Search

The Bologna Process represents the most significant extensive reform of higher education in Europe. The particular aspects of the Bologna Process still incite critical evaluations as regards the successfulness of its implementation. The theoretical part of the paper analyzes the fundamental principles defined in the Bologna Declaration, requirements and critical views of the Bologna Process, as well as the relevant research conducted on this issue used for the comparative analysis. The introduction of the Bologna Process into the Serbian university education has initiated numerous changes, the increase of the student mobility being the most striking one. The empirical part of the paper focuses on the study of the following problem: the manner in which students of social sciences and humanities perceive the Bologna Process fifteen years after its implementation into the Serbian university education. Consequently, the subject matter of the research is the observation and description of students' attitudes to this phenomenon with the purpose of acquiring relevant information "firsthand." The achievable objective of the presented research reviews the context and condition of the Bologna Process during 2019/2020 academic year and its feasible improvements, which can contribute to comparative study of similar researches in the time of the pandemics. The specific research tasks include the study of the Bologna requirements, attitudes to the Bologna Process, benefits and restrictions of this reform, and particularly the attempt to suggest the improvement of the Bologna Process realization from the perspective of students of social sciences and humanities. The research sample consisted of the Bachelor students of social sciences and humanities from the Faculty of Philosophy in Niš (N=150). The survey technique and the scaling technique with a rating scale questionnaire were used (BOL-JM-JOZ). The questionnaire had five closed-ended questions, while the Likert scale was comprised of 23 items. The test of the instrument consistency proved its reliability. The obtained results were shown by the chi square test, which proved a statistically significant difference in the respondents' answers as regards the year of study, p<0.05. The main factors were extracted from the assessment scale by the application of the factor analysis. These factors examined the students' perceptions of the Bologna Process, comparing the answers provided by the students of the first, second, third and fourth year of study of social sciences and humanities, p<0.05.

This study provides a "narrative synthesis" of the findings published in journal articles from a broad range of scientific fields about the impact of extracurricular activities (ECAs) on the academic success and employability of university students. The analysis included 39 articles from the Scopus and Web of Science databases, published over the period 2010-2021. Results show that the vast majority of ECAs have a positive impact on the academic success and employability of university students. ECAs showing a negative impact are residual. In light of these results, higher education institutions should promote activities with an educational purpose outside the strictly curricular objectives and beyond the classroom, fostering a more holistic development of students that combines academic success with a better capacity/preparation to enter the labour market.

We propose and test the proposition that innate personality differences in trait affect explain significant variance in student satisfaction. Using three standard measures of trait affect and data from a student sample (n = 409) of PhD candidates across science, social science and humanities in 63 universities from 20 countries, we find that 24% of variance in student satisfaction is accounted for by trait affect. We also find that both discipline studied and research orientation of university have moderating effects on the relationship between trait affect and student satisfaction. Our findings suggest student satisfaction scores need to be viewed with caution because, in part, they merely reflect individual-level trait affect that--like all innate personality traits--academics, university administrators and education ministers alike are powerless to alter. Our findings indicate that governments, universities and other organisations gathering student satisfaction data could usefully adopt measures to control for trait affect. Our findings also raise the possibility that universities might strategically incorporate innate affect in their student selection criteria to game satisfaction ratings.

The European Union Framework Programme (EUFP) is the most institutionalised form of supranational thematic programming in the world and the centrepiece of European Union research policy. Since 1994, the EUFP has also funded collaborative research projects in the social sciences. Surprisingly, little attention has been paid to its genesis, development, and effects in shaping the development of European science, especially examined by discipline or multidisciplinary fields. The EUFP is thus analysed here through an "instruments-as-institutions" approach that conceptualises the EUFP as an institution. Content analysis of the official documents of each funding cycle (n = 5) and a sample of European-funded educational research projects (n = 122) was analysed in conducting this research. The results show incremental ideational change of the EUFP's guiding ideas: from knowledge as an instrument to knowledge as a resource; within-the-EU to outside-the-EU internationalisation; and cooperation to an integration rationale of Europeanisation from the EUFP4 and EUFP5 (1994-2002) to the EUFP6 onwards (2002-2020). European-funded educational research contents are shaped by such representations of what is expected of European research. If the policy instrument steers European-funded educational research, ideas more than regulatory features significantly--though incrementally--change the direction of European social science.

The principal objective of this study was to profile qualitative research in social sciences through a comprehensive examination of 10,637 documents. An analysis on how scholars from central/peripheral countries included in the qualitative research citations/publications is presented. Central/peripheral distinction is used to determine the trends in the globalization of qualitative research. With the comprehensive examination, this paper will shed light on the discussion of the patterns of globalization in qualitative research. Science mapping technique among bibliometric methods was employed. This paper is based on studies that published in journals that use the English word/term "qualitative" in their titles. The data for this study encompassed 10,637 documents published between 1995 and 2019 by 16,884 authors. Our findings reveal that qualitative research continue to be mostly North America- and Europe-centered initiatives. A similar situation is also observed for the most cited publications and the affiliated institutes of their authors. The studies focus primarily on the individuals' self and social experiences, social psychology, and their knowledge, attitude, and behaviors in education. The most cited publications and the institutions with the highest number of publications are all North America- and Europe-centered. Another finding is that six of every 10 qualitative research are about medical sciences.

This paper studies how the concept of "Diversity, Equity & Inclusivity" (DE&I) has been instrumentalised "in lieu" of effective policies to tackle racism and racial inequity in Higher Education and in particular in Library and Information Science (LIS). The author takes stock of the research output devoted to this topic in Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) in order to ascertain European LIS's involvement in it or lack thereof. The paper analyzes the results of a preliminary qualitative survey of some European LIS scholars on how racially and ethnically "diverse" their departments and student population are.

