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The article reports on the irradiation method of controlling the Mediterranean fruit fly, as announced by the International Atomic Energy Agency, in Vienna, Austria. The method involves a controlled experiment, wherein more than one billion flies were raised, irradiated to induce sterility and released among wild populations. According to the agency, the research continues improving the method in large areas. The method is receiving increasing attention due to undesirable residues brought by chemical control.

Unlabelled: Until recently, most children with diabetes mellitus had type 1 diabetes (T1DM). The prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is on the rise in North America, especially in risk populations such as the American Indians. Few epidemiological data on the incidence of the disease exist in Europe. In a prospective population-based epidemiological study, all newly diagnosed cases of diabetes mellitus in patients under 15 years of age were registered nation-wide in Austria between 1999 and 2001. Differential diagnosis (according to the American Diabetes Association diagnostic criteria) was based on clinical case definition. During the 3 years of the study period, 529 cases of DM <15 years were documented, of which 510 were clinically assigned to T1DM (271 boys, 239 girls) resulting in an incidence rate of 12.4/100,000. In the same network, eight cases were diagnosed as T2DM (one boy, seven girls) and two cases with an atypical form of T2DM (two girls). The age of onset of T2DM was 12-15 years and all patients were overweight (body mass index >90th percentile). The calculated incidence for T2DM <15 years in Austria was 0.25/100,000.Conclusion: at present, type 2 diabetes mellitus is rare but exists in children aged under 15 years in Austria. Follow-up of this registration will help to describe the secular trend. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlabelled: Thermal stress has been postulated to play a major role in the aetiology of sudden infant death (SID). The human uncoupling protein-1 (UCP-1), expressed in brown adipose tissue dissipates the transmitochondrial proton gradient as heat and plays a central role in energy homeostasis and thermogenesis. A common Bcl I polymorphism in the promoter region of the UCP-1 gene is associated with reduced UCP-1 adipose tissue mRNA and obesity. In addition, a common sequence variation in the beta3-adrenergic receptor gene (beta3-AR), Trp64Arg, has been linked to a decreased resting metabolic rate. To determine whether the UCP-1 Bcl I polymorphism and/or the Trp64Arg variant of beta3-AR are associated with the occurrence of SID, we determined the allele frequencies of these polymorphisms in 53 Austrian SID victims and 54 controls by nested PCR and restriction digestion using DNA extracted from Guthrie cards. We found that the allele frequencies of both polymorphisms did not differ between the SID and control groups (0.65/0.35 versus 0.72/0.28 for UCP-1 Bcl I, and 0.89/0.11 versus 0.93/0.07 for beta3-AR Trp64Arg in SID victims versus controls, respectively). Conclusion: Our data do not support a major association between the occurrence of sudden infant death and two common functional polymorphisms in the human uncoupling protein-1 and beta3-adrenergic receptor genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Limited evidence exists for intergenerational interventions to promote health and well-being in older adults and preschool children. We therefore aimed to evaluate the implementation, feasibility and outcome of an intergenerational health promotion program based on psycho-motor activity.Methods: A multicenter mixed-methods study with preschool children and older adults as equivalent target-groups, and professionals and parents as additional informants was conducted in Austria. The study included a needs assessment, a pilot phase with a formative process evaluation and a subsequent rollout phase to evaluate the outcome and the adapted processes of the intervention program. To analyze the qualitative data, a modified form of the framework method was applied. Quantitative data were collected with a time-sampling method and were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical procedures.Results: One hundred ninety-six participants (93 older adults [54 to 96 years old, 83% female], 78 children [2 to 7 years old, 58% female], 13 professionals and 12 parents) from 16 institutions (eight kindergartens and eight geriatric facilities) were included in the study. The qualitative process evaluation revealed several aspects for improvement of the intervention program. Well-being as measured by observing spontaneous intergenerational contacts (p < 0.001) and facial expressions (effect size r = 0.34; p < 0.001) showed a significant increase between the rollout baseline and follow-up assessments.Conclusions: Professionals in geriatric institutions and kindergartens could facilitate interactions between members of the different generations by offering an intergenerational intervention program based on psycho-motor activities in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Various actions have been taken during the last decade to increase the number of organs from deceased donors available for transplantation in Switzerland. This study provides an overview on key figures of the Swiss deceased organ donation and transplant activity between 2008 and 2017. In addition, it puts the evolution of the Swiss donation program's efficiency in relation to the situation in the neighboring countries.Methods: This study is an analysis of prospective registry data, covering the period from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2017. It includes all actual deceased organ donors (ADD) in Switzerland. Donor data were extracted from the Swiss Organ Allocation System. The "donor conversion index" (DCI) methodology and data was used for the comparison of donation program efficiency in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy and France.Results: During the study period there were 1116 ADD in Switzerland. The number of ADD per year increased from 91 in 2008 to 145 in 2017 (+ 59%). The reintroduction of the donation after cardiocirculatory death (DCD) program in 2011 resulted in the growth of annual percentages of DCD donors, reaching a maximum of 27% in 2017. The total number of organs transplanted from ADD was 3763 (3.4 ± 1.5 transplants per donor on average). Of these, 48% were kidneys (n = 1814), 24% livers (n = 903), 12% lungs (n = 445), 9% hearts (n = 352) and 7% pancreata or pancreatic islets (n = 249). The donation program efficiency assessment showed an increase of the Swiss DCI from 1.6% in 2008 to 2.7% in 2017 (+ 69%). The most prominent efficiency growth was observed between 2012 and 2017. Even though Swiss donation efficiency increased during the study period, it remained below the DCI of the French and Austrian donation programs.Conclusion: Swiss donation activity and efficiency grew during the last decade. The increased donation efficiency suggests that measures implemented so far were effective. The lower efficiency of the Swiss donation program, compared to the French and Austrian programs, may likely be explained by the lower consent rate in Switzerland. This issue should be addressed in order to achieve the goal of more organs available for transplantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In accordance the WHO framework of health system functions and by using the indicators collected within the EURO-HEALTHY project, this work aims to contribute to the discussion on the classification of EU health systems.Methods: Three methods were used in this article: factor analysis, cluster analysis and descriptive analysis; data were mainly collected from the WHO and Eurostat databases.Results: The most relevant result is the proposed classification of health systems into the following clusters: Austria-Germany, Central and Northern Countries, Southern Countries, Eastern Countries 'A' and Eastern Countries 'B'.Conclusions: The proposed typology contributes to the discussion about how to classify health systems; the typology of EU health systems allows comparisons of characteristics and health system performance across clusters and policy assessment and policy recommendation within each cluster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]