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Background: Effective Cataract Surgical Coverage (eCSC) is a core outcomes domain indicator to assess accessibility and quality of eye care services with limited available information. Purpose: To generate baseline estimates of eCSC for India. Methods: We performed the analysis of data pooled from Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness surveys conducted in 31 districts of India during 2015-2019 among persons aged 50+ years. eCSC was calculated at various thresholds, the primary being operable cataract at best corrected visual acuity <6/12, good outcome at presenting visual acuity of 6/12. Results: Age-sex standardized and weighed eCSC in India was 36.7% (95% CI: 33.6, 39.9), and cataract surgical coverage (CSC) was 57.3% (95% CI: 53.3, 61.2), a relative quality gap in cataract surgery being 36.0%. eCSC in males was higher at 38.0% than females (35.6%). eCSC increased with education from 31.0% in illiterate participants to 59.7% in class 10 educated. On multivariate analysis, rural setting, increasing age, and residence in eastern or northeastern zones of India continued to be associated with poor/worse eCSC, while female gender was associated with higher eCSC. District-wide variations in eCSC were observed. Conclusion: Developmental factors have an important bearing on eCSC in India. Geographical variations point toward the need for targeted, locally relevant strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Effective Cataract Surgical Coverage (eCSC) is a core outcomes domain indicator to assess accessibility and quality of eye care services with limited available information. Purpose: To generate baseline estimates of eCSC for India. Methods: We performed the analysis of data pooled from Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness surveys conducted in 31 districts of India during 2015-2019 among persons aged 50+ years. eCSC was calculated at various thresholds, the primary being operable cataract at best corrected visual acuity

Introdução – Na espirometria a adequabilidade dos valores de referência é necessária para um correto diagnóstico e seguimento da patologia respiratória. Por essa razão, e de acordo com as recomendações internacionais, podem ser necessárias equações de referência derivadas localmente. Objetivo – Pretende-se estimar equações de referência para o FEV1 e FVC a partir de uma amostra de indivíduos residentes em Vila Franca de Xira e comparar os valores estimados com os valores previstos pelas equações da European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) e da Global Lung Function Inititative (GLI). Métodos – Foram incluídos voluntários adultos, caucasianos, residentes no concelho de Vila Franca de Xira, não fumadores, sem patologia respiratória ou exposição profissional de risco, e excluídos atletas de alta competição e instrumentistas de sopro. Resultados – Valores espirométricos de 64 indivíduos, 20 homens (média de idade 45 `18,8 anos, altura 1,72 8cm, peso 76,9 `12,6Kg, índice massa corporal 25,8 `3,12Kg/m2) e 44 mulheres (média de idade 45 `12,6 anos, altura 1,60 `6,25cm, peso 67,3 `13,0Kg, índice massa corporal 26,5 `5,39Kg/m2). Os valores estimados foram significativamente diferentes dos valores previstos pelas equações da ECSC para a FVC e FEV1 nas mulheres (p

Abstract Background Spirometry is the single most important test for the evaluation of respiratory function. The results are interpreted by comparing measured data with predicted values previously obtained from a reference population. Reference equations for spirometry have been discussed previously. The aim of this study was to compare reference values based on National Health and Nutrition Assessment Survey (NHANES III), European Community of Steel and Coal (ECSC), and Global Lung Initiative (GLI) equations in an elderly sample population. Methods Subjects from the Geriatric Study on Health Effects of Air Quality in elder care centres who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled. Spirometry was performed according to international guidelines. The forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in 1 s, and FEV1/FVC ratio were reported as percentages of the predicted value, and the lower limit of normality was calculated. Results Out of 260 elderly patients, 69.6% were women; the mean age was 83.0 ± 6.46 years with an age range of 65–95 years. The lowest %FVC and %FEV1 values were obtained using the GLI reference equations. However, when NHANES III equations were used, the FEV1/FVC ratio was higher than ratios obtained from GLI and ECSC equations. The prevalence of airway obstruction was highest using ECSC equations, while GLI equations demonstrated more restrictive defects. Conclusions The present study showed meaningful differences in the reference values, and consequently, in the results obtained using NHANES III, ECSC, and GLI reference equations. The spirometry interpretation was also influenced by the reference equations used.

