In its efforts to tackle banking crisis and avoid a bailout, Slovenia is now facing a crisis of democracy.

In recent months, many commentators have turned their attention towards Slovenia, with some predicting that the country may soon need to request a bailout from the ‘Troika’. With this in mind, Slovenia’s government has moved to push through a package of tax increases, public sector pay cuts, privatisations and bank reforms. Nicole Lindstrom argues that while the government’s reform agenda may have forestalled a bailout, many Slovenes feel that it has been done in a way that undermines the country’s democracy

What’s left for ‘Social Europe’? : Brexit and transnational labour market regulation in the UK-1 and the EU-27

The paper examines UK government positions on the regulation of transnational labour in the context of Brexit. Through an analysis of EU regulations on posted workers–the practice whereby a company based in one EU member state sends workers to carry out a service in another EU member state–the paper argues that the UK has consistently advocated further liberalisation of transnational labour markets in EU level decision-making, a position consistent with promoting increasingly ‘flexible’ labour markets at home. Brexit marks a turning point. Demands from British workers for stronger protection against liberalising pressure help explain the UK's recent shift towards relaxing its opposition to ‘market-correcting’ EU initiatives like the revised posted worker directive. Brexit provides a window of opportunity for the revitalisation of ‘Social Europe’ in the EU-27, without a longstanding veto player at the bargaining table, but one more likely focused more on upholding national labour protections than initiating new supranational policies

Aiding the State : Administrative Capacity and Creative Compliance with European State Aid Rules in New Member States

The article advances a new explanation of the role of administrative capacity in compliance with European Union (EU) rules. I argue that strong administrative capacity fosters not only compliance but creative compliance where capable civil servants aid determined governments in following formal EU rules while challenging their substance. I develop this argument by comparing two new member states that increased levels of state aid post-crisis but on different types: ‘neoliberal’ Estonia reporting proportionally more on ‘bad’ vertical aid than ‘illiberal’ Hungary. Drawing on original empirical data, I explain that Hungary has engaged in more creative compliance due to more cohesive ideological commitment to state intervention (a will) and stronger administrative capacity to achieve objectives while minimizing EU scrutiny and sanction (a way). Creative compliance with single market rules presents another challenge to the EU’s ability to enforce uniform rules to ensure a ‘level playing field’ within the single market

Examining the Purdue Pegboard Test for Occupational Therapy Practice

Background: Occupational therapy ethics require that therapists use current assessment tools that provide useful comparison data. When an assessment only has normative data that is more than 40 years old, it cannot be considered current. The purpose of this study was to examine the past and current use of the Purdue Pegboard Test by occupational therapists and other professionals and to determine if it is beneficial to conduct a large normative study on the Purdue Pegboard Assembly Task (PPAT) in order to bring the test up to date. Method: This was a psychometric study of inter-rater reliability and a small normative study of the PPAT with 150 healthy working adults from MI. Descriptive statistics were used for normative means, standard deviations, and standard errors of measurement. Results: Inter-rater reliability was measured using the intra-class correlation coefficient for the mean of all student-rating teams of seven occupational therapy students. The result of the psychometric study determined the ICC was above .99. During the normative study, 150 participants performed the PPAT for three trials. Norms for gender and ages 18-49 and 50-62 are presented. Conclusion: The result of the inter-rater reliability test determined that OT students can be reliable raters for the PPAT. The normative study collected current norms for healthy working adults in MI, but validity testing and a larger normative study is needed to bring the psychometrics of the PPAT up to date to be generalized for current use by occupational therapists

Slowenischer Weg? Die Politik der „ Europäisierung" in Europas südöstlicher Peripherie

The paper starts with an overview of competing theoretical approaches to understanding Europeanization of Central and East European applicant states. lt is suggested that instead of seeing the process as strictly "top-down," we must investigate the ways in which the common pressures and constraints of Europeanization are processed and responded to in particular local contexts. In the main section the paper is focussed on the case of Slovenia in order to examine how common pressures impinge upon, challenge or reinforce national 'models' and practices, in particular two "sites of Europeanization" are examined: the restructuring of the Slovenian banking sector and recent political turmoil around the privatization of a local Slovene brewery. The authors suggest through these cases how the process of Europeanization operates not only in the political sphere, but also involves contentious debates in the public sphere

Intensive group training protocol versus guideline physiotherapy for patients with chronic low back pain: a randomised controlled trial

Intensive group training using principles of graded activity has been proven to be effective in occupational care for workers with chronic low back pain. Objective of the study was to compare the effects of an intensive group training protocol aimed at returning to normal daily activities and guideline physiotherapy for primary care patients with non-specific chronic low back pain. The study was designed as pragmatic randomised controlled trial with a setup of 105 primary care physiotherapists in 49 practices and 114 patients with non-specific low back pain of more than 12 weeks duration participated in the study. In the intensive group training protocol exercise therapy, back school and operant-conditioning behavioural principles are combined. Patients were treated during 10 individual sessions along 20 group sessions. Usual care consisted of physiotherapy according to the Dutch guidelines for Low Back Pain. Main outcome measures were functional disability (Roland Morris disability questionnaire), pain intensity, perceived recovery and sick leave because of low back pain assessed at baseline and after 6, 13, 26 and 52 weeks. Both an intention-to-treat analysis and a per-protocol analysis were performed. Multilevel analysis did not show significant differences between both treatment groups on any outcome measures during the complete follow-up period, with one exception. After 26 weeks the protocol group showed more reduction in pain intensity than the guideline group, but this difference was absent after 52 weeks. We finally conclude that an intensive group training protocol was not more effective than usual physiotherapy for chronic low back pain

