West European Countries Research Articles

Epidemiological and Disease Burden Profiles of Leukemias and Malignant Lymphomas: Overview and Trends in the Republic of Moldova and Worldwide

Introduction: Hematological malignancies (HM) are relatively frequent nosological entities within the structure of morbidity by malignant tumors, exhibiting a severe evolution, restrained prognosis and negative socio-economic impact in the advanced stages and phases. Objective: The objective of the study was to identify the epidemiological patterns, and to evaluate the epidemiological trends and disease burden issues of HM in the Republic of Moldova and worldwide. Materials and Methods: The following research methods were used: epidemiological, descriptive statistics, clinico-analytic. The diagnosis was proved in all cases by histopathological, cytological, cytogenetic, molecular and immunophenotyping examinations. The qualitative type researches were performed and enriched by the narrative synthesis of the data. From the specialized international bibliographic sources and official statistics concerning HM. The narrative review of the reference sources was fulfilled in the form of a synthesis. Results: The number of newly diagnosed and followed-up patients with HM at the Institute of Oncology in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 amounted respectively to 725, 802, 613, 628, 536 and 528, the incidence (new cases per 100,000 population) being 17.6, 19.5, 14.9, 17.7, 15.1 and 20.3. In 2021 HM constituted 6.2% of all newly-diagnosed cases with malignant tumors in the Republic of Moldova. In the same year Hodgkin lymphoma was diagnosed in 10.04% of cases, non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas—in 31.63%, multiple myeloma and plasma cells neoplasms—in 7.77%, lymphoid leukemias—in 17.42%, myeloid leukemias—in 12.31%, monocytic leukemias—in 0.95%, and other leukemias—in 16.29%. In 2019 the male rate was 51.5%, and the female rate—48.5%. Within 2 years males were 266 (50.4%), females—262 (49.6%). The age of 50 - 79 years prevailed in both genders (males—65%, females—72.5%). The children constituted 4.0% of the newly diagnosed cases, 4.8% of those under the follow-up at the end of the year 2019 and 6.4% of the newly diagnosed cases in 2021. The disease span from the onset to diagnosis ranged between 1 - 24 months and constituted on average 5.63 months, without a significant difference as compared to 2019 (5.76 months). The incidence of HM in Western countries is 14 - 19 new cases per 100,000 population (4% of all cases with malignant tumors). The incidence of non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas increased by 45% between 2006 and 2016, from 319,078 to 461,000 cases. Between 2006 and 2016, the incidence of leukemias increased by 26%, from 37,000,000 to 467,000 cases. Conclusions: The epidemiological study revealed slightly lower morbidity by HM in the Republic of Moldova as compared to the West European countries mainly due to the migration of a workable population. The patients with malignant lymphomas, male gender and age categories of 50 - 79 years proved to be commonly registered epidemiological patterns. The narrative analysis of the literature revealed that patients with HM may experience a considerable disease burden with a negative impact on their employment status, working productivity and annual household income.

Rural tourism and agritourism in Poland – development processes and evolution of terminology

The paper describes the evolution of rural tourism and agritourism in Poland and presents the terms which define tourism in rural areas. First, the terms used over three historical periods in Poland are discussed: interwar, socialist and post-socialist. In this part, the long tradition of recreation in the Polish countryside and how it developed differently from West European countries is presented. Following that, the concept of Polish agritourism exogeneity is explained, seen in the way it was introduced and popularised at the time of political and economic transformations. In contrast to the evolutionary process of agritourism development in West European countries, the revolutionary origins of agritourism in Poland were the foundation of a hierarchy of terms defining tourism as connected with the countryside and farming.

Electoral Competition, the EU Issue and Far-right Success in Western Europe

We argue theoretically and demonstrate empirically that to understand the electoral fortunes of far-right parties in Western Europe, we need to consider the advantages and disadvantages these parties encounter in the multidimensional political issue space. We argue that salience changes among the electorate benefit far-right parties more than shifting far-right parties’ policy positions. We further posit that changes in the public salience of European integration are more important for far-right success than other issues -- including immigration. Utilizing similar survey questions from the Chapel Hill Expert Survey (CHES) about parties’ positions and the European Election Studies (EES) about voters’ policy preferences, we estimate multidimensional voting models in 12 West European countries. We then use mathematical simulations to show that the issue that matters most for far-right success is European integration. This research has important implications for the study of electoral competition, parties’ campaign strategies, and voting behavior.

