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Purpose: The impact of social support on comprehensive measures of results (clinical and functional) of the course of schizophrenia was studied, understood and evaluated as a multidimensional construct differentiating sources of support (family vs. nonfamily). Methods: One hundred fifty-two patients diagnosed with schizophrenia were assessed with the Mannheim Interview on Social Support (MISS) and the Social Functioning Scale (SFS). The hypotheses were explored in a prospective longitudinal design, using a causal correlational analysis for their evaluation by applying structural equation models. Results: The only explanatory factor of social functioning was Nonfamily social support, while the only explanatory factor of clinical result measurements was Family social support, observing a clearly differentiated impact of the different sources of support on the schizophrenia result measurements. It was also found that while Family social support explained 6.8% of the variance in the clinical result measurements, Nonfamily social support explained 13.7% of the variance in social functioning. Conclusion: The results confirmed the differential importance of social support variables (family vs. nonfamily) in the clinical and functional result measurements of people with schizophrenia.

Launched and adopted on 13 February 2012, Europe's Bioeconomy Strategy addresses the production of renewable biological resources and their conversion into vital products and bio-energy. The Strategy proposes answers to the challenges Europe and the world are facing, in particular the increasing populations that must be fed, depletion of natural resources, impacts of ever increasing environmental pressures and climate change. In addition, on 25 September 2015, the UN General Assembly formally adopted the universal, integrated and transformative 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, along with a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 associated targets. The EU has committed to implement the SDGs both in its internal and external policies. A newly developed MAGNET SDG Insights module enables the impact of policy on SDG indicators to be evaluated in an ex-ante framework. The module carries the advantage of translating complex modelling results into the impact on SDG indicators which are fast becoming the common language of global impact assessment. Specifically, the new module includes 60 official and additional indicators, covering 12 of the 17 SDGs for each region of the world. This paper evaluates a range of selected scenarios in terms of the impacts on the SDGs, using the Modular Applied GeNeral Equilibrium Tool (MAGNET), a GTAP-based global economic simulation extended to include second generation biofuels, bioelectricity and waste, biochemicals and a suite of SDG indicators. This approach provides a unique insight into the synergies or trade-offs in scenarios where several market instruments are operating simultaneously and allows for a more coherent approach to policy implementation. The results show the contribution of economic development and policy changes to societal challenges in 2030, both in terms of synergies and trade-offs

AbstractPunctuated equilibrium theory (PET) suggests that the policy process is characterized by long periods of incremental change and short periods of punctuated change. The impetus for the latter is usually a focusing event that breaks open policy monopolies, allowing for major changes in legislative decision making. While a burgeoning body of literature, a shortcoming in the PET literature is that it has yet to explain why focusing events and subsequent breakdowns in policy monopolies sometimes fail to result in punctuated policy. We integrate theories on cultural change with punctuated equilibrium to explain why focusing events do not always result in the dramatic policy changes that we might expect. Specifically, we use the context of national energy policy and the lexical database, Google Ngram Viewer, to trace punctuating energy‐related events and the occurrence or lack thereof subsequent policy change from 1952 to 2000.

Estudia la evolución de la seguridad en Suramérica comparando los avances dados en dos casos característicos para la región, Colombia y Brasil, en relación con la transición de modelos de seguridad tradicionales hacia la aplicación del concepto de seguridad humana. Análisis histórico de casos y el estudio de series temporales tales como el número de soldados por habitante, su calidad militar, el gasto social y castrense, y el desarrollo humano, los autores concluyen que la seguridad humana ha tomado una importancia notable en los planes de desarrollo y los programas estatales de ambos países. Sin embargo, presentan una tendencia opuesta con respecto a la militarización: Brasil menos militarizado (aunque su ejército se está mejorando constantemente, hecho que se explica por el elevado gasto militar del país); Colombia más militarizado con el fin de enfrentar su conflicto interno. Puede señalarse que el desarrollo humano de Colombia rivaliza con el de Brasil; no obstante ambos casos estén por debajo del promedio regional. Entonces, es factible concluir que, si bien se está aplicando el enfoque de la seguridad humana en ambas naciones, el avance ha sido lento y las diferencias entre ellas son menores a lo esperado.

