Implementation of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Smoke-Free Rule: A Socio-Ecological Qualitative Assessment of Administrator and Resident Perceptions

In July 2018, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) implemented a mandatory smoke-free rule in public housing. This study assessed administrator and resident perceptions of rule implementation during its initial year in the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA). Assessment included nine focus groups (n = 69) with residents and in-depth interviews with administrators (n = 7) and residents (n = 26) from 14 DCHA communities (family = 7 and senior/disabled = 7). Semi-structured discussion guides based on the multi-level socio-ecological framework captured dialogue that was recorded, transcribed verbatim, and coded inductively. Emerging major themes for each socio-ecological framework level included: (1) Individual: the rule was supported due to perceived health benefits, with stronger support among non-smokers; (2) Interpersonal: limiting secondhand smoke exposure was perceived as a positive for vulnerable residents; (3) Organizational: communication, signage, and cessation support was perceived as a need; (4) Community: residents perceived mobility, disability, weather, and safety-related issues as barriers; and (5) Public Policy: lease amendments were perceived as enablers of rule implementation but expressed confusion about violations and enforcement. A majority of administrators and residents reported favorable implications of the mandated HUD rule. The novel application of a socio-ecological framework, however, detected implementation nuances that required improvements on multiple levels, including more signage, cessation support, clarification of enforcement roles, and addressing safety concerns.

The Conference on the Future of Europe

The agenda of the Conference on the Future of Europe contains the potential for numerous legislative recommendations. This raises the question of the future resilience of Union law. The article, which is based on the author’s introductory speech of ERA’s webinar on the Conference, assesses the challenges and chances of the Union’s capacity to engage in proper rule-making, to experience compliant rule-implementation and to benefit from a judiciary which reliably settles disputes. It concludes that as long as the demanding requirements of an enlightened legal civilisation are fulfilled there is no reason not to trust in Legal Europe’s future.

Foreseeability of Damages in the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts: Similarity and Difference

Article deals with the foreseeability of damages in the international private law. As a result of application of legal comparative method differences in objective criterion of foreseeability and character of damage as a contract breach consequence in CISG and PICC are defined. In a case of foreseeability rule implementation in the Russian law it is suggested to define as recoverable such damage that a party could reasonably have foreseen (in terms of the art. 7.4 CISG) as being likely to result from its non-performance (in terms of the art. 7.4.4 PICC).

Fracture Epidemiology in Professional Baseball From 2011 to 2017

Background: Fractures are a significant cause of missed time in Major League Baseball (MLB) and Minor League Baseball (MiLB). MLB and the MLB Players Association recently instituted rule changes to limit collisions at home plate and second base. Purpose: To evaluate the epidemiologic characteristics of fractures in professional baseball and to assess the change in acute fracture incidence secondary to traumatic collisions at home plate and second base after the recently instituted rule changes. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: The MLB Health and Injury Tracking System (HITS) database was used to access injury information on MLB and MiLB players to analyze fracture data from 2011 to 2017. Injuries were included if the primary diagnosis was classified as a fracture in the HITS system in its International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, codes; injuries were excluded if they were not work related, if they occurred in the offseason, or if they were sustained by a nonplayer. The proportion of fractures occurring due to contact with the ground or another person in the relevant area of the field—home plate or second base—in the years before rule implementation was compared with the years after. Results: A total of 1798 fractures were identified: 342 among MLB players and 1456 among MiLB players. Mean time missed per fracture was 56.6 ± 48.4 days, with significantly less time missed in MLB (46.8 ± 47.7 days) compared with MiLB (59.0 ± 48.3 days) ( P < .0001). A 1-way analysis of variance with post hoc Bonferroni correction demonstrated that starting pitchers missed significantly more time due to fractures per injury than all other position groups ( P < .0001). Acute fractures due to contact with the ground or with another athlete were significantly decreased after rule implementation at home plate in 2014 (22 [3.0%] vs 14 [1.3%]; P = .015) and at second base in 2016 (90 [7.0%] vs 23 [4.5%]; P = .045). Conclusion: The recently instituted rule changes to reduce collisions between players at home plate and at second base are associated with reductions in the proportion of acute fractures in those areas on the field.

The Impact of the Helmet-Lowering Rule on Regular Season NFL Injuries

Objectives: The National Football League (NFL) has been under growing scrutiny from the public due to the apparent rise in concussions and head injuries and the subsequent deleterious effects. In efforts to address these concerns, the NFL implemented a new “Helmet-lowering” rule prior to the 2018-2019 season. This rule is defined as “a foul if a player lowers his head to initiate and make contact with his helmet against an opponent.” The purpose of this paper was to compare incidence of injuries in NFL players prior to and after implementation of this new rule. Methods: NFL injury data was retrospectively reviewed from public league records for all players in regular season games played from the 2017 and 2018 NFL seasons. An injury was defined as any player listed on a team’s injury report that was not previously documented on the team’s report one week preceding the index injury. Injury rates were reported as the number of injuries per 1000 athletic exposures (AE’s). Athletic exposures were defined as equal to the sum of the total number of NFL regular-season games played. Relative risk (with 95% CI) was calculated by using the number of injuries per 1000 athletic exposures for the season before and after the new rule implementation. Risk reduction was then calculated for the overall injuries, upper/lower extremity and head injuries. Results: Over the 2 seasons there were a total of 2,774 injuries identified. After rule implementation at the beginning of the 2018 season, there was an overall relative risk (RR) of 0.91 for injury (95% CI 0.88 to 0.95, p<0.0001), with an injury risk reduction of 8.73%. Upper extremity injuries had a RR of 0.76 (95% CI 0.65 to 0.87, p=0.0005) and a risk reduction of 24.10%. Lower extremity injuries had a RR of 0.91 (95% CI 0.87 to 0.96, p=0.0005) with a risk reduction of 8.63%. In concussions and head injuries there was an overall RR of 0.55 for injury (95% CI 0.44 to 0.69, p<0.0001), with an injury risk reduction of 45.10%. Wide receivers and linebackers were most commonly injured players on offense and defense, respectively. Conclusion: Implementation of the new Helmet-Lowering rule seems to have played a role in significantly decreasing the NFL athlete’s risk of injury across all measures, most notably in concussion and head injuries.