Weed populations in maize as affected by crop rotation and primary soil tillage

A seven year field study was conducted in south-western Slovakia to investigate the effects of different soil tillage intensities and crop rotation patterns on weed density, weed species composition and diversity, and weed competition in maize. Maize was grown in four different crop rotations with three different soil tillage systems (conventional ploughing, 0.3 m depth; offset disc ploughing, 0.15 m depth; shallow loosening, 0.1 m depth). Dominant weed species were Amaranthus retroflexus L., Chenopodium album L., Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) P.Beauv., Convolvulus arvensis L. and Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop. Conventional tillage reduced weed density significantly, primarily through the reduction of perennial weeds. Significantly lower weed dry biomass was observed under conventional ploughing than under reduced tillage by offset disc ploughing or shallow loosening. Crop rotation did not have a significant influence on species richness as indicated by the Margalef's index. However, there was significantly higher total weed density in continuous maize cropping (38.5 plants m-2) than when maize was grown in rotation with spring barley (28.6 plants m-2) or in rotation with peas and winter wheat (25.8 plants m-2). Primary tillage systems had a more significant effect on the composition of the weed flora, weed density and diversity, and weed biomass than did crop rotation patterns

Hospital reforms in 11 Central and Eastern European countries between 2008 and 2019 : a comparative analysis

This paper aims to: (1) provide a brief overview of hospital sector characteristics in 11 Central and East-ern European countries (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland,Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia); (2) compare recent (2008 – 2019) hospital reforms in these countries; and(3) identify common trends, success factors and challenges for reforms. Methods applied involved fivestages: (1) a theoretical framework of hospital sector reforms was developed; (2) basic quantitative datacharacterizing hospital sectors were compared; (3) a scoping review was performed to identify an initiallist of reforms per country; (4) the list was sent to national researchers who described the top threereforms based on a standardized questionnaire; (5) received questionnaires were analysed and vali-dated with available literature. Results indicate that the scope of conducted reforms is very broad. Yet,reforms related to hospital sector governance and changes in purchasing and payment systems are muchmore frequent than reforms concerning relations with other providers. Most governance reforms aimedat transforming hospital infrastructure, improving financial management and/or improving quality ofcare, while purchasing and payment reforms focused on limiting hospital activities and/or on incen-tivising a shift to ambulatory/day care. Three common challenges included the lack of a comprehensiveapproach; unclear outcomes; and political influence. Given similar reform areas across countries, thereis considerable potential for shared learning

The uncertain and differentiated impact of EU law on national (private) health insurance regulations

The present chapter seeks to analyze the impact of EU law on private health insurance at national level. Does EU law have a vertical impact leading to a rather standardized situation or can we observe a more contrasted landscape? The chapter proposes a two-sided approach: on the one hand, a study of EU internal market law that frames and aims to regulate the health insurance market; on the other hand, a comparative overview of various national arrangements as far as health insurance marketization is concerned. Two main results are brought out. First, though EU law appears to be a "matrix" for private health insurance activity, it is actually rather flexible so that there is latitude for national regulation of the PHI market. This generates some uncertainty. Second, there are various forms of arrangements at national level relating to health coverage, and this is why the impact of EU law is differentiated.Marché du risque santé : construction, gouvernance, innovation social

The level of competence of graduating nursing students in 10 European countries: comparison between countries

Aim: To analyse graduating nursing students’ self-assessed competence level in Europe at graduation, at the beginning of nursing career. Design: An international cross-sectional evaluative design. Methods: Data were collected in February 2018–July 2019 from graduating nursing students in 10 European countries. Competence was assessed with a validated instrument, the Nurse Competence Scale (NCS). The sample comprised 3,490 students (response rate 45%), and data were analysed statistically. Results: In all countries, graduating nursing students assessed their competence as good (range 50.0–69.1; VAS 0–100), albeit with statistically significant differences between countries. The assessments were highest in Iceland and lowest in Lithuania. Older students, those with working experience in health care, satisfied with their current degree programme, with excellent or good study achievements, graduating to 1st study choice and having a nursing career plan for future assessed their competence higher.publishe

Power and Purchasing: Why Strategic Purchasing Fails

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162754/2/milq12471.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162754/1/milq12471_am.pd