Sleep Quantity and Problems as Mediators of the Eveningness-Adjustment Link during Childhood and Adolescence

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Chronotype, or morningness/eveningness, has been associated with adjustment in both children and adolescents. Specifically, eveningness has been linked to...     

Voter polarisation and party responsiveness: Why parties emphasise divided issues,but remain silent on unified issues

How does voter polarisation affect party responsiveness? Previous research has shown that political parties emphasise political issues that are important to their voters. However, it is posited in this article that political parties are not equally responsive to citizen demands across all issue areas. The hypothesis is that party responsiveness varies considerably with the preference configuration of the electorate. More specifically, it is argued that party responsiveness increases with the polarisation of issues among voters. To test these theoretical expectations, party responsiveness is analysed across nine West European countries from 1982 until 2013. Data on voter attention and voter preferences with regard to specific policy issues from a variety of national election studies is combined with Comparative Manifestos Project data on parties' emphasis of these issues in their election manifestos. The findings have major implications for understanding party competition and political representation in Europe.     

Forensic evaluation of sudden death due to tuberculosis

Abstract:  The emergence of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) poses a major threat to TB control efforts. We report a case of a 50-year-old man with pulmonary TB. The scene investigation had initially suspected for homicide; however, the result of medico-legal autopsy demonstrated natural cause of death. Statistical data suggest that the rates of national mortality by respiratory TB decreased in the last decades in Hungary; however, an increasing TB mortality was detected in the capital Budapest. Facing a new mortality trend in TB, the forensic scene investigation and determination of manner of death represent new challenges for practitioners.     

Fatal renal hemorrhage after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy

Renal hematoma is one of the most severe complications of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL). ESWL is used in the noninvasive treatment of urinary calculosis. The shock waves can lead to capillary damage, renal parenchymal or subcapsular hemorrhage. We present a case with fatal complication and the result of the medico-legal evaluation. A 71-year-old woman was treated by ESWL, renal hematoma was detected during the clinical observation, and the patient died. The death occurred despite close clinical observation as a consequence of a rare complication of ESWL. The mechanism of death was hemorrhagic hypovolemic shock due to renal hemorrhage complications due to ESWL for treatment of renal calculi. This therapeutic complication is a known complication of appropriate treatment.     

Are they listening? Public opinion,interest groups and government responsiveness

What is the role of interest groups in the transmission of issues between the public and government policy? While government responsiveness to voters has received widespread scholarly attention, little is known about the role of interest groups in the transmission of public opinion to government. It is argued here that interest groups importantly influence government responsiveness to public opinion, but that the effect varies by type of interest group: while cause groups increase the responsiveness of governments to their electorate, sectional groups decrease government responsiveness. Drawing on a new and unique dataset, this article examines the relationship between public opinion, interest groups and government expenditure across 13 policy areas in Germany from 1986 until 2012 and shows that interest groups indeed have a differential effect on the responsiveness of governments. The article’s findings have important implications for understanding political representation and the largely overlooked relationship between public opinion, interest groups and government policy.     

Determination of blood/serum ratios of different forensically relevant analytes in authentic samples

For forensic toxicological investigations only whole blood, but no serum is often available. Pharmacokinetic data are helpful for interpreting the results, but most of these studies indicate serum or plasma concentrations. In order to obtain reliable conversion factors which also take intersubject variability into account, the blood/serum ratios (B/S) of oxycodone, morphine, fentanyl, hydromorphone, zopiclone, MDMA, dexamphetamine, alprazolam, risperidone and 9-hydroxyrisperidone were determined by LC-MS/MS using authentic samples. Blood and corresponding serum samples were obtained from driving studies performed with controlled or known dosages of the above drugs. The analytes were analysed in blood and serum and the following mean B/S ratios (relative standard deviations) were determined: oxycodone 1.48 (8.19 %); morphine 1.03 (3.59 %); fentanyl 0.87 (13.9 %); hydromorphone 1.04 (8.11 %); zopiclone 0.89 (16.1 %); MDMA 1.19 (8.04 %); dexamphetamine 0.89 (10.9 %); alprazolam 0.81 (5.84 %); risperidone 0.65 (7.52 %); 9-hydroxyrisperidone 0.73 (12.3 %). These mean values are largely in line with those reported in the literature. The B/S ratios did not appear to depend on partition coefficients, whereas there was strong evidence that B/S ratios decreased with increasing plasma protein binding.     

Acute and subacute fetal CO-poisoning

The main principles of placental CO exchange in cases of CO intoxications of pregnant women are shown. Fetal COHb lags behind maternal COHb by several hours depending on the exposure pattern. During CO elimination the fetal COHb levels again lag behind the mother's. A case of a lethal CO intoxication of a pregnant woman, mens IX, with exposure time of 10-12 h and COHb of 75% for the mother and 46% for the fetus allows to make conclusions about process of intoxication and about different times of death for mother and fetus. In highly acute lethal intoxications of the mother COHb in fetal blood is low or negative. A vital danger of the fetus is not probable when mother survived a short CO exposure.     

Costs of Alternative Sanctions in Hungary

ABSTRACT. The author calculated the specific costs of executing probation and community service orders. In addition, she attempted to design indicators that help determine the amount of effort probation officers make to perform their duties. In Hungary, the probation service is under the supervision of the judicial system; therefore, it does not have a separate budget. The author calculated the costs of alternative sanctions in multiple steps. The study found that in 1997 the costs of performing probation orders amounted to HUF 10,645 (± 47 Euro) per case per year whereas those of performing community service totalled HUF 13,395 (± 60 Euro). The analysis established that fines imposed are collected and utilised by the courts themselves. This implies a risk, namely, that judicial sanctioning practice may be determined not only by penal law but also by financial considerations. The author claims that this casts a different light on the recent punishment practice under which imprisonment (and its non-suspended form, in particular) has been increasingly replaced by fines rather than community sanctions.