Universal Policy Research Articles

Financial inclusion and the contested infrastructures of cash transfer payments in South Africa

Across much of the South, digital technologies are increasingly central to the expansion of state social protection systems. Supported by major development agencies, many of these distributive technologies are developed and implemented by financial technology companies with the specific aim of accelerating financial inclusion. While researchers have documented the influence of these financial actors and logics over social policy, we know less about how these interventions are transforming the experience of receiving social protection. Based on qualitative and observational research with social grant recipients in South Africa, this research demonstrates how digital and financial technologies produce confusion, informational opacities and new forms of exclusion among grant recipients. It suggests that the increasingly prominent role of financial technologies in the delivery of social protection undermines state capacity and further entrenches the influence of neoliberal logics over social policy. Finally, the article suggests that these technologies may be transforming the nature of social citizenship in South Africa, undermining efforts to advance universal and redistributive social protection policies.

Silent Elements of Policy Change: Inflation and Uprating Mechanisms in the Low Countries

Policy responses to the inflation crisis in Belgium and the Netherlands show great similarities but also significant differences. In both countries responses were quick and substantial. Measures covered prices more than household incomes while universal, not earmarked measures exceeded selective interventions. However, there were also major differences between the two countries. Because Belgium, unlike the Netherlands, could fall back on the mechanism of automatic indexation of wages and social benefits; it relied more on existing universal policy instruments while in the Netherlands more targeted ad hoc measures were taken which also allowed for innovation in policy making. These different policy paths have their origins in the 1980s when policy models began to diverge and different legacies emerged.

Universal Free School Meals Policy and Childhood Obesity.

The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), a universal free school meals policy, increases school meal participation by allowing schools in low-income areas to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students; however, its impact on obesity remains uncertain. The objective of this study is to estimate the association of CEP with child obesity. School obesity prevalence was calculated using BMI measurements collected annually between 2013 and 2019 from students in California public schools in grades 5, 7, and 9. To estimate the association of CEP with obesity, we used a difference-in-differences approach for staggered policy adoption with an outcome regression model conditional on covariates, weighted by student population size. The analysis included 3531 CEP-eligible schools using school-level obesity prevalence calculated from 3 546 803 BMI measurements. At baseline, on average, 72% of students identified as Hispanic, 11% identified as white, 7% identified as Black, and 80% were eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Baseline obesity prevalence was 25%. Schools that participated in CEP were associated with a 0.60-percentage-point net decrease in obesity prevalence after policy adoption (95% confidence interval: -1.07 to -0.14 percentage points, P = .01) compared with eligible, nonparticipating schools, corresponding with a 2.4% relative reduction, given baseline prevalence. Meals served increased during this period in CEP-participating schools only. In a balanced sample of California schools, CEP participation was associated with a modest net decrease in obesity prevalence compared with eligible, nonparticipating schools. These findings add to the growing literature revealing potential benefits of universal free school meals for children's well-being.

Assessment of self-medication with analgesics among rural community of South India

World Health Organization defines self-medication (SM) as the self-administration of a medication in the absence of a current prescription and/or without consulting a healthcare professional. Analgesics are the most commonly abused drug as a self-medication for relieving pain of any kind among the people. Our aim was to assess the prevalence of self- medication with analgesics and find the social factors associated among the rural people in Southern India. A community based cross sectional study using cluster sampling technique, four villages (clusters) were randomly selected in a rural District and among 460 respondents belonging to age group 18 to 60 years were interviewed. The mean age in years was 48.4 ± 15.5. About 182(39.6%) were illiterates and many respondents belonged to Agricultural laborers 350(76.1). Self-medication with analgesics is practiced by 24.8% of the respondents. Reason for self-medication was to reduce the out-of-pocket expenditure (72.4%). About 65.8% respondents purchased analgesics over the counter from pharmacy. The prevalence of self‑medication with analgesics was relatively high which is a threat for the community and can lead to multi organ damage to among rural people. Universal policy on drug selling over the pharmacy counter should be strictly implemented.