Socioscientific issues are ill-structured problems that involve moral, ethical, and financial aspects, and lack clear-cut solutions. Teaching socioscientific issues necessarily puts a demand on teachers to draw on knowledge stemming from other domains, and to also appreciate, and present to the students the societal aspects of science. For new teachers, and those who have not tried integrating complex social issues into their instruction, SSI-based teaching may seem too great a hurdle to overcome. The aforementioned ought to call for teacher educators to focus on the pedagogical challenges of teaching socioscientific issues. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore whether, and how engaging elementary pre-service teachers in critical discussions of socioscientific issues, can change their views of science, and science teaching, and help them design lessons which include the social aspects of science. A sequence of activities to engage pre-service teachers with modeling a socioscientific issue was implemented with 20 participants, over seven weeks. Findings show that elementary pre-service teachers do not include social aspects of science in their initial reflections, but engaging with a socioscientific issue helps change their views of science, and science teaching. However, when they are asked to design lesson plans that include social aspects of science, most of the pre-service teachers are not able to do so. Implications include designing teacher training programs that support teachers in their transition from understanding the social aspects of science, to designers of learning activities that promote social aspects of science through the use of socioscientific issues.

Rising worldwide scrutiny of the PhD has focused on issues such as return on investment and career outcomes. This article investigates PhD graduate careers and knowledge transfer looking at the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS). Firstly, our extensive literature review of PhD graduate outcomes reveals limited knowledge of HASS careers and a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) bias. Secondly, our case study of graduates suggests HASS PhDs provide a vital conduit for end-user engagement and knowledge transfer. Our findings deepen knowledge about the careers of HASS PhDs by revealing pre-existing professional networks may be harnessed to inform end-user relationships throughout candidature and post-graduation. Contrary to dominant assumptions, these networks may endure even for graduates in the academy. This under-recognized phenomenon demonstrates the multi-sector knowledge transfer capacity of HASS researchers with implications for their research capability and career development needs and perceptions of the value of their research.

Educational research, and research in the Social Sciences more generally, has experienced a growth in the introduction of ethical review boards since the 1990s. Increasingly, universities have set up ethics review procedures that require researchers to submit applications seeking approval to conduct research. Review boards and the rules and conditions under which they operate have been criticised as obstructive, unnecessarily bureaucratic, and even unethical. At the same time, review boards and their procedures have been acknowledged as contributing to consideration of the ethical conduct of research. This paper explores the issues related to ethical review and examines the wider ethical considerations that may arise during the research process. The paper concludes that a purely administrative process of review is inadequate to ensure the ethical conduct of research, especially qualitative research. Rather, it is argued that ethical research entails the resolution of a potential series of ethical dilemmas as they arise during research. As such, the ethical conduct of research is a matter of researcher formation and development.

While comprehensive research has been conducted on the Bologna Process (BP) as well as on the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), the roles of the social sciences in these reforms have remained mostly overlooked. Based on a systematic literature review of articles and reports from 1999 to 2018, we analyse the interplay of social sciences with politics in the creation of the EHEA, employing the theoretical concepts of co-production of knowledge, boundary objects as well as invited and uninvited participation. We argue that in order for a highly abstract and global concept such as the BP to become so pervasive, it requires that efforts be made to make sense of it in different local contexts. We see this done by representatives of national and European policy, who explicitly and implicitly interact with different stakeholders in the social sciences.

Education ethnographies show that observing bodies, objects and settings can illuminate previously hidden learning practices but the relational characteristics of these practices presents methodological challenges for conventional qualitative analyses. Using an example from an ethnographic study of everyday learning, I show how methods from art (specifically researcher-created drawings) can address some of these challenges. I use the concept of 'epistemic objects' to theorise drawings as analysis, and to show that rather than being a process of deconstruction, this analysis is constantly bringing knowledge into being. With original interdisciplinary insights from art/social science, this article problematises art in sociomaterial research and offers direction for relational analyses.

The population of the world is growing and moving. The overwhelming majority of people are on the move inside their own country and mostly towards cities while a minority moves from non-Western areas to the West. In Finnish geography, history and social science school textbooks, this mobility tends to be depicted differently depending on whether the movers represent "us" or "them." Global population growth is most prevalent in the poorest regions of the world, even though Europe is clearly the most densely populated continent. Still, the talk of "overpopulation" does not usually concern Europe or the West. The article uses discourse theory analysis and a postcolonial framework to research the discourse of "us" and "them" with regard to population growth and migration as they are presented in Finnish textbooks. The results show that the hegemony of a superior West is alive and well in the books, which portray the non-Western populations as growing and moving in uncontrolled and threatening ways. Uncontrolled urbanization is seen as dangerous, and the implication is that there are too many people in non-Western areas. Metaphors such as natural disasters or floods are used to describe the moving population, while cities are described as "suffocating."

Until recently, both policy direction and public awareness of the Bologna Process has been focused almost unilaterally on the introduction of the Bachelor's degree to European universities. This is understandable, as for most European countries, the Bachelor is a new academic degree. However, commencing with the Berlin Ministerial Conference (Realising the European Higher Education Area, 2003), reform of doctoral studies has been highlighted as a second equal pillar in the Bologna reform process. In this paper, we begin by providing an overview of the general policy background and the rationales that underlie the attempts to restructure doctoral studies in Europe. Next, we focus on the specific situation in Austria, where peculiarities of the status quo collide with uniquely Austrian approaches to reforming doctoral education. Finally, through two case studies, we examine initial attempts--and related challenges--to implement the "New Doctorate" in Austria.

