European transnational cooperation in the making

The European transnational cooperation process, implemented via the ongoing 15 EU INTERREG- B programmes, is integrated in the second objective of EU Cohesion Policy: European Territorial Cooperation. Aiming to promote better cooperation and regional development processes within the European Union by a joint approach to tackle common issues, the EU transnational cooperation programmes are key to tackling transnational development bottlenecks and to better exploring transnational territorial capitals. Currently, there are ongoing discussions within the European Commission to delimit the new EU Cohesion Policy post-2020 INTERREG-B programmes. In this context, this article summarises the main conclusions of four invited speakers of an international conference which took place on 21 June 2019 at the Instituto Universitário de Lisboa. The conference aimed to present some of the key contributions towards territorial development of the EU of EU Cohesion Policy and, in particular, of three INTERREG-B programmes: North West Europe (NWE), South West Europe (SUDOE), and the Atlantic Area.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The return to 1980 stratospheric halogen levels: A moving target in ozone assessments from 2006 to 2022

The international scientific assessment of ozone depletion is prepared every four years to support decisions made by the Parties to the Montreal Protocol. In each assessment an outlook of ozone recovery time is provided. The year when equivalent effective stratospheric chlorine (EESC) returns to the level found in 1980 is an important metric for the recovery of the ozone layer. Over the past five assessments, the expected date for the return of EESC to the 1980 level, for mid-latitudes, has been delayed, from year 2049 in the 2006 assessment to 2066 in the 2022 assessment, which represents a delay of 17 years over a 16-year assessment period. Here, we quantify the primary drivers that have delayed the expected EESC recovery date between each of these assessments. We find that by using identical EESC formulations the delay between the 2006 and 2022 assessment’s expected return of EESC to 1980 levels is shortened to 12.6 years. Of this delay, bank calculation methods account for ~4 years, changes in the assumed atmospheric lifetime for certain ODSs account for ~3.5 years, an under-estimate of the emission of CCl4 accounts for ~3 years, and updated historical mole fraction estimates of ODSs account for ~1 year. Since some of the underlying causes of these delays are amenable to future controls (e.g. capture of ODSs from banks and limitations on future feedstock emissions), it is important to understand the reasons for the delays in expected recovery date of stratospheric halogens

Demographic risk factors for suicide among youths in the Netherlands

In 2000 to 2016 the highest number of suicides among Dutch youths under 20 in any given year was 58 in 2013. In 2017 this number increased to 81 youth suicides. To get more insight in what types of youths died by suicide, particularly in recent years (2013-2017) we looked at micro-data of Statistics Netherlands and counted suicides among youths till 23, split out along gender, age, regions, immigration background and place in household and compared this to the general population of youths in the Netherlands. We also compared the demographics of young suicide victims to those of suicide victims among the population as a whole. We found higher suicide rates among male youths, older youths, those of Dutch descent and youths living alone. These differences were generally smaller than in the population as a whole. There were also substantial geographical differences between provinces and healthcare regions. The method of suicide is different in youth compared to the population as a whole: relatively more youth suicides by jumping or lying in front of a moving object and relatively less youth suicides by autointoxication or drowning, whereas the most frequent method of suicide among both groups is hanging or suffocation

Reassortment between Avian H5N1 and Human Influenza Viruses Is Mainly Restricted to the Matrix and Neuraminidase Gene Segments

Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 viruses have devastated the poultry industry in many countries of the eastern hemisphere. Occasionally H5N1 viruses cross the species barrier and infect humans, sometimes with a severe clinical outcome. When this happens, there is a chance of reassortment between H5N1 and human influenza viruses. To assess the potential of H5N1 viruses to reassort with contemporary human influenza viruses (H1N1, H3N2 and pandemic H1N1), we used an in vitro selection method to generate reassortant viruses, that contained the H5 hemagglutinin gene, and that have a replication advantage in vitro. We found that the neuraminidase and matrix gene segments of human influenza viruses were preferentially selected by H5 viruses. However, these H5 reassortant viruses did not show a marked increase in replication in MDCK cells and human bronchial epithelial cells. In ferrets, inoculation with a mixture of H5N1-pandemic H1N1 reassortant viruses resulted in outgrowth of reassortant H5 viruses that had incorporated the neuraminidase and matrix gene segment of pandemic 2009 H1N1. This virus was not transmitted via aerosols or respiratory droplets to naïve recipient ferrets. Altogether, these data emphasize the potential of avian H5N1 viruses to reassort with contemporary human influenza viruses. The neuraminidase and matrix gene segments of human influenza viruses showed the highest genetic compatibility with HPAI H5N1 virus

Influenza in long-term Dutch travelers in the tropics: Symptoms and infections

Background: Influenza is a common infection among travelers, and attack rates are well documented in short-term travelers and holiday makers. Little data exists on long-term, non-expatriate travelers. Methods: This was a prospective mono-centre study of immunocompetent, Dutch travelers aged ≥18 to 64 years. It was conducted at the Public Health Service travel clinic in Amsterdam from December 2008 to September 2011, and included all travelers intending to travel to a tropical or sub-tropical country. Results: Among 602 Dutch long-term travelers to tropical regions, 82 % had protective influenza antibody titres pre-travel. The influenza attack rate of serologically confirmed infection during travel was 15 %, and of symptomatic infection was 6.3 % (fever alone) and 2 % (ILI), respectively. Conclusions: The attack rate in this study is similar to seasonal rates of infection in the general population. Influenza vaccination pre-travel is therefore most important for people at risk of medical complications due to influenza

