Altho,ugh over 200 fatal cases of asthma have been reported with detailed microscopic findings (Unger, 1945) the train of events leading to death in status asthmaticus is still not fully understood.The obscurity is largely due to the inherent difficulty in assessing the relative importance of the pathological changes found, but has been increased by the fact that not all the patients whose cases are on record had died in attacks of uncomplicated asthma. It was therefore decided to study a group of patients, who had died in status asthmaticus but showed no clinical or pathological evidence of respiratory infection or pulmonary heart disease, in an attempt to elucidate the pathogenesis of the condition. MATERIALS AND METHODSThe patients selected for study had all died in Guy's Hospital in attacks of asthma which had not responded to adrenaline or other anti-spasmodics. In no case was there fever, leucocytosis, or pathological change indicating pneumonia or other inflammatory complication, nor was there any evidence of pulmonary heart disease.Macroscopic findings had been reported in nine necropsies and tissues were available for microscopy in six. Sections were taken from the lung at various levels of the bronchial tree to include major bronchi, bronchioles, and alveoli. These were stained by the usual histological methods including haematoxylin and eosin, Van Gieson's and Weigert's stains for collagen and elastic tissues, periodic-acid-Schiff (P.A.S.) for mucus and mucopolysaccharides, and silver impregnation for reticulin.CASE REPORTS CASE 1.-This was a woman aged 48. One aunt had died of asthma when aged 30 and her mother had died in status asthmaticus at the age of 48. The patient had had almost continuous asthma since it started rather suddenly when she was 46. She needed treatment in hospital on several occasions and was in hospital for the last six months of her life. There were no known precipitating factors for her attacks, but there was a history of long-standing financial and domestic anxiety. A great many treatments were tried including all the usual anti-spasmodics. Cortisone produced a temporary remission in her symptoms, but she relapsed and died suddenly in her sleep. There was an eosinophilia of 1,450 per c.mm. in the peripheral blood.Necropsy.-The heart was normal (weight 290 g.). The bronchi were filled with mucus. The lungs were emphysematous and dry (right lung, 470 g.; left lung, 360 g.). The pleurae were normal. CASE 2.-A woman aged 33 had had only mild asthma from the age of 16 until a year before her death when she had to be admitted to hospital in a very severe attack. On her final admission she had been in status asthmaticus for three days. She was collapsed (blood pressure 80/20 mm. Hg), and in spite of treatment with adrenaline, oxygen, intravenous fluids, and cortisone she died the next day. In the 24 hours before she died she had received 28 ml. paraldehyde intramuscularly.Necropsy.-The heart was normal (257 g.). The bronchi were filled with mucus. The lungs were pale, dry, and emphy...

Representative bureaucracy theory postulates that passive representation leads to active representation of minority groups. This article investigates the passive representation of female police officers at leadership levels and the active representation of women vis-a-vis gender-based violence arrest rates in the UK. Much of the extant research on representative bureaucracy is located at street level, with evidence showing that discretionary power of minority bureaucrats can lead to active representation. This article is focused on leadership levels of a public bureaucracy. The empirical research is based upon a panel dataset of female police officers as an independent variable and gender-based violence arrest rates as a dependent variable. The analysis reveals that there is little evidence of active representation of women by female police leadership. Points for practitionersThe research offers policy and public service practitioners with empirical evidence to suggest that representation of minorities is mediated by organizational effects in public bureaucracies.

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