Project description:Exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) represents a degree to which changes in nominal exchange rates are transmitted into domestic prices. European Union (EU) countries have experienced the unprecedented inflationary pressure due to high geopolitical risk events. As such, understanding the ERPT plays a crucial role. This study provides a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of ERPT to import prices for 16 EU countries from January 2006 to December 2022. Using the panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model, our findings confirm the linear, rather than nonlinear, ERPT pattern characterized by a diminishing trend over time in the EU countries. However, the degree of pass-through varies depending on country characteristics. Specifically, countries that are highly dependent on imports experience a larger ERPT. Furthermore, the degree of pass-through to import prices is more significant and persistent during periods of high uncertainty. These findings are robust across various robust analyses including sub periods. Our findings provide that help policymakers evaluate the trade-offs between exchange rate risks and macroeconomic stability during times of high uncertainty.
Project description:A questionnaire survey of animal and human health authorities in Europe revealed that leishmaniases are not notifiable in all countries with autochthonous cases. Few countries implement surveillance and control targeting both animal and human infections. Leishmaniases are considered emergent diseases in most countries, and lack of resources is a challenge for control.
Project description:This article analyzes the correlation between energy poverty percentage and unemployment rate for four European countries, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, comparing the results with the European average. The time series extracted from the datasets were imported in a hybrid model, namely ARIMA-ARNN, generating predictions for the two variables in order to analyze their interconnectivity. The results obtained from the hybrid model suggest that unemployment rate and energy poverty percentage have comparable tendencies, being strongly correlated. The forecasts suggest that this correlation will be maintained in the future unless appropriate governmental policies are implemented in order to lower the impact of other aspects on energy poverty.
Project description:Open government data (OGD) portals are official websites where governments can publish OGD in a controlled way. OGD portals foster discoverability, accountability, and reusability for stakeholders. This data article presents the data collected while monitoring the OGD portals in the 28 countries of the European Union. Several parameters and indicators observed over a period of 3 years in the official national open data portals were located and recorded to create this dataset. Data were manually obtained from existing public data sources and official OGD portals freely available on the Web. Clustering techniques using Density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN) were applied to elaborate a dataset showcasing similar countries with respect to different parameters and indicators. Cluster data validation was carried out using the Davies-Bouldin index. The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled "Open government data portals in the European Union: Considerations, development and expectations" [1].
Project description:Solvent-based recycling of plastic waste is a promising approach for cleaning polymer chains without breaking them. However, the time required to actually dissolve the polymer in a lab environment can take hours. Different factors play a role in polymer dissolution, including temperature, turbulence, and solvent properties. This work provides insights into bottlenecks and opportunities to increase the dissolution rate of polystyrene in solvents. The paper starts with a broad solvent screening in which the dissolution times are compared. Based on the experimental results, a multiple regression model is constructed, which shows that within several solvent properties, the viscosity of the solvent is the major contributor to the dissolution time, followed by the hydrogen, polar, and dispersion bonding (solubility) parameters. These results also indicate that cyclohexene, 2-pentanone, ethylbenzene, and methyl ethyl ketone are solvents that allow fast dissolution. Next, the dissolution kinetics of polystyrene in cyclohexene in a lab-scale reactor and a baffled reactor are investigated. The effects of temperature, particle size, impeller speed, and impeller type were studied. The results show that increased turbulence in a baffled reactor can decrease the dissolution time from 40 to 7 min compared to a lab-scale reactor, indicating the importance of a proper reactor design. The application of a first-order kinetic model confirms that dissolution in a baffled reactor is at least 5-fold faster than that in a lab-scale reactor. Finally, the dissolution kinetics of a real waste sample reveal that, in optimized conditions, full dissolution occurs after 5 min.
Project description:The purpose of this paper is to assess the level of material deprivation in European Union countries in 2016 from both a local and a global perspective. The Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was used in the study. Based on research, five main types of the level of the material deprivation of European Union countries were identified. Research findings suggest that the population of old EU countries is less severely affected by material deprivation than people living in new member states. Also, the level of global material deprivation was assessed. The study was based on 2016 statistical data delivered by Eurostat.
