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The paper discusses changes that have occurred over the last 15 years in how maps are sold, where they are sold and who is buying them. The emphasis is on the situation in the United States of America, but developments in Europe and the United Kingdom are also included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines “currency chains”—messages and petitions written on paper money—as folkloric expressions and rhetorical acts that critique or commend dominant American public discourse. After a general description of currency chains, it considers two categories in detail. First is the “St. Lazarus” variety that flourished in the United States in the late 1990s, having migrated from Europe. Second are political money chains that engage with a social or political order, often in protest. This article observes the condemnation of currency chains as an irrational phenomenon, and regards them as viable means for often marginalised groups to foster participation in a public sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acknowledging that the government is a user of social networks may help us to better understand its attempt to regulate them. This paper draws on the French case to show different ways of regulating hate speech online. It then turns to the peculiar case of hate speech expressed by the government. There are good reasons to consider that government hate speech can be restricted in Europe as well as in the United States. Europe and the United States however pull apart when the government regulate the discussion space below its online speech. Here, European governments are under an obligation to fight hate speech, when U.S. government infringes the First Amendment when it attempts to do so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on historical issues in Europe. Popularity of Americanization in literatures about United States-European relations; Reasons for the migration of Europeans to other countries; Boundaries in the production of historical knowledge of the country.

The internationalization of universities and the aging of the global population are two current issues that converge and challenge undergraduate gerontology curriculum development in Canada. One response to this challenge is to envision an intercultural gerontology curriculum. What might this curriculum encompass? How might it be taught? An exploratory study was undertaken to address these two questions. This paper presents findings from this study based primarily on interviews with university-based stakeholders from Canada, the United States, and Europe. Thematic analysis of the interviews resulted in five themes: multiple perspectives on cultural diversity; the dynamic nature of cultural diversity and aging; flow of an intercultural curriculum; institutional culture and intercultural curricula; and principles and practice for intercultural gerontology. Framed by principles of gerontology theory and educational approaches, this paper focuses on the principles and practice suggested by study participants. Scaffolding learning, active learning strategies, experiential learning opportunities, teacher modelling, and internet-based learning are discussed as key to intercultural learning. An appendix includes a list of resources that may be useful to developing an intercultural gerontology curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The American election and its results in 2016 made it timely to provide a psychoanalytic analysis of the similar political events in the United States and in Hungary. Applying psychoanalytical theories to society has always been part of the tradition of the Budapest school. This paper argues that Hungarian and other transgenerational trauma theories can help us understand these developments. The author begins in using these theories to analyze the impact of political regimes on societies and individuals in Central Europe after World War II. She then continues to look at the political transformation that took place in 1989 in the socialist countries existing since 1945. This transformation promised liberation. But, this paper argues, the unexplored past resulted in the emergence of hierarchic, irrational political forces. The paper uses social and individual examples to help demonstrate these processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is an introduction to a roundtable comprising three papers and a discussion considering the interweave of psychoanalysis and social and political life. Prepared for a 2017 conference in Prague, the three papers (and one discussion) address political and social changes in Central Europe and globally as they effect internal conscious and unconscious experience. The roundtable centers on how changes in political order, and in the environment, past and present, produce ongoing new and renewed trauma in citizens, both locally and globally. The introduction sets this work in the context of the 2017 conference and the subsequent election of Donald Trump to president of the United States, speaking to the unsettled "radioactive" effects of social and political change on the subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last half of the twentieth century, many advances in the field of psychiatry and mental health have occurred and continue today. Among these developments are the increasing recognition of patient rights and the expanding role of psychiatric nurses. This paper presents a view of how these changes have been reflected in film over a period of fifty years in both documentary and Hollywood movies. Discussion of advances in psychiatry, as identified in the selected films, is presented against the background of social change that was occurring in the United States and Western Europe during this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Interprofessional continuing education (IPCE) health care educators must plan activities as members of interprofessional teams and deliver activities to an interprofessional audience. Evidence in the literature suggests they are not well prepared to meet this challenge. This paper reviews one strategy to improve the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and practices of IPCE educators. Methods: Seven faculty development workshops were conducted within the USA, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Approximately 