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Creativity is a vital topic of various educational discourses, yet the support it receives within the school system is insufficient. This chapter focuses on four particular ways of making creativity more democratized, salient, and accessible in school settings. We start by exploring the educational benefits of egalitarian theoretical approaches to creativity. Then, we posit that democratization requires an equal focus on the cognitive aspects of creative potential and the motivational sphere of self-perception and self-regulation. Third, analyzing cognitive characteristics, we pay special attention to creative imagery: an understudied yet critical aspect of creative potential. By meta-analyzing available evidence from interventional studies, we show that there are multiple effective approaches to enhancing creative imagery, so--in a sense--supporting creative potential might be democratized as well by going beyond creativity training. Fourth, and finally, we discuss the possibilities of adapting so-called wise interventions for the educational psychology of creativity. We review available evidence of how to strengthen creative confidence and the perceived value of creativity among students, and how to make their creative self-regulation more effective.

This article reflects on and discusses Central and Eastern European (CEE) learners' adaptability and achievement in one English post-1992 university. There appears to be a scarcity of studies of values, beliefs, attitudes and needs as well as achievement (and factors contributing to it) between CEE and other learners. Since the expansion of the European Union, CEE students' presence in British higher education has become more pronounced. CEE learners are treated as home students (for the purpose of fees) and yet they come from a distinctively different socio-historical background and pedagogic tradition--tradition (as explained further in the article) that is, to a certain extent, common in CEE countries as a result of the sovietisation of education systems within post communistic countries of Central and Eastern Europe. In the British higher education sector there is a move in curriculum delivery towards more personalised learning, which underlines that effective teaching and learning starts with understanding the individual student. Therefore, it is important that universities with a high proportion of EU students attempt to understand where CEE students come from and what their aspirations might be. This article provides some insights into CEE learners' values, attitudes and motivations to learn and looks for possible reasons for their success. (Contains 2 notes.)

The gradual conversion of forest stands to single-aged and single-species stands is resulting in the loss of natural roosts for many animal groups. The installation of bat boxes is one solution to compensate for the lack of natural roosting opportunities. The box models differ in their design and material, which to some extent can determine their suitability for bats. We investigated the occupancy of 187 boxes made of wood, ceramic and two sizes concrete with styrofoam; and the intra-seasonal (spring migration, breeding, mating/migration) thermal profile for each type of box. The environment of the boxes was defined by parameters that could directly affect the box's thermal conditions (solar energy availability), or be related to sociality (distances, obstacles) or food availability (edge of forest, water). The box occupancy depended on the box type and the season: styrofoam-concrete boxes were preferred, with a higher occupancy during the mating and migration period (>75%), whereas the highest species richness occurred in ceramic boxes. Box types also differed significantly in their diurnal thermal profiles: the wooden boxes had inside temperatures similar to outside the box, whereas the styrofoam-concrete and with expanded clay aggregate (ceramic type) averaged 2°C higher. Overall, we found 6 bat species, although we concentrated our analysis on the most common species: Pipistrellus nathusii (88%). For this species, none of the parameters that could affect the box thermal condition had an impact on the occupancy, whereas the presence of obstacles and the distance to a water body, proved to be important. To ascertain that our results may be valid and be the result of differences in the box thermal properties, we tested the relationship of the box occupancy to the latitude, using data available in the literature. The occupancy of wooden boxes from the latter dataset significantly decreases with latitude, whereas for the concrete (with addition of sawdust or styrofoam) it increases, although this relationship is not significant and requires a larger sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Responses to climate change have often been found to lag behind the rate of warming that has occurred. In addition to dispersal limitation potentially restricting spread at leading range margins, the persistence of species in new and unsuitable conditions is thought to be responsible for apparent time‐lags.Soil seed banks can allow plant communities to temporarily buffer unsuitable environmental conditions, but their potential to slow responses to long‐term climate change is largely unknown. As local forest cover can also buffer the effects of a warming climate, it is important to understand how seed banks might interact with land cover to mediate community responses to climate change.We first related species‐level seed bank persistence and distribution‐derived climatic niches for 840 plant species. We then used a database of plant community data from grasslands, forests and intermediate successional habitats from across Europe to investigate relationships between seed banks