Intracranial stab injuries: case report and case study

Non-missile penetrating brain injuries are rare events in western countries. We report a case with lethal stab injury of the brain and identification of the weapon used in the assault by digital superimposition on CT scans taken at admission of the victim to a hospital. Furthermore, all cases with knife stab wounds of the skull between 1971 and 2000 were analyzed and compared with literature reports. Results of this study show that there is no region preference despite of differences in bone thickness, that stab wounds of the brain are almost invariably associated with multiple stab wounds to the trunk and that the wound tract may correspond to the dimensions of the blade allowing the identification of the weapon by digital image analysis.     

Between EU Requirements, Competitive Politics, and National Traditions: Re–creating Regions in the Accession Countries of Central and Eastern Europe

The article studies the impact of the European Union (EU) on the reforms of regional administration in Central and East European (CEE) accession countries. It analyzes the motives, process and outcomes of regional– or mesolevel administrative reforms in five countries—Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia—considering whether the EU has shaped these reforms to a higher degree than in relation to its incumbent member states. The article finds that the EU Commission's interest in regional self–governments with a substantial fiscal and legal autonomy has provided an additional rationale and an incentive to re–create regional self–governments. Advocates of regional self–government and an institutionalization of regions in the accession countries have referred to European trends and (perceived) EU expectations of regionalization. Thus, the Commission and the preaccession framework have become catalysts for a process in which most CEE regions have already enhanced and will further increase their political salience. However, the trajectories and outcomes of regional–level reforms can be better explained by a combination of domestic institutional legacies, policy approaches of reformers and their adversaries, and the influence of ethnic/historical regionalism.     

New Labour and Government in Britain: Change or Continuity?

The 1997 British election marks a major change in British government. Eighteen years of Conservative rule had brought about growing inequality and social division and have generated powerful demands for new directions in public policy, especially in the areas of welfare and public administration. On welfare state reform Labour is constrained by election promises to restrain taxation and public expenditure. New Labour ministers influenced by the New Right have in any case largely rejected traditional social democratic redistributive strategies and are seeking instead new ways of reducing welfare dependency.
The virulent spread of quangos at all levels of government and a marked increase in the centralisation of power in Whitehall have given a new impetus to demands for constitutional reform. Labour's response to these demands is a major program of regional devolution, House of Lords reform and open government measures.
This article explains what 'New Labour' means and discusses New Labour policies on welfare and constitutional reform and their implications for the future of public administration in Britain.     

Getting a `Get' – the Limits of Law's Authority? N. v. N. (Jurisdiction: Pre-Nuptial Agreement) [1999] 2 F.L.R. 745

This note examines the decision of the Family Division of the High Court in N. v. N. (Jurisdiction: Pre-Nuptial Agreement) in which, in the context of Jewish divorce proceedings, the Court found that it had no jurisdiction to order a husband, by specific performance of a marriage agreement, to go through the procedure to obtain a ‘get’ (a hand-written bill of divorcement) allowing his wife to remarry. First, discussion of the case is contextualised broadly within the debate on the (de)merits of employing legal means in order to redress social wrongs. Secondly, adopting a theoretical perspective upon the difficulties involved in using law to achieve social change, the note goes on to examine more specifically why women from minority cultures may choose to go to the law of the dominant culture in order to obtain relief. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Causes of death of patients in an institution for the developmentally disabled

The causes of death of 53 severely to profoundly developmentally disabled patients who died in an intermediate care facility were reviewed. Respiratory disease, predominantly pneumonia and aspiration, accounted for 72% of deaths. Seven patients died of nonrespiratory causes, and in 8 patients, no cause of death could be determined, even after a complete autopsy or investigation. The median age at death was 20 years. The weights of these patients' organs at autopsy were lower than those for normal individuals of the same age. The lifespan of these severely impaired individuals continues to be significantly shortened, even with improved methods of care.