Threats from climate change to terrestrial vertebrate hotspots in europe.

We identified hotspots of terrestrial vertebrate species diversity in Europe and adjacent islands. Moreover, we assessed the extent to which by the end of the 21(st) century such hotspots will be exposed to average monthly temperature and precipitation patterns which can be regarded as extreme if compared to the climate experienced during 1950-2000. In particular, we considered the entire European sub-continent plus Turkey and a total of 1149 species of terrestrial vertebrates. For each species, we developed species-specific expert-based distribution models (validated against field data) which we used to calculate species richness maps for mammals, breeding birds, amphibians, and reptiles. Considering four global circulation model outputs and three emission scenarios, we generated an index of risk of exposure to extreme climates, and we used a bivariate local Moran's I to identify the areas with a significant association between hotspots of diversity and high risk of exposure to extreme climates. Our results outline that the Mediterranean basin represents both an important hotspot for biodiversity and especially for threatened species for all taxa. In particular, the Iberian and Italian peninsulas host particularly high species richness as measured over all groups, while the eastern Mediterranean basin is particularly rich in amphibians and reptiles; the islands (both Macaronesian and Mediterranean) host the highest richness of threatened species for all taxa occurs. Our results suggest that the main hotspots of biodiversity for terrestrial vertebrates may be extensively influenced by the climate change projected to occur over the coming decades, especially in the Mediterranean bioregion, posing serious concerns for biodiversity conservation.

Les difficultés de gestion des partenariats public-privé en Europe. Pour une lecture "institutionnelle"

Les partenariats public-privé se développent dans la quasi-totalité des pays de l'OCDE. De nombreux acteurs, publics ou privés, y voient un moyen pour développer de nouvelles infrastructures et prestations publiques à moindre coût et de manière sensiblement plus rapide et plus efficace. Considérés sous l'angle de leur gestion, les PPP s'avèrent finalement bien plus complexes qu'ils ne paraissent d'un premier abord. Basé sur une revue de la littérature européenne portant sur les expériences en cours sur le Continent, l'article vise à faire état de la nature des débats gestionnaires entourant cette nouvelle forme de coordination des activités étatiques en relevant plus spécifiquement les difficultés auxquelles la plupart des PPP sont confrontés, sur la base d'une lecture institutionnelle.

Human babesiosis in Europe

Human babesiosis in Europe came to medical attention in 1957 and until now 19 cases have been reported, most of them due to Babesia divergens. The onset of the disease is characterized by hemoglobinuria, high fever and renal failure ensue rapidly. The patients were generally asplenic and resident in a rural area. Intraerythrocytic pleomorphic parasites (1-3 µm) observed in stained thin blood smears are essential for Genus diagnosis. Parasitemia varyed from 5 to 80% of red blood cells. Massive blood exchange transfusion (2-3 blood volumes) followed by intravenous clindamycine (3-4 times daily) and oral quinine (600 mg base, 3 times daily) were successfully used in the treatment of three recent cases. Splenectomised individuals should be aware for prevention.

Perceptions of Europe in political and economic elites: a geographical compared analysis of Germany, Spain and Poland

Elite perceptions about Europe are a very important point in order to understand the current European integration process, as well as the future perspectives for the continent. This study makes a comparison between the perceptions which political and economical elites in some European countries have about the European Union process and its mechanisms. The main goal is to identify the differences in positions of each type of elites, as well as the variations among three key countries. The database built thanks to the INTUNE (Integrated and United? A quest for Citizenship in an ¨ever closer Europe¨) Project Survey on European Elites and Masses, funded by the Sixth Framework Programme of the EU [Contract CIT 3-CT-2005-513421] have being used. The questionnaire was applied between February and May 2007, in a total of 18 European countries. The national teams got a total of almost 2000 valid responses at European level. In the analysis we have showed some general descriptive statistics about the perception of Europe taking as a reference two dimensions of the INTUNE project: identity (attachment to the national level, the meaning of being a truly national, and the threats from Turkey that EU is facing at this moment) and representation (trust in European and national institutions, preferences for a national or an European army). The results are presented distinguishing between political (national MP’s in low chambers) and economical elites (presidents of corporations, general managers…) and, at the same time, among three countries: Germany as an original member of the European Union; Spain, incorporated in 1986; and a new member, Poland, joining the EU in 2004.

Exploring educational mobility in Europe

This paper is concerned with the investigation of the intergenerational mobility of education in several European countries and its changes across birth cohorts (1940-1980) using a new mobility index that considers the total degree of mobility as the weighted sum of mobility with respect to both parents. Moreover, this mobility index enables the analysis of the role of family characteristics as mediating factors in the statistical association between individual and parental education. We find that Nordic countries display lower levels of educational persistence but that the degree of mobility increases over time only in those countries with low initial levels. Moreover, the results suggest that the degree of mobility with respect to fathers and mothers converges to the same level and that family characteristics account for an important part of the statistical association between parental education and children’s schooling; a particular finding is that the most important elements of family characteristics are the family’s socio-economic status and educational assortative mating of the parents.