Non-metric data: a note on a neglected problem in DEA studies

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is widely used to compare the empirical performance of public institutions such as law enforcement agencies, judicial authorities or national health care systems. Many DEA analysts, however, ignore the fact that DEA efficiency values are non-metric. They consequently do not hesitate to compute (arithmetic) means. They do not hesitate either to treat DEA values as metric data in econometric analyses. Instead of providing useful insights into the performance of public bodies, the confusion of non-metric data with metric data constitutes a lack of internal validity that may cause serious fallacies. Against this background, we believe that a clear warning against an uncritical processing and interpretation of DEA values is pertinent and should be routinely considered by efficiency analysts as well as referees of efficiency papers.     

Mole gun--an unusual firearm, a case note

There are different kinds of types of firearms used worldwide and of different origin. This case note evaluates the mole gun, which cannot be found in the literature. This simple gun, which is usually used in the fields against moles, was used in an apartment as a trap against burglars. This instrument manufactured to be used as a trap against detrimental animals, and not to be used as a firearm, can create dangerous situations, if used for different purposes.     

Tissue distribution of olanzapine in a postmortem case

Olanzapine is a relatively new antipsychotic drug used in the United States for the treatment of schizophrenia. Since its release in the United States market in 1996, few cases of fatal acute intoxication have been reported in the literature. This article describes the case of a 25-year-old man found dead at home who had been prescribed olanzapine for schizophrenia. This case is unique because of the measurement of olanzapine in brain tissue obtained from seven regions in addition to the commonly collected biologic matrices. Olanzapine was detected and quantitated by basic liquid-liquid extraction followed by dual-column gas chromatographic analysis with nitrogen phosphorus detection. The assay had a limit of detection of 0.05 mg/L and an upper limit of linearity of 2 mg/L. The presence of olanzapine was confirmed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry by use of electron impact ionization. The concentrations of olanzapine measured in this case were as follows (mg/L or mg/kg): 0.40 (heart blood), 0.27 (carotid blood), 0.35 (urine), 0.61 (liver), negative (cerebrospinal fluid), 0.33 mg in 50 ml (gastric contents). In the brain, the following distribution of olanzapine was determined (mg/kg): negative (cerebellum), 0.22 (hippocampus), 0.86 (midbrain), 0.16 (amygdala), 0.39 (caudate/putamen), 0.17 (left frontal cortex), and 0.37 (right frontal cortex). The cause of death was determined to be acute intoxication by olanzapine, and the manner of death was accidental.     

A note on reverse auctions

Reverse auctions are a new type of auction which has recently spread over the internet to sell a large variety of goods, from electronics to airline tickets. The objective of this note is to illustrate how a reverse auction works, compare it to the other existing auctions and discuss the legal issues that may arise.     

Gun violence and police problem solving: A research note examining alternative data sources

This article uses gun seizure data from the gun lab of the St. Louis Police Department to examine a problem-solving approach to seizing illegal firearms. Further, it explores narrative data from the police reports to understand the context surrounding 113 firearms seizure. The most important findings are that most illegal firearms are seized by the police department in the course of routine patrol, and that many seemingly nonviolent technical law violations (e.g., the unlawful carrying, use, or concealment of a firearm) often occur under violent circumstances. Given the paucity of gun research, future studies should use multiple data sources to further explain the gun/crime relationship. These findings are discussed in the context of routine policing.     

A note on burdens of proof in civil litigation

It has been widely believed that who bears the burden of proof significantly affects the incentives of the legal parties. In particular, Hay and Spier (J Legal Stud 26:413–431, 1997) argues that if legal parties have a commonly accessible body of evidence (perfectly correlated pieces of evidence), the party who bears the burden of proof will present the evidence if and only if the evidence supports his position, while the other party (without the burden) will refrain from presenting it regardless of whether the evidence supports his position. In this paper, I claim that the result will be dramatically changed if the pieces of evidence that each party possesses are not perfectly correlated. I show that each party will present the evidence that supports his position whenever available, regardless of the burden of proof assignment. This implies that allocating the burden of proof does not matter in terms of information elicitation.     

