Children in need of medical innovation

Children are therapeutic orphans and an underprivileged group in innovations derived from drug therapy. As the innovation process of pharmaceuticals is a long, risky and very costly business, economists typically emphasise lack of profit incentives and small market size as the most important obstacles to child-related innovative activity. Moreover, as new drugs need to be tested in medical trials, there are ethical concerns leading to a climate of reluctance towards medical trials on persons who are not able to give their "informed consent". Particularly in Germany, due to various reasons, a rather restrictive legislation is to be assumed, characterized by the idea of putting the protection of the individual human being before a more utilitarian view. Thus, economic incentives, legal restrictions and ethical concerns seem to be responsible for the lack of innovative activity targeted at drugs for children, though social cost-benefit considerations (i.e. welfare analysis) would most probably predict a high gain from the introduction of critical innovations. Grounded on a highly interdisciplinary view based on medical, pharmaceutical, psychopharmaceutical, psychotherapeutic and economic research as well as on ethical restrictions, this survey aims at analysing channels of influence that might be helpful both in the analysis of the innovation process of drugs for children, and in improving the uncertain situation of pediatric therapy.

Guidelines for Economic Evaluation of Public Sector Water Resource Projects

Water development plays an important role in the economy of states and regions. However, procedures for estimating the expected net worth of proposed projects have never been simple, and results have rarely been without controversy. This report presents some guidelines for the application of economic evaluation procedures in project analysis of public sector water development in North Dakota. A brief history of North Dakota water development and two case studies of North Dakota water projects are included in this report.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Developmental-psychopathological considerations on the deficient integration of aspects of the theory of attachment, of pedagogics, and of family law

Bindung, Bildung und Entwicklungspsychopathologie sind bislang weitgehend unintegrierte Konzepte mit parallel verlaufenden Diskursen, die im Rahmen der kindlichen Entwicklung anhaltend eine wichtige Rolle spielen. Hinzu kommen in bestimmten Fällen (wie Trennung und Scheidung sowie gefährdendem Elternverhalten) familienrechtliche Aspekte, die ebenfalls separat diskutiert und nicht systematisch integriert werden. Der Beitrag versucht, die unterschiedlichen Diskurse und die Spannungsfelder, die sich dadurch auftun, aus Sicht eines Kinder- und Jugendpsychiaters zu beleuchten, Bezüge herzustellen und Ansatzpunkte für eine gelingende Zusammenführung und Integration herauszuarbeiten. (DIPF/Orig.)So far, attachment, education, and developmental psychopathology have constituted mostly non-integrated concepts with parallel discourses which play a continuously important role within the framework of child development. To these are added, in some cases (such as separation or divorce as well as endangering parental behavior), aspects of family law which, in turn, are discussed separately and are not systematically integrated. The authors look at the different resulting discourses and fields of tension from the perspective of a child and adolescent psychiatrist and point out references and possible approaches for a successful conflation and integration. (DIPF/Orig.

Children in Need of Medical Innovation

As the innovation process of pharmaceuticals is a long, risky and very costly business, economists typically emphasise lack of profit incentives and small market size as the most important obstacles to child-related innovative activity. Moreover, there are ethical concerns because children are not able to give their ?informed consent? to requested clinical trials. Thus, economic incentives, legal restrictions and ethical concerns seem to be responsible for the lack of innovative activity targeted at drugs for children, though social costbenefit considerations (i.e. welfare analysis) would most probably predict a high gain from the introduction of critical innovations. Grounded on a highly interdisciplinary view based on medical, pharmaceutical and economic research, this survey aims at analysing channels of influence that might be helpful both in the analysis of the innovation process of drugs for children, and in improving the uncertain situation of pediatric therapy. --

Zukunftsfähige Stallkonzepte für die ökologische Milcherzeugung

Ensuring high animal welfare standards is one of the objectives of organic farming. The combination of modern housing concepts, proper herd management and good human-animal relationship could be an effective strategy. In this study 14 viable dairy barn concepts were described and evaluated. In nine of these dairy farms the management and animal welfare situation was examined. The outcome was a documentation of 14 different dairy farming concepts (housing, management) that are suitable to develop individual solutions with regard to animal welfare and the special requirements of organic dairy farms

