Neue Besch?ftigungsstrategien jenseits von externer und interner Flexibilisierung

Recent research about regular employment in core areas of high qualified service work in Germany yields contradictory findings about continuities and changes in employment stability. In addressing current debates about changing employment relations, this paper examines how organizational change and the role of customers in service work interact to shape employer demands for more flexible employment. The results of a qualitative study of employment practices in one branch of qualified service work, IT services, shows how clients?? intervention into the production process affects skill demand and firms?? use of flexible employment. At the same time, a pronounced client orientation precipitates the need for context-specific knowledge and stability of employment. The resulting employment strategies aim at developing long-term relations with free-lancers and other short-term workers. These new employment practices call into question the well-accepted distinction between internal and external forms of employment flexibility.     

The QR code in society, economy and medicine--fields of application, options and chances

2D codes like the QR Code ("Quick Response") are becoming more and more common in society and medicine. The application spectrum and benefits in medicine and other fields are described. 2D codes can be created free of charge on any computer with internet access without any previous knowledge. The codes can be easily used in publications, presentations, on business cards and posters. Editors choose between contact details, text or a hyperlink as information behind the code. At expert conferences, linkage by QR Code allows the audience to download presentations and posters quickly. The documents obtained can then be saved, printed, processed etc. Fast access to stored data in the internet makes it possible to integrate additional and explanatory multilingual videos into medical posters. In this context, a combination of different technologies (printed handout, QR Code and screen) may be reasonable.     

Medical and legal aspects of genital mutilation and circumcision. Part II: Male circumcision

In the last few years, male circumcision has become the subject of controversial discussion. On the one hand, medical and hygienic arguments, ideology, freedom of religion, cultural identity and social adequacy are claimed by those supporting male circumcision. On the other hand, the justification of this practice also has to be critically scrutinized just as the question whether the parents have the right to consent to the operation. Today, opinions range from those who claim that religion and culture alone justify the practice to those who consider circumcision of minors unable to give their consent as bodily injury subject to punishment. In contrast to female genital mutilation, most positions do not postulate that circumcision violates morality. If the person concerned is able to give his consent, freedom of religion may also justify circumcision after weighing its pros and cons as well as its risks and potential side effects.     

Differential diagnostics of stomach contents showing blue discoloration

A 42-year-old man evidently had died from an intoxication. On the basis of the findings at scene it was primarily assumed that the man had ingested a larger quantity of an ethylene glycol-containing antifreeze for suicidal purposes. The man was said to have had an alcohol problem and did not only consume drinking alcohol, but also other alcoholic liquids. At autopsy, a bluish liquid with an aromatic smell was found in the oesophagus and stomach. However, toxicological analyses did not furnish evidence of ethylene glycol--as expected--but a potentially fatal concentration of ethanol (blood alcohol concentration 4.01 per mille). The blue colour (patent blue C.I.42051) came from a liquid used in the wind-screen washer system in winter, which now contains ethanol (denatured with 2-butanone) instead of ethylene glycol. The results of the toxicological findings including the analysis of congener alcohols and the differential diagnostics of blue-coloured stomach contents are discussed.     

The NucleoSpin DNA Clean-up XS kit for the concentration and purification of genomic DNA extracts: An alternative to microdialysis filtration

Traditionally, DNA extracts from biological evidence items have been concentrated and rinsed using microdialysis filtration units, including the Centricon^® and Microcon^® centrifugal filter devices. As an alternative to microdialysis filtration, we present an optimized method for using NucleoSpin^® XS silica columns to concentrate and clean-up aqueous extracts from the organic extraction of DNA from biological samples. The method can be used with standard organic extraction and dithiothreitol (DTT)-based differential extraction methods with no modifications to these methods prior to the concentration and clean-up step. Extracts from laboratory-prepared bloodstains, saliva and semen stains have been successfully amplified with both qPCR and STR assays. Finally, the total time to process a set of samples with the NucleoSpin^® XS column is approximately 30 min vs. approximately 1.5 h with the Centricon^® YM-100 filter device.     

The European parliament and the requirements of democratic government

This study ties into the debate about the effect of the EU on its member states. Most studies do not include non-EU cases in their investigations. Therefore, it is difficult to establish the (isolated) causal effect or relative importance of the EU. Moreover, studies with an exclusive focus on EU cases tend to be biased towards EU-level explanations, at the expense of domestic or global explanations. The article examines three strategies to demonstrate the causal importance of the EU. It points to the limits of process tracing and counterfactual reasoning and advocates the comparison of EU member states with non-members or, if research is restricted to EU countries, cases where the source of an EU effect is present with cases where the source is absent.     

