Recovery and Reinvestment Act spending at the state level: Keynesian stimulus or distributive politics?

We examine the US state-level pattern of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) spending. We relate spending to (1) Keynesian determinants of countercyclical policy, (2) congressional power and dominance, and (3) presidential electoral vote importance. We find that the ARRA is, in practice, poorly designed countercyclical stimulus. After controlling for political variables, coefficients on Keynesian variables are often statistically insignificant. When they are statistically significant they are often the “incorrect” sign. On the other hand, statistically significant effects are associated with majority party House of Representative appropriations subcommittee and authorization committee membership. One striking result is that the elasticity of ARRA spending with respect to the pre-ARRA ratio of federal grants and payments to federal taxes paid is estimated to be greater than unity in most specifications. States previously capturing large amounts of federal funds continue to do so under the ARRA stimulus.     

How research ethics' protections can contribute to public policy: the case of community treatment orders

Though community treatment orders (CTOs) were first used in 1986 in Australia, debate about their clinical and ethical merits continues even today. For some, the benefits of reduced frequency and duration of involuntary hospitalizations are believed to adequately outweigh the harms of restricted liberties in community living. For others, however, such benefits are believed to be achievable by simply arranging integrated, devoted community resources sans any threat of forced re-hospitalization. In response to this enduring controversy, this article examines the ethical merits of community orders using a novel approach. “Novel” because the examination is based on research ethics and its foundational principles.When hospital and community clinicians, family members, consumer/survivors, and advocacy groups discussed the idea of amending Ontario's mental health legislation to permit CTOs in the late 1990s, evidence of their effects and efficacy was very limited. Moreover, an order was characterized much like standard pharmacological or medical therapies because the person or an appropriate substitute decision maker's consent was necessary to authorize the order or make it valid. These two factors prompted this retrospective analysis: if CTOs - as a public policy initiative - had been treated like most other promising therapies, would any different ethics-related concerns have been raised that, in turn, would have benefited the public debate and the legislature's decisions? In other words, if respected safeguards that apply to new drugs and medical devices had applied to CTOs, would anything have changed?     

Fatal neurotoxic response to neuroleptic medications: case report and review of the literature

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is a diagnosis of exclusion difficult to make due to a lack of pathognomonic features. Diagnosing NMS by postmortem examination becomes increasingly challenging when possible underlying brain pathology is obscured. The diagnosis is based on clinical history and laboratory findings. Autopsy and histologic findings, if any, usually are reflective of hyperthermia or complications (eg, aspiration pneumonia) of NMS. The authors describe a case of a 36-year-old Hispanic woman with a presumptive diagnosis of pseudoseizures, treated with various combinations of neuroleptic medications over a 6-week period prior to her sudden, unexpected, in-hospital death. Neuroleptic malignant syndrome is likely to have contributed to this patient's death. Confounding factors and medicolegal issues of a postmortem diagnosis of NMS are discussed.     

Apartisans and the changing German electorate

The concept of party identification is central to our understanding of electoral behavior. This paper builds upon the functional logic of party identification and asks what occurs when more Germans manage the complexities of politics without needing to rely on habitual party cues—what we label as Apartisans. We track the distribution of party mobilization and cognitive mobilization within the German electorate from 1976 until 2009. Then, we demonstrate the importance of these mobilization patterns by documenting strong differences in electoral commitment, the content of political thinking, and electoral change. The results suggest a secular transformation in the characteristics of the public has led to a more differentiated and dealigned German electorate.     

Assessing a novel room temperature DNA storage medium for forensic biological samples

The ability to properly collect, analyze and preserve biological stains is important to preserving the integrity of forensic evidence. Stabilization of intact biological evidence in cells and the DNA extracts from them is particularly important since testing is generally not performed immediately following collection. Furthermore, retesting of stored DNA samples may be needed in casework for replicate testing, confirmation of results, and to accommodate future testing with new technologies.A novel room temperature DNA storage medium, SampleMatrix™ (SM; Biomatrica, Inc., San Diego, CA), was evaluated for stabilizing and protecting samples. Human genomic DNA samples at varying amounts (0.0625-200 ng) were stored dry in SM for 1 day to 1 year under varying conditions that included a typical ambient laboratory environment and also through successive freeze-thaw cycles (3 cycles). In addition, spiking of 1-4× SM into samples prior to analysis was performed to determine any inhibitory effects of SM. Quantification of recovered DNA following storage was determined by quantitative PCR or by agarose gel electrophoresis, and evaluation of quantitative peak height results from multiplex short tandem repeat (STR) analyses were performed to assess the efficacy of SM for preserving DNA.Results indicate no substantial differences between the quality of samples stored frozen in liquid and those samples maintained dry at ambient temperatures protected in SM. For long-term storage and the storage of low concentration samples, SM provided a significant advantage over freezer storage through higher DNA recovery. No detectable inhibition of amplification was observed at the recommended SM concentration and complete profiles were obtained from genomic DNA samples even in the presence of higher than recommended concentrations of the SM storage medium. The ability to stabilize and protect DNA from degradation at ambient temperatures for extended time periods could have tremendous impact in simplifying and improving sample storage conditions and requirements. The current work focuses on forensics analysis; however this technology is applicable to all endeavors requiring storage of DNA.     

