The Spanish School of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries: A Precursor of the Theory of Human Rights

In this paper the author examines certain ideas of the Spanish School of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries which directly inspired the School of Hugo Grotius in the seventeenth, thus opening the way towards possible declarations of human rights such as that of United Nations. The line of thought which extends from Francisco de Vitoria (1492/93–1546) to Francisco Suárez (1548–1617) is given the name of the "Spanish natural law and law of nations School."     

An Unusual Case Showing Fatal Rupture of a Gastric Ulcer or Gastromalacia? The Importance/Role of Histology for Differential Diagnosis

Gastromalacia is the acute autolytic erosion of the gastric wall. It generally occurs postmortem, and it appears as a slimy brownish black region of the wall which occurs principally in the gastric fundus. A 59‐year‐old woman died in the Emergency Department following a 2‐day period of mild abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. A forensic autopsy was performed which revealed a rupture of the gastric fundus that had caused leakage of gastric content into the abdominal cavity. There was no macroscopic evidence of peritonitis, and the stomach wall adjacent to the rupture site showed marked thinning. The gross appearance was typical of gastromalacia. In contrast, histological observations revealed the presence of an ulcer at the site of perforation and a severe acute inflammatory reaction indicating a robust reaction with an antemortem rupture.     

Voltammetric analysis of luminescent markers in gunshot residues

Currently, SEM-EDS is used to detect gunshot residue (GSR) from the presence of Ba, Pb, and Sb in the sample. However, the development of new nontoxic ammunition (NTA) has prevented conventional metals from being found. In this work, we aim to determine the presence of an inorganic luminescent chemical marker based on rare earth in gunshot residues using the technique of squarewave voltammetry (SWV). After firing, the luminescent complex [(Eu₂Zr)(btc)₃(Hbtc)_0.5.6H₂O], which is used as a chemical marker, can be detected under a UV lamp. An aqueous solution with 0.1 mol L⁻¹ KCl as supporting electrolyte can be easily collected on carbon paste electrode surfaces for SWV analysis A = 100 mV, f = 10 Hz, and step potential of 5 mV are required. The luminescent marker incorporated into the carbon paste electrode showed two anodic peak currents in the region of 0.4 V (vs Ag/AgCl) and at 0.75 V (vs Ag/AgCl) and also a cathodic one in 0.4 V (vs Ag/AgCl). SEM-EDS was able to analyze the same voltammetric results for conventional and nontoxic ammunition containing the luminescent marker. Therefore, voltammetry and SEM-EDS are valid for detecting the new residue marker in GSR. Despite this, the electrochemical method is still more advantageous because of its low cost and lack of expensive equipment and supplies in forensic laboratories.     

E‐Government Technology Transfer: A Case Study of the Implementation of a European Patent Management System in Brazil

In order to bolster the emerging but still underdeveloped conceptualization of e‐government technology transfer, we examine the implementation of a European Patent Management System in Brazil. The case study provided in this article offers opportunities to improve understanding on technical and organizational issues associated with e‐government technology transfer. Our findings provide evidence that the transfer of e‐government technology from a European to a Brazilian context requires multiple adaptations of the original design, intensive learning on the side of the recipient organization, and flexible implementation plans. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Humanization of Consular Law: The Impact of Advisory Opinion No. 16 (1999) of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on International Case-law and Practice

This paper first introduces the process of the humanizationof international law and then analyses one specific aspect ofthis development: the humanization of consular law, with specialreference to the Advisory Opinion No. 16 (1999) of the Inter-AmericanCourt of Human Rights. The paper focuses on three specific points:(1) Consular Law beyond the purely inter-State outlook; (2)the right to information on consular assistance in the frameworkof the guarantees of the due process of law and (3) the humanizationof Consular Law in contemporary international practice.     

Haplotype frequencies of eight Y-chromosome short tandem repeats loci in four Amerindian populations (state of Hidalgo, Mexico)

Population: Amerindian populations: Huastecos (n=97), Otomies de la Sierra (n=41), Otomies del Valle (n=40), and Tepehuas (n=13).     

Y chromosome haplotypes in Central-South Italy: implication for reference database

One hundred and fifty individuals have been sampled across Central-South Italy and genotyped for Y chromosome STRs by PowerPlex Y system. Comparison with previous Italian databases revealed that majority of Y chromosome variation still need to be sampled. Identification of locus duplications, distribution of genetic variation and firstly identified alleles point to the necessity of more focused sampling strategies for reference databases.     

Using an evolutionary perspective to understand the relationship between physical aggression and academic performance in late adolescents

In this study, we applied an evolutionary perspective to analyze the relationship between aggressiveness, academic performance, and sociality in a population of 528 adolescents of both sexes. In men, we expect physical aggression (PA) and sociality to be negative predictors of academic performance. However, in women, PA would be a negative predictor of academic performance, and sociality a positive one. Our results report a negative association between academic performance and PA in both sexes. As we expected, social effect derived from the use of PA seems to be different for each sex, where men could display a rebellious attitude to increase chances of finding a mate. In contrast, results for women are not conclusive, because no relationship between academic performance and any aggressive mechanism, were predicted by sociality. We conclude that an evolutionary framework, which includes sex-specific hypotheses, is appropriate to obtain a holistic perspective of this phenomenon.     

Impact of aging on fingerprint ridge density: Anthropometry and forensic implications in sex inference

The variation in the epidermal ridge's width between the sexes, during various growth stages, and among different populations has been previously assessed. However, the changes that occur with aging are barely known.The goal of this study was to analyse the degree of variation in epidermal ridge width due to aging. So that, fingerprint ridge density was estimated to establish their relationship with body and hand size changes that typically occur in adulthood.In this study, a sample of 213 adults of both sexes from a Spanish native population of different age ranges—18–30?years old (“junior” group) and 50–66?years old (“senior” group)—was used. Ridge density was assessed in three counting areas of the distal phalanx of each finger (radial, ulnar, and proximal). Height, weight, and a set of anthropometric measurements for both hands were also taken.Our results show that ridge density is higher in females than males throughout adulthood and decreases with aging in the radial and ulnar areas (as the hands widen) but not in the proximal region. Thus, a relationship between hand dimensions and ridge density was found.The data indicate that aging changes may conceal the recognized sex differences in ridge density, and so a better understanding of the topological variations in the epidermal ridge width throughout the life cycle and the factors involved would facilitate the interpretation of the differences between the sexes and different age groups.