Testing reciprocity in social interactions: A comparison between the Directional consistency and Skew symmetry statistics

In the present work we focus on two indices that quantify directionality and skew-symmetrical patterns in social interactions as measures of social reciprocity: the Directional consistency (DC) and Skew symmetry indices. Although both indices enable researchers to describe social groups, most studies require statistical inferential tests. The main aims of the present study are: firstly, to propose an overall statistical technique for testing null hypotheses regarding social reciprocity in behavioral studies, using the DC and Skew symmetry statistics (Φ) at group level; and secondly, to compare both statistics in order to allow researchers to choose the optimal measure depending on the conditions. In order to allow researchers to make statistical decisions, statistical significance for both statistics has been estimated by means of a Monte Carlo simulation. Furthermore, this study will enable researchers to choose the optimal observational conditions for carrying out their research, as the power of the statistical tests has been estimated.

Participação da radiologia nas perícias necroscópicas de baleados realizadas no Instituto Médico-Legal do Rio de Janeiro

OBJETIVO: Este trabalho aborda as conseqüências de laudos necroscópicos incompletos de baleados, nos casos em que não foi possível o uso de recursos radiológicos para localizar os projéteis de arma de fogo. MATERIAIS E MÉTODOS: Foram analisados 8.185 laudos necroscópicos do Instituto Médico-Legal Afrânio Peixoto, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, referentes à demanda total de cadáveres no período de 1º de janeiro a 31 de dezembro de 2001, dos quais 3.122 casos corresponderam a necropsias de baleados. RESULTADOS: Desses casos, 309 corpos foram sepultados contendo ainda, no seu interior, projéteis de arma de fogo, podendo suscitar futuras indagações judiciais. No mesmo período foram solicitadas 23 exumações, 12 delas com a finalidade de recolher projéteis. Foram calculados os gastos relacionados à realização de necropsias de baleados - R$ 996,85 - e custos alusivos à realização de exumações com a finalidade de recolher projéteis de arma de fogo - R$ 1.155,40, visando a estabelecer o montante financeiro que poderia ser poupado pelos cofres públicos, a ser alocado para finalidades outras, se a perícia médico-legal de baleados, no exame inicial, obtivesse sucesso. CONCLUSÃO: Os resultados permitiram concluir que todos os atos necroscópicos de baleados devem seguir protocolos específicos, uma vez que perícias incompletas exigem exumação posterior, com gastos adicionais desnecessários.

Net Neutrality: Measuring the Problem, Assessing the Legal Risks

Network neutrality is a growing policy controversy. Traffic management techniques affect not only high-speed, high-money content, but by extension all other content too. Internet regulators and users may tolerate much more discrimination in the interests of innovation. For instance, in the absence of regulatory oversight, ISPs could use Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) to block some content altogether, if they decide it is not to the benefit of ISPs, copyright holders, parents or the government. ISP blocking is currently widespread in controlling spam email, and in some countries in blocking sexually graphic illegal images. In 1999 this led to scrutiny of foreclosure of Instant Messaging and video and cable-telephony horizontal merger. Fourteen years later, there were in 2013 net neutrality laws implemented in Slovenia, the Netherlands, Chile and Finland, regulation in the United States and Canada , co-regulation in Norway, and self-regulation in Japan, the United Kingdom and many other European countries . Both Germany and France in mid-2013 debated new net neutrality legislation, and the European Commission announced on 11 September 2013 that it would aim to introduce legislation in early 2014. This paper analyses these legal developments, and in particular the difficulty in assessing reasonable traffic management and ‘specialized’ (i.e. unregulated) faster services in both EU and US law. It also assesses net neutrality law against the international legal norms for user privacy and freedom of expression

A utilização de imagens na identificação humana em odontologia legal

Este artigo de revisão sistemática tem por objetivo citar os métodos de identificação humana por meio da radiologia, utilizados em odontologia legal. Para isso, realizou-se revisão de literatura com 19 trabalhos selecionados dentre 45 encontrados, após aplicação de critérios de inclusão. Há diversas técnicas radiológicas que podem ser utilizadas para auxiliar na identificação humana, tanto individual como geral, incluindo a determinação do gênero, do grupo étnico e, principalmente, da idade. A análise de radiografias e tomografias ante-mortem e post-mortem tornou-se uma ferramenta fundamental nos processos de identificação em odontologia legal, principalmente com o refinamento das técnicas adquiridas com o avanço da própria radio-logia e com a incorporação da informática. Conclui-se que a partir do conhecimento adequado dos métodos disponíveis, o profissional em odontologia legal pode optar pelo método que melhor preencha as características necessárias para o sucesso da identificação, tendo cuidado na aplicação correta da técnica e na interpretação precisa das informações obtidas.

