\u27Whatsoever a Man Soweth:\u27 Sex Education about Venereal Disease, Racial Health, and Social Hygiene during the First World War

In 1917, the British War Office released a film directed by Joseph Best titled Whatsoever a Man Soweth. The 38-minute silent film used intertitles to convey dialogue, and the film’s narrative, which focuses on three Canadian soldiers on leave in London, England, was intended to provide sex education for soldiers. This paper examines how the film reflected and constructed a wartime reality through cultural representations, as increased attention was paid to the threat of venereal disease and its impact on racial health and the British Empire during the First World War. Ultimately, this sex education film provided soldiers with a medical-moral education about racial health; it vividly conveyed fears about VD and racial degeneration, but also highlighted a belief in social hygiene and racialized moral arguments to protect and ensure the health of the Anglo-Saxon race

\u27Whatsoever a Man Soweth:\u27 Sex Education about Venereal Disease, Racial Health, and Social Hygiene during the First World War

In 1917, the British War Office released a film directed by Joseph Best titled Whatsoever a Man Soweth. The 38-minute silent film used intertitles to convey dialogue, and the film’s narrative, which focuses on three Canadian soldiers on leave in London, England, was intended to provide sex education for soldiers. This paper examines how the film reflected and constructed a wartime reality through cultural representations, as increased attention was paid to the threat of venereal disease and its impact on racial health and the British Empire during the First World War. Ultimately, this sex education film provided soldiers with a medical-moral education about racial health; it vividly conveyed fears about VD and racial degeneration, but also highlighted a belief in social hygiene and racialized moral arguments to protect and ensure the health of the Anglo-Saxon race

Prognostic significance of QRS duration and morphology

QRS duration and morphology, evaluated via a standard 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG), represent an opportunity to derive useful prognostic information regarding the risk of subsequent cardiac events or therapeutic outcomes. Prolonged QRS duration, and the presence of intraventricular conduction abnormalities, usually indicate the presence of changes in the myocardium due to underlying heart disease. Prolonged QRS duration is often associated with depressed ejection fraction or enlarged left ventricular volumes, but several studies have demonstrated that this simple ECG measure provides independent prognostic value, after adjusting for relevant clinical covariates. Post-infarction patients with prolonged QRS duration have a significantly increased risk of mortality, although data associating QRS prolongation specifically with sudden death is less supportive. In non-ischemic cardiomyopathy, there is no evidence that QRS duration has prognostic significance in predicting mortality or sudden death. Prolonged QRS duration, and especially presence of left bundle branch block, seems to predict a benefit from cardiac resynchronization therapy in both ischemic and non-ischemic cardiomyopathy patients. Therefore, QRS duration and morphology should not only be considered a predictor of death or sudden death in patients after myocardial infarction, and in those suspected of coronary artery disease, but also as a predictor of benefit from cardiac resynchronization therapy in patients with heart failure, whether of an ischemic or non-ischemic origin. (Cardiol J 2011; 18, 1: 8-17

Educational Malpractice? Human Rights, Censorship, and the LGBTQ+ Community in Ontario’s Health and Physical Education Curriculum

The announcement of a new Health and Physical Education curriculum in 2010 by the Liberal McGuinty government resulted in considerable controversy in Ontario. Key religious groups, as well as socially and politically conservative groups, opposed the inclusion of queer-positive content in public education. This opposition ultimately led to the shelving of the proposed curriculum. However, under the Liberal Wynne government, a version similar to the original 2010 curriculum has been taught in schools since September 2015. This paper examines the struggle since the 1960s for curricular inclusiveness of the LGBTQ+ community in the Health and Physical Education curriculum document, and the arguments that have been used to censor the LGBTQ+ community. Ultimately, it was the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Ontario Human Rights Code that prevented censorship in education. Human rights legislation was used to uphold civil rights in both the Catholic and public school systems and rose above the political decision-making that had censored the LGBTQ+ community. RÉSUMÉ L’annonce d’un nouveau programme d’études en santé et en éducation physique, en 2010, par le gouvernement libéral McGuinty provoqua une énorme controverse en Ontario. Des groupes religieux fondamentalistes ainsi que des organismes sociopolitiques conservateurs se sont opposés à l’inclusion de contenu sur l’homosexualité dans les programmes d’enseigne- ment public. Cette opposition conduisit à une mise au rancart du programme. Cependant, sous le gouvernement libéral Wynn, une version similaire au programme original est enseignée dans les écoles depuis septembre 2015. Cette étude s’intéresse à la lutte—en marche depuis les années 1960—pour l’inclusion des membres de la communauté des LGBTQ+ dans les programmes d’études en santé et en éducation physique, ainsi qu’aux arguments utilisés pour censurer cette collectivité. Finalement, ce fut la Charte des droits et libertés et le Code des droits de la personne de l’Ontario qui empêchèrent la censure en éducation. On eut recours à la législation sur les droits de la personne pour soutenir les droits civils autant dans le système des écoles catholiques que dans celui des écoles publiques et supplanter les objections politiques qui censuraient les LGBTQ+.

