Publications

This publication is the outcome from the mid-term conference held in Munich on 24 – 25 September 2008.

Flood frequency analysis is used for establishing a relationship between flood magnitude and frequency of occurrence (return period) and for estimating the design-flood at a given

location of interest. The approach can be implemented locally (At-Site Flood Frequency

Analysis, SFFA); or regionally (Regional Flood Frequency Analysis, RFFA), which is used to limit unreliable extrapolation when available data record lengths are short as compared to the recurrence interval of interest, or for predicting the flooding potential at locations where no observed data are available. Both SFFA and RFFA are mature disciplines and consolidated methodologies are available for many European regions. As a result, different European countries, and sometimes even different regions within a country, have adopted different methodologies, which are often selected on the basis of traditional approaches or restricted due to limitation of available data.

The main objective of the COST Action ES0901 European procedure for flood frequency

estimation (FloodFreq, http://www.cost-floodfreq.eu/), which started in 2010, is to undertake a pan-European comparison and evaluation of methods for flood frequency estimation under the various climatologic and geographic conditions found in Europe, and different levels of data availability, as required by European Flood Directive (2007/60/EC). In particular, Working Group 2 (WG2) is focusing on an assessment of statistical methods for flood frequency estimation. In the first phase of WG2, state-of-the-art methods were collected from all member countries of the WGs, and presented in a report form.

In this report, the description of applied frequency analysis methods is presented. The report also include a catalogue of flood data availability/unavailability across Europe together with relevant information (e.g., catchment descriptors, climatological [see above] and hydrological characteristics, indications on frequency distribution recommended for use in flood frequency studies) are collected and presented. Finally, this report presents some preliminary outcomes of analyses that aim to identify in an L moment-based framework the most suitable parent distributions for representing the frequency regime of annual maximum flood across Europe.

Brain Damage and Repair aims to attract the interest of neuroscientists and clinical neurologists by building a novel bridge from molecular research to clinical therapy. This novel approach reveals the functional features of neurons and glia un the particular context of vulnerability and self-protection, intracellular properties and extracellular matrix. Arising from this platform, this volume unfolds the molecular and systemic processes underlying migration disorders, axonal injury, repair and regeneration. Comprehensive chapters on neurological diseases, such as M. Alzheimer, M. Parkinson, ALS, stroke or trauma, take this knowledge; apply it at clinical level to provide a basis for novel therapeutic strategies. Brain Damage and Repair is completed with chapters on imaging techniques, viral gene transfer or legal international handling of stem cell transfer and patents of DNA/proteins.

Provisioning for basic human needs is done in three main kind of institutions: the familial household; the commercial enterprise selling goods and services; the institutions of the Welfare State that provide education, medical care and other goods and personal services to all or to some specific groups of citizens in need. The purpose of this book is to study the interplay of these institutions and their impact on well-being, and to analyze key policies and measures that have been implemented in European countries.

Institutions determine labour demand (men and women are hired by the institutions of the Welfare State or by market providers of care), the possibilities of consumption (wages earned can be used to buy goods and services only if such goods and services are provided by the market) and allocate people’s time, in particular women’s time, between paid work and unpaid domestic production and provision of care, shaping both the gender relations and time use of people of both sexes. The proper balance of these institutions is a prerequisite of well-being both of the care givers and of the care receivers, and also for satisfactory gender relations.

The chapters in this book focus on the following sub-topics: gender and welfare regimes; gender, well-being and the provision of care in the family and the household; and gender and well-being in the labour market. They emphasise the interdependence of social and labour market policies in the context of fundamental changes in both working patterns (the increase in female labour-force participation rates) and social needs (including population ageing) and demonstrate that we need a more integrated approach to welfare policy which takes account not only of basic welfare entitlements, but also the need for supportive forms of service provision and employment regulation.

This volume is the final outcome of the research network In Search of Trans- cultural Memory in Europe (istme) which ran from 2012 to 2016. Funded by the eu cost (Cooperation in Science and Technology) programme, the network was able to bring together scholars from 33 European countries and a variety of disciplinary backgrounds. The goal of the network was to go beyond what we saw as tendencies within memory studies to be too nationally orientated and to reify the bonds between culture, nation and memory. The ambition was to investigate transcultural dynamics of memory in Europe with special attention paid to memories of the troubled twentieth century, and how they have been transmitted and received across the continent. Moreover, the network aimed to develop European memory studies theoretically and methodologically by focusing on transculturality and reception. It is why this volume is centred on these issues. 

COST Action B13 was launched in 1999 to formulate evidence-based guidelines for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of low-back pain. This ambitious pan-European project gathered 48 experts in the field from 14 European countries to analyse more than 70 clinical guidelines and 800 systematic reviews.