Market offenses and limits to growth

The purpose of this article is to explore various factors that may regulate or stabilize levels in market offenses. Instead of assuming that illegal markets are ‘out of control’, evidence is advanced to demonstrate, on the contrary, that there are indeed limits to growth in criminal markets. This is presented along three principal and interconnected arguments. First, social norms limit the ability of suppliers to shape demand for illicit goods and services. Using public opinion surveys, it is concluded that the more objectionable the moral status of an illegal market, the smaller the pool of potential consumers and sellers. Second, there are considerable obstacles that confront suppliers of illegal goods and services accumulating capital and upward mobility. The consequences of product illegality inhibit the organizational growth capacities as well as the geographic expansion of illicit firms. Third, while impunity via corruptible alliances do cancel some of the effects of product illegality, this impunity is not a constant that can always be depended upon. To the extent that corruption varies across jurisdictions and over time, illegal entrepreneurs may come to realize that impunity is intrinsically limited in scope and volatile in nature and over which they essentially have very limited control. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Death from Hypothermia during a Training Course under “Extreme Conditions”: Related to Two Cases

Death from hypothermia following exhaustion or from various complicated pathologies is no longer a frequent cause of death among combat troops. During a training course under “extreme conditions” in the French Alps, two young African officers died. Confronted with these two clinically confirmed cases of hypothermia, the unknown anatomopathological and biological specificities associated with death from hypothermia were highlighted. In these typical and clinically confirmed cases of death from subacute exhaustion hypothermia, none of the signs revealed by the autopsy were specific. Although some recent publications have addressed the utility of postmortem biochemical markers when establishing a diagnosis, with no anamnesis, with no knowledge or analysis of the circumstances of death, and without an in situ examination of the body, it appears difficult, if not impossible, to confirm that death was caused by hypothermia.     

Human Identification via Lateral Patella Radiographs: A Validation Study,

This research examines the utility of patella outline shape for matching 3D scans of patellae to knee radiographs using elliptical Fourier analysis and subjective methods of human visual comparison of patellae across radiographs for identification purposes. Repeat radiographs were captured of cadaver's knees for visual comparison before patellae were extracted and skeletonized for quantitative comparisons. Quantitative methods provided significant narrowing down of the candidate pool to just a few potential matches (<5% of original sample), while the human analysts showed high capacity for correctly matching radiographs, irrespective of educational level (positive predictive value = 99.8%). The successful computerized matching based on a single quantified patella trait (outline shape) helps explain the potency achieved by subjective visual examination. This work adds to a growing body of studies demonstrating the value of single isolated infracranial bones for human identification via radiographic comparison.     

One Quintillion Ways to Have PTSD Comorbidity: Recommendations for the Disordered DSM-5

Galatzer-Levy and Bryant (Perspect Psychol Sci 8:651–662, 2013) have calculated the number of ways that Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms can be combined as over 600,000. They concluded that the amount is astounding and the category is rendered amorphous. PTSD often occurs in the context of polytrauma or comorbidity. The epidemiological literature indicates that the most common comorbid conditions in cases of PTSD include major depressive disorder (MDD), chronic pain, neurocognitive disorder due to traumatic brain injury (e.g., mild), and alcohol use disorder, with premorbid personality disorder possible, as well (which we consider as exacerbated due to the traumatic incident at issue, as in borderline personality disorder). We calculated the possible symptom combinations for each of these disorders and then in comorbid combination with PTSD (e.g., PTSD with MDD, but also when all six conditions are present). The number of symptom combinations in full polytrauma involving all six conditions listed is truly astounding, over one quintillion. Also, we reviewed the range of PTSD comorbidities, which adds to the symptom heterogeneity in cases. We make recommendations to prioritize symptoms in disorders as primary (e.g., unique, marker), secondary (e.g., core essential), and tertiary (e.g., common, cross-diagnostic). The latter tertiary type of symptoms in a disorder, if any, should be kept apart in its own criterion. This approach might help make the next version of the DSM more clinically useful both to clinicians and to court.     

