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.     

Application of 3D documentation and geometric reconstruction methods in traffic accident analysis: with high resolution surface scanning, radiological MSCT/MRI scanning and real data based animation

The examination of traffic accidents is daily routine in forensic medicine. An important question in the analysis of the victims of traffic accidents, for example in collisions between motor vehicles and pedestrians or cyclists, is the situation of the impact. Apart from forensic medical examinations (external examination and autopsy), three-dimensional technologies and methods are gaining importance in forensic investigations. Besides the post-mortem multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the documentation and analysis of internal findings, highly precise 3D surface scanning is employed for the documentation of the external body findings and of injury-inflicting instruments. The correlation of injuries of the body to the injury-inflicting object and the accident mechanism are of great importance. The applied methods include documentation of the external and internal body and the involved vehicles and inflicting tools as well as the analysis of the acquired data. The body surface and the accident vehicles with their damages were digitized by 3D surface scanning. For the internal findings of the body, post-mortem MSCT and MRI were used. The analysis included the processing of the obtained data to 3D models, determination of the driving direction of the vehicle, correlation of injuries to the vehicle damages, geometric determination of the impact situation and evaluation of further findings of the accident. In the following article, the benefits of the 3D documentation and computer-assisted, drawn-to-scale 3D comparisons of the relevant injuries with the damages to the vehicle in the analysis of the course of accidents, especially with regard to the impact situation, are shown on two examined cases.     

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.     

Wertsicherungsvereinbarung – Angemessenheitsprüfung bei Altverträgen

Eine im Geltungsbereich des MRG erfolgte einseitige gesetzliche Erh?hung des vor Inkrafttreten des MRG zul?ssig frei vereinbarten Hauptmietzinses ist nicht dem Fall gleichzuhalten, dass die Wertsicherungsvereinbarung auf den ursprünglich zul?ssig frei vereinbarten Hauptmietzins anzuwenden ist. Vielmehr liegt im Fall einer einseitigen gesetzlichen Erh?hung des Hauptmietzinses (hier aufgrund des Vorliegens des Tatbestandes des § 12 a Abs 3 MRG) eben keine auf ihre Angemessenheit nicht überprüfbare Vereinbarung in einem vor dem 1. 1. 1982 geschlossenen "Altvertrag" vor. Die "Kombination" dahin, dass der im Geltungsbereich des MRG gesetzlich erh?hte nunmehrige angemessene Hauptmietzins aufgrund der ursprünglichen Wertsicherungsvereinbarung unüberprüfbar erh?ht werden kann, also ein überschreiten der Angemessenheitsgrenze des § 16 Abs 1 MRG durch die Anwendung der alten Wertsicherungsvereinbarung nicht geltend gemacht werden kann, würde zu einem unbilligen Ergebnis führen.     

Nachbarrechtliche Unterlassungsansprüche wegen Lärmimmission durch verwaltungsbehördlich bewilligten Militärflugplatz

Das auf § 364 Abs 2 ABGB gestützte Unterlassungsbegehren ist kein Handlungs- sondern ein "Erfolgsverbot": Der Verpflichtete hat dafür zu sorgen, dass sein Nachbar nicht durch Immissionen beeintr?chtigt wird; die Art, wie dies zu geschehen hat, bleibt dem Verpflichteten überlassen. Soweit das Begehren auf sichernde Vorkehrungen gerichtet ist, darf keine bestimmte Einrichtung verlangt werden; die Auswahl der Schutzma?nahmen muss vielmehr dem Bekl überlassen bleiben. Ein dennoch auf bestimmte Vorkehrungen – und sei es auch in Form der Unterlassung der Fortführung eines Betriebs – zielendes Begehren stellt gegenüber dem Begehren auf Unterlassung von Emissionen ein aliud dar, dessen Stattgebung die Bestimmung des § 405 ZPO entgegensteht. Der Standpunkt, die im verwaltungsbeh?rdlichen Verfahren vorgenommene Prüfung und Beurteilung von L?rmimmissionen schlie?e die abermalige Entscheidung derselben Frage durch die Gerichte aus, bedürfte einer eingehenden Prüfung. Gleiches gilt für das Argument, dass es Sache des ?ffentlichen Rechtes sei, festzulegen, in welcher Weise es auf die Interessen des Betroffenen Rücksicht nehme. Eine im Einzelfall gegebene unzureichende Ausgestaltung des beh?rdlichen Verfahrens im Hinblick auf den Rechtsschutz der Nachbarn kann verschiedenste rechtliche Konsequenzen haben, muss aber nicht zwangsl?ufig zum Ergebnis führen, dass jeder einzelne Nachbar das Ergebnis des Verwaltungsverfahrens durch die Geltendmachung eines Unterlassungsanspruchs in Frage stellen kann.     

Working with Misspecified Regression Models

Objectives

Conventional statistical modeling in criminology assumes proper model specification. Very strong and unrebutted criticisms have existed for decades. Some respond that although the criticisms are correct, there is for observational data no alternative. In this paper, we provide an alternative.

Methods

We draw on work in econometrics and statistics from several decades ago, updated with the most recent thinking to provide a way to properly work with misspecified models.

Results

We show how asymptotically, unbiased regression estimates can be obtained along with valid standard errors. Conventional statistical inference can follow.

Conclusions

If one is prepared to work with explicit approximations of a “true” model, defensible analyses can be obtained. The alternative is working with models about which all of the usual criticisms hold.

     

The effects of political design and organizational dynamics on structural disaggregation and integration in Norway 1947–2019

In countries with long-standing agency traditions, the creation of new agencies rarely comes as a large-scale reform but rather as one structural choice of many possible, most notably a ministerial division. In order to make sense of these choices, the article discusses the role of political design—focusing on the role of political motivations, such as ideological turnover, replacement risks and ideological stands toward administrative efficiency—and organizational dynamics—focusing on the role of administrative legacies and existing organizational palettes. The article utilizes data on organizational creations in the Norwegian central state between 1947 and 2019, in order to explore how political design and organizational dynamics help us understand the creation of agencies relative to ministry divisions over time. We find that political motives matter a great deal for the structural choices made by consecutive Norwegian governments, but that structural path dependencies may also be at play.