Shot Through the Heart—Firepower and Potential Lethality of Air Weapons

Although certain air weapons attain muzzle velocities comparable to some firearms, their successful use for committing suicide is rarely seen. Herein, we report a case of a young female died shortly after urgent admission to the hospital with penetrating gunshot wound to the chest. The autopsy revealed perforation of the pericardium and two perforative defects to the right heart ventricle. Injury was inflicted by a 0.177 caliber pellet, fired from an air rifle found near her body. Investigation ruled the death as suicide. The used air rifle fired the pellet with the energy density of 1.9 J/mm², substantially above the threshold for inflicting injury. The pellet penetrated through two layers of cotton fabric and several layers of tissue to inflict fatal injury to the heart. In addition, we provide an insight into the wounding potential of air weapons, which illustrates the need for greater caution in handling those devices.     

The Effect of Administrative Burden on Bureaucratic Perception of Policies: Evidence from Election Administration

This article argues that administrative burden—that is, an individual's experience of policy implementation as onerous—is an important consideration for administrators and influences their views on policy and governance options. The authors test this proposition in the policy area of election administration using a mixed‐method assessment of local election officials. They find that the perceived administrative burden of policies is associated with a preference to shift responsibilities to others, perceptions of greater flaws and lesser merit in policies that have created the burden (to the point that such judgments are demonstrably wrong), and opposition to related policy innovations.     

An unusual suicide case by combination of choking and hanging

ABSTRACT: A 40-year-old man was found dead in his prison cell, hanging on a twisted bandage tightened around his neck. His permanent metal tracheostomy tube was completely corked with a piece of paper wrapped with transparent cellophane from a cigarette case. After police investigation and complete autopsy, suicide was determined as the manner of death. Although suicides by 1 form of asphyxia are relatively common, combination of several different forms of asphyxia is far less frequent. We present this unusual and very rare case of suicide by combination of 2 forms of asphyxia, that is, choking and hanging, along with autopsy findings and discussion.     

SOCIAL PROGRAM INNOVATION AND DISSEMINATION: A STUDY OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE PROCESSES

The dissemination of social program innovations that have been demonstrated to be effective through rigorous evaluation is an important issue. The classical dissemination framework emphasizes the position that programs implemented with fidelity to the original model are most likely to produce the positive outcomes demonstrated in the model's evaluation phase. However, critics suggest that local programs that are extensively modified are more likely to meet local goals and, therefore, are more likely to be sustained within the organization. The present research examined the implementation, effectiveness, and routinization of seven innovations replicated in a nationwide sample of organizations. The innovations were diverse in both content and implementing context and were located in a variety of sites, including schools, courts, prisons, police departments, and social service agencies. The results suggest that the innovations were replicated with acceptable levels of fidelity to the disseminated program models, and that higher-fidelity implementations tended to be more effective than those implemented with lower fidelity. The implications of the findings for social program dissemination policy are discussed and the authors propose an expansion of Berman's contingency model of innovation dissemination.     

Vertrag über Stabilit?t, Koordinierung und Steuerung in der WWU und Europ?ischer Stabilit?tsmechanismus

Anfang Februar 2012 unterzeichneten die 17 Euro-Staaten den Vertrag über die Einrichtung eines permanenten Europ?ischen Stabilit?tsmechanismus ("ESM-Vertrag"). Einen Monat sp?ter wurde von 25 der 27 EU-Mitgliedstaaten der Vertrag über Stabilit?t, Koordinierung und Steuerung in der Wirtschafts- und W?hrungsunion ("VSKS") zum Abschluss gebracht. Beide Vertr?ge sind Teil des Krisenbew?ltigungsprogramms in der Union, stehen aber au?erhalb des EU-Vertragswerks. Aufgrund der Ausgestaltung als rein zwischenstaatliche Vereinbarungen werfen die beiden Vertr?ge hinsichtlich ihres Verh?ltnisses zu und ihrer Vereinbarkeit mit dem Recht der Europ?ischen Union einige interessante Fragen auf, die der vorliegende Beitrag n?her untersuchen will.