Obama’s Foreign Policy: “Smart Power,” Realism and Cynicism

This article reviews the foreign policy of the Obama administration with a special focus on the Middle East. It shows the gap between the lofty rhetoric of the President, a great orator, and the decisions taken by the Administration. This gap is the inevitable result of the normal play of forces in the decision-making process involving many actors and the interplay of domestic policies and foreign policy. The author argues that if Obama’s foreign policy is analyzed in electoral and domestic terms then it is quite wrong to argue, as some have done, that it is dumb. Smart in electoral terms, however, does not necessarily mean smart on the international stage.     

Quantification of Perspective‐Induced Shape Change of Clavicles at Radiography and 3D Scanning to Assist Human Identification

Change in perspective between antemortem and postmortem imaging sessions (radiograph to radiograph and surface scan to radiograph) may cause different 2D renderings of the same osseous element complicating comparisons for identification. In this study, clavicle shape changes due to radiographic positioning and 3D laser scanning were examined in 20 right‐side specimens, as pertinent to chest radiograph comparisons. Results indicate substantial changes in clavicle form with short source‐to‐image receptor distance, elevation of the element from the image receptor, and movement of the element away from the center beam (10% mean square for shape). Although quantitative shape differences were small when the clavicle was in close opposition to the image receptor (3% mean square), important qualitative differences remained with large distances from the center beam (e.g., conoid tubercle presence/absence). The significance of these results for image superimposition and computer‐automated‐shape‐based searches of radiographic libraries to find matching candidates is discussed.     

Anthropological Facial Approximation in Three Dimensions (AFA3D): Computer‐Assisted Estimation of the Facial Morphology Using Geometric Morphometrics

This study presents Anthropological Facial Approximation in Three Dimensions (AFA3D), a new computerized method for estimating face shape based on computed tomography (CT) scans of 500 French individuals. Facial soft tissue depths are estimated based on age, sex, corpulence, and craniometrics, and projected using reference planes to obtain the global facial appearance. Position and shape of the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears are inferred from cranial landmarks through geometric morphometrics. The 100 estimated cutaneous landmarks are then used to warp a generic face to the target facial approximation. A validation by re‐sampling on a subsample demonstrated an average accuracy of c. 4 mm for the overall face. The resulting approximation is an objective probable facial shape, but is also synthetic (i.e., without texture), and therefore needs to be enhanced artistically prior to its use in forensic cases. AFA3D, integrated in the TIVMI software, is available freely for further testing.     

The politics of currency crises in Sweden: Policy choice in a globalised economy

In the two‐pronged debate on ‘globalising markets’ the ‘society‐centered’ perspective claims nation‐states are losing economic control whereas the ‘state‐centred’ perspective holds that ‘business as usual’ is possible. Both views are oversimplified. Looking at Sweden's 1992 currency crisis, we suggest that studies over time provide insights about the significance of political craftsmanship. We argue that market influence on domestic policy making should be regarded as a variable contingent on a fortuitous (from the point of view of market actors) confluence of political and economic circumstances. Our analysis suggests that this confluence, to some extent, can be controlled or manipulated by the state.     

Metropolitan-scale Planning in Neo-liberal Times: Financial and Political Obstacles to Urban Form Transition

Just as rising concern about its environmental, economic, social, health and quality of life downsides generates loud calls for a departure from the dispersed car-oriented urban model, conditions for such a transition have become more uncertain. The intended urban shift is hampered by dissonance between the generation of metropolitan-scale planning visions and the anti-interventionist characteristics of the current neo-liberal age. The paper identifies impeding effects of neo-liberalism—notably, public funding hardship and political dynamics—on attempts at carrying out transformative metropolitan planning. The difficulty in preventing major failures in the operation of cities under neo-liberalism is reflective of its inability, at a broader societal scale, to regulate the economy and thus avert economic and social crises. The paper draws its empirical substance from the gap in Toronto, Canada, between metropolitan planning visions and the urban development reality.