On the incidence and prevalence of child maltreatment: a research agenda

Research on child maltreatment epidemiology has primarily been focused on population surveys with adult respondents. Far less attention has been paid to analyzing reported incidents of alleged child maltreatment and corresponding agency responses. This type of research is however indispensable to know how well a child protection system works and if the most vulnerable are identified and served. Notable findings of child maltreatment epidemiological research are summarized and directions for future studies discussed

Missouri River Water Use in North Dakota

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Children in Need of Medical Innovation

As the innovation process of pharmaceuticals is a long, risky and very costly business, economists typically emphasise lack of profit incentives and small market size as the most important obstacles to child-related innovative activity. Moreover, there are ethical concerns because children are not able to give their "informed consent" to requested clinical trials. Thus, economic incentives, legal restrictions and ethical concerns seem to be responsible for the lack of innovative activity targeted at drugs for children, though social costbenefit considerations (i.e. welfare analysis) would most probably predict a high gain from the introduction of critical innovations. Grounded on a highly interdisciplinary view based on medical, pharmaceutical and economic research, this survey aims at analysing channels of influence that might be helpful both in the analysis of the innovation process of drugs for children, and in improving the uncertain situation of pediatric therapy

Risikoeinschätzung bei Vernachlässigung und Kindeswohlgefährdung im Säuglings- und Kleinkindalter - Chancen früher beziehungsorientierter Diagnostik

In Deutschland fehlt eine interdisziplinäre Verständigung auf standardisierte und wissenschaftlich geprüfte Risikoscreening- und Diagnoseverfahren sowie auf Vorgehensweisen und Angebote bei Vernachlässigung und Kindeswohlgefährdung. Für die Risikoeinschätzung haben sich Vorgehensweisen bewährt, die auf empirisch geprüfte Verfahren zurückgreifen und auf Grundlage aller Einzelergebnisse eine zusammenfassende "klinische Synopse" vornehmen. Bei Säuglingen und Kleinkindern mit besonders hoher Gefährdung hat es sich bewährt, elterliche Erziehungs- und Beziehungskompetenzen als relevante Faktoren bei der Risikoeinschätzung, aber auch als Ansatzpunkt für Prävention und Intervention zu berücksichtigen. Hierzu gehören bindungsorientierte und videogestützte Interaktionsdiagnostik beziehungsweise der Einbezug elterlicher Bindungsrepräsentationen. Ebenso haben sich für Intervention und Versorgung bindungstheoretisch konzeptualisierte Angebote zur Förderung elterlicher Feinfühligkeit bzw. zur Förderung sicherer Bindung als wirksam erwiesen. Eine interdisziplinäre Ausrichtung sowohl der Programme als auch der Fachkräfte, die solche Angebote durchführen, wird für wesentlich erachtet. (ZPID

An international comparison of adolescent non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicide attempts: Germany and the USA

Background This study examined the prevalence of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), suicide attempts, suicide threats and suicidal ideation in a German school sample and compared the rates with a similar sample of adolescents from the midwestern USA by using cross-nationally validated assessment tools. Method Data were provided from 665 adolescents (mean age 14.8 years, s.d.=0.66, range 14-17 years) in a school setting. Students completed the Self-Harm Behavior Questionnaire (SHBQ), the Ottawa Self-Injury Inventory (OSI) and a German version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D). Results A quarter of the participants (25.6%) endorsed at least one act of NSSI in their life, and 9.5% of those students answered that they had hurt themselves repetitively (more than four times). Forty-three (6.5%) of the students reported a history of a suicide attempt. No statistically significant differences were observed between the German and US samples in terms of self-injury or suicidal behaviors. Conclusions By using the same validated assessment tools, no differences were found in the prevalence and characteristics of self-injury and suicidal behaviors between adolescents from Germany and the USA. Thus, it seems that NSSI has to be understood as worldwide phenomenon, at least in Western culture