Suchergebnisse

Background: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are widely used despite their risk of gastrointestinal bleeding or cardiovascular events. We report the profile of people taking NSAIDs in Spain, and we include demographic factors, health-related behaviours and cardiovascular disease history. Methods: Four thousand sixtyparticipants were selected using a pseudorandom number list from Family Practice lists in 12 Spanish provinces. They completed a face-to-face computerized interview on their NSAID consumption, demographic characteristics, body mass index, alcohol and tobacco consumption and medical history. In addition, participants completed a self-administered food-frequency and alcohol consumption questionnaire. Factors associated with ever and current NSAID consumption were identified by logistic regression. Results: Women consumed more non-aspirin NSAIDs (38.8% [36.7-41.0]) than men (22.3 [20.5-24.2]), but men consumed more aspirin (11.7% [10.3-13.2]) than women (5.2% [4.3-6.3]). Consumption of non-aspirin NSAIDs decrease with age from 44.2% (39.4-49.1) in younger than 45 to 21.1% (18.3-24.2) in older than 75, but the age-pattern for aspirin usage was the opposite. Aspirin was reported by about 11% patients, as being twice as used in men (11.7%) than in women (5.2%); its consumption increased with age from 1.7% (< 45 years old) to 12.4% (≥75 years old). Aspirin was strongly associated with the presence of cardiovascular risk factors or established cardiovascular disease, reaching odds ratios of 15.2 (7.4-31.2) in women with acute coronary syndrome, 13.3 (6.2-28.3) in women with strokes and 11.1 (7.8-15.9) in men with acute coronary syndrome. Participants with cardiovascular risk factors or diseases consumed as much non-aspirin NSAID as participants without such conditions. Conclusions: Non-aspirin NSAIDs were more consumed by women and aspirin by men. The age patterns of aspirin and non-aspirin NSAIDs were opposite: the higher the age, the lower the non-aspirin NSAIDs usage and the higher the aspirin consumption. People with cardiovascular risk factors or diseases consumed more aspirin, but they did not decrease their non-aspirin NSAIDs usage ; This work was partially funded by the "Accion Transversal del Cancer", approved on the Spanish Ministry Council on the 11th October 2007; The Instituto de Salud Carlos III-FEDER [PI08/1770, PI08/0533, PI08/1359, PI09/ 00773-Cantabria, PI09/01286-León, PI09/01903-Valencia, PI09/02078-Huelva, PI09/01662-Granada, PI11/01403, PI11/01889-FEDER, PI11/00226, PI11/01810, PI11/02213, PI12/00488, PI12/00265, PI12/01270, PI12/00715, PI12/00150, PI14/01219, PI14/0613, PI15/00069, PI15/00914, PI15/01032]; The Fundación Marqués de Valdecilla [API 10/09]; The ICGC International Cancer Genome Consortium CLL (The ICGC CLL-Genome Project is funded by Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) through the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and Red Temática de Investigación del Cáncer (RTICC) del ISCIII (RD12/0036/0036)); The Junta de Castilla y León [LE22A10–2]; The Consejería de Salud of the Junta de Andalucía [2009-S0143]; The Conselleria de Sanitat of the Generalitat Valenciana [AP_061/10]; The Recercaixa [2010ACUP 00310]; The Regional Government of the Basque Country; The Consejería de Sanidad de la Región de Murcia; The European Commission [grants FOODCT- 2006-036224-HIWATE]; The Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) Scientific Foundation; The Catalan Government DURSI [grant 2014SGR647]; The Fundación Caja de Ahorros de Asturias; and the University of Oviedo

[eng] In recent decades, public-private partnerships has converted in an alternative way of providing transport infrastructures that has been traditional delivered by public sector. Between 1990 and 2017, governments all over the world have awarded more than 1600 PPPs transport infrastructure. However, there are some aspects that affect public-private partnerships that has not been analyzed and which could facilitate the study of their economic impact. This Thesis analyses public-private partnerships in road infrastructures. The context for the analysis is Spain, both because of its pioneering nature in the extension of such public-private partnerships and because of the undisputed weight of the road infrastructure industry in the international context. The thesis is structured in five chapters. The first chapter is the introduction and examines the role of PPPs in road infrastructures and the road PPPs in Spain's toll motorways. The second chapter is divided into two sections. The first part of the chapter analyze whether the allocation of risks that has been carried out in Spain and other countries complies with the predictions of contract theory. To this end, the framework of institutional and economic relations between the state and private concessionaires is reviewed in detail. The purpose of this case analysis is to identify the main limitations of these models and to delineate those aspects that have a significant influence on the incentives of the different parties, the efficiency of the contract, the financial evolution of the concession and its impact on public finances, taxpayers and users. Additionally, good regulatory practices are suggested in the concession business, which make it possible to take advantage of the benefits that private participation in road infrastructure projects can bring. The second part of the chapter examines whether the financial downturn experienced by most concessions awarded at the beginning of the new millennium can be attributed to Spain's particular model of risk sharing and guarantees. This analysis intends to shed light on the debate on possible solutions to the crisis in the sector. Chapter third quantify and evaluate the social and distributive impact of one of the last political renegotiations, which took place in 1997 between the state and the concessionary in Spain. Specifically, the case of the renegotiation of the concession contracts for the AP-7 motorway in its sections between Tarragona-Valencia and Valencia-Alicante is illustrated. In order to carry out this study, the change in well- being resulting from the renegotiations has been calculated. This approximation allows us to compare the real status quo situation with renegotiation, with the alternative that would have been not to renegotiate and delimit the monetary impact of such renegotiations for each of the agents involved and for the added social well- being. The fourth chapter analyses whether the type of management on high-capacity roads has any impact on road safety. We use the Spanish case as an analysis model. Spain's mixed composition of high-capacity roads is an excellent opportunity to empirically test whether private road management through PPP contracts offers better quality than traditional provision. To this end, we apply different econometric techniques based on tallying data on a data panel for the period 2008-2012. Lastly, chapter five extracts the most important conclusions from the previous chapters and provide some public policy recommendations based on them.

