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In the early transition phase in post-communist Europe, citizens' perceptions of the national economy appeared more favorable than objective economic indicators would suggest. With triple and quadruple digit annual inflation rates and a severe economic contraction, there was a substantial portion of the population in these countries who still thought that the national economy had been and would be improving. Thus, sociotropic economic perceptions in the wake of the democratic transformation appeared to be disconnected from the real economic situation. The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, it explores the link between objective economic indicators and public evaluations of the economy. Second, it investigates the microfoundations of economic perceptions. And finally, it tests a well-established proposition that political sophisticates are more accurate in their perceptions than their less informed counterparts. The findings of the study can be generalized to any political and economic system undergoing transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vaccines against human papillomavirus (HPV), the primary causative agent in cervical cancer, are licensed. This paper contains the Central European Vaccination Advisory Group (CEVAG) guidance statement on the introduction of HPV vaccines in central Europe. Eight countries currently have medical representatives on CEVAG: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Turkey. By raising awareness and disseminating information, CEVAG aims to promote the efficient and safe use of vaccines to prevent, control and if possible eliminate infectious diseases. In January 2008, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control published a report entitled Guidance for the Introduction of HPV Vaccines in EU Countries. Members of CEVAG have taken the information relevant to their countries from this report and, with consideration of local issues, produced these guidance recommendations for the introduction of HPV vaccines in the CEVAG region, which may be adapted for use in individual countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between the mid-eighteenth and the early nineteenth centuries, commercial networks of Ashkenazim in central Europe experienced major shifts. I argue that this was a transitional period between the extensive trading and credit networks of central European Court Jews in the early modern period and the rise of new Jewish banking houses across Europe in the nineteenth century. Based on examples from Amsterdam, Frankfurt an der Oder (Prussia), and Warsaw I demonstrate how Amsterdam served as a center for the provision of credit to central and, indirectly, eastern Europe until the late eighteenth century, with Jewish merchants in central European cities like Frankfurt an der Oder serving as middlemen. Relying not on far-reaching networks but rather on more regional ones, a new mercantile Jewish elite rose in Warsaw beginning around the turn of the century, creating a new financial hub in east-central Europe. I suggest that the rise of Warsaw as a new center of Jewish banking and commerce can be described as a parallel development-though one on a much smaller scale-to the rise of London and that both new centers prospered at the expense of Amsterdam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two European temperature reconstructions for the past half-millennium, January-to-April air temperature for Stockholm (Sweden) and seasonal temperature for a Central European region, both derived from the analysis of documentary sources and long instrumental records, are compared with the output of climate simulations with the model ECHO-G. The analysis is complemented by comparisons with the long (early)-instrumental record of Central England Temperature (CET). Both approaches to study past climates (simulations and reconstructions) are burdened with uncertainties. The main objective of this comparative analysis is to identify robust features and weaknesses in each method which may help to improve models and reconstruction methods. The results indicate a general agreement between simulations obtained with temporally changing external forcings and the reconstructed Stockholm and CET records for the multi-centennial temperature trend over the recent centuries, which is not reproduced in a control simulation. This trend is likely due to the long-term change in external forcing. Additionally, the Stockholm reconstruction and the CET record also show a clear multi-decadal warm episode peaking around AD 1730, which is absent in the simulations. Neither the reconstruction uncertainties nor the model internal climate variability can easily explain this difference. Regarding the interannual variability, the Stockholm series displays, in some periods, higher amplitudes than the simulations but these differences are within the statistical uncertainty and further decrease if output from a regional model driven by the global model is used. The long-term trend of the CET series agrees less well with the simulations. The reconstructed temperature displays, for all seasons, a smaller difference between the present climate and past centuries than is seen in the simulations. Possible reasons for these differences may be related to a limitation of the traditional ‘indexing’ technique for converting documentary evidence to temperature values to capture long-term climate changes, because the documents often reflect temperatures relative to the contemporary authors’ own perception of what constituted ‘normal’ conditions. By contrast, the amplitude of the simulated and reconstructed inter-annual variability agrees rather well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiences of countries undergoing post-socialist transition in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Central and Southwestern Asia, during the last 17 years, reveal great variety in economic reform paths and their successful implementation. At different moments of transition varying constitutional rules have also emerged in these countries. In our empirical study we find a significant relationship between constitutional rules and the economic reform process in post-socialist countries of Europe and Asia after 1989. In principle, the results confirm the arguments of the so-called negative constitutionalists, according to which the main function of the constitution for economic reforms in transition is its functioning as a commitment mechanism. The conclusions constitute an important step towards verification of different and often conflicting theories proposed by constitutional economists and allow to formulate practical recommendations for constitutional legislators and other actors capable of influencing constitutional change in countries encompassed by the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background, aims, and scope Embankment of meandering river systems in many industrial areas results in the formation