This article provides an overview of national bibliographic databases that include data on research output within social sciences and humanities (SSH) in Europe. We focus on the comprehensiveness of the database content. Compared to the data from commercial databases such as Web of Science and Scopus, data from national bibliographic databases (e.g. Flemish Academic Bibliographic Database for the SSH (VABB-SHW) in Belgium, Current Research Information System in Norway (CRISTIN)) are more comprehensive and may, therefore, be better fit for bibliometric analyses. Acknowledging this, several countries within Europe maintain national bibliographic databases; detailed and comparative information about their content, however, has been limited. In autumn 2016, we launched a survey to acquire an overview of national bibliographic databases for SSH in Europe and Israel. Surveying 41 countries (responses received from 39 countries), we identified 21 national bibliographic databases for SSH. Further, we acquired a more detailed description of 13 databases, with a focus on their comprehensiveness. Findings indicate that even though the content of national bibliographic databases is diverse, it is possible to delineate a subset that is similar across databases. At the same time, it is apparent that differences in national bibliographic databases are often bound to differences in country-specific arrangements. Considering this, we highlight implications to bibliometric analyses based on data from national bibliographic databases and outline several aspects that may be taken into account in the development of existing national bibliographic databases for SSH or the design of new ones.

Since the 1960s, comparative education in the United States, Canada, and Europe has shown considerable growth and vitality, in terms of membership in professional organizations, participation in international conferences, research, and publications. Epistemologically and methodologically, new modernist and postmodernist paradigms have been inscribed on the conceptual tapestry of the field and new trajectories have been charted. Such developments had two significant consequences: (1) comparative education, especially in the United States and Canada, has become polymorphous (Altbach, 1991; Kazamias, 2001, p. 504; Rust, Soumare, Pescadou, & Shibuya, 1999, pp. 87-88, 107; Watson, 1999, p. 12); and (2) comparative education has been metamorphosed from an essentially historical and humanist "episteme" to an essentially ahistorical poly-paradigmatic social science, and, in some variants, to an empirical positivist social science. So transformed, comparative education has lost its humanist physiognomy, in the sense that virtually it has abandoned its traditional historical and humanist orientation, or what may be called its "soul" (Kazamias, 2001). The present study is organized in two parts. Focusing on the various motifs or paradigms regarding the nature and scope of comparative education since the Enlightenment, in Part One the author argues that in the second half of the 20th century, comparative education was metamorphosed--epistemologically and methodologically--from essentially a historical explanatory and hermeneutic "human science," in the broad meaning of the term "science" as signified by the Greek term episteme and the German Wissenschaft, to essentially a poly-paradigmatic "social science." So transformed, comparative education has lost its "humanist physiognomy" or what otherwise he calls its "soul." The prevailing contemporary comparative education emphasizes cognitive knowledge and skills, and the intellectual aspects of being "educated" and "human." It underemphasizes aesthetic knowledge, noncognitive habits and skills, what he calls "paideia/education of the soul," which is necessary for being "educated" and "wholly human." In the words of Aristotle: "Educating the mind (nous) without educating the soul (psyche) is no education at all." In Part Two of this study the author argues: (1) for the reinvention of the lost historical "cum" philosophical humanist motif in comparative education; and (2) comparative education should focus not only on cognitive knowledge and skills and the intellectual aspects of being "educated"; it should also emphasize noncognitive knowledge and skills and the moral aspects of being "educated," what may otherwise be called a "paideia/education of the soul."

Much existing scholarship takes Marc-Antoine Jullien's 1816/17 "Esquisse et Vues Préliminaries d'un ouvrage sur L'Éducation Comparée" ["Sketch and Preliminary Views for a work on Comparative Education"] as an epochal moment in the establishment of comparative education as a scientific field of academic study. Yet, Jullien's plan also needs to be examined in relation to European traditions of travel and global colonial expansion--and, concurrently, to the cosmopolitan practices, networks and mobilities that constitute social science. This article argues that principles of colonial difference saturate Jullien's proposal. The ways that Jullien's work enables and disables subjectivities and subject positions as well as the ways it reifies social and contextual categories of analysis have cautionary salience for us today. Jullien's proposal did not found a discipline nor did it spark a continuous conversation, yet it is an instance in the establishment of the field that shows the stubbornly durable entanglement of educational comparison with colonialism.

This paper examines the usefulness of the new social movements (NSMs) paradigm in the changing context of East European post-communist societies and their agricultural systems and rural communities. Starting with statements formulated in Western sociology in the context of Western democratic societies about NSMs as a protest against modernity, the paper analyses the role of such movements in the still modernizing Eastern European reality. The first part of the paper briefly examines some basic elements of the NSMs paradigm in European and American social science. The goal of this section is not only to identify the basic characteristics of NSMs, but also to identify the typical frames used by them. The second part of the paper focuses on the presence of NSMs in the communist era. Drawing on the idea of NSMs as indicators of a "post-materialist shift" as well as of "anti-establishment" and "pro-participatory democracy", the paper examines the frames of democratic opposition in Eastern Europe before 1989. The final part of the paper considers several selected examples from Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic to explore the role of NSMs in the process of shaping new ruralities during the post-communist transformation.

Topics discussed include: the emergence of biotechnology; modern food technology; strategies of transnational food companies; transnational agribusiness firms and Mexican agriculture; food production in Western Europe; the agro-industrial system of the USSR; food systems in India; food production systems of the Senegal River; and production modes of the Caribbean peasantry. (RM)

