Sexually violent predator laws and the liberal state: an ominous threat to individual liberty

No other country has taken the idea of the liberal state - a government that relies on the rule of law to limit state power and maximize individual liberty - as seriously as the United States. But now many states are manipulating the government's civil commitment authority to indefinitely confine sex offenders who have served their criminal sentences and are entitled to their freedom in the community. This new system of preventive detention masquerading as civil commitment poses an ominous threat to individual liberty and to the continued vitality of the liberal state.     

Spontaneous umbilical cord hematoma: an unusual cause of fetal mortality: a report of 3 cases and review of the literature

Spontaneous hematoma of the umbilical cord represents a rare cause of fetal morbidity and mortality and the outcome is poor in half of the cases. There are many risk factors, such as infections, morphologic anomalies, alterations of the vessel walls, prolapses, twisting and traction of the cord, but in many cases the causes remain unknown. We present 3 cases of umbilical cord hematoma which took place at the end of the pregnancy and were followed by perinatal death of the fetus. In the 3 cases, which were autopsied including macroscopical and histopathologic examination of the placenta and the umbilical cord, a cordonal pathology was present; in all cases, there were alterations of the vascular wall, and in the third case inflammatory vasculopathy was found. In all 3 cases, the cause of death was attributed to acute anoxia due to the cordonal hematoma.     

Intentional Homicide: A Fifteen-Year Study (2000–2014) at the Department of Forensic Medicine,University of Rome “Sapienza”

This study analyzes postmortem records from 260 homicide cases autopsied by the Department of Forensic Medicine in Rome from 2000 to 2014. The victims were mainly males (74%) and young (61% aged from 21 to 50 years). Although the victims were mostly Italians, the number of foreign victims (33%) has increased since 1990, primarily due to immigration. The offenders frequently used firearms (39%), particularly in multiple murders. An increase in blunt (20%) and sharp force (32%) weapons was also seen. The primary crime scene was residential (42%), and the head was the most frequently injured body region. Male victims occurred frequently in the context of organized crime (7.6%). In family or intimate-sexual relationships, women were the majority of victims (8%). Forensic pathologists play an important role during investigation. They should consider all the information available to them, including autopsy information, crime scene information, and crime investigation data.     

Somewhere Between Love and Justice: a Roman Catholic Church in Paris Responds to the European Migration Crisis

The European migration crisis has had a transformative impact on many transit and destination localities in Europe, and in doing so it has mobilised many faith-based communities. This paper analyses the social action of Saint Bernard de La Chapelle, a Roman Catholic parish in northern Paris, which hosts a semi-formal association called Solidarités Saint Bernard (SSB) involved in support and relief activities for indigent migrants in the local area. Based on ethnographic research conducted within the parish and the association, I analyse how the topic of migration has become a point of exchange between the parish community and local civil society, how religious and secular discourses and motivations co-exist within SSB, and how these influences shape SSB’s social action. Through this micro-scale approach, and drawing on Luc Boltanski’s theoretical framework of regimes of action, my aim is to identify conceptual elements to better understand the broad convergence between religion, social action, and migration, and to better understand the relation between charity and justice within faith-based social action in the domain of migration advocacy more specifically.     

Highly efficient and automated extraction of DNA from human remains using a modified EZ1 protocol

Bones and teeth often represent the only sources of DNA available for identifying human remains. DNA in bones and teeth is generally better preserved than that in soft tissues because of the presence of hard connective tissue with a high level of calcium. Because of the extensive mineralisation, the choice of an efficient DNA extraction procedure is important to minimise the sampling of a high level of minerals and to remove polymerase chain reaction (PCR) inhibitors. Some protocols are available for DNA extraction from bones and teeth as part of the Qiagen EZ1 DNA Investigator Kit using the EZ1 Advanced XL automated purification platform. To improve the efficiency of DNA extraction from skeletal remains, the present study focuses on a modification to these already available protocols. In this study, different bones and teeth collected between 1 and 50 years after death were subjected to DNA extraction using the standard EZ1 protocol, a supplementary protocol, and a modified protocol. The modified approach included a decalcification step, whereas the Qiagen protocols worked directly on non-decalcified powder. In all three procedures, 150 mg samples were used for DNA extraction. We evaluated the quantity of DNA recovered from samples, the presence of any PCR inhibitors co-extracted, the level of DNA degradation, the quality of short tandem repeat (STR) profiles, and the reproducibility of the modified procedure. When compared with the other protocols, the modified protocol resulted in the best recovery of DNA that was free of PCR inhibitors. Additionally, the STR profiles were reliable and of high quality. In our opinion, the decalcification step increases DNA recovery by softening tissues, which allows lysis solutions to act more effectively. Furthermore, the use of two lysis solutions and the variation added to the EZ1 purification step allow for DNA recovery with quality and quantity superior to those of the previously available Qiagen-based protocols. These findings may be helpful solutions to the problems commonly encountered when dealing with difficult samples, such as bones and teeth.

Key points

• Bones and teeth often represent the only sources of DNA for identifying human remains.
• The choice of an efficient DNA extraction procedure is important for maximizing DNA recovery and removing PCR inhibitors.
• This study focuses on modifications to the previously available Qiagen-based protocols.
• The modified protocol enabled the best recovery of DNA, and both quality and quantity were superior to those of the previously available Qiagen-based protocols.
• The STR profiles obtained from samples extracted using the modified protocol were reliable and of high quality.

     

Decentralizing Governance within the European Union’s Framework: Evidence from Greece

ABSTRACT

The administrative reform launched in 2010 (“Kallikratis” programme) in Greece stands out as a major decentralization initiative. Notably, amalgamations at the local level were set at the forefront of the reform. This paper aims at shedding light on the issue of decentralizing governance by examining the implications of the “Kallikratis” reform programme on local authorities in terms of their domestic financial mobilization. Drawing empirical evidence from their implementation in European structural programmes, it is argued that the decentralization effort had an asymmetrical impact on local institutions, favouring principally the small-sized local authorities vis-à-vis the bigger in population local bodies.     

Bear attack--A unique fatality in Finland

Fatalities due to animal bites, the vast majority of which are associated with dogs and big cats, are relatively uncommon and rarely described in the literature. Especially rare are fatal bear attacks on humans. We herein present a forensic investigation of a fatal assault, involving numerous bites on a 42-year-old man in Finland by an European brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos).