Fatal hemorrhage from a periumbilical wound: Stabbing or hemorrhage from a caput medusae?

Varices are the main clinical manifestation of portal hypertension, and their bleeding is the predominant cause of mortality from this condition. Periumbilical varices are known as “caput medusae.” Reports of their bleeding are rare, with only three fatal cases described in the literature. The antemortem diagnosis is relatively simple, while the postmortem diagnosis is more complex. This paper is the first report of fatal hemorrhage from a caput medusae for which the diagnosis was made postmortem, thanks to a complete diagnostic process including scene and circumstances, medical history, and autopsy with detailed histology. The circumstantial analysis showed the presence of a large amount of blood at the scene, blood which originated from a small abdominal wound; an analysis of the subject's clinical data reported that he was affected by portal hypertension. The autopsy revealed some dilated and convoluted veins in the subcutaneous tissue of the umbilical region; a fistula between these veins and the abdominal wound was detected. The histological study confirmed the presence of periumbilical varices, one of them ruptured and connected with the overlying skin. The cause of death was attributed to a massive hemorrhage generated by a periumbilical varix in a patient affected by portal hypertension.     

Strengthening local political leadership through institutional design: how and why

ABSTRACT

Over recent decades, the institutions of political leadership have been criticised for being caught up in outdated designs that are not adapting to societal changes. In many western countries, this diagnosis has spurred design reforms aimed at strengthening political leadership at the local level. Based on a study of reforms in Norwegian and Danish municipalities, this article first develops a typology of reforms aimed at strengthening local political leadership. Leadership reforms are categorised into four types aimed at strengthening Executive, Collective, Collaborative, or Distributive political leadership. The typology is used to map the prevalence of the different types of reforms in the two countries. The results show that design reforms as such are more widespread in Danish than in Norwegian municipalities. In particular, reforms aimed at strengthening Distributive political leadership are used more extensively in Denmark than in Norway. The article discusses the contextual differences that may explain this variation.     

The Study of Public Administration in Hong Kong and Macao: Evolutionary Paths and Implications

Comparatively speaking, the birth and the growth of public administration programmes, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, in Hong Kong and Macao have been a response to the increasing need for the training of students and civil servants in the discipline of public administration. Since the 1990s, the proliferation of Master of Public Administration (MPA) programmes in both the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions can be explained by the demand for local people to govern the two places in accordance with the principle of ‘one country, two systems’. The content of various MPA programmes also reflects the changing political and administrative circumstances; its public administration focus has been accompanied by core courses training students from a variety of disciplines, ranging from public finance to economics, from public policy analyses to globalization, and from regional planning to a deeper understanding of mainland Chinese government and politics. In both Hong Kong and Macao, some graduates from both the Bachelor and Master programmes have joined the civil service or enhanced their skills in public sector management and governance. Although the medium of instruction varies from one university to another, their programme objective shares one thing in common: the imperative of training existing civil servants and students to join the governments of Hong Kong and Macao. This paper compares and contrasts the development of public administration programmes in Hong Kong and Macao and examines its theoretical implications for the changing relations between politics and public administration.     

Differences in the usefulness of communication channels,as experienced by gender and ethnic groups during their university selection process

Abstract

Recruiting students to enrol at a particular institution is becoming a competitive and challenging process for higher education institutions. Therefore, institutions should create efficient and effective ways of providing relevant information to prospective students during their process of selecting an institution. The major communication channels that prospective students consult during their selection process, and the usefulness thereof for students, are important knowledge imperatives for higher education institutions. In this study, 12 different channels of communication, considered by students during a typical higher education institution selection process, were investigated. A non-probability convenience sample of 1 241 first-year students from six higher education institutions in South Africa was drawn. Findings suggest that female students attach a significantly higher value to nine of the 12 communication channels, compared to their male counterparts. There were also differences between the ethnic groups in terms of the usefulness of events on campus, high school teachers, open days and campus visits, as well as university publications. Higher education institutions can use the results to develop communication strategies that are more student oriented, in order to reinforce their image and to reach students more effectively through the appropriate communication channels.     

Legitimacy‐Building in the Macau special administrative region: Colonial legacies and reform strategies

The retrocession of Macau to Mainland China's sovereignty since December 20, 1999 has initiated an unprecedented process of legitimacy‐building in the new Special Administrative Region. The Chief Executive, Edmund Ho, has implemented a multiplicity of reform strategies for the sake of consolidating his legitimacy. The twilight of the Portuguese colonial era was plagued by a rapid deterioration in law and order and the persistence in public maladministration, thus weakening the departing colonial regime's performance legitimacy seriously. As such, the political environment was conducive to Ho's herculean efforts at establishing his performance legitimacy. While the new Chief Executive's procedure legitimacy was enhanced by his election from an Election Committee composed of political elites, Ho's performance legitimacy has been buttressed by depoliticisation, economic development, civil service reforms, and new constitutional conventions. The abolition of the Municipal Councils in 2000 ran the risk of delegitimising the Ho regime. Yet, such delegitimisation was by no means serious given the relatively weak political opposition. Still, in the face of a more active and assertive citizenry, political reforms will have to be pondered and implemented by the post‐colonial regime in Macau. It will be necessary for the Macau government to utilise democratic reforms in a bid to preempt the increasingly vociferous demands for more participatory channels. The case of Macau corroborates the existence of a dialectical process of legitimisation, which has been strengthened mainly by depoliticisation and economic development, and delegitimisation, which is looming in the midst of a steadily growing political activeness on the part of the Macau people.     

