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Arguably, one of the most successful campaigns in Air Power history was Operation Allied Force (OAF). In its im mediate aftermath, on June 6, 1999, the preeminent military historian, John [...]

Deliberative democracy theory highlighted democratic deliberation as a modus operandi for facilitating group decision-making. In 2023, members of Romanian labor unions in several sectors took to the streets in strikes and protests, demanding higher revenues and better work conditions. Nevertheless, misunderstandings and internal ruptures shadowed their noble ends and fueled mistrust amongst unionists. This dynamic reminds rather of interest party politics as it employs vertical power relations, influenced by social and professional background segmentation. One question that reasonably arises in this context is how deliberative the decision-making process is within the unions in Romania. We specifically analyze elements of deliberative organizational leadership and the power relations within labor unions through a qualitative study in the form of interviews. Keywords: Labor Unions, Romania, Deliberation, Representation, Leadership, Context Neo-liberalism triggered more dynamism in the labor market and new work relations, forcing unions to reshape and adjust their working procedures repeatedly. Their efficiency in coping with capitalist interests [...]

By counterbalancing the instrumentalization of the ethno-nationalist restorative nostalgia--which was not only the affective and imaginary fuel of the mnemonic wars fought, starting from the 80s, on the territory of 'the country that no longer exists', but also that of both the subsequent tragedies and cultural-political polarizations--, Yugonostalgia emerged in the painful 90s as a privileged form of post-Yugoslav mnemonic imagination. Against the background of the persistent mnemonic conflicts within the region, the multidirectional/ agonistic Yugonostalgic memory appears nowadays as a catalyst of the emotional and ethical commitment with the recent past, particularly able to inspire 'visions of a better future'. Keywords: Yugonostalgia, multidirectional/ agonistic memory, retrospective utopia, post-Yugoslav divided memories, retrotopia, Introduction Yugoslavia [...] became a prohibited word, and the terms Yugoslav, Yugonostalgic or Yugo-zombie are synonymous with national traitor. (1) La reflexion citee, extraite de La culture du mensonge de [...]

Just before dawn on August 2, 1990, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein deployed units of the Republic Guard Forces Command across the Kuwaiti border in a brutally swift assault that quickly [...]

This Special Issue is an installment of the series of studies carried out by the Centre for Cross Cultural Comparisons ([https://crossculturalcentre.homestead.com/](https://crossculturalcentre.homestead.com/)), an international voluntary association of researchers, students and practitioners interested in the global study of culture and leadership. This Consortium investigates the relationships among preferred leader behavior dimensions and societal cultural values of employed businesspeople across the globe, with the intent of improving managerial leadership practice in businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Slavic-heritage countries have a rich and diverse culture shaped by a variety of historical and geopolitical events. Utilizing Hofstede´s Value Survey Module 2008, we study the cultural values of the Slavs, indicating the way businesspeople (employees) and businesses function in these societies. The results of our analyses of data from seven Slavic countries show that the volume and distribution of differences in cultural values is mostly inconsistent, however, several patterns emerged. The magnitude and structure of these differences indicate an influx of values originating from the global West, however, with variations across the tribes, nations and their culture areas. We contribute to the cross-cultural management and leadership literature with this pioneering, systematic comparison, and outline directions for future research to foster a clear(er) understanding thereof, hence, to develop valuable practical guidelines for (international) business professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a geocritical interpretation (based on the methodological approach developed by Robert Tally) of two of Judith Hermann's short stories – 'Diesseits der Oder' and 'Osten'. Written almost twenty years apart, the first of these takes place amidst the Oderbruch, whilst the second comprises Hermann's only literary text about a journey to Ukraine. Drawing on interdisciplinary spatial research, I offer a close reading of both stories as they stage, in different ways, an affective experience of East European space. Moreover, I argue that through her critical investigation of the 'East' as an imagined and real space, Hermann emerges as a geocritic herself. Drawing on Sara Ahmed's queer phenomenology and Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht's notion of latency in post‐war culture, I contend that 'Diesseits der Oder' and 'Osten' are constituted as poetic texts that foreground disorientation through the mode of latency as a crucial phenomenological device. Once brought together into their historical and geopolitical contexts and explored through the aesthetic prism of representation of the 'East', Hermann's short stories are seen to advance a radical critique of perceptions of Eastern Europe in the German post‐war literary and geographic imagination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is the effect of minority co-ethnic employment on income? While the business organizations literature argues diversity allows for knowledge accumulation, optimal labour allocation, and efficient interactions, absent is any consideration of language – e.g. language competency or language ideology. We argue when co-ethnic minorities work together, this shared language allows for bounded trust to develop; it also ensures there are preference similarities – factors