250 learners participated in the workshops in total, with 107 in an IRB-approved research study. Results: From the research cohorts demonstrated improved knowledge and skills over a 12-month period. Knowledge and skills scores increased most significantly from baseline to 3 months and remained above baseline at 6-12 months. The workshop was not an effective strategy to improve attitudes towards IPCE, though attitude scores were already high prior to participating. Conclusions: All participants actively engaged in the workshops. There were no observed differences in engagement by geographic region, gender, age, or profession. Participants stated they were better able to understand the roles of other team members; perspectives of patients, families, and caregivers; and their own roles on clinical teams. Participants described gaining a new appreciation for the complexity of designing IPCE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents perspectives and controversies surrounding the use of milestones to assess competency in outcomes-based medical education. Global perspectives (Canada, Europe, and the United States) and developments supporting their rationales are discussed. In Canada, there is a significant movement away from conceptualizing competency based on time, and a move toward demonstration of specific competencies. The success of this movement may require complex (rather than reductionist) milestones that reflect students' progression through complexity and context and a method to narrate their journey. European countries (United Kingdom, France, and Germany) have stressed the complexity associated with time and milestones for medical students to truly achieve competence. To meet the changing demands of medicine, they view time as actually providing students with knowledge and exposure to achieve various milestones. In the United States, milestones are based on sampling throughout professional development to initiate lifelong learning. However, the use of milestones may not imply overall competence (reductionism). Milestones must be developed alongside outcomes-based curriculum with use of faculty and competency committees. The perspectives outlined in this paper underscore emerging challenges for implementing outcomes-based medical education and call for new conceptualizations of competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this review is to further our knowledge about what is meant by inclusion in research addressing the topic. While it is common to remark that inclusion is defined in different ways in research, few attempts have been made to map and analyse different types of definitions and whether there are patterns to be find in how the concept is used. The 30 most cited journal articles from a North American and a European research arena were selected for analysis. Each article was analysed in relation to genre, theoretical tradition and inclusion concept used. The review yielded several important results. To name a few, a divide was identified between position articles, with developed discussions about and analyses of the meaning of inclusion, and empirical articles, where inclusion signifies that children with disabilities are placed in the mainstream. In addition, writing within a critical theoretical tradition was much more common among positional papers. Further, both arenas are dominated by Anglo-Saxon researchers. It is argued that the conceptual confusion characterising the field impedes its development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The last half of the twentieth century was a period of unprecedented growth in homeownership in the United States and Europe. In the UK and the USA, policy and government actions were focused on increasing homeownership as part of a new ‘ownership society’. This was especially true in the 1990s and 2000s. Now, in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis and the housing market collapse, there is renewed concern with the loss of housing-wealth, affordability and even whether ownership will ever be attainable for low-income and minority populations. This paper examines the rise in home ownership as governments engaged in a policy experiment of greatly expanding ownership. The paper extends the aggregate studies of the housing crisis by examining population cohort behavior during the housing bubble and the individual outcomes as a result of the housing experiment. I use data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to evaluate the impacts of the debt burden and negative equity on ownership and conclude that they will have long-term impacts on the ability of low-income and minority households to enter the housing market or even to keep their homes. The policy goal of a broadened ownership society will be difficult to sustain in the light of stagnant incomes and high prices even after the recent decline in house values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an innovative econometric approach for the computation of 24-h realized volatilities across stock markets in Europe and the US. In particular, we deal with the problem of non-synchronous trading hours and intermittent high-frequency data during overnight non-trading periods. Using high-frequency data for the Euro Stoxx 50 and the S&P 500 Index between 2003 and 2011, we combine squared overnight returns and realized daytime variances to obtain synchronous 24-h realized volatilities for both markets. Specifically, we use a piece-wise weighting procedure for daytime and overnight information to take into account structural breaks in the relation between the two. To demonstrate the new possibilities that our approach opens up, we use the new 24-h volatilities to estimate a bivariate extension of Corsi et al.’s [Econom. Rev., 2008,27(1–3), 46–78] HAR-GARCH model. The results suggest that the contemporaneous transatlantic volatility interdependence is remarkably stable over the sample period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Muslims in Europe have set up numerous initiatives aimed at reconciling religious life in modern societies. Whether they revolve around food certification, finance, education, or newly founded businesses that try to provide products and services compliant with religious prescriptions. Many charities are alternative safe spaces where people who share the same spirituality and ethics can connect and