Economic incentives for the self-regulation of the release of price-sensitive information

Companies, as primary disseminators of information, and financial institutions, as major recipients, have economic incentives to self-regulate the transmission and usage of price-sensitive information. These include increased (lost) reputation costs and adverse share price penalties arising from poor management of information disclosure. The economic motivation for self-regulation is seen as conceptually linked to but distinct from legislative changes. Self-regulation has the strong support of economic efficiency arguments, whereas recent additional new legislative changes do not. This article examines a major corporate and institutional response to the new regulatory climate—to internalize part of the regulatory process during their regular relationship communications. Relationships between the case companies and institutions already exist for transaction purposes. They are used as a convenient and low-cost means to pursue self-regulation and to avoid errors of price-sensitive information release. This self-regulatory process is illustrated using case material. It is clear from the response pattern presented that the development of a self-regulatory framework by the parties has been an iterative one. The corporate and institutional systems that have been evolving seem to be significantly influenced by the regulatory trends. The regulatory changes appear to have played a role in increasing market costs incurred by those companies with poor stock market communication practices. The article ends by arguing that new proposals to change in the formal regulatory system should recognize that further legislation is unlikely to improve the poor prosecution record. Nevertheless, legislative changes can combine with and buttress the self-regulation process to create an effective regulatory system.     

The European Community and South Africa: Economic Reality or Political Rhetoric?

This article examines the economic and political relationship between the European Community (EC) and the Republic of South Africa (RSA). From the economic perspective, the Community's objective of securing economic independence for the region, trends in EC-RSA trade and the arguments pertaining to mineral dependency are discussed. From the political perspective, Community statements on apartheid are compared with its foreign policy record. In particular, the Code of Conduct for European firms operating in the Republic is analysed within the framework of European Political Cooperation (EPC). The achievements, failures, future role and alternatives to the Code are considered and the limitations imposed by EPC in realizing a collective foreign policy are recognized.     

Differences in HIV-related knowledge, attitudes, and behavior among psychiatric outpatients with and without a history of a sexually transmitted infection

HIV infection among the mentally ill is estimated to be at least eight times the prevalence in the general population. Psychiatric patients may also be disproportionately vulnerable to other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), but this has not been well studied. We sought to characterize the prevalence and correlates of STIs in a sample of psychiatric outpatients (N=464). Over one-third of the sample (38%) reported a lifetime history of one or more STIs. Multivariate analyses showed that, relative to those without an STI history, patients with a lifetime STI history were more knowledgeable about HIV, expressed stronger intentions to use condoms, and perceived themselves to be at greater risk for HIV. However, those with a past STI were also more likely to report sex with multiple partners and reported more frequent unprotected sex in the past 3 months. Treatment for an STI may increase HIV knowledge and risk reduction motivation, but does not necessarily lead to changes in sexual risk behavior among psychiatric patients. Findings highlight the need for STI/ HIV risk reduction interventions in psychiatric settings, particularly for patients with high-risk profiles.     

The unintended impact of the therapeutic intentions of the New Zealand Mental Health Review Tribunal? Therapeutic jurisprudence perspectives

Mental health review bodies engage in complex decision-making that may explicitly incorporate a therapeutic philosophy. Examination of select decisions of the New Zealand Mental Health Review Tribunal offers a foundation for understanding some implications of a pro-therapeutic approach. This analysis draws upon therapeutic jurisprudence scholarship in relation to three aspects of the hearings as documented in the written decisions: advocacy, therapeutic intervention, and the dignitary potential of the proceedings. The research explores the unintended consequences of a pro-therapeutic approach and evaluates the potential application of therapeutic jurisprudence within a mental health law context.     

Text Matters: Some Reflections on the Forging of a New Constitutional Jurisprudence in South Africa

The South African Constitution establishes a constitutional democracy with a strong form of constitutional review. The Constitutional Court is required to declare invalid any legislation or conduct of the President which is inconsistent with the Constitution. The author, a former judge of the Constitutional Court, argues that the text of the Constitution has been an important determinant of the Court's jurisprudence, both in relation to the Court's jurisprudence concerning the institutional structures established by the Constitution and its Bill of Rights jurisprudence.     

Establishing forensic search methodologies and geophysical surveying for the detection of clandestine graves in coastal beach environments

A 2010 UK police search for a clandestine burial highlighted the need for more information and quantitative data to aid coastal beach searches. This study aimed to address this by establishing relevant forensic search methodologies to aid the search for clandestine coastal burial sites, using the North West English coastline as a search area. A set of parameters were established, including criteria such as tidal range, proximity to vehicular access points and distance from inhabited areas, which may inform forensic searches by prioritising likely locations of clandestine burials. Three prioritised coastal locations were subsequently identified: (1) coastal dunes at Formby, (2) coastal dunes and (3) beach foreshore at Southport, all sites part of the Liverpool City Region in the United Kingdom. At all locations, simulated clandestine graves were hand-dug by spades into which a naked adult-sized, metal-jointed fiberglass mannequin was buried at 0.5 m below ground level. Trial geophysical surveys were then undertaken with the aim of identifying the optimal geophysical instrumentation and technique to deploy in such environments. GPR data showed 450 MHz frequency antennae to be optimal, with significantly poor data obtained from the foreshore area due to saline seawater. Electrical resistivity and magnetic susceptibility surveys were successful in coastal environments in target detection (albeit not in non-vegetated sand dunes), with resistivity fixed-offset configurations deemed optimal. The latter survey successes may be due to the recent disturbed 'grave' rather than the target, which itself is of interest in terms of identifying the most recent clandestine burials.     

