The Edinburgh Goldsmiths II: Biographical Information for Freemen, Apprentices and Journeymen

This book provides biographical information on the goldsmiths of Edinburgh emphasizing those connected to the Incorporation of Goldsmiths for the City of Edinburgh. It is novel in that the scope of the book extends beyond the freeman goldsmiths to include family information on centuries of apprentices and journeymen who entered training as goldsmiths in Edinburgh. Information is provided on parents, siblings, spouses and children when possible as well as details of the training and careers of the goldsmiths. The book is being published in a series of parts (individual files) that are alphabetical by surname. Part 1 contains an introduction and the letters A-C with approximately 318 biographical entries

Developmental Immunotoxicity Testing and Protection of Children's Health

Dietert discusses a new study in PLoS Medicine, by Heilmann et al., showing that children exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have reduced antibody responses to childhood vaccinations

Environmental risk factors for autism

Autism is a devastating childhood condition that has emerged as an increasing social concern just as it has increased in prevalence in recent decades. Autism and the broader category of autism spectrum disorders are among the increasingly seen examples in which there is a fetal basis for later disease or disorder. Environmental, genetic, and epigenetic factors all play a role in determining the risk of autism and some of these effects appear to be transgenerational. Identification of the most critical windows of developmental vulnerability is paramount to understanding when and under what circumstances a child is at elevated risk for autism. No single environmental factor explains the increased prevalence of autism. While a handful of environmental risk factors have been suggested based on data from human studies and animal research, it is clear that many more, and perhaps the most significant risk factors, remain to be identified. The most promising risk factors identified to date fall within the categories of drugs, environmental chemicals, infectious agents, dietary factors, and other physical/psychological stressors. However, the rate at which environmental risk factors for autism have been identified via research and safety testing has not kept pace with the emerging health threat posed by this condition. For the way forward, it seems clear that additional focused research is needed. But more importantly, successful risk reduction strategies for autism will require more extensive and relevant developmental safety testing of drugs and chemicals

Compendium of Scottish Silver Volume 1

A print on demand of these books and articles can be obtained from Cornell Business Services (CBS) Digital Services by sending e-mail to [email protected] or calling 607.255.2524. In the body of the message include the identifier.uri for the book or article, and ask to be contacted regarding payment.The Compendium of Scottish Silver is a comparatively comprehensive catalog of antique as well as some modern Scottish silver and gold made between 1320ca and 2004 that has appeared in public and private collections, auction sales and antique shops during the past 50-100 years. It represents an attempt to provide a representative view of Scottish silver production over the centuries as reflected in extant examples. Additionally, the catalog is useful in evaluating the relative rarity of various forms (e.g. Scottish cake baskets or dish crosses) as well as the primary craftsmen producing specific forms (e.g. egg-shaped teapots, dolphin-handled creamboats). The catalog contains over 5,100 listings arranged alphabetically by item (e.g. bowls, candlesticks, flatware, etc.) and presented among items, chronologically. Volume 1 contains the alphabetical listings from Baskets-Ink Pots as well as a Guide, a Listing of First Appearances and a Glossary of the terms use in describing the silver as well as its production and decoration. Photographic examples for most categories are also included before each set of listings. Note that Volume 2 is a continuation of the alphabetical categories beginning with "M". The book should be a helpful resource for collectors, museums, antique dealers, auction houses, as well as historians, genealogists and other researchers

E- International Hospital Website Strategy Comparisons

This manuscript evaluates 20 American and 20 non-American hospital websites using a Hospital E-Marketing Strategy Life-Cycle model. These hospital websites were initially evaluated and categorized using the model in 1999. These same hospital websites were revisited in 2004 to determine if their initial stage had changed over the years and if hospital websites did indeed follow the Life-Cycle model. Any changes in a hospital’s website marketing strategy between years are also evaluated

Breaking Patterns of Environmentally Influenced Disease for Health Risk Reduction: Immune Perspectives

Diseases rarely, if ever, occur in isolation. Instead, most represent part of a more complex web or “pattern� of conditions that are connected via underlying biological mechanisms and processes, emerge across a lifetime, and have been identified with the aid of large medical databases. Objective We have described how an understanding of patterns of disease may be used to develop new strategies for reducing the prevalence and risk of major immune-based illnesses and diseases influenced by environmental stimuli. Findings Examples of recently defined patterns of diseases that begin in childhood include not only metabolic syndrome, with its characteristics of inflammatory dysregulation, but also allergic, autoimmune, recurrent infection, and other inflammatory patterns of disease. The recent identification of major immune-based disease patterns beginning in childhood suggests that the immune system may play an even more important role in determining health status and health care needs across a lifetime than was previously understood. Conclusions Focusing on patterns of disease, as opposed to individual conditions, offers two important venues for environmental health risk reduction. First, prevention of developmental immunotoxicity and pediatric immune dysfunction can be used to act against multiple diseases. Second, pattern-based treatment of entryway diseases can be tailored with the aim of disrupting the entire disease pattern and reducing the risk of later-life illnesses connected to underlying immune dysfunction. Disease-pattern–based evaluation, prevention, and treatment will require a change from the current approach for both immune safety testing and pediatric disease management

Workshop to identify critical windows of exposure for children's health: immune and respiratory systems work group summary.

Fetuses, infants, and juveniles (preadults) should not be considered simply "small adults" when it comes to toxicological risk. We present specific examples of developmental toxicants that are more toxic to children than to adults, focusing on effects on the immune and respiratory systems. We describe differences in both the pharmacokinetics of the developing immune and respiratory systems as well as changes in target organ sensitivities to toxicants. Differential windows of vulnerability during development are identified in the context of available animal models. We provide specific approaches to directly investigate differential windows of vulnerability. These approaches are based on fundamental developmental biology and the existence of discrete developmental processes within the immune and respiratory systems. The processes are likely to influence differential developmental susceptibility to toxicants, resulting in lifelong toxicological changes. We also provide a template for comparative research. Finally, we discuss the application of these data to risk assessment

Air pollution exposure during critical time periods in gestation and alterations in cord blood lymphocyte distribution: a cohort of livebirths

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Toxic exposures have been shown to influence maturation of the immune system during gestation. This study investigates the association between cord blood lymphocyte proportions and maternal exposure to air pollution during each gestational month.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cord blood was analyzed using a FACSort flow cytometer to determine proportions of T lymphocytes (CD3⁺cells and their subsets, CD4⁺and CD8⁺), B lymphocytes (CD19⁺) and natural killer (NK) cells. Ambient air concentrations of 12 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and particulate matter < 2.5 micrometer in diameter (PM_2.5) were measured using fixed site monitors. Arithmetic means of these pollutants, calculated for each gestational month, were used as exposure metrics. Data on covariates were obtained from medical records and questionnaires. Multivariable linear regression models were fitted to estimate associations between monthly PAH or PM_2.5and cord blood lymphocytes, adjusting for year of birth and district of residence and, in further models, gestational season and number of prior live births.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The adjusted models show significant associations between PAHs or PM_2.5during early gestation and increases in CD3⁺and CD4⁺lymphocytes percentages and decreases in CD19⁺and NK cell percentages in cord blood. In contrast, exposures during late gestation were associated with decreases in CD3⁺and CD4⁺fractions and increases in CD19⁺and NK cell fractions. There was no significant association between alterations in lymphocyte distribution and air pollution exposure during the mid gestation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>PAHs and PM_2.5in ambient air may influence fetal immune development via shifts in cord blood lymphocytes distributions. Associations appear to differ by exposure in early versus late gestation.</p