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It is widely recognized that education plays a key role in addressing current global challenges. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) combines local actions with global thinking. In Virtual School Garden Exchanges (VSGEs) primary and secondary students from the Global South and North interact and communicate digitally about their school gardens. This study focuses on educators' expectations regarding learning outcomes of VSGEs and possible parallels with ESD and Virtual Exchanges (VEs) in general. A qualitative content analysis of 23 semi-structured interviews with educators engaged in 18 VSGEs was conducted. Even though the VSGEs took different individual approaches, the analysis revealed many commonalities in the respondents' intentions: amongst other things, educators were aiming to promote knowledge about gardening and food, horticultural and cooperation competencies, and values such as solidarity. Nevertheless, some educators feared that VSGEs might also have some negative effects. The results show parallels with the aims of ESD and VEs.

Background: It is important that systematic reviews (SRs) are up-to-date, otherwise they cannot be relied upon to guide decision-making in practice and policy. Our aim was to investigate epidemiological, descriptive and reporting characteristics of a cross-section of recently published updates of SRs. Methods: A SR update was defined as a new edition of a SR, either published by the same or new authors. We searched PubMed for SR updates published from January 01, 2016 to January 22, 2018 and included a random sample of n = 100 non-Cochrane updates of SRs on interventions reported in English. Results: Most SR updates had a corresponding author from the United Kingdom, United States, or Canada (in total 48/100) and dealt with nonpharmacological interventions (63/100). The SR updates were published a median of 5 years (interquartile range [IQR] 3-7) after the previous SR and included a median of 19 (IQR 9-28) studies. 31/100 SR updates reported that the conclusion had changed since the previous version. Only 51/100 SR updates used the term "update" in the title and none reported having based the decision to update the previous SR on an existing method/decision tool. The number of newly included studies and participants and the number of studies and participants included in/from the previous SR were often not reported. Conclusions: The included non-Cochrane updates were frequently missing important information that would be expected to be present in a SR update. Thus, structured and detailed reporting guidance specific to SR updates is needed. It should focus particularly on appropriate labeling and justification of updates, and how to incorporate information regarding the previous SR.

Background: The Research Domain Criteria seeks to bridge knowledge from neuroscience with clinical practice by promoting research into valid neurocognitive phenotypes and dimensions, irrespective of symptoms and diagnoses as currently conceptualized. While the Research Domain Criteria offers a vision of future research and practice, its 39 functional constructs need refinement to better target new phenotyping efforts. This study aimed to determine which Research Domain Criteria constructs are most relevant to understanding obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, based on a consensus between experts in the field of obsessive-compulsive and related disorders. Methods: Based on a modified Delphi method, 46 experts were recruited from Australia, Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. Over three rounds, experts had the opportunity to review their opinion in light of feedback from the previous round, which included how their response compared to other experts and a summary of comments given. Results: Thirty-four experts completed round one, of whom 28 (82%) completed round two and 24 (71%) completed round three. At the final round, four constructs were endorsed by ⩾75% of experts as 'primary constructs' and therefore central to understanding obsessive-compulsive and related disorders. Of these constructs, one came from the Positive Valence System (Habit), two from the Cognitive Control System (Response Selection/Inhibition and Performance Monitoring) and the final construct was an additional item suggested by experts (Compulsivity). Conclusion: This study identified four Research Domain Criteria constructs that, according to experts, cut across different obsessive-compulsive and related disorders. These constructs represent key areas for future investigation, and may have potential implications for clinical practice in terms of diagnostic processes and therapeutic management of obsessive-compulsive and related disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholarship suggests the Federal Election Commission lacks adequate enforcement tools to deter those who would violate campaign finance laws. But can and do voters hold political candidates accountable for violating these laws? In this article, we employ two studies to empirically evaluate these questions. The first examines the extent to which media cover campaign finance violations, and how they do so. The second employs an experimental approach to test the effects of such media coverage on evaluations of political candidates, in particular whether knowledge of a candidate's violation of campaign finance laws erodes voter support. We find that the media are more likely to cover campaign finance impropriety for high-profile offices, when criminal action is alleged, and for most serious violations. We also show that voters care about campaign violations, and certain violations lower voter support similar to other types of political scandal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dahl and Lochner (2012) provides some of the first causal evidence of the effects of family income on child achievement using changes in the Earned Income Tax Credit. Unfortunately, a coding error in the creation of total family income affects the first stage estimates and inflates the instrumental variable (IV) estimates. Importantly, it does not affect the reduced-form estimates or alter statistical significance of the IV estimates. This response shows that correcting this error does not alter the core findings or main message of the paper. (JEL H24, H31, I21, I38, J13) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examine the effects of electronic-filing and electronic-disclosure on the Oregon campaign on campaign finance law and the funding of American elections. Topics discussed include introduction of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act; the U.S. court cases Citizens United and SpeechNow.org; and laws governing enforcement of campaign finance at the state and local levels.

