Single-item predictive validity of the Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START) for violent behaviour in outpatient forensic psychiatry

The single-item predictive validity of the Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START) has not been thoroughly investigated, although this has great clinical relevance for the selection of treatment targets. Furthermore, it remains unclear whether the characteristic START additions of scoring strengths next to vulnerabilities and selecting key items, add incremental predictive validity. Finally, predictive validity has primarily been studied in inpatient settings and included mainly patients with a psychotic disorder. We analysed data from a mixed diagnostic sample of 195 forensic psychiatric outpatients with a 3-month and 170 patients with a 6-month follow-up period, using logistic regression analysis. The occurrence of violent or criminal behaviour was established based on the case manager’s recordings in the patient’s file. Only 5 of the 20 START items were found to have predictive validity: Impulse Control, Attitudes, Material Resources, Rule Adherence and Conduct. The last three were the only items for which incremental predictive validity was found with respect to scoring it as a strength and a vulnerability. Selection of key items did not add to the predictive validity. While possibly having therapeutic significance, the scoring of strength next to vulnerability and the selection of key items, may not be beneficial for risk assessment.     

Identification of a female murder victim found in Burgenland,Austria in 1993

In 1993, the skeletal remains of a female corpse were found in Burgenland, Austria. Initial identification of the approximately 25–35-year-old female appeared impossible, but the case was reopened 23 years later. By applying biogeochemical isotope methods to her body tissues, the geographical origin of the unknown corpse could be predicted. The results of the C, N, S, H, Sr, and Pb isotope analyses suggested that the female did not originate from Europe and most likely spent her youth in the northern Caribbean. Using these findings, the police were able to identify the woman within 2 weeks. The female came from the Dominican Republic and resided in Austria for only a short period before she was murdered. This case shows that isotope biogeochemistry investigations can provide the police with crucial information that enables unknown persons to be identified.

Keypoints

• C-N-S-H and Sr-Pb isotope analyses were applied to human remains associated with a cold case.
• It was possible to determine the region of origin of the unknown deceased individual as the northern Caribbean.
• After 23 years, the murder victim was successfully identified.

     

Transnistria’s Order of Friendship: Legitimacy Through Diplomatic Practice

Abstract

What strategies do de facto states employ in conducting their diplomacy? This article examines Transnistria’s Order of Friendship, a state award that primarily targets foreigners, by analysing the profiles of all known award recipients. The Order is found to be a political tool to enhance Transnistria’s domestic and external legitimacy in the absence of recognised sovereignty. The findings confirm the literature on Transnistria’s ‘bandwagoning’ with Russia, indicate that a patron’s support must be actively sought rather than taken for granted, and—since many awardees are from jurisdictions other than the patron state Russia—point to the need to examine the foreign policy of de facto states more holistically.     

Against the one-way-street: analyzing knowledge transfer from industry to science

Knowledge flows from industry to science have mostly been neglected by empirical studies. This work aims at contributing to this issue by analyzing differences in the factors that influence the probability of knowledge transfer within industry and from industry to science in the biotechnology sector. In order to model these knowledge flows we conduct a citation analysis on the basis of patent data. We then estimate a weighted bivariate probit model on the citation probability of industry and science on the basis of a combined sample of citing and cited patent pairs and an equal number of control patent pairs. The empirical results suggest that there are considerable differences in the citation probability. Cultural closeness for instance has a positive effect on the citation probability from industry to industry while the citation probability of scientific institutions is not affected by cultural distance.     

Judicial Interpretation or Judicial Activism? The Legacy of Rationalism in the Studies of the European Court of Justice

During the last two decades, law as a factor in European integration has attracted great scientific interest. Numerous studies and theoretical analyses have been published that have undertaken the task of examining and explaining the role of law in the progress of integration. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) in particular, as Europe's judiciary body, draws much attention in this context. However, the inflexible, mechanistic and universalistic notion of rationality that these works employ leads to serious misinterpretations and unjustified criticism regarding the role the ECJ takes in the course of integration. Within the frameworks of contemporary approaches, the Court is perceived as just one more political player among other actors and institutions, able to shape the EU in the pursuit of its own rational interests. By outlining the theoretical concept of context rationality, this article shows that the logics of law and judicial lawmaking are based on a non‐trivial and non‐political rationality and cannot be understood appropriately without paying attention to the context of European law.     

Death in a fold-away bed

The term "death in abnormal body position" refers to deaths caused by a position-induced impairment of the vital functions of respiration and circulation. In the described case from the autopsy material of the Berlin Institute of Legal Medicine (CCM), the 82-year-old woman died in a folded up fold-away bed in a fixed head-down position. Death was caused by the combined effect of neck compression, traumatic asphyxia and head-down position.     

Forensic veterinary radiology: ballistic-radiological 3D computertomographic reconstruction of an illegal lynx shooting in Switzerland

The most popular handgun in Brazil is the single round-barrel caliber 0.38 revolver. In recent years, however, owing to the modernization of police arms and their availability on the legal and illicit markets, pistols have become increasingly popular and currently represent about 20% of police seizures. In a previous paper we presented a novel collection method for gunshot residues (GSR) using a sampling procedure based on ethylenediamine-tetraacetic acid (EDTA) solution as a complexing agent on moistened swabs with subsequent detection using sector field-high resolution-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (SF-HR-ICP-MS). In the present paper, we discuss the capability of this methodology to identify antimony (Sb), barium (Ba) and lead (Pb) on the hands of volunteers after shot tests with 9 mm and 0.40 in. caliber pistols. Two types of munitions were tested: 9 mm Taurus and clean range. The use of a technique with high sensitivity, such as SF-HR-ICP-MS, permits the identification of low concentrations (less than 1 microg/L) of metals in firearm residue and constitutes a powerful tool in forensic science. We also discuss the importance of the sampling procedure, including collection from a different body part than the gun hand of the suspect. Comparison of the analytical data obtained allows clear discrimination between samples from the hands of shooters and non-shooters.     

Identification of mammal species using species-specific DNA pyrosequencing

In forensic casework it is highly relevant to be able to deduce the species origin of an unknown biological sample. For such a purpose we have designed and developed an assay for species identification based on DNA sequencing of two short mitochondrial DNA amplicons. In short, partial 12S rRNA and partial 16S rRNA fragments (approximately 100bp) are amplified by PCR followed by direct sequencing using pyrosequencing technique. Due to properties of the chosen targets, the same PCR conditions and primers were used irrespective of the true species of an unknown sample. A total of 28 different mammals present in the European fauna were sequenced both for the partial 12S rRNA and the partial 16S rRNA sequences for accuracy verification. Together the two sequences showed to have a high divergence factor, discriminating almost all mammals. Furthermore, the human reference nucleotide sequences were always at least nine nucleotides different compared to the other sequenced species both at the partial 12S rRNA and the partial 16S rRNA sequences.