The incidence of many cancers is higher in Western European (WE) countries, but mortality is frequently higher in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. A panel of oncology leaders from CEE ...countries participating in the South Eastern European Research Oncology Group (SEEROG) was formed in 2015, aiming to analyze the current status and trends of oncology care in CEE and to propose recommendations leading to improved care and outcomes. The SEEROG panel, meeting during the 11th Central European Oncology Congress, proposed the following: (a) national cancer control plans (NCCPs) required in all CEE countries, defining priorities in cancer care, including finance allocation considering limited health care budgets; (b) national cancer registries, describing in detail epidemiological trends; (c) efforts to strengthen comprehensive cancer centers; (d) that multidisciplinary care should be mandated by the NCCPs; (e) that smaller hospitals should be connected to multidisciplinary tumor boards via the Internet, providing access to specialized expertise; (f) nationwide primary prevention programs targeting smoking, obesity, and alcohol consumption and centrally evaluated secondary prevention programs for cervical, colorectal, and breast cancers; (g) prioritize education for all involved in cancer care, including oncology nurses, general practitioners, and palliative care providers; (h) establish outpatient care in day hospitals to reduce costs associated with the current inpatient model of care in CEE countries and to improve patients’ quality of life; (i) long‐term pharmacoeconomic evaluations of new therapies in CEE countries; (j) increase national oncology budgets in view of the higher mortality rates in CEE compared with WE countries; and (k) CEE countries urgently need help from the European Union to increase and monitor overall investment in cancer care.
Implications for Practice:
Significant differences in cancer incidence and mortality have been observed between European countries. While the incidence of many cancer types is higher in Western European (WE) countries, the mortality is generally higher in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The primary purpose of this review was to describe the current status and trends of oncology care in the CEE region, to raise awareness among physicians, regulators, and payers, and to propose the most needed changes in order to make the oncology care in CEE closer to the WE standards.
A panel of oncology leaders from Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries participating in the South Eastern European Research Oncology Group was formed in 2015, aiming to analyze the current status and trends of oncology care in CEE and to propose recommendations leading to improved care and outcomes.
This study explores the impact of academic social networks (ASNs) on the quantity and character of social capital in the academic community of South East Europe (SEE). ASNs are interactive platforms ...that have emerged as influential tools that impact numerous facets of the academic experience and offer new avenues for acquiring social rights and responsibilities. Applying social capital theory, we examine the relationship between the characteristics of academic users and the ASNs metric. We undertake a network analysis of all SEE research output. Using logistic regression, ANOVA, and mean comparisons, we further investigate the relationship between academic user characteristics and ASNs' metrics on 888 academics from the SEE region. We assess academics' positions in relation to three prominent ASNs: ResearchGate, Academia.edu, and Google Scholar. According to the findings, academic rank, research field, and institution rank matter in the metrics of ASNs, which correspond to the manifestation of social capital.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
•100% renewable energy system of the South East Europe has been achieved.•Sector integration makes the zero carbon system cheaper compared to the base year.•Numerous renewable technologies needed to ...achieve zero carbon in the year 2050.•Energy efficiency is a crucial part in a transition to the zero carbon energy system.•No technology has a larger share than 30%; increased security of energy supply.
South East Europe is the region in a part of Europe with approximately 65.5 million inhabitants, making up 8.9% of Europe’s total population. The countries concerned have distinct geographical features, various climates and significant differences in gross domestic product per capita, so the integration of their energy systems is considered to be a challenging task. Large differences between energy mixes, still largely dominated by fossil-fuel consumption, make this task even more demanding.
