Philanthropisches Handeln zu Lebzeiten und über den Tod hinaus

As the number of rich people in Germany increases, it becomes more and more relevant to ask how they spend their wealth, because among other aspects being rich can be legitimized by social commitment. For example, responsibility can be shown by financial commitment or volunteering. Academic results not only show a rising number of people that are philanthropically active but also an increase in philanthropic behavior in the last two decades. Unlike it is stated in the American literature, social commitment of wealthy people has not yet gained currency in the German literature. In addition, it is little known about inheritance to society beside family transfers after death. Based on the data of the study ??Verm?gen in Deutschland?? (ViD) (Wealth in Germany) the paper discusses these questions for the year 2008. The results reveal a considerably above-average commitment of wealthy households and people. Moreover, 41?% of all respondents plan to fund a part of their wealth for public purposes and charity.     

The impact of organisational attributes on political participation: results of a multi‐level survey from Switzerland

Abstract: The notion of civil society associations as schools of democracy has resulted in models of political participation that place an emphasis on membership in civic associations as a means of developing personal skills that are conducive to political participation. These suppositions seem well established. It is still contested, however, to what extent the particular characteristics of the associations that offer such membership have an impact on civic engagement. Expanding recent research that mainly builds on group characteristics aggregated from the characteristics of the associations’ members, we apply the Swiss part of a unique multi‐level data set, the CID‐data, which provides information about approx. 1000 activists from about 400 associations. This data allows us to measure group characteristics, such as the function of an association and its connection to the local elite, directly and thus provides us with a special opportunity for a multi‐level analysis of activists nested in organisations.     

Heller,Schmitt and the Euro

Heller understood that Schmitt's ‘authoritarian state’ was in fact the liberal state in its pure form, weak in relation to the capitalist economy but strong in fending off democratic interventions in its operation. Had he lived, Heller would not have been surprised by the close affinities between Schmittian economic authoritarianism and postwar German ordoliberalism, as mediated by a figure like Alexander Rüstow. Neoliberalism as today we know it drew heavily on ordoliberal doctrine, in particular through Friedrich von Hayek who managed to merge it with Austrian economics into a powerful ideological force to replace Keynesianism after the 1970s. Today the European Union, especially in its incorporation as monetary union, closely follows the liberal‐authoritarian template as devised by Schmitt and others in the final years of the Weimar Republic. The paper shows this with reference to the five European‐level institutions that today govern the European free market while protecting it from democratic interference: the Parliament, the Council, the Commission, the European Court of Justice and the European Central Bank.     

Das neue Raumordnungsgesetz

Zusammenfassung  Zum Jahreswechsel wurde das neue Raumordnungsgesetz verkündet, zur Jahresmitte wird das Gesetz in vollem Umfang in Kraft treten. Trotz mancher Verbesserungen im Detail ist es dem Gesetzgeber jedoch nicht gelungen, die rudiment?re Rolle des Bundes in der Raumentwicklungspolitik nennenswert aufzuwerten. Insgesamt best?tigt das in v?lligem Konsens von Bund und L?ndern ausgehandelte Gesetz die Befürchtung, dass die durch die F?deralismusreform 2006 geschaffenen L?nderabweichungsrechte die f?deralen Verantwortlichkeiten keineswegs entflechten, sondern vielmehr bereits im Gesetzgebungsverfahren einen kompromisshaften Konsens von L?ndern und Bund erzwingen.     

Delayed pericardial tamponade following a stab wound to a branch of the right coronary artery

A 45-year-old man was attacked with a knife and suffered multiple stab wounds to the chest and abdomen. After surgical treatment and hospitalization for 9 days he was discharged in a stable condition. The following day he was found dead in his apartment. The autopsy revealed a pericardial tamponade caused by acute bleeding from an injured branch of the right coronary artery. This case shows that life-threatening late complications in patients with penetrating cardiac wounds may occur despite an initially uneventful course.     

Premature detachment of the placenta due to kicks to the lower abdomen

An 18-year-old woman in an advanced stage of pregnancy was admitted to hospital for gynaecological emergency treatment with pain after kicks to the lower abdomen. Premature detachment of the placenta was diagnosed and an immediate Caesarian section was performed. Although the newborn was resuscitated at once by the medical team, it died two days later in the paediatric hospital from multiorgan failure. The autopsy results together with the pathological findings of the palcenta proved the causal context between the kicks, the premature detachment of the placenta and the hypoxia requiring postnatal resuscitation, so that the perpetrator was found guilty.     

Dynamics of decapitation after falling in a self-tightening rope noose

In decapitation by dropping into a slip noose, it is in principle justified to doubt that suicide is involved. It must hence always be checked whether the dynamics to be inferred from the concrete facts can result in decapitation. Essential characteristics of the dynamics are the deceleration forces (tractional force of the rope) that are determined by the height of the drop, the directional force of the rope and the body mass of the victim as well as the density of the lines of centripetal force acting on the neck. However, the appropriateness of the dynamics must at all events be corroborated by compatible autopsy and scientific criminological findings with regard to the characteristic wound morphology, the intravital signs, the trace analysis and the topography of the fiber ablation traces on the rope that are due to the effect of heat.     

Distribution of ethyl glucuronide in rib bone marrow, other tissues and body liquids as proof of alcohol consumption before death

Postmortem ethyl glucuronide (EtG) concentrations in rib bone marrow, liver, muscle, fat tissue, urine, blood and bile have been determined by LC-MS/MS. Samples have been taken from twelve corpses during autopsies. In nine corpses EtG could be detected, corresponding blood ethanol concentrations (BAC) were 0.04-0.37 g%. In three cases, no EtG was found; two of these cases showed postmortem BACs - possibly due to putrefaction - of 0.01 and 0.1g%. In rib bone marrow, which is easily accessible during autopsy, EtG concentrations (0.77-9.36 microg/g) have been lower than in blood (2.24-20.46 microg/mL) in eight of nine cases and comparable or higher than in muscle tissue. Therefore, rib bone marrow has been found suitable as matrix for EtG determination. The highest EtG concentrations have been found in urine in all but one case, where the resorption of ethanol had been incomplete. Second highest EtG concentrations have been detected in liver samples. In two cases with putrefaction, EtG could not be detected. In these cases, the detectable ethanol might have been produced partially or in total by postmortem fermentation. However, instability of EtG during putrefaction cannot be totally excluded which might result in a total loss of EtG.