Evaluation of the chemical composition and colour in long-life tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) dehydrated by combined drying methods

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

HIGHLIGHTS OF BIRD CONTROL RESEARCH IN ENGLAND, FRANCE, HOLLAND, AND GERMANY

The purpose of this paper is to present a brief review of the research being conducted in England, France, Germany, and The Netherlands on problems caused by nuisance and depredating birds. Much of the information presented has been obtained through correspondence with collaborators. In the fall of 1962, I discussed depredating bird and bird-airport problems with research workers in these countries, and also attended the meeting of the International Union of Applied Ornithology held in Frankfurt/Main. In November 1963, I attended an international symposium about the bird-airport problem, held in Nice, France. This paper will draw attention to the current research which I think will interest American investigators, but will not report every aspect of the foreign investigations. Details appear in the publications that are listed.

Patients' and healthcare workers' perceptions of a patient safety advisory

To assess patients' and healthcare workers' (hcw) attitudes and experiences with a patient safety advisory, to investigate predictors for patients' safety-related behaviors and determinants for staff support for the advisory.

Prognostic implications of the seventh edition of the international union against cancer classification for patients with gastric cancer: the Western experience of patients treated in a single-center European institution

PURPOSE Validity of the seventh edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer/International Union Against Cancer (AJCC/UICC) staging systems for gastric cancer has been evaluated in several studies, mostly in Asian patient populations. Only few data are available on the prognostic implications of the new classification system on a Western population. Therefore, we investigated its prognostic ability based on a German patient cohort. PATIENTS AND METHODS Data from a single-center cohort of 1,767 consecutive patients surgically treated for gastric cancer were classified according to the seventh edition and were compared using the previous TNM/UICC classification. Kaplan-Meier analyses were performed for all TNM stages and UICC stages in a comparative manner. Additional survival receiver operating characteristic analyses and bootstrap-based goodness-of-fit comparisons via Bayesian information criterion (BIC) were performed to assess and compare prognostic performance of the competing classification systems. RESULTS We identified the UICC pT/pN stages according to the seventh edition of the AJCC/UICC guidelines as well as resection status, age, Lauren histotype, lymph-node ratio, and tumor grade as independent prognostic factors in gastric cancer, which is consistent with data from previous Asian studies. Overall survival rates according to the new edition were significantly different for each individual's pT, pN, and UICC stage. However, BIC analysis revealed that, owing to higher complexity, the new staging system might not significantly alter predictability for overall survival compared with the old system within the analyzed cohort from a statistical point of view. CONCLUSION The seventh edition of the AJCC/UICC classification was found to be valid with distinctive prognosis for each stage. However, the AJCC/UICC classification has become more complex without improving predictability for overall survival in a Western population. Therefore, simplification with better predictability of overall survival of patients with gastric cancer should be considered when revising the seventh edition.

An international assessment of the comprehensibility of material safety data sheets (MSDSs)

Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) are an integral component of occupational hazard communication systems. These documents are used to disseminate hazard information to workers on chemical substances. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the comprehensibility of MSDSs by workers at an international level. ^ A total of 117 employees of a multi-national petrochemical company participated; thirty-nine (39) each in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Overall participation rate of those approached to participate was 82%. These countries were selected as they each utilize one of the three major existing hazard communication systems for fixed workplaces. The systems are comprised of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Hazard Communication Standard in the United States, the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) in Canada, and the compilation of several European Union directives addressing classification, labeling of substances and preparations, and MSDSs in Europe. ^ A pretest posttest randomized study design was used, with the posttest being comparable to an open book test. The results of this research indicated that only about two-thirds of the information on the MSDSs was comprehended by the workers with a significant difference identified among study participants based on country comparisons. This data was fairly consistent with the results of previous MSDS comprehensibility studies conducted in the United States. There was no significant difference in the comprehension level among study participants when taking into account the international hazard communication standard that the MSDS complied with. Marginally, age, education level and experience level did not have a significant impact on the comprehension level. ^ Participants did find MSDSs to be satisfactory in providing the information needed to protect them regardless of their views on the readability and formatting of MSDSs. The health-related information was the least comprehended as less than half of it was comprehended on the basis of the responses. The findings from this research suggest that there is much work needed yet to make MSDSs more comprehensible on a global basis, particularly regarding health-related information. ^

International labor migration in Vietnam and the impact of receiving countries' policies

Labor export has been part of Vietnam’s socio-economic development strategy since the beginning of the doi moi era. Recent years, Vietnam has sent about 80,000 workers abroad per year. Vietnam has become a major source country of unskilled foreign workers for high-income East Asian countries. However, in these receiving countries, the desertion rate among Vietnamese workers is quite high, compared with that for workers from other countries. This paper examines the impact of Korean and Japanese policies for receiving foreign workers applied to and implemented in Vietnam, as well as the impact of Vietnamese labor sending system, on the problem of runaway workers.

