Cardiac Changes Due to Electronic Control Devices? A Computer‐Based Analysis of Electrical Effects at the Human Heart Caused by an ECD Pulse Applied to the Body's Exterior

Electronic control devices (ECDs) deliver high‐voltage, low‐current energy pulses temporarily paralyzing a person. For the ECD–human interaction, we have developed a computer model using the SEMCAD program within which to simulate the electrical effects throughout the body resulting from the imposition of an ECD pulse at a particular point on the body surface. Our human body models were based on cross‐sectional MRIs and CT scans, with the dielectric properties of the various tissues assigned based on previously published values. We simulated the application of a single ECD pulse and calculated the resulting electric field strength and current and charge densities at different body locations. The results were compared with corresponding values obtained by other researchers in similar simulations. Furthermore, we simulated an application of a pulse of 20‐millisecond duration equal to the European household current of 50 Hz and to the ventricular fibrillation threshold. The resulting current level indicated at the heart muscle was 1/5 the level considered the threshold for triggering ventricular fibrillation.     

The Strategic Nature of Compliance: An Empirical Evaluation of Law Implementation in the Central Monitoring System of the European Union

This compliance study models correct and timely implementation of policies in a multilevel system as a strategic game between a central monitoring agency and multiple implementers and evaluates statistically the empirical implications of this model. We test whether compliance is determined by the anticipated enforcement decision of the monitoring agency and whether this agency is responsive to the probability of enforcement success and the potential sanctioning costs produced by noncomplying implementers. Compared to other monitoring systems, the centralized monitoring system of the European Union (EU) is praised for exemplary effectiveness, but our findings reveal that the monitoring agency refrains from enforcing compliance when the probability of success is low, and the sanctioning costs are high. This results in a compliance deficit, even though the selective enforcement activities of the monitoring agency are almost always successful before court.     

Education,experience and earnings: the career coordinates of female vis-à-vis male police officers in Finland

This study compares the careers of female and male police officers using the common criteria of career success: education, experience, rank, and earnings. The data come from the Police Personnel Barometer 2010-survey, which targeted the entire Finnish police force (N/population?=?7350/11,028). The accumulation of work experience (by age) appears to be slower among female than among male police officers. Female police officers acquire their higher police degrees slightly later during their career than male police officers. Towards the end of the career, male police officers are ahead of females in both rank and earnings. Using comprehensive data from one of the most equal societies in the world, and robust statistical methods, the current paper thus demonstrates that it is very difficult the get rid of the career bias between female and male police officers.     

Criminal and Procedural Fairness: Some Challenges to the Presumption of Innocence

The presumption of innocence (POI) requires all judges, juries, and other officials in a trial, to presume and treat any accused of criminal wrongdoing as innocent, until he or she is proven guilty. Although a POI lacks an authoritative definition, this overarching principle of procedural fairness is so robust and vital for the exercise of legal power in matters of criminal law that one rarely finds anyone questioning its standing. In this article I examine the rationale behind the POI from a different perspective. The basic assumption is that this procedural standard captures the tenor of a broader principle which seeks to ensure fairness in criminal proceedings as well as in criminal law doctrine. I argue that honouring a principle of fairness is not exclusively a matter of criminal procedural law but also something that is deeply rooted in other areas of criminal law doctrine. Hence: not maintaining a principle of fairness in criminal law doctrine could lead to the POI being compromised or even undermined. In the article, I draw attention to three areas in which I believe that criminal law policies threaten a principle of fairness: criminalising remote harm, doctrine of ignorance of law and inversed presumptions of guilt. My conclusion is that some solutions to so called doctrinal problems in criminal law, are questionable and their practical consequences (on a general level) are, at least partially, equal to treating an individual (in a trial) as guilty for something for which he or she ought not to be accountable. Hence: gaining the support of a POI could thus work as principle for keeping the use of criminal law moderate and in accordance with a principle of fairness.     

