Deaths related to chemical burns

The authors present a series of 6 deaths due to the uncommon cause of chemical burns. Of the 6 deaths due to chemical burns, 4 deaths were due to ingestion of a chemical, 1 death was caused by chemical burns of the skin, and 1 death resulted from rectal insufflation of a chemical. Seven additional cases where chemical burns may have been a contributing factor to the death or an incidental finding are also presented. Four cases are related to an incident involving chemical exposure during an industrial explosion. Three cases involve motor fuel burns of the skin. Two cases concern a plane crash incident, and 1 case involved a vehicular collision. Cases are derived from the records of the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office and those of the authors' consultation practices. Each of the cases is presented, followed by a discussion of the various mechanisms of chemical injury.     

'Morphological imprint': determination of the injury-causing weapon from the wound morphology using forensic 3D/CAD-supported photogrammetry

Forensic three-dimensional/computer aided design (CAD)-supported photogrammetry (FPHG) plays an important role in the field of the documentation of forensic relevant injuries; particularly so when a detailed, 3D reconstruction is necessary. This is demonstrated in the case of a patterned blunt injury to the face of a victim, which injury was subsequently proven by FPHG to have been caused by a blow from the muzzle of a soft air gun.The objects to be evaluated had to be series photographed in order to be evaluated virtually on the computer. These photo series were then analyzed with the RolleiMetric system. This system measures and calculates the spatial location of distinctive points on the objects' surfaces, and creates 3D data models of the objects. In a 3D/CAD program, the "virtual 3D model of the injury" is then compared against the "virtual 3D model of the possible injury-causing instrument".The validation of FPHG, as shown by the 3D match between certain characteristics of the muzzle form and the facial injury, demonstrates how this 3D method can be used for patterned wound documentation and analysis.     

Human Rights Without Political Participation?

John Rawls claims that “benevolent absolutisms” honor human rights without honoring political participation rights. Critics argue that he is mistaken. One objection appeals to the instrumental value of political participation rights. This objection holds that without political participation rights, individuals cannot secure the content of their rights against encroachment. Given this, individuals without political participation rights cannot be said to have rights at all. Here, I evaluate this instrumental objection. I identify three ways of relating political participation rights to human rights and show that one makes sense of Rawls’s claim. I then defend this view from instrumental objections. This has implications beyond the realm of Rawls scholarship. Many societies are not democratic and are not democratizing. We must determine whether any of these societies can secure at least the content of human rights and, if so, what shape their social and political institutions must take to do so.     

The impact of the Owen falls hydro‐electric project on the economy of Uganda 1

Inflation induced by an increase in the money supply may be conducive to economic growth, because it can be positively related to the savings ratio. This relationship is, however, limited by a certain rate of money supply which is associated with the maximum overall savings ratio. Treating money as a consumers’ good based upon Levhari‐Patinkin [1968], this study estimates a quadratic‐form savings function using international cross‐section data. It shows that the optimal rates of money supply are 11–12 per cent and 6–8 per cent in underdeveloped and developed countries respectively.     

The impact of equal offortunity compliance laws in government contrgcting: the shelby county,tennessee experience

Abstract

Very few researchers have addressed the long‐term financing arrangements of municipal governments in developing countries. No research has evaluated empirically either the elements that affect municipal borrowing in developing countries or what those elements reveal about the municipal credit system. Analyzing Brazilian municipal loan and financial data with a series of simultaneous equations, this paper addresses the following questions: What factors determine municipal government investment levels, borrowing levels, and borrowing prices? What do empirical data reveal about the character of the Brazilian municipal credit system? The results show that investment, borrowing, and borrowing prices are interconnected. Furthermore, while some signs of a market‐based system exist, there is evidence that investment and borrowing decisions are made within an administered market.     

Diego Garcia and the United States' Emerging Indian Ocean Strategy

Abstract

As the world's economic and strategic “center of gravity” shifts from the Euro-Atlantic area to the Asia-Pacific, the Indian Ocean is emerging as an increasingly critical trade and energy conduit. This region has long been a strategic backwater for the United States. Moreover, unlike in other critical subregions of Asia, the United States lacks significant host-nation bases and is unlikely to acquire them. The British territory of Diego Garcia, whose location and political reliability give it significant strategic utility, is thus central to US power projection in the Indian Ocean littoral region. The US military's approach to Diego Garcia reflects an implicit Indian Ocean strategy that seeks to establish a flexible and enduring presence within a critical and contested space. However, Washington needs to move toward an explicit Indian Ocean policy that views the region holistically rather than narrowly viewing separate US Pacific Command, US Central Command, and US Africa Command theaters.     

Context Matters: Violence Against Women and Reporting to Police in Rural, Suburban and Urban Areas

Despite plentiful efforts to identify perpetrator, victim, and incident characteristics correlated with reporting violence against women to police, few studies have addressed the contexts that shape such reporting. Even fewer have examined variations in these contexts across geographic areas. Drawing upon National Crime Victimization Survey data from 1992 through 2009, this paper uses conjunctive analysis of case configurations to identify and investigate the dominant situational contexts of reporting of violence against women to police across rural, suburban, and urban areas. Our findings show that context matters and the importance of incident, perpetrator, and victim characteristics vary across geographic areas.     

A peculiar institution? Greco–Roman monogamy in global context

In what sense were the ancient Greeks and Romans monogamous, and why does it matter? This paper addresses this question from a transdisciplinary and global cross-cultural perspective. It considers the physical and anthropological record of polygyny, delineates the historical expansion of formal monogamy, and critiques complementary social science models of mate choice. This approach allows us to situate Greco–Roman practice on a spectrum from traditional polygamy to more recent forms of normative monogyny. Whilst Greco–Roman legal and social norms stressed the nexus between monogamous unions and legitimate reproduction, they accommodated a variety of men's polygynous relationships outside the nuclear family. Greco–Roman monogamy's historically most significant consequence was its role in shaping Christian and later ‘Western’ marital norms that eventually gained global influence.