The impact of the introduction of the Euro on firms' expectations concerning export behavior, product innovation and foreign competition - An empirical assessment of the German business-related services sector

This paper analyses the degree to which firms expect to be able to enter new markets, to develop new products and to contend with new foreign competition after the introduction of the Euro. Panel data taken from a quarterly business survey in the service sector are used for the empirical analysis. East German firms do not differ from their West German competitors in their expectations that the Euro will increase export activity and product innovation, but significantly more East German firms expect new foreign competitors to enter the home market. The impact of the Euro on firms' expectations of entering new markets and developing new products is stronger for firms which already export than for those who do not. Further, the degree of preparation for the Euro plays a significant role in firms' market expectations. --European Monetary Union,Euro,business-related services,binary probit model,export,foreign competition

La particularidad de lo cómico en el Grotesco Criollo

La particularidad de lo cómico en el Grotesco Crioll

El avión negro: De la realidad a la caricatura grotesca

El avión negro: De la realidad a la caricatura grotesc

Northern European retired residents in nine southern European areas: characteristics, motivations and adjustment

During the last two decades, northern European retirement residence in the southern European sunbelt has grown strongly and its forms have rapidly changed, but standard demographic and social statistical sources provide no information about the flows, the migrants or their increasingly mobile and complex residential patterns. Considerable primary research has however recently been undertaken into the causes, conditions, experiences and consequences of international retirement migration (IRM) by investigators from Germany, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Many collaborated when designing their studies and instruments, and all have subsequently worked together in a European Science Foundation Scientific Network. This paper compares the findings of six systematic social surveys in (to be more precise than the title) eight regions of southern Europe and the Canary Islands: all that have tackled similar research questions with similar methods and instruments. It presents interpretations of several comparative tables compiled from their original data, with a focus on the socio-economic backgrounds, motivations and behaviour of the various migrant groups and their relationship with the host and home countries. The paper presents new findings about the typical and variant forms of IRM, and additional understanding of the heterogeneity of the retirees of different nations and in the several regions

Two-cycle curriculum - bachelor-master structure according to the Bologna agreement: the Swiss experience in Basle

In the autumn of 2006, the first cohort of students started with the bachelor programme in Basle. The whole curriculum had to be changed from the old system to the new two-cycle system. The implementation of the Bologna reform in Switzerland has been successful especially with regard to the very tight time schedule. Ongoing evaluation will detect fields for improvement which will of course arise in such a fundamental process of change. A major challenge for the future will be the sustainable consolidation of high quality in medical education

PROTOGNATHODUS (CONODONTA) AND ITS POTENTIAL AS A TOOL FOR DEFINING THE DEVONIAN/CARBONIFEROUS BOUNDARY

The current definition of the Devonian/Carboniferous boundary is the first occurrence of the conodont Siphonodella sulcata. Due to difficulties in identification of the early siphonodellids, such as S. praesulcata and S. sulcata, investigation of Protognathodus which enters in the latest Devonian and extends into the Mississippian, was undertaken to determine use as a better indicator of the base of the Carboniferous. During the D/C boundary interval, Protognathus is represented by four species: Pr. meischneri, Pr. collinsoni, Pr. kockeli and Pr. kuehni.Although Pr. kockeli can be abundant in boundary interval sections, none of the four Protognathodus species has a high potential as a tool for redefining the D/C boundary, based on regional variation in first occurrence data, restricted stratigraphic ranges and global distribution, poorly understood facies occurrences, as well as general rarity of the taxa.

Rentnersiedlungen auf Mallorca? Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der Übertragbarkeit des nordamerikanischen Konzeptes auf den "Europäischen Sunbelt"