The European Union Framework Programme (EUFP) is the most institutionalised form of supranational thematic programming in the world and the centrepiece of European Union research policy. Since 1994, the EUFP has also funded collaborative research projects in the social sciences. Surprisingly, little attention has been paid to its genesis, development, and effects in shaping the development of European science, especially examined by discipline or multidisciplinary fields. The EUFP is thus analysed here through an instruments‐as‐institutions approach that conceptualises the EUFP as an institution. Content analysis of the official documents of each funding cycle (n = 5) and a sample of European‐funded educational research projects (n = 122) was analysed in conducting this research. The results show incremental ideational change of the EUFP's guiding ideas: from knowledge as an instrument to knowledge as a resource; within‐the‐EU to outside‐the‐EU internationalisation; and cooperation to an integration rationale of Europeanisation from the EUFP4 and EUFP5 (1994–2002) to the EUFP6 onwards (2002–2020). European‐funded educational research contents are shaped by such representations of what is expected of European research. If the policy instrument steers European‐funded educational research, ideas more than regulatory features significantly—though incrementally—change the direction of European social science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ageing European population is driving the demand for age-friendly communities that support older individuals' health and well-being. As communities navigate this transition, Transition Design emerges as a promising approach for addressing complex social and environmental challenges. This study explores the potential of Transition Design to create age-friendly communities in Europe. Drawing on examples from several European countries, this paper describes the key principles of Transition Design and how they can be applied to the development of age-friendly communities. This article highlights the importance of participatory processes in involving older people and other stakeholders in the design process, and discusses the role of technology in creating more accessible and inclusive environments. It also considers some of the challenges of implementing a transition design approach in a European context. In conclusion, this study asserts that Transition Design offers a promising approach for creating sustainable, inclusive, and responsive age-friendly communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the importance of a child rights-based approach to policymaking and crisis management. Anchored in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the 3P framework—provision, protection, and participation—forms the foundation for health professionals advocating for children's rights. Expanding it with two additional domains—preparation and power—into a 5P framework has the potential to enhance child rights-based policies in times of crisis and future pandemics. The study aimed to (1) gather perspectives from child health-and-rights specialists on how children's rights were highlighted during the early phase of the pandemic in their respective settings; and (2) evaluate the usefulness of the 5P framework in assessing children's visibility and rights. A qualitative survey was distributed among child health-and-rights professionals; a total of 68 responses were analysed in Atlas.ti 9 from a multi-disciplinary group of policymakers and front-line professionals in eight world regions. As framed by the 5Ps, children's rights were generally not safeguarded in the initial pandemic response and negatively impacted children's health and wellbeing. Further, children lacked meaningful opportunities to raise their concerns to policymakers. The 5P framework holds the potential to shape an ethical child rights-based decision-making framework for future crises, both nationally and globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers insights into Critical Education in the context of Southern Europe and the Mediterranean region. It delves into various significant key issues such as rhythms of life and congenial educational systems, the contributions of Southern Europe and the Mediterranean to learning, knowledge, and the social sciences, as well as the pressing matters of environmental sustainability and migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Itobiad: Journal of the Human & Social Science Researches / İnsan ve Toplum Bilimleri Araştırmaları Dergisi is the property of Itobiad: Journal of the Human & Social Science Researches and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article provides an introduction to the 20th Anniversary Special Issue of the Journal of Classical Sociology. It begins with some brief observations on the key developments that have shaped the disciplinary core of sociology over the past decades. It goes on to reflect on the role of classical sociology in Europe and beyond, drawing attention to its continuing presence in British and Anglo-American intellectual circles. Far from existing in a bubble of academic ivory towers, the paradigms emerging from disputes in the social sciences in general and in sociology in particular are profoundly shaped by wider historical trends – notably those influenced by different forms of collective action, as illustrated in the impact of social movements on the university sector in the late 1960s. In light of recent calls for 'the decolonization of academia', we ask to what extent sociology can, and should, strive to go beyond the hegemony of the 'Western' canon. Having given a succinct overview of the 20-year history of JCS, we elucidate the different formats of the material published in the journal, stressing the importance of editorial flexibility. On a more substantive note, we point out that the thematic scope of the work published in JCS has been wide-ranging and inclusive – not only because of its editors' broad conception of 'classics' and 'classicality', but also because of the interdisciplinary spirit permeating the journal. This commitment, as we explain, manifests itself in the wide range of thinkers and topics discussed – from a multiplicity of perspectives – in the journal. We also grapple with noteworthy challenges posed by the academic publishing industry in the early 21st century, including the difficulties arising from peer-review processes. Finally, we express our gratitude to those who have contributed to this 20th Anniversary Special Issue and emphasize the journal's commitment to defending the legacy of classical sociology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] This paper proposes an introductory review of the historical evolution of urban stormwater management, as well as of current trends, challenges, and changes of paradigm. It reminds us first that most of the existing urban stormwater infrastructures in developed cities are based on the modern urban sewer systems developed in the second half of the 19th century in Europe. They have been built and for decades managed almost solely by urban sanitation and water specialists, relatively independently of other technical services and, more generally, of other stakeholders in cities. They contributed significantly to public health and fast conveyance of stormwater outside the cities. However, at the turn of the 1970s, it became evident with increasing urbanisation that they also had drawbacks: artificialisation of soils, reduction of aquifer recharge, pollution of surface water and ecological impacts, etc. The paper indicates how new concepts and paradigms thereafter emerged to manage stormwater by means of more sustainable and integrated approaches, aiming to solve the problems engendered by the previous approaches. This integration embraces more and more disciplines and issues, far beyond the traditional field of urban water engineers and specialists. The paper attempts to explain the need for this evolution, making urban stormwater management more much complex, dealing and interacting with ecology, biodiversity, bioinspiration, architecture, landscape and water values, citizens' well-being, history, culture, and socio-economic aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus pandemic, which first impacted European societies in