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This paper explores how citizens’ perceived values and felt responsibility affect pro-environmental behaviours in the EU countries, grouped according to the quartile distribution of the EU Eco-Innovation Index 2017. An SEM is tested on Eurobarometer data (2017), revealing interesting differences across the four groups which can help policy-makers in implementing well-designed strategies.

Background. Ischaemic colitis is an infrequent, but potentially fatal, complication of abdominal aortic surgery. Its presentation is often underestimated on account of a paucity of symptoms, thus the real incidence of ischaemic colitis may be higher. Aim. To determine the prognostic value and sensitivity of endoscopy, early postoperative endoscopic findings were evaluated. Methods. Over a period of three years a prospective study was undertaken in a consecutive series of 105 patients (mean age 68.9 years, range 51-85) undergoing routine rectosigmoidoscopy within 72 hours of aortic reconstructive surgery. Results. Colonic ischaemia was found in 12 patients (11.4%); five had endoscopic evidence of mild ischaemic colitis, ulcerations were identified in five and diffuse superficial necrosis in two. Seven of the 12 patients were symptomatic. Laparotomy was never deemed necessary and all patients were successfully treated with a conservative regimen. There were no deaths. Elective reconstruction or urgent procedure did not correlate with the development of colonic ischaemia, nor did duration of aortic cross-clamp time, patency of the inferior mesenteric artery and its possible legation or reimplantation or patency of the hypogastric arteries. Conclusions. Rectosigmoidoscopy is effective for early diagnosis of ischaemic colitis. Early endoscopy should be routinely performed only for patients in whom impaired blood flow is suspected on the basis of the intraoperative objective assessment of the colon and in presence of symptoms.

This work was aimed at assessing Magnetic Resonance (MR) accuracy in the preoperative investigation of abdominal aortic aneurysms, with a view to suggesting MRI as the method of choice for surgical planning, replacing other relatively invasive investigation techniques like angiography and enhanced CT. In the last 3 years 80 patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms identified with US or CT were examined with 0.5-T MRI and underwent surgical repair within 15 days. Spin-echo (SE) T1-weighted axial, sagittal and coronal sequences were always performed. In 18 patients gradient-echo (GE) flow sequences were also acquired; SE T2-weighted sequences were used to study parietal thrombi in 10 patients and finally Gd-DTPA T1-weighted sequences were obtained in inflammatory aneurysms (3 patients). MR images were blindly evaluated by 2 radiologists. The following variables which are useful for surgical planning were considered for each patient: aneurysm extent, characteristics of parietal thrombi, dissections, fixurations, inflammation signs, involvement of renal arteries, vena cava, ureters, duodenum, the presence of retroaortic renal vein or of other anomalies or associated conditions. MR images were always compared with intraoperative findings, since surgery was considered as the gold standard. MR findings were in agreement with surgical findings in the evaluation of cranio-caudal aneurysm extent (78/80), parietal thrombus features (80/80), dissection (1/1) and fixuration signs (8/9), origin of renal arteries (80/80), inferior vena cava involvement (3/3), other anatomical anomalies or conditions (6/6). Inflammation signs were overestimated (14/8) as well as adhesion between aneurysm and duodenum (17/13). The presence of distal renal polar arteries was underestimated (2/4). In conclusion, MRI proves to be a highly sensitive method to demonstrate abdominal aortic aneurysms and is therefore suggested as the examination of choice before surgery.