The aim of this study is to increase understanding of football's global and local contexts. More specifically, the development paths of Finnish and Hungarian football are explored and compared in four research articles from different perspectives within a global framework. These viewpoints, in addition to a historical-sociological overview in the article I, cover closely interrelated phenomena observable in the landscape of top-level football: the organization of elite youth football, the professionalization of players and the development of football stadiums. The main research question of the study is as follows: In what way have glocal interactions in men's football shaped the development paths of less developed football countries such as Finland and Hungary? The theoretical framework is formulated around the globalization of football within the social sciences of sport. The main approaches applied are figurational sociology and the concept of the duality of glocality. The research data consisted of thirty-six semi-structured expert interviews with Finnish and Hungarian football practitioners, media and club documents and data from observation. The data were transcribed, coded and themed according to the research questions of each article. The results suggest that the player pathways and the financing of elite youth clubs differ considerably in the two settings. In the 2010s, for example, the main source of income for Finnish clubs is provided by households. On the other hand, Hungarian clubs earn the majority of their revenues through a corporate tax scheme and support from the Hungarian Football Federation. Simultaneously, professionalization, growing amount of full-time coaches and expanding social networks are typical in both countries and suggest homogenization processes at work. Since the 1980s, football players in Finland have transitioned from amateur status into different levels of semi-professionals whereas in Hungary the movement has been from hidden professionals to professionals. The development of players' unions has mirrored the professionalization of players. However, in neither of the countries have football players achieved the status of regular employees to date. Regarding football stadiums in the 2000s, international and national governing bodies have strengthened their control over the different aspects of stadiums, indicating increasing standardization. Importing knowledge, increasing specialization and the appearance of commercial elements have been typical trends in both countries. On the other hand, the size of the facilities and the types of playing surfaces have been adjusted to the given football environment. In addition, facility development and stadium management solutions have differed in the two countries. The findings indicate that the interactions of local as well as global forces are reflected in the development paths of football. This means that the diverse roots and routes of football mirror the social, economic, cultural and political background of the given country. In Finland, it was a strong civil society and the amateur origins of football, while in Hungary it was the state socialist past and the strong national status of football. At the same time, however, both countries have been increasingly integrated into the global football system. Football practitioners can benefit from the understanding gained by discussing what the concepts of, for example, youth football club, football academy and professional player represent in different localities. Further practical applications are provided by exploring the increasing commercialization of football as well as the ways of acquiring knowledge in the various segments of the sport.

Introduction. The importance of telecommunications in the socio-economic sphere is growing, providing support for the development of the national economy, since the priority development of telecommunications, compared with the overall pace of economic development, significantly increases the competitiveness of the Ukrainian economy. Therefore, the management of telecommunications companies is defined as one of the priority areas of government in the face of growing competition, which makes the problem of increasing the competitiveness of telecommunications services and the telecommunications operator as a whole urgent. Aim and tasks. The aim of the article is to study the methodological issues of substantiating the elements of enterprise competitiveness in the telecommunications services market, as well as studying the gradation of the level of competitiveness and recommendations for their use in managing the competitiveness of an enterprise. Results. The scientific and theoretical approaches to the essence of the concept of «competitiveness» are considered. The study made it possible to form its own scientific vision of the economic category "competitiveness of telecommunication companies". It is noted that modern global trends in the development of the telecommunications market affect its new type in the conditions of the formation of the information society. The main forms of competition in the telecommunications services market are considered. The features of modern telecommunications are highlighted. Disclosed policy in the space of competition regulation in the market of telecommunication services. Conclusions. Identified and analyzed the basics of managing the competitiveness of telecommunications companies operating in a competitive environment, which is characterized by constant technological innovation. The main elements of the process of managing thecompetitiveness of telecommunications companies aresubstantiated as components of the internal and external environment that determine or can determine the future performance of the company in the international and domestic markets, which will help create the conditions fortheimplementation of a highly developed information andtelecommunications infrastructure to provide telecommunications services to all segments of the population. ; Вступ. Важливість телекомунікації в соціально-економічній сфері зростає, забезпечуючи підтримку розвитку національної економіки, оскільки випереджувальний розвиток телекомунікації, порівняно із загальними темпами розвитку економіки, значно підвищує конкурентоспроможність економіки України. Тому управління телекомунікаційними компаніями визначається як один із пріоритетних напрямів державного управління в умовах зростаючої конкуренції, що актуалізує проблему підвищення конкурентоспроможності телекомунікаційних послуг та оператора телекомунікацій в цілому. Метою статті є дослідження методичних питань щодо обґрунтування елементів конкурентоспроможності підприємства на ринку телекомунікаційних послуг, а також дослідження градації рівня конкурентоспроможності та рекомендації щодо їх використання в управлінні конкурентоспроможності підприємством. Результати. Розглянуто науково-теоретичні підходи щодо сутності поняття «конкурентоспроможності». Проведене дослідження дозволило сформувати власне наукове бачення економічної категорії «конкурентоспроможність телекомунікаційних компаній». Зазначено, які сучасні світові тенденції розвитку ринку телекомунікацій впливають на її новий тип в умовах становлення інформаційного суспільства. Розглянуто основні форми прояву конкуренції на ринку телекомунікаційних послуг. Виділено особливості сучасної сфери телекомунікацій. Висвітлено політику в сфері регулювання конкуренції на ринку телекомунікаційних послуг. Висновки. Визначено та проаналізовано основи управління конкурентоспроможністю телекомунікаційних компаній. Обґрунтовано основні елементи процесу управління конкурентоспроможністю телекомунікаційних компаній, як складові внутрішнього та зовнішнього середовища, які визначають або можуть визначити в майбутньому результативність діяльності компанії на міжнародному та внутрішньому ринку, що сприятиме створенню умов для впровадження високорозвиненої інформаційно-телекомунікаційної інфраструктури забезпечення телекомунікаційними послугами усіх верст населення.

