European sustainability competence framework background document

This report presents a preliminary literature review and frameworks analysis used for the preparation of the initial phases of the design process of the European Sustainability Competence Framework (GreenComp). Specifically, it includes a literature review conducted between October 2020 and February 2021, and an initial set of competences, to be used as a synthesis of the work done in the fields that contributed to the definition of the sustainability competences or for subsequent expert consultations. This preliminary set of competences especially aimed to be functional for all levels and areas of Lifelong Learning, from early childhood to old age, in formal, non-formal and informal contexts. The report also includes a section on Education for Sustainability as a unique tool to facilitate the learning of the competences. Furthermore, it provides examples of Education for Sustainability behavioural learning objectives and examples of the contribution that the acquisition of sustainability competences can potentially give to the implementation of the EU policy instruments conceived to accelerate the shift to a circular and low carbon economy (e.g., EU Ecolabel, Green Public Procurement or the EU taxonomy for sustainable activities). Finally, benefits and recommendations for scaling up Education for Sustainability are presented.JRC.B.4 - Human Capital and Employmen

(1S)-1-phenylethanaminium 4-{[(1S,2S)-1-hydroxy-2,3-dihydro-1H,1'H-[2,2'-biinden]-2-yl]methyl}benzoate

Copyright 2012 © International Union of Crystallography.The title molecular salt, C8H12N+·C26H21O3-, contains a dimeric indane pharmacophore that demonstrates potent anti-inflammatory activity. The indane group of the anion exhibits some disorder about the [alpha]-C atom, which appears common to many structures containing this group. A model to account for the slight disorder was attempted, but this was deemed unsuccessful because applying bond-length constraints to all the bonds about the [alpha]-C atom led to instability in the refinement. The absolute configuration was determined crystallographically as S,S,S by anomalous dispersion methods with reference to both the Flack parameter and Bayesian statistics on Bijvoet differences. The configuration was also determined by an a priori knowledge of the absolute configuration of the (1S)-1-phenylethanaminium counter-ion. The molecules pack in the crystal structure to form an infinite two-dimensional hydrogen-bond network in the (100) plane of the unit cell

Homogenization of non-local energies on disconnected sets

We consider the problem of the homogenization of non-local quadratic energies defined on $\delta$-periodic disconnected sets defined by a double integral, depending on a kernel concentrated at scale $\varepsilon$. For kernels with unbounded support we show that we may have three regimes: (i) $\varepsilon<\!<\delta$, for which the $\Gamma$-limit even in the strong topology of $L^2$ is $0$; (ii) $\frac\varepsilon\delta\to\kappa$, in which the energies are coercive with respect to a convergence of interpolated functions, and the limit is governed by a non-local homogenization formula parameterized by $\kappa$; (iii) $\delta<\!<\varepsilon$, for which the $\Gamma$-limit is computed with respect to a coarse-grained convergence and exhibits a separation-of-scales effect; namely, it is the same as the one obtained by formally first letting $\delta\to 0$ (which turns out to be a pointwise weak limit, thanks to an iterated use of Jensen's inequality), and then, noting that the outcome is a nonlocal energy studied by Bourgain, Brezis and Mironescu, letting $\varepsilon\to0$. A slightly more complex description is necessary for case (ii) if the kernel is compactly supported

Country-level correlates of cervical cancer mortality in Latin America and the Caribbean.

OBJECTIVE: To identify country-level correlates of geographical variations in cervical cancer (CC) mortality in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: CC mortality rates for LAC countries (n=26) were examined in relation to country-specific socio-economic indicators (n=58) and Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) prevalence using linear regression models. RESULTS: High mortality at ages <5 years, low per capita total expenditure on health, and low proportion of the population with access to sanitation were identified as the best independent predictors of CC mortality (R² =77%). In the subset of countries (n=10) with HPV prevalence estimates, these socio-economic indicators together with high-risk HPV prevalence explained almost all the between-country variability in CC mortality (R² =98%). CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that continuing socioeconomic improvements in LAC countries will be associated with further reductions in CC mortality even in the absence of organised population-based screening and vaccination programmes

Il diritto all’assistenza consolare negli Stati Uniti: un’altra occasione mancata.