Consistency of safety and efficacy of new oral anticoagulants across subgroups of patients with atrial fibrillation.

AIMS: The well-known limitations of vitamin K antagonists (VKA) led to development of new oral anticoagulants (NOAC) in non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). The aim of this meta-analysis was to determine the consistency of treatment effects of NOAC irrespective of age, comorbidities, or prior VKA exposure. METHODS AND RESULTS: All randomized, controlled phase III trials comparing NOAC to VKA up to October 2012 were eligible provided their results (stroke/systemic embolism (SSE) and major bleeding (MB)) were reported according to age (≤ or >75 years), renal function, CHADS2 score, presence of diabetes mellitus or heart failure, prior VKA use or previous cerebrovascular events. Interactions were considered significant at p <0.05. Three studies (50,578 patients) were included, respectively evaluating apixaban, rivaroxaban, and dabigatran versus warfarin. A trend towards interaction with heart failure (p = 0.08) was observed with respect to SSE reduction, this being greater in patients not presenting heart failure (RR = 0.76 [0.67-0.86]) than in those with heart failure (RR = 0.90 [0.78-1.04]); Significant interaction (p = 0.01) with CHADS2 score was observed, NOAC achieving a greater reduction in bleeding risk in patients with a score of 0-1 (RR 0.67 CI 0.57-0.79) than in those with a score ≥2 (RR 0.85 CI 0.74-0.98). Comparison of MB in patients with (RR 0.97 CI 0.79-1.18) and without (RR 0.76 CI 0.65-0.88) diabetes mellitus showed a similar trend (p = 0.06). No other interactions were found. All subgroups derived benefit from NOA in terms of SSE or MB reduction. CONCLUSIONS: NOAC appeared to be more effective and safer than VKA in reducing SSE or MB irrespective of patient comorbidities. Thromboembolism risk, evaluated by CHADS2 score and, to a lesser extent, diabetes mellitus modified the treatment effects of NOAC without complete loss of benefit with respect to MB reduction.

La administración de las sociedades de capital por sociedades de capital. Valorar la posible responsabilidad solidaria del representante legal-persona física de la sociedad

Aquest treball pretén desenvolupar algunes de les diferents responsabilitats en què pot incórrer el representant persona física de l'administrador persona jurídica d'una societat mercantil.

Fingermark age determinations: legal considerations, review of the literature and practical propositions

The question of the age of fingermarks is often raised in investigations and trials when suspects admit that they have left their fingermarks at a crime scene but allege that the contact occurred at a different time than the crime and for legal reasons. In the first part of this review article, examples from American appellate court cases will be used to demonstrate that there is a lack of consensus among American courts regarding the admissibility and weight of testimony from expert witnesses who provide opinions about the age of fingermarks. Of course, these issues are not only encountered in America but have also been reported elsewhere, for example in Europe. The disparity in the way fingermark dating cases were managed in these examples is probably due to the fact that no methodology has been validated and accepted by the forensic science community so far. The second part of this review article summarizes the studies reported on fingermark dating in the literature and highlights the fact that most proposed methodologies still suffer from limitations preventing their use in practice. Nevertheless, several approaches based on the evolution of aging parameters detected in fingermark residue over time appear to show promise for the fingermark dating field. Based on these approaches, the definition of a formal methodological framework for fingermark dating cases is proposed in order to produce relevant temporal information. This framework identifies which type of information could and should be obtained about fingermark aging and what developments are still required to scientifically address dating issues.

Generalized three-sided assignment markets: consistency and the core

A class of three-sided markets (and games) is considered, where value is generated by pairs or triplets of agents belonging to different sectors, as well as by individuals. For these markets we analyze the situation that arises when some agents leave the market with some payoff To this end, we introduce the derived market (and game) and relate it to the Davis and Maschler (1965) reduced game. Consistency with respect to the derived market, together with singleness best and individual anti-monotonicity axiomatically characterize the core for these generalized three-sided assignment markets. These markets may have an empty core, but we define a balanced subclass, where the worth of each triplet is defined as the addition of the worths of the pairs it contains. Keywords: Multi-sided assignment market, Consistency, Core, Nucleolus. JEL Classification: C71, C78

On the (in)compatibility of rationality, monotonicity and consistency for cooperative games

On the domain of cooperative transferable utility games, we investigate if there are single valued solutions that reconcile rationality, consistency and monotonicity (with respect to the worth of the grand coalition) properties. This paper collects some impossibility results on the combination of core selection with either complement or projected consistency, and core selection, max consistency and monotonicity. By contrast, possibility results show up when combining individual rationality, projected consistency and monotonicity.

