State systems Advance Planning Document (APD) process. Final rule

The Advance Planning Document (APD) process governs the procedure by which States obtain approval for Federal financial participation in the cost of acquiring automated data processing equipment and services. This final rule reduces the submission requirements for lower-risk information technology (IT) projects and procurements and increases oversight over higher-risk IT projects and procurements by making technical changes, conforming changes and substantive revisions in the documentation required to be submitted by States, counties, and territories for approval of their Information Technology plans and acquisition documents.     

State certification of mammography facilities. Final rule

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is amending its regulations governing mammography. The amendments implement the "States as Certifiers" (SAC) provisions of the Mammography Quality Standards Act of 1992 (MQSA). These amendments permit FDA to authorize individual States to certify mammography facilities, conduct facility inspections, enforce the MQSA quality standards, and administer other related functions. The amendments establish the standards to be met by States receiving this authority. They also establish procedures for application, approval, evaluation, and withdrawal of approval of States as certification agencies. FDA retains oversight responsibility for the activities of the States to which this authority is given. Mammography facilities certified by those States must continue to meet the quality standards established by FDA for mammography facilities nationwide.     

Use of ozone-depleting substances; removal of essential-use designations. Final rule

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is amending its regulation on the use of ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) in self-pressurized containers to remove the essential-use designations for albuterol used in oral pressurized metered-dose inhalers (MDIs). Under the Clean Air Act, FDA, in consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is required to determine whether an FDA-regulated product that releases an ODS is an essential use of the ODS. Two albuterol MDIs that do not use an ODS have been marketed for more than 3 years. FDA has determined that the two non-ODS MDIs will be satisfactory alternatives to albuterol MDIs containing ODSs and is removing the essential-use designation for albuterol MDIs as of December 31, 2008. Albuterol MDIs containing an ODS cannot be marketed after this date.     

State nursing home enforcement systems

This study presents interview and statistical data from a telephone and fax survey of state agency officials and statistical data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Online Survey Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) system. State survey activities for nursing facilities were reviewed and the number and types of intermediate sanctions issued by states in 1999 were reported, along with barriers to the use of such sanctions. Using five selected enforcement measures to create a summary score, states were classified by quartiles based on the stringency of their nursing facility enforcement activities. Controlling for the number of complaints as a proxy for quality, the predictors of a summary of state enforcement actions were: percentage of population at age eighty-five and above. Democratic governors, higher percentages of chain facilities, and lower facility occupancy rates. Regional differences in enforcement patterns also were shown. Many federal policies and resource constraints were identitied as barriers to effective regulation. The findings identified nursing facility survey and enforcement issues that need to be addressed by policy makers.     

Assessing the effectiveness of drug courts on recidivism: A meta-analytic review of traditional and non-traditional drug courts

Purpose

The objective of this research was to systematically review quasi-experimental and experimental evaluations of the effectiveness of drug courts in reducing offending.

Methods

Our search identified 154 independent evaluations: 92 evaluations of adult drug courts, 34 of juvenile drug courts, and 28 of DWI drug courts. The findings of these studies were synthesized using meta-analysis.

Results

The vast majority of adult drug court evaluations, even the most rigorous evaluations, find that participants have lower recidivism than non-participants. The average effect of participation is analogous to a drop in recidivism from 50% to 38%; and, these effects last up to three years. Evaluations of DWI drug courts find effects similar in magnitude to those of adult drug courts, but the most rigorous evaluations do not uniformly find reductions in recidivism. Juvenile drug courts have substantially smaller effects on recidivism. Larger reductions in recidivism were found in adult drug courts that had high graduation rates, and those that accepted only non-violent offenders.

Conclusions

These findings support the effectiveness of adult drug courts in reducing recidivism. The evidence assessing DWI courts' effectiveness is very promising but more experimental evaluations are needed. Juvenile drug courts typically produce small reductions in recidivism.     

论英国法院的止诉禁令

分析止诉禁令与仲裁的关系,归纳申请伦敦仲裁一方当事人面对另一方在其他国家法院起诉的对策,探讨《布鲁塞尔规则》对英国法院就欧盟法院诉讼作出止诉禁令的冲击后,提出保护伦敦仲裁与针对the"Front Com or"案可以考虑的6个对策及向英国法院申请止诉禁令的原则等。     

Governing body requirements for health systems agencies--PHS. Final rule

This rule amends the portion of the Health Systems Agency Designation and Funding Regulation (March 26, 1976) prescribing the composition of health systems agency governing bodies and deletes the subsection of that regulation which limits the number of consecutive years a governing body member may serve. This rule is being issued pursuant to a court order.