Visions of Europe among Somali Women in Malta

This EuroBroadMap working paper, issued from the final report of the work package 3 (migrants and borders), focuses on Somali women in Malta. Malta is a small island state with the highest population density in Europe. Traditionally a country of emigration, the island has experienced a new immigration flow in the last decade. The research was based on semistructured interviews and observations undertaken with Somali women in May and October 2010. Somali women vision of Europe is ambivalent: Europe is both seen as a space of opportunity where one can get protection and legal capital for the whole family and a space where one experiences racism, detention as well as several institutional obstacles. This vision is highly connected to institutional factors that determine whether they should go into detention or not, their possibility to get protection, to circulate within the EU space as well as to reunify with their family. Moreover, the knowledge, the experience and the image of Europe is constructed alongside the trajectories. This construction of Europe is connected to a process of redefinition of one's own identity and projects as well as a negotiation of social boundaries

Vocational education and training and employment services in Malta

This country monograph is the result of a request from the European Commission (Directorate-General for Employment and Social Affairs) in the context of the Employment Policy Reviews launched by the latter in the future member states in 1999. According to this request, the key aim of the country monographs is to provide up-to-date, detailed information and analysis on the vocational education and training systems and structures as well as on the public and private employment services in order to support the monitoring of the Joint Assessment Papers of Employment Priorities (JAP). This analysis is considered to provide a useful input enabling the future member states and the European Commission to identify the most important needs and gaps. In particular, the analysis aims at providing: (1) an instrument to assess the progress made by the countries to increase the responsiveness of their education and training systems to labour market needs; this assessment is addresses particularly the challenges and priorities related to the development of lifelong learning; (2) a tool to assess the effectiveness of the public and private employment services to assist both young and adult unemployed people and those threatened by unemployment to enter the labour market; and (3) a basis for positioning the development trends of these systems in relation to those in EU member states. The work has been conducted by a team of national, EU and ETF experts, under the responsibility of the European Training Foundation (ETF) and with the support of the Employment Training Corporation (ETC). The method of work combined the use of desk research and field visits in the capital and also in some selected regions. The final document has been prepared by the European Training Foundation and therefore, reflects primarily an ETF viewpoint. The preparation of the monographs has also benefited from a close consultation process with representatives of the national authorities. The latter were informed about this work right from the beginning of the process and they were invited to provide their opinion on the final draft. In addition, a seminar was organised on 27 September 2002 in Brussels with the aim of presenting and discussing the documents with the national authorities of the future member states as well as with the European Commission. This monograph also reflects the outcomes of this seminar and further discussions and comments from the country. The document makes use of quantitative indicators from international institutions as well as national sources. As discussed during the 27 September meeting, it should be acknowledged that in relation to indicators used in the EU, some data are still missing, while others might refer to different realities. Therefore, figures must be interpreted with caution, taking into account that statistics should be complemented by more qualitative assessments. Further analytical work will be needed to improve the picture and in particular the positioning of developments in the country towards developments in the EU.peer-reviewe

Unlocking the female potential : research report

The item forms part of the research report project: ESF 3.47 Unlocking the Female Potential ProjectAcknowledgement: The University of Malta would like to acknowledge its gratitude to the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality for their permission to upload this work on OAR@UoM. Further reuse of this document can be made, provided the source is acknowledged.The objectives of the ESF 3.47 Unlocking the Female Potential Project, of which this research forms part, is to address a two-fold overall objective, namely: • To increase the overall female employment rate by providing indirect incentives to work. • To provide policy makers with vital information through the research on the current situation of which this research forms part, of women in Malta and Gozo. These objectives were, in turn, broken down into four specific objectives, namely: • To understand the jobs/skills match and the inactive population in order to ensure employability; • To create a need for businesses to become ‘certified equal opportunities employers’, to have a family-friendly environment at the work place; • To incentivise the inactive to the labour market through better work arrangements available; • To further promote the need for a work/life balance both for men and women.peer-reviewe

PMC42, a breast progenitor cancer cell line, has normal-like mRNA and microRNA transcriptomes.

