A comparison of respiratory symptoms and inflammation in sudden infant death syndrome and in accidental or inflicted infant death

Upper respiratory infection and pulmonary inflammation are common in sudden infant death syndrome, but their role in the cause of death remains controversial. Controlled studies comparing clinical upper respiratory infection and inflammation in sudden infant death syndrome with sudden infant deaths caused by accidents and inflicted injuries (controls) are unavailable. Our aim was to compare respiratory inflammation and upper respiratory infection within 48 hours of death and postmortem culture results in these two groups. A retrospective analysis of upper respiratory infection and pathologic variables in the trachea and lung of 155 infants dying of sudden infant death syndrome and 33 control infants was undertaken. Upper respiratory infection was present in 39% of sudden infant death syndrome cases and 40% of control cases. Upper respiratory infection was more likely to have occurred in association with more severe lymphocytic interstitial pneumonitis when sudden infant death syndrome cases and control cases were combined ( P=.04). Proximal and distal tracheal lymphocytic infiltration was more severe in control cases than in sudden infant death syndrome cases ( P=.01 and.01, respectively). Lymphocytic infiltrations of the bronchi, bronchioles, and pulmonary interstitium were similar between groups. Bronchial associated lymphoid tissue was more prominent in control cases ( P=.04). Cultures were positive in 80% of sudden infant death syndrome cases, 78% of which were polymicrobial. Among control cases, 89% were positive, with 94% being polymicrobial. This study confirms that microscopic inflammatory infiltrates in sudden infant death syndrome are not lethal.     

Does alcohol make a difference? Within-participants comparison of incidents of partner violence

Episodes of husband-to-wife violence in which the husband consumed alcohol were compared with episodes of husband-to-wife violence, reported by the same individuals, in which the husband was not drinking. Among this community sample of newlyweds, wife reports, but not husband reports, indicated that violent episodes in which the husband was drinking included more acts of violence and were more likely to involve severe violence. Both wife and husband reports indicated that wives were more likely to be physically aggressive in husband drinking episodes compared to sober episodes. However, whereas wives reported that their aggressive behavior was a response to husband aggression, husbands reported that wives were more likely to initiate violence in these episodes. Violent episodes that include alcohol may be more severe and more mutually violent than sober episodes. Discrepancies between husband and wife reports may reflect differences in recall or self-serving biases.     

An esoteric technique useful in the identification of unidentified remains from the examination of faded,illegible hospital identification wristbands

A technique routinely used in the examination of questioned documents has been found to be of assistance when employed in the examination of faded and/or partially legible hospital identification wristbands found with unidentified remains (UIDs). A non-destructive test used predominately by forensic document examiners in the analysis of writing inks, handwritten alterations, and obliterations has proven useful throughout the years when confronted with this unusual type of documentary evidence. This discussion paper was prompted by the Tri-State Crematory disaster, Walker County, Georgia, from a request by investigators as to whether or not any information could be obtained from the examination of faded hospital identification wristbands where no information was readily discernable. Subsequent analysis by non-destructive infrared inspection, a standard technique used in the examination of questioned documents, proved useful in assisting with the identification of unidentified skeletal remains.     

WOLF'S MODEL: Government Failure and Public Sector Reform in Advanced Industrial Democracies

Many developed nations have embarked on public sector reform programs based on the New Public Management (NPM) paradigm. This article seeks to evaluate the efficacy of NPM reform strategies as a means of dealing with the problem of “government failure” in public sector hierarchies by examining these strategies through the analytical prism provided by Wolf's theory of nonmarket failure. Drawing on the New Zealand experience, we explore the potential for NPM reform initiatives to mitigate the problems of nonmarket supply. Moreover, we examine how “autonomous policy leadership” and “advocacy coalition networks” can overcome the various obstacles to the successful implementation of reform strategies delineated by Wolf under his “conditions of nonmarket demand”. The article then focusses on the efficacy of NPM in removing, or at least reducing, the various forms of government failure identified in Wolf's taxonomic catalogue of nonmarket failure. We conclude by assessing some of the likely tradeoffs involved in the application of NPM reform programs.     