and their corresponding herb layers in 2763 plots in the context of climate and land cover.We found that species from warmer climates and with broader distributions are more likely to have a higher seed bank persistence, resulting in seed banks that are composed of species with warmer and broader climatic distributions than their corresponding herb layers. This was consistent across our climatic extent, with larger differences (seed banks from even warmer climates relative to vegetation) found in grasslands.Synthesis. Seed banks have been shown to buffer plant communities through periods of environmental variability, and in a period of climate change might be expected to contain species reflecting past, cooler conditions. Here, we show that persistent seed banks often contain species with relatively warm climatic niches and those with wide climatic ranges. Although these patterns may not be primarily driven by species' climatic adaptations, the prominence of such species in seed banks might still facilitate climate‐driven community shifts. Additionally, seed banks may be related to ongoing trends regarding the spread of widespread generalist species into natural habitats, while cool‐associated species may be at risk from both short‐ and long‐term climatic variability and change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heart failure (HF) is a long‐term clinical syndrome, with increasing prevalence and considerable healthcare costs that are further expected to increase dramatically. Despite significant advances in therapy and prevention, mortality and morbidity remain high and quality of life poor. Epidemiological data, that is, prevalence, incidence, mortality, and morbidity, show geographical variations across the European countries, depending on differences in aetiology, clinical characteristics, and treatment. However, data on the prevalence of the disease are scarce, as are those on quality of life. For these reasons, the ESC‐HFA has developed a position paper to comprehensively assess our understanding of the burden of HF in Europe, in order to guide future policies for this syndrome. This manuscript will discuss the available epidemiological data on HF prevalence, outcomes, and human costs—in terms of quality of life—in European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Climate and land use are key determinants of biodiversity, with past and ongoing changes posing serious threats to global ecosystems. Unlike most other organism groups, plant species can possess dormant life‐history stages such as soil seed banks, which may help plant communities to resist or at least postpone the detrimental impact of global changes. This study investigates the potential for soil seed banks to achieve this. Location: Europe. Time period: 1978–2014. Major taxa studied: Flowering plants. Methods: Using a space‐for‐time/warming approach, we study plant species richness and composition in the herb layer and the soil seed bank in 2,796 community plots from 54 datasets in managed grasslands, forests and intermediate, successional habitats across a climate gradient. Results: Soil seed banks held more species than the herb layer, being compositionally similar across habitats. Species richness was lower in forests and successional habitats compared to grasslands, with annual temperature range more important than mean annual temperature for determining richness. Climate and land‐use effects were generally less pronounced when plant community richness included seed bank species richness, while there was no clear effect of land use and climate on compositional similarity between the seed bank and the herb layer. Main conclusions: High seed bank diversity and compositional similarity between the herb layer and seed bank plant communities may provide a potentially important functional buffer against the impact of ongoing environmental changes on plant communities. This capacity could, however, be threatened by climate warming. Dormant life‐history stages can therefore be important sources of diversity in changing environments, potentially underpinning already observed time‐lags in plant community responses to global change. However, as soil seed banks themselves appear, albeit less, vulnerable to the same changes, their potential to buffer change can only be temporary, and major community shifts may still be expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heart failure (HF) is the major contributor to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Given its rising prevalence, the costs of HF care can be expected to increase. Multidisciplinary management of HF can improve quality of care and survival. However, specialized HF programmes are not widely available in most European countries. These circumstances underlie the suggestion of the Heart Failure Association (HFA) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) for the development of quality of care centres (QCCs). These are defined as health care institutions that provide multidisciplinary HF management at all levels of care (primary, secondary and tertiary), are accredited by the HFA/ESC and are implemented into existing health care systems. Their major goals are to unify and improve the quality of HF care, and to promote collaboration in education and research activities. Three types of QCC are suggested: community QCCs (primary care facilities able to provide non-invasive assessment and optimal therapy); specialized QCCs (district hospitals with intensive care units, able to provide cardiac catheterization and device implantation services), and advanced QCCs (national reference centres able to deliver advanced and innovative HF care and research). QCC accreditation will require compliance with general and specific HFA/ESC accreditation standards. General requirements