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Background and aims: Estimated alcohol consumption from national self‐report surveys is often only 30–40% of official estimates based on sales or taxation data. Global burden of disease (GBD) estimates for alcohol adjust survey estimates up to 80% of total per capita consumption. This assumes that cohort studies needed to estimate relative risks for disease suffer less from under‐reporting than typical national surveys. However, there is limited evidence on which to base that assumption. This paper aims to assess the extent of underestimation of alcohol consumption in cohort studies concerning alcohol and mortality compared with official total consumption estimates. Design Comparisons of estimated per capita consumption from a comprehensive sample of cohort studies against official estimates by country and year. Participants: A total of 1 876 046 participants in 40 cohort studies from 18 countries on alcohol use and all‐cause mortality identified by systematic review. Measurements Alcohol consumption data from the cohort studies were converted into usual grams of ethanol per day and then to total age 15+ per capita consumption. Matched estimates were sourced from the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Health Observatory. Findings The cohort studies had mean coverages of age 15+ per capita alcohol consumption of 61.71% (ranging from 29.19% for Russia to 96.53% for Japan), after weighting estimates by sample size for within‐country estimates and by number of studies per country for the overall estimate. Regional estimates were higher for the United States (66.22%) and lower for western European countries (55.35%). Conclusions: Underestimation of alcohol consumption in cohort studies is less than in typical population surveys. Because some under‐coverage is caused by under‐sampling heavier drinkers, the current practice of uplifting survey estimates to 80% of total population consumption in global burden of disease studies appears to be appropriate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives To assess the efficacy of comprehensive geriatric assessment ( CGA) in prevention of delirium after hip fracture. Design Systematic review and metaanalysis. Setting Ward based models on geriatrics wards and visiting team based models on orthopaedics wards were included. Participants Four trials (three European, one U.S.; 973 participants) were identified. Two assessed ward-based, and two assessed team-based interventions. Measurements MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and Psyc INFO databases; Clinicaltrials.gov; and the Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched. Reference lists from full-text articles were reviewed. Incidence of delirium was the primary outcome. Length of stay, delirium severity, institutionalization, long-term cognition and mortality were predefined secondary outcomes. Duration of delirium was included as a post hoc outcome. Results There was a significant reduction in delirium overall (relative risk ( RR) = 0.81, 95% confidence interval ( CI) = 0.69-0.94) in the intervention group. Post hoc subgroup analysis found this effect to be preserved in the team-based intervention group ( RR = 0.77, 95% CI = 0.61-0.98) but not the ward-based group. No significant effect was observed on any secondary outcome. Conclusion There was a reduction in the incidence of delirium after hip fracture with CGA. This is in keeping with results of non-randomized controlled trials and trials in other populations. Team-based interventions appeared superior in contrast to the Ellis CGA paper, but it is likely that heterogeneity in interventions and population studied affected this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The current economic crisis has had spatially differentiated impacts in both the US and Europe. A growing collection of literature investigates the determinants of the magnitude of this recession across regions. This paper aims to contribute to this literature by analysing variations in unemployment rate across European regions over the period 2004-11. In particular, we focus on two apparently neglected issues, namely labour market rigidity and the sensitivity of the local economy to the national or European business cycle. The rigidity of the labour market is increasingly viewed as a possible reason for differences among countries in terms of the performance of labour markets, although existing empirical evidence remains inconclusive. In this respect, our aim is to assess the relevance of national labour legislation, as measured by the OECD Employment Protection Legislation (EPL) Index for the performance of regional labour markets by taking advantage of the natural experiment provided by the crisis. Furthermore, for the first time in economic literature, we employ quarterly data on unemployment rate for all European regions over the period 2000-11 to construct an index of co-movement regarding regional cycles with national or European cycles, to be used as an important determinant of variation in the unemployment rate. After controlling for a number of covariates, as well as for spatial dependence in various forms, our results indicate that EPL did not affect unemployment growth over the entire period. However, we did find that regions with a low long-term unemployment rate in countries with high EPL performed better in the pre-crisis period (2004-07), whereas no effect was found during the crisis. We also found that synchronisation of the regional cycle with the