Energy policy has historically played an important role in the development of the European Union (EU). This study examines the reasons for the choice of coal and atomic energy as the bases for constructing community institutions of governance and analyzes their successes and failures as functional areas of integration. Functionalist theory has provided the ideological foundations for the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Atomic Energy Community. Functionalist theorists advocate technocracy as the means for overcoming the conflicts inherent in traditional political processes. Coal and atomic energy were chosen as regimes of integration because of their technocratic character and the importance attached to them, respectively, as the dominant energy source of the time and the perceived source of energy abundance in the proximate future. This vision of a process of technical integration paving the way for political union was predicated on the assumption that the political and technical functions of governance could and should be separated. In fact, energy regimes could not be removed from the political context of national governance. Hard energy regimes, which include coal and atomic energy, are technocratic polities which exclude ordinary citizens from the exercise of power and intensify international conflict. Their choice as regimes of integration bestowed on the institutions of the EC a technocratic character and made it difficult for them to claim political legitimacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction - The adequacy of the reference values in spirometry is necessary for a correct diagnosis and follow-up of the respiratory pathology. For this reason, and in accordance with international recommendations, locally derived reference equations may be required. Objective - It is intended to estimate reference equations for FEV1 and FVC from a sample of individuals living in Vila Franca de Xira and to compare the values estimated by the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and Global Lung Function Initiative equations (GLI). Methods - Adult volunteers, caucasian, resident in Vila Franca de Xira, non-smokers, without respiratory pathology or professional exposure of risk were included, and excluded high competition athletes and blow instrumentators. Results - Spirometric values of 64 individuals, 20 men (mean age 45'18.8 years; height 1.72'8cm; weight 76.9 '12.6Kg; body mass index 25.8'3.12Kg/m2) e 44 women (mean age 45'12.6 years; height 1.60'6.25cm; weight 67.3 '13.0Kg; body mass index 26.5'5.39Kg/m2) were used to derive reference equations for FVC and FEV1. The estimated values were significantly different from the values predicted by the ECSC equations for FVC and FEV1 in women (p<0.001; p<0.01) and for FVC in men (p<0.001); and were also significantly different from those predicted by GLI for FVC in men and woman (p<0.05; p<0.001). Conclusion - Reference equations were estimated for the Vila Franca de Xira population, which, when compared with the ECSC and GLI equations, presented statistically significant differences. Thus, the importance and contribution of this study to the interpretation of spirometry are evidenced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is about a relatively unknown north-west European organization of spatial planning: the (standing) Conference for Spatial Planning in North-Western Europe. The founders of CRONWE tried to create a European spatial planning approach that could influence spatial development in the early years of European integration as the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and later the European Economic Community (EEC) were created. Spatial development, as a topic to be addressed, never reached the negotiation tables though, and CRONWE was created as a permanent platform for discussion with the obvious hope that gradually ‘Europe’ would recognize the relevance and even necessity of European spatial planning. In this paper we use a number of basic concepts of the historical institutionalist approach towards planning research; in particular institutionalization, critical junctures, and path dependency. We apply these concepts to analyse and evaluate the four decades that CRONWE existed. We are particularly interested in assessing why the CRONWE planning agenda remained marginal in the European integration process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Spirometry is the single most important test for the evaluation of respiratory function. The results are interpreted by comparing measured data with predicted values previously obtained from a reference population. Reference equations for spirometry have been discussed previously. The aim of this study was to compare reference values based on National Health and Nutrition Assessment Survey (NHANES III), European Community of Steel and Coal (ECSC), and Global Lung Initiative (GLI) equations in an elderly sample population. Methods: Subjects from the Geriatric Study on Health Effects of Air Quality in elder care centres who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled. Spirometry was performed according to international guidelines. The forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in 1 s, and FEV1/FVC ratio were reported as percentages of the predicted value, and the lower limit of normality was calculated. Results: Out of 260 elderly patients, 69.6% were women; the mean age was 83.0 ± 6.46 years with an age range of 65-95 years. The lowest %FVC and %FEV1 values were obtained using the GLI reference equations. However, when NHANES III equations were used, the FEV1/FVC ratio was higher than ratios obtained from GLI and ECSC equations. The prevalence of airway obstruction was highest using ECSC equations, while GLI equations demonstrated more restrictive defects. Conclusions: The present study showed meaningful differences in the reference values, and consequently, in the results obtained using NHANES III, ECSC, and GLI reference equations. The spirometry interpretation was also influenced by the reference equations used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main contribution of this book to the analysis of the European integration process is the American perspective it offers the reader. It is essentially a history of America’s involvement in Europe in the immediate post-war years, told by the method of a detailed analysis of primary sources.

The ferrous metallurgy represents a traditional occupation, being extremely important for the national economy. Romania has gone through all the stages foreseen for the restructuring of this industry in compliance with the provisions of the European Council’s Decision (1999/582/EC) concerning the partnership for the EU adherence, which included a special chapter on ferrous metallurgy, the provisions of the Protocol no. 2 (ECSC), as well as with other significant normative acts subsequently enacted. Following the performed restructuring – privatizations, state allowances, liquidations, re-technologization – the activity of this sector has developed, still being under the potential of the Romanian metallurgic industry. Nowadays, the disadvantages relating to energy intensity and the increased need for imported raw materials are doubled by the difficulties generated by the global crisis.

