Why the EU does not Have an Independent Competition Agency: French Interests and Transaction Costs in Early European Integration

A major achievement of new institutionalism in economics and political science is the formalisation of the idea that certain policies are more efficient when administered by a politically independent organisation. Based on this insight, several policy actors and scholars criticise the European Community for relying too much on a multi-task, collegial, and politicised organisation, the European Commission. This raises important questions, some constitutional (who should be able to change the corresponding procedural rules?) and some political-economic (is Europe truly committed to free and competitive markets?). Though acknowledging the relevance of legal and normative arguments, this paper contributes to the debate with a positive political-scientific perspective. Based on the view that institutional equilibria raise the question of equilibrium institutions, it shows that collegiality was (a) an equilibrium institution during the Paris negotiations of 1950-51; and (b) an institutional equilibrium for the following 50 years. The conclusion points to some recent changes in the way that European competition policy is implemented, and discusses how these affect the “constitutional” principle of collegial European governance.

Adjuvant early breast cancer systemic therapies according to daily used technologies.

Prognosis of early breast cancer patients is significantly improved with the use of adjuvant therapies. Various guidelines have been proposed to select patients who will derive the most benefit from such treatments. However, classifications have limited usefulness in subsets of patients such as those with node negative breast cancer. The 2007 St. Paul de Vence Clinical Practice Recommendations proposed to consider adjuvant therapy in accordance with the 10-year relapse-free survival reduction estimated by Adjuvant! Online. However, many limitations remain regarding the use of Adjuvant! Online. Among them, adverse prognostic and/or predictive factors such as vascular invasion, mitotic activity, progesterone receptor negativity, and HER-2 expression are not incorporated in the routine clinical decision process. Our group has therefore issued guidelines based on the consideration of both Adjuvant! Online calculations and the prognostic and/or predictive effects of these markers. In addition, web-accessible comprehensive tables summarizing these recommendations are provided.

The newly defined "Greenstone Unit'' of the Aiguilles Rouges massif (western Alps): remnant of an Early Palaeozoic oceanic island-arc ?

In the southwestern part of the Aiguilles Rouges massif (pre-Alpine basement of the Helvetic realm, western Alps), a metavolcanic sequence, newly defined as the ``Greenstone Unit'',is exposed in two NS trending belts of several 100 metres in thickness. It consists of epidote amphibolites, partly epidote and/or calcic amphibole-bearing greenschists, and small amounts of alkali feldspar-bearing greenschists, which underwent low- to medium-grade metamorphism during Visean oblique collision. Metamorphic calcic amphiboles and epidotes show strong chemical zoning, whereas metamorphic plagioclase is exclusively albitic in composition (An 1-3). The SiO2 content of the subalkaline tholeiitic to calc-alkaline suite ranges continuously from 44 wt% to 73 wt%,but andesitic rocks predominate. The majority of samples have chemical compositions close to recent subduction-related lavas; some are even restricted to recent oceanic arcs (extremely low Ta and Nb contents, high La/Nb and Th/Ta ratios). But several basaltic to basalto-andesitic samples resemble continental tholeiites (low Th/Ta, La/Nb ratio). As it is very probable that both lava types are to some extent contemporaneous, it is proposed that the Greenstone Unit represents a former oceanic volcanic are which temporarily underwent extension during which emplacement of continental tholeiite-like rocks occurred. The cause of the extension remains ambiguous. Considering palaeotectonic significance and age of other metavolcanic units in the Aiguilles Rouges massif, the Greenstone Unit most likely formed in the Early Palaeozoic.

Early Alphabetic Inscriptions from Eretria, Greece: 8th Cent. BC Graffiti from the Sanctuary of Apollo Daphnephoros

La transmission de l'alphabet aux Grecs est un sujet encore très débattu. Les plus anciennes inscriptions alphabétiques grecques datent du VIIIe s. av. J.-C. et une majorité d'entre elles a été trouvée dans des sites eubéens. Une trentaine a été mise au jour à Erétrie, dont 26 proviennent du sanctuaire d'Apollon Daphnéphoros. Ces inscriptions, pour la plupart inscrites sur des coupes à boire, contribuaient à personnaliser des offrandes ou à leur donner de la valeur. Le sanctuaire et les pratiques rituelles qui s'y déroulaient offraient un cadre propice à l'usage précoce de l'écriture, au moment où la polis grecque se constituait.