work together. Reviving Islamic traditions, such as shura, sharing a rejection of consumerism, and designing modes of governance opposed to bureaucracy, they may appear as rejecting modern models. However, inspired by the financially successful methods of big multinational companies, some charities try to design modes of action that try to emulate corporate culture. Becoming driven by results and figures such as “likes” on Facebook, retweets, and “views” on YouTube, they adapt their interpretation of the Qur’an and the hadith to justify material success as a means to achieve happiness. This paper analyses how, from a tradition rejecting materialism, some Muslim charities paradoxically develop a utilitarian mindset, and how corporate culture impacts the not-for-profit sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the social role of the control of books and archives during the Napoleonic Wars in Europe and the War of 1812 in North America. Napoleon's systematic acquisition of archives, manuscripts, and books; their removal to France from captured territories; and the administration of these collections are discussed, along with his foundation of libraries in newly established centers of learning. The transfer of books, statuary, and other artifacts appears explicitly among the terms of more than one Napoleonic treaty with a conquered foe. The paper attempts to elucidate the cultural-historical roles of libraries and archives during the era and to highlight Napoleon's personal preoccupation with cultural artifacts, including books, scientific instruments, statuary, and paintings. Attention is also drawn to the records of the War of 1812, which can be seen as part of the broader Napoleonic Wars. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study provides an insight into the difficulties companies encounter in transposing basic science into commercially viable healthcare technologies, focusing on the issue of establishing a dominant supply model within a highly regulated market. The core issue is how to scale-up customised scientific processes into products able to supply wider and possibly mass markets. In tracing the development of approaches to scaling-up, the paper highlights the influence regulatory regimes have on high technology regulated products and services. The paper details the implications of two contrasting supply initiatives towards operationalising tissue engineering, based on differences in regulatory regimes between Europe and the USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is a core element in Richard Florida's popular theory on growth to be able to attract the creative class to a geographical area. But Florida is not very specific on which kind of amenities are important for attracting and keeping the creative class. The purpose of this paper is to analyse which kind of cultural activities the creative class is actually using. Which kind of cultural activities does the creative class use more intensively than other groups in society? This paper presents new empirical results on preferences for leisure and culture. Richard Florida's theory can be, and has been, criticised - especially on the issue of causality. The analyses presented in this paper show that being part of the creative class has an independent and significant role in explaining preferences for leisure and culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the past 10 to 15 years there has been a renewed interest in the place of religion, religious education and religious schools in different parts of the world. This began in the USA and Europe with the development of private Christian schools. It was later followed by the resurgence of religious schools in the former parts of the Soviet Empire. Given that Christianity is still the world's largest and most widespread religion, this paper explores different government approaches and policies towards Church-state relations in selected national contexts. Where necessary, reference will also be made to the place of education in other religions. While most examples are drawn from the industrialised countries of the west, and the position of Christianity in those countries, some references are made to certain developing countries. The paper also argues that because of policies of inclusion, equality and multiculturalism within western democracies, their governments are in danger of destroying their religious educational roots. The result is that those with a deep religious faith believe that they can only guarantee that their faith can be conveyed to their children through the pursuance of independent, private religious schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a collection of papers that respond to an essay that compares the role of political repression in the early American labor movement and European labor movements. One paper questions the severity of political repression in the U.S. during the period in question, 1870 to 1914, and offers additional historical moments that influenced the labor movement in the U.S. Another paper discusses how the essay addresses the issue of American exceptionalism in the early American labor movement. An additional paper argues that the essay utilizes a crude conceptualization of political repression of labor movements and does not allow room for alternative explanations.

This paper compares the immediate success of the diffusion of punched cards in the United States in 1890 with their hesitant reception in Europe until 1918. This difference has so far been understood as a reflection of European backwardness but, as this paper argues, is better understood as an indication of more efficient European bureaucracies, both public and private. Further, the spread of punched card equipment in Europe until the 1900s was impeded by the absence of agencies in Europe to handle sales and maintenance. The analysis also shows that, even after 1918, the spread of punched cards in Europe was not a simple infusion of US technology. European agencies contributed significantly to the shaping of the technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper distinguishes between laissez-faire and interventionist models used to justify and implement cultural diversity initiatives in the news media. The laissez-faire model is characteristic of U.S. journalism. However, due to the convergence of media systems and the widespread