On February 10, 1958, all remaining tariffs protecting Italian steel products against imports from other countries of the European Iron and Steel Community (ECSC) will be abolished. Naturally, there is a great deal of uncertainty among Italian experts as to the ability of the relatively young Italian steel industry to withstand the full force of competition from the other members of the Community, and particularly Germany. The present article takes stock of the progress so far achieved by that industry and attempts a cautious assessment of its prospects during the possibly testing period of the next four years. The post war revival of the Italian steel industry, the role of the ECSC, recent improvements, raw materials, and finally structural problems are all considered in turn. In concluding, the author contends that “if present boom continues, the adjustments resulting from the removal of protection need not be too painful”. JEL: F15, L61

Few people realise that the idea of establishing a Black Sea Union (BSU) – a regional bloc along the Black Sea littoral – was proposed in the immediate aftermath of WWII. This idea was primarily developed and advocated by Yuriy Lypa, a Ukrainian inter-war political thinker (1900-1944). In his books, Lypa described the dominant cultural, political and economic reasons for Eastern European states to create a supranational body in the Black Sea region. He also elaborated on the principles of common foreign and security policy of the proposed BSU and provided justification for establishing free trade and customs zones. In addition to outlining the dominant characteristics of the BSU, this article assesses the viability of Lypa’s ideas, as well as illustrates the linkages between the BSU and European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

This article explores the possibility of institutional multilateralism in Northeast Asia from the perspective of “emergent peace”. The main argument of the article is that a self-organising peace process arising from institutional multilateralism is constrained and enabled by the existing “morphogenetic fields”, the formative social spheres of collective action. Similar ideas or initiatives that are pursued by an agent/agents may result in different consequences depending on the characteristics of the morphogenetic fields. This argument is examined through two case studies. The first is Jean Monnet in Europe, who played a pivotal role in the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), and the other is Ahn Jung-geun in Northeast Asia, who proposed the detailed ideas of pan-Asianism akin to Monnet but failed to play a role as an agent. The case studies demonstrate that the feature of the morphogenetic fields is determined by the characteristics of embedded agency at a critical juncture, while the agency is bounded by the particular spatial and temporal conditions of the morphogenetic fields. In search of an emergent peace process in Northeast Asia, this article particularly highlights the Six-Party Talks, arguing that they are a by-product of, and an alternative to, the San Francisco System. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the democracy of Christians in France. It relates the books "Christian Democracy in Postwar France: The Popular Republican Movement (1944-1967)," by Dmitry Shmelev and "MRP Emergence: Its Organizational Principles, Electorate and Ideological Principles." It highlights the comparison of the Christian Democratic parities in Italy, Germany, and France.

Students of European integration have come to argue that the European Union (EU) is a system of 'compounded' or 'mixed' representation characterized by the presence of different forms and styles of political representation which reflect the ideas and strategic interests of various groups of actors and institutions. The EU's system of representation did not come about by fiat. Among the founders of Europe's first supranational community, the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), ideas about appropriate institutional mechanisms to represent different sets of interests were hotly contested. This article traces the origins of the EU's system of representation by sketching the answers given by the 'founding fathers' of the ECSC to questions about which interests should be represented in the nascent ECSC and how the representation of these interests should be institutionally manifested. It also takes issue with the current debate about the 'democratic challenge' faced by the EU's system of representation and offers a set of research questions which could help to advance the research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

France has made three major attempts at building supranational European institutions during the early years of integration--the ECSC (1951), the EDC/EPC (1954), and the EEC/EURATOM (1957). Among them, the ECSC and the EEC/EURATOM have been successful, while the EDC/EPC initiative was aborted. This paper asks when and how the French supranational initiative could have survived during the years leading to the Treaty of Rome. Based on a historical survey of French European policy from the ECSC to the EEC, this paper argues that a European supranational initiative could have survived, had it been combined with specific political or economic interest. French European initiatives could have led to European institution building when domestic political support was sufficient to ratify the proposal. External factors affected both the interest calculation and the domestic political cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ferrous metallurgy represents a traditional occupation, being extremely important for the national economy. Romania has gone through all the stages foreseen for the restructuring of this industry in compliance with the provisions of the European Council's Decision (1999/582/EC) concerning the partnership for the EU adherence, which included a special chapter on ferrous metallurgy, the provisions of the Protocol no. 2 (ECSC), as well as with other significant normative acts subsequently enacted. Following the performed restructuring - privatizations, state allowances, liquidations, re-technologization - the activity of this sector has developed, still being under the potential of the Romanian metallurgic industry. Nowadays, the disadvantages relating to energy intensity and the increased need for imported raw materials are doubled by the difficulties generated by the global crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]