that can increase firm productivity and individual wages. Using survey data of minority Hungarians in three Central and Eastern European countries (Romania, Slovakia, and Serbia), we find (1) diversity has no positive effect on income; and in fact, (2) co-ethnic employment increases wages in Southern Slovakia and Vojvodina. Additionally, we confirm that co-ethnic employment is not happening simply because of demographics. Instead, with one exception, the proportion of Hungarians in the workplace is significantly higher than in the areas where these jobs are located – suggesting a strategic behaviour by minority Hungarians. The implication is not that we endorse homogeneous workplaces per se, but that we remain cognizant of how asymmetric linguistic competencies and the underlying linguistic ideologies can shape power hierarchies – thereby limiting the benefits of diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a discipline-defining agenda. It addresses the oversight of Geographies of race in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and explores geography’s potential contributions to the unfolding debates around race, decolonisation, and whiteness. Geographies of race remain unmarked and therefore unchallenged within the field of geography in CEE. Consequently, geographers typically consider CEE as peripheral to the global racial discourses and possibly post-racial. By drawing on sociological, migration, historical, and anthropological approaches, particularly in Poland, the article emphasises the importance of geography in discussions around race, decolonisation, and whiteness. It considers the appeal of geographies of race to this “peripheral location” to demonstrate a shift in racial and colonial discourses. By bridging interdisciplinary approaches and challenging prevailing discourses, the article aims to broaden the scope of the geographies of race and foster a more inclusive and global understanding of race and colonisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers a novel conceptualization and dataset of post-neoliberal populism in contemporary Latin America and Eastern Europe. By drawing insights from structuralist theories, which understood populism as historically grounded in political economy developments, I critique dominant minimal definitions and propose a synthetic conceptual alternative for the analysis of multidimensional and dynamic challengers of the watershed neoliberal revolutions that both regions have undergone since the late twentieth century. To this end, I disaggregate populism's key dimensions of anti-establishment discourse, illiberal ideology, and strategic organization into functionally interactive attributes; justify post-neoliberal populism as a family resemblance category; and develop a roadmap for case selection and measurement. I then illustrate the empirical validity and theoretical relevance of my approach by assessing the magnitude of post-neoliberal populism in 198 national-level elections in 33 Latin American and Eastern European democracies and by identifying the decline of the traditional Left as its correlate in both regions. By focusing on conceptual unity and cross-regional parallels, the article demonstrates that, contrary to conventional misconceptions, a family resemblance categorization of contemporary populism not only facilitates empirically rigorous research, but also stimulates mid-range theorizing at the intersection of intra-regional specificity and more general historicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Russia's war on Ukraine has generated a new chain of insecurities in Europe: energy and food crises, new migration flows from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, military threats sharpened by Russia's invasion are triggering a spatial and territorial reshuffling of Europe's Eastern flank. In this context, regional dynamics within and across the Eastern frontiers of Europe have undergone a succession of path-breaking transformations ranging from overt support to the Ukrainian war effort to decoupling from the Russian economy and an unprecedented boost to expanding the European Union's security architecture. However, one of the most important effects of the war is the growing gap between two regional models which might be dubbed normative (Europeanization within the EU- and NATO-led European normative space) and post-colonial (exemplified by different Russia-centric projects within the post-Soviet space). The original contribution of this special issue is to address the conceptual connections between security, borders and national identity to discuss the evolving European landscape. While we do not explore the military side of the war, we focus on the nexus of (in)security and bordering practices to capture how a combination of geopolitical changes, economic dynamics and human dimensions of war has created new borders and reshaped existing ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explains how right-wing populist leaders in Hungary, Poland, Russia and Turkey have transformed their states' foreign policy institutions through personalization and politicization. We examine the transformation of foreign policy institutions in the four cases and make two contributions. First, we differentiate between disparate types of personalization by proposing the term 'hyperpersonalization'—populist leaders' reliance on security institutions in foreign policy decision-making—which distinguishes the populist transformation of foreign policy institutions in Russia and Turkey. We argue that lower levels and speed of autocratization lead to politicization combined with milder cases of personalization of the foreign policy bureaucracy, while higher levels and speed of autocratization lead to higher levels of personalization in the foreign policy institutions. Second, we lay out the steps and patterns of populist politicization and hyperpersonalization that bring 'deinstitutionalizing restructuring' to foreign policy institutions. As we illustrate, this deinstitutionalizing restructuring involves concurrent bureaucratic expansion and bureaucratic