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This paper investigates different uses of the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) in national journal rankings and discusses the merits of supplementing metrics with expert assessment. Our focus is national journal rankings used as evidence to support decisions about the distribution of institutional funding or career advancement. The seven countries under comparison are China, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Norway, Poland, and Turkey—and the region of Flanders in Belgium. With the exception of Italy, top‐tier journals used in national rankings include those classified at the highest level, or according to tier, or points implemented. A total of 3,565 (75.8%) out of 4,701 unique top‐tier journals were identified as having a JIF, with 55.7% belonging to the first Journal Impact Factor quartile. Journal rankings in China, Flanders, Poland, and Turkey classify journals with a JIF as being top‐tier, but only when they are in the first quartile of the Average Journal Impact Factor Percentile. Journal rankings that result from expert assessment in Denmark, Finland, and Norway regularly classify journals as top‐tier outside the first quartile, particularly in the social sciences and humanities. We conclude that experts, when tasked with metric‐informed journal rankings, take into account quality dimensions that are not covered by JIFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst the link between young people's well‐being and the creative arts is strengthening, there is a lack of research which focuses on the roles that artists play to help teachers and parents engage young people in the creative arts. This paper explores the benefits of and barriers to artists working in education in six European countries (England, Iceland, Germany, Greece, Italy and Austria). Using the '5A's model of creativity' and a view of professional development taking place within 'landscapes of practice', the data were analysed in order to explain how creativity is operationalised in the different contexts. Our study highlights the need for policy at a national and transnational level to value the creative arts in order to help teachers cross boundaries and utilise the full potential of the creative arts in schools. Our study also highlights that further research is needed into how artists shape teaching and curriculum and how schools engage parents in the creative arts in order to build an evidence‐base relating to young people's positive mental health that can affect policy at these levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This paper introduces the study on the European Union Project on complementary therapies and discusses project outputs and results. The goal of the European Union Project was to improve the professional knowledge and skills of women's health and oncology nurses regarding CT. Background: The increasing and widespread use of complementary therapies in the women's health and oncology population requires nurses to be educated about their suitable and safe use. Many nurses do not have proper training in complementary therapies and therefore should not inform their patients about them. Methods: The 'Improving the Nursing Care with Best Complementary Therapy Strategies Based on European Union Standards' (BestCARE) project was a strategic partnership within Erasmus plus for vocational education and training. The BestCARE project was coordinated by the Akdeniz University Nursing Faculty and was carried out with six partners from Turkey and Europe. Results: Fifteen nurses from Turkey and Italy were trained in complementary therapies in England. In addition, training courses and seminars were held in Turkey and Italy for women's health and oncology nurses. The BestCARE programme consisted of 14 work packages. The BestCARE programme was implemented via websites, an e‐learning training programme, training videos, reference and handbook, a curriculum proposal on complementary therapies and a simulation laboratory. Conclusion and implications for nursing and/or health policy: The BestCARE project allowed nurses to gain knowledge, experience and skills about complementary therapies and created a cultural awareness and sensitivity towards patients, caregivers and health professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cultivation of tomato, and other Solanaceae, is of major importance for European agriculture. The revival of the Mediterranean diet is helping to bring back to the tables of European peoples many Solanaceae, and particularly tomato. The European and International demand for processed tomato products has sharply increased the interest given to this culture. Nevertheless tomato is a plant strongly infested by insect pests. This paper presents the state of the art concerning the spread of the invasive Gelechiidae moth, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) in Italy, along with data on surveying strategies to monitor the insect at regional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, European identity has not mobilised a feeling of belonging or solidarity that would be comparable to the ways in which national identities stir people's passions and make them ready ‘to die for’ their nations. However, much of the related political debate and scholarly analysis has paid little attention to citizens' understanding of European identity and the way this relates to national identity. This paper aims to contribute towards filling this gap. It explores qualitatively the relationship between national and European identity among Italian citizens with a view to answering the following research questions: How do Italian citizens define Europe? Who is a European? How does feeling European relate to feeling Italian? How do citizens perceive the European integration process? The article is based on 24 qualitative interviews with Italian citizens of varying age, gender, locality of residence and socio-economic status, conducted in spring and summer 2003. The methodology adopted follows the discourse analytical tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper seeks to analyse certain paradigmatic cases of dialogue--or, indeed, non-dialogue--between national judges and the ECJ, though within the (still possibly emblematic) limits of a focus on the law on the transfer of undertakings. The analysis is less concerned with portraying the detailed impact of the ECJ's decisions on the domestic legal order, and is focused more upon the 'modality' of the dialogue to date carried out between Italian and European judges. The logic, which guides this dialogue (or, the lack of its evolution), furnishes us with a better understanding of the production, circulation and impact of ECJ jurisprudence. This dialogue seems to be characterised, by non-uniform, or multi-speed, developments. On the one hand, Article 177 references have been concentrated around the theme of undertakings in critical difficulties or subject to a creditors' arrangement procedure. In this area, the Italian courts have engaged in explicit dialogue with the ECJ and have made the greatest effort to read--not without some technical-juridical struggle--the national norm in the light of the provisions of the Acquired Rights Directive and its interpretation by the ECJ. By contrast, however, with regard to other specific issues (in particular, those concerning subcontracting) it is apparent that not only were the Italian courts (and the Corte di Cassazione in particular) loathe to enter into direct dialogue with the ECJ, but also that the ECJ's jurisprudence, built up through dialogue with other national courts, was not even consulted in an effort to guarantee an interpretation of national norms, in conformity with Community law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]