Does Education Predict Women’s Use of Unsustainable Biomass Cooking Technologies? Evidence from a Natural Experiment

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;">In developing countries, the dependence on traditional biomass for domestic energy consumption is one of the major causes of deforestation and environmental poverty. This paper investigates the impact of women’s education on the probability of using Unsustainable Biomass Cooking Technologies (UBCT) as the household main fuel of cooking instead of clean energy. Combining data from four rounds of Nigeria DHS conducted between 2003 and 2018, we take advantage of a natural experiment, the implementation of Uni-versal Primary Education policies in 1970, to obtain an exogenous variation in women’s education levels. Using an instrumental variable approach to control for the endogeneity issues, we find that women with higher levels of education are less likely to use UBCT as their primary source of cooking. This result implies that environmental policies in developing countries should rely not only on income transfers policies as suggested in the literature but also on increasing women's human capital to reduce women’s dependence on unsustainable biomass cooking practices.</span></p>

Cost-effectiveness of screening for chronic kidney disease using a cumulative eGFR-based statistic.

Routine screening for chronic kidney disease (CKD) could enable timely interventions to slow down disease progression, but currently there are no clinical guidelines for screening. We aim to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of screening for CKD using a novel analytical tool based on a cumulative sum statistic of estimated glomerular filtration rate (CUSUMGFR). We developed a microsimulation model that captured CKD disease progression, major complications, patients' awareness, and treatment adherence for a nationally representative synthetic cohort of age ≥ 30 years in the United States. In addition to the status quo with no screening, we considered four CUSUMGFR-based universal screening policies by frequency (annual or biennial) and starting age (30 or 60 years), and two targeted annual screening policies for patients with hypertension and diabetes, respectively. For each policy, we evaluated the total discounted disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and direct health costs over a lifetime horizon and estimated the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). We further performed one-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses to assess the impact of parameter uncertainty. Compared with the status quo, all the CUSUMGFR-based screening policies were cost-effective under the willingness-to-pay (WTP) range of $50,000 -$100,000, with the estimated incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) ranging from $15,614/DALYs averted to $54,373/DALYs averted. Universal annual screening with starting age of 30 was the non-dominated policy on the cost-effectiveness frontier under the WTP of approximately $25,000. Adding more recent treatment option of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors to the treatment regimen was found to be cost-saving. Among the most influential model parameters, variation in the CKD progression rate, adherence, and testing cost resulted in the highest variability in model outcomes. CUSUMGFR-based screening policies for CKD are highly cost-effective in identifying patients at risk of end stage kidney disease in early stages of CKD. Given its simple requirement of a basic blood test, the CUSUMGFR-based screening can be easily incorporated into clinical workflow for disease monitoring and prevention.

When Do Trade Unions Support Universal Demands? Organizational Context and Trade Union Strategies in the US and UK at the Turn of the 20th Century

AbstractWhen do labor movements come to support universal welfare policies? This article examines this question through a comparative account of the British and American labor movements at the turn of the twentieth century. Drawing on newspaper and meeting records from the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE), the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants (ASRS), the Cigarmakers International Union (CMIU), and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen (BLF) from the mid-nineteenth century to World War I, it considers why, given a common tradition of exclusive benefits, the two movements diverged on the question of universal state health and pension schemes at the turn of the century—with the British labor movement abandoning its voluntarist orientation and the AFL preserving it.Complementing existing sociological accounts that emphasize state and party structure, sectoral composition, pace and quality of industrial change, and the demographic makeup of labor movements, this article builds on approaches from the sociology of organizations in centering the importance of organizational arenas in shaping trade union strategies and aims. In particular, it investigates the role of friendly and fraternal societies in structuring trade union interests over this period. The article demonstrates how changes within the friendly and fraternal society movement shaped the contextual significance and strategic value of benefit provision in each trade union over time. In doing so, it opens the way for a deeper reflection on the importance of organizational reasoning in shaping trade union organizing and the trajectory of welfare institutions.

Research integrity and academic medicine: the pressure to publish and research misconduct.