INTRODUCTION: The use of cultured cell lines as model systems for normal tissue is limited by the molecular alterations accompanying the immortalisation process, including changes in the mRNA and microRNA (miRNA) repertoire. Therefore, identification of cell lines with normal-like expression profiles is of paramount importance in studies of normal gene regulation. METHODS: The mRNA and miRNA expression profiles of several breast cell lines of cancerous or normal origin were measured using printed slide arrays, Luminex bead arrays, and real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: We demonstrate that the mRNA expression profiles of two breast cell lines are similar to that of normal breast tissue: HB4a, immortalised normal breast epithelium, and PMC42, a breast cancer cell line that retains progenitor pluripotency allowing in-culture differentiation to both secretory and myoepithelial fates. In contrast, only PMC42 exhibits a normal-like miRNA expression profile. We identified a group of miRNAs that are highly expressed in normal breast tissue and PMC42 but are lost in all other cancerous and normal-origin breast cell lines and observed a similar loss in immortalised lymphoblastoid cell lines compared with healthy uncultured B cells. Moreover, like tumour suppressor genes, these miRNAs are lost in a variety of tumours. We show that the mechanism leading to the loss of these miRNAs in breast cancer cell lines has genomic, transcriptional, and post-transcriptional components. CONCLUSION: We propose that, despite its neoplastic origin, PMC42 is an excellent molecular model for normal breast epithelium, providing a unique tool to study breast differentiation and the function of key miRNAs that are typically lost in cancer.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

Ten years of external quality assessment (EQA) of Neisseria gonorrhoeae antimicrobial susceptibility testing in Europe elucidate high reliability of data

BACKGROUND: Confidence in any diagnostic and antimicrobial susceptibility testing data is provided by appropriate and regular quality assurance (QA) procedures. In Europe, the European Gonococcal Antimicrobial Susceptibility Programme (Euro-GASP) has been monitoring the antimicrobial susceptibility in Neisseria gonorrhoeae since 2004. Euro-GASP includes an external quality assessment (EQA) scheme as an essential component for a quality-assured laboratory-based surveillance programme. Participation in the EQA scheme enables any problems with the performed antimicrobial susceptibility testing to be identified and addressed, feeds into the curricula of laboratory training organised by the Euro-GASP network, and assesses the capacity of individual laboratories to detect emerging new, rare and increasing antimicrobial resistance phenotypes. Participant performance in the Euro-GASP EQA scheme over a 10 year period (2007 to 2016, no EQA in 2013) was evaluated. METHODS: Antimicrobial susceptibility category and MIC results from the first 5 years (2007-2011) of the Euro-GASP EQA were compared with the latter 5 years (2012-2016). These time periods were selected to assess the impact of the 2012 European Union case definitions for the reporting of antimicrobial susceptibility. RESULTS: Antimicrobial susceptibility category agreement in each year was ≥91%. Discrepancies in susceptibility categories were generally because the MICs for EQA panel isolates were on or very close to the susceptibility or resistance breakpoints. A high proportion of isolates tested over the 10 years were within one (≥90%) or two (≥97%) MIC log2 dilutions of the modal MIC, respectively. The most common method used was Etest on GC agar base. There was a shift to using breakpoints published by the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) in the latter 5 years, however overall impact on the validity of results was limited, as the percentage categorical agreement and MIC concordance changed very little between the two five-year periods. CONCLUSIONS: The high level of comparability of results in this EQA scheme indicates that high quality data are produced by the Euro-GASP participants and gives confidence in susceptibility and resistance data generated by laboratories performing decentralised testing.The study was funded by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (Framework Contract No. ECDC/2013/015). The funding body contributed to the design of the study, the interpretation of the data and to the writing of the manuscript.S

