The Place of Wishes and Feelings in Best Interests Decisions: Wye Valley NHS Trust v Mr B

In Wye Valley NHS Trust v Mr B the Court of Protection decided that it was not in the best interests of Mr B to receive amputation surgery against his will, notwithstanding that he would die without the treatment. The judge met with Mr B in person and his best interests decision placed significant weight on Mr B's wishes and feelings. This case note considers this influential case in the context of ongoing debate about the place of wishes and feelings in best interests decisions under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. It considers the history of the best interests principle, its interpretation by the Supreme Court in Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust v James, ongoing debates about its compatibility with Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and recent proposals by the Law Commission for statutory amendments to the Mental Capacity Act.     

Measuring Client Satisfaction and Engagement: The Role of a Mentor Parent Program in Family Drug Treatment Court

Parent engagement is an important intermediate outcome in Family Drug Treatment Court (FDTC) and child welfare services. This study explored the utility and reliability of a client satisfaction and engagement survey designed to measure interim outcomes of a Mentor Parent Program, operating in conjunction with a FDTC. Findings suggest the survey is a useful, parsimonious and reliable tool for measuring key dimensions of parent mentor services including client engagement; client‐centered support and empowerment; and help with systems navigation and accessing resources. The survey may be adapted for use in other FDTC or parent mentor contexts.     

The impact of sex offender’s interpersonal style,treatment readiness and the therapeutic alliance on treatment gain

The impact of internal responsivity factors and therapeutic process variables on intra-individual within-treatment gain in sex offenders has received little empirical attention. This study examined how (1) internal responsivity factors, including treatment readiness and interpersonal style, and (2) therapy process variables, including the therapeutic alliance and the presence of ruptures in the therapeutic relationship, impacted intra-individual within-treatment gain. Participants comprised 71 sex offenders who participated in group-based sex offender treatment programmes in prison or the community. Results showed that offender hostile-dominance and the affective and interpersonal characteristics of psychopathy, as measured by the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version Factor 1 score, negatively impacted treatment gain. Pre-treatment readiness, client ratings of the therapeutic alliance and whether or not there were ruptures in the therapeutic relationship had no association with within-treatment gain. The strength of the therapeutic alliance later in treatment did not moderate the relationship between offender interpersonal style, or psychopathy, and treatment gain.     

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.     

Sexual Orientation Discrimination after Grant v South-West Trains

In Grant v South-West Trains [1998] ECR I-621, the European Court of Justice implied that, as a general matter, discrimination against an employee on the ground of sexual orientation did not violate Article 141 EC. This article argues that Grant rests on shaky foundations, in that it is conceptually inconsistent with the Court's earlier decision in P v S and Cornwall County Council [1996] ECR I-2143. Furthermore, the scope of Grant has since been qualified by decisions of the European Court of Human Rights – decisions which may well have undermined the status of the case more broadly. However these difficulties are ultimately resolved, the Court of Justice's treatment of sexual orientation discrimination exposes flaws in its approach as a self-proclaimed constitutional court.     

Investigating Treatment Effects in a Domestic Violence Experiment with Partially Missing Outcome Data

This paper considers the problem of estimating the magnitude of a treatmenteffect in a randomized experiment where the outcome is missing for somecases. The primary concern in such situations is that the distribution ofthe outcome variable may vary in important ways between individuals whoseoutcomes are observed and individuals whose outcomes are missing. Since thedata cannot be used to resolve this concern, it is necessary to take theuncertainty that is created by the missing data into account when developinginferences about the magnitude of the treatment effect. This paper considersa modeling framework that accomplishes this objective. Then, the proposedframework is applied to a study of the effectiveness of different types ofpolice responses to spouse assault incidents in Charlotte, North Carolina.     

A fast ultrasound-assisted extraction procedure for trace elements determination in hair samples by ICP-MS for forensic analysis

An ultrasound-assisted extraction method is proposed for the determination of trace elements in hair samples by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for forensic investigation. Prior to analysis, 25 mg of hair samples were accurately weighed into (15 mL) conical tubes. Then, 2 mL of 20% HNO₃ is added to the samples, sonicated at 2 min (50 W, 100% amplitude), and then further diluted to 10 mL with Milli-Q water. Resulted diluted slurries are centrifuged and the analytes are directly determined in the supernatant. Calibrations against aqueous solutions were carried out with rhodium as internal standard. The method was successfully applied for the extraction of Al, As, Ba, Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Pb, Tl, U, V and Zn with a method detection limit (3 s, n = 20) of 0.1, 0.4, 0.2, 0.09, 0.08, 0.04, 0.1, 2.9, 1.0, 0.9, 0.04, 0.05, 0.1 and 4.2 ng/g, respectively. Method accuracy is traceable to Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) 85 and 86 human hair from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Additional validation data are provided based on the analysis of hair samples from the trace elements intercomparison program operated by the Institut National de Sante’ Publique du Quebec, Canada. The proposed method is very simple and can be applied for forensic purposes with the elimination of sample digestion step prior to analysis. Then, a considerable improvement in the sample throughput is archived with the use of the proposed method.     

中医药干预对78例进展期胃癌生存期影响的单因素和多因素分析

目的 为多学科协作时代评价中医干预对进展期胃癌的临床价值及治疗时机选择提供依据。方法 回顾性分析78例进展期胃癌患者的临床资料,采用Kaplan-Meier法计算1年、3年生存率,采用单因素分析（Log-rank检验）观察相关因素对生存期的影响,对单因素分析有统计学意义的影响因素进行多因素分析（Cox回归分析）。结果 单因素分析显示,年龄、性别对进展期胃癌生存期的影响无统计学意义（P＞0.05）,根治手术、足程化学治疗、TNM分期、中医干预、中医干预时机及中药服用时间对生存期的影响均具有统计学意义（P＜0.05）;多因素分析显示,根治手术、足程化学治疗、TNM分期、中医干预、中药服用时间对进展期胃癌生存期的影响均具有统计学意义（P＜0.05）,其中TNM分期是进展期胃癌生存期的独立危险因素,而根治手术、足程化学治疗以及中医干预为其保护因素。结论 中医干预可以提高进展期胃癌患者的生存期,且长时间中医干预有利于患者长期生存。