Skin penetration assessment of less lethal kinetic energy munitions

The development of less-lethal technologies has provided law enforcement personnel with an alternative to lethal force. Although the less lethal projectile was produced to engender non-penetrating wounds, case studies show that there have been a number of reported penetrating injuries ranging from minor to significant in morbidity. The objective of this study was to determine the energy per unit area required to penetrate various regions of the body. Eight unembalmed postmortem human specimens were procured for this testing. Each specimen sustained a maximum of 25 impacts consisting of shots to the anterior and posterior thorax, abdomen, and legs. A 12-gauge, fin-stabilized, rubber rocket round was used as the impactor for all of the conducted tests. The energy density required for 50% risk of penetration varied from 23.99 J/cm2 for the location on the anterior rib (p = 0.000) to 52.74 J/cm2 for the location on the posterior rib (p = 0.001).     

Individual Conceptions of Justice and Their Potential for Explaining Proenvironmental Decision Making

In Germany, community-based climate-protective decisions were measured on micro up to macro levels, and the role justice appraisals play in decision-making was investigated in comparison to responsibility-related and self-centered motives. Results reveal that in the field of carbon dioxide emission, gaps between those who are gaining profits and those who have to suffer from negative side effects are recognized by the community on a national as well as an international level. For gaining behavioral impact, the perception of these gaps needs to be regarded under a moral perspective and considered unjust. These justice appraisals are shown to be stable predictors of climate-protective commitments, even when powerful responsibility-related variables were included in the regression analyses. Self-centered motives proved to be of minor importance.     

Fair Trial Rights and the European Community's Fight Against Fraud

The article surveys action taken by the European Community to combat fraud affecting its financial interests, focusing on the development of investigative authority granted to OLAF, the European‘Office Pour La Lutte Anti Fraude’ and its impact on the procedural rights of the alleged defrauder. It shows that the involvement of OLAF can be crucial for a national fraud investigation and subsequent criminal prosecution and that it meets the criteria set out by the Strasbourg organs for the applicability of Article 6 ECH. The article explores whether the legal sources governing the activities of OLAF or national—or rather, Community—law guarantee sufficient protection for the alleged defrauder and thus pay respect to principles arising from the rule of law in law enforcement. It is shown that general principles of Community law, which were mostly established in antitrust law, may provide a certain protection for the suspect, but may not protect him in all regards. It is thus argued that, in the long run, it will be necessary to provide special fair‐trial rights which offer protection to alleged defrauders from those infringements arising out of the specific features of a Community investigation.     

Comparison of computed radiography and multi-detector computed tomography in the detection of post mortem metacarpal index

This paper presents a disposable biosensor to detect serum alcohol concentration. The proposed biosensor is fabricated using the cross-linking method to immobilize Alcohol Dehydrogenase (ADH) and Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NAD(+)) on the screen-printed electrode modified with Meldola's Blue (MB) absorbed on Nafion. It is based on the electrocatalytic properties of MB as an electron transfer mediator, which can catalyze the oxidation of NADH to NAD(+) at a low oxidizing potential, thus avoiding interferences due to the presence of oxidizable substances in the real serum samples. The biosensor response for alcohol is investigated in terms of pH, buffer solution, temperature and some interferents. It presents the good specificity, reproducibility, stability, accuracy and provides a fast response. The biosensor has been satisfactorily used for the measurement of serum alcohol.