Purpose
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are common strategies of firms to increase its performance. Although the motives of M&A are different, the determinants are discreet. The purpose of this paper is to determine the factors affecting M&A activities in the Indian pharmaceutical sector.


Design/methodology/approach
Using a balanced panel data of the pharmaceuticals sector in India, this study arrives at the determinants of M&A. The authors use regression techniques such as panel probit models, ordered probit models and matching techniques for a comparable and robust estimates for the factors related to M&A activities at firm level.


Findings
The empirical findings suggest that export intensity, import intensity, firm size and R&D intensity as the major determinants of M&A in the Indian pharmaceutical sector. In the context of acquisition, there is a riskiness associated with the any business strategy, for to which a firm may choose to finance the deal either via cash, stock or assets. This study further looks at the firm's decision on the types of acquisitions and arrives at the determinants of such decisions. The factors such as capital intensity were found more important when acquisition by share was undertaken compared to others. The success of the M&A is observed by considering the financial performance of the firm measured in terms of the profit margin at firm level. Using the propensity score matching technique, this study concludes that M&A have a positive effect on the profit margin in the post-M&A scenario.


Research limitations/implications
The study seeks to add to the existing literature and empirical work done in the field of M&A, by not only looking at determinants that motivate a firm to merge and/or acquire but also if the decision of the firm is reflected positively in the firm's performance. The study concludes that export intensity is an important factor for the pharmaceutical firms in India since exports are a major proportion of firm's total sales. Technology transfers as technology imports and R&D conducted by the firm are both very important for the drug manufacturers. Any gap in the flow of drugs to the market would hamper the growth of the firm. The growth of the pharmaceutical industry depends on the close collaboration between small R&D units that lack resources to sell their work and large business houses, both domestic and foreign affiliated that will provide them the required market. However, all comprehensive work has been done in this study to cover all aspects of M&A including the financial pathway taken by the firm yet, the study has certain limitations as it does not take into account the entry and exit of firms from the industry.


Practical implications
Policies related to small and large firms should aim at making them export oriented and multinational affiliated to compete at the international market with corporate restructuring through M&A. This will help in firm's growth and sharing of knowledge capital.


Originality/value
No such study is conducted that differentiate type of M&A and their determinants for the Indian pharma sector.

The phylogeny, biogeography and taxonomy of the alopiine clausiliids of the Sicilian Channel, belonging to the genera Lampedusa and Muticaria, were investigated using morphological (shell characters and anatomy of the reproductive system) and genetic (sequencing of a fragment of the mitochondrial large ribosomal subunit 16S rRNA, and the nuclear internal transcriber spacer 1, ITS-1 rRNA) data. Classically, the genus Lampedusa includes three species: L. imitatrix and L. melitensis occurring in circumscribed localities in western Malta and on the islet of Filfla, and L. lopadusae on Lampedusa and Lampione. The genus Muticaria includes two species in south29 eastern Sicily (M. siracusana and M. neuteboomi) and one in the Maltese islands (M. macrostoma), which is usually subdivided into four entities based on shell characters (macrostoma on Gozo, Comino, Cominotto and central-eastern Malta; mamotica in southeastern Gozo; oscitans on Gozo and central-western Malta; scalaris in northwestern Malta). These have sometimes been considered as subspecies and sometimes as mere morphs. The Lampedusa of Lampedusa and Lampione form a well distinct clade from those of the Maltese Islands. The population of Lampione islet is a genetically distinct geographic form that deserves formal taxonomic recognition (as L. nodulosa or L. l. nodulosa). The Lampedusa of Malta are morphologically distinct evolutionary lineages with high levels of genetic divergence and are confirmed as distinct species (L. imitatrix and L. melitensis). The Muticaria constitute a clearly different monophyletic clade divided into three geographical lineages corresponding to the Sicilian, Maltese and Gozitan populations. The Sicilian Muticaria form two morphologically and genetically distinguishable subclades that may either be considered subspecies of a polytypic species, or two distinct species. The relationships of Maltese and Gozitan Muticaria are complex. Two of the three Maltese morphotypes resulted monophyletic (oscitans and scalaris) while the other was separated in two lineages (macrostoma); however this picture may be biased as only few samples of macrostoma were available to study. The Gozitan morphotypes (macrostoma, mamotica and oscitans) where resolved as polyphyletic but with clear molecular evidence of mixing in some cases, indicating possible relatively recent differentiation of the Gozitan Muticaria or repetitive secondary contacts between different morphotypes. Definitive taxonomic conclusions from these results are premature. Maltese Muticaria could be subdivided into three taxa according to morphological and molecular data (M. macrostoma or M. m. macrostoma, M. oscitans or M. m. oscitans and M. scalaris or M. m scalaris). Gozitan Muticaria could be considered a distinct polytypic species (for which the oldest available name is Muticaria mamotica) subdivided into subspecies showing a morphological range from macrostoma-like to mamotica-like and oscitans like. Only the two Maltese species of Lampedusa are legally protected (by the European Union's 'Habitats Directive' and Maltese national legislation). The present study has shown that the alopiine clausiliids of the Sicilian Channel constitute a number of genetically and/or morphologically distinct populations that represent important pools of genetic diversity, with, in some cases, a very circumscribed distribution. As such, these populations deserve legal protection and management. It is argued that without formal taxonomic designation, it would be difficult to extend international legal protection to some of the more threatened of these populations. ; non peer-reviewed