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Objectives: Individuals with multiple (>2) chronic conditions (MCC) present many challenges to the health care system, such as effective coordination of care and cost containment. To assist health policy makers and to fill research gaps on MCC, we describe state-level variation of MCC among Medicare beneficiaries, with a focus on those with six or more conditions. Methods: Using Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrative data for 2011, we characterized a beneficiary as having MCC by counting the number of conditions from a set of fifteen conditions, which were identified using diagnosis codes on the claims. The study population included fee-for-service beneficiaries residing in the 50 U.S. states and Washington, DC Results: Among beneficiaries with six or more chronic conditions, prevalence rates were lowest in Alaska and Wyoming (7%) and highest in Florida and New Jersey (18%); readmission rates were lowest in Utah (19%) and highest in Washington, DC (31%); the number of emergency department visits per beneficiary were lowest in New York and Florida (1.6) and highest in Washington, DC (2.7); and Medicare spending per beneficiary was lowest in Hawaii ($24,086) and highest in Maryland, Washington, DC, and Louisiana (over $37,000). Conclusion: These findings expand upon prior research on MCC among Medicare beneficiaries at the national level and demonstrate considerable state-level variation in the prevalence, health care utilization, and Medicare spending for beneficiaries with MCC. State-level data on MCC is important for decision making aimed at improved program planning, financing, and delivery of care for individuals with MCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2012, more than 50 law enforcement agencies across the United States began using a mobile device, the Mobile Offender Recognition and Information System ("MORIS"), to identify persons via facial recognition technology ("FRT") and iris scans. No legislative guidelines exist detailing how this personal information can be collected, stored, or used. State and federal case law are silent as to how law enforcement should use MORIS. And although some law enforcement agencies have developed internal guidelines, privacy and policy concerns loom This Note explores the privacy and policy concerns raised by MORIS's use and proposes that the Arizona legislature appease these worries. First, the Note details the level of suspicion police officers should obtain before using MORIS by comparing the device to technology that courts have previously considered. Next, the Note discusses policy concerns, such as the possibility for police bias and error. In response, the Note proposes solutions to minimize these concerns. The Note argues that neither law enforcement nor MORIS's developer is positioned to sufficiently mitigate these concerns through self-regulation. In turn, the Note concludes that the state legislature should adopt the Note's recommended guidelines, which strike a balance between MORIS's benefits to law enforcement and citizens' privacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop a human capital model with borrowing constraints explicitly derived from government student loan (GSL) programs and private lending under limited commitment. The model helps explain the persistent strong positive correlation between ability and schooling in the United States, as well as the rising importance of family income for college attendance. It also explains the increasing share of undergraduates borrowing the GSL maximum and the rise in student borrowing from private lenders. Our framework offers new insights regarding the interaction of government and private lending, as well as the responsiveness of private credit to economic and policy changes. (JEL D14, H52, I22, I23, J24) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses issues of qualified immunity and constitutional rights during the global war on terror. Topics include legal actions taken during the war on terror after the case Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Fed. Bureau of Narcotics, detainee human and legal rights such as habeas corpus, and application of the court decision Saucier v. Katz to cases regarding rights of prisoners in U.S. counterterrorism efforts.

