BACKGROUND Noroviruses (NoVs) are the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis across all age groups. Because a vaccine is in clinical development, burden of disease data are required to guide the eventual introduction of this vaccine. In this study, we estimate the burden of NoV disease in children less than 5 years of age in the European Union (EU). METHODS We carried out a literature search ...

Detection of chelatable zinc (Zn(2+)) in biological studies has attracted much attention recently, because chelatable Zn(2+) plays important roles in many biological systems. Lanthanide complexes (Eu(3+), Tb(3+), etc.) have excellent spectroscopic properties for biological applications, such as long luminescence lifetimes of the order of milliseconds, a large Stoke's shift of >200 nm, and high ...

This paper reports the photoluminescence studies of Eu (RE)-doped ZnO nanophosphors synthesized by precipitation method using ethanolic solution as solvent. The prepared samples are characterized by a Philips Holland TW 1710 XRD measuring instrument with Co target. The ZnO structure is found to be wurtzite. The particle sizes are found to be in the range of 70 nm to 90 nm. The prominent peaks f...

Persistent luminescent materials are able to emit light for hours after being excited. The majority of persistent phosphors emit in the blue or green region of the visible spectrum. Orange- or red-emitting phosphors, strongly desired for emergency signage and medical imaging, are scarce. We prepared the nitrido-silicates Ca₂Si₅N₈:Eu (orange), Sr₂Si₅N₈:Eu (reddish), Ba₂Si₅N₈:Eu (yellowish orange...

The PHARMINE ("Pharmacy Education in Europe") project examined the organisation of pharmacy practice and education in the European Union (EU). An electronic survey was sent out to representatives of different sectors (community, hospital, industrial pharmacists, university staff, and students) in each individual EU member state. This paper presents the results of the PHARMINE survey on pharmacy...

The Clean Air Action Group (CAAG), a national federation of 121 Hungarian environmental NGOs, calls for action against the devastating effect of EU spending on Hungarian society, its economy and the environment. Inappropriate rules concerning the use of EU money, coupled with weak or non-existent enforcement of the EU acquis and national commitments, lead to the result that EU money in Hungary ...

On 1 May 2004 the European Union (EU) underwent unprecedented enlargement, from 15 to 25 countries, increasing its population by 20% to over 450 million. Although EU law has limited specific competence in the area of health, its influence on other policy sectors such as agriculture, trade, and employment has wide ranging implications for health. Yet with the exception of provisions on communica...