Assessing the historical turn in IR: an anatomy of second wave historical sociology

This article reassesses what is at stake in the historical turn in international relations (IR) and the attendant debate between the Second Wave of neo-Weberian historical sociology (WHS) and Political Marxism (PM). Firstly, it endeavours to recast what is at stake in the ‘historical turn’ in IR: the critique of reification and chronocentrism. Secondly, it examines WHS's argument against reductionism in the light of Weber's own work. We show how the Weberian dualism between the politics and the economics inhibits its capacity to complete its project of historicizing IR. Finally, it explains why recent Weberian's defence of multicausalism creates even more obstacles on the road towards an ontologically consistent historical turn.     

Security and discourse: the Israeli–Palestinian water conflict

When conflictive viewpoints are discursively strengthened, they develop into a ‘conflict discourse’ with a specific discursive structure which perpetuates conflict, like the discursive securitisation of an issue for varying audiences. When they are weakened, however, societal discourse can potentially change so that agreement becomes possible again, thus achieving discursive conflict transformation. This article analyses the Israeli and the Palestinian water discourse. On both sides, the dominant discourse structures underscore the conflictive issues regarding the distribution of water between Israelis and Palestinians, thus making communication, let alone negotiation, downright impossible. While Palestinians regard the natural water resources as sufficient in principle and the existing scarcity as entirely politically induced, Israelis perceive the natural water resources as absolutely scarce while receiving major de-securitisation impulses from the possibility of desalination. In the respective (minor) counter-discourses, however, possible starting points for dialogue and conflict resolution are visible.     

Eliciting Cues to False Intent: A New Application of Strategic Interviewing

This article examined how to elicit cues to deception when a suspect is asked both about his/her intentions and his/her corresponding past planning, and when the investigator holds evidence on the suspect’s planning activities. In a new experimental set-up accommodating the main characteristics of intent, participants (N = 120) either planned a criminal or a non-criminal act. They were intercepted before completing the planned act. Each participant was interviewed in accordance with one of three interview techniques: Early Evidence disclosure or one of two versions of the Strategic Use of Evidence (SUE) technique. All the interviews were transcribed and scored for consistency. As predicted, the liars were perceived as having a higher degree of inconsistency for two of the three relevant comparisons (Statement on Planning–Evidence on Planning; Statement on Intent–Evidence on Planning). Furthermore, using the evidence strategically resulted in differences between liars and truth tellers being magnified, as predicted. This article advances previous findings in showing that by interviewing strategically with respect to the evidence, it is possible to elicit reliable cues to deception when a suspect is asked about intentions and corresponding planning activities.     

Fatal traffic injuries among children and adolescents in three cities (capital Budapest, Vilnius, and Tallinn)

Motor vehicle accidental injuries are a frequent cause of death among young children and adolescents. The goal of this study was to compare patterns of injury between three capitals (Budapest, Vilnius, and Tallinn). Information on 190 fatal traffic accidents (69 pedestrians, 14 bicyclists, and 107 motor vehicle occupants) between 2002 and 2006 was collected from databases of medico-legal autopsies. The role of victims in accidents, the location of injuries, cause of death, survival period, and blood alcohol levels were evaluated. One-hundred and forty-one (74%) victims had a passive role in traffic as pedestrians, passengers in cars, or public transport. In victims who died at the scene, the rate of head injury was higher than in cases who received medical treatment (odds ratio = 2.58, CI = 1.2-5.55, p = 0.0127). These results underline the importance of postmortem studies to examine the pathomechanism of fatal traffic accidental injuries and to provide information for the prevention of road traffic accidents against children and adolescents.     

Expression and function of C5a receptor in a fatal anaphylaxis after honey bee sting

The mechanisms leading to death from anaphylaxis after insect sting involve antigen cross-linkage of antibody molecules that activate immunoglobulin receptors on inflammatory cells. The aim of our study was to investigate the pathomorphology and the expression of C5aR in fatal anaphylaxis in a patient after a fatal insect sting. A 38-year-old women was stung by a honeybee. C5R1 expression was detected in many dilated capillaries in the lungs. Pulmonary epithelial cells did not bind the monoclonal antibody for C5R1; however, intensive cytoplasmic staining was detected in endothelial cells. The findings of this case provide evidence for an active role of complement in fatal anaphylaxis elicited by bee venom. C5aR detection could be useful in the identification of sudden death cases because of unwitnessed fatal insect sting cases. Authors can recommend this immunohistochemical analysis on all sudden unexpected deaths outdoors where a possible bee sting might occur.     

