Treatment of human-caused trauma: attrition in the adult outcomes research

Attrition or dropout is the failure of a participant to complete, comply, or the prematurely discontinuation or discharge from treatment, resulting in lost data and affecting outcomes. This review of 10 years of adult posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment outcome literature specific to Criterion A events of human origin examines how attrition is defined and addressed, methodologically and statistically. Of the 13 experimental or quasi-experimental studies, 11 report attrition information. Compared to treatment completers, attriters more often had elevated pretest scores on PTSD and other symptom measures. The characteristics of dropouts given the intentional nature of the traumatic events reviewed in this study are shared to inform clinical practice. Recommendations for consistent methods in examining, analyzing, and interpreting treatment outcome data are also discussed.     

Rapid quantification and sex determination of forensic evidence materials

DNA quantification of forensic evidence is very valuable for an optimal use of the available biological material. Moreover, sex determination is of great importance as additional information in criminal investigations as well as in identification of missing persons, no suspect cases, and ancient DNA studies. While routine forensic DNA analysis based on short tandem repeat markers includes a marker for sex determination, analysis of samples containing scarce amounts of DNA is often based on mitochondrial DNA, and sex determination is not performed. In order to allow quantification and simultaneous sex determination on minute amounts of DNA, an assay based on real-time PCR analysis of a marker within the human amelogenin gene has been developed. The sex determination is based on melting curve analysis, while an externally standardized kinetic analysis allows quantification of the nuclear DNA copy number in the sample. This real-time DNA quantification assay has proven to be highly sensitive, enabling quantification of single DNA copies. Although certain limitations were apparent, the system is a rapid, cost-effective, and flexible assay for analysis of forensic casework samples.     

Issue Importance and Performance Voting

Issue importance mediates the impact of public policy issues on electoral decisions. Individuals who consider that an issue is important are more likely to rely on their attitudes toward that issue when evaluating candidates and deciding for whom to vote. The logic behind the link between issue importance and issue voting should translate to a link between issue importance and performance voting. Incumbent performance evaluations regarding an issue should have a stronger impact on the vote choice of individuals who find that issue important. The analysis demonstrates that there is a significant interaction between performance evaluations and issue importance. People concerned about an issue assign more weight to their evaluations of the government's performance on that issue when making up their mind.     

Institutional Weakness and the Puzzle of Argentina's Low Taxation

Current explanations of taxation levels have identified a host of factors, such as levels of economic development and GDP per capita, tax handles, tax morale, and political regimes. But none of them can account for Argentina's exceptionalism. Using a "transaction cost politics" approach and the case of Brazil for comparison, this article argues that the key to explaining low taxation in Argentina is political instability. Systemic instability affects the tax behavior of governments. Facing an uncertain future, incumbent governments choose to extract resources from society through inflation rather than normal taxation. This article argues that political institutions, particularly federalism, contribute to instability and thereby reduce the discount rates of government policymakers.     

Neuere Beiträge zur empirischen Institutionenanalyse: Von der Gegenstands-zur Problemorientierung

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Erhöhung der Darlegungslast für FFH-Verträglichkeitsprüfung und Abweichungsentscheidung durch das BVerwG

Die Anforderungen an die Zulassung von Infrastrukturvorhaben sind in den letzten Jahren erheblich gestiegen. Ben?tigte der Planfeststeller vor 20 Jahren noch 20 Seiten für einen Planfeststellungsbeschluss, k?nnen es heute schon mal 500 Seiten für eine Ortsumgehung sein. Dementsprechend ist es nicht verwunderlich, wenn das hier zu besprechende Urteil des Bundesverwaltungsgerichts (BVerwG) die Form einer kleinen Monographie einschlie?lich des Inhaltsverzeichnisses annimmt. Die Ursachen sind sichtbar und weithin bekannt. Auf der tats?chlichen Seite liegen sie in der Versch?rfung der Nutzungskonflikte durch die zunehmende Verdichtung der Infrastrukturnetze sowie Siedlungs- und Gewerbefl?chen, dem zunehmenden Umweltbewusstsein der Bev?lkerung und dem Aufbau eines europ?ischen Schutzgebietsnetzes. Auf der rechtlichen Seite wirkt sich die immer tiefer greifende Europ?isierung des deutschen Rechts auf das Fachplanungsrecht aus. Diese Entwicklung in den letzten Jahren hat gezeigt, dass sich das Fachplanungsrecht zwar gegen die verfahrensrechtlichen Anforderungen des Gemeinschaftsrechts durch Regelungen zur Verfahrensbeschleunigung weitgehend zur Wehr setzen kann; die materiellrechtlichen Anforderungen greifen aber und verl?ngern auf ihre Weise die Verfahren. Das von der Abw?gung bestimmte Fachplanungsrecht wird schleichend durch zwingende gemeinschaftsrechtliche Vorgaben ver?ndert. Eine dieser Normen – die auch im Mittelpunkt der Entscheidung des BVerwG steht – ist die Fauna-Flora-Habitat-Richtlinie (FFH-RL).