Environmental conditions associated with shark attacks against humans: a case report about territoriality

This article describes the autopsy findings of a victim of a shark attack that took place off the coast of Pernambuco, Brazil. The victim was rescued and immediately taken to a nearby hospital but did not survive, even though the lapse of time between the attack and verification of death did not exceed 15 minutes. The presence of a single, large, contused and incised, semiarched wound with a serrated aspect was decisive in elucidating the event. Thus, this study discusses aspects related to the aggressor species, to the autopsy, to the type of wound, and to the causes that have led to a significant increase in this type of event in the area. It was concluded that the lesion was produced while the victim was still alive and that it was the cause of death.     

Application of 3D documentation and geometric reconstruction methods in traffic accident analysis: with high resolution surface scanning, radiological MSCT/MRI scanning and real data based animation

The examination of traffic accidents is daily routine in forensic medicine. An important question in the analysis of the victims of traffic accidents, for example in collisions between motor vehicles and pedestrians or cyclists, is the situation of the impact. Apart from forensic medical examinations (external examination and autopsy), three-dimensional technologies and methods are gaining importance in forensic investigations. Besides the post-mortem multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the documentation and analysis of internal findings, highly precise 3D surface scanning is employed for the documentation of the external body findings and of injury-inflicting instruments. The correlation of injuries of the body to the injury-inflicting object and the accident mechanism are of great importance. The applied methods include documentation of the external and internal body and the involved vehicles and inflicting tools as well as the analysis of the acquired data. The body surface and the accident vehicles with their damages were digitized by 3D surface scanning. For the internal findings of the body, post-mortem MSCT and MRI were used. The analysis included the processing of the obtained data to 3D models, determination of the driving direction of the vehicle, correlation of injuries to the vehicle damages, geometric determination of the impact situation and evaluation of further findings of the accident. In the following article, the benefits of the 3D documentation and computer-assisted, drawn-to-scale 3D comparisons of the relevant injuries with the damages to the vehicle in the analysis of the course of accidents, especially with regard to the impact situation, are shown on two examined cases.     

Public pensions and immigration policy in a democracy

The paper analyzes the link between the public pension system and the immigration policy. In a pay-as-you-go system, the incentives for immigration vary significantly between individuals at different lifetime periods. In the framework of an overlapping generations model, we show that the median voter's choice in general leads to inefficient levels of immigration. The median voter neglects the effects of the externalities within the pension system on other generations. An immigration policy that is not affected by the median voter's choice but instead is constitutionally determined will avoid welfare losses. The expected lifetime income of each generation can be increased by applying a rule of steady immigration.     

Should I stay or should I go? Explaining variation in nonstate actor advocacy over time in global governance

The past decades have been characterized by a growing number of nonstate actors (NSAs) involved in global governance. However, despite this growth, only a small number of NSAs have been able to maintain a prolonged global presence over a substantial period of time. To explain why some NSAs are more active, we rely on resource dependence theory. We demonstrate that sustained advocacy over time can be explained by a density dependence mechanism, namely the more NSAs mobilize, the lower the chance that individual NSAs will prolong their global advocacy efforts. Analysis of data stemming from a unique data set of 5,627 NSAs active at the global climate conferences demonstrates that much advocacy in this field is indeed of an incidental nature, namely a large number of groups attend once and never return.     

Interindividual variability, pathological changes and decomposition as an impediment to the morphological determination of human specificity of bone finds

Playing children discovered several teeth close to the wall surrounding a village church. A subsequent police search yielded further teeth, three neurocranial fragments, a metacarpal bone and the fragment of a long tubular bone. The circumstances along with the results of the investigation and the morphological findings suggested historical bones from a former graveyard. However, a large fragment of bone shaft from a long bone could not definitely be classified as being of human origin. The tibia of a deer was amongst the possibilities considered. Comparative tests run at the Institute of Veterinary Anatomy of the University of Giessen in addition to histological examinations, however, ultimately established the human specificity. Interindividual variability and decomoositional changes were determined as causes for the conspicuous macroscopic and microscopic findings for the tibia fragment. Pathological changes could not be demonstrated.     

The ideal subject distance for passport pictures

In an age of global combat against terrorism, the recognition and identification of people on document images is of increasing significance. Experiments and calculations have shown that the camera-to-subject distance - not the focal length of the lens - can have a significant effect on facial proportions. Modern passport pictures should be able to function as a reference image for automatic and manual picture comparisons. This requires a defined subject distance. It is completely unclear which subject distance, in the taking of passport photographs, is ideal for the recognition of the actual person. We show here that the camera-to-subject distance that is perceived as ideal is dependent on the face being photographed, even if the distance of 2m was most frequently preferred. So far the problem of the ideal camera-to-subject distance for faces has only been approached through technical calculations. We have, for the first time, answered this question experimentally with a double-blind experiment. Even if there is apparently no ideal camera-to-subject distance valid for every face, 2m can be proposed as ideal for the taking of passport pictures. The first step would actually be the determination of a camera-to-subject distance for the taking of passport pictures within the standards. From an anthropological point of view it would be interesting to find out which facial features allow the preference of a shorter camera-to-subject distance and which allow the preference of a longer camera-to-subject distance.     

(Re)configuring the criminal justice response to human trafficking: a complex-systems perspective

Abstract

The multidimensional complexities associated with the criminal justice response to human trafficking are well documented. The transient and subversive nature of human trafficking as organised crime and the large number of multidisciplinary role-players involved in coordinating cross jurisdictional efforts to prevent, investigate and prosecute such cases, contribute to this complex undertaking. Complex systems theory suggests that a complex social problem such as human trafficking cannot be approached by using a linear or simplified lens, and requires a holistic perspective on the complex interactions between actors, and emergent behaviour in both the criminal justice system and the human trafficking system that it seeks to combat. This paper explores the characteristics of complexity, and uses illustrations from the lived experiences of actors in South Africa’s efforts to combat human trafficking, in order to demonstrate how complex systems theory could be considered and integrated into the criminal justice response to human trafficking.     

Heteroplasmy in mtDNA in a set of dizygotic twins

The authors report on a case of a dicygotic female twin pair, one of them containing a T/C heteroplasmy in two (heart and brain) of five analysed organs at position nt204 of the HV2 region. Results and especially the evidence of an unequal distribution of the heteroplasmy are discussed.     

Forensic microradiology: micro-computed tomography (Micro-CT) and analysis of patterned injuries inside of bone

When a knife is stabbed in bone, it leaves an impression in the bone. The characteristics (shape, size, etc.) may indicate the type of tool used to produce the patterned injury in bone. Until now it has been impossible in forensic sciences to document such damage precisely and non-destructively. Micro-computed tomography (Micro-CT) offers an opportunity to analyze patterned injuries of tool marks made in bone. Using high-resolution Micro-CT and computer software, detailed analysis of three-dimensional (3D) architecture has recently become feasible and allows microstructural 3D bone information to be collected. With adequate viewing software, data from 2D slice of an arbitrary plane can be extracted from 3D datasets. Using such software as a "digital virtual knife," the examiner can interactively section and analyze the 3D sample. Analysis of the bone injury revealed that Micro-CT provides an opportunity to correlate a bone injury to an injury-causing instrument. Even broken knife tips can be graphically and non-destructively assigned to a suspect weapon.