Fatal splenic rupture following Heimlich maneuver: case report and literature review

The most effective resuscitative procedure in choking by foreign bodies is the Heimlich maneuver, described for the first time by Henry Heimlich (1974) and recognized by the US Surgeon General (1985) as the "only method that should be used for the treatment of choking from foreign body airway obstruction." If performed correctly, this lifesaving maneuver is associated with rare complications, of which the most frequent are rib fractures and gastric or esophagus perforations. Other rare traumatic injuries such as pneumomediastinum, aortic valve cusp rupture, diaphragmatic herniation, jejunum perforation, hepatic rupture, or mesenteric laceration have been described.However, we are unaware of previous reports of splenic rupture after Heimlich maneuver. We present an interesting case of fatal hemoperitoneum due to a hilar laceration of the spleen following a correctly performed Heimlich maneuver.     

National Support for Film Production in the EU: An Analysis of the Commission Decision‐Making Practice

This article deals with the cultural welfare concerning cinema, a medium capable of both painting and shaping society. It aims to investigate the impact of the European integration on national film promotional law, by studying the European Commission decision‐making practice in the field of State aid to cinematographic works. The analysis shows that this practice can be understood in two main phases that are delineated by the adoption of specific criteria. These criteria are explored by highlighting the most elucidating cases. Furthermore, this analysis discloses two relevant conflicts: within the Commission itself and between the Commission and the Member States. Particular emphasis is placed on the latter, which is explored with regard to: the European national film agencies' polarisation of the conflict, the main form of dispute settlement adopted by the Commission, and the legal obligations imposed by Member States upon TV broadcasters to invest in audiovisual 1 production. The analysis ends with an evaluation of the above‐mentioned impact and a few remarks on some unresolved issues related to the conflict between the Commission and the Member States.     

Old and New Actors in the Italian Drug Trade: Ethnic Succession or Functional Specialization?

The article analyses Italian and foreign organized crime involved in the drug market from two perspectives. The first, called “criminal succession”, assumes that the great presence of foreign criminal groups into this illegal market would represent a menace to the traditional hegemony exercised by Mafia-type associations in Italy. From a different perspective, defined as “functional specialisation”, the involvement of foreign criminal groups in the drug market could also be seen in terms of criminal “labour force” tending to follow the same mechanisms occurring in the general market at large, where immigrants fill low-paying jobs not requested by the local population. Through the analysis of data provided by the Italian Central Antidrug Bureau and recent court records the article tests these two perspectives. In particular, the in-depth analysis of three case studies from northern, central and southern Italy – i.e. Milan, Florence and Naples – has allowed us to identify the main changes that occurred in the drug market since the early 1990s. In effect, in Milan and Florence, we register the emergence of foreign criminal actors in the high- and medium-level positions of the local drug trade, while in Naples, where Camorra clans hold very strong positions, it leaves small areas of autonomy to foreign criminal groups.     

The politics of ownership: Tanzanian coffee policy in the age of liberal reformism

In the last two decades, the twin processes of liberalizationand privatization have facilitated the ‘capturing’of key markets and assets by foreign interests in many Africancountries. This is being increasingly perceived in domesticconstituencies as a loss of national ownership and has promptedattempts by the state to defend the interests of ‘local’firms and businesspeople. These actions have often been portrayedin the literature as manoeuvres that — in the guise ofnationalism — are ultimately characterized by clientelisticand rent-seeking objectives. The analysis of coffee politicsand policy in Tanzania carried out in this article challengesthis interpretation. It shows that practices affecting the perceived(il)legitimacy of ‘foreign’ ownership of assetsand control of markets constitute elements of a ‘politicsof ownership’. This politics, although often sportingantiliberal features, does not question the essential natureof market reforms. Rather, it seeks to undermine the dominationof ‘foreign’ interests in key industries throughthe redefinition of the parameters of competition to the advantageof local actors.     

How to lose a majority: The competition in single-member districts

Few observers expected that the 1966 elections in Italy would yield a clear-cut outcome. Even fewer people expected that, after the disastrous results of the previous elections, the centre-left coalition would be able to gain a majority of seats in both branches of Parliament. Yet this is precisely what happened on 21 April 1996. This article tries to explain the comeback of the 1994 losers by focusing on three factors which have changed the electoral balance between the two major coalitions in the single-member districts. The first factor was the ability of the centre-left coalition (Ulivo-RC) to broaden its range while its major rival (the Polo) lost key allies. The result has been a more competitive stand of centre-left candidates, particularly in the North. The Polo lost the support of the Lega Nord and suffered the split of the Movimento Sociale on its right. These defections, along with others, led to the loss of a considerable number of seats. Finally, the Polo also suffered from the defection of a considerable number of its voters who voted for one of the parties of the centre-right coalition in the proportional arena, but refused to vote for the Polo candidate in the single-member districts. We conclude by suggesting a number of hypotheses that could explain this split-ticket phenomenon.     

