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Minimum income schemes are set to provide citizens with a minimum living standard. In Spain, these schemes consist of a heterogeneous and complex collection of regional benefits designed and implemented by the Autonomous Communities. This generates important regional discrepancies among the poorest individuals, undermining equal access, adequate social assistance and ultimately the fairness of these last resort safety nets. Following the recent initiative by the central government to introduce a national minimum income scheme complementing the regional ones, a better understanding of the performance of the existing regional minimum income schemes, in terms of their coverage and adequacy, is of the essence. We assess the budgetary, distributional and poverty effects of the current Spanish regional minimum income schemes, as well as the impact of increasing both coverage rates and adequacy levels. Using the European microsimulation model EUROMOD together with microdata from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions, we simulate a sequence of theoretical scenarios with different combinations of coverage and adequacy levels using national and regional poverty lines as references. Our results suggest that increasing adequacy would have a higher impact on poverty rates than increasing coverage, but would be less effective to reduce poverty intensity. Importantly, all scenarios imply significant expenditure increases, the more so for larger decreases in poverty intensity, as would be expected. Noticeably, results greatly differ among regions, and are sensitive to measuring poverty under a national or a regional criterion, reflecting Spanish regional disparities in terms of poverty.

Levosimendan was first approved for clinical use in 2000, when authorization was granted by Swedish regulatory authorities for the hemodynamic stabilization of patients with acutely decompensated chronic heart failure (HF). In the ensuing 20 years, this distinctive inodilator, which enhances cardiac contractility through calcium sensitization and promotes vasodilatation through the opening of adenosine triphosphate-dependent potassium channels on vascular smooth muscle cells, has been approved in more than 60 jurisdictions, including most of the countries of the European Union and Latin America. Areas of clinical application have expanded considerably and now include cardiogenic shock, takotsubo cardiomyopathy, advanced HF, right ventricular failure, pulmonary hypertension, cardiac surgery, critical care, and emergency medicine. Levosimendan is currently in active clinical evaluation in the United States. Levosimendan in IV formulation is being used as a research tool in the exploration of a wide range of cardiac and noncardiac disease states. A levosimendan oral form is at present under evaluation in the management of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. To mark the 20 years since the advent of levosimendan in clinical use, 51 experts from 23 European countries (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine) contributed to this essay, which evaluates one of the relatively few drugs to have been successfully introduced into the acute HF arena in recent times and charts a possible development trajectory for the next 20 years.

This study evaluates the 1981–2010 spatiotemporal differences in six available climate datasets (daily total precipitation and mean air temperature) over the Lower Nelson River Basin (LNRB) in ten of its sub-watersheds at seasonal and annual time scales. We find that the Australian National University spline interpolation (ANUSPLIN), and inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolated observations from 14 Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) meteorological stations show dry biases, whereas reanalysis products tend to overestimate precipitation across most of the basin. All datasets exhibit prominent disagreement in precipitation trends whereby the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) interim reanalysis (ERAInterim) and European Union Water and Global Change (WATCH) Forcing Data ERA-Interim (WFDEI) show exceptional wetting trends, while the IDW and ANUSPLIN data manifest drying trends. Mean air temperature trends generally agree across most of the datasets; however, the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) and IDW show stronger warming relative to other datasets. Overall, analyses of the different climate datasets and their ensemble reveal that the choice of input dataset plays a crucial role in the accurate estimation of historical climatic conditions, particularly when assessing trends, for the LNRB. Using the ensemble has the distinct advantage of preserving the unique strengths of all datasets and affords the opportunity to estimate the uncertainty for hydrologic modelling and climate change impact studies. ; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada [grant number NSERC CRD 44425 RC15-3100] and Manitoba Hydro

Since the establishment of the Schengen area, border management has been having momentum within the European Union (EU) and, one of its major building blocks is the common policy on visas. This allows to control who can have access to the Schengen area for short stays that do not exceed three months over any six-month period. This article investigates how the EU visa policy has been influenced by the ever-evolving migratory dynamics towards the EU. Focusing on the latest reform of the Common Code on Visa, which has entered into force in 2020, this article argues that the new approach to conditionality in EU migration law has consolidated the intertwining between the EU visa policy and cooperation on readmission. Over the years, the latter has constituted an incentive for the EU in order to offer visa facilitation regimes or specific visa waivers to nationals of third countries. However, this article criticizes the new mechanism, introduced by the recent reform, and providing the European Commission with the mandate to propose specific restrictive measures related to visa processing and visa fee in case of a lack of cooperation especially on readmission. In an attempt to shed light on the legal concerns raised by this mechanism, the paper concludes that it even emphasises the discriminatory effects of the EU visa policy and, more generally, it impacts on the cooperation with third countries within the EU General Approach to Migration and Mobility.

Abstract Empirical evidence suggests that a fair proportion of dementia cases are preventable, that some preventive actions can be taken immediately, and others may soon be implemented. Primary prevention may target cognitively normal persons with modifiable risk factors through lifestyle and multiple domain interventions (including general cardiovascular health). While the effect on individuals may be modest, it might have a large societal impact by decreasing overall dementia incidence by up to 35%. Secondary prevention will target cognitively normal persons at high risk of dementia due to Alzheimer's disease pathology with future anti‐amyloid, anti‐tau, or other drugs. This approach is likely to have major benefits to both individuals and society. Memory clinics will need structural and functional changes to adapt to novel technologies and increased patients' demands, and brand‐new services may need to be developed with specific skills on risk profiling, risk communication, and personalized risk reduction plans. ; The authors receive funding by the European Prevention of Alzheimer's Dementia consortium (EPAD, grant agreement number: 115736), Amyloid imaging to prevent Alzheimer's disease (AMYPAD, grant agreement number: 115952), NIHR biomedical research center at UCLH, Joint Programming for Neurodegenerative Diseases (JPND-Euro-FINGERS, ZonMW #733051102), health-Holland, Top Sector Life Sciences & Health (Personalized Prevention, grant no.: LSHM19051-H036). This publication solely reflects the author's view and neither IMI nor the European Union, EFPIA and JPND are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained herein.

Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB) has recently been added to the list of diseases under the European Union epidemiological surveillance in order to obtain updated information on incidence. The goal of this study was to identify temporal (yearly) variation, high risk geographical regions and risk groups, and seasonal variation for LNB in Denmark. This cohort-study investigated Danish patients (n = 2791) diagnosed with LNB (defined as a positive Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) intrathecal antibody test) between 1996–2015. We calculated incidence and incidence ratios of LNB by comparing 4-yr groups of calendar-years, area of residency, sex and age, income and education groups, and the number of new LNB cases per month. The incidence of LNB was 2.2 per 100,000 individuals and year in 1996−1999, 2.7 in 2004−2007 and 1.1 per 100,000 individuals in 2012−2015. Yearly variations in LNB incidence were similar for most calendar-year groups. LNB incidence was highest in Eastern Denmark and among males and individuals who were 0–14 yrs old, who had a yearly income of >449,000 DKK, and who had a Master's degree or higher education. The number of LNB cases was highest from July to November (p < 0.001). In conclusion, based on Danish nationwide data of patients with positive B. burgdorferi s.l. intrathecal antibody index (1996–2015) the incidence of LNB was found to increase until 2004−2007 but thereafter to decline. European surveillance studies of Lyme borreliosis should be encouraged to monitor the incidence trend.

This research presents the results of a comparative analysis of the links between religious practices and beliefs and levels of scientific knowledge. Based on secondary analyses of survey data in the European Union (Eurobarometers 2005 and 2010) and the United States (Pew Research Center 2018), we show that, regardless of the country, the more individuals identify with a religion and the more intensely they practice that religion, the less scientifically literate they are. Moreover, scientific repre-sentations are also affected by an individual's religious outlook. The more individuals adhere to a religion, the less they have positive attitudes towards science. The least religious Europeans and Amer-icans have the most positive representations of science and its social repercussions. ; Cette recherche présente les résultats d'une analyse comparative des liens entre pratiques, croyances religieuses et niveau de connaissances scientifiques. À partir d'analyses secondaires de données de sondages dans l'Union européenne (Eurobaromètres de 2005 et 2010) et aux États-Unis (Pew Research Center 2018), nous montrons, d'une part, que quel que soit le pays considéré, plus les indi-vidus s'identifient à une religion et la pratiquent fortement, moins ils ont de compétence scientifique. D'autre part, c'est l'ensemble des représentations des sciences qui est affecté par l'univers religieux des individus. Plus les individus adhèrent à une religion, moins ils ont des attitudes positives envers les sciences. Les Européens et les Américains les moins religieux sont ceux dont les représentations des sciences et de leurs répercussions sociales sont les plus positives.