Purpose: The EVEREST Trial was designed to determine whether the surgical technique influences the durability and complications of carotid endarterectomy (CEA). The current report focuses on the study design and preliminary results. Methods: EVEREST is a randomized multicenter trial. A total of 1353 patients with carotid stenosis requiring surgical treatment were randomly assigned to received standard (n = 675) or eversion (n = 678) CEA. Primary end points included carotid occlusion, major stroke, death, and restenosis rate. Results: The rate of perioperative major stroke and death (1.3 for each study group) and the incidence of early carotid occlusion (0.6% for eversion vs 0.4% for standard) were similar. No significant differences were found between eversion and standard CEA with respect to incidence of perioperative transient ischemic accident, minor stroke, cranial nerve injuries, neck hematoma, myocardial infarction, or surgical defects as detected with intraoperative quality controls. Clamping time was significantly shorter for eversion CEA compared with patch standard procedures (31.7 ± 15.9 vs 34.5 ± 14.4 minutes, p = 0.02). A shunt was inserted in 11% of patients undergoing eversion CEAs and in 16% of patients undergoing standard procedures. Overall 30-day events occurred in 13.3% of the eversion group and in 11.4% of the standard group ( p = 0.3). At a mean follow-up of 14.9 months (range, 1 to 38 months), 16 (2.4%) restenoses occurred in the eversion group and 28 (4.1%) occurred in the standard group (odds ratio, 0.56; 95% confidence interval, 0.3 to 1.1; p = 0.08). Conclusion: The preliminary results of the EVEREST Trial suggest that eversion CEA is a safe and rapid procedure with low major complication rates. No significant differences in restenosis rates were observed between eversion and standard CEA at the available follow-up. Longer-term results are necessary to assess whether the eversion technique influences the durability of CEA. (J Vasc Surg 1998;27:595-605.)

Septo-optic dysplasia, which consists of the association of the hypoplasia of the optic nerves and the agenesis of the septum pellucidum, is frequently associated with deficiency of hypothalamic releasing factors. In Magnetic Resonance (MR) of these patients, anomalies in the form and size of the pituitary stalk, adenohypophysis and neurohypophysis are found. Some cases show schizencephaly and it has been proposed as an added component of the syndrome by some authors. This fact has been refuted by others.We present the clinical and neuroanatomic revision of six children with septo-optic dysplasia studied by MR imaging over the last five years in our Department of Neuropediatrics. The aim was, that through the neuroembryological discussion of the morphopathological aspects of the patients, to determine the malformation and the time in which the injury, which was the underlying cause, occurred.From the six cases, in two only disruptive signs were evident with the optic nerves being affected asymmetrically, disruption of the corpus callosum, falx cerebri indemnity and effects in the cortex conformation. This was opposed to the dysgenic features in the other four cases which had no disruptive features.Our findings suggest that this entity could be the result of at least two different pathogenic processes, that is, a minor form of holoprosencephaly (dysgenesis) or a disruption which, therefore, occurs later in gestation.

[ES] EI área estudiada en este trabajo (NO de Salamanca) constituye una parte del borde Oeste del denominado Domo del Tormes. Se realiza una caracterización petrográfica de las distintas rocas, haciéndose énfasis en las anatexitas. En algunos casos se establece una probable relación entre protolito y anatexita (granito), basándose en criterios tanto petrográficos como estructurales. Estas correspondencias traen consigo una serie de consecuencias litoestratigráficas, representando las bandas graníticas del área los distintos protolitos gneísicos. Así, se deduce, de muro a techo, la siguiente sucesión: anatexitas de grano grueso -de grano medio (granito) o gneis glandular migmatizado- de grano fino o paragneis migmatizado -migmatitas pelíticas., [EN] The studied area is considered as a border zone of the so-called «Domo Anatéctico del Tormes» (central western Spain). This zone is mainly made up of pelitic migmatites and several types of anatectic hercynian granites. In the present work these rocks are characterized petrographically. Taking into account pétrographie and structural criteria, in some cases a likely protolith-anatexite (granite) correspondence is established. Thus, autocthonous granite belts could represent different types of gneisses. From this litho-stratigraphic point of view, the following sequence is inferred: coarse-grained anatexites -medium-grained diatexitic granite or glandular gneiss- fine-grained anatexites or migmatitic paragneiss -pelitic migmatite.