adoption of diversity management, the laissez-faire model may also become the prevalent model throughout other Western democracies, in Europe and elsewhere. The paper argues that the problem with the laissez-faire approach to cultural diversity in the media is that it relies on commercial instead of normative justifications. As a result, cultural diversity is mostly reduced to an ornament. Equated with accuracy and treated as a business asset, diversity serves, rather than challenges, the existing media system. By failing to open sufficient spaces for alternative social voices, business-driven media policies do not respond to the democratic needs of a multicultural society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper makes three major arguments: 1) US policy inconsistencies during the Iraq containment era alienated key European allies; 2) the allies really wanted the same outcome as the US in Iraq; and 3) the allies supported the US role as leader of the international system, but they envisioned a cooperative leader, not the unilateral actions of the Clinton and Bush (Jr) administrations. Thus, US policy inconsistencies are partially responsible for the lack of allied support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Three time periods are examined: the Gulf War (1990-91), the Clinton-led coalition that continued against Iraq under UN sanctions-prior to the invasion to oust Saddam Hussein (1991-2002), and events during the Bush administration which led to the 2003 takeover of Iraq. The paper concludes with lessons learned and implications for future of US-European relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a large literature that addresses the gendered structure of forestry occupations in Europe and the USA, relatively little attention has been paid to these issues in Canada. In this paper, it is argued that policy makers and academics have used outdated statistics about forestry employment to shape policies and programs of government and industry. Use of these data has been to the general disadvantage of women working in the forest industry and in forestry communities. This paper draws mainly on three studies, spanning the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s. Each study relied on secondary sources such as Census data, government and industry documents, as well as primary sources such as interviews or questionnaires. On Vancouver Island, British Columbia, analysis of land reallocation policies and transition strategies for displaced workers in the 1990s did not consider women as forestry workers or consider how job losses and opportunities for retraining might vary between men and women. Consequently, gender-neutral transition strategies were more accessible for men than for women. A study of female forestry workers in Saskatchewan revealed there was very little knowledge about employment conditions for women in forestry. Women reported that they missed out on training and advancement opportunities because they lacked networks, childcare support or other benefits that might encourage them to improve their circumstances. Finally, a survey of forest sector advisory committees across the country revealed a very low rate of participation by women, even though those who did participate had some significantly different viewpoints about forestry than their male counterparts. In combination, these efforts suggest that improvements in the understanding of forestry employment would benefit forestry workers, both male and female, and ensure that all workers made lasting contributions to the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reconsiders American conservatism in relation to European feudalism and medievalism. The paper argues and shows that conservatism in America has typically been an American variant or proxy of European feudalism in particular and medievalism in general. Specifically, this is argued and shown for American economic and political conservatism with respect to feudalism in economy and its despotic ramifications in politics, as reciprocally related and reinforcing elements of European medievalism. The paper also identifies other interconnected elements of European medievalism in American economic and political as well as cultural conservatism. It finds that in economic-political terms, conservatism in America, irrespective of its assumed and celebrated lack of a European feudal and medievalist past, has been and continues to be a functional equivalent of feudalism and other medievalism in Europe. The paper concludes that American conservatism, including neo-conservatism, is a sort of European neo-feudalism and neo-medievalism rather than, as it claims and widely supposed, non-feudal and non-medievalist, thus questioning received views in the literature and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper questions why the 'West' and in particular European states came to achieve a global dominance in naval warfare, a process which began in the fifteenth century and continues today as a result of the massive investment made by the United States in a fleet that is truly global in scale. What Black demonstrates is that this dominance was not inevitable or technologically predetermined, but was due to specific social, cultural, political, economic and strategic factors which sometimes caused non European naval powers to limit the development of a more aggressive deep ocean capability or to ignore it entirely. In contrast, in the case of major European powers like Great Britain and France, a combination of fortunate circumstances and intense military competition, which manifested itself as 'arms racing', resulted in an aggressive policy that exploited technological and organisational developments in the naval domain to the fullest extent possible. As a result, by the late eighteenth century there was no countervailing maritime power capable of limiting European maritime expansion. The paper explains how the Europeans, and in particular the British, consolidated and reinforced their naval supremacy in the nineteenth century and questions why this naval revolution has endured in the shadow of the more commonly known revolution in land warfare which took place at about the same time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present paper we question how engineering education (and engineering) can support greater participation and