Torn between two targets: German police officers talk about the use of force

Considering earlier research into police use of force as well as the judicial and practical frame of police work in Germany, the article presents the results of an empirical study on the individual and collective legitimization of the use of force by German police officers. There are numerous justifications for the use of force expressed by focus group participants in eight German Federal States who were responding to a hypothesized scenario. In the discussions observed within the groups, reference is first made to the state’s duty to prosecute alleged offences and the measures or formal actions to do this—hence, the legal authority to use force. In the course of the discussions, however, it became obvious that illegal violence may occur, although it was not perceived as such by the officers. Overall, and after an intensive analysis of the focus group discussions, it can be stated that use of force (whether legal or not) depends on the police officer’s perception of the resistance of the person being engaged with. In this regard, different social–cultural or physical–material factors can be identified. They have different influences on the individual legitimization of police actions, intertwined with the perception of the situation as constructed by the officer. Three ways of perceiving the situation can be deduced, resulting in different patterns of justification for the use of force

Researching the use of force: The background to the international project

This article provides the background to an international project on use of force by the police that was carried out in eight countries. Force is often considered to be the defining characteristic of policing and much research has been conducted on the determinants, prevalence and control of the use of force, particularly in the United States. However, little work has looked at police officers’ own views on the use of force, in particular the way in which they justify it. Using a hypothetical encounter developed for this project, researchers in each country conducted focus groups with police officers in which they were encouraged to talk about the use of force. The results show interesting similarities and differences across countries and demonstrate the value of using this kind of research focus and methodology

Cadherin-23 Mediates Heterotypic Cell-Cell Adhesion between Breast Cancer Epithelial Cells and Fibroblasts

In the early stages of breast cancer metastasis, epithelial cells penetrate the basement membrane and invade the surrounding stroma, where they encounter fibroblasts. Paracrine signaling between fibroblasts and epithelial tumor cells contributes to the metastatic cascade, but little is known about the role of adhesive contacts between these two cell types in metastasis. Here we show that MCF-7 breast cancer epithelial cells and normal breast fibroblasts form heterotypic adhesions when grown together in co-culture, as evidenced by adhesion assays. PCR and immunoblotting show that both cell types express multiple members of the cadherin superfamily, including the atypical cadherin, cadherin-23, when grown in isolation and in co-culture. Immunocytochemistry experiments show that cadherin-23 localizes to homotypic adhesions between MCF-7 cells and also to heterotypic adhesions between the epithelial cells and fibroblasts, and antibody inhibition and RNAi experiments show that cadherin-23 plays a role in mediating these adhesive interactions. Finally, we show that cadherin-23 is upregulated in breast cancer tissue samples, and we hypothesize that heterotypic adhesions mediated by this atypical cadherin may play a role in the early stages of metastasis

An anatomy of Turkish football match-fixing

While discussion on corruption in sport is intensifying and football match-fixing in particular is attracting increasing attention, new fixing scandals emerge offering new accounts of actors and corrupt practices within the football industry and the level of the external threat to the sport. The scandal exposure of fixed matches in Turkey in 2011 sheds light on the fixing of 17 matches played in the 2010/11 football season and allowed for insights to the actors, structure and processes behind the fix. Following four criminal and seven disciplinary proceedings, the case is still pending appeal for its final decision, involving a total of 93 suspects and having already resulted in the exclusion of two teams from European competitions. The evidence collected by the authorities points towards a hierarchical criminal organisation led by the President of a football club that arranged and coordinated the fixing in order for his team to win the national Championship. The aim of this article is to provide an account of the organisation and coordination of match-fixing in Turkey, with its actors, specifics and criminal characteristics, while offering an examination of match-fixing for sporting success, the least documented type of match-fixing

