Influence of electricity on post-mortal body temperature

In a case of suicidal application of electricity differences between the rectal temperature of the body and the suspected time of death were observed.In order to answer the question whether an electric current from hand to hand over >30 min led to a rise in body temperature FEM-based computer simulations and animal experiments were carried out. Both resulted in a warming of the soft parts in the arm without warming the body core. Thus a temperature-based estimation of the time since death can also be used in cases with electricity as the cause of death. Besides, in the animal experiment we found a spontaneous rise in the body core temperature even without application of electricity which may be a reason for the typical temperature plateau after death.     

The Changing Status of International Law in English Domestic Law

Netherlands International Law Review -     

Breaking the chain: Confronting issueless college town disturbances and riots

Law enforcement agencies and institutions of higher education have confronted increasing numbers of violent and destructive campus riots and disturbances over the past decade. Problematic is the fact that these riots typically have no underlying cause, other than students’ quest for excitement. Responding to gaps in the empirical literature about these events, this study used data from two waves of surveys to systematically examine those involved in a recurring problem event in a college town that was subject to a police crackdown. The analyses drew on survey responses from over eight hundred event participants in 2002 and 2003, and the results revealed that increased enforcement had a significant effect on crowd composition, including the gender and race of participants, repeat visitors, out-of-town participants, and perceptions about the subjects' overall experience. Implications for law enforcement and community strategies to decrease the size and destructiveness of such problem events are outlined.     

Governance without a state: Can it work?

In this article we explore how much state is necessary to make governance work. We begin by clarifying concepts of governance and the “shadow of hierarchy” and we follow this clarification with a brief overview of empirical findings on governance research in developed countries. We then discuss the dilemmas for governance in areas of limited statehood, where political institutions are too weak to hierarchically adopt and enforce collectively binding rules. While prospects for effective policymaking appear to be rather bleak in these areas, we argue that governance research has consistently overlooked the existence of functional equivalents to the shadow of hierarchy. We assert that governance with(out) government can work even in the absence of a strong shadow of hierarchy, we identify functional equivalents to the shadow of hierarchy, and we discuss to what extent they can help overcome issues of legitimacy and effectiveness in areas of limited statehood.     

Determinants of inflationary performance: Corporatist structures vs. central bank autonomy

Thanks go to John Aldrich, Robert Bates, William Bernhard, Richard Burdekin, Henry Chappel, Dudley Wallace and Thomas Willett for suggestions and to Ted Smith for computational assistance.