This paper presents the transition steps to a 100% renewable energy system which need to be carried out until the year 2050 in order to achieve zero carbon energy society. Novelty of this paper compared to other papers with similar research goals is the assumed sustainable use of biomass in the 100% renewable energy system of the region considered. It is important to emphasize here that only the sustainable use of biomass can be considered carbon-neutral. The resulting biomass consumption of the model was 725.94PJ for the entire region, which is in line with the biomass potential of the region. Modelling the zero-carbon energy system was carried out using the smart energy system concept, together with its main integration pillars, i.e. power-to-heat and power-to-gas technologies. The resulting power generation mix shows that a wide variety of energy sources need to be utilized and no single energy source has more than a 30% share, which also increases the security of supply. Wind turbines and photovoltaics are the main technologies with shares of 28.9% and 22.5%, followed by hydro power, concentrated solar power, biomass (mainly used in cogeneration units) and geothermal energy sources. To keep the biomass consumption within the sustainability limits, there is a need for some type of synthetic fuel in the transportation sector. Nevertheless, achieving 100% renewable energy system also promises to be financially beneficial, as the total calculated annual socio-economic cost of the region is approximately 20 billion euros lower in the year 2050 than in the base year. Finally, energy efficiency measures will play an important role in the transition to the zero-carbon energy society: the model shows that primary energy supply will be 50.9% lower than in the base year.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
The Kalamakia cave, a Middle Paleolithic site on the western coast of the Mani peninsula, Greece, was excavated in 1993–2006 by an interdisciplinary team from the Ephoreia of Paleoanthropology and ...Speleology (Greek Ministry of Culture) and the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (Paris). The site is dated to between ca. 100,000 and >39,000 years BP (Before Present) and has yielded Mousterian lithics, a rich fauna, and human remains from several layers. The latter include 10 isolated teeth, a cranial fragment and three postcranial elements. The remains represent at least eight individuals, two of them subadults, and show both carnivore and anthropogenic modifications. They can be identified as Neanderthal on the basis of diagnostic morphology on most specimens. A diet similar to that of Neanderthals from mixed habitat is suggested by our analysis of dental wear (occlusal fingerprint analysis) and microwear (occlusal texture microwear analysis), in agreement with the faunal and palynological analyses of the site. These new fossils significantly expand the Neanderthal sample known from Greece. Together with the human specimens from Lakonis and Apidima, the Kalamakia human remains add to the growing evidence of a strong Neanderthal presence in the Mani region during the Late Pleistocene.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
The current geopolitical context has accentuated the energy crisis that has once again motivated the need for the transition to the green economy. In this context, the objectives of the European ...Agenda require greater attention to sustainable development about the transition to a green economy. Eastern European countries face major economic disadvantages that slow down the implementation of this objective in the region. We intend to develop an econometric representation of sustainable development from the perspective of the green economy in eastern European countries. The methods used are empirical (literature analysis) and analytical, respectively the design of a sustainable development model from the perspective of the transition to the green economy of the Eastern European countries. The results of the study highlight the differences in the development of Eastern European countries compared to the European average and identify the possibilities of their recovery in relation to the difficulties observed.
This article proposes two possible ways of reading and interpreting the political thought that nourishes the concept of “greater Romania,” united under the encompassing concept of politics of ...eternity. It is, first of all, a rejection of the Western model as it was implemented by the previous generation or at least of its ideology: progress, diversity, Western fashions in general are only symptoms of a modern shattered pathology that needs to be cured by recovering the original spring of Romanian identity, that being generally an imagined Romanian Peasant and its semi-manufactured traditions. It is in this sense that the present text offers a reading on the naturalization of modernity (synonymous until then with the West) and its adaptation to the eternal rhythms of an ideal Romania. Second, “eternity” is fixed through an ideological junction, which often ignores traditional left-right doctrinarian divides. Not sufficiently structuring for the system of political parties preparing for the 1918 moment, this split was replaced by a unifying discourse on the permanence of the Romanian soul in its various incarnations, among which the predominant one is the territorial unification as the only appropriate vessel. Language, discourses, public policies, governance are strategically oriented towards a unifying objective. The process of Westernization becomes both a source of modernity—in the constitutional and democratic understanding of the process—and of anti-modernity—in the refusal of the accelerated time which is specific to modernity but which entails an annoyance s leaning on its opposite: the immobility of eternity, which we will look for in a tradition often recomposed from scratch.
Building a climate-ready adaptation society is an urgent question that cannot be postponed. Along the path towards an increase in climate resilience, a stimulating role is played by EU projects as ...well as by international climate networks such as the Covenant of Mayors Initiative on Climate Change Adaptation (Mayors Adapt), launched in 2014, and the new Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy which “pledge to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 40% by 2030 and to adopt an integrated approach to tackling mitigation and adaptation to climate change”. These initiatives stimulate engagement and networking among cities and raise public awareness encouraging policy makers to take action to adapt to climate change. Adaptation operates at different spatial and societal scales. Accordingly, the development of climate change adaptation strategies requires a holistic and multi-perspective approach with scale-specific studies.
