An unusual case of double death

The report presents the case of an alleged double homicide or a homicide followed by suicide of a couple, in which the court-ordered autopsy of both victims revealed that the homicide had been committed by the husband immediately before he died himself from cardiac failure. The article gives a short summary of the pathophysiological relations between emotional tension (stress) and physical strain and the effects on the cardiovascular system. The case report describes a homicide by strangulation immediately followed by the perpetuator's death from a natural cause.     

Injuring potential of drinking glasses

At a party of a sports club, an argument started between two groups of young men, in the course of which one of the persons involved threw a beer glass hitting a young man of the other group, who collapsed with a profusely bleeding wound. Although resuscitation measures were initiated immediately, the victim died at the scene due to exsanguination from the completely severed left external carotid artery in combination with the aspiration of blood. Tests with drinking glasses thrown at a skull-neck model suggested that an undamaged beer glass thrown at the head of the victim could not cause the fatal injuries on the neck because of its splintering behaviour. In fact, it seemed that the beer glass had been damaged prior to throwing it and that its sharp edges perforated the skin on hitting the neck.     

The role of subsidized housing in reducing homelessness: An empirical investigation using micro-data

Additional funding for subsidized housing is one of the most commonly proposed solutions to the problem of homelessness. For example, the Interagency Council on the Homeless has called for a $2 billion increase in the budget of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to address the shortage of subsidized housing. However, research on the effect of subsidized housing in reducing homelessness is far from conclusive. This study combines data from the American Housing Survey (AHS) with a survey of the homeless to estimate the effectiveness of subsidized housing in reducing homelessness. The results indicate that subsidized housing has not targeted those most at risk of being homeless, and therefore a simple expansion of existing housing programs will have little effect on the number of homeless.     

Microcredit and gender empowerment: policy implications for sustainable agricultural development in Eritrea

Sustainable agricultural development requires capital investment. However, farmers in Africa are constrained by inadequate access to microcredit. Therefore, this article examines the extent to which gender influences access to microcredit. The empirical results showed that women are less likely to be able to access microcredit, compared to men. The study also found that separate sets of factors including assets endowment, socio-economic, institutional, and technological factors significantly affected women’s and men’s access to microcredit. The article suggests that to promote sustainable agricultural development, gender differential should be critically considered in designing microcredit schemes that target farmers in Africa.     

How established parties reduce other parties’ electoral support: the strategy of parroting the pariah

In every democracy, established political parties are challenged by other parties. Established parties react in various ways to other parties’ presence. A key hypothesis in the relevant literature is that established parties can decrease another party’s electoral support by parroting it, i.e. adopting its core policy issue position. This article argues, and demonstrates empirically, that this hypothesised effect mainly occurs in the event that a critical prerequisite is in place. Parroting a party decreases its support only if that party is ostracised at the same time. The article classifies a party as ostracised if its largest established competitor systematically rules out all political cooperation with it. Analysing 296 election results of 28 West European parties (1944–2011), evidence is found for a parrot effect – however, concerning ostracised parties only. On several occasions established parties have substantially decreased another party’s support by simultaneously parroting that party and ostracising it.     

Innovation policy mix: mapping and measurement

The Journal of Technology Transfer - The “policy mix” concept has gained popularity among science, technology and innovation policy communities over the past two decades in a context of...     

Correction to: Innovation policy mix: mapping and measurement

The Journal of Technology Transfer - The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake.     

Inconsistency in 9 mm bullets measured with non-destructive X-ray computed tomography

Fundamental to any ballistic armour standard is the reference projectile that is to be defeated. Typically, for certification, consistency of bullets is assumed. Therefore, practical variations in bullet jacket dimensions can have far reaching consequences. Traditionally, internal dimensions could only be analysed by cutting bullets which rules out any subsequent ballistic assessment. Therefore, the use of a non-destructive X-ray computed tomography (CT) method is explored in this paper. A set of 10 bullets (9 mm DM11) was taken for analysing both intra and inter bullet jacket thickness variation. CT measurements of jacket thickness were validated with high resolution scanning electron microscope (SEM) images. An image based analysis methodology has been developed to extract the jacket thickness map and the centre of gravity. Thickness variations of the order of 200 μm were found commonly across all the bullets along the length and an angular variation of up to 100 μm was found in a few bullets. Jacket thickness and centre of gravity were also calculated for the same bullets after impact and the variations between the pre- and post-impacted bullets were compared, by establishing a common physical reference. The results show that the proposed CT scanning approach and subsequent image analysis method can bring out the statistical variations in bullet geometry pre- and post impact effectively.     

Selective culturing and genus-specific PCR detection for identification of Aeromonas in tissue samples to assist the medico-legal diagnosis of death by drowning

The detection of autochthonous aquatic bacteria in tissue samples from drowning cases is increasingly considered as an alternative approach to assist the medico-legal diagnosis of death by drowning. Bacteria belonging to the genus Aeromonas may be suitable candidates for this application as they are ubiquitous in natural aquatic environments but are generally not part of the human microbiota. The research aims of this study were (i) to develop a sensitive, specific and rapid screening and confirmation method for Aeromonas species in tissue samples and (ii) to evaluate aseptic sternal puncture as a post-mortem sample technique and bone marrow as an alternative matrix to provide evidence of death by drowning. The presence of Aeromonas in tissue samples was verified by cultivation using the selective media Ampicillin Dextrin Agar (ADA) and Ryan's Aeromonas Medium. The use of ADA medium was found most optimal for the sensitive, inexpensive and quick detection of aeromonads in human tissue samples. Positive culture plates were confirmed by harvesting all colonies for DNA extraction and subsequent PCR amplification using Aeromonas genus-specific primers. Aeromonads were detected in lung swab, blood and bone marrow of drowned bodies (n=3), but were negative in these three matrices for all negative controls (n=90) tested. Bone marrow proved to be a suitable alternative matrix and can be sampled post-mortem by an aseptic sternal puncture. In conclusion, this study confirms previous indications that aeromonads in cultures from blood of water bodies can be considered a potential marker for drowning. Given the fact that the number of immersed bodies (drowned and non-drowned) included in this study is statistically not significant, however, more tissue samples need to be investigated to confirm the validity of these methods to aid the diagnosis of death by wet drowning.