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A major hurdle in pediatric formulation development is the lack of safety and toxicity data on some of the commonly used excipients. While the maximum oral safe dose for several kinds of excipients is known in the adult population, the doses in pediatric patients, including preterm neonates, are not established yet due to the lack of evidence-based data. This paper consists of four parts: (1) country-specific perspectives in different parts of the world (current state, challenges in excipients, and ongoing efforts) for ensuring the use of safe excipients, (2) comparing and contrasting the country-specific perspectives, (3) past and ongoing collaborative efforts, and (4) future perspectives on excipients for pediatric formulation. The regulatory process for pharmaceutical excipients has been developed. However, there are gaps between each region where a lack of information and an insufficient regulation process was found. Ongoing efforts include raising issues on excipient exposure, building a region-specific database, and improving excipient regulation; however, there is a lack of evidence-based information on safety for the pediatric population. More progress on clear safety limits, quantitative information on excipients of concern in the pediatric population, and international harmonization of excipients' regulatory processes for the pediatric population are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a critical systematic literature review of empirical work on creative pedagogies from 1990 to 2018. It responds to the increased international attention being afforded creativity and creative pedagogies in research, policy and practice and examines the evidence regarding creative pedagogical practices and the potential impact of these on students' creativity. The methodology encompassed four stages. Firstly, an educational database keyword search was undertaken and 801 papers identified, manual searches added 12 further papers. Secondly, through applying inclusion/exclusion criteria, 89 papers were identified for closer scrutiny; these papers focused on students aged 0-18 years in formal educational settings and were peer-reviewed reports of empirical work. Thirdly, these papers were subjected to in-depth review and rating, this reduced the included selection to 35 papers. Finally, these papers were subject to further analysis and synthesis. The findings reveal that seven interrelated features characterise creative pedagogical practice, namely generating and exploring ideas; encouraging autonomy and agency; playfulness; problem-solving; risk-taking; co-constructing and collaborating; and teacher creativity. The paper also reveals that the evidence for the impact of these pedagogical practices on students' creativity is inconclusive. It highlights the complexities and challenges of documenting creative pedagogies in the years of formal schooling and concludes with key recommendations and implications for research, policy and practice.

