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This study seeks to assess the extent to which die digital book market is structuring independently from the print edition market by comparing the pricing of 559 digital and print French and American bestsellers during 2011. Two pricing methods are distinguished: "homothetic pricing," where the digital pricing is a reflection of the print pricing, and "heterothetic pricing," where the digital price is set according to new rules. The French and American markets do not have the same propensity to overcome the pricing practices in the print book market: While the French market's e-book structure is mirroring that of the print book industry, die American market tends to be more independent. This can be explained by die significant structural, legal, and institutional differences between the publishing industries of both countries. In addition, some factors favor die "heterothetic" pricing method: the number of pages and the type of book influence the degree of differentiation between print and digital prices of the same title [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Republican Party's national convention in 1992, Pat Buchanan claimed that a 'culture war' was raging in the United States. While Buchanan described this 'war' as a 'struggle for the soul of America,' we use the culture-war concept to refer to the efforts of various conservative political and social actors trying to protect US traditional values and to 'exorcise' the liberal and secular 'demons' of the United States. Accordingly, this paper focuses on one of these actors: the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank located in Washington, DC. Performing a postructuralist discursive analysis of various 'texts' produced by three scholars from the Heritage about marriage, family values, and sexuality, the paper shows how these scholars strategically rely on certain words and expressions in their research in order to reach two political goals: (1) marginalize liberal views on the issues just mentioned; and (2) discipline Americans by leading them to embrace a traditional/conservative interpretation of US national identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares the public indebtedness of the Canadian provinces and the US states (including a share of the federal debt) over the 2000–2007 period. It presents rankings of the most indebted subnational jurisdictions based on five public debt concepts. Among the provinces, Quebec (with the lowest average rank) and Alberta (with the highest average rank) display the most stable position across the rankings. All other provinces show important fluctuations in their position in the rankings. Hence, allocating the federal debt to subnational states and the specific debt concept being considered significantly influence the rankings, quite spectacularly in some instances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topic of ecosystem services (ES) has recently become a key reference for international environmental policies (broadly including forest policy, agro-environmental measures, conservation policies, etc.) This concept has been developed gradually in scientific circles in the course of the 1990s. It acquired international recognition with a varied public (policy makers, private sector, NGOs, etc.) during the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), a global environmental assessment. Since 2005, this notion is experiencing strong growth in different fields such as biodiversity, domestic policies (forestry, agriculture, water, etc.), global change, etc. Our paper is based on the exploratory assumption that the MA process, by organizing the relationship between various networks of scientists and policymakers, has played a key role in the launching and wide dissemination of the ES concept at different scales: international level, domestic policies, local public action mechanisms... It also emphasizes the decisive role played by actors involved in or related to the scientific field in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to assess the level of interactivity offered to patients in the homepages of U.S. hospitals specializing in cancer treatment. To do this, we conducted a literature review on the question of pedagogical Internet access, role of the physician, interactive tools on the homepage, and context of cancer in the United States. Next, we analyzed the home page of 49 U.S. hospitals using 13 indicators. The conclusion of the article indicates that the homepage is a tool for health education that should be geared to meeting the communication and experience needs of the patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the lessons drawn by German constitutional scholars from the breakdown of the Weimar Republic, and how this traumatic experience became a starting point at the end of the 1930s for a new conception of democracy both liberal and robust (or “defensive”). Emigré constitutional scholars devised three distinctive versions of this “democratic robustness”: an “anti-extremist” (which originated in Weimar legal antipositivism); a “militant democracy” (first exposed by Karl Loewenstein); and a “constitutional dictatorship” (Carl J. Friedrich, Frederick W. Watkins). At the heart of each one lies a decisive debate with Carl Schmitt, even if implicit or diffracted. By reconstructing these debates one can appreciate to what extent postwar constitutional democracies have incorporated Schmitt's ideas. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Summary: Study Purpose: For ten years the market for resorbable fillers has seen a large increase. A CE mark is sufficient for its placing on the market, they do not require AMM because they are not considered drugs. The Macrolane® is a hyaluronic acid NASHA gel-based technology, available on the French market since 2007 as filler used in all areas of the body except face and breasts. It is highly crosslinked, which slows its resorption, leaving in place long-term waste. At end of 2008, Macrolane® received a CE mark for breast augmentation. The aim of this paper is to review current scientific knowledge on the Macrolane™ and list the many uncertainties regarding its recent breast indication. Materials and methods: We reviewed the PubMed literature and study levels of evidence on Macrolane®. All AFFSAPS communication and correspondence with the SOFCPRE on hyaluronic acids and particularly Macrolane™ were collected. Results: At the moment there is no scientific study of high level of evidence which has studied the effects of Macrolane® on breast parenchyma in terms of carcinogenesis or the disruption of radiological monitoring of the breast. The subglandular method of injection remains complex and uncertain especially about the risk of wrong passage. Conclusions: The Macrolane® is proposed as an alternative less invasive than breast implants. Nevertheless the lack of scientific data on this product led to its non approval by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States. Currently there remains too much uncertainty on this filler for reasonable use plebiscite. It would therefore be preferable to return to the manufacturer the burden of proof of Macrolane® safety and security and limit its use in clinical trials yet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This article establishes the primary energy balance for making ethanol out of corn in the USA, calculated from the farm to the fuel station, following a methodology described in Chavanne and Frangi (C. R. Geoscience 339 (2007) 519–535). Raw data (direct energy and material consumption as well as their heat value and external costs) come from published papers related to this topic, technical textbooks, as well as reports from the US Departments of Agriculture and Energy. For the 2001 harvest, over the area producing more than 90% of ethanol and for the 2005 network of working refineries, 100J of ethanol and recovery of by-products (the energy saved by the replacement of animal feed by these by-products is around 12% of the ethanol heat value) needed 86±3J of energy spending, of which more than 50J is natural gas and 62J is used in refineries. A third of the area of Nebraska corn must be irrigated with water pumped from underground, at an added cost of 26±3J. In 1996, the extra drying required, because of heavy rains, added 6J. By comparison, 100J of gasoline cost less than 25J to be produced out of crude oil. Complementary studies of resource availability are not performed here. The largest possible reduction in energy costs can be achieved at the refinery stage, by fermenting by-products, gas residues, (from 62J to around 12J). The article gives also an expression for the expenditure to enable comparison between different energy systems, including everything from biomass to transport. For the ethanol case, the average cost is 130J for 100J of corn grain heat. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Objective: This paper presents the psychometric properties of the French adaptation of the Infant Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (ITSEA), named the Évaluation sociale et émotionnelle de jeunes enfants (ESEJE). Methods: The French adaptation involved translation and back translation and was administered to 179 parents in pediatric well-baby centers and 115 parents in child care centers. Confirmatory factor analyses were employed to assess for latent factor structure and model fit was assessed using three standard fit indices. Analysis of variance examined age and gender effects on mean domain and scale scores. Results: Confirmatory factor analyses supported a comparable latent factor structure to that reported for the ITSEA. All domains and most scales show adequate intrascale reliability. Certain age and gender effects on mean score differed from those reported for the US sample. Conclusion: Our preliminary results indicate that the ESEJE shares the same latent factor structure as its English counterpart and may be a promising tool for the early detection of problem behaviors and delays in the acquisition of competencies in a French population. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In April 2005 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) posted on its Web site a draft guidance document describing a new approach to coverage policy called "coverage with evidence development" (CED). CED offered an option for coverage of promising drugs, biologics, devices, diagnostics, and procedures that would not otherwise meet Medicare's evidentiary standards for being "reasonable and necessary." An updated guidance was posted 12 July 2006, clarifying several key statutory, regulatory, and operational issues. This paper traces the history of this policy approach, explains the rationale behind the policy, and describes the major challenges that will need to be addressed for CED to become an important advance in evidence-based coverage decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For more than a century the concept of community has been the subject of numerous studies, but only few have been initiated by geographers. However, their studies have enhanced our understanding of the role of space and place in a community. This paper will examine Anne Buttimer's concept of social space and the potential it has to broaden our understanding of community. This theoretical reflection, inspired by the Little Québec of Florida, will also propose a working definition of community that takes into account the notions of space and place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All health care systems - insurance-based systems or national health systems - have serious financial problems led by the strengthening effect of some current trends as a population's structural aging or exponential development of medical knowledge in a context of slow economic growth. The purpose of this paper is therefore to emphasize the common main characteristics of public reforms - more or less issued from American « managed care » - in the field of regulation forms and organization types of health care systems beyond their national social and cultural features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]