Reflections

The American Society of International Law Committee recommended that the Manley 0. Hudson Medal be awarded to Professor Eric Stein for his lifetime of significant contributions to international and comparative law. Stein, the Hessel E. Yntema Professor of Law, Emeritus, at the University of Michigan Law School, had been an active supporter of ASIL as Honorary Vice President, Counsellor, and Honorary Editor of, and frequent contributor to, the American Journal of International Law. His many books and articles established him as a leading thinker and writer on European Community law and on what he described in a famous article as the Uses, Misuses, and Nonuses of Comparative Law

Soldiering On? The Prison‐Military Complex and Ex‐Military Personnel as Prison Officers: Transition, Rehabilitation and Prison Reform

Arguing that criminology has thus far inadequately theorised militarism as it relates to the prison system, this agenda-setting article introduces the ‘prison-military complex’ as a means to initiate examination of militarism in relation to institutions and practices of incarceration. In so doing, it identifies a key knowledge gap vis-à-vis the role of ex-military personnel employed as prison staff; and poses key questions about the ways in which military staff and military methods are being directly targeted as a means to reform a prison service reeling from unprecedented levels of violence, self-harm, riots, and escapes. Encouraging criminologists to think beyond stereotypical ideas about the military, the article revolves around a multiscalar articulation of the prison-military complex, discussed here as it relates to reform of the prison system as a whole; the rehabilitation of offenders; and individuals’ ex-military transitions to civilian life

Auswirkungen von Klimaenderungen auf die biologischen Systeme der Kuesten (Salzwiesen und Duenen). T. A: Synthese Abschlussbericht

Ten research groups from the northern German universities Oldenburg, Bremen, Kiel and Greifswald cooperated to answer the following main questions: - Will climate change promote the change of species structure within biotopes or will existing biotopes be shifted? - How do distribution areas of plant and animal species shift, if climate change occurs according to the scenarios assumed by IPCC (1996) and regionalized by von Storch et al. (1998)? - What means shifting for ecosystems, and how sensible do they react? - How does the structure of species composition change, and which effects may result on the ecosystem level? - Which consequences may arise for utilization and protection of coastal biotopes? Two different approaches were used to get answers on the questions: an experimental ecological analysis and a comparative areal geographic one. The following main conclusions can be drawn from the research presented: - The predicted climate change will result in area shifts of some or even local die off of populations of typical coastal plant and animal species. But more important will be the effects of reduction or loss of biotopes. - The preservation of saltmarshes with their typical plant and animal species is essentially dependent on whether an evasion further inlands is possible by razing or opening dikes and whether sedimentation can compensate sea level rise. The same hold for dunes: their natural regeneration ability can only become effective if space and sediment are available. - The complexity of the ecosystems studied and the uncertainty as to the speed of climate change and the natural availability of sediment as a prerequisite for a growing up litoral don't allow simple prognoses and recommendations. Therefore, the great regional differentiation as to initial situation, currents and sediment relations in the litoral and sublitoral coastal area needs an adapted monitoring of the state of the coast and a respective coast protection management. (orig.)Ziel war es, moegliche 'Auswirkungen von Klimaaenderungen auf die biologischen Systeme der Kuesten (Salzwiesen und Duenen)' abzuschaetzen. Insbesondere folgende Fragen sollten geklaert werden: - Kommt es zu einer Neustrukturierung innerhalb der Lebensraeume oder zu einer Verlagerung der bestehenden Lebensraeume? - Wie verlagern sich die Verbreitungsareale von Pflanzen- und Tierarten, wenn die Klimaaenderungen entsprechend den angenommenen Szenarien eintreten? - Was bedeuten die Verlagerungen fuer die Oekosysteme, und wie sensibel reagieren sie? - Wie veraendert sich die Struktur der Artenspektren, welche oekosystemaren Auswirkungen sind moeglich? - Welche Konsequenzen ergeben sich fuer Nutzung und Schutz der Kuestenlebensraeume? Diese uebergeordneten Fragestellungen wurden mittels zweier unterschiedlicher Ansaetze bearbeitet, naemlich einer experimentell-oekologischen und einer vergleichend arealgeographischen Analyse. Aus den Untersuchungen des Forschungsverbundes ergeben sich als wesentliche Schlussfolgerungen - Die prognostizierten Klimaaenderungen werden bei einer Reihe kuestentypischer Pflanzen- und Tier-Arten zu Arealverschiebungen bis hin zu lokalem Aussterben fuehren. Gravierender werden jedoch indirekte Effekte infolge von Einengung oder Verlust von Lebensraeumen sein. - Der Erhalt von Salzmarschen und Salzgruenlaendern haengt wesentlich davon ab, ob eine Landeinwaertsverlagerung durch Rueckdeichung oder Oeffnung von (Sommer-) Deichen sowie eine Kompensation des Meeresspiegelanstiegs durch Sedimentation moeglich sind. Fuer Duenen gilt das Gleiche. - Die Komplexitaet der untersuchten Oekosysteme sowie die Unsicherheit bezueglich der Geschwindigkeit der Klimaaenderung und der natuerlichen Sedimentverfuegbarkeit als Voraussetzung fuer ein Mitwachsen des Litorals lassen einfache Prognosen und Loesungsvorschlaege nicht zu. Deshalb erfordert die starke regionale Differenzierung der Ausgangsgegebenheiten sowie die Stroemungs-und Sedimentationsverhaeltnisse im litoralen und sublitoralen Kuestenbereich ein dieser Situation angepasstes Monitoring des Kuestenzustands und ein entsprechendes Kuestenschutz-Management. (orig.)Available from TIB Hannover: F02B59 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEBundesministerium fuer Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie, Bonn (Germany); Land Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Germany); DLR Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft-und Raumfahrt e.V., Bonn (Germany)DEGerman

