The EU ‘Stress Tests’: The Basis for a New Regulatory Framework for Nuclear Safety

Among the constitutional tensions at the heart of the European integration process, the relationship between ‘mainstream’ EU Law (framed by the Treaty on European Union) and Euratom Law has often been overlooked. Nonetheless, the EU's response to the nuclear power plant accident in Fukushima provides an opportunity to revisit this relationship. This article specifically aims to highlight the dysfunctions of the prevailing understanding of the Euratom's provisions on nuclear safety matters as well as to identify, under a joint interpretation of all EU Treaties, how to develop a European nuclear safety regime that reinforces the compensatory role of EU law and contributes to enhance the EU's legitimacy.     

Chromatic Variation of Soot Soiling: A Possible Marker for Gunshot Wounds in Burnt Bone

Soot soiling is a crucial forensic parameter around gunshot lesions. Carbonization, however, can severely alter human tissues and mimic such clues. This study aims at evaluating the survival of soot soiling even after carbonization in bone. A total of 36 bovine ribs (half fleshed and half defleshed) were shot with two types of bullet (both 9‐mm; full metal‐jacketed and unjacketed) with a near‐contact range. With unjacketed bullets, the shot left in every case a clear, black, and roughly round soot stain around the entrance wound, whereas full metal‐jacketed bullets left no signs of soot. Every specimen then underwent calcination in an oven at 800°C. The analysis of the charred samples clearly showed the survival of the soot soiling in both fleshed and bony samples, with a clear correspondence with the former position, but with a different color (yellow). Thus, soot soiling may survive, although with a different color, even after charring.     

Poly- and Distinct- Victimization in Histories of Violence Against Women

We report results from pre-testing an Europe-wide Survey on Violence against Women. A questionnaire on women’s experiences of stalking, harassment, psychological, physical, and sexual violence by non-, ex-, and current partners was tested on 10 known victims of violence in intimate relations and 20 randomly selected women. Multiple Correspondence Analysis uncovered two profiles of victimization: women poly-victimized in multiple life ambits and women distinctly victimized in only some of them. Known-victims of intimate partner’s violence (IPV) were more likely to be poly-victimized than randomly selected women. Heterogeneity in women’s socio-economic conditions could only partly account for IPV’s over-representation among poly-victimized women. This gave more credence to an interpretation that highlights the role played by previous traumatic experiences of victimization on re-victimization.     

European Economic Governance and Parliamentary Representation. What Place for the European Parliament?

This article aims to analyse the European Parliament's (EP) position in the reform of the European economic governance, in particular after the adoption of the ‘six‐pack,’ the ‘two‐pack’ and the ‘fiscal compact.’ References are made to the involvement of the EP in the decision‐making process that led to the adoption of the new measures as well as to the substantive role assigned to this institution in the new regulatory framework. The article argues that the new provisions, which undermine the budgetary authority of national parliaments while, at the same time, designing a limited role for the EP—though strengthened compared to the previous version of the Stability and Growth Pact—can jeopardise the effectiveness of the landmark principle of ‘no taxation without parliamentary representation’ in the EU.     

Small island developing states and international climate change negotiations: the power of moral “leadership”

Being at the frontline of climate change, small island developing states (SIDS) hold a serious stake in climate negotiations. However, these countries usually are marginalized in the international political arena, due to their lack of structural power. This paper explores the strategic influence of SIDS and its representative organization, the Alliance of Small Island States, in the negotiations leading to the Copenhagen summit of December 2009. Using the concepts of leadership and discourses, the position, strategies, and impact of SIDS are analyzed on negotiation processes and their final outcome, focusing on three core demands of small island countries at Copenhagen: a temperature rise limit of 1.5 °C above preindustrial levels, funding for adaptation, and a legally binding outcome. Results reveal that SIDS practiced entrepreneurial, intellectual, and environmental leadership strategies and especially made use of moral claims in the debate. Given their near absence of structural power, they managed to secure a surprisingly large part of “their” agenda and interests in the final Copenhagen Accord, especially through (discourse) coalitions with various other state and non-state stakeholders.     

Parallel Paths A Comparison of CSR Firms and Social Enterprises

Corporate social responsibility （CSR） is the incorporation of environmental and social responsibilities into the business activity, in line with the economic responsibility that firms have traditionally focused on. The social entrepreneur is a type of entrepreneur who seeks to resolve a social or environmental problem through the application of a business model, motivated by the aim of helping others and pursuing positive social change. A key aspect of social entrepreneurship （SE） is therefore the creation of social wealth. Both concepts pursue positive social change, but unlike social entrepreneurs, the objective of a responsible firm is not to solve social issues created by others, rather to understand and limit the social and environmental impacts of their profit-generating activities. In recent decades, research on CSR has grown considerably, whereas SE has only begun to receive serious academic attention quite recently. Crucially, few studies have tried to link and differentiate the two areas. Due to the increasing interest in both concepts nowadays, the need to clarify the similarities and differences between them is greater than ever, and is the principal aim of this work.     

Real-time PCR designs to estimate nuclear and mitochondrial DNA copy number in forensic and ancient DNA studies

We explore different designs to estimate both nuclear and mitochondrial human DNA (mtDNA) content based on the detection of the 5' nuclease activity of the Taq DNA polymerase using fluorogenic probes and a real-time quantitative PCR detection system. Human mtDNA quantification was accomplished by monitoring the real-time progress of the PCR-amplification of two different fragment sizes (113 and 287 bp) within the hypervariable region I (HV1) of the mtDNA control region, using two fluorogenic probes to specifically determine the mtDNA copy of each fragment size category. This mtDNA real-time PCR design has been used to assess the mtDNA preservation (copy number and degradation state) of DNA samples retrieved from 500 to 1500 years old human remains that showed low copy number and highly degraded mtDNA. The quantification of nuclear DNA was achieved by real-time PCR of a segment of the X-Y homologous amelogenin (AMG) gene that allowed the simultaneous estimation of a Y-specific fragment (AMGY: 112 bp) and a X-specific fragment (AMGX: 106 bp) making possible not only haploid or diploid DNA quantitation but also sex determination. The AMG real-time PCR design has been used to quantify a set of 57 DNA samples from 4-5 years old forensic bone remains with improved sensitivity compared with the slot-blot hybridization method. The potential utility of this technology to improve the quality of some PCR-based forensic and ancient DNA studies (microsatellite typing and mtDNA sequencing) is discussed.     

Age Estimation Based on DNA Methylation Using Blood Samples From Deceased Individuals

Age estimation using DNA methylation levels has been widely investigated in recent years because of its potential application in forensic genetics. The main aim of this study was to develop an age predictor model (APM) for blood samples of deceased individuals based in five age-correlated genes. Fifty-one samples were analyzed through the bisulfite polymerase chain reaction (PCR) sequencing method for DNA methylation evaluation in genes ELOVL2, FHL2, EDARADD, PDE4C, and C1orf132. Linear regression was used to analyze relationships between methylation levels and age. The model using the highest age-correlated CpG from each locus revealed a correlation coefficient of 0.888, explaining 76.3% of age variation, with a mean absolute deviation from the chronological age (MAD) of 6.08 years. The model was validated in an independent test set of 19 samples producing a MAD of 8.84 years. The developed APM seems to be informative and could have potential application in forensic analysis.