The Franco-German motor before the eastern enlargement: the causes of its decline

The Franco-German axis has been a transcendent force behind the European integration ever since the early years of the EEC. Nevertheless, since the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, the perception of a progressive distancing between France and Germany as far as the EU politics is concerned, has increased. There has not been a definitive break in Franco-German relations. However, the influence of the Franco-German axis in the EU has been reduced in the 90s. Finally, in the Nice IGC (December 2000), the misunderstandings of these two “big” states about their weight in the Council, almost caused the failure to conclude the Treaty of Nice, clearing the way for the Eastern enlargement. The traditional balance between France and Germany has been eroded. Germany has consolidated its role of leadership in the EU, and above all towards the candidate countries. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the fifth enlargement as one of the causes of the decline of the Franco-German axis as the motor of the process of European integration.

The scrutiny of the principle of subsidiarity by autonomous regional parliaments with particular reference to the participation of the Parliament of Catalonia in the early warning system

The purpose of this article is to offer a practical approach to the new European dimension for regional parliaments signified by the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. The parliamentary scrutiny of subsidiarity by way of the early warning system has assigned a new mission to legislative assemblies with the aim of reinforcing the intervention of regions in the drafting of policies by Union institutions. In the Spanish case, the institutionalisation of this mechanism came about with Act nº 24/2009, which attributes to the Joint Committee for the European Union, in the name of the Cortes Generales [the Spanish Parliament], the function of receiving the proposals for legislative acts by the EU and transferring them to the regional parliaments in order for the latter to issue, in a brief period of four weeks, a report on compliance with the principle of subsidiarity. The majority of regional parliaments have also carried out normative reforms to regulate the procedure of participation in the early warning system.

Evolution and recent developments of Spanish wine sector, 1950-2008

Since the 1980s the traditional European winegrowing regions have been carrying out deep changes in response to the onslaught of winegrowers in the New World. In recent years Spanish regions have been foremost in Europe in terms of change in areas turned over to wine production and distribution. This study analyses the main sequences of changes the Spanish wine industry has undergone: the evolution of consumption through the changes in consumer drinking habits; the leading role of exports in international markets; the spread of different types of marketing and business organization; the distribution in large and small sellers, and the main factors that have been involved in the chain of production and in the modernization of the wineries.

Use of antimicrobial biodegradable packaging to control Listeria monocytogenes during storage of cooked ham

The antimicrobial effect against L. monocytogenes of biodegradable films (alginate, zein and polyvinyl alcohol) containing enterocins was investigated. Survival of the pathogen was studied by means of challenge tests performed at 6 °C during 8 and 29 days, for air-packed and vacuum-packed sliced cooked ham, respectively. Air packaging was tested with two concentrations of enterocins (200 and 2000 AU/cm2). Control air-packed cooked ham showed an increase of L. monocytogenes from 104 to 107 CFU/g after 8 days. By contrast, packaging with antimicrobial films effectively slowed down the pathogen's growth, leading to final counts lower than in control lots. Air-packaging with alginate films containing 2000 AU/cm2 of enterocins effectively controlled L. monocytogenes for 8 days. An increase of only 1 log unit was observed in zein and polyvinyl alcohol lots at the same enterocin concentration. Vacuum packaging with films containing enterocins (2000 AU/cm2) also delayed the growth of the pathogen. No increase from inoculated levels was observed during 15 days in antimicrobial alginate films. After 29 days of storage, the lowest counts were obtained in samples packed with zein and alginate films containing enterocins, as well as with zein control films. The most effective treatment for controlling L. monocytogenes during 6 °C storage was vacuum-packaging of sliced cooked ham with alginate films containing 2000 AU/cm2 of enterocins. From the results obtained it can concluded that antimicrobial packaging can improve the safety of sliced cooked ham by delaying and reducing the growth of L. monocytogenes.

Quasi-Nonparametric Blind Inversion of Wiener Systems

An e cient procedure for the blind inversion of a nonlinear Wiener system is proposed. We proved that the problem can be expressed as a problem of blind source separation in nonlinear mixtures, for which a solution has been recently proposed. Based on a quasi-nonparametric relative gradient descent, the proposed algorithm can perform e ciently even in the presence of hard distortions.