Background: In South Africa, tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death, and Cape Town is among the three cities in the country with the highest TB burden. Despite implementation of Directly Observed Treatment Short-Course (DOTS), and improvements in the organisation and delivery of TB care, poor treatment adherence challenges treatment outcomes and the health system's ability to reach international targets. TB requires long-term care, where the relationship with healthcare providers is one of the important influences on decisions to seek care and adhere to treatment. This study sought to explore and deepen insight into how trust is built and experienced between patients and healthcare providers for TB treatment in primary care settings from a gender perspective. Methods: The research was located in three local government-managed clinics in the City of Cape Town's Metropole health district, similar in TB patient load and performance indicators, but differing in level of TB-HIV integrated services. A case study design employing qualitative data collection approaches (non-participant observations in clinics, focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with patients and providers) was applied. Findings: Trust plays a central role for both patients and providers in treatment for TB. On the part of patients, many expressed a deep desire and motivation to complete their treatment. However, patient vulnerability, a complex outcome of intersecting factors at all levels (personal, community and health service level), across which gender was an underlying influence, emerged as a critical influence over patient trust in providers and the health system, with consequences for a range of outcomes including treatment adherence. The ability of providers and the health system as an institution to recognise and respond to patient vulnerability and needs beyond the illness, including to access socio-economic and psycho-social support for the patient, was critical for building trust and enabling adherence. On the part of healthcare providers, vulnerability was a consequence of a range of factors, including professional status and gender, with implications for how trust was built in patients and managers and its outcomes. Patient trustworthiness was based on judgements of competency, integrity and recognition. The ability of managers to mitigate the challenges healthcare providers faced, through providing a supportive and enabling work environment, had implications for providers' experiences and judgements of institutional trustworthiness. Conclusion: Reflecting on the findings within broader national, provincial and global health policy reforms, specific strategies for building patient and provider trust in each other, and in the health system, are proposed. Recommended strategies addressing both patient and provider vulnerabilities rooted in the personal, community and health facility environment are considered. While many of the recommendations are specific to the TB and TB/HIV model of care, they have wider relevance for building mutual trust between patients and providers and enhancing the responsiveness of the health system as a whole. This is important in the context of South Africa, where the vision espoused under proposed National Health Insurance reforms towards universal coverage is transformative, even revolutionary, but its implementation and ultimate achievements are likely to be dogged by challenges of patient and provider trust in the health system, unless themselves addressed. Globally, the study's conclusions also offer important insights about patient-provider trust relevant to health system development, as well as ideas for future, related research.

International audience ; Nathanael West's A Cool Million (1934) has been largely viewed as both a deadpan parody of the «Rags to Riches» success story popularized by Horatio Alger and a satire on nascent fascism in Depression-era America. In the novel, two storylines cross-pollinate: ex-President Nathan «Shagpoke» Whipple's successful fascist revolution and young Lemuel Pitkin's thwarted Algeresque success story. As young Pitkin gets dismantled and eventually assassinated, the retrained politician sets out to create his own Revolutionary Party to save his country from decay. This paper will re-articulate the two trajectories and show how they actually inform an American fascist myth. I will argue that in the context of the Depression, A Cool Million emerges as a uchronia, an alternate history dramatizing the advent of a dictator who decides to exterminate all that is un-American, seizing upon Lemuel Pitkin's martyr to forge and enunciate the official mythology of the new political regime. ; La novela A Cool Million (1934) escrita por Nathanael West se considera como una parodia socarrona del famoso cuento «Rags to Riches» popularizado por Horatio Alger, y también como una sátira del fascismo emergente, en tiempos de la Gran Depresión americana. En esta novela corta, dos relatos se van desplegando y cruzando: por una parte, la revolución fascista llevada hasta su desenlace por el ex-presidente Nathan «Shagpoke» Whipple y, por otra parte, el fracaso de la success story argelina de Lemuel Pitkin. Mientras el joven Pitkin se encuentra progresivamente despojado y finalmente asesinado, el político reconvertido se dispone a crear su propio Partido Revolucionario para salvar a su país de la decadencia. En este artículo en el cual se estudiarán conjuntamente las dos trayectorias, demostrando que forman un verdadero mito fascista americano, intentaré probar que, en el contexto de la Depresión, A Cool Million aparece como una ucronía, o sea una historia alternativa que dramatiza el advenimiento de un dictador deseoso de exterminar todo lo antiamericano, apoderándose inclusive del martirio de Lemuel Pitkin para forjar y enunciar la mitología oficial del nuevo régimen político. ; Écrit en 1934 par Nathanael West, A Cool Million se lit à la fois comme une parodie cynique du mythe du « Rags to Riches » popularisé par les success stories d'Horatio Alger, et comme une satire de la montée du fascisme dans l'Amérique de la Dépression. Dans le roman, deux récits se déploient de façon croisée : la révolution fasciste menée à son terme par Nathan « Shagpoke » Whipple et l'échec de Lemuel Pitkin dans sa success story « algérienne ». Tandis que le jeune Pitkin est graduellement dépouillé et finalement assassiné, l'homme politique reconverti se lance dans la création de son propre parti révolutionnaire pour sauver le pays de la décadence. Dans cet article qui combinera les deux trajectoires et montrera qu'elles façonnent en fin de compte un mythe fasciste américain, je défends l'idée que A Cool Million apparaît comme une uchronie sur fond de Dépression, une histoire alternative qui met en scène l'avènement d'un dictateur qui prend la décision d'éradiquer tout ce qui n'est pas américain, allant jusqu'à s'emparer du martyre de Lemuel Pitkin pour fonder et énoncer la mythologie du nouveau régime politique.

