Prisons and Prisoners in Europe 2018: Key Findings of the SPACE I report

This document summarises the main findings of the 2018 Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics on Prison Populations, better known under the acronym SPACE I. The rates and percentages presented here correspond to the European median values computed on the basis of figures weighted by the population and the number of inmates in each country (see Methodology for further details). Forty-five (45) out of the 52 Prison Administrations in the 47 Council of Europe member states answered the SPACE I 2018 questionnaire, which corresponds to a participation rate of 87%

Comparison of bread wheat varieties with different breeding origin under organic and low input management

The aims of the study were to compare 37 bread wheat varieties with different breeding origin under conventional and organic farming conditions in Hungary and Austria for three years and to identify traits highly sensitive to management systems that could be separated according to their suggested selecting environments. According to the results, heading date, sensitivity to leaf rust and powdery mildew had high heritability, thus, for economic reasons, it is reasonable to select for these traits in conventional fields even if the selection target is organic agriculture. On the contrary, selection for grain yield, test weight, leaf-inclination and vigorous growth should be done later in the target environment. It was concluded that the selecting environment has measurable effects on the performance of bread wheat varieties. Our results could help organic breeders in their selection work, especially in the continental climatic zone of Europe

Probation and Prisons in Europe, 2018: Key Findings of the SPACE reports

This document summarises the main findings of the 2018 Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics on Persons under the Supervision of Probation Agencies , better known under the acronym SPACE II, and compares them to those of the 2018 Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics on Prison Populations, SPACE I, which was published in April 201

A randomized crossover trial assessing patient preference for two different types of portable infusion-pump devices

Background: A variety of anticancer agents are better tolerated and more effective if given as continuous compared to bolus administration. Portable pump devices are needed to allow outpatient continuous infusion. Different types of portable pumps are available and we tested patient preference in a randomized crossover design. Patients and methods: Patients on continuous infusion fluorouracil were randomly assigned to start treatment with an elastomeric infusor (Baxter) or a mechanical, electronically controlled pump (CADD-1™, Pharmacia) and crossed over to the alternative model after three weeks. After exposure to both pump types patients were asked to indicate their preferred device. Results: After 10 patients the study was closed because all study participants preferred the elastomeric pump (P < 0.01). Reasons were pump weight (100%), smaller pump size (89%), interference with daily activities (89%), user friendliness (56%), impact on sleep (44%), and lack of technical problems (22%). Although the mechanical pump required more handling time for the first two refillings, the learning curve suggested about equal time requirement thereafter. Conclusion: In the interest of patient comfort, the disposable elastomeric infusor is an acceptable alternative to the more accurate electronically controlled pumps especially for drugs with a short half-life and a favorable toxicity profil

A Comparative Perspective of Imprisonment Trends in Slovenia and Europe from 2005 to 2014

This paper analyses trends in imprisonment in Slovenia from 2005 to 2014, and compares them with the ones observed in the rest of Europe. Data were taken from the Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics – SPACE I. The primary results show that Slovenia increased its prison population by 30% during the period under study and, after 2011, the prison population of Slovenia was increasing, while in the rest of Europe, it was decreasing. Nevertheless, Slovenia still has one of the lowest prison population rates in Europe, which can be explained mainly by the fact that the average length of imprisonment is lower in Slovenia than in the rest of Europe. The paper also analyses the evolution of the structure of the Slovenian prison population in terms of gender, nationality, and type of offence for which prisoners are convicted. Furthermore, it discusses the influence of legislative changes, the creation of new places for prisoners, and crime trends on the prison population rate

Spontaneous exciton condensation in 1T-TiSe2: a BCS-like approach

Recently strong evidence has been found in favor of a BCS-like condensation of excitons in 1\textit{T}-TiSe$_2$. Theoretical photoemission intensity maps have been generated by the spectral function calculated within the excitonic condensate phase model and set against experimental angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy data. Here, the calculations in the framework of this model are presented in detail. They represent an extension of the original excitonic insulator phase model of J\'erome \textit{et al.} [Phys. Rev. {\bf 158}, 462 (1967)] to three dimensional and anisotropic band dispersions. A detailed analysis of its properties and further comparison with experiment are also discussedComment: Submitted to PRB, 11 pages, 7 figure

Direct evidence for ferroelectric polar distortion in ultrathin lead titanate perovskite films

X-ray photoelectron diffraction is used to directly probe the intra-cell polar atomic distortion and tetragonality associated with ferroelectricity in ultrathin epitaxial PbTiO3 films. Our measurements, combined with ab-initio calculations, unambiguously demonstrate non-centro-symmetry in films a few unit cells thick, imply that films as thin as 3 unit cells still preserve a ferroelectric polar distortion, and also show that there is no thick paraelectric dead layer at the surface