When Juveniles Commit Sexual Offenses: Considerations and Recommendations for Judges

Considering sexual offenders’ impact on victims, families, and communities, one cannot understate the importance of utilizing evidence‐based dispositions with juvenile offenders adjudicated for sexual offenses. This proves difficult, however, as the body of literature regarding juvenile sexual offenders is complex and often misunderstood. Research on how juvenile sexual offenders experience – broadly construed – the juvenile justice process is particularly sparse. The research that is available about juvenile sexual offender treatment, recidivism, and outcomes in general tends to be mixed as to the best way to deal with this distinctly stigmatized population. Thus, the purpose of this review article is primarily educational in that we summarize the highlights of current research and thinking in regards to juvenile sexual offenders with which judges should be familiar, and subsequently offer practice recommendations. The ultimate goal in offering and applying these recommendations in juvenile court settings is to help alleviate potential collateral consequences, increase positive long‐term outcomes for juveniles, and increase public safety.     

Validation studies in forensic odontology – Part 1: Accuracy of radiographic matching

As part of a series of studies aimed at validating techniques in forensic odontology, this study aimed to validate the accuracy of ante-mortem (AM)/postmortem (PM) radiographic matching by dentists and forensic odontologists. This study used a web-based interface with 50 pairs of AM and PM radiographs from real casework, at varying degrees of difficulty. Participants were shown both radiographs as a pair and initially asked to decide if they represented the same individual using a yes/no binary choice forced-decision. Participants were asked to assess their level of confidence in their decision, and to make a conclusion using one of the ABFO (American Board of Forensic Odontology), INTERPOL (International Criminal Police Organisation) and DVISys? (DVI System International, Plass Data Software) identification scale degrees. The mean false-positive rate using the binary choice scale was 12%. Overall accuracy was 89% using this model, however, 13% of participants scored below 80%. Only 25% of participants accurately answered yes or no > 90% of the time, with no individual making the correct yes/no decision for all 50 pairs of radiographs. Non-odontologists (lay participants) scored poorly, with a mean accuracy of only 60%. Use of the graded ABFO, DVISYS and INTERPOL scales resulted in general improvements in performance, with the false-positive and false-negative rates falling to approximately 2% overall. Inter-examiner agreement in assigning scale degrees was good (ICC = 0.64), however there was little correlation between confidence and both accuracy or agreement among practitioners. These results suggest that use of a non-binary scale is supported over a match/non-match call as it reduces the frequency of false positives and negatives. The use of the terms “possible” and “insufficient information” in the same scale appears to create confusion, reducing inter-examiner agreement. The lack of agreement between higher-performing and lower-performing groups suggests that there is an inconsistency in the cognitive processes used to determine similarity between radiographs.     

Willingness to innovate in family law solicitor practice in England and Wales: a qualitative study

This paper analyses interview data from 24 long-qualified family law solicitors working in private practice traditional settings in the Midlands and North of England. Experiences and perceptions of change are explored in order to contribute to contemporary understandings of practitioner willingness to innovate in the new legal services landscape, particularly as family law solicitors have been called upon to adopt new practices such as unbundling to survive. Three ‘types’ of emergent identities are identified amongst the sample respondents. These are linked to attachment to traditional role orientations, values and boundaries, as well as practice settings and perception of opportunities and threats.     

Sudden infant death syndrome risk factors with regards to sleep position, sleep surface, and co-sleeping

We present a study of 102 Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) deaths using a retrospective review of medical examiner autopsy reports. The prevalence of sleep related risk factors with regards to sleep surface, sleep position, and co-sleeping were determined in a population of infants less than 1-year-old. Of the 102 SIDS deaths, 67 (65.7%) were not in a crib, 63 (61.8%) were prone, and 48 (47.1%) were co-sleeping. However, 94 (92.2%) of these deaths had at least one risk factor present. Only 8 (7.8%) infants had slept alone, in a crib or bassinet, and on their back or side. Infants less than 4-months-old had a higher rate of co-sleeping (54.7%) than the older infants (25.9%), and a higher frequency of heart malformations at post-mortem examination. The older infants were more likely to exhibit pulmonary and tracheal inflammation, and neuropathology.