Ring fractures of the base of the skull

Besides complete ring fracture, also incomplete fractures open to the front, back, or side(s) are discussed on the basis of 61 ring fractures of the base of the skull. The fractures were found in casualties from traffic accidents (car passengers, cyclists and motorcyclists, pedestrians), after falls and other accidents. In traffic accidents, compression, traction, hyperextension, extreme lateral movements, and torsional forces can lead to ring fractures. In falls, compression and traction are the main forces. A fall in one plane is also capable of producing an incomplete ring fracture. Incomplete ring fractures may show lateral emphasis. The greater fracture length is found on the impact side (e.g., in falls). In contrast to complete ring fractures, incomplete ring fractures are compatible with longer survival times. Ring fractures are to be classified under direct fractures. This does not exclude the possibility that overall deformations of the skull with bursts can partly determine the course of the fracture.     

Appetitive aggression in former combatants--derived from the ongoing conflict in DR Congo

Soldiers and combatants often report that committing violence can be appealing, fascinating and exciting (Elbert, Weierstall, & Schauer, 2010). This appetite for aggression was investigated in a sample of 224 former combatants from different armed groups and forces in eastern DRC. In a semistructured interview they were questioned about their military history, exposure to violence and perpetrated violence. Appetitive aggression was assessed with a 15-item-scale (Weierstall & Elbert, 2011), which was successfully implemented in comparable samples (Weierstall, Schalinski, Crombach, Hecker, & Elbert, submitted for publication). A sequential multiple regression was conducted to determine possible predictors of appetitive aggression. Perpetrated violence types, recruitment type, and joining as a child were significant predictors and explained 26% of the variability in appetitive aggression. Duration or military rank within the armed group and exposure to violence did not play a significant role. Thus, combatants reporting high levels of appetitive aggression are characterized by perpetrating a high number of violent acts, joining armed groups on their own accord and as children. Joining an armed group on one's own accord indicates pre-existing appetitive aggression. However, joining young and perpetrating violence on a regular basis seem to intensify the appetite for aggression.     

The role of discourses in governing forests to combat climate change

Reducing emissions from forest degradation and deforestation, conserving and enhancing forest carbon stocks, and sustainably managing forests (REDD+) has emerged as one of the most anticipated climate change mitigation tools. This paper aims to understand and identify the underlying discourses that have dominated the emergence of REDD+, by identifying the key story lines in the policy and academic debates on REDD+. As such, this paper takes a step away from the “fine-tuning” of policy recommendations and instead studies REDD+ from a more theoretical approach with the intent to provide a critical analysis of the ideational structures that shape the policies that have emerged around REDD+. The analysis shows that ecological modernization and its accompanying story lines constitute a dominant notion of REDD+ as being able to manage the complexities of forest in a synergetic way, combining cost-efficient and effective mitigation with sustainable development. The paper also identifies the critical counter discourse of civic environmentalism, which criticizes this notion of REDD+ and instead promotes issues such as equity, the importance of local knowledge, and the participatory process. It argues that reducing deforestation involves trade-offs between economic, ecological, and social dimensions, also arguing that REDD+ fits overwhelmingly with the interest of the global North.     

Agilität als Chance für einen neuen Anlauf zum demokratischen Unternehmen?

There has been a long-standing discussion since the 1980s about the question whether new production models harbor a potential for extended employee participation and involvement, in most cases with disillusioning results. This paper is concerned with so called “agile methods”, which play an important part in the area of knowledge work in the course of the digital transformation. On the basis of two case studies from software development and industrial R&D, the paper examines the concrete implementation of these methods and the employees’ perspective upon them and their consequences. The result is that agile methods present a potential for extended employee participation and involvement; however, the realization of this potential depends on the concrete way how the agile concept of “empowerment” is implemented.     

An extreme case of undoing and posing in a case of murder-suicide. A forensic pathological approach to crime scene investigation

A 7-year-old boy was killed by his father by manual strangulation during a murder-suicide. After the killing of the son, the father showed typical "undoing" behaviour: He changed the boy's clothes and laid him down on the bed. Then he placed candles around his head, put pictures of the parents' wedding around him and a crucifix and a picture of the family into his hands. He broke off a rose in a vase next to the bed, lit the candles and took photographs of his dead son. Later he called his wife, threatened to kill the son and finally called the police to confess the murder and to announce his forthcoming suicide.     

The impact of environmental interest groups in international negotiations: Do ENGOs induce stronger environmental commitments?

Although there is a substantial amount of research that studies how environmental interest groups/non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) influence international environmental negotiations, both the theoretical work and the empirical evidence were not yet able to answer comprehensively if this makes it more likely that states, in turn, commit to stronger environmental agreements. This article seeks to contribute to clarifying this. First, the authors argue that a higher degree of ENGO access to official negotiations and a larger number of ENGOs actively participating during bargaining processes can facilitate outcomes of environmental negotiations. The authors then analyze quantitative data on international environmental regimes and their members’ commitment levels from 1946 to 1998 and obtain robust support for their claims. However, the rationale on the introduced explanatory factors also implies that the impact of ENGO access on states’ commitment levels should vary conditional on the number of ENGOs actively participating. The paper finds evidence for such an interaction, although the results go against our expectations.