inclusiveness in decision making and science and technology. We consider the work relating to engineering and society that is conducted by the scholars of science and technology studies, but which is rarely read or considered by the engineering educators who could draw on it. We consider the results of an initial analysis of data collected from interviews with the science, technology and society (STS) faculty across North America and Europe. STS looks at how technology affects society and how society affects technology, while engineers ‘create’ technology. Consequently the current authors suggest that it would be of great relevance to both engineering and STS to join up the thinking across these two arenas by focusing on a question that is not privy to the disciplines: is how can we create a socially just and sustainable future for all? We shall consider questions asked in STS of technology (engineering), e.g. what is its impact on society, who owns the technology, what are the political artefacts of the technology and we consider their influence on engineering (education). Using a phenomenographic approach to the research, 12 categories of description have emerged. Three of these categories are highlighted in this paper: participation; politics and policy; and citizenship, as they reflected themes that are rarely ‘discussed’ in engineering curricula but which appear to be uppermost in the STS arena. Participation was described in a range of ways, from approaches to participation to the case for and against it. In politics and policy much was made of the interplay between scientists and politicians and the power and knowledge games between these two arenas. Citizenship is a hotly discussed topic and is evident in a number of government agendas. Approaches to enhancing citizenship are discussed in a myriad of ventures, e.g. through public participation, being critical of information and through education. ‘It is only the oppressed who by freeing themselves can free their oppressors. The latter, as an oppressive class, can free neither others nor themselves. It is therefore essential that the oppressed wage the struggle to resolve the contradiction in which they are caught; and the contradiction will be resolved by the appearance of the new man: neither oppressor not oppressed, but man in the process of liberation. If the goal of the oppressed is to become fully human, they will not achieve their goal by merely reversing the terms of the contradiction, by simply changing poles...’. Paulo Freire, 1970 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes the phenomenon of offshore outsourcing and relates it to the history and current state of engineering education and the engineering profession in Europe and the USA. In order to assess the climate affecting employment decisions by and about engineers we have used as sources mostly the serious press, with an emphasis on material dating from 2004 forward. The authors conclude that despite anxiety about the out-migration of engineering and technical jobs to places such as India and China, there is reason to see offshoring as the result of Western investment in capacity building in developing countries and to believe that the creation of new jobs will outpace the rate of job loss in Europe and the USA. The paper should serve as a prod to policy-makers and educators to set about creating an environment in which highly educated engineers and technical employees can continue a pattern of economic revitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses different conceptualisations of the term globalisation of research. From this discussion five dimensions of globalisation of research are identified. Using three different type of data, the paper goes on to examine the extent, motivations and mechanism for the globalisation of research along these five dimensions among leading European and US pharmaceutical multinational companies (MNCs). The evidence for the period 1975–1998 shows that the general process of international expansion of research activities varied significantly between leading US and European MNCs. It is also clear that the development of the process of globalisation has proceeded unevenly along the five dimensions studied. The data also show the increasing concentration of both US and European research investment in the USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper traces the ascendance of intellectual property law to the summit of economic life in all countries from the 1960s onwards before a backlash started to emerge in recent years in courtrooms, parliaments and public forums particularly in the US and Europe, among NGOs, public interest groups and international organizations. It argues that the widespread feeling that the international intellectual property regime has only benefited the multinational corporations and not the broader public in the developing and developed countries may generate problems which no amount of military power will be able to mitigate. The paper therefore calls for global justice and a return to the balance between encouraging innovation and fostering public benefit in intellectual property law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Convention and visitors bureaux (CVBs) have become a dominant type of destination marketing organization since the very first bureau was founded in Detroit in 1895. Nowadays, about 1,000 CVBs are operating in major and secondary metropolitan and resort areas in the United States. Dozens of bureaux can he found in the rest of the world, as well. The aim of this paper is to gain a better understanding of the management and funding of CVBs especially from a European perspective. The paper is based on a benchmark survey conducted by the author among 100 bureaux throughout the world, with responses secured from 29 CVBs. The analysis of the questionnaire sheds light on several aspects of CVB operations, such as geographic scope, types of shareholders controlling the CVB, membership of individual tourist businesses in the CVB, annual budget, sources of income, main expense categories, target markets, and staffing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the literature on the relationship between consumption and technological development to understand the character of Europe’s 20th-century trajectory, i.e. the hidden integration of Europe long before the formal process of