Project description:BackgroundThere has been a growing interest in the economic burden of mortality; however, a majority of evidence is concerned with particular diseases. Less is known on the overall cost of all-cause early deaths, principally in international context. Therefore, this study aims to estimate production losses of premature mortality across 28 European Union (EU-28) countries in 2015.MethodsThe human capital method was applied to estimate the production losses (indirect costs) of all-cause deaths occurring at working age. The sex- and age-specific data on the number of deaths were taken from Eurostat's database and a set of labour market measures was used to determine time of work during whole lifespan in particular countries.ResultsThe total production losses of all-cause premature mortality in EU-28 in 2015 were €174.6 billion, adjusted for purchasing power parity. The per capita production losses associated with early deaths were €342.39 for the whole EU-28 population on average; Lithuania experienced the highest per capita burden (€643.68), while the average costs were lowest in Greece (€188.69). These figures translated to an economic burden of 1.179% of gross domestic product in EU-28 and this share ranged from 0.679% in Luxembourg to 3.176% in Latvia. Most of the losses were due to men's deaths and the proportion of losses associated with male mortality ranged from 64.7% in the Netherlands to 81.2% in Poland.ConclusionsPremature mortality is a considerable economic burden for European societies; however, the production losses associated with early deaths vary notably in particular countries.
Project description:In the current era of globalization, a clean environment remains a crucial factor for the health of the population. Thus, improving air quality is a major focus of environmental policies, as it affects all aspects of nature, including humans. For these reasons, it is appropriate to take into account the health risks posed by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions released into the atmosphere. With regard to global GHG emissions, there are concerns about the loss of protection of the ozone layer and it is very likely that climate change can be expected, which multiplies the environmental threat and has potentially serious global consequences. In this regard, it is important to pay increased attention to emissions that enter the atmosphere, which include countless toxic substances. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between selected GHG emissions and the health of the European Union (EU) population represented by disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). This aim was achieved using several analytical procedures (descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, cluster analysis, and panel regression analysis), which included five environmental variables (carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) in CO2 equivalent, nitrous oxide (N2O) in CO2 equivalent, hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) in CO2 equivalent, sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) in CO2 equivalent) and one health variable (DALYs). An emphasis was placed on the use of quantitative methods. The results showed that CO2 emissions have a dominant position among selected GHG emissions. The revealed positive link between CO2 and DALYs indicated that a decrease in CO2 may be associated with a decrease in DALYs, but it is also true that this cannot be done without reducing emissions of other combustion products. In terms of CO2, the least positive scores were observed in Luxembourg and Estonia. Germany had the lowest score of DALYs, representing the most positive health outcome in the EU. In terms of total GHG emissions, Ireland and Luxembourg were considered to be less positive countries compared to the other analyzed countries. Countries should focus on reducing GHG emissions in general, but from a health point of view, reducing CO2 emissions seems to be the most beneficial.
Project description:Examination of a person who has been a victim of a physical or sexual assault may be very important for upcoming legal proceedings. In the context of a clinical forensic examination, physical findings are recorded and biological trace material is gathered and secured. Ideally, all forensic findings are documented in a detailed report combined with photographic documentation, which employs a forensic scale to depict the size of the injuries. However, the integrity of such forensic findings depends particularly on two factors. First, the examination needs to be conducted professionally to ensure that the findings are properly admissible as court evidence. Second, the examination should take place as soon as possible because the opportunity to successfully secure biological samples declines rapidly with time. Access to low-threshold clinical forensic examinations is not evenly provided in all member states of the European Union (EU); in some states, they are not available at all. As part of the JUSTeU! (Juridical standards for clinical forensic examinations of victims of violence in Europe) project, the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Clinical Forensic Imaging in Graz, Austria created (in cooperation with its international partner consortium) a questionnaire: the purpose was to collect information about support for victims of physical and/or sexual assault in obtaining a low-threshold clinical forensic examination in various countries of the EU. Our paper provides a summary of the responses and an overview of the current situation concerning provided clinical forensic services.