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Objectives. This study is aimed at identifying the best clinical model to predict poststroke independence at 6 and 18 months, considering sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, and then identifying differences between countries. Methods. Data was retrieved from the International Stroke Trial 3 study. Nine clinical variables (age, gender, severity, rt-PA, living alone, atrial fibrillation, history of transient ischemic attack/stroke, and abilities to lift arms and walk) were measured immediately after the stroke and considered to predict independence at 6 and 18 months poststroke. Independence was measured using the Oxford Handicap Scale. The adequacy, predictive capacity, and discriminative capacity of the models were checked. Countries were added to the final models. Results. At 6 months poststroke, 35.8% (n = 1088) of participants were independent, and at 18 months, this proportion decreased to 29.9% (n = 747). Both 6 and 18 months poststroke predictive models obtained fair discriminatory capacities. Gender, living alone, and rt-PA only reached predictive significance at 18 months. Poststroke patients from Poland and Sweden showed greater chances to achieve independence at 6 months compared to the UK. Poland also achieved greater chances at 18 months. Italy had worse chances than the UK at both follow-ups. Discussion. Six and eight variables predicted poststroke independence at 6 and 18 months, respectively. Some variables only reached significance at 18 months, suggesting a late influence in stroke patients' rehabilitation. Differences found between countries in achieving independence may be related to healthcare system organization or cultural characteristics, a hypothesis that must be addressed in future studies. These results can allow the development of tailored interventions to improve the outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus pandemic has led to revenue loss for tourism enterprises and workers due to restrictions on movement. In response, governments have made available temporary financial support, but not to those tourist enterprises and workers in the undeclared economy. Reporting a 2019 Eurobarometer survey, this paper reveals that one in 165 European citizens engage in undeclared work in tourism and the groups involved. To bring these enterprises and workers onto the radar of the state, a voluntary disclosure initiative is advocated offering access to the temporary financial support for undeclared enterprises and workers disclosing their previous undeclared work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Previous studies from western countries demonstrated the effectiveness of Teratology Information Service (TIS) counselling in reducing the teratogenic risk perception of pregnant women. Objective To assess whether TIS counselling would be effective in reducing the teratogenic risk perception of the Turkish pregnant women. Setting A TIS (Terafar) operating in a university hospital in Turkey. Methods A cross-sectional survey study. Pregnant women with non-teratogenic medication exposures were asked to assign scores on visual analogue scales (VAS) in response to the questions aiming to measure their teratogenic risk perception. The mean score before and after counselling were compared and the associations with maternal socio-demographic characteristics were analysed using SPSS (Version 20.0). Main outcome measures The differences in the mean scores of the perception regarding the baseline risk of pregnancy, own teratogenic risk and the likelihood of termination of pregnancy before and after counselling and their possible associations with maternal socio-demographic characteristics. Results 102 pregnant women participated in the study. The counselling significantly reduced the mean own teratogenic risk perception score and the mean score for the likelihood of termination of pregnancy whereas the mean baseline risk perception score was not significantly changed. Pregnancy week <8 and the exposed number of active ingredients <3 were significantly associated with the difference in the mean score for the likelihood of termination of pregnancy. Conclusions TIS counselling lowers the teratogenic risk perception of Turkish pregnant women and increases their likelihood to continue the pregnancy as it does in the western countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the exit decision in the European venture capital market, studyingwhen to exitand how it interacts with theexit form. Using a competing risks model we study the impact on the exit decision of the characteristics of venture capital investors, of their investments and of contracting variables. Our results reveals that the hazard functions are non-monotonic for all exit forms and suggest that, in Europe, Initial Public Offering candidates take longer to be selected than trade sales. Moreover our results show that, in Europe, venture capitalists associated with financial institutions have quicker exits (stronger for trade sales), and highlight the importance of contracting variables on the exit decision. An unexpected result is that the presence on the board of directors leads to longer investment durations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although second allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT2) is a therapeutic option for patients relapsing after first HCT (allo-HCT1), there is limited data on allo-HCT2 in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). We retrospectively studied 245 patients receiving allo-HCT2 as a salvage treatment for relapse following allo-HCT1 between the 2000 and 2017. The median age at allo-HCT2 was 34·6 years (range: 18-74). One hundred and one patients (41%) received sibling donor and 144 (59%) unrelated donor allo-HCT2. Acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) grade II-IV and III-IV occurred in 33% and 17% of the patients, respectively. The incidence of 2-year total and extensive chronic GVHD was 38% and 19%, respectively. The 2- and 5-year cumulative incidence of non-relapse mortality, relapse incidence, leukaemia-free survival, overall survival and GVHD-free, relapse-free survival (GRFS) were 24% and 26%, 56% and 62%, 20% and 12%, 30% and 14% and 12% & 7%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, factors associated with overall survival were age, time from allo-HCT1 to relapse, conditioning for allo-HCT1, Karnofsky score at allo-HCT2 and donor type for allo-HCT2. In conclusion, outcomes of allo-HCT2 in ALL patients were poor, with only 14% overall survival and 7% GRFS at 5 years with very high relapse incidence., (© 2019 British Society for Haematology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Focuses on the use of body mass index (BMI) in determining child obesity in Europe. Administration of BMI among pediatricians to evaluate the present size and future growth of children; Types of reference growth data for children; Effects of changes in weight on BMI.