Tissue distribution of mirtazapine and desmethylmirtazapine in a case of mirtazapine poisoning

An ingestion of an unknown quantity of mirtazapine in a suicide attempt leading to death is described. Sertraline and amitriptyline have been co-ingested. Because mirtazapine is reported to be relatively safe in overdose, body fluids and tissues were investigated for both mirtazapine and desmethylmirtazapine by high-pressure liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry following liquid-liquid extraction. The limit of detection was sufficiently low to also apply the assay in pharmacokinetic studies. The levels of amitriptyline and nortriptyline were very low (38 and 19 ng/mL femoral venous blood) and the amount of sertraline in blood taken from the femoral vein (880 ng/mL) was considerably lower than those seen in overdosage. Accumulation of mirtazapine and N-desmethylmirtazapine was evident in fluids and tissues involved in enterohepatic circulation and excretion. The concentration determined in a brain sample suggests a contribution of the metabolite to the drug's pharmacodynamic activity. Based on literature data, significant adverse or synergistic effects among the drugs detected as well as adverse reactions such as a serotonin reaction appeared less probable. Mirtazapine exhibits alpha(1)-antagonistic properties on the cardiac-vascular system and may cause hyponatraemia. In the face of the cardiac findings at autopsy and the lack of an apparent cause of death, these effects of mirtazapine may have initiated a process leading to death.     

A note on the timing of investments in litigation contests

Allowing the plaintiff and defendant to choose the order in which they invest effort into trial, we show that the timing of litigation efforts is critically dependent on the level of defendant fault. For a high (low) level of defendant fault, the plaintiff invests after (before) the defendant’s investment choice. The equilibrium order of litigation efforts in turn is decisive for (a) the level of total litigation effort, (b) justice achieved by the litigation contest, and (c) plaintiffs’ incentives to bring suit. As a result, the endogenous timing bears vital implications for policy makers.     

A note on the status of discretion in police research

“Discretion” holds an unrivaled position at the core of the notional inventory employed in the study of criminal justice generally and policing particularly. Efforts to systematically define the term have been irregular and its status in the empirical literature is an ambiguous one. While spoken of as a quantitative aspect of the policing which influences behavior, measurement is rarely addressed. After sketching problems in present formulations, discretion is recast in terms of perceived job autonomy and an outline of two general constructs is contributed in hopes of renewing consideration of the potential relevance of the concept for police theory and research.     

Volunteers in probation: A research note on evaluation

Despite the widespread adoption of volunteers in courts, probation, and parole, surprisingly little hard evidence exists demonstrating their effectivenes. Several studies are reviewed and one is reported on here. These studies suggest that volunteers are not effective. The reason for this may be that volunteers compete unsuccessfully with other aspects of clients' environment. Reasons for the adoption of volunteer programs may include selection biases that falsely tend to make volunteers seem effective. Recommendations for definitive study of volunteer programs are made.     

A short note on the identification of mitragynine

The leaves of Mitragyna speciosa are used as a substitute for opium. Criminal penalties for possession of mitragynine in this country are assigned for possession of defined quantities of mitragynine and its identification as Mitragyna speciosa by thin-layer chromatography and gas chromatography.     

Tissue distribution of nitrazepam and 7-aminonitrazepam in a case of nitrazepam intoxication

We report a case of nitrazepam poisoning in which the distribution of nitrazepam and 7-aminonitrazepam was determined in body fluids and tissues. A 52-year-old woman was found dead in a shallow ditch (approximately 5 cm in depth), in the winter. Ambient temperature was 2-8 degrees C. The postmortem interval was estimated to be approximately 1 day and no putrefaction was observed. The cause of death was thought to be drowning due to nitrazepam overdose and cold exposure. Blood concentrations of nitrazepam and 7-aminonitrazepam were very site dependent (0.400-0.973 microg/ml and 0.418-1.82 microg/ml). In addition, the concentration of the same analytes in the bile were 4.08 and 1.67 microg/ml, respectively, and in the urine: 0.580 and 1.09 microg/ml, respectively. A high accumulation of both substances was observed in various types of brain tissue (2.17-6.22 microg/g and 2.49-5.11 microg/g). Only small amounts of nitrazepam and 7-aminonitrazepam were detected in the liver (0.059 and 0.113 microg/g, respectively). Large differences in the observed concentrations of nitrazepam and 7-aminonitrazepam among arterial and venous blood samples were thought to be mainly due to dilution of arterial blood by water entering the circulation through lungs at the time of death. Bacterial metabolism of nitrazepam may also have contributed to the observed differences.