early 2020, has created a twofold crisis by combining a health threat with economic turmoil. While the crisis has affected all European societies very significantly, its impact varies across countries, social groups, and societal domains. In an effort to provide a first overview of the effect of the coronavirus crisis, in this editorial we discuss contributions of 58 papers published as part of this special issue. These early research papers illustrate the varied impact of the pandemic on various areas of social life. The first group of studies in this special issue analyzes the effect of the pandemic on social inequalities with respect to gender, ethnic otherness, education, and work. A second stream of research focuses on the psychological consequences of the pandemic, especially with respect to wellbeing and resilience. Thirdly, the crisis is discussed on a societal level, in regard to welfare states, social policies, and approaches to crisis governance. In a fourth line of inquiry, several studies have analyzed the impact of the pandemic on social solidarity and cohesion. A fifth strand of research is devoted to examining the role of culture and lifestyles. This review ends with a discussion of areas for future research trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Darbai ir Dienos is the property of Vytautas Magnus University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper explores which demographic characteristics substantially bias self-reported physical and cognitive health status of older Europeans. The analysis utilises micro-data for 19 European countries from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe to compare performance-tested outcomes of mobility and memory with their self-reported equivalents. Relative importance analysis based on multinomial logistic regressions shows that the bias in self-reported health is mostly due to reporting heterogeneities between countries and age groups, whereas gender contributes little to the discrepancy. Concordance of mobility and cognition measures is highly related; however, differences in reporting behaviour due to education and cultural background have a larger impact on self-assessed memory than on self-assessed mobility. Southern as well as Central and Eastern Europeans are much more likely to misreport their physical and cognitive abilities than Northern and Western Europeans. Overall, our results suggest that comparisons of self-reported health between countries and age groups are prone to significant biases, whereas comparisons between genders are credible for most European countries. These findings are crucial given that self-assessed data are often the only information available to researchers and policymakers when asking health-related questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work has studied mainly the last and posthumous work of the Moravian-Jewish philosopher Edmund Husserl: The crisis of the European sciences and the transcendental phenomenology, emphasizing the reflections on the world of life, in order to comprehensively re-signify the possibilities and limits of the phenomenology of Husserl -as an original thinkeras a conceptual basal and historical platform of the current qualitative human sciences and therefore to underline a critique of the current logics and ways to build scientific knowledge in the academy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Medical Psychiatry Units (MPUs), also known as Complexity Intervention Units (CIUs), provide care for complex patients suffering from both psychiatric and physical disorders. Because there is no consensus on the indications for admission to an MPU, daily practice and effectiveness research are hampered. This study therefore used a concept mapping approach to investigate which organizational and medical factors determine the decision to admit a patient to an MPU. Methods: The first step of the concept mapping approach was to create a list of factors determining MPU admission from literature. Secondly, clinical experts sorted and ranked these factors. The sorted and ranked data were then analyzed, and a draft conceptual framework was created. A final conceptual MPU admission framework was then drawn during an expert consensus meeting and recommendations for implementation were suggested. Results: Thirteen clinical experts defined 90 factors from literature, which were sorted and ranked by 40 experts from 21 Dutch hospitals. This concept mapping approach resulted in a five-cluster solution for an MPU admission framework based on: 1. Staff competencies and organizational pre-requisites; 2. Patient context; 3. Patient characteristics; 4. Medical needs and capabilities; and 5. Psychiatric symptoms and behavioral problems. Furthermore, three inclusion and two exclusion criteria were formulated to help the clinicians decide whether or not to admit patients to an MPU. These criteria can be implemented in daily practice. Conclusion: Implementing the five criteria derived from this conceptual framework will help make the admission decision for complex patients with psychiatric and physical disorders to an MPU more correct, consistent, and transparent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the process of adapting the Stanford Coreference resolution module to the Basque language, taking into account the characteristics of the language. The module has been integrated in a linguistic analysis pipeline obtaining an end-to-end coreference resolution system for the Basque language. The adaptation process explained can benefit and facilitate other languages with similar characteristics in the implementation of their coreference resolution systems. During the experimentation phase, we have demonstrated that language-specific features have a noteworthy effect on coreference resolution, obtaining a gain in CoNLL score of 7.07 with respect to the baseline system. We have also analysed the effect that preprocessing has in coreference resolution, comparing the results obtained with automatic mentions versus gold mentions. When gold mentions are provided, the results increase 11.5 points in CoNLL score in comparison with results obtained when automatic mentions are used. The contribution of each sieve is analysed concluding that morphology is essential for agglutinative languages to obtain good performance in coreference resolution. Finally, an error analysis of the coreference resolution system is presented which have revealed our system’s weak points and help to determine the improvements of the system. As a result of the error analysis, we have enriched the Basque coreference resolution adding new two sieves, obtaining an improvement of 0.24 points in CoNLL F1 when automatic mentions are used and of 0.39 points when the gold mentions are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In situations of unmet medical need or in the interests of public health, expedited approval pathways, including conditional marketing authorisation (CMA) and accelerated assessment (AA), speed up European Medicines Agency (EMA) marketing authorisation recommendations for medicinal products. CMAs are based on incomplete benefit-risk assessment data and authorisation remains conditional until regulator-imposed confirmatory postmarketing measures are fulfilled. For products undergoing AA, complete safety and efficacy data should be available, and postauthorisation measures may include only standard requirements of risk management and pharmacovigilance plans. In the pivotal trials supporting products assessed by expedited pathways, surrogate endpoints reduce drug development time compared with waiting for the intended clinical outcomes. Whether surrogate endpoints supporting products authorised through CMA and AA pathways reliably predict clinical benefits of therapy has not been studied systematically. Our objectives were to determine the extent to which surrogate endpoints are used and to assess whether their validity had been confirmed according to published hierarchies.Methods and Findings: We used European Public Assessment Reports (EPARs) to identify the primary endpoints in the pivotal trials supporting products authorised through CMA or AA pathways during January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2018. We excluded products that were vaccines, topical, reversal, or bleeding prophylactic