Forging new meanings of Europe. The cross-ideological logic of Western Business Interest Associations (BIAs) promoting trade with Mao’s China

This paper explores the role of BIAs in the promotion of trade across the Cold War divide during the 1950s, when the creation of a new political and economic ensemble in Western Europe intertwined with the re-elaboration of imperialist entanglements and the emergence of Socialist economies. The focus on everyday business practice allows us to identify the nature and the purpose of these BIAs, revealing a great variety of logics, but a unifying interest: creating a new role for their national economies in China’s nascent economic progress. In the absence of full diplomatic relations, these organisations were identified in many cases as main reference points by the Chinese authorities and were, thus, in a privileged position to change the image of West European countries from colonisers into viable partners at a time when the PRC was shaping a new national narrative.

Ethnic prejudices and public support for anti-discrimination policies on the housing market

Notwithstanding persistent levels of ethnic discrimination on the rental housing market, we have witnessed in many West-European countries a shift from targeted multicultural to colour-blind policies. At the same time, anti-immigration attitudes remained relatively stable. Whether and how these attitudes are translated in support or aversion toward anti-discrimination policies is, however, still unclear. As the first study in Europe we analyse public support for eight policy measures to tackle rental discrimination against ethnic minorities. Based on multilevel analyses among a sample of 899 adults in Belgium, we show that there is large support among the general public for testing, training and campaigning against ethnic discrimination on the housing market. General support for affirmative action measures is, however, much lower. In addition, support for anti-discrimination policies is strongly related to ethnic prejudices. People with more – especially subtle – prejudices are less likely to support policies against rental discrimination. Moreover, prejudices also mediate the effects of interethnic contacts and outgroup size on policy support. Finally, local housing market indicators do not play a significant role in the public support for anti-discrimination policies on the housing market.

A tale of two logics: how solidarity and threat perceptions shape immigrant attitudes towards immigration in Western Europe

Scholars have paid considerable attention to the attitudes of host societies towards immigration. However, relatively little is known about whether and under which conditions immigrants themselves support immigration more or less than those without a migration background. This study argues that immigrant attitudes towards immigration are motivated by two competing logics, solidarity and threat, with each logic being activated under different circumstances. Specifically, the relative strength of the two logics depends on factors relating to (1) the immigrants themselves (e.g. how long they have been living in their host country), (2) the type of immigration in question (i.e. characteristics of the prospective immigrants) and (3) certain conditions in the host country (particularly the presence or absence of discrimination and assimilation pressure). Evidence from the European Social Survey in 15 West European countries over a period of 18 years (2002–2019) supports these theoretical expectations.

No trade-off between parent choice and democratic citizenship: a comparison of 9th grade pupils in Danish Muslim and state schools

The public funding or even toleration of religious minority schools, particularly Muslim faith schools, is controversial in West European countries. Political theorists often posit that parents’ right to choose these schools conflicts with the equally or more important societal concerns with child autonomy and civic integration or education to liberal-democratic citizenship. Yet, few empirical studies have addressed the issue and findings are mixed. Using unique survey and administrative data on ninth grade pupils in Danish Muslim schools compared to Muslims in state schools, the study finds no indication of lower levels of civic integration in terms of national belonging, social trust and outgroup prejudice, or liberal democratic orientation, indeed Muslim schools seem to do a little better. Different explanations for this are possible, and the findings may not be generalizable to other national contexts, but they do cast some doubt on present political hostility towards the schools.

Religious residue: The impact of childhood religious socialization on the religiosity of nones in France, Germany, Great Britain, and Sweden.

