The Lisbon Strategy

The Lisbon Strategy Targets are presented and assessed as accordingly to the domains of the structural indicators, the common indicators created to measure the progress towards reaching these objectives: Economic performance; Employment; Research, Innovation and education; Economic reform; Social cohesion; Environment.structural indicators, economic performance.

Migrant healthcare workers during COVID-19: bringing an intersectional health system-related approach into pandemic protection. A German case study

IntroductionMigrant healthcare workers played an important role during the COVID-19 pandemic, but data are lacking especially for high-resourced European healthcare systems. This study aims to research migrant healthcare workers through an intersectional health system-related approach, using Germany as a case study.MethodsAn intersectional research framework was created and a rapid scoping study performed. Secondary analysis of selected items taken from two COVID-19 surveys was undertaken to compare perceptions of national and foreign-born healthcare workers, using descriptive statistics.ResultsAvailable research is focused on worst-case pandemic scenarios of Brazil and the United Kingdom, highlighting racialised discrimination and higher risks of migrant healthcare workers. The German data did not reveal significant differences between national-born and foreign-born healthcare workers for items related to health status including SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination, and perception of infection risk, protective workplace measures, and government measures, but items related to social participation and work conditions with higher infection risk indicate a higher burden of migrant healthcare workers.ConclusionsCOVID-19 pandemic policy must include migrant healthcare workers, but simply adding the migration status is not enough. We introduce an intersectional health systems-related approach to understand how pandemic policies create social inequalities and how the protection of migrant healthcare workers may be improved

DMTs and Covid-19 severity in MS: a pooled analysis from Italy and France

We evaluated the effect of DMTs on Covid-19 severity in patients with MS, with a pooled-analysis of two large cohorts from Italy and France. The association of baseline characteristics and DMTs with Covid-19 severity was assessed by multivariate ordinal-logistic models and pooled by a fixed-effect meta-analysis. 1066 patients with MS from Italy and 721 from France were included. In the multivariate model, anti-CD20 therapies were significantly associated (OR = 2.05, 95%CI = 1.39–3.02, p < 0.001) with Covid-19 severity, whereas interferon indicated a decreased risk (OR = 0.42, 95%CI = 0.18–0.99, p = 0.047). This pooled-analysis confirms an increased risk of severe Covid-19 in patients on anti-CD20 therapies and supports the protective role of interferon

Contribution à la simulation du processus de déformation plastique à froid des tôles

La thèse porte sur la capacité à modéliser et prédire numériquement le comportement des tôles minces embouties. Ce comportement est étroitement lié aux différents aspects qui interviennent dans la description du comportement plastique, en particulier l écrouissage et l anisotropie. Le travail, réalisé dans le cadre d une cotutelle entre l Université de Pitesti et l Université Paul Verlaine - Metz, porte sur des tôles d acier utilisées en construction automobile. La caractérisation expérimentale de l écrouissage et de l anisotropie fait appel à des essais de traction uniaxiale. La caractérisation du comportement en emboutissage s appuie sur des essais d expansion de type Marciniak et Nakazima, ainsi que sur des essais d emboutissage profond. Les Courbes Limites de Formage sont déterminées par les essais Marciniak réalisés sur différentes largeurs de flan, en utilisant une analyse des champs de déformation réalisée grâce à une méthode d analyse d images qui permet le suivi des déplacements et le calcul des déformations tout au long des essais. La loi force-déplacement et la hauteur limite d embouti dans les essais Nakazima réalisés avec différentes largeurs de flan ont également été déterminées expérimentalement, ainsi que les cornes d emboutissage dans les essais d emboutissage profond. Sur la base de ces résultats, le comportement observé en emboutissage a été comparé aux prévisions obtenues par utilisation du code d éléments finis Abaqus/Explicit. L ensemble des résultats a ainsi pu être analysé, en discutant en particulier la sensibilité du comportement en emboutissage vis-à-vis du choix du modèle de surface de charge anisotrope adopté dans les simulations.The thesis deals with the modelling and the numerical prediction of the forming behaviour of thin sheets. This behaviour is closely linked to the different aspects involved in the description of the plastic behaviour, namely, strain-hardening and anisotropy. The work, conducted under the joint collaboration of the University of Pitesti and the University Paul Verlaine - Metz, is performed on steel sheets used for automotive building. The experimental characterization of strain-hardening and anisotropy is obtained from uniaxial tension tests. The characterization of the forming behaviour is performed by means of expansion tests Marciniak tests and Nakazima tests- and cup deep-drawing tests. The forming Limit Curves are determined in the Marciniak tests, using sheets of varying widths. The analysis of strain fields is made using a method allowing for a continuous recording of images during the tests, coupled with the determination of the displacement field and the calculation of strains. The load-displacement curve and the limiting dome height in the Nakazima tests have also been determined on sheets of varying widths, as well as the earing profile in the cup drawing tests. On the basis of these results, the experimental forming behaviour has been compared to the numerical predictions obtained with the finite element code Abaqus/Explicit. The whole results have been analysed, and discussed in relationMETZ-SCD (574632105) / SudocSudocFranceF

