Reimagining race and gender in public administration and public policy: Insights from an interdisciplinary systematic review

Public administration scholarship on race and gender is motivated by normative concerns about social equity, and dominated by work on bureaucracy and its representativeness. Despite decades of research on race and gender in public administration, there has been limited engagement with racializing and gendering processes. Relatedly, scant attention is paid to other disciplines that center on race and gender in theorizing. The purpose of this review is to explore public administration scholarship on race and gender in the context of allied social science disciplines, reveal limits of current approaches in public administration, and articulate strategies for enhancing understanding of race and gender in public administration scholarship. We use bibliometric and content analysis methods to map the intellectual structure of social science scholarship on race and gender, highlight public administration's place in this structure, and compare public administration scholarship on race and gender with other social science disciplines.     

Revealed preferences of a state bureau: Case of New Mexico's underground storage tank program

Leaking underground storage tanks (USTs) are a pervasive national environmental problem. Cleanup of leaking USTs is largely publicly financed and under the control of state agencies. In the transition to new compliance standards, individual states have taken advantage of provisions in federal regulations to implement their own programs. This raises the policy question of environmental federalism and the appropriate locus of government control. The objectives of this study are to examine the revealed preferences of a state UST bureau. New Mexico was one of the first state programs to use risk assessments in setting funding priorities. We analyze the statistical determinants of funding decisions and find strong evidence that risk information is used. Although our case study provides a measure of support for state control, the argument is strengthened if public financing is limited to the cleanup of historical pollution, rather than a means for providing insurance for prospective pollution. ©1999 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

台湾全力冲刺世博会

上海世博会台湾馆将在5月11日开幕,岛内政商名流都将前来捧场。许多国家或地区的主题馆都排定在6、7月甚至8、9月揭幕,但台湾馆主题日排在5月1日世博会开幕后一周,显见主办单位对台湾馆的“礼遇”。     

Psychostimulant Use and Fatal Stroke in Young Adults

Psychostimulant use is associated with increased stroke risk. To determine the proportion of psychostimulant users among fatal strokes in young adults (15–44 years), all cases were retrieved from the National Coronial Information System (1/1/2009–31/12/2016). A total of 279 cases were identified: hemorrhagic (259), ischemic (8), thrombotic (8), and mycotic (4). Fifty (17.9%) were identified as psychostimulant users. Psychostimulants in blood were detected in 37/45 where toxicology was available, predominantly methamphetamine (32/45). Hemorrhagic strokes in the psychostimulant group were more likely to be intraparenchymal (OR 2.33). Psychostimulant users were less likely to be obese (OR 0.31), but more likely to have a history of tobacco use (OR 2.64). No psychostimulant user had a previous stroke history, was gravid/postpartum, or diagnosed with cerebral vasculitis or endocarditis. The work illustrates the substantial role of psychostimulant use in fatal strokes among young adults. In cases of hemorrhagic stroke among young adults, psychostimulant use should be considered.     

Complex Congenital Heart Malformation Including Transposition of the Great Vessels,Presenting as Sudden Unexplained Infant Death

Transposition of the great vessels (TGV) is a common congenital heart defect that is difficult to diagnose before birth. Antenatal diagnosis is associated with increased survival. Unusual features such as anomalous pulmonary artery origin may delay cyanosis, decreasing clinical suspicion. A three‐week old female infant who had never been cyanotic presented for forensic autopsy due to onset of unresponsiveness at home. History included risk factors for TGV and signs of heart enlargement that were not recognized during life. Cardiac pathology consultation identified D‐type TGV with additional rare anomalies. TGV may present as sudden unexplained infant death (SUID) for forensic autopsy if variant features prevent development of cyanosis. Cardiac pathology consultation is helpful in clarifying these features.     

Predictors of Initial Court Agreement and 1‐Year Relitigation in Title IV‐D Contested Paternity Cases

We examined potential predictors of initial court agreement and 1‐year relitigation in a sample of contested paternity cases involving unmarried parents coming to court to establish paternity, child support, and other issues. Cases participated in an RCT of a parent program and of a waiting period between establishment of paternity and court hearing. We controlled for RCT study factors and used baseline assessment data to predict likelihood of reaching full agreement in the initial court hearing and relitigation in the following year. Findings suggest that cases in which parents get along better outside of court are more likely to reach agreement and less likely to return to court. Additionally, particular parent demographics predict lower likelihood of reaching initial agreement (e.g., parents are non‐White, father earns below $10,000 yearly), more relitigation (e.g., parents are non‐White, mother earns above $10,000 yearly, father has children with others), and less relitigation (e.g., father earns above $10,000 yearly). Child demographics and most parent relationship characteristics did not predict outcomes. We discuss findings and offer suggestions for court interventions.     

The Relationship Between Deprivation and Forensic Material Recovered from Stolen Vehicles: Is it Affected by Vehicle Condition and Tidiness?

Previous research has shown that as crime scene location deprivation increases (lower socioeconomic status), the recovery of forensic material, principally DNA and fingerprints, also increases. However, this increase does not result in more crimes being solved by forensic means. In this study, we analyze stolen vehicle data and find a statistically significant positive association between deprivation and the amount of forensic material that matched either the victim or an associate of the victim on a criminal database. The nature of this association was investigated further by inspecting recovered stolen vehicles to establish whether the condition of a stolen vehicle and the tidiness of its interior influenced the recovery of forensic material that was attributed to the victim or an associate. Contradictory results suggest that other factors may contribute to understanding the association between the recovery of victim- or associate-attributable forensic material and crime scene location deprivation.     

The decision to lobby bureaucrats

Despite a good deal of interest in lobbyists?? tactics, virtually no research has been published examining the conditions under which interest groups lobby the bureaucracy rather than or in addition to the legislature. Using two comprehensive datasets, I show that lobbying increases in both branches when conflict is higher and when the lobbyist has professional or political connections to that venue. In addition, certain conditions cause lobbyists to specialize in one branch or a particular branch only, depending on the issue area being lobbied, the interest group type being represented, the lobbyist??s resources, and other factors.     

Fatal birth trauma due to an undiagnosed abdominal teratoma: case report and review of the literature

The fetus is subjected to mechanical forces during labor and delivery, which may result in traumatic injuries. Such injuries include intracranial hemorrhage, spinal cord lesions, cephalhematoma, cranial or peripheral nerve palsies, intraabdominal organ rupture, or bony fractures. Risk for perinatal trauma and mortality is increased in primigravidas, multiple gestations, abnormal presentations, maternal-fetal disproportion, oligohydramnios, forceps or vacuum extractions, and internal version maneuvers. Very-low-birth-weight neonates (<1500 g) are at high risk due to ease of deformity of the cranium. Infants with certain congenital anomalies or pathologic processes that distort normal anatomy are also at increased risk, especially when a prenatal diagnosis is lacking. The authors present a case of a term gestation neonate who sustained a cervical spine dislocation fracture of C5-7, with subtotal transection of the spinal cord and resultant paralysis. The fetus was in vertex presentation, and a manual vaginal delivery was attempted. When the infant lodged in the birth canal following a difficult delivery of the head and arms, its enlarged abdomen was palpated, and the delivery was converted to an emergent cesarean section. The infant lived for 3 days and then expired due to neurologic complications of trauma sustained during the attempted vaginal delivery. Autopsy revealed a previously undiagnosed intraabdominal immature teratoma. The pathology of teratomas, the most common neonatal tumor and occasionally implicated in cases of birth trauma, will be addressed, followed by a review of the literature concerning birth trauma.