agents or withdrawn within the study time frame. Where pivotal trials reported surrogate endpoints, we conducted PubMed searches for evidence of validity for predicting clinical outcomes. We used 2 published hierarchies to assess validity level. Surrogates with randomised controlled trials supporting the surrogate-clinical outcome relationship were rated as 'validated'. Fifty-one products met the inclusion criteria; 26 underwent CMAs, and 25 underwent AAs. Overall, 26 products were for oncology indications, 10 for infections, 8 for genetic disorders, and 7 for other systems disorders. Five products (10%), all AAs, were authorised based on pivotal trials reporting clinical outcomes, and 46 (90%) were authorised based on surrogate endpoints. No studies were identified that validated the surrogate endpoints. Among a total of 49 products with surrogate endpoints reported, most were rated according to the published hierarchies as being 'reasonably likely' (n = 30; 61%) or of having 'biological plausibility' (n = 46; 94%) to predict clinical outcomes. EPARs did not consistently explain the nature of the pivotal trial endpoints supporting authorisations, whether surrogate endpoints were validated or not, or describe the endpoints to be reported in the confirmatory postmarketing studies. Our study has limitations: we may have overlooked relevant validation studies; the findings apply to 2 expedited pathways and may not be generalisable to products authorised through the standard assessment pathway.Conclusions: The pivotal trial evidence supporting marketing authorisations for products granted CMA or AA was based dominantly on nonvalidated surrogate endpoints. EPARs and summary product characteristic documents, including patient information leaflets, need to state consistently the nature and limitations of endpoints in pivotal trials supporting expedited authorisations so that prescribers and patients appreciate shortcomings in the evidence about actual clinical benefit. For products supported by nonvalidated surrogate endpoints, postauthorisation measures to confirm clinical benefit need to be imposed by the regulator on the marketing authorisation holders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Species of Gasterophilus Leach are obligate parasites in domestic and wild equids and responsible for cosmopolitan gasterophilosis. Although with only eight species known so far, they have received considerable attention because of their significant veterinary and economic importance. Surprisingly, we found that G. flavipes (Olivier) is a valid species based on morphological characters from male, female and the egg, after spending half a century as a synonym of G. haemorrhoidalis (Linnaeus). In the present study, G. flavipes, G. haemorrhoidalis and G. inermis (Brauer), which are the three closely related species possessing a remarkable mixture of shared morphological characters, are diagnosed and comparatively redescribed; the key to separate adults and eggs are provided, together with a series of high-resolution photographs from all the body parts. COI barcodes do not allow for a separation of G. flavipes, G. haemorrhoidalis and G. inermis, but showed a closer relationship between G. flavipes and G. haemorrhoidalis than the other two combinations, which is consistent with the morphological evidence. Geographically, G. flavipes seems to be common and widespread in the warmer parts of the Palaearctic region. Thus, the epidemiology of gasterophilosis where G. flavipes is known or supposed to occur calls for a more careful veterinarian re-assessment. A decline in the populations of Gasterophilus spp. has been noticed in Europe, but all seven Palaearctic species of Gasterophilus appear to maintain stable populations in Xinjiang (China), which may be explained by a higher biodiversity of equids and less use of anti-parasitic treatments in Xinjiang than in Europe. Our study shows that morphological characters still provide the solid backbone in classification of Gasterophilus at species-level, and updated diagnoses and a key is provided to distinguish G. flavipes, G. haemorrhoidalis and G. inermis, and to facilitate studies of epidemiology, phylogeny and host-parasite co-evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commercially motivated junk news–i.e. money-driven, highly shareable clickbait with low journalistic production standards–constitutes a vast and largely unexplored news media ecosystem. Using publicly available Facebook data, we compared the reach of junk news on Facebook pages in the Netherlands to the reach of Dutch mainstream news on Facebook. During the period 2013–2017 the total number of user interactions with junk news significantly exceeded that with mainstream news. Over 5 Million of the 10 Million Dutch Facebook users have interacted with a junk news post at least once. Junk news Facebook pages also had a significantly stronger increase in the number of user interactions over time than mainstream news. Since the beginning of 2016 the average number of user interactions per junk news post has consistently exceeded the average number of user interactions per mainstream news post. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: People with multimorbidity have reduced functional capacity, lower quality of life, higher mortality rates and use healthcare resources more intensively than healthy people or those with a single chronic condition. Multimorbidity was defined as the coexistence of two or more chronic conditions in the same person. The aim of this study was to explore associations between multimorbidity and use of healthcare services and the impact of socioeconomic status on utilization of hospitalizations and bed days. Methods: The study population included all individuals aged 16 years and older who lived in the Capital Region of Denmark on January 1st, 2012. Data on chronic conditions, use of healthcare services and demographics were obtained from Danish national administrative and health registries. Zero-inflated models were used to calculate anticipated annual use of hospitalizations and bed days. Findings: The study population comprised 1,397,173 individuals; the prevalence of multimorbidity was 22%. Prevalence was inversely related to educational attainment. For people with multimorbidity, utilization of hospitalizations and bed days increased approximately linearly with the number of chronic conditions. However, a steep increase in utilization of bed days was observed between five and six or more chronic conditions. An educational gradient in hospitalization rates and use of bed days was observed regardless of the number of chronic conditions. Educational attainment was strongly associated with healthcare utilization. Conclusion: Multimorbidity was associated with a significant increase in utilization of all healthcare services in Denmark. In addition, a socioeconomic gradient was observed in utilization of hospitalizations and bed days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This monographic issue collects four theoretically driven, empirically founded research articles based on eight rounds of European Social Survey data. The articles address four topics that are key to current social debates: changes in social trust in European countries over time; changes in attitudes toward immigration; attitudes toward climate change in a European perspective and attitudes towards basic income and welfare legitimacy in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Netherlands has a maternity care system with integrated midwifery care, including the option of home birth for low risk women. A small group of Dutch (holistic) midwives is willing to assist women in high risk pregnancies during a home birth against medical advice. We examined holistic midwives’ motivations and way of practice, in order to provide other maternity care professionals with insight into the way they work and to improve professional relationships between all care providers in the field. An exploratory qualitative research design with a constructivist approach and a grounded theory method were used. We performed in-depth interviews with twenty-four holistic midwives on their motivations for working outside their professional boundaries. Open, axial and selective coding of the interview data was done in order to generate themes. We