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Recent demographic and economic research has analyzed the expected increase in the proportion of the population who are elderly. One consequence of an increasing elderly population is expansion in health care utilization, hence funding problems may arise.. European institutions encourage member states to promote good health among their citizens to mitigate the ageing effects on the health care system. Our objective was to examine the effect of healthy lifestyles among Southern European older adults on health care utilization by focusing on the number of outpatient doctor visits (ODV) and nights hospitalized (NH). Negative binominal regressions were conducted using a panel data set consisting of five waves (2004–2015) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Our results add new empirical evidence on the effect of Southern European older adults' lifestyles on their health care utilization. Engaging in vigorous physical activities reduces the number of ODV visits and NH by 7.8% and 28.25%, respectively. Moreover, smoking increases NH by 14.22%. Member states should establish policies to promote healthy lifestyles, with vigorous physical activities playing a key role, to reduce health services utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Given the global and economic burden of stroke as a major cause of long-term disability, patient-reported outcomes (PRO) data from clinical trials can elucidate differential benefits/harms of interventions from patients' perspectives and influence clinical decision making in stroke care management.Methods: This systematic review examines stroke-related randomized controlled trials (RCT) published in 12 high-impact journals between 2002 and 2016 for (1) associations between trial characteristics and the reporting of PRO measures; and (2) psychometric properties of PRO instruments used in these studies. The study combines clinical trials identified in a prior review with trials identified with an updated literature search.Results: Only 34 of 159 stroke-related RCTs reported PRO measures. Among the 34 trials, most were published in rehabilitation and general medical journals, were conducted in the United States or Europe, were funded by government/non-industry sponsors, and focused on post-stroke care. Thirty-one PRO instruments were employed in these studies. Only 5 instruments were stroke-specific measures, whereas the remaining 26 instruments were generic measures. Eight instruments assessed functional status, 9 measured quality of life, and 14 assessed symptoms. The most common health domains measured were emotional status and physical function.Conclusions: This study highlights the paucity of information from patients' perspective in stroke-related RCTs. This trend may change over time as researchers increase adherence to reporting guidelines for clinical trial protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing number of manuscripts focus on the in vitro evaluation of established and novel anti-tumor agents in experimental models. Whilst the design of such in vitro assays is inherently flexible, some of these studies lack the minimum information necessary to critically evaluate their relevance or have been carried out under unsuitable conditions. The use of appropriate and robust methods and experimental design has important implications for generating results that are reliable, relevant, and reproducible. The Pharmacology and Molecular Mechanisms (PAMM) group of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) is the largest group of academic scientists working on drug development and bundle decades of expertise in this field. This position paper addresses all researchers with an interest in the preclinical and cellular pharmacology of anti-tumor agents and aims at generating basic recommendations for the correct use of compounds to be tested for anti-tumor activity using a range of preclinical cellular models of cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Although overall paediatric septic shock mortality is decreasing, refractory septic shock (RSS) is still associated with high mortality. A definition for RSS is urgently needed to facilitate earlier identification and treatment. We aim to establish a European society of paediatric and neonatal intensive care (ESPNIC) experts' definition of paediatric RSS.Methods: We conducted a two-round Delphi study followed by an observational multicentre retrospective study. One hundred and fourteen paediatric intensivists answered a clinical case-based, two-round Delphi survey, identifying clinical items consistent with RSS. Multivariate analysis of these items in a development single-centre cohort (70 patients, 30 % mortality) facilitated development of RSS definitions based on either a bedside or computed severity score. Both scores were subsequently tested in a validation cohort (six centres, 424 patients, 11.6 % mortality).Results: From the Delphi process, the draft definition included evidence of myocardial dysfunction and high blood lactate levels despite high vasopressor treatment. When assessed in the development population, each item was independently associated with the need for extracorporeal life support (ECLS) or death. Resultant bedside and computed septic shock scores had high discriminative power against the need for ECLS or death, with areas under the receiver operating characteristics curve of 0.920 (95 % CI 0.89-0.94), and 0.956 (95 % CI 0.93-0.97), respectively. RSS defined by a bedside score equal to or higher than 2 and a computed score equal to or higher than 3.5 was associated with a significant increase in mortality.Conclusions: This ESPNIC definition of RSS accurately identifies children with the most severe form of septic shock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the role played by policy advice institutions in the governance of ethically controversial new and emerging science and technology in Europe. The empirical analysis, which aims to help close a gap in the literature, focuses on the evolution, role and functioning of national ethics advisory bodies (EABs) in Europe. EABs are expert bodies whose remit is to issue recommendations regarding ethical aspects of new and emerging science and technology. Negative experiences with the impacts of science and technology in the past have resulted in calls for increased transparency and broader participation and pluralism in expert advice and policy decision-making. Do national EABs function as inclusive, anticipatory 'hybrid forums'? Or do they resemble more 