The Political Economy of Transition in Post-Socialist Systems: The Case of the Baltic States

The nature of the failed socialist systems calls for a transition which is as comprehensive in its objectives as were the systems themselves before they failed. Hence, the transition to democracy in the post-socialist systems cannot be treated as separate from the transition to a market economy and national independence. The critical part of the transition is the economic reforms inasmuch as the institutions of the planned economy are the major power base for the conservative elites. To be successful, the economic transition must be able - in both the short and the long term - to command political support, to achieve social acceptance of the distributional consequences involved and to be compatible with democratic institutions. Analysis reveals that in the case of the Baltic states widespread support for the transition to a market economy can be detected and that the democratically elected governments have so far been fairly active in establishing a legal framework for transition, but appear unable to implement the necessary stabilization policy. The reforms have produced strong social protests, and the governments have been under pressure to maintain social guarantees during the period of transition. The non-Baltic minorities in particular defend previous social privileges and are distressed by their uncertain status after independence. The ultimate outcome of political and economic transition in the Baltic states, therefore, remains in doubt.     

Forensic chemical detection of furadan

Isolation of furadan from biological material by ethyl acetate is considered. Column chromatography with silicone gel L 100/160micro was used to purify extractions from biological objects. A technique was elaborated for identification and quantitation of furadan in cadavers. It is possible to use this technique in forensic expert examination.     

Evaluation of diagnostic tools applied in the examination of sudden unexpected deaths in infancy and early childhood

During the period between 1984 and 1999, 309 cases of sudden unexpected death in infancy and early childhood (0-3 years) were investigated at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Oslo. In 73 cases, an explainable cause of death was found. In this non-sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) group, 42 cases were due to disease, 14 to accidents, 7 to neglect/abuse and 10 cases were due to homicide. In 43 cases, there were pathological findings at the autopsy or suspect features in the history and/or circumstances, which were, however, insufficient to explain death ("borderline" SIDS). In the remaining 193 cases, nothing of significance was detected ("pure" SIDS).The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the importance of the different diagnostic tools used in diagnosing non-SIDS and borderline SIDS cases. The definition of SIDS requires a negative history as well as a negative autopsy result. Thus, the following variables were analysed: circumstances, medical history and autopsy, which included a gross pathological investigation, histology, neuropathology, microbiology, radiology and toxicology. In diagnosing deaths due to disease, histology, neuropathology and microbiology were the most important diagnostic tools. In contrast, information about the circumstances of death and the gross pathological findings at autopsy most often revealed the cause of death in accidents and cases of neglect/abuse and homicide.Following the drop in SIDS rate in Norway after 1989, the share of pure SIDS in proportion to the total population of sudden unexpected deaths in infancy and early childhood has decreased. The increasing proportion of non-SIDS and borderline SIDS cases presents a challenge to improve the quality of the investigation in cases of sudden death in infancy and early childhood.     

Asking Routinely About Intimate Partner Violence in a Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinic: A Qualitative Study

Among children visiting child and adolescent psychiatric clinics (CAP), the prevalence of exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) is reported to be approximately 25 %. The extent to which CAP clinicians are aware of this violence, however, is unclear. Some researchers recommend asking about IPV at intake, both to raise disclosure rates and to ensure adequate treatment. Many clinicians are reluctant to do so as a matter of routine when there is no indication of occurrence of IPV in the family. When we interviewed 14 clinicians about their experiences using a standard questionnaire about IPV, three themes emerged: (a) constraint (the questions hinder the development of good relationships with patients), (b) uncertainty (upon reflection, screening is acknowledged as important, but somewhat deficient), and (c) utility (the questionnaire provides a useful framework). Our findings indicate that clinicians’ negative feelings and ambivalence make the implementation of routinely asking about IPV a long process.     

Environmental Enforcement Undertakings and Possible Implications: Responsive,Smarter or Rent Seeking?

Enforcement undertakings have recently been added to the Environment Agency's list of mechanisms available for the enforcement of certain environmental offences. An enforcement undertaking is a written agreement between the regulator and the offender in which the offender proposes to undertake particular actions in relation to the relevant non‐compliant activity. This article examines the use of enforcement undertakings by the Environment Agency, arguing that the undertakings have significant regulatory implications and give rise to a series of possible problems. Notwithstanding this, the article concludes that enforcement undertakings possess a number of potentially positive features, making them a useful alternative to existing enforcement mechanisms.