Chest deflection tolerance to blunt anterior loading is sensitive to age but not load distribution

Ninety-three human cadaver tests are used in the development of thoracic injury risk functions with consideration of age and restraint condition. Linear logistic regression models are developed with the set of potential predictors including the maximum chest deflection, the age of the cadaver at death, gender, and the loading condition on the anterior thorax: blunt hub (41 tests), seat belt (26 tests), air bag (12 tests), and combined belt-and-bag (14 tests). Predicted outcomes were the probability of any rib fractures (onset of injury) and the probability of greater than six rib fractures (severe injury). The analysis shows that the injury risk function was not dependent on the loading condition, but was strongly dependent on age. A significant injury risk model with good ability to discriminate injury from non-injury tests (P < 0.0001, chi-square = 21.49, area under receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC) = 0.867, Kruskal's Gamma = 0.732) is presented using only maximum chest deflection and cadaver age as predictors of injury risk. The 50% risk of any rib fractures is found to occur at 35% chest deflection for a 30-year-old, but at 13% deflection for a 70-year-old. The 50% risk of severe injury is shown to occur at 33% chest deflection for a 70-year-old, but at 43% for a 30-year-old.     

The unipolar exit: beyond the Pax Americana

In this article I show that the unipolar era already is drawing to a close. Three main drivers explain the impending end of the Pax Americana. First, the rise of new great powers—especially China—is transforming the international system from unipolarity to multipolarity. Second, the United States is becoming the poster child for strategic over-extension, or as Paul Kennedy dubbed it, imperial overstretch. Third, the United States' relative economic power is declining, and mounting US fiscal problems and the dollar's increasingly problematic role as the international financial system's reserve currency are undermining US hegemony. After examining how these trends undermine the argument for ‘unipolar stability’, I conclude by arguing that over the next two decades the Pax Americana's end presages dramatic changes in international politics.     

When Policies Undo Themselves: Self‐Undermining Feedback as a Source of Policy Change

Most studies of policy feedback have focused on processes of self‐reinforcement through which programs bolster their own bases of political support and endure or expand over time. This article develops a theoretical framework for identifying feedback mechanisms through which policies can become self‐undermining over time, increasing the likelihood of a major change in policy orientation. We conceptualize and illustrate three types of self‐undermining feedback mechanisms that we expect to operate in democratic politics: the emergence of unanticipated losses for mobilized social interests, interactions between strategic elites and loss‐averse voters, and expansions of the menu of policy alternatives. We also advance hypotheses about the conditions under which each mechanism is likeliest to unfold. In illuminating endogenous sources of policy change, the analysis builds on efforts by both historically oriented and rationalist scholars to understand how institutions change and seeks to expand political scientists’ theoretical toolkit for explaining policy development over time.     

Property tax administration in developing countries: Alternatives for land registration and cadastral mapping

The property tax is a widely used fiscal tool in many developing countries. However, property tax evasion and underpayment are common. This fact underscores the need for governments to administer the property tax effectively if they are to maximize revenue for development. A workable system of land registration and cadastral mapping is one of the principal prerequisites for efficient administration of the property tax. This paper examines alternative methods of land registration and cadastral mapping appropriate for governments in developing countries. The registration of deeds and titles is discussed, as are the most appropriate means for their implementation. Similarly, the different types of cadastral systems, fiscal, legal and multi-purpose, and the survey methods necessary for their implementation, are reviewed.     

The value of interpersonal skills in lawyering

Noting the historical negative public perception held of attorneys, a 2×2 factorial design was created to assess the relative roles of legal competence and relational skill in the formation of client attitudes toward attorneys. Ninety-three subjects viewed a simulated, video-taped attorney-client interview in which the attorney possessed either (a) high legal competence and high relational skill, or (b) low legal competence and high relational skill, or (c) high legal competence and low relational skill, or (d) low legal competence and low relational skill. Analysis of questionnaires completed by the subjects after viewing the tapes revealed the attorney having high legal competence and high relational skill to be viewed as most expert, attractive, trustworthy. probable of satisfying the client, and being recommended and used in the future. The attorney having low legal competence and high relational skill was rated second on sixteen of the seventeen measures employed, indicating that relational skill contributes more to the formation of a client's perception of his or her attorney than does the attorney's level of legal competence. Implications of the results for the training of future attorneys are discussed.The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.     

Implementing the principle of policy integration: institutional interplay and the role of international organizations

The implementation of the sustainable development principle of integration implies that economic laws should not be designed solely for the purpose of maximizing financial profits, but also with the object of improving human well-being, and addressing social and environmental concerns. International organizations, in which international treaties are being negotiated and created, will have to support this type of cross-disciplinary approach. International institutions, however, were not originally designed to cope with such a cross-disciplinary effort. Rather, most international institutions have emerged in line with the premise of ‘functionalism’, according to which their role is limited to supplying specialized services, usually as a solution for emerging needs and as a result of historical events. These specialized institutions have thus emerged with little coordination or common planning and have resulted in a global structure that has been referred to as an ‘accident of history’. The role that international organizations should and do fulfil with respect to the implementation of the principle of integration is reviewed in this paper. This paper concentrates on trade and investment organizations (the World Trade Organization and the Energy Charter Treaty); it reviews the channels through which non-trade/investment considerations may, or may not, penetrate the decision-making processes of these organizations; the ways these International organizations engage with interdisciplinary issues and how the objectives of other institutions are reflected in their work.