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The cultural-demographic profile of Europe has been heavily influenced by migration dynamics over the past decades. The question is whether language diversity in a host country - in particular, language proficiency and foreign language use at work - has implications for the workers' wages. Our study examines the heterogeneous impacts of foreign language use at work on earnings of both native-born workers and foreign-born workers. To that end, a Mincer earnings equation is specified. The model is tested by means of an extensive data set that captures all relevant variables. Despite the dated nature of the data used, several interesting outcomes on wage differentials in Europe - as a result of foreign language use at work - are found. First, for native-born workers with a tertiary diploma, using a foreign language at work is found to have an unambiguously positive impact on their earnings (2%). Second, for foreign-born workers, returns to foreign language use at work is highly complementary to education. Foreign language users below the upper secondary educational level earn significantly less (-8%) than those who use the local language at work. Third, a linguistically distant foreign language gives native-born workers the highest wage premium, while the use of EU official languages pays off the most for foreign-born workers. Fourth, our results do not show evidence that the lack of local language knowledge of low-educated migrants causes these results, as immigrants for whom the mother tongue is similar to the local language show similar outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural background is an important variable influencing neuropsychological performance. Multinational projects usually involve gathering data from participants from different countries and/or different cultures. Little is known about the influence of culture on neuropsychological testing results in children and especially in European children. The objectives of this study were to compare neuropsychological performance of children from six European countries (Belgium, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland and Spain) using a comprehensive neuropsychological battery and to apply a statistical procedure to reduce the influence of country/cultural differences in neuropsychological performance. As expected, the results demonstrated differences in neuropsychological performance among children of the six countries involved. Cultural differences remained after adjusting for other confounders related to neuropsychological execution, such as sex, type of delivery, maternal age, gestational age and maternal educational level. Differences between countries disappeared and influence of culture was considerably reduced when standardised scores by country and sex were used. These results highlight the need for developing specific procedures to compare neuropsychological performance among children from different cultures to be used in multicentre studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Maternal prenatal folate status has been linked to neurodevelopmental disorders, but the association with child emotional and behavioral problems is unclear. Objectives: We assessed the association of maternal folate status during pregnancy with child emotional and behavioral problems. Also, we examined whether any association between folate status and child problems is a consequence of maternal folic acid supplement use or variation in maternal MTHFR genotype. Design: Within a population-based cohort, we measured maternal plasma folate concentrations in early pregnancy and assessed folic acid supplement use by questionnaire. Mothers of European descent were genotyped for the MTHFR 677 C→T polymorphism. Child emotional and behavioral problems were assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist at 3 y in 3209 children. Results: Children of mothers with prenatal folate deficiency were at higher risk of emotional problems (OR: 1.57; 95% CI: 1.03, 2.38) but not behavioral problems (OR: 1.00; 95% CI: 0.64, 1.56) after adjustment for confounders. A higher risk of emotional problems was also found in children whose mothers started using folic acid supplements late or did not use supplements at all (OR: 1.45; 95% CI: 1.14, 1.84) than in children whose mothers started periconceptionally. However, low plasma folate concentrations only partly explained this association (OR: 1.38; 95% CI: 1.08, 1.78). Although related to plasma folate concentrations, maternal MTHFR genotype did not explain the association of folate status with offspring emotional problems. Conclusion: Low maternal folate status during early pregnancy is associated with a higher risk of emotional problems in the offspring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's output defined society, alumni are the output of higher education. This article shows how alumni research can be used as an important indicator of curriculum quality. This relatively unexplored area of engineering education research in Europe is highlighted using a case study carried out in the Netherlands, the outcomes of which have served as a useful input for curriculum development at the institute where it was carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Europe, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is becoming a popular and widespread practice of immersion education. In the Netherlands, for example, over 90 secondary schools offer a CLIL strand. Most CLIL teachers, however, are nonnative speakers of the target language, and do not have a professional background in language pedagogy. How, then, can these teachers effectively contribute to the target language development and proficiency of their students? In this paper we will discuss the findings of a study carried out in three secondary schools offering CLIL. The purpose of the study was to observe and analyse effective CLIL teaching performance facilitating language development and proficiency. The analysis was carried out by means of an observation tool for effective CLIL teaching, based on the following principles from second language pedagogy: (1) exposure to input; (2) content-oriented processing; (3) form-oriented processing; (4) (pushed) output; and (5) strategic language use. We will discuss how the CLIL pedagogy observed is related to content-based teaching and task-based language teaching, and provide recommendations for effective language pedagogy in CLIL. We will argue that not only CLIL teachers can profit from effective language-pedagogical approaches, but that language teachers can profit from effective CLIL approaches and experiences as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses the plans of the journal "European Journal of Engineering Education" (EJEE) to publish papers on innovation and research in Engineering Education. The author states that there is difficulty in funding Engineering Education research in Europe, wherein their educational research depends on local funding. Moreover, the author mentions the changes in the editorial committee of EJEE, wherein Maria Fernanda Ramalhoto of Portugal resigned as editorial committee member.

