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Europe is in the midst of a period of unprecedented change. The European Union is undergoing great unification and centralization of power, and some believe that a "European" identity is subsuming the traditional national identity of Member States. Contributing factors to this remarkable phenomenon include the emergence of viable supranational frameworks, economic recession, technological advancement, and mass migration. Some groups, however, have been empowered by these circumstances to seek greater sub-state power and to solidify regional identities. Scotland and Catalonia in particular present two distinct independence movements in the midst of continental power centralization. Their efforts present novel and serious challenges both to their governing states and to the European Union itself. The European Union must aid the resolution of these movements or face sacrificing its own legitimacy. Either way, its course of action threatens to unleash a chain reaction that may ultimately compromise its decision-making capabilities and undermine its very future.

This paper analyses price differences of McDonald's products in four different countries. I show that pricing at pricing points in different currencies may contribute to explaining deviations from the law of one price. Observing strictly equal prices is more probable if prices are set at psychological and fractional pricing points in a common currency. The latter is also found to reduce the size of price deviations. Additionally, price differences increase as transaction costs increase. Based on this data set there is no evidence that the euro has reduced price deviations.

Using individual supermarket prices, this article shows that, even for a narrowly defined geographical and highly integrated cross-border area, absolute deviations from the law of one price (LOP) rise, as distance increases and borders are crossed. Being inside the former Belgian-Luxembourg monetary association has the opposite effect. The latter result suggests that the euro will increase European integration and will help to reduce regional and cross-border price differences in the long term. Furthermore, larger differences in packaging sizes result in larger price deviations. The opposite is the case for prices observed within the same retail group. References. Adapted from the source document.

Using information collected in a questionnaire survey, this article investigates the role of Ghanaian immigrant associations in Toronto to illustrate how a group of recent African immigrants organizes itself to address needs related to their settlement in a new country. The study finds that Ghanaians have established a relatively large network of township, ethnic, and national associations. The associations fulfill a wide variety of economic, cultural, social and political functions related to the needs of the immigrants in the new country. At the same time, the associations serve their needs in the homeland: the immigrants use them to contribute to community development efforts, fight for certain political rights, and maintain ties to the homeland. Analysis showed that length of residence, level of education, income, and residential location were the most important determinants of membership in Ghanaian associations.

In the coastal countries of East Asia and Southeast Asia, ciguatera should be common because of the extensive tropical and subtropical coral reefs along the coasts and in the neighboring seas with ciguatoxic fishes. An extensive search of journal databases, the Internet and the government websites was performed to identify all reports of ciguatera from the regions. Based on the official data and large published case series, the incidence of ciguatera was higher in the coastal cities (Hong Kong, Foshan, Zhongshan) of southern China than in Japan (Okinawa Prefecture). In Singapore, ciguatera appeared to be almost unknown. In other countries, only isolated cases or small case series were reported, but under-reporting was assumed to be common. Ciguatera may cause severe acute illness and prolonged neurological symptoms. Ciguatera represents an important public health issue for endemic regions, with significant socio-economic impact. Coordinated strategies to improve risk assessment, risk management and risk communication are required. The systematic collection of accurate data on the incidence and epidemiology of ciguatera should enable better assessment and management of its risk. Much more work needs to be done to define the size threshold for important coral reef fish species from different regions, above which the risk of ciguatera significantly increases.

In the present review, the main objective was to describe the epidemiology and clinical features of ciguatera fish poisoning in Hong Kong. From 1989 to 2008, the annual incidence of ciguatera varied between 3.3 and 64.9 (median 10.2) per million people. The groupers have replaced the snappers as the most important cause of ciguatera. Pacific-ciguatoxins (CTX) are most commonly present in reef fish samples implicated in ciguatera outbreaks. In affected subjects, the gastrointestinal symptoms often subside within days, whereas the neurological symptoms can persist for weeks or even months. Bradycardia and hypotension, which can be life-threatening, are common. Treatment of ciguatera is primarily supportive and symptomatic. Intravenous mannitol (1 g/kg) has also been suggested. To prevent ciguatera outbreaks, the public should be educated to avoid eating large coral reef fishes, especially the CTX-rich parts. A Code of Practice on Import and Sale of Live Marine Fish for Human Consumption for Prevention and Control of Ciguatera Fish Poisoning was introduced from 2004 to 2013. The Food Safety Ordinance with a tracing mechanism came into full effect in February 2012. The Government would be able to trace the sources of the fishes more effectively and take prompt action when dealing with ciguatera incidents.