Background/objectives: Sedentary behavior (SB), defined as sitting (nonexercising), reclining, and lying down (posture), or by low energy expenditure, is a public health risk independent to physical activity. The objective of this systematic literature review was to synthesize the available evidence on amount of SB reported by and measured in older adults. Data source: Studies published between 1981 and 2014 were identified from electronic databases and manual searching. Large-scale population studies/surveys reporting the amount of SB (objective/ subjective) in older adults aged ≥ 60 years of age were included. Appraisal and synthesis was completed using MOOSE guidelines. Results: 349,698 adults aged ≥ 60 within 22 studies (10 countries and 1 EU-wide) were included. Objective measurement of SB shows that older adults spend an average of 9.4 hr a day sedentary, equating to 65-80% of their waking day. Self-report of SB is lower, with average weighted self-reports being 5.3 hr daily. Within specific domains of SB, older adults report 3.3 hr in leisure sitting time and 3.3 hr watching TV. There is an association with more time spent in SB as age advances and a trend for older men to spend more time in SB than women. Conclusion/ implications: Time spent sedentary ranges from 5.3-9.4 hr per waking day in older adults. With recent studies suggesting a link between SB, health, and well-being, independent of physical activity, this is an area important for successful aging. Limitations: Different methodologies of measurement and different reporting methods of SB made synthesis difficult. Estimated SB time from self-report is half of that measured objectively; suggesting that most self-report surveys of SB will vastly underestimate the actual time spent in SB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The paper is a research review focusing on occupational safety in the construction industry. OBJECTIVE: The purpose is to present research that highlights the areas of occupational safety and risks and to identify areas where research is lacking. METHODS: 146 articles from scientific journals, mainly covering the construction industry in Europe, Canada, USA, Australia and Japan have been studied. The findings are presented under 11 categories: accident statistics; individual factors; legislation and regulations; ethical considerations; risk management; leadership, management, organization; competence; safety design; cost-benefit calculations; programs and models; and technical solutions. RESULTS: The research is dominated by initiatives from researchers and government authorities, while the construction industry only appears as the object for the research. There is a scarcity of research on integrated systems encompassing subcontractors, as well as a lack of research with sociological perspectives on accidents. Furthermore, only a few studies have applied a gender perspective on safety in construction, i.e. there is a need of further research in this particular area. CONCLUSIONS: A range of initiatives have been taken to increase safety in the construction industry and the initiatives are mainly reported to be successful. There are some cultural differences, but basically researchers present similar results regardless of country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the results of a survey-based study of perceptions of ethical business practices in 13 countries of Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Responses from more than 23,000 managers and employees were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance and post-hoc comparisons, aimed at identifying homogenous sets of countries. Anglo countries (US, UK, Australia, and Canada) clustered together, and were joined by India in most cases. Japan and Italy formed a homogenous subset significantly different from all other countries. Countries of continental Europe, China, Mexico, and Brazil formed various mid-range groupings. The paper discusses some salient differences between groups of countries and presents implications for human resource management (HRD) practice and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While internationalization is among the top strategic priorities of universities and colleges globally, research into the expanse of internationalization in the kinesiology discipline is not well researched. Given this gap, critical consideration of the state and status of the phenomenon is needed. Knowing more about what is being done in the name of internationalization within kinesiology and reflecting on how those actions and outcomes are aligned, or not, with key theoretical guidance is necessary in order to plan for improvement accordingly. For these reasons, this paper first provides a primer on internationalization in higher education, including how the phenomenon has come to be defined as well as key contemporary critiques associated with it. In particular, we highlight Beck's (2012) theoretical concept of 'eduscape' to critically consider the influences of globalization on internationalization within higher education kinesiology as well as Khoo, Taylor, and Andreotti's (2016) principles of intelligibility, dissent, and solidarity to consider the ways kinesiology scholars engage critically with internationalization processes. Presented next is a review of the kinesiology literature that is explicitly focused on internationalization. Then, the results of a pilot survey into the views of National Association for Kinesiology in Higher Education (NAKHE) members and other Western kinesiology scholars on internationalization is reported next. The paper concludes with recommendations as to how NAKHE and the broader community of Western kinesiology scholars might best navigate internationalization moving forward. We recommend the complexity-informed and principle-driven approach of inclusive leadership as a means of pursuing cognitive justice in the 21st century.

This study examined the utility of a biopsychosocial model to explain both higher body mass index (BMI) and disordered eating. The study was designed to examine the predictors of higher BMI and a number of measures of disordered eating (dietary restraint, drive for muscularity, drive for thinness, binge eating, and compensatory behaviour). Young adults (N = 838) recruited from seven countries, grouped into four regions (Europe, North American countries, Australia, Japan), completed an online survey, with each completion being 12 months apart. The survey included assessments of BMI and disordered eating, and a range of biological, psychological and sociocultural factors expected to predict both outcomes. Results revealed unique patterns of association between predictors and BMI as well as different measures of disordered eating in the four geographical regions. The findings identify the specific nature of biopsychosocial factors that predict both higher BMI and different aspects of disordered eating. They also demonstrate that caution needs to be exercised in generalising findings from one country to other countries. What is already known about this topic: The literature has already identified various aspects of the biopsychosocial model that predicts disordered eating and higher weight. These studies have primarily focused on disordered eating in cross-sectional studies among adolescents. Obesity and disordered eating have been shown to be related What this topic adds: The study identified the biopsychosocial factors that predict higher BMI and disordered eating among young adults over a 12-month period. The study examined all components of the biopsychosocial model in the one study. The study was conducted across seven countries and identified how these relationships vary from one country to another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between welfare states and nursing professionalization indicators., Design: We used a time-series, cross-sectional design. The analysis covered 16 years and 22 countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States, allocated to five welfare state regimes: Social Democratic, Christian Democratic, Liberal, Authoritarian Conservative, and Confucian., Methods: We used fixed-effects linear regression models and conducted Prais-Winsten regressions with panel-corrected standard errors, including a first-order autocorrelation correction. We applied the Amelia II multiple imputation strategy to replace missing observations. Data were collected from March-December 2017 and subsequently updated from August-September 2018., Results: Our findings highlight positive connections between the regulated nurse and nurse graduate ratios and welfare state measures of education, health, and family policy. In addition, both outcome variables had averages that differed among welfare state regimes, the lowest being in Authoritarian Conservative regimes., Conclusion: Additional country-level and international comparative research is needed to further study the impact of a wide range of structural political and economic determinants of nursing professionalization., Impact: We examined the effects of welfare state characteristics on nursing professionalization indicators and found support for the claim that such features affect both the regulated nurse and nurse graduate ratios. These findings could be used to strengthen nursing and the nursing workforce through healthy public policies and increase the accuracy of health human resources forecasting tools., (© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Student learning outcomes assessment examines whether programs cover the material stated in their learning goals, whether students are learning the material, and the impact on student retention, graduation, post-graduation outcomes, and institutional accreditation, with the aim of providing faculty with data that can be used to help programs evolve or improve. While there is a plethora of research regarding effective methods of assessment used in the United States, little has been written regarding cross-national comparisons of assessment methodologies. This paper examines the current state of assessment in several nations and regions, and draws parallels in practices across countries. A literature search using the term "outcomes assessment" yielded 228 articles, of which, only 35 described practices outside the United States. Generally, searches on the terms "outcomes assessment" and "global" tend to return studies of outcomes assessment of teaching about global issues as it is practiced in the United States, rather than results about outcomes assessment practices used in other countries.