unification started. Within the rich historiography, the paper focuses on the intersection between production and consumption, where a range of social actors and institutions sought to represent consumers and mediate consumption. It is at this juncture of mediation that social actors and institutions negotiated the mediated design and the appropriation of new products and technologies. The paper further historicizes the juncture of mediation by introducing the European politics of the state, marketplace, and civil society within the context of economic crises, world wars, revolutionary changes, post-war reconstruction, and cold war. By looking at the mediation junction, a conceptual frame is offered to understand the connection, the disconnection, or the reconfiguration of technologies and consumer identities in 20th-century Europe. In a final section, the article suggests new avenues for research to examine the hidden integration of Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Convergence, media cross-ownership and multimedia newsrooms are becoming increasingly part of the vocabulary of contemporary journalism—in practice, education, as well as research. The literature exploring multimedia is expanding rapidly but it is clear that it means many different things to different people. Research into what multimedia in news work means for journalism and journalists is proliferating. In this paper the social and cultural context of multimedia in journalism, its meaning for contemporary newsrooms and media organizations, and its current (emerging) practices in Europe and the United States are analyzed. The goal: to answer the question in what ways ‘multimedia’ impacts upon the practice and self-perception of journalists, and how this process in turn shapes and influences the emergence of a professional identity of multimedia journalism. This paper offers an analysis of the professional and academic literature in Europe and the United States, using the concept of media logic as a theoretical framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planners in the USA and other Western European countries are faced with the dilemma of how to deal with the demands of an increasingly multicultural population. This problem has become more acute as the number of immigrants from non-European countries has grown in the last several decades. This paper examines how this demographic shift impacts on planning practice. Two planning practice issues are examined; historic preservation and housing for ethno-cultural groups. The paper discusses why these two issues and other emerging demands of ethno-cultural groups matter to planners. A suggestion is made for changing the culture of planning and planning processes to recognize plurality as points of departure in planning practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides new empirical evidence for the effect of corporate social responsibility on corporate financial performance. In contrast to former studies, we examine two different regions, namely the USA and Europe, and disentangle firm and sector specific impacts. Our econometric analysis shows that environmental and social activities of a firm compared with other firms within the industry are valued by financial markets in both regions. However, the respective positive effects on average monthly stock returns between 2003 and 2006 are more robust in the USA and, in addition, non-linear. Our analysis furthermore points to biased parameter estimates if incorrectly specified econometric models are applied: the seemingly significantly negative effect of environmental and social performance of the industry to which a firm belongs strongly declines and mostly becomes insignificant if the explanation of stock performance is based on the Fama–French three-factor or the Carhart four-factor models instead of the simple Capital Asset Pricing Model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the performance of national higher education systems in 48 countries as measured with 20 variables grouped under the four headings of Resources, Environment, Connectivity and Output. Rankings within each module are then combined into an overall ranking that is topped by the United States followed by Sweden, Canada, Finland and Denmark. Relationships between different attributes are explored. Countries ranked highest on output tend to be ranked highly on resources. Research output is correlated with government funding, especially expenditure on research and development (R&D). The impact of the policy and regulatory environment is also examined. The weakest national systems are those with low government funding but high government control. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There are many devices used around the world to measure friction. The majority of Departments of Transportation in the USA currently use locked-wheel trailers for friction measurements. The use of the fixed slip devices has gained popularity in other countries, especially in Europe, and they are starting to be used in the USA. These systems measure the friction under the condition similar to those produced by anti-lock braking system. This paper evaluates the effect of grade, water film thickness and speed on friction measurements of the continuous friction measuring equipment. The data used in this study were collected at the Virginia Smart Road using the GripTester. The experiment showed that grade affects the GripTester measurements suggesting that measuring with GripTester would be more accurate on flat surfaces. It also confirmed previous results that measurements were shown to be sensitive to water film thickness and testing speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most film histories of the twentieth century Hollywood's dominance has been indisputable. Apparently, European filmmakers were always facing one choice: either imitating the American style or finding a niche in the Hollywood system. This dominance is often referred to as evidence for an ‘Americanisation’ of popular culture in Europe. This article shows that this narrative leaves out a central development between 1927 and 1968: the nationalisation of popular European cinema. The paper asks which conditions facilitated and shaped national film cultures and shows how the political regulation of production in European countries, the momentum of the market, technology and the national industries contributed to the nationalisation of European film. Ultimately, however, the productions of these national cinemas resonated with audiences who sustained them for years following the Second World War. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Historians have labelled the development of modern mass-consumer societies in Europe as a process of ‘Americanisation’. Until today, the consumption of immaterial goods like vacations has been rather neglected by historiography. The purpose of this article is to verify the hypothesis that the United States served as a role model for European vacationing patterns and the evolution of the European travel industry. The paper demonstrates that a simple model of ‘Americanisation’ does not adequately represent the process of partial imitation, adaptation and alteration of American travel patterns through European societies and, more particular, through European holiday providers. National traditions and cultural differences of vacationing continue to exist until today. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Discussions of high-speed rail in the United States generally involve relatively straightforward matters of urban policy, civil engineering, economics and raw politics. High-speed rail is touted as an economic driver, a paragon of sustainability and an arena of competition with economic rivals in Europe and Asia. But a critical look at the discourse surrounding high-speed rail reveals the deep contradictions that have managed to stymie numerous initiatives to build high-speed rail lines while simultaneously keeping the dream alive in the imaginings of generations of advocates. This paper looks at plans for high-speed rail in the United States as a complex of ideas, connecting the nascent efforts to the larger American story. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Pharmacogenomics is the use of genomic science to study human variability in drug response. Proponents of pharmacogenomics suggest that it will lead to a new era of personalized medicine through a fundamental transformation in the drug discovery and development process. Uncertainty about the regulatory standards and processes for this emergent technology have been widely cited as an obstacle to more widespread and rapid adoption of pharmacogenomics. Pharmacogenomics thus presents an ideal case study of the role of regulators in the co-production of new biomedical technologies. This paper describes the attempt to create a new transnational regulatory regime for pharmacogenomics through the creation of novel regulatory experiments by a transnational network encompassing regulatory agencies, academic scientists and industry. This process has been marked by the creation of new socio-technical spaces in the regulatory regimes for pharmaceuticals – a pre-regulatory space for the sharing of data outside the regulatory decision-making process and a pre-competitive space for the sharing of data between companies. It is marked also by the expansion of a transnational regulatory space for sharing data and setting standards across jurisdictional boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disparities in access to health care also extend to the end-of-life care. Despite the general principle that palliative care is equitably available for all in need, it remains underutilised by certain groups in the community. Ethnic minorities, older people and patients with non-cancer diseases are found to be at a greatest risk for underutilisation of palliative care. Barriers to access palliative care by these groups in the community are complex and often overlapping. To overcome these barriers, there is a need to take action on many fronts. This paper discusses these barriers and provides an overview of the strategies that have been implemented to address these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a highly efficient approach for numerically solving the Black–Scholes equation in order to price European and American basket options. Therefore, hardware features of contemporary high performance computer architectures such as non-uniform memory access and hardware-threading are exploited by a hybrid parallelization using MPI and OpenMP which is able to drastically reduce the computing time. In this way, we achieve very good speed-ups and are able to price baskets with up to six underlyings. Our approach is based on a sparse grid discretization with finite elements and makes use of a sophisticated adaption. The resulting linear system is solved by a conjugate gradient method that uses a parallel operator for applying the system matrix implicitly. Since we exploit all levels of the operator's parallelism, we are able to benefit from the compute power of more than 100 cores. Several numerical examples as well as an analysis of the performance for different computer architectures are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recent changes in the provision, funding and management of social housing in Europe have led to the emergence of new types of providers. While some of them can be portrayed with traditional ‘state’, ‘market’ or ‘civil society’ labels, many correspond to hybrid organisational forms, encompassing characteristics of all three in varying combinations. Nonetheless, evidence suggests that there is a ‘common thread’ linking these organisations together, namely their core missions and values, which can be classified using the term ‘social enterprise’. Despite the growing body of literature on social enterprise, this concept has been poorly defined and applied to the housing sector. This paper aims to address this gap through a critical literature review encompassing Europe and the United States. Existing models of social enterprise are reviewed and a classification system for social enterprise is developed to reflect the specific features of the social housing association sector and as framework for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disseminating microdata to the public that provide a high level of data utility, while at the same time guaranteeing the confidentiality of the survey respondent is a difficult task. Generating multiply imputed synthetic datasets is an innovative statistical disclosure limitation technique with the potential of enabling the data disseminating agency to achieve this twofold goal. So far, the