La incertidumbre y ambigüedad en el empleo es una realidad en muchas sociedades actuales, por lo cual la idea de auto emplearse ha comenzado a tomar un rol más activo, no solo por necesidad, sino por los prospectos que trae de innovación y mejoría a las sociedades. Ante esta situación social nos asalta la pregunta: ¿Cómo podemos potenciar el espíritu emprendedor en nuestros estudiantes? El artículo tiene como objetivo recopilar información teórica del estado del arte sobre la educación emprendedora; lo que ha sido, es, y puede ser, con la finalidad de presentar la actualidad sobre el tema, tanto en el campo psicológico como en el campo pedagógico. Para lograr este objetivo, se recopiló información proveniente de 108 fuentes investigativas, refiriéndose a libros y artículos de revista, concluyendo que, a pesar de que a nivel general la educación emprendedora ha contribuido significativamente a su entorno y la producción de empresas, países tercermundistas o subdesarrollados, específicamente los de Latinoamérica, aun requieren esfuerzo extra para implementar en su cabalidad el tema de emprendimiento a nivel académico, particularmente, por desafíos como inestabilidad política, tecnología y competencia a nivel internacional. ; Job uncertainty and ambiguity is a reality in many current societies, therefore, the idea of self-employment has taken a more active role, not only out of necessity, but also because it brings innovation and development to societies. In view of this situation, the following question arises: how can we strengthen the entrepreneurial spirit of our students? This article has the objective to collect theoretical information of the state of the art on entrepreneurship education: what it has been, what it is, and what can it be, in order to present the current condition of the topic, both in the psychological and pedagogical field. To achieve this objective, information from 108 research sources, mainly from scientific articles and books was collected, concluding that, although generally, entrepreneurship education has significantly contributed to the creation of businesses, developing countries, specifically, those in Latin America, still require extra effort to fully implement entrepreneurship topic in the curriculums, particularly because of challenges such as political instability, technology and international competition. ; La incertidumbre y ambigüedad en el empleo es una realidad en muchas sociedades actuales, por lo cual la idea de auto emplearse ha comenzado a tomar un rol más activo, no solo por necesidad, sino por los prospectos que trae de innovación y mejoría a las sociedades. Ante esta situación social nos asalta la pregunta: ¿Cómo podemos potenciar el espíritu emprendedor en nuestros estudiantes? El artículo tiene como objetivo recopilar información teórica del estado del arte sobre la educación emprendedora; lo que ha sido, es, y puede ser, con la finalidad de presentar la actualidad sobre el tema, tanto en el campo psicológico como en el campo pedagógico. Para lograr este objetivo, se recopiló información proveniente de 108 fuentes investigativas, refiriéndose a libros y artículos de revista, concluyendo que, a pesar de que a nivel general la educación emprendedora ha contribuido significativamente a su entorno y la producción de empresas, países tercermundistas o subdesarrollados, específicamente los de Latinoamérica, aun requieren esfuerzo extra para implementar en su cabalidad el tema de emprendimiento a nivel académico, particularmente, por desafíos como inestabilidad política, tecnología y competencia a nivel internacional.

