EU Regulation of Medical Devices and Pharmaceuticals in Comparative Perspective

This paper provides a comparison of European Union regulatory policy for pharmaceuticals and medical devices. The discussion highlights key similarities and differences in regulatory approach for the two sectors. More importantly, it explores the balance that has been struck between public health, health care, and industrial policy as “competing” objectives within the respective regulatory regimes. It is argued that, despite both sectors being affected by the same institutional rules and constraints at the EU level, and both being central to the delivery of high-quality health care in Europe, there are a surprising number of differences between the regulatory frameworks. That this stems in part from their different “launch” times, hence different institutional conditions of regulation, and commensurate political climates, as well as reflecting different aims and goals among member-state and EU-level policy makers, are among the paper's main conclusions.     

Domestic servants and diffusion of fertility control in Flanders, 1830–1930

This article uses a mixed method approach to analyse whether urban domestic service functioned as a diffusion channel in the fertility decline. The central hypothesis is that nineteenth century female, rural-born domestic servants were influenced by the reproductive habits of their middle and upper-class employers, who were vanguards in the adoption of family size limitation within marriage. This happened via a process of social learning, a mechanism of social influence in heterogeneous social networks. Female domestic servants are an excellent research population to study reproductive ideas and behaviour because they were large in number and had a particular social position in between the working and upper classes and in between rural and urban environments. This paper is unique in its use of qualitative information to analyse social fertility diffusion and in the incorporation of geographical mobility in the statistical part.     

Youth Self-Report of Behavioral and Emotional Problems in a Swiss Epidemiological Study

The Youth Self Report (YSR) was used in a Swiss epidemiological study with 1093 subjects aged 10–17 years. Internal consistency was good for the second-order factors Internalizing Problems, ExternalizingProblems, and the Total Problem Score, whereas it was less satisfactory for almost all syndrome scales. In general, internal consistency coefficients were slightly lower in the Swiss sample than in the U.S. sample. Correlations between the syndrome scales resulted in good replications of the original findings as obtained in the U.S. normative sample. Effect analyses showed that sex is more important than age and nationality (indigenous vs. immigrant subjects). However, all effects were small. Correspondence between YSR and Child Behavior Checklist scores showed that agreement between adolescents' and parents' reports is relatively small.     

Organizational Citizenship Behavior in the Public Sector: A Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Agenda

This article presents a systematic literature review of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in the public sector. The findings show that although OCB is gaining more attention in the public sector, research often does not take specific public sector characteristics or concepts into account. Based on the available evidence, the authors develop a framework of antecedents, outcomes, mediators, and moderators of OCB. Three areas for future research are recommended: (1) regarding theory: link OCB to public sector concepts such as bureaucratic red tape, public leadership, and public service motivation; (2) regarding research designs: use stronger survey designs, experiments, and case studies and devote more attention to cross-sectoral and cross-country differences; and (3) regarding the consequences of OCB: address the gap in our knowledge of how OCB has an impact on public organizations, including negative impacts.     

Mitigating the negative effects of emotional labor: A study of disaster response and recovery workers after the 2010 Haiti earthquake

One of the most pressing governance challenges around the globe is managing disasters and their underlying risk factors. Little is known about effective strategies to minimize burnout and posttraumatic stress disorder among practitioners involved in addressing this challenge, especially in countries that rely mainly on international aid agencies for the delivery of basic services to their citizens. This article draws on the emotional labor literature to identify routes addressing the negative consequences of doing response and recovery work in postdisaster contexts. Based primarily on surveys and interviews with response and recovery workers involved after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, it advances and extends previous emotional labor theory on the mitigating factors of service workers' burnout. It points to the importance of autonomy and training as well as five coping mechanisms: relying on informal support, utilizing humor, leaving work at work, decompressing alone, and rotating job positions.     

Dual examinations for identification of urine as being of human origin and for DNA-typing from small stains of human urine

Concurrent methods for identification of urine as being of human origin, and for DNA-typing from small stains of human urine were examined. A urine stain was extracted with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), and the extract was filtered using a Centricon-100 device. The filtrate was subjected to electrospray ionization liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (ESI-LC-MS) for identification of human urine and a DNA-typing sample was obtained by dialfiltration of the residue using a DNA purification kit. After the purified residue was treated with an AmpflSTR Profiler PCR amplification kit, the DNA-types were analyzed by capillary electrophoresis using a Genetic Analyzer. It was possible to identify a urine stain as being of human origin, and complete DNA profiles could be successfully obtained from a urine stain which had been created by 50 microL of female urine. Serial analyses of urine stains found at a crime scene provide effective information for forensic investigation. This method is recommended for stain identification and for DNA-typing from a urine stain.     

Adolescent Self-Rated Depressive Symptoms in a Swiss Epidemiological Study

The correlates of self-rated depressive symptoms were examined in an epidemiological sample of Swiss adolescents. Subjects, aged 12 to 17 years, were assessed using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, a Life Event Scale, scales measuring self-related cognitions, coping capacities, perceived parental behavior, school environment, and social network. Based on the distribution of the depression scores, 3 subsamples of nondepressed, moderately depressed, and severely depressed subjects were formed. The severely depressed group was clearly differentiated from the other two groups by almost all scales, with a special relevance of negative self-esteem and the impact of life events. The results of this epidemiological study indicate that various factors reflecting personality, life-events, and the psychosocial environment relate to adolescent depression.     

Educational Debt and Law Student Failure to Enter Public Service Careers: Bringing Empirical Data to Bear

It is frequently suggested that law school debt is preventing new law school graduates from entering public service careers. The basis for this contention is largely anecdotal, however. This study puts the presumption to empirical scrutiny. Aggregate data from law schools and individual-level data from law students both point to the same conclusion: law students may indeed be competing in a money chase, but it is not because of their indebtedness. Private firms with prestige and high salaries are appealing to many students regardless of their debt burden. And government and public interest jobs may be in too short supply to meet the demand of non-elite students who are essentially closed out of the high-paying jobs in larger firms. The biggest barrier between these students and public service jobs may be the lack of supply of these jobs, not the lack of demand for them.