of artificial oxbow lakes that may act as perennial or intermittent traps for river sediments. Their deposits can be dated using a combination of historical and stratigraphic data, providing a good means to study historical records of contamination transported by rivers. Contamination history over the last few decades is of special significance for Central and Eastern Europe as it can reflect high pollutant levels in the second half of the twentieth century and the subsequent improvement after the fall of the Iron Curtain. The purpose of this study was to investigate recent sediments of an oxbow lake of the Morava River, Czech Republic, their stratigraphic records, sediment architecture, and history of contamination. Materials and methods Seven ground-penetrating radar (GPR) profiles and three sediment cores up to 4m deep were studied. The stratigraphy of the cores was inferred from visible-light spectrophotometry, X-ray radiography, grain size analysis, and semiquantitative modal analysis of sandy fractions. The sediments were dated using the 137Cs mass activity and combinations of stratigraphic and historical data. The cores were sampled for concentrations of heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants. Wet sampled, lyophilized, and sieved sediments were extracted and analyzed for heavy metals by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) of aqua regia leachate and for persistent organic pollutants by gas chromatography (GC-ECD and GC-MS). Results Three distinct sedimentary sequences (S1, S2, and S3) were identified. The basal sequence SI represents river channel sediments deposited before the formation of the oxbow lake, most likely before the 1930s. The boundary between the S1 and S2 sequence correlates with the level of sediment dredging from 1981 evidenced from historical data. The overlying sequences S2 and S3 represent a post- dredging sediment wedge, which progrades into the lake. 137Cs dating revealed a distinct Chernobyl 1986 peak at ~150 cm depth inferring sedimentation rates up to 7.7 cm/year. Sediment contamination abruptly increased from the pre-1930s deposits to the post-1981 deposits. The concentration levels increased two to five times for Pb, As, Zn, and Cu, about 10 to 15 times for Cr, Sb, and Hg, up to 34 times for Cd, and 25 to 67 times for DDTs, PCBs, and PAHs. The concentrations of most contaminants remained approximately constant until the late 1980s when they started to decrease slowly. The decreasing trends were most prominent for heavy metals and anthracene, less prominent for DDTs, and almost absent for PCBs and most PAHs. Discussion Different temporal and spatial patterns for various contaminants make it possible to distinguish between anthropogenic point sources from local industry (anthracene, Cr, Cd), possible diffuse sources (most PAHs), and geological background (V, Co, Ni, and Mo). The observed recent trends in heavy metal and persistent organic pollutant contamination are generally consistent with data from other Central European rivers. The roughly balanced contamination levels in sediments from the lake and the adjacent river channel suggest that the oxbow lake deposits reflect immediate levels of the contamination bound to suspended particulate matter passing through the river. Conclusions The investigated oxbow lake accumulated suspended sediment from Morava River, developing a thick sedimentary body. The sediments offer a good time framework to study historical contamination of the river on a decade time scale. Continuous contamination trends can be traced back to the early 1980s.… [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective:To describe the dietary patterns of 10 European countries and their socio-demographic determinants, using the comparable between-countries DAFNE data.Design:Analysis of standardized and postharmonized data collected through the national household budget surveys.Setting:Nationally representative surveys undertaken in 10 European countries, generally in the second half of the 1990s.Results:The differences in the fruit and vegetable consumption previously identified between Mediterranean and Northern European countries seem to be leveling out, particularly in relation to fruit consumption. Pulses, however, still characterize the diet of the Mediterraneans. Straying from their traditional food choices, Mediterraneans recorded high availability of unprocessed red meat, while Central and Northern Europeans preferably consumed meat products. The household availability of beverages (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) is generally higher among Central and Northern European populations. Principal component (PC) analysis led to the identification of two dietary patterns in each of the 10 countries. The first was similar in all countries and indicated ‘wide-range’ food buyers. The second was slightly more varied and described ‘beverage and convenience’ food buyers. PC1 was common among households of retired and elderly members, while PC2 was common among households located in urban or semi-urban areas and among adult Scandinavians living alone.Conclusions:The dietary patterns identified point towards a progressive narrowing of dietary differences between North and South European countries. The comparable between-countries DAFNE data could prove useful in ecological studies, in the formulation of dietary guidelines and public health initiatives addressing specific population groups.Sponsorship:European Commission.European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2006) 60, 181–190. doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602284; published online 9 November 2005 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the close linkage between domestic philanthropy and commerce at the end of the early modern period, and the sophistication with which well-connected evangelical institutions transcended the confines of established religion and territorial boundaries. Use of a large set of primary and secondary sources that are relatively unknown in the history of the voluntary sector permits the examination and analysis of several notable aspects of the Francke Orphanage Foundations, an 18th-century central European institution of evangelical reform and colonial mission. Particular attention is given to the innovative efforts of their founder, August Hermann Francke, to secure an independent financial base for his institutional goals. These goals, which were supported in large part by members of the German nobility and of merchants in the imperial cities, included but were not limited to reform of charity care and education. From the outset, a close network of personal supporters and evangelical institutions that extended throughout Protestant Europe proved essential for both trade and evangelical mission; this network permitted expansion into Russia and the Baltic provinces, Hungary, the Near East and India, and eventually the British North American colonies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]