Culling the cousins: Kingship,kinship, and competition in mid-millennial England

Kin selection, an aspect of evolutionary theory, argues that, all else equal, individuals should give preferential treatment to relatives, based on the degree of relatedness [Hamilton, W. D. (1964). The genetical evolution of social behaviour I, II. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 7, 1–52.]. However, one may observe instances where competition for scarce or unique resources is stronger between family members than between unrelated individuals. Such a situation existed between 1377 and 1603 with intense competition for the throne of England among descendents of Edward III. During this period, monarchs were executed by relatives to gain or maintain the throne for him or herself or descendents. Despite the widespread destruction of kindred, we show that executioners never sacrificed lineal relatives nor executed collateral relatives in excess of their own legitimate nuclear relatedness, and the number of executed relatives was positively correlated to the age and legitimate reproductive success of the executioner. Moreover, when resources are scarce, have an intrinsically high value, and are inherited, it may be in your Darwinian reproductive interest not to maximize but to minimize the number of legitimate children in order to reduce competition among family members.     

Turning everywhere,getting nowhere: experiences of seeking help for mortgage delinquency and their implications for foreclosure prevention

The growing literature on financial, demographic, and institutional aspects of the foreclosure crisis largely neglects the experiences and actions of homeowners. This in-depth account of homeowners' responses to mortgage delinquency and the success of the strategies they employ to prevent foreclosure is based on focus groups conducted in 2006 with low- and moderate-income homeowners, and nonprofit housing professionals in five US cities. The events precipitating mortgage delinquency often set off a cascade of trouble placing multiple demands on homeowners' financial, emotional, and social resources. Homeowners pursued foreclosure prevention assistance from a variety of sources including their lender, social welfare agencies, and nonprofit homeownership organizations, but encountered many obstacles to resolving mortgage delinquency. Their unsuccessful attempts to secure assistance contributed to financial and emotional strain and sometimes worsened prospects of preventing foreclosure. Despite the numerous federal policies developed to address the problem of foreclosure, the experiences described by participants in this study continue, indicating the need for more systematic, enforceable, and preventive policies to address foreclosures in the future.     

Household income dynamics: a four-country story

In this article, we analyse the dynamics of household per capita incomes using longitudinal data from Indonesia, South Africa, Spain and Venezuela. We find that in all four countries reported initial income and job changes of the head are consistently the most important variables in accounting for income changes, overall and for initially poor households. We also find that changes in income are more important than changes in household size and that changes in labour earnings are more important than changes in other sources of household income.     

Back to first principles: a new model for the regulation of drug promotion

The US Food and Drug Administration''s (‘FDA’ or the ‘Agency’) current regulatory framework for drug promotion, by significantly restricting the ability of drug manufacturers to communicate important, accurate, up-to-date scientific information about their products that is truthful and non-misleading, runs afoul of the First Amendment and actually runs counter to the Agency''s public health mission. Our article proposes a New Model that represents an initial proposal for a modern, sustainable regulatory framework that comprehensively addresses drug promotion while protecting the public health, protecting manufacturers’ First Amendment rights, establishing clear and understandable rules, and maintaining the integrity of the FDA approval process. The New Model would create three categories of manufacturer communications—(1) Scientific Exchange and Other Exempt Communications, (2) Non-Core Communications, and (3) Core Communications—that would be regulated consistent with the First Amendment and according to the strength of the government''s interest in regulating the specific communications included within each category. The New Model should address the FDA''s concerns related to off-label speech while protecting drug manufacturers’ freedom to engage in truthful and non-misleading communications about their products.     

Parent and Metabolite Opioid Drug Concentrations in Unintentional Deaths Involving Opioid and Benzodiazepine Combinations,,

Effects of benzodiazepines on postmortem opioid parent and parent/metabolite blood concentration ratios were determined for fentanyl‐, hydrocodone‐, methadone‐, or oxycodone‐related accidental deaths. These opioids are partially metabolized by the CYP3A4 enzyme system, which is also affected by diazepam and alprazolam. Opioid/metabolite combinations examined were as follows: fentanyl/norfentanyl, hydrocodone/dihydrocodeine, methadone/EDDP, and oxycodone/oxymorphone. Parent opioid concentrations were analyzed for 877 deaths. Parent/metabolite concentration ratios were analyzed for 349 deaths, excluding cases with co‐intoxicants present known to interfere with opioid elimination. Alprazolam in combination with diazepam significantly decreased median hydrocodone concentrations by 48% (p = 0.01) compared to hydrocodone alone. The methadone parent/metabolite concentration ratio was reduced by 35% in the presence of diazepam compared to methadone alone (p = 0.03). Benzodiazepines did not statistically significantly affect fentanyl or oxycodone concentrations. Possible factors affecting opioid concentrations and possible toxicity development, including any differential effects on specific opioids, should continue to be explored.     

An examination of emergency room physicians' practice of positive and negative defeivsive medicine

Substantial diversity exists in the estimates associated with the practice of defensive medicine. Physicians' efforts to limit legal liability have generally been grouped into risk reduction strategies (positive defensive medicine) and risk avoidance strategies (negative defensive medicine). This article examines the practice of these forms of defensive medicine in a ‘high-risk’ specialty -emergency medicine. A sample of North American emergency medicine. physicians provided data for the study at hand. The results, which failed to substantiate some popularly-held and previously untested suppositions associated with the practice of defensive medicine, point to the danger of making broad generalizations across physician specialities.     

The Government Agenda in Parliamentary Democracies

Lawmaking is a challenge for coalition governments because it inherently demands cooperation and compromise by parties with divergent policy goals. The jurisdictional system of cabinet government exacerbates the problem by providing parties the means to undermine the coalition bargain in the pursuit of their own policy interests. In this article, I explore whether arrangements that allow partners to police one another induce compromise on one of the most important decisions taken by a government—the organization of the policy agenda. In an analysis of original data on the timing and policy content of over 800 government bills from four European democracies, I show that coalition governments pursue a largely "accommodative" agenda. Policy initiatives dealing with issues that are more attractive to all partners in the coalition are likely to be given priority on the agenda, while those dealing with relatively unattractive issues are likely to be postponed .