Ruptured cerebral artery aneurysm and bacterial meningitis in a man with osteogenesis imperfecta

This report describes a 38-year-old man with osteogenesis imperfecta who died of a ruptured cerebral artery aneurysm and bacterial meningitis. He had multiple long bone fractures in the past, and approximately 4 months before death, he had surgery to relieve symptoms of basilar impression. The surgery was complicated by a postoperative wound infection. For the next 4 months, he had intermittent headaches and vomiting. He was found dead in his bed at home. At autopsy, he had a ruptured anterior communicating artery aneurysm and bacterial meningitis. Cerebrospinal fluid and blood cultures had growth of Staphylococcus aureus. Osteogenesis imperfecta is a disorder of type I collagen. Type I collagen is present in many tissues, including blood vessels. The etiology of cerebral artery aneurysm formation is multifactorial. Some patients with cerebral artery aneurysms have been shown to have abnormalities in type III collagen. There has not been a reported relationship made between abnormalities in type I collagen and aneurysms. Meningitis can also result in cerebral artery aneurysms, but they are usually due to Aspergillus or Mycobacterium species. The case we report is unique; cerebral artery aneurysm formation may have been due to osteogenesis imperfecta and/or bacterial meningitis.     

Champions of local authority innovation revisited

This article revisits the concept of the public sector innovation champion. Reflecting changes in sectoral and wider contexts and conceptual advances in the innovation literature, it suggests that much of the underlying thinking behind the original article is of continuing relevance and suggests a number of directions in which this could now be extended, particularly in terms of the nature of innovation and the role of champions therein. It concludes by considering how innovation champions of the future will require a new skillset which draws on new and emergent technologies to align diverse sets of stakeholders in networks of ‘open innovation’.     

BETWEEN POSITIVISM AND POSTMODERNISM:

A growing body of scholarship has pointed to the problems of positivist assumptions that underlie policy analysis. Scholars have noted that neither the ends nor the methods by which judgments are derived are unambiguous or value-free. In the place of a positivist epistemology, some scholars have argued for a view of policy analysis as a rhetorical activity. In this view, the analyst becomes a participant in strategies of persuasion in-which the reasons for decisions are rhetorically constructed. Neither view, though, provides an adequate basis upon which the analyst is to form judgments that can claim public validity. In this essay, we draw on the work of Hannah Arendt whochallenges the distinction between “subjectivity” and “objectivity” upon which much of the contemporary debate hinges. Arendt argues for a notion of “impartiality” that arises from the imagining of other perspectives. In this way, the validity of judgments depends on a broadened perspective gained through a grasping of particulars. It is within this context that we can understand the importance of narratives in policy evaluation and judgment.     

欧盟最小化中小企业监管负担的做法及启示

中小企业是世界各国经济发展的支柱。全球金融危机对中小企业的发展产生了严重影响。为促进中小企业的发展,欧盟采取了切实措施,从法律、政策影响评估、市场环境改善等方面最小化中小企业的监管负担。随着金融危机的蔓延,中国的中小企业也面临严峻的发展环境,浙江等地中小企业倒闭数量大幅度上升,税负较重、融资渠道单一等是其倒闭的主要原因。应借鉴欧盟经验,采取综合政策措施,最小化企业的监管负担,促进其复苏发展。     

行政学理论是如何生成的——社会建构论视角

基于社会建构论视角,行政学理论是在社会过程中被建构而成的。行政学理论是回应特定情势下的行政问题的知识生产;多元行政文化间的行政学理论具有差异性甚至不可通约性;行政学理论反映行政场域中的特定利益诉求和力量对比关系;行政学理论生产会受到时代文化精神的影响;人文主义行政学相对科学主义行政学的颓势,原因在于行政科学易于以主客二分的方式予以实证,而行政伦理需要人们基于亲身实践予以亲证,由此实际表明行政世界中的人们道德实践勇气的匮乏。     

The Formation of the Queensland Liberal National Party: Origins,Prospects and Implications for Australian Political Systems

In Australia, two-and-a-half party systems are common with the Liberal and National parties, usually needing to collaborate to form governments. In Queensland, the 2008 merger of two of these state parties to create the Liberal National Party (LNP) created instead a two-party system. This review examines the forces for the merger and prospects for the continuation of the LNP, the likelihood of change as a result of the Queensland merger in the remaining two-and-a-half party systems, and how the drivers of this merger compare with those observed in studies of other non-Australian party and electoral systems. Pressures and conditions for a merger similar to those in other, mostly European systems, were evident in the case of the LNP. The particular structure of the pre-merger party competition and relationships was, however, a likely factor in the merger in that two collaborating parties could avoid a contested switch in party seniority. This aspect, unlikely to occur in other Australian party systems, combined with the very limited success of the LNP in gaining and holding government since the merger, does not suggest an imperative for further mergers in other Australian systems.     

Performance measurement and financial incentives for community behavioral health services provision

This article analyzes the uses of performance measures in contracting for behavioral health services. A flexible performance measurement methodology, called Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA),is used to measure cost efficiency and cost effectiveness. The use of measures in controlling costs, allocating program funds and administrating performance-based contracting is demonstated.