One of the distinguishing features of religious life in Western Europe in recent decades has been the sharp increase in the proportion of people who identify as unaffiliated with any religious tradition (religious nones). Non-affiliation entails a rejection of religious belonging, not the absence of all religious belief and practice; yet the determinants of religiosity among nones have not been fully explored. Drawing on data from the 1998-2018 ISSP surveys in four West European countries (France, Germany, Great Britain, and Sweden), I test the impact of childhood religious socialization on the religiosity of unaffiliated adults by comparing lifelong nones, who were never religiously affiliated, with disaffiliates, who were raised within a religious tradition and have since exited organized religious life. Disaffiliates are consistently more religious than lifelong nones due to religious residue from childhood, with greater residue found among those who were more religiously committed as children. Religious decline among the unaffiliated over time, combined with the increasing proportion of lifelong nones and second-generation lifelong nones who lack even an inherited, minimal religious residue, suggest that secularization will gather momentum.

Avoiding or engaging problems? Issue ownership, problem indicators, and party issue competition

ABSTRACT Issue competition theories posit that political parties have little incentive to emphasize the same issues, because they mostly benefit from emphasizing issues where they are viewed as more competent. In contrast, a number of empirical studies find considerable overlap in parties’ issues emphasis. Aiming to bridge this peculiar gap, this paper suggests that the development of exogenous problems is one factor that constrains parties’ incentives to talk past each other. Using comprehensive data on party attention to ten issues across six West European countries from approximately 1980 and onwards, the analysis shows that problems moderate the relationship between parties’ issue reputations and their issue emphases. When problems are moderate, parties selectively focus on different issues, but when problems become severe, parties across the board attend to an issue. That even includes parties that do not own the issue. These results have reassuring implications for parties’ responsiveness to societal problems that negatively affect the welfare of citizens.

MODERNIST INFLUENCES IN ROLANDS KALNIŅŠ’ FILM “FOUR WHITE SHIRTS” (ČETRI BALTI KREKLI ,1967)

The 1950s and 60s in European film history is considered to be modernist period that was most explicitly manifested in the cinema of West European countries (France, Italy and others). Fragmentation of the narrative, loosening of linkage between events, innovative approaches in editing, foregrounding of subjectivity are only some of formal techniques characterizing the modernist aesthetics in cinema. In the soviet period of Latvian film history there are merely a few films in which one can identify modernist features. Basically, those are films by Rolands Kalniņš and in particular his feature film “Four White Shirts” (1967). By its form this film is very unusual in the context of Latvian film history and it resonated with the dominant trends in West European cinema in the 1950s and 60s. “Four White Shirts”, as well as several other films by Rolands Kalniņš, like “Stone and Flinders” (Akmens un šķembas, 1966), and “Maritime Climate” (Piejūras klimats, 1974) were banned by censorship and never got to cinema screens and were practically “erased”, eliminated from the Latvian cinema processes. The present research will be an analysis of the aesthetics of Rolands Kalniņš’ film “Four White Shirts” (1967) focusing on those elements in the film that are typical for European modernist cinema. The return of the film “Four White Shirts” to the world cinema context took place half a century after it was made – its restored print was included in Cannes Film Festival programme Cannes Classics in 2018. The international premier of the film in 2018 enabled it to become the most renowned Latvian fiction film in Western Europe by revealing the internationally practically unknown modernist period of Latvian cinema in the 1960s that culminated in Rolands Kalniņš’ film “Four White Shirts”. The destiny of this film, the ban to screen it publicly affirms the fact that modernist aesthetics was considered to be unacceptable within the context of the soviet culture.

Environmental chauvinism? Explaining issue expansion among non-mainstream parties

Do non-mainstream parties respond to other non-mainstream parties’ owned issues? Whereas a great deal of extant research has examined the owned issues of non-mainstream parties and when mainstream parties take on these issues, little research has been done to explore when non-mainstream parties expand their issue focus to include the owned issues of other non-mainstream parties. We argue that non-mainstream parties will expand their issue focus as the public salience on the issue increases, but that this expansion is conditioned by the type of issue. In particular, we posit that non-mainstream parties will expand on issues on which there is agreement among their supporters. To test our claims, we examine radical-left, radical right and green parties’ issue expansion on the environment and immigration in 15 West and East European countries from 1980–2018 using data from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems, national election studies, and the Comparative Manifestos Project. Our findings have important implications for non-mainstream parties’ issue evolution and party competition more generally.