approach was successfully implemented only for a limited number of datasets in the U.S. In this paper, we present the first successful implementation outside the U.S.: the generation of partially synthetic datasets for an establishment panel survey at the German Institute for Employment Research. We describe the whole evolution of the project: from the early discussions concerning variables at risk to the final synthesis. We also present our disclosure risk evaluations and provide some first results on the data utility of the generated datasets. A variance-inflated imputation model is introduced that incorporates additional variability in the model for records that are not sufficiently protected by the standard synthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One question often raised when ozone professionals gather is “How much ozone capacity is installed?” Although the use of ozone for industrial purposes is growing, the largest use for ozone resides in the use of treatment of municipal drinking and wastewater. It is very difficult to summarize ozone capacity for industrial applications as much data are kept confidential. A number of reports have been published over the years on installed ozone capacity. Ozone capacity estimation is a moving target as plants are built and others removed from service for a number of reasons. This paper summarizes, using data available, ozone capacity for drinking water and wastewater. Focus is on the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan. IOA members and member companies are encouraged to submit additional data to enable this summary to be as accurate and relevant as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Accreditation is fast becoming the dominant method of evaluation used in the European Higher Education Area. This paper traces the political process supporting the introduction of this method in Europe and identifies different theoretical understandings and practices which shed light on how we can interpret the spread and role of accreditation in Europe, before discussing current trends in European and US accreditation, which could pave the way for a joint research agenda. In the conclusion, some possible implications of current developments are briefly presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking the European audit profession as a case study, our paper explores the role of private actors in transatlantic regulatory relations and transnational regulatory harmonization more generally. In the early twenty-first century, both the US and the EU tightened the regulation of auditors. Due to its extraterritorial effects, the US reform legislation sparked a transatlantic conflict. Seeking mutual recognition of the respective auditor oversight systems, the European Commission endeavored to bring the European regulatory regime closer to the new US model. During the reforms of EU audit regulation, the profession, together with member states, successfully resisted a far-reaching convergence of European regulation to the US model of independent oversight, thus impeding the resolution of the transatlantic conflict. We argue that the profession's defense of the traditional model of European audit regulation results from two intertwined aspects: the profession's interest in keeping a share of power in the regulatory regime and its institutional embeddedness in distinct national and regional regulatory and market structures. In concluding, we discuss the implications of our findings for the relevant international and comparative political economy literature. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The ‘Atlantic Gap’ usually refers to differences in religious commitment between the United States and Europe. In this paper, I argue that the gap extends beyond religious intensity to ‘regimes’ of religion and state, defined as the system of norms, rules, decision styles and other elements that influence how religion is treated in the public square. To illustrate the differences between the contrasting American and Western European regimes, I compare how the two systems react when a specific religious minority – Muslims – attempts to build religious facilities. In this case, despite comparable levels of public hostility to Muslims on both sides of the Atlantic, the American system provides considerably more legal protection to religious minorities than the Western European regime. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores the potential civil use from the knowledge embedded in military technology. Using forward patent citation as indicator and from a comprehensive sample of 582 military patents with both US and European protection, we analysed the citations received for a military patents in subsequent patents. The technological origin of the citing patents will determine the use of a military technology. The methodology involves a descriptive analysis and the estimation of a multilevel logit model to determine the factors explaining the civilian use of military technology. The results show a differential behaviour among countries and types of military technology. Characteristics of firms, such as the technological experience of the company or institution in using military technology, are critical for a civilian use of the military knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date there are no licensed systemic or topical treatments in Europe or the USA for adenovirus infections. In the present paper, we evaluate the effect of a polyphenol-based grape extract (NE) obtained from Portuguese white-winemaking by-products, and Resveratrol in pure form, on adenovirus type 5 infection. For this purpose, recombinant adenovirus vectors (Ad-5) and a human-derived cell line (293) were used as models. The NE and Resveratrol at the used concentrations do not induce cell cytotoxicity or direct virucidal activity; however, they reduce 4.5 and 6.5 log (TCID50/ml) on total infectious Ad-5 production, respectively. The capacity of Ad-5 replication upon removal of NE and Resveratrol after 24 h post infection was also evaluated. In contrast to Resveratrol, the highest evaluated NE concentration inhibits irreversibly the Ad-5 replication. These results provide useful information for the use of NE and Resveratrol as potential sources of promising natural antiviral agents on Ad-5 infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]