The methodological criteria of counterpropositions within the Roman social legal framework

Partiendo de la difundida distinción, entre unos ordenamientos jurídicos abiertos, como el derecho inglés y el anglo americano, que se vinculan en el pasado al Derecho Romano, y otros cerrados o codificados, como los derechos del continente europeo, y tras detenernos en el origen terminológico de ambos sistemas y en su rígida contraposición, se procura destacar en este trabajo que Roma y su Derecho tampoco abrazan en toda su pureza, un sistema abierto.

Security, Privacy and Anonymity in Legal Distribution of Copyrighted Multimedia Content over Peer-to-Peer Networks: A Brief Overview

Peer-reviewed

Foodstuffs and medicines as legal categories in the EU and China. Functional foods as a borderline case

The thesis discusses the regulation of foodstuffs and medicines, and particularly the regulation of functional foods. Legal systems investigated are the EU and China. Both are members of the WTO and Codex Alimentarius, which binds European and Chinese rules together. The study uses three Chinese berries as case examples of how product development faces regulation in practice. The berries have traditional uses as herbal medicines. Europe and China have similar nutrition problems to be resolved, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. The three berries might be suitable raw materials for functional foods. Consumer products with health-enhancing functions, such as lowering blood pressure, might legally be classifi ed either as foodstuffs or medicines. The classifi cation will depend on functions and presentation of the product. In our opinion, food and medicine regulation should come closer together so the classifi cation issue would no longer be an issue. Safety of both foodstuffs and medicines is strictly regulated. With medicines, safety is a more relative concept, where benefi ts of the product are compared to side-effects in thorough scientifi c tests and trials. Foods, on the other hand, are not allowed to have side-effects. Hygiene rules and rules on the use of chemicals apply. In China, food safety is currently at focus as China has had several severe food scandals. Newly developed foods are called novel foods, and are specifi cally regulated. The current European novel food regulation from 1997 treats traditional third country products as novel. The Chinese regulation of 2007 also defi nes novel foods as something unfamiliar to a Chinese consumer. The concepts of novel food thus serve a protectionist purpose. As regards marketing, foods are allowed to bear health claims, whereas medicines bear medicinal claims. The separation is legally strict: foods are not to be presented as having medicinal functions. European nutrition and health claim regulation exists since 2006. China also has its regulation on health foods, listing the permitted claims and how to substantiate them. Health claims are allowed only on health foods. The European rules on medicines include separate categories for herbal medicines, traditional herbal medicines, and homeopathic medicines, where there are differing requirements for scientifi c substantiation. The scientifi c and political grounds for the separate categories provoke criticism. At surface, the Chinese legal system seems similar to the European one. To facilitate trade, China has enacted modern laws. Laws are needed as the country moves from planned economy to market economy: ‘rule of law’ needs to replace ‘rule of man’. Instead of being citizens, Chinese people long were subordinates to the Emperor. Confucius himself advised to avoid confl ict. Still, Chinese people do not and cannot always trust the legal system, as laws are enforced in an inconsistent manner, and courts are weak. In China, there have been problems with confl icting national and local laws. In Europe, the competence of the EU vs. the competence of the Member States is still not resolved, even though the European Commission often states that free trade requires harmonisation. Food and medicine regulation is created by international organisations, food and medicine control agencies, standards agencies, companies and their organisations. Regulation can be divided in ‘hard law’ and ‘soft law’. One might claim that hard law is in crisis, as soft law is gaining importance. If law is out of fashion, regulation certainly isn’t. In the future, ‘law’ might mean a process where rules and incentives are created by states, NGOs, companies, consumers, and other stakeholders. ‘Law’ might thus refer to a constant negotiation between public and private actors. Legal principles such as transparency, equal treatment, and the right to be heard would still be important.

Data Consistency by a Metadata Management Solution

This thesis consists of three main theoretical themes: quality of data, success of information systems, and metadata in data warehousing. Loosely defined, metadata is descriptive data about data, and, in this thesis, master data means reference data about customers, products etc. The objective of the thesis is to contribute to an implementation of a metadata management solution for an industrial enterprise. The metadata system incorporates a repository, integration, delivery and access tools, as well as semantic rules and procedures for master data maintenance. It targets to improve maintenance processes and quality of hierarchical master data in the case company’s informational systems. That should bring benefits to whole organization in improved information quality, especially in cross-system data consistency, and in more efficient and effective data management processes. As the result of this thesis, the requirements for the metadata management solution in case were compiled, and the success of the new information system and the implementation project was evaluated.