Decapitation due to car accident

The occurrence of complete decapitation as a consequence of car accident is an extremely rare event. This fatality is generally seen in pedestrians run over by trains and also in motorcyclists who impact against the tailboard of trucks. Moreover, complete transection of pedestrians and occupants of cars has been described in road accidents especially in case of vehicles traveling at a high speed. We present a case of decapitation with complete degloving injury of the neck in a patient involved in a traffic accident, and we briefly discuss the possible mechanisms producing this injury.     

Cardiac β1-adrenoceptor expression in two stress-induced cardiomyopathy-related deaths

Stress-induced cardiomyopathy (SICM) is characterized by transient systolic dysfunction of the apical and/or midventricular myocardial segments in the absence of obstructive coronary artery disease and is unique in that it can manifest itself after acute emotional stress. Excessive amounts of catecholamines released from sympathetic nerve endings as well as from the adrenal medulla under stressful conditions are considered to produce intracellular Ca(2+) overload and cardiac dysfunction through the β(1)-adrenoceptor signal transduction pathway. We describe the clinical and pathomorphological findings in two stress-induced cardiomyopathy fatal cases. Levels of catecholamines and their metabolites in urine samples were assessed too. Morphological patterns seen in SICM result from the complex interplay between sympathetic innervations, β-receptor density and function and catecholamine sensitivity.     

Minimum requirements for application of ink dating methods based on solvent analysis in casework

Several ink dating methods based on solvents analysis using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) were proposed in the last decades. These methods follow the drying of solvents from ballpoint pen inks on paper and seem very promising. However, several questions arose over the last few years among questioned documents examiners regarding the transparency and reproducibility of the proposed techniques. These questions should be carefully studied for accurate and ethical application of this methodology in casework. Inspired by a real investigation involving ink dating, the present paper discusses this particular issue throughout four main topics: aging processes, dating methods, validation procedures and data interpretation. This work presents a wide picture of the ink dating field, warns about potential shortcomings and also proposes some solutions to avoid reporting errors in court.     

Prevalence and Predictors of Service Utilization Among Racially and Ethnically Diverse Adolescents in Foster Care Diagnosed With Mental Health and Substance Abuse Disorders

This study examined the prevalence of mental health and substance abuse disorders and service utilization among a racially and ethnically diverse group of foster youth. Self-report data on symptoms and service receipt were used to identify whether groups of adolescents defined by their race and ethnicity were equally likely to receive services given the presence of a mental health or substance use disorder. Study findings showed that Caucasians are more likely to receive mental health services than African Americans. Race was not a significant predictor of accessing substance abuse services. Hispanic ethnicity was not a predictor of receipt of mental health or substance abuse treatment services. Implications for future research, practice, and policy are discussed.     

Measuring New Public Management and Governance in Political Debate

New Public Management (NPM) recently has been compared and contrasted with public governance (PG) to illustrate shifts in conceptions of public administrations and in reform agendas. The authors develop measures to capture the relevance of NPM and PG in textual discourse and investigate the extent to which they have entered the political debate. Content analysis of electoral programs for the 2005 Italian regional elections reveals that even in this legalistic country, considerable attention was paid to both NPM and PG issues. An important explanatory variable in preference for NPM or PG is party ideology, highlighting often‐ignored within‐country dynamics. Furthermore, the authors show how a methodological approach adapted from mainly political science and business research can be exploited in the field of public administration.     

人力资源管理思想:三个里程碑及其在中国的升华

人力资源管理实践历程中三个标志性实验成果昭示了人力资源管理思想演变的客观规律,是人力资源管理思想嬗变过程中的三大里程碑。科学管理实验使人力资源管理从自发管理走向自觉管理、科学管理和制度管理;霍桑实验系统发现了提高生产效率的社会心理因素,使人力资源管理从技术管理走向社会管理、行为管理和心理管理;职业生涯实验显示员工职业发展也是现代企业管理目标,现代企业目标和员工职业发展目标共存共长。三次实验的思想脉络、理论构造、功能机制有机对接、联动传承并推向纵深,成为人力资源管理历史上三个具有划时代意义的丰碑。科学人才观提出的"以人为本"的思想和理念是人力资源管理思想在当代中国的发展和升华。     

The legal framework of private universities in Spain

The setting up of Universities in Spain is considered to be part of the fundamental right to establish private educational institutions. For a long time there have only existed Church Universities alongside Public Universities, and these have had their legal basis in Agreements between Spain and the Vatican. As of 1991 there has been an on-going process of setting up purely private Universities, to the point that there are now eleven besides the Church Universities. This article examines their legal framework from the point of view of their organisation, the system governing their teaching staff and their effective autonomy with regard to the Public Authorities. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.