The determinants of the effectiveness of medical disciplinary boards: 1960–1977

The results of an empirical study to determine the reasons why some state boards of medical discipline are more active in disciplining physicians than others are presented. The study concluded that for most of the years between 1960 and 1977, the principal determinant of board vigilance was the degree to which they werenot dominated by physicians. But it was also shown that even if all the boards were controlled exclusively by nonphysicians, board activity, stated in absolute terms, would still be very small. This then leads to the inference that current efforts to change the composition of the board and create obligations for reporting miscreant physicians for various sectors in the health services industry will not produce acceptable levels of medical disciplinary board performance.     

Rapid determination of carbohydrates in heroin drug seizures using capillary electrophoresis with short-end injection

A simple and rapid method for the analysis of carbohydrates in heroin samples by capillary electrophoresis utilizing a borate complexation method is described. Separations were performed using an uncoated fused silica capillary, 50 cm x 50 micro I.D. x 360 microm O.D. with an effective separation length of 9 cm. The system was run at 60 degrees C with an applied voltage of -8 kilovolts. Injection of each sample was for 1 sec at -50 mbar. UV detection was employed with the wavelength set at 195 nm. The background electrolyte consisted of 65 mM borate, pH 12.0. Samples and standards were prepared in the run buffer containing 2 mg/mL of mannose as an internal standard. Under these conditions a test mixture containing glucose, sucrose, lactose, mannitol and mannose as an internal standard was resolved within 5 min. The method was used to determine the concentration of carbohydrates in heroin seizure samples and synthetic heroin samples. The results were in good agreement with the reported values.     

Normative Beliefs and Relational Aggression: An Investigation of the Cognitive Bases of Adolescent Aggressive Behavior

The relations between normative beliefs about different forms of aggression and corresponding aggressive behaviors were investigated in 2 studies of adolescents. In Study 1, we revised an instrument designed to assess normative beliefs about aggression to include beliefs about the acceptability of relational aggression, and we examined the psychometric properties of the instrument. In Studies 1 and 2, the unique associations of normative beliefs about relational and physical aggression with self-reported relational and physical aggression were examined. Findings across both studies revealed that beliefs-behavior associations were specific to aggression forms. In other words, beliefs about relational aggression were uniquely associated with engagement in relationally aggressive acts, whereas beliefs about physical aggression, but not relational aggression, contributed unique information about adolescents’ level of physical aggression. No gender effects were found. Results are discussed within a social-cognitive framework, and implications are explored for future prevention and intervention efforts to reduce aggressive behaviors.Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Development at Washington State University, Pullman, Washington. Dr Werner received her PhD from the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities Campus. Her research focuses on social-cognitive, peer, and family relationship correlates of relational and physical aggression.Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, Pennsylvania. Dr Nixon received her PhD at West Virginia University. Her primary research interests include prevention and intervention of relational aggression and program evaluation.     

‘Developmental’ policies and rent: comparing Russia and Sub-Saharan Africa

The article evaluates the concept of ‘developmental’ policies, comparing post-communist Russia and Sub-Saharan African (SSA) states. Asian ‘developmental state’ policies have been identified as developmental because of successful industrial policies and leaders’ ability to implement them. The comparison shows that while these features have been absent in SSA, notably due to the trapping effects of commodity dependence, Russia exhibits an original dualistic model where the negative impact of commodity dependence (such as the creation of rents) is compatible with developmental industrial policies. The evidence presented demonstrates the importance of constraints that stem from both economic and political structures, in turn explaining variations in developmental policy effectiveness.     

Campaign‐Style Enforcement and Regulatory Compliance

This article examines the recoupling mechanism of campaign‐style enforcement and its effects on environmental regulatory compliance. Drawing on the policy implementation literature and institutional theory, the authors develop a conceptual model of campaign‐style enforcement in which both resource mobilization and power redistribution are theorized to address decoupling problems in regulatory compliance. The two‐pathway recoupling mechanism is evidenced by an empirical investigation of the implementation of China's energy conservation and emission reduction policy as part of that country's 11th Five‐Year Plan. Findings suggest that campaign‐style enforcement can effectively improve regulatory compliance when it addresses the efficiency/legitimacy conflict by providing policy incentives and reorganizing a clear hierarchy of political authority. The article concludes with a discussion of the strengths and limitations of campaign‐style enforcement.     

Sampling and recovery of ignitable liquid residues (ILRs) from fire debris using capillary microextraction of volatiles (CMV) for on-site analysis

A new, fast, and ultra-sensitive headspace sampling method using the Capillary Microextraction of Volatiles (CMV) device is demonstrated for the analysis of ignitable liquid residues (ILRs) in fire debris. This headspace sampling method involves the use of a heated can (60°C) to aid in the recovery of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from medium and heavy petroleum distillates. Our group has previously reported the utility of CMV to extract gasoline at ambient temperature in less than 5 min in the field. This work evaluates the recovery and analysis of low mass loadings (tens of ng) of VOCs from charcoal lighter fluid, kerosene, and diesel fuel. Nonane, decane, undecane, tridecane, tetradecane, and pentadecane were selected for evaluation of recovery to represent these ILR classes. The face-down heated can headspace sampling technique was compared to the previously reported, non-heated, paper cup headspace sampling technique. Mass recovery improvements of 50%–200% for five of the six target compounds in diesel fuel were achieved compared to the non-heated sampling method. The average relative standard deviation (reported as % RSD) between the replicate trials decreased from an average of 28% to 6% when using the heated can method. Ignitable liquids were spiked onto burned debris in a live burn exercise and sampled using the heated can and paper cup headspace sampling techniques. The heated sampling technique reported here, for the first time, demonstrates an effective extraction method that when coupled to a portable GC–MS instrument allows for a sampling and analysis protocol in the field in less than 30 min.