Comparing the early research performance of PhD graduates in labor economics in Europe and the USA

This paper analyzes the early research performance of PhD graduates in labor economics, addressing the following questions: Are there major productivity differences between graduates from American and European institutions? If so, how relevant is the quality of the training received (i.e. ranking of institution and supervisor) and the research environment in the subsequent job placement institution? The population under study consists of labor economics PhD graduates who received their degree in the years 2000 to 2005 in Europe or the USA. Research productivity is evaluated alternatively as the number of publications or the quality-adjusted number of publications of an individual. When restricting the analysis to the number of publications, results suggest a higher productivity by graduates from European universities than from USA universities, but this difference vanishes when accounting for the quality of the publication. The results also indicate that graduates placed at American institutions, in particular top ones, are likely to publish more quality-adjusted articles than their European counterparts. This may be because, when hired, they already have several good acceptances or because of more focused research efforts and clearer career incentives.

Intervention précoce dans les troubles psychotiques: quel rôle pour les praticiens de premier recours [Early intervention in psychotic disorders: which role for primary care practitioners?]

The development of early intervention in psychotic disorders has allowed a more optimistic approach and the development of more adapted and more efficient treatments. Primary care practitioners are often the first professional contact for patients developing psychosis, but diagnostic difficulties and patients' reluctance to engage in treatment are often an obstacle to private practice treatment. It is therefore important to provide more information to primary care practitioners on specific characteristics of these disorders and about locally available treatment structures in order to allow them to suspect this relatively rare diagnosis, facilitate the collaboration with flexible and accessible specialist services, that ideally should provide home treatment, and to improve prognosis.

Can Early Intervention Policies Improve Well-being? Evidence from a randomized controlled trial

Many authors have proposed incorporating measures of well-being into evaluations of public policy. Yet few evaluations use experimental design or examine multiple aspects of well-being, thus the causal impact of public policies on well-being is largely unknown. In this paper we examine the effect of an intensive early intervention program on maternal well-being in a targeted disadvantaged community. Using a randomized controlled trial design we estimate and compare treatment effects on global well-being using measures of life satisfaction, experienced well-being using both the Day Reconstruction Method (DRM) and a measure of mood yesterday, and also a standardized measure of parenting stress. The intervention has no significant impact on negative measures of well-being, such as experienced negative affect as measured by the DRM and global measures of well-being such as life satisfaction or a global measure of parenting stress. Significant treatment effects are observed on experienced measures of positive affect using the DRM, and a measure of mood yesterday. The DRM treatment effects are primarily concentrated during times spent without the target child which may reflect the increased effort and burden associated with additional parental investment. Our findings suggest that a maternal-focused intervention may produce meaningful improvements in experienced well-being. Incorporating measures of experienced affect may thus alter cost-benefit calculations for public policies.

Personality traits and behavioral and psychological symptoms in patients at an early stage of Alzheimer's disease.

OBJECTIVE: The origins of behavioral and psychological symptoms (BPS) in Alzheimer's disease (AD) are still poorly understood. Focusing on individual personality structure, we explored the relationship between premorbid personality and its changes over 5 years, and BPS in patients at an early stage of AD. METHOD: A total of 54 patients at an early stage of AD according to ICD-10 and NINCDS-ADRDA criteria and 64 control subjects were included. Family members filled in the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire to evaluate their proxies' current BPS and the NEO Personality Inventory Revised twice, the first time to evaluate the participants' current personality and the second time to assess personality traits as they were remembered to be 5 years earlier. RESULTS: Behavioral and psychological symptoms, in particular apathy, depression, anxiety, and agitation, are frequent occurrences in early stage AD. Premorbid personality differed between AD patients and normal control, but it was not predictive of BPS in patients with AD. Personality traits clearly change in the course of beginning AD, and this change seems to develop in parallel with BPS as early signs of AD. CONCLUSIONS: Premorbid personality was not associated with BPS in early stage of AD, although complex and non-linear relationships between the two are not excluded. However, both personality and behavioral changes occur early in the course of AD, and recognizing them as possible, early warning signs of neurodegeneration may prove to be a key factor for early detection and intervention. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Are relationship patterns with significant others reenacted with the therapist?: a study of early transference reactions.

