A model of decision making and the public service professional

This article offers a reformulation of the concept of professionalism as it applies to public sector decision making. After critically evaluating existing work, we present a role theoretic model of public sector decision making that provides a precise conceptual and operational meaning to the term professionalism. We then evaluate the model's applicability to public sector actors, using city managers as an example. Finally, we discuss some of the public policy implications of increasing public service professionalization.     

Suicide by fire in a car trunk: a case with potential pitfalls

We present an unusual case in which an adult female committed suicide by fire while enclosed in the trunk of her vehicle. A finding of suicide was reached only because several key investigative facts were uncovered. Without these discoveries the case may still remain open as a suspicious death. Fire is rarely used as a mechanism of suicide in Western culture, and, as such, similar cases should be reported to advance our recognition of this phenomenon.     

The determination of nicotine and sulfate in supermarket ground beef adulterated with Black Leaf 40

In December 2002, approximately 250 lbs. of ground beef was adulterated with nicotine sulfate by a supermarket employee and subsequently sold to the public. Soon afterward, reports of illness associated with ground beef purchased at a single store were identified. Authorities suspected the ground beef was tainted with Black Leaf 40, a banned pesticide containing approximately 40% nicotine as nicotine sulfate. Ground beef submitted to our laboratory was analyzed in concert by high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and high performance anion exchange chromatography with suppressed conductivity detection. GC-MS was used to identify the samples that contained nicotine. The nicotine was confirmed and quantitated by HPLC-UV. The sulfate was identified and quantitated by high performance anion exchange chromatography with suppressed conductivity detection. Our analysis revealed that the raw tainted beef contained about 350 mg/kg nicotine free base, a potentially lethal dose of nicotine per serving for an adult. Additionally, we found elevated sulfate levels in the samples that tested positive for nicotine, providing evidence that nicotine sulfate was the probable adulterant.     

PC_Eyewitness and the Sequential Superiority Effect: Computer-Based Lineup Administration

Computer technology has become an increasingly important tool for conducting eyewitness identifications. In the area of lineup identifications, computerized administration offers several advantages for researchers and law enforcement. PC_Eyewitness is designed specifically to administer lineups. To assess this new lineup technology, two studies were conducted in order to replicate the results of previous studies comparing simultaneous and sequential lineups. One hundred twenty university students participated in each experiment. Experiment 1 used traditional paper-and-pencil lineup administration methods to compare simultaneous to sequential lineups. Experiment 2 used PC_Eyewitness to administer simultaneous and sequential lineups. The results of these studies were compared to the meta-analytic results reported by N. Steblay, J. Dysart, S. Fulero, and R. C. L. Lindsay (2001). No differences were found between paper-and-pencil and PC_Eyewitness lineup administration methods. The core findings of the N. Steblay et al. (2001) meta-analysis were replicated by both administration procedures. These results show that computerized lineup administration using PC_Eyewitness is an effective means for gathering eyewitness identification data.     

Electricity Market Restructuring and Energy Contracts: A Critical Note on the EU Commission’s NEA Decision

As highlighted in the economic literature, contracts are crucial policy instruments to organize and manage restructured electricity markets. In the early 90’s, during the restructuring of the electricity market in UK, the three main Scottish electricity generators stipulated a long-term, “take-or-pay” contract, the Nuclear Energy Agreement, which contained provisions for the trade of wholesale electricity in Scotland.The European Commission scrutinized such contract in order to derive the congruity of the agreement to European laws. Whilst the NEA was awarded an exemption under Article 85, paragraph 3 of the EU Treaty, the Commission recognized the inner anticompetitive content and potential effects of the contract.In this paper, we criticize the Commission NEA decision and economic reasoning and provide an alternative reading and analytical approach, which lead to opposite results and conclusions (the NEA contract is not anticompetitive and it enhances efficiency in competitive electricity markets). Given that the restructuring process in the EU electricity market is still in fieri, we select the NEA contract as a benchmark-case, in order to provide an alternative reading and a case-study for eventual, future energy contracts administration and authority decisions.JEL K, K2, K230     

Death by sewer gas: case report of a double fatality and review of the literature

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), the toxic gas associated with the smell of "rotten eggs," is an important cause of work-related sudden death. The gas is particularly insidious due to the unpredictability of its presence and concentration and its neurotoxicity at relatively low concentrations, causing olfactory nerve paralysis and loss of the warning odor. We report a double fatality involving 2 surveyors working near a man-hole, who fell into the sewer and died due to sudden exposure to hydrogen sulfide gas. Key historical, physical, and toxicologic findings are described. Additionally, we present a discussion of the clinical presentations and differential diagnosis, mechanism of injury, metabolism and toxicology, incidence, and scene and safety concerns in fatal hydrogen sulfide exposures.     

Reforming residency: modernizing resident education and training to promote quality and safety in healthcare

The goal of medical residency is to provide the best clinical education for future practice, while increasing quality and safety in current and future healthcare. This goal is not being met. Traditional residency programs often continue to utilize individually oriented, shame-and-blame approaches that do not recognize the systems nature of outcomes, care, and patient safety. Appropriate substantive methods, content, and training tools are also lacking, while residents continue to labor in a poor working environment. All these factors create a system that serves no one-not the resident, the patient, or the system in which both interact. Residency reforms are proposed to address these imperative concerns.