Les effets de l'information télévisée sur les évaluations politiques et les préoccupations des électeurs français

Rapport réalisé dans le cadre du Baromètre politique français 2006-2007 (vague 2, 11-26 septembre 2006

Les médias et l’image des candidats : une exploration des effets de la télévision

Rapport réalisé dans le cadre du Baromètre politique français 2006-2007 (vague 4, 5-19 février 2007

Les effets de l’information télévisée sur les évaluations politiques et les préoccupations des électeurs

Le premier rapport sur les électeurs français et l’information télévisée, issu de la première vague du baromètre politique français (BPF) réalisée en mars-avril 2006, traitait principalement des pratiques d’écoute des journaux télévisés (JT) et des profils sociologique et politique de leurs auditoires. Ce deuxième rapport étudie les relations entre les électeurs et l’information télévisée sous un autre angle en proposant, à partir de la deuxième vague du BPF (septembre 2006), une première analyse des effets des JT regardés sur les évaluations politiques et les préoccupations des électeurs (section 2 du résumé). Il fournit également quelques données comparatives sur l’évolution des pratiques d’information politique entre le printemps et l’automne 2006 (section 1 du résumé)

Les médias et l'image des candidats : une exploration des effets de la télévision

Les campagnes électorales sont un moment de la vie politique qui est à la fois bien et mal connu. Comme le rappelle le politologue américain James Stimson, leur rôle et leur fonction restent très discutés. Certaines approches du vote tendent à relativiser l’influence des campagnes électorales. Ainsi, les modèles économiques du vote, comme celui de l’Iowa, ont montré que les paramètres économiques (croissance, taux de chômage) ou politiques (popularité de l’exécutif) étaient en général de bons prédicteurs des résultats d’un scrutin. Si l’issue d’un scrutin dépend avant tout de l’état de l’économie d’un pays et de variables structurelles ou à long terme, à quoi bon dès lors battre campagne et déployer des stratégies de communication ? En sens inverse, d’autres travaux soulignent la volatilité croissante des électorats, la tendance d’une partie des citoyens à choisir le candidat pour lequel ils voteront dans les semaines précédant le scrutin, et la sensibilité plus forte des électeurs à la conjoncture et à l’offre politique. Dans cette perspective, les campagnes jouent alors un rôle déterminant sur les résultats électoraux. [Premier paragraphe de l'article

Coordinated community structure among trees, fungi and invertebrate groups in Amazonian rainforests

Little is known regarding how trophic interactions shape community assembly in tropical forests. Here we assess multi-taxonomic community assembly rules using a rare standardized coordinated inventory comprising exhaustive surveys of five highly-diverse taxonomic groups exerting key ecological functions: trees, fungi, earthworms, ants and spiders. We sampled 36 1.9-ha plots from four remote locations in French Guiana including precise soil measurements, and we tested whether species turnover was coordinated among groups across geographic and edaphic gradients. All species group pairs exhibited significant compositional associations that were independent from soil conditions. For some of the pairs, associations were also partly explained by soil properties, especially soil phosphorus availability. Our study provides evidence for coordinated turnover among taxonomic groups beyond simple relationships with environmental factors, thereby refining our understanding regarding the nature of interactions occurring among these ecologically important groups

Anal Examinations in Cases of Alleged Homosexuality

Anal examinations are forcibly conducted in many countries where consensual anal intercourse is considered a criminal act. They are conducted almost exclusively on males in an effort to “prove” that they are “homosexuals” despite the fact that anal intercourse is not a necessary determinant of “homosexual activity.” Forcibly conducted anal examinations are usually initiated at the request of law enforcement officials, the prosecutor, or the court and conducted in the absence of informed consent or in circumstances where individuals are not capable of giving genuine informed consent or where refusal to give consent would be interpreted as self-incrimination. This may be presumed to be the case when examinations are conducted on individuals in detention, subsequent to allegations of criminalised sexual acts by the authorities. The purpose of this medico-legal statement is to provide legal experts, adjudicators, health care professionals, and policymakers, among others, with an understanding of: 1) the validity of forcibly conducted anal examinations as medical and scientific evidence of consensual anal intercourse; 2) the likely physical and psychological consequences of forcibly conducted anal examinations; and 3) whether, based on these effects, forcibly conducted anal examination constitutes cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or torture

Statement on Virginity Testing: Independent Forensic Expert Group

Virginity examinations are practiced in many countries, and often forcibly, in a number of contexts, including in detention places; on women who allege rape; on women who are accused by authorities of prostitution; and as part of public or social policies to control sexuality. In other states, the practice is illegal. The purpose of this medico-legal statement is to provide legal experts, adjudicators, healthcare professionals, and policymakers, among others, with an understanding of the physical and psychological effects of forcibly conducting virginity examinations on females and to assess whether, based on these effects, forcibly conducted virginity examinations constitute cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or torture. This medico-legal statement also addresses the medical interpretation and relevance of such examinations and the ethical implications. This opinion considers an examination to be ‘forcibly conducted’ when it is “committed by force, or by threat of force or coercion, such as caused by fear of violence, duress, detention, psychological oppression or abuse of power, against such person incapable of giving genuine consent.”   For full details about the Independent Forensic Expert Group please visit http://www.irct.org/our-support/ medical-and-psychological-case-support/forensic-expertgroup.aspx

Monitoring of the Sublingual Microcirculation During Cardiac Surgery:Current Knowledge and Future Directions

Handheld vital microscopes allow for direct observation of the sublingual microcirculatory perfusion during cardiac surgery. Through the use of handheld vital microscopes, it has been shown that cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass is associated with reduced and heterogenous microcirculatory perfusion. Microcirculatory impairment can result in inadequate tissue perfusion, leading to perioperative complications and poor outcome. Because microcirculatory impairment can occur despite stable or improved global hemodynamics, there is a yet unmet need for specific monitoring of the microcirculation. Technological advancements may facilitate point-of-care monitoring of microcirculatory perfusion using automated real-time analysis of microcirculatory measurements. Thus, microcirculatory monitoring may create new opportunities for specific microcirculatory treatment as part of hemodynamic management. The implementation of microcirculatory variables into personalized treatment concepts has the potential to improve hemodynamic management during cardiac surgery and thereby improve patient outcomes. Therefore, specific treatment strategies need to be developed to prevent or treat alterations of the microcirculatory perfusion. In the future, the use of handheld vital microscopes for microcirculatory monitoring may help to improve hemodynamic management and outcomes for patients undergoing cardiac surgical procedures

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits - the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants - determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits - almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

A História da Alimentação: balizas historiográficas

Os M. pretenderam traçar um quadro da História da Alimentação, não como um novo ramo epistemológico da disciplina, mas como um campo em desenvolvimento de práticas e atividades especializadas, incluindo pesquisa, formação, publicações, associações, encontros acadêmicos, etc. Um breve relato das condições em que tal campo se assentou faz-se preceder de um panorama dos estudos de alimentação e temas correia tos, em geral, segundo cinco abardagens Ia biológica, a econômica, a social, a cultural e a filosófica!, assim como da identificação das contribuições mais relevantes da Antropologia, Arqueologia, Sociologia e Geografia. A fim de comentar a multiforme e volumosa bibliografia histórica, foi ela organizada segundo critérios morfológicos. A seguir, alguns tópicos importantes mereceram tratamento à parte: a fome, o alimento e o domínio religioso, as descobertas européias e a difusão mundial de alimentos, gosto e gastronomia. O artigo se encerra com um rápido balanço crítico da historiografia brasileira sobre o tema