Caught in the Act but not Punished: on Elite Rule of Law and Deterrence

Most literature on criminal deterrence in law, economics, and criminology assumes that people who are caught for a crime will be punished. The literature focuses on how the size of sanctions and probability of being caught affect criminal behavior. However, in many countries entire groups of people are “above the law” in the sense that they are able to evade punishment even if caught violating the law. In this paper we argue that both the perceived probability of being punished if caught and the cultural acceptance of elites evading punishment are important parts of theorizing about deterrence, particularly about corruption among political elites. Looking at data on parking violations among diplomats in New York City 1997–2002, we explore how diplomats from different rule-of-law cultures respond to sudden legal immunity. The empirical observations provide clear evidence of both the stickiness and the gradual weakening of cultural constraints

Tick-borne rickettsioses in international travellers

AbstractBackground: Tick-borne rickettsioses are of emerging importance in today’s travel medicine but have until recently received little attention. We describe the current knowledge of tick-borne rickettsioses as they relate to international travel, their microbiological diagnosis, treatment, possible prevention, and future prospects.Methods: Literature-based review and personal observations.Results: During the last decade, some 400 cases of tick-borne rickettsioses have been reported in international travellers, the vast majority being African tick bite fever caused by Rickettsia africae and Mediterranean spotted fever caused by Rickettsia conorii. Only a minority of infected travellers can recall a preceding tick bite. Most patients present with a mild-to-moderately severe flu-like illness typically accompanied by a cutaneous rash and an inoculation eschar at the site of the tick bite, but potentially life-threatening disease with disseminated vaculitis is occasionally seen. Definite microbiological confirmation of tick-borne rickettsioses by isolation or antigen detection is only available at reference laboratories and diagnosis must in most cases rely on clinical and epidemiological data supported by serology. Doxycycline is the recommended treatment for tick-borne rickettsioses and prevention is based on personal protective measures against tick bites when travelling in endemic areas.Conclusion: Tick-borne rickettsiosis should be suspected in febrile returnees from endemic areas, especially in cases with skin eruptions. Travellers to endemic areas should be encouraged to use personal protective measures against tick bites

Holocene insect remains from south-western Greenland

Remains of plants and invertebrates from Holocene deposits in south-western Greenland include a number of insect fragments from Heteroptera and Coleoptera. Some of the finds extend the known temporal range of the species considerably back in time, and one of the taxa has not previously been found in Greenland either fossil or extant. The fossil fauna includes the weevil Rutidosoma globulus which is at present extremely rare in Greenland. Its rarity might indicate that it is a recent immigrant, but the fossil finds provide a minimum date for its arrival at around 5840 cal. years B.P. Other remains of terrestrial insects complement the scarce fossil Greenland record of the species concerned

Risk Factors for African Tick-Bite Fever in Rural Central Africa

African tick-bite fever is an emerging infectious disease caused by the spotted fever group Rickettsia, Rickettsia africae, and is transmitted by ticks of the genus Amblyomma. To determine the seroprevalence of exposure to R. africae and risk factors associated with infection, we conducted a cross-sectional study of persons in seven rural villages in distinct ecological habitats of Cameroon. We examined 903 plasma samples by using an indirect immunofluorescence assay for antibodies to R. africae and analyzed demographic and occupational data collected from questionnaires. Of the 903 persons tested, 243 (26.9%) had IgG/IgM/IgA reactive with R. africae. Persons from four of the seven village sites were significantly more likely to be seropositive (P < 0.05), and lowland forest sites tended to have higher seroprevalences. These results suggest that African tick-bite fever is common in adults in rural areas of Cameroon and that ecological factors may play a role in the acquisition of R. africae infection

Om Engvanding. I.

Om Engvanding. I