Public Enterprise Reforms in the United States and the People's Republic of China: A Drift toward Constitutionalization and Departmentalization of Enterprise Management

Does globalization foster administrative convergence? Is that the case with public enterprise reform in the United States and the People's Republic of China? Few analyses compare public enterprise reform in the two countries because of their vast differences in regulatory approaches, public policy, and government structure. This article contrasts how American and Chinese public enterprises are developed, defined, and managed, along with their emerging control infrastructures This the resulting strengths and weaknesses. While vast differences remain apparent between the two countries, this essay provides insights into why those gaps persist, and may even continue to grow .     

Adolescent Civic Engagement and Adult Outcomes: An Examination Among Urban Racial Minorities

Civic engagement in adolescence is encouraged because it is hypothesized to promote better civic, social, and behavioral outcomes. However, few studies have examined the effects of civic engagement on youth development over time. In particular, the long-term association between adolescent civic engagement and development among racial minority youth who are exposed to high levels of risk factors is understudied. Using data from the Chicago Longitudinal Study (CLS; N = 854; 56.6 % were female; 93 % were African Americans and 7 % were Latinos), this study examined the associations between civic engagement in adolescence and outcomes during emerging adulthood among racial minority youth. Regression analyses found that civic engagement in adolescence is related to higher life satisfaction, civic participation, and educational attainment, and is related to lower rates of arrest in emerging adulthood. The findings suggest that adolescent civic engagement is most impactful in affecting civic and educational outcomes in emerging adulthood. The present study contributes to the literature by providing support for the long-term associations between adolescent civic engagement and multiple developmental domains in adulthood among an inner-city minority cohort.     

After Reform: Accommodating Old Values and Assimilating New Ones

Public administration is characterised by a multiplicity of incompatible values. In the 1990s, reformers avoided confronting the inevitable tradeoffs among these values by focusing almost exclusively on the cost‐effective achievement of results. However, older values have a tendency to ‘bite back’ and new ones emerge. In the near term future, public administration will have to deal with at least three sets of values: 1) those that are non‐mission based, and consequently not directly related to achieving results; 2) those that go unprotected when government work is outsourced to private entities; and 3) those associated with globalisation.     

Donor leverage: towards more equitable access to essential medicines?

In early 2007, the Indonesian government decided to withhold its samples of the avian influenza (‘bird flu’) virus from WHO's collaborating centres, pending a new global mechanism for virus sharing which would provide better terms for developing countries. The 60^th World Health Assembly held in May 2007 subsequently resolved to establish an international stockpile of avian influenza vaccines, and to formulate mechanisms for equitable access to these vaccines. The article asks whether there are there analogous opportunities for study volunteers or donors of biological materials to exercise corresponding leverage to advance health equity.     

White matter damage following acute head injury

The study of a series of brains from patients who had a severe head injury and died within 72 h without a lucid interval showed that there was a step-wise progression in the development of retraction balls. At 2 h after injury sinusoidal enlargement of the axons was evident. This progressed over 16 h when the lesions appeared as retraction balls which were fully developed at 72 h. There was a similar increase of staining with an immunoperoxidase method for glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP) initially around blood vessels spreading diffusely into the white matter. The number of reactive astrocytes also increased. In a control case where the corpus callosum was torn at post-mortem there were sinusoidally distended and torn axons in the absence of GFAP staining. It is proposed that there are three components to a head injury. First, mechanical injury as seen in the control case; second, the development of retraction balls which are an active process probably representing damaged axons which cannot undergo repair where the sinusoidal swellings develop into retraction balls and third, an astrocytic reaction. The sinusoidal change, when present on its own, may not be separable from post-mortem trauma. However, when it is associated with an astrocytic response it should be correlated with coma in the same way as retraction balls.     

A rare case of sudden death due to IgG4-related giant coronary artery aneurysms

Immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a fibro-inflammatory condition that can affect many organs, either simultaneously or metachronously. In recent years, IgG4-related vascular complications of larger arteries such as the aorta and iliac arteries have been increasingly identified. Among vascular complications, coronary artery involvement in the forms of either periarteritis or coronary artery aneurysms (CAAs) has also been reported; however, are very rare in comparison. This case report presents a rare case of a sudden death due to occlusive thrombosis of IgG4-related giant CAAs measuring up to 10 cm in diameter, demonstrates their possible clinical progression, and shows how they can distort normal anatomy which may then pose challenges in the interpretation of postmortem-computed tomography scans. It also briefly discusses the diagnosis of IgG4-RD in arteries, both clinically and in the postmortem setting.