Job uncertainty and ambiguity is a reality in many current societies, therefore, the idea of self-employment has taken a more active role, not only out of necessity, but also because it brings innovation and development to societies. In view of this situation, the following question arises: how can we strengthen the entrepreneurial spirit of our students? This article has the objective to collect theoretical information of the state of the art on entrepreneurship education: what it has been, what it is, and what can it be, in order to present the current condition of the topic, both in the psychological and pedagogical field. To achieve this objective, information from 108 research sources, mainly from scientific articles and books was collected, concluding that, although generally, entrepreneurship education has significantly contributed to the creation of businesses, developing countries, specifically, those in Latin America, still require extra effort to fully implement entrepreneurship topic in the curriculums, particularly because of challenges such as political instability, technology and international competition. ; La incertidumbre y ambigüedad en el empleo es una realidad en muchas sociedades actuales, por lo cual la idea de auto emplearse ha comenzado a tomar un rol más activo, no solo por necesidad, sino por los prospectos que trae de innovación y mejoría a las sociedades. Ante esta situación social nos asalta la pregunta: ¿Cómo podemos potenciar el espíritu emprendedor en nuestros estudiantes? El artículo tiene como objetivo recopilar información teórica del estado del arte sobre la educación emprendedora; lo que ha sido, es, y puede ser, con la finalidad de presentar la actualidad sobre el tema, tanto en el campo psicológico como en el campo pedagógico. Para lograr este objetivo, se recopiló información proveniente de 108 fuentes investigativas, refiriéndose a libros y artículos de revista, concluyendo que, a pesar de que a nivel general la educación emprendedora ha contribuido significativamente a su entorno y la producción de empresas, países tercermundistas o subdesarrollados, específicamente los de Latinoamérica, aun requieren esfuerzo extra para implementar en su cabalidad el tema de emprendimiento a nivel académico, particularmente, por desafíos como inestabilidad política, tecnología y competencia a nivel internacional. ; La incertidumbre y ambigüedad en el empleo es una realidad en muchas sociedades actuales, por lo cual la idea de auto emplearse ha comenzado a tomar un rol más activo, no solo por necesidad, sino por los prospectos que trae de innovación y mejoría a las sociedades. Ante esta situación social nos asalta la pregunta: ¿Cómo podemos potenciar el espíritu emprendedor en nuestros estudiantes? El artículo tiene como objetivo recopilar información teórica del estado del arte sobre la educación emprendedora; lo que ha sido, es, y puede ser, con la finalidad de presentar la actualidad sobre el tema, tanto en el campo psicológico como en el campo pedagógico. Para lograr este objetivo, se recopiló información proveniente de 108 fuentes investigativas, refiriéndose a libros y artículos de revista, concluyendo que, a pesar de que a nivel general la educación emprendedora ha contribuido significativamente a su entorno y la producción de empresas, países tercermundistas o subdesarrollados, específicamente los de Latinoamérica, aun requieren esfuerzo extra para implementar en su cabalidad el tema de emprendimiento a nivel académico, particularmente, por desafíos como inestabilidad política, tecnología y competencia a nivel internacional.

Highly prevalent and typically beginning in childhood, asthma is a burdensome disease, yet the risk factors for this condition are not clarified. To enhance understanding, this study assessed the cohort-specific and pooled risk of maternal education on asthma in children aged 3–8 across 10 European countries. Data on 47,099 children were obtained from prospective birth cohort studies across 10 European countries. We calculated cohort-specific prevalence difference in asthma outcomes using the relative index of inequality (RII) and slope index of inequality (SII). Results from all countries were pooled using random-effects meta-analysis procedures to obtain mean RII and SII scores at the European level. Final models were adjusted for child sex, smoking during pregnancy, parity, mother's age and ethnicity. The higher the score the greater the magnitude of relative (RII, reference 1) and absolute (SII, reference 0) inequity. The pooled RII estimate for asthma risk across all cohorts was 1.46 (95% CI 1.26, 1.71) and the pooled SII estimate was 1.90 (95% CI 0.26, 3.54). Of the countries examined, France, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands had the highest prevalence's of childhood asthma and the largest inequity in asthma risk. Smaller inverse associations were noted for all other countries except Italy, which presented contradictory scores, but with small effect sizes. Tests for heterogeneity yielded significant results for SII scores. Overall, offspring of mothers with a low level of education had an increased relative and absolute risk of asthma compared to offspring of high-educated mothers. ; All phases of this study were supported by a European Union's Seventh Framework Programme grant, 278350, as part of The Determinants to Reduce Health Inequity Via Early Childhood, Realising Fair Employment, and Social Protection (DRIVERS) research programme. The Czech ELSPAC Study (CZ-ELSPAC) was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic: CETOCOEN plus project (CZ02101/00/00/15_003/0000469) and RECETOX Research Infrastructure (LM2015051). The Northern Finland Birth Cohort (FI-NFBC8586) received financial support from the Academy of Finland; Biocenter, University of Oulu, Finland; the European Commission EUROBLCS, Framework 5 Award QLG1-CT-2000-01643); EU FP7 EurHEALTHAgeing-277849; the Medical Research Council, UK (PrevMetSyn/SALVE); and the MRC Centenary Early Career Award. The Amsterdam Born Children and their Development Study (NLABCD) received funding from the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) Grant (TOP, 40-00812-98-11010). The All Babies in Southeast Sweden Study (SE-ABIS) has received financial support from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Swedish Child Diabetes Foundation (Barndiabetesfonden), The Research Council of South-east Sweden (FORSS), Swedish Research Council K2005-72X-11242-11A, and ALF/County Council of O ̈stergo ̈tland. The INMA study was funded in part by grants from the European Union (FP7-ENV-2011-282957 and HEALTH.2010.2.4.5-1), Spain (Instituto de Salud Carlos III and The Ministry of Health), the Conselleria de Sanitat of the Generalitat Valenciana, department of Health of the Basque Government, the Provincial Government of Gipuzkoa, and the Generalitat de Catalunya-CIRIT. Family and Children of Ukraine (UA-FCOU) study was supported by US NIH Fogarty International Center and National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine. KML is funded by a Medical Research Council UK doctoral training studentship.