How to promote healthy behaviours in patients? An overview of evidence for behaviour change techniques

To identify the evidence for the effectiveness of behaviour change techniques, when used by health-care professionals, in accomplishing health-promoting behaviours in patients. Reviews were used to extract data at a study level. A taxonomy was used to classify behaviour change techniques. We included 23 systematic reviews: 14 on smoking cessation, 6 on physical exercise, and 2 on healthy diets and 1 on both exercise and diets. None of the behaviour change techniques demonstrated clear effects in a convincing majority of the studies in which they were evaluated. Techniques targeting knowledge (n = 210 studies) and facilitation of behaviour (n = 172) were evaluated most frequently. However, self-monitoring of behaviour (positive effects in 56% of the studies), risk communication (52%) and use of social support (50%) were most often identified as effective. Insufficient insight into appropriateness of technique choice and quality of technique delivery hinder precise conclusions. Relatively, however, self-monitoring of behaviour, risk communication and use of social support are most effective. Health professionals should avoid thinking that providing knowledge, materials and professional support will be sufficient for patients to accomplish change and consider alternative strategies which may be more effective

Cost-effectiveness of an intensive group training protocol compared to physiotherapy guideline care for sub-acute and chronic low back pain: design of a randomised controlled trial with an economic evaluation. [ISRCTN45641649]

BACKGROUND: Low back pain is a common disorder in western industrialised countries and the type of treatments for low back pain vary considerably. METHODS: In a randomised controlled trial the cost-effectiveness and cost-utility of an intensive group training protocol versus physiotherapy guideline care for sub-acute and chronic low back pain patients is evaluated. Patients with back pain for longer than 6 weeks who are referred to physiotherapy care by their general practitioner or medical specialist are included in the study. The intensive group training protocol combines exercise therapy with principles of behavioural therapy ("graded activity") and back school. This training protocol is compared to physiotherapy care according to the recently published Low Back Pain Guidelines of the Royal Dutch College for Physiotherapy. Primary outcome measures are general improvement, pain intensity, functional status, work absenteeism and quality of life. The direct and indirect costs will be assessed using cost diaries. Patients will complete questionnaires at baseline and 6, 13, 26 and 52 weeks after randomisation. DISCUSSION: No trials are yet available that have evaluated the effect of an intensive group training protocol including behavioural principles and back school in a primary physiotherapy care setting and no data on cost-effectiveness and cost-utility are available

Defining the genotypic and phenotypic spectrum of X-linked MSL3-related disorder

PURPOSE: We sought to delineate the genotypic and phenotypic spectrum of female and male individuals with X-linked, MSL3-related disorder (Basilicata-Akhtar syndrome). METHODS: Twenty-five individuals (15 males, 10 females) with causative variants in MSL3 were ascertained through exome or genome sequencing at ten different sequencing centers. RESULTS: We identified multiple variant types in MSL3 (ten nonsense, six frameshift, four splice site, three missense, one in-frame-deletion, one multi-exon deletion), most proven to be de novo, and clustering in the terminal eight exons suggesting that truncating variants in the first five exons might be compensated by an alternative MSL3 transcript. Three-dimensional modeling of missense and splice variants indicated that these have a deleterious effect. The main clinical findings comprised developmental delay and intellectual disability ranging from mild to severe. Autism spectrum disorder, muscle tone abnormalities, and macrocephaly were common as well as hearing impairment and gastrointestinal problems. Hypoplasia of the cerebellar vermis emerged as a consistent magnetic resonance image (MRI) finding. Females and males were equally affected. Using facial analysis technology, a recognizable facial gestalt was determined. CONCLUSION: Our aggregated data illustrate the genotypic and phenotypic spectrum of X-linked, MSL3-related disorder (Basilicata-Akhtar syndrome). Our cohort improves the understanding of disease related morbidity and allows us to propose detailed surveillance guidelines for affected individuals

Defining the genotypic and phenotypic spectrum of X-linked MSL3-related disorder

Purpose We sought to delineate the genotypic and phenotypic spectrum of female and male individuals with X-linked, MSL3-related disorder (Basilicata-Akhtar syndrome). Methods Twenty-five individuals (15 males, 10 females) with causative variants in MSL3 were ascertained through exome or genome sequencing at ten different sequencing centers. Results We identified multiple variant types in MSL3 (ten nonsense, six frameshift, four splice site, three missense, one in-frame-deletion, one multi-exon deletion), most proven to be de novo, and clustering in the terminal eight exons suggesting that truncating variants in the first five exons might be compensated by an alternative MSL3 transcript. Three-dimensional modeling of missense and splice variants indicated that these have a deleterious effect. The main clinical findings comprised developmental delay and intellectual disability ranging from mild to severe. Autism spectrum disorder, muscle tone abnormalities, and macrocephaly were common as well as hearing impairment and gastrointestinal problems. Hypoplasia of the cerebellar vermis emerged as a consistent magnetic resonance image (MRI) finding. Females and males were equally affected. Using facial analysis technology, a recognizable facial gestalt was determined. Conclusion Our aggregated data illustrate the genotypic and phenotypic spectrum of X-linked, MSL3-related disorder (Basilicata-Akhtar syndrome). Our cohort improves the understanding of disease related morbidity and allows us to propose detailed surveillance guidelines for affected individuals