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The premise of our research paper is that large (by the size of the population) municipalities are more complex to govern and manage, and this, in turn, calls for a more professional and apolitical local government. Using data from the largest European survey of mayors, we analyzed the influence of mayors and chief administrative officers in Europe and checked for correlations with the size of the local government. We present empirical evidence to support that the perceived influence of mayors varies with the size of the municipality regardless of the institutional configuration of power relationships. We found that very large municipalities (80,000 or more inhabitants) had weaker mayors. The presumption that a larger, more complex local (urban) environment calls for more professional leadership has been addressed in numerous publications; however, the answer was usually beyond the reach of the empirical tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last years, European intraday power markets have gained importance for balancing forecast errors due to the rising volumes of intermittent renewable generation. However, compared to day-ahead markets, the drivers for the intraday price process are still sparsely researched. In this paper, we propose a modelling strategy for the location, shape and scale parameters of the return distribution in intraday markets, based on fundamental variables. We consider wind and solar forecasts and their intraday updates, outages, price information and a novel measure for the shape of the merit-order, derived from spot auction curves as explanatory variables. We validate our modelling by simulating price paths and compare the probabilistic forecasting performance of our model to benchmark models in a forecasting study for the German market. The approach yields significant improvements in the forecasting performance, especially in the tails of the distribution. At the same time, we are able to derive the contribution of the driving variables. We find that, apart from the first lag of the price changes, none of our fundamental variables have explanatory power for the expected value of the intraday returns. This implies weak-form market efficiency as renewable forecast changes and outage information seems to be priced in by the market. We find that the volatility is driven by the merit-order regime, the time to delivery and the closure of cross-border order books. The tail of the distribution is mainly influenced by past price differences and trading activity. Our approach is directly transferable to other continuous intraday markets in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial Intelligence (AI) carries the potential for unprecedented disruption in radiology, with possible positive and negative consequences. The integration of AI in radiology holds the potential to revolutionize healthcare practices by advancing diagnosis, quantification, and management of multiple medical conditions. Nevertheless, the ever‑growing availability of AI tools in radiology highlights an increasing need to critically evaluate claims for its utility and to differentiate safe product offerings from potentially harmful, or fundamentally unhelpful ones. This multi‑society paper, presenting the views of Radiology Societies in the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, defines the potential practical problems and ethical issues surrounding the incorporation of AI into radiological practice. In addition to delineating the main points of concern that developers, regulators, and purchasers of AI tools should consider prior to their introduction into clinical practice, this statement also suggests methods to monitor their stability and safety in clinical use, and their suitability for possible autonomous function. This statement is intended to serve as a useful summary of the practical issues which should be considered by all parties involved in the development of radiology AI resources, and their implementation as clinical tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autistic individuals experience higher rates of externalising and internalising symptoms that may vary with environmental factors. However, there is limited research on variation across settings that may highlight common factors with globally generalisable effects. Data were taken from two cohorts: a multinational European sample (n = 764; 453 autistic; 311 non-autistic; 6–30 years), and a South African sample (n = 100 non-autistic; 3–11 years). An exploratory factor analysis aggregated clinical (Verbal Comprehension and Perceptual Index), adaptive traits (Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scale) and socio-economic variables (parental employment and education, home and family characteristics) in each cohort separately. With regression, we investigated the effect of these factors and autistic traits on internalising and externalising scores (measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire). Cohorts showed similar four-factor structures (Person Characteristics, Family System, Parental and Material Resources). The 'Family System' factor captured family size and maternal factors and was associated with lower internalising and externalising symptoms in both cohorts. In the European cohort, high autistic traits reduced this effect; the opposite was found in the South Africa cohort. Our exploratory findings from two separate analyses represent consistent evidence that Family System is associated with internalising and externalising symptoms, with a context-specific impact in persons with high autism traits. Autistic individuals are more likely than non-autistic individuals to experience a mental health condition in their lifetime, and this includes externalising and internalising symptoms. We know very little about how different environments and family conditions impact these symptoms for autistic individuals. Improving our understanding of these relationships is important so that we can identify individuals who may be in greater need of support. In this article, we seek to improve our understanding of how environmental and family conditions impact externalising and internalising symptoms in autistic and non-autistic people. To do this, we conducted analyses with two cohorts in very different settings – in Europe and South Africa – to ensure our findings are globally representative. We used advanced statistical methods to establish environmental and family conditions that were similar to each other, and which could be combined into specific 'factors'. We found that four similar 'factors' could be identified in the two cohorts. These were distinguished by personal characteristics and environmental conditions of individuals, and were named Person Characteristics, Family System, Parental and Material Resources. Interestingly, just 'Family System' was associated with internalising and externalising symptoms, and this was the same in both cohorts. We also found that having high traits of autism impacted this relationship between Family System and mental health conditions with opposite directions in the two settings. These