Beatriz Allende: A Revolutionary Life in Cold War Latin America

Beatriz Allende: A Revolutionary Life in Cold War Latin America

The COVID-crisis as an opportunity for welfare recalibration? Panel-data evidence on the effect of the COVID-crisis on welfare preferences in Spain, Germany, and Sweden

ABSTRACT The reform capacity of welfare states to adapt to the needs of post-industrial labour markets has been a key question of the welfare literature for the last two decades. In a context of austerity, such adaptations (retrenchment or recalibration) are notoriously difficult because of extremely high levels of support for existing policies, particularly old age pensions. We investigate how the recent economic shock caused by the COVID-pandemic has changed social policy preferences in three West European countries (Germany, Sweden, Spain). Relying on original panel data observing the relative support for social policies before and during the crisis, we show that support for old age pensions has dropped substantially relative to other social policies. This drop can be observed in all three countries and among all ideological and age groups. The drop is strongest among current and soon-to-be pensioners who in turn increased support for benefits to the working-age population. At the expense of pensions, the economic shock has especially boosted support for active labour market policies and (in Germany) childcare services. This shift of support from pensions to social investment policies might have opened up a window of opportunity for recalibrating welfare reforms.

Tolerance of the Muslim headscarf: Perceived reasons for wearing a headscarf matter

In many West European countries, debates about Muslim women wearing a headscarf in public positions evolve around the question whether the reason for wearing it is personal choice, religious freedom or community pressures. This study uses national samples of Dutch and German majority group members (N = 3734) and an experimental design to investigate whether their tolerance of the headscarf worn by a civil servant depends on four perceived reasons for wearing it. The findings indicated that a headscarf that is perceived to be worn out of personal choice was tolerated the most, and for reasons of normative community pressures was tolerated the least, with perceived reasons of religious and cultural identity enactment in between. Additionally, we found that higher (versus lower) authoritarian individuals were less likely to differentiate between the different reasons. In conclusion, perceived motives and authoritarianism are important to consider in understanding majority group members’ tolerance of the headscarf.

Treatment of relapsing multiple sclerosis – recommendations of the Croatian Neurological Society

Untreated multiple sclerosis (MS) irretrievably leads to severe neurological impairment. In European health care systems, patient access to disease modifying therapies (DMT) is often confined to more advanced stages of the disease because of restrictions in reimbursement. A discrepancy in access to DMTs is evident between West and East European countries. In order to improve access to DMTs for people with MS (pwMS) living in Croatia, the Croatian Neurological Society issued new recommendations for the treatment of relapsing MS. The aim of this article is to present these recommendations. The recommendations for platform therapies are to start DMT as soon as the diagnosis is made. If poor prognostic criteria are present (≥9 T2 or FLAIR lesions on the initial brain and spinal cord magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] or ≥3 T1 lesions with postcontrast enhancement on the initial brain and spinal cord MRI or Expanded Disability Status Scale after treatment of the initial relapse ≥3), high-efficacy DMT should be initiated. If pwMS experience ≥1 relapse or ≥3 new T2 lesions while on platform therapies, they should be switched to high-efficacy DMT. Further efforts should be made to enable early and unrestricted access to high-efficacy DMT with a freedom of choice of an appropriate therapy for expert physicians and pwMS. The improvement of access to DMT achieved by the implementation of national treatment guidelines in Croatia can serve as an example to national neurological societies from other Eastern European countries to persuade payers to enable early and unrestricted treatment of pwMS.

Politicisation of Immigration in Central and Eastern Europe: Evidence from Plenary Debates in Two Countries

ABSTRACT The research on the party politicization of immigration almost exclusively focuses on West European countries. To address the lack of studies of party politicization (hereafter understood as salience) of immigration in Central and East European countries, we investigate all the parliamentary speeches in Czechia and Slovakia between 2013 and 2017. Descriptively, we show that immigration was almost invisible before the 2015 refugee crisis. On the explanatory level, we show that party placement toward the TAN-pole of the GAL–TAN dimension, Eurosceptic positions, and government participation make it more likely for parliamentarians to politicize immigration.

Intolerance of Transgressive Protest Actions: The Differential Roles of Deontological and Utilitarian Morality.