The Structure of Utility in Spatial Models of Voting

Empirical models of spatial voting allow legislators' locations in a policy or ideological space to be inferred from their roll‐call votes. These are typically random utility models where the features of the utility functions other than the ideal points are assumed rather than estimated. In this article, we first consider a model in which legislators' utility functions are allowed to be a mixture of the two most commonly assumed utility functions: the quadratic function and the Gaussian function assumed by NOMINATE. Across many roll‐call data sets, we find that legislators' utility functions are estimated to be very nearly Gaussian. We then relax the usual assumption that each legislator is equally sensitive to policy change and find that extreme legislators are generally more sensitive to policy change than their more centrally located counterparts. This result suggests that extremists are more ideologically rigid while moderates are more likely to consider influences that arise outside liberal‐conservative conflict.     

Dynamic ideal point estimation for the European Parliament, 1980–2009

The European Parliament is one of most prominent substantive applications of NOMINATE to the study of roll call voting outside the U.S., yielding tremendous insights into the voting patterns of the world’s most important transnational parliament. However, this body of research cannot facilitate comparisons of ideological shifts over time, because it exclusively employs scaling models that are static. In this paper, I produce dynamic ideal point estimates for the first six European Parliaments from 1980 to 2009 that can be compared over time. These estimates show a significant amount of ideological shifting for some Members of the European Parliament. I explain the measurement strategy, and compare cross-sectional estimates to existing measures as a validity check. I also offer three applications highlighting the types projects that scholars of the European Parliament might wish to use these dynamic measures to study further.     

THE POLITICS OF CRIME IN TAIWAN,HONG KONG AND MACAO

British Routes to India. By Halford Lancester Hoskins. 6½ × 9½. Pp. xii + 494. Illustrations. Longmans, Green and Co. 1928. 30s.

Christianity and the Government of India. By Arthur Mayhew, C.I.E. Pp. 260. Faber and Gwyer, Ltd. 12s. 6d.

The Cambridge History of India: Volume III.: Turks and Afghans. Edited by Sir Wolseley Haig, K.C.I.E., C.S.I., C.M.G., C.B.E. Pp. xxxii + 752. Maps and plates. Cambridge University Press. 1928. 42s.

Arabia of the Wahhabis. By H. St. J. B. Philby. 5¼×9. Pp. ix+422. Illustrations and plans. Constable. 1929.

Sir Edward Hornby: An Autobiography. Pp. x+396. 6×9. Constable. 18s. 1928.

Foreign Diplomacy in China, 1894–1900. A Study in Political and Economic Ralations with China. By Philip Joseph, LL.B. (McGill), Ph.D. (London). With an Introduction by Sir A. Frederick Whyte, K.C.S.I., LL.D. 8¾×6. 458 pp. George Allen and Unwin, Ltd. 16s.

Modern Chinese Civilization. By Dr. A. F. Legendre. Translated from the French by Elsie Martin Jones. (London: Jonathan Cape, 30, Bedford Street, W.C. 2.)

The Foundations of Modern China. By T'ang Leang‐li. With a Preface by Wang Ching‐Wei. 5¾×8”. Pp. x+290. (Published by Noel Douglas.) Price 12s. 6d.

The Campaign in Gallipoli. By Hans Kannengiesser. With 28 Illustrations and 3 Maps. Hutchinson. Price 21s.

Siberian Days. By Algernon Noble. 5¾×9. Pp. 223. Photographs. Witherby. 1928. 12s. 6d.

Desert Blades. By Estore. 5¼ × 7½. Pp. 254. Matthews and Marrots. 1928. 7s. 6d.

Leipzig to Cabul. By G. Stratil‐Sauer; translated by Frederic Whyte. With fifty illustrations. (Hutchinson.) Price 18s.

The Soul of China. By Richard Wilhelm. The text translated by John Holroyd Reece; the poems by Arthur Waley. 5¾×8¾. 382 pp. Jonathan Cape. 15s.

A History of Persian Navigation. By Hadi Hasan. Methuen and Co. 1928. £5 net.     

Techno-economic paradigm versus the market: on recent theories of late industrialization

The recent resurgence of intellectual interest in industrialization has been stimulated by the emergence of a wealth of empirical evidence which constitutes a reinterpretation of the East Asian experience, and the rise in mainstream academia of the 'new' theories of trade and growth. Both of these two bodies or writings point to the necessity of placing technological development at the centre of industrialization. There is however considerable doubt among economists over this tematic shift away from the hitherto dominant emphasis on incentive. There are also conceptual ambiguites over the nature of technological development that need to be clarified. This paper aims to reaffirm the centrality of technological development, and to argue that the imperative of technological development normally outstrips the capacity of the regulation of the market.     

One Formula,Two Experiences: political divergence of Hong Kong and Macao since retrocession

Since the return of Hong Kong's sovereignty to the People's Republic of China, the territory's political development has diverged from that of Macao. The poverty of leadership, state–society confrontations, deinstitutionalization and Beijing's explicit intervention have marked Hong Kong's political development from 1997 to 2004. Since April 2004, the Hong Kong governing style has converged with that of Macao in terms of its pragmatism. Although Macao's political development is characterized by leadership finesse, state–society partnership and institutionalization, its relatively weak civil society and lack of democratic reforms are by no means an attractive ‘one country, two systems’ model to Taiwan; nor does Hong Kong's ‘one country, two systems’ appeal to the Republic of China. Yet, the political corruption and chaos that punctuate Taiwan's democracy have failed to have any positive demonstration effect on Hong Kong and Macao. While the models of Hong Kong and Macao are bound to diverge from that of Taiwan, political development in the two Chinese Special Administrative Regions is gradually converging.