Multiple homicides--forensic and criminologic aspects

The interpretation of medicolegal findings in homicide is an important tool of case profiling (so-called "operative case analysis"). In 17 cases of "multiple homicides" involving 22 offenders (21 males, 1 female; mean age 33 years) and 45 victims (21 males, 24 females; mean age 35 years; 41 fatalities, 4 survivors), the autopsy reports and the prosecution authorities' files were retrospectively analysed with regard to individual characteristics of perpetrators and victims, circumstances, and mode of commitment in order to comprehensively characterise relevant forensic and criminologic aspects. 31 victims were found to belong to the close social environment of the perpetrator, and 32 killings were committed in the victim's, perpetrator's or the joint flat. The main motives included greed (n = 7), personal conflicts (n = 5) and concealing of a crime (n = 9). The relevant injuries were attributable to gunshot wounds (n = 13), sharp force (n = 11), blunt force (n = 3), ligature strangulation (n = 3), smothering (n = 6), fire/carbon monoxide (n = 2) and combined impacts (n = 7). In 12 victims, defense injuries were found. The blood alcohol concentration exceeded 1.5 g/l in 5 victims. In 5 offenders, a psychiatric impairment of juridical responsibility was assessed (and 20 German criminal code, n = 1, psychosis; and 21 German criminal code, n = 4; acute alcohol intoxication). As far as data were available, 16 crimes were judged as murder, 12 as manslaughter and one as physical injury with fatal outcome.     

Gunshot injuries as a topic of medicolegal research in the German-speaking countries from the beginning of the 20th century up to the present time

The 100th anniversary of the foundation of the German Society of Legal Medicine is a good opportunity to review its contributions to forensic wound ballistics. The present article gives an overview of the scientific development in this field with special emphasis on work pioneering new developments and findings valid up to the present day, for example the presence of carboxyhemoglobin in the vicinity of the entrance wound as a sign of a contact or close-range shot [A. Paltauf, Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. 3 (1890) 984-991, 1015-1017]; the correct interpretation of the muzzle imprint [A. Werkgartner, Beitr. Gerichtl. Med. 6 (1924) 148-161] and the retrograde ballooning of the bullet entrance region in contact shots [F. Hausbrandt, Dtsch. Z. ges. Gerichtl. Med. 38 (1944) 45-76; H. Elbel, Med. Welt 20 (1958) 343-345]; wound patterns from captive-bolt livestock stunners [H. Czursiedel, Dtsch. Z. ges. Gerichtl. Med. 28 (1937) 132-133]; singeing of synthetic fiber textiles in close-range shots with nitro powder ammunition [S. Berg, Arch. Kriminol. 124 (1959) 5-8,17-22]; the wound ballistic processes on penetration of the bullet and the origin of the abrasion collar [K. Sellier, Beitr. Gerichtl. Med. 25 (1969) 265-270]. More recently medicolegal research in the German-speaking countries covered the following subjects: studies of the dynamic bullet-target interactions in experimental gunshots to simulants and composite body models; use of modern imaging techniques (CT, MRI) in the pre-autopsy diagnosis of lethal gunshot injuries; injuries from blank guns; mechanisms of incapacitation by gunshot injuries; development of improved methods for the evidence of gunshot residues on the firing hand; backspatter from close-range shots; medicolegal contributions in the discrimination of accidental, homicidal and suicidal gunshot injuries.     

The value of examination aids in victim identification: a retrospective study of an airplane crash in Nepal in 2002

After the crash of an airplane in Nepal in the year 2002, the dental status of the 14 European victims was examined at autopsy as well as after additional removal of the soft tissue and compared with antemortem findings which were available in 11 cases. Re-examination of all jaws showed that nine composite fillings and seven root fillings as well as one parapulpal pin could not be detected during autopsy. Because tooth-coloured restorations may be overseen even by an experienced expert, the findings underline the necessity of performing a full resection of both jaws and removal of the soft tissue. Furthermore, X-ray analysis of the jaws and the use of phosphoric acid or ultra violet radiation for recognizing tooth-coloured restorations are recommended.