L’articolo prende in considerazione la prassi degli Stati Uniti in materia d’informazione (non) resa agli stranieri sul loro diritto all’assistenza consolare in materia giudiziaria -soprattutto penale e soprattutto quando il reato di cui sono accusati comporti la pena di morte- (art.36 della Convenzione di Vienna sulle Relazioni Consolari), anche alla luce dell’ultima pronuncia della Corte Suprema, emessa il 29 giugno 2006 nelle cause riunite Bustillo v. Johnson e Sanchez-Llamas v.Oregon. Ai fini della valutazione di questa e di altre, conformi, decisioni interne, l’attenzione è previamente portata sulle pronunce internazionali di cui gli Stati Uniti sono stati protagonisti: l’Opinione Consultiva OC-16/99 resa dalla Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos il 1 ottobre 1999 ad istanza del Messico e la sentenza della Corte Internazionale di Giustizia in re Avena (Messico c. Stati Uniti d’America – sentenza 128 del 31 marzo 2004). Vengono ricordati tuttavia, per i richiami ad essi operati sia dagli Stati Uniti (in sede internazionale ed interna) che dalla Corte Internazionale di Giustizia, anche l’analoga decisione emessa dalla stessa Corte in re La- Grand (Repubblica Federale di Germania c. Stati Uniti d’America – sentenza 104 del 27 giugno 2001) e gli scritti di causa del caso Breard (Paraguay c. Stati Uniti d’America), chiusosi per desistenza dello Stato attore. Vengono così rilevate le differenze tutt’altro che secondarie esistenti tra la prassi interna, ancora recentissimamente confermata, e i giudicati internazionali, soprattutto con riguardo alle conseguenze (esistenza di un grave ed insanabile pregiudizio, sospensione dell’esecuzione della pena capitale e rinnovo dei processi o, quanto meno, in casi di pena soltanto detentiva, risarcimento del danno) che dovrebbero essere obbligatoriamente tratte dalla mancata informazione dello straniero e dal mancato godimento, da parte di questo, del diritto di essere assistito ed aiutato da un legale nominato dal proprio consolato. Nello stesso quadro, viene altresì presa in considerazione la continua applicazione interna ai casi di specie della regola c.d. della procedural default, cioè la decadenza dell’azione processuale volta a sanare il pregiudizio creatosi, se non fatta valere fin dall’udienza di pre trial, e le giustificazioni addotte in proposito dalle corti americane, pur dopo che essa è stata internazionalmente dichiarata in violazione del precetto della Convenzione di Vienna

Bioactive Indanes: Proof of Concept Study for Enantioselective Synthetic Routes to PH46A, a New Potential Anti-inflammation Agent

PH46A is a single enantiomer and a member of the 1,2-indane dimer family. It has two contiguous stereogenic centers with S,S configurations, one of which being a quaternary center, which has been developed as a clinical candidate for the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune conditions. The current synthetic route to PH46A involves the generation of an unwanted enantiomer (R,R)-7, thus reducing the final yield significantly. Therefore, we have investigated potential alternatives to improve the efficiency of this synthesis. The first phase of the study has demonstrated proof of principle for a chiral alkylation of ketone 3 using phase-transfer catalysis, providing a key intermediate ketone (S)-4. The parent alkaloids required for the synthesis of PH46A, quinine or cinchonidine, have also been identified. Promising enantiomeric excesses of up to 50% have been achieved to date, and the use of an alternative substrate, unsaturated ketone 9, has also opened up further avenues for optimisation in future studies. The second part of the study involved preliminary screening the effects of a panel of hydrolase enzymes on (rac)-4 in order to identify a potential chemo-enzymatic route to optimise the introduction of chirality into PH46A at early stage of the synthesis. The hydrolase module has also yielded positive results; enzyme AH-46 with MtBE providing a selectivity factor of 8.4 with enantiomeric excess of 77%. Overall, positive results were obtained in this proof of concept study described herein. It is believed that conditions of both chiral PTC alkylation and biocatalytic hydrolysis could be optimised to further enhance the selectivity and improve the overall yield. This work is currently ongoing

Fixing Smart Contract Vulnerabilities: A Comparative Analysis of Literature and Developer's Practices

Smart Contracts are programs running logic in the Blockchain network by executing operations through immutable transactions. The Blockchain network validates such transactions, storing them into sequential blocks of which integrity is ensured. Smart Contracts deal with value stakes, if a damaging transaction is validated, it may never be reverted, leading to unrecoverable losses. To prevent this, security aspects have been explored in several fields, with research providing catalogs of security defects, secure code recommendations, and possible solutions to fix vulnerabilities. In our study, we refer to vulnerability fixing in the ways found in the literature as guidelines. However, it is not clear to what extent developers adhere to these guidelines, nor whether there are other viable common solutions and what they are. The goal of our research is to fill knowledge gaps related to developers' observance of existing guidelines and to propose new and viable solutions to security vulnerabilities. To reach our goal, we will obtain from Solidity GitHub repositories the commits that fix vulnerabilities included in the DASP TOP 10 and we will conduct a manual analysis of fixing approaches employed by developers. Our analysis aims to determine the extent to which literature-based fixing strategies are followed. Additionally, we will identify and discuss emerging fixing techniques not currently documented in the literature. Through qualitative analysis, we will evaluate the suitability of these new fixing solutions and discriminate between valid approaches and potential mistakes.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, MSR 202