retrenchment. The process is accompanied by a populist narrative that this restructuring is done to realize the 'popular will' or to regain 'full sovereignty'. We conclude the article with the policy implications of this populist transformation of foreign policy institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on partisan positions on higher education policies has focused to date mainly on parties in sustained democratic regimes in Western Europe. This study compares these findings with Polish parties' positioning and investigates the extent to which parties' preferences in post-socialist Poland can be explained by their party family affiliations. Poland provides an interesting case because of its socialist heritage of strong government control in the higher education sector and the rather fluid party system with a comparatively large share of populist right parties. By means of a qualitative content analysis of 41 party manifestos from 1989–2019, partisan positions of Christian democratic, social democratic, liberal, agrarian, and populist right parties are categorized along the re-distributive and control dimension of higher education policies. While party families can explain Polish parties' positioning on the control dimension, there is a cross-party consensus to expand the sector and increase public funding due to strong popular demand after the transformation which contrasts with the positions of West European parties. Key results are a rising salience of this policy field in party manifestos and a detailed description of populist right parties' preferences for government control of higher education institutions and expansion of this sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union's Recovery and Resilience Facility is an unprecedented investment opportunity for economic modernisation. However, while the supranational European Commission assumes considerable influence over the design of national Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRPs), there is substantial diversity among RRPs. This paper analyses the interaction between national governments and the Commission in the coordinative RRP design process. We argue that national policy preferences, rooted in the partisan profiles of governing coalitions, ultimately explain variation in RRP content. We analyse the policymaking process in three semi-peripheral economies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) – Estonia, Romania, and Slovakia. CEE countries are especially suitable because as expected rule-takers, they function as least likely cases for the relevance of government agency, i.e., national partisanship. Through elite interviews, we trace various elements of each RRP to specific positions of governing coalitions and, with national variation, the Commission's ability to impose its own policy preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can linguistic diversity in the media impede state language proficiency? In this paper, we test the extent to which the availability of minority languages in the media affects state language proficiency for ethnic minorities. We take advantage of an exogeneous development: The rapid expansion of Budapest-originating media outside Hungary in the mid-2000s transformed the media landscape in neighbouring states. Using an original survey data of ethnic Hungarians in minority regions in four Central-Eastern European states over two waves, we find (1) the availability of minority language media means minorities are consuming less media in the state language, which in turn induces low levels of state language proficiency – i.e. through an exogeneous exposure mechanism; and (2) minorities with weaker state language proficiency choose to consume minority language media – i.e. through an endogenous selection mechanism. The results suggest a strong relationship between the language of media consumption and linguistic proficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic had a particularly negative impact on mental wellbeing of vulnerable individuals, such as sexual minority men (SMM) living in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA), where the social-political climate may be restrictive for SMM. Alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD) use may be another factor contributing to exacerbated mental health among SMM in this region. Secondary analyses were conducted using data collected as part of the COVID-19 disparities survey from active users of Hornet, a popular geo-social networking app for SMM in late 2020. Using a subset of SMM living in EECA (n = 3209) and pre-validated scales (AUDIT-C and PHQ-4), we used multivariable logistic regression models to examine the relationship between changes in participants' use of ATOD and their mental wellbeing. Based on AUDIT-C, 35.1 % SMM screened for alcohol use disorder (AUD), 18.6 % reported an increase in alcohol use since the pandemic began. Over 30 % screened for depressive symptoms and anxiety based on PHQ-4 (30.4 % and 30.7 %, respectively). In multivariable models, AUD was significantly associated with screening positive for depressive symptoms and anxiety. Other factors associated with mental distress included lower socioeconomic status, unemployment, ethnic minority identity, IPV victimization, and financial and economic vulnerability. Cross-sectional data cannot be used to infer causality. Our results support the needs for integrated substance use reduction and mental health services tailored for SMM in EECA. Programs aimed at promoting mental wellbeing among SMM in EECA must consider both interpersonal and structural barriers. • Sexual minority men (SMM) reported increase in alcohol and tobacco (ATOD) use since the COVID-19 pandemic began. • SMM in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) reported high rate of mental distress, especially compared with other regions. • COVID-19 pandemic vulnerability contribute to worsening mental health of SMM when mental health service utilization was low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fungi have been used for medicinal purposes for many