A case of fatal intoxication from metformin

A case of fatal intoxication from metformin is presented. The decedent was an obese 58-year-old-woman with type II diabetes, in whom severe lactic acidosis secondary to metformin accumulation was precipitated by acute renal failure. She had been on metformin 500 mg twice a day. Postmortem blood was deproteinated with acetonitrile, washed with dichloromethane, and the resulting supernatant injected into high-performance liquid chromatography system. Separation was performed on a analytical 125 x 4 mm i.d. RP-8 column. The wavelength was set at 235 nm. The mobile phase was acetonitrile (40%), sodium lauryl sulfate, and sodium dihydrogen phosphate adjusted to pH 5.1 (60%) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The concentration of metformin in postmortem blood was 77.3 microg/mL. The qualitative result was also confirmed by LC/APCI/MS/MS analysis.     

A new method of reproduction of fingerprints from corpses in a bad state of preservation using latex

In view of the problems arising while fingerprinting corpses in a bad state of preservation, especially in case of mummification and carbonization, the authors propose an innovative technique which uses latex film. To better illustrate the potential of the method, two cases where the latex technique was applied successfully are reported: the first one is a mummified body discovered in a shack on the outskirts of Milan and the second one is the case of a burnt corpse found in a car boot. Such a technique is versatile, easy to apply, and allows the operator to work quickly on cadavers without amputating parts, except in rare cases (i.e., burnt bodies with muscle retraction). By the latex technique, a perfect and enduring negative copy of the fingerprint is obtained, ready to be inked and photographed. The numerous copies produced this way can be inked several times allowing for the repeatability of the procedure and this is crucial in cases of problematic legal identification of corpses. In both the cases illustrated, the fingerprints obtained by the latex technique were useful for identification. The quality was good enough for the automatic fingerprint identification system research system to be applied.     

Delay of clinical manifestation and medical malpractice in a serious vascular complication of proximal locked tibial nailing

We are reporting on a case of complex lesion of the popliteal neurovascular bundle in a young woman, resulting from an operation for reduction and synthesis of a closed spiroid fracture of the mid-distal third of the left tibia by means of a Grosse-Kempf nail, with significant delay of clinical manifestation. Determining whether this is an "unavoidable complication" or "medical malpractice" is the target of the forensic investigation. In this case, the investigation leads to the conclusion that medical malpractice was the only explanation of the damage.     

Great Expectations: The Implementation of the Rome Statute in Italy

This article first explores whether Italy is under an obligationto implement the Rome Statute that it ratified in 1999. It thenidentifies the general sets of inconsistencies between Italianlegislation and the Rome Statute and analyses whether and towhat extent the former needs to be amended or integrated inorder to implement the substantive provisions of the latter,in particular in relation to the definition of crimes, generalprinciples of criminal responsibility, defences and other barsto prosecution. Finally, the exercise of jurisdiction by Italiancourts over crimes in the Rome Statute is discussed in the lightof the principle of complementarity on which the jurisdictionof the International Criminal Court is based.         Mere dreams,mere dreams!         W.B. Yeats,Meditations in Time of Civil War, I (1928)     

Looking to the future: Prospective economic voting in 2008 Presidential Elections

Despite the economic turmoil of the time, a typical study of vote choice in the 2008 US Presidential Election would (falsely) find little evidence that voters’ opinions about the future state of the economy affected their vote choice. We argue that this misleading conclusion results from serious measurement error in the standard prospective economic evaluations survey question. Relying instead on a revised question, included for the first time in the 2008 American National Election Study, we find that most respondents condition their prospective economic evaluations on potential election outcomes, and that these evaluations are an important determinant of vote choice. A replication in a very different political context – the 2008 Ghanaian election – yields similar results.     