This paper provides an overview of adaptation initiatives undertaken in 11 South East European countries participating in the SEE OrientGate project, with reference to the policies and measures promoted by the EU and implemented at national level. In particular, a cross-sectoral policy analysis is performed and an inclusive representation of measures and policies undertaken by countries with an interdisciplinary approach is provided. The analysis of the country measures reveals that unless national governments and local communities are concerned with the impacts of climate change only few of the countries included in the analysis have developed a comprehensive National Adaptation Strategy and a National Action Plans. Nevertheless, almost all the countries have undertaken adaptation actions across sectors. Although these actions have only partially generated a full commitment towards climate adaptation, they attest an increasing awareness as well as a high involvement of national and local authorities that will boost cooperation among stakeholders to find out innovative solutions to strengthen society and protect the environment.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Aim: Aiming at assessing the state of the Slovenian population health according to the latest available data, and comparing it with health in selected countries, the objective was to analyse the ...burden of disease (BoD) data available in a selected database. Methods: The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation Global Burden of Disease Study (IHME-GBD) database was used. Causes of all three big IHME-GBD groups: A) communicable, maternal/neonatal conditions, and nutritional deficiencies, B) non-communicable diseases, and C) injuries, in total 18 groups of causes, were observed. Overall mortality, Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), Years of Life Lost (YLLs) and Years Lived with Disability (YLDs) (all per 100.000 population), were used as indicators. Percentage of BoD generated by selected cause, and the ratios of rates in 2019 versus rates in 2014 (reference year) in Slovenia, and the ratios of rates in Slovenia versus rates in Western Europe Region countries (WERC) were analysed. Ratios >1.20 or ˂0.83 were considered as important. Results: When considering mortality, the greatest burden was generated by cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms. In maternal/neonatal conditions, an important decrease in overall (0.68) and premature (0.68) mortality, while in nutritional deficiencies an increase in overall mortality (1.27) were observed. An increase in overall mortality was noticed also in neurological disorders (1.21), diabetes (1.21) and skin diseases (1.24). Mortality rates were higher in Slovenia than in WERC in digestive diseases, substance use, unintentional injuries and self-harm. When considering disability, the greatest burden was generated by musculoskeletal and mental disorders, and unintentional injuries. Disability rates were higher in Slovenia than in WERC in maternal/neonatal conditions, and unintentional and transport injuries. Conclusion: In the observed five-year time span, cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms remained at the forefront. However, their burden didn’t change. Causes with burden expressed by disability, musculoskeletal and mental disorders, and unintentional injuries, which has been neglected in the past due to lack of indicators, proved to be an important problem as well. MPHPs in which a lot has to be done to reach rates in WERC, digestive diseases, substance use, and injuries, were identified. Conflict of interest statement The authors declare no conflict of interest
Elites should be regarded and approached as gregarious social entities (groups, networks) rather than as outstanding individuals.The volume aims to explore the elites in East-Central and ...South-Eastern Europe during the long nineteenth century from the perspective of their gregarious tendencies (i.e., groupness), to assess the role of the latter in the elite’s decisions and agenda, and to observe the transformations brought in this regard by the changing social and political landscape.While the gregarious tendencies of the members of the elite were rooted in their shared perspectives, in their mutual interests or in the communion of cultural patterns, it is clear that during the process of group formation, kinship ties played an unassailable part, although they were likely never a causal factor.The volume covers the research on elites from the early 18th century to the interwar period, focussing on the Banat, Bessarabia, Bohemia, Bulgaria, Dalmatia, Hungary, Rumania, Serbia, Slovenia, as well as looking into Austria and Austria-Hungary in total.
An updated distribution of the genus Chersotis Boisduval, 1840 in Croatia, Albania and Bulgaria is presented. A total of seven species have been recorded in Croatia so far, with Chersotis laeta ...leonhardi (Rebel, 1904) being recorded for the first time during this survey. Chersotis laeta achaiana Thurner, 1967 is reported as new for Albania. The record of Chersotis fimbriola (Esper, 1803) is marked as questionable for Croatia and Bulgaria as no exact locality is given nor is the specimen available for inspection for Croatia and the origin of the Bulgarian specimen is a case of doubt. For all other six species from Croatia an update in their distribution in the country is given. Additionally, all the species of the genus Chersotis occurring in Croatia have been barcoded and the results concur to the species identification based on the external and internal characteristics. Three taxa, Chersotis elegans (Eversmann, 1837) and Ch. laeta leonhardi from Croatia and Ch. laeta achaiana Thurner, 1967 from Albania have been DNA barcoded for the first time while for Chersotis laeta macini Rákosy, Stangelmaier & Wieser, 1996 a partial DNA barcode sequence was obtained.
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