Origin assignment of unidentified corpses by use of stable isotope ratios of light (bio-) and heavy (geo-) elements--a case report

An unknown male body was found near an expressway in Germany. As different criminalistic and forensic methods (e.g. tooth status, fingerprint or DNA-analysis) could not help to identify the person, multielement stable isotope investigations were applied. The combined analysis of stable isotope ratios of light (H, C, N) and heavy elements (Pb, Sr) on the man's body tissues supported to assign him to Romania. The case report demonstrates an application of multielement-isotope analysis in the forensic fields and its potential.     

The effects of political design and organizational dynamics on structural disaggregation and integration in Norway 1947–2019

In countries with long-standing agency traditions, the creation of new agencies rarely comes as a large-scale reform but rather as one structural choice of many possible, most notably a ministerial division. In order to make sense of these choices, the article discusses the role of political design—focusing on the role of political motivations, such as ideological turnover, replacement risks and ideological stands toward administrative efficiency—and organizational dynamics—focusing on the role of administrative legacies and existing organizational palettes. The article utilizes data on organizational creations in the Norwegian central state between 1947 and 2019, in order to explore how political design and organizational dynamics help us understand the creation of agencies relative to ministry divisions over time. We find that political motives matter a great deal for the structural choices made by consecutive Norwegian governments, but that structural path dependencies may also be at play.     

Fisher Body revisited: Supply contracts and vertical integration

The vertical integration of Fisher Body by General Motors has been a leading example in both the transaction-cost theory and the property-rights theory of the firm. The present paper makes the following contributions. First, we show how a simple extension of the property-rights theory of the firm (which allows for contractible trade) is able to rationalize the observed ownership arrangements, supply contracts, and investment behavior both before and after integration. Second, the model lends support to Klein’s (2000) view that an increase in demand for closed automobile bodies was pivotal for vertical integration. JEL Classification L22 · L24 · L14 · K12     

Partisan Waves: International Business Cycles and Electoral Choice

Pundits have often claimed, but scholars have never found, that partisan swings in the vote abroad predict electoral fortunes at home. Employing semiannual Eurobarometer data on vote intention in eight European countries, this article provides statistical evidence of international comovement in partisan vote intention and its provenance in international business cycles. Electoral support for "luxury parties," those parties associated with higher spending and taxation, covaries across countries together with the business cycle. Both the domestic and international components of at least one economic aggregate—unemployment—prove a strong predictor of shifts in domestic vote intention. Globalization, by driving business cycle integration, is also synchronizing partisan cycles.     

The National Judiciary—Sword of European Court of Justice Rulings: The Example of the Kohll/Decker Jurisprudence

The role of the national judiciary in enforcing EC law, and particularly European Court of Justice (ECJ) rulings, has been largely neglected by empirical legal and political science research. Existing research has categorised the role of the national judiciary as either shielding national legislation from the ECJ or as serving as a ‘sword’ to foster integration and to force change on reluctant governments. This article sides with the second assumption and attempts to empirically assess it using the example of the patient mobility jurisprudence by the ECJ, the so‐called Kohll/Decker jurisprudence. The three case studies on France, the UK and Germany show that national courts played an important role in overcoming the resistance against this jurisprudence: via a multiplication of national court cases that contradicted domestic legislation they forced the legislator to end judicial uncertainty.     

STR data for the AmpFℓSTR Identifiler loci from Swedish population in comparison to European, as well as with non-European population

The modern Swedish population is a mixture of people that originate from different parts of the world. This is also the truth for the clients participating in the paternity cases investigated at the department. Calculations based on a Swedish frequency database only, could give us overestimated figures of probability and power of exclusion in cases including clients with a genetic background other than Swedish. Here, we describe allele frequencies regarding the markers in the Identifiler-kit. We have compared three sets of population samples; Swedish, European and non-European to investigate how these three groups of population samples differ. Also, all three population sets were compared to data reported from other European and non-European populations.Swedish allele frequencies for the 15 autosomal STRs included in the Identifiler kit were obtained from unrelated blood donors with Swedish names. The European and non-European frequencies were based on DNA-profiles of alleged fathers from our paternity cases in 2005 and 2006.     

Ausmalverpflichtung des Bestandnehmers bei Rückstellung nicht sittenwidrig

Aus der Verpflichtung des Mieters, das Mietobjekt nach Beendigung des Mietverh?ltnisses mit neuer Malerei und neu versiegelten B?den zurückzustellen, ergibt sich bei Interessenabw?gung keine grobe Verletzung rechtlich geschützter Interessen und somit keine Sittenwidrigkeit iSd § 879 Abs 1 ABGB, wenn das Mietverh?ltnis auf unbestimmte Zeit geschlossen wurde, durch Eigenkündigung des Mieters endete und das Mietobjekt überdies dem Mieter auch neu ausgemalt und versiegelt übergeben wurde. Dies rechtfertigt das Interesse des Vermieters, das Objekt in eben diesem Zustand zu übernehmen, um es ohne weitere Verz?gerungen und Kosten wieder neu zu vermieten k?nnen. Die blo?e Abweichung der Vereinbarung von der dispositiven Bestimmung des § 1109 ABGB begründet noch keine Sittenwidrigkeit (hier: Mietvertrag im Vollanwendungsbereich des MRG, jedoch au?erhalb des KSchG).