include confirmation of the centre's existence, commitment to QCC implementation, and collaboration with other QCCs. Specific requirements include validation of the centre's level of care, service portfolio, facilities and equipment, management, human resources, process measures, quality indicators and outcome measures. Audit and recertification at 4-6-year intervals are also required. The implementation of QCCs will evolve gradually, following a pilot phase in selected countries. The present document summarizes the definition, major goals, development, classification and crucial aspects of the accreditation process of the HFA/ESC QCC Programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heart failure (HF) constitutes the growing cardiovascular burden and the major public health issue, but comprehensive statistics on HF epidemiology and related management in Europe are missing. The Heart Failure Association (HFA) Atlas has been initiated in 2016 in order to close this gap, representing the continuity directly rooted in the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Atlas of Cardiology. The major aim of the HFA Atlas is to establish a contemporary dataset on HF epidemiology, resources and reimbursement policies for HF management, organization of the National Heart Failure Societies (NHFS) and their major activities, including education and HF awareness. These data are gathered in collaboration with the network of NHFS of the ESC member and ESC affiliated countries. The dataset will be continuously improved and advanced based on the experience and enhanced understanding of data collection in the forthcoming years. This will enable revealing trends, disparities and gaps in knowledge on epidemiology and management of HF. Such data are highly needed by the clinicians of different specialties (aside from cardiologists and cardiac surgeons), researchers, healthcare policy makers, as well as HF patients and their caregivers. It will also allow to map the snapshot of realities in HF care, as well as to provide insights for evidence-based health care policy in contemporary management of HF. Such data will support the ESC/HFA efforts to improve HF management ant outcomes through stronger recommendations and calls for action. This will likely influence the allocation of funds for the prevention, treatment, education and research in HF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) constitutes the fourth cause of end-stage renal disease in Europe. The course of the disease varies widely among patients with ADPKD. Due to the emergence of new possibilities of pharmacotherapy, it has become crucial to identify the group of patients with the fastest rate and risk of disease progression. This particular group of patients will benefit most from the therapy and they are the best candidates for clinical trials. At the early stages of ADPKD typical markers of severity and progression of the disease remain unchanged in contrast to the kidney volume, which increases continuously in an exponential way. Therefore, the use of height-adjusted total kidney volume as a biomarker should become a mandatory diagnostic option. Also, quantitative MRI techniques are promising biomarkers for the evaluation of disease severity and could provide additional insights into its course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Urticaria is one of the most common skin diseases. Depending on the length of symptoms, acute (lasting less than 6 weeks) and chronic urticaria (CU) (> 6 weeks) are distinguished. According to the current European guidelines, CU is divided into inducible urticaria (IU) and chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU). Aim: To assess the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of CU in Poland. Material and methods: This was a nationwide, multicentre, cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study performed under the auspices of the Polish Dermatological Society. A total of 102 physicians (dermatologists and allergists) recruited 1091 patients suffering from CU. Results: Among 1091 adults with CU, IU was found in 35.1% (n = 383) of patients and CSU was responsible for 61.1% (n = 667) of CU cases. The remaining patients (n = 41, 3.8%) suffered from both, IU and CSU. Persons with CSU were twice more likely to report family history of urticaria than those with IU (12.1% vs. 6.0%, p = 0.001). Generalized eruptions of wheals predominated in CSU (generalized wheals: 57.9%, localized wheals: 42.1%), whereas wheals localized in particular body areas were found more commonly in IU (generalized wheals: 45.2%, localized wheals: 54.8%, p < 0.001). The CU was the cause of absenteeism in almost every fifth patient suffering from this disease. Conclusions: The CSU is about twice as frequent cause of CU as compared to IU. The treatment of CU is a major challenge for physicians of various specialties and the treatment choice is closely associated with the specialist knowledge of current treatment guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite improvements in medical therapy and device-based treatment, heart failure (HF) continues to impose enormous burdens on patients and health care systems worldwide. Alterations in autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity contribute to cardiac disease progression, and the recent development of invasive techniques and electrical stimulation devices has opened new avenues for specific targeting of the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the ANS. The Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology recently organized an expert workshop which brought together clinicians, trialists and basic scientists to discuss the ANS as a therapeutic target in HF. The questions addressed were: (i) What are the abnormalities of ANS in HF patients? (ii) What methods are available to measure autonomic dysfunction? (iii) What therapeutic interventions are available to target the ANS in patients with HF, and what are their specific strengths and weaknesses? (iv) What have we learned from previous ANS trials? (v) How should we proceed in the future? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to assess the net clinical and prognostic effects of intravenous (i.v.) iron therapy in patients with systolic heart failure (HF) and iron deficiency (ID). We performed an aggregate data meta-analysis (random effects model) of randomized controlled trials that evaluated the effects of i.v. iron therapy in iron-deficient patients with systolic HF. We searched electronic databases up to September 2014. We identified five trials which fulfilled the inclusion criteria (509 patients received i.v. iron therapy in comparison with 342 controls). Intravenous iron therapy has been shown to reduce the risk of the combined endpoint of all-cause death or cardiovascular hospitalization [odds ratio (OR) 0.44, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.30-0.64, P < 0.0001], and the combined endpoint of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for worsening HF (OR 0.39, 95% CI 0.24-0.63, P = 0.0001). Intravenous iron therapy resulted in a reduction in NYHA class (data are reported as a mean net effect with 95% CIs for all continuous variables) (-0.54 class, 95% CI -0.87 to -0.21, P = 0.001); an increase in 6-min walking test distance (+31 m, 95% CI 18-43, P < 0.0001); and an improvement in quality of life [Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) score +5.5 points, 95% CI 2.8-8.3, P < 0.0001; European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D) score +4.1 points, 95% CI 0.8-7.3, P = 0.01; Minnesota Living With Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ) score -19 points, 95% CI:-23 to -16, P < 0.0001; and Patient Global Assessment (PGA) +0.70 points, 95% CI 0.31-1.09, P = 0004]. The evidence indicates that i.v. iron therapy in iron-deficient patients with systolic HF improves outcomes, exercise capacity, and quality of life, and alleviates HF symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper briefly describes the methodology and procedure for carrying out the public opinion survey which was focused on selected mobility issues. The survey was realized in 10 regions of Central Europe. Paper also sums up the outcomes of the evaluation of the travel preferences and public attitudes towards problems and risk factors of road safety and potential effectiveness of authorities in the Warmia-Mazury region in Poland and Zilina region in Slovakia. The survey was implemented with the support of a single methodology developed by partner organizations of international project SOL - Save Our Lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is a widespread species throughout Europe and at the same time is dominant in Polish forests and of key importance in the wood industry. Pine stands are subjected to numerous environmental stresses, and one of them is the different physico-chemical and biological properties of post-agricultural soils compared to forest soils, which may affect the properties of the resulting wood and its industrial suitability. The research material taken at the height of 1.3 m from tree trunks (breast height diameter, dbh) in the form of sections and discs was collected in an 80-year-old pine stand from four plots, representing former agricultural and ancient forest land, and two types of habitats: fresh coniferous forest and fresh mixed coniferous forest. The forest habitat trophy had a decisive impact on the dendrometric characteristics and properties of pine wood (density, modulus of elasticity, bending strength, and compressive strength along the tracheids). The history of soil use (post-agricultural or forestry) did not affect the analyzed pine wood properties. Regardless of the forest habitat type and soil type history, pine wood at the dbh height showed a variability of features typical of century-old cultivated stands. Individual pine trunks were characterized by significant individual variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though winter-hardiness is a complex trait, freezing tolerance was proved to be its main component. Species from temperate regions acquire tolerance to freezing in a process of cold acclimation, which is associated with the exposure of plants to low but non-freezing temperatures. However, mechanisms of cold acclimation in Lolium-Festuca grasses, important for forage production in Europe, have not been fully recognized. Thus, two L. multiflorum/F. arundinacea introgression forms with distinct freezing tolerance were used herein as models in the comprehensive research to dissect these mechanisms in that group of plants. The work was focused on: (i) analysis of cellular membranes' integrity; (ii) analysis of plant photosynthetic capacity (chlorophyll fluorescence; gas exchange; gene expression, protein accumulation, and activity of selected enzymes of the Calvin cycle); (iii) analysis of plant antioxidant capacity (reactive oxygen species generation; gene expression, protein accumulation, and activity of selected enzymes); and (iv) analysis of Cor14b accumulation, under cold acclimation. The more freezing tolerant introgression form revealed a higher integrity of membranes, an ability to cold acclimate its photosynthetic apparatus and higher water use efficiency after three weeks of cold acclimation, as well as a higher capacity of the antioxidant system and a lower content of reactive oxygen species in low temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perturbations in the ionosphere are of great interest not only for scientific research, but also for applications using