The epidemic of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the United Kingdom, which began in 1986 and has affected nearly 200,000 cattle, is waning to a conclusion, but leaves in its wake an outbreak of human Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, most probably resulting from the consumption of beef products contaminated by central nervous system tissue. Although averaging only 10-15 cases a year since its first appearance in 1994, its future magnitude and geographic distribution (in countries that have imported infected British cattle or cattle products, or have endogenous BSE) cannot yet be predicted. The possibility that large numbers of apparently healthy persons might be incubating the disease raises concerns about iatrogenic transmissions through instrumentation (surgery and medical diagnostic procedures) and blood and organ donations. Government agencies in many countries continue to implement new measures to minimize this risk.

Exploring Framework Bias: The Case of Minimalism Vs Parallel Architecture in Studies on Language Evolution. The present paper explores the issue of framework bias through the analysis of two lines of study concerning language evolution, one framed by the Minimalist program and one by the proposal of Parallel Architecture of language. Framework bias, as proposed in this study, raises the question of the degree to which the theoretical framework chosen for a certain line of research will influence the design of an experiment, the selection of data, and therefore the analysis and final results. The studies presented in this paper tackle the same topic (language evolution) using the same parameters for research (gradual versus saltational evolution; continuation versus exaptation; and unique versus shared property) but reach significantly different conclusions because of their respective theoretical framework.
Keywords: framework bias, Minimalism, Parallel Architecture, language evolution

Economic sectors play a vital role in ensuring that government&rsquo ; s goals are achieved. This study analyzes the evolution of the structure and key sectors of an economy through the use of a sector prioritization index. This methodology integrates input-output analysis and analytic hierarchy process to determine the structural changes experienced by the economy, while accounting for the changes in the government&rsquo ; s priorities and concerns over time. Using the case of the Philippines from 1969 to 2012, this study shows a time-series analysis of the transformation that the economy underwent alongside with the government&rsquo ; s prioritization mechanism. We found that the manufacturing sector had consistently received high-priority rankings, while the agriculture sector had recently moved from a high- to mid-priority ranking, indicating the country&rsquo ; s shift towards a more industry-driven economy. These findings were supported by the private services and trade sectors&rsquo ; high-priority rankings towards the latter half of the time period. Overall, our methodology was able to identify key sectors that reflect the country&rsquo ; s economic and political situation across different eras.

"Over the last 70 years, the USAF's enlisted force has evolved into the most educated, experienced, and professional force the world has ever seen. This is the story of the evolution of these Airmen, as seen through the eyes of the Chief Master Sergeants of the Air Force."--Provided by publisher

International audience ; Abstract Human T cell leukemia virus (HTLV-1) is an oncoretrovirus that infects at least 10 million people worldwide. HTLV-1 exhibits a remarkable genetic stability, however, viral strains have been classified in several genotypes and subgroups, which often mirror the geographic origin of the viral strain. The Cosmopolitan genotype HTLV-1a, can be subdivided into geographically related subgroups, e.g. Transcontinental (a-TC), Japanese (a-Jpn), West-African (a-WA), North-African (a-NA), and Senegalese (a-Sen). Within each subgroup, the genetic diversity is low. Genotype HTLV-1b is found in Central Africa; it is the major genotype in Gabon, Cameroon and Democratic Republic of Congo. While strains from the HTLV-1d genotype represent only a few percent of the strains present in Central African countries, genotypes -e, -f, and -g have been only reported sporadically in particular in Cameroon Gabon, and Central African Republic. HTLV-1c genotype, which is found exclusively in Australo-Melanesia, is the most divergent genotype. This reflects an ancient speciation, with a long period of isolation of the infected populations in the different islands of this region (Australia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu archipelago). Until now, no viral genotype or subgroup is associated with a specific HTLV-1-associated disease. HTLV-1 originates from a simian reservoir (STLV-1); it derives from interspecies zoonotic transmission from non-human primates to humans (ancient or recent). In this review, we describe the genetic diversity of HTLV-1, and analyze the molecular mechanisms that are at play in HTLV-1 evolution. Similar to other retroviruses, HTLV-1 evolves either through accumulation of point mutations or recombination. Molecular studies point to a fairly low evolution rate of HTLV-1 (between 5.6E−7 and 1.5E−6 substitutions/site/year), supposedly because the virus persists within the host via clonal expansion (instead of new infectious cycles that use reverse transcriptase).