Fake & original: the case of Japanese food in Southeast Asian countries

This paper seeks to answer two main questions: whether restaurants using a national brand to capture customers in fact use original national ingredients for producing food and, in cases where original ingredients are not used, what is the economic rationale behind this choice? Specifically, the study focuses on Japanese restaurants in three Southeast Asian countries, using a theoretical model and an empirical investigation based on interviews and survey data collected through field research. Considering restaurants, their suppliers, and their customers, we show how a dual asymmetric-information problem exists, between suppliers and restaurants and between restaurants and their customers. The results indicate that a first reason for buying non-original ingredients—important especially for cheaper restaurants—is a desire to reduce costs. That said, the use of non-original ingredients occurs among all types of Japanese restaurants in the three studied countries. It does not depend on the presence of a Japanese chef or owner, nor on the share of Japanese customers. By contrast it does significantly depend on the reliability of the wholesale channel, and the resultant difficulties that restaurants encounter when buying original ingredients.

     

Fatal hemorrhage from a periumbilical wound: Stabbing or hemorrhage from a caput medusae?

Varices are the main clinical manifestation of portal hypertension, and their bleeding is the predominant cause of mortality from this condition. Periumbilical varices are known as “caput medusae.” Reports of their bleeding are rare, with only three fatal cases described in the literature. The antemortem diagnosis is relatively simple, while the postmortem diagnosis is more complex. This paper is the first report of fatal hemorrhage from a caput medusae for which the diagnosis was made postmortem, thanks to a complete diagnostic process including scene and circumstances, medical history, and autopsy with detailed histology. The circumstantial analysis showed the presence of a large amount of blood at the scene, blood which originated from a small abdominal wound; an analysis of the subject's clinical data reported that he was affected by portal hypertension. The autopsy revealed some dilated and convoluted veins in the subcutaneous tissue of the umbilical region; a fistula between these veins and the abdominal wound was detected. The histological study confirmed the presence of periumbilical varices, one of them ruptured and connected with the overlying skin. The cause of death was attributed to a massive hemorrhage generated by a periumbilical varix in a patient affected by portal hypertension.     

Context Matters: Reactive and Proactive Bystander Action to Prevent Sexual and Dating Violence in High Schools

ABSTRACT

Given high rates of relationship violence among adolescents, there is a need to understand variables that influence adolescents’ helping behaviors to reduce risk for dating and sexual violence (reactive) and promote prevention before violence happens or risk factors are evident (proactive). The current paper examined individual and school variables related to greater actionism in a large sample of high school students. Baseline, cross-sectional data used in the current analyses were gathered before intervention as part of a prevention program evaluation across 25 high schools in New England from students in grades 9–12 (N= 3,404). Students who self-reported a greater number of proactive actions taken were students who identified as sexual minorities, had a history of victimization, and were in schools with supportive peer norms. The current findings suggest a model for prevention that might include training individuals and attending to school level variables.     

Self‐Strangulation Through A Sphygmomanometer: An Uncommon Suicide

Suicide by asphyxia is quite a common event in forensic practice and may be implemented in different ways. The authors report a unique case of a 16‐year‐old youth who committed suicide by means of a standard mercury sphygmomanometer. This manner of suicide has never been described in the literature reviewed. A complete forensic investigation led to the conclusion that the cause of death was mechanical asphyxia, ascribed to self‐strangulation by means of an atypical item. The victim suffered from attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) syndrome and was assisted by support teachers. He had a solitary and depressive personality. The exceptional nature of this case suggests that sphygmomanometers may be regarded as possible means of self‐strangulation. The case also highlights the importance of managing patients with psychiatric or cognitive disorders; indeed, particular caution is required to keep them away from objects that, although apparently harmless, can become lethal.     

Metaphorical Use of Algorithm in Legal Reasoning

The current use of big data in the legal framework suggests the idea of algorithm as a new topos of the legal rhetoric. Indeed, in addition to the “rhetoric of algorithm”, an “algorithm of rhetoric” may also exist, in strict connection with an anthropological structure. Even leaving aside its epistemic value, the algorithm is in fact always experienced by the jurist through a metaphorical process, in a very similar way, for instance, to the metaphorical use of graphs in economics (McCloskey). That said, the reasoning about big data is metaphorical as well, and this allows us to believe that there is still a role for pathos and ethos within the legal reasoning. Moreover, and most importantly, the ideal to which the data-based knowledge (the so called dataism) aims—that is, the pretension of being able to map all that there is to know—is metaphorical, too. In this paper I will discuss algorithms and big data in the guise of new topoi. The aim of this paper is therefore to imagine a philosophical-juridical semiotic by means of which it is possible to highlight the persistent difference between reasonableness and reason in the judge’s work. Vis-à-vis algorithms and big data, as well as the rules of law, the judge does not act as bouche de la loi, but rather practices a reason which is irreducibly rhetoric and related to the humanities.

     

Performance-Related Payments in Local Governments: Do They Improve Performance or Only Increase Salary?

Personnel policies in public sector organizations are fundamental to improving public services, since they have an impact on both individual and organizational performance. Within the broad area of Human Resources Management (HRM), Performance-Related Pay Systems (PRPSs) are widely considered one of the cornerstones of public sector managerial reforms. Monetary incentives should be paid for performance achievements of single employees and/or teams, according to a defined set of objectives. While the role and appropriateness of PRPSs in the public sector have been widely discussed in the literature, in some countries monetary incentives have been used as a tool to increase individual salaries, without considering them as a motivating instrument in a wider HRM system. A small number of studies have been conducted to understand the limitations of this form of incentives and to investigate whether it can be replaced by different and more effective incentives in order to avoid the de-motivating effect caused by money, as recognized in the literature. This study tries to fill this gap investigating, through twenty-five interviews to informed respondents the effectiveness of existing PRPSs at Local government level in Italy both in terms of performance and motivation and the possibility to substitute monetary with non-monetary incentives. The findings suggest that the limitations of monetary incentives have been widely recognized, but it is still difficult to replace them with different and more effective alternatives.