centuries. This study, based on 35 historical written sources and 581 in-depth semi-structured interviews from eight countries in the western borderlands of the former Soviet Union, investigates the medicinal use of fungi by local communities. We compared the taxa and uses obtained from fieldwork and historical sources with works that advocated fungi use within Soviet herbals, representing the centralised medical system. During fieldwork, we identified eight locally used fungi and one lichen. The highest numbers of medicinal uses were documented in Russia, Estonia and Ukraine. Studies published before the Soviet era listed 21 fungal taxa and one lichen species used in the study region. However, only six of these taxa were mentioned as used by people in our field studies (Amanitamuscaria, Boletusedulis, Lycoperdon, Morchella, Phallusimpudicus and Cetrariaislandica). Notably, these same six taxa were consistently endorsed in Soviet herbals. Of the remaining three taxa recorded in the fieldwork, none were mentioned in historical written sources. However, they were promoted either in Soviet herbals (Inonotusobliquus, Kombucha) or later popular publications (Cantharelluscibarius). This highlights the significant influence of written sources on the use of fungi for medicinal purposes within the studied local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores affective narratives of migrants in a recent Brexit fiction in the context of feanxiety – a critical concept that brings together literary representations of fear and anxiety. The essay focuses on Agnieszka Dale's short stories collection Fox Season and Other Short Stories (2017), which represents the social and affective experiences of Eastern European migrants living in post-Brexit Britain. Written after the 2016 referendum, the collection engages with issues of belonging and (un)belonging, national attachments, and postcolonial relations in the United Kingdom. Reading three short stories from the collection, 'A Polish Joke', 'Fox Season', and 'A Happy Nation', this article investigates how through comedy, humour, and distanced attitude Dale's fiction fights detrimental prejudices about 'fearsome foreigners', reclaiming the lost agency of the migrants. This article argues that in Fox Season feanxiety operates as an aesthetic and an ethical mode but also as a political measure that operates within the modern power structures. Examining the experiences of migration through the lens of fear and anxiety not only enables a nuanced reading of the collection's outlook on negative emotions surging in the UK but also facilitates a furthering of feanxiety as a productive critical framework within the merit of affect studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers classify political parties into families by their shared cleavage origins. However, as parties have drifted from the original ideological commitments, it is unclear to what extent party families today can function as effective heuristics for shared positions. We propose an alternative way of classifying parties based solely on their ideological positions as one solution to this challenge. We use model‐based clustering to recast common subjective decisions involved in the process of creating party groups as problems of model selection, thus, providing non‐subjective criteria to define ideological clusters. By comparing canonical families to our ideological clusters, we show that while party families on the right are often too similar to justify categorizing them into different clusters, left‐wing families are weakly internally cohesive. Moreover, we identify two clusters predominantly composed of parties in Eastern Europe, questioning the degree to which categories originally designed to describe Western Europe can generalize to other regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the issue of the fragility of Western liberal democracies, the divisions in Western society as a whole and within particular countries, and the loss of faith in the Western model of civilization. My focus will be (1) on the initial enchantment of the Eastern European countries (with special emphasis on Romania) with the West European models of freedom, democracy, lifestyle, and living standards, which explains why these countries overwhelmingly voted in favor of joining the European Union after the fall of Communism; and (2) on their subsequent disenchantment with how far liberal democracies could go, and their general discontent with the restrictions and preconditions imposed on them for obtaining EU funding for their economic development. In dealing with the issue of globalism, nationalism and identity, I will elaborate on the role of identity, personal and national, in the creation of roots, stability, self-esteem, hard work and progress, with reference to the manifestations of populism in Europe. Finally, I will consider the positive effects Eastern countries with their traditionalism and religious values could have on their Western counterparts, in order to revive and sustain their initial enchantment and diminish their disenchantment with Europe, the European Union, and Western civilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most research on post-socialist civil society has focused on analysing the characteristics that explain (the lack of) civic strength. Although recent research has highlighted the rise of urban activism, it has failed to look more closely at the agency of actors. By focusing on informal groups and their engagement in public affairs in the aftermath of the 2019 local elections in Hungary, this paper seeks to unravel the civic strategies and narratives that underpin informal civic resistance to political and institutional pressures at a time when both local municipalities and civil society are experiencing a gradual loss of autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The use of levothyroxine (LT4) treatment aiming to improve fertility in euthyroid women with positive thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOAb) is not supported by the available evidence. The aim of the study was to