Henry Taylor Wickham and the Virginia Senate, 1888-1907

The decade of the 1890s was a complex period in the political history of Virginia. Virginia had experienced prosperity because of the development of railroads after the Civil War. Because of this contribution to statewide growth, the railroads had developed monopolistic characteristics which prompted an ambivalent response from most Virginians. It was said that during the 1890s Virginia\u27s railroads controlled the state legislature through the medium of the Democratic Party. During this period before the creation of laws dealing with political conflicts of interests, Henry Taylor Wickham represented the counties of Caroline and Hanover in the Virginia Senate. In 1937, when the Senator was eighty-eight years old, an associate suggested that Wickham should write a memoir of the Senator\u27s career in the era of railroad politics. Wickham refused to devote his declining years to a project which he felt would create unnecessary controversy. Wickham had considered it best to bury the past, and he left no personal account of his role in Democratic state politics. Wickham, a high ranking railroad official, had been in the inner sanctum of the Virginia Democracy. This thesis represents the first attempt to interpret Wickham\u27s role as a statesman during the controversial era of the 1890s. The author has drawn extensively from newspaper accounts in his research

Firefighters Versus Law Enforcement Officers: A Comparison Of Cardiovascular Disease Risk

Firefighters (FF) and law enforcement officers (LEO) have heightened cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk due to the stressful nature of their occupations. Data suggest that 45% of on-duty FF fatalities are related to CVD, while LEO have a 1.7 times higher CVD prevalence compared to the general public. To our knowledge, studies comparing FF to LEO, in terms of CVD risk factors, have not been published. This information is necessary to better understand differences in occupational disease risk, as well as to help bridge the gap between stress and CVD markers. PURPOSE: To compare CVD risk biomarkers, fitness, and body composition between career FF and LEO. METHODS: Ninety-eight career, structural male FF (age = 35.1±9.6 yrs; weight = 94.3±15.4 kg; height = 178.4±13.2 cm) and seventy-three career male and female LEO (age = 41.4±9.0 yrs; weight = 92.3±16.8 kg; height = 179.6±8.1 cm) from local fire and police departments were studied. Participants completed a maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPXT), where VO2max was estimated from the Foster equation. Fasted blood samples were collected to assess biomarkers of CVD risk: advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP) and cortisol. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was used to assess body composition and waist and hip measures were taken. Shapiro-Wilk Test was used to assess normality. Independent sample T-tests or non-parametric Mann-Whitney U tests (if normality was violated) were used to assess differences in CVD risk biomarkers, fitness, and body composition between the FF and LEO. Effect sizes were calculated as Cohen’s d (i.e., small [0.2-0.5], medium [0.5-0.8], large [\u3e0.8]). RESULTS: Firefighters had higher (p\u3c0.05) CPXT exercise times (FF: 10.9±1.6 min; LEO: 10.3±2.0 min; d=0.366) compared to LEO. While not statistically significant (p=0.64), FF had higher VO2max values (FF: 38.2±6.6 ml/kg/min; LEO: 36.2±6.2 ml/kg/min; d=0.306). Firefighters also had higher (p\u3c0.05) AOPP (FF: 134.8±90.1 mM; LEO: 106.8±67.6 mM; d=0.342), blood cortisol (FF: 14.2±5.0 mg/dL; LEO: 12.5±5.6 mg/dL; d=0.325), and waist-to-hip ratios (FF: 0.95±0.06; LEO: 0.89±0.08; d=0.792). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that while FF demonstrated greater CPXT time-to-exhaustion they also expressed greater levels of stress and risk for CVD compared to LEO

Reviews

Miscellany. . Reviewed by George Colvin. Wilkie Collins: A Critical and Biographical Study. Dorothy L. Sayers, ed. E.R. Gregory. Reviewed by J. R. Christopher. Bloodhounds of Heaven: The Detective in English Fiction from Godwin to Doyle. Ian Ousby. Reviewed by J. R. Christopher. The Dark Tower and Other Stories. C.S. Lewis, Ed. Walter Hooper. Reviewed by Nancy-Lou Patterson. The Mythology of Middle-earth. Ruth S. Noel. Reviewed by Nancy-Lou Patterson. Faeries. Brian Froud and Alan Lee. Reviewed by Robert S. Ellwood Jr.. Eschatus. Bruce Pennington. Reviewed by Robert S. Ellwood Jr.. The Lord of the Rings. Ralph Bakshi, director; Saul Zaentz, producer. Reviewed by Steven C. Walker. The Lord of the Rings. Ralph Bakshi, director; Saul Zaentz, producer. Reviewed by Dale Ziegler