held a focus group for a member check of the findings. Four main themes were found: 1) The regular system is failing women, 2) The relationship as basis for empowerment, 3) Delivering client centered care in the current system is demanding, and 4) Future directions. One core theme emerged that covered all other themes: Addressing a need. Holistic midwives explained that many of their clients had no other choice than to choose a home birth in a high risk pregnancy because they felt let down by the regular system of maternity care. Holistic midwives appear to deliver an important service. They provide continuity of care and succeed in establishing a relationship with their clients built on trust and mutual respect, truly putting their clients’ needs first. Some women feel let down by the regular system, and holistic midwives may be the last resort before those women choose to deliver unattended by any medical professional. Maternity care providers should consider working with holistic midwives in the interest of good patient care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The incidence of oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) is increasing, particularly human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated OPC. The aim of this study was to specify the total societal cost of OPC by HPV status, cancer stage, and subsite using a bottom-up cost-of-illness approach. Methods: We analyzed 121 consecutive patients with OPC from the Southern Health Care Region of Sweden. We estimated the direct medical costs and indirect costs (e.g., disease-related morbidity and premature death) from 1 month prior to OPC diagnosis until 3 years after treatment completion. Results: The mean total cost per patient was €103 386 for HPV-positive and €120 244 for HPV-negative OPC. Eighty-one percent of the patients analyzed were HPV-positive: Accordingly, HPV-positive OPC represented 79% of the total cost of OPC. The mean total cost of stage I, II, III, IVA, IVB, and IVC, regardless of HPV status, was €59 424, €57 000, €69 246, €115 770, €234 459, and €21 930, respectively, of which indirect costs were estimated at €22 493 (37.8%), €14 754 (25.9%), €28 681 (41.4%), €67 107 (58%), €166 280 (70.9%), and €0. Tonsillar cancer represented 64% of OPC, with a mean total cost of €117 512 per patient. Conclusion: The societal cost of OPC is substantial. HPV-associated OPC comprises 79% of the total cost of this disease. The data presented in this study may be used in analytical models to aid decision makers in determining the potential value of gender-neutral HPV vaccination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To know the prevalence, associated factors and temporal trends of disabilities for basic and instrumental activities of daily living in older people in Spain from 2009 to 2017. Background: Disability in older people is associated with health problems, increased health costs and low quality of life. There are no updated data in Spain with a representative sample about disability. Methods: Cross-sectional study with 25,465 non-institutionalized older people who participated in the European Health Survey in 2009 and 2014 and the National Health Survey in 2011/12 and 2017 in Spain. The prevalence rates of disability were evaluated using the Katz Scale and Lawton and Brody Scale. Logistic regression was used to determine if there was an association between basic and instrumental activities of daily living and sociodemographic characteristics. Results: More individuals had disability for instrumental activities of daily living (31.9%) than disability for basic activities of daily living (11.1%). The most predominant disability for instrumental activities of daily living was performing severe housework (34%). The prevalence of disabilities decreased from 2009 to 2017. In general, disability was associated with female gender, advanced age, lower education, restricted daily activity, being bedridden and higher pain levels. Conclusion: There is a considerable prevalence of disabilities for basic and instrumental activities of daily living in older people in Spain. Although the disability prevalence has decreased slowly from 2009 to 2017, it continues to remain a health problem. Gender may influence the disabilities for basic and instrumental activities of daily living. Health policymakers should establish prevention strategies and effective interventions (e.g., physical exercise) for prevention and reduction of the disabilities for basic and instrumental activities of daily living, particularly in older females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a lab-in-the-field experiment and surveys of marginalised Roma children in Slovakia to examine whether reminding Roma of their ethnicity reduces their performance in a cognitive task. Research on social identity and stereotypes has documented that when individuals feel that their social group is negatively stereotyped in a domain, their performance declines, which can reinforce discrimination. In an effort to break the cycle of negative stereotypes, we remind Roma subjects of either Roma or non-Roma role models. We find that the activation of a Roma’s ethnicity reduces cognitive performance. In contrast, Roma exposed to Roma role models outperform those reminded of their ethnicity and of non-Roma role models. We then attempt to understand the channels through which social identity and role models affect performance. We show that priming the identity of a Roma has a direct effect on confidence, decreasing performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is prevalent among people in prison and prisons could therefore represent a unique opportunity to test risk groups for HCV. The aim of this sero-epidemiological study was to determine the incidence and prevalence of HCV infection and the corresponding risk factors in Danish prisons. Participants, recruited from eight Danish prisons, were tested for HCV using dried blood spots and filled out a questionaire with demographic data and risk factors for HCV infection. In total, 76.9% (801/1041) of all eligible prisoners consented to participate. The prevalence of HCV RNA positive prisoners was 4.2% (34/801) and the in-prison incidence rate was 0.7–1.0 per 100PY overall and 18-24/100PY among PWIDs. Infected prisoners were older than the overall population with a mean age of 42 years and only 17.6% (6/34) were younger than 35 years. The prevalence of PWID was 8.5% (68/801) and only 3% (2/68) of PWID were younger than 25 years. Among the PWID, 85.3% (58/68) had ever received opioid substitution therapy (OST) and 47.1% (32/68) were currently receiving OST. Risk factors associated with HCV infection were intravenous drug use, age ≥ 40 years, and being incarcerated ≥ 10 years. In conclusion, the prevalence of PWID in Danish prisons is low, possibly reflecting a decrease in injecting among the younger generation. This together with OST coverage could explain the low prevalence of HCV infection. However among PWIDs in prison the incidence remains high, suggesting a need for improved HCV prevention in prison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Stroke has a major impact on survivors and their social environment. Care delivery is advocated to become more client-centered and home-based because of their positive impact on client outcomes. The objective of this study was to explore professionals’ perspectives on the provision of Home-Based Stroke Rehabilitation (HBSR) in the Netherlands and on the barriers and facilitators influencing the implementation of HBSR in daily practice. Methods: Semi-structured focus groups were conducted to explore the perspectives of health and social care professionals involved in stroke rehabilitation. Directed content analysis was performed to analyze the transcripts of recorded conversations. Results: Fourteen professionals participated in focus groups (n = 12) or, if unable to attend, an interview (n = 2). Participants varied in professional backgrounds and roles in treating Dutch clients post stroke. Barriers and facilitators influencing the implementation of HBSR in daily practice were identified in relation to: the innovation, the user, the organization and the socio-political context. Participants reported that HBSR can be efficient and effective to most clients because it facilitates