This narrative review article explores research integrity and the implications of scholarly work in medical education. The paper describes how the current landscape of medical education emphasizes research and scholarly activity for medical students, resident physicians, and faculty physician educators. There is a gap in the existing literature that fully explores research integrity, the challenges surrounding the significant pressure to perform scholarly activity, and the potential for ethical lapses by those involved in medical education. The objectives of this review article are to provide a background on authorship and publication safeguards, outline common types of research misconduct, describe the implications of publication in medical education, discuss the consequences of ethical breaches, and outline possible solutions to promote research integrity in academic medicine. To complete this narrative review, the authors explored the current literature utilizing multiple databases beginning in June of 2021, and they completed the literature review in January of 2023. To capture the wide scope of the review, numerous searches were performed. A number of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms were utilized to identify relevant articles. The MeSH terms included "scientific misconduct," "research misconduct," "authorship," "plagiarism," "biomedical research/ethics," "faculty, medical," "fellowships and scholarships," and "internship and residency." Additional references were accessed to include medical school and residency accreditation standards, residency match statistics, regulatory guidelines, and standard definitions. Within the realm of academic medicine, research misconduct and misrepresentation continue to occur without clear solutions. There is a wide range of severity in breaches of research integrity, ranging from minor infractions to fraud. Throughout the medical education system in the United States, there is pressure to publish research and scholarly work. Higher rates of publications are associated with a successful residency match for students and academic promotion for faculty physicians. For those who participate in research misconduct, there is a multitude of potential adverse consequences. Potential solutions to ensure research integrity exist but are not without barriers to implementation. Pressure in the world of academic medicine to publish contributes to the potential for research misconduct and authorship misrepresentation. Lapses in research integrity can result in a wide range of potentially adverse consequences for the offender, their institution, the scientific community, and the public. If adopted, universal research integrity policies and procedures could make major strides in eliminating research misconduct in the realm of academic medicine.

Herding behaviour and sentiment: evidence from emerging markets

PurposeBased on the theoretical framework, this paper analyzes the sentiment-herding relationship in emerging stock markets (ESMs). First, it aims to examine the effect of investor sentiment on herding. Second, it seeks the direction of causality between sentiment and herding time series.Design/methodology/approachThe present study applies the Exponential Generalized Auto_Regressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (EGARCH) model to capture the volatility clustering of herding on the financial market and to investigate the role of the investor sentiment on herding behaviour. Then the vector autoregression (VAR) estimation uses the Granger causality test to determine the direction of causality between the investor sentiment and herding. This study uses a sample consisting of stocks listed on the Shanghai Composite index (SSE) (348 stocks), the Jakarta composite index (JKSE) (118 stocks), the Mexico IPC index (14 stocks), the Russian Trading System index (RTS) (12 stocks), the Warsaw stock exchange General index (WGI) (106 stocks) and the FTSE/JSE Africa all-share index (76 stocks). The sample includes 5,020 daily observations from February 1, 2002, to March 31, 2021.FindingsThe research findings show that the sentiment has a significant negative impact on the herding behaviour pointing out that the higher the investor sentiment, the lower the herding. However, the results of the present study indicate that a higher investor sentiment conducts a higher herding behaviour during market downturns. Then the outcomes suggest that during the crisis period, the direction is one-way, from the investor sentiment to the herding behaviour.Practical implicationsThe findings may have implications for universal policies of financial regulators in EMs. We have found evidence that the Emerging investor sentiment contributes to the investor herding behaviour. Therefore, the irrational investor herding behaviour can increase the stock market volatility, and in extreme cases, it may lead to bubbles and crashes. Market regulators could implement mechanisms that can supervise the investor sentiment and predict the investor herding behaviour, so they make policies helping stabilise stock markets.Originality/valueThe originality of this paper lies in investigate the sentiment-herding relationship during the Surprime crisis and the Covid-19 epidemic in the EMs.

Global approaches to tackling antimicrobial resistance: a comprehensive analysis of water, sanitation and hygiene policies

BackgroundUnsafe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) contributes to a high burden of disease and exacerbates factors that promote the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Enforceable policies are foundational to curbing...

GENERATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN WORK PREFERENCES IN THE CONTEXT OF THE LABOR MARKET: SLOVAKIAN CASE

The study examines the differences in the work preferences of generations X, Y and Z. Its main goal is to identify the preferences of individual generations in the context of integration into the labor market, based on a questionnaire. To achieve the stated goal, we conducted a questionnaire, the results were verified through a chi-squared test, and last but not least, a comparison between all generations mentioned was also performed. The results indicate that significant differences can be observed among the examined generations in aspects such as the use of digital media in the form of social media for job searching, flexible forms of employment, career development, diversity in the workplace, and also loyalty to the employer. Simultaneously, it was found that generation Z has taken a dominant position in all the areas examined. They are the ones who use social media to the greatest extent for the above-mentioned purposes, among all generations they have the highest preference for flexible forms of employment, the area of career development is also the most important for them, they value diversity in the workplace compared to older generations much more, but they are also the least loyal employees among the generations in question. We see improvements in making working conditions more attractive depending on the generations. A universal policy of motivation or benefits is not sufficient, and a proactive approach by employers in the form of a more personalized approach is needed. Such an approach can have an impact on higher satisfaction and also employee loyalty.

Multi-Task Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning With Interaction and Task Representations.

Multi-task multi-agent reinforcement learning (MT-MARL) is capable of leveraging useful knowledge across multiple related tasks to improve performance on any single task. While recent studies have tentatively achieved this by learning independent policies on a shared representation space, we pinpoint that further advancements can be realized by explicitly characterizing agent interactions within these multi-agent tasks and identifying task relations for selective reuse. To this end, this article proposes Representing Interactions and Tasks (RIT), a novel MT-MARL algorithm that characterizes both intra-task agent interactions and inter-task task relations. Specifically, for characterizing agent interactions, RIT presents the interactive value decomposition to explicitly take the dependency among agents into policy learning. Theoretical analysis demonstrates that the learned utility value of each agent approximates its Shapley value, thus representing agent interactions. Moreover, we learn task representations based on per-agent local trajectories, which assess task similarities and accordingly identify task relations. As a result, RIT facilitates the effective transfer of interaction knowledge across similar multi-agent tasks. Structurally, RIT develops universal policy structure for scalable multi-task policy learning. We evaluate RIT against multiple state-of-the-art baselines in various cooperative tasks, and its significant performance under both multi-task and zero-shot settings demonstrates its effectiveness.

Be SMART: Promoting goal setting with students at-risk of early school leaving through a mentoring program

Mentoring programs are a very popular tool in educational contexts. Over the years, many schools have been using mentoring programs to improve academic adjustment and counter the disengagement of students at risk of early school leaving. Since 2016, the Portuguese Ministry of Education has implemented a universal educational policy focused on the implementation of mentoring sessions in public schools. This policy targets students older than 12 years old with multiple school retentions and diverse characteristics likely to place them at risk of early dropout. In the context of this policy, a school-based mentoring program to promote SMART goal-setting skills through the training of self-regulation was developed to be implemented with elementary and middle school students at-risk of early dropout. The 20-session program was implemented over two school terms. Throughout the program, we conducted a multiple case study to examine how students’ goals and SMART goal-setting processes may change after their enrollment in the mentoring program. Students’ goals were collected pre- and post-program through the fulfillment of life map diagrams. Post-program overall data indicated that most students set more academic and fewer non-academic goals. However, a granular analysis showed that a group of older students (17 years old) did not set any academic goal in both pre- or post-program moments; furthermore, only younger students (aged between 12 and 16 years old) integrated SMART characteristics into their academic goals. Limitations and future research directions, as well as implications for practice, are provided.

How individual perceptions of transportation systems influence mode choice for mobility-challenged people: A case study in Dhaka using an integrated choice and latent variable model

This study examines how mobility-challenged persons (MCPs) navigate the limitations of transportation systems, using an integrated choice and latent variable (ICLV) model. Building on the experience of MCPs in a South Asian megacity context, that of Dhaka, Bangladesh, the empirical strategy accounts for perceptions of mode-specific challenges, which arguably vary by mobility impairment. These perceptions are posited as latent variables. Drawing on survey data collected from 400 MCPs living in Dhaka, the latent variables were constructed via a factor analysis of 18 statements about the experienced severity (ranked on a scale from 1 to 5) of mode-specific challenges. Holding socio-demographic and travel-related factors constant, we find that perceptions of mode-specific challenges significantly influence mode choices – while the degree of impairment alone, and related mobility aid needed, do not. Perceived limitations of the walking infrastructure shift MCPs' travel demand towards the bus, whereas bus fare-related issues encourage the use of non-motorized and powered three-wheelers. We recommend that mode choice models include latent variables related to MCPs’ perceptions of various modes to more accurately inform universal access policies.

