Microgeographic genetic variation of Y chromosome in a population sample of Ravenna's area in the Emilia-Romagna region (North of Italy)

The analysis of the genetic structure of regions with a complex demographic history shed light on the various topographic, linguistic and historical influences which form the present genetic landscape of Europe. In the Emilia-Romagna region (North of Italy) Ravenna is a geographical area with a historical complex background: it was an important seaport on the Mediterranean sea, the capital of the Ostrogothic kingdom of Italy and the seat of the Byzantine governor of Italy. The purpose of this study was to investigate the microgeographic variation of Y chromosome haplotypes of the area of Ravenna by analyzing 17 Y-chromosome short tandem repeats (Y-STRs) in 122 unrelated males. 100% of all haplotypes were different. A comparison with neighbouring Italian as well as with European and Levante root populations was done by AMOVA and visualized by a phylogenetic tree. The two main haplogroups found in this area were R1b and E3b1. The results of the present study add to the data for the forensic databases and can be useful also for anthropological studies.     

European Associations in Higher Education

The last fifteen years have witnessed a drastic increase in higher education cooperation in Europe. In parallel to this development, the number of European associations in higher education has grown considerably. This article constitutes a first systematic look at these organisms. After providing a working definition, it tries to encapsulate the rationale and the main activities of these associations, followed by a first attempt at a typology. A short history of the European higher education association is combined with an analysis of the links between its large-scale emergence and the provision of higher education cooperation programmes by the European Union. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Lessons of peace processes

Asia Europe Journal -     

Authoritarian bargaining in Burma/Myanmar

Despite the political controversy related to the authoritarian bargaining of Burma/Myanmar’s territorial conflicts, it is important to acknowledge the successes and admit the failures of the process of ceasefire negotiation and the national convention process of the Myanmar-government. Regardless of what we think of the Myanmar government, there can still be both good and bad elements in the process. This article will focus, as the general focus of this special issue suggests, on the negotiations between the central government and the ethnic groups on autonomy and territorial solutions in the peripheries of Burma/Myanmar.     

Föderalismus als Entdeckungsverfahren &;ndash; Zur Theorie und Empirie des innovativen Bundesstaates am Beispiel Österreichs

Differenzierungen im Recht gehören zu den Wesensmerkmalen des Bundesstaates. Der vorliegende Beitrag geht der Frage nach, wie über diese Differenzierungen föderalistischer Wettbewerb entsteht und wechselseitiges Lernen ermöglicht wird. Nicht zu vernachlässigen ist aber auch der Effekt der Rechtsangleichung durch kooperativen Föderalismus. Beide Phänomene sind Bausteine einer Theorie des innovativen Bundesstaates.     

Outsmarting the Liars: The Benefit of Asking Unanticipated Questions

We hypothesised that the responses of pairs of liars would correspond less with each other than would responses of pairs of truth tellers, but only when the responses are given to unanticipated questions. Liars and truth tellers were interviewed individually about having had lunch together in a restaurant. The interviewer asked typical opening questions which we expected the liars to anticipate, followed by questions about spatial and/or temporal information which we expected suspects not to anticipate, and also a request to draw the layout of the restaurant. The results supported the hypothesis, and based on correspondence in responses to the unanticipated questions, up to 80% of liars and truth tellers could be correctly classified, particularly when assessing drawings.

Patients' rights to complain in Finnish psychiatric care: An overview

Cuts in resources for Finnish psychiatric care may jeopardize the realization of patients' rights in mental health settings. The right to complain is a basic right of all patients in Finland, and is especially important to patients treated involuntarily and also to those who have experienced coercive treatment methods during their hospitalizations. In Finland, a patient's right to complain is guaranteed by law, both in legislation and in national quality recommendations. The complaint process in Finland is very complex, and there are several ways to make a complaint that are not always familiar to patients with severe illnesses. Psychiatric patients may have cognitive impairments that make the formulation of a complaint difficult. Despite help from the patient ombudsman, unbalanced power structures in psychiatric hospitals, insufficient information and long evaluation of appeals makes the complaint process very demanding for psychiatric patients.     

Explaining differences in EMAS participation rates across Europe: the importance of institutions,incomplete information and path dependence

What factors shape environmental policies across Europe? In order to answer this question most economists would probably adopt a Public Choice approach. This approach has convincingly explained some aspects of environmental policies that exist in a similar fashion across Europe. But why do many environmental policies differ across European countries? This article argues that in order to understand differences in environmental policies in Europe North’s analysis of institutional change focusing on formal and informal institutions, incomplete information and path dependence is useful. North’s approach is applied to explain differences in a particular field of European environmental policy: The implementation of the EU’s Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) in Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK. The starting point of the analysis is the observation that participation of companies in EMAS markedly differs between countries. It is shown that these differences can be explained with differences in formal and informal institutions in the three Member States, incomplete information of relevant actors, and path dependence.     

Examination results and autopsy findings in assaults on elderly people

As the percentage of elderly people in the population grows, violence against persons of advanced age constitutes an increasing social problem. The findings of the clinical forensic examinations (CE group) and autopsies performed on elderly violence victims (> or = 60 years) between 1999 and 2008 at the Institute of Legal Medicine of the Hanover Medical School were retrospectively analysed. In all, the study material comprised 55 victims of the CE group (35 females and 20 males, median age 73.5 years) and 55 autopsies (33 females and 22 males, median age 72.7 years). In most of the autopsy cases, the suspect was a family member or partner. In contrast, the alleged perpetrator was a stranger in most cases of the CE group. Blunt force injuries were most often found in the CE group victims (63.6%). Altogether, 38.2% (CE group) and 20.0% (autopsy cases) of the violent assaults were associated with robbery. In the majority of the CE cases, the victims suffered potentially or acute life-threatening injuries. In summary, the analysis shows that elderly people frequently become victims of robbery and blunt force injury. In most homicides of old people, the perpetrator is familiar to the victim. In surviving elderly violence victims, the assault is more likely to be reported to the police if the suspect is a stranger.