Assessing reliability, validity, and clinical utility of the BEST-Index in measuring living skills among forensic inpatients

The assessment of behavioral change as a result of inpatient treatment in forensic psychiatry is an important precondition for violence risk prediction in forensic psychiatry. In relation to a multitude of diagnostically based risk assessment instruments, there is a shortage of appropriate instruments with which to carry out valid and reliable therapeutic assessments that are behaviorally based and therefore appropriate for use within varied psychiatric contexts. There is also a need for instruments which will offer assessors the opportunity to examine possible relationships between criteria of social risk and criteria of more general aspects of social functioning. Tapping the issues pointed out above, the authors present an overview of a normatively based social profiling instrument (the BEST-Index), and discuss evidence for its validity, reliability, and aspects of clinical utility.     

Sexual dimorphism in human browridge volume measured from 3D models of dry crania: A new digital morphometrics approach

Sex estimation from the human skull is often a necessary step when constructing a biological profile from unidentified human remains. Traditional methods for determining the sex of a skull require observers to rank the expression of sexually dimorphic skeletal traits by subjectively assessing their qualitative differences. One of these traits is the prominence of the glabellar region above the browridge. In this paper, the volume of the browridge region was measured from digital 3D models of 128 dry crania (65 female, 63 male). The 3D models were created with a desktop laser scanner, and the browridge region of each 3D model was isolated using geometric planes defined by cranial landmarks. Statistical analysis of browridge-to-cranium volume ratios revealed significant differences between male and female crania. Differences were also observed between geographically distinct populations, and between temporally distinct populations from the same locale. The results suggest that in the future, sex determination of human crania may be assisted by quantitative computer-based volume calculations from 3D models, which can provide increased objectivity and repeatability when compared to traditional forensic techniques. The method presented in this paper can easily be extended to other volumetric regions of the human cranium.     

Separation and structural characterization of the synthetic cannabinoids JWH-412 and 1-[(5-fluoropentyl)-1H-indol-3yl]-(4-methylnaphthalen-1-yl)methanone using GC-MS, NMR analysis and a flash chromatography system

The 'herbal highs' market continues to boom. The added synthetic cannabinoids are often exchanged for another one with a high frequency to stay at least one step ahead of legal restrictions. While most of these substances were synthesized for pharmaceutical purposes and have been described in the scientific literature before, others originate from clandestine laboratories supplying this lucrative market. In this paper, the identification and structure elucidation of two synthetic cannabinoids is reported. The first compound, 1-[(5-fluoropentyl)-1H-indol-3yl]-(4-methylnaphthalen-1-yl)methanone, was found along with AM-2201 in a 'herbal mixture' obtained via the Internet. For isolation of the substance from the mixture, a newly developed flash chromatography method was used providing an inexpensive and fast way to gain pure reference substances from 'Spice' products for the timely development or enhancement of analytical methods in the forensic field. The second substance, 4-fluoronaphthalen-1-yl-(1-pentylindol-3-yl)methanone (JWH-412) was seized by German authorities as microcrystalline powder, making it very likely that it will be found in 'herbal mixtures' soon.     

Gender-specific risk factors for intimate partner homicide--a nationwide register-based study

The present study examined gender differences in intimate partner homicide (IPH) and offender characteristics with the focus on putative gender-specific risk factors in a nationwide consecutive sample of homicide offenders. Data on all offenders (N = 642; 91 females, 551 males) convicted of homicide and subjected to a forensic psychiatric examination in Finland were obtained for the years 1995 and 2004. IPH offenders, 39 female and 106 male, were compared for risk factors with female and male offenders whose victims were not spouses. The forensic psychiatric examination reports were retrospectively analyzed, and the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) was rated. Significant gender differences were found in four risk factors: employment, intoxication of victim, self-defense, and quarrel, mostly related to alcohol as a factor of the offense. The findings support the notion that female IPH is linked to defensive reactions resulting from prior abuse, and that IPH offenders resemble the general population more than offenders of other types of homicide.     

The evaluation of corporate contributions

This paper reviews the rationales expressed by businessmen for corporate philanthropy as an alternative to both individual charity and government provision of some types of charitable services. Three hypotheses explaining the aggregate level of corporate giving are then tested. The paper concludes with a list of potential hypotheses to be tested about corporate philanthropy when the data become available.