Postmortem molecular analysis in victims of sudden unexplained death

Among several conditions that can be responsible for sudden cardiac death (SCD), an important role is played by long QT syndrome (LQTS). LQTS is a congenital electric heart disease that can be asymptomatic or have very severe clinical manifestation, leading to cardiac arrest. In fact, the first manifestation of LQTS can be hyperkinetic ventricular arrhythmias. The presence of LQTS should be considered in all cases of SCD where autopsy is negative for anatomic and histopathological findings. In these cases, after an accurate anamnesis, a genetic screening should always be performed. The screening on LQTS genes is performed on DNA extracted from paraffin-embedded tissues. Making a proper diagnosis in such cases can help to find new affected subjects among the family members of SCD victims and treat them. In these cases, if the pathologist does not make a correct diagnosis, can he or she be sued for malpractice?     

A neural network applied to criminal psychological profiling: an Italian initiative

The author presents a brief discussion of criminal profiling followed by an introduction to the Italian Neural Network for Psychological Criminal Profiling (NNPCP) project. This project, based on a so-called neural network and data mining, is an innovative technique being developed with the intention of extending criminal profiling to single serious crimes through the use of a computerized database.     

An Ethics-based Climate Agreement for the South Pacific Region

The aim of this article is to describe a comprehensive regional climate agreement for the South Pacific region. This agreement would integrate the usual view of climate negotiations among the developed countries as the sharing of mitigation costs, with that of the Pacific Islands, which focuses on the disproportion between responsibility for, and the efforts of, adaptation to burdens imposed by climate impacts. The agreement, moreover, is grounded on sound principles of justice and criteria of equity which give greater legitimacy to it and can persuade parties with conflicting interests to cooperate more closely on collective actions. On the mitigation side, discussion of the initial allocation of endowments focuses on the criterion of differentiated equality, taking account of undeserved inequalities as suggested by Rawls’ theory of justice as fairness. Endowments are initially distributed according to a formula whose reference is equal per capita distribution corrected for the most striking unjustifiable inequalities. Possibly a sound benchmark for the just financing of adaptation activities is the criterion of differentiated historical responsibility, again backed by Rawls’s theory, while the allocation of adaptation resources can be based on the criterion of lack of functionings, as substantiated in Sen’s capability approach. In practical terms, it is possible to envision the creation of an adaptation fund where each single contribution is proportional to cumulative emissions net of undeserved inequalities, and which allows participation by poorer vulnerable countries proportionally to their levels of human development.

The institutional logic of small-firm economies in Italy and Taiwan

This article compares the small-firm economies of Taiwan and Italy, utilizing an institutional oganizational approach in the analysis of economic structures. It is divided into three sections. First, there is a presention of the main features of the Italian and the Taiwanese economies to draw out their distinctive similarities. The second part identifies a set of institutional factors which help us understand the similarities observed in the two economies, and classifies them along two analytical headings: individual values and social structure. The third section explores the significance of the author's crossnational comparison of small-firm economies for improving the status of an institutional theory of economic structures. By, emphasizing the role of institutional factors and the social embeddedness of economic activities in Italy and Taiwan, the article provides a corrective to the unilateral emphasis on an East versus West model of economic action and shows the obvious inadequacies of restrictively cultural, political, or economic interpretations of national economies. Marco, Orrù is assistant professor of sociology at the University of South Florida. Recent publications include “Patterns of Inter-Firm Control in Japanese Business” (Organization Studies, December 1989, 549–74) and “Organizational Isomorphism in East Asia” inThe New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis P. Dimaggio and W. Powell, eds., (University of Chicago Press, 1991). Dr. Orrù's research has also appeared inThe British Journal of Sociology, Sociological Forum, Japan'sFinancial Economic Review, and other professional journals. He is currently working on a monograph,Patterns of Asian Capitalism, co-authored with Gary G. Hamilton and Nicole Woolsey Biggart.     

Identification and characterization of variant alleles at CODIS STR loci

Short tandem repeat (STR) profiles from 32,671 individuals generated by the ABI Profiler Plus and Cofiler systems were screened for variant alleles not represented within manufacturer-provided allelic ladders. A total of 85 distinct variants were identified at 12 of the 13 CODIS loci, most of which involve a truncated tetranucleotide repeat unit. Twelve novel alleles, identified at D3S1358, FGA, D18S51, D5S818, D7S820 and TPOX, were confirmed by nucleotide sequence analysis and include both insertions and deletions involving the repeat units themselves as well as DNA flanking the repeat regions. Population genetic data were collected for all variants and frequencies range from 0.0003 (many single observations) to 0.0042 (D7S820 '10.3' in North American Hispanics). In total, the variant alleles identified in this study are carried by 1.6% of the estimated 1 million individuals tested annually in the U.S. for the purposes of parentage resolution. A paternity case involving a recombination event of paternal origin is presented and demonstrates how variant alleles can significantly strengthen the genetic evidence in troublesome cases. In such instances, increased costs and turnaround time associated with additional testing may be eliminated.     

Special Issue: Deliberately Democratizing Multilateral Organization

In Economy and Society , Max Weber posits that bureaucracies that are not reined in by either democratic controls or market discipline will eventually start to pursue public policies that are detrimental to those whose lives these policies should enable or improve. During the last ten years, a number of scholars, activists, parliamentarians, journalists and whistleblowers have come to argue that Weber's hypothesis has often held up for the functioning of multilateral organizations, such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization. At least, it appears that little democratic control or market discipline has been imposed on multilateral organizations. Moreover, critics from both the left and the right have severely criticized such multilateral policies as development lending, deregulation of financial markets, and structural adjustment programs. Yet it remains difficult to agree upon appropriate remedies. Many proposals—ranging from outright abolishment of large international organizations to the establishment of global parliaments at the United Nations—have been tabled, but little consensus reigns and various disadvantages (as well as advantages) cling to each of these proposals. This special issue of Governance considers yet another way in which to make multilateral organizations more democratic and pluralistic: by making these organizations more deliberatively democratic. This introduction clarifies what is meant by deliberative decision–making and why it is worthwhile to consider making multilateral organizations more deliberative. It also sets out the other contributions to the issue, which offer different justifications for increased deliberation and discuss alternative forms in which multilateral organizations can be made more deliberatively democratic.     

Voters without a Party: The ‘Long Decade’ of the Italian Centre-Right and its Uncertain Future

Abstract

Following the corruption scandals of the early 1990s, the birth of the electoral coalition led by Silvio Berlusconi, and its occupation of government in 1994, 2001 and 2008, was interpreted by many as a sign of a new era of success for the Italian centre-right. Yet, after narrowly losing the 2013 national elections, the centre-right appears to have fallen into a political abyss. While opinion polls suggest that its potential electorate is still wide, the former allies that made up the coalition have been fragmented and weakened by a series of splits, leaving the centre-right divided into a more moderate component and an openly populist one. The centre-right’s old ruling elites have lost credibility, but the new younger leaders, like Matteo Salvini and Giorgia Meloni, are not able to re-unify the former coalition. The centre-right has been riven by several factors that explain its difficulties during the decade of the economic crisis: the personalisation of its leadership, factionalism, a divergence of programmes, a failure of institutionalisation and ongoing corruption and legal problems. These factors also look set to condition its political future.