Child maltreatment histories among female inmates reporting inmate on inmate sexual victimization in prison: the mediating role of emotion dysregulation

Despite data indicating that child maltreatment (CM) in various forms is associated with adult sexual victimization among community women, few studies have explicitly explored how types of CM might relate to prison sexual victimization. Because little is known about how CM might give rise to prison sexual victimization, the present study also examined emotion dysregulation emanating from early abuse experiences as a potential mediator in the link between early CM and inmate-on-inmate prison sexual victimization. Approximately 168 incarcerated women completed self-report inventories assessing various types of childhood maltreatment, emotion dysregulation, and coerced or forced sexual experiences in prison. Nearly 77% of the sample endorsed experiencing at least one form of CM, with 64% of inmates reporting that they experienced two or more forms of CM. Approximately 9% of inmates reported sexual coercion and 22% reported a forced sexual experience in prison. Each form of CM was associated with prison sexual coercion; however, fewer associations emerged between CM and forced prison sexual experiences. Emotion dysregulation was found to mediate links between CM, particularly co-occurring CM, and sexual coercion in prison, but it was unrelated to forced prison sexual experiences. Implications are discussed.     

Physical Health in Preschool Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence

Exposure to violence and traumatic events during childhood has long been associated with poor physical and psychological health during adulthood. Very few studies, however, have taken steps to understand the immediate relationship between exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) and physical health problems in young children. In this study, we examined the mother-reported physical health problems of 102 preschool-age children who have been exposed to IPV. We found that children exhibiting more traumatic stress symptoms displayed fewer total health problems; however, gastrointestinal problems and asthma were related to poor psychological adjustment. We also found that preschool-age girls were more likely to display health problems than boys. Future studies of the physical health consequences of exposure to IPV in young children would benefit from examinations of specific changes in physiological processes to draw conclusions about the effects of violence on immune system functioning and physical health.     

Risky Facilities: Crime Radiators or Crime Absorbers? A Comparison of Internal and External Levels of Theft

Objectives

To undertake the first exploration of the nature of the relationship between internal crime (those that happen within facilities) and external crime (those occurring outside but in the nearby locale of facilities). The following questions are addressed. Do those localities that suffer high volumes of crime internally within their facilities also suffer high levels of crime in their immediate external environment? How is this influenced by the distribution of internal theft across facilities? What are the likely mechanisms for any relationship found?

Methods

Spatial regression is used to explore these relationships using data for 30,144 incidents of theft from a Metropolitan area of the UK arranged into small 50 × 50 m grid squares. Variables used in the analysis include counts of external and internal theft, counts of victimized and ‘risky’ facilities, indicators of land-use and a proxy for the on-street population.

Results

There is found to be a strong positive relationship between internal and external theft that appears to be strengthened by the existence of facilities suffering particularly high crime volumes. Results suggest that internal theft problems precede external ones and that the physical concentration of chronically risky facilities is a particularly strong predictor of external theft problems.

Conclusions

An argument is made that risky facilities act as crime ‘radiators’, causing crime in the immediate environment as well as internally. This has implications for crime prevention policy in terms of facility placement and management.     

Mitochondrial DNA regions HVI and HVII population data.

Data from 1393 unrelated individuals have been compiled from eight population groups: African Americans, Africans (Sierra Leone), U.S. Caucasians, Austrians, French, Hispanics, Japanese, and Asian Americans. The majority of the mtDNA sequences were observed only once within each population group (i.e., ranging from a low of 60.3% (35/58) of the Asian American sequences to a high of 85.3% (93/109) of the French sequences). Genetic diversity ranged from 0.990 in the African sample to 0.998 in African Americans. Random match probability ranged from 2.50% in the Asian American sample to 0.52% in U.S. Caucasians. The average number of nucleotide differences between individuals in a database is greatest for the African American and African samples (14.1 and 13.1, respectively), and the least variable are the Caucasians (ranging from 7.2 to 8.4). Substitutions are the predominate polymorphism, and at least 92% of the substitutions are transitions. The most prevalent transversions are As substituted for Cs and Cs substituted for As. For most population groups these transversions occurred predominately in the HVI region; however, the African, African American, and Hispanic samples also demonstrated a large portion of their C to A and A to C transversions in the HVII region (at sites 186 and/or 189). Most insertions occur in the HVII region at sites 309.1 and 315.1, within a stretch of C's. Insertions of an additional C are common in all population groups. The sequence data were converted to SSO mtDNA types and compared with population data on Caucasians, Africans, Asians, Japanese, and Mexicans described by Stoneking et al. [M. Stoneking, D. Hedgecock, R.G. Higuchi, L. Vigilant, H.A. Erlich, Population variation of human mtDNA control region sequences detected by enzymatic amplification and sequence-specific oligonucleotide probes, Am. J. Hum. Genet. 48 (1991) 370-382] using an R x C contingency table test. Differences between major population groups (i.e., between African, Caucasian, and Asian) are quite evident, and similar ethnic population groups carried similar SSO polymorphism frequencies. There were only a few SSO types that showed significant differences between subpopulation groups. The SSO data alone can not be used to describe the population genetics with complete sequence data. However, the results of the SSO comparisons are similar to other analyses, and differences in sequence data in regions HVI and HVII are greater between major population groups than between subgroups.