Principles of legal policy in the field of domestic violence

The article analyzes the essence of the principles of legal policy in the field of prevention and countermeasures against domestic violence and distinguishes their groups.
 It is posited that the principles of legal policy in the field of domestic violence are the main normative principles and strategies that determine approaches to the creation, implementation and improvement of legal and political instruments for the prevention and counteraction of violence that occurs in the family, family environment, within the limits of the place of residence or between other persons living together as a family.
 It is indicated that the study of the principles of legal policy allows for the development of effective strategies for preventing and countering this phenomenon, in particular, the development of basic principles and norms that should be the basis of legal regulation in the field of domestic violence, the rights and obligations of all parties, a system for detecting illegal phenomena, and as well as victim protection mechanisms. General and special groups of principles are distinguished.
 The general principles reflect the universal policy of countering manifestations of any violence or aggression against persons in a democratic state, in particular the rule of law; the principle of inevitability of punishment; the principle of prevention and prevention of violence; the principle of effective response of law enforcement agencies.
 Special principles include the following: the principle of zero tolerance for domestic violence, which consists in the inadmissibility of any form of violence, ensures the categorical non­admission of any manifestations of aggression, physical, psychological or economic pressure on family m.embers and persons equated to them; the principle of forming a gender-equal society, since the victims of violence are usually women and girls; the principle of systemic interaction of special bodies and institutions; the principle of involving civil society in preventing and countering domestic violence, in particular in the form of public condemnation; the principle of recognizing the social danger of domestic violence; the principle of a balanced approach in protecting the privacy and security of the family space; the principle of cultural sensitivity

Financial stress, health and malnourishment among older adults in India

As India’s elderly population grows rapidly, there is a demand for robust policy tools for geriatric health management. This study focuses on unveiling the impact of financial stress and insecurity in diverse economic sectors on adult malnutrition in India. Further, we explore the connections of adult malnourishment with mental and physical health outcomes. Analysis has been done using data of 59,764 respondents aged 45 years and above from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI- Wave I) (2017-19). A modified Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) has been used to assess the risk of adult malnutrition. It categorizes malnutrition into Low Risk, High Risk Group 1 (HRG1-undernourished), and High Risk Group 2 (HRG2-over-nourished). Approximately 26% of adults were classified in HRG1, characterized by low body mass index, recent hospital admissions, and affiliation with food-insecure households. Around 25% adults belonged to HRG2 characterized by high body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio. The relative risk ratios from the multinomial logit generalized structural equation model indicate that the risk of being in HRG1 was 20–40% higher among respondents not presently working or receiving pension benefits, as well as those involved in agricultural work. The risk of being in HRG2 doubles if the respondent was diagnosed with some chronic disease during the last 12 months. A higher composite cognition score reduces the risk of being in HRG1 by 4%, while it increases the risk of being in HRG2 by 3%. Additionally, experiencing episodic depression raises the risk of being in HRG1 by 10%. Financial insecurity, particularly in the informal and agricultural sectors, coupled with poor mental health, hinders positive nutritional outcomes. Extending universal pro-poor policies to fortify food security in resource poor households and integrating mental health variables in nutrition policies can be beneficial to address adult malnourishment in India.

Awareness on universal basic education policy and out of school children phenomenon in Nigeria