Safety of intramuscular influenza vaccine in patients receiving oral anticoagulation therapy: a single blinded multi-centre randomized controlled clinical trial

Influenza vaccines are recommended for administration by the intramuscular route. However, many physicians use the subcutaneous route for patients receiving an oral anticoagulant because this route is thought to induce fewer hemorrhagic side effects. Our aim is to assess the safety of intramuscular administration of influenza vaccine in patients on oral anticoagulation therapy. Methods: Design: Randomised, controlled, single blinded, multi-centre clinical trial. Setting: 4 primary care practices in Barcelona, Spain. Participants: 229 patients on oral anticoagulation therapy eligible for influenza vaccine during the 20032004 season. Interventions: intramuscular administration of influença vaccine in the experimental group (129 patients) compared to subcutaneous administration in the control group (100 patients). Primary outcome: change in the circumference of the arm at the site of injection at 24 hours. Secondary outcomes: appearance of local reactions and pain at 24 hours and at 10 days; change in INR (International Normalized Ratio) at 24 hours and at 10 days. Analysis was by intention to treat using the 95% confidence intervals of the proportions or mean differences. Results: Baseline variables in the two groups were similar. No major side effects or major haemorrhage during the follow-up period were reported. No significant differences were observed in the primary outcome between the two groups. The appearance of local adverse reactions was more frequent in the subcutaneous administration group (37,4% vs. 17,4%, 95% confidence interval of the difference 8,2% to 31,8%). Conclusion: This study shows that the intramuscular administration route of influenza vaccine in patients on anticoagulant therapy does not have more side effects than the subcutaneous administration route

Prevalence of smoking among dentists in Catalonia - Spain (2006). Literature review of smoking cessation practices in the dental office

Objective: The objective of this study was to collect data on the prevalence of smokers among Catalonian dentists (by age and sex) and compare them with existing data on the general population, doctors, registered nurses and pharmacists. The overall prevalence of smokers in Catalonia (2006) was 34.5% of men and 24.3% of women. Data available on the prevalence of smoking among doctors (26.3% men and 22.1% women), pharmacists (19.8% men and 20.6% women) and registered nurses (34.1% men and 35.3% women) relates to the year 2002. Study design: In September 2006, Catalonian dentists (n=3,799) were asked about their habits in relation to tobacco in a self-administered questionnaire, on use and opinions with respect to dental amalgam. Five hundred and seventynine questionnaires were received, of which 538 answered the question on smoking (14.2% of the sample universe). Results: The prevalence of smokers among dentists is lower (24.9% of men and 18.4% of women) than in the general population and other healthcare professionals. In dentists in the age group between 25 and 34 years, the prevalence was 26.1% in men and 14.9% in women, while the prevalence in this age group in the general population was 43.6% and 37.1%, respectively. Conclusion: Catalonian dentists have a much lower prevalence of tobacco use than the general population and lower even than other healthcare professionals. Given that non-smoking healthcare professionals have better awareness for providing recommendations for smoking prevention and cessation, Catalonian dentists may be a valid group for performing this task for which there is scientific evidence.

Calidad de vida y cáncer de próstata: un programa progresivo de fuerza-resistencia = Quality of life and prostate cancer: a progressive resistance strength program

This article presents the design and implementation of a progressive resistance strength program adapted to prostate cancer. The initial model corresponds to the guide of the American College Sports Medicine Position Stand (ACSM, 2009). This program includes the most habitual symptoms related to the illness and its treatments. The study design is quasi-experimental. The sample is 33 subjects in treatment phase. Study variables are tumour classification TNM, anthropometric measures, resistance strength, hypertension, fatigue, incontinence, pain and quality of life. After 24 weeks a significant improvement on resistance strength capacity is observed. This result is more consistent in lower extremities. Also improves hypertension, urinary incontinence, pain and quality of life. As conclusion, the improvement of the quality of life is mediated by the functional and physical capacity of the ill person