Forensic DNA Challenges: Replacing Numbers with Names of Fosse Ardeatine’s Victims*

Abstract: The Fosse Ardeatine massacre was a mass execution carried out in Rome on March 24, 1944 by Nazi German occupation troops during the Second World War as a reprisal for a partisan attack conducted on the previous day in central Rome. The 335 civilians were taken to the “Cave Ardeatine” and they were shot. Only 323 corpses out of 335 have been identified. The aim of this work is the genetic and anthropological analysis of the remains exhumed from grave number 329 of Fosse Ardeatine’s Shrine to assess their identity. So far, such remains have been supposed to belong to MM but mitochondrial analysis excluded a biological relationship to two living maternal relatives. Our analysis indicated that remains recovered in grave number 329 do not belong to MM. This result suggests that genetic analysis of the remains should be also applied to the other 12 unknown corpses to elucidate their identity.     

Fatal Drowning Accident and Undiagnosed Hydrocephalus

Abstract: Bodies found in water present several diagnostic challenges for the forensic examiner, such as the identification of the time and mechanism of death, the postmortem submersion time, and above all the circumstances of drowning. We report the case of a 33‐year‐old security guard found dead in Venice, in the water of the lagoon, who at autopsy presented a previously undiagnosed hydrocephalus with macrocephaly. The victim remained asymptomatic until 2 months before death and had never undergone a neurological or radiological examination. In the article, we emphasize the need to perform a thorough autopsy in all suspected drownings, discuss the etiopathogenesis of the neurological disease and hypothesize a possible relationship between the hydrocephalus and the drowning accident. Finally, we discuss the major clinical and forensic implications of macrocephaly and hydrocephalus in adults.     

The Free Movement of Goods as a Possible 'Community' Limitation on Industrial Conflict

The aim of this essay is to underline the fact that the process of achieving single market integration is very likely to influence the regulation of industrial conflict. In this perspective, the Commission v France judgment is analysed, in which the ECJ—through a combined interpretation of Article 30 (now 28) and Article 5 (now 10) of the Treaty—states that a Member State is obliged to adopt all 'appropriate measures' to remove any 'obstacles' impeding the free circulation of goods caused by private persons. A new Regulation (n. 2679/98) has followed the ECJ decision, instituting a system of notification of such obstacles arising, or the threat of them, and the right of the Commission to demand a formal reply from a State on whether it has taken, or will be taking the necessary and proportionate measures.
The analysis of the principles adopted by the ECJ and of the Regulation shows that, at Community level, pressure is exerted on States to prevent the exercise of collective action as effectively as possible, if this damages inter-State trade. A transnational limit on industrial conflict thus emerges in the Community order, which may well affect the equilibria of national industrial relations in various ways.     

Reshaping Cultural Heritage Protection Policies at a Time of Securitisation: France,Italy, and the United Kingdom

In the context of the increasing securitisation of cultural heritage, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom have reacted differently to the recent wave of iconoclasm perpetrated by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and similar radical groups and terrorist organisations. With cultural heritage now discursively identified as a security concern, the three states enacted security practices to deal with the newly emerged security threats. All three cases show a tight association between the protection of cultural heritage, development and security policies. State-driven cultural heritage protection policies continue to be designed around the notion of multilateral cooperation, although innovative forms of public-private multilateralism and civil-military cooperation are increasingly being introduced.     

Diversity Management: Regionalism and the Future of the International Order

Abstract

The ongoing redistribution of power on the international stage points to a more decentred international system featuring a multiplication of governance arrangements. A larger range of pivotal countries have the capacity and the confidence to pursue different priorities, a development that questions the prevalent post-Cold War expectation that the liberal international order would grow both wider and deeper. The central challenge for the future of the international order is managing diversity in ways that minimise conflict and leverage the benefits of interdependence. The evolution of regionalism and regional orders will be a critical dimension of the realignment of power, interests and normative agendas at the global level. Both more competition and more cooperation are likely to take place at the regional level, with the mix changing in different parts of the world. Provided that it is not merely a cover for coercive hegemonic aspirations and that it is designed to complement other levels of cooperation, regionalism can play an important role in preventing a more polycentric world from becoming a more fragmented and unstable one.     

Fake & original: the case of Japanese food in Southeast Asian countries

This paper seeks to answer two main questions: whether restaurants using a national brand to capture customers in fact use original national ingredients for producing food and, in cases where original ingredients are not used, what is the economic rationale behind this choice? Specifically, the study focuses on Japanese restaurants in three Southeast Asian countries, using a theoretical model and an empirical investigation based on interviews and survey data collected through field research. Considering restaurants, their suppliers, and their customers, we show how a dual asymmetric-information problem exists, between suppliers and restaurants and between restaurants and their customers. The results indicate that a first reason for buying non-original ingredients—important especially for cheaper restaurants—is a desire to reduce costs. That said, the use of non-original ingredients occurs among all types of Japanese restaurants in the three studied countries. It does not depend on the presence of a Japanese chef or owner, nor on the share of Japanese customers. By contrast it does significantly depend on the reliability of the wholesale channel, and the resultant difficulties that restaurants encounter when buying original ingredients.

     

Fatal hemorrhage from a periumbilical wound: Stabbing or hemorrhage from a caput medusae?

Varices are the main clinical manifestation of portal hypertension, and their bleeding is the predominant cause of mortality from this condition. Periumbilical varices are known as “caput medusae.” Reports of their bleeding are rare, with only three fatal cases described in the literature. The antemortem diagnosis is relatively simple, while the postmortem diagnosis is more complex. This paper is the first report of fatal hemorrhage from a caput medusae for which the diagnosis was made postmortem, thanks to a complete diagnostic process including scene and circumstances, medical history, and autopsy with detailed histology. The circumstantial analysis showed the presence of a large amount of blood at the scene, blood which originated from a small abdominal wound; an analysis of the subject's clinical data reported that he was affected by portal hypertension. The autopsy revealed some dilated and convoluted veins in the subcutaneous tissue of the umbilical region; a fistula between these veins and the abdominal wound was detected. The histological study confirmed the presence of periumbilical varices, one of them ruptured and connected with the overlying skin. The cause of death was attributed to a massive hemorrhage generated by a periumbilical varix in a patient affected by portal hypertension.