document the use of LT4 by European thyroid specialists in such patients. Design: The data presented derive from Treatment of Hypothyroidism in Europe by Specialists, an International Survey (THESIS), a questionnaire conducted between 2019 and 2021 to document the management of hypothyroidism by European thyroid specialists. Here, we report the aggregate results on the use of LT4 in infertile, euthyroid women with positive TPOAb. Results: A total of 2316/5406 (42.8%) respondents stated that LT4 may be indicated in TPOAb positive euthyroid women with infertility. The proportion of those replying positively to this question varied widely across different countries (median 39.4, range 22.9%–83.7%). In multivariate analyses males (OR: 0.8; CI: 0.7–0.9) and respondents >60 years (OR: 0.7; 0.6–0.8) were the least inclined to consider LT4 for this indication. Conversely, respondents managing many thyroid patients ("weekly" [OR: 1.4; CI: 1.0–1.9], "daily" [OR: 1.8; CI: 1.3–2.4]) and practicing in Eastern Europe (OR: 1.5; CI: 1.3–1.9) were most likely to consider LT4. Conclusions: A remarkably high number of respondents surveyed between 2019 and 2021, would consider LT4 treatment in TPOAb positive euthyroid women with infertility. This view varied widely across countries and correlated with sex, age and workload, potentially influencing patient management. These results raise concerns about potential risks of overtreatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the process of forging (Western) modernity, Eastern Europe has been constructed as an uncivilised Other of the West. The Vampire Narrative was created to represent the divide between 'us' and 'the others', including the fundamental divide between West and non-West. It has evolved over the years, reflecting the processes of inclusion. This article demonstrates that the political inclusion (into the European Union) of some countries of Eastern Europe (self-called 'Central European') has not actually led to the cultural inclusion of Eastern Europe in the social Western European imagery. To discover the full meanings of the 21st-century French Vampire Narrative, the study employs a complementary combination of structural analysis, deconstruction, and resistant reading. Vampire bandes dessinées (BDs) are chosen as research material due to their popularity in French culture and their two-dimensionality as graphic and literary works. The chosen analytic corpus encompasses remediations and adaptations of Bram Stoker's Dracula, diverse versions of Vlad Dracula Tepes' (hi)story, and perfectly new vampire tales. The representation of Eastern Europe in BDs reveals itself to be surprisingly in line with the 19th-century Vampire Narrative: Eastern Europe is a disturbing, un-real, exotic space of radical Otherness or an in-between 'Secondary Empire'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) is a rare, inflammatory skin disease characterized by widespread eruption of sterile pustules with or without systemic symptoms. Objectives: This study aimed to describe the demographics of patients with GPP in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), present the clinical characteristics of individual GPP flares and explore the current treatment landscape. Methods: Patient demographics were collected at the times of last observation and previous treatment. Characteristics of a patient's last (most recent) and most severe (from all documented episodes) flare were provided at clinician's discretion. Results: Fifty‐eight patients were recruited from 12 centres in nine CEE countries; median (range) age was 61 (16–92) years and 60.3% (35 out of 58) were female. The most common comorbidities were hypertension (43.1% [25 out of 58]) and hyperlipidaemia (32.8% [19 out of 58]). Thirty‐four patients (58.6%) presented with concomitant plaque psoriasis before or during the course of GPP. Data from two separate flares were recorded in 26 individuals; in 32 patients, the most recent flare was reported as the most severe. Over 90% of patients with a flare episode classified as most severe by clinicians were hospitalized, with >75% of these individuals having a Generalized Pustular Psoriasis Physician Global Assessment (GPPGA) total score of 3 or 4. Systemic symptoms were more common in patients with a GPPGA score of 3 or 4 but were also manifest in individuals with a GPPGA score ≤2. A significant correlation was observed between a combined systemic disease score of clinical and laboratory features and both GPPGA total score (r = 0.385, p < 0.001) and GPPGA pustulation subscore (r = 0.305, p < 0.05). Conclusions: Considerable heterogeneity in the presentation of GPP flares was observed, both between patients and within‐patient. All GPP flares were associated with a significant clinical burden, highlighting the unmet need for accurate and early diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: An estimated 2.2 million people from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) live in the United Kingdom. It has been documented that CEE migrants underutilise health services in the United Kingdom and, as an alternative, seek healthcare in their home country. However, reasons for seeking healthcare abroad are not always clear. This review aims to identify the reasons for the uptake of transnational healthcare among CEE migrants resident in the United Kingdom. Methods: Informed by discussions with community members, medical stakeholders and academics, a systematic scoping review was undertaken following the nine‐stage Joanna Briggs Institute framework for scoping reviews. A search strategy with MeSH terms, where relevant, was used and adapted in five academic databases, two grey literature databases and Google Scholar. Included records encompassed four concepts: migration, CEE nationalities, UK nations and healthcare utilisation, which were written in English and published between May 2004 and 2022. Data from the literature were coded, grouped and organised into themes. Results: A total of 16 publications fulfilled the inclusion criteria. There is evidence that some CEE migrants exclusively use