‘The only game in town?’: football match-fixing in Greece

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12117-014-9239-3Football match-fixing in Greece has a relatively long history, however, from the late 1990s it has been considered as a serious problem for the sport in the country. Despite the history of the phenomenon in the country, Greece has only relatively recently been identified as one of the hotspots for football match-fixing on an international level. Following the recent scandal exposure of fixed matches in Greece in 2011, also known as Koriopolis (a pun name on the Italian scandal Calciopolis and the Greek word ‘korios’ or phone-tap), detailed information about numerous matches played in the 2008/09, 2009/10 and 2010/11 seasons that attracted UEFA’s attention were brought into the public eye. Soon after, legal action was taken against individuals involved in the process, with a number of club officials facing lifelong bans from any footballrelated activity, and football clubs either relegated or excluded from European competitions and the Super League itself for their involvement in the scandal. In May 2013, the number of people facing charges exceeded 200, with some of them having already been imprisoned for their involvement in the scandal. Following the aforementioned scandal exposure, a vast amount of information regarding football match-fixing was made available to the public. The aim of the current article is to provide an account of the social organisation of football match-fixing in Greece. Our account is based on three main sources of data: the telephone conversations that were the result of wiretapping by the National Intelligence Agency in relation to the latest football match-fixing scandal (of 2011), published media sources, and interviews with informed actors from the realm of Greek football

Vertebral body stenting: a new method for vertebral augmentation versus kyphoplasty

Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty are well-established minimally invasive treatment options for compression fractures of osteoporotic vertebral bodies. Possible procedural disadvantages, however, include incomplete fracture reduction or a significant loss of reduction after balloon tamp deflation, prior to cement injection. A new procedure called “vertebral body stenting” (VBS) was tested in vitro and compared to kyphoplasty. VBS uses a specially designed catheter-mounted stent which can be implanted and expanded inside the vertebral body. As much as 24 fresh frozen human cadaveric vertebral bodies (T11-L5) were utilized. After creating typical compression fractures, the vertebral bodies were reduced by kyphoplasty (n = 12) or by VBS (n = 12) and then stabilized with PMMA bone cement. Each step of the procedure was performed under fluoroscopic control and analysed quantitatively. Finally, static and dynamic biomechanical tests were performed. A complete initial reduction of the fractured vertebral body height was achieved by both systems. There was a significant loss of reduction after balloon deflation in kyphoplasty compared to VBS, and a significant total height gain by VBS (mean ± SD in %, p < 0.05, demonstrated by: anterior height loss after deflation in relation to preoperative height [kyphoplasty: 11.7 ± 6.2; VBS: 3.7 ± 3.8], and total anterior height gain [kyphoplasty: 8.0 ± 9.4; VBS: 13.3 ± 7.6]). Biomechanical tests showed no significant stiffness and failure load differences between systems. VBS is an innovative technique which allows for the possibly complete reduction of vertebral compression fractures and helps maintain the restored height by means of a stent. The height loss after balloon deflation is significantly decreased by using VBS compared to kyphoplasty, thus offering a new promising option for vertebral augmentation

Post-Transcriptional Regulation of Cadherin-11 Expression by GSK-3 and β-Catenin in Prostate and Breast Cancer Cells

The cell-cell adhesion molecule cadherin-11 is important in embryogenesis and bone morphogenesis, invasion of cancer cells, lymphangiogenesis, homing of cancer cells to bone, and rheumatoid arthritis. However, very little is known about the regulation of cadherin-11 expression.Here we show that cell density and GSK-3beta regulate cadherin-11 levels in cancer cells. Inactivation of GSK3beta with lithium chloride or the GSK3 inhibitor BIO and GSK3beta knockdown with siRNA repressed cadherin-11 mRNA and protein levels. RNA Polymerase II chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments showed that inhibition of GSK3 does not affect cadherin-11 gene transcription. Although the cadherin-11 3'UTR contains putative microRNA target sites and is regulated by Dicer, its stability is not regulated by GSK3 inhibition or density. Our data show that GSK3beta regulates cadherin-11 expression in two ways: first a beta-catenin-independent regulation of cadherin-11 steady state mRNA levels, and second a beta-catenin-dependent effect on cadherin-11 3'UTR stability and protein translation.Cadherin-11 mRNA and protein levels are regulated by the activity of GSK3beta and a significant degree of this regulation is exerted by the GSK3 target, beta-catenin, at the level of the cadherin-11 3'UTR