national one was significant for explaining regional labour market performance. Taken together, these results denote the limited relevance of national policies and legislation for accommodating spatially differentiated shocks, whereas policies aimed at modifying local cycles may prove to be more effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) have become well-recognized as challenging free speech and public participation in the USA, Canada and Australia. However, in Europe SLAPPs remain largely unrecognized with little consideration of their use and impact. This paper argues that SLAPPs are used in Europe and have been neglected for a number of reasons. In order to examine the European SLAPP situation, this paper focuses on libel law in England and Wales. It considers the debate on free speech that has flowed out of libel cases and concludes by reflecting on what advantages might flow from a refocusing of that debate that includes a recognition of SLAPPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the controversial issue of regional development incentives. Although extensive research has been conducted, a review of the literature gives an inconclusive answer to whether economic incentives are effective. Why do researchers arrive at different conclusions, even after analysing the same programmes? Among the problems that we find, for example, is the fact that for some researchers ‘effective’ means the significant location of new firms in targeted areas, while for others the creation of jobs regardless of whether new firms are arriving in a significant fashion. Furthermore, as we elaborate, the selection of an econometric model will have a significant impact on expected results. Different models, with different limitations, will lead researchers to evaluate the same incentive programme but arrive at different conclusions regarding its effectiveness. The contribution of the paper is to inform policymakers about the potential opportunities and pitfalls when designing incentive strategies. This is particularly relevant, given that both the US and Europe have been promoting incentives as a tool for regional economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this era of globalisation community psychologists have to examine how globalisation patterns interact with local cultural norms, to find tools to promote a sense of community that fits a particular context. We cannot therefore acritically adopt for many European contexts, community psychology concepts and intervention strategies geared to USA values. The paper argues for the need to develop a European perspective in Community Psychology, built more on the European tradition of political concern for promoting social capital, besides an individual's freedom and autonomy. The paper attempts to identity some of the main differences that have emerged in the last decades between USA and European approaches to community psychology. It also describes two empowering tools, which integrate traditional and post modern views of science: community profiling and multidimensional organisational analysis, that have been used by European community psychologists to rebuild social capital in organisations and local communities. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The therapeutic landscape for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection has been rapidly evolving, and by 2016 there will be six approved, all-oral regimens for use in patients in the USA and most of Western Europe. However, as many as patient populations will have limited access to new direct acting antiviral regimens, patients and physicians are often faced with the challenge of selecting the best regimen available, as opposed to the optimal treatment. In this paper, the challenges and opportunities in developing a high cure regimen for different patient populations will be discussed and highlighted through case-based scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among ladybirds, diapause has evidently been most studied in Coccinella septempunctata L . adults. Coccinella septempunctata ( C-7), the seven spot, has attracted attention both in Europe and the USA for being heterogeneous as to the induction of diapause. A polyphenic character of diapause is a prominent feature in C. septempunctata and this phenomenon generally and often generates voltinism heterogeneity within populations. A greater part of the C-7 population shows an obligatory univoltine cycle, whereas a smaller proportion is facultatively polyvoltine. Coccinella s. bruckii in Japan is bivoltine, in which the first generation of adults aestivate while the second generation hibernates. This paper reviews this heterodynamic cycle and its importance in the life history of C-7, as reported from different regions of the world. Heterogeneous voltinism and diapause smooth the progress of a portion of C-7 populations to take benefit of aphids well into late summer and autumn. Understanding such variation and plasticity in the life history of this species can help in organizing proper biological control attempts using it as a biocontrol agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Recent attention to health of people with intellectual disabilities has used a health disparities framework. Building on historical context, the paper summarizes what is known about health disparities from reports and research and provide direction on what to do to reduce these disparities among adults with intellectual disabilities. Methods The present authors examined literature from 2002 to 