Impact of takeovers on profitability of target companies: Evidence from Croatian companies

It is possible to find scientific confirmation of positive, negative or neutral influence of takeovers on company's profitability. Therefore, this study aimed to highlight the sensitivity of research results on manipulation in terms of used methodology and indicators. Using t-test for paired samples and five selected profitability indicators for target and peer companies, it has been proven that it is possible to obtain significantly different results even when using the same sample and the same reference period. The research has been performed on the sample of Croatian companies, which were taken over in the period from year 2003–2008.     

Traumatic testicular displacement in motorcycle drivers

Testicular displacement is a rare clinical presentation of blunt scrotal injury that may take place in road traffic accidents involving motorcycle occupants. We are presenting two cases of motorcycle occupant fatalities, 21 and 24 years of age, where testicular displacement and other signs of groin trauma have been determined. In both cases, discrete external signs of scrotal trauma were noted on examination, while unilateral and bilateral traumatic testicular displacement, respectively, have been documented at autopsy. For motorcycle occupants involved in collision, it is necessary to perform a thorough analysis of injuries, in particular to look for specific trauma arising from fuel-tank impact to genitalia and/or groin. These injuries are of great medico-legal importance both at postmortem and in clinical cases involving motorcycle occupants involved in collision.     

Positive identification by a skull with multiple epigenetic traits and abnormal structure of the neurocranium, viscerocranium, and the skeleton

Wormian bones are small ossicles appearing within the cranial sutures in more than 40% of skulls, most commonly at the lambdoid suture and pterion. During the skeletal analysis of an unidentified male war victim, we observed multiple wormian bones and a patent metopic suture. Additionally, the right elbow was deformed, probably as a consequence of an old trauma. The skull was analyzed by cranial measurements and computerized tomography, revealing the presence of cranial deformities including hyperbrachicrania, localized reduction in hemispheral widths, increased cranial capacity, and sclerosis of the viscerocranium. Besides unique anatomical features and their anthropological value, such skeletal abnormalities also have a forensic value as the evidence to support the final identification of the victim.     

Changes in the relative importance of dynamic risk factors for recidivism during adolescence

This study examined which dynamic risk factors for recidivism play an important role during adolescence. The sample consisted of 13,613 American juveniles who had committed a criminal offense. The results showed that the importance of almost all dynamic risk factors, both in the social environment domain (school, family, relationships) and in the individual domain (attitude, skills, aggressiveness), decreased as juveniles grew older. Therefore, the potential effect of an intervention aimed at these factors will also decrease as juveniles grow older. The relative importance of the risk factors also changed: In early adolescence, risk factors in the family domain showed the strongest association with recidivism, whereas in late adolescence risk factors in the attitude, relationships, and school domain were more strongly related to recidivism. These results suggest that the focus of an intervention needs to be attuned to the age of the juvenile to achieve the maximum potential effect on recidivism.     

Unnatural and Violent Death in Cases with High Blood Alcohol Concentration— Autopsy Study

The use of alcohol increases the risk of dying from unnatural or violent causes. The presented study explored the distribution of age, gender, cause, and circumstances of death in persons who died in an unnatural and violent manner, with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) higher than 0.3 g/dL, and where the cause of death was not alcohol intoxication. We defined the control (0 < BAC < 0.3 g/dL) and study (BAC ≥ 0.3 g/dL) groups, as in subjects with these concentrations, there is a significant risk of gross intoxication, stupor, and death. The subjects from the study group were older, with no difference in gender distribution. Traffic accidents were the most common fatal event in both groups, followed by suicides. Other accidents (choking on food and exposure to fire) were more frequent in the study group. Compared to the control group, subjects from the study group were older persons whose deaths were mainly accidental.     

A Genetic Basis of Economic Egalitarianism

Studies of political attitudes and ideologies have sought to explain their origin. They have been assumed to be a result of political values ingrained during the process of socialization until early adulthood, as well as personal political experience, party affiliation, social strata, etc. As a consequence of these environment-dominated explanations, most biology-based accounts of political preference have never been considered. However, in the light of evidence accumulated in recent years, the view that political attitudes are detached from any physical properties became unsustainable. In this paper, we investigate the origins of social justice attitudes, with special focus on economic egalitarianism and its potential genetic basis. We use Minnesota Twin Study data from 2008, collected from samples of monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs (n = 573) in order to estimate the additive genetic, shared environmental, and unique environmental components of social justice attitudes. Our results show that the large portion of the variance in a four-item economic egalitarianism scale can be attributed to genetic factor. At the same time, shared environment, as a socializing factor, has no significant effect. The effect of environment seems to be fully reserved for unique personal experience. Our findings further problematize a long-standing view that social justice attitudes are dominantly determined by socialization.