Objective. We examined disparities in diabetes-related mortality for socioeconomic status (SES) groups in nationally representative U.S. samples. Methods. We analyzed National Health Interview Survey respondents linked to their death records and included those eligible for mortality follow-up who were aged 25 years and older at the time of interview and not missing information on covariates (n=527,426). We measured SES by education and family income. There were 5,613 diabetes-related deaths. Results. Having less than a high school education was associated with a twofold higher mortality from diabetes, after controlling for age, gender, race! ethnicity, marital status, and body mass index, compared with adults with a college degree or higher education level (relative hazard [RH] = 2.05, 95% confidence interval [CI]1.78, 2.35). Having a family income below poverty level was associated with a twofold higher mortality after adjustments compared with adults with the highest family incomes (RH=2.41, 95% CI 2.05, 2.84). Approximately one-quarter of the excess risk among those in the lowest SES categories was explained by adjusting for potential confounders. Conclusion. Findings from this nationally representative cohort demonstrate a socioeconomic gradient in diabetes-related mortality, with both education and income being important determinants of the risk of death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regulatory theory suggests that providing agencies with multiple sanctioning options allows them to dispose promptly of less serious matters and thereby conserve resources to pursue serious offenders. However, agencies dependent on third-party monitoring may have their enforcement agendas skewed toward more trivial violations. We consider these competing expectations by analyzing enforcement actions at the US Federal Election Commission (FEC) from 1999 to 2004 . The FEC – an agency heavily dependent on third-party monitoring – expanded its enforcement options in 2000 by creating two new programs to pursue low-level offenders, while leaving its monitoring strategy unchanged. We hypothesized that more sanctioning options would allow the FEC to allocate its resources more efficiently, and thus deal more effectively with the skew created by third-party monitoring. We found instead that although the FEC disposed more promptly of low-level infractions, it was no more effective at focusing on serious violations. Our results suggest that for many agencies, expanding enforcement options without addressing monitoring has limited ability to resolve enforcement problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses court decisions on judicial recusal in the U.S. Categories of recusal in the federal judicial disqualification statute; Decision of the Supreme Court in clarifying the circumstances requiring disqualification in Liljeberg v. Health Services Acquisition Corp.; Involvement of competing interests and subjective legal determinations in the issue of recusal.

Focuses on the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act to access to the courtroom. Suggestion that much of America’s litigation takes place in older courthouses that were not originally designed with consideration of access to them by disabled persons; Exploration of recent lawsuits challenging inadequate access, brought under federal antidiscrimination law; Impact of these lawsuits on court administrators.

The authors examine the research evidence on the effect of residential segregation on health, identify research gaps, and propose new research directions. Four recommendations are made on the basis of a review of the sociological and social epidemiology literature on residential segregation: (1) develop multilevel research designs to examine the effects of individual, neighborhood, and metropolitan-area factors on health outcomes; (2) continue examining the health effects of residential segregation among African Americans but also initiate studies examining segregation among Hispanics and Asians; (3) consider racial/ethnic segregation along with income segregation and other metropolitan area factors such as poverty concentration and metropolitan governance fragmentation; and (4) develop better conceptual frameworks of the pathways that may link various segregation dimensions to specific health outcomes. (Am J Public Health. 2003;93:215-221) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the association between metropolitan area income inequality and self-rated health in the United States. Calculation of income inequality and average income from the census data using Gini coefficients; Use of multi-level logistic regression models; Limitations of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics for testing the income inequality hypothesis.

Examines the enforcement of sanctions to deter campaign finance violation in the United States. Comparison of the enforcement practices between Federal Election Commission and California Fair Political Practices Commission; Imposition of formal sanctions to agencies violating the campaign funds law; Factors for effective enforcement strategy.

Examines the enforcement of campaign finance laws of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) in the United States. Why the FEC is seen as failing in its regulatory task; Institutional components that tend to promote effective regulatory enforcement; Description of the process by which FEC enforces the law; Why an effective FEC regulatory enforcement of campaign finance laws would infringe on First Amendment Rights.