2011 on health disparities and people with disabilities looking for broad themes on documenting disparities and on research approaches and methods. Results Multiple countries published reports on health of people with intellectual disabilities. Researchers summarized existing research within a health disparities framework. A number of promising methodologies are identified such as health services research, health indicators, enhanced surveillance and mixed-methods. Conclusions Strategies to reduce health disparities include use of data to educate decision makers, attention to social determinants and a life-course model and emphasis on leveraging inclusion in mainstream services where possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building upon the companion paper in this issue, this essay analyses five case studies that can be taken as prototypes of the system-wide cultural district culture-led developmental model. The research targets five cities in Europe and the U.S.: Valencia, Austin, Newcastle/ Gateshead, Linz, and Denver. Each presents specific characteristics but also some deep, structural common traits. The case studies are compared and their future viability is evaluated in terms of the factors presented in the companion piece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and Aims To develop a measure of alcohol affordability ( AA) and compare the AA of 65 cities worldwide. Design and Methods In this paper, AA is defined as the proportion of median daily income needed to buy a certain quantity of certain alcoholic beverages. The income data and the price of alcoholic beverages were drawn from the Union Bank of Switzerland survey and the Economist Intelligence Unit respectively. Results A large majority of cities (87.7%, n = 57) had a high level of AA. The top 20 ranking was occupied by European and American cities with Tokyo in the Western Pacific region being the exception. All cities belonging to high-income countries had high levels of AA. However, two cities with low-level AA came from low-middle-income countries instead of low-income countries. Discussion and Conclusions The findings have shown that alcohol consumption is highly affordable in many cities. If price policy is being considered as policy instrument of alcohol control, it is in urgent need of price adjustments. More specifically, the new emerging economies play a significant role in the world alcohol control movement because of their bright economic performance with huge population size. Further studies on AA, especially periodical monitoring and its impacts on alcohol consumption and alcohol related health problems, should be conducted so as to facilitate the formulation and evaluation price measure of alcohol control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper delves into the factors, which determine the attractiveness of regions in Europe for migrants. Contrary to the literature on the United States, which has increasingly focused on the role of amenities, existing research in Europe tends to highlight the predominance of economic conditions as the main drivers of migration. Differentiating between economic, sociodemographic and amenity-related territorial features, we examine the appeal of various regional characteristics for migrants by analyzing net migration data for 133 European regions between 1990 and 2006. Our results show that, in addition to economic, human capital-related and demographic aspects, network effects and-in contrast to existing literature-different types of regional amenities exert an important influence on the relative attractiveness of sub-national territories across the European Union. Our findings therefore indicate that locational choices in Europe may be much more similar to place-based preferences in the United States than originally thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, Bosnians represent one of the newly emerging and the most widely dispersed diasporic communities from the Balkans. There are large communities of Bosnians living in almost every European country, as well as throughout North America and Australia. Most were displaced during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war, in which 2.2 million people were forced to leave their homes, 1.6 million of whom looked for refuge abroad. In contrast with, and in response to, the enforced displacement, many members of the Bosnian diaspora have retained strong family and other 'informal' social ties with both Bosnians in other countries and those still living in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH, or Bosnia). Such ties - focused on preservation of cultural memory and performance of distinct local identities - form the basis of the global network of the Bosnian diaspora and its link with the original home (land). In this paper, I briefly outline the links and networks that constitute diaspora, and then go on to explore the extent to which recent scholarly literature is able to 'capture' the uniqueness and complexity of the Bosnian diasporic communities in Australia, the United States (U.S.) and Europe. Finally, I attempt to define the concept of 'trans-localism' and how it is (per)formed, and suggest that the predominantly 'transnational' conceptual framework within the migration studies needs to be expanded to include 'trans-local' diasporic identity formation among displaced Bosnians and similar diaspora groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the phenomenon of West African parents living in Europe and North America who send their older