Evidence of Haldol (haloperidol) long-term intoxication

A case of intoxication by haloperidol is reported. Haloperidol is a butyrophenone derivative commonly used in many hospital units as an antipsychotic agent. Adverse reactions due to haloperidol intoxication include drowsiness, blurred vision, extrapyramidal effects, tardive dyskinesia, tachycardia, hypotension and muscular rigidity. In August 2008, a 49 year-old female nurse started feeling various symptoms such as muscular rigidity, drowsiness and buccal dyskinesia. After 3 months, she was hospitalized for the worsening of these symptoms. Four months later, she showed once more the same symptoms. Two open water bottles from which the nurse used to drink in the hospital were confiscated and analyzed. Moreover, the nurse was asked to give a sample of her hair for executing the inherent toxicological analyses. Haloperidol was found in both bottles 1 and 2 at a concentration of 31.5 μg/mL and 43.6 μg/mL, respectively. Based on segmental hair analysis, it was deduced that the nurse consumed haloperidol in the approximate period from August 2008 to March 2009. The higher levels of haloperidol in hair were found in accordance with the periods of most severe appearance of symptoms, requiring the hospitalization of the nurse. The analysis of preservatives and excipients led us to conclude that the pharmaceutical drug was probably added to the water bottles as "Haldol 2mg/mL oral solution".     

Improving state legitimacy? The role of anti-corruption agencies in fragile and conflict-affected states

Anti-corruption reforms in fragile and conflict-affected states are considered as a policy imperative by international actors engaged in statebuilding. The establishment of anti-corruption agencies is often the preferred implementation strategy. The main rationale is that anti-corruption agencies demonstrate a government’s commitment to fight corruption, and should thus improve state legitimacy within a context of weak governance. In practice, several intervening factors condition the legitimacy effect of anti-corruption agencies, including the types and systems of corruption prevalent in a specific context, the perceptions of corruption towards specific parts of government, and how citizens attribute the successes or failures of these agencies to the state. More broadly, these intervening factors also challenge the predominant assumption of a positive linear relationship between anti-corruption reforms, increased state legitimacy, and greater stability in fragile and conflict-affected states.     

The Material Constitution

What is the material context of constitutional order? The purpose of this paper is to offer an answer to that question by sketching a theory of the material constitution. Moving beyond the interwar constitutional theories of Heller and Mortati, the paper outlines the four ordering forces of the material constitution: political unity; a set of institutions; social relations, and fundamental political objectives. These forces constitute the substance and dynamic of constitutional ordering, in internal relation with the formal constitution. Because these ordering forces are multiple, and in tension with one another, there is no single determining factor of constitutional development. Neither is order as such guaranteed. The conflict that characterises the modern human condition might but need not be internalised by the process of constitutional ordering. The theory of the material constitution offers an account of the basic elements of this process as well as its internal dynamic.     

Learning on the job: Studying expertise in residential burglars using virtual environments*

In this article, we describe a quasi‐experiment in which experienced incarcerated burglars (n = 56), other offenders (n = 50), and nonoffenders (n = 55) undertook a mock burglary within a virtual neighborhood. We draw from the cognitive psychology literature on expertise and apply it to offending behavior, demonstrating synergy with rational choice perspectives, yet extending them in several respects. Our principal goal was to carry out the first robust test of expertise in offenders by having these groups undertake a burglary in a fully fledged reenactment of a crime in a virtual environment. Our findings indicate that the virtual environment successfully reinstated the context of the crime showing clear differences in the decision making of burglars compared with other groups in ways commensurate with expertise in other behavioral domains. Specifically, burglars scoped the neighborhood more thoroughly, spent more time in the high‐value areas of the crime scene while traveling less distance there, and targeted different goods from the comparison groups. The level of detail in the data generated sheds new light on the cognitive processes and actions of burglars and how they “learn on the job.” Implications for criminal decision‐making perspectives and psychological theories of expertise are discussed.     

Evaluating and comparing entrepreneurial ecosystems using SMAA and SMAA-S

The Journal of Technology Transfer - This paper focuses on the entrepreneurial ecosystem as a set of interdependent and coordinated factors in a territory enabling entrepreneurship. To date,...