Basic education policy in Nigeria is free, universal and compulsory for the first nine years of schooling. The policy envisaged a drastic reduction in the reluctance of parents/guardians towards basic education in parts of Nigeria where the pursuit of qur’anic education remained predominant. So far, the free education programme had yielded less than desirable results as the number of Out of School Children (OOSC) remain largely and increasingly unacceptable, thus necessitating a study that investigated stakeholders’ perspectives on the extent to which awareness and the participation in schooling amongst school age children has been achieved. Hence, the level of awareness and how stakeholders’ perspectives may be impacting on universal basic education policy implementation vis-à-vis out of school children phenomenon in Nigeria were examined. In fulfilling the objective of the study, the respondents’ perspectives were obtained through a multi-stage sampling technique. The selection of the state was purpose driven; hence purposive sampling of Kano State, and within Kano metropolis, North-western Nigeria, all the four Local government within the metropolis namely: Taurani, Fegge, Nasarawa and Kano Municipal Council were Local Education Authorities -LEAs were purposively selected. Further, 30 facilitators of qur’anic schools who were selected from each of the 4 LEAs in Kano metropolis amounting to 120 facilitators (respondents) that were sampled, and a structured questionnaire was administered to them. Findings revealed a high level of awareness of stakeholders on the consequences of non-schooling. However, it was inferred that the aged facilitators of the qur’anic schools could affect the effort and process of integrating basic education programmes into the qur’anic schools thus exacerbating the exclusion of children from the formal education worsening OOSC phenomenon. Recommendations were made as follows: that qur’anic school, class-size, class-management and facilitations processes should be standardized, to enhance curriculum integration and inclusiveness. Moreover, enlightenment of stakeholders be intensified

How Free Market Logic Fails in Schooling—And What It Means for the Role of Government

Market-based policies, especially school vouchers, are expanding rapidly and shifting students out of traditional public schools. This article broadens, deepens, and updates prior critiques of the free market logic in five ways. First, although prior articles have pointed to some of the conditions necessary for efficient market functioning, I provide a more comprehensive list. Second, with an up-to-date literature review, I show that all of these conditions fail to hold to an unusual extent in schooling relative to other markets. Third, because of these failures, I argue that the most potent critique of the free market approach to schooling comes from the intellectual home of markets—economics. Fourth, I show that the issues leading to inefficiency are the same ones leading to inequity. Fifth, I argue that the analysis points to specific roles for government that go well beyond those included in new universal school voucher policies but are also narrower than the roles of government encompassed in traditional public education. For these reasons, the current policy direction is off track and apparently inconsistent with the main criteria on which we evaluate education policy and even with the values that voucher advocates profess.

Microfinance and Poverty Reduction in Assam: Uncovering the Nexus between Access to Credit and Household Well-being

This study investigates the impact of microcredit access on income and multidimensional poverty in rural Assam, India. Employing a quasi-experimental design and collecting primary data, the study utilises the probit model for empirical analysis. The findings indicate that equivalence factors influence individual welfare levels. Moreover, households receiving microcredit from semiformal and informal sources exhibit a higher incidence of poverty. Informal borrowers experience a more significant poverty gap compared to semiformal borrowers. However, the study does not find statistically significant evidence to confirm a poverty impact from pooled and formal credit sources. The prevalence of income and multidimensional poverty among semiformal and informal borrowers suggests that these individuals rely on borrowing to finance their children’s education and medical expenses. This points to a failure of the government’s universal education and health policies to uplift vulnerable segments of society. The study recommends providing credit facilities exclusively for productive economic activities to rural residents, accompanied by adequate market linkages.

A passive continuous flow pasteurisation process designed for solar application. Part I: Indoor experiments for thermal characterization and bacteria inactivation

Within the framework of the WHO's universal sanitation policy, water disinfection processes with low manufacturing and maintenance costs must be developed. This is the case with solar pasteurisation, the effectiveness of which, at 50–70 °C, has been already demonstrated in the literature. To be fully acceptable, the process must be appropriately energy efficient and be able to adapt to natural fluctuations in solar radiation. An experimental indoor test platform under controlled conditions, with thermal powers supplied similar to those of a future solar application with a standard thermal panel, was designed. Experimental results highlighted the specific thermal energy consumption (SECtherm), which is highly dependent on the effectiveness of a deliberately oversized heat recovery exchanger. The operation under both stationary and dynamic regimes underscored the role of the thermostatic valve which autonomously calibrated the flow of the fluid according to the injected available power. For the temperature range sufficient to inactivate microorganisms [50–70 °C], the specific thermal energy consumption reached values between 3.5 and 6 kWhtherm.m−3. The bacterial indicators, Escherichia coli and Enteroccocus, currently present in surface waters in the south of France, were no longer detected (<10 MPN.100 mL−1) after one-minute of pasteurisation at 55 °C and 60 °C, respectively.