SARS-CoV-2 Breakthrough Infections: Incidence and Risk Factors in a Large European Multicentric Cohort of Health Workers

The research aimed to investigate the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections and their determinants in a large European cohort of more than 60,000 health workers

Significant increase in azithromycin “resistance” and susceptibility to ceftriaxone and cefixime in Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates in 26 European countries, 2019

Euro-GASP network: Claudia Eder, Sonja Pleininger, Steliana Huhlescu, Irith de Baetselier, Blaženka Hunjak, Tatjana Nemeth Blažić, Panagiota Maikanti-Charalampous, Despo Pieridou, Hana Zákoucká, Helena Žemličková, Steen Hoffmann, Susan Cowan, Rita Peetso, Jelena Viktorova, Ndeindo Ndeikoundam, Beatrice Bercot, Anu Patari Sampo, Vesa Kirjavainen, Susanne Buder, Klaus Jansen, Vivi Miriagou, Eszter Balla, Mária Dudás, Guðrún Sigmundsdóttir, Lena Ros Asmundsdottir, Sinead Saab, Brendan Crowley, Anna Carannante, Paola Stefanelli, Gatis Pakarna, Violeta Mavcutko, Robert Cassar, Christopher Barbara, Francesca Vella, Alje Van Dam, Ineke Linde, Dominique Caugant, Hilde Kløvstad, Beata Mlynarczyk-Bonikowska, Maria-José Borrego, Peter Pavlik, Irena Klavs, Tanja Kustec, Julio Vazquez, Asuncion Diaz, Raquel Abad Torreblanca, Inga Velicko, Magnus Unemo, Helen Fifer, Kate TempletonBackground: The European Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme (Euro-GASP) performs annual sentinel surveillance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae susceptibility to therapeutically relevant antimicrobials across the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA). We present the Euro-GASP results from 2019 (26 countries), linked to patient epidemiological data, and compared with data from previous years. Methods: Agar dilution and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) gradient strip methodologies were used to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility (using EUCAST clinical breakpoints, where available) of 3239 N. gonorrhoeae isolates from 26 countries across the EU/EEA. Significance of differences compared with Euro-GASP results in previous years was analysed using Z-test and the Pearson's χ2 test was used to assess significance of odds ratios for associations between patient epidemiological data and antimicrobial resistance. Results: European N. gonorrhoeae isolates collected between 2016 and 2019 displayed shifting MIC distributions for; ceftriaxone, with highly susceptible isolates increasing over time and occasional resistant isolates each year; cefixime, with highly-susceptible isolates becoming increasingly common; azithromycin, with a shift away from lower MICs towards higher MICs above the EUCAST epidemiological cut-off (ECOFF); and ciprofloxacin which is displaying a similar shift in MICs as observed for azithromycin. In 2019, two isolates displayed ceftriaxone resistance, but both isolates had MICs below the azithromycin ECOFF. Cefixime resistance (0.8%) was associated with patient sex, with resistance higher in females compared with male heterosexuals and men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM). The number of countries reporting isolates with azithromycin MICs above the ECOFF increased from 76.9% (20/26) in 2016 to 92.3% (24/26) in 2019. Isolates with azithromycin MICs above the ECOFF (9.0%) were associated with pharyngeal infection sites. Following multivariable analysis, ciprofloxacin resistance remained associated with isolates from MSM and heterosexual males compared with females, the absence of a concurrent chlamydial infection, pharyngeal infection sites and patients ≥ 25 years of age. Conclusions: Resistance to ceftriaxone and cefixime remained uncommon in EU/EEA countries in 2019 with a significant decrease in cefixime resistance observed between 2016 and 2019. The significant increase in azithromycin "resistance" (azithromycin MICs above the ECOFF) threatens the effectiveness of the dual therapy (ceftriaxone + azithromycin), i.e., for ceftriaxone-resistant cases, currently recommended in many countries internationally and requires close monitoring.The study was funded by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (Framework Contract No. ECDC/2017/004).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Europe-wide expansion and eradication of multidrug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae lineages: a genomic surveillance study