healthcare services in the United Kingdom. However, many CEE migrants utilise healthcare both in the United Kingdom and their country of origin. Four themes were identified from the literature as to why migrants travelled to their country of origin for healthcare: cultural expectations of medical services, distrust in the UK NHS, barriers and transnational ties. Conclusion: Push factors led CEE migrants to seek healthcare in their country of origin, facilitated by ongoing transnational ties. CEE migrants frequently combine visits to their country of origin with medical appointments. Utilising healthcare in their country of origin as opposed to the United Kingdom can result in fragmented and incomplete records of medications, medical tests and surgeries and risk of unnecessary treatments and complications. This review highlights the need for more targeted health outreach with CEE groups within the United Kingdom, as well as the need for further research on the impact of national events, for example, COVID‐19 and Brexit, on transnational healthcare‐seeking behaviours. Patient or Public Contribution: The concept for this scoping review was informed by discussions with community members, medical professionals and academics, who identified it as a current issue. The results of this scoping review were discussed with healthcare stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Oesophageal cancer (OC) is a significant public health issue, despite the decreasing trends in OC mortality rates observed globally in the past decades. The objective of our study is to analyze the pattern of OC mortality in Montenegro between 1990 and 2018 and contribute to the development of a national long-term strategy for the prevention and control of this malignancy. Methods The data on OC death cases in Montenegro between 1990 and 2018 were collected. The mortality rates were standardized according to the World Standard Population. The Joinpoint, Linear and Poisson regressions were applied to analyze the OC mortality trend. Results Joinpoint regression analysis showed an increase in death rates for men and the overall level which were not statistically significant. However, the number of cases increases significantly with an average annual percentage change (AAPC) increase of 2.6% for the overall level [AAPC (95% CI)=2.6 (1.0–4.2); P  = 0.002] at the expense of the increase in men, which on average was 2.6% annually [AAPC (95%CI) = 2.6 (1.2–4.1); P  = 0.001]. The age groups 55–64 and 65–74 have the highest percentage of deaths cases from OC with 30.6% and 31.4%, respectively. Conclusion Montenegro has witnessed a recent increase in the number of deaths from OC, although the mortality rates remain stable. National strategies to further reduce mortality rates for OC are necessary. Individuals aged 55–64 and 65–74 need specific attention during the ongoing monitoring of this cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New data on the morphology and distribution of the kotlassiid Kotlassia prima Amalitzky (Seymouriamorpha) are provided based on fragmentary remains from five upper Permian localities in Eastern Europe. The new finds suggest the absence of a seismosensory system at the final stages of ontogeny in K. prima that may indicate a more terrestrial ecology for this species in the adult state in comparison with other late Permian representatives of the family (Microphon spp.), for which the paedomorphic features in the cranial and postcranial anatomy are common. The homodont dentition and the simple shape of the teeth allow interpretation of K. prima as a predator with a wide trophic niche, the prey of which was determined by resources of the specific biotopes and might include both invertebrates and relatively small vertebrates. The new finds show that K. prima was typical for tetrapod associations of the northeast of the East European Platform, extend the stratigraphic range of the genus Kotlassia up to the terminal Permian (Zhukovian), and indicate that the family Kotlassiidae maintained its taxonomic diversity until the Permo–Triassic cenotic crisis, continuing to play a significant role in vertebrate communities in the time preceding it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The academic environment is known for its high demands in research, teaching, and administration, that along with increasing publish or perish culture can lead to reduced psychological well-being and mental health issues. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the associations between workaholism, work engagement, and burnout among academics in Montenegro. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was used to develop anonymous online survey. Data was collected from 131 participants employed as teaching and research staff at public and private universities. To measure the variables of interest we used: ultra-short Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-3), the work-related burnout subscale from the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI-7) and the Dutch Work Addiction Scale (DUWAS-10). Psychometric network analysis was employed to examine the relationships among variables. RESULTS: The findings revealed two distinct clusters: the first containing the dimensions of work engagement and the second containing burnout and the dimensions of workaholism. The two clusters were connected with the dimensions of dedication - burnout having the strongest edge (–0.25 and –0.40). In the cross-sample network the strongest connection was burnout –working excessively (.35). No significant differences in network density (0.80 (12/15 edges)) and global strength (p = 0.159) in the networks of public and private universities were found. CONCLUSION: Results of the network centrality and the edge strength analyses suggest that the interventions focused at increasing dedication while not fostering a work environment that encourages working excessively might be the key to preventing and reducing burnout in academia across contexts of public and private universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our paper revisits one of the