The current research examines intolerance of protest actions by focusing on two major questions: (a) How intolerant are people of transgressive protest actions of their least-liked versus most-liked groups? and (b) how do individual differences in deontological and utilitarian moral predisposition relate to intolerance of transgressive protest actions by these two groups? In two survey-embedded experiments using nationally representative samples from two West European countries (Germany, Netherlands), we found that people were overwhelmingly intolerant of morally transgressive protest actions by both their most-liked and least-liked groups, although slightly less so for the former. In addition, deontological moral predisposition was related to increased intolerance of protest actions regardless of whether it was committed by a most-liked or least-liked group. Individual difference in utilitarian moral predisposition was related to increased acceptance of protest actions regardless of group, but especially when the actions were perceived as serving the greater good.

Interest group access to policymaking in Ireland

ABSTRACT There are more than 2,000 interest groups in Ireland that play a key role in policy development. This paper explores which of these groups have access to Irish policymaking across various political arenas. It does so by examining original data from 2018, gained through large-N survey research on over 300 active interest groups, including business groups, firms, professional organisations, NGOs, citizen groups and consultancies. The analysis focusses on four key venues of policymaking which lobbyists seek to influence: the media, government departments, the Dáil and state agencies. We find that lobbying access in Ireland is similar to other West European countries, but also different. Organisations with higher organisational capacity and that hire revolving door lobbyists are more likely to be frequent visitors of almost all arenas compared to other groups. This is similar to existing accounts of bias in lobbying access reported in other countries. However, in contrast to scholarship focussing on other European political systems, access is not biased in favour of economic groups. The analysis fills an important empirical gap in the quantitative study of lobbying and adds an otherwise understudied perspective of non-state actor engagement in Irish politics.

Ethnic Differences in Coronavirus Disease 2019 Hospitalization and Hospital Outcomes in a Multiethnic Population in the Netherlands.

BackgroundEvidence from the United States and United Kingdom suggests that ethnic minority populations are at an increased risk for developing severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); however, data from other West-European countries are scarce.MethodsWe analyzed data from 1439 patients admitted between February 2020 and January 2021 to 4 main hospitals in Amsterdam and Almere, the Netherlands. Differences in the risk for hospitalization were assessed by comparing demographics to the general population. Using a population-based cohort as reference, we determined differences in the association between comorbidities and COVID-19 hospitalization. Outcomes after hospitalization were analyzed using Cox regression.ResultsThe hospitalization risk was higher in all ethnic minority groups than in those of Dutch origin, with age-adjusted odds ratios ranging from 2.2 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.7–2.6) in Moroccans to 4.5 (95% CI, 3.2–6.0) in Ghanaians. Hypertension and diabetes were similarly associated with COVID-19 hospitalization. For all other comorbidities, we found differential associations. Intensive care unit admission and mortality during 21-day follow-up after hospitalization was comparable between ethnicities.ConclusionsThe risk of COVID-19 hospitalization was higher in all ethnic minority groups compared to the Dutch, but the risk of adverse outcomes after hospitalization was similar. Our results suggest that these inequalities may in part be attributable to comorbidities that can be prevented by targeted public health prevention measures. More work is needed to gain insight into the role of other potential factors such as social determinants of health, which might have contributed to the ethnic inequalities in COVID-19 hospitalization.

Hotel Naming in Russian Cities: An Imprint of Foreign Cultures and Languages between Europe and Asia

Hotel naming can contribute to cultural exchange, and big countries boasting lengthy peripheries and sharp “cores” are suitable for studying this contribution. Foreign cultural and linguistic imprints in hotel names is studied in four big cities of Russia, namely Rostov-on-Don, Nizhniy Novgorod, Krasnoyarsk, and Vladivostok. It is established that the hotels with names bearing foreign-culture elements constitute up to 20–25% of all hotels in each given city. These elements can be linked to many, chiefly West European countries. The English foreign-language elements are the most common, whereas the French and Italian elements occur in subordinate numbers. The linguistic-cultural types of the hotel names are commonly toponyms and landscape-related symbols. The imprint of foreign cultures and languages in the hotel names diminishes together with the increase in distance from the western state border.