Open issues in transcatheter aortic valve implantation. Part 2: procedural issues and outcomes after transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

This article provides an overview on procedure-related issues and uncertainties in outcomes after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). The different access sites and how to select them in an individual patient are discussed. Also, the occurrence and potential predictors of aortic regurgitation (AR) after TAVI are addressed. The different methods to quantify AR are reviewed, and it appears that accurate and reproducible quantification is suboptimal. Complications such as prosthesis-patient mismatch and conduction abnormalities (and need for permanent pacemaker) are discussed, as well as cerebrovascular events, which emphasize the development of optimal anti-coagulative strategies. Finally, recent registries have shown the adoption of TAVI in the real world, but longer follow-up studies are needed to evaluate the outcome (but also prosthesis durability). Additionally, future studies are briefly discussed, which will address the use of TAVI in pure AR and lower-risk patients.

The construct of career success: measurement issues and an empirical example

The aim of the present paper is twofold. We first give an overview of the multi-faceted construct of career success with its “objective” (real attainments) and “subjective” (perceived attainments) components and with the different methodologies measuring them (“subjectivist” vs. “objectivist” approaches). We also discuss the relationship between the different components of career success as revealed in the literature. Our second aim is to show that the interrelationship between the different facets of career success varies with the employment context. We analyze subjective and objective career success measures collected from professionals working either in the private sector, in the public sector, or that are self-employed. Our findings show that objective success and subjective success are more closely related in the private and self-employment sectors than in the public sector. Moreover, the interrelationship between objective and subjective success varies with the specific subjective success measure chosen. It is stronger for an “other-referent” subjective success measure than for a “self-referent” subjective success measure. Conclusions regarding the measurement of career success as well as regarding the relevance of subjective success for studying occupational careers are drawn.

The World Trade Organization - Law, Practice and Policy, 3rd edition

The WTO is one of the most important intergovernmental organizations in the world, yet the way in which it functions as an organization and the scope of its authority and power are still poorly understood. This comprehensively revised new edition of the acclaimed work by an outstanding team of WTO law specialists provides a complete overview of the law and practice of the WTO.

Using human rights for sexual and reproductive health: improving legal and regulatory frameworks

This paper describes the development of a tool that uses human rights concepts and methods to improve relevant laws, regulations and policies related to sexual and reproductive health. This tool aims to improve awareness and understanding of States' human rights obligations. It includes a method for systematically examining the status of vulnerable groups, involving non-health sectors, fostering a genuine process of civil society participation and developing recommendations to address regulatory and policy barriers to sexual and reproductive health with a clear assignment of responsibility. Strong leadership from the ministry of health, with support from the World Health Organization or other international partners, and the serious engagement of all involved in this process can strengthen the links between human rights and sexual and reproductive health, and contribute to national achievement of the highest attainable standard of health.

The structure of the debate on EU integration issues. A comparative analysis of party communication in the EP 2014 elections

The results of Eurosceptic parties in the recent European parliament election provide further evidence that the “permissive consensus” on European integration blurred. This paper focuses on the structure of the debate on EU integration issues. Which EU integration issues and positions do parties put forward? Can the debate on EU integration issues be subsumed in one or several dimensions? Do they reflect national political conflicts such as the left-right and the ‘new politics’/cultural divide? Or do they form one unique or several EU-specific dimensions, e.g. national sovereignty versus integration? In order to address these questions, this paper departs from the assumption that debate on European integration is multidimensional in its nature and therefore entails a multitude of issue areas. In other words, it does not look at how socio-economic and cultural issues are related to European integration but focuses on its components, i.e. particular EU-specific policies such as EU-wide employment, environment, immigration and monetary policy. The paper departs from the cleavage theory on political di-visions and different approaches transferring them to EU politics. Two points should be noted; first, this paper does not compare the debate on European integration issues between the national level and the EU level, but whether domestic divisions are reflected at the EU level. Second, it is not concerned with the general ideo-logical profile of political parties on EU integration issues, but on EU issues that parties communicated through press releases. By doing this, the paper is concerned with the salient EU issues that parties touch upon.

Essays on Inequality and Integration

Inequality and integration have been sociology’s two key paradigms since the classics, associated with the names of Marx and Durkheim and Europe’s current economic crisis has forcefully reinvigorated their joint relevance. Above all, the debt crisis has fueled the wheel of social inequality: cash-starved states are further forced to cut back on public expenditures, to minimize the margin for redistribution and to raise new challenges for the integration policies addressing the emerging disparities. At the same time, global environmental and demographic problems, intertwined with escalating migration pressure, tear at the texture of European and all Western societies, in particular, the unequal impact of climate change and the unequal distribution of population growth make migration and integration paramount public policy issues and a soaring source of social conflict. In principle, the inequalities engendered by these cascading processes are also an opportunity. They increase the diversity of society and can bring about innovation and growth. Our desire and ability for social integration depends, above all, on the ultimate balance between these advantages and disadvantages. The chapters in the volume concentrate on the opportunities as well as the risks associated with these social changes from various angles. They are a handpicked set of outstanding contributions from the Congress of the Swiss Sociological Association that took place at the University of Bern, June 26–28, 2013.