries. Although French is the fifth most spoken language in the world, data about SLTs' perspectives and practices in French‐speaking regions are scarce. What this study adds: The implementation of recommended practices in assessing multilingual children's speech production was limited among SLTs in French‐speaking Belgium. The norm‐referenced approach to assessment was predominant and few SLTs used recommended practices (e.g., criterion‐referenced measures, dynamic assessment, assessment of the child's speech production in the home language). Some challenges were identified that related specifically to practices in French‐speaking contexts (e.g., lack of French tools) and Belgian context (e.g., health policies unfavourable to multilingualism). These findings confirm that specific understanding of a situation is needed to develop context‐ and/or language‐specific solutions—and ultimately improve clinical practice. What are the clinical implications of this work?: SLTs in French‐speaking Belgium require specific training and support to provide appropriate assessment of speech production in multilingual children. Efforts to improve practices in French‐speaking contexts should focus on increasing understanding and consideration of cultural and linguistic diversity at all levels of the child's environment. Evidence‐based knowledge, assessment tools and multilingual resources are available to SLTs on websites in French and in English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Usually in latent class (LC) analysis, external predictors are taken to be cluster conditional probability predictors (LC models with external predictors), and/or score conditional probability predictors (LC regression models). In such cases, their distribution is not of interest. Class‐specific distribution is of interest in the distal outcome model, when the distribution of the external variables is assumed to depend on LC membership. In this paper, we consider a more general formulation, that embeds both the LC regression and the distal outcome models, as is typically done in cluster‐weighted modelling. This allows us to investigate (1) whether the distribution of the external variables differs across classes, (2) whether there are significant direct effects of the external variables on the indicators, by modelling jointly the relationship between the external and the latent variables. We show the advantages of the proposed modelling approach through a set of artificial examples, an extensive simulation study and an empirical application about psychological contracts among employees and employers in Belgium and the Netherlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the quality training of future teachers, it is necessary to have a clear action plan, benchmarks, metrics, and progress indications for using technologies in education. Pre-service teachers' digital competence frameworks can guide their preparation and develop sufficient digital competence before actual practice. This paper analyzes the relevant literature that presents the available ICT competence frameworks for educators. The literature review findings indicate a need for an empirically validated pre-service teachers' digital competence framework that can be adjustable to the context and guide initial teacher preparation in developing modern pre-service teachers' digital competence. The paper also provides information and recommendations to those involved in initial teacher training development, research, and the integration of technologies into pre-service teacher education.

This data paper describes a recent and spatially complete inventory of the terrestrial isopods of Belgium between 2011 and 2020. During these 10 years every 10 × 10 km² cell of the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) grid in Belgium (373 grid cells) was visited in search for terrestrial isopods. Inventories covered different habitat types in every grid cell such as forest, wetlands or stream sides, and urban areas. Most of the dataset records were obtained by hand-collection methods such as turning stones and dead wood, or by sieving litter and through casual observations. These inventories were carried out by specialists from Spinicornis, the Belgian Terrestrial Isopod Group. Their data is complemented with pitfall trap data from scientific projects and verified citizen science data collected via waarnemingen.be and observations.be from the same time period. This resulted in 19,406 dataset records of 35 terrestrial isopod species. All dataset records are georeferenced using the centroid of their respective 5 × 5 km² UTM grid cell. The dataset is published as open data and available through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Direct link to the dataset: https://doi.org/10.15468/mw9c66. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focusses on the organisational responses of secondary schools to newly arrived migrant students. In Flanders (the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium), as in many other European regions, newly arrived students are placed in segregated classes that aim to prepare them for integration in mainstream education. Deriving from, on the one hand, academic critiques on the principle of segregated classes and, on the other hand, the autonomy that schools have regarding practices for newly arrived students, the paper aims to shed detailed light on the organisational choices schools make regarding newcomers and how professionals in these schools experience and relate to these choices. Based on representative survey-data and in-depth interviews, gathered for a research project for the Flemish Department of Education, the results address class allocation, interaction with mainstream classes and transition procedures