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Fiscal Illusion and Political Accountability: Theory and Evidence from Two Local Tax Regimes in Britain

Local tax reform in Britain in 1993 (reinstating a propertytax) may have reversed some intended fiscal illusion reducing,and ``accountability'' improving, features of the poll tax(itself a reform introduced in 1990 with the specific aim ofpromoting accountability). We formalize these features withina median voter model of the demand for local publicexpenditure that distinguishes between accountability andfiscal illusion effects. The model shows that a prioriaccountability effects on expenditures are ambiguous.Available data for England and Wales are used to test themodel. We find strong evidence of grant illusion (the flypapereffect), similar across tax regimes, with evidence of renterillusion and of less accountability under the property tax.The degree of local income inequality appears to affectexpenditure levels only with the property tax.     

Drug-related deaths among recently released prisoners in the Strathclyde Region of Scotland

Drug abuse and its consequences are everyday problems encountered globally, and Scotland is no exception. During a study of drug-related deaths in the Strathclyde region of Scotland it was noted that known drug users who had recently been released from prison were at high risk of dying from a drug overdose. The majority of deaths occurred within one week of the release date and polydrug use was prevalent. Morphine was the most frequently encountered drug and this was found in combination with benzodiazepines in a significant number of cases. This paper highlights the dangers of resuming drug consumption following a period of abstinence.     

The use of supercritical fluid extraction for the determination of amphetamines in hair

A laboratory study interested in the analysis of human hair for drugs-of-abuse was conducted to determine if drugs could be detected and quantified from hair. Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) techniques followed by GC-MS analysis were applied to extract amphetamines from hair. The group of amphetamines included methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), methylenedioxymetamphetamine (MDMA), methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDEA) and internal standard mephentermine (MP). To validate information on amphetamine use in hair, powdered hair samples free from drugs were collected and soaked in a known amphetamine standard solution. Authentic fortified case hair samples taken from known drug users known to have consumed amphetamines were also analyzed for amphetamine. Results from this study show that amphetamine use can be detected in spiked and authentic fortified human hair using SFE techniques for qualitative and quantitative reproducible results.     

Economic inequality in satisfaction with healthcare in the Baltic countries during and after the economic crisis (2008–2014)

ABSTRACT

Public satisfaction with healthcare systems is an important dimension of healthcare legitimacy. The paper analyzes how satisfaction with healthcare systems depended upon the economic situation of our respondents during and after the economic recession in the Baltic states. The results show that there were no differences in public satisfaction with healthcare between better and worse off people in Estonia (except in 2009). In Lithuania, however, satisfaction among the economically better off was higher compared to other groups between 2008 and 2014. In Latvia, inequality in satisfaction between groups in different economic situations became significant from 2010.     

Public opinion and the politics of obesity in America

Health policy experts have recently sounded the warning about the severe health and economic consequences of America's growing rates of obesity. Despite this fact, obesity has only begun to enter America's political consciousness and we have little information about what average Americans think of obesity or whether they support obesity-related policies. Using unique survey data collected by the authors, this essay examines public attitudes toward obesity and obesity policy. We find that, contrary to the views of health experts, most Americans are not seriously concerned with obesity, express relatively low support for obesity-targeted policies, and still view obesity as resulting from individual failure rather than environmental or genetic sources. Given the absence of elite discourse on this problem, we also find that typical determinants of policy preferences, such as ideology or partisanship, are not good predictors of attitudes on obesity policy. Rather, with a low-valence issue such as obesity, the public utilizes other attitudinal frameworks such as their opinions on smoking policy and the environmental culpability for obesity. The implications of these findings for obesity policy and research on health-related public opinion are discussed.     

The International Criminal Court and the Control of State Crime: Prospects and Problems

Over the past two decades, crimes committed by nation states has received strong theoretical and empirical attention from critical criminologists. Much of this work has highlighted the lack of internal and external mechanisms to control such injurious behavior. Potentially, this has now changed. In the summer of 1998, delegates from nearly 140 countries created the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC). Entering into force in the summer of 2002, the ICC has unprecedented international jurisdiction over the crimes of genocide, war, aggression, and those against humanity. This paper provides a brief history of international law and attempts to develop an ICC. It then examines the functioning and structure of the ICC as established in the Rome Statute. We then proceed to analyze the potential which the ICC posses to control state criminality. Our analysis concludes with discussions of how the ICC might be modified to better act as a deterrent to such offending.     

Reliable, sensitive, rapid and quantitative enzyme-based assay for gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB)

Several assays for gamma-hydroxybutyrate (4-hydroxybutyrate, GHB) have been developed based on the enzyme gamma-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (GHB-DH). Enzymatic oxidation of GHB by NAD+ is coupled to diaphorase-mediated reduction of pro-dye to yield colored product. GHB-DH from Ralstonia eutropha was cloned and expressed as a stable fusion protein easily purified by affinity chromatography. Quantitative initial velocity and endpoint versions of the assay in solution are described. Michaelis-Menten parameters for oxidation of GHB and ethanol were estimated. A semi-quantitative "dipstick" version of the assay on paper also is described. Both solution endpoint and "dipstick" assays are sensitive to about 0.05 mg GHB/mL using 10 microL of sample. Ethanol at concentrations possible in urine and agents used to stabilize physiological fluids for forensics analysis do not interfere significantly. The "dipstick" assay also allows detection of GHB in alcoholic beverages after evaporation of about one-fourth drop of beverage before testing. The enzymatic assay for GHB is reliable, sensitive, inexpensive and rapid.     

Macroscopic findings for the exclusion of a forensic relevant soil embedded resting period in skeletal remains--an approach based upon literature

A reliable determination of the post mortem interval (PMI) in human bones has neither been found by morphological nor by intensive analyses of other kinds. In most cases of legal medicine practice the question of PMI is restricted to a forensically relevant resting period. In a survey based upon literature, all osteological signs of decomposition, which have not been described for a soil embedded resting period of under 50 years, were collected. 21 research reports could be found, describing macroscopic findings on soil-embedded human bones with known PMI. All in all, 1295 individuals were examined in these investigations. A censorious review of the summarized results found in literature reveals that the following findings have never been seen in a PMI of 50 years or less. Outer appearance: macroscopically no adipocere, deep incisions of the outer compact layer, extensive defects of the bone surface, intense brownish-black lawn of microorganisms, fraying of the outer lamellar system, lifting of the cortical area, torsion of the tissue, attached brushit, bone manually breakable. On freshly sawn cross sections: lack of adipocere, brushit in the marrow area, reduced or lack of UV-fluorescence.