Administration-to-birth intervals of antenatal corticosteroids (ANS) vary. The significance of this variation is unclear. Specifically, to our knowledge, the shortest effective administration-to-birth interval is unknown. Objective:To explore the associations between ANS administration-to-birth interval and survival and morbidity among very preterm infants. Design, Setting, and Participants: The Effective Perinatal Intensive Care in Europe (EPICE) study, a population-based prospective cohort study, gathered data from 19 regions in 11 European countries in 2011 and 2012 on 4594 singleton infants with gestational ages between 24 and 31 weeks, without severe anomalies and unexposed to repeated courses of ANS. Data were analyzed November 2016. Exposure: Time from first injection of ANS to delivery in hours and days. Main Outcomes and Measures: Three outcomes were studied: in-hospital mortality; a composite of mortality or severe neonatal morbidity, defined as an intraventricular hemorrhage grade of 3 or greater, cystic periventricular leukomalacia, surgical necrotizing enterocolitis, or stage 3 or greater retinopathy of prematurity; and severe neonatal brain injury, defined as an intraventricular hemorrhage grade of 3 or greater or cystic periventricular leukomalacia. Results: Of the 4594 infants included in the cohort, 2496 infants (54.3%) were boys, and the mean (SD) gestational age was 28.5 (2.2) weeks and mean (SD) birth weight was 1213 (400) g. Mortality for the 662 infants (14.4%) unexposed to ANS was 20.6% (136 of 661). Administration of ANS was associated with an immediate and rapid decline in mortality, reaching a plateau with more than 50% risk reduction after an administration-to-birth interval of 18 to 36 hours. A similar pattern for timing was seen for the composite mortality or morbidity outcome, whereas a significant risk reduction of severe neonatal brain injury was associated with longer administration-to-birth intervals (greater than 48 hours). For all outcomes, the risk reduction associated with ANS was transient, with increasing mortality and risk for severe neonatal brain injury associated with administration-to-birth intervals exceeding 1 week. Under the assumption of a causal relationship between timing of ANS and mortality, a simulation of ANS administered 3 hours before delivery to infants who did not receive ANS showed that their estimated decline in mortality would be 26%. Conclusions and Relevance:Antenatal corticosteroids may be effective even if given only hours before delivery. Therefore, the infants of pregnant women at risk of imminent preterm delivery may benefit from its use. ; The research received funding from grant agreement 259882 from the European Union Seventh Framework Program (2007-2013). Additional funding in France was provided by the French Institute of Public Health Research/Institute of Public Health and its partners, including the French Health Ministry, the National Institute of Health and Medical Research, the National Institute of Cancer, and the National Solidarity Fund for Autonomy, by grant ANR-11-EQPX-0038 from the National Research Agency through the French Equipex Program of Investments in the Future, and by the PremUp Foundation; in Poland, by 2012-2015 allocation of funds for international projects from the Polish Ministry of Science and HigherEducation; and in Sweden, by regional agreementon medical training and clinical research betweenStockholm County Council and Karolinska Institutetand by the Department of Neonat al Medicine at theKarolinska University Hospital.

Climate change is currently acknowledged as one of the pressing global threats to the environment and humanity. This threat has moved the global community to take action on adaptation and mitigation efforts to cushion its devastating effects. Cognizance has been taken of the disproportionate impact that climate change poses to women and other vulnerable groups. The various legislative, policy and strategic frameworks on climate change available at the global and regional level is a tacit acknowledgement of the seriousness of the problem and the role of women in adaptation and mitigation strategies. For instance, through several of its decisions, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has included a focus on addressing women's rights and gender equality with respect to climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. In Africa, the African Union is committed to addressing climate change issues with a gender perspective. Consequently, African countries have formulated their respective climate change policies, strategies and action plans as well as green growth and low carbon strategies aimed at integrating climate change considerations into development and sectoral plans with a gendered perspective. Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia are among the East African States, which have followed suit by responding to the African Union commitments to the course by developing several legislative and policy frameworks to aid the course addressing climate change. The focus of this paper is to establish whether these frameworks are in accordance with international and regional frameworks on climate change in addressing gender-specific impacts of climate change in the areas of climate-smart agriculture, food security, water, health, human rights and security. This paper, therefore, reviews climate change related policies and strategies in East Africa through a gendered lens. The countries whose legislative and policy frameworks are in focus include: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia. The study assesses how these countries have integrated gender in their climate change legislation, policies and strategies to support the vulnerable while addressing climate change. Findings show that all four countries include gender terms within their various policies, programs and plans. All the documents reviewed indicted that they were drafted after a gender analysis on climate risks, impacts and vulnerability. Furthermore, all the documents identified gender, vulnerable groups and youth as the target groups most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and mentioned the inclusion of gender responsive monitoring and evaluation systems. The documents also included gender mainstreaming and supported the enhancement of education, training and capacity building for women. Despite this, none of 4 the documents mention direct benefits to women and youth or budget allocations for gender specific actions. In all the policies and plans, women are identified in particular instances as being greatly involved in agriculture and food production and at the forefront of innovations and projects addressing climate change. Most of the frameworks generalised the issue of training and institutional strengthening. There is generally no capacity within existing government departments to consider gender in climate response activities. It is thus pertinent that the frameworks consider building the capacity of gender focal points in all relevant institutions to incorporate gender issues in all climate change responses. This is to ensure that institutions not only deal exclusively with gender are women and children, but that this role will also be considered in every other department.

