Les parlementaires suisses entre démocratisation et professionnalisation, 1910-2000

L'analyse du profil sociographique des élites politiques, notamment des parlementaires, a été largement délaissée en Suisse depuis les années 1970. En outre, la Suisse n'a pas été retenue par les récents travaux comparatifs portant sur différents parlements européens (Best et Cotta 2000, 2007). Cet article vise, d'une part, à mettre en perspective comparée le cas suisse, et d'autre part, à prolonger les études réalisées durant les années 1970 en mettant l'accent sur les changements récents. À partir de l'analyse sociographique de cinq cohortes de parlementaires fédéraux (1910, 1937, 1957, 1980, 2000) durant le 20ième siècle, nous mettons en évidence l'évolution de la composition du Parlement sous l'angle de sa démocratisation et de sa professionnalisation récente. Nos résultats permettent de mettre en évidence les spécificités du Parlement helvétique en comparaison européenne. Celles-ci tiennent d'abord à la prédominance de la catégorie des indépendants, notamment des avocats, ainsi qu'à une sous-représentation des salariés du secteur public. Les parlementaires suisses se caractérisent également par un plus fort ancrage local et par une longévité parlementaire très élevée. Le processus récent de professionnalisation a favorisé l'émergence de nouveaux profils sociologiques de parlementaires, en termes de formation, de carrière et de cumul des mandats, avec cependant de fortes variations entre les partis.

Putting the Special Case in Its Place: Switzerland and Small-N Comparison in Policy Research

This research note presents a set of strategies to conduct small-N comparisons in policy research including the Swiss case. Even though every country can be considered "special" to some extent, the Swiss political system is often viewed as a particularly difficult case for comparison because of the impact of its idiosyncratic institutional features (most notably direct democracy). In order to deal with this problem, our note sets out two possible strategies - the use of functional equivalents and of counterfactual reasoning - and explains how to implement them empirically through process tracing and the establishment of causal chains. As an illustration, these strategies are used for a comparison of the process of electricity market liberalisation in Switzerland and Belgium.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in Switzerland: a comprehensive quality control report on centre effect.

Interest groups advocate centre-specific outcome data as a useful tool for patients in choosing a hospital for their treatment and for decision-making by politicians and the insurance industry. Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) requires significant infrastructure and represents a cost-intensive procedure. It therefore qualifies as a prime target for such a policy. We made use of the comprehensive database of the Swiss Blood Stem Cells Transplant Group (SBST) to evaluate potential use of mortality rates. Nine institutions reported a total of 4717 HSCT - 1427 allogeneic (30.3%), 3290 autologous (69.7%) - in 3808 patients between the years 1997 and 2008. Data were analysed for survival- and transplantation-related mortality (TRM) at day 100 and at 5 years. The data showed marked and significant differences between centres in unadjusted analyses. These differences were absent or marginal when the results were adjusted for disease, year of transplant and the EBMT risk score (a score incorporating patient age, disease stage, time interval between diagnosis and transplantation, and, for allogeneic transplants, donor type and donor-recipient gender combination) in a multivariable analysis. These data indicate comparable quality among centres in Switzerland. They show that comparison of crude centre-specific outcome data without adjustment for the patient mix may be misleading. Mandatory data collection and systematic review of all cases within a comprehensive quality management system might, in contrast, serve as a model to ascertain the quality of other cost-intensive therapies in Switzerland.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in Switzerland: a comprehensive quality control report on centre effect

