The Leader programme 2007-2013: Enabling or disabling social innovation and neo-endogenous development? Insights from Austria and Ireland

Since the beginning of the 1990s, the Leader programme has been hailed as the instrument of rural policy that most explicitly takes account of the territorial dimension. This culminated in the mainstreaming of its underlying concept into the Rural Development Programmes of the current period (2007–2013), with the aim of having more effective policy implementation that considers the diversified needs of rural regions. Starting from analysis of the application and delivery of Leader under the present Rural Development Programme in two EU countries, Austria and Ireland, this paper presents an assessment of the effects of this programme change. In addition, it includes the EU-wide discussion on the (limited) effectiveness of the current implementation of Leader and the search for a reorientation towards local development activities in the EU’s reform proposals. The paper frames the analysis around the notion of social innovation, a concept of central importance to the aims of Leader. It is argued that the implementation of Leader in this period falls far behind its potential to beneficially impact rural regions; hence it should be an object of critical debate in the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and rural development measures, as well as coherence analyses with other policies, beyond 2013

Pacific climate variability and the possible impact on global surface CO2 flux

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Climate variability modifies both oceanic and terrestrial surface CO2 flux. Using observed/assimilated data sets, earlier studies have shown that tropical oceanic climate variability has strong impacts on the land surface temperature and soil moisture, and that there is a negative correlation between the oceanic and terrestrial CO2 fluxes. However, these data sets only cover less than the most recent 20 years and are insufficient for identifying decadal and longer periodic variabilities. To investigate possible impacts of interannual to interdecadal climate variability on CO2 flux exchange, the last 125 years of an earth system model (ESM) control run are examined.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Global integration of the terrestrial CO2 flux anomaly shows variation much greater in amplitude and longer in periodic timescale than the oceanic flux. The terrestrial CO2 flux anomaly correlates negatively with the oceanic flux in some periods, but positively in others, as the periodic timescale is different between the two variables. To determine the spatial pattern of the variability, a series of composite analyses are performed. The results show that the oceanic CO2 flux variability peaks when the eastern tropical Pacific has a large sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA). By contrast, the terrestrial CO2 flux variability peaks when the SSTA appears in the central tropical Pacific. The former pattern of variability resembles the ENSO-mode and the latter the ENSO-modoki¹.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results imply that the oceanic and terrestrial CO2 flux anomalies may correlate either positively or negatively depending on the relative phase of these two modes in the tropical Pacific.</p

Viscoelastic properties of bovine articular cartilage attached to subchondral bone at high frequencies

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Articular cartilage is a viscoelastic material, but its exact behaviour under the full range of physiological loading frequencies is unknown. The objective of this study was to measure the viscoelastic properties of bovine articular cartilage at loading frequencies of up to 92 Hz.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Intact tibial plateau cartilage, attached to subchondral bone, was investigated by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). A sinusoidally varying compressive force of between 16 N and 36 N, at frequencies from 1 Hz to 92 Hz, was applied to the cartilage surface by a flat indenter. The storage modulus, loss modulus and phase angle (between the applied force and the deformation induced) were determined.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The storage modulus, <it>E'</it>, increased with increasing frequency, but at higher frequencies it tended towards a constant value. Its dependence on frequency, <it>f</it>, could be represented by, <it>E' </it>= <it>Alog</it>_{<it>e </it>}(<it>f</it>) + <it>B </it>where <it>A </it>= 2.5 ± 0.6 MPa and <it>B </it>= 50.1 ± 12.5 MPa (mean ± standard error). The values of the loss modulus (4.8 ± 1.0 MPa mean ± standard deviation) were much less than the values of storage modulus and showed no dependence on frequency. The phase angle was found to be non-zero for all frequencies tested (4.9 ± 0.6°).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Articular cartilage is viscoelastic throughout the full range of frequencies investigated. The behaviour has implications for mechanical damage to articular cartilage and the onset of osteoarthritis. Storage modulus increases with frequency, until the plateau region is reached, and has a higher value than loss modulus. Furthermore, loss modulus does not increase with loading frequency. This means that more energy is stored by the tissue than is dissipated and that this effect is greater at higher frequencies. The main mechanism for this excess energy to be dissipated is by the formation of cracks.</p