The article presents a letter to the readers of the "European Journal of Engineering Education" in Europe. It discusses the move of Jean Michel to resign as editor in chief of the publication. It cites the difficulty of the publication in searching for Michel's predecessor. With this regard, four associate editors were appointed to support the editor-in-chief in his task and duties. It also mentions the aim of the journal to uphold and extend its position as an outstanding platform for publications on technological innovation and research on the European Engineering Education.

Background: Hypertrophic pyloric stenosis in otherwise healthy neonates frequently requires urgent surgical procedure but anaesthesia care may result in respiratory complications, such as hypoxaemia, pulmonary aspiration of gastric contents, and postoperative apnoea. The primary aim was to study whether or not the incidence of difficult airway management and of hypoxaemia in neonates undergoing pyloric stenosis repair was higher than that in neonates undergoing other surgeries.Methods: Data on neonates and infants undergoing anaesthesia and surgery for pyloric stenosis were extracted from the NEonate and Children audiT of Anesthesia pRactice In Europe (NECTARINE) database, for secondary analysis.Results: We identified 310 infants who had anaesthesia for surgery for pyloric stenosis. Difficult airway management (more than two attempts at laryngoscopy) was higher in children with pyloric stenosis when compared with the entire NECTARINE cohort (7.9% [95% confidence interval {CI}, 5.22-11.53] vs 4.4% [95% CI, 1.99-6.58]; relative risk [RR]=1.81 [95% CI, 1.21-2.69]; P=0.004), whereas transient hypoxaemia with oxygen saturation <90% was comparable between the two cohorts. Postoperative complications occurred in 16 children (5.6%) within the 30-day follow-up. No mortality was reported at 30 and 90 days.Conclusions: Children undergoing surgery for pyloric stenosis had a higher incidence of difficult intubation compared with the entire NECTARINE cohort.Clinical Trial Registration: NCT02350348. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Neonates and infants requiring anaesthesia are at risk of physiological instability and complications, but triggers for peri-anaesthetic interventions and associations with subsequent outcome are unknown.Methods: This prospective, observational study recruited patients up to 60 weeks' postmenstrual age undergoing anaesthesia for surgical or diagnostic procedures from 165 centres in 31 European countries between March 2016 and January 2017. The primary aim was to identify thresholds of pre-determined physiological variables that triggered a medical intervention. The secondary aims were to evaluate morbidities, mortality at 30 and 90 days, or both, and associations with critical events.Results: Infants (n=5609) born at mean (standard deviation [sd]) 36.2 (4.4) weeks postmenstrual age (35.7% preterm) underwent 6542 procedures within 63 (48) days of birth. Critical event(s) requiring intervention occurred in 35.2% of cases, mainly hypotension (>30% decrease in blood pressure) or reduced oxygenation (SpO2 <85%). Postmenstrual age influenced the incidence and thresholds for intervention. Risk of critical events was increased by prior neonatal medical conditions, congenital anomalies, or both (relative risk [RR]=1.16; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04-1.28) and in those requiring preoperative intensive support (RR=1.27; 95% CI, 1.15-1.41). Additional complications occurred in 16.3% of patients by 30 days, and overall 90-day mortality was 3.2% (95% CI, 2.7-3.7%). Co-occurrence of intraoperative hypotension, hypoxaemia, and anaemia was associated with increased risk of morbidity (RR=3.56; 95% CI, 1.64-7.71) and mortality (RR=19.80; 95% CI, 5.87-66.7).Conclusions: Variability in physiological thresholds that triggered an intervention, and the impact of poor tissue oxygenation on patient's outcome, highlight the need for more standardised perioperative management guidelines for neonates and infants.Clinical Trial Registration: NCT02350348. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]