Centre for Genomic Pathogen Surveillance and the Euro-GASP study group: Sonja Pleininger, Alexander Indra, Irith De Baetselier, Wim Vanden Berghe, Blaženka Hunjak, Tatjana Nemeth Blažić, Panayiota Maikanti-Charalambous, Despo Pieridou, Hana Zákoucká, Helena Žemličková, Steen Hoffmann, Susan Cowan, Lasse Jessen Schwartz, Rita Peetso, Jevgenia Epstein, Jelena Viktorova, Ndeindo Ndeikoundam, Beatrice Bercot, Cécile Bébéar, Florence Lot, Susanne Buder, Klaus Jansen, Vivi Miriagou, Georgios Rigakos, Vasilios Raftopoulos, Eszter Balla, Mária Dudás, Lena Rós Ásmundsdóttir, Guðrún Sigmundsdóttir, Guðrún Svanborg Hauksdóttir, Thorolfur Gudnason, Aoife Colgan, Brendan Crowley, Sinéad Saab, Paola Stefanelli, Anna Carannante, Patrizia Parodi, Gatis Pakarna, Raina Nikiforova, Antra Bormane, Elina Dimina, Monique Perrin, Tamir Abdelrahman, Joël Mossong, Jean-Claude Schmit, Friedrich Mühlschlegel, Christopher Barbara, Francesca Mifsud, Alje Van Dam, Birgit Van Benthem, Maartje Visser, Ineke Linde, Hilde Kløvstad, Dominique Caugant, Beata Młynarczyk-Bonikowska, Jacinta Azevedo, Maria-José Borrego, Marina Lurdes Ramos Nascimento, Peter Pavlik, Irena Klavs, Andreja Murnik, Samo Jeverica, Tanja Kustec, Julio Vázquez Moreno, Asuncion Diaz, Raquel Abad, Inga Velicko, Magnus Unemo, Helen Fifer, Jill Shepherd, Lynsey PattersonBackground: Genomic surveillance using quality-assured whole-genome sequencing (WGS) together with epidemiological and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) data is essential to characterise the circulating Neisseria gonorrhoeae lineages and their association to patient groups (defined by demographic and epidemiological factors). In 2013, the European gonococcal population was characterised genomically for the first time. We describe the European gonococcal population in 2018 and identify emerging or vanishing lineages associated with AMR and epidemiological characteristics of patients, to elucidate recent changes in AMR and gonorrhoea epidemiology in Europe. Methods: We did WGS on 2375 gonococcal isolates from 2018 (mainly Sept 1-Nov 30) in 26 EU and EEA countries. Molecular typing and AMR determinants were extracted from quality-checked genomic data. Association analyses identified links between genomic lineages, AMR, and epidemiological data. Findings: Azithromycin-resistant N gonorrhoeae (8·0% [191/2375] in 2018) is rising in Europe due to the introduction or emergence and subsequent expansion of a novel N gonorrhoeae multi-antigen sequence typing (NG-MAST) genogroup, G12302 (132 [5·6%] of 2375; N gonorrhoeae sequence typing for antimicrobial resistance [NG-STAR] clonal complex [CC]168/63), carrying a mosaic mtrR promoter and mtrD sequence and found in 24 countries in 2018. CC63 was associated with pharyngeal infections in men who have sex with men. Susceptibility to ceftriaxone and cefixime is increasing, as the resistance-associated lineage, NG-MAST G1407 (51 [2·1%] of 2375), is progressively vanishing since 2009-10. Interpretation: Enhanced gonococcal AMR surveillance is imperative worldwide. WGS, linked to epidemiological and AMR data, is essential to elucidate the dynamics in gonorrhoea epidemiology and gonococcal populations as well as to predict AMR. When feasible, WGS should supplement the national and international AMR surveillance programmes to elucidate AMR changes over time. In the EU and EEA, increasing low-level azithromycin resistance could threaten the recommended ceftriaxone-azithromycin dual therapy, and an evidence-based clinical azithromycin resistance breakpoint is needed. Nevertheless, increasing ceftriaxone susceptibility, declining cefixime resistance, and absence of known resistance mutations for new treatments (zoliflodacin, gepotidacin) are promising.This study was supported by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the Centre for Genomic Pathogen Surveillance, the Li Ka Shing Foundation (Big Data Institute, University of Oxford), the Wellcome Genome Campus, the Foundation for Medical Research at Örebro University Hospital, and grants from Wellcome (098051 and 099202). LSB was funded by Conselleria de Sanitat Universal i Salut Pública, Generalitat Valenciana (Plan GenT CDEI-06/20-B), Valencia, Spain, and Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (PID2020–120113RA-I00), Spain, at the time of analysing and writing this manuscript.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Silta mill-"Antigone" ta’ Sofokle