transionospheric radiosignals (e.g. GNSS applications and HF communication), because the transmission of radiosignals is sensitive to the electron density in the ionosphere. However, ionospheric perturbations have manifold character. Their spatial range can vary between global and very local effects (a few hundreds of km range) and their temporal range varies between seconds and days. All these perturbations have different physical background and different impact on applications. Many ionosphere perturbation indices that characterize the state of ionospheric perturbations have been introduced in the past (e.g. ROTI, S4, σ Phi , AATR, R eff , W-index, SISTED, SOLERA, DIXSG, IBI, Dfu/Dfl, etc.). This manuscript is an assessment of a subset of diverse ionospheric indices developed and/or applied in Europe. It describes the objectives of the indices, demonstrates their character in a case study for September 2017, indicates their applicability for different use cases in science and industry and guides users to find the appropriate index for their purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increase in cocaine consumption has been observed in Europe during the last decade. Benzoylecgonine, as a main urinary metabolite of cocaine in human, is so far the most reliable marker of cocaine consumption. Determination of cocaine and its metabolite in complex biological samples as urine or blood, requires efficient and selective sample pretreatment. In this preliminary study, the newly synthesized sorbent materials were proposed for selective extraction of cocaine and benzoylecgonine from urine samples. Application of these sorbent media allowed to determine cocaine and benzoylecgonine in urine samples at the concentration level of 100 ng/ml with good recovery values as 81.7% ± 6.6 and 73.8% ± 4.2, respectively. The newly synthesized materials provided efficient, inexpensive and selective extraction of both cocaine and benzoylecgonine from urine samples, which can consequently lead to an increase of the sensitivity of the current available screening diagnostic tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Good practices in emergency preparedness and response for chemical incidents include practices specific to the different functions of exposure assessment (e.g., within the monitoring function, the use of mobile monitoring equipment; within the modelling function, the use of rapid dispersion models with integrated mapping software) and generic practices to engage incident response stakeholders to maximise exposure assessment capabilities (e.g., sharing protocols and pre-prepared information and multi-agency training and exercising). Such practices can optimise cross-border collaboration. A wide range of practices have been implemented across MSs during chemical incident response, particularly during incidents that have cross-border and trans-boundary impacts. This paper proposes a self-assessment methodology to enable MSs, or organisations within MSs, to examine exposure assessment capabilities and communication pathways between exposure assessors and public health risk assessors. Where gaps exist, this methodology provides links to good practices that could improve response, communication and collaboration across local, regional and national borders. A fragmented approach to emergency preparedness for chemical incidents is a major obstacle to improving cross-border exposure assessment. There is no one existing body or structure responsible for all aspects of chemical incident preparedness and response in the European Union. Due to the range of different organisations and networks involved in chemical incident response, emergency preparedness needs to be drawn together. A number of recommendations are proposed, including the use of networks of experts which link public health risk assessors with experts in exposure assessment, in order to coordinate and improve chemical incident emergency preparedness. The EU's recent Decision on serious cross-border threats to health aims to facilitate MSs' compliance with the International Health Regulations, which require reporting and communication regarding significant chemical incidents. This provides a potential route to build on in order to improve chemical incident preparedness and response across Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ALPHABET consortium aims to examine the interplays between maternal diet quality, epigenetics and offspring health in seven pregnancy/birth cohorts from five European countries. We aimed to use the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) score to assess diet quality, but different versions have been published. To derive a single DASH score allowing cross-country, cross-cohort and cross-period comparison and limiting data heterogeneity within the ALPHABET consortium, we harmonised food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) data collected before and during pregnancy in ≥26,500 women. Although FFQs differed strongly in length and content, we derived a consortium DASH score composed of eight food components by combining the prescriptive original DASH and the DASH described by Fung et al. Statistical issues tied to the nature of the FFQs led us to re-classify two food groups (grains and dairy products). Most DASH food components exhibited pronounced between-cohort variability, including non-full-fat dairy products (median intake ranging from 0.1 to 2.2 servings/day), sugar-sweetened beverages/sweets/added sugars (0.3-1.7 servings/day), fruits (1.1-3.1 servings/day), and vegetables (1.5-3.6 servings/day). We successfully developed a harmonized DASH score adapted to all cohorts being part of the ALPHABET consortium. This methodological work may benefit other research teams in adapting the DASH to their study's specificities.