Search results for "Government"
showing 10 items of 1098 documents
Impact of Pre-Analytical Time on the Recovery of Pathogens from Blood Cultures: Results from a Large Retrospective Survey.
2017
Background Prompt identification of bloodstream pathogens is essential for optimal management of patients. Significant changes in analytical methods have improved the turnaround time for laboratory diagnosis. Less attention has been paid to the time elapsing from blood collection to incubation and to its potential effect on recovery of pathogens. We evaluated the performance of blood cultures collected under typical hospital conditions in relation to the length of their pre-analytical time. Methods We carried out a large retrospective study including 50,955 blood cultures collected, over a 30-month period, from 7,035 adult septic patients. Cultures were accepted by the laboratory only durin…
The spread of steppe and Iranian-related ancestry in the islands of the western Mediterranean
2020
Steppe-pastoralist-related ancestry reached Central Europe by at least 2500 bc, whereas Iranian farmer-related ancestry was present in Aegean Europe by at least 1900 bc. However, the spread of these ancestries into the western Mediterranean, where they have contributed to many populations that live today, remains poorly understood. Here, we generated genome-wide ancient-DNA data from the Balearic Islands, Sicily and Sardinia, increasing the number of individuals with reported data from 5 to 66. The oldest individual from the Balearic Islands (~2400 bc) carried ancestry from steppe pastoralists that probably derived from west-to-east migration from Iberia, although two later Balearic individ…
Lymphatic Endothelial Cells Control Initiation of Lymph Node Organogenesis
2017
Lymph nodes (LNs) are strategically situated throughout the body at junctures of the blood vascular and lymphatic systems to direct immune responses against antigens draining from peripheral tissues. The current paradigm describes LN development as a programmed process that is governed through the interaction between mesenchymal lymphoid tissue organizer (LTo) cells and hematopoietic lymphoid tissue inducer (LTi) cells. Using cell-type-specific ablation of key molecules involved in lymphoid organogenesis, we found that initiation of LN development is dependent on LTi-cell-mediated activation of lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) and that engagement of mesenchymal stromal cells is a succeedi…
Podoplanin expression in oral potentially malignant disorders and oral squamous cell carcinoma
2017
Background Podoplanin is a type I transmembrane sialomucin-like glycoprotein that is specifically expressed in lymphatic endothelial cells. Studies have shown that assessment of podoplanin expression in the epithelial cells can be used to predict the malignant transformation of potentially malignant disorders and the metastatic tendency of primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. The aim of our study was to compare the expression of podoplanin in oral leukoplakia, oral submucous fibrosis and oral squamous cell carcinoma with that in normal buccal mucosa by immunohistochemical methods. Material and methods Immunohistochemical expression of podoplanin was analyzed in 20 cases each of or…
Global, regional, and national levels of maternal mortality, 1990–2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015
2016
BACKGROUND: In transitioning from the Millennium Development Goal to the Sustainable Development Goal era, it is imperative to comprehensively assess progress toward reducing maternal mortality to identify areas of success, remaining challenges, and frame policy discussions. We aimed to quantify maternal mortality throughout the world by underlying cause and age from 1990 to 2015.METHODS: We estimated maternal mortality at the global, regional, and national levels from 1990 to 2015 for ages 10-54 years by systematically compiling and processing all available data sources from 186 of 195 countries and territories, 11 of which were analysed at the subnational level. We quantified eight underl…
Developing an Analytical Framework for Analyzing and Comparing National E-Government Strategies
2020
Part 1: E-Government Foundations; International audience; Across the world, e-government strategies are developed for the effective digitalization of the public sector. They offer governments a framework for dealing with challenges such as technical and legal interoperability and collaboration between public and private sector stakeholders, and for promoting a future vision for a digital public sector. Since e-government strategies are policy document and, thus, likely to convey biased perspectives, analyses of these strategies can yield insights into these biases and different perspectives on public sector digitalization. Until now, there has been no widely recognized framework for systema…
A reliability generalization meta‐analysis of self‐report measures of muscle dysmorphia
2020
This study is a reliability generalization meta‐analysis that reviews continuous measures used to assess muscle dysmorphia (MD): The Muscle Appearance Satisfaction Scale, Muscle Dysmorphic Disorder Inventory, four different versions of the Muscle Dysmorphia Inventory, Adonis Complex Questionnaire, and the Modified Dysmorphia Symptoms Questionnaire. A total of 15,156 individuals from 61 studies provided 73 reliability estimates (alpha coefficients and/or test–retest reliability coefficients) for this meta‐analysis. Random‐ and mixed‐effects models were applied in the statistical analyses. We present the average reliability estimates for each measure, moderator analysis of reliability estimat…
Using AHP methodology for prioritizing the actions in the transport sector in the frame of SECAPs
2020
The drafting of the Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan, required for the local authorities joining the Covenant of Mayors initiative, is an opportunity to plan actions reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector. Choosing the measures to implement requires the application of a methodology that compares them, considering costs and impacts in terms of energy consumption, emissions reduction, and social benefits. The paper aims to develop a method based on the typical approach of the Analytical Hierarchy Process, supporting decisions in the transport sector in the frame of the drafting of SECAP. The method allows determining the priority actions and the optimal allocation…
Mass data gathering and surveillance: the fight against facial recognition technology in the globalized world
2020
The growing use of facial recognition technologies has put them under the regulatory spotlight all around the world. The EU considers to regulate facial regulation technologies as a part of initiative of creating ethical and legal framework for trustworthy artificial intelligence. These technologies are attracting attention of the EU data protection authorities, e.g. in Sweden and the UK. In May, San Francisco was the first city in the US to ban police and other government agencies from using facial recognition technology, soon followed by other US cities. The paper aims to analyze the impact of facial recognition technology on the fundamental rights and values as well as the development of…
Varieties of State Aid and Technological Development: Government Support to the Pulp and Paper Industry, the 1970s to the 1990s
2018
Countries promote the development of pulp and paper industry through industrial, technology and innovation policy measures. Direct interventions and regional and environmental policies, together with more general governmental measures on trade negotiations, taxation, labour policies, and infrastructure development (e.g. roads, energy) have also had an impact on shaping the geographical location of and investments in the pulp and paper industry. This chapter presents an historical overview of government support on pulp and paper industry in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries from roughly the 1970s to the 1990s. As the earlier literature suggests, in c…