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Copyright of Revue d'Economie Politique is the property of Editions Dalloz Sirrey and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A liberal paradigm shift from state to private responsibility in old age income protection has been a general development across Western Europe. The financial crisis sheds new light on the question of the public–private divide in pension policy. Applying convention theory, the analysis reviews how funded pensions are governed and how states use a range of regulation to control their operations as they seek to convert market-related practices to social policy purposes. The article argues that accruing state regulation consequent on coping with the financial crisis and its aftermath has undermined easy distinctions between public and private schemes, and is generating increasingly technocratic and oligarchic forms of pension governance, to the detriment of democratic debate on pensions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objectives: Khat (Catha edulis Forsk) consumption is a widespread practice in populations of Eastern Africa. In Europe, it concerns the first-generation migrants and their descendants. Khat is not subject to control under UN conventions, which are based on a WHO recommendation. However, states remain free to regulate khat within the framework of their national legislation, such as in France and some European countries. This discordance among regulations questions the real or supposed dangerousness of this plant. Methods: We used the search engine of the bibliographic database PubMed, in order to identify the relevant publications on khat's toxicity. Results: Chronic use of khat is associated with deteriorations in the regulation of blood pressure, and an increased risk of myocardial infarction. Like cannabis, khat can be involved in the onset of psychotic disorders. The risk of addiction is not excluded. In animals, several studies suggest that khat use encourages aggressiveness. The carcinogenic nature has not been established, although genotoxicity is suspected in vivo. Conclusions: The risk of cardiovascular and psychiatric complications due to frequent use of khat, its potentially carcinogenic nature, and the chemical relationship of cathinone with amphetamine justify the inscription of khat in the list of controlled narcotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: The ministerial decree of 12 January 2009 fixing the criteria for the selection of blood donors establishes the list of contraindications for blood donation according to the appendix to the European directive 2004/33/EC. This text regroups the preexisting guidelines and reinforces their regulatory status, which illustrates the importance attributed to the selection of donors within the dispositions ensuring transfusion safety. It introduces more flexibility with respect to the preexisting criteria taking into account the improvement in life expectancy and the continual increase in transfusion requirements. Thus, the rules for donation authorize up to 24 donations annually and one may give whole blood up to six times per year for men and four times for women, up to the age of 70, the risk of anaemia now being well controlled. The medical rules are more flexible in the areas of haemochromatosis, allergies and autoimmune diseases and for the collection of plasma for fractionation. Some expected changes were not approved in certain cases due to the preeminence of the corresponding criteria in the European directive, like for cured cancers, in other cases in view of an analysis of the available epidemiological data or potential risks like for sexual relations between men and the risks linked to prions or emerging agents (transfusion antecedents). These selection criteria will be revised every year, which should permit their adaptation to the current state of knowledge, although the extent of the revisions will be limited by the updating of the European text on which they are based. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]