This paper aims to identify the current state of knowledge management (KM) diffusion in LIS schools. In terms of content, we have identified two principal approaches to the perception of KM in the LIS community: an active approach, seeing KM as an opportunity for the LIS community to change; and a passive approach, seeing KM merely as a topic of information management with a new label. Our research analyzed study programs at 145 LIS schools and in 188 LIS study programs in the United States, Canada, Europe (in particular, Russia), Australia, India, South Africa, China, Japan, Singapore, and Brazil and observed the inclusion or non-inclusion of KM courses in those programs. We employ a narrower approach to defining a KM course as being one having the term "knowledge management" in its name. The findings indicate that KM courses are integrated in one-third of the LIS study programs analyzed, and in schools with an information science focus this figure can rise to around 45%. Given the importance of this area and various views regarding KM diffusion in LIS schools, we recommend that those who have already implemented a KM course in their LIS programs create an informal community of practice (CoP) on KM implementation in LIS schools and build an open database of lessons learned from such integration, thereby capturing and sharing this crucial knowledge in a single place.

This paper examines empirically whether more stringent domestic environmental policies reduce the international competitiveness of environmentally sensitive goods (ESGs). Our time series evidence indicates that there are no systematic changes in trade patterns of ESGs in thelast three decades, despite the introduction of more stringent environmental regulations in most of the developed countries in the 1970s and 1980s. This observed phenomenon is then subjected to a multi-country econometric test using an extended gravity-equation framework. The test suggests that, overall, more stringent environmental regulations do not reduce total exports, exports of ESGs and exports of non-resource-based ESGs. Neither was there any evidence to support the hypothesis that new trade barriers emerge to offset the effects of more stringent environmental regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Neighborhood sustainability assessment tools have become widespread since the turn of 21st century and many communities, mainly in the developed world, are utilizing these tools to measure their success in approaching sustainable development goals. In this study, seven tools from Australia, Europe, Japan, and the United States are selected and analyzed with the aim of providing insights into the current situations; highlighting the strengths, weaknesses, successes, and failures; and making recommendations for future improvements. Using a content analysis, the issues of sustainability coverage, pre-requisites, local adaptability, scoring and weighting, participation, reporting, and applicability are discussed in this paper. The results of this study indicate that most of the tools are not doing well regarding the coverage of social, economic, and institutional aspects of sustainability; there are ambiguities and shortcomings in the weighting, scoring, and rating; in most cases, there is no mechanism for local adaptability and participation; and, only those tools which are embedded within the broader planning framework are doing well with regard to applicability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article examines current trends in the development of the national models of higher education in Russia and European countries. The paper reveals the key problems of their functioning in the context of the processes of globalization, standardization, and integration into the pan-European and global educational space. These processes are described through the prism of the national interests of the states. Emerging from the comparative description, content presentation and qualitative analysis, the article assesses the level of development of the national models of higher education, i.e., Russian, European and American. This allowed identifying key similarities, as well as the most important differences, which mainly stem from the difference in the state regulation of national educational systems. It is the role of the state that is leading in the formation of national educational systems and the creation of high-quality models of higher education. The state is also responsible for the transformation and adaptation of these models. The models target providing the national and world labor market with highly professional human resources. Based on the comparative aspects outlined in the article, as well as on the qualitative analysis data, the authors have come to the following main conclusions regarding the trends and prospects for the development of the Russian higher education sector: a) Firstly, the Russian model of higher education was built during an accelerated transition from a one-level to a multilevel education. The result of this shift is the labor market disbalance, which nowadays does not allow the formation of the adequate perception of specialists holding a "bachelor's degree" which is unfamiliar and obscure to many employers; b) Secondly, the Russian educational system, and the higher education model, replicate the Western European and American approaches without considering the realities of the national educational market and the labor market. Therefore, the high proportion of the population with higher education cannot provide the necessary socio-economic development potential of the country; c) Thirdly, the reform of the Russian model of higher education should continue but not in terms of accelerating the processes of its integration into the world educational system. There is much evidence that the correct direction lies within the domain of creating incentives and conditions that will ensure the training of highly skilled professionals correlating with the market demand.

