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During the COVID-19 pandemic, children with disabilities were confronted with ableist discourses that justified unfair policy measures. This study is concerned with the discourses recorded in a range of education documents, published during the pandemic within the Republic of Cyprus. It employs an interdisciplinary framework, informed by Critical Discourse Analysis, Inclusive Education, and Critical Disability Studies, to examine the powerful actors and the ideologies that influenced the formation of discourses. The paper undertakes a critical interpretation of the disability discourses developed in Cyprus during the pandemic, links this with other relevant research conducted in other European countries prior to and during the pandemic, and suggests policy actions/measures that value children with disabilities and their families.

In the Pistoia Nursery-Ornamental Rural District (Italy), a leader in Europe in ornamental nurseries covering over 5200 hectares with over 2500 different species of plant, plant-parasitic nematodes represent a serious concern. The potential efficacy of a pot cultivation system using commercial substrates to control plant-parasitic nematodes was assessed. On two different plant species, two different pot cultivation managements, potted plants, and potted plants previously cultivated in natural soil were compared to plants only cultivated in natural soil. The entire soil nematode structure with and without plants was evaluated. The relationship between soil properties and soil nematode community was investigated. All the studied substrates were free from plant-parasitic nematodes. Regarding free-living nematodes, Peat–Pumice showed nematode assemblage established by colonizer and extreme colonizer bacterial feeders, whereas Peat–Perlite included both bacterial and fungal feeders, and, finally, coconut fiber also included omnivores and predators. In farming, the substrates rich in organic matter such as coconut fiber could still play an important role in suppressing plant-parasitic nematodes because of the abundance of free-living nematodes. In fact, they are of crucial importance in both the mineralization of organic matter and the antagonistic control of plant-parasitic nematodes. Potting systems equally reduce virus-vector nematodes and improve the prey/predator ratio favoring natural control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Several pathological conditions can lead to variations in bone mineral content during growth. When assessing bone age, bone mineral content can be estimated without supplementary cost and irradiation. Manual assessment of bone quality using the Exton-Smith index (ESI) and automated assessment of the bone health index (BHI) provided by the BoneXpert® software are available but still not validated in different ethnic groups. Objective: Our aim is to provide normative values of the ESI and BHI for healthy European Caucasian and first-generation children of North Africans living in Europe. Materials and methods: A sex- and aged-match population of 214 girls (107 European-Caucasian and 107 North African) and 220 boys (111 European-Caucasian and 109 North African) were retrospectively and consecutively included in the study. Normal radiographs of the left hand and wrist from healthy children were retrieved from those performed in a single institution from 2008 to 2017 to rule out a left-hand fracture. Radiographs were processed by BoneXpert® to obtain the BHI and BHI standard deviation score (SDS). One radiologist, blinded to BHI values, manually calculated ESI for each patient. The variability for both methods was assessed and compared using the standard deviation (SD) of the median (%) for each class of age and sex, and ESI and BHI trends were compared by sex and ethnic group. Results: The final population comprised 434 children ages 3 to 15 years (214 girls). Overall, BHI was lower in North African children (mean = 4.23 for girls and 4.17 in boys) than in European Caucasians (mean = 4.50 for girls and 4.68 in boys) (P < 0.001). Regardless of ethnicity, 29 girls (13.6%) and 34 boys (15.5%) had BHI more than 2 SD from the mean. While correlated to BHI, ESI has a higher variability than BHI and is more pronounced from 8–12 years for both sexes (mean ESI in European Caucasian girls and boys 17.47 and 20.87, respectively) (P < 0.001). ESI showed more than 15% variability in European girls from 8–12 years and a plateau in North African boys from 12 years to 16 years. However, the BHI has less than 15% variability regardless of age and ethnic group. Conclusion: BHI may be a reliable tool to detect children with abnormal bone mineral content, with lower variability compared to ESI and with specific trends depending on sex and ethnicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the process of ensuring inclusive education, teachers' individual roles are shifting towards collaborative practice, involving sharing tasks and expertise among a wide range of educational professionals. Policies for inclusion have resulted in a sense of urgency among universities to better educate teachers for inclusive practice. Yet, the tools to support this demand appear to be quite limited, or do not address the gaps in teacher professional learning identified in the research. Proceeding from the outcomes of a policy review on teacher professional learning for inclusion in Europe, the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education explored the use and relevance of the Profile of Inclusive Teachers, developed in 2012, for all education professionals. This paper reports on the approach and the main findings of a study conducted in collaboration with European countries, leading to a new and complementary Profile for Inclusive Teacher Professional Learning developed in 2022. The new Profile is built upon the initial 2012 Profile for pre-service teachers and aims to include all education professionals in teacher professional learning opportunities for inclusive education. Findings highlight the Profile's core values and areas of competence and the essential features of competence development for inclusion. The paper concludes with recommendations for the collaborative use of a shared competence framework for inclusion and the role of universities offering teachers professional learning for inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including European anthropology, social acceleration, and the model of an entrepreneurial university.