Relationship Between Body Fat Distribution and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Biomarkers Among Firefighters

Firefighters are at risk of premature mortality due to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Firefighting is linked to elevations in oxidative stress, inflammation, and stress biomarkers, which all play a role in the development and progression of CVD. High prevalence rates of overweight and obesity have been found among U.S. firefighters. Obesity is considered a CVD risk factor, and firefighters who are classified as overweight or obese have been shown to express lower levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and higher levels of total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglycerides (TG), and biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation. However, little is known regarding the relationships between fat mass distribution and CVD biomarkers among firefighters. This information can aid the understanding of CVD risk factors among firefighters. PURPOSE: This study examined the relationship between body composition measures and traditional and non-traditional CVD biomarkers among firefighters. METHODS: Ninety-eight career, structural male firefighters (age = 35.1±9.6 yrs; weight = 94.3±15.4 kg; height = 178.4±13.2 cm) from a local fire department were studied. Body composition (i.e., body fat percentage, BF%) was assessed via dual x-ray absorptiometry. Fasted blood samples were analyzed for concentrations of lipids, advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP), and ultra-sensitive C-reactive protein (CRP). Ordinary least square regression analyses were used to assess the relationship between body composition and blood biomarkers. RESULTS: Gynoid fat percentage was inversely predictive (p\u3c0.05) of AOPP, TC, LDL-C, and TG, as well as positively related (p\u3c0.05) to HDL-C, while android fat percentage was positively predictive (p\u3c0.05) of AOPP, CRP, and TG, as well as inversely related (p\u3c0.05) to HDL-C. Increased BF% was positively predictive (p\u3c0.05) of CRP, TC, and LDL-C. CONCLUSION: These findings provide insight into the relationship between body composition and various biomarkers of CVD risk, and may aid future interventions aimed at attenuating CVD risk among firefighters

Physiological Stress Responses to a Live-Fire Training Evolution in Career Firefighters

Firefighters have a physically demanding job that exposes them to many specific and unique stressors, which contribute to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk (i.e., cardiovascular strain, inflammation, and oxidative stress) or even mortality. At present, the literature lacks data evaluating these physiological stress responses amongst firefighters in any realistic or simulated scenarios, such as a live-fire training evolution (LFTE). Given the elevated risk of premature mortality, there is a critical need to better understand the physiological stress responses to an LFTE. This information could aid in developing nutritional, training, and other various interventions to mitigate stress load and reduce the incidence of CVD among this population. PURPOSE: To assess the physiological stress response to an LFTE among firefighters. METHODS: Seventy-six (n = 76) career firefighters completed an LFTE. Salivary samples were collected pre, immediately post, and 30-min post the LFTE, and analyzed the following stress markers: α-amylase (AA), secretory immunoglobulin-A (SIgA), and cortisol. One-way repeated measures analysis of variance was used to assess changes over time. Fisher’s LSD and Cohen’s d effect size calculations were used for Post hoc analysis. RESULTS: Significant main effects for time were found for AA, SIgA, and cortisol (p\u3c0.001). Fisher’s LSD post hoc analysis found AA, SIgA, and cortisol concentrations were all significantly elevated immediately post LFTE compared to pre (p\u3c0.0001) and 30-min post (p\u3c0.0001). Medium to large effect sizes were noted for AA, SIgA, and cortisol with respect to changes pre to immediately post-LFTE (d = 0.84, 0.61, and 0.78, respectively). CONCLUSION: While many studies have shown increased inflammation and oxidative stress, as well as adverse cardiovascular and metabolic responses to firefighting activities, these data provide insight into the physiological stress placed upon a firefighter engaging in fire-suppressive evolutions