This paper presents labor statistics data approximating U.S. concepts for the U.S. Canada, Australia, Japan and six European countries. The labor force statistics published by other countries are not, in most cases, comparable to U.S. concepts. Therefore, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), adjusted the figures for selected countries, for all known major definitional differences, to the extent that data to prepare adjustments are made available. Data for the U.S. relate to the population 16 years of age and older. In the labor force participation rates and employment-population ratios, the denominator is the civilian noninstitutionalized working age population, except that the institutionalized working age population is included in Japan and Germany. In some countries, persons on layoff are classified as employed due to their strong job attachment. Canada and European countries classify passive jobseekers as unemployed. BLS constructed the comparative indexes from three basic aggregate measures--output, total labor hours, and total compensation. However, the output series for Japan prior to 1970 is an index of industrial production, and the national accounts measures for Great Britain are essentially identical to their indexes of industrial production.

Background: Research has suggested the positive impact of physical activity on health and wellbeing in older age, yet few studies have investigated the associations between physical activity and heterogeneous trajectories of healthy ageing. We aimed to identify how physical activity can influence healthy ageing trajectories using a harmonised dataset of eight ageing cohorts across the world. Methods: Based on a harmonised dataset of eight ageing cohorts in Australia, USA, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, and Europe, comprising 130,521 older adults (Mage = 62.81, SDage = 10.06) followed-up up to 10 years (Mfollow-up = 5.47, SDfollow-up = 3.22), we employed growth mixture modelling to identify latent classes of people with different trajectories of healthy ageing scores, which incorporated 41 items of health and functioning. Multinomial logistic regression modelling was used to investigate the associations between physical activity and different types of trajectories adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and other lifestyle behaviours. Results: Three latent classes of healthy ageing trajectories were identified: two with stable trajectories with high (71.4%) or low (25.2%) starting points and one with a high starting point but a fast decline over time (3.4%). Engagement in any level of physical activity was associated with decreased odds of being in the low stable (OR: 0.18; 95% CI: 0.17, 0.19) and fast decline trajectories groups (OR: 0.44; 95% CI: 0.39, 0.50) compared to the high stable trajectory group. These results were replicated with alternative physical activity operationalisations, as well as in sensitivity analyses using reduced samples. Conclusions: Our findings suggest a positive impact of physical activity on healthy ageing, attenuating declines in health and functioning. Physical activity promotion should be a key focus of healthy ageing policies to prevent disability and fast deterioration in health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research is to quantitatively compare everyday situational experience around the world. Local collaborators recruited 5,447 members of college communities in 20 countries, who provided data via a Web site in 14 languages. Using the 89 items of the Riverside Situational Q-sort (RSQ), participants described the situation they experienced the previous evening at 7:00 p.m. Correlations among the average situational profiles of each country ranged from r = .73 to r = .95; the typical situation was described as largely pleasant. Most similar were the United States/Canada; least similar were South Korea/Denmark. Japan had the most homogenous situational experience; South Korea, the least. The 15 RSQ items varying the most across countries described relatively negative aspects of situational experience; the 15 least varying items were more positive. Further analyses correlated RSQ items with national scores on six value dimensions, the Big Five traits, economic output, and population. Individualism, Neuroticism, Openness, and Gross Domestic Product yielded more significant correlations than expected by chance. Psychological research traditionally has paid more attention to the assessment of persons than of situations, a discrepancy that extends to cross-cultural psychology. The present study demonstrates how cultures vary in situational experience in psychologically meaningful ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a detailed analysis of individual preferences towards public financial aid to students from low-income families. Who favours/opposes such aid? What are the determinants of the respective preferences? I argue that three sets of factors jointly shape these preferences: materialistic self-interests, political attitudes, and the status quo of the higher education subsidy systems by generating positive feedback-effects. Results of multilevel ordered logit models utilizing the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) data for up to 22 countries over two decades indicate that self-interest matters: students strongly favour subsidies as do their parents, while those paying for the spending and those not expecting to benefit oppose such aid. Moreover, political attitudes are important: Supporters of redistribution and of increased public education spending in general, as well as leftwing voters, are much more likely to support students. On the macro-level, the findings suggest that positive feedback-effects exist: in countries with generous subsidy systems, public support for subsidies is higher. This article is the first to systematically analyse preferences towards higher education subsidies across countries and time and demonstrates how positive feedback-effects increasingly lock-in countries’ tuition-subsidy paths, making the systems resistant to (radical) change. As such, it speaks to the literature on the political economy of skill formation, the welfare state, public opinion and the public opinion–policy link. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background Over the past three decades, the World Health Organization expert panel proposed cesarean delivery rate of 10-15 percent was used as a doctrine for an optimal rate of cesarean delivery despite the lack of concrete evidence. We set out to compile cesarean delivery rates, socioeconomic indicators, and health outcomes by countries in the last three decades to explore the optimal rates for medically necessary cesarean delivery. Methods We selected 19 countries which have readily accessible cesarean delivery and low maternal and infant mortality, including countries in North and West Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. Information on cesarean delivery rate, human development index ( HDI), gross domestic products ( GDP), maternal, neonatal, and infant mortality rates of each country in the past 30 years was collected from published reports. A two-level fractional polynomial model was used to model the association between cesarean rate and mortality rates. Results Most of the countries have experienced sharp increases in cesarean delivery rates. Once cesarean delivery rate reached 10 percent, with adjustment for HDI and GDP, further increase in cesarean delivery rate had no impact on maternal, neonatal, and infant mortality rates. Conclusions Our findings corroborate the statement that a population-level cesarean section rate above 10-15 percent is hardly justified from the medical perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To undertake a systematic