QUESTIONS UNDER STUDY / PRINCIPLES: Interest groups advocate centre-specific outcome data as a useful tool for patients in choosing a hospital for their treatment and for decision-making by politicians and the insurance industry. Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) requires significant infrastructure and represents a cost-intensive procedure. It therefore qualifies as a prime target for such a policy. METHODS: We made use of the comprehensive database of the Swiss Blood Stem Cells Transplant Group (SBST) to evaluate potential use of mortality rates. Nine institutions reported a total of 4717 HSCT - 1427 allogeneic (30.3%), 3290 autologous (69.7%) - in 3808 patients between the years 1997 and 2008. Data were analysed for survival- and transplantation-related mortality (TRM) at day 100 and at 5 years. RESULTS: The data showed marked and significant differences between centres in unadjusted analyses. These differences were absent or marginal when the results were adjusted for disease, year of transplant and the EBMT risk score (a score incorporating patient age, disease stage, time interval between diagnosis and transplantation, and, for allogeneic transplants, donor type and donor-recipient gender combination) in a multivariable analysis. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate comparable quality among centres in Switzerland. They show that comparison of crude centre-specific outcome data without adjustment for the patient mix may be misleading. Mandatory data collection and systematic review of all cases within a comprehensive quality management system might, in contrast, serve as a model to ascertain the quality of other cost-intensive therapies in Switzerland.

Ukrainas konstitutionella sicksackande : Regimförändring och partiutveckling under semipresidentialism

Ukraine has repeatedly shifted between the two sub-types of semi-presidentialism, i.e. between premier-presidentialism and president-parliamentarism. The aim of this article is to discuss to what extent theoretical arguments against premier-presidential and president-parliamentary systems are relevant for understanding the shifting directions of the Ukrainian regime. As a point of departure, I formulate three main claims from the literature: 1) “President-parliamentarism is less conducive to democratization than premier-presidentialism.”; 2) “Semi-presidentialism in both its variants have built-in incitements for intra-executive conflict between the president and the prime minister.”; 3) “Semi-presidentialism in general, and president-parliamentarism in particular, encourages presidentialization of political parties.” I conclude from the study’s empirical overview that the president-parliamentary system– the constitutional arrangement with the most dismal record of democratization – has been instrumental in strengthening presidential dominance and authoritarian tendencies. The premier-presidential period 2006–2010 was by no means smooth and stable, but the presidential dominance weakened and the survival of the government was firmly anchored in the parliament. During this period, there were also indications of a gradual strengthening of institutional capacity among the main political parties and the parliament began to emerge as a significant political arena.

Two terrestrial records of rapid climatic change during the glacial–Holocene transition (14,000– 9,000 calendar years B.P.) from Europe

Two independent multidisciplinary studies of climatic change during the glacial–Holocene transition (ca. 14,000–9,000 calendar yr B.P.) from Norway and Switzerland have assessed organism responses to the rapid climatic changes and made quantitative temperature reconstructions with modern calibration data sets (transfer functions). Chronology at Kråkenes, western Norway, was derived from calibration of a high-resolution series of 14C dates. Chronologies at Gerzensee and Leysin, Switzerland, were derived by comparison of δ18O in lake carbonates with the δ18O record from the Greenland Ice Core Project. Both studies demonstrate the sensitivity of terrestrial and aquatic organisms to rapid temperature changes and their value for quantitative reconstruction of the magnitudes and rates of the climatic changes. The rates in these two terrestrial records are comparable to those in Greenland ice cores, but the actual temperatures inferred apply to the terrestrial environments of the two regions.

Quantity or quality? The professionalization of social media communication in Portugal and Germany: a comparison

As the worldwide growth of social media usage and institutionalization by organizations rise worldwide little is known about the degree of professionalization that has occurred. By comparing data between two asynchronous countries this research project offers insights into its strategic usage as well as discovering an interesting dynamic between activity and professionalization.