This study examines how patients' relationship patterns are reenacted with the therapist during the first sessions of psychotherapy. Forty (N = 40) outpatients treated with a Brief Psychodynamic Intervention were included in the study. Their narratives of relationship episodes with significant others (e.g., mother, father, romantic partner, colleagues) were compared with relationship episodes with their therapist using the Core Conflictual Relationship Theme method. The Core Conflictual Relationship Theme focuses on 3 aspects of patients' relationship narratives: what the patient wants from others or from self; how others react to his/her wish; and how the patient consequently reacts. Results showed that 60% of patients display similar relationship patterns with their therapist and with significant others. The patterns that were reenacted with the therapist were not the most pervasive ones but were similar to those found in relationship episodes involving parents or romantic partners. These findings provide some support for the clinical concept of repetition of internalized relational patterns with the therapist very early in psychotherapy. Clinical implications are discussed.

The Early Cretaceous San Juan Plutonic Suite, Ecuador: A magma chamber in an oceanic plateau ?

Sections through an oceanic plateau are preserved in tectonic slices in the Western Cordillera of Ecuador (South America). The San Juan section is a sequence of mafic-ultramafic cumulates. To establish that these plutonic rocks formed in an oceanic plateau setting, we have developed criteria that discriminate intrusions of oceanic plateaus from those of other tectonic settings. The mineralogy and crystallization sequence of the cumulates are similar to those of intra-plate magmas. Clinopyroxene predominates throughout, and orthopyroxene is only a minor component. Rocks of intermediate composition are absent, and hornblende is restricted to the uppermost massive gabbros within the sequence. The ultramafic cumulates are very depleted in light rare-earth elements (LREE), whereas the gabbros have flat or slightly enriched LREE patterns. The composition of the basaltic liquid in equilibrium with the peridotite, calculated using olivine compositions and REE contents of clinopyroxene, contains between 16% and 8% MgO and has a flat REE pattern. This melt is geochemically similar to other accreted oceanic plateau basalts, isotropic gabbros, and differentiated sills in western Ecuador. The Ecuadorian intrusive and extrusive rocks have a narrow range of epsilonNd(i) (+8 to +5) and have a rather large range of Pb isotopic ratios. Pb isotope systematics of the San Juan plutonic rocks and mineral separates lie along a mixing line between the depleted mantle (DMM) and the enriched-plume end members. This suggests that the Ecuadorian plutonic rocks generated from the mixing of two mantle sources, a depleted mid-oceanic ridge basalt (MORB) source and an enriched one. The latter is characterized by high (Pb-207/Pb-204)(i) ratios and could reflect a contamination by recycled either lower continental crust or oceanic pelagic sediments and (or) altered oceanic crust (enriched mantle type I, EMI). These data suggest that the San Juan sequence represents the plutonic components of an Early Cretaceous oceanic plateau, which accreted in the Late Cretaceous to the Ecuadorian margin.

