Europeanization and the soft law process of EU corporate governance: how has the 2003 action plan impacted on national corporate governance codes?

This study explores Europeanization, the interrelationship between domestic and EU-level policy activity. Specifically, it asks how domestic policy is affected by EU-level (soft-law) policy processes. This contrasts with the hard-law focus of most Europeanization research. Our empirical analysis seeks to determine the extent to which the European Commission's 2003 plan to enhance corporate governance delivered on its aim of 'co-ordinating corporate governance efforts of member states'. This study thus differs from most others on convergence in corporate governance regimes, which look for evidence of convergence perse, rather than convergence towards a specified set of principles. Applying content analysis and econometric tests to 95 corporate governance codes issued between 1992 and mid-2010, we find that the Action Plan has influenced member states' corporate governance policies. However, the degree of national policy alignment to the Action Plan's priorities depends on when the corporate governance code was issued, here, and by whom

malaria infection among schoolchildren in highland Rwanda

Background Plasmodium infection and malaria in school children are increasingly recognized as a relevant public health problem, but data on actual prevalence and health consequences are insufficient. The present study from highland southern Rwanda aimed at estimating infection prevalence among children attending school, at identifying associated factors and at assessing the clinical consequences of these infections. Methods In a survey including 12 schools in the Huye district of Rwanda, 1089 children aged 6–10 years were clinically and anthropometrically examined, malaria parasites were diagnosed by microscopy and PCR, haemoglobin concentrations were measured, and socio- economic and behavioural parameters as well as medical histories were obtained. Results Upon examination, the vast majority of children was asymptomatic (fever 2.7%). Plasmodium infection was detected in 22.4% (Plasmodium falciparum, 18.8%); 41% of these were submicroscopic. Independent predictors of infection included low altitude, higher age, preceding antimalarial treatment, and absence of electricity or a bicycle in the household. Plasmodium infection was associated with anaemia (mean haemoglobin difference of −1.2 g/dL; 95% CI, −0.8 to −1.5 g/dL), fever, underweight, clinically assessed malnutrition and histories of fever, tiredness, weakness, poor appetite, abdominal pain, and vomiting. With the exception of underweight, these conditions were also increased at submicroscopic infection. Conclusion Malaria infection is frequent among children attending school in southern highland Rwanda. Although seemingly asymptomatic in the vast majority of cases, infection is associated with a number of non-specific symptoms in the children´s histories, in addition to the impact on anaemia. This argues for improved malaria surveillance and control activities among school children

Adolescent health in rural Ghana: A cross-sectional study on the co-occurrence of infectious diseases, malnutrition and cardio-metabolic risk factors.

In sub-Saharan Africa, infectious diseases and malnutrition constitute the main health problems in children, while adolescents and adults are increasingly facing cardio-metabolic conditions. Among adolescents as the largest population group in this region, we investigated the co-occurrence of infectious diseases, malnutrition and cardio-metabolic risk factors (CRFs), and evaluated demographic, socio-economic and medical risk factors for these entities. In a cross-sectional study among 188 adolescents in rural Ghana, malarial infection, common infectious diseases and Body Mass Index were assessed. We measured ferritin, C-reactive protein, retinol, fasting glucose and blood pressure. Socio-demographic data were documented. We analyzed the proportions (95% confidence interval, CI) and the co-occurrence of infectious diseases (malaria, other common diseases), malnutrition (underweight, stunting, iron deficiency, vitamin A deficiency [VAD]), and CRFs (overweight, obesity, impaired fasting glucose, hypertension). In logistic regression, odds ratios (OR) and 95% CIs were calculated for the associations with socio-demographic factors. In this Ghanaian population (age range, 14.4-15.5 years; males, 50%), the proportions were for infectious diseases 45% (95% CI: 38-52%), for malnutrition 50% (43-57%) and for CRFs 16% (11-21%). Infectious diseases and malnutrition frequently co-existed (28%; 21-34%). Specifically, VAD increased the odds of non-malarial infectious diseases 3-fold (95% CI: 1.03, 10.19). Overlap of CRFs with infectious diseases (6%; 2-9%) or with malnutrition (7%; 3-11%) was also present. Male gender and low socio-economic status increased the odds of infectious diseases and malnutrition, respectively. Malarial infection, chronic malnutrition and VAD remain the predominant health problems among these Ghanaian adolescents. Investigating the relationships with evolving CRFs is warranted

A public health antibody screening indicates a marked increase of SARS-CoV-2 exposure rate in children during the second wave.

