Is Temperature Exogenous? The Impact of Civil Conflict on the Instrumental Climate Record in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Research into the effects of climate on political and economic outcomes assumes that short‐term variation in weather is exogenous to the phenomena being studied. However, weather data are derived from stations operated by national governments, whose political capacity and stability affect the quality and continuity of coverage. We show that civil conflict risk in sub‐Saharan Africa is negatively correlated with the number and density of weather stations contributing to a country's temperature record. This effect is both cross‐sectional—countries with higher average conflict risk tend to have poorer coverage—and cross‐temporal—civil conflict leads to loss of weather stations. Poor coverage induces a small downward bias in one widely used temperature data set, due to its interpolation method, and increases measurement error, potentially attenuating estimates of the temperature–conflict relationship. Combining multiple observational data sets to reduce measurement error almost doubles the estimated effect of temperature anomalies on civil conflict risk.     

A Multiple Streams Analysis of Institutional Innovation in Forest Watershed Governance

Increasingly severe wildfires have focused attention on forested watershed vulnerabilities, causing significant changes to policies and governance. We utilized the Multiple Streams Approach (MSA) to understand institutional innovations of federal agency–large water provider partnerships in Colorado to protect watersheds through joint planning and funding. Ambiguous problem definition and focusing events were significant aspects of these partnerships. We interviewed individuals in the partnerships, with MSA ideas of how solutions to policy problems develop, and the role of policy entrepreneurs. We found that wildfires served as focusing events, creating space and time for learning, collaboration and new problem framing, increased political attention, and institutional innovation. In this study, windows of opportunity stayed open longer, policy entrepreneurs and agencies played larger roles in communication and coupling streams and the context of fast‐moving, unpredictable ecological crises changed responses to issues. Our findings also have implications for broader policy studies and environmental governance scholarship.     

Global Connections: ‘A Tool for Active Citizenship’

As a result of globalisation and changing technologies, young people are increasingly required to engage with the broader world beyond their local and national communities. This raises significant questions about the ways and spaces in which young people will need to engage as active citizens, and the new tools and resources that young people will need to equip them for their futures. The Global Connections Program has been developed to address these identified needs. It is a youth-led global learning initiative which aims to provide an opportunity for connection and learning among young people in Australia and Indonesia. This article explores Plan's youth-led approach to global learning, with a focus on the implementation and evaluation findings of the Global Connections Program, as well as the challenges faced thus far.     

Disentangling the Disability Quagmire in Psychological Injury: Part 1—Disability and Return to Work: Theories, Methods, and Applications

This paper critically reviews and integrates multidisciplinary literature informing conceptualization and determination of disability and return to work from a psychological injury perspective. It focuses on dissecting and disentangling the ambiguities and complexities of theories and definitions of disability, impairment, and return to work, highlighting the conceptual quagmires that affect both research and clinical methodology in the field. The paper discusses the strengths and limitations of the main theoretical perspectives on disability and return to work—social, medical, and biopsychosocial—and the associated applied perspectives, including the legal/administrative, clinical, and research oriented. It provides a special focus on the Americans with Disabilities Act and the American Medical Association’s Guides for the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment as leading applied perspectives. The paper also highlights the features and methodological implications of the integrative framework of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (World Health Organization, International classification of functioning, disabilities and health, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland, 2001). Finally, it draws implications for the field of psychological injury in a legal context.     

Forensic Neuropsychological Aspects of Competency Evaluations: Financial and Legal Competency in Older Adults

Psychological Injury and Law - Clinical assessment of mental competence and capacity in older adults, particularly the capacity to manage one’s financial and legal matters, is an issue of...     

Wasserentnahmeentgelt und erlaubnisfreier Eigentümergebrauch am Beispiel der Kieswäsche

Das nordrhein-westf?lische Wasserentnahmeentgeltgesetz – WasEG NRW – hat eine Vielzahl von Fragen aufgeworfen. Unternehmen der Kies- und Sandindustrie waschen das gef?rderte Rohmaterial in der Regel mit Wasser, das sie aus dem durch die Gewinnungst?tigkeit entstehenden Abgrabungsgew?sser entnehmen und nach Gebrauch wieder einleiten. Der „Wassercent“ belastet einzelne Unternehmen mit j?hrlich bis zu 1,0 Mio. Unter dem Druck des abgabenrechtlichen Zugriffs erf?hrt ein bisher wenig beachtetes Instrument Aufmerksamkeit: Der erlaubnisfreie Eigentümergebrauch. Als Eigentümergebrauch w?re die Kiesw?sche erlaubnis- und damit auch entgeltfrei. Nachdem sich die Festsetzungsbeh?rde2 – aus vorgeblich ?kologischen überlegungen – gegen die Anerkennung der Kiesw?sche als Eigentümergebrauch positioniert hat, befasst sich nunmehr auch die Rechtsprechung mit der Frage, sodass eine erste Bilanz geboten ist.     

Sudden death due to a central neurocytoma.

The central neurocytoma is a common, usually intraventricular tumor with bland histologic features. We report a case of a 51-year-old man who died suddenly. At autopsy, a neurocytoma with acute hemorrhage filled the anterior left lateral ventricle. The tumor matrix and surrounding brain tissue contained accumulations of hemosiderin. Previously, 2 cases of central neurocytoma with associated hemorrhage have been reported. Hemorrhage appears to be a serious complication associated with these neoplasms.