The Downside of Right Ventricular Apical Pacing

The right ventricular (RV) apex has been the standard pacing site since the development of implantable pacemaker technology. Although RV pacing was initially only utilized for the treatment of severe bradyarrhythmias usually due to complete heart block, today the indications for and implantation of RV pacing devices is dramatically larger. Recently, the adverse effects of chronic RV apical pacing have been described including an increased risk of heart failure and death. This review details the detrimental effects of RV apical pacing and their shared hemodynamic pathophysiology. In particular, the role of RV apical pacing induced ventricular dyssynchrony is highlighted with a specific focus on differential outcome based upon QRS morphology at implant

Fragmented QRS complex as a predictor of exercise-related sudden cardiac death

Introduction: Little is known about the association between electrocardiographic abnormalities and exercise-related sudden cardiac death.Therefore, our aim was to identify possible electrocardiographic findings related to exercise-induced sudden cardiac death. Methods and results: The FinGesture study includes 3,989 consecutive sudden cardiac deaths in northern Finland between 1998 and 2012, out of whom a total of 647 subjects had a previously recorded electrocardiography acquired from the archives of Oulu University Hospital. In 276 of these cases the death was witnessed, and the activity at the time of death was either rest or physical exercise (PEj; in 40 {14%} cases sudden cardiac death was exercise-related and in 236 (86%) cases death took place at rest. Fragmented QRS complex in at least two consecutive leads within anterior leads (V1-V3) was more common in the exercise-group compared to rest-group (17 of 40, 43% vs. 51 of 236,22%, P = 0.005). Pathologic Q wave in anterior leads was more common in the PE group (9 of 40,23% vs. 26 of 236,11%; P = 0.044). Median QRS duration was prolonged in the exercise-group compared to the rest-group (100 milliseconds vs. 94 milliseconds, P = 0.047), QTc interval, the prevalence of inverted T-waves, or other electrocardiographic abnormalities did not differ significantly between the two groups. Conclusions: As a conclusion, fragmented QRS complex in the anterior leads is associated with an increased risk of sudden cardiac death during PE.Peer reviewe

Does cardiac resynchronization therapy restore peripheral circulatory homeostasis?

Aims: To evaluate whether peripheral circulatory ‘remodeling’ as measured by changes in vascular compliance and in markers of nitric oxide signaling contributes to patient response to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT)  Methods and results: Effects of CRT were evaluated in 33 patients pre- and 6 months post- procedure. Peak oxygen consumption (VO2 max), six-minute walk distance (6MWD), NYHA class, and quality of life score (QOL) were evaluated. Augmentation index (AIX) and its interactions with nitric oxide (NO) were evaluated by applanation tonometry. Platelet NO responsiveness and content of thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP) were assessed. Plasma concentrationsof NT-proBNP, asymmetric and symmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA and SDMA), high sensitivity C-reactive protein, catecholamines and matrix metalloproteinases-2 and -9 were assessed. Despite significant improvement in 6MWD (p=0.005), NYHA class (p<0.001), QOL (p=0.001), and all echocardiographic parameters post CRT, there were no significant changesin AIx measurements, TXNIP content and platelet NO response. Significant falls in NTproBNP (p=0.008) and SDMA (p=0.013; independent of renal function) occurred. Falls in SDMA predicted reduction in hs-CRP (p=0.04) and increases in VO2max (p=0.04). There were no correlations between changes in echocardiographic parameters and those in vascular function.  Conclusions: These data suggest that the beneficial effects of CRT over 6 months are independent of any change in peripheral NO-related signaling. However there is evidence that suppression of inflammation occurs and its magnitude predicts extent of clinical improvement

The influence of left ventricular ejection fraction on the effectiveness of cardiac resynchronization therapy: MADIT-CRT (Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial With Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy).

OBJECTIVES: The goal of this study was to evaluate the influence of left ventricular (LV) lead position on the risk of ventricular tachyarrhythmia in patients undergoing cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). BACKGROUND: Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is a surrogate marker of heart failure (HF) status and associated risk. Data on the effectiveness of cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillator (CRT-D) in patients with mild HF and better LVEF are limited. METHODS: In the MADIT-CRT (Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial With Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy) study, the echocardiography core laboratory assessed baseline LVEF independent of the enrolling centers and identified a range of LVEFs, including those >30% (i.e., beyond the eligibility criteria). Echocardiographic response with CRT, defined as percent change in left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV), was analyzed in 3 prespecified LVEF groups: >30%, 26% to 30%, and 30% (in the range of 30.1% to 45.3%); 914 patients (50.5%) with LVEF 26% to 30%; and 199 patients with LVEF 30%: 22.3%; LVEF 26% to 30%: 20.1%; and LVEF 30% (hazard ratio [HR]: = 0.56 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.39 to 0.82], p = 0.003), LVEF 26% to 30% (HR: 0.67: [95% CI: 0.50 to 0.90], p = 0.007), and LVEF 0.1). CONCLUSIONS: In MADIT-CRT, the clinical benefit of CRT was evident regardless of baseline LVEF, including those with LVEF >30%, whereas the echocardiographic response was increased with increasing LVEF, indicating that CRT might benefit patients with better LVEF. (Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation With Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy [MADIT-CRT]; NCT00180271)