children back home: from places of high immigrant aspiration to those of hardship and privation. Drawing on a project on West African immigration to Europe and on previous field studies in Africa, we conclude that West African immigrants fearing the consequences of their children’s indiscipline in the West, where racism and hostility can endanger the entire family, may send unruly children back to the home country. In doing so, we believe, they build on long-standing African disciplinary efforts in hopes of toughening their children’s resilience to the challenges in the new place and wait for the risk to dissipate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an update of a previous review ' Red Meat in the Diet' published in the Nutrition Bulletin in 2005. An update on red meat consumption levels in the UK and other countries is provided, and a summary of the nutritional content of red meat in the diet is given. Current evidence on dietary and lifestyle factors associated with red meat consumption and the effects of red meat intake on health and chronic disease outcomes are discussed. As there is now continued debate about the environmental impact of different aspects of our diet, sustainability issues regarding red meat were also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Please cite this paper as: Townsend C, Schulte J, Thorne C, Dominguez K, Tookey P, Cortina-Borja M, Peckham C, Bohannon B, Newell M, for the Pediatric Spectrum of HIV Disease Consortium, the European Collaborative Study and the National Study of HIV in Pregnancy and Childhood. Antiretroviral therapy and preterm delivery—a pooled analysis of data from the United States and Europe. BJOG 2010;117:1399–1410. Objective To investigate reported differences in the association between highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in pregnancy and the risk of preterm delivery among HIV-infected women. Design Combined analysis of data from three observational studies. Setting USA and Europe. Population A total of 19 585 singleton infants born to HIV-infected women, 1990–2006. Methods Data from the Pediatric Spectrum of HIV Disease project (PSD), a US monitoring study, the European Collaborative Study (ECS), a consented cohort study, and the National Study of HIV in Pregnancy and Childhood (NSHPC), the United Kingdom and Ireland surveillance study. Main outcome measure Preterm delivery rate (<37 weeks of gestation). Results Compared with monotherapy, HAART was associated with increased preterm delivery risk in the ECS (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 2.40, 95% CI 1.49–3.86) and NSHPC (AOR 1.43, 95% CI 1.10–1.86), but not in the PSD (AOR 0.92, 95% CI 0.67–1.26), after adjusting for relevant covariates. Because of heterogeneity, data were not pooled for this comparison, but heterogeneity disappeared when HAART was compared with dual therapy ( P = 0.26). In a pooled analysis, HAART was associated with 1.5-fold increased odds of preterm delivery compared with dual therapy (95% CI 1.19–1.87, P = 0.001), after adjusting for covariates. Conclusions Heterogeneity in the association between HAART and preterm delivery was not explained by study design, adjustment for confounders or a standard analytical approach, but may have been the result of substantial differences in populations and data collected. The pooled analysis comparing HAART with dual therapy showed an increased risk of preterm delivery associated with HAART. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we have designed an RFID reader receiver system for improving the performance of the passive Tag-based 908.5–914 MHz RFID reader, and analyzed the system performance vis-à-vis frequency, reader, and tag properties. The commercial receiver system causes a loss in sensitivity because of its 24 capacitors and six inductors. To improve the overall sensitivity of the receiver, we have designed a system using a circulator, low noise amplifier (LNA) and a SAW filter. The experimental results show that the use of a circulator to separate the Tx/Rx paths eliminates interference, the LNA improves the sensitivity of the Rx module and SAW filter eliminates the noise and spurious components in the received signal. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the manufacture and trade of post-medieval crucibles (14th–19th centuries). The analytical study of crucibles from different contexts in Europe and America employed optical microscopy and SEM–EDS, coupled with archaeological and historical data. We identified two major producers of crucibles, both of them in Central Europe, whose products appear widely distributed internationally. The analytical data allow an explanation of the technical reasons behind their superior reputation, as both crucible types shared comparable material properties, such as thermal, chemical and mechanical stability. Conversely, the two crucible types were radically different in their manufacture and appearance. We argue that, besides technical considerations, sensorial aspects such as texture and colour may have played an important role in the perception and choice of materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Europe lags far behind Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA in terms of implementing regulatory procedures for the import and release of invertebrate biological control agents (IBCAs). A number of standards, documents and guidelines have been produced over recent years in an attempt to harmonize regulation of IBCA introduction into Europe. Despite these efforts, the