The steel industry in the European Union: Composition and drivers of energy prices and costs. CEPS Special Report No. 80, 17 December 2013

This report assesses the energy costs borne by the steel industry in the EU between 2010 and 2012, and compares the energy costs, including both the energy components and other regulatory costs, to production costs, turnover and margins of steel-makers. The estimates of energy costs are based on primary sources, i.e. is on information provided by steel-makers through a written questionnaire. This information was validated by the research team by checking annual energy bills, when available, and other public sources. In this respect, this exercise represents a unique fact-based investigation into the costs of energy for steel-makers in Europe, whereas most of the information currently available in the public domain is based on secondary or statistical information. In 2012, the median EU steel plant pays about €33/MWh for gas, up from €26/MWh in 2010. As for electricity, in 2012 the EU median plant pays €62/MWh, up from €59/MWh in 2010. The report also includes a comparison with the prices of energy carriers paid by producers based in the US.

A Contribution to The Study of Global Competition for Talent: the determinants of student mobility and its consequences for the internationalization of the labor market. Bruges European Economic Policy (BEEP) Briefing 27/2013

In a globalized economy the skills of the workforce are a key determinant of the competitiveness of a country. One of the goals of Higher Education is precisely to develop the students’ skills in order to allow them to match the increasing demand for highly qualified workers while it is simultaneously the best period of life to acquire multicultural skills. For this reason, the European Union has fostered student mobility through several programs: the Erasmus program and the Bologna process are the best known among them. Although student mobility is a growing phenomenon, publications and research on the subject remain relatively scarce. This paper aims to contribute to that literature through an empirical analysis which exploits a questionnaire submitted to university alumni and focuses on two research questions: what drives studies abroad and what drives expatriation of graduates. Our empirical analysis first shows that exposure to international experiences before entering tertiary education and family background are the main factors influencing student mobility. A second conclusion is that studying abroad increases the international mobility on the labor market. Both confirm previous studies. Moreover, by making a distinction between participating in the Erasmus program and in other exchange programs or internships abroad, we found that the Erasmus program and the other programs or internships have an equivalent influence on the international mobility on the labor market: they increase by 9 to 12.5 percentage points a student’s chance to be mobile on the international labor market. This result shows the legitimacy of the Erasmus program, but it also reveals the important impact of other forms of experience abroad. It provides support for policy makers to encourage mobility programs, in order to foster integration of the European labor market.

European Monetary Union: between the stakeholder and the stockholder models of capitalism. CES Germany & Europe Working Papers, No. 01.3, 2001

From the mid-1980s on a new attitude towards self-determination appeared in Western European integration. With the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 and, later, with theAmsterdam Treaty of 1997 the member countries of the European Community manifested their determination to be active players in the new international order. Accepting and instituting the single market and monetary union constituted, however, a challenge of compatibility between the traditional model of welfare European capitalism and the impositions coming from globalization under the neo-liberal model of Anglo-Saxon capitalism. This issue is examined here under two perspectives. The first reviews the implications which globalization has had on the European model of capitalism and the second the complications for monetary management as Europe moves from a nationally regulated to a union regulated financial structure.

Program and regulations of the Fifth International Conference of American States, to assemble at Santiago, Chile, March 25, 1923;

Published also in Spanish.

International Conference on the Physics of X-Ray Spectra program and extended abstracts.

Mode of access: Internet.

Treaties and conventions signed at the Sixth International Conference of American States, Habana, Cuba, January 16 - February 20, 1928.

Mode of access: Internet.

History of the Typographical union, its beginnings, progress and development, its beneficial and educational features together with a chapter on the early organization of printers.

Plate "Philadelphia typographical society," facing pl 56, accompanied by leaf with descriptive letterpress.

In the matter of United Steelworkers of America-CIO and various steel and iron ore companies : case no. D-18-C, appendix to a guaranteed wage plan for the workers in the steel industry /

"Union exhibit no. 11A"--Cover.

Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union : hearings before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, Ninety-seventh Congress, second session ....

Hearings held June 22, 1982-