Freshwater mussels of the Order Unionida provide important ecosystem functions and services, yet many of their populations are in decline. We comprehensively review the status of the 16 currently recognized species in Europe, collating for the first time their life-history traits, distribution, conservation status, habitat preferences, and main threats in order to suggest future management actions. In northern, central, and eastern Europe, a relatively homogeneous species composition is found in most basins. In southern Europe, despite the lower species richness, spatially restricted species make these basins a high conservation priority. Information on freshwater mussels in Europe is unevenly distributed with considerable differences in data quality and quantity among countries and species. To make conservation more effective in the future, we suggest greater international cooperation using standardized protocols and methods to monitor and manage European freshwater mussel diversity. Such an approach will not only help conserve this vulnerable group but also, through the protection of these important organisms, will offer wider benefits to freshwater ecosystems. ; The authors appreciate the extensive work of Wendell Haag and two anonymous reviewers that improved the quality of the manuscript; Arthur Bogan and David Strayer for their assistance and careful thoughts; Marco Paulo Magalhães for help with the GIS maps; Imre Potyó for the photo of Pseudanodonta complanata; the people who took part in the Belarusian data collection especially I. A. Rudakovskiy and V. M. Samoilenko (Belarusian State University), and G. M. Tischikov and I. G. Tischikov (Republican GidroMeteoCenter of Belarus); Marco Bodon and Simone Cianfanelli for valuable information on Italian populations; all the people who provided us with the data included in the French INPN database; Zdravko Hubenov, Dimitar Kozuharov, Lyubomir Kenderov and Ivan Botev for the help with the Bulgarian data collection; and I.N. Bolotov, O.V. Aksenova, I.V. Vikhrev, A. A. Makhrov, P. E. Aspholm for help with the collection and analysis of the Russian data. Financial support was provided by: The Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and COMPETE funds, project 'CONBI' (Contract: PTDC/ AAC-AMB/117688/2010) and project 'ECO-IAS' (Contract: PTDC/AAC-AMB/116685/2010); The Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment and Consumer Protection through the Bavarian Mussel Coordination Office; The Federal Government of Upper Austria (Department of Nature Conservation), by the Environmental Councilor (Manfred Haimbuchner) and by the European Union; Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Republic of Belarus, Belarusian Committee of Ecology grant 288/73 from the Belarussian State University grant 444/50 and from the Ministry of Education and Science Republic of Belarus grant 657/65; The Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia (119-1193080-1231), Hrvatske vode and State Institute for Nature Protection; The Czech Science Foundation (13-05872S) and ESF/MŠMT (CZ.1.07/2.3.00/30.0040); Biotope Consultancy, grants from Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle à Paris, ATM Barcode and Agence Nationale de la Recherche '6eme extinction'; Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education grant NCN No. NN304328836; The Russian Foundation for Basic Research, RFBR (grant no. 15-04-05638, 14-04-98801_a) and The Ural Branch of RAS (no.15-12-5-3), President of the Russian Federation (grant no. MD-6465.2014.5). ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

As violence and political turmoil plague parts of the Middle East, many scholars in international relations are searching for a new way to build democracy and promote peace in the area. With such a complicated political environment, though, there are endless theories as to how the United States should best move forward diplomatically. According to senior political science and history major Grayson Lewis, there is one group in the Middle East whose potential as an ally is incredibly underrated and underexplored: the Kurds.Many people may not be familiar with the Kurds, although their position in the struggle against ISIS and their role in the US invasion of Iraq have earned them notoriety among political scholars in recent years. Kurdistan, which is not an officially recognized state and which has no autonomous government, is an area of land situated in the Middle East that comprises parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.Through his research, Lewis advocates for Kurdish liberation, not for the sake of liberating the Kurdish people but as a diplomatic possibility for the United States to attempt to stabilize the region: "The US likes to play this game of democracy building.We want to have an ally that's a democracy, but it's also got to be one that's stable, and it's also got to be one that's a friend of Israel, and the Kurds have all three," said Lewis.For Lewis, the allure of Kurdistan is that unlike many other nations in the Middle East, it has shown a commitment to democracy and even more unlikely, an enduring and stable democracy. The Kurds of Rojava in northern Syria, for example, have an autonomous democratic government. They are progressive in terms of gender equality and representational equality, among other democratic features.Establishing allies and a favorable opinion of the United States in the Middle East has been a struggle for decades, and it only seems to become more and more pressing with each passing year. If the United States plans to have any kind of cooperative relationship with countries in that area, Lewis argues that they should seek out a democratic ally and that Kurdistan is the best possible contender.In regards to the question of the process of Kurdish independence, Lewis says that he is more concerned with deciding whether a nation would be an asset to the free world before considering establishing it as an independent state. "Land is land, and you can't just draw a line on a map. I specifically didn't go into how that was going to work," said Lewis when discussing the ramifications of establishing an independent state irrespective of existing borders. For Lewis, independence should be a question of global benefit rather than strictly a historical or cultural question."I don't think wanting to be independent is the best judge of whether a group of people should be independent.A better questions is: will they be democratic?" Lewis found, surprisingly, that the body of research on Kurdish independence, and even on the strategic relationship that the US and Kurdistan could establish, was limited.In his research, Lewis compiles information about the history of democracy for the Kurds, the vibrancy of the democracy in Rojava, and hypothesizes a United States diplomatic strategy that would take advantage of the stability of the Kurds in the Middle East.