literature review to examine the effect of food cost on diet quality and risk factors for chronic disease, specifically focusing on diet-related lifestyle diseases affecting the Australian population. Methods: A search of six databases resulted in the inclusion of one systematic review, three cohort studies, 41 cross-sectional studies and four modelling studies in this review. Results: Between 2000 and 2006, the price of healthy foods has increased more than the price of less healthy foods. Healthy Food Access Basket surveys show that a healthy diet may often be unaffordable for low- and average-income households. Diets of higher energy density were associated with lower diet cost, whereas diets of higher nutrient density and nutritional quality were associated with higher diet cost. Recent studies report an inverse association between food price and food consumption. Consequently, an increase in food cost was associated with a significant reduction in weight, waist circumference, body mass index, obesity and insulin resistance. Conclusions: Manipulation of food cost may alter food consumption and therefore risk factors for chronic disease. Further longitudinal studies investigating the impact of pricing strategies on diet quality and disease risk are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was designed to conduct systematic reviews of existing evaporative cooling system maintenance guidelines and of published Legionnaires' disease outbreaks to determine what, if any, maintenance practices were in place at the time of the disease outbreaks and then to contrast the reported practices with the published guidelines for evaporative cooling systems. For the first review, similarities in the reported recommendations were assessed; in the second review, any reported information about the state of the evaporative cooling system during the outbreak investigation was summarized. The systematic reviews yielded 38 current guidelines for evaporative cooling systems and 38 published outbreak investigations. The guidelines varied regarding the recommended type and dose of biocides, frequency of general inspections and total system maintenance, the preferred disinfection and cleaning procedures when testing a system for microbiological contamination, the type and frequency of testing procedures, and interpretation of test results. Overall, the maintenance guidelines did not contain sufficiently detailed procedures to prevent the problems that were observed in the outbreak investigations. These maintenance procedures included lack or improper use of a biocide; infrequent testing for microbiological contamination; improper use or maintenance of drift eliminators; and lack of a total system cleaning within 6 months of the outbreak for cooling systems that were either under continuous use, recently started up, or frequently switched on and off. This study suggests that more specific and standardized maintenance guidelines for the control of Legionella bacteria are needed and that these guidelines must be properly implemented to help reduce further Legionnaires' disease outbreaks associated with evaporative cooling systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The initial emergence of e-governance appeared to be part of a more general government modernization process with the major focus concerning the potential for service delivery online and saving resources. Governments in Australia (and internationally) quickly raced towards grand e-government strategies. However, subsequent implementation has proved more problematic. e-Government has also raised wider questions about government policy making, structures of decision making and the perennial question of joined-up government. Drawing on empirical material from a seven-nation study (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, US, UK and The Netherlands), this article explores some of these themes in the Australian context and also seeks to place Australian initiatives in a comparative international context.| [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Influenza C virus is a pathogen that causes acute respiratory illness in children and results in the hospitalization of infants. The antigenicity of the hemagglutinin esterase (HE) glycoprotein is highly stable, and it is not yet known whether antigenic changes contribute to the worldwide transmission and the occurrence of outbreaks of influenza C virus. Here, we performed antigenic analysis of 84 influenza C viruses isolated in Yamagata, Japan, during a 4-year period from 2015 to 2018 and analyzed sequence data for strains of the virus from Japan and many other parts of the world. Antigenic and phylogenetic analyses revealed that 83 strains belonged to the C/Sao Paulo lineage, and two sublineage strains, the Aichi99 sublineage and Victoria2012 sublineage, cocirculated between 2016 and 2018. Aichi99 sublineage strains exhibiting decreased reactivity with the monoclonal antibody YA3 became predominant after 2016, and these strains possessed the K190N mutation. Residue 190 is located in the 190-loop on the top side of the HE protein within a region that is known to show variation that does not impair the biological activity of the protein. The Aichi99 sublineage strains possessing the K190N mutation were detected after 2012 in Europe, Australia, the USA, and Asia as well as Japan. These observations suggest that antigenic variants with K190N mutations have circulated extensively around the world and caused outbreaks in Japan between 2016 and 2018. Our study indicated that the 190-loop is an important antigenic region, and the results suggested that changes in the 190-loop have contributed to the extensive transmission of the virus., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. The following are the supplementary data related to this article. Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meegid.2020.104269., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Vespa velutina nigrithorax is an invasive alien organism that has raised concerns in all beekeeping communities of invaded countries including the Republic of Korea, European countries and Japan. Known also as the yellow-legged hornet (or the 'Asian hornet'), it is native to northern India, eastern Nepal, Bhutan and the People's Republic of China. Given its climatic and biological characteristics and the effects of climate change, some coastal areas of North America, Argentina, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand are also susceptible to invasion. Vespa velutina nigrithorax notably affects managed honey-bee colonies by predation on foragers and causing a reduction in the collection of food resources. Being a generalist predator, the yellow-legged hornet also preys on other managed and wild pollinators, and therefore its impacts are not limited to the beekeeping sector but also represent a biodiversity concern. The purpose of this paper is to provide an assessment of V. v. nigrithorax against the four criteria established in Chapter 1.2. of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Terrestrial Animal Health Code for the inclusion of a disease, infection or infestation in the OIE list. The work was requested by the OIE Scientific Commission for Animal Diseases and presented to this Commission and to the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Standards Commission in September 2017. Owing to the lack of effective measures to prevent its spread, the fact that its legal situation in some countries is under the mandate of environmental authorities rather than Veterinary Services, and because it is not considered a disease or parasite, V. v. nigrithorax is not currently being proposed for inclusion in the OIE list. At the end of the text, the statements from the two commissions are included and discussed.