The methodological approach and starting point for this article are the idea of the difference between men and women creators as suggested and discussed by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. As Deleuze and Guattari discuss the case of becoming-woman using the example of Virginia Woolf, her creative work is also a subject of reflection. This distinction is also applied to reveal the special case of becoming-woman in the prose of Lithuanian writer Giedra Radvilavičiūtė (b.1960) who has published two books of short stories: The Planned Moments (2004) and Tonight I Will Sleep Near the Wall (2010) and one of literary critique: Persecution of the Texts. One of her essays, The Allure of the Text, was included in the anthology Best European Fiction 2010; in 2012 she was the laureate of the European Union for Literature. The peculiarities of women's writing are the ability to move at molecular speed; molecular movements presuppose writing as a rhizome: writing in heterogeneous streams. The becoming-woman in writing means the intensity of the speed of movement between the lines, the lines of life and the line in-between life and the text, the ability to include personal experiences. Life is also felt as a very dangerous thing in itself. To become a woman in writing or in life means to have the ability to slice like a knife through everything. This ability of becoming-woman to become a master of simultaneous multiplicity makes a woman writer something of a clairvoyant.

In this study, the influence of the degree of crystallization and thickness of films was correlated with the photoelectrochemical performance of SrTaO2N semiconductor films for O2 evolution reaction under visible light irradiation. Oxynitride films were deposited on various substrates using the sputtering in Ar + N2 reactive atmosphere from a home-made SrTaO2N target. Films with stoichiometric composition were obtained at a high temperature (TS =800 °C) with reduced bandgap. The different substrates led to diverse degrees of film crystallization, from weakly crystallized to fully c-axis oriented. The photoelectrochemical performance was improved by improving the film crystallinity and the thickness. For further improvement of the photoelectrochemical performance, the following three limiting factors are identified: 1) low absorption coefficient, especially in the visible domain from 500 to 600 nm; 2) short lifetimes of excited charge carriers; and 3) permittivity with only moderate values lower than 10 in the visible-light domain. ; This work was supported by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, Brittany Région and Côtes d'Armor Département through the CPER Projects MATECOM and SOPHIE-STICC. This publication work was also supported by the Conseil Départemental des Côtes d'Armor, Saint Brieuc Armor Agglomération, and the Syndicat de Gestion du Pole Universitaire de Saint Brieuc (France). The authors thank Prof. Hicham Idriss and Dr. Habib Katsiev at SABIC corporation for providing the fs pump-probe spectrometer utilities and for the support in the measurements.

We use the information compiled as of 15 June 2020 by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the ADB COVID-19 Policy Database to analyze the measures taken by its 68 members, plus the European Central Bank, and the European Union, to combat the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Measures associated with monetary policy amount to $14.9 trillion ($1.4 trillion by ADB's developing members), while the measures associated with fiscal policy amount to $7.1 trillion ($1.5 trillion by ADB's developing members). We discuss the specifics of five countries-identifying similarities and differences. Analysis shows that some countries implemented actions which do not translate easily into monetary amounts for reporting. We show that the total package per capita is directly related to gross domestic product per capita with a high elasticity of 1.61; and so is the package on government support to income and revenue (a subset of the total package), with an elasticity of 1.49. We develop a series of models to understand why rich economies spend significantly more per capita. Results indicate that the package per capita is positively related to the COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 population as of 15 June 2020, population of at least 65 years old as percent of total population, and wage and salaried workers as percent of total employment; and inversely related to self-employed as percent of total employment, and vulnerable employment as percent of total employment. We use this information to compare actual to expected packages.

The article is devoted to the European Union's single market of labor and capital. A critical approach is being set out with respect to the EU experience in this area (taking into account COVID 19) and the possibilities of its use today in the economy of the Russian Federation and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Certain Russian authors expected unstable and insufficiently favorable development of the economic and political situation abroad for many years, as well as the negative impact of this on the Russian economy in a number of works published by them 5–10 years ago. In particular, it is pointed out that the problems associated with free labor migration will aggravate in the face of deep economic сrisis and adverse economic conditions. It is expected that such conditions will prevail in the European and Eurasian area in the near future. The advantages and the disadvantages of free migration of labor and capital are reviewed. In EAEU the freedom of mobility of the factors of production increased, however now the question is raised about the impact of СOVID 19 and economic crisis on the migration of factors of production (especially labor) as well as about the socio-economic reasons for the large-scale spread of coronavirus. The importance of studying these issues is emphasized. In today's circumstances the massive imports of labor in Russia is risky. Some alternative approaches are considered. The article touches upon many hot topics of world development, including de-globalization, the growth of centrifugal forces in the EU, Brexit.