client- and caregiver-centered rehabilitation within the clients’ own environment. However, barriers in implementing HBSR were perceived in a lack of (structured) inter-professional collaboration and the transparency of expertise of primary care professionals. Also, the current financial structures for HBSR in the Netherlands are viewed as inappropriate. Discussion: In line with previous studies, we found that HBSR is recognized by professionals as a promising alternative to institution-based rehabilitation for clients with sufficient capabilities (e.g. their own health and informal support). Conclusion: Multiple factors influencing the implementation of HBSR were identified. Our study suggests that, in order to implement HBSR in daily practice, region specific implementation strategies need to be developed. We recommend developing strategies concerning: organized and coordinated inter-professional collaboration, transparency of the expertise of primary care professionals, and the financial structures of HBSR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have seen tremendous advances in the scientific study of networks, as more and larger data sets of relationships among nodes have become available in many different fields. This has led to pathbreaking discoveries of near-universal network behavior over time, including the principle of preferential attachment and the emergence of scaling in complex networks. Missing from the set of network analysis methods to date is a measure that describes for each node how its relationship (or links) with other nodes changes from one period to the next. Conventional measures of network change for the most part show how the degrees of a node change; these are scalar comparisons. Our contribution is to use, for the first time, the cosine similarity to capture not just the change in degrees of a node but its relationship to other nodes. These are vector (or matrix)-based comparisons, rather than scalar, and we refer to them as “rewiring” coefficients. We apply this measure to three different networks over time to show the differences in the two types of measures. In general, bigger increases in our rewiring measure are associated with larger increases in network density, but this is not always the case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How pervasive is labor market discrimination against immigrants and what options do policymakers and migrants have to reduce it? To answer these questions, we conducted a field experiment on employer discrimination in Sweden. Going beyond existing work, we test for a large range of applicant characteristics using a factorial design. We examine whether migrants can affect their employment chances—by adopting citizenship, acquiring work experience, or signaling religious practice—or whether fixed traits such as country of birth or gender are more consequential. We find little systematic evidence that immigrants can do much to reduce discrimination. Rather, ethnic hierarchies are critical: callback rates decline precipitously with the degree of ethno-cultural distance, leaving Iraqis and Somalis, especially if they are male, with much reduced employment chances. These findings highlight that immigrants have few tools at their disposal to escape ethnic penalties and that efforts to reduce discrimination must address employer prejudice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The participation of diverse demographics in higher education has risen over the last half-century; meanwhile, different political and social tiers have been assigning a more active role to institutions in terms of equality and social justice. This change in circumstances has led to the roll out of processes to institutionalise diversity outreach. This study was conducted for the clear purpose of assessing the current institutionalisation status of diversity outreach in 127 key universities from the Academic Ranking of World Universities based on the opinions of diversity outreach managers and the information published on institutional websites, in turn measuring compliance with various indicators. A qualitative analysis of the institutional statements, the goals sought through strategic plans and the definitions of diversity itself was also conducted. The evidence reveals the early stage of the institutionalisation process in universities on account of the low percentage obtained for the proposed indicators. Furthermore, the study failed to exhibit significant differences in this process in terms of the institutional ownership or position held in the ranking; however, more prominent progress was noted in the North-American region when geographical differences were taken into account, likely as a result of the historical background in the advocacy for equal opportunities. Lastly, a change of approach to the conceptualisation of diversity is suggested in favour of equality and social justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Emergency medical service (EMS) can be a burdensome occupational field, and employees can be confronted with traumatizing events. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression rates among paramedics are considered higher than those in the general population. In the German setting of a physician-based EMS system, the literature provides little data on PTSD or non-PTSD-related mental health or on the correlation between PTSD and well-being. Methods: The study collected data through a nationwide cross-sectional questionnaire survey of the German EMS. Next to gathering sociodemographic data, it used the 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5) and the Short Screening Scale for the DSM-IV-PTSD to assess well-being and identify indicators of depression and PTSD. Results: A total of 2,731 paramedics and emergency physicians participated in the survey; 2,684 questionnaires were submitted to analysis. The average WHO-5 score was 53.15%. A total of 43.4% of participants screened positive for possible depression, as indicated by a WHO-5 score below 50%. Female gender, older age, higher total years spent working in EMS and increased body mass index were significantly correlated with lower well-being. A total of 5.4% of respondents had a positive PTSD screening result. In particular, older employees were significantly more likely to test positive for PTSD (12.2% of those over 50 years, compared to 2.8% of those under 30 years). Positive PTSD screening results were associated with significantly lower well-being. Over an average period of 1 year, the paramedics reported perceiving a median of 2 emergency missions as mentally distressing. Conclusion: Low well-being and PTSD seem to be relevant experiences among German EMS despite their perception of low numbers of emergency responses as mentally distressing. Paramedics who have been diagnosed with PTSD should be investigated for depression and vice versa, as correlations in both directions exist. Special attention should be paid to older employees, who have significantly lower well-being and higher PTSD rates compared to younger employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outcomes of bargaining over losses, the subject of this paper, have rarely been studied. But experimental studies of related situations, such as those involving bankruptcies or bequests in which the sum of the legal claims that can be made against a bank or firm or estate are greater than their values, have produced strong support for the proportionality principle. To test whether this principle would find support in other situations involving losses we designed an experimental game in which four players start out with differing initial endowments of real money. They are then informed that a certain amount of this resource has to be given back to the experimenter. How should the loss be shared among the agents? This game was run at different locations and under different treatments over a period of almost three years. We found that the proportionality principle was rarely proposed and even less frequently accepted as a solution to this problem. One of the main reasons for this result was that the two players with the smallest endowments opposed most of the proposals which asked them to contribute at least some positive amount of their own initial resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]