The costs of parasitism and anti-parasitic defense in the common vole

Résumé : Les relations entre un parasite et son hôte sont avant tout marquées par le coût pour l'hôte que représente la ponction de ressources au profit du parasite et ses conséquences sur les traits d'histoires de vie de l'hôte. Pour contenir la réduction de leur valeur reproductive, les hôtes ont acquis au cours de l'évolution des mécanismes soit de lutte contre les parasites, soit de réallocations des ressources. Curieusement les effets des ectoparasites sur la biologie de mammifères ont été peu étudiés. Dans une première expérience à long terme, nous avons examiné sous un angle intégratif si les puces Nosopsyllus fasciatus affectent certains paramètres physiologiques des campagnols des champs Microtus arvalis. Nous avons également testé si les puces peuvent réduire la longévité et si oui, si ce pourrait être dû à une accélération de la sénescence. Ensuite nous avons testé si la simple activation répétée du système immunitaire comme lors d'une infestation chronique pouvait aussi réduire la longévité. Dans une dernière expérience, nous avons d'abord testé si l'infestation par des puces de jeunes campagnols au stade néonatal (21 jours) pouvait modifier leur développement et leur phénotype adulte. Puis nous avons testé si la modification du phénotype adulte est une réponse prédite et potentiellement adaptative pour minimiser les effets des puces à l'âge adulte. Nos résultats montrent que l'infestation par des puces réduit la croissance subadulte, induit une forte anémie et une immunodépression, et augmente le métabolisme de repos. De plus les puces réduisent la longévité et la taille des testicules, réduisant fortement le succès reproducteur potentiel des individus parasités. La taille finale, c'est-à-dire le développement pré-adulte, détermine en grande part la longévité. La réduction de longévité ne devrait pas être due à l'investissement au profit du système immunitaire car l'activation chronique seule du système immunitaire ne réduit pas la longévité. L'infestation néonatale retarde légèrement le développement mais surtout modifie l'hématocrite et réduit les performances locomotrices des campagnols plus de 3 mois après l'infestation. Les effets immédiats du parasitisme sur la physiologie semblent bien supérieurs comparés aux effets à long terme. Nous n'avons pas d'éléments permettant d'affirmer que le parasitisme néonatal prépare les campagnols à faire face aux puces à l'âge adulte. Au contraire, le parasitisme néonatal interagit sur le parasitisme adulte pour augmenter le métabolisme de repos. Cette thèse offre une vision intégrative des mécanismes par lesquels les puces peuvent affecter la valeur reproductive de leurs hôtes. De façon générale, ces résultats 35 montrent l'importance des puces comme force de sélection chez les campagnols. Il est indispensable de prendre en compte les ectoparasites dans l'étude de l'écologie et des dynamiques de populations chez les mammifères. Summary : The relationship between a parasite and its host is fundamentally marked by the costs for host of the withdrawals of resources by parasite and the subsequent reduction in host life-history traits. Hosts have evolved a number of strategies to reduce these costs, either by fighting against the parasite directly or by reallocating resources to reduce costs on lifetime reproductive value. The effects of ectoparasites on burrowing mammals have been scarcely studied. In a first long-term experiment, we examined how fleas Nosopsyllus fasciatus affect physiological levels of the common vole, Microtus arvalis. We also examined whether fleas reduce longevity and if so, if it is due to an early senescence pattern. Then we tested if experimental activation of the immune system by repeated injections of an antigen could result in a shorter longevity. In the last experiment, we tested if short-lasting neonatal parasitism can have long-term effects on phenotype, and if these effects could induce a predictive response to reduce damages when parasitized at the adult stage. We found that parasitism by flea reduced subadult growth, induced anaemia and immunodepression, and increased energy consumption even when resting. Moreover fleas reduce longevity and testes size associated to splenomegaly, suggesting an overall reduction in fitness but we did not find any pattern of accelerated senescence explaining the early death of parasitized voles compared to non-parasitzed. The cost of mounting an immune response throughout life does not impair longevity, suggesting that it is the cost of parasitism that limits the longevity and not the immune investment. Neonatal infestation by fleas has long-term effects on physiology and reduces motor activity more than 3 months after infestation. The modification of physiology due to long-term effects seems weak compared to the immediate effects of adult infestation. We found no evidence that neonatal parasitism prepares voles to mount a predictive adaptive response in order to reduce effects of fleas on fitness components. On the contrary, neonatal parasitism seems to worsen the effect of adult parasitism. This thesis offers an integrative view of mechanisms by which fleas affect their host at the individual level. Overall, our results demonstrate the importance of fleas as a selective force in voles. These results highlight the importance of ectoparasitism in ecology of micromarnrnals and suggest a role in the dynamic of host populations.