Ġabra ta’ poeżiji u proża li tinkludi: Ħajki ta’ Josette Attard – Din l-għanja tiegħi ta’ Rena Balzan – Fl-irdum fejn jidwi ta’ Charles Bezzina – Naqa’ biss ta’ Ġorġ Borg – Gambrinu, 7.45 a.m. ta’ Norbert Bugeja – Għadam ta’ Joseph Buttigieg – Tħarisx biss fil-wiċċ ta’ John Caruana – Petra ta’ Priscilla Cassar – Mhux iżjed dan il-pajjiż tiegħi ta’ Victor Fenech – Twieqi magħluqa ta’ Maria Grech Ganado – Joseph quddiem ir-ritratt ta’ sieħbu jitfarrak ta’ Adrian Grima – Ta’ l-ilma l-fruntieri tiegħek ta’ Simone Inguanez – Għall-kaċċa tal-grejtwajt ta’ Daniel Massa – Ftit weraq mis-Slovenja ta’ Immanuel Mifsud – Dak li kien ta’ Achille Mizzi – Wassalni ta’ Anna Pullicino – Tamiet fiergħa ta’ Patrick Sammut – Fost l-isbaħ jiem ta’ Lillian Sciberras – Kelma ta’ Marcel Zammit Marmarà – Lill-Imdina żagħżugħa ta’ Joe Zammit Tabona – Sodda ta’ l-ilma ta’ Clare Azzopardi – Kurċifiss ta’ Paul P. Borg – Mera mkissra ta’ Lina Brockdorff – No(ra)vella ta’ Joe Friggieri – L-abbati ta’ Henry Holland – L-eħrex ġurnata tal-gwerra ta’ Maurice Mifsud Bonnici – Marija ta’ Lino Spiteri – Ikla ta’ Trevor Żahra – Il-mara midinba ta’ Albert Camus, traduzzjoni ta’ Toni Aquilina – Silta mill-"Antigone" ta’ Sofokle, traduzzjoni ta’ Victor Xuereb.peer-reviewe

Overall Gender Synthesis

The EuroBroadmap EU FP-7 project is aimed at arriving at an evaluation of a shared and coherent vision of Europe's place in the world. In the following analysis we will be looking at the results of a student survey conducted in eighteen countries across four continents, and which represent a section of the research conducted for the project, from a gender perspective. We outline the main di erences that emerge in the answers given by both men and women. We argue that these di erences point to the existence of a gender hierarchy based on a patriarchal hegemonic structure. By comparing the results of the survey to the results of research conducted on migration at the Southern and Eastern borders of Europe, as well as an analysis of school textbooks, National visions and global trade ows, we single out particular aspects of gender in socio-relational contexts that emerge across most of the country case studies and attempt to provide, where possible, explanations for the exceptions. We further argue that the results collected and the existence of a gender hierarchy is re ective of a persistent structure of inequality that in some cases mirrors colonial structures of control, which are still being replicated today