State per capita income differences narrowed considerably between 1939 and 1976. However, this convergence has been incomplete. We examined the sources of relative per capita income growth using an augmented growth model and a panel of the 48 contiguous states from 1939 to 2004. We explored the effect of tax burdens, public infrastructure, size of private financial markets, rates of business failure, industry structure, climate, educational attainment, and technology production. Our results show that a state's technology and its college attainment rates are the main factors that allow some state's per capita income to remain above those of other states.

Objective: To examine the time course of maturation of P1 latencies in infant sequential and simultaneous bilateral cochlear implant recipients. Design: Retrospective case series. Setting: Pediatric collaborative cochlear implant program. Patients: Four children who received bilateral cochlear implants prior to age 2 years. Intervention: Cortical auditory evoked potential was completed to determine the latency of the P1 response in 4 children with bilateral cochlear implants. Main Outcome Measures: Longitudinal development of the latency of the P1 cortical auditory evoked potential in children who received bilateral cochlear implants prior to age 2 years. Results: In 2 patients who received sequential bilateral implants, P1 latencies recorded from the first implanted ear were within normal limits after 3 to 6 months of implant use. By comparison, P1 latencies from the second implanted ear reached normal limits as early as 1 month after implant use. In 2 patients who received simultaneous bilateral implants, P1 latencies from both ears were also within normal limits in a very short time frame (ie, by 1 month poststimulation). Conclusions: Our data suggest a high degree of plasticity of the central auditory pathways after early bilateral implantation. We find that P1 latencies provide a clinically useful biomarker of central auditory system development in children after cochlear implantation.

The management of a mastoid subperiosteal abscess has traditionally required mastoidectomy. With the improvement of antibiotic therapy current literature supports the treatment of uncomplicated acute mastoiditis with myringotomy and intravenous antibiotics. Treatment of a mastoid subperiosteal abscess with tympanostomy tube insertion, intravenous antibiotics, and postauricular incision and drainage of the abscess avoids the morbidity and potential complications of mastoid surgery in young children. Three patients diagnosed with a mastoid subperiosteal abscess were managed in this way. The outcome of their treatment has been documented with lengthy otologic follow-up. Complete resolution of the acute infectious process was achieved in all cases with no evidence of recurrent disease.

Objective: To explore the anomalies of the temporal bone found on radiologic examination, technical challenges in cochlear implantation, and audiologic benefit derived from cochlear implantation in a series of children with CHARGE association. Design: Case series report. Setting: Tertiary referral children's hospital pediatric cochlear implant program. Patients: Six children with CHARGE association and sensorineural hearing loss. Intervention: All patients were evaluated and followed up by the cochlear implant team. Cochlear implantation was attempted in all 6 children. Main Outcome Measures: Computed tomographic scans and cochlear implantation operative records were reviewed, and their findings were correlated. Audiometric and speech perception data before and after cochlear implantation were compared. Results: Five children with CHARGE association received implants. A sixth child did not because of an aberrant course to the facial nerve. The 5 children receiving implants obtained varying degrees of measurable benefit from their implants. All 6 children had temporal bone abnormalities seen on their computed tomographic scans and documented at the time of surgery. Conclusions: Variations in the temporal bone anatomy of patients with CHARGE association can lead to increased technical challenges and risk to the facial nerve during cochlear implantation. Individual outcomes after implantation may vary; our patients receiving implants obtained benefit. Parents should be counseled thoroughly and have appropriate expectations before proceeding with implantation.

Focuses on a study which proposed a model to solve the problems of volume reallocation and scale economies in processing costs of paper currency by the United States Federal Reserve. Overview on the currency service; Description of the model; Results and discussion.

We propose a set of consistency conditions which frontier efficiency measures should meet to be most useful for regulatory analysis or other purposes. The efficiency estimates should be consistent in their efficiency levels, rankings, and identification of best and worst firms, consistent over time and with competitive conditions in the market, and consistent with standard nonfrontier measures of performance. We provide evidence on these conditions by evaluating and comparing estimates of U.S. bank efficiency from variants of all four of the major approaches—DEA, SFA, TFA, and DFA—and find mixed results.