More than ten years after the first biosimilars were authorized for use in the European Union, Belgium still experiences limited competition from biosimilars, as exemplified by low market shares. Achieving high biosimilar market shares is not necessarily a goal in itself, as cost savings are also realized by mandatory price reductions on originator medicines in Belgium. However, we believe that biosimilars play a role in ensuring the long-term sustainability of the off-patent biologicals market. It is therefore crucial to list what has been done and what is needed to support the Belgian government in establishing a policy framework for a competitive off-patent biologicals market. We provide a comprehensive overview of the Belgian biosimilar market, including existing hurdles for biosimilar use in Belgium. Based on these hurdles and supplemented with learnings from other European countries, we propose practical recommendations that can be implemented to overcome them. Several Belgian stakeholders had the opportunity to comment on these recommendations. Specifically, we suggest to evolve towards a long-term consistent, integrated policy framework via i) the creation of a proactive and transparent climate supporting a level playing field for both biosimilar and reference product, including public dissemination of how savings at the level of the Belgian healthcare system are used, ii) investment in educational activities, including raising awareness of societal responsibility, iii) enforcement of the practical implementation of public procurement law, and iv) the development of incentives for physicians, who are key stakeholders in the Belgian off-patent biologicals market.

Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB) has recently been added to the list of diseases under the European Union epidemiological surveillance in order to obtain updated information on incidence. The goal of this study was to identify temporal (yearly) variation, high risk geographical regions and risk groups, and seasonal variation for LNB in Denmark. This cohort-study investigated Danish patients (n = 2791) diagnosed with LNB (defined as a positive Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) intrathecal antibody test) between 1996–2015. We calculated incidence and incidence ratios of LNB by comparing 4-yr groups of calendar-years, area of residency, sex and age, income and education groups, and the number of new LNB cases per month. The incidence of LNB was 2.2 per 100,000 individuals and year in 1996−1999, 2.7 in 2004−2007 and 1.1 per 100,000 individuals in 2012−2015. Yearly variations in LNB incidence were similar for most calendar-year groups. LNB incidence was highest in Eastern Denmark and among males and individuals who were 0–14 yrs old, who had a yearly income of >449,000 DKK, and who had a Master's degree or higher education. The number of LNB cases was highest from July to November (p < 0.001). In conclusion, based on Danish nationwide data of patients with positive B. burgdorferi s.l. intrathecal antibody index (1996–2015) the incidence of LNB was found to increase until 2004−2007 but thereafter to decline. European surveillance studies of Lyme borreliosis should be encouraged to monitor the incidence trend.

Erosion is one of the major threats listed in the Soil Thematic Strategy of the European Commission and the Alps are one of the most vulnerable ecosystems, with one of the highest erosion rates of the whole European Union. This is the first study investigating the future scenarios of soil erosion in Val Camonica and Lake Iseo, which is one of the largest valleys of the central Italian Alps, considering both climate change and land cover transformations. Simulations were done with the Dynamic Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (D-RUSLE) model, which is able to account also for snow cover and land cover dynamics simulated with automatic machine learning. Results confirm that land cover projections, usually ignored in these studies, might have a significant impact on the estimates of future soil erosion. Our scenario analysis for 2100 shows that if the mean annual precipitation does not change significantly and temperature increases no more than 1.5–2.0 °C, then the erosion rate will decrease by 67% for about half of the study area. At the other extreme, if the mean annual precipitation increases by more than 8% and the temperature increases by more than 4.0 °C, then about three-quarters of the study area increases the erosion rate by 92%. What clearly emerges from the study is that regions with higher erosion anomalies (positive and negative) are expected to expand in the future, and their patterns will be modulated by future land transformations.

Sustainable development is one of the fundamental and most important objectives of the worldwide policy. The conducted research shows that sustainable development (SD) is increasingly important in the consciousness of the EU countries, which can be viewed through a prism of the undertaken projects. This paper raises the issue of clusters and their significance in the development of a sustainable economy. The article explores trends in the European Union policy related to sustainable development and clusters. The purpose of this study is to find an answer to the following questions: How can clusters contribute to sustainable development and what are the key factors that ensure this process? To achieve the goal of the article a systematic study of the literature and reports was carried out. Moreover, the analysis of the activity of European clusters in the context of sustainable development was performed. Next, the examples of cluster projects focused on sustainable development were presented. It was shown that the clusters contribute a smarter and sustainable development by succeeding in technological and scientific results, developing new technologies for emerging industries, creating new business activities, enticing major technology companies, and connecting local firms into world-class value systems. Furthermore, the clusters participate actively in sustainable development as they promote knowledge creation, joint learning, technology transfer, as well as collaboration, and sustainable innovations. Finally, clusters facilitate the sustainable upgrading of small and medium enterprises and encourage the participation of stakeholders in the process of sustainable development.