Toxoplasmosis Screening during Pregnancy in a Romanian Infectious Diseases Tertiary Center: Results of a 15 Years Follow-Up Program

Maternal infection with Toxoplasma gondii during pregnancy may have serious consequences for the fetus. In Romania, screening for toxoplasmosis is included in the first antenatal visit. A retrospective study was performed on all toxoplasmosis antenatal screening patients between May 2008 and February 2023. Twenty-seven thousand one hundred sixty-nine (27,169) pregnant women presented for prenatal screening once (22,858) or several times: during the same pregnancy (209) or during multiple pregnancies (4102). Thirty-one thousand six hundred fifty-eight (31,658) tests for IgM and IgG antibodies were performed. Nine thousand eighty-three (9083) tests (28.69%), corresponding to 7911 women (29.12%), were positive for IgG antibodies. The seroprevalence increased with patients’ age, decreased in time intervals, and was more frequently associated with rural residence. At risk for acquiring the infection during the pregnancy were women with negative anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies (70.88%), but only 0.9% of them presented for rescreening during the same pregnancy. Acute Toxoplasma infection (ATI) was suspected in 44 patients (0.16%) due to IgG seroconversion and/or low or borderline IgG avidity. A questionnaire follow-up interview was performed, and no congenital toxoplasmosis was identified in children born from mothers with probable ATI. Our study demonstrates poor compliance with the screening program in the Romanian population

The mental health needs of healthcare workers:When evidence does not guide policy. A comparative assessment of selected European countries

Background: The healthcare workforce (HCWF) globally is facing high stress levels and deteriorating mental health due to workplace, labour market and policy deficiencies that further exacerbate the existing crisis. However, comprehensive and effective action is missing. Aims: We adopt a health system and governance perspective to address the mental health needs of healthcare workers (HCWs), considering the nature of interventions and the levels and actors involved in governance. The aim is to move the debate forward by identifying governance gaps hampering the implementation of health workforce policies and exploring strategies to effectively increase mental health support. Material and Methods: A qualitative comparative methodology is applied based on a case study design utilising a multi-level intersectoral governance matrix. We conducted a rapid assessment of HCWF developments in the European context (Germany, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland and the United Kingdom), drawing on secondary sources and country experts. Results and Discussion: Awareness of mental health threats among HCWs increased, but policy discourse is driven by service delivery and labour market demands. The attention to HCWs' needs is stronger on the international level and weakest at national/regional levels. Although organisations and professions demonstrate varying degrees of activity, their efforts are scattered and lack sustainability. Similar challenges were identified across healthcare systems, including limited action, disconnected actors, missing coordination, and a lack of attention to governance gaps and system weaknesses. Conclusion: Adopting a health system approach is important but not sufficient. Successful mental health policy implementation needs multi-level governance and coherent coordination mechanisms.</p

Study regarding the sequence of eruption of permanent teeth at a group of children from Buzau

Tooth eruption is a physiological process in which the tooth migrates from the maxillary bone towards the oral cavity, at the end of which teeth find their place on the arch creating vicinity relations according to a genetic code characteristic to each individual. Dental eruption begins with the eruption of the first primary teeth around 6 months and finishes at 2 years and a half for primary teeth, and around 18 – 25 years for permanent teeth, when the third molar erupts. The teeth’s eruption and development is, usually, related to the child’s chronological age, but there can also be some discordances as we refer to a precocious eruption or, on the contrary, to a delayed one. The chronology of dental eruption is submitted to a genetic model that is valid for the entire human population. Nevertheless, the values for the initial and ending moments of each stage present important variations that require the study of the average values and mostly of the variability limits for different characteristic human samples thus to create reliable norms for comparing individual values

A conceptual framework for more efficient simulation of the interplay between road pavements and the Urban Heat Island phenomenon

There have been thirty-eight heat waves in Europe in the last century, seventeen of which were in the last decade. In urban areas, the effects of global warming are intensified because air and surface temperatures are, on average higher than in the surrounding areas, a phenomenon is known as Urban Heat Island (UHI). This research, therefore, investigates how road pavement design, construction, and maintenance can play an important role in the formation of UHI's while proposing a conceptual framework for a data-driven simulation of the interaction between road pavements and UHI's, moving one step closer towards smarter and sustainable solutions for asphalt road pavements