Cigarette burns in forensic medicine

Skin lesions suspected to have been caused by a burning cigarette require thorough diagnostic evaluation as to the mode of infliction. Accidental cigarette burns must be differentiated from injuries due to self-infliction or maltreatment. The typical categories are presented on the basis of the literature and exemplary cases from the authors' own study material. An intentional infliction must be taken into consideration when a body region is involved which does not normally come into contact with a cigarette by chance. Full thickness burns from glowing cigarettes require an exposure time of more than 1s. One should also keep in mind the possibility of confusion with local skin infections or thermal effects by traditional medical practices (e.g. moxibustion). In unclear cases, repeated inspection of the lesion is recommended in order to facilitate its classification as to causation and age. The courses of healing in first- to third-degree cigarette burns are demonstrated by means of continuous photographic documentation. The discussion deals with different kinds of accidental and intentional cigarette burns, e.g. in drug addicts, psychiatric patients, victims of child abuse, maltreatment and torture, but also in persons feigning a criminal offence.     

Mehrere Erfüllungsorte beim forum solutionis: Plädoyer für eine subsidiäre Zuständigkeit am Sitz des vertragscharakteristisch Leistenden

In der Rs Color Drack/Lexx hatte sich der EuGH erstmals seit Inkrafttreten der EuGVVO mit der Frage von mehreren Erfüllungsorten im Zusammenhang mit der besonderen Zust?ndigkeit des Art 5 Z 1 EuGVVO auseinanderzusetzen. Die Besonderheit des Sachverhalts lag ua darin, dass die in Betracht kommenden Erfüllungsorte alle in ein und demselben Mitgliedstaat gelegen waren. Der EuGH entschied sich für ein "Zwei-Ebenen-Modell" mit der prim?ren Ma?geblichkeit des nach wirtschaftlichen Kriterien zu bestimmenden Hauptlieferungsortes und einer subsidi?ren Wahlm?glichkeit für den Kl?ger. Der Beitrag analysiert die L?sungsvariante des EuGH und untersucht, ob die zugrunde liegenden L?sungskriterien auch auf Sachverhalte mit mehreren Erfüllungsorten in verschiedenen Mitgliedstaaten umgelegt werden k?nnen.     

A Robust Approach to Automatically Locating Grooves in 3D Bullet Land Scans

Land engraved areas (LEAs) provide evidence to address the same source–different source problem in forensic firearms examination. Collecting 3D images of bullet LEAs requires capturing portions of the neighboring groove engraved areas (GEAs). Analyzing LEA and GEA data separately is imperative to accuracy in automated comparison methods such as the one developed by Hare et al. (Ann Appl Stat 2017;11, 2332). Existing standard statistical modeling techniques often fail to adequately separate LEA and GEA data due to the atypical structure of 3D bullet data. We developed a method for automated removal of GEA data based on robust locally weighted regression (LOESS). This automated method was tested on high-resolution 3D scans of LEAs from two bullet test sets with a total of 622 LEA scans. Our robust LOESS method outperforms a previously proposed “rollapply” method. We conclude that our method is a major improvement upon rollapply, but that further validation needs to be conducted before the method can be applied in a fully automated fashion.     

Attracting future civil servants with public values? An experimental study on employer branding

Abstract

A frequently cited recommendation of public service motivation (PSM) research is to use PSM in the context of HR marketing. However, empirical evidence demonstrating the usefulness of addressing PSM in the recruitment process is limited. Moreover, we know little about the relative importance of PSM for public employers’ attractiveness. We address this gap using an experimental research design to investigate whether public service motivated individuals differ from extrinsically motivated individuals in terms of their attraction to organizations that emphasize either “traditional” public or private values in their employer branding. Our findings indicate that public service motivated individuals are attracted neither to public nor to private values in employer branding. Furthermore, individuals with very high levels of extrinsic motivation are more attracted to private values employer branding than to public values employer branding and to the control group.     

“The world would just fall apart if there’s no respect at all”: children’s understandings of respect for diversity in a post-conflict society

The term ‘respect for diversity’ has gained prominence in many policy and curricular developments aimed at promoting reconciliation and pluralism. To explore the understandings of ‘respect for diversity’ held by children in a society that has both emerged from conflict and is increasingly multicultural, 15 group interviews were conducted with 7–11-year-old children in Northern Ireland. The behavioural aspects of respect for diversity articulated by the children were identified as: attention; offering time; equality of treatment; and acts of solidarity. Affective motivations for these actions were empathy and the pursuit of friendship; cognitive motivations were: a moral norm of inclusion; curiosity; internalised human rights principles; and egalitarianism (a belief that all persons are equal in fundamental worth or value). Findings are discussed in relation to theories of children’s prejudice development and moral development, and implications for the teaching and promotion of respect for diversity as part of peace education programmes are considered.