UK construction companies’ strategies in the face of business cycles

Firms in the construction industry have always had to deal with the challenges of the economic cycle and develop strategies to deal with the resulting fluctuations in their business environment. In the context of the 2008–2011 double-dip recession in the UK, the results of a survey targeting the top one hundred construction companies in the UK are reported here. This research is particularly intended to assess whether the strategies of large companies in the construction sector, when faced with the issues associated with the variation in the economic cycle, have changed since the previous business cycle (i.e. the 1986–1990 boom followed by the 1990–1991 recession). The survey reveals the challenges that companies have faced, reports on company behaviour and on the policies adopted. While there are many similarities between policies adopted during the recessionary periods of the two cycles, the research found notable changes in attitudes towards diversification, human resource management and price bidding

Transient compartmentalization of simian immunodeficiency virus variants in the breast milk of african green monkeys

Natural hosts of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), African green monkeys (AGMs), rarely transmit SIV via breast-feeding. In order to examine the genetic diversity of breast milk SIV variants in this limited-transmission setting, we performed phylogenetic analysis on envelope sequences of milk and plasma SIV variants of AGMs. Low-diversity milk virus populations were compartmentalized from that in plasma. However, this compartmentalization was transient, as the milk virus lineages did not persist longitudinally

Hearing loss in a mouse model of Muenke syndrome

The heterozygous Pro250Arg substitution mutation in fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3), which increases ligand-dependent signalling, is the most common genetic cause of craniosynostosis in humans and defines Muenke syndrome. Since FGF signalling plays dosage-sensitive roles in the differentiation of the auditory sensory epithelium, we evaluated hearing in a large group of Muenke syndrome subjects, as well as in the corresponding mouse model (Fgfr3P244R). The Muenke syndrome cohort showed significant, but incompletely penetrant, predominantly low-frequency sensorineural hearing loss, and the Fgfr3P244R mice showed dominant, fully penetrant hearing loss that was more severe than that in Muenke syndrome individuals, but had the same pattern of relative high-frequency sparing. The mouse hearing loss correlated with an alteration in the fate of supporting cells (Deiters'-to-pillar cells) along the entire length of the cochlear duct, with the most extreme abnormalities found at the apical or low-frequency end. In addition, there was excess outer hair cell development in the apical region. We conclude that low-frequency sensorineural hearing loss is a characteristic feature of Muenke syndrome and that the genetically equivalent mouse provides an excellent model that could be useful in testing hearing loss therapies aimed at manipulating the levels of FGF signalling in the inner ear

A primary care, multi-disciplinary disease management program for opioid-treated patients with chronic non-cancer pain and a high burden of psychiatric comorbidity

BACKGROUND: Chronic non-cancer pain is a common problem that is often accompanied by psychiatric comorbidity and disability. The effectiveness of a multi-disciplinary pain management program was tested in a 3 month before and after trial. METHODS: Providers in an academic general medicine clinic referred patients with chronic non-cancer pain for participation in a program that combined the skills of internists, clinical pharmacists, and a psychiatrist. Patients were either receiving opioids or being considered for opioid therapy. The intervention consisted of structured clinical assessments, monthly follow-up, pain contracts, medication titration, and psychiatric consultation. Pain, mood, and function were assessed at baseline and 3 months using the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale scale (CESD) and the Pain Disability Index (PDI). Patients were monitored for substance misuse. RESULTS: Eighty-five patients were enrolled. Mean age was 51 years, 60% were male, 78% were Caucasian, and 93% were receiving opioids. Baseline average pain was 6.5 on an 11 point scale. The average CESD score was 24.0, and the mean PDI score was 47.0. Sixty-three patients (73%) completed 3 month follow-up. Fifteen withdrew from the program after identification of substance misuse. Among those completing 3 month follow-up, the average pain score improved to 5.5 (p = 0.003). The mean PDI score improved to 39.3 (p < 0.001). Mean CESD score was reduced to 18.0 (p < 0.001), and the proportion of depressed patients fell from 79% to 54% (p = 0.003). Substance misuse was identified in 27 patients (32%). CONCLUSIONS: A primary care disease management program improved pain, depression, and disability scores over three months in a cohort of opioid-treated patients with chronic non-cancer pain. Substance misuse and depression were common, and many patients who had substance misuse identified left the program when they were no longer prescribed opioids. Effective care of patients with chronic pain should include rigorous assessment and treatment of these comorbid disorders and intensive efforts to insure follow up