fundamental questions of International Business (IB) scholarship, investigating the ways through which multinational enterprises (MNEs) establish legitimacy when entering a foreign market. We address this question in a novel context of Central and Eastern European (CEE) firms venturing into Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), employing a multiple case study approach. We investigate the process of legitimacy formation by Polish firms entering SSA for market-seeking reasons. We find that the firms studied use their initial liabilities of foreignness, outsidership, and origin as starting points for pragmatic, moral, and cognitive legitimacy-building by developing narratives that neutralize the distance between themselves and important local stakeholders. Our findings contribute to an understanding of the contingent nature of 'liabilities' in IB literature and shed light on the role of narratives in the internationalization process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates corruption in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Using World Bank’s BEEPS IV and BEEPS V surveys, we investigate the degree of corruption in these countries for different industries. We focus on the manufacturing sector, the services sector, and the core sector, and focus on corruption related to customs/imports, courts, and taxes/tax collection. We find that the overall degree of corruption for all three sectors is somewhere between “seldom” and “never”. Our results show that, for all three sectors, the degree of corruption is the highest in taxes/tax collection and the lowest in courts. Again, for all three sectors, shareholding firms with shares traded in the stock market and limited partnerships suffer the most. While for the manufacturing and services sectors, larger firms suffer the most, for the core sector, medium-sized firms suffer the most. When we compare the manufacturing sector to the other sectors, we find that while the overall level of corruption is similar in the manufacturing sector and the other sectors, manufacturers face a higher degree of corruption in transactions related to customs/imports and taxes/tax collection when compared to the other sectors. We do not find any significant difference between the manufacturing sector and the other sectors with respect to the degree of corruption related to courts. Overall, our findings indicate that policymakers in the region need to protect manufacturers from requests/demands for additional payments or gifts by customs authorities and/or by tax collectors and auditors.

Abstract Fungi have been used for medicinal purposes for many centuries. This study, based on 35 historical written sources and 581 in-depth semi-structured interviews from eight countries in the western borderlands of the former Soviet Union, investigates the medicinal use of fungi by local communities. We compared the taxa and uses obtained from fieldwork and historical sources with works that advocated fungi use within Soviet herbals, representing the centralised medical system. During fieldwork, we identified eight locally used fungi and one lichen. The highest numbers of medicinal uses were documented in Russia, Estonia and Ukraine. Studies published before the Soviet era listed 21 fungal taxa and one lichen species used in the study region. However, only six of these taxa were mentioned as used by people in our field studies (Amanita muscaria, Boletus edulis, Lycoperdon, Morchella, Phallus impudicus and Cetraria islandica). Notably, these same six taxa were consistently endorsed in Soviet herbals. Of the remaining three taxa recorded in the fieldwork, none were mentioned in historical written sources. However, they were promoted either in Soviet herbals (Inonotus obliquus, Kombucha) or later popular publications (Cantharellus cibarius). This highlights the significant influence of written sources on the use of fungi for medicinal purposes within the studied local communities.

The deposition of intentionally damaged metal arte-facts within burials and hoards is a phenomenon attested in areas as disparate as Ireland and the Caucasus during the Bronze and Iron Ages. While ritual significance is often attributed to such damage in burial contexts, the intentions behind the inclusion of damaged objects in hoards remain enigmatic. This article synthesises evidence for the intentional destruction of metal artefacts from 70 sites in the territory of modern Georgia and analyses patterns of deliberate damage over time and space. The study of these damaged artefacts enhances our understanding of ritual practice at a local level and locates the south Caucasus within the wider networks of this phenomenon. Keywords: Eastern Europe, Caucasus, Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, damage analysis, identity, Introduction The phenomenon of intentionally damaged metal artefacts deposited in burials and hoards is well known to archaeologists studying the Bronze and Iron Ages. The practice is documented over an [...]

Explanations for the emergence and abandonment of the Chalcolithic Trypillia mega-sites have long been debated. Here, the authors use Gini coefficients based on the sizes of approximately 7000 houses at 38 Trypillia sites to assess inequality between households as a factor in the rise and/or demise of these settlements. The results indicate temporarily reduced social inequality at mega-sites. It was only after several generations that increased social differentiation reemerged and this may explain the subsequent abandonment of the mega-sites. The results indicate that increases in social complexity need not be associated with greater social stratification and that large aggregations of population can, for a time at least, find mechanisms to reduce inequality. Keywords: Eastern Europe, Chalcolithic, Gini coefficient, wealth inequality, households, population agglomeration, Introduction Between c. 4200 and 3600 BC, the so-called Trypillia mega-sites were established on the northern limits of the Pontic Steppe (Zbenovich 1996; Videiko 1998; Menotti & Korvin-Piotrovskiy 2012; Muller [...]

