Public Health and the Regulatory State

Public health has moved from the public good component of health to everything related to health and, then, to everything related to society. If we take public health in its wide, total, social sense, it presumably explains or justifies much of the regulatory state. Virtually all state activities contribute directly or indirectly to some citizens’ “physical, mental and social well-being” (as the World Health Organization’s definition says). Public health requires social engineering, which cannot be achieved without controlling the lifestyles that the Philosopher King doesn’t like. Controlling lifestyles cannot be done without regulating the businesses that would allow people to satisfy their sinful preferences, and without preventing these people from circumventing the controls through black markets or other violations of government regulation.     

Public opinion and terrorism: does the national economic,societal and political context Really Matter?

ABSTRACT

For national publics, terrorism is today one of the key policy challenges facing European governments. Yet little is known about whether and how the objective national economic, societal and political context influences public opinion about terrorism. The present article addresses this gap in the current research. Using Eurobarometer data, it is demonstrated that excluding a nation’s level of terrorism, no other objective national economic, societal or political indicator sways public attitudes towards terrorism. Objective national economic, societal and political factors are also found not to impact on the relationship between citizens’ economic conditions and public attitudes towards the same. Our results finally demonstrate that people’s perceived economic, cultural and physical (safety) insecurities tend to be a stronger predictor of these attitudes than the objective national context or (social) class differences. The article then discusses the implications of these ?ndings.     

NIR analysis of cellulose and lactose--application to ecstasy tablet analysis

Cellulose and lactose are the most frequently used excipients in illicit ecstasy production. The aim of this project was to use near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) for the determination of the different chemical forms of these two substances, as well as for the differentiation of their origin (producer). It was possible to distinguish between the different chemical forms of both compounds, as well as between their origins (producers), although within limits. Furthermore, the possibilities to apply NIR for the analysis of substances such as found in illicit tablets were studied. First, a few cellulose and lactose samples were chosen to make mixtures with amphetamine at three degrees of purity (5, 10 and 15%), in order to study the resulting changes in the spectra as well as to simultaneously quantify amphetamine and identify the excipient. A PLS2 model could be build to predict concentrations and excipient. Secondarily, the technique was to be applied to real ecstasy tablets. About 40 ecstasy seizures were analysed with the aim to determine the excipient and to check them against each other. Identification of the excipients was not always obvious, especially when more than one excipient were present. However, a comparison between tablets appeared to give groups of similar samples. NIR analysis results in spectra representing the tablet blend as a whole taking into account all absorbing compounds. Although NIRS seems to be an appropriate method for ecstasy profiling, little is known about intra- and intervariability of compression batches.     

The Validity of Ear Prediction Guidelines Used in Facial Approximation*,†,‡

Abstract: This study examined eight previously published ear prediction methods by Welcker, Gerasimov, Fedosyutkin and Nainys, and Broadbent and Mathews. Computed tomography scans of 78 living adults (n₁) did not support any of these previously published recommendations. Free earlobes were found to accompany protruding supramastoid crests (Pearson’s χ² < 0.05); and ear length [l] and width [w] differed by sex (p < 0.05), correlated with age (r = 0.38[l]; 0.32[w]), and correlated with facial height (r = 0.37[l]; 0.30[w]). New regression equations (for ear length and width) were generated using these variables in several samples and, where possible, cross‐validated using independent data (n₁ = 78, n₂ = 2190, n₃ = 1328, n₄ = 1010, and n₅ = 47). As a result of these analyses, four valid and tested methods for ear prediction were identified, but large degrees of error continue to make accurate prediction of the ear, from the skull, problematic.     

Personality Disorders in a Sample of Parents Accused of Physical Abuse or Neglect

The objective of this study was to provide a psychological profile of parents who have been formally accused of child maltreatment. A clinical group of 16 parents accused of physical abuse and 22 parents accused of neglect were compared with 18 parents from a control group. The MCMI-III was administered individually for each parent. Both groups of maltreatment showed significant differences on different scales of the MCMI-III. No difference was seen between the parents of both groups of child maltreatment. Many parents of both child maltreatment groups reported at least one form of abuse during their childhood, suggesting that a childhood marked by abuse or neglect on the part of a parent could result in personality disorders and that these disorders may have something to do with the intergenerational transmission of abuse.     

Macro‐economic coordination and elusive ownership in the European Union

The notion of ownership is well known in relation to global governance. In the realm of EU macro‐economic coordination, it has become a buzzword since the revamping process of the European Semester in 2015. This article investigates how ownership by four types of domestic actors (governments, administrations, parliaments and social partners) manifests itself in the European Semester. We conceptualize three types of ownership, namely institutional, political, and cognitive. Using network analysis, semi‐structured interviews, and a small‐scale survey, we find that ownership is strongest among governments and administrations which are able to shape the outputs of the European Semester (institutional ownership) with little political disagreement (political ownership). While national parliaments display low levels of all types of ownership, employers and unions exhibit relatively strong cognitive ownership. We conclude that the European Semester remains a bureaucratic process contributing to building a multi‐level administrative space rather than an arena for political debates.