A Molecular Method to Detect Wound Cells in Bloodstains Resultant of Sharp Force Injuries for Crime Scene Reconstruction

Previous research by the authors on an animal model showed that bloodstains can contain additional information about their somatic origin in the form of wound cells. Bloodstains produced by a gunshot wound to the head were distinguished from bloodstains produced by a gunshot wound to the chest by testing the stains for a brain microRNA marker. In this study, the effectiveness of the technique was examined on blood drops shed externally from a stab wound to the liver of rat carcasses. Specifically, investigations were conducted on the liver microRNA marker, rno‐mir‐122‐3p, with the QIAGEN miScript System, and PCR analysis. Between the two stabbing methods used, 67% of the scalpel blades and 57% of the blood drops tested positive for rno‐mir‐122‐3p; however, other samples tested negative giving inconclusive results as to the wound‐of‐origin. The amount of the liver cells in the bloodstains appeared to be related to the extent of trauma.     

The Impact of Private Precautions on Home Burglary and Robbery in Brazil

Objectives

This study evaluates the effects of precaution technologies (i.e., window bars, extra locks, alarms and electric fences, CCTV, private security, dogs and combinations of these tools) on household burglary and robbery in Brazil.

Methods

Using a sample of 121,042 unique households from the Brazilian National Household Sample Survey for 2009, this study estimates a Recursive Bivariate Probit to obtain the average treatment effect of these precaution technologies in the likelihood of home burglary and robbery victimization.

Results

This study demonstrates that technology does not reduce home burglaries, but certain combinations of technologies may reduce home robberies. The combination of electric fences and alarms with private security reduces the likelihood of home robbery by 9.5 %, and when combined with a dog, these technologies reduce the likelihood of home robbery by 86 %.

Conclusions

No precaution technology is able to prevent crimes when employed independently. Occupancy combined with a set of technologies can reduce the expected victimization in crimes against property.

     

Analysis of the Effect of Cyclophosphamide and Methotrexate on Chrysomya megacephala (Diptera: Calliphoridae),

Forensic entomotoxicology investigates the effects of chemical substances in the development of scavenger insects and the reflection on estimating the minimum postmortem interval (PMI). To evaluate the impact of the chemotherapeutic drugs cyclophosphamide (CF) and methotrexate (MTX) on the postembryonic development of Chrysomya megacephala, controlled experiments were performed by rearing the larvae on spiked minced beef with different concentrations of these drugs. The results indicated that CF significantly decreased their developmental rate up to 28 h but had no significant effect on larval and adult sizes, survival rate, and sex ratio, whereas MTX decreased larval and adult sizes, survival rate, and there was a deviation in the expected sex ratio toward females in MTX‐exposed larvae but had no significant impact on developmental rate. These negative interference factors should be considered in cases of suspected death of people that have undergone chemotherapy.     

Stranger rape: classifying Spanish sexual offences using multiple correspondence and cluster analyses

We have analysed the information in 342 police reports of stranger sexual offences recorded in 2010. We have carried out a multiple correspondence analysis and a cluster analysis using modus operandi variables to identify differential profiles in these types of sexual offences. We have come up with three profiles of stranger sexual offences, which concur in the two techniques used. By analysing the personal variables of the offenders with such profiles, we have found differences in terms of the offender’s country of origin and age. We will discuss the consequences of these results on the police investigation of stranger sexual offences.     

A fast ultrasound-assisted extraction procedure for trace elements determination in hair samples by ICP-MS for forensic analysis

An ultrasound-assisted extraction method is proposed for the determination of trace elements in hair samples by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for forensic investigation. Prior to analysis, 25 mg of hair samples were accurately weighed into (15 mL) conical tubes. Then, 2 mL of 20% HNO₃ is added to the samples, sonicated at 2 min (50 W, 100% amplitude), and then further diluted to 10 mL with Milli-Q water. Resulted diluted slurries are centrifuged and the analytes are directly determined in the supernatant. Calibrations against aqueous solutions were carried out with rhodium as internal standard. The method was successfully applied for the extraction of Al, As, Ba, Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Pb, Tl, U, V and Zn with a method detection limit (3 s, n = 20) of 0.1, 0.4, 0.2, 0.09, 0.08, 0.04, 0.1, 2.9, 1.0, 0.9, 0.04, 0.05, 0.1 and 4.2 ng/g, respectively. Method accuracy is traceable to Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) 85 and 86 human hair from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Additional validation data are provided based on the analysis of hair samples from the trace elements intercomparison program operated by the Institut National de Sante’ Publique du Quebec, Canada. The proposed method is very simple and can be applied for forensic purposes with the elimination of sample digestion step prior to analysis. Then, a considerable improvement in the sample throughput is archived with the use of the proposed method.     