'classical' expert-oriented bodies, inspired by technocratic or decisionist approaches? As part of the empirical analysis of the role and functioning of institutional ethical advisory structures in 32 European countries, an extensive analysis of EAB websites and the content of publicly available documents on such institutions has been carried out, supplemented by an online survey of representatives of the EABs. One major finding of the empirical analysis is the very uneven distribution of 'hybrid forum' features of EABs across Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salmonella enterica is one of the most common causes of food-borne infection in human beings. Cases of Salmonella infection have been decreasing in Europe in the last ten years, yet, Salmonella infections are still the main cause of acute diarrhea syndrome. Globalization has caused the international food industry to increase the production of collective nutrition produce and products. This has intensified the need for authorized and accredited laboratories to monitor microbiological food safety. All parameters indicate the necessity of a multi-sector approach to this problem. Food safety supervision involves the analysis and identification of risk management, as well as the monitoring, evaluating, and regulating of crop irrigation. We can be more certain with a multi-sector approach that the number of Salmonella infections caused by plant-originated food stuffs will not increase in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infections, in particular soft tissue infections (cellulitis, skin abscesses), are the leading cause for emergency department visits and hospital admissions of drug injection users (IDUs).Staphylococcus aureusis the most relevant bacterial pathogen in this population. It is the main cause of soft tissue infections and of severe infections such as endocarditis and bacteremia. Moreover, epidemic spread of methicillin-resistantS. aureus(MRSA) among IDUs has occurred in Europe and North America. Nasal carriage ofS. aureusis associated with an increased risk of subsequentS. aureusinfections, and it has been shown that active IDUs have a higher rate of colonization withS. aureusthan the general population. However, it is still unknown why an individual carriesS. aureus. In particular, repeated injections do not appear to be the main predisposing factor forS. aureuscarriage.Infections associated with injection drug use are frequently the consequence of the illegal status of street drugs. Harm reduction programs, including needle exchange programs, safer injecting facilities and injection opiate substitution programs can reduce the incidence of infections among severely addicted IDUs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the paper is to analyse farmers' participation in environmental schemes, which are gaining a growing importance within the European agricultural policy. These schemes are implemented through voluntary contracts that pay farmers for the provision of environmental services. The microeconomic model that is developed is a farm household model that incorporates the producer and consumer behaviour of the farmer to optimise his environmental supply considering that the environmental service that he is supplying also has the characteristics of a public good. Defined as the difference between the profit loss in providing the environmental service and the willingness to pay to consume this service, the household's "willingness to accept" (WTA) is compared with two flexible WTA measures that account for the technological flexibility of the environmental supply. Data come from a survey of an agri-environmental scheme implemented in the Walloon region of Belgium since 1995 and intended to protect the nesting of some endangered bird species. Econometric results show that contingent valuation is a reliable method to reveal the behaviours of farmers facing the invitation to participate in this scheme. They also confirm that farmer behaviour is also influenced by environmental preference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses several social science issues affecting standard of living and lifestyle. Researchers say increased cellular telephone use has led to more crashes caused by drivers on the phone, but the value people place on being able to call from the road roughly equals the accidents' cost. Students in South Korea and Japan scored highest in academic surveys comparing 24 industrialized countries, with teenagers in southern Europe lagging in both reading and mathematics, according a November 2002 United Nations report. Weary of longer commutes, more U.S. citizens are doing something about it. Census data indicates they are increasingly choosing where to live based on how close they are to the job.

Lyme borreliosis in Europe is somewhat different from that encountered in the USA. The aim of this review is to present historical, ecological, epidemiological, clinical, and therapeutic aspects associated with Lyme borreliosis in Europe. It becomes apparent that a considerable body of information about European Lyme borreliosis exists, which has been accumulated for more than 100 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Europe, the German Bight is one of the most important non-breeding areas for protected red-throated divers (Gavia stellata). It is unclear what attracts the birds to this area, especially as the food composition of seabirds outside the breeding season is notoriously difficult to study. To obtain information on prey species composition of red-throated divers in this area, faecal samples from 34 birds caught alive were analysed using DNA metabarcoding. Prey DNA was detected in 85% of the samples with a mean number of 4.2 ± 0.7 taxa per sample (n = 29). Altogether, we found a broad prey spectrum with 19 fish taxa from 13 families dominated by five groups: clupeids, mackerel, gadoids, flatfish and sand lances with clupeids being the most frequently detected prey. Our results indicate that red-throated divers are generalist opportunistic feeders in the German Bight, but pelagic schooling fish that aggregate at frontal zones and have a high energetic value might be favoured. Atlantic mackerel appears to be a more important prey for red-throated divers in this area than previously thought. The precision achievable using metabarcoding has revealed a number of prey species that are consumed by red-throated divers in the German Bight, which helps to explain the selection of this area by divers in winter and spring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]