Australian Federalism: A Prospective Assessment

On 1 January 2001, Australia celebrated the centenary of itsfederal Constitution. Throughout its history, the Australianfederal system has proved both resilient and flexible, servingthe Commonwealth through the trials of depression, total war,imperial decline, and economic reconstruction. The constitutionalsystem has been developed through interpretation by the HighCourt and popular input via referendums, as well as by the ongoingprocess of intergovernmental relations. There has been an overallexpansion of Commonwealth powers with the politics of nation-building,but the states remain significantly powerful although financiallydependent on the Commonwealth. Given the institutional and popularsuccess of Australian federalism, the challenges facing theCommonwealth in the new century are not expected to be domesticor constitutional, but strategic and economic: principally,how a smallish middle power should meet the difficulties ofglobalization and security from a position of relative isolationadjacent to Asia in the southern Pacific.     

Variations in enforcing equality: a study of provincial human rights funding

Abstract: This paper reports on a study of public funding for provincial human rights legislation and programs across Canada. In the field of human rights legislation, much has been said of legal cases but little of funding and enforcement issues. Our purpose was to identify factors responsible for different levels of human rights funding on the basis of a per capita spending comparison among the provinces. The aim was also to link our findings to the applicability of theories of public policy. Factors examined were provincial revenues, the size of minority groups, interest group pressures, the administrative structure of commissions, the number of women in cabinet and the political party in power. Our findings point to the importance of party and ideology and to the applicability of the state-centred theory of public policy. Sommaire: Cet article est le compte rendu d'une étude sur le financement public des lois et programmes pmvinciaux concernant les droits de la personne à travers le Canada. En ce qui concerne les lois régissant les droits de la personne, de nom-breuses études ont porté sur les questions juridiques, mais peu ont touché les questions de financement et de mise en application. Nous avons voulu cerner les fadeurs à l'origine des divers niveaux de financement des activités de droits de la personne à partir d'une comparaison des dépenses par habitant, parmi les provinces. Nous voulions également rattacher nos constatations à l'applicabilité des théories de politique publique. Nous awns examiné les facteurs suivants: revenus provinciaux, importance des minorités, force des groupes d'intérêt, structure administrative des Commissions, présence de femmes au Conseil des ministres et enfin, parti politique au pouvoir. Nos constatations soulignent l'importance du parti, de l'idéologie et de la théorie des politiques publiques axée sur l'État.     

Federal Expenditure and Fiscal Illusion: A Test of the Flypaper Hypothesis in Australia

Despite the fact that there are strong a priori grounds forpresuming that the intergovernmental grants characteristic offiscal federalism in Australia may generate fiscal illusion,no empirical effort has been directed at this line of inquiry.The present article seeks to go some way toward remedying thisdeficiency by evaluating the flypaper variant of the fiscalillusion hypothesis using a time-series analysis of AustralianCommonwealth expenditures for 1981 to 1992. The results of theseestimations provide some tentative empirical support for theexistence of a flypaper effect on public expenditure in Australiafor the period under review.     

QUEENSLAND RAILWAYS AND EXPORT COAL*

Abstract: The article first sketches the sorry state of Queensland Railways before export coal haulage when road and air transport were undermining its traditional monopoly on freight and passenger services. It then documents the Railways' growing reliance, since the mid 1960s, on revenue and profits from transporting export coal. The negotiating process for setting freight rates and the increasing entrepreneurial approach adopted by the state are examined in some detail, particularly for the early Thiess and Utah agreements. Rough estimates of the Railways' profit from carrying coal are made from the Railways' published accounts and from Utah's figures. These figures are intended to suggest the order of magnitude of the sums involved rather than to be accurate estimates.