Missing from recent discussions of tax reform is any systematic analysis of the effects of various tax proposals on skill formation (see the papers in the collection edited by Henry Aaron and William Gale [1996]). This gap in the literature in empirical public finance is due to the absence of any empirically based general-equilibrium models with both human-capital formation and physical-capital formation that are consistent with observations on modern labor markets. This paper is a progress report on the authors' ongoing research on formulating and estimating dynamic general-equilibrium models with endogenous heterogeneous human-capital accumulation. Their model explains many features of rising wage inequality in the U.S. economy (Heckman et al., 1998). In this paper, the authors use their model to study the impacts on skill formation of proposals to switch from progressive taxes to flat income and consumption taxes. For the sake of brevity, the authors focus on steady states in this paper, although they study both transitions and steady states in their research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the magnitudes of some distortions in the U.S. tax system on human-capital accumulation for typical individuals using simulations from a structural model of human-capital accumulation. Economists estimate the parameters of a human-capital production function and simulate the effects of different wage-tax schedules on human-capital investment. They focus on the two distortions in the tax system that influences human capital most directly. The first distortion they examine arises from the fact that not all inputs into human-capital production are tax-deductible. If all human-capital investment were forgone earnings, a wage tax would be neutral the investment consists of both forgone earnings and direct goods that are not tax-deductible, an increase in a wage tax discourages human-capital investment since the tax increase reduces the benefits of human-capital investment more than the costs. The second distortion arises from the progressivity of the tax system, which discourages human-capital investment by reducing its return. They estimate the model using data from the 1970 Census and find that the progressivity in 1970 leads to approximately a 5-percent decline in human-capital investment.

Discusses the case of Khanh Phuong Nguyen v. United States which calls into question on whether territorial judges appointed under Article IV of the Constitution may sit by designation on a federal court of appeals. Contention in the case; Basis in allowing the chief judge in a circuit to assign district judges within the circuit to serve on the court of appeals; Authority of the Supreme Court to vacate the decision because of an invalid panel composition.

Focuses on cases which call into question the circumstances that may influence the court's decision to withhold personal information about those involved in a litigation from the public in the U.S. Basis of the move of the Eleventh Circuit to reverse the district court's decision to compel release of the documents pertaining to the disciplinary proceedings conducted against Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Cox; Requirements set by the Freedom of Information Act in allowing the government to withhold documents; Restrictions in public access to judicial records in civil suits under the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure.

We analyzed data from 2075 respondents to the disability supplement of the 2001 Washington State Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance Survey to describe population prevalence of secondary conditions among adults with disabilities. Eighty-seven percent of respondents with disabilities and 49% without disabilities reported at least 1 secondary condition. Adjusted odds ratios for disability for 14 of 16 conditions were positive and significant. The association of disability with substantial disparities in common conditions shows a need for increased access to general and targeted prevention interventions to improve health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses a case which calls into question on whether judges hearing civil suits against multiple defendants may impanel multiple juries in the U.S. Reasons to allow the lower court to impanel two juries; Criteria for severing claims or parties under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 21; Impact of the inconsistent verdicts of separate juries.

Background: Health system redesign necessitates understanding patient population characteristics, yet many primary care physicians are unable to identify patients on their panel. Moreover, accounting for differential workload due to patient variation is challenging. We describe development and application of a utilization-based weighting system accounting for patient complexity using sociodemographic factors within primary care at a large multidisciplinary group practice. Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted of 27 clinics across primary care serving more than 150 000 patients. Before and after implementation, we measured empanelment by comparing weighted to unweighted panel size and the number of physicians who could accept patients. Perceived access was measured by the number of patients strongly agreed that an appointment was available when needed. Results: After instituting weighting, the percentage of physicians with open panels decreased for family physicians and pediatricians, but increased for general internists; the number of active patients increased by 2%. One year after implementation, perceived access improved significantly in family and general internal medicine clinics (P < .05). There were no significant changes for general pediatric and adolescent medicine patients. Conclusions: The creation of a weighing system accounting for complexity resulted in changes in practice closure, increased total patients, and improved access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]