results show that characteristics in the Family System are associated with internalising and externalising symptoms, and autistic persons are particularly impacted, reinforcing the notion that family stressors are important to consider when implementing policy and practice related to improving the mental health of autistic people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore how the hub-and-spoke system in the international freight transportation network contributes to the global shrinkage of space. The friction in long-distance trade routes varies by the location of shippers and nodal characteristics of traversed ports, and is mitigated by the quality of scale economies driven by the hub-and-spoke distribution system along the trajectory of the logistic process. In order to confirm the shrinkage of space brought about by the hub-and-spoke shipping economies through transshipment routes via hub ports, we examine disaggregated cross-Atlantic cargo shipping trajectory data from Europe to the U.S. recorded both on landside and seaside with a discrete choice model. The results present that hub-and-spoke shipping economies arise with the scales of landside and maritime port operations and with shipping line diversity. Generally, they are found to offset distance friction that occurs along landside and maritime shipping voyages, but hub-and-spoke shipping economies arise differently depending on how hub-and-spoke configurations are set. They mainly stem from larger scale of ports' operation and more diverse shipping lines serving the final port of export. The hub-and-spoke system is confirmed as a main driver of global shrinkage of space in terms of long-distance commercial activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study reveals hidden patterns of group membership across cybercrime victims in European countries. We used a multilevel latent class analysis of data from the 2019 Eurobarometer, a regionally representative sample of 21,908 individuals from 28 countries, to identify such subgroups and patterns of cybercrime victimization. The findings suggest there are two overarching cybercrime victim profiles in Europe based on individuals' levels of "online activity" and "cybersecurity guardianship": the "at-risk class" (19%, higher risk) and the "cautious class" (81%, lower risk). Ten different types of cybercrime victimization were compared, and while individual-level predictors were primarily used to produce different groups of cybercrime victims, our findings suggest that researchers consider both individual- and country-level predictors to understand cybercrime victimization patterns in greater depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many researchers, consumer groups, activists and civil society organizations agree that the pharmaceutical sector has been left too much to the private sector, which is solely driven by a profit motive. Therefore, it is imperative to take a bold initiative to turn the idea of medicine, pharmaceutical products, and health technology as a common good into a reality. We propose to establish a European institute that can oversee an ambitious research portfolio. This institute can provide research grants or do in-house research but, in any case, any intellectual property rights emanating from the research will have to be shared in the interest of the public good. A collective knowledge pool, where all results and technological knowledge are gathered and shared, will likewise be part of the institute. Any final product developed within the Institute will be subject to an open license. We ensure that all necessary data and information remain public and that know-how about the production of a medicine can be passed on to those who need it. Finally, this institute should have a focus on production and distribution. Price, quality, availability and even working conditions of the staff will be criteria in any bidding process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability, necessitating adjustments in tax and benefit policies. However, the eventual outcome of these modifications remains uncertain. To evaluate possible changes, we conducted a comparative analysis of current instruments in CEE countries vis-a-vis Sweden, Denmark, and Finland. Our research discovered that tax and benefit systems in both CEE and Scandinavian countries are built on the same foundational principles, yet differ significantly in their specific solutions and approaches. Notably, benefits systems in CEE countries are considerably more intricate and inclined toward means-tested benefits and specialized instruments dedicated solely to individuals with disabilities. We posit that changes arising from the convention's implementation will streamline the benefits system, incorporating more generalized instruments with disability added as supplementary eligibility conditions or income parameters. The velocity of this transformation will be influenced by the pace of economic growth, as evidenced by the strong positive correlation between disability expenditure's proportion in gross domestic product and the European Union countries' level of economic development. JEL classification D61, H51, O52 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizational culture manifests in core beliefs, values and cultural artefacts. This study examines the organizational artefacts, for example, management practices, stance with the outside world, and content choices of European student radio stations, based on survey data gathered from radio managers in 19 countries. Student radio stations are non-commercial media outlets connected to higher education institutes, at least partly managed and operated by students. Previous research on organizational culture and media systems are heuristics for this study in examining whether European student radio stations cluster regionally based on the observed cultural artefacts or whether they show convergence. In contrast to these studies, findings suggest that the region of the station does not determine its cultural artefacts. The studied stations give freedom of choice to individual station members and lean towards alternative content but are also systematic in their management. If any, mainstream media and podcasts are seen as competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Europe, more and more parties and governments are led by a pair of leaders. What consequences does the presence of duos have on voter preferences? I argue that voters have less discriminatory preferences against untraditional candidates when they choose two leaders instead of only one. However, discriminatory preferences do not entirely vanish; rather, traditionally excluded candidates are often relegated to secondary positions, and there exists a certain threshold of tolerated ticket diversity. Through a novel combined conjoint experiment, I find relative support for this conjecture, especially in the case of ethnic minority candidates. In view of the increasing number of new types of leadership, the results of this study have important implications for the study of political behaviour and elite diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]