Spontaneous fractures in the differential diagnosis of fractures in children

A four-year-old male with cerebral palsy and spasticity, as a result of a non-accidental head injury sustained when he was two years old, died of pneumonia. Postmortem full body X-rays revealed fractures of varying ages of the left humerus and both femora, tibiae, and fibulae. This led to a thorough investigation of the case by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Child abuse, accidents, metabolic bone disorders, other primary or secondary diseases of the bones, and pathological fractures were ruled out. The final diagnosis was spontaneous fractures secondary to osteopenia. The term spontaneous fractures is used to define fractures that occur without any known external cause, especially in cerebral palsy patients with spasticity.     

Teaching the Political Context of EC Law

Books reviewed in this article: D. Dinan, Ever Closer Union? An Introduction to the European Community J. Greenwood, Representing Interests in the European Union F. Hayes-Renshaw and H. Wallace, The Council of Ministers S. Hix and C. Lord, Political Parties in the European Union N. Nugent, The Government and Politics of the European Union R. Dehousse, The European Court of Justice: The Politics of Judicial Integration P. Craig and G. de Burca, EC Law, Text, Cases, & Materials D. Chalmers and E. Szyszczak, European Union Law. Volume One. Law and EU Government     

Devolution Paradox and the US South

There is an inherent trade-off in federalism regarding representation and equity. With the devolution of responsibilities to regional governments offering increased representation, there comes the inequity of services provided by some governments and not others. However, citizens in these federations may want the best of both worlds—desiring regional control but without the regional policy variation. This tension, dubbed ‘the devolution paradox’ in a study of federal countries in Europe, was less apparent in one key group of regions—those with historic ties through language, culture, or experience. This article examines US respondents to identify whether the devolution paradox is evident in this country and looks specifically at the South, a region with long-standing distinctiveness. We find that there is evidence of the devolution paradox among the American public and that the South is indeed different.     

Sisterhood is local: The rise of feminist journals in Southeast Asia

Abstract

Whether as central members in their own households, as workers in the formal or informal economy, as political figures or as performers and artists, Southeast Asian women have contributed and continue to contribute to the economic, social, and artistic development of their societies. Yet it is only recently that we have begun to look at their lives separately from—yet vital to our understanding of—those societies and their histories. Over the past twenty years publications about Southeast Asian women have grown both in number and scope. Since 1991, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has added some six hundred new titles about Southeast Asian women to its collection—double the number it acquired in the years 1981 to 1985 and thirty percent more than in the previous five-year period (1986–1990). More impressive than the sheer number of publications is the scope of issues being addressed. Many topics such as prostitution, domestic abuse, or women factory workers were inconceivable just ten years ago. But the most notable and positive change over the past twenty years has been the growth of publishing by the women of Southeast Asia. Women's publishing, especially feminist publishing, is best illustrated by the rise of feminist periodicals and newsletters that serve to unite women. The myriad of voices found in these periodicals are those of women who speak different languages and who come from vastly different economic backgrounds. We talk about the emerging global village, but these periodicals demonstrate that sisterhood may indeed be more local than global.     

Interpreting national security and intelligence in geographic exploration: Explorers and geographers in America's early republic

‘Intelligence’ connotes the collection of information in furtherance of policy and strategic security objectives. Intelligence practitioners tend to look primarily to the histories of battlefield reconnaissance and court intrigue for their profession's discursive precedents. For the Western state, the mastery of territory has also been an important security objective since the Age of Exploration. Specifically, in the American case, territorial expansion and the subduing of new territory long lay at the heart of America's viability as a state. Thus, the intelligence field ought also to recognize geographical exploration as deeply implicated in Western national security discourse and as sharing an epistemological similarity with intelligence gathering. Both intelligence gathering and geographical exploration rely upon ‘Humint’, that is, informants penetrating distant and hidden places and reporting on the features found therein. America's early Republic period offers key examples of this fundamental similarity.     

Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (“Bath Salts”),Related Death: Case Report and Review of the Literature,

Cathinone derivatives (bath salts) have emerged as the latest drugs of abuse. 3,4‐methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) is the primary active ingredient in bath salts used in this country. This article presents the second reported cause of death by MDPV intoxication alone. In April 2011, a delusional man was emergently brought to a hospital, where he self‐reported bath salt usage. He became agitated, developed ventricular tachycardia, hyperthermia, and died. Comprehensive alcohol and drug testing was performed. Using the alkaline drug screen, heart blood contained 0.7 mg/L MDPV and peripheral blood contained 1.0 mg/L MDPV. His bizarre behavior with life‐threatening hyperthermia was consistent with an MDPV‐induced excited delirium state. MDPV is not yet found by routine immunoassay toxicology screens. Testing for MDPV should be considered in cases with a history of polysubstance abuse with stimulant type drugs, report of acute onset of psychogenic symptoms, excited delirium syndrome, or presentation in a hyperthermic state.     

Liberalization and ethnic conflict in Latin America

Most contemporary analysts explain ethnic identity as a socially rooted phenomenon which can be catalyzed by changes in both economic and political conditions. Taking the 1982 debt crisis as a main triggering event, this article analyzes the relationship between economic adjustment and increasing levels of indigenous mobilization in Latin America. Through a comparison of the Bolivian, Peruvian, and Mexican cases,the analysis reveals wide variation in the types and levels of ethnic conflict in the region. Explanations for these differences center on the timing and content of economic adjustment policies, and on the institutional opportunities available for expressing and channeling economic and political demands. The article concludes that political and economic liberalization are likely to clash when shrinking the state also removes channels for popular participation; moreover, when those that bear most of the adjustment burden are also challengers to national identity, states ignore this challenge at their peril. Alison Brysk is assistant professor of politics at the University of California at Irvine. Her book,The Politics of Human Rights in Argentina, was published by Stanford University Press. Various aspects of her current research on Latin American indigenous rights movements have appeared inComparative Political Studies, Latin American Perspectives, andPolity. Carol Wise is assistant professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies. She has published articles on Latin American political economy inInternational Organization, Latin American Research Review, and theJournal of Latin American Studies; she is the editor of a forthcoming collection entitledThe Post-NAFTA Political Economy: Mexico and the Western Hemisphere.