Entrepreneurial finance and technology transfer

Scholars in technology transfer come from a variety of different backgrounds and employ different theoretical and methodological assumptions. Such multidisciplinary approach has fertilized the evolution of a florid technology transfer literature, with insights from entrepreneurship, economics, and management. This paper brings the perspective of entrepreneurial finance into the realm of technology transfer, and identifies emerging topics that can complement our understanding of some aspects of technology transfer, especially with regard to supply-side public policies. This article introduces the rationale for the special issue dedicated to entrepreneurial finance and technology transfer. We summarize the main topics and themes covered by a selection of papers presented at the annual conference of the Technology Transfer Society in 2013, and suggest areas for future research.     

Sex Assessment from the Sacral Base by Means of Image Processing

Abstract:  To help improve sex assessment from skeletal remains, the present study considers the diagnostic value of the sacral base (basis osseus sacri) based on its planar image and related metric data. For this purpose, 114 adult sacra of known sex and age from two early 20th century Italian populations were examined, the first from Bologna, northern Italy ( n  = 76), and the second from Sassari, Sardinia ( n  = 38). Digital photos of the sacral base were taken with each bone in a standardized orientation. Technical drawing software was used to trace its profile and to measure related dimensions (area, perimeter, and breadth of S1 and total breadth of the sacrum). The measurements were subjected to discriminant and classification function analyses. The sex prediction success of 93.2% for the Bolognese sample, 81.6% for the Sassarese sample, and 88.3% for the pooled sample indicates that the first sacral vertebra is a good character for sex determination.     

The Potential of X‐Ray Diffraction in the Analysis of Burned Remains from Forensic Contexts*

Abstract: In view of the difficulties in extracting quantitative information from burned bone, we suggest a new and accurate method of determining the temperature and duration of burning of human remains in forensic contexts. Application of the powder X‐ray diffraction approach to a sample of human bone and teeth allowed their microstructural behavior, as a function of temperature (200–1000°C) and duration of burning (0, 18, 36, and 60 min), to be predicted. The experimental results from the 57 human bone sections and 12 molar teeth determined that the growth of hydroxylapatite crystallites is a direct and predictable function of the applied temperature, which follows a nonlinear logistic relationship. This will allow the forensic investigator to acquire useful information about the equilibrium temperature brought about by the burning process and to suggest a reasonable duration of fire exposure.     

Feeling so Hood. Rap,lifestyles and the neighbourhood imaginary in Tunisia

The article examines the role of rap in reimagining the social structure in Tunisia after its 2010/2011 revolution. Before the revolution, the Ben Ali regime imposed a narrative of Tunisian society as mainly middle class; beneath this narrative, the Tunisian folklore hosted multiple markers of social distinction that classified people through their perceived lifestyles: residence, language habits, consumption patterns, religious attitudes. Disadvantaged neighbourhoods were obliterated by the official narrative and condemned to social spite by the unofficial ones. After the revolution, the success of rap came to ‘represent’ those quarters and the youth that inhabited them: rappers sang the hoods by criticizing their hard conditions and, at the same time, glorifying the hoods themselves. The vagueness of the social narratives in the country allowed rap musicians to manipulate both the image of the poor neighbourhoods and the idioms of social difference circulating in Tunisia: through this manipulation, they provided a new dignity to the most marginalized sectors of Tunisian society. At the same time, by representing the hoods, rappers could claim social capital and credibility as the ‘true’ narrators of the new Tunisia. But the reimagination of social narratives was not enough to improve the life conditions of dispossessed youth.     

The Red Swamp Crayfish Procambarus Clarkii (the Louisiana Crayfish) as a Particular Scavenger on a Human Corpse

An 85-year-old man was found deceased floating in an irrigation ditch 18 days after his disappearance. During crime scene investigation, specimens of the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii were found in proximity of the body. The feeding activity of these nonendemic crayfishes contributed to the formation of specific injuries on the body and in the production of a large substance defects inside the corpse. The aim of this paper was to illustrate the scavenging activity of P. clarkii on a human body and highlight the potential postmortem artefacts caused by this species. This is the first report on a real case of postmortem injuries produced by P. clarkii crayfishes on a submerged human body. So far, crustaceans are not considered useful for the estimation of the minimum postmortem interval. However, the important modifications on the corpses deriving from the activity of these animals should be kept in consideration.