Epidemiology and cost analysis for patients with oral cancer in a university hospital in China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although several studies have reported the direct cost of oral cancer (OC), little research has invested the factors that could influence the costs of OC patient. This study analyzes the epidemiological characteristics and the direct cost of OC. More specifically, the study examines the relationship between patients' medical costs and influencing factors of epidemiology.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>All patients encountered from January 2007 to December 2007 at the School of Stomatology of the Fourth Military Medical University (FMMU) in China with diagnosis of oral cancer have been selected. Medical hospitalization days (MHD) and cost per patient (CPP) of the samples have been calculated for different patient groups, and the results have been compared using statistical methods.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 456 oral cancer patients have been selected in this study. The epidemical characteristics are as follows: female/male 176/280; squamous cell carcinoma (SCC)/adenocarcinoma/sarcoma/lymphoma/other types 246/127/40/27/16; stage I/II/III/IV 90/148/103/115; smoker/non-smoker 136/320; rural/urban patients 82/374. Of all the patients, 82.24% were over 40 years of age. Rural patients were significantly younger than urban patients. SCC was the majority histology in older patients, while sarcoma was more common in younger patients. 372 of the patients received treatment and 84 gave up any treatment after diagnosis. Treatment cost accounted for majority of the payment. The CPP and MHD of patients in late clinical stage were higher than that of patient in early stage.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Gender, smoking habit and age older than 40 years are the epidemiological risk factors for oral cancer. Lack of medicare, smoking habit, late clinical stage and SCC are the high economic factors for patient medical cost.</p

Remdesivir for the Treatment of Covid-19 — Preliminary Report

BACKGROUND: Although several therapeutic agents have been evaluated for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), no antiviral agents have yet been shown to be efficacious. METHODS: We conducted a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of intravenous remdesivir in adults who were hospitalized with Covid-19 and had evidence of lower respiratory tract infection. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either remdesivir (200 mg loading dose on day 1, followed by 100 mg daily for up to 9 additional days) or placebo for up to 10 days. The primary outcome was the time to recovery, defined by either discharge from the hospital or hospitalization for infection-control purposes only. RESULTS: A total of 1062 patients underwent randomization (with 541 assigned to remdesivir and 521 to placebo). Those who received remdesivir had a median recovery time of 10 days (95% confidence interval [CI], 9 to 11), as compared with 15 days (95% CI, 13 to 18) among those who received placebo (rate ratio for recovery, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.12 to 1.49; P<0.001, by a log-rank test). In an analysis that used a proportional-odds model with an eight-category ordinal scale, the patients who received remdesivir were found to be more likely than those who received placebo to have clinical improvement at day 15 (odds ratio, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.2 to 1.9, after adjustment for actual disease severity). The Kaplan–Meier estimates of mortality were 6.7% with remdesivir and 11.9% with placebo by day 15 and 11.4% with remdesivir and 15.2% with placebo by day 29 (hazard ratio, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.52 to 1.03). Serious adverse events were reported in 131 of the 532 patients who received remdesivir (24.6%) and in 163 of the 516 patients who received placebo (31.6%). CONCLUSIONS: Our data show that remdesivir was superior to placebo in shortening the time to recovery in adults who were hospitalized with Covid-19 and had evidence of lower respiratory tract infection. (Funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and others; ACTT-1 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04280705. opens in new tab.

Probabilistic analysis of degradation of façade claddings using Markov chain models

In this study, the time-dependent stochastic degradation of three types of claddings is analysed. For this purpose, 203 fac¸ades with stone claddings(directly adhered to the substrate), 195 with adhered ceramic claddings and 220 with painted surfaces were analysed. All the fac¸ades are located in Lisbon, Portugal. Their degradation condition was assessed through an extensive field work. Based on the data gathered, Markov chains are used to predict the degradation of claddings and to understand, in some detail, how the characteristics of the claddings contribute to the overall degradation. The results show that the distance from the sea and exposure to damp are significant to the degradation of all types of cladding. The type and size of stone plates also influence the degradation of stone claddings. The exposure to wind-rain action has a high impact on the degradation of ceramic claddings. The models proposed provide useful information on the probability of failure of the claddings; these results are fundamental in the context of insurance policies and in the definition of building maintenance plans

Eye movements and brain oscillations to symbolic safety signs with different comprehensibility

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate eye movements and brain oscillations to symbolic safety signs with different comprehensibility. Methods: Forty-two young adults participated in this study, and ten traffic symbols consisting of easy-to-comprehend and hard-to-comprehend signs were used as stimuli. During the sign comprehension test, real-time eye movements and spontaneous brain activity [electroencephalogram (EEG) data] were simultaneously recorded. Results: The comprehensibility level of symbolic traffic signs significantly affects eye movements and EEG spectral power. The harder to comprehend the sign is, the slower the blink rate, the larger the pupil diameter, and the longer the time to first fixation. Noticeable differences on EEG spectral power between easy-to-comprehend and hard-to-comprehend signs are observed in the prefrontal and visual cortex of the human brain. Conclusions: Sign comprehensibility has significant effects on real-time nonintrusive eye movements and brain oscillations. These findings demonstrate the potential to integrate physiological measures from eye movements and brain oscillations with existing evaluation methods in assessing the comprehensibility of symbolic safety signs.open