Positivism,Legal Validity,and the Separation of Law and Morals

The essay discusses the import of the separability thesis both for legal positivism and for contemporary legal practice. First, the place of the separability thesis in legal positivism will be explored, distinguishing between “standard positivism” and “post‐Hartian positivism.” Then I will consider various kinds of relations between law and morality that are worthy of jurisprudential interest, and explore, from a positivist point of view, what kind of relations between law and morality must be rejected, what kind of such relations should be taken into account, and what kind of such relations are indeed of no import at all. The upshot of this analysis consists in highlighting the distinction between two different dimensions of legal validity (formal validity and material validity respectively), and in pointing out that the positivist separability thesis can apply to formal validity only. On the other hand, when the ascertainment of material validity is at stake, some form of moral reasoning may well be involved (here and now, it is necessarily involved). The essay concludes with some brief remarks on the persisting importance of the positivist jurisprudential project.     

Subarachnoid Hemorrhage and Carbon Monoxide Exposure: Accidental Association or Fatal Link?

This case study reports a fatal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) with concomitant accidental carbon monoxide (CO) exposure in 32‐year‐old man. Autopsy results indicated an antemortem aspiration of smoke, and a massive SAH was identified as the cause of death. Intriguingly, the carboxyhemoglobin level was 30%, suggesting that CO could have played a specific role. Intracranial hemorrhages following CO exposure in brain areas and tissues such as the basal ganglia, globus pallidus, or white matter are rare, but well characterized, whereas SAH related to CO exposure has not been previously described. In this case report, the possible role of CO, either as a primary cause or as a facilitating factor, in the pathogenesis of SAH is discussed. In particular, we propose the hypothesis that the excessive vasodilating effects produced by CO on the cerebral endothelium results in consequential loss of microvascular integrity.     

Death from renal cyst: spontaneous or traumatic rupture?

We report an unusual death of an apparently healthy 56-year-old male due to massive hemorrhage caused by rupture of an artery in the wall of a solitary renal cyst, possibly after a relatively minor trauma. Fatalities due to spontaneous or posttraumatic rupture of renal cysts are extremely rare but can represent a potential danger for people with acquired cystic kidney disease. Our report describes results of the forensic investigation and discusses possible mechanisms of the rupture.     

Tax Evasion Across Italy: Rational Noncompliance or Inadequate Civic Concern?

The paper suggests anexplanation for the geographical dimensionof tax evasion that focuses on thestructure of territorial government. Taxesadministered by the central government arenot differentiated by regions. Poor areasmay prefer a combination of lower taxes andlower levels of public services at both thecentral and the local level. This isespecially true when income and wealthlevels differ among the areas and thedemand for publicly provided goods iscorrelated to these levels. But the use ofnationally uniform tax schedules imposes awelfare burden on poorer areas. While thetax rates of local taxes can be adjusted tolocal preferences, tax evasion may betacitly accepted as a compensation for thewelfare loss deriving from too highcentrally set tax rates.     

A Comparative Test of Alternative Theories of the Determinants of Italian Public Deficits (1950–1998)

The paper assesses the relative explanatorypower of the Keynesian, the optimalfinance, the contingent liability andseveral public choice theories of thedeterminants of public deficits on Italian1950–1998 data. A vector error correctionmodel suggests that deficits are sensitiveto unemployment levels, interest groups'preferences (especially the elderly),government fragmentation, changes in thedegree of stringency of budget rules andexternal economic constraints. Data insteadprovide a weak or no support to thehypotheses that deficits respond to outputgrowth and electoral events. Theimplications of the optimal finance and ofthe contingent liability theory arerejected as well.     

Determination of drugs of abuse in hair: evaluation of external heroin contamination and risk of false positives

One of the most controversial point regarding the validity of hair testing is the risk of false positive due to external contamination. The aim of our experience is to verify if a 5 consecutive days contamination with a small amount of a powdered mixture of heroin hydrochloride and acetylcodeine hydrochloride (10:1 w/w) will last sufficiently long to make a contaminated subject indistinguishable from active users, and if normal washing practices together with the decontamination procedure are sufficient to completely remove the external contamination.Our results suggest that decontamination procedures are not sufficient to remove drugs penetrated into hair from external source. In fact, all contaminated subjects were positive for opiates (heroin, 6-MAM, morphine, acetylcodeine and codeine) for at least 3 months.Significant 6-MAM concentrations (>0.5 ng/mg) were found in each subject until 6th week. Further, 6-MAM/morphine ratio were always above 1.3.     

In Pursuit of a Balance: the Regulation of Conscience and Access to Sexual Reproductive Health Care

In any given society, rights are said to co-exist. When rights, however, begin to conflict, a balance must be sought. In few fields has the ability of governments to accommodate two conflicting sets of rights been so controversial as it has in the case of conscientious objection (CO) in reproductive health care. Today, states have an obligation under international law to protect the right to the freedom of thought, conscience, and religion of medical providers. They also, however, have an obligation to protect right to the highest attainable standard of health and other fundamental rights of women. Considering the extent to which CO has been invoked in the context of reproductive health care, international law recognizes limits to its use. Over the years, human rights bodies have sought to develop guidelines around CO in order to ensure the protection of women’s basic rights. While some state practices have shown to be consistent with guidelines established at the international level, some countries have struggled to provide an effective balance so as to protect women’s fundamental rights. Taking the example of countries in Latin America and Europe, this article provides an overview of the different ways states have sought to regulate CO in the medical context and the various difficulties ensued.     

Supine Hypotensive Syndrome as the Probable Cause of Both Maternal and Fetal Death

Abstract: Supine hypotensive syndrome is characterized by severe supine hypotension in late pregnancy, whose clinical presentation ranges from minimal cardiovascular alterations to severe shock, resulting from inferior vena cava compression by gravid uterus. We report a case of a 41‐year‐old 39‐week‐pregnant woman found dead supine. Autopsy revealed the following: cyanosis of the limbs; congestion of the jugular and subclavian veins; abundant abdominal subcutaneous fatty tissue; uterus displacing intestine and diaphragm; collapsed inferior vena cava; both femoral veins dilated and filled with blood; edematous and congested lungs; and placenta 790 g, fetus 3475 g, amniotic fluid 800 cm³. The diagnosis of supine hypotensive syndrome as the probable cause of death is supported by the position of the body and autopsy findings. This syndrome can be considered as the first stage of the physio‐pathological mechanism that led to death in the case presented herein and should be considered by pathologists as a cause of sudden death.     

Models of university technology transfer: analyses and policies

Recent data on European countries show that innovation leaders perform better than economies with low levels of innovation investment and institutions that do not favor knowledge and technology transfer activities. This result confirms that to achieve a high level of performance, countries need a balanced innovation system performing well across all dimensions. More interestingly, the two most important indicators that have been driving increases in performance include new doctoral graduates and international scientific co-publications, that is, two channels of knowledge transfer from universities to firms. This special issue of the Journal of Technology Transfer is dedicated to the discussion of models of university technology transfer, mostly from a European perspective.