This article presents fresh empirical data showing that policy alignment between center-left governments and trade unions was a sustained feature of European politics between 1974 and 2005. This contradicts expectations of a wide delinkage between the electoral left and labor as a consequence of globalization, deindustrialization, and unionization decline. However, structural economic change has altered the policy field so that sustained policy alignment can no longer be explained by existing theoretical frameworks. Based on a theoretical argument and a multivariate empirical test, the article contends that policy alignment is likelier to occur if labor plays an important role in economic management at the microlevel and the industry level and if unions are politically cohesive agents thanks to powerful confederation leadership supported by democratic decision-making practices. In making its case, the article bridges the literatures on comparative capitalism and party politics, in order to account for change and continuity in policy-making processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the European governments' decision to involve unions and employers in the design and implementation of public policy. Based on new measures of the phenomenon, the authors argue that between 1974 and 2003, no convergence on a pluralist model of policy formation is visible. They then use these measures to identify and analyze the clearest cases of adoption or demise of concertation, namely, the contrasting responses of the British and Irish governments to wage policy and of the Austrian and Italian governments to pension reform. They argue that governments are willing to share their policy-making prerogatives when they are politically weak and when unions, while still representing a credible threat to policy implementation, have been declining in the recent past. A combination of partisanship and policy learning reinforces the push for change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background White matter hyperintensities have been associated with the development of depression in older subjects, though the details of this relationship are not fully understood. Methods In a pan-European multicentre study of 629 older subjects, we examined the relationship between MRI white matter hyperintensities (WMH), depressive symptoms and self perceived health quality of life (QOL). WMH were rated using a three-point scale. Results We found depressive symptoms as assessed by the geriatric depression 15-item scale to be associated with WMH rating (Spearman's rho 0.11, p = 0.008) and also with the Euro-QOL health score (Spearman's rho -0.5, p < 0.001). In a ordinal logistic regression model, QOL was found to strongly predict GDS score (p < 0.001) and severe vs mild WMH were associated with increased depression (p = 0.028). The relationship between history of severe depression and WMH score was examined, but there were no differences either between those with and without a history of severe depression, or those with an early vs late onset of depression. Conclusions The results suggest that WMH play a role in increasing depressive symptoms, even when perceived quality of life is controlled for as a possible mediating factor. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the geographic patterns of mitochondrial DNA diversity in Europe. Role of neolithic demographic transition on mitochondrial DNA interpretation; Observation of limited geographic patterning on global analysis; Effect of Saami difference on geographic patterning.

Presents a calendar of activities of the organization European Academy of Andrology (EAA). Request for updated electronic mail message address; Web site address of EAA; Examination for EAA Clinical Andrologists.

This paper takes the reader through the methodological development of an international study, which involved 8 academics and 373 students in Departments of Education from 6 universities in Europe, New Zealand and the USA. It explores the uses, benefits and critical tensions within participatory research methodology when used in a study addressing questions of undergraduate student diversity and inclusion. Issues when linking the views and interests of the various project parties, a core element of participatory research, are considered. Alongside this is a discussion on how this led to shifts in participant role identities, a reconfiguration of research ownership and insights into the complexities of participants’ education. The work addresses a niche area in terms of participants as co-researchers, in particular matters of identity, agency, language and labelling, thus adding to developments in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"In recent studies several authors have shown how fertility tables and concise measures by birth order, strictly and exclusively related to the period fertility conditions, can be derived on the basis of parity progression rates.... The many indicators derivable from the fertility tables compiled as stated above are described systematically and completely in relation to their different features. On the basis of a 'complementary' model [I show] a further category of concise measures referring to fertility tables which are formally identical to the classical life tables with regard to each order of birth. The study includes applications to concrete data concerning North Central and Southern divisions of Italy (1980-1982 and 1988-1990)." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND FRE), (excerpt)

Using age- and parity-specific fertility tables, the author analyzes the evolution of fertility change in Italy. "The application of this 'multidimensional' (age and parity) approach shows how profound the fertility decline has been, the intensity of the decline being in some way 'hidden' by the impact of past evolution when traditional measures are used." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND SPA), (excerpt)