Going Nordic—Can the Nordic model tackle grand challenges and be a beacon to follow?

Nordic countries are known for having extensive welfare services, a highly compressed wage structure owing to strong social partners, as well as effective regulation and governance in public administration. Various typologies capture aspects of the institutional features of families of nations across various policy areas, showing that there is a specific Nordic variant of political economy. While there is an extensive literature focusing on socio-economic outcomes in the Nordic countries, there is less scholarly focus on the linkages between the regulatory processes, and their policy output, in response to various challenges. This volume examines how exogenous challenges (market liberalization promoted by EU integration and the gig economy, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic) and endogenous challenges in the welfare state (regulation of child-care quality and retirement ages) are tackled in a selection of Nordic countries. After a bibliometric analysis on the state of the literature, features of the Nordic model are presented. Then, the contributions of the articles to the special issue are summarized, after which lessons for other models of political economy are pinpointed. We find that although there is high variation within the Nordics in the studies of the special issue, there is a trend whereby, over time, a broader range of actors involved in the policy and regulatory process. Although not perfect, challenges are solved incrementally and often at an early stage. In other words, the Nordic regulatory model is highly adaptable to different challenges. Thus, the Nordic model does present crucial lessons for other types of political economy.     

Madness and the Law: The Derrida/Foucault Debate Revisited

In this article the Derrida/Foucault debate is scrutinised with two closely related aims in mind: (1) reconsidering the way in which Foucault’s texts, and especially the more recently published lectures, should be read; and (2) establishing the relation between law and madness. The article firstly calls for a reading of Foucault which exceeds metaphysics with the security it offers, by taking account of Derrida’s reading of Foucault as well as of the heterogeneity of Foucault’s texts. The article reflects in detail on a text of Derrida on Foucault (‘Cogito and the History of Madness’) as well as a text of Foucault on Blanchot (‘Maurice Blanchot: The Thought from Outside’). The latter text shows that Foucault was at times acutely aware of the difficulty involved in exceeding metaphysics and that he realised the importance in this regard of a reflection on literature. These reflections tie in closely with Foucault’s History of Madness as well as with Derrida’s reflections on literature and on madness. Both Derrida and Foucault contend that law has much to learn from literature in understanding the relation between itself and madness. Literature more specifically points to law’s ‘origin’ in madness. The article contends that a failure to take seriously this origin, also in the reading of Foucault’s lectures, would amount to a denial by law of itself.     

Costs and recovery rates in the Dutch liquidation-based bankruptcy system

We present evidence on the efficiency of the resolution of financial distress in bankruptcy in The Netherlands. Direct costs average 16%, firm recovery 37% and bank debt recovery 80%. The direct costs are lower in larger firms and in firms with more bank debt. Costs increase with the time it takes to sell assets. Firm recovery is influenced by asset structure, capital structure and to a lesser extent Dutch legal variables. However, the opportunity to continue operations in bankruptcy is chosen by about half the firms and this has a positive effect on recoveries.

The Multiple Bases of Social Return Platforms: Evidence of a Brazilian Initiative

The literature on platforms emphasizes the balance between supply and demand as precursors to network expansion, strategy development and strategy sustainability. This study questions this logic through the exploratory approach of a public platform based on social returns. Results demonstrate that when an institutional force supports a platform concerned with diffuse and collective interests, it is possible that the strategy could sustain and develop without the balance of its forces. The study contributes to the strategic platform literature by pointing out the distinct aspects of social platforms and underlining the support generated by institutions.