Objective: Visceral artery aneurysms, despite being uncommon, are important vascular diseases, since they frequently are life-threatening, and often fatal emergencies. The purpose of this study is to review our experience with treatments of visceral artery aneurysms. Method: Between 1988 and June, 2004, 37 visceral artery aneurysms were treated in 35 patients (17 male and 18 female) with average age of 56 ± 14 years. The most common locations were the splenic artery (18), the hepatic artery (10) and the superior mesenteric artery (four). 22 patients were asymptomatic, 13 patients were symptomatic. Emergency surgery was performed on three patients, elective open surgery on 29 patients, and endovascular treatment on seven patients. Results: Perioperative mortality rate was 3.1% in the surgical group. The perioperative morbidity rate was 5.7%: one case of respiratory distress and one case of bilious fistula were manifested in the immediate postoperative period. None of the patients died in the endovascular group; perioperative morbidity rate was 14.3% (one case of hepatic artery thrombosis after failure of gastroduodenal artery aneurysm embolization). Failure of the procedure was 42.9% (three cases of aneurysm recanalization). Conclusions: We believe that an aggressive surgical approach is justified even in case of asymptomatic visceral artery aneurysms, due to the low morbidity/mortality rates. Endovascular treatment should be reserved to selected cases.

The aim of this paper is to explore the main determinants of women's job search propensity and the mechanism underlying the selection effect into labour markets. The analysis compares the European countries, sharing the lowest female activity rates, with the well-developed economies of North Europe, traditionally characterized by the highest levels of female labour force participation. The potential selection bias due to the overlap in some unobserved characteristics is addressed via a bivariate probit model. Significant selection effects in women's job search process of opposite signs are found for Greece, on the one side, and for the Polish and the Norwegian labour markets, on the other one.

To study the management (diagnostic and therapeutic) of esophageal foreign bodies.A retrospective study was made of all rigid esophagoscopies performed for suspected foreign bodies in the esophagus by the otolaryngology department of Marqués de Valdecilla Hospital (Santander, Spain) from 1992 to 1996.Rigid esophagoscopy was performed for suspected foreign bodies in 195 patients (121 females, 74 males; age range 2 to 97 years). In 183 cases an impacted foreign body was found. The most frequent location was the upper third of the esophagus (165/85.2%). The most common type of foreign body was fish bones in adults (75/171) and coins in children (7/12). In 145 cases a barium esophagogram was obtained before surgery, which yielded 1 false negative and 8 false positives. In 16 patients flexible endoscopy had failed previously to remove the foreign body. Twelve patients (all adults) had serious complications.The barium esophagogram and rigid esophagoscopy are still appropriate techniques for managing esophageal foreign bodies.

This paper proposes an optimal allocation model with the main aim to minimize systemic risk related to the sovereign risk of a set of countries. The reference methodological environment is that of complex networks theory. Specifically, we consider the weighted clustering coefficient as a proxy of systemic risk, while the interconnections among countries are captured by the relationships among default probabilities of the set of countries under consideration. The selected optimization criterion is based on minimization of the mean absolute deviation. We perform empirical analyses to validate the theoretical predictions, and interpret the findings in the context of the proposed model.

The study aims at providing a better understanding of the main factors leading to environmentally-friendly practices by investigating the relationships among perceived values, felt responsibility, and pro-environmental behaviours. The analysis is performed with reference to four developed European countries – France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Based on Eurobarometer data (2017) on the attitudes of Europeans towards the environment, a structural equation modelling approach reveals positive and significant relationships among the three constructs, with interesting cross-country differences. In Italy and the United Kingdom, perceived values are directly associated with pro-environmental behaviour, while in Germany and France, where the cultural European identity appears to be more salient, values provide less guidance for behaviour. These findings may assist policymakers in developing a set of well-designed strategies for strengthening citizens’ pro-environmental habits through the reinforcement of values and feeling of responsibility.

The importance acquired by private cars as the leading travel mode in most advanced countries has drawn attention to concerns related to pro-environmental travel behaviour. Indeed, the car has brought great benefits to society, albeit causing a whole lot of environmental and socio-economic consequences. In this perspective, we exploit Eurobarometer data on the attitudes of Europeans towards urban mobility to investigate the main motivations of citizens’ public transport use frequency. Ordered logistic regressions are estimated by country (Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands) and by gender. Our results suggest the key role played by a comprehensive set of socio-demographic, economic, and environmental aspects in determining urban travel behaviour. Moreover, our investigation brings to light some relevant cross-country and cross-gender commonalities and differences. The provided evidence may give policymakers a better knowledge of travel behaviour, useful for designing new interventions for environmentally-sustainable travelling.