in the education for newly arrived students. The findings indicate that education for newcomers, in spite of being poorly embedded in the mainstream educational system, opts for organisational practices similar to those in mainstream education and very typical for the basic grammar of schooling. Professionals in these schools express doubt and ambiguity over many of these choices, sometimes paving the way for departure from customary practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the first publicly available results of Belgium's newly created Digital Payment Barometer. The results show that, as in other countries, the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a shift towards contactless and, to a lesser extent, mobile payments at the point of sale. Strikingly, however, the biggest jumps in the use of contactless payments are observed in the 65–74 and 75+ age groups. There are also indications that these shifts in behaviour may well outlast the pandemic, as consumer preferences have also changed markedly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I discuss the gendered-racialised interactional and contextual dynamics hindering the socialisation of ethnic minoritised women (EMW) within Belgian higher education. Based on in-depth interviews, I develop the concept of 'socialisation climates' to explain the key aspects that determine EMW's socialisation process. Three socialisation climates are identified: integration, negotiation and interrogation. Findings show that insiders play a crucial role in hindering or facilitating EMW's socialisation. Developmental relationships are gendered-racialised relations in which EMW's identity impacts supervisor and peer support. The departmental context in terms of hierarchy, an Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion culture, and team composition is relevant to their socialisation process. EMW are able to socialise rapidly only in a context that is (radically) inclusive which is still rare in academia. This paper informs higher education institutions to be aware of the gendered-racialised climate and interactions that influence EMW's socialisation and increase the risk of pushing them out.

Purpose – This paper aims to describe the activity of managing records related to forensic DNA identification. First, it illustrates the fundamentals behind the technique of forensic DNA identification. Second, it explains the legal and institutional contexts in which it is used as well as the notion of DNA-based judicial records. Third, it provides details of records management issues that are met in practice. Design/methodology/approach – An interdisciplinary team reflects upon the practices surrounding the management of DNA-based records in the Belgian National DNA database during more than 10 years. Findings – The main problems with managing DNA-based judicial records stem from the existence of natural boundaries between the various stakeholders operating with or within the Belgian judicial system. Six types of issues have been found: non-automaticity and omission, error-prone and inefficient manual operations, electronic issues, results quality, useful reporting and incoherence and duplication. These problems are discussed in terms of four records characteristics: completeness, correctness, traceability and usability. Research limitations/implications – The research is limited to the Belgian case with no comparison with other countries. Practical implications – This paper attempts to formulate general principles that aim to stimulate good practices in managing records in the field of criminal justice. Social implications – The ethical issues surrounding the domain of criminal policy (e.g. the proper use of financial resources, the fair and balance use of records to carry out justice) are of general interest to the public. Originality/value – The paper benefits from a large temporal angle (more than 10 years) and applies a multidisciplinary viewpoint on its subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Martens and colleagues' paper "Integration or Fragmentation of Health Care? Examining Policies and Politics in a Belgian Case Study," offers an in-depth examination of integrated care policy efforts in Belgium. A key finding in this case study was that political fragmentation proved too great an obstacle for integration efforts. In this commentary, I draw on the organizational behaviour and integrated care literatures to suggest how meso-level mechanisms related to sensemaking, distributive leadership, and evaluation could help overcome policy (or macro) level challenges like those experienced in Belgium. The commentary also suggests we need to consider and address both the process and normative challenges in these transformation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on R&D employment effects due to financial slack generated by an R&D tax exemption scheme in Belgium. The tax exemption is granted without firm‐level requirements, which facilitates testing firm‐level contingencies on the influence of the generated financial slack. We find that R&D employment effects increase with the level of the R&D tax exemption related to financial slack resources and that this positive relation is more outspoken for older firms and for firms with an intermediate share of R&D tax exemptions in the overall mix of R&D policy support. No effects are found for firm size and its R&D intensity. These findings suggest targeting the R&D tax exemption support according to firm characteristics to obtain longer term R&D employment effects. The focus on R&D employment adds to the literature on the evaluation of R&D policies which is largely oriented toward R&D expenditure and innovation outputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]