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a tickbome zoonosis caused by CCHF virus (CCHFV). The World Health Organization considers CCHF one of the highest priority diseases because of its epidemic potential, [...]

This article explores how age became racialized in the context of British Mandate Palestine (1917-48). Specifically, it charts European Zionist discourses about how Ashkenazi and Mizrahi Jews aged in different ways. These discourses, which I call 'age talk,' played an important role in the court case of Rachel Habshush Ohevet-Ami. In June 1939, Ohevet-Ami, a young Jewish woman of Yemeni and Moroccan descent, disguised herself as an 'Arab' and attempted to execute an attack targeting Palestinians in Jerusalem. In her ensuing trial, two questions would decide Ohevet-Ami's fate: How old was she? And who had the power to decide? As this article searches for an answer, it addresses questions along the way that lie at the heart of the history of British Mandate Palestine about what it mea.nt to be an Arab or a Jew, an 'oriental' or a 'European,' a terrorist or a freedom fighter, and a child or an adult. Key words: age, Irgun, Mizrahi Jews, Palestine, Yemeni Jews, The Palestinian Arab boy was no older than 12 when he thwarted a terrorist attack. (1) On a Friday morning in June 1939, he had just finished his work--selling sesame [...]

From its 1940 establishment to the Great Deportation of 1942, accounts from the Warsaw Ghetto testify to the misery of beggars within its walls, who drew attention to their plight using songs, cries, shouts, and other sounds. Diaries, reports, and song texts from the ghetto, alongside memoirs and testimonies, reveal beggars' struggles--as well as non-beggars' often hostile reactions to their songs and other sounds. Drawing on scholarship in sensory history and cultural histories of the Holocaust, this article reveals that these reactions perpetuated established critiques of shund (artistic 'trash') and tapped into longstanding anxieties about the Jewish community's status as modern, civilized, and Europea,n. However, certain beggars' songs overcame listeners' hostility by directly confronting inequality and ghetto authorities' abuses of power. Beggars and their music were intrinsic to the Warsaw Ghetto's soundscape, and the debates they engendered reveal how Polish Jews imagined their community's future, even amid its destruction. Key words: beggars, Holocaust, music, Warsaw ghetto, Sometime in 1941 or 1942, Yiddish actor and director Jonas Turkow penned an essay on Jewish cultural life in occupied Warsaw before and after the ghetto's creation. Among many forms [...]

The 1920s and 30s witnessed an explosion of interest in Spinoza among Zionist intellectuals. The reflexive equation of nation and state has led scholars to conclude that Zionists were drawn to Spinoza because he justified state sovereignty. This assumption is mistaken. Eastern European Zionists rejected Spinoza's sovereignty-centered political thought--precisely because it denies political standing to non-sovereign bodies such as the kahal. Drawing on diasporic history, Spinoza's Zionist critics elaborated a distinctive political vision that prized national autonomy but did not equate self-rule with sovereign power. I foreground Zionist repudiation of Spinozist sovereignty to challenge reigning assumptions about the ideological sources of non-sovereign politics. Theorists influenced by German Jewish thought have predicated the cultivation of non-sovereign political imagination on a disavowal of nationalism. This opposition--between diaspora and nation, between nationalism and non-sovereignty--is false. In eastern Europe, nationalist figurations of galut (exile) have long inspired non-sovereign, non-Spinozist political imaginaries. Key words: Baruch Spinoza, galut, Jakob Klatzkin, Nahum Sokolow, Zionism, Toward the end of Baruch Spinoza and His Time, the sprawling tome that Nahum Sokolow devoted to Spinoza's life and thought, one encounters an arresting juxtaposition: 'Spinoza is ours and [...]

Surreptitiously collected field recordings of cantors at the pulpit, made in disregard for the rules of synagogue comportment, circulated for decades among a small group of collectors in an underground economy of homemade dubbed cassettes. These secret recordings, referred to as 'live davenings,' usurp the characteristic ephemerality of prayer to document a twentieth century aesthetic concept of cantorial music as an art form beyond its ritual function. In the past decade, many of these recordings have surfaced on YouTube and file sharing sites, reaching and expanded audience and exposing a new generation to a largely abandoned style of liturgical performance. Through ethnography with field recording makers, internet-savvy collectors, and the artists who use the secrets in the live davening archive to build projects of cantorial revival, this article offers an examination of a body of archival material that has not previously been the topic of any scholarly investigation. Key words: archives, cantorial music, electronic media, musical revival, secrets, On a Shabbat morning in 1977, Hungarian-born Cantor Moshe Stern (1935-2023) ascended the pulpit at Congregation Beth El in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn to lead the morning service. [...]