Aufklärungspflicht über die Bonität des Emittenten im Effektenhandel?

Die Beratung im Effektenhandel hat die Aufgabe, dem Kunden alle Informationen zur Verfügung zu stellen, die er ben?tigt, um die Auswirkungen seiner gesch?ftlichen Entscheidung absch?tzen zu k?nnen. Die Informationserteilung hat dem Gebot vollst?ndiger, richtiger, rechtzeitiger und verst?ndlicher Beratung zu genügen. Je spekulativer die Anlage und je unerfahrener der Kunde, desto weiter reichen die Aufkl?rungspflichten. Eine generelle gesetzliche Pflicht, in Informationsmaterialien oder Werbefoldern auf das allgemeine Insolvenzrisiko eines Emittenten hinzuweisen, bestand und besteht in ?sterreich nicht. Ist das produktspezifische (Markt-)Risiko der Anlage durch eine Garantie sichergestellt und hat der Kunde die Kaufentscheidung allein aufgrund einer Werbebroschüre getroffen, in der diese Garantie blickfang- und schlagwortartig als "100 % Kapitalgarantie" bzw "100-prozentige Sicherheit" bezeichnet und das Rating der Emittentin bei den drei führenden Rating-Agenturen mit einer sehr guten Bonit?tseinstufung angegeben ist, muss der Kunde im Vorfeld seiner Investitionsentscheidung (unabh?ngig von seinem Risikoprofil und dem Grad seiner Professionalit?t im Effektengesch?ft) über diesen Prospektinhalt hinaus nicht weiter über das allgemeine Bonit?tsrisiko aufgekl?rt werden, sofern dieses Risiko aufgrund der einem Fachmann über den Emittenten zur Verfügung stehenden Informationen im Zeitpunkt der Beratung und einer damit in nahem zeitlichen Zusammenhang stehenden Kaufentscheidung von blo? theoretischer, vernachl?ssigbarer Natur ist. In einem solchen Fall wird n?mlich durch den Prospektinhalt kein falscher Gesamteindruck über das Risiko der geplanten Investition hervorgerufen, der geeignet w?re, den Kunden zu einer gesch?ftlichen Entscheidung zu veranlassen, die er sonst nicht getroffen h?tte. Damit besteht auch kein Schutzbedürfnis des Vertragspartners, ihn über ein praktisch zu vernachl?ssigendes Risiko aufzukl?ren. Die anhaltende Bonit?t einer Emittentin oder Garantin ist kein gesch?ftstypischer Umstand, der stets und von jedermann mit einem Veranlagungsgesch?ft verbunden wird. Nur unter dieser Voraussetzung k?me aber diesem Umstand als Gesch?ftsgrundlage rechtliche Bedeutung zu.     

Relative effects of posture and activity on human height estimation from surveillance footage

Height estimations based on security camera footage are often requested by law enforcement authorities. While valid and reliable techniques have been established to determine vertical distances from video frames, there is a discrepancy between a person's true static height and their height as measured when assuming different postures or when in motion (e.g., walking). The aim of the research presented in this report was to accurately record the height of subjects as they performed a variety of activities typically observed in security camera footage and compare results to height recorded using a standard height measuring device. Forty-six able bodied adults participated in this study and were recorded using a 3D motion analysis system while performing eight different tasks. Height measurements captured using the 3D motion analysis system were compared to static height measurements in order to determine relative differences. It is anticipated that results presented in this report can be used by forensic image analysis experts as a basis for correcting height estimations of people captured on surveillance footage.     

Identification of 1-butyl-3-(1-(4-methyl)naphthoyl)indole in a herbal mixture

Besides the cannabinoid mimetic JWH-073, a novel 4 methylnaphthoyl homologue of JWH-073 was detected in a herbal mixture. The structure of the compound was elucidated after thin layer chromatographic enrichment from the herbal mixture by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and gas chromatographic mass spectrometric (GC-MS) analysis. The paper outlines data after GC-MS, liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and NMR spectroscopy, and describes the structure elucidation.