Vegetationskundliche und populationsbiologische Untersuchungen zur Auswirkung des Meeresspiegelanstiegs und der veraenderten Sedimentation und Erosion auf das Kuestengruenland an der deutschen Nordseekueste Abschlussbericht

Available from TIB Hannover: F01B330 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEBundesministerium fuer Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie, Bonn (Germany)DEGerman

Patienten am Lebensende auf der Intensivstation

The accompaniment of people in the face of death offers insights into dimensions which are mostly not seen in ordinary life. These insights also exist in intensive care in German hospitals and are highly relevant in medical decision making. End-of-life decisions in particular often determine medical, cultural and spiritual aspects concerning medical treatment and therapeutic targets and if necessary new therapy targets. The following article especially illuminates cultural aspects and their characteristics in patients at the end of life in the intensive care unit

Palliativpatienten und Patienten am Lebensende in Notfallsituationen

At the end of life acute exacerbations of medical symptoms (e.g. dyspnea) in palliative care patients often result in emergency medical services being alerted. The goals of this study were to discuss cooperation between emergency medical and palliative care structures to optimize the quality of care in emergencies involving palliative care patients. For data collection an open discussion of the main topics by experts in palliative and emergency medical care was employed. Main outcome measures and recommendations included responses regarding current practices related to expert opinions and international literature sources. As the essential points of consensus the following recommendations for optimization of care were named: (1) integration of palliative care in the emergency medicine curricula for pre-hospital emergency physicians and paramedics, (2) development of outpatient palliative care, (3) integration of palliative care teams into emergency medical structures, (4) cooperation between palliative and emergency medical care, (5) integration of crisis intervention into outpatient palliative emergency medical care, (6) provision of emergency plans and emergency medical boxes, (7) provision of palliative crisis cards and do not attempt resuscitation (DNAR) orders, (8) psychosocial aspects concerning palliative emergencies and (9) definition of palliative patients and their special situation by the physician responsible for prior treatment. Prehospital emergency physicians are confronted with emergencies in palliative care patients every day. In the treatment of these emergencies there are potentially serious conflicts due to the different therapeutic concepts of palliative medical care and emergency medical services. This study demonstrates that there is a need for regulated criteria for the therapy of palliative patients and patients at the end of life in emergency situations. Overall, more clinical investigations concerning end-of-life care and unresponsive palliative care patients in emergency medical situations are necessary