Molecular epidemiology of predominant clones and sporadic strains of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Switzerland and comparison with European epidemic clones.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the molecular epidemiology and risk factors of predominant clones and sporadic strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in Swiss hospitals and to compare them with European strains of epidemic clones. MATERIAL AND METHODS: One-year national survey of MRSA cases. Analysis of epidemiological and molecular typing data (PFGE) of MRSA strains. RESULTS: In 1997, 385 cases of MRSA were recorded in the five Swiss university hospitals and in 47 community hospitals. Half of the cases were found in Geneva hospitals where MRSA was already known to be endemic. Molecular typing of 288 isolates (one per case) showed that 186 (65%) belong to four predominant clones, three of which were mostly present in Geneva hospitals. In contrast, the fourth clone (85 cases) was found in 23 hospitals (in one to 16 cases per hospital). The remaining 35% of the strains were clustered into 62 pulsed field gel electrophoresis types. They accounted for one to five patients per hospital and were defined as sporadic. Multivariate analysis revealed no independent risk factors for harboring a predominant versus a sporadic strain, except that transfer from a foreign hospital increases the risk of harboring a sporadic strain (OR, 42; 95% CI, 5-360). CONCLUSION: While cases with predominant clones were due to the local spread of these clones, most sporadic cases appear to be due to the continuous introduction of new strains into the country. With the exception of a transfer from a hospital outside Switzerland, no difference in the clinical or epidemiological characteristics was observed between patients harboring a predominant clone and those with a sporadic strain.

Update of the BIPM comparison BIPM.RI(II)-K1.Cs-134 of activity measurements of the radionuclide 134Cs to include the 2008 results of the BEV (Austria), the 2009 result of the IRA (Switzerland) and the 2010 results of the NMISA (South Africa)

Purine nucleotide pyrophosphotransferase was purified to apparent homogeneity from a culture filtrate of Streptomyces morookaensis. It is a monomeric protein with a molecular weight of 24 000-25 000, and its isoelectric point is 6.9. The enzyme synthesizes purine nucleoside 5'-phosphate (mono, di, or tri) 3'-diphosphates such as pppApp, ppApp, pApp, pppGpp, ppGpp and pppIpp by transferring a pyrophosphoryl group from the 5'-position of ATP, dATP and ppApp to the 3'-position of purine nucleotides. The purified enzyme catalysed the formation of 435 mumol of pppApp and 620 mumol of pppGpp from ATP and GTP per min mg protein under the standard conditions. The enzyme requires absolutely a divalent cation for activity, and optimum pH for the enzyme activity lay above 10 for Mg2+, for Co2+ and Zn2+ from 9 to 9.5, and for Fe2+ from 7.5 to 8. The following Michaelis constants were determined: AMP, 2.78 mM; ADP, 3.23 mM; GMP, 0.89 mM; GDP, 0.46 mM and GTP, 1.54 mM, in the case of ATP donor. The enzyme is inhibited by guanine, guanosine, dGDP, dGTP, N-bromosuccinimide, iodacetate, sodium borate and mercuric acetate.

High occurrence of hepatitis E virus in samples from wastewater treatment plants in Switzerland and comparison with other enteric viruses.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is responsible for many enterically transmitted viral hepatitides around the world. It is currently one of the waterborne diseases of global concern. In industrialized countries, HEV appears to be more common than previously thought, even if it is rarely virulent. In Switzerland, seroprevalence studies revealed that HEV is endemic, but no information was available on its environmental spread. The aim of this study was to investigate -using qPCR- the occurrence and concentration of HEV and three other viruses (norovirus genogroup II, human adenovirus-40 and porcine adenovirus) in influents and effluents of 31 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Switzerland. Low concentrations of HEV were detected in 40 out of 124 WWTP influent samples, showing that HEV is commonly present in this region. The frequency of HEV occurrence was higher in summer than in winter. No HEV was detected in WWTP effluent samples, which indicates a low risk of environmental contamination. HEV occurrence and concentrations were lower than those of norovirus and adenovirus. The autochthonous HEV genotype 3 was found in all positive samples, but a strain of the non-endemic and highly pathogenic HEV genotype I was isolated in one sample, highlighting the possibility of environmental circulation of this genotype. A porcine fecal marker (porcine adenovirus) was not detected in HEV positive samples, indicating that swine are not the direct source of HEV present in wastewater. Further investigations will be necessary to determine the reservoirs and the routes of dissemination of HEV.