Problem: Do conservative econometric models that comply with the Golden Rule of Forecasting provide more accurate forecasts?, Methods: To test the effects of forecast accuracy, we applied three evidence-based guidelines to 19 published regression models used for forecasting 154 elections in Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, U.K., and the U.S. The guidelines direct forecasters using causal models to be conservative to account for uncertainty by (I) modifying effect estimates to reflect uncertainty either by damping coefficients towards no effect or equalizing coefficients, (II) combining forecasts from diverse models, and (III) incorporating more knowledge by including more variables with known important effects., Findings: Modifying the econometric models to make them more conservative reduced forecast errors compared to forecasts from the original models: (I) Damping coefficients by 10% reduced error by 2% on average, although further damping generally harmed accuracy; modifying coefficients by equalizing coefficients consistently reduced errors with average error reductions between 2% and 8% depending on the level of equalizing. Averaging the original regression model forecast with an equal-weights model forecast reduced error by 7%. (II) Combining forecasts from two Australian models and from eight U.S. models reduced error by 14% and 36%, respectively. (III) Using more knowledge by including all six unique variables from the Australian models and all 24 unique variables from the U.S. models in equal-weight "knowledge models" reduced error by 10% and 43%, respectively., Originality: This paper provides the first test of applying guidelines for conservative forecasting to established election forecasting models., Usefulness: Election forecasters can substantially improve the accuracy of forecasts from econometric models by following simple guidelines for conservative forecasting. Decision-makers can make better decisions when they are provided with models that are more realistic and forecasts that are more accurate., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

