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To increase the reliability of forensic age estimations in living adolescents and young adults where there is no legitimation for X-ray examinations, it would be desirable to establish radiation-free imaging methods. In the present study, the ossification stage of the distal femoral epiphysis was determined retrospectively in 166 male and 124 female individuals in the age group 10 to 30 years using 3.0T MRI. When evaluating the ossification stage, a combination of the classifications proposed by Schmeling et al. and by Kellinghaus et al. was used. Within the study population, stages 3b, 3c and 4 did not occur in the male sex before the 14th birthday, although the validity of the results is distinctly limited relative to stage 3b in view of the small number of cases. In females, stages 3c and 4 did not occur before the 14th birthday. Stage 4 did not occur in males before the 18th birthday. Should this result be confirmed in future studies, there would be an additional criterion providing evidence that the age of 18 years has been completed.

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Net neutrality is believed to prevent Internet fragmentation. We examine the relationship between net neutrality regulation and Internet fragmentation in a game-theoretic model that considers the interplay between termination fees, exclusivity and competition between two Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and between two Content Providers (CPs). An exclusivity arrangement between an ISP and a CP reduces the CP's exposure to some end users but it also reduces competition among the CPs. Fragmentation arises in equilibrium when competition between CPs is very strong, the CPs'revenues from advertisements are very low, the content of the CPs is highly complementary, or the termination fees are high. We …nd that the absence of fragmentation is always bene…cial for consumers, as they can enjoy all available content. Policy interventions that prevent fragmentation are thus good for consumers. However, results for total welfare are more mixed. A zero-price rule on tra¢ c termination is neither a su¢ cient nor a necessary policy instrument to prevent fragmentation. In fact, regulatory interventions may be ine¤ective or even detrimental to welfare and are only warranted under special circumstances.Keywords: Net neutrality; Internet fragmentation; Exclusivity. JEL Codes: L13; L51; L52; L96.We thank Marc Bourreau, Bruno Jullien and Thibaud Vergé for very useful discussions and comments.

The establishment of radiation-free examination procedures in the field of forensic age diagnostics in living persons is to be considered of special scientific interest so as to minimize necessary exposure to X-rays while facilitating additional assessment of skeletal development in all cases. To this end, the advantages offered by magnetic resonance imaging in securing a practical application which is as unrestricted and complication-free as possible should be among the methods exploited in investigating such indicators of skeletal maturity. Within the framework of a retrospective study, we investigated the ossification status of the proximal tibial epiphysis on the MRI scans of 124 females and 166 males aged between 10 and 30 years. All the images had been generated on a 3.0 T scanner using a T1-weighted turbo spin-echo sequence. When evaluating the ossification stage, a combination of modified classifications proposed by Schmeling et al. and by Kellinghaus et al. was used. The statistical evaluation included calculation of a variety of measures to describe specific ossification stages as well as kappa coefficients to assess intra- and inter-observer agreement on diagnoses of individual stages. In forensic contexts, completion of the 14th year of life can be adequately evidenced in females with an ossification stage IV according to Schmeling et al. and in males with an ossification stage III c according to Kellinghaus et al. or an ossification stage IV according to Schmeling et al. In forensic contexts, the presence of an ossification stage IV according to Schmeling et al. can prove that the age of 16 years has been exceeded only in the male sex, whereby for age estimation purposes the diagnosis should be in line with other skeletal maturity indicators. The results available displayed a high degree of intra- and inter-observer agreement. Examination of the ossification status of the proximal tibial epiphysis using magnetic resonance imaging represents an effective additional tool for use in radiation-free forensic age diagnostics in living persons.

We study departures from network neutrality through implementing a Quality of Service tiering regime in which an ISP charges for prioritization on a non-discriminatory basis. We find that Quality of Service tiering may be more efficient in the short run, because it better allocates the existing network capacity, and in the long run, because it provides higher investment incentives due to the increased demand for priority services by the entry of new congestion sensitive content providers. Which network regime is the most efficient depends on the distribution of congestion sensitivity among content providers, but a guideline is that the regime that provides higher incentives for infrastructure investments is more efficient in the long run.

Auction fever is a multifaceted phenomenon that is frequently observed in both traditional and Internet auctions. In order to gain a better understanding of its causes, we develop a conceptual framework to analyze emotions in auctions, which is based on an exhaustive literature review. The framework integrates rational calculus with emotional aspects and suggests that emotional processing is triggered at three different stages of an auction: First, the economic environment can affect a bidder's level of perceived competition and thus influence the bidding strategy prior to the auction. Second, auction events may have ramifications on the bidder's emotional state during the auction due to previous investments or perceived ownership. Third, past auction outcomes may impact future bidding behavior through emotions such as the joy of winning or loser regret. Auction fever, eventually, is a phenomenon that results from the interplay of these emotional processes and causes a bidder to deviate from an initially chosen bidding strategy.

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