number of member countries implementing any form of IBCA regulation remains low, with many industries, biological practitioners and regulators fearing that a regulatory system would render the process of approval for IBCA introduction into a country costly and time consuming. Europe’s priority is therefore to formulate a regulatory system that will be readily approved of and adopted by all member countries. In this paper we review the current regulatory processes operating in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA. There is potential for Europe to benefit from the years of experience that these countries have in IBCA regulation. We therefore propose recommendations based on features of the regulatory processes in each of the four countries that work well and that could be adopted to generate a workable Europe-wide regulatory system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the beginning of the use of technology to support training and learning there has always been the belief that such new technologies would be able to add value either by reducing costs or increasing effectiveness. The 1980s and early 1990s were a period of enormous optimism as to the promise that such technology could bring. The governments of Europe and the US were generous in their funding of research in this area. In Europe research and development programmes such as ESPRIT, DELTA, RACE, ERASMUS and COMETT, to name only a few, funded a wealth of initiatives aimed at advancing the use of technology. At the margins of the early initiatives was the belief that AI must have a part to play in these developments. This paper reviews the early initiatives and suggests reasons why the potential for the use of AI in education and training has never been truly fulfilled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a game theoretic model to explain empirical research which has revealed higher relational satisfaction among married couples than cohabiting couples, as well as among married couples who did not cohabit before marriage. Despite these findings, in recent decades cohabitation rates have dramatically increased in both Europe and the United States. Instrumental variables estimations on data from 28 industrialized countries and 50 U.S. states show cohabitation strongly correlated with increases in women's labor force participation, where a 10 percent increase in women's labor force participation results in a 6.4 to 14.6 percent increase in cohabitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence during the nineties about the response of real wages to shocks highlights that this response is substantially lower in European countries than in the United States and that there are important differences among European countries. Which are the reasons that explain these different reactions? In this paper, we apply meta-analytical techniques in order to provide a quantitative summary of the available evidence regarding the influence of labour market institutions on real wage flexibility. We find that the design of the study affects the obtained results, and that in more deregulated labour markets with a lower presence of trade unions, this response is particularly larger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to investigate and to improve understanding of the causes and circumstances of flood disaster deaths. A standardised method of classifying flood deaths is proposed and the difficulties associated with comparing and assessing existing information on flood deaths are discussed. Thirteen flood cases from Europe and the United States, resulting in 247 flood disaster fatalities, were analysed and taken as indicative of flood disaster deaths. Approximately two-thirds of the deaths occurred through drowning. Thus, a substantial number of flood disaster fatalities are not related to drowning. Furthermore, males are highly vulnerable to dying in floods and unnecessary risk-taking behaviour contributes significantly to flood disaster deaths. Based on these results, recommendations are made to prevent loss of life in floods. To provide a more solid basis for the formulation of prevention strategies, better systematic recording of flood fatalities is suggested, especially those caused by different types of floods in all countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Producer services have been among the most rapidly growing industries, as measured by employment, in the United States and in Europe in recent decades. The production and delivery of these specialized forms of service industry work require the use of transportation and communications systems in a variety of ways, including the physical movement of people working in these industries, as well as the movement of the information related to the production and distribution of their work. Some of this work is performed in localized markets, requiring travel between clients and suppliers in local transportation modes, such as auto, bus, or other types of transportation. Other work is done by specialists who travel interregionally and globally to do their work, primarily traveling to their clients. There is little knowledge of how these production relationships have changed with the advent of the Internet and the widespread use of e-mail in the business production process. Within the framework of this STELLA initiative, this paper outlines research needs in this area, and frames an approach that would produce badly needed knowledge about impacts on the producer services of the Internet and related e-commerce initiatives