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The question posed by this thesis is how limits can be constructed to the exercise of EU powers. While there are limits to the exercise of EU competences in the Treaties and in the Court of Justice’s jurisprudence, it is argued that those limits suffer from conceptual and practical problems. In particular, the Court does not have appropriate criteria to examine whether the limits of the Treaties h

Even though there is persuasive evidence to support the association between income distribution and health, research in the field is still progressing. There are questions, for instance, about the significance of the association in different countries and about the mechanisms linking income distribution and health. Addressing these issues, this doctoral thesis explores the influence of income dist

Background: Branch-duct intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (BD-IPMN) presents a clinical conundrum. Rigorous long-term surveillance or surgical resection is recommended. The economic consequences of the management have not been fully investigated. Methods: A Markov decision model compared 4 strategies for low-risk BD-IPMN: I = upfront total pancreatectomy, II = upfront partial pancreatectomy,

Abstract: This article summarises the information that should be provided to women and referring physicians about breast ultrasound (US). After explaining the physical principles, technical procedure and safety of US, information is given about its ability to make a correct diagnosis, depending on the setting in which it is applied. The following definite indications for breast US in female subjec

The lack of any effective therapy along with the aging world population anticipates a growth of the worldwide incidence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) to more than 100 million cases by 2050. Accumulation of extracellular amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques, intracellular tangles in the brain, and formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are the major hallmarks of the disease. In the amyloidogenic process, a β-s

The Russian natural gas industry is the world's largest producer and transporter of natural gas. This paper aims to characterize the methane emissions from Russian natural gas transmission operations, to explain projects to reduce these emissions, and to characterize the role of emissions reduction within the context of current GHG policy. It draws on the most recent independent measurements at al

Register-based studies have indicated that men with impaired fertility are at higher risk for developing various adult-onset diseases than fertile men. The majority of men undergoing ICSI treatment are sub-fertile and since they are in contact with the health care system, these men are well suited as target for preventive measures. Our study included all men (N = 459 766) who had fathered children

The veil of ignorance approach is tested as a basis for empirically determining the shape of the social welfare function for income. An experiment is carried out where the participants choose between different societies that differ with respect to per capita income and the distribution of income. The answers are analysed using logistic regression analysis. According to the results the respondents

A three-generation resource family was created by crossing two Berkshire grandsires with nine Yorkshire granddams to identify QTL affecting growth, body composition, and meat quality. A total of 512 F2 offspring were evaluated for 11 traits related to growth and body composition and 28 traits related to meat quality. All animals were initially genotyped for 125 markers across the genome. The objec

An important issue in quantitative trait loci (QTL) detection is the use of phenotypic measurement as a dependent variable. Daughter yield deviations (DYDs) as the unit of choice are not available for all traits of interest. The use of de-regressed proofs (DRPFs) of estimated breeding values (EBVs) is an alternative to using daughter yield deviations. The objective of this study was to examine pos

The proportion of unpigmented coat on the trunk was determined from photographs of 38 German Simmental and 627 German Holstein bulls distributed over three generations. All 665 animals were members of 18 Holstein and 3 Simmental half-sib families. A Bayesian estimation of heritability yielded a posterior mean of 0.88 and a standard error of 0.08. A quantitative trait loci (QTL) scan over all chrom

Background: Although many pregnant women report fear related to the approaching birth, no consensus exists on how fear of birth should be handled in clinical care. Objective: This randomized controlled trial aimed to compare the efficacy of a guided internet-based self-help program based on cognitive behavioral therapy (guided ICBT) with standard care on the levels of fear of birth in a sample of

Results from a search for supersymmetry in events with four or more charged leptons (electrons, muons and taus) are presented. The analysis uses a data sample corresponding to 36.1 fb-1 of proton-proton collisions delivered by the Large Hadron Collider at s=13 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Four-lepton signal regions with up to two hadronically decaying taus are designed to target a range

We report new time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence lifetime measurements for 22 highly excited even-parity levels in singly ionized yttrium (Y II). To populate these levels belonging to the configurations 4d6s, 5s6s 4d5d, 5p2, 4d7s and 4d6d, a two-step laser excitation technique was used. Our previous pseudo-relativistic Hartree-Fock model (Biémont et al. 2011) was improved by extending the co

This study concerns effects of two main variables on hydrodynamics and mass transfer in the liquid-liquid two-phase slug flow regime. The influence of size of square and rectangular microchannels and presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) are investigated. Three microchannels with dimensions 600x600 (MC600), 400x400 (MC400) and 600x300 (MC300) µm were used with hydraulic diameters of 600, 400 an

Cytoreductive nephrectomy (CN) has been the standard of care in patients with metastatic clear-cell renal cancer who present with the tumour in place. The CARMENA trial compared systemic therapy alone with CN followed by systemic therapy. This article outlines the new guidelines based on these data. Patient summary: The CARMENA trial demonstrates that immediate cytoreductive nephrectomy should no

Over the past years, the installations of Shallow Geothermal Energy (SGE) systems are increasing throughout Europe, and it is indicating that a specific and detailed legal framework is necessary. Towards this direction, this paper consists of an overview of legislation issues on SGE at European level, based on concise reviews from fourteen countries, i.e., Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, L

A follow-up study of 12 patients who had undergone Stephens rectoplasty for high imperforate anus is presented. Clinical assessment and anal electromyography were performed more than 7 years after surgery, both before and after a year's physiotherapeutic training of the perianal musculature. Electromyography showed correlation between faecal continence and tonus of the anal sphincter, the anocutan