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This paper investigates inequality persistence in a group of 21 OECD countries using linear and non-linear fractionally integrated methods. Using linear models, the results show that the series are strongly persistent which implies lack of average reversal and permanency of shocks. Mean reversion is only found in the case of Finland and partial evidence of mean reversion is detected for Belgium, Greece, Austria and the Netherlands. The results are similar using non-linear methods. Mean reversion is only found in the case of Finland, Belgium, Greece and Spain. Although, most countries show no evidence of non-linear structures except for four countries, namely, Finland, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. The implications of the empirical findings are reported at the end of the manuscript. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable access to raw materials has been growing concern for the EU policy from 2008. Germany, Finland, United Kingdom, Portugal and Greece were the first European countries to introduce and develop own minerals policy (2010–2012). Each of Member State prioritized own targets, but sustainability, waste management and climate were also underlined. In 2015 the 17 Sustainable Development Goals were established and adopted in the EU policy framework to monitor and measure the social, economic and environmental aspects. Next Paris Agreement targets and climate neutral has been introduced. They have significant impact also on mining industry. Therefore the purpose of this paper is to discuss the relationship between mineral policy in chosen countries and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and EU climate policy target. Due to limited data for mining sector the impact of mineral policy on sustainable mineral supply and CO2 emissions have been analyzed to identify the specific challenges, trends and successful factors of transition. It was shown that well developed mineral policy - in case of Finland - allow increase over 20% of production with over 20% decrease of CO2 emission. Moreover productivity in the sector in almost all analyzed country has been increased, what can show some correlation between mineral policy and SDG 12. However more detailed indicators for monitoring and assess the mineral policy on EU level and in individual country is needed, especially in contest of impact on sustainable development. It can help to provide acceptance of local society for new investment. It is a long term process which required not only significant financial capital, new technological solutions, but also trust and transparency in monitoring in implementing environmental and social aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple theoretical model of monetary unification and data from 11 euro members are used to investigate the common currency's role in the macroeconomic performance of these countries. Euro membership has been typically accompanied by lower (or steady) inflation, but also by higher business-cycle volatility. In addition, synchronization of cyclical output was substantially affected by the common currency only in Greece (where it declined considerably) and Finland and Ireland (where it increased). Consistent with the theoretical predictions, the empirical evidence shows a strong negative relationship between cyclical synchronizations and volatilities, which however is not much stronger under the euro than it was during the Maastricht period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/objectives: We studied the ecologic relationships of food groups, macronutrients, eating patterns, and an a priori food pattern score (Mediterranean Adequacy Index: MAI) with long-term CHD mortality rates in the Seven Countries Study.Subjects/methods: Sixteen cohorts (12,763 men aged 40-59 years) were enrolled in the 1960s in seven countries (US, Finland, The Netherlands, Italy, Greece, former Yugoslavia: Croatia/Serbia, Japan). Dietary surveys were carried out at baseline and only in a subsample of each cohort. The average food consumption of each cohort was chemically analyzed for individual fatty acids and carbohydrates.Results: Ecologic correlations of diet were computed across cohorts for 50-year CHD mortality rates; 97% of men had died in cohorts with 50-year follow-up. CHD death rates ranged 6.7-fold among cohorts. At baseline, hard fat was greatest in northern Europe, olive oil in Greece, meat in the US, sweet products in northern Europe and the US, and fish in Japan. The MAI was high in Mediterranean and Japanese cohorts. The 50-year CHD mortality rates of the cohorts were closely positively ecologically correlated (r = 0.68-0.92) with average consumption of hard fat, sweet products, animal foods, saturated fat, and sucrose, but not with naturally occurring sugars. Vegetable foods, starch, and the a priori pattern MAI were inversely correlated (r = -0.59 to -0.91) with CHD mortality rates.Conclusions: Long-term CHD mortality rates had statistically significant ecologic correlations with several aspects of diet consumed in the 1960s, the traditional Mediterranean and Japanese patterns being rich in vegetable foods, and low in sweet products and animal foods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The aim of this study was to determine whether years of schooling influences regional cortical thicknesses and volumes in Alzheimer's disease (AD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and healthy age-matched controls. Methods: Using an automated image analysis pipeline, 33 regional cortical thickness and 15 regional volumes measures from MRI images were determined in 121 subjects with MCI, 121 patients with AD, and 113 controls from AddNeuroMed study. Correlations with years of schooling were determined and more highly and less highly educated subjects compared, controlling for intracranial volume, age, gender, country of origin, cognitive status, and multiple testing. Results: After controlling for confounding factors and multiple testing, in the control group, subjects with more education had larger regional cortical thickness in transverse temporal cortex, insula, and isthmus of cingulate cortex than subjects with less education. However, in the AD group, the subjects with more education had smaller regional cortical thickness in temporal gyrus, inferior and superior parietal gyri, and lateral occipital cortex than the subjects with less education. No significant difference was found in the MCI group. Conclusion: Education may increase regional cortical thickness in healthy controls, leading to increased brain reserve, as well as helping AD patients to cope better with the effects of brain atrophy by increasing cognitive reserve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personal exposure to environmental substances is largely determined by time–microenvironment–activity patterns while moving across locations or microenvironments. Therefore, time–microenvironment–activity data are particularly useful in modeling exposure. We investigated determinants of workday time–microenvironment–activity patterns of the adult urban population in seven European cities. The EXPOLIS study assessed workday time–microenvironment–activity patterns among a total of 1427 subjects (age 19–60 years) in Helsinki (Finland), Athens (Greece), Basel (Switzerland), Grenoble (France), Milan (Italy), Prague (Czech Republic), and Oxford (UK). Subjects completed time–microenvironment–activity diaries during two working days. We present time spent indoors — at home, at work, and elsewhere, and time exposed to tobacco smoke indoors for all cities. The contribution of sociodemographic factors has been assessed using regression models. More than 90% of the variance in indoor time–microenvironment–activity patterns originated from differences between and within subjects rather than between cities. The most common factors that were associated with indoor time–microenvironment–activity patterns, with similar contributions in all cities, were the specific work status, employment status, whether the participants were living alone, and whether the participants had children at home. Gender and season were associated with indoor time–microenvironment–activity patterns as well but the effects were rather heterogeneous across the seven cities. Exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke differed substantially across these cities. The heterogeneity of these factors across cities may reflect city-specific characteristics but selection biases in the sampled local populations may also explain part of the findings. Determinants of time–microenvironment–activity patterns need to be taken into account in exposure assessment, epidemiological analyses, exposure simulations, as well as in the development of preventive strategies that focus on time–microenvironment–activity patterns that ultimately determine exposures.Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology (2007) 17, 170–181. doi:10.1038/sj.jes.7500490; published online 17 May 2006 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]