on physical transportation systems at a local to interregional scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the author's opinion on an article about new religious movements in certain European countries. Richardson and Introvigne convincingly show that European reports have borrowed the American cultural product of ideas about brainwashing and mind control but have failed to look closely at the scholarship in the U.S., and elsewhere, that challenges the use and logic of those metaphors for new religious movements. There is general agreement that when the exercise of religious freedom by one group has the effect of endangering the health or safety of others or of significantly disrupting the smooth functioning of life lived in society, the claims of religious freedom must yield to the welfare of the broader society. What is more controversial, but less fully developed in their fine essay, is why governments respond in such a way to new religious movements. At times the authors hint that there is something endemic in the psychology of a political culture--democratic or otherwise--that leads inexorably to the persecution of new religious movements. We know, however, that polities differ in how they treat new religious groups. The thesis briefly presented is that institutions and individuals with a vested interest in moral panics use brainwashing-based arguments to deny rights to new religious movements.

This paper describes the transplantation of psychoanalysis from Europe to Los Angeles and the similarities and differences in followers, cultural attitudes, institutional organization, and patient symptoms. Psychoanalysis in both places attracted psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, artists, writers, and movie people, all committed to “modernism” and cultural change. But special American conditions created greater institutional rigidity, medicalization, and a more diffuse patient symptomatology centered on the maternal relationship. Such conditions also fostered bitter disputes over modifications of psychoanalytic theory and practice which have only recently become less acute as the status of psychoanalysis has declined in America. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents comment on an article by social psychologist Jozef M. Nuttin related to social behavior that appeared in the 1989 issue of the European Journal of Social Psychology. In his interesting and thought-provoking paper, Nuttin set for him two principal tasks, the first consists of proposing and defining three quasi-social contrast filters, which one meant to help determine the place or location of any specific exemplar of scientific psychological research within the broader space of psychology; the second involves application of these filters to another social psychologist's well-known investigation of the nature of love, to demonstrate the utility of contrast filters and, presumably, thereby foster their widespread adoption. This article is focused principally on a consideration of the assumption on which the contrast filter notion is founded. Nuttin's insistence on restricting social psychology to a study of conspecifics requires the abandonment to general psychology of many of the methods, points of view, and empirical observations that are central to the discipline of social psychology as it is practiced in Europe and the United States.

The article discusses the 15th International Philosophy of Nursing (IPONS) Conference held on 25–28 August 2011, at the West Park Centre in Dundee, Scotland. Several speakers at the conference included professor Sam Porter, Queen's University, Belfast, Peter Allmark, of Sheffield Hallam University and Robert Newsom from Guildford Technical Community College in North Carolina. Several papers presented at the conference focused on the theme of 'Healthcare and the Politics of Austerity.'

Methodology for Disease Specific Programme (DSP©) surveys designed by Adelphi Group Products is used each year to survey patients and physicians on their perceptions of treatment effectiveness, symptoms and impact of diseases. These point-in-time surveys, conducted in the USA and Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and UK), provide useful information on the real-world management and treatment of diseases. This paper describes the methodology for the DSP survey in allergic rhinitis, detailing the preparation of materials, recruitment of physicians, data collection and data management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article, the authors presents a rejoinder to a comment by Howard Newby on their article in which they had compared the North American and European journals of rural sociology. The study raises two points, which the authors feel must be clarified lest their work be misunderstood. The first concerns the nature of that research and the second concerns the role of ontological assumptions in sociological research. The authors mentioned that their study of the two rural sociology journals was motivated by reflections on their own intellectual activity, and the content analysis of the journals carried out by them was not a sociological investigation. The purpose of their content analysis was to provide an understanding of the characteristics of the two journals from which an explanatory project might proceed. The authors add that Newby's depiction of their work as non-sociological and positivist does underscore an irony. They clarifies that their paper, like many others, does not go beyond the limits of assumptions and data.

