Iowa Case Management for Rural Drug Abuse

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of a comprehensive, strengths-based model of case management for clients in drug abuse treatment. METHOD: 503 volunteers from residential or intensive outpatient treatment were randomly assigned to one of three conditions of Iowa Case Management (ICM) plus treatment as usual (TAU), or to a fourth condition of TAU only. All were assessed at intake and followed at 3, 6, and 12 months. RESULTS: Clients in all four conditions significantly decreased substance use by 3 months after intake and maintained most gains over time. However, the addition of ICM to TAU did not improve substance use outcomes. CONCLUSION: Overall, the addition of case management did not significantly improve drug treatment as hypothesized by both researchers and clinicians. Some results were mixed, possibly due to the heterogeneous sample, wide range of case management activities, or difficulty retaining participants over time.     

Tail Behavior of the Failure Rate Functions of Mixtures

The tail behavior of the failure rate of mixtures of lifetime distributions is studied. A typical result is that if the failure rate of the strongest component of the mixture decreases to a limit, then the failure rate of the mixture decreases to the same limit. For a class of distributions containing the gamma distributions this result can be improved in the sense that the behavior of the failure rate of the mixture asymptotically mirrors that of the strongest component in whether it decreases or increases to a limit. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Tobacco Advertising

If advocates of bans on tobacco advertising had their complete way, most would prohibit this product outright. But this is not (yet) politically feasible. Instead, they have focussed their efforts on restricting information flows about this product. They rely on the doctrine that free speech rights apply only indirectly, if at all, to such matters of commerce. In this paper several arguments in behalf of bans on tobacco advertising are considered, and all are found invalid. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

What makes a developmental network state durable?

As dynamic collaborations between networks of specialists have become more central to developing cutting-edge innovations, designing and sustaining innovation policies that foster them has become an increasingly central concern. This article reviews the characteristics of the “developmental network” or “neo-developmental” states that have been shown to foster innovations at the technological horizon. It then analyzes the US case to suggest why some developmental network approaches to governance have proven relatively durable, while others have not. We conclude with a discussion of what can – and cannot – be learned from the US case, and suggest the importance of comparative work on the sustainability of effective innovation-centered approaches to governance.