Kronos (Canada)

Because minorities typically fare poorly on standardized tests, job testing is thought to pose an equity-efficiency trade-off: testing improves selection but reduces minority hiring. We develop a conceptual framework to assess when this tradeoff is likely to apply and evaluate the evidence for such a trade-off using data from a national retail firm whose 1,363 stores switched from informal to test-based worker screening over the course of on year. We document that testing yielded more productive hires at this firm --raising median tenure by 10-plus percent. Consistent with prior research, minorities performed worse on the test. Yet, testing had no measurable impact on minority hiring, and productivity gains were uniformly large among minorities and non-minorities. These results suggest that job testing raised the precision of screening without introducing additional negative information about minority applicants, most plausibly because both the job test and the informal screen that preceded it were unbiased.

The transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt procedure is an effective intervention for patients with bleeding esophageal varices. Potential complications are numerous but rarely serious. A case of hemopericardium, cardiac tamponade, and death caused by perforation of the right atrium and aorta by a stent after embolization from the liver during stent placement is reported.

To the Editor.— Proprietary laxative preparations are generally considered safe self-therapy for those ... hard... to move. Sodium phosphate compounds are among the most popular laxatives in this country. For example, one company in 1969 sold 100,000 gal of a mixture of sodium biphosphate and sodium phosphate (Phospho-Soda). An unintentional fatal overdose with this common laxative product is reported. Report of a Case.— A 48-year-old housewife, because of chronic constipation, ingested this preparation daily, in huge doses. Two days before admission, severe constipation, pain, and distention led to consumption of large amounts, until she was found semicomatose at home. She previously had been in good health. The blood pressure was 72/40 mm Hg; pulse rate, 110 beats per minute; respirations, 44 per minute; and temperature, 38 C. She responded poorly to deep pain, was semicomatose with abdominal distention, tympanites, absence of bowel sounds, and a few rhonchi. Muscle tone was decreased