In this paper, the determinants of growth of aggregate health expenditures are investigated. The study departs from previous literature in that it looks at differences across countries in growth (and not levels) of health care expenditures. Estimation is made for 24 OECD countries. Health system characteristics usually believed to influence health expenditures growth, like population ageing, the type of health system (public reimbursement, public contract or integrate) and existence of gatekeepers, are found to be non-significant. Nevertheless, there is evidence that health expenditures experienced a clear slower growth in the last decade. The explanation for this slowdown could not be found in the proposed model and should stimulate further research.

The number and scope of telemedicine projects and applications world-wide are growing rapidly along with exponential expansions in national and international information infrastructures and computer capabilities to support them. To track these rapid changes, the Center for Public Service Communications (CPSC) of Arlington, VA, developed the Telemedicine and Information Technologies in Health Care: Project Tracking Document for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This document is maintained by CPSC and frequently updated. It tracks the following areas in telemedicine and health care informatics: (1) major existing Federal grant and other assistance programs and activities; (2) legislation effecting policy in these areas; (3) projects using various technologies throughout the US; and (4) telemedicine projects/interests in other nations. This paper is a survey of international (global) telemedicine activities that are outlined in that document.

This paper is an empirical examination of the determinants of aggregate health care expenditure. The paper presents a systematic analysis of relationships across 19 OECD countries, showing the effects of aggregate income, institutional and socio-demographic factors on health care expenditure. The results indicate that institutional factors of the health systems, in addition to per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP), contribute significantly to the explanation of the health care expenditure variation between countries; for example the way physicians in outpatient care are paid, and the mixture of public/private funding and inpatient/outpatient care.

Results of analysis of statistical data gathered and studied over a period from 1968-1989 have led to findings indicating that all cancers have a common cause. A relationship has been studied between the number of deaths due to all types of cancer and road accident deaths in time, by age, sex, and country. Road accident deaths in this paper are considered to be a measure of miles travelled for both males and females.

This paper analyses health care expenditure in Sweden and compares this with the corresponding expenditure in OECD countries. The definition and measurement problems of health care expenditure are discussed, new figures for the development of health care expenditure are presented and different measures of health care expenditure are provided. We found that health care expenditure has increased by about 20% in constant prices for Sweden between 1980 and 1988, but that health care expenditure as a share of the GDP has dropped during the same period in current prices. Health care expenditure disaggregated on different age groups show for Sweden that in the age group 15-64 years, health care expenditure has not increased in constant prices between 1976 and 1985, but in the oldest age group, health care expenditure has increased considerable during this period. Health care expenditure in Sweden is as high as would be expected, taking into account the degree of economic development and the growth of expenditure during the 80s, and has followed that in comparable OECD countries. However, the relative price is lower, which means that the input of real resources are greater than in other countries.

This paper describes a comparison between Japanese (N = 20) and Westerners (N = 20) in their respective frontal EMG levels and their ability to relax during one 5-minute biofeedback training session. The data indicated a significantly lower baseline muscle tension level in Japanese than in Westerners. After EMG biofeedback, however, no significant difference was found between the two groups. Japanese females showed significantly higher tension levels both during baseline and biofeedback phases than did japanese males.

This paper describes the dental provides in six study areas. The data were collected through interviews with samples of dentists who participated in the World Health Organization/US Public Health Service International Collaborative Study. Comparisons between dental providers in the different areas focus upon their personal characteristics, characteristics of their practices, their work patterns, the way they used their time, their professional activities and their satisfaction with dentistry. These descriptive data are related to consumer survey data obtained in another section of the International Collaborative Study.