Purpose: Children with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) experience numerous vulnerabilities during transitions from hospital to home during their first year of life. This paper examines the parents' responses to the situations they experience during the initial interstage transition as described through illness blogs. Design and methods: A qualitative descriptive design through inductive theme development using thematic analysis was performed for this study. Text data were used from publically available blogs written by parents of HLHS children on their feelings and experiences during transitions between hospital‐ and home‐care during the interstage period. Results: Six blogs were analyzed. Overall, the lack of difference in normalcy for these parents and their families was apparent. Major themes included: thoughts and feelings when discharged from the hospital, difficulties with hospital readmissions, protecting their child from infection, and developing a support system. Conclusions: Parents looked forward to going home and learned all they could about properly caring for their child before going home. They were disappointed and frustrated when returning to the hospital for either emergency or scheduled admissions and were not prepared to see their child in the intensive care unit environment again. Many parents isolated themselves and avoided the hospital as much as possible to avoid their child developing an infection. All parents had support systems through family and/or friends and found an unexpected sense of support through their blog families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the formative years of biotechnology, ‘star’ bioscientists possessed intellectual capital of extraordinary scientific and pecuniary value. In America and Japan, 35 percent of star bioscientists became involved with firms in commercialising their discoveries (a crucial determinant of success) versus 7 percent in Europe. Did star involvement come at expense of scientific progress? No, the publication rate of these ‘involved stars’ increased very significantly whilst actively involved with firms. Furthermore, citations per article were unchanged or significantly increased; so quality was maintained. Top academic scientists and firms working together led to faster commercial and scientific progress – a truly virtuous circle. Durante los años formativos de la biotecnología, los bioinvestigadores “estrella” acumulaban un capital intelectual de extraordinario valor científico y pecuniario. En América y Japón, el 35 por ciento de bioinvestigadores “estrella” se involucraron con empresas en la comercialización de sus descubrimientos (determinante crucial del éxito) comparado con un 7 por ciento en Europa. ¿Fue este involucramiento a costa del progreso científico? No, la tasa de publicación de estos investigadores estrella aumentó muy significativamente mientras que estaban activamente involucrados con dichas empresas. Es más, el número de citas de sus artículos no cambiaron o aumentaron significativamente, y por tanto la calidad se ha mantenido. Los investigadores más eminentes y las empresas punteras trabajando juntos nos llevan más rápidamente al progreso comercial y científico – un círculo virtuoso verdadero. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the author comments on declining population of old trees in Europe and the U.S. by referring research paper "New policies for old trees: averting a global crisis in a keystone ecological structure" by D.B. Lindenmayer and colleagues presented in a 2013 issue of the periodical. He mentions increase in the volume of large trees in the Europe boreal forest and North American temperate forests. He also discusses the impact of declining trees population on environment.

This paper reviews the main networks of fruit fly trapping worldwide. The general result highlights the global effectiveness of large and structured fruit fly surveillance networks established according to current international standards. However, there is a considerable contrast among national approaches, depending mainly on the frequency of fruit fly detections. The cost of surveillance networks is high and frequently constitutes a limiting factor for their correct implementation according to the recommended standards. This highlights the importance of research to improve the effectiveness of trapping systems (which refers to the combination of an attractant, a dispenser and a type of trap). A cost-benefit analysis to compare the actual cost of surveillance with a no-surveillance strategy and the cost of expected damage would be a promising tool. Ideally, such analysis should take into account the complex of tephritid species already present in a given country and the estimated cost of increased damage on fruit production or increased control costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]