Moderne Gesellschaften unterliegen Globalisierungsprozessen, die sich sowohl in hohen Wanderungsraten als auch in der demographischen Alterung der Bevölkerung ausdrücken. Bis jetzt nehmen ältere Menschen weniger an den Migrationsbewegungen teil als jüngere Altersgruppen. Dennoch haben Senioren in den Vereinigten Staaten wesentlichen Anteil an den Nord-Süd-gerichteten Wanderungsströmen in attraktive Regionen Floridas, Kaliforniens oder Arizonas, wo viele von ihnen in eigens entwickelte "retirement" oder "adult communities" ziehen. Diese privaten und abgeschlossenen Siedlungen werden mehr oder weniger selbstverwaltet und können ausschließlich von Interessenten mit einem Mindestalter erworben und bezogen werden, die von einer gemeinsamen Infrastruktur – wie Sicherheitsdiensten und Freizeiteinrichtungen – profitieren. In Europa war die Ruhesitzwanderung lange Jahre nur ein nationales Phänomen. Erst seit einiger Zeit wählen Senioren auch ausländische Zielgebiete – insbesondere im Mittelmeerraum – als Alterswohnsitze. Mit dem Beispiel der älteren Deutschen, die auf Mallorca eine längere Zeit im Jahr leben, kann ein detailliertes Bild ihrer soziodemographischen Merkmale, ihrer Wanderungsmotive und ihres Lebens vor Ort gezeichnet werden. Dabei zeigen sich deutliche Unterschiede in Abhängigkeit von der gewählten Wohn- und Siedlungslage. Es lassen sich im Wesentlichen drei bevorzugte Siedlungstypen abgrenzen: erstens touristisch geprägte Küstenorte, zweitens einheitlich geplante Urbanisationen sowie drittens Fincas und Siedlungen im ländlichen Raum. Von diesen weisen nur Urbanisationen, in denen etwa ein Drittel der älteren Deutschen leben, Ähnlichkeiten mit Ruhestandsgemeinden in den USA auf: Sie sind großteils abgeschlossen und privat verwaltet, und es wird eine Vielzahl von Freizeitaktivitäten angeboten. Allerdings spielen weder Alterskriterien eine Rolle beim Erwerb der Immobilien, noch weisen die Urbanisationen wesentliche Merkmale einer Selbstverwaltung auf. Gegen eine altersspezifische und soziale Segregation nach dem Vorbild der amerikanischen ”retirement communities” spricht außerdem das europäische Ideal, nach dem ältere Leute nach Möglichkeit in die Gesellschaft integriert und ihre räumliche Segregation reduziert werden sollen.Globalisation processes in modern societies are marked by both high migration rates and demographic ageing. Until now, the elderly population participates less in migration than younger age groups. Nevertheless, seniors in the United States have established substantial north-south flows to attractive regions in Florida, California or Arizona. Some choose "retirement" or "adult communities" as their new homes. These private and "gated" settlements are more or less self-administered and exclusively addressed to a population of a minimum age, who - as owner-occupiers - benefit from a common infrastructure, such as security services and recreational amenities. In Europe, retirement migration used to be solely a national phenomenon, but recently an increasing number of elderly migrants cross national borders, most often towards the Mediterranean. The example of elderly Germans living on Mallorca gives a detailed picture of their heterogeneity. The preferred homes are in three settlements types, each with a characteristic set of inhabitants: coastal tourism resorts, planned urbanisations, and rural settlements. Of these, only the urbanisations have clear similarities to retirement communities in the USA, in that they are "gated communities", privately managed and offer a variety of amenity facilities. Nevertheless, they do not operate age-restrictions on purchase or residence nor substantial elements of self-governance. Moreover, the European ideal that seeks to integrate elderly people into society and to reduce their spatial separation contradict the age-specific and social segregation of American retirement communities

Potencialidades e dificuldades na educação em enfermagem durante a pandemia de COVID-19

Objetivo: Conhecer as potencialidades e dificuldades no ensino de Enfermagem durante a pandemia de COVID-19, no Rio Grande do Sul (RS).Método: Estudo transversal, realizado junto a coordenadores de 48 cursos de graduação em Enfermagem do estado do RS, Brasil, entre outubro de 2020 e janeiro de 2021, por meio de questionário eletrônico, enviado aos participantes via e-mail. A análise dos dados ocorreu por meio de estatística descritiva e inferencial.Resultados: Destacaram-se, como potencialidades, a ampliação no manejo das tecnologias de informação e comunicação (87,5%), aumento da criatividade (79,2%) e diversificação de metodologias (77,1%). Como dificuldades, a redução do treino de habilidades (75,0%), menor interação aluno/professor/colegas (70,8%) e redução das relações interpessoais (64,6%).Conclusão: Se, por um lado, foram identificadas dificuldades, como a redução do treino de habilidades e das relações interpessoais, por outro, potencialidades relacionadas a novas tecnologias e métodos de ensino sinalizam alterações disruptivas e irreversíveis para o ensino de Enfermagem. Palavras-chave: Educação em enfermagem. COVID-19. Educação superior. Pandemias

Mixed infections with Chlamydia and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus - a new in vitro model of chlamydial persistence

BACKGROUND: Chlamydiae induce persistent infections, which have been associated with a wide range of chronic diseases in humans and animals. Mixed infections with Chlamydia and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) may result in generation of persistent chlamydial infections. To test this hypothesis, an in vitro model of dual infection with cell culture-adapted PEDV and Chlamydia abortus or Chlamydia pecorum in Vero cells was established. RESULTS: Infected cultures were investigated by immunofluorescence (IF), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and re-infection experiments. By IF, Chlamydia-infected cells showed normal inclusions after 39 hpi. Dual infections with Chlamydia abortus revealed a heterogenous mix of inclusion types including small inclusions consisting of aberrant bodies (ABs), medium-sized inclusions consisting of ABs and reticulate bodies and normal inclusions. Only aberrant inclusions were observable in dual infection experiments with Chlamydia pecorum and PEDV. TEM examinations of mixed infections with Chlamydia abortus and Chlamydia pecorum revealed aberrant chlamydial inclusions containing reticulate-like, pleomorphic ABs, which were up to 2 microm in diameter. No re-differentiation into elementary bodies (EBs) was detected. In re-infection experiments, co-infected cells produced fewer EBs than monoinfected cells. CONCLUSIONS: In the present study we confirm that PEDV co-infection alters the developmental cycle of member species of the family Chlamydiaceae, in a similar manner to other well-described persistence induction methods. Interestingly, this effect appears to be partially species-specific as Chlamydia pecorum appears more sensitive to PEDV co-infection than Chlamydia abortus, as evidenced by TEM and IF observations of a homogenous population of aberrant inclusions in PEDV - Chlamydia pecorum co-infections