A case of tri-allelic pattern at locus D3S1358 on chromosome 3p21 inherited from paternal grandmother

We are reporting a case of tri-allelic inheritance at locus D3S1358 commonly used for genetic identification in forensic DNA testing. This case was encountered during routine paternity testing using commercial DNA profiling kits. The tri-allelic inheritance identified was probably a result of duplication at this locus, supported by the equal peak intensities and inheritance pattern from grandparent to child.     

A Different Reason for “De-Coasing” Environmental Law and Economics

The so-called Coase Theorem is one of the cornerstones of the Law and Economics approach. This paper investigates whether it is appropriate to apply the Coasean framework in the context of Environmental Law and Economics. Even when transaction costs are zero, it is argued that in the specific case of environmental policy the initial assignment of rights will seriously affect the final allocation of resources. To support this thesis empirical evidence backed up by theoretical explanations are presented. The methodological distinction between negligible, domain and heuristic assumptions and the elaboration of a ‘logical time’ of the Coase Theorem are crucial to understand why eventually the Coase Theorem should not be applied to the realm of environmental law and policy.JEL Classification: D23, K0, K32, Q2     

Rupture of the spleen or splenic vessels (splenic emergency syndrome) in late pregnancy: a report of two autopsy cases

During the years 2004-2006, seven divers, who had deadly accidents, underwent post-mortem examination at the Institute of Legal Medicine of the University of Munich. The cause of death in all divers was drowning with typical pathomorphological findings. This should be regarded as separated to the triggering reason for drowning. The trigger for accident was established in four of seven cases by technical analysis and police investigation. High risk-taking, lack of technical service, and deficiency of dive equipment care were main reasons for death. We present two of these cases which showed several problems occurring concurrently. Autopsy always is necessary to look for indices for application of force or to exclude competitive reasons for death.     

Simpler is better? Analysis of a codesign session with elders

Prototyping plays various roles in software engineering: it can function in an exploratory way in order to gather requirements, or generate an artifact that, through iterative cycles of development, leads to final delivery of the product or system. According to literature (Beaudouin-Lafon, M., and W. Mackay. 2007. “Prototyping Tools and Techniques.” In Human Computer Interaction Handbook: Fundamentals. CRC Press.; Lim, Y. K., E. Stolterman, and J. Tenenberg. 2008. “The anatomy of prototypes: Prototypes as filters, prototypes as manifestations of design ideas.” ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI) 15 (2): 7.), a prototype can be described as an incomplete but flexible communication tool for a design idea, both manifesting and filtering interesting aspects of the original idea. On this basis, we propose a Peircean definition for this tool: a prototype can be considered as a complex set of signs, or better as a text, because each of its features literally “stands for” corresponding features of the final artifact, foreseeing particular aspects or the overall capacity of the outcome. But what happens when stakeholders involved in a project have no or little competence in tools and technologies discussed? Can they correctly interpret a prototype? To answer this question, we propose a Discourse Analysis (Duranti, A. 1997. Linguistic Anthropology. Cambridge, Mass: Cambridge University Press; Potter, J. 2004. “Discourse analysis as a way of analyzing naturally occurring talk.” In Qualitative research: Theory, Method and Practice, edited by D. Silverman, 200–221. SAGE; Schegloff, J. 1989. “Harvey Sacks’ lectures on conversation: an Introduction/memoir.” Human Studies 12: 185–209.) of a co-design session with elders of a daily centre for frail adults in Rome. In this context, we could observe how interactions between the material aspect of the prototype (i.e. the product itself) and its intended meaning (i.e. its significance) can produce distortions, in the form of aberrant interpretations or even a complete lack of comprehension. During this communication breakdown, prototypes lose their connection to the features and behaviors of the product: the relation between representamen and interpretant is lost.     

Signaling in academic ventures: the role of technology transfer offices and university funds

University spinoffs, an important subset of high-tech start-up companies, operate in a context characterized by marked information asymmetries that limit their chances of obtaining financing. Given the uncertainty and imperfect information that characterize these investment opportunities, signals about their potential value deserve further attention. We investigate the relationship between the main stakeholders involved in the process of creating a university spinoff—that is, the academic founders, the university technology-transfer office, and private investors—focusing on the role of public grants as effective signals that attract private venture capital (VC) funding. Using the database of all spinoff companies established to exploit inventions assigned to the University of Michigan from 1999 to 2010, we determine how the funds provided through the university technology-transfer office influence VC follow-on funding and consequent spinoff growth, controlling for the spinoff’s technology, the founders’ human capital, and the network’s resources. The empirical results support a signaling effect of the commercialization funds provided by the university and suggest an indirect impact on the growth of the spinoff’s sales through the mediating effect of VC financing.     

Thermal Modifications of Root Transparency and Implications for Aging: A Pilot Study

Root transparency has proven to be related to age and has been considered by different odontological methods for age estimation. Very little is known concerning possible variations of root transparency with heat, although the applicability of the method to burnt remains depends on the possible modifications of this specific variable. This pilot study presents the results of an experiment performed on 105 teeth obtained from dental patients and autopsy material, heated in an industrial oven at 50°C, 100°C, 150°C and 200°C. Root transparency was measured before and after the charring experiment. The heating process proved to radically modify root transparency, which decreased in 20% of samples at 50°C, in 34.6% at 100°C, in 50% at 150°C, in 77% at 200°C. The overall correlation index (CI) between decrease in root transparency and increase in temperature amounted to 0.96. These results show that heat may modify root transparency and suggest caution in using methods based on root transparency for age estimation.     

A microeconomic model of the demand of civil justice: is one institutional context better than another?

The paper analyzes how institutional elements affect the decision to file of risk neutral agents. In particular, we introduce an objective probability of winning given by the combination of a precedent-weight parameter (defining the type of legal system) and a transparency factor. 603,000 simulated trials, shaped upon our model, reveal two main findings: (1) the transparency level matters in terms of inefficient decisions; (2) a precedent driven system is not necessarily more efficient. Hence, policy makers should invest in increasing the level of information among courts and between courts and the parties both in civil and common law systems.