Undetermined Manner of Death: An Autopsy Series

A manner of death may be ruled undetermined by the forensic pathologist when there is insufficient information about the circumstances surrounding the death to make a ruling. The aim of our study was to retrospectively analyze a series of autopsy cases that were classified as undetermined manner of death after complete investigations. In all, 48 cases were examined. In 23 cases (48%), the cause of death was determined. The most frequent cause of death was toxic death (n = 11). More than one manner of death was deemed conceivable for most cases (n = 39). The most frequent and the most probable manner of death was accident (n = 37). Homicide was not excluded in about 23% of the cases. Our study showed that the manner of death may remain undetermined despite an established cause of death, and even when two or more conceivable causes of death are considered. Our study pointed out that undetermined manner of death covers a wide range of situations and that homicide may be underestimated.     

一百年,文学群星闪耀时

镀金的爵士乐渐渐取代了皇帝的圆舞曲,而占据舞池中央位置的是他们。这何尝不是一场流动盛宴的序幕呢。这个世界是混乱且令人不安的吗?气候变化,疫情无休,经济下行……人们很容易认为,没有哪代人比这代人更艰难了。但事实上,时光倒流100年,那时的人们大抵也是这么想的。第一次世界大战和西班牙流感夺去了数千万人的生命,老欧洲古典主义的秩序也被颠覆了。     

Suivre la carrière des solutions de politique publique : les grands projets d’aréna au Québec

Drawing on three Quebec cases, this article examines the place occupied by the big arena project in urban public action. More specifically, the authors question the reasons behind the success of these projects. From a public policy standpoint, the analytical entry through the “solutions” (Zittoun 2013a) rather than the “problems” makes it possible to grasp the dynamic character of the construction of these public policies and to show the malleability of the “arena solution”. The analysis uses public discourse, taken from documentary sources, as an entry point to follow the career of the “arena solution”.     

Demultilateralisation: A cognitive psychological perspective

This contribution seeks to illuminate the looming phenomenon of demultilateralisation and the return of and to the nation state, i.e. closure. Whereas many reasons for opening and closure have been discussed by Habermas in his eminent essay, we aim at providing an additional dimension, taking a psychological point of view and analysing this proclivity from a behaviourally informed perspective. Following a short recapitulation of the evolution towards postnationalism, we briefly sketch the current phenomenon of demultilateralisation and renationalisation. We then contribute to the current debate by providing cognitive psychological insights drawing on well‐researched biases that offer the greatest potential to explain the current outbreak of closing tendencies, namely prospect theory, including the endowment effect, framing, the availability bias and so‐called hawkish biases. This may add an explanatory dimension to why nationalistic politics have become again the beguiling sanctuary of the people. We attempt to define scope conditions of closure.     

Value-Based Collaboration Between Leaders at Schools of Music and Performing Arts and Leaders at Compulsory Schools

In this study, we investigate collaboration efforts between leaders at schools of music and performing arts and leaders at compulsory schools, as well as the drivers behind the initiation and maintenance of such collaborative work. One driver is an existing concern about the lack of qualified music teachers at compulsory schools. We argue, however, that the real force behind such collaboration is a strong belief in the pure value of music and art among the collaborating leaders. Our findings indicate that value congruence and social exchanges across the organizations in question, provides the core basis for an effective collaboration.     

The emergence of policy implementation analysis: The Wyatt v. Stickney decision

In recent years scholars have devoted substantial attention to the “implementation” phase of the policy-making process. Analytical efforts have focused on the identification of variable sets as they are associated with the outcomes of public policies and programs. This article will discuss these program implementation conceptualizations within the context of a landmark court decision. This court decision, Wyatt v. Stickney, impacted to a profound degree the lives of residents in institutions for the mentally retarded. Finally, based on the analysis of this case, the authors cite limitations and propose future directions for social policy implementation analysis as a scholarly emphasis.     

Kant, Copyright and Communicative Freedom

The rapid recent expansion of copyright law worldwide has sparked efforts to defend the ‘public domain’ of non-propertized information, often on the ground that an expansive public domain is a condition of a ‘free culture’. Yet questions remain about why the public domain is worth defending, what exactly a free culture is, and what role (if any) authors’ rights might play in relation to it. From the standard liberal perspective shared by many critics of copyright expansionism, the protection of individual expression by means of marketable property rights in authors’ works serves as an engine of progress towards a fully competitive ‘marketplace of ideas’ – though only if balanced by an extensive public domain from which users may draw in the exercise of their own expressivity. This article shows that a significantly different, and arguably richer, conception of what a free culture is and how authors’ rights underpin it emerges from a direct engagement with the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. For Kant, progress towards a fully emancipated (i.e. a ‘mature’ or ‘enlightened’) culture can only be achieved through the critical intellectual activity that public communication demands: individual expressive freedom is only a condition, not constitutive, of this ‘freedom to make public use of one’s reason in all matters’. The main thesis defended in this article is that when Kant’s writings on publicity (critical public debate) are read in relation to his writings on the legal organization of publishing, a necessary connection emerges between authors’ rights – as distinct from copyrights – and what Jürgen Habermas and others have named the public sphere. I conclude that it is the public sphere, and not the public domain as such, that should serve as the key reference point in any evaluation of copyright law’s role in relation to the possibility of a free culture.