Hippich et al update their surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the Bavarian childhood population and show an eight-fold prevalence increase during 2021 as compared to the end of first wave in 2020. Over 50% of positive children were asymptomatic

Reduced efficacy of albendazole against Ascaris lumbricoides in Rwandan schoolchildren

Control of human soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) relies on preventive chemotherapy of schoolchildren applying the benzimidazoles (BZ) albendazole or mebendazole. Anthelmintic resistance (AR) is a common problem in nematodes of veterinary importance but for human STHs, information on drug efficacy is limited and routine monitoring is rarely implemented. Herein, the efficacy of single dose albendazole (400 mg) was evaluated in 12 schools in the Huye district of Rwanda where Ascaris is the predominant STH. Ascaris eggs were detected by wet mount microscopy and the Mini-FLOTAC method to assess cure rate (CR) and faecal egg count reduction (FECR). Blood and faecal samples were analysed for co-infections with Plasmodium sp. and Giardia duodenalis, respectively. Ascaris positive samples collected before and after treatment were analysed for putatively BZ-resistance associated β-tubulin gene single nucleotide polymorphisms. The overall CR was 69.9% by Mini-FLOTAC and 88.6% by wet mount microscopy. The FECR was 75.4% and the 95% calculated confidence intervals were 50.4–87.8% using sample variance, 55.4–88.8% by bootstrapping, and 75.0–75.7% applying a Markov Chain Monte Carlo Bayesian approach. FECR varied widely between 0 and 96.8% for individual schools. No putative BZ-resistance associated polymorphisms were found in the four Ascaris β-tubulin isotype genes examined. Since FECR

SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in preschool and school-age children.

BACKGROUND: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is ongoing in Germany. Children and adolescents are increasingly being infected, and many cases presumably remain undetected and unreported. Sero-epidemiological studies can help estimate the true number of infections. METHODS: From January 2020 to June 2022, 59 786 persons aged 1-17 years were tested for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies as part of a screening program for presymptomatic type 1 diabetes in the German federal state of Bavaria (the Fr1da study). RESULTS: In June 2022, the seroprevalence in the overall population was 73.5%. The seroprevalence was significantly higher in school-age children (from 5 to 10 years of age) than in preschool children (ages 1-4): 84.4% vs. 66.6%, p <0.001. In contrast, in November 2021, before the appearance of the omicron variant, the overall seroprevalence was 14.7% (16.2% of school-age children, 13.0% of preschool children, p = 0.06). In the overall collective, seroprevalence increased fivefold from the fall of 2021 to June 2022 (by a factor of 5.2 in school-age children and 5.1 in preschool children). Similar seroprevalences, with smaller case numbers, were observed in June 2022 in the corresponding Fr1da studies in Saxony and Northern Germany: 87.8% and 76.7%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Monthly case counts reveal a substantial rise in SARS-CoV-2-infections among children and adolescents from late 2021 to mid-2022. The high percentage of preschool and school-age children who have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, in a population that has low vaccination coverage, should be taken into account in the development of health policies

Fecal microbiota transfer for refractory intestinal graft-versus-host disease - Experience from two German tertiary centers

Rationale Steroid refractory graft-vs-host disease (sr-GvHD) represents a challenging complication after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT). Intestinal microbiota (IM) diversity and dysbiosis were identified as influencing factors for the development of acute GvHD. Fecal microbiota transfer (FMT) is hypothesized to restore IM dysbiosis, but there is limited knowledge about the significance of FMT in the treatment of sr-GvHD. Objectives We studied the effects of FMT on sr-GvHD in allo-HCT patients from two German tertiary clinical centers (n = 11 patients; period: March 2017 until July 2019). To assess safety and clinical efficacy, we analyzed clinical data pre- and post-FMT (day -14 to +30 relative to FMT). Moreover, IM were analyzed in donor samples and in a subset of patients pre- and post-FMT by 16S rRNA sequencing. Results Post-FMT, we observed no intervention-associated, systemic inflammatory responses and only minor side effects (5/11 patients: abdominal pain and transformation of peristalsis-each 3/11 and vomiting-1/11). Stool frequencies and volumes were significantly reduced [pre- vs post-FMT (d14): P < .05, respectively] as well as clear attenuation regarding both grading and staging of sr-GvHD was present upon FMT. Moreover, IM analyses revealed an increase of alpha diversity as well as a compositional shifts toward the donor post-FMT. Conclusions In our study, we observed positive effects on sr-GVHD after FMT without the occurrence of major adverse events. Although these findings are in line with published data on beneficial effects of FMT in sr-GvHD, further randomized clinical studies are urgently needed to better define the clinical validity including mode of action

Engaging with European Politics Through Twitter and Facebook : Participation Beyond the National?

Our chapter illustrates how citizens can enact varying styles and degrees of political engagement through social media. It also investigates if citizens engage with political content in ways unhindered by national boundaries. We distinguish between three primary types of content styles (factual, partisan and moral) and four degrees of engagement (making, commenting, diffusing and listening). Moreover, we argue that differences in Twitter and Facebook’s digital architectures encourage certain styles and degrees of engagement over others, and that the two social platforms sustain different levels of transnational activity. Supporting our argument with European cases, we suggest that Twitter is more suitable to fulfil social media’s transnational promise than Facebook, which is better adept at stimulating political participation