Electoral Reforms, Membership Stability and the Existence of Committee Property Rights in American State Legislatures

One of the most creative theories advanced about legislative organization in recent years is Katz and Sala\u27s linkage of the development of committee property rights in the US House of Representatives to the introduction of the Australian ballot. Katz and Sala argue that the Australian ballot – a government-printed ballot cast in secret that replaced a party-produced ballot that was cast in public – gave members of the House an incentive to pursue personal constituency votes. This, in turn, led to the rise of committee property rights as members sought to keep their committee assignments from term to term because of the potential electoral benefits they derived from them. In this Note we use the state legislative committee membership dataset collected by Hamm and Hedlund and their colleagues to test whether committee property rights appeared in American state legislatures at roughly the same time as Katz and Sala find they emerged in the US House. State legislatures were, of course, exposed to the same electoral innovation at the same time. But, while in some ways state legislatures were much like Congress as organizations, in other ways they were very different. Our cross-sectional data and the variance in important institutional variables they provide allow us to test a critical proposition about the importance of membership stability rates in mediating the rise of committee property rights. We also go beyond Katz and Sala\u27s analysis by testing to see if differences in Australian ballot design (office column and party bloc) across the states influenced the behaviour of legislators in the way their theory suggests

Musculoskeletal deformities following repair of large congenital diaphragmatic hernias

Split-abdominal wall muscle flap Purpose: Large congenital diaphragmatic hernias (CDH) can be repaired with either a muscle flap or prosthetic patch. The purpose of this study was to assess the frequency and severity of scoliosis, chest wall, and abdominal wall deformities following these repairs. Methods: Neonates who underwent CDH repair (1989-2012) were retrospectively reviewed. We then validated our retrospective review by comparing results of a focused radiologic evaluation and clinical examination of patients with large defects seen in prospective follow-up clinic. Tests for association were made using Fisher's exact test. Results: 236 patients survived at least 1 year. Of these patients, 30 had a muscle flap, and 13 had a patch repair. Retrospectively, we identified pectus in 9% of primary repairs, 47% of flap repairs, and 54% of patch repairs. We identified scoliosis in 7% of primary repairs, 13% of flap repairs, and 15% of patch repairs. Prospectively, 75% of flap patients and 67% of patch patients had pectus and 13% of flap patients and 33% of patch patients had scoliosis. There was no significant difference between flap and patch patients. Conclusions: Scoliosis and pectus deformity were common in children with large CDH. The operative technique did not appear to affect the incidence of subsequent skeletal deformity. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Large congenital diaphragmatic hernias (CDHs) require repair with either a patch or an autologous tissue transfer. Repair with a prosthetic patch is the technique used by most surgeons Methods Study population After obtaining approval from the Institutional Review Board, a retrospective review of all children with CDH repair at our regional tertiary care children's hospital from 1989 to 2012 was performed. The patients were categorized by the technique of their repair. Repair types included primary repair, split abdominal wall muscle flap and synthetic patch. Paper and electronic medical records were reviewed to obtain demographic data, and diagnosis of skeletal deformities as well as any treatment for the skeletal deformities. Electronic charts were searched for the key words "pectus" and "scoliosis," and those specific notes were reviewed. These diagnoses were made by a variety of physicians including radiologists, orthopedists and primary care physicians and were not always confirmed by a focused follow-up visit by a pediatric surgeon. In order to check the validity of our retrospective review, patients with large defects were seen prospectively for focused follow-up and a single pediatric radiologist (G.H.) reviewed the most current chest radiograph to evaluate for scoliosis greater than 10 degrees. The results of follow-up were correlated with our retrospective review

Norovirus and Foodborne Disease, United States, 1991–2000

Analysis of foodborne outbreaks shows how advances in viral diagnostics are clarifying the causes of foodborne outbreaks and determining the high impact of norovirus infections

Consensus statement on abusive head trauma in infants and young children

Abusive head trauma (AHT) is the leading cause of fatal head injuries in children younger than 2 years. A multidisciplinary team bases this diagnosis on history, physical examination, imaging and laboratory findings. Because the etiology of the injury is multifactorial (shaking, shaking and impact, impact, etc.) the current best and inclusive term is AHT. There is no controversy concerning the medical validity of the existence of AHT, with multiple components including subdural hematoma, intracranial and spinal changes, complex retinal hemorrhages, and rib and other fractures that are inconsistent with the provided mechanism of trauma. The workup must exclude medical diseases that can mimic AHT. However, the courtroom has become a forum for speculative theories that cannot be reconciled with generally accepted medical literature. There is no reliable medical evidence that the following processes are causative in the constellation of injuries of AHT: cerebral sinovenous thrombosis, hypoxic-ischemic injury, lumbar puncture or dysphagic choking/vomiting. There is no substantiation, at a time remote from birth, that an asymptomatic birth-related subdural hemorrhage can result in rebleeding and sudden collapse. Further, a diagnosis of AHT is a medical conclusion, not a legal determination of the intent of the perpetrator or a diagnosis of murder. We hope that this consensus document reduces confusion by recommending to judges and jurors the tools necessary to distinguish genuine evidence-based opinions of the relevant medical community from legal arguments or etiological speculations that are unwarranted by the clinical findings, medical evidence and evidence-based literature