3D LES computations of a shallow lateral expansion using an immersed boundary method

Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Hydroscience and Engineering, Philadelphia, PA, September 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1860/732In environmental shallow flows, the phenomenon of flow separation often gives rise to large-scale turbulent structures (vortex shedding). In this study, 3D LES computations of three Shallow Lateral Expansion geometries are performed. The resolved large-scale turbulent structures are studied in detail in order to allow a comparison with laboratory experiments, carried out using the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique. When LES is applied for practical cases involving flow separation, immersed boundaries are often an essential part of the geometry. These boundaries can cause problems with respect to the Navier Stokes solver used, especially regarding the pressure correction module. A solution to this problem, known as Immersed Boundary Method (IBM), is found by using body forces to ensure the impermeability of internal boundaries. The classical IBM formulation, however, makes a systematic error regarding momentum transfer in the vicinity of solid walls. In this study an adjusted IBM is proposed, based on momentum fluxes instead of body forces. The adjusted model is applied to Shallow Lateral Expansion geometries of various aspect ratios. In order to analyze the real-time large-scale turbulent structures, the vector potential function of the velocity field is computed. This is a very suitable tool to detect large-scale flow structures. The turbulence features observed in the 3D LES computation are compared with the PIV data, especially regarding the vortex shedding behaviour. An analysis of Reynolds stresses and the downstream development of eddy length scales reveals the existence of two different regimes in the vortex shedding behaviour. The difference can be explained by the interaction of shed vortices with the primary and secondary recirculation cells that are present

Antigenic maps of influenza A(H3N2) produced with human antisera obtained after primary infection

Background Antigenic characterization of influenza viruses is typically based on hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay data for viral isolates tested against strain-specific postinfection ferret antisera. Here, similar virus characterizations were performed using serological data from humans with primary influenza A(H3N2) infection. Methods We screened sera collected between 1995 and 2011 from children between 9 and 24 months of age for influenza virus antibodies, performed HI tests for the positive sera against 23 influenza viruses isolated between 1989 and 2011, and measured HI titers of antisera against influenza A(H3N2) from 24 ferrets against the same panel of viruses. Results Of the 17 positive human sera, 6 had a high response, showing HI patterns that would be expected from primary infection antisera, while 11 sera had lower, more dispersed patterns of reactivity that are not easily explained. The antigenic map based on the high-response human HI data was similar to the map created using ferret data. Conclusions Although the overall structure of the ferret and human antigenic maps is similar, local differences in virus positions indicate that the human and ferret immune system might see antigenic properties of viruses differently. Further studies are needed to establish the degree of similarity between serological patterns in ferret and human data

Effect of mulberry fruit extract on glucose fluxes after a wheat porridge meal:a dual isotope study in healthy human subjects

Background: Previous research has shown the efficacy of mulberry extracts for lowering post-prandial glucose (PPG) responses. The postulated mechanism is slowing of glucose absorption, but effects on glucose disposal or endogenous production are also possible. This research assessed the effect of a specified mulberry fruit extract (MFE) on these three glucose flux parameters. Methods: The study used a double-blind, randomized, controlled, full cross-over design. In 3 counter-balanced treatments, 12 healthy adult male subjects, mean (SD) age 24.9 (2.50) years and body mass index 22.5 (1.57) kg/m2, consumed porridge prepared from 13C-labelled wheat, with or without addition of 0.75 g MFE, or a solution of 13C-glucose in water. A co-administered 2H-glucose venous infusion allowed for assessment of glucose disposal. Glucose flux parameters, cumulative absorption (time to 50% absorption, T50%abs), and PPG positive incremental area under the curve from 0 to 120 min (+iAUC0–120) were determined from total and isotopically labelled glucose in plasma. As this exploratory study was not powered for formal inferential statistical tests, results are reported as the mean percent difference (or minutes for T50%abs) between treatments with 95% CI. Results: MFE increased mean T50%abs by 10.2 min, (95% CI 3.9–16.5 min), and reduced mean 2 h post-meal rate of glucose appearance by 8.4% (95% CI −14.9 to −1.4%) and PPG + iAUC0-120 by 11% (95% CI −26.3 to −7.3%), with no significant changes in glucose disposal or endogenous production. Conclusions: The PPG-lowering effect of MFE is primarily mediated by a reduced rate of glucose uptake.</p

Allowing course compensation in higher education: a latent class regression analysis to evaluate performance on a follow-up course

In this study, the consequences of allowing course compensation in a \nhigher education academic dismissal policy are evaluated by examining \nperformance on a second-year follow-up (i.e. sequel) course that builds \non material from a first-year precursor course. Up to now, differences in \nthe consequences of compensation on student performance across \ngroups of students who portray different unobserved study processes \nwere not considered. In this study we used a latent class regression \nmodel to distinguish latent groups of students. Data from two undergraduate curricula were used and latent classes were formed based on \nsimilar patterns in averages, variability in grades, the number of compensated courses, and the number of retakes in the first year. Results \nshow that students can be distinguished by three latent classes. \nAlthough the first-year precursor course is compensated in each of \nthese latent classes, low performance on the precursor course results in \nlow performance on the second-year sequel course for psychology students who belong to a class in which the average across first-year \ncourses is low and the average number of compensated courses and \nretakes are high. For these students, compensation on a precursor \ncourse seems more likely to relate to insufficient performance on a \nsequel course